Red Moon Rising—The Rapture and the Timeline of the Apocalypse

 

 

Chapter Ten:
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Prelude to the Apocalypse

 

        The Day of the Lord will begin when God is forced to act to protect Israel from certain destruction that will come in the form of an overwhelming and unexpected invasion. The situation in Israel prior to this invasion is described by the prophet Ezekiel,

“In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety... You will say, ‘I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people--all of them living without walls and without gates and bars.’” (Ezekiel 38:8-11)

Today it can hardly be said that Israel lives in safety, or that she exists as a peaceful or unsuspecting nation. Israel is continually threatened by terrorists and suicide bombers from the Palestinian areas, and by attacks from Hezbollah forces in Lebanon. At the same time she is threatened by the buildup of chemical and biological weapons in Syria, and by the possible emergence of nuclear weapons in Iran.

To protect herself, both from Lebanon and from the Palestinian areas, the Israeli government has built fences on her northern border, fences along the green line that separates the Palestinian areas from Israel proper, and fences around the Jewish settlements within Palestinian areas. There are few “unwalled villages” in Israel, and walls, gates and bars are still a necessity. Today Israel displays a justifiable paranoia that Ezekiel says will be absent prior to the Magog alliance invasion.

Another characteristic of the Magog invasion that is worth mentioning is that the alliance includes none of Israel’s closest neighbors which have traditionally been Israel’s most stubborn enemies. Neither Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon or the Palestinians are included in the invasion that brings forth the Day of the Lord.

The absence of these nations, as well as the peace and safety that Israel enjoys prior to the invasion, may in fact be explained at the very beginning when Ezekiel says, “In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war...”

Perhaps what we need to look for is a war between Israel and her closest neighbors that will set the stage for the “peaceful and unsuspecting” situation in Israel prior to the Magog invasion. To pursue this possibility we will first examine a prophecy given in the form of a psalm by Asaph, King David’s chief songwriter.
 

The Conspiracy Against Israel

“O God, do not keep silent; be not quiet, O God, be not still. See how your enemies are astir, how your foes rear their heads. With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish. ‘Come,’ they say, ‘let us destroy them as a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.’ With one mind they plot together; they form an alliance against you—the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagrites, Gebal,  Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. Even Assyria has joined them to lend strength to the descendants of Lot. Selah

    Do to them as you did to Midian, as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, who perished at Endor and became like refuse on the ground. Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, ‘Let us take possession of the pasturelands of God.’

    Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind. As fire consumes the forest or a flame sets the mountains ablaze, so pursue them with your tempest and terrify them with your storm. Cover their faces with shame so that men will seek your name, O LORD. May they ever be ashamed and dismayed; may they perish in disgrace. Let them know that you, whose name is the LORD—that you alone are the Most High over all the earth.” (Psalm 83)

In this psalm Asaph describes a great conspiracy to destroy Israel. The tribes and cities that he mentions correspond to the modern-day Palestinians and to Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, and their plan is to “take possession of the pasturelands of God.”

What is important is the plea that the psalmist makes to God. He asks God to put an end to this conspiracy, to destroy the members of the conspiracy and to “make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind.” God has never answered this plea, at least not yet, and the conspiracy, by these very nations, to destroy Israel and take over the land still exists to this day.

The psalmist's plea is finally answered within a prophecy given to Isaiah:

“An oracle concerning Damascus: ‘See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites,’ declares the LORD Almighty. ‘In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away. It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with his arm—as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim. Yet some gleanings will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs,’ declares the LORD, the God of Israel.

    In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel. They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made. In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation.

    You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.

    Oh, the raging of many nations—they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples—they roar like the roaring of great waters! Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone! This is the portion of those who loot us, the lot of those who plunder us.”  (Isaiah 17)

The names may be different, but the places referred to in Isaiah 17 are the same as those in Psalm 83. Isaiah describes a major conflict, and the main protagonists are Israel and Syria. The most obvious result of this conflict is the destruction of Damascus. It is the world's oldest continuously inhabited city, and it has never suffered the devastation predicted by Isaiah. Damascus will be destroyed and left as a heap of ruins. The other results of this conflict are as follows,

—The cities of Aroer will be deserted. According to different sources, Aroer is the name of three places in or near Palestine, or it refers to the modern town of Arair, east of the Dead Sea in Jordan.

—The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim. The ancient tribe of Ephraim was given the land that is now in the central part of the Palestinian West Bank. These cities are fortified by the Palestinians who live in constant combat with Israel. Isaiah tells us that after the conflict they will no longer be fortified.

—Royal power will disappear from Damascus. Apparently after Damascus is destroyed it will no longer be the capital city of Syria, if such a nation even exists after the conflict.

—The glory of Jacob will fade as a result of the war. Yet Isaiah says that hope will remain, just as some olives are still left in the branches after an olive tree is beaten.

—The remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites. Aram's glory will be diminished by the war just as Israel's will be. According to the entry from the Bible Encyclopedia, Aram is simply the Hebrew designation for the land of Syria.

—Their strong cities (Aram's) will be abandoned because of the Israelites and become desolate.

One of the most important spiritual results of this war will be that the people who fought against Israel, specifically the people of Aram, will “look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.” These people who turn to God, and look away from their altars and their Asherah poles and incense altars, are the very people who are forced to abandon their strong cities because of Israel.

The predictions regarding Aram refer to the people of Syria and could also refer to the people known as the modern Assyrians. After the death and resurrection of Christ ancient Assyria was the first nation to accept Christianity and the Assyrian Church was founded by the Apostles Thomas, Bartholomew and Thaddeus in 33 AD. The modern Assyrian people, today numbering about 3.3 million, occupy an area of about fifty thousand square miles, predominantly in a region located in Syria, western Iran, northern Iraq and southern Turkey.

After the conflict predicted in Isaiah 17 many of Israel's enemies will turn back to God. However, Israel will not experience any sort of national spiritual revival until after the Magog invasion when the invading army is destroyed through divine intervention in the form of hail and fire falling from the sky. At that time God will say,

“I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel,” (Ezekiel 39:7).

Isaiah 17 will result in the spiritual revival of some of Israel’s enemies, but it will also bring about the fall of the modern nation of Syria, as well as the defeat of the Palestinians and perhaps also Lebanon and Jordan. That helps to explain why these nations, who are Israel's traditional foes, do not take part in the massive invasion of Israel that is led by Gog of the land of Magog described in Ezekiel 38-39.

The final passages of Isaiah 17 tie the prophecy of Isaiah back to Psalm 83. The “raging of many nations” compares with the conspiracy of the many nations to destroy Israel. In the Psalm the goal of the conspiracy is to take possession of the “pasturelands of God,” and in Isaiah the goal of Israel's enemies is given as “loot and plunder.”

The connection is confirmed when the plea made by the Psalmist is compared with Isaiah's description of the raging of Israel's enemies and God's response. In the psalm Asaph had cried out to God asking Him to, “Make them like tumbleweed, O my God, like chaff before the wind.” Isaiah tells us that the future conflict that includes the destruction of Damascus will be an answer to Asaph's plea when he writes,

“Although the peoples roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale. In the evening, sudden terror! Before the morning, they are gone!” (Isaiah 17:13-14)

This combination of metaphors, of Israel's enemies being compared to chaff and tumbleweeds driven before the wind, only appears in the Bible in these two passages, Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17. Through Isaiah God gives His direct answer to Asaph’s plea voiced within the psalm.

The conflict described in Isaiah 17, a conflict in which Israel is overwhelmingly victorious over her neighbors, could well be the war in which Israel is “recovered from” prior to the Magog invasion that is mentioned in Ezekiel 38:8. It is a war that may finally give Israel a brief period of peace and safety.

The next prophecy given by Isaiah, a prophecy of the nation of Cush, helps to confirm many of the connections that we have already made.
 

The Formation of the Magog Alliance

The nations that make up the Magog alliance of Ezekiel 38 are Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer and Togarmah. The leader of the alliance is named as Gog, of the land of Magog (Russia or Turkey), who is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. The prophecy of Isaiah 18 is a prophecy of Cush, which most likely refers to Sudan, or perhaps to Ethiopia,

“Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers. All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.

    This is what the LORD says to me: ‘I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.’ For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches. They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.

    At that time gifts will be brought to the LORD Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers-- the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the Name of the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 18)

This prophecy begins with a description of envoys traveling from Cush to a nation that is described in the following manner:

—It is a nation of people tall and smooth skinned

—It is a powerful nation feared far and wide

—It is a nation of strange speech

—Its land is divided by rivers

This description could conceivably apply to either Turkey or Russia. Regardless of which nation Ezekiel meant when he referred to “the land of Magog” the important thing to note is the result that comes from the envoys of Cush traveling to this strange land,

“All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it.” (Isaiah 18:3)

A banner and a trumpet are both symbols of an advancing army, and the reference to “mountains” compares with the Magog invasion that advances upon the “mountains of Israel” (Ezekiel 39:2). All the people of the world will see the banner and hear the trumpet.

The next thing that the prophet Isaiah describes is a strange pause in heaven after the Lord looks down and sees the army coming against his people,

“This is what the LORD says to me: ‘I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.’” (Isaiah 18:4)

Remember that the destruction of the Magog invasion comes from a plague of fiery hail from the sky described in Ezekiel 38-39 and in the first Trumpet judgment of Revelation. Immediately prior to the blowing of the first Trumpet there is a similar pause described in Revelation,

“When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.” (Revelation 8:1)

After God's moment of “quiet” in His “dwelling place” described in Isaiah 18:4, which matches the brief “silence in heaven” of the seventh Seal, the prophet Isaiah goes on to describe the results of the destruction of the army that has many similarities with the words of Ezekiel. Compare the two descriptions,

    “For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches. They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.” (Isaiah 18:5-6)

 

    “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood.” (Ezekiel 39:17)

All of these prophecies from Ezekiel, Revelation and Isaiah appear to correspond and tie together, and they confirm our chronology of events that will occur at the beginning of the great and terrible Day of the Lord.
 

Egypt in the Day of the Lord

The last major nation that has always had a close relationship with Israel that we have not accounted for is Egypt, and Isaiah explains what will happen to this nation in his next chapter,

“An oracle concerning Egypt: See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them. ‘I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian-- brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists. I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,’ declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 19:1-4)

If Egypt is not involved in any of the major attacks upon Israel up to and throughout the Day of the Lord it will be because it is destined to crumble from the internal fighting of a civil war. In the end order will be restored when power falls into the hands of a “cruel master” who is also a “mighty king.” This may refer to the Antichrist’s takeover of Egypt that is also predicted in Daniel 11:42.

Isaiah’s prophecies continue,

“The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry. The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and rushes will wither, also the plants along the Nile, at the mouth of the river. Every sown field along the Nile will become parched, will blow away and be no more. The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away. Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope. The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart.” (Isaiah 19:5-10)

The great Nile River and all its canals and tributaries will dry up during the Day of the Lord. This could come as result of a plague from one of the Two Witnesses (Revelation 11:6), or from the drought that will come as a result of the fourth Bowl judgment (Revelation 16:8-9). The sixth Bowl causes a similar drying up of the Euphrates River. Isaiah continues,

“The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, ‘I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings’? Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the LORD Almighty has planned against Egypt. The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray. The LORD has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit. There is nothing Egypt can do-- head or tail, palm branch or reed. In that day the Egyptians will be like women. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the LORD Almighty raises against them. And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the LORD Almighty is planning against them.” (Isaiah 19:11-17)

In the last days many calamities will befall Egypt. Their leaders will appear as fools, and the people will realize that their historic mistreatment of Israel and the Jewish people merits a punishment from God. However, even as God will punish, He will also show mercy, as Isaiah confirms at the end of his prophecy,

“In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD Almighty. One of them will be called the City of Destruction. In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them.

    So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them. The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them.

    In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.’” (Isaiah 19:18-25)

 

          Conclusion

The destruction of the city of Damascus and the crushing defeat of Israel’s immediate neighbors may lead to Israel finally achieving a brief period of “peace and safety.”

It is in just such an atmosphere that the Magog alliance against Israel will be formed, and it is the Magog invasion that will cause God’s intervention into world affairs to protect Israel from certain destruction. This intervention will first take the form of cosmic signs and the shaking of the earth, and it will be preceded by the rapture into heaven of every human being that believes in and serves Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

The signs that will follow or accompany the rapture are the signs of a darkening of the sun, the moon turning red like blood, and falling stars. I suspect that these signs will last long enough for every person on earth to see them, so a reasonable conclusion is that they must last for up to 24 hours before the entire earth is shaken.

Regarding the resurrection, chapter seven commented on the historical connection between resurrections and earthquakes. Perhaps the global shaking of the earth signifies that a global resurrection has just occurred of dead believers from “every nation, tribe, people and language.”

A question regarding God’s initial intervention is raised by the curious fact that although His anger is roused by the invasion of Israel, His first actions are taken against the entire earth when He causes the earth to shake, rather than specifically against the invaders. However, the shaking of the earth does appear to cause, or at least contribute to, the madness that strikes the Magog invaders which leads them to fight against each other (Ezekiel 38:21).

The question that must be grappled with is that of the curious pause in heaven, after the shaking of the earth, but before the first Trumpet judgment which does strike the Magog invaders directly (as well as other areas of the earth). This pause is mentioned after the opening of the seventh Seal and also in Isaiah 18:4 in connection with a similar alliance of invaders into Israel. In Isaiah’s narrative the invaders are destroyed only after the pause in heaven.

These points lead to the possibility that perhaps God’s anger against the members of the Magog alliance is caused merely by their conspiracy and their intention, which is described as an “evil scheme” in Ezekiel 38:10-12. Perhaps God causes the earth to shake as a way of drawing the conspirators into the actual invasion. Whether or not the shaking of the earth induces the invasion it does appear that somehow God Himself acts to pull the invaders into the battle, as it says in Ezekiel 38:4, “I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army...”

In any case, a global shaking or polar-shift type event would definitely neutralize the military effectiveness of the current dominant power in the region, namely, the United States. The US Military, as well as the Israeli military, is highly dependant on satellites for essentials such as intelligence and communications, and they are also an integral part of the guidance systems of missiles, and for navigation of ships, planes, and even tanks. In a polar shift event all orbiting satellites would be instantly and perhaps indefinitely transformed into useless space junk. In this situation Israel and the US would both be completely vulnerable to conventional massed infantry and armor attacks, such as appear to be described in Ezekiel.

After the shaking of the earth of the sixth Seal of Revelation, and after the pause in heaven of the seventh Seal, then the catastrophic judgments against the earth begin in earnest. In Revelation 7:1-3 the first four angels who blow the first four Trumpets are told to wait until the sealing of the 144,000 of Israel. These first four judgments are said to affect the “the land and the sea.” I believe these judgments, the first four Trumpets, should be viewed as a group of judgments that are enacted very close together after the pause in heaven of the seventh Seal.

The first appears to be very closely related with the destruction of the Magog invaders as chapter six explained. The first Trumpet may also be directed at end-times Babylon, which suffers an initial punishment of fire from God (Revelation 18:8-9). The first Trumpet affects “the land” by burning up a third of the earth, a third of the trees and all the green grass.

The second Trumpet appears to bring a gigantic meteor that strikes the ocean at an unknown place. This judgment affects “the sea” and one third of the sea creatures and one third of the ships are destroyed. In Revelation 18:17-19 the shipmasters who profit from Babylon’s economy wail after Babylon is destroyed by fire, but then they will face even more disaster when many of their ships are destroyed. A meteor impact into the ocean may also be signified by the actions of the angel in Revelation 18:21,

“Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: ‘With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.”

A related fate for Babylon is suggested by the prophet Jeremiah who wrote (51:42), “The sea will rise over Babylon; its roaring waves will cover her.”

The third Trumpet affects the land indirectly by causing one third of the fresh water to go bitter. Perhaps it is the result of the fallout from the sky after the preceding meteor impact.

The fourth Trumpet could also be interpreted as another possible result of the meteor impact because it causes the natural light sources of the sun, moon and stars to be dimmed by a third. This is something that scientists predict in “nuclear winter” type scenarios, which is what a massive meteor impact would cause. The dimming of the sun would affect the land’s capacity for agriculture, which could easily contribute to a global famine and various other related hardships.

The first four Trumpets should be viewed as a group, and the beginning of the Apocalypse appears to have two initial stages: first the cosmic signs and the polar-shift event, then a pause, and then the combined devastation from the fiery hailstones over a third of the earth (first Trumpet) and the single major meteor impact into the ocean (second Trumpet). The latter appears to contribute to or cause the residual and long-term affects of the third and fourth Trumpets.

It is in this atmosphere, after these devastating events, that Israel will recover from the Magog invasion, bury the dead, and begin to burn the fuel source that was captured (Ezekiel 39:9). This will also be the atmosphere in which the Antichrist will become known and begin his rise to power as a man of spiritual knowledge, possessing an apparent love for humanity, and with a program to begin mankind’s journey into the glorious New Age. If you do not know the Bible and the saving message of Jesus Christ it will be hard not to love and admire him.

This is also the time when Israel will sign an agreement with an authority figure based in Rome that will signal the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy. Immediately after this agreement is signed the Two Witnesses will appear in Israel and they too will become well-known figures on the global stage. The Bible says that because they speak the truth against the Antichrist’s flattering lies that humanity will hate them (11:10). The Two Witnesses will remain in Israel and perhaps, as in their Old Testament careers, Joshua and Zerubbabel will aid in the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple that will be completed by the midpoint of the seventieth week.

The first half of the seventieth week of Daniel will be characterized by mankind’s recovery from the devastation that came from the sky, and during this time the Antichrist will rise to power. There will also be a spiritual revival in Israel, led by the Two Witnesses and the 144,000, but this revival will be viewed negatively by the rest of the world. During this first 42-month period (three and a half years) the world will turn to the Antichrist, who will be helped by his most important promoter, the False Prophet, who I believe will be based in Rome. This possibility is also reinforced by Catholic prophecy which is full of predictions of a final anti-Pope who will try to lead the faithful astray.

The first half of the seventieth week will be a rebuilding period for mankind, and a testing period for each individual. The only judgments that will fall during this period are the two demonic invasions brought by the fifth and sixth Trumpets. They are also referred to as the first two “Woes” in Revelation 8:13. The first Woe brings an invasion of demons that cause terrible suffering for five months, while the second is a devastating invasion of 200 million demons that kills off a third of the human population. The sixth Trumpet invasion is also described in Joel 2:1-11.

Some prophecy scholars believe that the sixth Trumpet describes a human army that they associate with the “kings of the east” of Revelation 16:12, because at one time China claimed it could field an army of 200 million strong. Joel's invasion describes an army of huge numbers, the greatest army ever fielded, and both Joel and Revelation describe the invaders as appearing like horses, leaving terrible devastation in their wake. However, it is my belief that this unstoppable horse-like army led by four fallen angels, breathing smoke and fire and unable to be wounded, is not Chinese.

At the midpoint of the seventieth week the Antichrist will triumph. He will gain control of Jerusalem’s holy sites (perhaps with help from the Vatican) and the False Prophet will set up his image in the Holy Place of the Temple. At this point the Two Witnesses will be killed as well, after which mankind will celebrate by giving each other gifts (11:10).

At this time the spiritual/economic program of the Mark of the Beast will be enforced globally. The Antichrist and the False Prophet will be backed up by the ten kings that rule the world and together they will set up a system in which every human being will be required to have a mark, tattoo, or computer chip on or in their right hand or forehead. This Mark will be required for all financial transactions. Those who take it will be punished forever in the lake of fire by God, while those who refuse to take it will be imprisoned and/or killed by a world loyal to the Antichrist.

The judgments of the second half of the seventieth week begin with the third “Woe” which is simply the seventh Trumpet that brings forth the seven Bowl judgments. The seventh Trumpet will probably be blown many months or perhaps even a year or more after the Mark of the Beast is first adopted and enforced globally. This is because the very first Bowl judgment is a plague of painful sores upon every human being that has taken the Mark, and a period of time must be allowed for the Mark to be set up as a program before its negative effects are felt.

The second and third Bowls will cause the fresh water of the lakes and rivers and the water of the seas to all turn to blood. The reason for this judgment is that because mankind has shed the blood of saints and prophets they will also be forced to drink blood (16:5-6).

The fourth Bowl will cause the sun to be felt much more hotter on the earth. By this point the majority of mankind will know that they have chosen to side with Satan against the Creator and as they are scorched and seared by the heat they will curse God and refuse to repent.

The fifth Bowl reverses the judgment, and instead of heat from the sun the world will be plunged into darkness.

The sixth Bowl dries up the Euphrates River allowing the “kings from the East” (this time perhaps including China) to gather at Armageddon.

The seventh Bowl brings the last cosmic disturbance. Again the earth will be hit by hailstones from the sky and again the earth will be shaken violently. What is left of Babylon will also be finally destroyed, as well as the cities of the rest of the nations. It will be the last plague of the Apocalypse, to be followed by the Second Coming.
 

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse,

whose rider is called Faithful and True.

With justice he judges and makes war.

His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns.

On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

 

“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me,

and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega,

the First and the Last,

the Beginning and the End.”

 

(Revelation 19:11-12,16, 22:12-13)

 

The most fundamental promise of the Christian faith, from the very beginning of its existence, has been the promise that Jesus is coming back. That promise will be kept. Be ready.

 

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