Overview of Prophecy, Part 3

And so we looked at false religion, and we looked at wars and rumors of wars, and famine, pestilence. We touched on natural disasters, and we also looked at the church, and the work that is to be done, and continues until Christ returns. And then, in part two, we looked at some of those passages that describe the events leading up to when that fifth seal is going to be opened. The fifth one is the Great Tribulation. So we're going to be picking it up on your chart at about that part on the first page where it says fifth seal equals the Great Tribulation. Again, this, as it says on the back of on the bottom of page two, John Lebissonnier and Elder Up in Knoxville put this together a few years ago and shared it with me for use for purposes such as Bible studies and sermons. But anyhow, last time we looked at some of the persecution, some of the warm-up phase that would happen. Satan building his house once again over in Europe, and the man of sin getting ready to arise. And then we got to about the fifth seal. So let's look at Matthew 24. We will hinge back and forth once again to a degree between Matthew 24 and also Revelation 6 and later, latter chapters. But Matthew 24, let's pick it up in verse 21.

Because he has discussed the first four, then he commented on persecution from within the church, persecution from outside also upon the church. And the gospel shall be preached. But then he shifts in verse 21, for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, nor ever shall be. So this is, as the chart points out, this is a time primarily of Satan the devil's wrath on humanity. We heard in the sermonette a reference to those verses in Genesis 1. Let us make man in our image after our likeness. And that speaks of the eternal purpose God has. He wants to bring many sons and daughters to glory. He is building a great spiritual family. And the very purpose of the adversary is to destroy and to thwart that plan that God has. He wants to destroy the plan of God, and he especially wants to destroy the very people of God, the church. So this is Satan's wrath. It is also called, as you will notice here on the chart, by other names, a time of desolation, a time of trouble, the time of Jacob's trouble. There are a number of other scriptural references that you can look to. Then the chart has A all the way through S as sub-points, looking at the many events. And this list probably isn't comprehensive, but the many events that will transpire somewhere within that last three and one half years.

Now, something to consider. Let's go back to Amos chapter 8. But one factor to consider is that a time will come when the church of God will have to flee. And any kind of a work will be shut down, except for the two witnesses. But we read in Amos chapter 8, notice in verse 11, verse 11, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread.

We talked about that in the first sermon. One of the seals is that of famine. And it may not necessarily be a shortage of food, period. It may be food that's not fit to eat, or it may be food that a person can't afford to buy.

A famine, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from north even to east, they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. So there is a time that is coming when the work of God is shut down. Until that happens, we continue keeping on.

We have a magazine, and we have a Bible course, we have booklets, we have an internet presence, we have a telecast, and we will continue doing that until a time whenever we can't, we have to run for our lives. Or maybe, if time goes on a few more years, a lot of us may enter our place of safety, which is called a grave. And you know, from my age, I've reached the point where I'm thinking, you know, it's been a good life. It's been a glorious calling from God. And if I just don't wake up some morning, it'd be all right. It'd be all right. But I'm not through. I want to live on longer, because I have family members who have threatened me that if I die on them in the resurrection, they're going to be looking me up. So... But look at, you know, a year ago, on Passover and then the first day of Unleavened Bread, I was in Hong Kong. And there was one man and me who had a paper Bible. Everybody else sat out there, and they had their smartphones or their tablets. And they had, who knows how many versions of the Bible and how many Bible helps on those electronic devices. But, you know, you think about when times get tough, and not long ago, Beyond Today had an article where it mentioned what, say, the discharge of an EMP, the electronic magnetic pulse weapon that could be set off, you know, miles above the U.S. and how far it would blanket. And basically, those automobiles out there, unless you have a 67 international pickup, the automobiles out there, they won't work. And those cell phones and tablets and computers, they won't work. And even if there still is an Internet up, if you don't have any power, if the power grid is knocked out, battery just lasts so long. So maybe a lot of other factors there to consider as far as a famine of the hearing of the Word of God.

Where, unless you flee and you grab a Bible and tuck it under your arm as you run out the door.

Anyhow, let's go now to Revelation chapter 6.

Because in earlier sermons, we've looked at the first eight verses, but let's look at verses 9, 10, and 11, where it describes the Lamb and how He now opens the fifth seal on this scroll. Again, remember, there are a series of seven seals in total. Verse 9, and when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. The souls of them that were slain. Now, in Matthew 24, another time, we read of the killing of saints and of one turning in another. Those who have been slain, these are the dead. The Scripture tells us the dead know nothing, but for John's purpose, he is personifying. It is as though the dead were crying out, kind of like it says that Abel's blood cried out to God from the ground. For the Word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, do you not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season. So here we're looking at the dead in Christ, the ones who have been martyred for the truth of God all across the ages, and personifying them as though they were alive. But they're not. But they will receive those white robes that represent righteousness. But they're told, no, you've got to rest there in your grave a little bit longer. Because as the fifth seal opens, we've got a three and a half year period of time. Until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled. Because as we get down to the very end and through the tribulation, there will be a lot more. Because that final beast power combined with the false church will have a lot of power. And there'll be a mark. And if you don't have the mark, your life's not worth a thing. Okay, that's Revelation 6. Satan's wrath is primarily upon physical and spiritual Israel.

Now, we've referred to, and I know we've had articles recently that are referred back to Psalm 83. Beautiful Psalm, prophetic Psalm has that listing of peoples who ally together at the time of the end. And the common denominator is that it says, let us cut off the name of Israel from under heaven.

They wanted to stamp out the very people that descended down through Abraham. And it says, your hidden ones, which could very easily be referenced to spiritual Israel, the Church of God. Now, let's go forward in Revelation to chapter 11.

You'll see in your chart there is a place where two witnesses will begin their ministry. Two witnesses will arise.

This takes time at a place. In Luke's gospel, he calls it the times of the Gentiles.

A time when Jerusalem is trodden down by others. But two men are called.

We used to think we knew who they were, but they died on us. At least we know now, don't go out on a limb and start naming names or setting dates. Let's let God in his due time show us who it is. Revelation 11, verse 1, there was given unto me a reed like unto a rod, and the angel stood, saying, Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar, and them who worship therein. So the picture being painted, this is one of the inset chapters in the book of Revelation, inset into the overall chronological time flow. But the spiritual temple, the true Church, is being weighed in the balances. It's being measured to see if the Church is ready.

But the court, which is without the temple, leave out, and measure it not, for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city they shall tread under foot forty and two months, which works out to be three and a half years. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days clothed in sackcloth. On the Hebrew calendar, you have some years have the thirteenth month, and some don't, but the average is three hundred and sixty days.

So twelve hundred and sixty, you figure it out, and that's three and a half years. So it's the same period of time. And when it talks about the three and a half years, or the 42 months, or the twelve hundred and sixty days, we've always understood it as ending at the time when Christ returns, and His feet stand on the Mount of Olives.

Verse four, these are two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. Well, God has always, it seems, given as forerunners. He is given as harbingers of what would happen, of what would follow. Back in the days of the Reconstruction Temple, the days of Joshua and Zerubbabel, and later Ezra, and then later yet Nehemiah, but you had the prophets Haggai and Zachariah. Zachariah chapter four, look at those first six verses sometime.

He talks about Joshua and Zerubbabel, the civil leader Zerubbabel, the high priest Joshua, being these two olive trees. And from the olive trees, the olive oil was flowing over to the lampstand, but we won't go there. Anyhow, so they served as a forerunner of these two end-time individuals. Verse five, and if any man will hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and destroys their enemies.

And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. So these two have a message against the beast, the beast leader, and the false prophet working with him. But fire coming out of his mouth. That reminds us of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah, with the prophets of Baal, and the prayer and the fire from God, consumed his sacrifice. Elijah, where the captain of the 50 came, and the fire came and consumed the first two groups of 50.

And then the third one came, saying, let my life be precious in your sight. He came with a different attitude, and he lived. Verse six, these have power to shut heaven. Again, reminds us of Elijah, that it rained not in the days of their prophecy, and have power over waters to turn them into blood. And that reminds us back to the days of Moses and Aaron.

Earlier forerunners of these two witnesses who will go to the highest level of human leadership at the time of the end, just like Moses and Aaron, went directly to Pharaoh, saying, let my people go. To smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their testimony. Okay, they were given 1260 days.

So at the time of the end of their ministry, the beast that arises out of the bottom of his pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And again, we're getting a little bit ahead of the story here, but as you know, their bodies lie there in, what does it say, the street of the great city spiritually called Sodom and Egypt. You get all, I told you the first sermon series of this series, that you've got an entire prophecy smorgasbord out there. Be careful what you eat of. There are those who will say, well, this city is New York City, because it's so evil. Or it's another world city, because it's so evil.

But the verse is not through. It says, where also our Lord was crucified. And that settles it right there, because Jesus was taken outside the gates of Jerusalem, and that's where his life was ended. Well, it goes on after three and a half days. They come back to life, and that we would have to understand as coinciding with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, which signifies the dead in Christ coming from the grave. But again, we're getting ahead of the story by going a little further there. We looked at one of the earlier sermons at Revelation 12. So let's go to chapter 13, and notice a little bit here, because this is where it talks of this beast that arises. We live at a curious time as we look at Europe. The winds of war are blowing once again, it seems like. They have had an invasion. They have been, I guess in baseball, you would the announcer would say, well, he was caught looking. They've been looking the other way, and they've had an invasion from within. Tens of thousands have come and found out all across Europe. And now we see, I've always wondered, what's going to happen whenever some of these terrorists start doing their thing in Germany? Because there is a side of Germany that comes out when times are hard. And there have been some smaller, not that killing two or three people would be small, but there have been some smaller incidents in Germany where some now, the other day, the president of Bavaria was calling for Mrs. Merkel to step down. She's taking a lot of heat over having openly welcomed all these refugees. We have an interesting situation where the Brits have voted to exit the European Union. They may be the first with others to follow. As I mentioned a few weeks ago, right after the vote, you have, you now hear the word, swex it, because the Swedes may vote to exit. You have others like Denmark, and you have Netherlands. But see, these countries have a tremendous percentage of Muslims as a population now. And the immigrants within the countries overwhelmingly want to stay a part of the European Union. So it is a fascinating time to watch. And as the great sage Yogi Berra said, it ain't over till it's over. There's a lot taking place and a lot yet to take place. But in Revelation 13, verse 1, again John envisioned writing down what he sees and hears, and I stood upon the sand of the sea. And the sea represents the sea of humanity. And saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having noticed, first of all, its focus on seven heads. You know, the church has had literature for a long time, decades, probably going back at least in 1950s.

The seven heads. And you look across this sea of mankind, and if we go back to Daniel, Daniel was there and he saw, he interpreted that dream for Nebuchadnezzar. And he told Nebuchadnezzar, you are that head of gold. And Nebuchadnezzar was over the empire of Babylon. So we have to factor in Babylon. The next one, the arms of shoulders of silver was Medo-Persia. And even in the book of Daniel, Babylon fell and Medo-Persian came to their reign. And then Daniel speaks of this third kingdom, Greece. But as he explained in chapter seven or eight, there was Greece with this great king, but then he died and it actually became four empires. And so you had Greece, but you had one, two, three, four. There are six empires that have had great power over the earth so far. And Daniel also talked about this fourth beast, dreadful and terrible. And he doesn't name Rome, but it doesn't take three guesses to realize after Greece came the Roman Empire and Rome swallowed up what had been these empires of Greece. So you have across all of these centuries, these world-ruling empires, and a little bit from here and there all comes together, which is why I call this a composite beast. You get some from Babylon and some from Greece and some from Roman. And when John was writing, though, it was the time of the Roman Empire, but Rome had its roots from way back in antiquity. Now it says ten horns. And in chapter 13, the ten horns speak of the fact that this beast is going to resurrect. Satan is going to build his house ten different times. It's going to rear its ugly head. And so you had, we can't go into all of the prophecies today on that, but you had by this little horn the first three plucked up by its roots, you had vandals, harili, ostrogoths overthrown by decree of the papacy. Then you had Justinian. And I'm drawing a blank here. Charlemagne, Otto the Great, Charles V and the Hapsburgs. Anyhow, we don't need to list all of them. Nine have come, they have had their time. Every time then they were put down. It's interesting that a lot of times they were put down by the forces of Britain and allies, or the US and Britain and allies.

And there's one more house of Satan to come. One more. The beast which I saw was like a leopard. Well, you can only understand Revelation 13 by having a good working understanding of Daniel. And in one of Daniel's chapters, Greece was likened to a leopard. And his feet were as the feet of a bear. And Daniel likened the bear to Persia. And his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the lion was likened to Babylon. And the dragon. Now, the previous chapter, verse 9, identified the great dragon as being the devil and Satan. This is where the power comes from. The God of this age gives that final system its power.

The dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed. All the world wondered after the beast. Again, this is not our focus here today, but a time came when Rome died. The Roman Empire came to an end, but it didn't stay dead. It came back only it was the same, only it was different. Because when it came back from the time of Justinian forward, you always had a marriage of church and state. You had a marriage of the false church and the Roman ruler. And the influence or the involvement of the church is where we then come to the term Holy Roman Empire. I have a book at home written by Bryce. The Holy Roman Empire. He follows the different times when it arises. Now, verse 4, they worshiped the dragon who gave power to the beast. They worshiped the beast. You see, a lot of times there's worship given like an ancient Rome. There was emperor worship. He was worshiped as though he was a god. And at the time, I believe that's a pattern for the time of the end, they'll give worship as it were to this leader of the beast. But the power behind that man is Satan, the devil, saying who is likened to the beast and who is able to make war with him. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies, and power was given to him to continue forty and two months. So there's that same period of time that we find once again.

Now, let's go back to Ezekiel chapter 5.

There are prophecies that are unpleasant to focus on, but they are still here. And so, we must give them our attention. There are prophecies that speak of the end-time descendants of Abraham, those who have the name Israel, being destroyed. When we get to the final three and a half years, for all practical purposes, physical Israel really isn't a factor. They have been militarily overthrown. They have been destroyed. They have been those who survive or sold into slavery. Unpleasant to think about, but it's coming. It's happened before. It'll happen again.

Ezekiel, we have to remember, you had the Babylonians taking over Judah, and they began deporting peoples out of there by increments. Ezekiel went with one of the earlier deportations. This is before the city completely fell and was destroyed. And then the final remnant was sent out. Ezekiel is writing about 150 years after the House of Israel. The northern tribes were long gone. They had fallen to Assyria in the 700s BC. And here he's writing after 600 BC. Israel had been deported to Mesopotamia and then just disappeared into the annals of history, to the eyes of most. And yet he continues addressing Israel and Jerusalem.

So in chapter 5, he's told in the first verse, take a sharp knife, a barber's razor, cause it to pass upon your head and upon your beard, then take you balances, the way and divide the hair. You shall burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled. And you shall take a third part and shall smite it with a knife. And a third part you shall scatter in the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. You shall also take thereof a few in number and bind them in your skirts. There was to be a small remnant protected. But you think about this, what he's saying, verse 4, the latter part, burn them in the fire, for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel. So what he's saying here is, what you're acting out and weighing out and dividing into three, one part's going to be totally destroyed. One part's going to be hacked up by warfare, which probably means a big major percentage die. And a third is going to be scattered. But you take a few, you take a few. I think that represents the elect. You take a few and you keep those. Verse 12, a third part of you shall die with the pestilence and with famine. They shall be consumed in the midst of you. A third shall fall by the sword round about you. I will scatter a third part into all the winds. I will draw out a sword after them. Thus shall my anger be accomplished. Now it says, here's God, God is speaking through Ezekiel. It's my anger because the final seal, the final year of the tribulation is compounded because it is God's anger. Now, let's look at Hosea chapter 5. In our local Bible study, which some of you heard, we saw an interesting scripture tucked away here that may indicate that after a couple of years you start having some of the captives escape and at least having their captivity eased up as their heart changes. Hosea 5 verse 14, For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion in the house of Judah. I even I will tear and go away. I will take away, and none shall rescue him. I will go and return to the place till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face in their affliction they shall seek me early. Notice chapter 6 verses 1 and 2. As though it is the captives of Israel speaking, come and let us return to the Lord, for he has torn and he will heal us. He has smitten and he will bind us up. After two days, now again remember many times to understand prophecy, you have that day equals a year in fulfillment, such as Numbers 14, the 12 spies were in the land of Canaan 40 days. The people believe the evil report, and with their sin of disbelief, God said, all right, they were in there 40 days, you're going to walk in the wilderness 40 years till those over 20 fall and die. So oftentimes a day, so as we look here after two days, is it indicating that after a couple of years into the tribulation, I mean look at us and look at people around us. Watch who walks in and out of a Walmart. We are a spoiled, terribly overweight, out of condition people, and when hard times come, we're going to be hurting. We'd be hurting this time of year if the power went out.

I mean, how many of us grew up, we didn't have air conditioning. I had a fan, my two brothers and I, we had it, we're happy to have a fan in our bedroom, and we lived life that way until I was, you know, a little bit before I was leaving home, there was a window unit air conditioner in the living room for when we had company. You know how that goes. But today, we have heated or cooled air all year long. After two days, will he revive us in the third day? So is this indicating into the third year, he will raise us up and we will live in his sight.

I think it's something to file away. Let's not force an interpretation there, but we do have the reality of Israel being destroyed. There are prophecies in Ezekiel and in Isaiah that says your cities will be laid waste. There are prophecies that speak of captives being sold around the world, and it's unpleasant to focus on. But as we heard in the sermon, we know where it's all going to end. It's going to end a whole lot better, but it's got to get worse before it gets better. Daniel 11. Daniel 11. This is a fascinating prophecy that started in Daniel's time and went forward from the days of Persia and Greece all the way across the ages. Sometimes he skips a lot of territory, a lot of years. But then, verse 40, at the time of the end, shall the king of the south push at him, and the king of the north will come against him like a whirlwind with chariots and with horsemen and with many ships. He shall enter into the countries and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown. That these shall escape out of his hand, Edom, Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon, and stretch forth his hand also upon the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. Well, we have two power bases, and before the chapter is over, we find we have three.

And the descendants of Abraham are not one of them. You have one called the king of the north, which has risen in Europe time and time again. You have another power base down somewhere in the Middle East. When we went through Daniel, I know it's been a lot of years ago, we went through Daniel and I told you to keep your eye on the ball. Keep asking the question in Daniel 11, who has control of the Holy Land? So at this time, the king of the south controls the Holy Land, but they push at the king of the north. You know, 30, 40 years ago, all we could see was oil politics, the OPEC nations turning off the oil spigots. But, you know, there are so many other factors. Then we began to have airliners that were commandeered, and they'd land in Beirut, or wherever, and ransom and hostage. But now, we have to include the specter of terrorism, of militant jihadis. And they're everywhere, and they are here among us. And one day, we're going to have major gatherings. We're going to have bowl games, and we're going to have crazy things happen. We've had plenty of the harbingers, the warnings, but we tend to forget very easily this country. Manasseh is forgetting. So there'll be a push maybe there will be enough radical terrorist actions to where that Europe...

You see another side of them. Many years ago, oh, I think it must have come out in the 80s, a book called The Europeans by Luigi Barzini. And he had a chapter on different, like the Brits, the French, the Germans. He even included one on the Americans because we're so involved with Europe. The Italians. The chapter on Germany was fascinating, though he ended it by just he had pointed out in history, every so often when the conditions are such. Every so often it's as though the world parts the reeds and finds their staring into the face of a ravenous lion. And I expect that'll happen one more time. They'll be the ones taking the lead, and others will follow. With Britain leaving the European Union, I think we see the center of power moving further to the east over more so to not so much Britain, France, but more so toward Germany and surrounding countries there. But in verse 44, okay, the king of the north he's pushed at. He overruns the king of the south, takes over the the holy land, the middle eastern countries. Verse 44, but tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him. Therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy and utterly to make away many. And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain. I believe they're speaking of this beast leader, false prophet, setting up their headquarters right there at Jerusalem. But something happens to the east and the north. He turns his attention over there, and that's something we'll focus on a little later. As we get into the tribulation, two and a half years, it begins to get close to the time when the latter seals are going to be opened. Let's go back to Matthew 24. Matthew 24. Let's notice verse 29.

Immediately after the tribulation, now it says after, again remember, the basic time of Satan's wrath is the first two and a half years. It continues, but it's compounded because of last year's wrath. And immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

Now, we went out last night just after sunset. We looked off to the west, and there was a beautiful crescent moon, and just to one side, away from it, I had to look it up later and found out it was Jupiter. You could see Jupiter. Beautiful sight. But there are all kinds of things that can be involved here. I mean, how long ago was it that that volcano Krakatoa blew its top out in the Indian Ocean, and it colored the sunsets of the world for years? We could have, and of course, as we get to the final plagues, we will have what appears to be meteorites and things like that coming and striking the earth and tainting and poisoning the waters. But we could have all kinds of things. We could have a limited nuclear exchange. I remember a movie that came out, oh, what was the title? But it was based around adjacent roebards. It was based around the idea of a nuclear winter. That if we had even a limited nuclear exchange, what it would do, how it would change the climate of the world? Anyhow, Heavenly Seals, Revelation 6, let's hinge over there and tie this part together. Revelation 6, let's pick it up in verse 12. The Lamb opens one more seal. And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair. You know, from our point of view, all it takes is a lot of pollution up in the atmosphere, which can come from a lot of things. And the moon became as blood, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll, when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the great men, the rich men, the chief captains and the mighty men, and every bondman, every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. So as the heavenly signs take place, something that is included is that human beings begin to have an awareness that God Himself, the Lamb, that Jesus Christ is returning, and that there really is a score to be settled. Because we have already seen in Revelation, and we will see later on, so many things happen. Plagues are poured out, and fourth part of man is killed, and then it says, yet they repented not. But now we're down to the last seal, and the seventh seal we find actually then opens up, and we have seven trumpet plagues. In this final seal, you look on your second page. Seventh seal equals the day of the Lord. Well, the day of the Lord opens up into seven trumpets. And then it says a one-year period, and there are a number of scriptures that are given here. One as an example is Isaiah 34 verse 8. This year of the Lord's recompense. A number of times it ties in a year with this final time when God Himself will pour out His wrath upon humanity. Now, in chapter 6 of Revelation, the last verse, verse 17, for the day of His wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand? Now, chapter 7, we have areas we won't touch on. 144,000 great innumerable multitude that are sealed that come out of the great tribulation. Let's go to chapter 8.

Revelation 8 verse 1, and when He had opened the seventh seal, again, the scroll was seven seals, and now the final one is opened, and there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels which stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. The seventh seal opens up into seven trumpet plagues. Now, we won't read all of this, but verse 6 says, the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. I'll just point you to your chart. Basically, the first four are predominantly poured out upon the creation, and then the latter three, the focus is more so upon human beings. So, the first trumpet you have in verse 7, the hail and fire, the trees, the grass being burned up. The second trumpet, verse 8, mountain burning with fire cast into the sea, sea became as blood. Great mountain may be an asteroid.

Verse 10, the third angel, and this is a great star, again, is it an asteroid? Is it a series, a whole bunch of meteorites? Poisons, a third of the rivers, one-third of those living die from drinking the poisoned waters. Verse 12, the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, third part of the moon, the stars. So, the lights are being turned down, and it gets dim. And then verse 13, I beheld and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitors of the earth by reason of the other voices of the three angels which are yet to sound. So, this is the final year, one plague after another and then we get to the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpet plagues which are also called woes. First, second, third woes. Now, in chapter 9, we continue with the trumpet plagues. Again, we'll just look at some of the highlights. We have chapter 9 verses 1 through 12. It speaks of the fifth trumpet, which is also the first woe. And in this case, the beast's armies turn against the eastern armies. Remember, Daniel said there were tidings out of the east and the north. And we've had forerunners of this. Napoleon led one of the resurrections of the Holy Roman Empire.

He basically had Europe in his hand.

And for whatever reason, he couldn't leave it alone. He looked to the east and he sent his armies against Russia. And he was making great progress, but it took longer than he thought. And the Russian winter had them for lunch. And he lost a vast number of his army. And it was never the same after that. It was downhill. Hitler, Hitler and Mussolini. Hitler, again, basically ruled Europe and the Mediterranean world. And he had a treaty that Russia would stay out of it. And he couldn't leave it alone. There were tidings out of the east and the north. And he sent his panzers, he sent his forces against Russia. And you know that story, too. Meanwhile, he has Rommel and some of the high command screaming for supplies and men and reinforcements. And all Hitler could think about was Russia. And it was never the same for him again after that. It was steadily going down. Well, once in a while they'd strike out like the Battle of the Bulbs, but it was basically downhill from that point. He stretched himself out too far. Interesting that we have those as historical forerunners of what may yet happen, what will happen at the time of the end. A power base in Europe that sweeps down and takes over the Middle Eastern area, has power over all the wealth of that area, but there's tidings out of the east and the west. And that's what the first woe talks about, sending the armies against them. He speaks here in these verses, verse 3, of locusts and scorpions. Again, John trying to put into words what he saw in vision that undoubtedly would have been what we would call the modern weapons of warfare. And yet, the end of verse 4, those who should not hurt the grass or any green tree, but only those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads.

To them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months. So here is a time indication that in that final year, five months, is Europe attacking toward the east. I wonder if the the Russian winter will play a factor, as it did with Napoleon and Hitler. Who knows? Verse 6, In those days shall men seek death and not find it. Desire to die, and death shall flee from them. Verse 10, the latter part, their power was to hurt men five months. Verse 11, They had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon. In the Greek tongue has his name Apollyon. The words mean destroyer. One woe is passed, and behold, there come two woes more hereafter. So now we shift verses 13 through 21. Focus on the second woe, or the sixth trumpet plague. And here we see a picture painted where there were angelic forces holding back the vast army of the east. And the word goes out in verse 14, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for a day and hour a month, a year to slay the third part of men. The number of the army, verse 16 gives it, as 200,000,000 or 200 million men. We couldn't field that many in battle.

I don't know if Europe altogether could field that many soldiers, men and women in battle. But there are countries to the east. 200 million in arms would be a piece of cake.

Verse 18, By these three spoke of fire, smoke, and burnstone. By these three was a third part of men killed. Verse 20, And the rest of men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and wood. Verse 21, Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, fornication, thefts. We have the clashing of two great powers. Daniel 11, at the end, there were three power bases. The king of the north knocks out the king of the south. So you have the king of the north, and then there's a power base to the east.

You have Europe attacking the east. Five months. Maybe the tide of battle goes their way that long. But then, the sixth trumpet, the second woe, you have a counter-attack of the east, with great forces coming back against those in Europe and the Middle East. You have a lot of prophecies about minor nations that are fulfilled at this point. At this point, you have, for instance, the book of Nahum is a prophecy that forecasts the downfall of the beast. The Assyrians will fall. When we started Amos, remember how he had these little, about three or four, verse burdens that he was unloading toward Syria and Phoenicia and the Philistines. Those over there of Gaza, it said. And then of Edom and Moab and Ammon.

All these little countries, as you have these big boys coming into the area to do battle, they just get run over. Jeremiah, major prophets, have lots to say about what's going to happen to Edom. Edom is basically going to just disappear. It'll just be absorbed into other nations in the kingdom. But Ammon, Moab, they'll be punished terribly for some of their sins. Let's go to Revelation 11. A little bit further. Okay, we referred to this. The two witnesses, verse 7, when they finish their testimony, they're going to be killed.

Verse 9, all the peoples of the earth are going to see their dead bodies lying there. They won't put them into the grave. Verse 11, after three days and a half, the spirit of life of God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them who saw them. They heard a great voice from heaven saying, under them come up here, and they ascended up into heaven in a cloud. The only way to understand this is that the seventh angel sounds the dead in Christ rise. The two witnesses go up as a part of the dead in Christ and the saints that are transformed to spirit who live at that time. Verse 14, the second woe was passed. Behold, the third woe comes quickly. The seventh angel sounded. Here's one of the most inspiring verses in all the Bible, and we can pray God speed the time when this happens. The seventh trumpet sounds, and there were voices in heaven saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. But it's not quite over yet, but that seventh seal is sounded. And like the seventh seal opened up in the seven trumpets, the seventh trumpet opens up in the seven final plagues or seven bowls of judgment, depending on what translation you have. You can see that at the bottom of page two on your chart. Seventh trumpet equals Jesus' second coming. First resurrection, seven last plagues, third woe. Wrath of God is finished. But again, there's one place that tells us these plagues are poured out in one day in his presence. And then the feet of Jesus Christ will stand on the Mount of Olives.

Keep your place in Revelation. Let's look back at Matthew 24.

Matthew 24 verse 31. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet. You know, there are trumpets, but then there's this great trumpet, or this last trumpet, or final trumpet. And that's the big one, because that's the one that says it's just about over. And the saints are brought back. They shall gather the elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to another. Okay, now back to Revelation. We have other inset chapters in Revelation. Chapter 15, 16 describes the seven final plagues. 17, 18 talks about downfall of that final Babylon. But in Revelation 19, we have the picture painted of Christ coming on that white horse. And it is the coming time, or the time is coming of the marriage supper. But he first has some battle to do. Verse 12, his eyes were like a flame of fire. On his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew but himself. Verse 16, he has on his vesture and on his thigh a name written King of kings and Lord of lords. Verse 20, the beast was taken with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And then we come to chapter 20. Satan is removed. Verse 4, the saints live and reign with Christ a thousand years.

And this is where I say during the feast, which will be here before we know it, you're going to hear so many millennial prophecies spoken of. Peace, healing, prosperity, rebuilding. So many prophecies could be we could we could spend sermons and sermons on this. However, verse 7, after the thousand years at the end of it, Satan is released. It tells us how powerful he truly is because he stirs up people, gets people that haven't they've lived lived their entire lives in a world that had no satanic influence. The influence was positive and right peer pressure. Well, that rebellion is put down. Verse 10, the devil's cast into the lake of fire. Of course, he's spirit, so that's mainly symbolic. Verse 11, a great white throne. So this is after the thousand years, white throne. Verse 12, I saw the dead, small and great stand before God. The books were opened, and that's the Greek word bibliion, or a related word biblia. From whence we get our word Bible, the Bible, the word of God is open, and they are judged according to what is written in the books. They are rewarded according to their works.

Whoever is not found in the book of life is cast into the lake of fire.

And then we come to chapter 21. And yes, we read this at a funeral just a week ago.

Always like to go here, because as you get to the end of the book, it starts getting, and like Paul said, we know in part. And then he said, it's like we see through a glass darkly. It gets fuzzy, but here he talks about a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem. And lo and behold, God the Father Himself is going to come and live here.

But in verse 4, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.

That's about as far as we'll go.