The GREAT TRIBULATION PART 1

THE GREAT TRIBULATION-- PART 1 Spring Valley Mennonite; March 10, 2019; Revelation 11:1-14. 8:1-13 In our study of Revelation, we have come to the mid-point of the seven-year Tribulation Period, and all the entities are in place: At this point in time, Antichrist has assumed the role of World Dictator and has broken the Covenant of Peace with Israel. He, with the assistance of the False Prophet, has destroyed the One World Church (Mystery Babylon) and has claimed the title of “God”. The world’s economic system has been completely centralized, and all those buying and selling legally have taken the Mark of the Beast. After a war in the heavenly spirit world, Satan has been restricted to earthly operations. Filled with great wrath, he has begun an intensive persecution on all believers, Jews and Gentiles alike. Believing Jews have abandoned Jerusalem and fled to the wilderness. Meanwhile, a world-wide revival is occurring among those who have not taken the mark of the Beast, led by the 144,000 Jewish men who are divinely protected. One further pair of godly witnesses now appear on the scene and begin prophesying in Jerusalem. We read of them in Chapter 11. I. THE TWO WITNESSES READ REVELATION 11:1-2 John is given a measuring rod to measure the temple of God in Jerusalem. Late in the first century, when John was given this vision, the Jerusalem Temple had already been destroyed by the Roman Legions in 70 A.D. It must have been encouraging to John to see a rebuilt Temple. This demonstrates to John and to us that Israel will survive, is back in the land, although in unbelief. At this midpoint of the Tribulation, the Jewish Temple had been rebuilt, and sacrifices had been reinstituted on the altar, although now they have been had been halted by Antichrist. The permission to rebuild most likely was part of the provisions of the Antichrist’s peace treaty. The resolution of the issue of the Dome of the Rock, one of Islam’s holiest sites, on the Temple Mount is unknown. The universal power and persuasive abilities of the Antichrist probably figure into this equation. The outside court of the Temple was excluded from John’s measurement, for not only this court but all Jerusalem will be under control of the “nations” for the last three and a half years of the Tribulation. Even though the city is firmly under the control of Antichrist, there now arise two powerful witnesses who are a sharp thorn in the side of this world ruler. His power is almost unlimited, but these two witnesses stand prophesying in Jerusalem, perhaps in the Temple John has just measured. Look at verses 3-6 (Read). The main purpose of these two men is to witness and prophesy, warning of the wrath of God which is eminent, and encouraging acceptance of the Messiah. This is significant, as they are speaking from the Jewish homeland, presumably from the Temple grounds. They present quite a picture: two invincible men clothed in sackcloth garments of mourning. These two are fearsomely powerful: they can smite the earth with plagues, call down fire to consume those who would try to harm them; they shut off the rain—it sounds like for the entire last half of the Tribulation! Whether this is only locally around Jerusalem, or of a larger area is undetermined. They can turn the waters into blood. As true prophets of God, everything they predict happens. It may be that they forewarn the world of the terrible trumpet judgments before they happen. Read vv. 7-13 When their mission is completed, at the end of the second three and a half years, Antichrist finally succeeds in murdering the two. The world breaks out in celebration, thinking that the ones responsible for the terrible judgments of these last years are now gone. The world celebrates for 3 ½ days as their bodies lie in the street. Then, as the whole world watches, the two witnesses come back to life, stand on their feet, and as the world watches, they ascend into heaven as a loud heavenly voice booms out, “COME UP HERE!” As they disappear into the clouds, a mighty earthquake happens, destroying 1/10th of the city and killing 7000 people. All the participants in the “end of the world” drama are in place. The wrath of the Lamb is ready to be visited upon the earth. II. THE JUSTIFICATION OF THE WRATH OF THE LAMB At this point in our consideration it is well to remind ourselves why the world and its inhabitants are so devastatingly judged. In one sense, we remember how Jesus told us to pray for our enemies and to do good to them. We are told several times in scripture that we not to take vengeance upon those who persecute or oppose us. But remember that God has also said, “Vengeance is Mine!” Jesus has delayed His judgment for thousands of years, giving multiple opportunities for people to repent. The first half of the Tribulation has seen multitudes of people from every tribe and nation and people come to a saving knowledge of Jesus. At the same time, those who have pledged their allegiance to the Antichrist, and taken his mark have harried and murdered great numbers of those who have believed. Remember the cry of the martyred before the heavenly throne, (Chapter 6:10) “How long O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” They were told to wait a bit longer, until all those who are to join them in martyrdom have died. The first half of the Tribulation has been bad, but now the time has come for the terrible wrath of the Lamb to fall on the earth. It is time for justice to be handed out by the Judge of all the earth! The seventh seal is now broken. III. THE SEVENTH SEAL BROKEN Chapter 8 gives us the details of the seventh seal; this seventh seal contains the seven trumpet and the seven bowl judgments. Read 8:1-6. The Lord Jesus breaks the seventh seal, and all heaven falls silent for half an hour. The magnitude of the judgments and their effect on the earth are staggering in their implication! All heaven’s inhabitants are silent. It is like the executioner’s axe is about the fall, the hangman’s work about to be done, the plunger of the lethal injection about to be pushed. Heaven is filled with Awesome anticipation. And all heaven agrees that it is time. The iniquity of the earth is full. We haven’t said much about the actions of inhabitants of earth who have taken the mark of the beast. Paul speaks of how they will be taking great pleasure in wickedness. Jesus told how “lawlessness is increased and most people’s love will grow cold.” The practice of religion of the universal one world church will be wickedly depraved and immoral. Think of a world in which everyone is as wicked as they can be with little restraint! This is a world ripe for judgment. Jesus described it being like in the days of Noah, with “every intent of the thoughts of their hearts being only evil continually”. The seven angels holding trumpets are ready. Another angel holding a golden censer comes and stands by the heavenly altar. Much incense is given to him, and added to the prayers of the saints, a mighty cloud ascends before God. Remember what the prayers of the saints consist of? How long, O Lord? How long before You will vindicate us and punish the wicked?” The prayers of the martyred are about to be answered. “Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord!” The angel takes the censer and throws it to the earth. The time for Judgment and the wrath of the Lamb has come. The seven angels prepare to blow their trumpets announcing their judgments. They are seven in number, the first four are upon creation itself, with grave implications on earth’s inhabitants. Read v. 7. As we read of these judgments, I would remind us all that Almighty God is not limited in either power or His ability to set aside the laws of nature. Some of these judgments seem impossibly broad in their scope and extent. My impression about these Trumpet judgments is that they will be spaced out in these last three-and-one half years. This first judgment consists of a terrible firestorm, hail, fire and blood are thrown down from the heavens. This may be describing multiple meteors hitting the earth, resulting in violent thunderstorms and lightning strikes. But there has never been a storm like this one! This reminds us of Joel 2:30, which describes the Day of the Lord: “I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke.” The earthquake which accompanies the hurling of the angel’s censor would most likely result in volcanic eruptions with flaming lava hurled into the atmosphere. The subsequent ash clouds would create atmospheric disturbances resulting in violent thunderstorms. Whatever the scientific or supernatural explanation, this will be a devastating “deluge of death”! In recent years terrible wildfires have become common in the American West. It seems like every year surpasses the previously set records for size and intensity of these fires. The dryness of the area is the main factor in how large these fires grow. Remember how the two witnesses have power to keep it from raining? Much of the world will be suffering from this extended drought with everything as dry as tender; then comes this mighty world-wide firestorm or thunderstorm. Lightning will start fires which consume one third of the earth, one third of the trees and all the green grass. Imagine the damage and the scorched earth remaining! The effects on agriculture will especially be staggering. The destruction of animals as well as mankind caught in these raging infernos will be great. One of the great worldwide movements beginning to gain momentum is environmentalism. As believers, we should do all we can to avoid damage to the environment but protecting the earth at any cost has become almost a religion to many. MacArthur makes this observation concerning this destruction: This.. “is a fitting judgment for those who “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25). Fallen mankind has failed to recognize and honor God as Creator, choosing instead to make a god out of the earth. But the environmental, evolutionary pantheism that devalues man, elevates animals and plants, and ignores the Creator will be severely judged. “Earth Day” that year will be a gloomy and dismal affair; in a scorched and ravaged world there will be little of the environment left to celebrate. And worse judgments are still to fall.”1 No indication is given of how far separated these judgments are apart, but at the appointed time, the second trumpet is blown by the angel: Read vv. 8-9. The first trumpet judgment fell on the earth, now judgment falls on the sea. Something huge as a mountain, burning with fire, falls to the sea. How big is a mountain? The impression is that it is very big! The result is that the sea turns to blood, and one third of the fish and sea creatures die, along with one third of ocean vessels being destroyed. This sounds like a huge meteor falling into the sea. All the doomsday scenarios about a meteor hitting the earth will come true! The following information is from a Tulane University study on the impact of a meteor of a 1 km size hitting the earth or sea (1 km=.625 miles). Since both the second and third trumpet involve meteors, these predictions somewhat clear up what the verses describe as the effects of these judgments. 1. (First) Massive earthquakes - up to Richter Magnitude 13, and numerous large magnitude aftershocks would result from the impact of a large object with the Earth. 2. (If hitting on land), The large quantities of dust put into the atmosphere would block incoming solar radiation. The dust could take months to settle back to the surface.  Meanwhile, the Earth would be in a state of continual darkness, and temperatures would drop throughout the world, generating global winter-like conditions. Blockage of solar radiation would also diminish the ability of photosynthetic organisms, like plants, to photosynthesize. Since photosynthetic organisms are the base of the food chain, this would seriously disrupt all ecosystems. 3. Widespread wildfires ignited by radiation from the fireball as the object passed through the atmosphere would be generated.  Smoke from these fires would further block solar radiation to enhance the cooling effect and further disrupt photosynthesis. 4. When the impact occurs in the oceans, (as the second trumpet judgment describes) a large steam cloud would be produced by the sudden evaporation of the seawater.  This water vapor and CO2 would remain in the atmosphere long after the dust settles.  Both of these gases are greenhouse gases which scatter solar radiation and create a warming effect.  Thus, after the initial global cooling, the atmosphere would undergo global warming for many years after the impact. 5. If the impact occurred in the oceans, giant tsunami would be generated.  For a six-mile diameter object the leading edge would hit the seafloor of the deep ocean basins before the top of the object had reached sea level! Again, how big is a mountain? The tsunami from such an impact is estimated to produce waves from 1/2 to 2 miles high! These could easily flood the interior of continents. The shock wave created, and the tsunamis that result will kill all sea creatures for huge distances. We can imagine the ships being swamped by the resulting huge tidal waves. I have no good explanation about the seas turning to blood. Perhaps it will come from the vast number of sea creatures that die. We remember how Moses turned the Nile River into blood in Egypt. Some have speculated that this describes a huge outbreak of oxygen depleting algae which kills all sea creatures. But I would caution trying to explain God’s miracles with natural causes. This is a supernatural occurrence. The third trumpet sounds. Read v. 10-11. Another star falls from heaven and affects the fresh water on earth. One third of the springs and rivers become polluted so that those who drink of them die. The Tulane study sheds possible light on this effect, as it predicts: 6. Large amounts of nitrogen oxides would result from combining Nitrogen and Oxygen in the atmosphere due to the shock produced by the impacts.  These nitrogen oxides would combine with water in the atmosphere to produce nitric acid which would fall back to the surface as acid rain, resulting in the acidification of surface waters. The star is given the name “wormwood” and the affected waters take this name also. The “burning like a torch” gives the idea of a meteor or comet which, unlike the previous meteor which hits the ocean intact, this fiery comet scatters its remnants over rivers and springs and poisons the water. One third of all streams, rivers, lakes and springs will flow with poison. Drinking water will become very scarce, and because transportation and distribution of resources will have been severely disrupted, the distribution of pure water will not reach many areas, and many will die of thirst. Read vv. 12. The fourth trumpet judgment involves the heavenly bodies of the sun, moon and stars: the heavenly bodies upon which we depend for light are darkened. This may be the natural result of the meteors, combined with the smoke from the fires of the first trumpet, and the volcanic eruptions resulting from earthquakes. Although this darkening will be temporary, for the future fourth bowl judgment will be increased burning heat from the sun, this darkening of the sun and the resulting cold, if prolonged, will have terrible results. The tropics will experience freezing temperatures, and the intense cold on the rest of the world will kill crops, as will as many living things that grow or cannot find adequate shelter. The weather patterns around the world will be disrupted and violent storms will break out. The Old Testament prophets who predicted the great and terrible Day of Judgment spoke of these events: Isa. 13:9–10, “Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, cruel, with fury and burning anger, to make the land a desolation; and He will exterminate its sinners from it. For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; the sun will be dark when it rises and the moon will not shed its light”. Speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, God declared, “I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud and the moon will not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you and will set darkness on your land” (Ezek. 32:7–8). “The heavens tremble,” wrote Joel, “the sun and the moon grow dark and the stars lose their brightness.… The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.2 Read v. 13. As terrible are the first four trumpet judgments, the remaining three will be worse. “Woe, Woe, Woe”—three woes describe these judgments which, unlike the first four which were directed toward the earth, resulting in incidental death, the next three directly affect people personally. Those who reject the Lord Jesus and His provision for eternal life will reap the wrath of God. This wrath is a result of that rejection. Isaiah 13:11-13: “Thus I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud and abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore, I shall make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken from its place at the fury of the Lord of hosts in the day of His burning anger.” Vengeance is Mine, saith the Lord! Judgment Day has come!