This article is divided into the following sections:

Introduction
Fulfillment of Ancient Prophecies: The Scattering and Regathering of Israel
Fulfillment of Ancient Prophecies: The Day of the LORD
Understanding the Framework of the Tribulation
The First Six Seals
The Sealing of the 144,000 and the Seventh Seal
The First Six Trumpets
The Midpoint of the Tribulation
The Seventh Trumpet
Satan's Wrath Against the Remnant of Israel
The Kingdom of the Antichrist
The Seven Bowls of the Wrath of God
The Woman on the Beast and the Fall of Babylon
The Battle of Armageddon
The Judgments
The Kingdom

Introduction

In this article we will consider the future seven year period of the tribulation. When first learning about the Bible, many may get the impression that the tribulation is only discussed in the book of Revelation. But as we study God's Word more deeply, we find that there is information about the tribulation scattered all over the Bible. The books of the Old Testament prophets are filled with it, including Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel, Zephaniah, Zechariah, and many others. Jesus Christ spoke of it in His earthly ministry. Peter spoke of it in early Acts, and Paul wrote about it in his two letters to the Thessalonians. Actually, there is far more written about the tribulation outside of the book of Revelation than there is inside the book of Revelation.

Because of the seemingly inexhaustible number of scriptural passages dealing with this seven year period, there is still room for this article to grow beyond the material presented here. If our Lord tarries, I will from time to time add further detail and scriptures to show what the Word tells us about the tribulation more completely.

The article, Four Views of End-Time Prophecy, explained how the catching away (rapture) of all true Christians will happen before the seven-year tribulation begins and is therefore not part of the tribulation. The tribulation was prophesied to the nation of Israel by the Old Testament prophets and by Jesus Christ in His earthly ministry and by the Apostle John in the book of Revelation. By contrast, the rapture of the church was a mystery that was not revealed to the nation of Israel, but was revealed to the predominantly Gentile church. The rapture is doctrine for the grace dispensation, not for the law dispensation. It is the "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13) of the church, not for the nation of Israel, which hopes for the Messiah's millennial reign in which they will occupy a special place above all other nations. The rapture was taught only by our Apostle Paul to the church. For a detailed explanation of the important distinctions between law and grace and between Israel and the church, see Israel's Kingdom Gospel and Our Grace Gospel. We must keep these two programs clearly separated in our minds if we are to properly understand God’s Word. Therefore, though the rapture may be mentioned briefly in this article, we will be focusing on the tribulation itself, rather than on the pre-tribulational rapture. The Old Testament, Matthew 24-25, and Revelation are addressed, not to the church, but to the nation of Israel, and therefore reveal a great deal about the tribulation, but nothing at all about the rapture. Readers who are wondering about the role of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation chapters 2-3 may want to study the article The Seven Churches of Revelation. Now, we begin our study of this exceedingly dreadful seven year tribulation.

To understand the tribulation, let us first look at where it fits in the overall story of the Bible. In the Old Testament, God foretold that He would remove the nation of Israel from their land which He had given them and would scatter them into all nations where they would be greatly persecuted.

Deuteronomy 28:63-67 says, "And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see."

Thousands of years of history have proven this to be true. About six million Jews were killed in Germany by the Nazis. As terrible as that was, it is but one piece of the great persecution the Jews have faced from nation to nation over the centuries. Many times they have been banished from one country to another. But God also said that one day He would gather them back to the land of Israel.

Deuteronomy 30:1-3 says, "And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee."

In 1948, Israel became an independent nation for the first time since Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, conquered them more than 2500 years earlier. Since then, millions of Israelites have moved back to the land of Israel. But there are still large populations of Israelites in other countries, mostly in Russia and the United States.

Many other Bible passages prophesied Israel's scattering and regathering as well. Hosea 3:4-5 says, "For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days."

Jeremiah 16:14-15 "Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers."

Amos 9:9 "For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth."

Isaiah 11:11-12 "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth."

Ezekiel 34:12-13 "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country."

God returning Israel to their land is the subject of Ezekiel's prophecy of the dry bones. Ezekiel 37:1-2 says, "The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry."

In Ezekiel 37:5-8, the vision continues to show the bones resurrection with a complete body, but still with no life. "Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them." This condition of being resurrected, but still with no breath may be in reference to the way Israel will be brought back to the land, but for a few years, they will still be without the indwelling Holy Spirit.

But they receive their breath in Ezekiel 37 verses 9-10, "Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army."

Ezekiel 37:11-14 tells of how God would one day bring the people of Israel back to their land. "Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD." Notice how Israel being forced out of their land is likened to their bones being dried out. But by stark contrast, Israel being returned to their land is compared to them coming out of their graves.

Few subjects are spoken of more frequently and in more different books in the Old Testament than the day of the LORD. Here are just a few of the passages describing the day of the LORD:

Zephaniah 1:14-15 says, "The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness ...." It seems that no matter how many times I read over these and other such verses, I am still taken aback at just how severe the day of the LORD will be. I am so thankful that we who believe the gospel, that Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead, will be with the Lord in heaven when the tribulation is occurring. It is easy to understand why the rapture is the "blessed hope" of the church (Titus 2:13).

Isaiah 13:6 says, "Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty." Continuing on to verse Isaiah 13:9, "... the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger ...."

Joel 2:11 says, "... the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?"

It is important to be aware that most English Bible translations translate the name of God, "Jehovah", as "the LORD" with LORD in all capital letters. For example, the King James Version does this thousands of times. So whenever you see "day of the LORD", understand that it means "day of Jehovah".

Jeremiah 30:5-7 says, "For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." So we see that the day of the LORD is a time of great trouble for Jacob, the nation of Israel. In fact, Zechariah 13:8-9 reveals that only one third of the nation of Israel will survive this great time of trouble, "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land saith the LORD, two parts (2/3) therein shall be cut off and die; but the third (1/3) shall be left therein. And I will bring the third (1/3) part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God."

Even so, the tribulation will be global, not just local to Israel. It will also be upon all nations, Gentiles (people who are not part of the nation of Israel), all over the world. Below are a few verses which make this clear.

Obadiah 1:15 "For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen (Gentiles): as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head."

Ezekiel 30:3 "For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen."

Zechariah 12:9 "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."

Isaiah 34:1-2 "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter." We know this is describing the day of the LORD because a few verses later, Isaiah 34:8 says, "For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion (Jerusalem)."

Zechariah 14:2-3 "For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle."

Jeremiah 25:29-33 "... I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground."

Micah 5:15 "And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard."

Zephaniah 3:8 "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I will rise up to the prey: for my determination is the gather the nations that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."

So we see that even though the focus of the tribulation period is the nation of Israel, the wrath of God will be poured out upon the whole world during the tribulation.

Isaiah 1:24-28 provides good insight into the purpose of the tribulation. God says, "… I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies: And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin: And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city. Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed." Here we see that God will have vengence upon His enemies, purify the nation of Israel, restore Israel’s judges, and destroy the transgressors and sinners. All of this is leading up to yet another purpose which follows in the early verses of the next chapter. That purpose is to establish the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 2:1-4 says, "The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

Before delving into the events of the tribulation in detail, it is beneficial to first learn the basic framework of the tribulation, including the following:

1. The length of the tribulation

2. The events that will occur at the beginning of the tribulation

3. The events that will occur at the midpoint of the tribulation

4. The events that will occur at the end of the tribulation

5. With the framework having been established in steps 1-4, then all of the other events of the tribulation can be placed in their proper sequence on the appropriate side of the midpoint.

The length: In Daniel 9:24-27, God revealed that there would be a time frame of 70 weeks in which certain prophecies regarding the nation of Israel would be fulfilled. The Hebrew word translated as "week" in the King James Version literally means "seven". But the reference is to seven years, not to seven days. After the first 69 weeks of years ended, Jesus Christ was crucified. The 70th week is still yet to come, and is first mentioned as being the seven-year tribulation in Daniel 9:27. Later, Revelation 11:2-3 and Revelation 13:5 tell us of the two halves of the seven years which are 42 months each, with each month containing 30 days for a total of 1260 days in each half of the seven years.

The beginning: The seven years will begin when the Antichrist (the future leader of the revived Roman Empire) will make a seven year covenant, or treaty, with the nation of Israel and possibly some of the surrounding nations. This treaty will result in Israel feeling protected and experiencing a temporary, pseudo peace. Israel will even have their rights to worship and sacrifice on the temple mount restored.

The mid-point: 3 1/2 years later, at the mid-point of the seven year tribulation, the Antichrist will break the treaty with Israel. He will commit the abomination of desolation in the rebuilt temple and kill God's two witnesses which will have been prophesying for the last 3 1/2 years. Then after 3 1/2 days, the witnesses will be resurrected and ascend into heaven, and the seventh trumpet will sound. Also at the mid-point of the tribulation, the Antichrist will launch an all out attack on the people of Israel.

The end: Another 3 1/2 years later, at the end of the tribulation, Jesus Christ will return to earth and slay the wicked at the battle of Armageddon. Then He will judge all the nations and set up His kingdom on the earth. Israel will be judged separately from the other nations. For a description of Christ's future kingdom on Earth, see the article The Millennial Kingdom Reign of Jesus Christ.

Here is a high-level overview of the sequence of events of the tribulation: The seven-year tribulation will begin with the opening of the first six seals which unleash the many plagues of Revelation chapter 6. Then the 144,000 young men of Israel will be sealed in Revelation 7. Then the seventh seal will be opened, and the first six trumpet plagues will be unleashed in Revelation 8-9. Next comes the middle of the seven-year tribulation, death and resurrection of the two witnesses, and the sounding of the seventh trumpet in Revelation 11. In chapter 12, Satan pursues the remnant of Israel who flea to wilderness. Having been thwarted, Satan will give power to the beast (Antichrist) over all nations. Next come the many great plagues of the seven bowls of wrath. Finally all the armies of the nations will converge upon the land of Israel at the battle of Armageddon, and Jesus Christ will descend from heaven and destroy them. Then He will bind Satan in the bottomless pit for 1000 years and set up His millennial kingdom on the earth.

Now we will begin our detailed study or the chronological series of the events of the tribulation.

The First Six Seals

The tribulation was described by Jesus Christ in Matthew 24:4-31. This passage closely parallels the events described in Revelation chapters 6-19. Therefore, we will frequently cross-reference these two passages as we make our way through this study the tribulation.

As Jesus Christ and His disciples were leaving the temple, some of the disciples began to comment on the greatness of the temple structure. But Jesus replied in Matthew 24:2, "... See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." After they had walked a short distance over to the Mount of Olives, some of the disciples came to Jesus privately. Mark 13:3 identifies these disciples as Peter, James, John, and Andrew. They asked Jesus, in Matthew 24:3, "... Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (end of the age)?"

In answering them, Jesus Christ did not simply describe His return to the earth. Instead, He gave a summary of the whole final seven years (the tribulation) in what is often referred to as the Olivet discourse. In this article, we will examine the portion of the discourse in Matthew 24:4-31. Mark 13:5-27 and Luke 21:8-28 also record this portion of the discourse and provide further insight.

The first few verses of the Olivet discourse are a short summary of the opening of the seven seals in Revelation chapter 6 which are the beginning of the tribulation. Revelation 5:1-2 says, "And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?" Here we have a scroll with writing inside it. It is rolled up and sealed shut. In Biblical days it was common for legal documents, such as land deeds, to be sealed shut with a drop of candle wax which hardened to hold to scroll closed. No one could legally open the scroll except one who met the particular legal qualifications. There is an example in Jeremiah 32:6-14 which tells how the evidence of the land purchase (deed) was written in a scroll and then sealed and placed in a clay jar for long term safe keeping.

The law for redeeming land is in Leviticus 25:23-25, where God explained how land that had been sold could be redeemed by a kinsman (a near relative), "The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are strangers and sojourners with me. And in all the land of your possession ye shall grant a redemption for the land. If thy brother be waxen poor, and hath sold away some of his possession, and if any of his kin come to redeem it, then shall he redeem that which his brother sold." This has the effect of keeping the land in the family for the long term.

Likewise, in Leviticus 25:47-49, God explained how people who have sold themselves as servants could be redeemed by a kinsman, "And if a sojourner or stranger wax rich by thee, and thy brother that dwelleth by him wax poor, and sell himself unto the stranger or sojourner by thee, or to the stock of the stranger's family: After that he is sold he may be redeemed again; one of his brethren may redeem him: Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, may redeem him, or any that is nigh of kin unto him of his family may redeem him ...."

One account of a land redemption is recorded in the book of Ruth. In that account, Boaz redeemed the land of his deceased relative, Elimelech, but only after a closer relative to Elimelech (Ruth 3:12-13) proved to be unable to redeem the land (Ruth 4:6). To be able to open the scroll to redeem the land or the person, one must be a near relative and be both willing and able to pay the required price. This is very similar to what we see as we continue in Revelation 5:3-4, "And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon." No man on earth is able to redeem mankind, nor the earth itself for mankind.

But as was the case with Boaz, another near relative, who is able to redeem, steps up to open the scroll. Revelation 5:5 says, "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." The elder says this in reference to the Lamb, Jesus Christ. And the onlookers sing praises to the Lamb in Revelation 5:9 saying, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation …." This shows that the shed blood of Jesus Christ was the purchase price by which we are redeemed. We also know this from Acts 20:28 which refers to, "... the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."

This agrees with what Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:13-14, that Christians, "... were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession ...." Likewise, Ephesians 4:30 says, "... the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."

In Revelation chapters 5-6, the Lamb, Jesus Christ, is taking on the role of the "kinsman redeemer" as described in Leviticus 25. He is opening the scroll to redeem both His saints and the land which they will inherit. The scroll is the legal document for the redemption of the saints and of the earth, and Jesus Christ is opening it one seal at a time.

"And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many" (Matthew 24:4-5).

The seals in Revelation chapter 6 begin in verses 1-2 by describing one particular such false christ. "And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals (the first seal), and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer." Here we have the appearance of the Antichrist, which will occur sometime after the rapture of the church as discussed in the article, "Four Views of End Time Prophecy". The word "antichrist" is a term that is only used in 1 John and 2 John. It is a compound word which begins with the Greek word "anti" meaning "instead of" or "in place of". So this impostor will try to take the place of Christ to be worshipped (Revelation 13:8) instead of Christ, just as. Daniel 11:36 says, "... he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god ...." We know that the rider on this white horse represents the Antichrist for several reasons: (1) He appears on a white horse, impersonating Christ who will later appear on a white horse in Revelation 19:11. (2) He carries a bow which symbolizes his military power, which we know that the Antichrist (also known as "the Beast") will have. In Revelation 13:4, all the world will say, "... Who is like unto the beast? who is able to wage war with him?" (3) A crown is given to him. That shows that he will have great political power and identifies him as "the prince that shall come" of Daniel 9:26 and the "little horn" of Daniel 7:8. (4) He makes his appearance at the very beginning of the tribulation, right when the Antichrist is to arrive on the scene and confirm the covenant for seven years (Daniel 9:27).

Continuing through the Olivet discourse, Christ says in Matthew 24:6-7, "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom …." The statement "the end is not yet" combined with "these are the beginning of sorrows" in verse 9 shows that this is not the end of the tribulation, but only the beginning. Never-the-less the very fact that the statement "the end is not yet" was needed implies that the wars are of such great severity that one might otherwise think that it was the end of the age.

This passage corresponds to the second seal in Revelation 6:3-4 which says, "And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." So the wars are only the second seal, still very early in the tribulation.

I believe this second seal and the future attack by Magog upon Israel in Ezekiel chapters 38-39 are one and the same. Let's take a close look at this is truly remarkable passage. In Ezekiel 38:2-6, God says to the prophet Ezekiel, "Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army … Persia (Iran), Ethiopia, and Libya with them … Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee."

Who is Magog? Genesis 10:1-2 records that one of the grandsons of Noah, after the great flood, was named Magog. "Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras." So when the Bible refers to a people as Magog, it means, the descendants of Magog, grandson of Noah.

Magog is usually understood to be Russia, for several reasons:
(1) Ezekiel 38:6, 15, and 39:2 reveal that Magog is located to the far north of Israel.
(2) The first century Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, wrote that, "Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians." (Antiquities of the Jews, 1.6.1). The Scythians dwelt primarily in the lands north of the Black Sea and the lands on the north, east, and west sides of the Caspian Sea, in what is now modern Russia and what are now the former Soviet Republics of Kazakstan, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
(3) Tubal, Magog's brother, mentioned in the Ezekiel passage above, may be the name-sake of the Tubol River, which flows to the northeast from Kazakstan into Russia, as well as the Russian city of Tobolsk, which is along the Tubol River.

We see in Ezekiel 38:2-6 that God will stir up Magog out of the north and bring them down into battle with Israel. They will not be alone, but with a great company of other nations including Iran, Libya, Ethiopia, Sudan, and probably Turkey and some of the other middle eastern nations.

Ezekiel 38:8 continues, "After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them." Notice that the prophecy is clearly for the end times when Israel has been regathered from the countries in which they have suffered persecution and will be living in what they will believe is a peaceful situation. God has only recently, over the last few decades, been bringing forth Israel out of the nations.

Then in Ezekiel 38:9-13 God says to Magog, "Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land … to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods …." This will be an extremely massive military assault. The attacking nations will expect to take advantage of Israel’s overconfidence and take their wealth. Notice the repeated emphasis on how the desolate, uninhabited places of Israel will be inhabited with Israelites who have returned from other nations.

The next chapter tells the result of this battle. In Ezekiel 39:2-4 God says, "And I will turn thee (Magog) back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee …." Verse 6 adds, "And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD." It would seem that everything favored the attackers, including the numbers, the military alliances, and the element of surprise over Israel. Nevertheless, God will fight for Israel with fire and will destroy all but one sixth of the attacking Magog army. It will be an overwhelming and totally unexpected defeat for them.

Some have taught that this attack by Magog will be in the middle or at the end of the seven years, but there are a three key reasons that I believe it will be very early in the tribulation.

First, Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, "... the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety: then sudden destruction shall come upon them, as travail upon a woman with child ...." The "travail upon a woman with child" mentioned here is "the beginning of sorrows" that is mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 24:8 at the beginning of the tribulation. The Greek word "odin", translated as "sorrows" in Matthew 24:8, is defined by Strong's dictionary as "the pain of childbirth, travail pain, birth pangs". That same Greek word, "odin", is translated as "travail" in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 above. Notice also that "... when they shall say, Peace and safety: then sudden destruction shall come upon them ...." Ezekiel 38:8-9 prophesies, "... in the latter years thou (Magog) shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have always been waste: but is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm ...." Israel will be dwelling in safety when Magog attacks, which corresponds to Paul's statement in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3 above. Ezekiel 38:11-12 continues, "And thou (Magog) shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey ...." This correspondence between 1 Thessalonians 5, Ezekiel 38, and Matthew 24, would seem to indicate that the Magog attack of Ezekiel 38 will occur near the beginning of the seven-year tribulation.

The second reason I believe the Magog attack will be very early in the tribulation is because Revelation 6:4 says, "... and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." Compare this to Ezekiel 38:21 which says, "And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother." Notice that in both cases, a sword is supplied by God. In both cases, men begin to kill one another. Finally, in both cases, there was a peace that was shattered. We know this to be that case of the Magog invasion due to Ezekiel 38:8, 11, and 14 which all refer to Israel dwelling safely.

Third, after Magog is defeated, Ezekiel 39:9-10 says, "And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons ... seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire ...." This cannot be the same Magog attack that is described in Revelation 20:7-9. That attack is immediately followed by the great white throne judgment, and there is not time to burn the weapons. Nor can this Magog attack be the Battle of Armageddon at the end of the tribulation. That is because Israel will not be dwelling safely in their unwalled cities at that time. It would seem that this Magog attack must be near the beginning of the tribulation, and these seven years of burning weapons are the same seven years as the tribulation.

Continuing in Matthew 24:7 we have, "… and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers (diverse, widely scattered) places." The famines are the third seal. Revelation 6:5-6 says, "And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." This is the plague of famine. The volume of a "measure" is generally understood to be less than a quart, about enough to feed one person for one day. The price of a "penny" is not much today, but at the time this passage was written, a denarius (the Roman coin translated as "penny" here) was much more valuable, more along the lines of a day's wages. For example, Matthew 20:2 speaks of a man who needed men to work in his vineyard and "... agreed with the labourers for a penny a day ...." So when a day's wages are required to buy a small amount of wheat or barley, we know that this famine will be very severe.

The pestilences in Matthew 24:7 will result in both disease and damage to crops which will in turn cause death. The combination of the wars, famines, and pestilences, and the beasts of the earth will kill one fourth of the earth's population, 25 per cent, in the fourth seal, death and Hades. In year 2001, the population of the earth is about 6 billion, and one fourth of the earth's population is about 1.5 billion. Revelation 6:7-8 says, "And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell (Hades) followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth." Modern scientists have studied possible nuclear war scenarios in which a nuclear war would result in tremendous amounts of dust in the atmosphere that would dim the sun for several months. This light reduction would result in crops failing which would be followed by massive starvation, disease, and death. Certainly, God can deliver these plagues by other means, but the nuclear scenario would result in plagues in the same order (war, famine, and pestilence) and could be the tool which God uses to carry out the plagues of second, third, and fourth seals. The earthquakes mentioned in Matthew 24:7 come in the sixth seal in Revelation 6:12 and 14 which we will get to in a moment.

But first let us look at Matthew 24:9 which says, "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye (Israelites) shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." Because the earthquakes are mentioned in verse 7, and the martyrdom is mentioned in verse 9, one might assume that the earthquakes take place first. But the word "then" in verse 9 means "at that time", not "after". A key cross reference is in Luke 21:12 which corresponds to this same verse and says, "But before all these ..." rather than "then". The combined effect of these two time indicators would seem to show that at least some of the martyrdom begins early and continues across the occurrence of the other seal plagues (war, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes). Thus we see the martyrdom listed be before the earthquakes in Revelation chapter 6. Matthew 24:9 is the fifth seal of Revelation.

Revelation 6:9-11 describes this fifth seal as follows, "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled."

Now let us move on to the sixth seal. As stated above Matthew 24:7 says there will be "earthquakes, in divers places". Luke 21:11, which corresponds to Matthew 24:7 in the Olivet discourse, records in addition to the famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, "… fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven." Here, Jesus Christ is not just saying that there will be scary things going on in the sky. He is saying there will be great signs. In order for some event to be a sign, it must be stated in advance to be a sign. For example, the sun turning green would not be a sign because that was never predicted, nor was any prophetic meaning ever assigned to it. But the moon turning blood-red would be a sign because it was foretold in Bible prophecy (Joel 2:31), and a specific meaning was assigned to it. It will precede the day of Jehovah, which is the "day of the LORD".

In foretelling the earthquakes and great signs from heaven in Matthew 24:7 and Luke 21:11, Jesus Christ is referring to the sixth seal in Revelation 6:12-17. It says, "And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens 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 that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" This was also foreseen in Isaiah 2:12 and 19. Isaiah 2:12 says, "For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low ...." Then Isaiah 2:19 says, "And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth."

The "great day of his wrath" in the verse above is the "day of the LORD" as Zephaniah 1:14-15 prophesied, "The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble (tribulation) and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness ...."

These events were prophesied extensively in the Old Testament. Peter, quoting from Joel 2:28-31, says in Acts 2:16-20, "But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable (terrible) day of the Lord come …." Notice here that these signs will be given "... before that great and notable (terrible) day of the Lord ...." So the first six seals are not at the end of the tribulation where many people try to put them. They are clearly at the very beginning of that final seven years.

This agrees with Matthew 24:8 which says, "All these are the beginning of sorrows." As we saw earlier in our discussion of the second seal, the Greek word "odin", translated as "sorrows" here, is the same word that in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 is translated as "travail", meaning, "birth-pains". Let us now examine 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4.

Paul describes the catching away (rapture) of the Church in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. Then he says in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." Logically then, we can see that the rapture must coincide with the beginning of the day of the Lord.

Keep these two verses in mind as we look at the next two verses, 1 Thessalonians 5:3-4, "For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction shall cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." Notice in these four verses how Paul changes pronouns from ye, you, and yourselves to them and they. So we who are believers will be out of here, having been raptured. But they who do not believe the gospel of grace will be trapped in the tribulation.

When we combine this knowledge with the fact that the "travail upon a woman with child" in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 "the beginning of sorrows" in Matthew 24:8, it becomes clear that the beginning of the day of the Lord is not the end of the seven years of tribulation, but the beginning. That is why early in the tribulation, in Revelation 6:17, the great men of the earth cry, "... the great day of His wrath is come and who shall be able to stand?" The seven years will have terrible plagues, like birth pangs, which get progressively more severe, and the first six seals are only the beginning.

The months that lay ahead in the first half of the tribulation are the times of which Jesus Christ spoke in Matthew 24:10-13 saying, "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."

In Revelation 7:3, the angel that has the seal of the living God tells the four angels that have the power to hurt the earth and sea, "Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads." As we will see in a moment, the trumpet plagues which follow will destroy 1/3 of the trees, 1/3 of the sea, 1/3 of the rivers, and 1/3 of the people on the earth. But the 144,000 must be sealed first. This further confirms that these events are, for the most part, written in the chronological order in which they will occur.

Revelation 7:4 then says, "And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel." Verses 5-8 then proceed to list the twelve tribes of Israel and how that 12,000 will come from each tribe, for a total of 144,000. There will be no Gentiles included in this group. We also know from Revelation 14:4 that they are "not defiled with women; for they are virgins", which means they are all male Israelites. These 144,000 will preach the gospel of the kingdom during the tribulation, fulfilling Matthew 24:14 which says, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Note that the gospel of the kingdom is not the same as the gospel of grace which is for the church today. For the differences between the two gospels, see Israel's Kingdom Gospel and Our Grace Gospel.

The seventh seal is opened in Revelation 8:1 , "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour." Remember this verse the next time someone tells you that there is no time in heaven. Also, notice that in the order of events, the sealing of the 144,000 takes place between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals.

Chapters 8 and 9 of Revelation record the plagues from the first six trumpets. These are still all in the first half of the tribulation, leading up toward the middle of the seven years. In Revelation 8:2, seven angels prepare for the trumpet judgments, "And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets."

The first trumpet sounds in Revelation 8:7, destroying one third of the trees and all the grass on the earth. "The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up."

The second trumpet sounds in Revelation 8:8-9, destroying one third of all life in the sea. "And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed."

The third trumpet sounds in Revelation 8:10-11, destroying one third of fresh water sources and killing those who try to drink from them. "And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter."

The fourth trumpet sounds in Revelation 8:12, blocking out one third of the light from the sun, moon, and stars. "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise."

Despite how terrible these plagues will have been, the worst will still be yet to come. The judgments of next three trumpets will be especially grievous, for in Revelation 8:13 an angel loudly proclaims the three "woes", " ... Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, which are yet to sound!"

Revelation 9:1-12 describes the fifth trumpet which unleashes the plague which is the first "woe". Revelation 9:1-2 says, "And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit."

But the worst part of the plague is not the smoke which darkens the sun, but what comes out of the smoke. Revelation 9:3-6 says, "And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them." These "locusts" will torture those which do not have the seal of God in their foreheads for five months. This five month period is still in the first half of the seven year tribulation.

Revelation 9:7-12 goes on to describes the locusts, "And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon. One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter."

The Hebrew word "Abaddon" and the Greek word "Apollyon" both mean "destroyer" in English. At the first Passover, when God slew the firstborn of all the Egyptians, Exodus 12:23 says, "For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you."

More detail about the plagues on Egypt is provided in Psalms 78. Describing the plague of death upon the firstborn, Psalms 78:49 says, "He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending evil angels among them."

Some readers may be wondering if the attack on the Egyptians was by one destroyer or many evil angels, thinking that Exodus 12:23 and Psalms 78:49 sound contradictory to one another. However, in many places in the Bible, only the king or leader is mentioned when it is obvious from the passage that the king's entire army in being referenced. For example, 1 Kings 20:21 says, "And the king of Israel went out, and smote the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter." Of course, the king of Israel led his army who slew the Syrians. The king did not do it all by himself.

So the "locusts", which are obviously not ordinary locusts, are "evil angels" whose king is "the angel of the bottomless pit", who is "the destroyer". We will discuss this more in a moment, but first let us look at the next trumpet

Revelation 9:13-21 describes the sixth trumpet which unleashes the plague which is the "second woe". By this plague, one third of all the people left on the earth will be killed. Revelation 9:13-16 says, "And 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 which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand (200 million): and I heard the number of them." The Euphrates River is located to the north and east of Israel, flowing from eastern Turkey through Iraq to the Persian Gulf. It is interesting to note that at the time John wrote this prophecy, the entire adult male population of the earth was less than the 200 million. Such an army would have been utterly inconceivable prior to the earth's population explosion in recent years. Today, China boasts of being capable of assembling a fight force of more than 300 million, which is even larger than the one described here in Revelation. Perhaps India, whose population has now surpassed one billion, could as well.

But are these warriors humans or angels or devils? As Revelation 9:17-19 describes, these horsemen are not riding ordinary horses. "And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt." This army of horses and horsemen seems to be the same one that was described in Joel 2:1-5 which says, "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array." Joel 2:2 and 2:5 confirm that these 200,000,000 in the sixth trumpet are people, rather than angels or devils. However, these are certainly not ordinary horses. The horses with fire and brimstone coming out of their mouths could be symbolic representations of modern or perhaps even future military fighting vehicles.

The similarities between the Revelation (sixth trumpet) and Joel chapter 2 passages confirm that they are referring to the same event. Revelation mentions an army of "... two hundred thousand thousand ...", whereas Joel mentions "... a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it ...." Revelation says, "... I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them ...", and Joel says, "The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen ...." Revelation mentions "... the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails ...", and Joel mentions "... a fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth ...."

We have seen that the evidence indicates that those perpetrators in the fifth trumpet are evil angels whereas those perpetrators in the sixth trumpet are humans. Reading through these, you may have noticed how there are striking similarities between them. Despite all the similarities, there are several distinct differences as well.

1. The "locusts" are released from the bottomless pit by the star that falls from heaven (Revelation 9:1), but the "horses" are released from the Euphrates River by four angels (Revelation 9:15).

2. Those in the fifth trumpet are called "locusts" which were shaped like horses with faces "as the faces of men", whereas those in the sixth trumpet are called "horses" with horsemen sitting on them.

3. The locusts have teeth "as the teeth of lions", whereas the horses have heads "as the heads of lions". If the reference here is to male African lions, consider how their long manes might look like "the hair of women" that the locusts are said to have.

4. The locusts have "tails like unto scorpions", whereas the horses have tails "like unto serpents".

5. The locusts torment men for five months, but do not kill them (Revelation 9:5-6). But the Horses do kill one third of all men with the fire, smoke, and brimstone coming out of their mouths (Revelation 9:17-18).

6. The locusts have breastplates "as it were breastplates of iron", whereas the horses "have breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone"

7. The locusts do not harm the trees, grass and other plant life (Revelation 9:4), whereas the horses burn everything in sight. This is much more obvious from the Joel 2:1-10 cross-reference mentioned above.

8. The locusts are said to have wings, whereas this is not said of the horses.

9. We are told the number of the horses and horsemen, 200,000,000, but we are not given the number of the locusts.

The Euphrates River is mentioned again at the pouring out of the sixth bowl of wrath in Revelation 16:12, "And the sixth angel poured out his vial (bowl) upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." They are headed for Armageddon in northern Israel, as Revelation 16:16 indicates. Perhaps these "kings of the east" are the kings over the armies that number 200 million in Revelation 9. This would seem to make sense. The vast armies of China, India, and the other far eastern nations would have to cross the Euphrates to get to Israel, and they would be the only countries capable of such a numerous fighting force. About 60% of the world's population lives in Asia, and the huge majority of this number, more that half the world's population, live east of the Euphrates River. The Joel 2:1-5 passage quoted above is immediately preceded by the statement in Joel 1:20, "... the rivers of waters are dried up ...." So it would seem that the great armies of the kings of the east have been slaughtering hundreds of millions on the east side of the Euphrates, beginning at the sixth trumpet. Then at the sixth bowl of wrath, near the end of the tribulation, they cross over to the west and invade Israel. That is a quick look ahead, but now let us go back to Revelation 9 and the sixth trumpet which is still prior to the middle of the tribulation.

Despite such a terrible plague, Revelation 9:20-21 says the wicked people of the earth will not repent. "And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." This brings us to the middle of the tribulation. I should point out that the earthquake which will occur just after the midpoint (Revelation 11:13-14) is also considered to be part of the "second woe".

Perhaps you have heard some Bible teachers say that the first half of the tribulation will be relatively peaceful and that all of the really bad plagues happen in the second half. But as you can see, the first half is anything but peaceful. More than half the population of the earth (3 billion today) will be killed during the first three and one half years. Recall that one fourth were killed at the fourth seal. That leaves three fourths still alive. Then one third of those left are killed at the sixth trumpet. That eliminates another one fourth, cutting the population to one half. When you consider those that will have died in the various other plagues, more that half of all people will have been killed. So I do not subscribe to the teaching that the first half of the tribulation will be peaceful. But despite all this, the worst plagues are still yet to come. We are not even half way through the book of Revelation yet.

Next we come to the middle of the seven year tribulation. The second half of this seven years is when Jesus Christ said there would be "great tribulation" in Matthew 24:21. So the term "great tribulation" refers to the last 3 1/2 years of this terrible seven year period. All of this that we have seen up until now will take place over the first 3 1/2 years. Prior to the midpoint, the temple will have been rebuilt in Jerusalem, and the people of Israel will have returned to keeping the law of Moses once again, including the animal sacrifices. Revelation 11:1 refers to, "... the temple of God, and the alter, and them that worship therein." Also, during this 42 month period, God's two witnesses will have been prophesying in Jerusalem. Revelation 11:3-6 says, "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will."

The "two olive trees, and the two candlesticks" mentioned above is a reference to the vision described in Zechariah 4:1-14. I believe these two witnesses will be Elijah and Moses. Malachi 4:5 says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD ...." Also, the plagues the two witnesses will unleash are like the plagues God used Elijah and Moses to unleash. Revelation 11:6 says, "These will have the power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy (3 1/2 years): and have the power over waters to turn them into blood ...." Elijah once did the former (1 Kings 17:1, 18:1, and James 5:17) and Moses once did the latter (Exodus 7:20). Also, it was Moses and Elijah that appeared together with Jesus Christ at His transfiguration (Matthew 17:3).

Some others believe that the two witnesses will be Elijah and Enoch, because they were each taken to heaven without dying first (Genesis 5:24 and 2 Kings 2:11). But I do not think Enoch would be one of the two because the Law of Moses will be in effect during the tribulation. Enoch was not an Israelite, and he lived long before God gave the Law to the nation of Israel. Also, there are highly unusual circumstances regarding the death Moses. Recall that no man knows where Moses was buried (Deuteronomy 34:5-6) and that the archangel Michael contended with Satan and "... disputed about the body of Moses ..." (Jude 9).

Regardless of whether it is Elijah and Moses or Elijah and Enoch, God will give them great power to send plagues on the earth. Therefore, they will be hated by those people who do not believe their message.

The two witnesses along with the 144,000 sealed servants of God will have been preaching the gospel of the kingdom throughout the first half of the tribulation. Matthew 24:14 says, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Note that this gospel of the kingdom is not the gospel of grace preached today that Jesus Christ died as payment for our sins and rose from the dead. The gospel of the kingdom is, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17) which was preached to the nation of Israel when they were still under the law of Moses. See also Matthew 4:23, Matthew 10:7, and Mark 1:14-15.

Daniel 9:26 says that after the Messiah has been killed, "... the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ...." That was fulfilled when the armies of the Roman General Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. The Antichrist is "the prince that shall come", and we now know that he will the leader of the Roman Empire that will be revived. Daniel 9:27 continues, "And he (the Antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (of years, that is, seven years): and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." For the first half of the seven years, the Antichrist's policies will we favorable to Israel, even to the point of allowing them to sacrifice on the temple mount. But halfway through the seven years, he will break the treaty with Israel. He will stop Israel from making sacrifices. He will commit the "abomination of desolation" in the rebuilt temple. Following along in the chronology given in Matthew 24, this is the next event Christ mentions. "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (the temple) ..." (Matthew 24:15). I should clarify that Christ is not telling his disciples to stand in the temple. He is saying that the abomination will stand in the temple. This indicates that the abomination will be an idol of some kind, as we will see later.

Around this same time, the Antichrist will murder the two witnesses. Revelation 11:7-12 says, "And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast (the Antichrist) that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them."

Revelation 11:8-10 says, "And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified (Jerusalem). And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth." These two men are hated so badly all over the globe that their dead bodies will be put on display for mocking as the world throws a party to celebrate their deaths.

The statement, "nations shall see their dead bodies", indicates that this event will likely be televised worldwide via satellite, in all the places where television has not been disrupted by the various plagues. This is evidence of God’s divine inspiration of the scriptures, since a first century Hebrew prophet obviously would not have known of such technology. The wicked will think they have won, but God will show them all that the game is not yet over. Revelation 11:11-12 says, "And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them."

Shortly after the two witness are resurrected and ascend into heaven, there will be an earthquake which destroys one tenth of Jerusalem and kills 7000 men. "And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly." (Revelation 11:13-14).

Next, in Revelation 11:15-19, the seventh trumpet is sounded, "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail."

Matthew 24:15-22 and Revelation 12 describe how the Antichrist will turn all his power against the children of Israel. And they will flee into the wilderness.

Matthew 24:15 says, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) ...."

This is a reference to Daniel 9:27 which says, "And he (the Antichrist) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (one "seven" of years): and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of the abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation (the end of the tribulation), and that determined is poured out upon the desolate." When Christ speaks of the "abomination of desolation", he is referring to what the Antichrist will do in the rebuilt temple in the middle of the tribulation. I believe he will set up a pagan idol of himself in the holy of holies for all to worship. This is because the abomination will "stand in the holy place" and also because Revelation 13:14-15 describes an idol made in the image of the Antichrist.

Matthew 24:16-20 says, "Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop (most likely, the retired people) not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field (working adults and young people) return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, (mothers to be) and to them that give suck (young mothers with small children) in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day ...." Here we have Israelites of all ages and walks of life who must escape into the mountains. This group is not to be confused with the 144,000 who are all young men.

Matthew 24:21-22 says, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." So beginning with the midpoint of the seven years and continuing to the end, there will be great tribulation. Some have thought that the statement "those days shall be shortened" means that the 3 1/2 year time frame will be reduced to perhaps 2 or 3 years, but that is incorrect. Christ is saying that if the impact of the plagues were allowed to run there course over many years, perhaps 10 or 15 years, no one would survive. So the great tribulation will be shortened to 3 1/2 years, not from 3 1/2 years to some shorter time period.

One point that can be seen, but that is not completely obvious is that in Matthew 24:16-20 and Matthew 24:37-42, Jesus Christ is talking about the same event. In order to see this key point more clearly, let’s first take a look at Matthew 24:37-42. "But as the days of Noe (Noah) were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come."

Many Bible students believe that in Matthew 24:16-20, Christ is describing the rescue of the remnant of Israel in the middle of the tribulation, and that in Matthew 24:37-42, Christ is talking about the catching away (rapture) of the church. But Luke 17:26-36 ties the two passages together. It shows that in each passage, Christ is describing the rescue of the remnant of Israel in the middle of the tribulation, and not the rapture of the church.

Luke 17:26-29 says, "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all."

Then we have Luke 17:30, "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." This day is not a 24-hour day, but the day of the LORD, which is spoken of so often in the Old Testament prophets. It lasts from the beginning of the tribulation until the end of the millennial kingdom, more than 1000 years. I will explain this more in a moment, but for now, let us continue in Luke 17.

The next verse, Luke 17:31, really reveals a lot. It says, "In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back." This is the same as Matthew 24:17-18, mentioned above. That means "the days of Noe" refers to the time when the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel in Daniel 9:27 takes place as we saw in Matthew 24:15. This is at the mid-point of the future seven years.

Also, this is an actual call to the people of Israel living in Judea to run from one place to another, as Matthew 24:16 says, "Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains ...." This is certainly not the dead in Christ being resurrected and Christians being changed into immortal bodies and all being snatched up into the upper atmosphere. No Christian, just after being instantly changed into an immortal body and being raptured, is going to try to go back and get stuff out of his house.

This is the call for the remnant of Israel during the tribulation to flee to the mountains (or wilderness). Revelation 12 also describes this event. Revelation 12:6 says, "And the woman (who is symbolic of the remnant of Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days (1260 days)."

In Isaiah 16:4 God says, "Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab (the land on the east side of the Dead Sea, in modern-day Jordan); be thou a covert (hiding place) to them from the face of the spoiler .…" Many believe that this hiding place will be the ancient stone fortress of Petra, which is called "Sela" (Rock) in Isaiah 16:1. Petra is in southwestern Jordan, near the Israeli border, south of the Dead Sea. A true marvel of the ancient world, it fell into ruins hundreds of years ago and is a major tourist attraction today. It is surrounded by mountains and is only accessible by a narrow gorge that is no more than twelve feet wide in some places. Inside the city, there are magnificent monuments and buildings carved directly out of the rock faces of the mountains.

Wherever the hiding place is, the remnant will be safe there for 1260 days, which is 42 months of 30 days each or 3 1/2 prophetic years of 360 days each. Revelation 12:14 reiterates this same point, "And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time (3 1/2 years), from the face of the serpent (Satan)." This verse is very reminiscent of what God said to the children of Israel after he brought them out of Egypt. He said in Exodus 19:4, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself."

This remnant of Israel will be spared the horrors of the second half of the seven years. They are probably also those of whom God said in Revelation 3:8-10 that He would protect, "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." Hosea 2:14-15 also refers to the "door" that will be opened for the escaping remnant, "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt." From Joshua 7:24 and the surrounding context, we know that the valley of Achor is near Ai, just a few miles to the north and east of Jerusalem.

We have confirmed that the escape of the remnant of Israel is at the midpoint of the tribulation because in Revelation 11:7, the 1260 day ministry (Revelation 11:3) of the two witnesses ended, and the woman (symbolic of the remnant) in Revelation 12:6 has 1260 more days to hide while the beast reigns for 42 more months according to Revelation 13:5 and Daniel 7:24-25.

Now, back to our comparison of Luke 17 and Matthew 24. Luke 17:32-36 says, "Remember Lot's wife. (The remnant of Israel are not to look back, but to keep running into the wilderness.) Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left." Verses 35-36 are tied to Matthew 24:40-41 where we saw the same reference, "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left."

So we cannot assume that Noah and or Lot in these verses are "types" (symbols or foreshadowing) of the rapture. Actually, they are types of another great rescue, the rescue of the remnant of Israel into the wilderness during the future tribulation. It is also important to remember that Matthew 24:16-20 and Matthew 24:37-42 refer to the same event.

Now back to the point about the day of the Lord not being a 24-hour period. The day of the Lord will last from the beginning of the tribulation all the way to the end of the millennial kingdom reign of Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:10 says, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." We know from Revelation 20:1-11 that the earth is not burned up until 1000 years after the tribulation ends. That is why Peter says just two verses earlier in 2 Peter 3:8, "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."

We know that the actual arrival of Christ on the earth will occur at the end of the tribulation. But as we have seen, when Christ describes His coming, He frequently starts with all of the events leading up to it. So when He says things will be as in the days of Noah in the day of His coming, it should be no surprise that the reference to things being as in the days of Noah, actually refers to a time 3 1/2 years earlier, which leads to Christ’s return.

For example: When the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 24:3, "... what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world (age)?", Christ could have gone straight to Matthew 24:29-30 and said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." But He didn't. Instead He summarized the whole seven year tribulation leading up to it in Matthew 24:4-28, even listing many of the plagues to come during the seven years.

Peter confirmed that there would be terrible plagues from the beginning. Quoting from Joel 2:28-31, he says in Acts 2:17-20, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood (sixth seal in Revelation 6), before that great and notable (terrible) day of the Lord come ...."

These plagues (the seven seals and the first six trumpets of Revelation) and the rise in power of the Anti-Christ will result in a major change in the political situation in Israel and the middle east. Israel will be protected by their covenant with the Antichrist and allowed to rebuild their temple (something virtually unthinkable in the present political climate). Under this false protection, they will feel safe and secure, under the illusion that they finally have peace. It will then be at the midpoint of the seven years that the Antichrist will break the covenant and attack Israel. Then the remnant must flee to the wilderness as Luke 17, Matthew 24, and Revelation 12 describe. There they will be protected by God. Jeremiah 31:1-2, "At that same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest."

Now we come to Revelation 13 which describes the kingdom of the Antichrist. But before we look at the Revelation passage, let's go back and see what God revealed to Daniel about this kingdom.

In chapter 2 of Daniel we find the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the first king of the great Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar needed someone to interpret the images in his dream, and God gave Daniel this ability. In Daniel 2:31-35, Daniel said to the king, "Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth."

Daniel explained how the different metals in the image represent the great empires that would arise in the future. The Babylonian Empire, represented by the golden head, reigned supreme from about 606 to 536 BC. The Medo-Persian Empire, represented by the silver arms and breast, reigned from about 536 to 331 BC. The Greek Empire, represented by the brass belly and thighs, reigned from about 331 to 146 BC. The Roman Empire, represented by the legs of iron, reigned longer than them all from about 146 BC to 476 AD. Daniel 2:40-42 says, "And the fourth kingdom (Roman) shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes (ten toes), part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken." Eventually, this kingdom of iron will be revived into a kingdom that is very strong like iron, but not solidly unified, thus the clay is mixed in with the iron. Just as there are ten toes, this revived kingdom will have ten kings, all joined together in a confederacy or some similar loose unification.

The interpretation of the imagery continues in Daniel 2:43-45, "And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

The stone represents Jesus Christ, who is symbolized by a stone in many places in the scriptures. For example, Romans 9:33 says of Jesus Christ, "As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Jesus Christ will return and crush all of man's kingdoms and set up His own kingdom which will last forever. That is the future, and it will happen. Thus the prophecy confidently states that it, "... shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

Now let's look further at the kingdom which will be ruled by the ten kings. This kingdom will consist of ten nations of the old Roman Empire. The Roman Empire covered southern and western Europe and all of the nations around the Mediterranean Sea. This area covers all or part of far more than ten nations today. We do not know which ten nations will make up the revived Roman Empire.

It is possible that some of the nations of the European Union or the Western European Union will eventually combine forces to form this ten nation kingdom. Created in 1954 for defense and security purposes, the Western European Union’s original seven members were United Kingdom, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Italy, and West Germany (no longer divided). Later, Portugal, Spain, and Greece joined the WEU, bringing the total to ten nations. The European Union has more members than the WEU, with several different membership statuses. Then again, the EU and WEU may not be involved at all. We only know that this kingdom will consist of ten nations from the old Roman Empire.

The visions and prophecies that God revealed to Daniel about the great empires are truly amazing. But there is even more just a few chapters later. Daniel 7:3-6 says, "And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it." Either by studying world history, or by Daniel 2:37-38, 8:21, 10:20, and 11:2, we can know that the lion, the bear, and leopard represent the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, and Greek Empires.

Then the Roman Empire appears. Daniel 7:7-8 says, "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things."

The interpretation of the visions is given in Daniel 7:23-25 which says, "Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time (1 + 2 + 1/2 = 3 1/2 years)." The "little horn" of Daniel 7:8 is the Antichrist, also called "the beast", who will arise in the future and overthrow three of the ten kings.

In Revelation 13, the Apostle John saw a similar vision. Revelation 13:1-4 says, "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?"

This beast out of the sea represents both a king and the kingdom he rules. This beast has characteristics of the same four kingdoms described in Daniel 7:4-7. The beast was "like unto a leopard" like the Greek Empire symbolized in Daniel 7:6. The beast out of the sea also had feet "as the feet of a bear" like the Medo-Persian Empire symbolized in Daniel 7:5. The beast had a "mouth as the mouth of a lion" like the Babylonian Empire symbolized in Daniel 7:4. The beast also had "ten horns" like the Roman Empire symbolized in Daniel 7:7. So this future kingdom will have many of the characteristics of the four kingdoms which came before it.

Continuing on to Revelation 13:5-10, "And there was given unto him (the beast) a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months (3 1/2 years). And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." For the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation. This vile beast, the Antichrist will reign over the earth. It will be a time of great persecution for the saints who have come to believe the gospel of the kingdom after the church has been raptured. But the majority of the world, the lost, will worship the Antichrist.

The Antichrist is called many things including "man of sin" and "son of perdition" in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, "that Wicked" in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, and the "king of fierce countenance" in Daniel 8:23. Daniel 8:23-25 says, "... a king of fierce countenance (Antichrist), and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes (Jesus Christ); but he shall be broken without hand."

Notice how "... he shall magnify himself in his heart ...." He will set himself up to be a god to the people, to be worshipped above all. Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 that the Antichrist, "... opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."

Notice also from Daniel 8:23-25 that the Antichrist shall, "... by peace shall destroy many ...." He does not attack directly, but pretends to make friends in effort gain the confidence of his prey first so that he may establish a better position to attack while maximizing the element of surprise.

He will also use peaceful means to obtain his power in the first place. Daniel 11:21 says, "And in his estate shall stand up a vile person , to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries." It is apparent that the Antichrist will be full of charisma and the people will believe his lies.

Daniel 11 also describes an ancient king of Syria, in the Greek Empire, named Antiochus Epiphanes, also known as Antiochus IV. He was a type of the Antichrist. That is, his actions foreshadowed the actions of the future Antichrist. Daniel 11:31-32 says, "And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits." Around 168 BC, Antiochus Epiphanes polluted the temple by sacrificing swine's flesh on the alter to a pagan god. This was an abomination both because of the homage paid to the false god and because the pig is an unclean animal under the law which God gave to Israel. He also stopped the Jews from being able to sacrifice in the temple.

This was documented by the first century Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, who wrote that Antiochus Epiphanes, "... came upon the Jews with a great army, and took their city (Jerusalem) by force, and slew a great multitude of those that favored Ptolemy (his rival in Egypt), and sent out his soldiers to plunder them without mercy. He also spoiled the temple, and put a stop to the constant practice of offering a daily sacrifice of expiation for three years and six months." (Wars of the Jews, 1.1.1). Note the length of time, three and a half years, 42 months, the same length of time that the Antichrist will make war with the saints in the second half of the seven-year tribulation.

But these offenses were not enough for Antiochus Epiphanes, as Josephus explains in the next paragraph. "Now Antiochus was not satisfied either with his unexpected taking the city (Jerusalem), or with its pillage, or with the great slaughter he had made there; but being overcome with his violent passions, and remembering what he had suffered during the siege, he compelled the Jews to dissolve the laws of their country, and to keep their infants uncircumcised, and to sacrifice swine's flesh upon the altar; against which they all opposed themselves, and the most approved among them were put to death ..." (Wars of the Jews, 1.1.2).

Likewise the Antichrist will "cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it (the temple) desolate …" as written in Daniel 9:27.

By the time we come to Daniel 11:36-37, the passage is talking about the Antichrist directly. "And the king (the Antichrist) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all." This goes right along with the verses we saw above showing that the Antichrist will want everyone to see him as not only a god, but the most supreme god.

Next we see the arrival of yet another beast, but this one comes out of the land. Revelation 13:11 says, "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon." This beast is a man who appears to be innocent, symbolized by the appearance of a lamb. But his words are those of Satan, who we saw symbolized by a dragon in Revelation 12:9. He is also known as "the false prophet" (Revelation 16:13 and 19:20).

Revelation 13:12 says of this second beast, "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and …." Let’s stop right there for a moment and compare this passage with the next passage from the Olivet discourse.

Christ continues in Matthew 24:23-26, "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible (it is not), they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not." We frequently see those charlatans claiming to be the Son of God. Every now and then we hear of another one in the news. When the tribulation comes, these deceivers will be given power from Satan to perform false miracles which will be very hard not to believe. The elect (the saints) will be protected from being deceived by them. But those who refused to believe the gospel of grace when it was preached to them before the tribulation will be ripe for the deception. Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12, "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." So those who heard and rejected the gospel of grace before the rapture, will not get a second chance during the tribulation. Satan’s miracles will deceive them, and they will follow the Antichrist.

The tribulation saints will know that Jesus Christ’s second coming will not be like the appearance of these false christs. Matthew 24:27 says, "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." So there should not be any mistaking it.

Picking up where we left off, Revelation 13:15-18 says that this second beast out of the earth will, "… cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six." This is the mark of the beast. Millions will be required to either worship the Antichrist or be put to death. Those who try to avoid the authorities, will not be able to buy or sell anything because they do not have the mark of the beast. For the first time in 1900 plus years since the book of Revelation was written, mankind now has the technology to do this. A tiny chip could be placed under the skin of one’s hand that contains identification and financial records. Purchases would be made by electronic transfer without the use of cash. In addition, this could serve as a global positioning device, allowing the tracking of one's position to within a few feet, anywhere on the planet. We cannot say with absolute certainty, that such a chip will be how the mark of the beast will be given, but it could certainly perform the function.

In addition to the tyrannical rule of the Antichrist. The second half of the seven year tribulation will also see the worst set of plagues ever to come upon the earth. In Revelation 16:1 John writes, "And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials (bowls) of the wrath of God upon the earth."

The first bowl of wrath is poured out on the earth in Revelation 16:2, causing terrible sores on all those who have taken the mark of the beast. "And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image."

The second bowl of wrath is poured out on the sea in Revelation 16:3, killing all life in the sea. "And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea." This is truly a global disaster, almost beyond comprehension. Recall that earlier, in Revelation 8:8-9, the second trumpet had caused one third of the sea to become as blood and had killed one third of life in the sea. The second bowl of wrath will have a similar effect, except that the destruction will be far more extensive.

To a large degree, this is the trend with the bowl judgments. They are frequently, but not always, similar to the trumpet judgments, except much more devastating.

The third bowl of wrath is poured out on all the fresh water supplies in Revelation 16:4, turning the water to blood. "And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood." Recall that earlier, in Revelation 8:10-11, the third trumpet had caused one third of the rivers and fountains (fresh water) to become as bitter as wormwood, which made them poisonous. The third bowl of wrath will have a similar effect, except that the waters will turn to blood, and it will be all of the fresh water, not just one third.

The fourth bowl of wrath is poured out onto the sun in Revelation 16:8, scorching the people of the earth. "And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire." There is a limited similarity between this fourth bowl of wrath and the fourth trumpet in Revelation 8:12-13. Although the plagues are not that much alike, they do each involve the sun.

The fifth bowl of wrath is poured out on the throne of the beast in Revelation 16:10-11, causing darkness and terrible pain. "And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat (throne) of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores ...." Notice that even though these people do not honor the true God as God, they still blame Him for the plagues that are being placed upon them. Again we see the limited similarity to the fifth trumpet of Revelation 9:1-11, which also brought great pain. There, the pain was upon "... those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads" (Revelation 9:4).

As we have been moving forward in Revelation and Matthew 24 comparing the two, the next pair of verses we come to is Matthew 24:28-29 which says, "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken …." Some have mistaken verse 29 as the sixth seal, in which the sun was turned black like sackcloth and the moon to blood. But that had taken place much earlier as we discussed previously. Verse 29 is much more likely in reference to the fifth bowl of wrath in Revelation 16:10-11 in which the kingdom of the beast is put in darkness. Joel 3:15 also placed the events of Matthew 24:28-29 just before the Lord's return saying, "The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining." At this point, the end of the tribulation is getting very near, perhaps only few days away.

The sixth bowl of wrath is poured out on the Euphrates River in Revelation 16:12, drying it up, making way for the kings of the east. "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared." As mentioned earlier in the discussion of the sixth trumpet, this are most likely the same army of 200 million which slew one third of the earth's population in Revelation 9:13-19. The verse quoted above seems to imply that these armies had previously only been on the east side of the Euphrates River. It is possible that the one third of the earth's population that had been killed could have been in the far east and the eastern parts of the middle east. There are certainly enough people living there in China, India, and the many smaller highly populated far eastern countries. But of course, if nuclear missiles are involved, the destruction could include countries anywhere on the globe.

This tremendous invasion coming from the east is why Daniel 11:44-45 says of the Antichrist, "But tidings out of the east and out of the north shall trouble him: therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy … And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain (in the holy city Jerusalem); yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him."

Revelation 16:13-14 says, "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty." Revelation 16:16 tells where they are being gathered, "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." This is referring to the city of Megiddo in northern Israel. Interestingly, the word "Megiddo" means "place of multitudes". This city sits on a hill overlooking a large plain known as the Valley of Armageddon.

It will naturally take a several days for the military forces of the world to reach the Valley of Armageddon. So we can see that the fifth and sixth bowls of wrath are not happening one right on top of the other. Some who teach a post-tribulational rapture often try to compress the seven bowls of wrath into a very short time period of perhaps a day or two. But this is obviously not the case. We do not know how long it will take for the seven bowls of wrath to be poured out, but we do know that it will cover at least several days, and probably several months.

The seventh bowl of wrath is poured into the air, producing thunder, lightning, earthquake, and great hailstones. Revelation 16:17-20 says, "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found."

Obviously, this will not be like the typical localized earthquake, which may impact a single city. This earthquake will devastate many cities and nations and mountains and islands. Perhaps you have seen the scientific documentaries which tell how an earthquake could trigger other earthquakes, tidal waves, and volcanic eruptions which could have a cascading effect around the earth’s major fault lines. One such fault line is known as the Ring of Fire due to the high volcanic activity along it. It follows the coastlines of the continents around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. Earthquakes are frequent along this ring which includes those in California, Alaska, and Japan. Another such fault line is the Rift Valley fault line which extends northward through Africa to Israel. The large lakes of south-central Africa and the Dead Sea in Israel are all along this fault line.

Revelation 16:21 continues saying, "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." A "talent" was a weight which varied in different places and times due to laws regulating currency. In Israel, a talent of silver weighed about 100 pounds, and a talent of gold weighed about 200 pounds. While we may not be sure precisely how much the hailstones will weigh, it is clear that they will be excessively large resulting in a plague that is "exceedingly great".

In discussing the natural hazards that can result from earthquakes that involve volcanic eruptions, Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000 says, "Climatic hazards include storms of various types, damage to coastlines by ice o