The next most glorious prophesied event in the Bible is the Second Coming of God’s only begotten Son Yeshua Elohim, Jesus Christ. The Bible is abundantly clear that Jesus Christ will return to earth, and He will return in the same way as He left.
Acts 1:9-11
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
Jesus left earth from the Mount of Olives and rose up into a cloud in the sky to ascend to heaven. Jesus will return to the Mount of Olives in the same way as He left, returning on the clouds of heaven.
Matthew 24:30
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Jesus’s disciples understood that the return of Jesus Christ would mark the end of this present age and the beginning of the next age, the Millennial Age. They wanted to know if Jesus would give a sign before His return.
Matthew 24:3
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when these things will be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Christ answered them by saying that a number of prophesied events would happen before His actual return to earth. He divided this period of prophesied events into three periods, which are: ‘The Beginning of Sorrows’, ‘The Tribulation’ and ‘The Great Tribulation’.
It is very important to properly understand and distinguish between these three periods of prophesied events. So now, let us fully understand from the Bible what actually will take place during each of these three prophesied periods.
THE BEGINNING OF SORROWS
Matthew 24:4-8
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 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. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Christ lists a number of events that will happen during the period referred to as ‘the beginning of sorrows’, which are:
- many people will be deceived by false teachers and false prophets
- there will be wars and rumours of wars
- there will be famines
- there will be pestilences
- there will be earthquakes
Some Bible Versions, like the NIV, translate ‘the beginning of sorrows’ as ‘the beginning of birth pains’.
How absolutely accurate the Bible is. These events have all been happening over hundreds of years since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. However, these are not the sign of His imminent return because Jesus says, in Matthew 24:8 above, that they are only ‘the beginning of sorrows’. Jesus Christ then goes on to mention the next important period, which is the period of the Tribulation.
THE TRIBULATION
Matthew 24:9
Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
Jesus Christ says that there will be a future period of Tribulation during which God’s people will be hated by all nations and many of them will be martyred for Christ’s name sake. It must be clearly understood that the verse above is not referring to unredeemed Israelites or Jews from the nation of Israel, but it is specifically and solely referring to Redeemed Spiritual Israel, True Believers from both the nation of Israel and the Gentile nations, who will be alive during this future period of Tribulation. These are indeed a part of the 144,000 Firstfruits, God’s Elect who have been chosen from the foundation of the earth to be saved before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, and they will rise in the First Resurrection as the Bride of Christ to rule and reign with Christ during the Millennial Age and beyond forever. We have covered the subject of the 144,000 Firstfruits in detail in Chapter 9.
The Bible is abundantly clear that the period of the Tribulation will last for three and a half years, as mentioned in several scriptures such as Daniel 7:25, 12:7 and Revelation 11:2, 11:3, 12:6, 12:14, 13:5, and it is referred to in terms of ‘a time, times and half a time’, 42 months and 1260 days. The Tribulation period will then be followed by ‘The Great Tribulation’ period, at the end of which Jesus Christ actually returns to earth.
The 3½-year Tribulation period is referred to as the time of Satan’s wrath against God’s true church, the true Believers (Revelation 12:12). However, the Great Tribulation period is referred to as the time ofGod’s wrath against this whole fallen world; its political, economic, military and religious systems, which are under the deception of Satan (Revelation 6:17). We will prove to you later, scripturally, that the Great Tribulation will last for only one year.
The Bible tells us that just prior to the 3½-year Tribulation period an immensely powerful world kingdom will emerge, consisting of ‘every tribe, tongue and nation’, with a powerful dictatorial world leader as its head. The Prophet Daniel prophesied about this kingdom as being the fourth kingdom, when God gave him the interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image.
Daniel 2:40
The fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, in as much as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.
Notice that this fourth kingdom will be immensely powerful and it will break in pieces and crush all the others. This fourth kingdom was again prophesied about by Daniel, when he himself had a vision of four beasts coming up from the sea, each different from the other. The fourth beast, which is the fourth kingdom, was different from all the others and exceedingly dreadful.
Daniel 7: 23-25
23 The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces 24 The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. 25 He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.
Notice, the following important points in this prophecy. The fourth beast is a fourth kingdom on earth, which will be different from the previous three kingdoms in that ‘it shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces’ (verse 23). The ten horns that are on the beast represent ten kings with kingdoms. Another horn appears amongst the ten horns, and he will ‘subdue’ three of the kings (verse 24), which means that a powerful leader will arise, who will bring three kings with their kingdoms directly under his authority; and because he will become immensely powerful, the remaining seven kingdoms will ultimately also come under his authority and he will rule the whole earth. During the time of this fourth kingdom, the saints (Spiritual Israel, True Believers) shall be given into his hand for ‘a time and times and half a time’, meaning for 3½ years, which is the Tribulation period.
Why four Kingdoms?
There have been many kingdoms in the history of humanity, so what is so significant about the four kingdoms (four beasts) prophesied by Daniel? Their significance is that all of these kingdoms are directly linked to ‘the abomination of desolation’ spoken of by the prophet Daniel in Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11, and referred to by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:15.
Matthew 24:15
Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand).
So, what exactly does the expression ‘the abomination of desolation’ mean?
The Abomination of Desolation
When God’s Temple in Jerusalem, where God’s Spirit dwelt in the holy of holies, was destroyed or desecrated by an invading kingdom, then ‘the abomination of desolation’ was committed. However, after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s Spirit does not dwell in a physical temple, but only in a Spiritual Temple, in God’s redeemed people, in the Body of Christ on earth. It is an abomination to God if anyone defiles or kills a true believer, who is the temple of God in whom God’s Spirit dwells.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
With the above understanding of ‘the abomination of desolation’, we are now in a position to identify the four kingdoms, three of which are historical and one is yet to come.
The first kingdom was the Babylonian kingdom which, under King Nebuchadnezzar II, destroyed the first temple in 587 BC at the siege of Jerusalem, and hence committed ‘the abomination of desolation’. This first kingdom was depicted as the ‘head of fine gold’ of the great image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and the first beast, which looked like a lion, in Daniel’s vision of four beasts (Daniel 2:32, 7:4).
The second kingdom was the Greek Kingdom which, under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175 – 164 BC), desecrated the second Temple in Jerusalem by raiding the temple and sacrificing swine on the altar, hence also committing ‘the abomination of desolation’. This second kingdom was depicted as the ‘chest and arms of silver’ of the great image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and the second beast which looked like a bear, in Daniel’s vision of four beasts (Daniel 2:32, 7:5).
The third kingdom was the Roman Empire which, under four emperors: Tiberius, Nero, Titus and Domitian, persecuted and killed not only Jesus Christ, but also many of God’s people (God’s Spiritual Temple) in Jerusalem and elsewhere. Hence, it also committed ‘the abomination of desolation’. This third kingdom was depicted as the ‘belly and thighs of bronze’ of the great image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and the third beast which looked like a leopard with four heads in Daniel’s vision of four beasts (Daniel 2:32, 7:6).
There is yet one more kingdom prophesied, the fourth kingdom yet to come, which will commit ‘the abomination of desolation’ during the future 3½ years of the Tribulation. This fourth kingdom was depicted as ‘legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay’ in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, and the fourth beast that was ‘dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong’ in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 2:33, 7:7). The leader (head) of this fourth kingdom, who commits ‘the abomination of desolation’ is described in terms of ‘a little horn’ who shall speak pompous words against the Most High and shall persecute the saints of the Most High (Daniel 7:8, 20 and 25). This leader will be Gog, who is clearly prophesied about in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
An important point to note in Daniel’s vision of the four beasts is that these four beasts, which are four kingdoms, have altogether seven heads (seven leaders), who commit ‘the abomination of desolation’. Three of these kingdoms with six heads (King Nebuchadnezzar, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Tiberius, Nero, Titus and Domitian) are historical, but one, the fourth kingdom with a supreme head, who will be Gog, is yet to come. This point becomes very relevant when we next consider Apostle John’s vision of the beast with seven heads and ten horns.
Apostle John’s vision of a Beast, depicting the same four Kingdoms
The book of Revelation is the prophesied end-time events given through visions to Apostle John when he was exiled on the island of Patmos. Like Daniel, John also had a vision of a beast coming up out the sea, meaning the sea of humanity.
Revelation 13:1-2
1 Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
It is important to note the similarities between the beast in John’s vision in the scripture above and the four beasts in Daniel’s vision as given in Daniel 7:3-8. In fact, the beast in John’s vision with seven heads and ten horns is a ‘composite’ beast of the same four successive beasts (four kingdoms) depicted in Daniel’s vision. This becomes clear once we note the following points:
1. The beast in John’s vision and also the four beasts in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7:3) came out of the sea, meaning ‘the sea’ or ‘the waters’ of humanity, as indicated by Revelation 17:15.
2. A part of the beast in John’s vision looked like a lion, which was the first beast in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7:4).
3. A part of the beast in John’s vision looked like a bear, which was the second beast in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7:5).
4. A part of the beast in John’s vision looked like a leopard, which was the third beast in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7:6).
5. The beast in John’s vision had ten horns, and so did the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision (Daniel 7:7).
6. The beast in John’s vision had seven heads (seven leaders), and so did all four beasts put together in Daniel’s vision, six are past and one is yet to come, as discussed previously.
However, it needs to be understood that John was given the vision during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, who was the sixth head; and that is why in Revelation 17:10, it says, ‘There are also seven kings (heads), five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come’. So, during John’s vision, which was about 95 AD, the first five heads who were Nebuchadnezzar II, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Tiberius, Nero and Titus had fallen, and Domitian who was the sixth head was still ruling, but the seventh head, Gog, was yet to come.
Therefore, it should now be clear that the beast in John’s vision with seven heads and ten horns depicts the same four successive kingdoms, depicted by the four beasts in Daniel’s vision; which are three historical kingdoms, the Babylonian Kingdom, the Greek Kingdom, the Roman Kingdom, and the fourth kingdom is yet to come.
There is yet one more important reason why we can be sure that the beast in John’s vision is the ‘composite’ beast of all four kingdoms prophesied by the prophet Daniel, three historical and one yet to come. This is because, like the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision, the beast in John’s vision will also persecute and martyr the Saints thus committing ‘the abomination of desolation’ during the Tribulation period of 3 ½ years, which is 42 months, as confirmed by the following scripture.
Revelation 13:5-8
5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
So, putting together the scriptures given above from the books of Revelation and Daniel, we can confidently deduce the following:
Before the 3 ½ years of the Tribulation, the fourth kingdom will emerge. It will be an immensely powerful and world encompassing kingdom consisting of ‘every tribe, tongue and nation’ (Revelation 13:7). This fourth kingdom will consist of ten distinct kingdoms (ten horns), representing every country, language and nation of the world, which we believe are already in existence. These are Russia, China, Europe, Great Britain, North America, South America, Africa, India, the Middle East and the Far East. All other regions of this world will be in alliances with these ten kingdoms.
There will arise from among them, a powerful world leader who will ‘subdue’ or unite three of these ten kingdoms and bring them under his direct authority. We believe that these three kingdoms are most likely to be Europe, Russia and China united under a single powerful leader. Also, all of the other seven kingdoms of the world will ultimately come under the dictatorial leadership of this one single most powerful world leader.
So, the fourth kingdom of Daniel and the Beast with seven heads and ten horns of Revelation represent a world government under one dictatorial leader (the so-called antichrist), who will be so immensely powerful that no country will dare to go against him. This world leader is referred to as ‘Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal’ (Ezekiel 38:2). For ease of reference, we will refer to Gog, the leader of this fourth kingdom, as ‘the Military Beast’.
There will also be another world dominating Beast, but it will be ‘the Religious Beast’ (the false Prophet), that will emerge just prior to the 3½ year period of the Tribulation. This Beast has ‘two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon’ (Revelation 13:11). The Religious Beast will enjoy the same world dominance as the Military Beast, and it will exert its great influence to ‘cause the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast’ (Revelation 13:12), which is the Military Beast.
We believe that this Religious Beast will be a Pope of the Roman Catholic Church which is united with the whole world of so-called Christianity; and in the name of unity, it will become completely ecumenical, embracing all other religions, like Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. This Religious Beast will deceive the whole world (except God’s true believers) by performing great signs ‘so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men’ (Revelation 13:13). The Religious Beast working together with the Military Beast will force people to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads so that they cannot buy or sell unless they have the mark, which is the name of the Military Beast (Gog) or the number of its name, 666 (Revelation 13:16-18).
Of course, it will be Satan himself, the great fiery dragon, who will deceive and inspire both of these Beasts. So, just before the 3½ year period of the Tribulation, we have the scenario of a world dominating political, economic and military power, the Military Beast, operating in complete partnership with a world dominating religious power, the Religious Beast, both of which are under the complete influence and inspiration of Satan and his demonic angels.
During the 3½-year period of the Tribulation, there will be the powerful presence of God’s true Church in Jerusalem and throughout the world. We believe that the number of God’s Elect, who will be alive during the beginning of the Tribulation period will be more than 100,000 people out of the total number of the 144,000 Firstfruits who form the Bride of Christ. The main purpose of the true Church, and especially of the two witnesses spoken about in Revelation 11, will be to powerfully and boldly proclaim the true Gospel of the Kingdom of God in all the world as a witness to all nations (Matthew 24:14). The Good News of the coming Kingdom of God will enrage Satan because ‘he knows that he has a short time’ (Revelation 12:12), and he will inspire the two Beasts to persecute and kill many of God’s people, the Firstfruits, during the Tribulation.
It will be at the beginning of the 3½ years of the Tribulation that Gog, the Military Beast, with his huge army will invade the land of Israel. This is the time when Jerusalem will once again be surrounded by foreign armies, but this time under the leadership of Gog, and ‘the abomination of desolation’ spoken of by Daniel and also referred to by Jesus in Matthew 24:15, will happen.
As previously discussed, by the term ‘the abomination of desolation’, Jesus is referring to the persecution and martyrdom of many of God’s people, God’s Spiritual Temple, by the Military Beast under the inspiration of Satan. Christ warns the true believers in Judea to flee to the mountains when they see the army of the Military Beast surrounding Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15-16). Satan will be furious when he sees God’s true church in Judea (the woman in Revelation 12:13-16) flee to the wilderness, and he will pursue the church using the army of the Military Beast, but God will protect the church in Judea throughout the 3½ years of the Tribulation. However, God will let Satan, working through the Military and Religious Beasts, to persecute and martyr many of God’s Elect, the Firstfruits scattered throughout the world, until the 3½ year period of the Tribulation ends (Revelation 12:13-17).
The two witnesses in Jerusalem will have miraculous powers to strike the earth with plagues if anyone tries to harm them. However, God will let Satan kill them after 3½ years, once their powerful ministry has finished. This will mark the end of the Tribulation period and the start of the next period, the period of the Great Tribulation. However, before the actual period of the Great Tribulation begins, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (the sky/earth’s atmosphere).
The Sign of the Son of Man in Heaven
Matthew 24:29-31
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The three amazing and powerful events described in these verses will happen in rapid succession after the 3½ years of the Tribulation, but before the Great Tribulation begins.
Firstly, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’ There will be an amazing and powerful display of the heavenly bodies in the sky, and God will make the sky temporarily pitch black in preparation for the next event.
Secondly, ‘the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.’ Yes indeed, Jesus Christ will be the only star, ‘the bright morning star’ to appear in heaven (earth’s heaven), the darkened sky of the earth’s atmosphere, and all eyes will see Him coming on the clouds with power and great glory.
Thirdly, ‘He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.’ This is undoubtedly referring to the First Resurrection, the resurrection of God’s Elect, the Bride of Christ, the 144,000 Firstfruits. These include all of God’s Elect who are dead. People like Abel, Abraham, King David, Apostle Paul etc., and all of those who will be alive at the end of the 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. So, God’s Elect, the true believers will rise in their immortal glorified spirit bodies to be with Christ in the sky, and they will be protected from the wrath of God, which will be poured out onto this whole sinful earth during the Great Tribulation period.
‘Christians’ argue about a pre, mid and post-tribulation rapture, when the word rapture is not even mentioned in the Bible. The truth of the Bible is that there will be a Post-Tribulation, but Pre-Great Tribulation resurrection of God’s Elect, the 144,000 Firstfruits, who are the Bride of Christ.
The two witnesses, who will be martyred in Jerusalem, following their 3½-year ministry during the Tribulation period, will be resurrected (Revelation 11:11-12). This of course, is at exactly the same time as all of God’s Elect, the 144,000 Saints, who will rise to meet and welcome the returning Christ in the air, as confirmed by Apostle Paul below.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
These are indeed comforting words for all of God’s Elect, the 144,000 Firstfruits, for those who die before Christ’s Second Coming and for those who will be alive at His return.
THE GREAT TRIBULATION
The period of the Great Tribulation begins after the sign of the Son of Man in heaven (the sky/earth’s atmosphere), and after the First Resurrection of the Saints, the 144,000 Firstfruits. From the start of the Great Tribulation period until Jesus lands His feet on the Mount of Olives denotes the duration of the Great Tribulation period, which is called the Day of God’s wrath (Revelation 6:17).
So, how long will this Day of God’s wrath be? It will be one year in duration as Scripture clearly confirms in Isaiah 34:8 (NIV), “For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution, to uphold Zion’s cause”. Thank God that the length of the Great Tribulation is only one year and not seven years, as mistakenly interpreted by many people from the seventy weeks of Daniel (Daniel 9:24-27). Isaiah Chapter 34:1-8, without doubt, refers to the duration of the Great Tribulation as one year, which will be the most horrific unprecedented time that the world will have ever experienced or would ever experience again, as confirmed by Jesus Christ Himself.
Matthew 24:21
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.
The Bible indicates that up to two-thirds of earth’s population will die as a result of God’s global end-time judgement of the Great Tribulation.
Zechariah 13:8
“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.”
This scripture, referring to Israel, confirms that two-thirds of the Israelites in the land will die during God’s global end-time judgement. Since there is a biblical principle of, “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile” (Romans 2:9,KJV) we can deduce from this scripture and others that two-thirds of the Gentile nations will also die during this global end-time judgement.
The current (2017) world population is estimated to be 7.5 billion, and so, if the Great Tribulation were to start in the near future, we would be talking of about 5 billion people that would be killed during the Great Tribulation period.
The Great Tribulation will be truly horrific. It will be the time of God’s wrath against this whole fallen sinful world, which is deceived by Satan and his demonic angels. All of man’s political, economic, military and religious systems must be and will be destroyed during the Great Tribulation period. Jesus Christ must firstly consume and destroy all of man’s ungodly worldly kingdoms before He establishes His Millennial Kingdom on earth.
Before we give details of the events which will occur during the Great Tribulation period, we need to first comment on what happens when Christ opens the seven seals of the scroll as given in Revelation Chapter 6.
The Seven Seals
The Seven Seals described in Revelation Chapter 6, speak about all three periods: ‘The Beginning of Sorrows’, ‘The Tribulation’ and ‘The Great Tribulation’.
The first Four Seals describe four horsemen, each riding out on a different colour of horse: a white, a red, a black and a pale horse. These are commonly referred to as the four horsemen of the apocalypse. These four Seals speak about the false prophets, wars, famines and pestilences, which are the events that Christ says will happen during ‘the Beginning of Sorrows’ mentioned in Matthew 24:5-7, which we have discussed previously.
The Fifth Seal speaks about the 3½ years of the Tribulation when God’s people will be persecuted and martyred by the two beasts, ‘the Military Beast’ and ‘the Religious Beast’.
The Sixth Seal speaks about the one-year period of the Great Tribulation, the Day of God’s wrath upon this whole sinful fallen world, which is under the deception of Satan. It also refers to the ‘the sign of the Son of Man in heaven’ when the whole world will see Jesus Christ coming on the clouds of heaven with power and glory, as given in Matthew 24:30 and discussed previously.
The Seventh Seal is composed of the seven Trumpets, and the seventh Trumpet itself is composed of seven Bowls. The details of what happens during the period of the Great Tribulation are given in Revelation Chapters 8, 9 and 16, describing therein the seven angels sounding the seven Trumpets and pouring out the seven Bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. Our readers are advised to read these chapters for themselves, as it is not our intention to write every detail here about the wrath of God that will be poured out on the earth. However, we do wish to highlight what happens during the Sixth and Seventh Trumpets.
The Sixth Trumpet and the sixth Bowl of God’s wrath (Revelation 9:13-19, 16:12-16) describes ‘the battle of the great day of God Almighty’, which is the battle of Armageddon. During this battle, God will utterly destroy the huge army of the Military Beast Power under the leadership of Gog, composed of tens of millions of people in armies, occupying the land of Israel.
What about the Religious Beast, the false Prophet? It is interesting to note that before God destroys the Military Beast, it (the Military Beast) will turn against the Religious Beast and make it desolate when the Military Beast realises that the Religious Beast misled and deceived the world through its demon-inspired religion and miracles (Revelation 17:16-17). Revelation 18 speaks about the fall of Babylon the Great, which is the fall of the Religious Beast. It is depicted as the woman riding a scarlet beast in Revelation 17, and referred to as ‘Mystery Babylon, the great Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the earth’. God puts the main blame for the martyrdom of the Saints during the 3½-year Tribulation period on this woman (the false church), as Revelation 17:6 says, “I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”. It should be noted that the true church is also referred to as ‘the woman’ in Revelation 12:13-16, whom Satan persecutes through the two Beasts. So, there is the pure woman (the Bride of Christ) and there is the harlot woman (the False Church).
The Seventh Trumpet with the seventh Bowl finally completes God’s wrath against this ungodly world. This is when the Kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of God, as Revelation 11:15 says, “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’”
However, before Jesus Christ touches His feet down onto the Mount of Olives, there will be ‘a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as would have never before occurred since men inhabited the earth.’ Also, every mountain and island will be moved out its place (Revelation 16:18-20).
God’s massively cataclysmic judgement against this present sinful world, at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, will change the topography and landscape of the whole of the earth’s surface, which is again confirmed in the Bible.
Isaiah 40:3-5
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted And every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight And the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, And all flesh shall see it together; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
We can see from this scripture that God has a dual purpose for His end-time judgement of the Great Tribulation against this present sinful world. Firstly, it is to completely destroy man’s worldly Satan-inspired kingdoms. Secondly, it is to completely transform and prepare the earth’s surface to make the global topography needed for the coming glorious Millennial Kingdom of God on earth.
There is one more task to be completed before Jesus Christ finally touches His feet onto the Mount of Olives, and that is to deal with Satan and his demonic angels.
The Imprisonment of Satan
Revelation 20:1-3
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.
Satan must be put away and as this scripture confirms, he will be imprisoned in the bottomless pit to stop him deceiving the nations during Christ’s glorious thousand-year millennial rule on earth. But what will happen to the multiple billions of demonic angels who were under Satan’s control? Let us show you, from Scripture, that they will be confined in the molten magma (the lake of fire) below the earth’s crust, to await their final judgement during the future the Great White Throne Judgement Age.
Revelation 16:13-14
13 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. 14 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.
Notice that the spirits which come out of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet are all demonic spirits. The dragon is of course Satan himself, the beast is the Military Beast, Gog, and the false prophet is the Religious Beast. It is clear that both of these two people, the Military Beast and the Religious Beast, are under the complete influence and dominance of the demonic powers under Satan’s control. So, the point to understand is that when the Military Beast person (Gog) and the Religious Beast person are destroyed through death during the Great Tribulation period, the spirits controlling them cannot be destroyed physically because they are demonic spirits. However, Scripture says that both of these demonic spirits will be cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone (Revelation 19:20).
During Christ’s Millennial rule, only Satan will be imprisoned in an abyss ‘a bottomless pit’ within the earth’s crust, remaining there for a thousand years, and then, he will be released for a short while for a special purpose. However, the demonic spirits behind the beast and the false prophet, together with all the rest of the demonic beings, will be cast into and confined in the lake of fire (molten magma) below the earth’s crust, to await their final judgement during the Great White Throne Judgement Age, which will be after Christ’s Millennial Age.
Finally, Jesus Christ Returns onto earth to start the Millennial Kingdom
Yes, the day will finally arrive for Jesus Christ to stand on the Mount of Olives with His resurrected Saints, the 144,000 Firstfruits, His Bride, and start God’s glorious Millennial Kingdom on earth.
Zechariah 14:4
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.
Daniel 2:44
And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
The next chapter, Chapter 11, gives details of Christ’s glorious thousand-year Millennial rule, with His resurrected Bride, over the fleshly survivors of the Great Tribulation (approximately one third of the world’s population) and their descendants.