The Great Tribulation

The last three and one-half years left on the Time Line are going to be the most devastating years ever seen in the history of mankind. The first spirit, God the Father, has been very patient with his creatures’ disobedience throughout the Time Line. The only other time in history that God intervened and turned his wrath on earth was during the great flood back towards the early part of the Time Line. He did it to save the purity of the human race, but that is another study for later.

This last few years of earth’s existence as we know it are called the Great Tribulation because during this time God is going to throw great hail, fire and what are described as comets down onto earth to destroy the vegetation, the water, and pretty much everything that man needs to survive. These final judgments total 14 in all: 7 trumpet judgments and 7 bowl or vial judgments. The final trumpet judgment opens the first bowl judgment.

The first 3 trumpet judgments destroy a third of all vegetation on earth, then turning a third of the oceans into blood, and finally a third of the fresh water is turned into blood. If you read the book of Revelation chapters 8 through 10, it gives a graphic description of what will happen during these judgments. The fourth trumpet judgment snuffs out a third of the light from the heavens including the sun, moon and stars, which will make things night and day a third darker.

The final 3 trumpet judgments are called the Woe Judgments (Revelation 8:13) because of their terrible nature which begins even more deadly judgments. The fifth trumpet takes up half of Revelation 9 and describes the demonic beings that are given free rein to torment those people left alive on the earth. People will want desperately to die, but they won’t be able to. That completes the first Woe. The sixth trumpet takes up the second half of Revelation 9 and describes assembling the armies of the east, given power by the hand of Satan, to cross the river Euphrates and march to war, killing a third of the people left on earth. Verse 17 describes fire, smoke and brimstone coming out of their mouths which is a great description of tanks today. The Chinese army is the only army in the world that can fulfill the number of soldiers described in Revelation 9. And I recently read a news post that with the new dam on the Euphrates River, the flow of water can be shut down and dry up the river bed. And they had already done it as a test.

The final trumpet judgment opens the way for the bowl judgments. Revelation 15:5 describes the temple in Heaven opening and 7 angels are introduces who hold the last 7 judgments. The first angel pours out the first bowl and all of the people who took the mark of allegiance to the one world government and its leader are affected with terrible sores. When the second bowl is poured out the remainder of the sea coagulates like blood and all the creatures in the oceans die. The third bowl turns all rivers and all fresh water into blood, so no one will have anything to drink.

When the fourth bowl is poured out the sun scorches men with fire. That sounds like our sun going super-nova. Several years ago I read a little article in the back of our newspaper about things happening to our sun and that the scientists were worried. I wish I would have clipped and saved it now, because I have seen subtle changes in the level of light and sunspots in our sun.

The fifth bowl caused darkness over the headquarters and territories of the one world government. We don’t know exactly how that darkness will be caused, but it could be erupting volcanoes as some scholars have suggested. The sixth bowl causes the river Euphrates to completely dry up for the Chinese army to march on Israel and start their military attack. That begins the campaign of Armageddon, the final great battle on earth. The remaining countries bring their armies to the Valley of Megiddo in Israel where they will fight against Israel to completely wipe the nation and its people off the face of the earth. Satan has empowered these armies to do his bidding, lead by the one world leader, and this is his final fight to the death. The only way out for Israel is a direct intervention from God.

At that point the final judgment of the Great Tribulation is poured out with the greatest earthquake that earth has ever experienced, and with huge hailstones thrown down on mankind. A voice from the temple in Heaven said, “It is finished.” Then the second spirit of God, Jesus, came down from Heaven on a white horse followed by the armies of Heaven and destroyed the armies of the earth and kept them from totally destroying Israel. He threw the antichrist (the one world ruler) and his false prophet (who tried to turn all religions into a one world religion) into imprisonment into the one place in all of creation where God is absent. It is called the lake of fire.

At that point Jesus binds Satan and his followers for a thousand years so that they cannot tempt, deceive or harm any person left living at the end of the tribulation. Jesus sets up his throne in the city of Jerusalem to rule the world for a thousand years (called the Millennium). During that time there will be people born on earth who will be disobedient to God and at the end of that thousand years, Satan will be set free for a period of time to test the people to see if they would stay true to God or follow him. The ones who choose to follow Satan will be destroyed and Satan and his followers will be bound forever in the lake of fire.

Then future eternity begins. All the people who wanted God in their lives will be able to live in his presence. Those who rejected God will spend their final phase of life – eternity future – in the one place where God is absent, the lake of fire. God recreates the earth and heaven and creates a new mini-planet/moon called the city of New Jerusalem where those who were part of the church will live. All others who believed God throughout the rest of the Time Line will live on the new earth for eternity future.

Next installment we’ll look at what’s going on in Heaven during these 7 years.