No More Suffering Servant

Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war.  Revelation 19:11

The time has finally come! The church has been "raptured", or "harpazo"(ed) as we see in the Greek; for seven years, the bride of Christ, or the church, has been fellowshipping with Jesus at the marriage feast of the lamb and has been awarded many crowns for their service to the King during their time on earth; during the same seven years, the rest of the world has been experiencing the most horrendous time of tribulation on earth from the terrifying reign of the Antichrist as well as the outpouring of the full and final wrath of God on an unrepentant world. Now, we are going to see the end of Satan's reign on earth and the return of Jesus with us, his bride...

When Jesus came the first time, he came as a small child, humbled by the human experience, being fully God, yet fully human. He suffered, he served, he was mocked, he was spit upon, he was beaten, he bled, he died so that we wouldn't have to, and then he rose from the dead. And this time, he is not coming back as the suffering servant; this time, he is coming back as the conquering king!

Revelation 19 continues to describe him for us... "His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God." (v.12-13)

And we, his bride, are not far behind...

The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. (v.14)

Jesus has finally drawn the line in the sand. He has waited ever so patiently for as many people as possible to let down their pride and come lay at his feet. And finally, he has said, "enough is enough."

From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords. (v.15-16)

Of course, Satan will not give up without a fight...

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. (v.19)

...though it will not be much of a "fight" to speak of...

And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet... Both the beast and the false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies. (v.20-21)

It's a gruesome scene to be sure, and one that our gracious God would desire no one to experience. He calls us NOW to repentance. He calls us to stop, recognize the sin in our lives, beg for forgiveness, and come running back in the opposite direction, straight into his open arms. But we have to make the choice now.

And what of Satan?...

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon-- that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan-- and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Revelation 20:1-3

Finally, Satan has been put where he belongs and will stay there for 1,000 years. In the next post, we'll take a look at what those glorious 1,000 years hold for us...

A Wake-Up Call

This event happened live on 9/11/11 and served as a wake-up call for Israel and the church. It was hosted by Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of Billy Graham, and Joel Rosenberg, author and founder of the Joshua Fund. The link will be live for about 3 months, so jump over there and make sure to watch it. If you miss it, the video will be available for purchase on DVD or audio CD.

Check it out here:

http://mediasuite.316networks.com/player.php?p=i0yi846u

Tribulation: The Seven Last Plagues

Don't be misled --you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. Galatians 6:7

Let the nations be called to arms. Let them march to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There I, the Lord, will sit to pronounce judgment on them all. Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, tread the grapes, for the winepress is full. The storage vats are overflowing with the wickedness of these people. Thousands upon thousands are waiting in the valley of decision. There the day of the Lord will soon arrive. Joel 3:12-14

Then another angel came from the Temple and shouted to the one sitting on the cloud, "Swing the sickle, for the time of harvest has come; the crop on earth is ripe." So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested.

After that, another angel came from the Temple in heaven, and he also had a sharp sickle. Then another angel, who had power to destroy with fire, came from the altar. He shouted to the angel with the sharp sickle, "Swing your sickle now to gather the clusters of grapes from the vines of the earth, for they are ripe for judgment." So the angel swung his sickle over the earth and loaded the grapes into the great winepress of God's wrath. Revelation 14:15-19

The earth will have seen the turmoil of the seven seals, experienced the devastation of the seven trumpet judgments, and have been given every possible opportunity to repent and turn to God. And finally, God will say, enough is enough. He will draw the line in the sand. These last seven plagues are the fullness of God's wrath poured out in its entirety upon an unrepentant world. And amid them is the great battle of Armageddon...

Then I heard a mighty voice from the Temple say to the seven angels, "Go your ways and pour out on the earth the seven bowls containing God's wrath." Rev. 16:1

We see in chapter 16 of Revelation that:

1. Anyone who has taken the mark of the beast is going to be afflicted with "horrible, malignant sores"(v.2). 
2. Every drop of water in the oceans will be turned to blood and everything in them will die(v.3). 
3. All fresh water in every river and every spring will be turned to blood(v.4). 
4. The sun will "scorch everyone with its fire"(v.8). Sadly we see here that "Everyone was burned by this blast of heat, and they cursed the name of God, who had control over all these plagues. They did not repent of their sins and turn to God and give him glory."(v.9)
5. The Antichrist's kingdom will be thrown into some kind of darkness, and those who work for him will grind their teeth in anguish, cursing God for their pains and sores. (v.10-11) And still, they will "not repent of their evil deeds and turn to God."(v.11)

The sixth judgment ushers in the battle of Armageddon:

Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great Euphrates River, and it dried up so that the kings from the east could march their armies toward the west without hindrance. Rev. 16:12

A great army is about to march against Israel. Remember that Israel and the 144,000 Jewish witnesses have been supernaturally preserved and protected through all of this horror and destruction. I would imagine that at this point, the rest of the world will be pretty irate with the nation of Israel which has not only been protected from the pain and suffering that the rest of the world has had to endure, but has also been adamantly proclaiming the name of the God who has caused all of their suffering. The world is about to attempt to put an end to this thorn in their side. All those who join the effort will have been rallied by three evil spirits:

They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty... And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon. Rev. 16:14,16

The seventh and final judgment of the Lord swiftly obliterates these armies' meager attempt at a "battle" and brings this world as we know it to an end:

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air. And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying "It is finished!" Rev. 16:17

In the verses that follow, we see lightning, thunder, and a great earthquake, "the worst since people were placed on the earth."(v.18) We see the city of Babylon being split into three sections and many other cities throughout the earth being reduced to heaps of rubble(v.19). We see that the destruction from this earthquake is so severe that every island disappears and every mountain is leveled(v.20). Finally, there is a massive hailstorm with "hailstones weighing seventy-five pounds" falling from the sky onto the people below(v.21). The word used here for hailstones in the Greek does not refer to ice; these are actual stones, rocks that are falling from the sky.

It is so difficult for people, even Christians, to read these parts of Scripture and accept that the god depicted here could ever be described as loving. How can a god of love sentence people to such heinous destruction? As I've mentioned in a previous post, the holiness of God cannot coexist with evil. Sin MUST be eliminated. But how can God be righteous and just and loving at the same time? As one pastor put it, "His justice and love came crashing together in the person of Jesus Christ."

Every single one of these judgments that we have seen in the last few posts had to be poured out on someone to pay for the crime of humanity's sin against God. Each and every one of us deserves this fate. We deserve to go to hell. We deserve death and destruction. BUT GOD offered up his son Jesus Christ to take that punishment for us! As Christ, who was perfectly blameless, hung on the cross, the weight of every sin of every person who has ever lived on this earth was hurled upon him, and he took the full brunt of the judgments seen here. He took every last bit of that punishment for us. And when we reach out and take this gift of salvation that Christ has offered us, we become fully innocent and pure in God's eyes. But if we reject Jesus and the debt that he paid, we must then pay it ourselves.

Jesus is coming back! He is coming to rule and to reign. Soon, we are going to see what the Bible has to say about his return and what the future holds for all of us. The best is yet to come!

"Look, I will come as unexpectedly as a thief! Blessed are all who are watching for me, who keep their clothing ready so they will not have to walk around naked and ashamed." Rev. 16:15

Tribulation: The God of Second... and Third, and Fourth Chances

*If you're new to the blog or have missed the previous posts, you can find the other Tribulation and prophecy posts here.

In the last two posts, we have seen the devastating effects of the tribulation, in the reign of the Antichrist and in the wrath of God poured out on an unrepentant world. Soon, we're going to see the final outpouring of wrath before Jesus returns to reign. But first, let's take a look at the incredible ways in which God is going to proclaim his message of salvation to literally every single person on this earth. By the time Christ returns, there will not be a single human being living on this earth who has not heard the message and had the opportunity to either receive or reject Jesus Christ.

The 144,000 Jewish Witnesses:

• Inserted between the sixth and seventh seals opened in chapters 6-8 of Revelation, we read about a group of Jews who will be preserved and supernaturally protected throughout the many judgments of the tribulation.
• Rev. 7:3 shows us an angel proclaiming, "Wait! Don't harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have placed the seal of God on the foreheads of his servants."
• Throughout the book of Revelation, there is a lot of talk about the mark of the beast and the seal of God. It is interesting to note that the mark of the beast can be received on either the forehead or the hand, while the seal of God is only placed on the forehead. Following Satan, or in this case, the Antichrist, and the ways of the world can either be an act of dedicated commitment, one that requires a full surrender of heart and mind (the forehead), or an act of lazy compliance, simply going with the flow and casually following the herd (the hand). Following God, however, requires nothing less than complete mental and spiritual surrender; there is no room for compromise. You are either all in or all out with God.
• These Jews are not preserved and sealed simply because they are Jewish. They must come to a realization and acceptance of Jesus Christ, their messiah, no differently than those who have accepted him before the rapture.
• These individuals are going to be the new evangelists on the earth, now that the church is gone. They will be able to reach people all over the world with the message of salvation, probably through internet devices, as well as word of mouth. The Antichrist will continually seek to destroy them, but he will not be able to lay a finger on them. They will be protected by God for the duration of the tribulation.

The Two Witnesses:

• Chapter 11 describes two men who will stand in front of the temple in Jerusalem, at what some call "The Wailing Wall" and proclaim God's message.
• "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will be clothed in burlap and will prophesy during those 1,260 days." v.3
• There are several speculations as to who these two men will be, though they are nothing more than speculation, since the Bible does not tell us for certain who they are. Some believe them to be Moses and Elijah.
• They will have the ability to supernaturally protect themselves: "If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies." v.5
• They will perform certain signs as part of their witness: "They have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish." v.6
• When their prescribed three and a half years are up, the Antichrist will kill them (v.7), and their bodies will be left to lie in the street (v.8). The world is going to be so thrilled that they are dead that they will gloat over the dead bodies and actually make it into a "holiday" of sorts, exchanging gifts with one another in celebration (v.9-10)
• It is interesting to note here that verse 9 tells us that "all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their bodies." Never before in history has this been a possibility. Not until the use of satellite technology became a reality would it have been possible for the entire world to witness these events with their own eyes as it is happening. You can just imagine the daily, probably 24-hour CNN coverage of these two men as they fulfill their ministry and finally as they are killed. 
• This barbarism goes on for three and a half days, until... "God breathed life into them, and they stood up!" (v.11) These men are going to come back from the dead! And not only that, but God is going to then confirm their ministry: "Then a loud voice from heaven called to the two prophets, 'Come up here!' And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched." (v.12) As this is happening, there is going to be a massive earthquake in Jerusalem which will destroy a tenth of the city and kill 7,000 people. (v.13)

The Three Angels:

• Just in case the 144,000 Jews who are evangelizing the earth and the two witnesses who have performed unimaginable signs and wonders, culminating in their death, resurrection, and visible ascent into heaven are not enough, God is going to send three angels to fly through the air and shout God's message to everyone who is still alive. (Revelation 14:6-13)
• Verses 6-7 tell us, "And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world --to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 'Fear God,' he shouted. 'Give glory to him. For the time has come when he will sit as judge. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.' This first angel proclaims God as the Creator. Never before in history has there been such blatant, world-wide ignorance as to the true nature of God as the Creator, and such a whole-hearted acceptance of evolution and any number of other anti-God scientific theories, even within the church.
• Verse 8 shows us the second angel proclaiming that Babylon is fallen. The great city is about to come to an end.
• Verses 9-11 reveals the third angel, who is adamantly declaring that anyone who takes the mark of the beast is going to endure God's wrath here on earth and then spend eternity in hell, a very real and atrociously painful place. This angel is far from seeker-sensitive. Hell is real. God's wrath is real. And time has seriously run out.

When men thought that they could climb their way up to God and decided to build the tower of Babel, God confused their language so that no one could understand one another. On the day of Pentecost, when the disciples were first filled with the Holy Spirit, God unified the languages of the world, allowing the disciples to speak in one language while those listening heard their words in each of their own native tongues. This will happen again with the two witnesses. The entire world is going to hear the gospel, and there will be no need of translators.

God is already opening hearts and minds around the world, providing the nations with no excuse to continue in their rejection of him. Millions of people are going to disappear in the rapture. But what will people believe? Probably one of the lies that the Antichrist will perpetuate, perhaps that our world has made some sort of evolutionary leap and those who were not evolved enough (the narrow-minded Christians) were eliminated. After the church is gone and the tribulation begins, the world is going to witness signs and wonders of biblical proportion, but rather than recognize God's hand behind all of it and repent, the world will continue to attribute "natural" scientific explanations to the phenomena, believing it all to be a coincidence. God is going to go to unimaginable lengths to make himself known, yet the world will still reject him.

Our God IS a god of second, and third, and fourth, and fifth chances. For those who believe and call on the name of Jesus Christ, our "chances" to obey and to "get it right" never expire. God will continually pardon all sin over and over again, stand us back up on our feet when we fall and help us to walk rightly. But the rejection of Jesus Christ is the one sin that God says is UNforgivable, and we only have so many chances to turn from it. Some people get more chances than others. You never know how many more chances you, a loved one, or the guy sitting next to you on the bus might have before your or their time is up. 

Change your life. God's kingdom is here. Matthew 3:2 (The Message)

Tribulation: The Seven Trumpets

Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord. After he has slaughtered the bull as a sin offering, he will fill an incense burner with burning coals from the altar that stands before the Lord.

Then he will take two handfuls of fragrant powdered incense and will carry the burner and the incense behind the inner curtain. There in the Lord's presence he will put the incense on the burning coals so that a cloud of incense will rise over the Ark's cover --the place of atonement --that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. Lev. 16:11-13 NLT

In the Old Testament, the prayers of God's people would symbolically ascend to heaven through the ceremonial process of burning incense on the altar of the Lord. The smoke that arose from this altar in the temple would always only arise in a steady and straight pillar up towards the heavens, unaffected by the winds. I would imagine that this sign was probably an encouragement to those whose prayers were represented in that offering, a testament to the power and very real presence of the God whom they were praying to.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we pray everyday, believing in faith that those prayers are reaching the "ear" of our Lord. Unlike the Old Testament Jews, we don't have a visible sign that our prayers are being heard. The bride of Christ has prayed for centuries, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven...," wondering how much longer we will have to wait until we will finally receive an answer to that prayer.

During the tribulation, as we learned in the last post, there will be countless martyrs killed by the Antichrist, for their rebellion against him and their faith in Jesus. In the fifth seal that was opened, we heard them cry out to God asking, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:10).

Our heavenly Father has heard every prayer. He has collected every tear. He has wept with us through every heartache. He has answered every prayer, sometimes "yes", sometimes "no", and often times, simply "wait". Well, the wait is almost over. God is finally going to respond to that Matthew 6:10 prayer. His kingdom IS coming to earth. His will, as it has always been in heaven, IS going to be carried out on earth. Christ is coming to rule and to reign. But before that happens, God is going to answer the prayer of the martyrs...

When the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets.

Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God's holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. Rev. 8:1-4

This scene appears to be similar to the one described in Leviticus, but the angel is about to do something quite different...

Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake. Rev. 8:5 (emphasis added)

These prayers aren't just rising up to God. They are being hurled at the earth, resulting in another (we saw the first in the last post) worldwide earthquake. The seven judgments that follow are God's response to our prayers and to the prayers of the martyred tribulation saints for justice to be served against evil on this earth...

The first four trumpets:

• "Hail and fire mixed with blood" are thrown down to the earth, causing one-third of the earth to be set on fire, burning one-third of all grass and trees. (Rev. 8:7)
• A "great mountain of fire", perhaps a meteor or some other object from space, is thrown into the sea. One-third of the water in the sea turns to blood, one-third of all oceanic life dies, and one-third of all ships on the sea are destroyed. (Rev. 8:8-9)
• A "great star", again, perhaps an asteroid, falls from the sky. This judgment causes one-third of all fresh water to be turned bitter, killing many people who drink it. (Rev. 8:10-11)
• Verse 12 describes the results of the fourth trumpet judgment, stating that one-third of the sun, moon and stars will be struck, causing them to grow dark.

After the unimaginable devastation that these first four judgments have caused, one might think that it can't possibly get any worse. Yet, we see in verse 13 a warning of the judgments that are to follow:

Then I looked, and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air. "Terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets." 

The fifth trumpet, which brings the first terror (or woe) from Rev. 9:1-12:

• At this point, God unleashes something from within the earth, which John describes as "locusts". These creatures are not ordinary locusts, however. There is much speculation about what exactly these things are. We may not know for sure what they are, but we do know what they are capable of. Verse 3 says they have "power to sting like scorpions."
• We are actually first introduced to these creatures not in Revelation, but in Joel chapter 2. We read there that they "charge forward like war horses" (v.4). They "march like warriors and scale city walls like soldiers. Straight forward they march, never breaking rank. They never jostle each other; each moves in exactly the right position. They break through defenses without missing a step. They swarm over the city and run along its walls. They enter all the houses, climbing like thieves through the windows." (v.7-9)
• Back in Revelation 9, we see that "they were told not to harm the grass or plants or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were told not to kill them but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting." (v.5) Five months of torture with no rest and no relief. "In those days people will seek death but will not find it. They will long to die, but death will flee from them!" (v.6)

The sixth trumpet, which brings the second terror from Rev. 9:13-21:

• In this judgment, we see four demonic beings which are about to be unleashed upon the earth.
• We read about these demons in Jude 6, where it says, "God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment." These demons are so evil, so violent, so horrific, that God bound them, keeping them from roaming the earth until this point. During the tribulation, they are finally going to be released. Revelation 9:15 says, "Then the four angels (fallen angels or demons) who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one-third of all the people on earth."
• As John is witnessing this and recording it, he knows how ridiculous all of this is going to sound. He tells us that these demons are going to be leading an army of 200 million troops. He prefaces this by saying, "I heard the size of their army"(v.16). He's saying, "Look, I know an army of this size has never existed, but I heard it. I saw it. This is real!"
• These demons and their armies bring with them three plagues of fire, smoke, and burning sulfur, killing one-third of the earth's population. (v.18)

One judgment after another. God's wrath poured out on the earth with even more to follow. And after all of this, the earth's cry will still be one of hatred and blasphemy against God. Even still, the people of earth will not repent...

But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood --idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts. Rev. 9:20-21

Through all of this, God is still extending his hand of grace. He is offering every possible opportunity for the lost to repent and turn to Him. In the next post, we'll see some of the incredible ways God is going to declare his message of salvation during the tribulation. Thankfully, some will hear that message and finally receive the Lord as their savior. But sadly, many will not. As we saw in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, we don't have forever to make that decision. God's grace and forgiveness of sin is unlimited to those who repent and call on him. But our number of chances to respond to his call is not unlimited. If we continually reject Jesus, our hearts will become hardened and we will be lost forever.

And those who choose to walk away from God will face the judgments seen here. Soon, we'll take a look at God's FINAL outpouring of wrath, the bowl judgments, which are initiated by the seventh trumpet blast...

Tribulation: The Seven Seals

And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 

Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?"... 

"...Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals."... 

Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. Rev. 5:1-2,5,7 NKJV

In the past several posts, we have been reminded of the very real judgment that is coming upon this earth and have seen how the events of this world are lining up with prophecy in a way which indicates that time is coming very soon. Now, as we jump into the actual events of the tribulation, we are going to see the beginnings of that judgment finally being realized. In this chapter, we are given a picture, as Jesus revealed to John, of these seals being broken one by one, and as they are, certain events are taking place on earth....

And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. Rev. 6:2 NKJV

The first seal introduces the antichrist. As I mentioned in the last post, the image used to describe him here is indicative of the pattern that will follow for the next several years: one of mimicking Jesus Christ. As always, Satan offers us a cheap imitation of the real thing; often times, even for a Christian, the things we believe to be good and beneficial and worthy of our time and attention are really just Satan's lies, infused with enough truth to fool the eye (and the heart), offering us a "harmless" distraction from the genuine things of heaven. The antichrist will be this for the world. He will be allowed to rule for a period of 7 years and he will successfully convince many that he can save them, that he can help them, and that he cares for them. But those who choose to follow him will pay the ultimate price.

Then another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere. Rev. 6:4 NLT

This horse represents war on the earth. When the antichrist enters the picture, he will appear to be a peacemaker. But this "peace" will quickly fade, and there will again be war throughout the world.

I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, "A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day's pay. And don't waste the olive oil and wine." Rev. 6:5-6 NLT

This horse is representative of famine and scarcity on earth. This is a famine the likes of which the world has never seen before. We're not talking a little inconvenience like having to go to three different stores to find your favorite potato chips. We're talking real, devastating, famine. The entire world is going to go hungry.

So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. Rev. 6:8 NKJV

This verse tells us that the antichrist and those who follow him are going to be allowed to kill one fourth of the world's population. The ones who are killed will be those who resist the antichrist and the one world government, due to their new found faith in Jesus Christ.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed. Rev. 6:9-11 NKJV

As a result of the previous seal, the ones who have been killed for their faith in Jesus are now crying out to God, begging him to avenge their deaths. But God tells them to wait a little while longer. There are going to be more who are martyred for their faith, and when that number has been fulfilled, God will respond to their cry. We're going to see later God's wrath fully poured out on an evil world.

I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.

And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.

Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.

And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" Rev. 6:12-17 NKJV

In these verses, we see an earthquake unlike anything the world has ever experienced before. Now, the power of God aside, his ability to erase this planet from existence aside, scientists and geologists will all tell you that it's just a matter of time anyways until we finally experience "the big one." There are massive amounts of scientific evidence which indicate earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, meteors in space that have barely missed us on a collision course, and any number of other natural disasters that are believed to be realities for this planet. Many will agree that it's not a matter of if, but when. Well, God's about to unzip the zipper if you will on the world's fault lines, tectonic plates, etc. (I'm clearly not a scientist.) This earthquake is the beginning of many natural disasters that will soon follow. It is going to be so devastating that it is going to cause the sky to go black, possibly from massive amounts of volcanic ash flooding the skies. The "stars" are going to be falling; as John understood it, the "stars", possibly meteors were falling to earth. Every mountain and island will be moved out of place. EVERY mountain and island. And the world's response? Not surrender to God or a plea for mercy, but rather a further rejection of God, a plea to the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of God.

And the seal that follows is God's response to those earlier cries of the martyrs...

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour... Rev. 8:1

The seventh seal leads us into a new set of judgments, the trumpet judgments, and the weight of their destruction is so devastating that it causes the entirety of heaven to stand in silence for half an hour.

This should be our response now. We should look at these judgments and respond with reverence and awe at the incomprehensible power of our God. Our God is righteous and good. He cannot coexist with evil, and these judgments are the beginning of the end. He is finally going to put an end to evil, and you must make a choice now whether you want eternal life and peace with the Creator, or eternal pain, suffering, and death with Satan. Sin is an unpardonable affront to the holiness of God. It must be paid for. The Good News is that Jesus paid that price for you! He took the weight of each and every one of these judgments that we have seen and will continue to see upon his shoulders. He paid the price. But you have to claim it. If you reject him, then you simultaneously commit yourself to paying the price yourself, in these judgments if you are here to live through them, and ultimately in hell for eternity. God doesn't desire anyone to go to hell. Yet people choose that fate when they reject his free gift of salvation.

Don't destine yourself for a fate that you don't have to endure. And don't watch loved ones, or even strangers, enter this fate either without taking the opportunity to share the gospel with them.

In the next post, we will see the trumpet judgments poured out on the earth, and the blood of the martyrs finally avenged. It's going to get much much worse before it gets better...

Tribulation: The Key Players

Beginning with this post, I plan to give a broad overview of what will be happening in the world during the tribulation, a time that I strongly believe is going to be here very soon, beginning with a rundown of the key individuals who will be "running the show" here on earth.

Remember that if you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, you will not be here (1 Thess. 5:9). Also, remember that this information should not scare you (2 Tim. 1:7). The study of ALL prophecy, including end times prophecy should draw us closer to God, confirm the power and sovereignty of God, and ignite within us an insatiable urgency to spread the gospel.

Let's get started! Who are the key players?

The One World Government:

• We see in Daniel 2 (Nebuchadnezzar's dream) and Daniel 7 (the four beasts), a picture of 4 different world kingdoms. Through Daniel, God predicted in great detail the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Greek Empire, and the Roman Empire.
• The reference to the Roman Empire is one and the same as that of the fifth and final empire which will arise in the last days under the rule of the Antichrist. (Dan. 2:41-43; 7:7,23-25)
• The reason the Roman Empire and the final world kingdom are referenced with the same imagery is because this one world government will arise out of the ancient Roman empire (Dan. 7:24a); There will be a 10-nation confederation within Europe, 10 nations whose origins are rooted in ancient Rome and, ultimately, in ancient Babylon. There will be a resurrection of Babylon.
• There will be 10 "kings" or political rulers who will form this union, but when the Antichrist, who may or may not be one of the 10, rises to power, he will replace 3 of them. (Dan. 7:24b)

The Antichrist:

• The Antichrist is a human being who is quite possibly demon-possessed, though he is NOT possessed by Satan, nor is he Satan himself.
• He is referred to several different ways throughout Scripture: Satan's seed (Gen. 3:15), a king (Dan. 8:23, 11:36), a prince (Dan. 9:26), the man of sin and the son of perdition (2 Thess. 2:3), the lawless one (2 Thess. 2:8,9), antichrist (the only time he is actually referred to by this name) (1 John 2:22).
• He will be immensely popular (Rev. 13:3). He will likely be elected to his position of power. He will appear to be a friend to Israel, a false shepherd, a wolf in sheep's clothing (Zech. 11:15-17), which will allow him to form the 7-year peace treaty with her (Dan. 9:27a), but half-way through the tribulation, he will break the treaty, setting himself up in the rebuilt temple, claiming that he is God and demanding to be worshipped (Dan. 9:27b).
• He, as Satan has always done, will mimic Christ in many ways, appearing to be like God, and eventually actually claiming to be God:
• He will appear and claim to be a savior and a redeemer, something the world is going to be desperate for in the midst of the chaos that will ensue after millions of people disappear from this earth in the rapture.
• He is depicted in Revelation 6:2 as the rider on a white horse, an image that we readily attribute to Christ. Yet, while Christ wields the sword, this rider carries only a bow, with no arrows to speak of. This "savior" will be all talk and no action. He will be empowered by Satan and allowed by God to perform many signs and wonders, but he holds no real eternal power.
• He will be "mortally wounded" (though it is unclear whether he will actually die or only appear to die) and will be resurrected, as Christ was, causing the world to be in awe of him. (Rev. 13:3)
• He will offer promises much like those of Jesus, but his words will be empty. He, like Satan, is entirely self-serving. He is blood thirsty and he is arrogant and proud. He will lure the world in with sweet words of promise and false values, but he will devour those who turn to him. He wants everyone to worship him, and during the second half of the tribulation, he will be given the power to pursue that passion at all costs.
• He, in conjunction with Satan himself and with the false prophet, is the "son" of this UNholy trinity, meant again to mimic the holy trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Satan being like the "father" and the false prophet like the "spirit". 

The False Prophet:

• This man is the Antichrist's cohort. He will be the spokesperson, pointing the world's eyes towards Satan and the Antichrist.
• Revelation 13:11 says he will appear as a "lamb" but will speak like a "dragon". Again, he will be a wolf in sheep's clothing.
• Verses 12 through 14 tell us he is granted the same power as the Antichrist through Satan (and allowed by God) to perform all kinds of signs and wonders, deceiving the world. He will claim to be the true prophet of God and will proclaim the Antichrist to be God.
• He will be given authority to enforce the worship of and allegiance to the Antichrist, forcing everyone on earth to either receive the mark of the beast or be killed. (Rev. 13:16-18)
• He will be the leading force, along with the Antichrist, that will persecute and kill all who believe in Christ during the tribulation and resist the Antichrist.

Take-away: 

Notice the recurring theme in the descriptions of these individuals: They are fully evil yet appear to be good, faithful, and self-sacrificing; true friends for a hurting world in a time of desperation and need. They are repeatedly referred to throughout the Bible as wolves in sheep's clothing as well as other symbols of deception. Satan himself is said to "masquerade as an angel of light." (2 Corin. 11:14) Satan does not appear to us as the true beast that he is, the great dragon described in Revelation 13:1. He appears in the sweetest, most tantalizing, most appealing, most relatable, most culturally relevant and logical ways. And once he's hooked you, he will devour you. Hell was not created for humans; it was created for Satan and his angels. But he is determined to take as many people with him as possible, and he's going to be working in overtime during these last days before the rapture and especially during the tribulation to accomplish that task.

It is so important to understand the deceptive power and mysterious nature of Satan and of the antichrist. Many may hear these words and tell themselves that when they see these things happen, when people disappear, then they'll believe, but God tells us that this will NOT happen:

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thess. 2:9-12

If you don't believe now, you won't believe then. If you don't love truth now, you won't love truth then. If you harden your heart now, it will be hardened forever. You will believe the lies that Satan will so cleverly and logically proclaim through the antichrist. There will be many who come to Christ during the tribulation. As far as I know, the Bible doesn't specify, but perhaps they will be people who have never heard before or whose hearts were not ready. But I believe, based on this verse above, that for the most part, anyone who has had the opportunity before the rapture and has rejected Christ, perhaps repeatedly, that God will harden their hearts and they will NOT be able to receive him. You have to make that choice NOW, before it is too late. And you have to be committed to sharing the gospel with the world around you.

Finally, we must remember, as always, that GOD IS IN CONTROL. 

Zechariah 11:16 says, "For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces."

GOD will raise up the antichrist and the false prophet. He is preparing these men to fulfill prophecy that was written thousands of years ago. Satan empowers these men, but only to the extent that God allows it. Never believe for one second that it is even a close or "fair" fight. God IS in control, and God WILL win the battle and He WILL reign for eternity. Satan has been given this world for a time. And the Antichrist will likewise be given authority and power for 3 and a half years, during the second half of the tribulation. But when that time is up, Christ will return and will snuff out this evil ruler once and for all.

Do you recognize the battlefield that you are living in right now? Do you recognize Satan for who he really is and all of the "pleasant" things he has used to invade your life? As a believer in Jesus Christ, are you aware of the battle that is being fought around you? Do you trust that God is sovereign and that the battle belongs to him? Do you believe the prophecies written in his word, and will you take them to heart, take them literally, and let them ignite a fire in your heart to share the gospel with everyone around you? You cannot serve God with one hand and the world with the other. Who do you serve?