"777"

Well, today is the Feast of Trumpets, as has already been mentioned. It's the fourth in God's plan of salvation, the seven holy days that he has lined out for us, that walk us through steps of God's plan of salvation for all of mankind. Again, the Feast of Trumpets is the fourth. And Trumpets is essentially a turning point in human history. It portrays the putting down of the governments and the kingdoms of man, the putting down of Satan's system, as it has been allowed to develop and basically run amok on this earth. And it portrays now, then, the establishment of the Kingdom of God. When God himself intervenes into the affairs of mankind, and we could essentially say, the reset button is pushed, and the Kingdom of God will prevail.

The title of the message today is 777. When I sent that title to the crew so it could be posted on the webcast, I told them that's not a typo. Right next to 666. We know what 666 is, right? It represents the identifier there of the in-time beast. This is 777, and I think the meaning will become clear as we go into the message today. My purpose is to give us a broad overview of the events leading up to and culminating in the Day of the Lord and the return of Jesus Christ. We're going to cover a lot of territory today. We're going to use the full service time today, but it's one service, and so I think we'll use it well. I told the brethren in Kennewick that if I'm going too quick to take notes, I'm going to just email my notes out to everybody on the circuit here tonight.

I make them up in order to send to Nigeria and Ghana so that they can understand. They're pretty well written out, so I'll send those out this evening. So if note-taking falls behind, because we're going to cover a lot of ground and we're going to move quickly, but it's going to be kind of a broad flyover. That's not where 777 comes from, by the way. It's not an airline.

But we're going to look over the landscape of the events leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. So let's jump right into the first seven. We're going to cover three groups of seven today, as are brought out by the Book of Revelation. The first that we're going to jump into are the seven seals of Revelation. Seven seals of Revelation.

The Book of Revelation contains in-time sequences of events that reveal themselves primarily through the opening of seven seals. The Bible shows that there are seven successive seals, and they're opened by the Lamb Jesus Christ. Now, as an overview, the first five seals of the Book of Revelation describe conditions that have existed on this earth since the time of Christ's first coming. But what we understand is that as we approach the time of the end, these things are ramping up. They're accelerating. They're becoming more dramatic.

They're becoming bigger until the point then that they culminate into this crescendo of events that will then bring on and trigger the set of circumstances that bring us into the Great Tribulation. Also covered in the sixth and seventh seals, as we'll see, is God's response as he intervenes directly into the affairs of this world. So let's jump into it in Revelation 6. Again, looking at the seven seals. Revelation 6. We're going to begin in verse 1. You'll recall the Book of Revelation is a vision which was given to John. It originates with God the Father, this message that he gave to Jesus Christ.

He gave it to his angel who gave it to John in vision. John recorded it for us. So this is what the Father says is going to happen, and this is what has been delivered for our understanding. Revelation 6, verse 1, it says, Now I saw when the Lamb, who is Christ, opened one of the seals, I heard one of the four living creatures say, with a voice like thunder, Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a white horse.

And he who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him. And he went out conquering and to conquer. We would recognize the concept of a white horse, right? Because Revelation 19, heaven's open and behold a white horse, and that's Jesus Christ.

So this is different. This is a different system. This is a counterfeit to Jesus Christ. And the first seal of Revelation here is religious deception. Religious deception. It's false religion, symbolized by the white horse and its rider. And it's a counterfeit religion. It's false teachers. It's false Christ. It's a false gospel message that is poured out. Jesus said in Matthew 24, verse 5, that many would come in his name and say, I am the Christ. And we'd deceive many. And there's a couple different ways that can happen.

It is some would come and say, I'm him. I'm the Messiah. I'm the one you've been waiting for. Others will come in his name saying, this is who Jesus Christ is. This is what he taught.

This is what he stands for. And they'll present a false message. But again, the end result is the same. It says it would deceive many in this false religion. Now you can take the seven seals of Revelation. You can lay them alongside Jesus' own words in Matthew 24, which is the Olivet prophecy. And you can go back and forth with each seal that is opened in Revelation. And you can see the corresponding events that Jesus Christ outlines in Matthew 24. And it's an interesting study. We're not going to do that today, other than maybe to quote a couple of references.

But pretty much everything I'm covering today is an amazing topic to actually just slow down and even consider the implications of each and every one of these things. Revelation chapter 6, continuing on verse 3, it says, When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come and see.

And another horse, fiery red, went out, and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, that he should kill, that people should kill one another.

And it was given to him a great sword. So the second seal of Revelation is war.

It's symbolized by the fiery red horse and its rider. And there's always been wars, right? Christ said there'll be wars and rumors of wars. That was before his time, and it continues to our day today. And what we understand through these seals is we're looking at a lot of things that are already happening, but as I said, they're building. And they come to a climax at the end of the age that then force into movement a series of events. Well, these things have happened. They are happening. They will continue to build and increase. Revelation 6 and verse 5. Revelation chapter 6 and verse 5, it says, And he opened a third seal, and I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. And so I looked, and behold, a black horse. And he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and the wine.

The third seal is famine. And these seals build on top of each other. Famine is a natural consequence in the aftermath of war. And the wars that are breakout, in many cases as well, will be generated by false religious systems that are pushing back against one another. So we have war that brings death, that brings famine, that brings all these things upon the earth, one on top of the other. Revelation 6 and verse 7. Then he opened the fourth seal, and I heard the voice of the four living creatures saying, Come and see. And so I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was death and Hades, the grave. Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with a sword, with hunger, and with death, and by the beasts of the earth. The fourth seal of Revelation is pestilence. And again, it's the mounting toll of everything that is taking place in the previous seals. It's disease epidemics leading to death.

Again, these things come out of war, they come out of famine, and they're symbolized by the pale horse and the rider. Now, when you study into the first four seals of Revelation, they're known as the four horsemen of the apocalypse. What you find is that the full effect of these things, as they will be, will result in the death of 25%, one-fourth of the earth's population. Again, we were reading in verse 8, and in the middle of verse 8, it says, power was given to him over a fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. And so what we come to understand is that a fourth of the earth's population will be destroyed, and clearly that's not taking place yet. Sometimes the question comes, has the Great Tribulation started? And the answer is no. A fourth of the earth's population will actually die from these events before the Great Tribulation even begins. We understand, as they come together into a crescendo, the events of war and conflict and all the other fallout actually lead people to a place that they say, what's the answer? They're crying out for help. They're looking for someone that has a solution because the conditions in the world have become so desperate, and it sets the stage then for a religious and political power to come on the scene that will seem to have the answers to many and for a period of time. But again, the complete fulfillment of these things is still future, but the horsemen are currently riding. These four horsemen. And as they gain momentum, these things will increase up until the time of the end. Parallel account in Matthew 24, verse 8, Jesus says, these things are the beginning of sorrows. He says this is just the beginning. And you know, it's kind of like we look around at the pandemic right now, and people say, well, this is bad, this is really bad. And the fact is, compared to what will be coming, it's a ripple on the pond. It's not a tidal wave. Okay, these things will increase. Revelation chapter 6 and verse 9, he opened the fifth seal, and I saw under the altar the souls of those who have been slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried out 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 the little while longer until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed. You know, the picture that's being portrayed here is that there's saints in the grave who were killed because of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and they're crying out, saying, God, how long, because things are so bad, how long until you bring judgment? And how long till you avenge our blood? And the response from God is, rest a little longer. Right? Sleep a little longer. The time of his judgment has not quite come. The fifth seal here is religious persecution and tribulation upon the people of God. It's what we would call the great tribulation. So the first four seals are building up to the point then that lead into the great tribulation.

And again, these things have existed. Tribulation upon the people of God has existed since the time of Christ, but it will increase dramatically at the time of the end, fueled by the beast, fueled by the false prophet, backed by Satan, and the power of Satan given to them, and it will be a day of great tribulation. Matthew chapter 24 verse 21 and 22 says, For then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, known, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. So by the time the great tribulation arrives, the earth will already be in chaos. It will already be in confusion in a very disturbed and destructive place, but the fact is mankind will be desperate for a solution and for an answer, and they'll be looking for someone that can provide it. And when a leader, a political leader, coupled with a religious-seeming leader, come on the scene and they have signs and wonders backing up their message, seeming to be power of God with them, it will deceive many. And for many, they would say, this appears to be the answer. Again, it's the time of great tribulation, though, which will arrive in the midst of this chaos. So that's the fifth seal, great tribulation. And I want to pause for a minute because I want us to take a couple minutes to look at how long will the great tribulation be and what events will be taking place during that period of time. The Bible gives repeated confirmation on the length of this time period, and it paints a picture of a number of events that will happen simultaneously during the great tribulation. Let's go to Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1. Daniel 12 and verse 1, a prophecy recorded of the time of the end that Daniel was given a glimpse into. Daniel chapter 12 and verse 1, it says, at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. So, this wording here is very similar to what Jesus Christ prophesied, that there would be this time of great trouble, such as had never been before. Carrying on, it says, and at that time your people shall be delivered. There's going to be a place of protection for a portion of the people of God. Ultimately, they're going to be delivered through resurrection and changing into the kingdom of God. There will be a deliverance, but we also know there will be martyrs as well. Everyone who is found written in the book of life.

Jumping down to verse 6, it says, and one said to the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, the one delivering the message, how long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?

Then I heard the man clothed in linen who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by him who lives forever that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time. And when the power of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished. And so the great tribulation is going to be a time of unparalleled trouble upon the holy people of God, and it will be directed by Satan not only at the church, not only spiritual Israel, but at the physical covenant people of God as well, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Israelite nations, wherever they be scattered across the earth. This will be a time of Satan's wrath towards them as well.

And the answer as to how long this tribulation will last, the prophesied duration is time, times, and half a time, three and a half years. That is the scope, as it would appear, of the great tribulation. Now what we find when we turn back to the book of Revelation is that this time period coincides with the short duration that the beast itself receives authority and power to conduct his work, and he receives it from none other than Satan the devil. Let's go to Revelation chapter 13 and see the length of time that the beast's power will have the ability to exercise its works. Revelation chapter 13 and verse 4.

It says, so they worship the dragon, it says, who gave authority to the beast.

So to begin with, the people of the earth are worshiping Satan the devil, who gives this authority to the beast and gives him through, as well, the false prophet signs and wonders and ability to back up certain things. So this authority comes from the dragon. People worship him, and they worship the beast, saying, who is like the beast? He was able to make war with him, and he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue notice for 42 months. You know, how long is 42 months? It's three and a half years.

This coincides with the same three and a half year time period as the great tribulation and spoken about in Daniel chapter 12. Verse 6, it says, then he opened his mouth and blasphemed against God. To blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven, you see, this person stands up in opposition to God, and his system is in opposition to God, and his pursuit is to destroy the people who stand for God. Verse 7, it was granted to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them an authority was given to him over every tribe, tongue, and nation, and all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the book of the life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Notice verse 9, if anyone has an ear, let him hear. Pay attention. See what's going on. Be aware if you're of the people of God, this is a system that will arise, that will seem to have answers, seem to have power, but its ultimate goal is the destruction of everything that is called of God.

So the beast will be the human head of this massive political, religious, and economic system, and it's going to dominate the world scene during the Great Tribulation three and a half years, and he will derive, the beast will derive his authority from Satan himself, the god of this age, to have dominion over nations and tongues and peoples, and under Satan's influence, the beast in conjunction with the false prophet will seek to extinguish both the physical and the spiritual people of God. Again, his power will last for three and a half years prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Let's notice what else will be happening during that specific time of the Great Tribulation. Revelation chapter 11 in verse 1.

Revelation chapter 11 verse 1.

Then I was given a read like a measuring rod, and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there, but leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles, and they will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months. Again, 42 months is the time period of the Great Tribulation, three and a half years. The holy city of Jerusalem will be tread underfoot by the Gentiles, the people of God, the covenant people of Israel, and primarily the Jews who are there will be under persecution and affliction.

Spiritual Israel, they may be members of the Church of God who could perhaps be there as well, and they will come under the affliction of the Gentiles who will occupy it during that time.

Let's notice what else will be happening at that time. Still in Revelation 11, now verse 3, And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days clothed in sackcloth. How long is one thousand two hundred and sixty days? Again, it's three and a half years. These are all things that are happening within the bracket of the Great Tribulation, and three and a half years leading up to the return of Jesus Christ. Verse 4, these two are the olive trees, 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. And when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. So what we have here is during this three and a half year period of time in which this false system is reigning over the earth, dominating mankind, you're going to have the two witnesses who stand up for the truth of God, the people of God. They're going to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of God, the fact that the Messiah will be returning, the kingdom will be established, they have the power of God to back their message with signs and wonders, and you know what? The world is going to hate them. By and large, the system will hate them, and eventually God allows them to be killed after 1260 days. Let's briefly notice another important event happening during the Great Tribulation as well, Revelation chapter 12 and verse 13.

Revelation chapter 12 and verse 13, it says, now when the dragon saw that he'd been cast down to the earth, or cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for time, times, and half a time from the presence of the serpent. Again, three and a half years, a protection placed upon a portion of the church. Verse 15, so the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood, very likely an army which is sent out by the beast in pursuit of the people of God. Verse 16, but the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth, swallowed up the flood, which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. And so what we have here, brethren, is that a portion of the church will be brought to a place of safety. The United Church of God still teaches a place of safety, by the way, in case there was a question on that. But there will be a place of protection, a place of safety for a portion of the church during that three and a half year period, protected from the wrath of Satan the devil. But clearly, not all the saints will be there. And I'm not going to venture into speculation as to who will be there versus who won't be and why they will be there when others won't. The point is, God will make a decision for his purpose. And the two witnesses will be doing their work, and other scriptures show that there will actually be a multitude that comes out of great tribulation and come under the blood of Jesus Christ. There will be those who actually will respond to the witness of the two witnesses, and Satan will seek to extinguish them as well. And I would just speculate, could it be that perhaps there are saints who could be an encouragement in the world to those that God would call out of great tribulation?

I just know I've prayed to God, you know what? If it's for me to be in the great tribulation in order to be in your kingdom, so be it. And honestly, I personally don't spend a lot of time trying to figure out where I would be. I try to serve God, and if he says, you're going to serve me here or there, it's God's decision. But again, those who would be in the tribulation, in the place of safety, there's a hedge of protection placed about them by God, but Satan still has his wrath. He's going to pour out on physical and spiritual Israel. The dramatic combination, then, of these five seals ultimately culminating in the great tribulation layout for us the justification for God's intervention into human affairs in terms of his direct coming to put a stop to the systems of this world. Revelation chapter 6 and verse 12, let's go back to now the sixth seal. We'll begin to see an intervention. Revelation chapter 6 and verse 12. John says, I looked, and when he opened the sixth seal, behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as a 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 the mighty wind. Again, we're moving quickly. We don't even have time to really evaluate what the impact of all of this would be. I'll just, it is dramatic. Verse 14, it says, then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. You know, what does it take from a impact of meteorites or such a massive earthquake that the mountains and the islands are rocked off their foundations and moved out of their place?

And this is before the day of the Lord even begins, but we're having now a warning shot across the bow.

Verse 15, and the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. You know, I'd say there's some accountability here if you have some understanding of where the source of this is coming from, you ought to turn to God.

Verse 17, for the great day of his wrath has come, and who is able to stand? The sixth seal of Revelation is heavenly signs, and they shake the earth, and they announce God's intervention and judgment is about to begin, but again it's still not yet the day of the Lord. I'll just quote for us Joel chapter 2 verse 30 and 31. We read this on Pentecost. Joel 2, 30 and 31, he says, and I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

The sun shall be turned in the darkness and the moon into blood before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. You know, you want to say, oh, there's a blood moon on the calendar projected in two years or something. Maybe that's going to be what it is. This isn't a calendar of events caused by the circulation and the motion of the planets. This is cataclysmic intervention by God that brings these things about. Revelation chapter 7 is an insert chapter accounting for the 144,000. That's not my message today. Let's go to Revelation chapter 8 and verse 1.

Revelation chapter 8 and verse 1, it says, and when you open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about a half an hour. And this is dramatic. Okay, this is an amazing concept to consider silence in heaven for a half an hour because when you see heaven described, and especially when you see God's throne described, there's activity. There's angels that are coming and going. There's lightnings. There's thunders. There's holy angels and those that sit around singing praises to God, holy, holy, holy, God almighty, continually. So there's all this activity that happens in heaven constantly, and when this seventh seal is opened, silence.

It's dramatic. Silence in heaven for half an hour, and I would suggest it's something like a moment of silence, an acknowledgement of what is about to take place. The significant intervention by God into human affairs in a way that will be dramatic, in a way that will bring mankind to their knees because they will not repent, they will not turn to God, and that seventh seal is open, and there is silence. Verse 2, And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them was given seven trumpets. And so this is now we're going to enter into second set of sevens. Remember, this is 777. All right, this is my second set of sevens, the seven trumpets. The opening of the seventh and final seal ushers in the day of the Lord, a period of time which seems to overlap with the final year of the three and a half years of the Great Tribulation. Sometimes there's questions like, well, is there the Great Tribulation for three and a half years and then the day of the Lord after? And the answer is no, because as we'll see, the way the timing of these things line up, right, we had the beast who had power for three and a half years, all right, we had the two witnesses who prophesied for three and a half years, and yet when the witnesses are killed, they're killed just before the sounding of the seventh trumpet, which is the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord overlaps with approximately the last year of the Great Tribulation. Isaiah chapter 34 verse 8 says, for it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion. So the seventh seal is opened, and it includes seven plagues announced by seven angels with trumpets, and each trumpet is blown one by one, introducing another portion of God's wrath and judgment upon the earth.

So let's look at the seven trumpets. Revelation chapter 8 and verse 7 says, the first angel sounded, and hail and fire followed mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth, and the third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

You know, it can be easy just to kind of read, and oh, that's interesting, and go on and read the next thing, but I think we kind of have a little bit of a window of insight into what happens when trees are burned up, right? We've been sitting under this smothering blanket of smoke for a couple weeks now, and the fact is you look at California, Oregon, Washington, across the west, approximately five million acres have been burned, not even nothing near a third. This is a third of the trees globally that are burned up, so just kind of maybe try to imagine a little bit of the scope of all of this, and yet again, this is on top of everything else that has been occurring up to this point. The world's a pretty messed up place when God first now then intervenes in this dramatic way. The world is already a mess. Much of the mess is caused by human beings.

In fact, the seals that are open, though, successive one, two, three, four seals, those aren't God pouring out things on the earth. This is human beings left to their own devices, making a mess of what God has given them. Revelation chapter 8 and verse 8, it says, And the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. You know, it'd have to be something pretty massive to destroy a third of the sea life, the vessels on the sea, maybe something like an asteroid or a meteorite coming in and hitting the ocean and poisoning the waters and displacing the waters that lead into a disruption even of the ships that would be on it. That's a speculation, but likely so. Verse 10, Revelation 8 verse 10, And the third angel sounded, 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, and the name of the star is called Wormwood. And a third of the waters became Wormwood, and many men died from the water because it was made bitter.

Each of these trumpets in progression, brethren, announce God's judgment on humanity. You know, as we heard in the first message, you know, trumpets are a call to war, and it's a call of God's judgment, but it's also something else. Because, you see, often in ancient Israel, the trumpet was blown as a call to assembly, a call to worship God. And as each of these seven successive trumpets sound, God is saying, Repent and turn to me. Worship me. Repent of your ways. Turn from the ways of this world, and it is a warning for mankind to worship God. Revelation chapter 8, continuing in verse 12, says, You are about to sound.

So again, the fourth trumpet here, you have projectiles falling from heaven and hitting the earth. Seems like you have things like volcanoes that are erupting because, again, everything's being shaken out of its place. Volcanoes are spewing ash into the air. Things that hit the earth from outside our atmosphere come in, hit the earth, dust is raised into the air, and now you have the blotting out of the light of the sun and the moon and the stars.

I don't usually give such heavy sermons on the Feast of Trumpets. You know, it's nice to focus on the resurrection, and that is a wonderful part of what we look at as well as included in these trumpets. But the fact is, this is part of the package. This helps us to understand how we go from Satan's world, the God of this age, to the kingdom of God and the transition that has to take place. It will come on the world like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and it will not cease until all is fulfilled. In the end, the kingdom of God is the answer, but mankind must be humbled.

Revelation 9 and verse 1. Then the fifth angel sounded, and they saw a star fall from heaven to the earth. The hymn was given the key to the bottomless pit.

And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace.

And so the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth, and to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth through any green thing or any tree, but only those men who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. The torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days, men will seek death, will not find it, and they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.

John now goes in to describe what the best he can, what these scorpions look like. Verse 7. The shape of the locust was like horses prepared for battle. And on their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. And they had hair like women's hair, and their teeth was like the lion's teeth. And they had a breastplate and a breastplate of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle.

They had tails like the scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months, and they had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in the Greek his name is Apollyon. The fifth trumpet appears to be a satanically influenced military power. It is the beast's power, again backed by false prophet, backed by the powers of Satan the devil, bringing war to this world. Its armies are unleashed on each other, right? You have the beast, that's this world-dominating empire, but not all the world has fallen in line with this system, and there's war that is taking place even among men at the end of the great tribulation during the days of the Lord. And what John appears to be describing is military machinery, right? But he's never seen anything like that before. This is a vision. In a helicopter, shooting missiles could look very much like a stinging scorpion. Perhaps at this time, maybe even nuclear weapons being used, biological weapons being used. Torturous human afflictions appear to accompany this destruction. Could be a relation to radiation fallout, chemical weapons.

This is a system that is seeking to conquer the world. It is Satan who is seeking to bring entirety of mankind in rebellion against God. Revelation 9 and verse 12 says, one woe is passed. You know, when it says woe, and the angel says woe, it's like woe to the earth.

Look out. And he says in verse 12, one woe is passed. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things. Verse 13, then the sixth angel sounded, and he heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who has the trumpet, release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. So the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and the day and the month and the year were released to kill a third of mankind. It's not like God is sending angels, his good angels, to kill a third of mankind.

They are releasing, again, their hold on the four corners, and they're releasing their restrictions on man, so that then man will move and destroy and kill one another.

Verse 16, now the number of the army of the horsemen was 200 million, and I heard the number of them, and thus I saw the horses in the vision. Those who sat on them had a breastplate of fiery red, blue, and sulfur yellow, and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. Again, as would appear to be, military weapons engaged in warfare. It says, by these three plagues a third of mankind was killed by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths, for their power is in their mouth and in their tails, for their tails were like serpents, having heads, and with them they do harm. But the rest of the mankind who were not killed by these plagues, notice, did not repent of the work of their hands. Back up just a slight bit. The sixth trumpet appears to be an enormous military rival that comes up against the beast power, likely Asiatic armies, who then now come into battle with the beast power, and as it would appear, they send an army of 200 million and the destruction is one third of mankind. One third of mankind who remain after, you know, the quarter that were destroyed before the great tribulation even started, and then those who were destroyed by the persecution of the great tribulation and the other exploits of the beast power. Now we have a third of mankind dying. It is tragic. And we ask the question, why would God allow this to go on? You know, why not just send Jesus Christ back right from the start? You know, tribulation starts, send Christ back, put the beast system down, establish the kingdom of God. Why allow all of these things to play out? Is God a cruel God?

Find the answer if we carry on Revelation 9 and verse 20.

Revelation 9 verse 20 says, God the Father is continuing to give mankind opportunity to repent.

Each trumpet that blows, yes, it is a call to war and of judgment, but it is a call to worship.

And with each plague that is poured out, God desires man to repent, to turn to him, to acknowledge him as the Almighty, but they refuse. And their allegiance and their sway is still held under the influence of Satan the devil. Brings us to the seventh trumpet, Revelation chapter 11 and verse 7.

Revelation 11 verse 7, we read the first part of this chapter about the two witnesses.

Again, they're prophesying through all of this, witnessing through all of this that is taking place.

Revelation chapter 11 and verse 7 says, When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. Then their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. We're talking Jerusalem here. Verse 8, Then those people of the earth, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days and will not allow their dead bodies to be put into grace. They didn't like these guys, right? They tormented them. They stood for God. They had the ability to perform miracles, even bring plagues, even withhold the rain, but their ministry was righteous. The earth was not, and they celebrated in their death.

And again, the time frame of this is between their death is between the sixth and the seventh trumpet.

The day of the Lord taking place during that final year of the great tribulation.

Verse 9, Then those from the peoples, the tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, send gifts to one another because of the two prophets who tormented those who dwell on the earth. Now after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven, saying to them, Come up here. And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. I've mentioned before, it's my my personal speculation, and I label it as such, but it's my speculation that their resurrection is not to physical life, it is to spiritual life. It's to glorified existence because notice here the proximity to the seventh trumpet. I believe they're either resurrected, glorified, or they're resurrected, and then they're changed as they rise to meet Christ in the air. Verse 13 says, In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell, and the earthquake, in the earthquake, 7,000 people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is passed, behold the third woe is coming quickly, then the seventh angel sounded. So we see the proximity of the resurrection of the two witnesses following three and a half days, lying in the streets of Jerusalem. Verse 15, Then the seventh angel sounded, and there was a 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 for ever and ever. And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, We give thanks to you, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is, who was, who is to come. This is talking about God the Father. The Father is to come as well in His appointed time. Okay? He appoints the time. It's not like anybody sets the time for Him, but He will come when His time comes. He says, You have taken your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and your wrath has come, and at the time of the dead that they should be judged, and that you should reward your servants, the prophets, and the saints, and those who fear your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple, and there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. The seventh trumpet, brethren, announces God's direct intervention now. He has been intervening, but He is stepping in now directly at this seventh trumpet. He will send Jesus Christ to put down the armies of the earth and to establish the kingdom of God, and also the seventh trumpet, when it is blown, the saints are resurrected.

I'll just give you a couple of scriptures. I'm not going to turn there, but on the resurrection, we know them. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 52 says, In the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet.

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Paul's writing to the church. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17, 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. 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. So, brethren, this is the day of the Lord. It is the day of God Almighty. God the Father has always been involved in orchestrating and carrying out His plan. The wrath that has been poured out, as the Bible says, is the wrath of Almighty God. It is the Father's wrath upon the earth. And when we come to, then, the seventh trumpet we see that it initiates seven final bull plagues in a series of events that will happen now up to and culminating with the return of Jesus Christ.

And let me reword that slightly. The resurrection happens at the seventh trumpet. Following that, now these plagues are poured out. Seven bull plagues is our third series of seven. Revelation chapter 15 in verse 1. John says, then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues for them, the wrath of God. In them, the wrath of God is complete.

Revelation 16 verse 1, then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. This is God's judgment coming upon man and continuing. Verse 2, the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a fowl and a loathum sore came upon men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image.

So this punishment is on a very specific set of people. It is not upon the people of God, it is upon those who worship the beast. Verse 3, 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.

Just think about that for a minute. Every living creature in the sea died. It says what it says.

And you know, it helps us to actually understand what will take place in the millennium when you have the temple in the millennium with the rivers of living water flowing out to the east and to the west from the temple, and when waters reach the sea, its waters are healed, and the fish and life and vitality returns because the living waters of God go there. There's going to be a healing and a restoration that will have to take place in the aftermath of these things.

Again, every creature died. Verse 4, then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and the springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the water 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 the saints and the prophets, and you have given them blood to drink, for it is there just due. And I heard another from the altar saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. God the Father is judging the world. This is the day of God Almighty. All right? We don't want to forget that. He will send his son to establish his kingdom. Verse 8, The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the 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. Everything, again, that God pours out, it is a part of his wrath, but it is a call to repentance, and mankind will not respond. Will not respond.

Verse 10, Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and the kingdoms 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 they did not repent of their deeds.

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. They are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and to the whole world to gather them to battle of the great day of God Almighty.

God is preparing the way for this great and climactic battle that's going to take place.

But you know, the armies have to assemble. And right now, some of these armies are fighting each other. You know, it's coming up against the beast power, the beast power responding, a third of mankind dying, this great war is coming, but now God opens the way for the armies to come in to where the final judgment will take place. And the moment will come where these actually stop fighting one another, they're going to fight Jesus Christ at His return. This is Satan as well, because this is demon activity that is going out and drawing these armies in together. It is Satan's effort then to turn a fight against Jesus Christ at His coming. Verse 15, these are the words of Jesus. He says, Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed see who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. So inserted right into the middle of all of this, we have a message to the church, and the message to the church is to watch, to be aware, to watch your spiritual condition, to understand the deception that's taking place in the world, to understand what it is that Satan is driving, and to come out of her so you do not share in her destruction, to make your garments white, to be prepared. I say there's no physical way we can prepare for the day of the Lord. You can't put enough food in the basement to prepare for the day of the Lord, but you can prepare your heart for God. You can be in a reconciled relationship to Him with your garments white, unspotted from the world. It's how we watch ourselves and how we prepare for these days. Verse 16, and they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were noises and thunders and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake such as mighty and great of an earthquake has not had occurred since men were on the earth. You know, you thought the last one was bad, and the one before that rattled everything around. This is much greater. Verse 19, Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.

And the great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.

What would it take to shake the mountains down, to cause the islands to disappear? Again, the earthquake of such magnitude, tsunamis, the foundations of the earth are being shaken, and the powers of the earth are being shaken down with them. Verse 21, And great hail from heaven fell upon men, each hail stone about the weight of a talent, one hundred pounds. Men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great. Revelations, chapters 17 through 19, describe Babylon's fall, the fate of Satan and the armies at the return of Jesus Christ. Let's conclude in Revelation, chapter 19. Revelation, chapter 19 and verse 11. John says, Now I saw heaven open, and behold a white horse This is the true white horse. This is not the counterfeit. This is Jesus Christ, whom his father will send. I saw heaven's open, and behold a white horse, and he who sat on him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had the name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God.

Again, no question who this is who is coming to make war with the armies who have gathered in resistance to God. It is Jesus Christ, the word of God, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Verse 14, In the armies in heaven clothed in fine linen white and clean, followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with a rod of iron, and he himself, notice who, because there have been questions, brethren, who comes and fights the battle of God Almighty?

It is the battle of God Almighty, by the way, but who fights it? Who treads out the wine press?

Okay, we need to understand. He himself, Jesus Christ, will rule them with a rod of iron. He himself treads the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying, To all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather together for the supper of the great God. This is the day of God Almighty, and there's going to be a slaughter. Your birds are hungry, too. Come and have a feast. Okay.

Verse 18, You may feast on the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses, and those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him, make war against who? Against him who sat on the horse and against his army.

Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast, those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. Okay. The beast and false prophet are burned up. Verse 21, In the rest, the rest who stood to oppose God, and oppose Jesus Christ at his coming, the rest were killed with the sword which proceeds from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. Brethren, this is the culmination of the day of the Lord. God the Father has indeed appointed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained. That's what Paul told us, Acts 17, verse 31.

God has indeed appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man, capital M, who he has appointed, Jesus Christ. On that day of judgment, Christ's actions will be to the glory of God as Father who is in heaven. Brethren, the holy day of trumpets reminds us that God is the one who is to be worshiped by man. The honor, the glory, the praise, the reverence goes to God our Father in heaven. Not to any other man, not to any beast, not to any angel or demon, God our Father is the one who is to be worshiped. And he will give the whole world ample opportunity to repent and to turn to him. But the reality, unfortunately, is most will not.

Most will not. And this is a day of transitions. Although there are certain aspects of the Feast of Trumpets that are difficult to think about, it serves a very important role in God's plan of salvation for all of mankind. The encouraging news about the Feast of Trumpets, and let's end on an encouraging note, please. All right. This world will have to walk through these things, but this is a time of encouragement to now see the kingdom of God in action. An encouraging note on Trumpets is that it opens the door to the next steps of God's plan of salvation for all of mankind.

The kingdom of God will be established on the earth. The saints will be resurrected. They will reign with Jesus Christ. And knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Brethren, we'll continue the story and the blessing of the remaining Holy Days upcoming.