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WORLD IN BIBLE PROPHECY


CHAPTER 7

THE DAY OF THE LORD BEGINS


The Sixth Seal   

Revelation 6:12-17 (NKJV): "I looked when He [the Lamb] 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, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.  Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is 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, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!  For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

Just before the beginning of the Day of the Lord we have an incredible global earthquake that moves all mountains and islands out of their places as the message of the sixth seal describes.  This is the signal that the Day of the Lord, the last one year of the Great Tribulation] is about to begin.  Millions could perish in this worldwide earthquake.  Perhaps many volcanoes erupt simultaneously so that smoke, volcanic ash and other debris in the air prevent the sun's rays from reaching the earth resulting in darkness at noon day, and the moon becoming red.  There are incredible meteor showers so that it looks like stars are falling down from the sky.  Then all of humanity sees the sky roll up like a scroll revealing the face of God the Father on His throne.  Human beings know that the wrath of the Lamb is now coming on the earth to punish them for their own sins.

Jesus also described this event in Luke 21:25-26: “25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.”

Now we are ready for the events of the Day of the Lord to begin, as revealed by the message of the seventh seal.

Sealing of the 144,000 from the Tribes of Israel

Just before God’s wrath is to begin being poured out on humanity, another event takes place.  God asks His angels to seal 144,000 physical descendants from the tribes of Israel as described in Revelation 7:4-8 so that they suffer no harm during the events of the Day of the Lord.  Revelation 7:4 states (NKJV): “And I heard the number of those who were sealed.  One hundred and forty four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed.”  Revelation 14:4 declares these to be the firstfruits to God.  This means they have been sealed to receive the reward of the firstfruits.  They will be changed to spirit beings as sons of God at the return of Jesus Christ to earth. The reason they receive the reward of the firstfruits is that these Israelites went through two and a half years of the Great Tribulation and did not give in to the beast and the false prophet, but instead preached the good news of the very soon coming kingdom of God wherever they found themselves.  These are literally those who were called into God’s Church during the eleventh hour.

Protection Given to Millions from all Nations

In addition to the 144,000, many millions from all nations will repent of their sins during the first two and a half years of the Great Tribulation, accept the shed blood of Jesus Christ for forgiveness of their sins and be converted when they see all the prophecies being fulfilled.  This will be the greatest fruit the work of God’s Church will produce.  They will not have worshipped the image of the beast or accepted his mark.  These people
will also receive supernatural protection during the events of the Day of the Lord.  Revelation 7:9-15 (NKJV) describes this group: “9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" 13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" 14 And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.”

After the 144,000 have been sealed to be the firstfruits and millions of others from all nations and languages who repented of their sins have received God’s approval for protection during the events of the Day of the Lord, the catastrophic events of the Day of the Lord as revealed in the message of the seventh seal can begin.

The Seventh Seal   

Revelation 8:1-2, 5-6 (NKJV): "When He [the Lamb] opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.  And I saw the seven angels who stood before God, and to them were given seven trumpets...Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth.  And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.  So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound."

The seventh seal consists of seven trumpet blasts.  But before the angels begin to sound their trumpets, there are great noises, thunderings, lightnings, much like those that ancient Israel heard when God gave them the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, but only greater.  And the earth will also quake due to the earthquake, much like Mount Sinai quaked greatly when God descended to speak the Ten Commandments.  The Israelites trembled at the sight, sounds and the quaking.  Human beings on earth will also tremble when they experience these signs.

War between King of the North and King of the South - First Four Trumpets

The first event in the day of the Lord is a war between the King of the North and the King of the South.  The King of the South (the Islamic alliance) had been 'pushing at' the beast for about six months.  He will probably have done more than just irritate the King of the North.  He may have taken some precipitating actions such as using the oil weapon to some extent.  This war is prophesied in Daniel 11:40-43: "And at the time of the end shall the King of the South push at him: and the King of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow [NKJV renders it "and overwhelm them] and pass over.  He shall enter also into the glorious land [the land of the state of Israel, or the holy land], and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.  He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape.  But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps."

This indicates that the Edomites will probably not change their attitude towards the Israelites, and may also not have consented to the "push at" actions against the King of the North.  That is why God has determined the final destruction of the Edomites at the hands of Israel (USA and Britain) after the great tribulation as prophesied by Obadiah.  Another possible reason for countries in the east of the Holy Land escaping the hands of the King of the North is that God's Church is likely sheltered there.

More details of the war between the King of the North and the King of the South are provided in Revelation 8:7-12.  Now the events of the seventh seal, pictured by seven trumpet blasts have begun to take place.  The war is actually pictured by the first four trumpet blasts.

Revelation 8:7-12 (NKJV): "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.  8 Then the second angel sounded: and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea [the sea here referred to is the Mediterranean Sea], 9 and a third of the sea became blood; and a third of the living
creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 Then the third angel sounded: and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water; 11 and the name of the star is Wormwood [or Bitterness]; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.  12 Then the fourth angel sounded: and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened; and a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night."

This is a description of no small war.  The kings of the North and South are warring for control of the earth. The King of the South will have developed so much confidence in himself that he will think the King of the North had given him all his latest weapons when they fought against the Israelite alliance.  He may have obtained additional weapons from the eastern alliance.  He had enough oil and other looted wealth to pay for them.  In addition, the King of the South also used the nuclear powered ships given to him by the King of the North to terrorize the world in order to control its entire commerce.  They now use these ships against each other.  

Like Revelation, Daniel 11 had also prophesied that the King of the North will come against the King of the South 'like a whirlwind [meaning by air]...and with many ships."  Initially perhaps a nuclear missile attack [part of the whirlwind] burns up a third of the trees and all green grass with a great loss of human life.  This corresponds to the first angel’s trumpet blast, which says “…hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth.”  

The trumpet blast of the second angel says: “something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea…”  A ‘great mountain’ likely means an asteroid strikes the Mediterranean Sea which destroys a third of the sea life and a third of the ships.  This may be God’s direct intervention to relieve the pressure on the other tribes of Israel living in France, Scandinavian and Benelux countries, and directly punishing the King of the South.

The trumpet blast of the third angel signals the next event: “…and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water; and the name of the star is Wormwood [or Bitterness]; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter.”  The ‘great star’ burning like a torch could be another asteroid or a meteorite falling on land in the Middle East which somehow poisons much of the sources of fresh water, resulting in much loss of life.  

And finally the King of the North will likely set oil wells ablaze.  Smoke from the oil well fires, and dust and smoke from the war would cause a third of the sun, moon and the stars to be darkened.  The loss of population of the countries in the Islamic alliance could be huge.  This war will also be of very short duration.

War between King of the North and the Eastern Alliance – Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

The war between the king of the North and the king of the South is almost immediately followed by a war between the King of the North and the armies of the Eastern Alliance, most probably led by Russia.  The worldwide alliance that had defeated the Israelite alliance had fallen apart more than eight months ago, as will be shown later.  About eight months before the beginning of the conflict between the king of the North and the armies of the Eastern Alliance, the Eastern Alliance had been cemented and had started preparing to challenge the King of the North.  At that time, the war between the King of the North and the King of the South was at least six or seven months away.  When the King of the North had taken on the King of the South, the Eastern Alliance saw an opening.  The King of the North had just conquered the King of the South when news from the Eastern Alliance troubles him.  So he sets up his regional headquarters in Jerusalem.  The beginning of these events is described in Daniel 11:44-45 (NKJV): "But news from the east and the north trouble him; 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 [the Mediterranean and the Dead seas] and the glorious holy mountain [Jerusalem]."

The Fifth Trumpet

The beast makes a pre-emptive strike against the Eastern Alliance with biological or other weapons which we cannot even imagine.  These weapons do not kill human beings but inflict terrible pain and suffering on them.  Undoubtedly Satan would have guided the development of these weapons.  He now leads the armies of the beast against the Eastern Alliance.  

The pre-emptive strike is described as the fifth trumpet in Revelation 9:1-11(NKJV): "And the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth.  And to him was given the key to the bottomless pit [or abyss].  And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace.  And the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit.  Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth [probably refers to weapons stored in deep underground bunkers].  And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, 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 them, but to torment them for five months.  And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man.  In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die [the pain and suffering is so unbearable], and death will flee from them.  And the shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men.  They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' 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.  They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails.  And their power was to hurt men five months.  And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit [Satan], whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon [or Destroyer]."

John had seen these weapons in a vision.  This was the best description he could come up with.  These appear to be helicopter like weapons, used to deliver biological/chemical weapons.  And the soldiers appear to wear their hair long.  Apparently for five months, the population in the Eastern Alliance countries is so tormented that they are not able to take any action against the beast.  Each side refrains from using nuclear weapons as all life could be wiped off the face of the earth.  They also know that a missile attack might be misunderstood and an all-out war would ensue.  That is why the beast had used conventional airborne vehicles to deliver the biological/chemical weapons. But they continue to prepare for war against the beast.

Description of this war indicates that its effects are not going to be limited to the Eastern Alliance countries.  Verse 4 states: "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."  'Men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads' would not be living only in the Eastern Alliance countries.  They would be living all around the
world.  This indicates that the effects of the biological weapons will be felt globally.  That means the Eastern Alliance has similar biological and chemical weapons and uses them against the King of the North and those loyal to him.

When the tribulation started, all nations of the world were forced to choose one alliance or the other.  None were allowed to stay neutral.  And each nation's soldiers will probably be fighting in the armies of the alliance they have joined.  This is prophesied in Revelation 13, which talks about the beast with two horns like a lamb, but speaks like a dragon [which we proved earlier to be the pope].  Revelation 13:13, 15-18 (NKJV): "He performs
great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men [No pope has ever done such miracles in history. So this is prophecy yet to be fulfilled in the near future]...He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.  And he causes all, both small and great, rich and
poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.  Here is wisdom.  Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: his number is 666."

We have earlier identified the beast as the 'Holy Roman Empire'.  But what is the significance of the mysterious symbols "mark of the beast", "image of the beast" and the "number of his name - 666"?  For a detailed explanation of these symbols you may refer to "The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor or Soon-Coming Reality" published by the Living Church of God, available free of charge.  It can be read online or downloaded from the Church's web site www.lcg.org.  As explained in the booklet, the mark of the beast is a brand of disobedience to God.  It marks those who refuse to keep God's commandments in spite of both the preaching of the two witnesses (of Revelation 11) and even the final warning delivered by three angels of God (Revelation 14: 9, which I will cover later.)  Obedience to God involves keeping the Ten Commandments and adhering to God's
statutes and judgments.  In the Ten Commandments, keeping the Sabbath (from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) is the test commandment.  Instead of the Sabbath, the Roman Empire had foisted Sunday (the day of sun worship) on the world during the time of the Roman emperor Constantine in 321 A.D.  This mark of disobedience to God's Sabbath command thus originally came from Babylon and Rome.

The image of the beast [the Roman Empire] refers to the Roman Catholic Church being developed on the model (or image) of the old Roman Empire from which it derived its structure.

What does the mysterious number 666 mean?  Quoting from "The Beast of Revelation: Myth, Metaphor or Soon-Coming Reality?" pages 35-6:"Most of us are familiar with Roman numerals, where the letters of the Latin alphabet have numeric value.  In this system I=1, V=5, X=10, and so on...The number 666 is "...contained in the Greek letters of Lateinos (L=30; A=1; T=300; E=5; I=10; N=50; O=70; S=200)"...Lateinos is a Greek term
referring to the Romans.  Interestingly, the Greek expression meaning "The Latin Kingdom" (h Latine Basileia) also has a numeric value of 666.  Greek writers commonly referred to the Roman Empire in this way.  The book of Revelation was originally written in Greek...

"The founder of ancient Rome was Romulus, from whose name Rome and Roman are derived.  The Latin name Romvlvs is written in Hebrew as Romiith.  In the Hebrew language this also adds up to 666 (resh=200, vau=6, mem=40, yod=10, yod=10, tau=400).  Thus, in both Greek and Hebrew, the two languages of the Bible, the number 666 is stamped upon the kingdom that derived from Rome."

Actually God allows nations to inflict this incredible torture, pain and suffering on each other as retribution for inflicting similar terrible torture, pain and suffering on God’s Church and their Israelite captives.

After 5 months of incredible physical suffering throughout the world pictured by the 5th trumpet, the Eastern Alliance then counterattacks with a massive army of 200 million.

The Sixth Trumpet

The counterattack is described in Revelation 9:13-21 (NKJV): "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 who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates."  So the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year [KJV renders it "And the four angels were loosed, which were
prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year..."  This preparation of the Eastern Alliance for approximately 13 months for this counterattack means that when we take out the 5 months of the conflict that was started by the pre-emptive strike by the King of the North, it started about 8 months prior to the pre-emptive strike or about a month or two before the end of the first two years of the Great Tribulation], were released to kill a third of mankind.  Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million, and I heard the number of them.  And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulphur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone.  By these three plagues a third of mankind was killed - by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths.  For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, having heads; and with them they do harm.  But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders, or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts [the beast's other specialties]."

Both the King of the North and the Eastern Alliance have weapons that could destroy all of humanity.  So each side is reluctant to use these weapons.  That is why the King of the North had used biological/chemical weapons in his pre-emptive strike.  So the only alternative for the Eastern Alliance to retaliate against the King of the North is to send a huge 200 million strong army against him to fight him globally.  This prophecy indicates that a third of mankind will die in this war from the fire, smoke and brimstone (or weapons) alone.  That would be another 1.6 billion people being killed in the world.  The resulting famine and diseases will perhaps kill additional hundreds of millions.  In effect, close to 2 billion people could die worldwide in this war.  The King of the North and his alliance partners worldwide will take a very severe beating in this war.  

Notice God’s purpose in allowing humanity to inflict this catastrophe on itself.  Verses 20-21 of Revelation 9 state, “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders, or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”  God wants humanity to wake up and repent of worshipping Satan and the demons and idols, and of their murders, sexual immorality and thefts.  Despite this catastrophic war, humanity still refuses to repent.

The Two Witnesses Killed, But Rise after Three and a Half Days

While all these events had been taking place, God's two prophets had been warning the world from Jerusalem for the past 1,260 days.  A great spiritual confrontation had been taking place between the false prophet (the pope) and the beast on one side and God's two prophets.  The beast then battles the two prophets and kills them.  The whole world rejoices at their deaths, but this rejoicing is short lived.  The two prophets rise after three-and-a-half days [probably at the same time as the rest of the dead saints are resurrected, to meet the returning Jesus Christ] ascending into the sky in a cloud, causing great fear on those who see them.  At the same time there will be a great earthquake in Jerusalem killing seven thousand people.

This is described in Revelation 11:3-13 (NKJV): "And I will give power to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.  These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.  And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies.  And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.  These
have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.  

"Now when they finish their testimony, the beast [the King of the North] that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them.  And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified [Jerusalem].  Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues and nations will see their dead bodies three and a half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into
graves.  And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and 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.  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.  In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.  In the earthquake seven thousand men were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.”


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