Overview of Events Before the Feast of Trumpets

Well, thank you again. Happy Sabbath, brethren!

Let's start out today. If you would turn with me to Luke 21 and verse 36, if you'll turn there with me.

The purpose of the sermon today is to give us an overview of some of the prophetic events that will occur just before the Feast of Trumpets. Of course, we'll be celebrating the Feast of Trumpets on Monday.

And it is a feast, and during feast you celebrate as those who've been called by God and given the gift of His Holy Spirit. There's a lot to us to celebrate about on the Feast of Trumpets and your resurrection and the return of Jesus Christ and all the wonderful things that the Feast of Trumpets represents. But shortly before the Feast of Trumpets, some very horrific events occur in this world. And I'd like to talk about an overview, kind of a broad brush of some of those events today. Before we do Luke chapter 21 and verse 36, it was a statement that Jesus made that is very profound. He said, watch therefore and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man. Now, of course, the first thing I realized is that we of ourselves cannot make ourselves worthy. Only Jesus Christ living in us, His righteousness in us, makes us worthy. Nothing that we can do, think, know, or say can make us worthy. Only Jesus Christ can make us worthy. And the phrase here, to stand before the Son of Man, it means to be able to stand before God knowing that you were forgiven, knowing that you have a Savior who has paid the price for your sins, and that you are living under the grace and the goodness of God. So that's what He means, to stand before the Son of Man. You don't have to stand before Him in terror and fear. You can stand before Him with a deep appreciation and respect and awe for the forgiveness that we have been given. We all look forward to the Kingdom of God and the loving leadership of Jesus Christ. But a number of incredible events, very sorrowful events, have to occur before the Kingdom of God is established on earth. And all of those events lead to an apocalyptic battle of horrendous proportions as Jesus Christ comes to earth. It's known as, in our Western culture, we've been acknowledged, a term that we say Armageddon, meaning the big one, something that's really bad. A few years ago, we had a terrible snowstorm. And on national news, when the front was coming across the country, they said it's snowmageddon, meaning it was the big one. It was going to be really bad. So I would like to take a look at some of these prophetic events that lead to this major battle today and look at some possible scenarios of how it may occur in today's political environment. The Feast of Trumpets ties into many end-time prophecies, but it's a time of celebration. And today, I would like to give an overview, once again, of some very tragic events that will lead up to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

We are a prophetic church. We believe in prophecy. However, we are not obsessive about prophecy. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13 and verse 8 that prophecies will fail, especially when men decide what prophecies say, especially when men determine what God's prophecies say. Oftentimes, men's interpretation will fall flat and they will often fail. Paul said that knowledge will vanish away. So we believe in biblical prophecy. And you know what the one major prophecy is that I try to focus on week after week after week? That is the kingdom of God, because that's the truly important prophecy that we need to understand and know that is coming to this earth. So as I talk about some of these other prophecies today, I'm just going to express them in the way the best knowledge that we have today living in the 21st century with what we believe these prophecies mean to our day and age and how they could possibly be fulfilled.

So that is my purpose today. Let's begin by going to the book of Revelation.

Revelation chapter 5 and verse 1, and we will take a look at a statement made regarding seven seals. And frankly, the opening of those seven seals is what the majority of the book of Revelation is all about. There are a number of inset chapters, but the major theme of the book of Revelation that takes the most words are the opening of these seven seals.

So let's begin Revelation chapter 5 and verse 1.

And I saw on the right hand of him who sat on the throne, we know of this being as God the Father, a scroll written inside and on the back sealed with seven seals. Now this is quite unusual because most scrolls are only written on one side. They are not written on both sides. And this represents the fact that this is the complete summation of the Word of God regarding end-time events. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and the loose it seals?

And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it. So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it. This is John writing, and he just broken up emotionally. He wants to know what the future is going to be. He wants to know what's in those scrolls, and no one is found worthy to take the scrolls from the hands of God the Father and to open it up.

So he weeps. Verse 5, but one of the elders said to me, do not weep, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed. Yes, he experienced a terrible death, and yes, he shed his blood for the sins of the world, but he was resurrected. He came to life again. He prevailed over death. He prevailed over the prince of the power of the air, and he made himself worthy of being known as the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.

He prevailed and opened to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. And I looked and behold in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though he had been slain. It's interesting the elder refers to Jesus Christ by using the title the lion of the tribe of Judah of the root of David, but what John sees is he sees a lamb.

Soot a lamb as though he had been slain. So there's still evidence of the crucifixion of the marks on this lamb. Having seven horns, meaning all powerful, this lamb is. Seven eyes, all knowing, all omnipotent, omnipresent, and there were seven spirits of God set out to all the earth. He sees and knows all. Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. So we see here that this scroll and the seals, seven seals, represent the secret purposes of God that are about to be revealed. The father's designs and his methods of divine providence towards the church and to the world are stated, fixed, and made a matter of record in this scroll.

It's done! So the one who is worthy to open the seals is Jesus Christ himself, referred here as a lamb. This could be, by the way, the same scroll in Daniel 12. Daniel saw a scroll and he was told the words of the book are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. So it could be the very same scroll that Daniel saw. Just as a side note, I want you to notice the phrase and how John saw Jesus Christ. It said, stood there, stood a lamb. Here's what the Believer's Study Bible says about that statement. Quote, expecting to behold a kingly and ferocious lion, after all, that's the way the elder had just described Jesus as a lion.

John turns to observe a lamb. That's the Greek word arnian. It's used 29 times in the book of Revelation. So one of the myths I would like to break up is people's misperceptions of who and what Jesus Christ is.

Many people want to betray Jesus Christ as a hard, uncaring individual. They love the rail about the rod of iron, whacking people with a rod of iron. They like to look at these few scriptures to justify their desire to control people. But the truth is, Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation, 29 times is called a lamb. More than any other title or designation he has in the book of Revelation, he is referred to as a lamb.

Not a warrior, not a lion, not a tyrant, not a dictator, but a lamb. So Jesus begins to peel off these seven seals one at a time, and they represent a dramatic increase in events that already occur in this world. We have experienced, even in my lifetime, I have experienced every one of these events to a small way. So what it's talking about here is, he begins to open these seals. It's talking about an increase of earthly events beyond what humankind has normally experienced. And the seals, by the way, follow the outline of the Olivet prophecy in Matthew chapter 24. It isn't my purpose today to go into great detail about the seals, so I'll just mention them briefly. He peels off the first one. It's false prophets.

It is religious deception, and there is a white horse that symbolizes religious deception. That's in Revelation chapter 6 verses 1 and 2. Then he pulls off and unravels the second seal. It's war, increased devastation. Now, we've always had war, but it'll be war that is harder, war that is harsher, war that is more dramatic than we have experienced. That's represented by a fiery red horse, Revelation chapter 6 verses 3 and 4. He pulls off, unravels the third, and it's famine or hunger, and that's represented by a black horse. That's Revelation chapter 6 verses 5 and 6.

And then he unravels the fourth seal, pestilence. That could very well, by the way, be the result of the previous seals of famine and war. Pestilence is disease epidemics and plagues and new viruses.

And people's weakened immune systems being susceptible to disease, and it's represented by a pale horse, a rather sickly looking colored horse in verses 7 and 8. And then the fifth seal is unraveled. It's tribulation, known as the Great Tribulation, Matthew chapter 24 and verse 21. And it's persecution of God's people. Another myth that I've heard over the years is that all of God's people would be protected during these horrendous times. God's people will be protected, but frankly, some, most likely those in leadership positions or those who can't keep their mouths shut, some will be martyred and some will indeed be persecuted. The reason I say that is we don't want to be in the future and find out that someone has been arrested or someone has been killed and think, oh well, he must not have been a righteous person. He must not have had much faith because God allowed him to die. He wasn't protected. We don't want to begin to do that and judge others rashly. So there are an order of events. First comes the tribulation here, represented by the fifth seal as described here. And next will be heavenly signs, which will be the sixth seal.

And then after the heavenly signs is a period of time known as the Day of the Lord. That is the Day of God's wrath. What we've been reading about here in these early seals is the time of Satan's wrath. Satan knows he has a short time left. He's aggravated at this point. He is irritated and he's doing everything he can to try to get humankind to destroy itself off of this planet. So again, after the heavenly signs is the Day of the Lord, the Day of God's wrath, the heavenly signs occur after the time of tribulation, but before the Day of the Lord begins. So the sixth seal are the heavenly signs recorded in Revelation 6, verses 12 through 17. Now here's where it begins to get complicated because God always likes sevens. He likes to do things in unique ways. The seventh seal consists of seven events. The seventh seal consists of the blowing of seven trumpets.

So we had the seven seals followed by the seventh seal, which is comprised of the blowing of seven trumpets. The first four are an ecological disaster that will occur on earth. I'll just quickly go down what some of these trumpet blasts are so we can understand. And this is the arrival of the Day of the Lord. Blast number one is the devastation that wounds the earth's vegetation. These are all in Revelation chapter 8, by the way. Verse 7 is devastation to the earth's vegetation. Then there's a second blast. That's devastation of the oceans and sea life in verses 8 through 9. Then there's a third trumpet blast. That's the rivers and fresh water are polluted. Revelation chapter 8 verses 10 and 11. A fourth blast, the sun and the moon and the stars are darkened.

Again, that's Revelation chapter 8 and verse 12. Now, just to make it interesting, the fifth, the sixth, and the seventh trumpets also have a tag, a biblical term. They are known as the three woes.

The fifth trumpet is the first woe. The sixth trumpet is the second woe. And the third trumpet is the third woe. And just to make things even more interesting, the seventh trumpet, which is the third woe, contains the seven last plagues upon the earth before the return of Jesus Christ.

Now, why all of seven? Where do all these sevens come from? Well, the number seven is a biblical number of completion and of divine authorship. We already read about seven horns and seven eyes and seven spirits. In all fairness, over 500 times in the Bible, the number seven is used to show the touch of God or His divinity. I'll give you some examples, and it affects our natural world as well.

There are seven days of creation. The seventh day that God created, He made holy. By convention, there are seven continents. There are seven colors in a rainbow. There are seven notes on a diatonic musical scale. After the seven notes, you go to another octave. There are seven stars in the big dipper that point towards the North Star. There are seven classical planets that are visible to the naked human eye. There are seven periods of elements within the periodic table that occur naturally on earth. If you don't include anything, that is synthetic. So the number seven is God's divine touch of completeness. So with that background, let's go now back to introducing the fifth trumpet, Revelation 8. We will turn to this scripture, and we'll see what happens when the angel sounds the fourth trumpet and introduces the fifth or the first woe. Revelation 8.

John was inspired to write, then the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun was struck, and 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, Woe, woe, woe. That's why it's referred to as the three woes, first woe being the fifth trumpet.

And it says, because of the remaining blast of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound. So the first woe is the fifth trumpet, and it's a time of torturous human afflictions and the rise of something we know of as the beast power. Now we believe the beast power will be a consolidated secular nation in Europe, and that ten nations will merge and so will come together in some way and rise to become a dominant superpower in the world and will will grow beyond the United States, who will by that time will have declined in economic and military strength.

So this is the rise of the beast power in Europe. Let's go to chapter 9. You're already in Revelation in verse 1 and read about what the fifth angel sounds. The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a fallen star. This represents Satan. Remember, he was called the morning star in Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 14 in verse 12. From heaven to earth, and to him was given the key to the bottomless pit, and he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke rose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace, so the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.

And out of the smoke locusts 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, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

Now, we want to have the seal of God on our foreheads. When we were baptized and we came out of that lake or pond or whatever we came out of, someone laid hands on us, and we were sealed with the Spirit of God. They laid hands on our heads, on our foreheads, and they said a prayer, and they asked God to give us the gift of his Holy Spirit. And sure enough, we won't cover the 144,000 today, but they are also sealed on their foreheads, meaning designated that they are set apart.

Verse 5, and they were not given authority to kill them. This is not talking about the torment here is not for those who were sealed on their foreheads. It's the previous statement for those men who do not have the seal on their foreheads. But to torment them for five months, their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days, men will seek death and not find it. They will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The shape of the locust was like horses prepared for battle.

Now, in all fairness, I want you to picture the Apostle John living in the first century. He's never seen an Abrams tank. He's never seen any of the modern military weapons. We have the aircraft, stinger missiles. He's never seen any of those things. From the perspective of a man living in the first century, he's describing, using natural creatures like a scorpion or locust to describe the military weaponry that he sees at the time when this will be fulfilled. It says, on their heads were crowned something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.

And they had hair like a woman's hair, and their teeth were like lion's teeth, and they had breastplates like breastplates of iron. And the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. And if you've ever heard the sound of a chopper as it goes overhead, you can easily imagine how he would have thought that the sound of a helicopter, the sound of a chopper, sounded like many chariots running in the battle. Verse 10, they had tails like 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 Greek is Apollyon. One woe is past, behold, still two more woes are coming after these things. So, brethren, we believe in our studies of prophecy that this is the last resurrection of the Roman Empire, referred to here as the Beast, also mentioned in Revelation, Chapter 17.

This is an incredible war-making beast power from these United Nations of Europe that have consolidated. The symbolic locust-like horses are terrifying war machines, and he described them in the best way that he could. Today, we would know that some of these weapons could be chemical, biological, bacteriological weapons that are inflicted on people by this army. The Russian's best fighter, the Sukhoi Su-35, has a rearward projecting that's even called a sting that is used to detect radar that it has radar coming out of its tail to detect anyone who's chasing it or is behind the plane.

Apollyon is the Greek word for Satan or destroyer. So, this European superpower picks up the pieces at this time in history of what is left in North America.

We know from numerous prophecies that the United States will eventually collapse. And that's not encouraging you. As someone who was born as an American and takes a certain amount of pride in being an American, to me that grieves my heart, knowing and understanding that. But there is a price you pay for deviating against God's laws. As a nation, we have gone from celebrating diversity to now celebrating perversity. And there's a price that you pay when you reject the law of God.

We're a nation that began as a republic and eventually evolved into a democracy and now is evolved into a 12-person judicial oligarchy. And our Constitution is being trampled. The things that our founding fathers wanted within this nation, which was, by the way, a healthy respect for the providence of God, has been rejected by this nation. And eventually, we're going to outspend our ability to print phony money and we are going to have a serious financial collapse. We are going to have, eventually, a government meltdown. It barely works as it is today. We will probably have civil war. I don't know what is going to be the catalyst to bring this nation down. It could be a technological virus by one of our enemies. Universally, every part of our life today is tied into technology. Most of our military weapons take technology. They take operating systems. They take software to run even our military equipment. Our utilities shift power as it's needed from one portion region of the country to another. That's all done through technology. Our lives are intimately tied in technology. If you bring that down, we probably no longer even remember how to run the stock market in the United States. It would be absolutely devastating to this country if one of our enemies infiltrated a technological virus to literally shut down the way that we communicate in this nation. I don't know what exactly it's going to be. That's just certainly a possibility.

But this European superpower picks up the pieces of what's left in North America after our ultimate collapse. And it also decides to conquer the Middle East, and it does, including Jerusalem. Let's take a look now at the second woe. If you'll turn to Revelation 9, verse 12. The second woe is the sixth trumpet. And this represents enormous military destruction now involving war-making nations coming out of Asia, perhaps a counterattack against Europe.

Revelation 9, verse 12. One woe is passed, behold, still two more woes are coming after these things.

Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, older which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, released the four angels who were bound at the great river Euphrates. So the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and the day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind.

One third of mankind. Think about that. What are there? Over seven billion people alive on the planet. We're talking about billions. That's a B of people killed. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was 200 million. The United States population alone is just a little over 300 million. So I want you to imagine how much of a population it takes to have a standing army of 200 million. Is it possible? Well, sure. China has over a billion people. Is it possible? Sure. India almost has a billion people. So there are nations that are capable of merging and creating an army that is 200 million individuals. I heard the number of them, verse 17. And thus I saw the horses, that's the military armaments, in the vision. And those that sat in them had breastplates of fiery red. It's interesting what the color of the Chinese flag is, isn't it? Was fiery red, highest since blue. It's interesting what a very popular flower in the Chinese culture is.

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, that's the plague of fire, smoke, and brimstone, 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 the 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 and silver and brass and stone and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk, and they did not repent of their murders and their sorceries, or of their sexual immorality or their thefts. Pretty powerful stuff. Although these events are terrifying, God remains merciful. He wants humankind to wake up. He wants people to repent. He wants people to turn to God. But it's wired into human beings that they rarely turn to God when they go through a crisis like this. Usually they only become bitter, rather than yielding, rather than swallowing their pride and becoming humble and going to God and asking for mercy. As God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 33, he said, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked should turn from his way and live. And that's really what God desires.

But we know from past history, and we certainly know from the prophecy, that at this point people simply will not repent. The Euphrates River here, which is east of Palestine, is the longest river in southwest Asia. This massive Asian army is provoked by the beast power, strength, and probably provoked by what occurs in the world. They're a very powerful nation, very sophisticated, high level of technological development, many people, very intelligent people. And what do they see? Well, they see Europe uniting. They see Europe taking over and having influence in North America, a former superpower. Perhaps at this point in time, they're sick and tired of Iraq playing around with nuclear weapons, because right on the border, the Euphrates is the modern nation of nations of Iran and Iraq. So maybe unlike the United States, they're going to do something about it militarily, and they're going to invade those nations. We just don't know for sure, but we do know, as explained by prophecies, that one-third, which perhaps are many of the armies of the populace of Europe and people in the Middle East and Asia, one-third of mankind is destroyed by this second woe, or this sixth trumpet blast.

And then there's something else occurs. Let's go to Revelation 11 and verse 3, before we get to the third woe, or the seventh trumpet.

Revelation 11 and verse 3, and I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy 1,260 days. That is three and a half years. They will be in Jerusalem counterbalancing, prophesying, while Jerusalem is under the control of the beast power from Europe. They are clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. And you'll see an analogy there in the book of Zechariah about that. Verse 5, 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. They have power to shut heaven so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy. And they have power over the waters to turn them to blood and to strike the earth with all plagues as often as they desire. Verse 7, And when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. Giving an analogy of Jerusalem of being moral degeneration and idolatry. Remember, by this time it is controlled by the beast power. Where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not allow their dead bodies to be put into the graves. Now this was not possible until the last 20 years. We now have something called CNN. We now have news ability to see an event going on in the world live and everyone at the same time can see that event going on as it happens. That's a universal form of instant communication that's only become available in the last couple of decades. And people around the world from peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will see those two witnesses dead for three and a half days. That's what I call a long news broadcast. Continuing here, and all those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them because remember they had the power to bring plagues. They had the power to warn people to try to bring people to repentance. They had the power to shut heaven so that rain wouldn't fall. So people will make merry and they'll send gifts to one another because these two prophets 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. Uh-oh! They're not dead anymore. This may not be a good sign for us.

Verse 12, 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. This could actually be taking place at the time of the first resurrection when Jesus Christ comes into the clouds and ready to arrive at earth. Verse 13, in the same hour there was a great earthquake and a tenth of the city fell and the earthquake 700,000, I'm sorry, 7,000 people were killed and the rest were afraid and gave glory to God, the God of heaven. So these two witnesses are symbolized as two olive trees and two lampstands. They have the power to destroy their enemies, to control the weather, to cause plagues, all in an effort to try to get people to repent of their sins and come to God. God loves mankind and again here he pleads with them to repent by sending his two witnesses, but they are rejected by a rebellious mankind. Again, the indication is that Jerusalem is controlled by the Gentiles for three and a half years, during which these two witnesses plead for the nations to repent and submit to Jesus Christ.

The one other thing I want to say about these two witnesses is that they are godly, righteous prophets. They are not self-absorbed, false prophets. The two witnesses will pay their taxes. The two witnesses believe what Jesus said and that is, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar. In other words, you obey human law as long as it doesn't conflict with the law of God. So they will be individuals who respect secular law as long as it's not in conflict with God's law and they certainly will respect God's law. But they will be righteous, godly prophets, not self-absorbed, false prophets. I was kidding the group at the leadership weekend last Sunday and I told them about this hand. This looks like a normal hand, probably to most of you.

It looks like a normal human hand. But this hand has actually shaken hands in my lifetime with all eight of the two witnesses. And my point is that for some reason there seem to be very self-absorbed people who need an identity. They need to feel important. They need to be somebody who deludes themselves and create fictitious titles for themselves in order to feel value, in order to feel important. Now let's talk about the third woe, the seventh trumpet, which comprises the seven last plagues and lead to the Battle of Megiddo, which is actually what I wanted to focus on today. So I will quickly go through these plagues that are in Revelation 16. Plague one is ugly and painful sores mentioned in verse two. The second plague is that sea life dies due to blood. And at this time, as it's mentioned in scripture, God begins to avenge the shed blood of the saints by causing parts of the world to die through blood. So again, plague number two is sea life dies. Number three, the rivers and water become blood. So there again, God is avenging the shed blood of the saints who have been waiting a long time since the first century. We've had martyrs in the Church of God who have been patiently waiting a long time for their lives to be avenged. The fourth plague is scorched heat from the sun. The sun will just literally cook the inhabitants of the earth. That's verse eight, Revelation chapter 16. The fifth plague are pains and sores in darkness. And these could be sores, obviously, from the very first plague in which they were given.

They're very painful and ugly sores and now combined with just darkness. Revelation chapter 16 and verse 12. If you'll turn there with me, we'll take a look at the sixth plague. We'll actually read about it. Revelation chapter 16 verse 12. Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl, his plague, on the great river Euphrates. There's the river Euphrates again. And this time the water was dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw the three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon. Of course, the dragon represents Satan himself. Out of the mouth of the beast, that's the secular power that unites the nations in Europe. And out of the mouth of the false prophet, that is the religious figure who is connected with the beast and claims to either directly represent Jesus Christ or to be Jesus Christ himself. Verse 14.4, 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 the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments. Remember what Jesus said in Luke. We want to stand before Jesus Christ on that day. We want to live lives of character. We want to be obedient to God. We want Jesus Christ living through us and in our lives.

So again, it says, Behold, I'm coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments. He keeps them clean, lives a righteous life through the gift of the power of the Holy Spirit, a person who takes out of their lives the works of the flesh and replaces them with the fruits of the Spirit, lest he walk naked and see his shame. Verse 16, and they gathered them together in a place called in Hebrew Armageddon. All right, so let's just break this down and talk about a few things. Again, Euphrates River, east of Palestine. It's a gateway from Asia, and there are demonic spirits that actually come after this counter-attack had occurred in the previous woe. There are these demonic spirits who say to the leftover armies of Europe, say to the leftover armies from this Asiatic empire, that we've got to stop fighting one another. There is an alien invading the earth.

He wants to dominate us. He is from outer space. He wants to take over our civilizations and force upon us a different kingdom, his own civilization. He is an alien, and we have to get together to fight him because he's coming to the earth around the proximity of Jerusalem. Now, again, the mouth of the dragon, the dragon is Satan, and there are three unclean spirits that unite them in a single purpose. Unites the beast and the false prophet and the Asiatic peoples together to prepare for war. The false prophet is a world-renowned religious leader who has claimed to represent Christ or literally be Christ himself. This false prophet convinces the combined armies of Europe and Asia to fight against this heavenly invader known as Jesus Christ. They view Christ's return as an alien, otherworldly power trying to dominate and impose its will on humankind.

The word here is used Armageddon. Armageddon is not an English word. It is the Greek word for a Hebrew phrase hermighetto, which means the hill of mageto. And through history, this flat plain and this hill has been the perfect gathering place for military equipment and personnel throughout human history. It's located about 55 miles north of Jerusalem. So with that said, let's go to plague number seven of this seventh trumpet. And let's see what it says in Revelation 16 verse 17. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl, his plague, into the air. And a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven from the throne saying, it is done. The nations will be no more. Christ is striking them. There will no longer be resistance. Resistance is futile, as all of the civilizations and cultures of this world are literally swept away. And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings. And there was a great earthquake, such a mighty great earthquake, as had not occurred since men were on the earth. So an incredible earthquake that shakes this world to its very foundations. Verse 19, now the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell. It doesn't matter where that nation is, whether it's in the Middle East, North America, South America, Australia, the cities of the nations fell. That great earthquake literally pancakes and levels the cities that are left of this human habitation.

And 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. Mountain is symbolic in the prophecy of a nation. The nations are gone. The reason the mountains are not found, the nations are no more. The book of Psalms, chapter 2, turn there with me.

And people don't understand the book of Psalms is also prophetic, has wonderful and beautiful prophecies in it. And we will read a prophecy here from the book of Psalms regarding this very time that we're talking about today. Psalm chapter 2, verse 1, why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us break their bonds and pieces and cast away their cords from us. We don't want to be controlled by this new kingdom. We don't accept this new king coming down from the clouds. We want to do things our way. We'll just gather together and fight him when he returns. Verse 4, and he who sits in the heavens shall laugh.

The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then he shall speak to them in his wrath. We read about that the day of the Lord and distress them in his deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I shall declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and you shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel. Very powerful, very inspiring scriptures. Let's now go to Zachariah chapter 14. Zachariah chapter 14.

Beginning in verse 1. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem. The city shall be taken. The houses rifled and the women ravished. Half of the city will go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Means won't be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations as he fights in the day of battle. And in that day his feet shall stand in 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 the mountain shall move towards the north and half towards the south. Let's drop down now to verse 14 and see what happens, what it's going to be like to be in that battlefield when Jesus Christ arrives.

Let's see what kind of a battle this is.

And it shall be the plague with which the Lord shall strike all the peoples who fought against Jerusalem. 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. It shall come to pass in that day that a great panic from the Lord will be among them. Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor and raise his hand against his neighbor's hand. Judah also will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be gathered together. Gold, silver, apparel, and great abundance. This reverses the looting, the earlier looting that the Europeans did when Jerusalem was invaded by their armies. The only thing that I've ever seen that I think, from a cinematic point of view, pictures this rather well if you've ever seen the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark. When the Nazi takes the lid off of the Ark of the Covenant and looks in, if you haven't seen that, every time I see that movie, I think of this scripture because, as Steven Spielberg did the movie, just incredible graphics, cinematography. If you haven't seen that movie and you ever do think of Zachariah 14 when he takes the lid off and looks into the Ark of the Covenant. A few more scriptures. Revelation chapter 14 verse 14. Revelation chapter 14 and verse 14.

This is graphic. It says, And the wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the wine press up to the horse's bridles for 1,600 furlongs. Now a furlong is equal to 600 feet.

What this scripture says is that the bloody remains of the rebellious armies will fill this valley for about 180 miles, four to five feet deep. That's incredible. From the ghetto, southward, passing Jerusalem all the way down to the ancient land of Edom, there will be bodies and remnants of the soldiers who dared to fight against Jesus Christ. Well, in conclusion, today I've talked about everyone else. What about us? Where does God's church fit into this prophecy? What will our role be after we meet Jesus Christ in the air as part of the first resurrection? We're familiar with 1 Corinthians 15, 51. Paul said, Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in the moment 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, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. And then in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, he adds this, and this helps answer where we're going to be when these events are going on. He said, For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain, until the coming of the Lord will by no means proceed those who are asleep, or those who died in the faith. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with his shout, and with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first, and then we who are alive and remain shall be caught together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. And where does the Lord go? After he leaves the cloud, we've read numerous scriptures today, he comes back to earth as King of kings and Lord of lords. It says, Therefore comfort one another with these words. Our final scripture today, Revelation chapter 19 and verse 6, if you'll turn there with me, we're just not going to idolize it by. We are not going to have just an uneventful time when all of these events occur with the return of Jesus Christ. We have a job to do. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 6, And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and the sound of many thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord of God, an impotent reigns, let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright. I want you to remember that phrase. Fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, Right, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God. I want you to notice the description of those who are part of this first resurrection that I just mentioned from 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians, who meet Christ in the air and descend with him to the earth fine linen, clean and bright. Now, let's jump down to verse 11. And I saw heaven opened, 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 has a name written that no one knew except himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped with blood, and his name is called the Word of God. Of course, we know Jesus Christ is the Word, as John taught us in his Gospel. Verse 14, And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses.

Brethren, this is where you will be. This is where I will be at that time in human history, supporting Jesus Christ there as part of his invading army that comes back to clean up this world. As Chuck mentioned in our opening prayer, what a mess this world is. And we, as the conquering army, will have an opportunity to rebuild the kingdom of God from the ground up.

Verse 15, And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, that he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them, that is, the rebellious nations, with a rod of iron. He himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of the Almighty God.

So, in conclusion, in a few days we are going to be joyfully celebrating the Feast of Trumpets. And we should. God did not designate a Holy Day for the seven plagues. There is no Holy Day designated for the seven seals. There is no Holy Day called the Three Woes. But there is a Holy Day known as the Feast of Trumpets. And it emphasizes the good news of what Jesus Christ will bring to this earth and those who follow him and are his disciples. As God's Church, we will be rejoicing over the second coming of Jesus Christ. We'll be rejoicing over our transformation from being corrupt and mortal into incorrupt and immortal as our change takes place. We don't have to suffer. We don't have to be fearful because it's Jesus Christ who makes us worthy to stand before him, forgiven, and to stand before him in his grace. It's Jesus Christ who gives us the reward and allows us to be part of this incredible army that is going to do nothing less than change the history of humanity forever and ever. Amen.