Before the "Last" Trumpet

Well, welcome again to the Festival of Trumpets. Special thanks to Mr. Mark Graham and Mr. Arkley Gee for special music today. Very much appreciated. Very beautiful. Well, once again, welcome to the Festival of Trumpets in 2020. In this very unusual year, it's really great to see so many of you that are here and also in the social hall. Let's begin by reading a scripture that directly expresses one of the beautiful meanings of this special day. If you'll turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 51. See what Paul said to the congregation at Corinth. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 51. Here's what Paul writes. Behold, I tell you a mystery. In other words, something that most people don't know or understand. We shall not all sleep, and that's his phraseology for death, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. Of course, this holy day represents the Feast of Trumpets, and it goes back to Leviticus 23, anciently, when the Hebrews were instructed to observe God's holy days, and we keep it in a new covenant way today. It's a twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. Well, for us, this represents a day of glory, a day of wonderment, a day of excitement. We all look forward to being transformed from this physical tent that we carry around with us into being immortal and incorruptible, and spirit beings who have eternity. We look forward to Paul's reminding the congregation that at the return of Jesus Christ, a resurrection will occur for the faithful throughout all the ages, the last couple thousand years, a resurrection to immortal, eternal life. But I want you to notice what it said here. It said, at the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. Well, if there's a last trumpet, there must be previous trumpets. And that's what I would like to talk about today, because even though for us it's a day of rejoicing, a day of celebration, as we look forward to the first resurrection, when we shall be changed, for the rest of the world they're going to have a different perception of these days, a different perception of the horror and the challenges that they have faced. I believe that we should briefly review the previous trumpets that occur before this last trumpet that Paul talks about here in 1 Corinthians. What we're going to see is the Bible says there's a series of future world events. It's going to make COVID-19 look like a birthday celebration. We kind of get upset and we get rattled as a people because we have to wear masks or we're inconvenienced in some way or we're in a lockdown for a period of time. But we're going to see that what the Bible says is going to occur before the return of Jesus Christ is horrible, fearful, traumatizing to this earth and the people who live in it. We're going to begin by going to Revelation chapter 8. If you'll begin turning there, first we'll give you some background and context.

In Revelation chapter 5, a scroll appears. A rolled up document. It has seven seals and the seals secure a message of apocalyptic connotations inside of that document. And only the lion of the tribe of Judah, also called the Lamb, is worthy to open those seven seals one by one. And those seven seals are opened and they include number one, religious deception, number two, war, number three, famine, number four, disease epidemics, number five, a great tribulation, number six, heavenly signs, and then there's the seventh seal that represents the day of the Lord and seven trumpet blasts. And that's what we're going to talk about today, those seven trumpet blasts, those ones that occur before the last trumpet that Paul spoke about in 1 Corinthians 15. According to Revelation chapter 8 verses 1 and 2, and we'll read those verses shortly, the angels begin to sound these trumpets at the breaking of that seventh seal that's around that document. The opening of these seven seals takes many years to fulfill, so we shouldn't think that you're going to happen over a short period of time. The great tribulation itself is three and a half years, so it's a period of time for all of these seven seals to be unraveled. Who knows? Some of them may have already been unraveled. Usually you're able to understand history after it's occurred and looking backward and saying, oh yeah, that's what happened, that's when it happened, so it's possible that some of these things have already begun to occur. The trumpets here in Revelation are not shofars, which was the Jewish trumpet that was made out of a ram's horn.

They referred to in the coin Greek, in which the book of Revelation was written, as saupinks. That was a straight, narrow bronze tube with a bone mouthpiece, and on the end was a large bell.

So that's the kind of trumpets that were being blown here in the book of Revelation. So let's begin Revelation chapter 8, and we're going to pick it up here in verse 1. Revelation 8-1.

When he opened the seventh seal, there was a silence in heaven for about half an hour.

This is an eerie pause from the great tribulation. As I said, there were other seals before this one. A lot of negative things have happened, and suddenly there's a space of time where it gets eerily quiet from heaven. A very silence. Verse 2. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden sensor, came and stood at the altar, and he was given much incense, that it should offered up with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. These are centuries of prayers of God's saints. God remembers them. God collects them. They're very important to God. Verse 4. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the sensor, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. This represents judgment from God on the earth. It's an act of violence when you take that and throw it at the earth. And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.

This is a warning that horrendous things are about to happen to the world. Let's start with the first trumpet, Revelation chapter 8 and verse 7. The first angel sounded, and hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burnt up. We're going to see a series of events in which things are mixed with blood. The blood is the symbol of death and destruction, and that's why things are mixed together with blood. At the sound of this first trumpet, hail and fire mingled with blood is thrown to earth, burning up a third of all the trees on the planet and all green grass. Can you imagine the environmental destruction that occurs when things like this happen on the earth? This is an image of a great red storm sweeping across the earth, destroying plants and trees and grasses. The firestorm eventually causes huge fires that destroy the ecosystem that's necessary for a healthy environment. This could be caused by a meteor storm, or there could be a huge volcano, much like happened at Mount St. Helens, that causes volcanic ash to circulate the earth, and later we'll see the sunlight itself is diminished or blotted out. You'll notice, we're going to notice that many things are destroyed by thirds.

In each of the first four trumpets, things are destroyed by a third, perhaps to indicate that though God's judgment is beginning, it's far from complete. Third is just to see if people repent and they respond in a positive way. It's a warning that there's a lot more to come if people don't repent. These are warnings to mankind that God has withdrawn his blessings and protection upon humanity and that it's time for punishment. Again, that's the first trumpet. Third, of all trees are burned up and all green grass was burned up. A lot of destruction. The second trumpet, Revelation chapter 8 verse 8. Then the second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea. Again, that's an act of violence. And a third of the sea became blood, meaning a lot of life teeming in the sea is being destroyed and died. As a matter of fact, continuing, and a third of all living creatures in the sea died, and a third of all ships were destroyed. So with the sounding of the second trumpet, something described as a great mountain burning with fire plunges into the sea. And a third of all of the oceans turn to blood and ocean animals, sea creatures, die. And then this great mountain is described as a terrible event. It could possibly be an asteroid, or it could be a comet that's cast from the heavens.

And when this strikes the earth, this heavenly body strikes the earth, it'll cause a worldwide tsunami that will consume many ships that unfortunately are in the waters at that time, and cause the demise, the massive death of the oceans. And that wouldn't be the first time on earth that that has happened, I might add. Scientists believe that a huge asteroid hit the earth about 66 million years ago, and that it generated a huge tsunami and changed our climate.

There's a scarlet on the earth from when that huge asteroid hit the earth. The impact is located in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It's believed this asteroid caused the demise of the dinosaurs, and they died out quickly because it changed the earth's climate. So we've seen something like this happen before in the earth. The third trumpet, Revelation chapter 8 and verse 10.

Then 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. The name of the star is wormwood, which means bitterness. A third of the waters became wormwood. That means the fresh water is polluted. First the oceans were polluted, and the previous trumpet blast. Now even the fresh water is polluted on earth, and many men died from the water because it was made bitter. So with the sounding of this third trumpet, a great star called wormwood falls to the earth, poisoning a third of the planet's freshwater sources, such as rivers and springs, drinkable water that mankind needs to survive. The previous trumpet destroyed the saltwater oceans, and now it's the freshwater that's being destroyed. Men will die from drinking its very bitter taste. It's obviously a form of poison. The term wormwood may be purely symbolic of the representation that bitterness is now filling the earth during these troubled times. So the entire earth's water supply is now being polluted. And again, think of the impact that has on the environment and on all life that exists on this planet. The fourth trumpet, Revelation chapter 8 and verse 12. And the fourth trumpet sounded, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Whoa, whoa, whoa, to the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blast of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound. So following the sounding of the fourth trumpet, a third of the light that comes from the sun and moon and stars become dark. The celestial bodies have been struck. This catastrophe causes complete darkness for an extended period of the daytime and into, even into the night hours. Mr. Lee was talking about total darkness. Well, we'll have fewer hours of daylight when this trumpet blast occurs. Even at nighttime, one third of the nighttime, you won't even see the moon and the stars. There will be total darkness, complete blackness, even during the night. So again, this has a tremendous effect on our ecology, on our environment. This means that there's less daylight each day than typical than we're used to and greater length of total darkness. This is the final trumpet that occurs before the three woes, also known as the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh trumpets. Specifying the next three trumpet blasts as woes, Apley describes the punishment that they represent. Up until this time, the targets were the earth, the environment, the creatures in the sea, vegetation. But now the targets will be the inhabitants of the earth. The people themselves will become the direct recipients of God's punishments rather than the earthly world's environment or the sky, as occurred previously. So let's continue as we survey the trumpets, the fifth trumpet, also known as the first woe, Revelation chapter 9 and verse 1. And the angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. Now it's interesting the third trumpet mentioned a great star that fell from heaven called wormwood, but it's never given a gender. It's never personified. Here, this star is personified and it happens to represent Satan himself. Let's read it again. I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth, to him was given the key to the bottomless pit, and he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose from the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.

Then out of the smoke locust came upon the earth, and to them was given power, as scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing or any tree. That's what happened with the previous trumpets, but now on the fifth trumpet it's something different. But only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

You see, God offers divine protection on those who love him, and those who are called, and those who have received his Spirit and are obedient to his way of life. Verse 5, and they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man, and those days men will seek death and will not find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them. So by the time the great tribulation has occurred, and then in this seventh scroll, all of these trumpets, one by one, had continued to diminish the earth and its environment, and now people, individuals, are getting to the point where they're praying for death, where they're desiring to die. Verse 7, the shape of the locust was like horses prepared for battle. So this is obviously a military. These are military implements. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like a woman's hair, and their teeth were like a lion's teeth. Verse 9, and they had breastplates like the breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running in the battle. Again, notice the military terms used here. Verse 10, and they had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was their hurt men five months, and they had a king over them. The angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abadan, which means destruction, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon, which means destroyer, both very similar names. One woe is passed. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things. So here a fallen Satan is given a key to a bottomless pit, and after opening it, the smoke that arises out of the pit darkens the air, and it blocks the sunlight, whatever is left of the sunlight after the previous trumpet blast, and then out from the smoke the locust are unleashed. The locust are scorpion-tailed war horses that have a human face with a lion's teeth.

Some of the war machines are piloted by women, and that's not unusual, because many of the militaries on earth now have females piloting our war equipment. In the ancient world, massive swarms of locust could destroy crops and obliterate food supplies in a very short period of time. However, these creatures are not insects. They have a much different purpose. They're described as having a power like that of scorpions. Scorpions, of course, known for their sting. The stings could refer to radioactive poisoning, because again, remember, this is military hardware that John is seeing in this prophecy. It could be radioactive poisoning, chemical or biological warfare that results in pain and disfigurement and suffering, but is not lethal. And again, we have an example of that on earth. In August of 1945 and World War II quickly, we dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And though many people died, over 200,000 people survived. But they survived with radiation poisoning. Many were disfigured for the rest of their lives. Some have been in pain because their nerves were damaged due to radiation, have been in pain every day of their lives since that period of time. It's reasonable to see in this destruction and allusion to modern warfare when we take a look at these prophecies. Just imagine how a person of the ancient Middle East, about 100 AD, how they might describe the vision of modern warfare, not understanding Apache helicopters and an Abram M1 tank. What they see is the smoke, the fire of cannons, tanks, helicopters, aircraft, rifles, helmeted soldiers that would evoke a dramatic imagery from someone who's alive in 100 AD looking at these prophetic events. If it's true, then the army that John sees is very literal. It's certain that this invading army is powerful and a deadly strike force. So, we learned from this verse that the locusts that John saw were told not to target vegetation, but only unbelievers, those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. But I want to emphasize here, and we're going to leave Revelation for a minute and go to Psalm chapter 91 and verse 1, and I want to emphasize again as we talk about these fearful things that are going to occur in the world, that God's people shall be protected from all of these horrible events that are going to occur in biblical prophecy. Psalm chapter 91 and verse 1. If you'll turn there with me. Psalm chapter 91 verse 1. He, this is speaking of you, who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, and I in Him I will trust. Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge. His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

So whether there's a designated place of safety or whether we are protected in our homes, God can will and promises to put a shield, like being protected by an eagle, under an eagle's wings, and put a shield about His people wherever they are to protect them from the kind of events, the horrific things that are going to occur in the future. Now let's go back to Revelation chapter 9 and verse 13 and take a look at the sixth trumpet, also known as the second woe. The sixth trumpet, or the second woe. Revelation chapter 9, and we're going to pick it up here in verse 13.

Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden alder, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had 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 day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.

Think of the carnage, think of the destruction, think of how societies are overwhelmed when a third of their citizens die. Verse 16, now the number of the army of the horsemen was 200 million. I heard the number of them, and thus I saw the horses, again these are military armaments, in the vision. Those who sat in them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth 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. By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed. And again, this is describing some type of chemical or biological warfare, or perhaps radiation, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.

And again, if you were someone who was alive at 100 AD and you saw this Apache helicopter, what kind of looked like a locust to you, and you saw armaments being fired out of the front of that helicopter towards an object, you would assume that it's coming out of a locust's mouth, wouldn't you? Well, certainly all of us would. Verse 19, for their power is in their mouth and in their tails, and their tails are like serpents having heads, and with them they do harm. But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk, and they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. This is one of the dark sides of human nature. Sometimes we delude ourselves into thinking that if people are punished, that they become repentant. Look at all that people have been through, and they're still not repentant. I've been in the faith for 49 years. I'm going to tell you something that's hard to say, but is absolutely true. In my 49 years, I have seen the majority of people who suffered a terrible setback in their health, something went wrong. The majority of them didn't change. You would think, oh, this terrible thing has come upon me. It's going to drive me to humility. It's going to drive me to get closer to God. It's going to get me to focus on things that are really important because I know my life is being cut short. I know my days are numbered. Therefore, I'm humbly in submission to God, going to change who and what I am and draw closer to God and closer to the Church of God and make the most of this difficult situation. The majority of the time that I've seen people experience those things, that never happens. In contrast, people usually get bitter towards God when they go through something like that. And the same is true here, obviously, of what we see going on as a result of the sixth trumpet. So this is the second woe, where the four angels who were restrained were released from their bindings at the Great River Euphrates, and they inspire a military force of 200 million mounted troops whose weapons discharge plagues of fire and smoke and brimstone again from their mouths. And if you ever saw an Apache helicopter and other modern armaments, an Abrams M1 tank, you can easily see how it would be described this way for someone who lived at that time. This event, the second woe, or the sixth trumpet plague, seems to be a massive counterattack against European-led forces who were part of the first woe, or the fifth trumpet plague.

Now, I don't know what the world holds in the future, but I can tell you that the only part of this earth that is capable of mounting a 200 million man army are the Asian nations of China, which has well over a billion people, and India, which has a billion people, and is expected to surpass China in population very shortly. Most areas of the earth, I mean, this would be like two-thirds of all Americans. So, to give you an idea of how large this army is, that is a massive, absolutely massive army. And we see here in verses 15 and 18, it says, to kill a third of mankind with the present population on earth. That means two and a half billion people would die.

Can you imagine the grief? Imagine how health care systems are overwhelmed. How are you going to bury all of these people, even in mass graves? How are you going to handle this massive amount of death in the United States? Judging by our population as of today, that would mean that 110 million Americans would die. We're hyperventilating, over 200,000 dying with COVID-19, and that's serious. And any death is a loss, and certainly a tragedy. But how in the world will this nation handle the death of 110 million people over a short period of time? So, as we can see, these are horrendous, terrible events that are going to occur to the earth. Now, between the sixth and seventh trumpet is a series of events that I won't cover today because they're not particularly related to the trumpets, which is my topic today, and these include the Angel of the Covenant, presents a little open book, and then there are seven thunders that occur, a voice directs the Apostle John to eat an open scroll, and then it tells John that he must prophesy further. The temple and altar of God are measured in a vision. There are two witnesses who are prophesied to be on the earth. They are slain. Afterward, they arise and ascend to heaven, and those are the events that occur between the sixth and seventh trumpets. So now we're led to the point of time, to the seventh or the last trumpet, as Paul would have said, but it's not all a bowl of cherries. Some very horrible things occur yet to this world. This is the third woe, after all, but let's read the book of Revelation to see what it says. The second woe was passed. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. 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. That's good news. That's wonderful news, but the nations don't look at it that way. They look at Christ and his saints returning with him as space invaders, as foreign invaders coming over to repopulate the earth, to destroy earth's culture, earth's governments, and earth's systems, and impose their alien foreign system on the earth. Let's continue here. And the 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God, saying, we give you thanks, O God Almighty, the one who is, who was, and who is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned. That's the beautiful part of the last trump. Now, the challenging part for this world.

The nations were angry, and your wrath has come in 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.

Now, embedded in this trumpet includes what's called the seven last plagues discussed in Revelation 16, and we're not going to go there and look at them in detail, but this is part of the third woe. While we're celebrating and rejoicing, the world is still struggling with the punishments from God because of humanity's sin. These seven plagues include painful sores and those who worship the beast, oceans becoming blood, rivers and fresh water becoming blood.

Before, up to a third was occurring, now this is totally happening to the oceans and fresh water. The sun scorches the earth, that's the fourth, fifth, thick darkness in the beast kingdom. Six, the Euphrates River dries up. Seven, massive final destruction, including the worst earthquake ever in human history, and large heavy hailstones falling from the sky on people. So that's the negative part of the world we'll be experiencing as part of the third woe. But those who are in Christ will be experiencing something else at the conclusion of this seventh trumpet.

Let's go to Matthew chapter 4 and verse 29 and see what Jesus himself said about this time. Matthew chapter 24 and verse 29. Jesus said 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. We saw two trumpets in which stars were thrown from heaven onto the earth and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and all of the tribes of earth will mourn. They won't be happy as we are. They won't be joyful like will be joyful. They'll be mourning because they'll be convinced that it's an invasion from someone from outer space to force man into a new way of life, a new civilization, a new culture. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory and he will send his angels with the great sound of a trumpet. And this is that seventh trumpet blast, the very same one that Paul talked about in 1 Corinthians 15.

And they will gather together his elect from the four winds because at that time, at the return of Jesus, those who have been faithful in Christ throughout the ages first, those who have died will come up out of their graves and rise to meet Jesus Christ in the air. And those faithful believers who are still alive will follow them and leave this earth and meet Jesus Christ in the air to return with him.

And they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to the other. And of course, this Greek word for heaven is oranos, which means sky. Not the third heaven where God's throne is, but it means the upper atmosphere. For most people who live on earth at this future time, the return of Jesus Christ will be fearful. They will mourn. The nations will be angry and chomping at the bit to war against this invader and his army.

That means you and I, his saints. They'll be looking for battle and looking for war. The sound of a trumpet will alarm. The remnant of humankind. But to the elect of God, called by the Father for thousands of years, this will be the event that we have prayed for so fervently. This will be the culmination of the prayer uttered millions of times, Thy kingdom come. Lord, please bring your kingdom. Jesus, please return to this earth. Please establish that great kingdom. Remember, Revelation 11 verse 18 stated that the nations were angry.

So let's now go to the prophet Zachariah and see this incredible battle that occurs between the nations that are left on earth through all of this destruction, environmental destruction, destruction of human beings. Nations have fallen, but there yet remains an army with some pretty powerful technology. Let's see how the battle goes. Zachariah chapter 14 and verse 1. Zachariah chapter 14.

Verse 1. Behold, the day of battle is coming, and your spoil will be divided into your midst, for I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. Remember, Jesus is coming to land in the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. Jerusalem has been occupied for Gentiles for three and a half years at this period of time. The city shall be taken, the houses rifled, the women ravished, half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. Years ago we had a war in the Middle East, and our media referred to it as the mother of all battles. Well, this is the true mother of all battles here. Verse 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 towards the north, and half of it towards the south. Then you shall flee through my mountain valley. Now this is talking about the physical Jewish survivors who are alive at that time. God's saints, God's people, have already met Jesus Christ in the air, have already been transformed from mortal to immortal, from corruptible to being incorruptible, and they returned with Jesus Christ to the earth. This is talking about the physical Jewish survivors who are in the vicinity of Jerusalem at that time. God has a covenant with ancient Israel. He loves his people, and he has mercy on his people. For the mountain valley shall reach to Ezell. Yes, you shall flee, as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with you. That's you! God's saints! And that's what we're here celebrating today on this feast of trumpets. For the world, terror, the tragedy for God's people, anticipation, and joy. Complete joy.

Jesus Christ returns to earth after the gathering of his saints at the first resurrection in the sky, and together they descend to earth to battle the nations assembled to war against Jesus Christ.

The actual battle, often called Armageddon, takes place at a location called the Valley of Megiddo. It's 65 miles northwest of Jerusalem. That's where the battle actually takes place, not in, within the confines of the city of Jerusalem. And as a battle, it is fierce, and it is quick. Let's take a look here at verse 12. It doesn't last very long.

And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem, those who had for three and a half years had captive Jerusalem and now have turned to Megiddo to fight against the returning Christ. Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths.

Not very pretty. It's not a very beautiful picture, but it's really not much of a battle, either. It'd be like putting Mr. Thomas in a ring with Mike Tyson for 10 rounds.

I know how to fall fast.

So Jesus Christ will confront the nations assembled against him, and yes, who's with him at this time? You are. God's people. Those who are part of the resurrection that celebrated on this very day at the return of Jesus Christ. Are we getting ready to join the Messiah in the air and return with Jesus Christ to this earth? To help serve humanity? What will be the state of the earth at this time? Think about all the work that we have to do. All the things that God wants you to do in service to humanity. There's going to be massive environmental destruction. Trees were destroyed. Grass, water, fresh and salt water, the air and the earth itself. Earth is a mess by the time all of these seals and trumpets and plagues and everything are finally done.

There's a great loss of sea life and animal life. Sea creatures and birds and mammals and insects and reptiles. Everything that walks in this earth will face massive devastation. Great loss of human lives. Billions of individuals will die as the result of these end time events. Massive carnage. Lots of survivors left who are jaded and grieving. Numb in shock!

Revelation chapter 6 and verse 8. In the fourth seal, which was a pale horse, it says, And the power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth. So that's one-fourth of the earth, mankind. Then, a few chapters later in Revelation 9 and verse 15, those who are left, this was the sixth trumpet or second woe. We read about this today. A third of mankind was killed. That's those left over after the fourth seal. So massive death, as the prophet Isaiah wrote in Isaiah chapter 24 and verse 6, Therefore the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. I've had people read this scripture to me to try to prove that there will be no humans alive during the thousand years during the millennium, and they conveniently left out that last sentence, and few men are left. And if you start out with a world of nine or ten billion people, and maybe you have a billion or less left of that original number, I would say that qualifies as few compared to how many there were before. So, brethren, on this day of trumpets in which we celebrate the return of Jesus Christ and our role in the resurrection, are we developing the tools and the ability to serve and to help build a brave new world? You know what those tools are?

The tools are very simple. They're found in Galatians chapter 6, and they're called the fruit of the Spirit. If you want to know how you can develop the tools to serve Jesus Christ, and to serve humanity as a child of God for all eternity, the tools are the fruit of the Spirit it says, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Those are the tools that you and I, through the help of God's Holy Spirit, should be continuing to develop each and every day. That is how we prepare for the role that God has given us. At this time, beyond the seventh trumpet, Satan will be bound and prohibited from influencing the earth. That's in Revelation 20, and we'll discuss that in more detail on the Day of Atonement. And by the way, do you know one reason that we fast on the Day of Atonement? One reason we fast in the Day of Atonement is because we know all of these horrible things that are going to happen to humanity. And that should make us mourn.

That should sadden us to know what the world has to go through because it has rejected God as Creator, as a lawgiver, as sustainer. And that's one reason we literally fast on that Day of Atonement. We mourn for our brothers and sisters in this world who are going to go through some very, very terrible things. So that's the next Holy Day, the Day of Atonement. Then there will be the 1000-year reign of Christ as He begins to rebuild the earth and firmly establish the kingdom of God. And this is the theme of the Feast of Tabernacles. With this one final scripture I have for us today, I'd like us to ponder on during this Feast of Trumpets in 2020. If you'll turn to Psalm chapter 47 and verse 1. One final scripture. I know I talked about some difficult things today, and this is not my favorite topic. As a matter of fact, if you look at my sermons over the last 10 years, I rarely talk about these kinds of serious yet devastating and painful things to ponder what biblical prophecy says. But rather than focusing on all the fear and the pain and the suffering that will occur in the future, this is what our focus should be on today. And I hope on this Feast of Trumpets in the year 2020, that this is what's in your heart, and that this is what you carry with you for the rest of this sacred Holy Day in which God has placed His name.

Oh, it says, clap your hands, all ye peoples. That's an act of joy. Ever be to a sporting event, and somebody scores a basket magnificently or whatever. People applaud. If someone scores a touchdown, people applaud. Clap your hands, all ye peoples. Shout to God with the voice of triumph, for the Lord Most High is awesome. We worship an awesome God, because as creator, He's going to restore the earth to being better than it ever was before. He's going to bring alive again all of those who died during all of those plagues and trumpets and everything else that happened. He's going to bring them alive again to live in a better, far, in a world far, far better than the one that we live in today. And when that time comes, we'll say to ourselves, why did I get so upset about presidential elections? Why did I worry about Supreme Court nominations? Why did I worry about COVID-19? Why did I worry about Antifa? Because all of those things will be a distant, faded memory from the past, insignificant to the joys and the fulfillment that we will experience as part of God's family. Verse 2, for the Lord Most High is awesome. He is a great king over the earth. He will subdue the peoples under us and the nations under our feet. The saints along with Jesus Christ will be leading the world. He will choose our inheritance for us, the excellence of Jacob whom he loves, Selah. Stop and think about that. Verse 5, God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet, the very thing that this day represents. Sing praises to God! Sing praises! Sing praises to our God! Sing praises! For God is the king of the earth. Sing praises with understanding. Now understand the prophecies and the other trumps that have to occur before the last trump. So sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. And the time is coming very shortly when we are going to be changed from mortal to immortal, and we too will be sitting on thrones serving Jesus Christ and serving the new nations of this world with a kingdom without end. I wish you a fulfilling feast of trumpets today and a wonderful fall holy day season.