Tick Tock Time Is Running Out – Part 3
Last week when we were together, I had said I wasn’t going to get into the finer details of the Great Tribulation. I felt that what happens during the Tribulation is really quite horrific and I didn’t think it was necessary to present it to you, being we weren’t specifically doing a study on the book of Revelation.
Well, the Lord has impressed upon me this past week to teach on it, so that’s what I’ll do. When you sense that the Lord is speaking to you, the best thing to do is listen.
We finished our study last week talking about the battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ, which marks the end of the Tribulation period. We will take a few steps back and examine just what the coming wrath of God might look like for the world.
Judgment and justice – does God have the right to do what He does? Of course He does, He’s God, He can do whatever He pleases… thank God that He is a Holy God.
Amos 5:24
“But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
It’s in our nature to desire justice, except when it comes to our own personal behavior, then we’re not too keen on it. We want things to be done fairly, that there is equity for us all.
Deuteronomy 32:4
“He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are justice, a God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.”
We live in a world of injustice. Because of the fall of mankind and the sinful nature we inherited from Adam, we all have a propensity to turn away from what is morally right, and lean toward what is morally wrong. The result is that we live amid partiality and unfairness, and even as we honor the concept of justice, we see many examples of the corruption of justice.
Believers look forward to the day when the Lord returns and establishes true justice on the earth. Whatever injustice exists in this world, God has promised, “He will repay.”
Romans 12:19
“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.”
The Tribulation is a future time period when the Lord will accomplish at least two aspects of His divine plan: (1) He will complete His discipline of the nation Israel (Daniel 9:24), and (2) He will judge the unbelieving, godless inhabitants of the earth (Revelation 6 – 18).
Last week we touched on the single event that will start the Tribulation, and that is the signing of a covenant between the antichrist and Israel. This comes from Dan. 9:27:
“Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”
The signing of this covenant will begin the seven-year countdown to Jesus’ Second Coming.
Some refer to the Tribulation as “The Day of the Lord.” The day of the Lord is a time in which God will actively control and take over history in a very direct way.
Isa. 34:2, 5
“For the indignation of the Lord is against all nations, and His fury against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them, He has given them over to the slaughter.”
(5) “For My sword shall be bathed in heaven; indeed it shall come down on Edom, and on the people of My curse, for judgment.”
These Scriptures point to a future date, and as I stated last time, the Christian need not worry because they will be Raptured up to heaven before these things begin.
The signing of the covenant will be the coming out party for the antichrist.
II Thess. 2:3, 8-10
“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,”
(8-10) “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 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.”
The antichrist will be the great deceiver of the world, he will make our current politicians look like kindergarteners. He will perform counterfeit signs and wonders that will fool the nations. He will come at a time when the world will be extremely hungry for peace.
Amir Tsarfati says, “The antichrist. Is there any name on earth, other than satan or Lucifer, that causes as much fear? For many, it is like saying, “Bath time” to a dog… the dog just wants to run and hide. And rightfully so. The antichrist will fully live up to the hype that his name invites. He will be a servant of satan, and he will serve his master well. It’s no wonder that the name most often given for him is the quite descriptive moniker “beast.”
Once the antichrist emerges into power, it’s just a matter of times before he gets to a place of complete global domination. With the signing of the covenant he will have Israel in the palm of his hand. The antichrist will let the Jews rebuild the temple they have so longed for, but later on, he will snatch it away from them.
Rev. 5:1
“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.”
The number seven in the Bible indicates completeness or perfection.
The opening of the Seal Judgments is coming, but first we have the 144,000 Jewish evangelists coming on the scene.
Rev. 7:4
“And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.”
Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that only 144,000 persons since the time of Jesus can ever go to heaven, they are to be co-rulers with Christ Jesus over the inhabitants of a paradise on earth. They also believe that the soul dies when the body dies and must wait until the resurrection before Jehovah “remembers” the personality of the deceased and matches it to a new, physical body. Those who are part of the 144,000 will be given spiritual bodies, but everyone else will be given a fleshly body.
This is completely contrary to what the Bible teaches. Some Christians have taken the 144,000 as a metaphor referring to the church. However, the context indicates our verse is referring to 144,000 Jewish men, 12,000 from each tribe who are alive during the Tribulation.
Many Bible teachers believe that these 144,000 witnesses will come early during the Tribulation, so that the believers who are martyred in the 5th Seal Judgment are among the fruit of their labors. Some think that these Jews will come to believe in Christ like Paul’s experience. Bible scholar Dwight Pentecost refers to I Cor. 15:8, which says,
“Then last of all He (Jesus) was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.”
Pentecost believes Paul may have been alluding to his 144,000 Jewish tribulation brothers, who would be spiritually “born” in a way similar to him, only Paul was spiritually born far before them. It’s an interesting concept.
Apart from the 144,000 witnesses, God will raise up two mighty witnesses. These two guys will be amazing to say the least, as they will have supernatural powers at their disposal.
Rev. 11:3-6
“And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.”
People will be saved because of these two witnesses. Many think they are Moses and Elijah. The last time they were referenced in the Bible was at the mount of transfiguration with Jesus. The miracles these two witnesses will perform will be comparable to that of Moses and Elijah. One thing is for sure, you do not want to be seen as an enemy of the two witnesses.
The world will have a great hatred for them:
Rev. 11:7-12 (Gives us their story)
“When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.” And their bodies will lie in the main street of Jerusalem, the city that is figuratively called “Sodom” and “Egypt,” the city where their Lord was crucified. And for three and a half days, all peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will stare at their bodies. No one will be allowed to bury them. All the people who belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them. But after three and a half days, God breathed life into them, and they stood up! Terror struck all who were staring at them. 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.”
Tim LaHaye writes, “The witness of these two men will be helping those who receive the Lord to return to normal thinking. It is probable that they will be special witnesses of God to the Holy Land, whereas the 144,000 are witnesses throughout the entire earth.”
Now come the Seal Judgments…
J.I. Packer from his book “Knowing God” speaks of God’s Judgment; “The reality of divine judgment, as a fact, is set forth on page after page of Bible history. God judged Adam and Eve, expelling them from the Garden and pronouncing curses on their future earthly life (Gen. 3). God judged the corrupt world of Noah’s day, sending a flood to destroy mankind (Gen. 6-8). God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, engulfing them in a volcanic catastrophe (Gen. 18-19). God judged Israel’s Egyptian taskmasters, just as He foretold He would (Gen. 15:14), unleashing against them the terrors of the ten plagues (Ex. 7-12). God judged those who worshipped the golden calf, using the Levites as His executioners (Ex. 32:26-35). God judged Nadab and Abihu for offering Him strange fire (Lev. 10), as later He judged Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who were swallowed up in an earth tremor. God judged Israel for unfaithfulness to him after their entry into Canaan (Judg. 2:11).”
For anyone to think that God’s future judgment of the world which is foretold in Scripture many times will never take place is pure folly. The first set of judgments to come upon the world will be the Seal Judgments. There are seven.
Jesus begins to open the Seals, and we are introduced to the Four Horsemen:
1st Seal – The rider of the white horse… the antichrist goes out to conquer and make war (Rev. 6:1-2).
2nd Seal – The rider of the red horse… peace is removed from the earth; people will be killing each other like never before. (3-4) The peace the world was so hungry for at the signing of the covenant will evaporate.
3rd Seal – The rider of the black horse… there will be widespread famine everywhere, most likely because wars will be breaking out all throughout the land. Things like food, water and medicine will be in very short supply.
Matt. 24:6
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
Many Christians use this verse as a precursor to the Rapture, but this is where it Scripture applies.
4th Seal – The rider of the pale horse (Death, and Hell followed with him)… means massive casualties will take place because of famine and pestilence (Rev. 6:8b “These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals.”) So, things get even more complicated with wild animals running around. This year it was estimated that the world population stands at 8 billion people. In this first round of judgments 2 billion people will die.
5th Seal – Vast numbers of God’s people are martyred because of their new faith in Jesus Christ. (9-11)
6th Seal – A devastating earthquake will take place followed by cosmic disturbances… “The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind.” (12-13)
Rev. 6:15-16
“Then everyone – the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person – all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb.”
Some speculate that the first half of the Tribulation won’t be all that bad. Hearing of the death of about 2 billion people is not just a walk in the park. When you read Scriptures like this, you have to wonder how some believers think the Church is going to go through the first half of the Tribulation, let alone the whole Tribulation.
7th Seal – This final Seal Judgment results in the unleashing of the Trumpet Judgments, which are even more catastrophic.
It’s important to mention at this point that there are many Bible scholars that do not agree when all these things will occur. The good news is, we won’t be here on earth to witness any of this.
Ron Rhodes says, “A comparison of Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 seems to indicate that these horrific events occur during the first half of the Tribulation period. Woe to those who live on earth during this time, things are about to get even worse.”
As we have talked about before, people will come to salvation during the Tribulation. It goes without saying, that believers will be persecuted, and many will be killed in the name of Christ.
Rev. 2:10
“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Matt. 10:28
“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
What is the worst that can happen to a person? Someone takes their life, but for the believer, they go immediately to be with Jesus, there is nothing to fear about that except perhaps a painful death.
Rev. 8:1
“When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.”
Amir Tsarfati writes; “Heaven may have been quiet for those thirty minutes, but it wasn’t still. Seven angels were standing before God. The Greek word translated “stand” is histemi and is in the perfect tense. What that means is that those angels have been standing there for some time. They were waiting there, and they continue to wait there anticipating the moment when they are called to carry out their special assignment. In preparation for that moment, each of them was given a trumpet.”
The Trumpet Judgments:
1st Trumpet – Hail and fire hit the earth, a third of the earth will be burned up (that’s about 65 million square miles, not including the oceans) “And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. (Rev. 8:7) Some scholars think this might involve nuclear weapons, there’s certainly enough of them to get the job done. As Bob Dylan sings, “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.”
2nd Trumpet – A fiery mountain plunges into the sea, which turns the sea bloody, resulting in a third of the sea creatures dying. This will undoubtably effect the world’s food supply. I wonder how a bloody ocean might smell?
3rd Trumpet – “And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water.” (Rev. 8:10) Some think this might be an asteroid or a huge meteor. “A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.” This knocks out a third of the world’s drinking water.
4th Trumpet – Severe cosmic disturbances occur. “And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night.” (Rev. 8:11-12) Between the dust that will be thrust into the air from an asteroid and the diminished light from the sun, plant life is going to be done, that includes fruits and vegetables. Say good-bye to more food supply.
5th Trumpet – Gruesome demons are released from the bottomless pit, and they attack by torturing mankind for five months. As the bottomless pit is opened, smoke billows out, darkening the sun even more… like that needed to happen. This will be so bad that people will try to kill themselves to get away from the pain.
Rev. 9:7-10
“The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.”
And here’s the kicker, people will want death rather than repenting and turning to God.
6th Trumpet – angels that are bound at the Euphrates River are released, and will kill another third of the population (about another 1 1/2 billion people).
Rev. 9:20-21
“But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
Again, we can see how much mankind loves his sin. To think about how much these people have seen and experienced so far, yet they hate God more than their pain.
7th Trumpet – This last Trumpet Judgment sets up the releasing of the Bowl Judgments. As the judgments move forward, they increase in severity. The people on earth might be thinking things can’t get any worse, but the Bowl Judgments are indeed dreadful.
We’ve reached the half-way point of the Tribulation.
Rev. 10:8-11
“Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.” So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.” And he said to me, “Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. And he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”
Ron Rhodes writes; “John obeyed the angel’s instruction to eat the scroll, and though it was sweet like honey in his mouth, it quickly soured in his stomach. The symbol seems to relate to Scripture. God’s Word was sweet to John, as it is to believers around the world, throughout all ages. After all, the Word of God abounds with the glorious promises of God. The Word of God speaks of victory in the end for God’s people. However, the Word of God is bitter to unbelievers because it includes warnings of woe and judgment. Scripture promises doom, not victory, for those who have rejected God. This passage depicts both sweetness and bitterness in the Word of God.”
Arnold Fruchtenbaum suggests that this approaching tribulation bitterness for unbelievers ought to give us a burden for the lost so that some may be reached for Christ and escape the coming tribulation through the rapture of the church. I’m certain you would agree with Mr. Fruchtenbaum.
Much takes place at this mid-point of the Tribulation; The antichrist is wounded and is seemingly resurrected. Satan is cast out of heaven. The World Church is destroyed. God’s two witnesses are executed and resurrected. The antichrist breaks his covenant with Israel. The abomination of desolation takes place. The false prophet carries out his diabolical ministry. The antichrist blasphemes God. The Jewish remnant flees, and satan makes war on the saints.
The second half of the Tribulation is known as the Great Tribulation. Once the antichrist puts an end to the animal sacrifices in the Jewish temple, he will apparently desolate the temple, and that desolation will continue throughout the second half of the Tribulation. This is one thing that makes this part of the Tribulation so terrible, especially for the Jews.
Another thing that takes place is the “Mark of the Beast,” this is where we get the infamous “666.” You either take the mark of the beast and worship the antichrist or flat out starve, because you won’t be able to buy or sell anything without the mark. This will be a real challenge for the believers and Jews who refuse to take the mark.
The Bowl Judgments:
The Seal and Trumpet Judgments were bad, it brought about death (perhaps around 3 billion people), a total collapse economically, famines, drinking water gone, and many other things… nothing good. And believe it or not, the upcoming Bowl Judgments are much worse.
1st Bowl – foul and loathsome sores came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Other words for “loathsome” are translated as troublesome, injurious, malicious, harmful or destructive. (Rev. 16:2)
Job 2:7
“So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”
This made Job so miserable, his wife said to him, “Curse God and die.” The sores from the Bowl Judgment are probably far worse. This was punishment for taking the mark of the beast.
2nd Bowl – “Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died.” Whatever was alive in the oceans is dead now… Dead and rotting fish and blood like dead men, this should have quite the aroma. (3)
3rd Bowl – “Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying:
“You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink. For it is their just due.” (Rev. 16:4-6)
I imagine drinking water is as scarce as can be.
4th Bowl – “Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory.” (8-9)
And the liberals are so concerned about global warming… I wonder what they’ll be thinking at this point?
5th Bowl – “Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.” (10-11)
This reminds me of your typical action movie, where you have the faithful secret agent in a chair, being tortured, beaten to the point of death and he still won’t give up. How hard the hearts of these people must be to not submit to the Lord.
6th Bowl – “Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.” And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.” (12-16)
7th Bowl – This final Bowl Judgment is unleashed in connection with the battle of Armageddon which we covered last week.
It’s inconceivable that after seeing the detailed judgments of what is to come, people will still refuse to repent and ask God to forgive them of their sins. They love their sin so much that they’re willing to endure the hardest and most agonizing judgments. In the end, their future will be the lake of fire, and they will never be able to say to God that they weren’t given the chance to come to salvation.
Then there are the ones who heeded God’s warnings, they saw what was going on all around them and they realized that they needed to turn to the only true and living God. Of these people, the ones who actually survive the Tribulation, they will be granted entrance into the Millennium Kingdom with Jesus.
It’s important to know that Israel finally accepts Jesus as their Lord and Messiah.
Zech. 13:8-9
“And it shall come to pass in all the land,” says the Lord, “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one-third shall be left in it: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; and each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
The sad news is 2/3rds of Israel will die throughout the Tribulation.
The book of Revelation shows us that many of the people who were left behind at the Rapture will respond to the gospel that will be preached in so many ways.
Rev. 7:9-10
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
As we close this section, what message can we glean from learning about the coming judgment?
First of all, we must give thanks to God, that He will spare all believers from what is to come. Second, knowing how horrendous life will be during the Tribulation, we should have a sense of urgency for our family and friends who do not belong to Jesus. This is no time to be shy or apprehensive about telling them how to be saved through Jesus. Continue to pray for them, then ask God to help you reach them in some way.