During the seven year period following the Rapture of Christians from the earth, God will pour out His judgment upon the earth and those left who have rejected His Son as their Lord and Savior. The second of these judgments are known as the "trumpet judgments". In the Book of Revelation, the Bible describes what will happen after each trumpet is blown ("sounds").
And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
(Revelation 8:2)
The First Trumpet
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. (Rev. 8:7)
The Second Trumpet
8 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;
9 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.
(Rev. 8:8-9)
The Third Trumpet
The Fourth Trumpet
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.
(Rev. 8:12)
The Fifth Trumpet
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.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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.
5 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.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
7 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.
8 And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions.
9 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.
10 And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months.
11 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.
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
(Rev. 9:1-12)
The Sixth Trumpet
And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.
15 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.
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them.
17 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.
18 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.
19 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.
20 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:
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
(Rev. 9:13-21)
The Seventh Trumpet
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.
Exodus 15:18
(Rev. 11:15)
18 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.
19 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.
(Rev. 11:18-19)
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.
2 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.
3 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.
4 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?
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7 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.
8 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.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 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.
11 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.
12 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.
13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
14 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.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 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:
17 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.
18 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.
I don't think any human being can quite imagine what this judgment will be like. Most of us have seen the special effects in movies like "The Ten Commandments" when firey hail pellets the Egyptians after the Pharaoh refuses to release the Israelites. But the movie doesn't show the aftereffects from the fire and hail. Also, try to imagine fire and hail mixed with blood! The results of such a phenomenon would be devastating to the earth! The Bible explicitly says that a THIRD of all the earth's trees will be burned up! We already have problems with global warming from deforestation. The Bible also says that ALL the green grass will be destroyed! The Bible does not go in to detail about the devastation the blood would cause, but try to imagine blood being thrown in to the earth's fresh water supply!
During this judgment a third of the salt waters of the earth are turned to blood. While this will not effect the fresh water supply, the Bible says that a third of all sea life will perish! Can you imagine the millions of fish and other sea creature's carcasses floating on the surface of the oceans and seas? This might be what destroys a third of the world's ships. This will obviously wreck havoc on the fishing industry and others that rely on ships for transportation of their cargo. The economic implications would be astronomical!
This is the judgment that will effect the fresh water supply the most. Webster's defines wormwood as: "An aromatic plant of the genus Artemisia, esp. the European variety A. absinthium, that yields a bitter extract..." If a third of the earth's fresh water supply is turned to wormwood, many will die from the lack of fresh water or from drinking the bitter water.
The Bible does not go in to detail about the results from this darkness, but one can only imagine. If the sun only shines 2/3rds as bright as it does today, the seasons would be dramatically altered. The earth would be markedly colder. Tropical trees that were not destroyed by the fire and hail would probably die after this judgment. Since the moon effects the earth's tides, one would suspect that this judgment could drastically effect the parts of the seas that were not already devastated during the second trumpet judgment. Increased darkness would probably also result in an increase in crime, depression and suicide as well.
While the Bible does not go in to much detail about the first four trumpet judgments, it DOES explain quite graphically what this fifth trumpet judgment will bring. While some of the other judgments are open to interpretation as to their exact result, the description of this judgment leaves little to the imagination and must therefore be taken quite literally. The already dim sun will be further darkened by a great smoke. From within this smoke a great swarm of locusts will fly. A normal, everyday swarm of locusts has been known to cause fear in the hearts of many a farmer, but can you imagine the terror at seeing these creatures?!
The Bible is specific about who these locusts will attack. People who have become Christians during the Tribulation will NOT be harmed by these creatures. Only those who after everything that has already happened still refuse to accept Jesus and are loyal to the Antichrist will suffer from this judgment. Followers of Antichrist will suffer from these creatures for FIVE MONTHS. They will NOT die from their wounds but will wish they could. The pain will be like that of many scorpion stings for five long months. Men and women will want to die. They will be in such torment that they will try to commit suicide without success! They will be without relief throughout the entire five month period.
The Bible is also explicit about what these creatures will look like. They are like nothing that exists on this earth. No one will be able to attribute this judgment to any random act of nature. Nothing like these creatures exists in nature. Followers of Antichrist will realize that Christians are not affected by them. Followers of Antichrist will realize that this is a direct punishment for their rejection of God and His Son Jesus Christ. When they are unable to end their misery through suicide, they will know that God is preventing their death for a reason and that only God is capable of such a thing. No human or alien would be able to prevent your death if you were determined to kill yourself.
One would think that this judgment will be enough to finally convince some that God is in control, they will repent from their sins and follow Jesus before it is too late.
Sadly, some even with this knowledge and realization, will still choose to reject God and Jesus as their savior and will knowingly follow Antichrist, the one-world dictator. At this point, Antichrist himself may not understand that he is the enemy and that he will eventually be empowered by Satan himself.
The Bible warns "woe" to these for there are still two more "woes" to follow.
10 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;
11 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.
(Rev. 8:10-11)
The next three judgments are so horrific that an angel will fly through heaven saying: "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!"
Jerusalem (6th Trumpet Continued)
There are several events after the slaying of the third of mankind that will draw the remainder of the world's attention to the holy city of Jerusalem during the Tribulation. Some of these verses are complicated and can be confusing and open to interpretation. However, I believe God's main intent through this part of the Tribulation is to bring the focus of the remaining 2/3rds of the earth's population to Himself, His glory, His power, His laws, His temple and His holy, chosen city of Jerusalem which will be the capitol of His coming Kingdom.
And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
5 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.
6 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.
7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
8 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.
9 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.
10 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.
11 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.
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.
13 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.
14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
(Rev. 11:1-14)
The First Woe
The Second Woe
John, to whom this Revelation was given around 96 AD is the one speaking here. He was instructed to measure the temple in Jerusalem just like Ezekiel was asked to hundreds of years earlier. Things to Note:
1) To measure the temple, it must exist! This verse shows that the Holy Temple in Jerusalem will be re-built some time before this point during the Tribulation. 2) At this point in time, the Antichrist is still allowing worship within God's temple. Rev. 9:20 makes it clear that at this point, people are worshiping all kinds of devils and idols. Mandatory worship of the Antichrist is not yet in effect. This verse shows that there will be individuals who were left behind during the Rapture of God's Church that will worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. These are Jews. While they may have rejected Christ as their Messiah and God's Son, they will NOT worship the Antichrist or "devils" or "idols" either. They will continue to worship the one true God (Yahweh).
The second verse specifically says that the Gentiles (non-Jews) will remain outside the Temple at this time. The Gentiles will attack the city of Jerusalem and "tread under foot forty and two months." The city will be under siege for three and a half years during this part of the Tribulation.
The third major event during this second woe following the sixth trumpet blast will be the powerful witness, miracles, prophecies, death and resurrection of God's two "olive trees" or "candlesticks". These two witnesses will prophesy a "thousand and two hundred and threescore days (or 1,260), clothed in sackcloth." God will give these witnesses power not only to prophesy but to protect themselves against anyone who would hurt them and to bring plagues. The Bible specifically says that if anyone dare try and hurt either of these witnesses that fire will proceed out of their mouths to kill the would-be attackers. The Bible also specifically informs us that the witnesses will be able to bring drought, turn water to blood and "smite the earth with ALL plagues, as often as they will." For close to three and a half years it will not rain while the witnesses prophecy. Their message will not be interrupted during the 3.45 years.
At the end of the 3.45 years, God will allow the Antichrist to kill the two witnesses. For three and a half days their bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem (we know God is talking about Jerusalem because that is where "our Lord was crucified"). People of all tongues and nations will literally see their dead bodies lying in the streets. Until the advent of satellite television it would not have been possible for every nation to see this. (Another argument for these things being fulfilled during our generation.)
The Bible says that those left living on the earth will celebrate at the death of the two witnesses because they tormented them with drought and other plagues during their testimony of nearly 3.5 years. The witnesses' bodies will be left in the street presumably as a warning from Antichrist as an example of what happens to those who oppose him. But God has another plan. After the 3.5 days of lying and rotting in the streets, the "spirit of life from God" will enter the witnesses' bodies and they will come back to life! Rejoicing will be replaced with fear in the hearts of those who follow Antichrist. These enemies of the witnesses will hear with their own ears the voice of God calling the witnesses up to heaven and they will see with their own eyes as they ascend to heaven.
The same hour as the witnesses are raised from the dead and ascend to heaven there will be a great earthquake in Jerusalem. A tenth of the city will fall and 7,000 people will perish. Those who are left in Jerusalem will finally fear God and give him glory.
The Third Woe
Immediately following the seventh trumpet blast, there will be much rejoicing, worship and thanksgiving to God in heaven. The Bible says there will be "great voices" in heaven. One can only speculate, but the "great voices" leads one to believe that the inhabitants of earth might be able to hear what is going on in heaven. The reason we think this is because after the second woe BEFORE the seventh trumpet blast "the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God in heaven." These people realize that what has happened is of God and they finally repent and give Him glory. The rest of "the nations" may not have fully realized they were being judged by God and that God's servants, prophets and saints were going to be rewarded until they heard these "great voices" in heaven. This realization that they were wrong all along and that those who "fear thy name" and followed Christ were going to be rewarded for their faith makes them angry. Instead of feeling repentant, they will be angry with God. At this point, they will have made a conscious decision NOT to follow God and will continue to disobey His commandments in defiance, even though they now fully realize His authority.
The next chapter (12) represents a symbolic history of Satan's revolt against God's authority. The dragon is the Devil/Satan/Lucifer, the fallen angel who was evicted from heaven. The woman is The Church, the beloved bride of God. The man child is Jesus, the Christ our Savior who ascended to heaven and shares God's throne. The woman/the church is given wings to escape the wrath of Satan. The remnant are those left on earth who are keeping God's commandments (many of them Jews) who have now accepted "the testimony of Jesus Christ". The dragon/Satan wants to make war with them.
The First Beast = The Antichrist
Chapter 13 is a symbolic description of the coming world dictator, the Antichrist. The dragon/Satan gives the Antichrist his power, position and "great authority". Before the second half of the Tribulation (years 3.5 through 7) we don't really know how much power and influence the Antichrist has through his own human efforts. After the 7th trumpet sounds, Satan will endow the world dictator with supernatural powers. Some time during this third woe the Antichrist will be assassinated by a deadly wound to the head. Satan will heal his fatal wound and bring the Antichrist back to life. The world will follow the Antichrist thinking he has god-like powers.
The Dragon = Satan
The world will worship Satan for giving power to the Antichrist. The world will also worship the Antichrist thinking he is invincible. Antichrist will openly blaspheme God. Antichrist will be allowed to rule the world for 3.5 years - the remainder of the Tribulation.
I believe that at this stage most of those left on earth who have not become Christians will follow and worship the Antichrist with full knowledge that he is the enemy of God and will mistakenly believe that their "god" can defeat the one true God.
During this three and a half year period, the Antichrist will make war against the Tribulation Saints (those who have become Christians during the first three and a half years of the Tribulation). Antichrist will have ABSOLUTE power over the entire earth and will overcome any who oppose him. Anyone who's name is not written in the book of life (Christians) will worship the Antichrist either by choice or by force.
God wants us to hear this message!
The patience and faith of the Tribulation Saints (those new Christians who are left on earth) will be severely tested.
The Second Beast = False Prophet
While the Antichrist will have complete political authority over the earth during the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation, the False Prophet will yield authority of a spiritual/religious nature during this time. The False Prophet will lead the mandatory worship of the Antichrist who the world will be in awe of because of his resurrection from his deadly wound.
The False Prophet will also be endowed with supernatural powers. He will cause fire to rain down upon the earth within sight of those left on the earth. Many will be deceived by the False Prophet because of his supernatural powers. The False Prophet will convince many to make an idol or image of the Beast/Antichrist.
Part of the False Prophet's supernatural powers will include his ability to give life to the idol/image of the Beast/Antichrist. This idol/image will be able to speak and kill! The image of the Antichrist will kill those on the earth who refuse to worship it!
The False Prophet will execute the mandatory system of marking. Everyone left on planet earth during the last 3.5 years of the Tribulation will be required to receive a mark either on their right hand or on their forehead. No one will be exempt from this requirement. Even the rich and powerful will be required to take this mark. No one will be allowed to do business in the markets of the world without the "mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" either on their right hand or forehead. As everyone knows, the number of the Beast/Antichrist is 666.
It is more important to follow Christ, learn His teachings and to learn and keep God's commandments than to learn who or what is represented by this number. The Bible tells us that the Antichrist's identity will not be revealed until AFTER the Rapture of God's church. At this point in history, it is not important for us to know who or what the Antichrist is. We, as Christians, won't be here on earth when this is revealed. This message, this understanding WILL be important to those left behind so that they can avoid being deceived by the Antichrist. Trusting in God and accepting His gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ NOW is the only way to guarantee that you won't have to endure the reign of the Antichrist. To find out how to do this see below.
Again, the Bible is very specific about the sixth trumpet judgment and how long it will last. This army is obviously NOT made up of humans since they have tails like serpents and their horses have heads like lions. Many Bible scholars believe this is an army of demonic beings. The Bible specifically reveals the number of horsemen at 200,000,000!
A third of mankind living upon the earth at the time of this judgment will perish! Think about that for a moment. At the time I am writing this (11-30-2005) the world population is estimated at approximately 6,573,049,000 that's over 6.5 BILLION souls. A third of that is more than 2 BILLION! At the current population rate (it will probably be higher) more than TWO BILLION individuals will be slain during this Woe. This represents the combined population of China (the most populated country in the world) and India.
These 2 billion will meet a horrific death "by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone" that spew from the mouths of the 200,000,000 horsemen and their "horses" and the four angels that lead them. The Bible is also very specific about the time in which this will happen. Over 2 billion people will not perish in a blink of an eye (which would be horrific enough!). No. These horsemen, their riders and the four angels will roam the earth for over a year! A year, a month, a day and an hour to be exact. It will be like hell on earth for over a year!
I would think those who are not killed during this 390-some day period would be shell shocked and trembling! Surely by now, they would understand that what has transpired represents the wrath of the almighty God. Even if they had never stepped foot in a church in their lives, this type of fire and brimstone destruction is referenced frequently in popular culture...surely they would make the connection and realize that everything was coming true just as the Bible said. Surely they would repent, beg God for mercy and ask Jesus to be their savior! But the Bible says that this will not happen. The Bible makes it clear that those who are left on the earth after the seven seal judgments and the first six trumpet judgments will NOT repent, but will continue to do evil and worship devils and idols. They will continue to murder, fornicate, steal and commit all sorts of sorcery. At this point, I would believe that this does not represent misguided faith, but all out stubborn pride and defiance.
You can accept this most awesome gift RIGHT NOW! Here's all you need to do:
1. Tell God that you know you've sinned, you are sorry for those sins, but you
realize there isn't anything YOU can do to make them go away.
2. Tell God that you BELIEVE that He gave his Son to die on the cross for your
sins and the sins of the world.
3. Tell God that you ACCEPT His wonderful gift of forgiveness.
4. Thank God for sacrificing His Son for you and the world.
5. Ask Jesus to come in to your heart and in to your life.
Close this simple prayer with: "In Jesus' name, Amen".
