The Worst is Yet to Come

Worst tornado you have ever seen?

May 3, 1999 a tornado metastasized into a monster cyclone and thundered northeast, effortlessly flattening a sixty mile swath through town after town, neighborhood after neighborhood. When the steamroller finally ran out of steam, it had destroyed 1500 hon=mes, damaged 8093 homes, and killed 44 people.

After the storm meteorologists determined the wind speed generated by the tornado peaked at 318 mph, the highest wind speed ever recorded on planet earth. The storm may have created a new category; an F6.

The days after the tornado, the local news stations ran nonstop footage of the damaged areas. The scene was heartbreaking and indescribable.

Note: an F6 tornado will pale in comparison to the coming destruction the Bible says God will unleash when He judges the earth. The scripture calls this the Tribulation.

Many believe the seven year tribulation occurs directly after the rapture, but that may not be the case. The main purpose of the rapture is to end the church age.

The covenant of peace between the antichrist ans the nation of Israel inaugurates the tribulation and starts the end times clock ticking.

When that peace agreement is signed after the rapture is anyone’s guess. A peace agreement this size and scope will be everyone’s dream and most will be lulled by its authority.

It will be between Israel and the Antichrist and will probably involve others.

It will be a firm covenant; forced or compelling Israel to abide.

It will give Jews the right to offer sacrifices in the rebuilt temple.

It will be broken by the antichrist himself at the mod point of the treaty.

J Dwight Pentecost says this about the coming destruction in 10 descriptive words: wrath, judgment, indignation, trail, trouble, destruction, darkness, desolation, overturning and punishment. He concludes with this; No passage can be found to alleviate to and degree whatsoever the severity of this time that shall come upon the earth. The tribulation will be the darkest hour in human history.

The Darkest Hour was a movie made about Churchill and WWII. He refused to negotiate with Nazi Germany while his entire army was surrounded at Dunkirk. The army was rescued by civilian’s sailing their private boats to pick them up, Churchill held off Germany, the war was won, Churchill was voted out of office.

Pearl Harbor

D Day

The Tet Offensive

Zephaniah 1:1–18 NKJV

The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. “I will utterly consume everything From the face of the land,” Says the Lord; “I will consume man and beast; I will consume the birds of the heavens, The fish of the sea, And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked. I will cut off man from the face of the land,” Says the Lord. “I will stretch out My hand against Judah, And against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, The names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests— Those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; Those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, But who also swear by Milcom; Those who have turned back from following the Lord, And have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him.” Be silent in the presence of the Lord God; For the day of the Lord is at hand, For the Lord has prepared a sacrifice; He has invited His guests. “And it shall be, In the day of the Lord’s sacrifice, That I will punish the princes and the king’s children, And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel. In the same day I will punish All those who leap over the threshold, Who fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit. “And there shall be on that day,” says the Lord, “The sound of a mournful cry from the Fish Gate, A wailing from the Second Quarter, And a loud crashing from the hills. Wail, you inhabitants of Maktesh! For all the merchant people are cut down; All those who handle money are cut off. “And it shall come to pass at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And punish the men Who are settled in complacency, Who say in their heart, ‘The Lord will not do good, Nor will He do evil.’ Therefore their goods shall become booty, And their houses a desolation; They shall build houses, but not inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards, but not drink their wine.” The great day of the Lord is near; It is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter; There the mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, A day of trouble and distress, A day of devastation and desolation, A day of darkness and gloominess, A day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of trumpet and alarm Against the fortified cities And against the high towers. “I will bring distress upon men, And they shall walk like blind men, Because they have sinned against the Lord; Their blood shall be poured out like dust, And their flesh like refuse.” Neither their silver nor their gold Shall be able to deliver them In the day of the Lord’s wrath; But the whole land shall be devoured By the fire of His jealousy, For He will make speedy riddance Of all those who dwell in the land.

Read Zephaniah Chapter 1

Why the tribulation?

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Why would God pour out His wrath and judgment on the world He created?

Why is such a time of unspeakable trouble necessary?

Here are 5 reasons:

To prepare Israel

The tribulation will bring the Jewish people to their knees in submission to God.

He will use this time to prepare the nation to receive their Messiah.

God will put Israel in a headlock from which there is no hope of deliverance.

Many of the Jewish people will cry out to God for salvation from their sins during the Tribulation.

Jeremiah 30:8-24

To Punish Sinners

God will use the tribulation to punish godless Gentile nations and all believers for their sin, especially for rejecting His Son and receiving the Antichrist

Isaiah 26:21

To Prove God’s Power

3500 years ago Pharoah mocked the God of heaven: “who is the Lord? Why should I listen to Him and let Israel go?

Demonstrated for Pharoah in the next 8 chapters until he begs them to leave.

This is nothing compared to those days

The Antichrist will proclaim himself to be god and a similar show will begin on the stage called earth.

To portray Satan’s true character

God will use the tribulation to fully unmask Satan for what he is-a liar, a thief and a murderer.

To Provide Salvation to Believers

The Lord will graciously use the tribulation to drive men to himself in repentance and trust.

During this time, God will harvest more souls than anyone can imagine.

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Turmoil, yes. God will use the time to accomplish His sovereign purpose.

Read This reveals to us people will be saved during the great tribulation

Joel 2:32 NKJV

And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, As the Lord has said, Among the remnant whom the Lord calls.

Yet, God will reject anyone that rejects Christ

2 Thessalonians 2:9–12 NKJV

The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

This is during the tribulation not before the rapture. It has everything to do with those who witness the deception of the antichrist, believe his message, and reject the truth.

Many who have clearly rejected the gospel before the rapture will continue to reject it after the rapture. It wont get easier to be a christian at that point, but rather more difficult.

The Antichrist will openly persecute those who accept Christ and refuse the mark of the beast.

Millions of sinners will come to faith during that time. The one who purchased our pardon will once again apply mercy and grace.

What a gracious savior.