The Great Tribulation-Matt. 24:21

The Fourth Trumpet Judgment . . .

The fourth angel will trumpet God's future judgment on the earth. Revelation 8:10 indicates that a great 'star'/asteroid will hit the earth during the Great Tribulation. Apparently, one third of the water on the earth will be made bitter. The Greek scholar, A.T. Robertson says, ' . . . perhaps a meteor, striking at the fresh-water supply (rivers {patamon} (springs-pegas) as in the first Egyptian plague also.'

There were several varieties of plants in Palestine that produced bitterness. God uses this analogy to indicate what His asteroid is going to do when it hits planet earth after the rapture of the church to Heaven.

William J. Broad's article, "Earth's Early-Warning Effort," in The Press-Enterprise of May 14, 1996 informs us that the Air Force and NASA have teamed up to hunt for "objects that might strike the planet and cause a catastrophe." Only four months into the project, headed by Eleanor Helin of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, they have already discovered four more Earth-crossers by using an Air Force telescope in Hawaii usually used for surveillance of space-craft and satellites. Mr. Broad said,

'To produce a planetary disaster . . . an asteroid or comet would probably have to have a diameter of at least a kilometer, or six-tenths of a mile . . . up to 1,700 of those crossing earth's path might be big enough to wreak global havoc . . . Both asteroids and comets of sufficient size can cause extraordinary damage on Earth because of their enormous speeds, typically many thousands of miles an hour. On impact, the kinetic energy of such objects is converted instantaneously to heat, making them explode with a force equivalent to that of millions of nuclear weapons. {Dr. M.J. Agee, "Revelations 2000" Avon Books, New York, p. 251.

The Seal, Trumpet, Vial . . . . passages are not merely allegorical concepts to be interpreted according to anyone's rendition, but are indicative of what Almighty God has planned for those who refuse and/or do not know Christ in an intimate way.

 

Bob Ryan,

I read Revelation 15 and 16 and these events surely have not taken place in our life time or any previous generations or centuries.

In the mid-west I understand that they have hailstorms that produce hail the size of golf balls. But, in Revelation 16:21, during the Great Tribulation, they will be the weight of one talent, or 75.5 pounds. Not many houses, buildings, or transportation systems will survive this. But, thanks be to God we will be with Him in Heaven worshipping Christ Who sits on the throne and will not be receiving the torrents of punishment that the lost will be experiencing on this earth.

I sure am glad we are both in the faith.

 

Bob Ryan,

' . . . the event of Rev 15 is also literal and is future. It makes way for the Rev. 16 event by taking out of the way the mediatorial ministry of Christ for those on earth and the wrath of God is then poured out.

Excellent point, Bob.

3angelsmom, 'If all of those Seal, Vial, and Trumpet judgments are figurative; what's the point? Secondly, if they were all figurative, who is the right authority to 'figure' them out? In this case, any person's eisogesis is a good as another Christian's view of eschatology.'

 

Even secular leaders recognize the reality of eschatological events. Former President Reagan referred to Armageddon at times as though this battle might be on the horizon. And as we know Revelation 16:16 speaks of this future battle. Other events are future which will be the Second Coming of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment all of which were penned and pointing to a yet future time.

So when we read in Matthew 24:21, 29; Mark 13:24; Revelation 2:22; Revelation 7:14 we rightly affirm that this also is an event, and with future study we learn, it is a seven year period on the Lord God's future calendar.

The word 'Great' in Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary says, 'a notably large in size, huge; of a kind characterized by relative largeness . . . . ' There are other passages that speak of tribulation even including martyrdom but when the Bible characterizes the Great Tribulation He is speaking of one with world wide magnitude. This event will take place between the event where Jesus takes His people to Heaven via the first resurrection from the dead, and the Second Coming of Christ. That is why this Great Tribulation is linked with the coming of God the Son on the cloud, at His Second Coming.

'But in those days, (not years) after that Tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of Heaven will fall, and the powers that are in Heaven shall be shaken. And then, shall they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.'' [Mark 13:24-26]

This Second Coming is also recorded in Revelation 19:11-21 where Jesus will return to this earth with His glorified saints who had made it to Heaven and had been evaluated having gone through the Judgment Seat of Christ, which is explained in I Corinthians 3:11-15. This army of heavenly saints will make war with Christ in destroying the enemies of God, and they will be coming down from Heaven because Christ will then set up His theocracy on this earth [Micah 5:2; Zechariah 14:9 & 17]for 1,000 years. [Revelation 20:2,3,4,5,6,7]

One would have to be sitting in 'solitary non-spiritual confinement' to believe these events were merely figurative. All of the Seal, Trumpet and Vial judgments of Revelation chapters six through eighteen encompass this seven year Great Tribulation era of time.

And finally, in I Thessalonians 5:23 Paul tells us that our final sanctification will take place at the coming of our Lord for His saints. 'Faithful is He Who has called you, Who also will do it.'

The Great Tribulation is an integral part of the future plans of Almighty God. The unsaved will suffer these temporal, Seal, Trumpet, and Vial judgments and after that the terrors of a flaming, hot Hell forever. [Revelation 20:14-15

 

If you were the anti-christ would you approach the world with peace or war? When the former President Bush saw the dangers of Bin Laden to put together a coalition of nations who would remove an evil regime and would maintain peace. Much of the world wants peace. Daniel 9:27 explicitly points to a seven year peace treaty. 'And he {the antichrist} shall confirm the covenant with many for one week; and in the midst of the week he will cause the {sacrifices on the altar} to cease.' In the middle of the seven year Great Tribulation era the Jews will realize that this antichrist is not the true Christ and Messiah that the sages have been waiting for in Israel.

In Revelation 6:4 the antichrist will come into world power through the 'olive leaf.' The Persian and Roman kings came into grand procession on white stallions. Notice John says that he will have conquered via a bow without arrows. He will be celebrated as a great leader in peace negotiations, at least he will spearhead a plan for world peace. In the opening days of the Great Tribulation, some think he will be the leader of the Western coalition of nations. This passage in Revelation will collate with I Thessalonians 5:3 which says 'For when they shall say, peace and safety, then sudden destruction will come on them, as travail on a woman with child; and they shall not escape.' The trap will be set for 3 ½ years and then it will be sprung with him being a tyrant of world wide, malevolent tyranny.

The key to this Great Tribulation will be that this event will be unprecedented in all of time. The tribulation that some experience in Red China and Muslim nations will be a 'cake walk' in comparison to this future wicked, world ruler. 'For then shall be Great Tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be.' [Matt. 24:21]

Matthew tells us that much of the modern civilization will be exterminated and it would even be worse if Jesus did not shorten these days for the 'elect's sake.' When you study through all of the Seal, Trumpet and Vial judgments you will understand the absolute uniqueness of this horrible, horrible God produced event.

Dr. Walvoord of Dallas Seminary says, 'First, there will be a time of preparation in which a group of ten nations constituting a revival {reappearance} of the ancient Roman Empire will emerge. Out of this empire will come a political leader who will dominate the scene, gaining control first of three and then of all ten countries. A second period will follow when this political leader will make a seven-year peace treaty with Israel. [Dan. 9:27] This peace treaty will be observed for three and a half years and then be broken, beginning a third period in which the political leader will become Israel's persecutor and a world dictator, assuming the role of God Himself. The last three and a half years, culminating at the Second Coming of Christ, will be a period of Great Tribulation, which according to pretribulationists, will decimate the world and destroy most of the world's population. Christ Himself declared that unless it was stopped by His Second Coming no human being would be left alive on the earth (Matt. 24:22) John F. Walvoord, Th.D. "Major Bible Prophecies," Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, p. 293.

Dr. Walvoord, the world's foremost interpreter of Biblical prophecy was President of Dallas Theological Seminary from 1952-1986 and is currently chancellor and professor emeritus of theology. He is author of fifty-seven books including "The Millennial Kingdom" and and a contributor to the Counterpoints volume, "Four Views On Hell."

 

The second Seal Judgment that will be opened is when the rider of the red horse will take peace from the earth. You see if he is going to remove peace from this cosmos, and he will, then there must have been a period of relative world peace to begin with, as I see it. This, of course, is the seven year treaty that the antichrist will make with Israel. [Daniel 9:27a,b] For thousands of years there has been repeated conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people and other nationalities. So when this man of initial peace sets forth the plan, it will be welcomed by many, many people in the near east.

When the renewed sacrifice is taken away from the altar in Israel at the mid-point of the Great Tribulation and the antichrist will do something unthinkable to the Jewish people in the temple [Daniel 9:27c] then they will realize that this world leader is in fact, not their Messiah/Christ. This will be increasingly clear because the antichrist will desecrate the Temple of God in some vile way. This son from Hell will sit in the Tribulation Temple as God himself. [II Thessalonians 2:4]

Dr. Randall Price in his book, "Jerusalem In Prophecy" (Harvest House Publishers) says on page 139,

'Because the rebuilt Temple appears to be a pivotal part of the peace agreement, it makes sense that the Antichrist's desecration of the Temple at that time will be prompted by his decision to end the Jewish worship and sacrifices that his covenant made possible in the first place. In bring about this defilement, the Antichrist, following the precedent of earlier Gentile conquerors (Antiochus, Pompey), will enter the Temple's Holy of Holies (Daniel 9:27l 11:36-37; Matthew 24:15). However, the Antichrist's actions will involve more than simply de-sanctifying the Temple and thereby stopping its sacrifices {Daniel 9:27; 12:11}.' [Dr. Price has a Th.M. in Old Testament and Semitic Languages, and Ph.D. Middle Eastern Studies and has lived in Jerusalem and done graduate studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem].

Dr. English notes the parallelism between Revelation 6 and Matthew 24.

'The first seal was opened revealing a man on a white horse, who had a bow, who went forth to conquer. The Lord Jesus shall come on a white horse, but this is not He, but a false Christ, who establishes a temporary peace. 'Many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ' vs. 5.

The second seal was opened revealing a man on a red horse, who should take peace from the earth. The second prediction of Matthew twenty-four is found in verses six and seven:

The third seal was opened revealing a man on a black horse, who had balances in his hand; and "a voice in the midst of the four beasts" indicating famine. The third prediction of Matthew twenty-four is: "There shall be famines" vs. 7.

The fourth seal was opened revealing one on a pale horse, whose name was Death, and the fourth prophecy of Matthew twenty-four tells of pestilences and earthquakes.

The fifth seal (of Revelation chapter 6) has to do with those who were slain for the Word of God, who, under the altar, cry, "How long, O Lord, holy and true dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" What is the fifth prophecy of Matthew twenty-four? "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you" vs. 9' (end quote) {Dr. Schuyler E. English "Re-Thinking the Rapture" Southern Bible Book House, 1954, p. 279.

 

First comes the spirit of a tyrant--the Antichrist who desires to conquer the world. {Rev. 6:2 d} Secondly, with the opening of the second Seal Judgment comes the murderer of all those who refuse the Antichrist. Thirdly, in verse five of Revelation chapter six, comes world wide famine and fourthly, the prophecy of the one who delivers death to millions of people who will not acknowledge the Antichrist. Verse nine of Revelation chapter six ties in with Revelation 7:14 in that those who died for Christ's cause are those martyrs who John sees who are coming into the throne room of God in white robes. Who are they? John says, 'These are they who came out of Great Tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'

Notice, after Revelation chapter three there is no message dealing only with the church. In Revelation 4:1 John is pictured with those who go up with Christ at the rapture. {I Thess. 4:17} The whole panorama of truth and instruction moves away from saints who are on earth and among the seven churches of Asia-Minor to the throne room of the Lord God in Heaven with the twenty-four elders and 'the four beasts' or as some say, the four living creatures that worship the Christ of God.

Revelation 6:14-17 moves to the close of the judgments of Almighty God to the Second Coming of Christ which is also described in Revelation 1:7 and II Peter 3:10.

In Revelation 8:7 we have portrayed for us the first of the Trumpet Judgments. This judgment on all sinners is not figurative because all of the Seal, Trumpet and Vial Judgments are actual events and the drama of the angry Almighty God against all who have not received and welcomed Christ into their lives. So at the sound of the trumpet hail, fire and blood are mixed into a blizzard of devastation in the faces of all lost souls. As if this were not effective enough, one third of all the trees will be burned up along with all the green grass. It seems that in science class we were told that green vegetation produces oxygen for human beings and animals. Ecology and environmental concerns will be pushed to the 'back burner' if you will, during the three and one half years of this frightening Great Tribulation on the earth.

Most Christians have no idea just how much God hates sin and how much He wants people to welcome, receive and love His Son, Jesus Christ; but during the Great Tribulation era of time, there will be little question about the matter. All of the stops will be pulled out and Almighty God will unleash all of the terror that He will be creating in the world, coming from His most holy Being.

In II Corinthians 5:10 God tells Christians that they all will have to stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ to be evaluated for their good or bad works done in this human life time. We are saved souls who love Him and yet Paul says in the next verse, 'Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men . . . ' We are to be careful to maintain 'good works' but can you even imagine the relentless anger of God against those who refuse or ignore to receive Jesus into their hearts and lives? The Great Tribulation will be real and Hell is going to be hot and the eternal landing place for Christ rejecters.

 

Kelly asked something to the effect, how do we know that the Great Tribulation will be seven years in duration.

In Daniel 9:27 when you research the word, 'week' it had and has the numerical meaning of seven years, which equals one week in prophetic time, as the Hebrew prophets viewed things. Daniel 9:27 suggests that the Antichrist will make a covenant, agreement and/or treaty with Israel. In the middle of the week, which is 3 1/2 years after the signing of the treaty the Antichrist will stop the animal sacrifices which will by then have been re-instituted, and abruptly stopped. On top of this situation the Antichrist will make an abomination in the Tribulation Temple of which we are not specifically told about. Jesus speaks of this abomination in Matthew 24:15 also.

Revelation 11:3 speaks so clearly about the last half of the Great Tribulation which will be the l,260 days or 3 1/2 years of this unparalleled terror throughout the earth and especially in Israel.

Another reference to this last half of a 3 ½ year period of world domination by the Antichrist and also an innumerable amount of martyrdoms is found in Revelation 13:5 which is forty-two months. This is what John means when he sees this large group coming out of 'Great Tribulation . . . ' [Rev. 7:14].

Revelation 12:6 speaks of l,260 days again pointing to the last half of the Great Tribulation era of time.

Daniel 9:27 speaks of one 'week' the Hebrew word is (shebooaw) which to the Hebrew mind and language means {sevened} specifically, as to years in prophetic time. This is how they measured time in those days; a week was equivilent to seven years of time. Again, the Hebrew word, 'week' means seven. Thus, we have the concept of seven years as to the Great Tribulation period of time, after the taking of the church into Heaven, [I Thess.4:13-18] and after the Great Tribulation the Second Coming of Christ will take place [Revelation 19:11-21] as Christ comes back to destroy the wicked and to place the Antichrist into Hell.

I wanted to answer Kelly's inquiry before I spend a week in Cape May, New Jersey.

 

The Lord God for the most part under the Old Covenant designated the prophets to preach against the sins of the nation of Israel. In the time era where the Messianic Kingdom was being offered by John the Baptist, some were also touched by the future coming ministry of Jesus Christ, because the Israelites as a nation turned Christ aside as their Messiah. The guidelines of the Messianic Kingdom were offered by Christ Himself in Matthew chapter five.

During the Great Tribulation two witnesses like John the Baptist will be preaching about the coming of Christ in the Second Coming of Christ and that the people should not take the 'mark of the Beast' in the right hand or on their forehead. [Rev. 13:17] These two witnesses are noted in Revelation 11:3 as preaching for 3 ½ years during the last half of the Great Tribulation. My very best, spiritual evaluation is they will be Elijah and Enoch. They will be preaching in Jerusalem as clearly noted in Rev. 11:8. At the end of this period of time they will be killed but God will resurrect them from the dead and they will be translated into Heaven. [Rev. 11:12] The 144,000 will be like minded witnesses and preachers who will preach about trusting in Jesus as personal Savior and for personal salvation, ever looking forward to the Second Coming of Christ. The rapture of the saints will have already taken place. God has always had His prophets. The Old Testament times had them. John the Baptist, the 12 disciples and the the 70 were sent out to invite the Israelites into the Messianic Kingdom, and the two witnesses of Revelation 11:3 will be a kind of forerunners with the message just before the Second Coming of Christ and the re-establishment of the Millennial reign of Christ on the earth for 1,000 years.