Revelation 4:1
After these
things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.
And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet
speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must
take place after this.”
With the
church age complete after the snatching away of the church from the earth; (1 Cor 15:51-58) God unveils the
program of events that await those who dwell upon the earth. With all of heaven
seeking one worthy to open the scroll; only Jesus is found worthy to open the
scroll. (Revelation 5:5) The opening
of the scroll by Jesus Christ (Rev 6:1)
ushers in a 7 year period of divine judgment upon the inhabitants of the earth.
(Mathew 24:3-9, Daniel 9:27) The
last 3 and a half years being more terrible than the first. The opening of the
scroll initiates 7 seal judgments, 7 trumpet judgments, and 7 bowl judgments.
The 7 seals
(Revelation 6-8)
The
antichrist is made credible to the world’s population as a great military /
political leader by the working of the false prophet (Rev 13:11) who will religiously
supports the antichrist. Allegiance
to the antichrist becomes mandatory and is implemented through a mark of
allegiance. (Revelation 13:16) The first
seal leads to the rise of antichrist to power after a period of false peace
which ends with antichrist bringing about world war. (Rev 6:4) Although world war is terrible as we have seen in WW1 and
WW2; this is nearly the beginning for those who inhabit the earth. (Mathew
24:7-9) Antichrist’s war leads to scarcity, which leads to widespread death
as a third of the world’s population dies from this world war. (Rev 6:7) During this period; people
who come to faith in God’s word are persecuted and slain. By the sixth seal; a
massive earthquake hits earth bursting every fault line simultaneously causing
numerous simultaneous volcanoes that blacken the sky with ash and cause the
moon to appear blood red. Terror grips humanity as they attempt to hide
underground and in cliffs. People become aware they are under divine judgement.
(Rev 6:15-17)The seventh seal sees
144,000 Jews from each of the 12 tribes come to faith in God and begin to
evangelize the whole world bringing forth massive redemption upon the
devastated earth.
The 7 trumpets
(Revelation 8-11)
The lava
storm caused by the sixth seal now causes one third of the world’s vegetation
to be scorched. If food was scarce before, it has just become scarcer. The
second trumpet causes a huge meteor or asteroid to smash into the sea
destroying one third of all ships and killing one third of all marine life. The
third trumpet sees the lakes and rivers devastated as a comet poisons one third
of the world’s drinking water making the water poisonous and undrinkable. The 4th
trumpet blackens the sun and stars by one third. The effects of this will be
devastating to metrological, botanical, and biological cycles. The fifth
trumpet unleashes demon locusts that inflict physical and spiritual pain on
those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. (The 144,000 Jewish
evangelists and their converts) The tormenting locusts will be so terrible that
men will seek relief by suicide. (Rev
9:6) The sixth seal sees the unbinding and loosing of 4 powerful demons
causing another one third of mankind to perish by their destructive plagues.
Even after all this death and destruction; survivors will not repent. (Revelation 9:20-21) The seventh
trumpet includes the 7 bowl judgements and the ushering in of the millennial
kingdom and the coronation of Jesus Christ as king over the earth. (Rev 11:15-18)
The Jewish nation
during the great tribulation
God
supernaturally preserves the Jewish nation during the forty two months of the
last three and a half years of the great tribulation (Revelation 12:6,14,16) when antichrist focuses his destructive
power against God’s covenant people after breaking his pact to protect the
Jewish nation. (Daniel 9:27) During
this period; God also appoints 2 prophets who have power to call down fire from
heaven, shut the sky of rain, and turn seas to blood and strike the earth with
plagues at will. These witnesses are eventually slain by antichrist but
miraculously resurrected by God. (Rev
11:11-12) God then judges the city of those who slew the 2 prophets by
causing an earthquake to strike the city where they were slain. God will also
graciously spread the gospel of grace to the whole earth by angelic
proclamation. (Rev 14:6, 7) The
climax for the nation of Israel occurs in Revelation
19:11-21 during the battle of Armageddon when Jesus Christ returns to
defend and rescue his covenant people as they are on the threshold of
inhalation. (Zechariah 13:8-9)
7 Bowls (Revelation 16)
The bowl judgments
begin in heaven; with 7 mighty angels being given 7 bowls of God’s wrath to be
poured out upon sinful mankind in plague form.
These plagues are God’s most severe judgments upon rebellious earth. The
first bowl strikes those men who took the mark of the beast giving them foul
and loathsome sores. The second bowl completely kills aquatic sea life rendering
the seas blood red. The third bowl
completely pollutes the fresh drinking water making blood red water the only
type available for consumption. The fourth bowl causes extreme heat by the sun
that scorches men. (Men still blaspheme God) The fifth bowl sees one of the
angelic beings pouring wrath directly on antichrist’s throne causing his domain
to be completely covered in darkness. (Men will writhe in pain and gnaw at
their tongues in a futile attempt to alleviate pain) The sixth bowl is poured
on the river Euphrates and dries it up. Unclean demonic spirits then draw the
kings of the east for the battle of Armageddon. The seventh bowl immediately
precedes the second coming of Christ and includes an unprecedented earthquake
and a 75lbs. hail storm.
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