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The 7^th Trumpet, Resurrection to Immortality, and the 7 Last Plagues

At the end of the three and a half years that the two witnesses have been preaching, their ministry starting about five months before the Beast and false prophet came on the scene, the two witnesses are killed. Don’t forget, there’s about a five month gap between when the two witnesses come to Jerusalem and started preaching, and when the beast person and false prophet come into Jerusalem, stopped the sacrifices in the Temple and started World War III. Now, after three and a half years of their witness and preaching, they’re killed and their bodies are left lying in the street in Jerusalem. Revelation 11:7-10, “And when they [the two witnesses] shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war with them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. 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. 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 dwell on the earth.” Their resurrection back to life begins the first resurrection of all saints to immortality, just as the 7^th Trumpet blasts forth. Verses 11-19, “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. 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. 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 [Greek: nations ], that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto they 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.” That, folks, was the blowing of the 7^th Trumpet, which brought on all this, the resurrection to immortality, the re-appearance of the heavenly temple of God in the skies, now visible again, and another great earthquake takes place. This all happens within the same hour that the two witnesses are resurrected back to life, as they ascend up to this heavenly Jerusalem, which is visible again, verse 19. 1^st Corinthians 15:49-54, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory…” [Comment: Paul referred to death as being asleep, unconscious, not awake, which agrees with Ecclesiastes 3:18-21 and 9:4-6 and Ecclesiastes 12:6-7---the spirit in man, all men, the good and the bad, unconscious, goes upward to God upon death. Those with the Holy Spirit await the resurrection to immortality.] Now turn to 1^st Thessalonians 4:13-17, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” That last passage is used by those who hold to the Rapture interpretation of Pre-Millennial prophecy (with no disparity intended on them, they’re wonderful believers too). So let’s put this together. The two witnesses are killed. Three and a half days later they are resurrected by God and rise into the clouds, heading to where Jesus is (Revelation 11:7-10, 11-14), this happening just before the blowing of the 7^th Trumpet, the 3^rd Woe. Then almost immediately the 7^th Trumpet is blown (Revelation 11:15-19). This resurrection, don’t forget, is the complete fulfillment of the Pentecost harvest, also called in the Old Testament “the Feast of Weeks” and Shevuot by the Jews.

Heavenly Jerusalem and the Sea of Glass

In the resurrection to immortality, where are they told to go, where do they go? At the instant the two witnesses are resurrected (to immortality was well), where are they told to go? Revelation 11:12, “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.” “Come up here!” Where are they told to go, come? To the third heaven, of course, the throne of God with its accompanying sea of glass in front of God’s throne. This “third heaven”, the heavenly mount Sion, has slowly been making its way toward earth in the immediate outer-space of our solar system, and is getting really close to earth right now. All the resurrected saints are heading to the same place, obviously. Revelation 14:1-3, “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion,”---If this is the same mount Sion of Hebrews 12:18-24, this is the heavenly Mount Sion, the third heaven, new Jerusalem---“and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having the Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: and they sung as it were a new song before the throne and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” In timing, Revelation 11:15-19 the 7^th Trumpet has just been blown, the first resurrection to immortality has just taken place. Revelation 14:1-3, the 144,000 thousand now pictured on mount Sion (heavenly mount Sion, it would appear). Next in time sequence, probably the same event, is Revelation 15:1-4, showing exactly where this is all occurring. Revelation 15:1-4, “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God. And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are they works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” Matthew 24:27-30 at first, at the beginning of the 6^th Seal, depicted the first appearance of the “sign of the coming of the Son of man” in the sky.

Then God made it become invisible right up until this blowing of the 7^th Trumpet. Two massive battles between warring factions have occurred between the first showing of the heavenly signs and when the heavenly signs, the new Jerusalem reappear. But now the new Jerusalem, the heavenly mount Sion reappears closer than ever to earth (probably hovering 50,000 to 100,000 feet over Jerusalem, my personal guess), with all the resurrected saints ascending up to it, each one of us glowing like the stars (cf. Daniel 12:1-3). That’s when this event occurs, Matthew 24:31, “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Since righteous Abel Satan has been ruling over the earth, cf. Matthew 4:8-10. This resurrection includes all the saints going back to righteous Abel, all ascending to this third heaven which is in the upper atmosphere right about now in time sequence. So those gathered on the sea of glass are all the saints since righteous Abel, all those throughout the Old Testament (cf. Hebrews 11) to the very last martyrs to die in the tribulation, the two witnesses. They’re the last to die, and the first to be resurrected. Interesting application of ‘the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.’

How Long Until Jesus and the Saints Touch Down On the Mount of Olives

If God is following the Holy Day pattern given to Israel and all the Judeo-Christian Churches of God down through the centuries (why wouldn’t he?), then the first resurrection to immortality will take place on the Pentecost (Feast of Weeks, Shevuot) three and one half years after the two witnesses start their testimony and witness to the world from Jerusalem. Pentecost does symbolize the harvest of the firstfruits, plural, and it is the first harvest of the two harvest seasons in Israel, literally. We are the firstfruits of God, that has been proven here in this article, and in the Word of God. The very next Holy Day in God’s list of Holy Days in Leviticus 23 is the Feast of Trumpets, which symbolizes the 2^nd coming of Jesus Christ. The Feast of Trumpets takes place about five months after the Day of Pentecost (May/June to September/October). So we’re all resurrected, let’s say, on the Day of Pentecost, three and one half years after the start of the preaching of the two witnesses. [Backtracking, the beast would be stepping into the Temple about the time of Christmas/Chanukah, three years earlier.] We’re now standing on the sea of glass in front of God’s throne (the sea of glass must be pretty big, but then again, God does things big, look at the universe). This 3^rd heaven must be hovering about 50,000, maybe 100,000 feet above earth (my speculation, but probable).

What Will Happen on the Sea of Glass?

What has to occur next in time-sequence? Revelation 15:5-8 shows us it’s the seven last plagues. Also the wedding feast of the Lamb must occur as well, as Revelation 19:7-10 shows us. Verses 11-21 of Revelation 19 show us that after the wedding feast, the literal second coming down to the mount of Olives occurs. The Seven Last Plagues must occur between those two events, which Revelation 15:5-8 and 16:1-21 show us they do. So right now all the resurrected saints are on the sea of glass, glowing like the stars of heaven, right in plain sight of the beast person and false prophet and their armies below (probably in geosynchronous orbit). We’re at the wedding feast in time-sequence right now, Revelation 19:5-9, “And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluiah: for the Lord omnipotent reigneth. Let us rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” There could be multiple millions of resurrected saints at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Jesus and the Father will want to meet all of us, give us our rewards and assignments as future leaders in the Millennial Kingdom of God, which will now rule over all the earth [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg1.htm]. Jewish wedding feasts at the time of Christ often lasted seven days, minimum. So we will then spend about five months at the throne of God on the sea of glass. We will receive our garments. We will receive our new names. We will meet Jesus and the Father personally (Bemis seat judgment? Possibly). The Marriage of the Lamb will occur. We will receive our rewards and future assignments as the new world leaders under Christ.

The Sea of Glass in the Bible

On the first Pentecost or Feast of Weeks, the Law was given, which was a marriage covenant between Israel and Yahweh, Exodus 20; 24:1-10, “And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the LORD, thou, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; and worship ye afar off. And Moses alone shall come near the LORD: but they shall not come nigh; neither shall the people go up with him. And Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the LORD hath said will we do. And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD, and rose up early in the morning, and builded an altar under the hill, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, which offered burnt offerings, and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen unto the LORD. And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant, and read it in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.”---Like in a marriage ceremony, the bride said “I do”.---“And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, concerning all these words. Then went up Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. Also upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.” One, this was Yahweh’s wedding feast to Israel, where it is brought out in other Old Testament texts, Jeremiah, Isaiah, where Yahweh said he was married to Israel and Judah. Notice the sea of glass under Yahweh, and it is like he is above them and they can look through this sapphire sea of glass and see him. Yahweh was on a sapphire sea of glass. That was their wedding feast. Hebrews 12:18-24, “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.” How big is this “heavenly New Jerusalem? Read Revelation 21:1-17.

God’s, Yahweh’s Portable Throne

Also in Ezekiel 1:20-28 Yahweh’s portable throne had a “firmament of crystal” over the angelic host’s heads, the angels [Hebrew: seraphs, ‘burners’] propelling this thing. Ezekiel 1:20-28, “Withersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. And the likeness of the firmament upon [i.e. above] the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies. And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host; when they stood, they let down their wings. And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.” I’m surprised poor Ezekiel didn’t drop dead of a heart-attack, right on the spot. These angels, Seraph’s, which in Hebrew means “burners”, propel this portable throne of Yahweh, who is now Jesus Christ, through outer-space to wherever he wants to go. And spirit-beings outside of “space & time” can travel much faster than the speed of light, perhaps even at the speed of thought. This “firmament” he stands on is a small version of the Sea of Glass at God the Father’s throne, depicted in Revelation 4:1-11. Let’s see also Isaiah 6:1-4, “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD God of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door [in the physical temple of God where Yahweh has just appeared to Ezekiel] moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.” The very doorposts of the physical Temple were shaking when this angel cried out “Holy! Holy! Holy!” (Bose [Dewey], you can only dream about having loud speakers that can do this!)

God’s throne, the 3^rd heaven, and all spirit beings and spirit material can be made invisible or visible at God’s will

Acts 7:51-56, “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost [Holy Spirit]: as your fathers did so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers not persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” Stephen saw God’s throne right above him. Obviously being composed of spirit, God can move it, just like his portable throne, and make it visible and invisible to whomever he wishes. I imagine, during this early period in the life of the Church, God may have had the heavenly Jerusalem standing close by, watching over events. Who knows. Anything’s possible with God. But Stephen could see God’s throne above him, everybody else couldn’t. Does the Bible have an example of not just spirit beings, angels, but spirit material appearing and disappearing from sight, and also being made visible to some and not others? Yes it does. Turn to 2^nd Kings 6:14-17, “Therefore he sent horses and chariots [the king of Syria, going after Elisha] and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city. And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, ‘Alas, my master! What shall we do?’ So he answered him, ‘Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed and said, ‘LORD, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

Sea of Glass

The Sea of Glass first appears in Revelation 4:2-6, “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.” (verses 7-8 describe the same thing Isaiah describes in Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel describes in Ezekiel 1, these are angels around the throne of God.) Wherever God (or Yahweh in the Old Testament) is, there is a crystal sea of glass. The portable throne was a replica of the full-sized throne area with its sea of glass. But the full-sized version can hold millions, maybe even billions (there are billions of angels) on its surface. Revelation 7:1-10 is the sealing of the 144,000 and innumerable multitude, but also looks forward in time to the first resurrection where they end up in front of the throne of God---which is on the sea of glass. Thus part of the events in Revelation 7 take place at the time of the 6^th Seal, and part of this event looks forward (to the 1^st Resurrection and the 7^th Trumpet), it’s an inset chapter, not in time order of chapters 6, 8 & 9. Although the sealing of them with the Holy Spirit is in sync with the placement of chapters 6, 8 & 9.

Pentecost tied to the Last Days

That is according to this third interpretation that resides halfway between the Rapturist interpretation and Classic Pre-Millennial interpretation. That the Pentecost symbolism is tied to Revelation and the 1^st resurrection to immortality is found in Peter’s sermon given on the Day of Pentecost when the Church was born by God calling 3,000 souls because of Peter’s sermon. In Acts 2:17-20 it says, “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 day of the Lord come…” Peter quotes Joel, which quote directly cross-references to Revelation 6:12-17.

Pentecost Harvest tied by Paul to the 1^st Resurrection using farming terms

Paul uses the term “sown” as in sowing a harvest crop throughout 1^st Corinthians 15. 1^st Corinthians 15:35-44, “But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance be wheat, or some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.” This apostle Paul knew stars had various colors and magnitude differences back then. Impressive. “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour; it s raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual [spirit-composed] body.” Paul here is talking about a harvest continually, and then he ties it in with the 1^st resurrection to immortality in verses 49-54, “And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory…” So about five months, from the Pentecost resurrection of saints to the actual touch-down of Jesus and the saints on the Mount of Olives (cf. Zechariah 14:1-15) is not an improbable timing of events, considering the Seven Last Plagues must be delivered first. Now right after the first resurrection to immortality, the Seven Last Plagues must start to occur, Revelation 15:5-8, “And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: and the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels the seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with the smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.” We’ll be up there watching this as it happens, pretty awesome. Huh?

The First Five of the Seven Last Plagues Occur During the Marriage of the Lamb

The first five of the Seven Last Plagues are given to soften up the armies of the world who will be opposing the return of Christ and the resurrected saints. These armies will be convinced by the Beast that this is an invasion from outer-space, an alien invasion. Revelation 16:1-11, “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth; 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. 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. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became as blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat 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, and repented not of their deeds.” These may be delivered over a short period of time, within days of their beginning to be poured out. These first five plagues may happen quickly, but then there has to be a time period for the armies of the world to respond to the call to “defend earth from the alien attackers from outer-space.”

The 6^th Plague

The 6^th bowl plague is where the Euphrates is dried up again, and Satan is allowed to send three of his top demons to perform miracles to deceive the rest of the world so they’ll all join forces “to fight the alien invaders from outer-space who have been among us too (rising in glowing bodies!)”. Revelation 16:12-16, “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.” Remember this happened once before at the beginning of the 2^nd Woe, bringing about the counter-offensive of the ‘eastern alliance’ of nations. But this one’s a little different, as three deceiving demons are released. “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 [demons], 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. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon [actually in Hebrew is Har Megiddo, or Hill of Megiddo].” My guess, if God follows the pattern or template of his Holy Day timing, this period of time could be as long as five months, the same period of time between Pentecost and Trumpets. It takes time to muster the armies of the whole world to show up in one spot. During the first Gulf War the United States fought against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq it took three months to get our heavy equipment, M1A1 Abrams tanks and related heavy armoured equipment, shipped overseas. Moving the worlds armies to the Israel-Jerusalem area to fight “invaders from outer-space” will take at least that long, even if a lot of the eastern alliance armies are close by as a result of their counter-offensive against the beast empire. So there will be a “rapture”, but not at the beginning of the tribulation, but at the very end of the tribulation, five months from Jesus’ actually touching down on the Mount of Olives. We will spend five months “in heaven” upon the Sea of Glass in the “heavenly New Jerusalem”, not three and a half years, the way Scripture shows it.

The Seventh Last Plague

Battle of Armageddon, Symbolized by the Feast of Trumpets

This is the Seventh Last Plague, the literal 2^nd coming of Jesus and the saints, resulting in the battle of Armageddon, which Biblically is really the Battle of the Valley of Decision, as it happens in the Kidron Valley, right outside Jerusalem and not at Har Megiddo, which is a mountain pass overlooking the Jezreel Valley. Revelation 16:17-21, “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 into 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. 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.” This is like the final barrage of shells coming out of battleships during an island invasion during WWII, God is softening up the ‘beach-head’ before he invades. Some of this may actually make some folks drop their weapons and run, you can only hope (for their sakes). This great earthquake, the largest earth has ever had, does make a great valley as a result, which runs through Jerusalem, and the Jews are instructed to flee out of there by way of the valley created by it. We’ll see this earthquake again and who causes it in a little while. But what’s next? Turn to Revelation 19:11-21, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.” Cf. John 1:1-14 “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.” That’s us folks, the resurrected immortal saints! “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” So first the saints are resurrected, and go to the Sea of Glass, probably on the actual day of Pentecost. Shortly after that six of the seven last plagues are delivered. The sixth last plague dries up the Euphrates and Satan is allowed to release three deceiving, miracle working demons who help the beast convince those they have been brutally fighting against in the eastern alliance that an alien invasion from outer-space is about to occur. Within those five months from Pentecost to Trumpets, they successfully muster most of the world’s armies, convincing their former eastern enemies to join ranks against the “Space-Invaders.” Finally, with the armies of the world mustered on what may be the entire Israeli nation, Jesus takes action. Now it’s time for the Seventh Last Plague. We’re on the way down from the heavenly Jerusalem which is hovering just above the physical Jerusalem in the upper atmosphere. Revelation 19 portrays this.

What’s next, where do we go from here? Zechariah 14!

Now this gets exciting, folks. Zechariah 14:1-15, “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished [raped]; 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. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.” Cf. Joel 2:1-11, read it. “And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and winter shall it be. [cf. Ezekiel 47:1-12] AND THE LORD SHALL BE KING OVER ALL THE EARTH: IN THAT DAY SHALL THERE BE ONE LORD, AND HIS NAME ONE. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses. [see http://www.unityinchrist.com/kingdomofgod/mkg4page1.htm for a good explanation of what this Millennial Jerusalem will be like, and how big it will be.] And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem [against the beast empire’s and world’s forces, once they see their Messiah has come back to earth to save them]; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.” The closest thing that I can think of where the eyes literally melted in a person’s eye sockets was a poor anti-aircraft gunner on one of the mountainsides facing Hiroshima when the first atomic bomb went off, and he was staring into the intense light of the fireball (see John Hersey’s Hiroshima). Jesus (and we) are glowing brighter than the intensity of the sun. Laser weapons might be considered an equivalent comparison to the deadly light Jesus (and perhaps we) will be letting off. Remember Revelation 1:13-18, and Revelation 19:12 where it talks of Jesus’ eyes being flames of fire. Maybe just by looking at an enemy, our very eyes will be emitting laser beams of light in their intensity. Whatever it is, the surrounding enemies are virtually melted where they stand (somewhat like in the movie Raiders of the Lost Ark).

Israeli Reaction to the Return of the Messiah

Next let’s look at how the Israeli’s react, who have been held in their nation as captives and slaves for the past three and a half years. Zechariah 12:1-9, “The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.” God is identifying himself in this introduction as the Creator God, Yahweh, the great I AM. Yes, man has a human spirit within him, which gives him his high intellect and intelligence far above animals, cf. 1^st Corinthians 2:9-13. Theologians often call this the “soul” of a person. Solomon says this “spirit within man” goes to God when he dies, and both Paul and Solomon indicate that this “spirit in man” is unconscious upon death, i.e. soul-sleep. I know how this is going to step on some of you people’s pet doctrinal toes. But this is merely a third interpretation to these prophecies, and all prophecy is not a Salvation issue, no matter which way you believe, so you don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to. Enough said. If you don’t like what’s being said, stop reading it right now (but you’ll miss the rest of the story). Now back to Zechariah 12. “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.” Just in case you think God is fighting against Judah, think again, taken in context with the following verses. “And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” When the Israeli Jews really recognize their Messiah, Yeshua haMeshiach, they’re going to really cut loose against their captors and whatever parts of the world’s armies that come into their gun-sights.

OTHER “DAY OF THE LORD” SCRIPTURES:

Joel 2:1-32; 3:1-21; Amos 5:18-20; Zephaniah 1:13-18; Isaiah 24:18-23, evil dictators of the world being held in prison awaiting their own “Nuremburg Trials.”

Just one final note. How bad is the tribulation compared to all the other wars fought in the world over the past 6,000 years? Estimates at the total population of everyone who has lived and died lie anywhere between 50 and 100 billion people. Let’s just say it’s 100 billion for ease of calculation. The world’s current population is over 6 billion. All but ten percent of that figure will die in the tribulation, World War III, in three and a half short years. So in a historic nano-second of time, 6 percent of all those who have ever lived and died on this planet will die in 3.5 years time. That in a nutshell is how awful the great tribulation will be. Satan is essentially going to try to kill off everyone on earth. God will step in and stop the madness when 10 percent are left remaining alive, or 600 million people, just about double of the current population of the United States. God has given us a job to do, explained in Matthew 28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-16 and made reference to in Matthew 24:14.