The Trumpets of Almighty God

This is the Feast of Trumpets. Why trumpets? Well, if we go to Numbers 10, beginning in verse 1, Numbers 10 and verse 1, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Make two silver trumpets for yourself. You shall make them of hammered work, and you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. So, trumpets here were for the people of God, for calling them together, for God giving them direction. So, we look into verse 9. And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who oppresses you, you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, and then you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. So, again, those trumpets in war had a connection with God and His people that He was there with them during those who oppressed them. And verse 10, And also in the day of your gladness in your appointed feasts, and at the beginning of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings, and they shall be a memorial for you before your God. I am the Lord your God. It's interesting that on the Feast of Trumpets there were many offerings and sacrifices. There was an assembly, and the trumpets were blown pretty much all day at various times. I've been talking with Peter Eddington the last couple of days about this, and he had gone through and counted up, and then also referenced what the Jews have done in the Torah. And the trumpets were blown somewhere between 50 and over 100 times on the Feast of Trumpets. That's a huge, huge number of trumpet blasts. What did those trumpet blasts sound like? Let's hear the two silver trumpets being blown as an example.

This is God's Feast of Trumpets, and it's truly a huge feast in God's plan. Not a small feast, but a huge feast. It's about separation, calling, to be separate from the world. It's about assembly as the body of Christ, direction from the Word of God. It's about offerings, thanksgiving, sanctification of God's people, and celebrations, and also warnings of war. War that would be very dangerous to the people of God. In fact, this day is portraying the biggest wars that will ever happen in all of history. But before we begin and go through some difficult times that the world is going to go through, I'd like to say, children, teens, ladies, and gentle men, they're not about you. These wars and all these challenging things that we're going to read about, they're not supposed to be about you. Today I'd like to examine an overview of the events with numbers of seven that lead up and through the return of Jesus Christ. The title I've given the message is The Trumpets of God. When you go to Revelation 5 and verse 1, we see an overview given to us prophetically. Revelation 5 and verse 1, and this is portrayed as a scroll of events, events that are prophecy that are hidden from anyone. Revelation 5 and verse 1, I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, God the Father, a scroll written inside and on the back and sealed with the seven seals. So we have here a roll of documents. And this roll is going to have seals. And as you sort of like an onion peel a layer off, there'll be another seal for the next one as I'll show you. And another seal for the next one as I would understand it. Each one has a wax stamp on it that you cannot open this unless you're authorized. So as we drop down to verse 9 of chapter 4, it says, let's say of chapter 5 and verse 9, and let's go to verse, hang on, let's go here, who is worthy in verse 2 to open the scroll. And then verse 5, one of the elders said to me, behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll. And so then, here we find in verse 7, he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. So Jesus Christ now has taken this scroll. In verse 8, when he had taken the scroll, these individuals, the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. There's quite a distinction here between what's going to happen on the earth and those who are God's people. And then in verse 9, they sang a new song. These are the angels or the twenty-four elders.

You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain and you have redeemed, it should say them, it's talking about us, you have redeemed them to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and you have made them priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth. So again, before everything rolls out, we see these scrolls, these events are about to take place, and we should be in a relationship with God that has us distinctly different than those which these things are going to roll out upon.

If we go to the first seals, then we find in Revelation chapter 6, verses 1 through 6, I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, with a voice like thunder, Come and see, behold a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering into conquer. So we have an individual here going out with a false religion, a false white, a false night, in shining armor, as it were, and he's going out to conquer.

We come now to verse 3, when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, Come and see, another horse, fiery red, went out, and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, that people should kill one another, and there was given to him a great sword. In verse 5, when he opened the third seal, I heard the living creature say, Come and see, so I looked, and behold a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.

And that scales meant, with all this war, food is disappearing. And I heard in the midst of the four living creatures say, A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wage. Verse 7, when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the four living creatures say, Come and see, and so I looked, and behold a pale horse, pale or a greenish horse, like it was rotting. And the name of him who sat on it was death, and the grave followed him.

So following this deception comes war, following war comes some starvation, following starvation comes death, and power was given to him over a fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth, who would then begin to eat this carry-on, these corpses of animals and things. This is not pretty, but this is what is coming. Now, if we go to Matthew 24 and verse 4, we can see Jesus again. This same Jesus is going to describe these things in the same order. Matthew chapter 24 and verse 4, and Jesus said, Take heed that no one deceive you, because horse one is going to ride, right, that white horse.

For many will come in my name, saying that I am the Christ, and will deceive many. And the next horse rides, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you're not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and following this war there will be famines.

Following the famines, pestilences, diseases, just as the third and fourth horse ride in Revelation. The fifth seal that's going to take place is the Great Tribulation. Now before I get there, I want to be very clear. Jesus said that you do not need to experience the Great Tribulation. It's not his desire for you or me to experience the Great Tribulation. So a lot of what we're going to see here, not exclusively everything, but a lot of what we're going to see here does not pertain to us.

And let's sit this straight. Let's go to Luke chapter 21, a parallel account to the one here in Matthew. Luke chapter 21 and verse 10.

And he said to them, Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. We've been there. Let's skip down to verse 34. Here's what Jesus says about all of these terrible things. But take heed. You. Take heed to what? What's going on in the news and the world? No. Take heed to yourselves. Make sure that these trumpets are gathering you with God. They're for your celebrations. You're assembling with God. You're God's people. He's there protecting you during war. Take heed to yourselves. Let your hearts be weighed down with what's going on in the world, crowsing, drunkenness, cares of this life, and that the day come upon you unexpectedly. For it will come unexpectedly like a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the earth. They're not going to be anticipating, but just like a snare sits there until something steps on it and bam, it closes. That's how quick this is going to come on others. But He says, take heed to yourself that you're in the right place, the right time, where you should be, that it doesn't come on you unexpectedly. Verse 36, watch therefore. This means be alert, pay attention, almost like a watchman. And pray always. So if we're watching our state, as Jesus said, and the apostles, we're looking, examining ourselves like we do every day and before Passover and after Passover, during Unleavened Bread. We're cleaning ourselves up, ready for the resurrection that's talked about in our Pentecost or Feast of First Fruit celebration. If we're about those things, notice that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass. That's what He wants. He wants us to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man at His return. Now there's good reason not to worry. Let's go to Isaiah chapter 26 and verse 20. Isaiah 26 and verse 20. Good reason for us not to worry. If we are truly the body of Christ, if we are a bride who is cleaning herself up and putting on white garments, Isaiah chapter 26 and verse 20 says, Come, my people. God says, Come, my people into your chambers. Oh, there's some chambers. And shut your doors behind you. Oh, there's some doors. Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment until the indignation is passed. So there's some indignation coming on others. And God wants us to be protected from that. For, verse 21, Behold, the Lord comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. Does God need to come and punish me and you for our iniquity? Not if we are being daily and momentarily cleansed and putting on righteousness and one with God with each other and developing that holy righteous character mindset.

The earth will also disclose her blood and no more cover her slain. So I mentioned this right before we get into some of the events of these days because we do not, in God's eyes, need to be part of any of it. So the fifth seal, the Great Tribulation, begins. Let's go to Revelation 12.

In verse 12, let's skip forward here to Revelation. It bounces around a little bit. Let's go to Revelation 12. It says, Therefore rejoice, O heavens! Rejoice, O heavens! Right? So all that's of God in the heavens, and you who dwell in them, God is going to rejoice during this time. But woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea, for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows he has a short time. Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman or the church who gave birth to the male child, Jesus Christ. But notice, as we heard in special music, the woman was given comfort, protection, help. God is with her. And the woman was given two wings of a great eagle that, like Israel coming out of Egypt, had that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time, times, and half a time from the presence of the serpent. So we'll now go back to Revelation 6 and verse 9. Revelation 6 and verse 9. And here we're going to see a vision when he opened the fifth seal. And I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. So he's in a vision here. And he's seeing down through time all the righteous individuals, the prophets, the righteous men and women, all the apostles, and all the New Testament church and those members for the last 2,000 years who have been opposed by Satan and his cohorts. Those here are represented as under the altar. And symbolically they cried with a loud voice saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge your our blood on those who dwell on the earth. Those who dwell on the earth. Then a white robe was given to each of them, and it was said to them that they should rest a little while, a little longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed.

So there is a time we don't know who, how, when, where, but we do know that there are individuals, even in the Revelation prophecies, who will stand up and be counted, including the two witnesses, and will give their lives. There will be some who are called during the Great Tribulation we see, and they are converted, and they stand strong, and they give their lives. But you and I are not expected to go through that ourselves. If we go to Matthew chapter 24 in verse 9 now, in this fifth seal, the Great Tribulation, Jesus mentions it, Matthew chapter 24 and verse 9.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for my namesake. We do need to stand and not shy away from being Christ's body, for being His bride, for being children of the God family. And there will be some who are delivered up, and it's not going to be positive at some point in time. People are not going to be so tolerant of everybody's faith when a beast power arises and requires everyone to follow a satanic head. In verse 10, and many will be offended and will betray one another and will hate one another, and many false prophets rise up. We drop down to verse 20 now. But He says to you, and pray that your flight may not be in the winter or in the Sabbath day. Your flight. I mean, we were talked about being taken on the wings of a great eagle. Perhaps this is applying to us. Because, verse 21, for then will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved alive. But for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. So we have, then, this overwhelming sort of cacophony of events that is coming upon an unrepentant mankind. And we find the sixth seal after three years of tribulation. A sixth seal takes place. And here in Matthew 24 and verse 29, it says, immediately after those three years of tribulation, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light. I gave a sermon this last Sabbath, from darkness to light. And it shows how God will sink this world literally into darkness. It'll represent an age of Satan, of darkness, of deception, a lack of truth, and all the misery that comes with Satan's mindset. And then, verse 30, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. You know, that's a different, it's an alternate mindset when you're like, oh no, Jesus Christ is here, and they will mourn. Not us. Not us.

And he will send his angels with the sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to another.

This is a wonderful opportunity that you and I will ultimately participate in. If we go to Revelation 6 now in verse 12, Revelation 6 and verse 12 will continue right after the Great Tribulation.

I looked, and when he opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood, and the stars of heaven fell to the earth. Big, big events. And then the sky receded as a scroll when it rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains. During this darkness something happens and said to the mountains, fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, the brightness of his coming, the brightness of Jesus Christ reflecting a different government, a different mindset.

In Scripture the word darkness has a figurative meaning of evil, of deception, and misery. Whereas the word light, if you look it up, has a figurative meaning of, of course, light, but joy and truth and happiness and abundance. And so you see this dichotomy of dark and light in sharp contrast right here. After the tribulation, we are to look up when we see these things Jesus said. For your redemption, your salvation, is near. Going on here in verse 16 it says, from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. See, the wrath of the lamb is coming for the great day of his wrath has come and who can stand? Who can stand? And then comes the seventh seal. Jesus said, remember, you want to avoid the great tribulation and to stand before the Son of God at his return. And here the question is asked, here comes the return of Christ now who is able to stand. Well, you and I should be standing. We should be resurrected and standing. But let's look at this. The seventh seal in chapter 8 is opened. Chapter 8 in verse 1, when he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw the seven angels who stand before God and to them were given seven trumpets. Dropping down to verse 6, so the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. Now this is the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is probably representing a year of time, we assume, through the prophetic and the events that roll out here. Down in 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 burned up.

We come to verse 8. Then the second angel sounded and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea and a third of the sea became blood. In 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 springs of water. The name of the star is wormwood and a third of the waters became wormwood and many men died from the water because it was made bitter. In verse 12, the fourth angel sounded and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened and 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 to the inhabitants of the earth because of the remaining blasts of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to sound. And then the fifth angel sounded in chapter 9 in verse 1.

I saw a star fall in from heaven, to him was given the key to the bottomless pit.

I'll read you chapter 11 and verse 7. It says, when the two witness finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them and overcome them and kill them. So this bottomless pit has terrible things in it. But as we go on here in chapter 9, we'll just skim on out of the smoke. Locusts came upon the earth and things happen that are very, very difficult. In verse 4, they were commanded not to harm the grass or any green thing or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill, but to torment them five months. It was like a torment of a scorpion. And in verse 6, in those days, men will seek death and won't find it. They'll desire to die. And it goes on with some of the things there that happen. And in verse 11, they had a king over them, the angel of this bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. Now this is Satan and satanic. Verse 12, one woe is passed, behold, two more woes are yet to come. When we go down now to verse 13, then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God, saying to the sixth angel, release the four angels who were bound at the great river Euphrates.

This is very, very difficult. And so they were released in verse 16, the number of the army of the horsemen were 200 million. Imagine armies of the earth, 200 million individuals who are going out to war.

The desolation that happens is horrible. It gives, in verse 17, visions of what their armaments were like, and maybe it's describing things that we would know today or that will still be developed in warfare. In verse 18, by these three plagues, a third of mankind was killed by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that came out of these war machines. A third of mankind. If there were nine billion people by then, that would be a third. Of course, there's others who have already been killed and will be killed. The numbers of bodies are just mounting up.

Going in verse 19, then, for their power is in their mouths and in their tails, and their tails are like serpents having heads, and with them they do harm. So all kind of imaginable machinery and things that inflict pain. Let's pick this up in Daniel 11.

Daniel 11.

Now we find some news from the east, and the north shall trouble him. The east of Jerusalem, the near east, there east would be the countries of Islam today. It would be directly east. If you go a little bit further over, you get to the most populous country in the world, India. If you go to the north, well, you begin to see things like Russia and beyond that, in that northeast direction would be China. You have some big war machines, and a big, big war is brewing here. And therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain, and he shall come to his inn, and no one will help him. So now we come to woe number three, Revelation 11. Revelation 11 and verse 14. This is just skimming through some of the events that are ahead, portrayed by trumpets. Revelation 11 and verse 14.

The second woe is passed. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. Verse 13. Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, the kingdom, singular, the kingdom or the rule of this world has become, it says the kingdoms in parentheses, our Lord Jesus Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. Now we have something really good happening for the body of Christ, for the people of God. Something that's so dramatic, it's never ever happened before. Something that was planned before the foundation of the world. Something that Jesus Christ gave his life for, God the Father gave his only begotten Son for. The first fruits of God here are going to arrive. The 24 elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, we give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was and is to come, because you have taken your great power and reigned. So this is when he takes the reign of all the earth, not just over the church, which he has now as our Lord, but over the earth. Now as our Lord, our Master, our King, now he takes the reign over the earth. Verse 18, Unlike us, the nations were angry, and your wrath has come.

Notice, and 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 revere your name, small and great, and you should destroy those who destroy the earth. Once again, do we see the clear separation? Do we identify with God, with what God is doing and his wonderful favor toward us? And if some need to experience an opportunity to die and give themselves as Jesus Christ did and stand up, then that's fine. He will not give those individuals more than what they can take, and he will be with them in that. And for those who are not killed at that time, they will be resurrected, as the Apostle Paul speaks about. We'll read that in just a minute. But what a great time this is. And we see here the distinction between those who destroy the earth and those who revere God's name. What a wonderful time this is, an exciting, powerful time.

Let's go to Matthew chapter 24 and see that, as compared to what's happening to mankind on earth, something completely different is being experienced by those in Christ. Something totally different. Matthew chapter 24 and verse 29 through verse 31. Let's just do...we've read this before, but let's read it again, verse 31. He will send his angels with the sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds from one end of heaven to another. He's going to gather them—the dead, the alive—he's going to gather them.

In Revelation chapter 19 and verse 6, we see this event take place. Revelation 19 and verse 6, I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude. They're rejoicing. Remember what they were saying? The sound of many waters, the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Remember how we just read that before? Let us be glad and rejoice. For us, we don't mourn when Christ returns. Let us be glad and rejoice. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. Totally different category, totally different set of circumstances. The wife has been making herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, like Jesus is bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And while humanity is about to go through this day of the Lord, and they're going through these seven last plagues, notice he said, verse 9, right, blessed. In the Greek it's, Oh, how supremely blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. There's a marriage supper going on, a great celebration, a great welcoming of the firstfruits with Christ, a great reunion of all the saints with God. Wow! And he said to me, these are the true sayings of God.

We know in 1 Corinthians 15, 52, at the seven trumped sounds, the dead in Christ rise. 1 Thessalonians 4, 16, and 17, you know, we which are alive and remain will not precede those, you know, who die, but everybody will come up at that point in time. And so we will ever be with the Lord, with the Lord. We now are going to support and help and participate with him. But while this joyous wedding and reunion is taking place in heaven, back on earth we come to Joel 2, verse 10.

Joel 2, verse 10. The earth quakes before what's happening to humans. The heavens tremble, the sun and moon grow dark, the stars diminish their brightness, the Lord gives voice before his army. You know, we come in with Jesus Christ, and we assist him in what he's doing. For his camp is very great, for strong is the one who executes his word, for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible. Who can endure it? Now therefore, says the Lord, turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. That's what the two witnesses have been saying. And when Jesus Christ returned, that gospel will go to every person on earth saying, Revere, fear, worship him who created the heavens and the earth and everything in them. Not evolution, certainly not this fake guy you've got here, but what will they do? Verse 13, Renge your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and he relents from doing harm. Who knows if he will turn and relent and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering, for the Lord your God? Will you do that? Blow the trumpet in Zion, consecrate a fast, call a sacred assembly, gather the people. That's what God wants.

But that's not exactly what happens. Let's go down to verse 31.

The sun will be turned into darkness, as we've read elsewhere, the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion in Jerusalem, there will be deliverance among the remnant that he's going to call.

Let's go to chapter 3 and verse 9. Proclaim this among the nations. Prepare for war. Wake up the mighty men. Okay, you don't want to repent, and plague after plague comes. You won't repent. Well, prepare for war. Let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weak say, I'm strong! Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause your mighty ones to go down there. Let the nations be weakened and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is right.

You know, this is a tough time. Verse 14 multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision. For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

The sun and moon will grow dark, the stars will diminish, the Lord will roar from Zion, his voice from Jerusalem, the heavens and the earth will shake, but the Lord will be a shelter to his people.

Okay, there it is. The Lord will be a shelter to his people. You and I need to be his people.

In Revelation chapter 15, we now go into this seventh trumpet. It breaks into seven vials or seven bowls, depending on where you're reading. In chapter 15 verse 1, I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. Verse 7, then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. Chapter 16 verse 1, we find the angels saying to the seven angels, Go pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth. First bowl loath some sores, those who are unrepentant, worshiping the image. Verse 3, second bowl onto the sea became blood as of a dead man, and every living creature in the sea died. Third bowl, third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water. They became blood. And the angel said in verse 5, You are righteous, O Lord, the one who is and who is to be, because you have judged these things, for they have shed the blood of the saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink, for it is their just due. And I heard another voice from the altar saying, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are your judgments. And then verse 8, the fourth angel poured out its bowl on the sun. Power was given to him to scorch men with fire, and they blasphemed the name of God, and they did not repent and give him glory. God is giving them correction, strong correction, but they're not repenting. Verse 10, the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain, and they blasphemed the God of heaven. They did not repent of their deeds.

Vile 6, verse 12, poured out his bowl, and the great river Euphrates was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And here comes all of these horrible things relating to demons and satans. The kings of the earth and the world were gathered together in verse 14 to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. They're coming to fight against God. It reminds me of what in the parable of the talents Jesus said of his countrymen, human race, really. We will not have this man reign over us. Here is Jesus Christ coming. He's reigning, but they will not let him reign. They will have nothing to do with him. And so Jesus says in verse 15, Behold, I'm coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest they walk naked and see his shame, and they gathered them together in a place called in the Hebrew armageddon. Then the seventh angel sounded, verse 17, his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, saying, It is done. It is done. There were noises and thunderings, a great earthquake. Such a mighty great earthquake has not occurred since men were on the earth. You just wonder at this time if land masses may be appearing and mountains are going down and getting ready for the millennial or the second resurrection, where maybe a hundred billion people will live on earth. And everything will have an ecology that is very, very productive. But who knows? This great earthquake such as never occurred on earth takes place. And so come to Revelation 18, verse 1, after talking about the great harlot, the great false religion, the beasts, all the systems of Satan lumped into one. After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority. And he cried mightily, verse 2, with a loud voice, saying, Babylon, the great is fallen, is fallen. Verse 3, For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants have become rich through her luxuries. We look down in verse 10, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, the great city Babylon, that mighty city, for in one hour your judgment has come. In verse 24, And in her was found the blood of the prophets and the saints, and all of those who were slain on the earth. So these are really the enemies, the enemies of God, enemies of his way of life. And in chapter 19, then, we begin to see Jesus Christ and the saints come in and finally remove all opposition to the kingdom of God. It has to be taken out by force.

In verse 11, chapter 19, Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on him was called Faithful and True. This is the true white horse, and this is truth, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. And his eyes were like a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written on himself that no one knew except himself. And he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name was called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, or those who were the multitude, the armies, that large group in heaven, we know as being the bride of Christ, clothed in fine linen, as we just read earlier in verse 7 and 8, white and clean followed him on white horses. Now out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, with it he should strike the nations, and he himself will rule them with the rod of iron. We find back in Revelation chapter 2 to one of the seven churches that that rod of iron will be given to the bride as well, just as it's been given to him to rule. And he himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. We then find down in verse 20, the beast was captured with him, the false prophet who worked evil, and they were cast alive into the lake of fire, burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeds from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. This is a big dramatic end. When you talk about the end of Satan's rule, it hasn't actually ended, ended, ended until we go to the next verse, chapter 20, verse 1. An angel comes, and in verse 2, he laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who was the devil in Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him back into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, set a seal over him that he should no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were finished. Whew! That is, that is big. That is bigger than any, any solution you and I can come up with mentally, any little political thing, or any little new law, or any imaginary war, or something you and I could come up with. This is massive. It's monumental. The reason for all of this is Isaiah chapter 24 and verse 5. Let's keep that in mind. Isaiah chapter 24 and verse 5.

The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenants. 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 are left. That's what ends up happening. This pushback from Satan. And we just have this one adversary that is bound. Once the end time finishes for Satan, we have the beginning of the time of Jesus Christ, the beginning of Christ and the bride's time. And that goes on forever. That's a wonderful, wonderful thing. The Feast of Tabernacles here in Revelation chapter 20 occurs with, as it says in verse 4, with us on thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. And he saw those who had been killed, and they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. And in verse 6, again, O supremely blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection, over which the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him for a thousand years. And down in verse 12, we see all of humanity come under this reign. The dead, small and great, standing before God, books are opened. Another book is opened to them, the Book of Life. And they get to live under the reign of Jesus Christ with the help of his bride. So in conclusion, when you think of the end time, it's the end of Satan's time. It's the beginning of the time of Jesus and the bride beginning to straighten things out in the world. I'd like to conclude by reading Nahum 1 and 3. Nahum 1, verses 3-7. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.

The Lord has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm and in the clouds and the dust of his feet.

In verse 5 of Nahum 1, the mountains quake before him, the hills melt, and the earth heaves at his presence. Yes, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation, and who can endure the fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. We see that coming, but for who? Verse 7, The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he knows those who trust in him.

Brethren, let's renew our zeal and be prepared as a bride fit to assist Jesus Christ. Let's always be part of this body of Christ, part of the light, part of the kingdom of God. And as this dark and gloominess comes upon the earth, let's stay separate from it and fully aligned with God, trusting and depending on him for endurance and ultimately life forever in the kingdom of God.