The Day of the LORD

"Burning City" by Stellarian (CC BY-NC-SA)

How will the end of the age play out?  What happens during Daniel's 70th Week?  We've spent an inordinate amount of time pointing to the contemporary signs showing that Jesus' appearing and subsequent return are nigh at hand, but not much effort discussing what actually happens after the Church is gone.  I've had a number of people ask me what my thoughts are on the subject and in light of how close we now are to these events I thought it would be prudent to share my current understanding.  This article is essentially a chronological overview of Daniel's 70th Week with a bit of precursor, as well (as I currently understand it).  I won't be laying out all the reasons I believe things happen as they do, but just how I generally think things will play out.  I hope this will be enlightening, but understand that I approach this with humility.  I don't have it all figured out and I don't have much of an ear for those who think they do because the primary purpose of prophecy is not to allow us now to predict every future detail, but to strengthen the faith of those who see prophecy fulfilled in real-time (Mt. 24:33; Jn. 14:29; 1 Cor. 14:3).  That's why the Revelation 12 Sign was such an important fulfillment—we saw the sign with our own eyes and realized God's word is [literally] true.  The prophecies for the last of the last days are playing out... right now.

My understanding of prophecy operates on the basic premise that God's word is literal truth.  The first and primary meaning of any passage of Scripture is what is plainly written.  Beyond that, there can be patterns, types, shadows, and even dual fulfillments, but these allegorical or symbolic truths can never override the plain sense of Scripture insofar as the interpretation for a symbol is not given in the text itself.  Notice that primarily allegorical interpretive systems rarely agree from one interpreter to the next, which is why preterism, historicism, and idealism are all, quite frankly, junk.  In this article here I explain the hermeneutic I'm using in greater detail.  Here are two articles below that demonstrate why the more literally you take the Bible the more consistent your interpretation will be with others who do the same:

Revelation 6 and a Millennial Melt-down

Who's Who in Bible Prophecy

 Ok, moving right along...

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SETTING THE STAGE

To understand how things will play out we first need to understand four very [critically] important details about prophecy:

1. Prophecy is Messianic in nature.  That is to say, the Old and New Testaments are replete with prophecies about future events, but these prophecies all revolve around the person and purpose of Jesus Christ (Jn. 5:39–40).  Jesus Himself indicated that the Law of Moses (first five books of the Bible), the Psalms, and the Prophets were all written about Him and would be fulfilled by Him (Lk. 24:44).  The Bible's first and last prophecies were written about Christ (Gen. 3:15 and Rev. 22:20, respectively).  As a matter of fact, the entire story is about Him—He created the world, the world fell into ruin, He stepped into His creation to fix it.

Whenever students of Bible prophecy lose sight of this fact, literalism falls by the wayside and one's own interpretation of things begins to creep in.  Historicism and/or preterism are often the result—trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole.

2. The symbol of a woman in labor with a male child is, like, super-duper important.  In fact, that's not going far enough.  As many have recently discovered, the sign of a woman in labor is central to all of Bible prophecy and it took a Great Sign in the stars for the Church to finally realize that.  Here are seven reasons:

A. This symbol foretold the redemption of mankind from the very beginning (Gen. 3:15–16) and was the very first prophecy.

B. This symbol connects with the redemption of all of creation via the resurrection of the righteous dead (Is. 26:17–21; Rom. 8:20–22).

C. This symbol became literal truth when the Redeemer came to the earth the first time, born as the future Head of a mystical, spiritual body (Lk. 2:6–14; Col. 1:18).

D. This symbol is the greatest single sign given in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 12:1–2)—a literal astronomical alignment in the sky that is now history.

E. This symbol foretells the correct order of end-time events when the rest of the male child is delivered and joined to the Head in Heaven before the woman goes into labor (Is. 66:7–9; Rev. 12:5).

F. This symbol explains who Israel is in relation to the male child and what Israel must soon endure (Rev. 12:5–6; 13–14).

G. This symbol is a warning to the world and to Israel about how horrible the Day of the LORD will be (Jer. 30:4–7; 49:23–24; Mt. 24:8; 1 Thess. 5:3).

While I've believed in a pre-tribulational rapture and Revelation's seven seals opening after the rapture (for many reasons) for a number of years now, the sign of a woman in labor has sealed the deal for me.  It was the "icing on the cake" so-to-speak.  The corporate male child escapes to Heaven before the woman goes into labor (Is. 66:7–9) and the woman's labor pains are described in Jesus' Olivet Discourse (Mt. 24; see v. 8).  The Olivet Discourse chronologically parallels the first six seals of Revelation.

Side note: While I disagree with the preterists who only see the lead up to 70 AD in Matthew 24, I do agree that there are uncanny parallels.  I believe that the passage, in keeping with a literal hermeneutic, is first and foremost a warning about the end of the age and Christ's second coming, but that future time was foreshadowed by the lead up to 70 AD.  In a sense, a dual fulfillment.

3. The Tribulation is a seven-year period of time—not 3.5 years, 10 years, 15 years, etc.  For starters, Daniel 9 makes this crystal clear.  A covenant will be made or confirmed for a period of seven years (Dan. 9:27), which is the very last span of time in the present age (Dan. 9:24).  The 'He' in v. 27 is not Christ and the arguments I've seen presented suggesting otherwise don't hold water.  First, Christ never made a seven-year covenant (nor will He in the future).  His covenant is everlasting—not only with the Church, but also with Israel.  Second, Christ was not cut off halfway through a seven-year period.  He was cut off after the first 69 weeks of years (Dan. 9:25–26).

Strangely, some argue that years aren't in view here, but only actual weeks of days.  However, the Hebrew word here for "weeks" can indeed refer to seven-year periods of time (both Jewish and Christian scholars agree that "weeks" in Daniel 9 are seven-year periods).  The word means a "period of seven" and what the time unit is in that seven is determined by context and some other syntactical considerations.  For example, the same word is used in Genesis 29:27–28 referring to the seven-year period during which Jacob lived with Leah before marrying Rachel.

In any case, Daniel 9:27 ends the debate by pinpointing the ultimate fulfillment of the Abomination of Desolation to the middle of the final week of years.  This solidifies the view that this is an actual seven-year period since Daniel 12:11–12 plainly tells us that roughly 3.5 years remain after the Abomination of Desolation (cf. Dan. 12:7; Rev. 12:6; 14).

Lastly, this seven-year period directly connects to point #2 and the woman in labor—Scripture's prophetic key.  Leviticus 12:2 tells us that a woman who gives birth to a male child is unclean for a period of seven days.  Similarly, the Church, which was conceived in Israel by the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost some 2,000 years ago, will be delivered and then the woman, Israel, will be unclean for seven years—the time of her birth pangs and Jacob's Trouble (Jer. 30:4–7; Is. 66:7–9; Mt. 24:8).

4. Israel is at the center of God's plans.  The single clearest sign indicating that we are near the end of the age is the nation of Israel.  Hundreds of prophecies indicate that God's future plans on earth involve Israel, Jerusalem, and the Jews.  It was through Israel and the Jews that God gave us the Law and our Redeemer, Christ.  It was in Israel that the Church was conceived.  It is from Israel that Christ will reign on the throne of David, ruling over all the nations of the earth.

Now the second regathering of Israel, which occurred in the early 20th century, culminating with the nation's independence in May 1948, was no doubt a gathering in unbelief.  However, it was still God's sovereign effort that caused it to happen in preparation for Christ's return.  A remnant in unbelieving Israel will begin believing sometime during the Tribulation.

Consider for a moment how much of Scripture is about Israel.  Aside from Christ Himself, nothing is more central to the Bible's narrative than the country of Israel and the city of Jerusalem.  With that in mind, consider the fact that even in Jesus' day there was no Israel.  The Jews, Benjaminites, and a small remnant from the other tribes were present in the land, but the entire area was a province of Rome.  Scholars often cite 70 AD as the end of Israel, but it was really long before that.  The nation-state of Israel ceased to exist for roughly 2,670 years—from the final Assyrian conquest in 722 BC to the country's revival in 1948 AD.  The Hasmonean Kingdom was a briefly independent pseudo-Israel in the two centuries before Christ, but even that wasn't "Israel."  It was only truly independent for about 50 years, becoming a vassal state of Rome in 63 BC.  Even if you could consider the Hasmonean Kingdom "Israel" it would still be over two millennia before the country reemerged (2,010 years, to be precise).

Just as significantly, the Gentiles controlled Jerusalem for 2,552 or 2,553 years (from 587 or 586 BC to 1967 AD), aside from the brief Hasmonean rule, and "trampled it underfoot" for 1,897 years (70 AD to 1967 AD).  Not only has the nation of Israel come back into existence (1948), but Jerusalem is once again controlled by the Jews (1967).  This generation has seen a prophetic turning point like no other—it's the Fig Tree Generation.

The present existence of Israel and Jewish Jerusalem is incontrovertible evidence that Jesus' return is imminent.  The world is living on borrowed time and is blind to what is an incredibly obvious sign.  It's actually quite ironic.  In the 19th century, a number of biblical literalists (many of whom believed in a pre-trib rapture) predicted that the Jews would soon return to the Holy Land en masse and the nation of Israel would be reborn.  They were mocked, ridiculed, and maligned as crazies and fundamentalists.  The ivory tower theologians, especially in the Catholic and mainline churches, had long since abandoned any literal prophetic hermeneutic in favor of Augustinian allegorism.

But sure enough, just decades later the Zionist movement was established and Jews began arriving in droves.  Zionism quickly obtained the sympathies of influential evangelical leaders in the West and by 1917 the British rulers of the Holy Land were in favor of a future Jewish homeland in the region.  The rest is history.  The literalists were right because they trusted in God's word and they'll be right again—not because of their own intellect or understanding—but because they are not wise in their own eyes.  They know true wisdom and understanding come from God and God alone.

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A TIMELINE OF EVENTS

With the stage now set we can begin laying out a speculative order of things.  The Day of the LORD comes like a thief in the night upon an unsuspecting world, but the Church is awake, watching, and unsurprised (1 Thess. 5:3–4).  In fact, it is theoretically possible some will have even identified the week or month of the rapture because of a plethora of signs (God is screaming!).

~ The Final Moments ~

Sometime in the very, very near future the stage becomes perfectly set for the rapture.  The very last person destined to be part of Christ's mystical body, the Church, gives their life to Christ and receives the Holy Spirit (Rom. 11:25).  The male child has now outgrown the womb and is ready to be delivered.  The time of the Gentiles is reaching its end and God is about to fulfill His promise to literally take (λαβεῖν) a people to Himself out from among (ἐξ) the heathen nations (Acts 15:14; another pre-trib passage, btw) before He restores Israel (Acts 15:15–18; Rom. 11:25–27).  He will do this to provoke Israel to jealousy (Deut. 32:19–22; Rom. 11:11).

~ Rapture ~

As people go about their normal, daily routines a tear in the fabric of spacetime opens in the clouds above the earth.  Blinding light permeates the sky as happened when Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus.  Crushing waves of a trumpet blast shake the heavens and the earth.  The sound waves are so powerful you can feel them in your stomach and many fall to the ground in terror and confusion—yet God's children look up with exhilaration and hope.  In less than a second's time beings of light emerge from the dust of the earth.  The earth gives birth to the dead (Is. 26:19; 1 Thess. 4:16).  A fraction of a second later those with faith in Christ who have yet to taste death are transformed—all the young children of believers, as well.  Together the groups are pulled up into the sky as they gaze upon the unveiled face of  Messiah—the LORD Jesus Christ.

Just moments later the light disappears and ominous cloud cover returns.  Darkness sets in.  The sounds of crashes, screams, and cries can be heard in many populated areas.  This was no secret rapture, but the inhabitants of the earth are nonetheless confused and disoriented.

~ A Glimpse into the Throne Room (Rev. 4) ~

Millions upon millions of beings who were once made of dust, now find themselves in perfect, immensely powerful bodies, covered in robes of light, and adorned with crowns glimmering with iridescent, otherworldly gems. (Check out this article to learn what the rapture will be like).  Set before them is the manifest presence of God sitting upon a glorious, indestructible throne.  He radiates power and beauty and energy in wave after wave of gem-like color.  Lightning flashes forth from the One upon the throne.  A rainbow of emerald-energy surrounds Him.  The multitude, filled with inexpressible joy, fall upon holy ground and praise God in unison as they remove their crowns, laying them before the Throne.  They declare:

You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.

- Revelation 4:11

And

Now have come the salvation and the power
  and the kingdom of our God,
  and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
  who accuses them before our God day and night,
  has been hurled down.
They triumphed over him
  by the blood of the Lamb
  and by the word of their testimony;
  they did not love their lives so much
  as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
  and you who dwell in them!

- Revelation 12:10–12

Messiah, standing on the Throne (Rev. 5:6), who is now united to His Body and ready to restore the earth and reign over it, begins to open the seals...

~ Lawlessness and the 144,000 ~

Back on the earth, strong delusion has taken hold.  Sporadic media broadcasts via TV, radio, and internet allay fears, saying the threat is gone.  Speculation runs rampant.  Many say the LHC in Switzerland malfunctioned, pulling millions into microscopic black holes.  The religious suggest God judged the wicked and eradicated his enemies to save the earth.  Most say it was a mass alien abduction.  Anything but YHWH.  Still, the eyes of many are opened.  They realize the only possibility was the rapture of the Church (Zeph. 1:14–2:3; Is. 26:19–21; Lk. 21:36; Jn. 14:1–4; Acts 15:14; 1 Thess. 4:16–18; 5:1–11; 2 Thess. 2:1–7; Rev. 3:10; 4:1–2; 12:5).

These begin to believe in Christ, calling on His Name for forgiveness and deliverance.  They dust off old Bibles and search the Scriptures with more eagerness than the most eager of all Bereans.

In the West, the United States is the hardest-hit nation.  Tens of millions vanished from that country alone.  A number of the country's top leaders are among the missing.  Other countries with large evangelical populations in Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Oceania are also in disarray.  With believers gone, leaving behind an immense power vacuum, government vacancies across the West and post-Christian world are very quickly filled with progressives and socialists.  Amidst the chaos and disarray, there is little to no resistance as the lawless take charge.  Most people are simply too scared and confused from all the looting, riots, and supply shortages to oppose what will be many illegal and unconstitutional appointments and snap elections.  As the Bible predicted, it will be a time of lawlessness and the lawless will take the reins of power.

Simultaneously, the Spirit of God appoints and seals 144,000 virgin males from across the globe—12,000 from each of the 12 ancient tribes of Israel.  As in the days of Elijah and Elisha, God has miraculously preserved a faithful remnant of the descendants of Jacob.  These now recognize that Yeshua is exactly who He claimed to be and they set out to tell their people (and the world) this truth.

~ Seal 1: The Antichrist Rises ~

Behind the scenes, Satan and his minions overstep their heavenly bounds and begin manifesting themselves to key government officials, technocrats, corporate executives, and religious leaders.  How this manifestation happens is anyone's guess.  Perhaps they present themselves as actual extraterrestrials.

In the midst of this interaction, Satan selects his chosen vessel—a willing man.  Perhaps an alluring leader in Europe.  Possibly someone long dead like Nimrod (a.k.a. Osiris).  We can't positively identify this person now, but once the Restrainer—the Holy Spirit-indwelt Church—is removed from the earth, he will quickly be revealed (2 Thess. 2:7).

Simultaneously, Satan, possibly via the antichrist, appoints 10 loyal world leaders to each rule over one of 10 supranational regions.  In Revelation 12:3–4 we learn that the dragon has 10 horns and in Revelation 13:1 we learn that the beast also has 10 horns.  It may be that 10 angelic beings possess 10 human leaders just as Satan will [later] possess the antichrist.  The template for this global empire is already public knowledge, as a number of international organizations like the United Nations and Club of Rome have presented various arrangements of a world divided into 10 zones.

The long and short of it is that the man of lawlessness conquers the world without firing a shot.  The world's unbelieving, globalist leaders will trip over themselves to hand over their authority to the beast and his 10 deputies for the "greater good"—a progressive, socialist "utopia"—something they have been dreaming about for a generation.  They will be all-to-eager to do whatever is necessary to "help" end the chaos and empower the mysterious man-with-the-answers.  And with believers gone, they will sail to power across the Western world with almost no resistance—practically overnight.

Unfortunately for Satan, this empire of iron and clay that rises immediately after the rapture will not meld well together.

Side note: Daniel 9:27 tells us the antichrist will be of the people to come who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.  Naturally, this limits the choice to someone from Roman lineage, but possibly someone from Turkish or Syrian ancestry since many of the troops who sacked the city were conscripted from those areas.  There is a third possibility, however.  In the Book of Daniel, "prince" can also refer to one of the angelic princes given charge of a certain territory.  In fact, in the very next chapter we learn of at least two angelic princes: the demonic "prince" of Persia and Michael, a faithful prince who assisted Gabriel in the fight to deliver the prophetic message to Daniel (Dan. 10:13).  Therefore, there is textual warrant for the antichrist to either be of Roman lineage or from ancient Roman territory, or for the antichrist to be some sort of demonic prince who manifests himself to the people of earth in an alluring way.  In any case, Satan gives this "beast" his power and authority so that he (Satan) can rule clandestinely while the beast rules publicly.

~ Seal 2: War ~

Very shortly after the rapture and the antichrist's rapid rise to power as the progressive, globalist, "alien" solution to the world's ills, the second seal will be opened.  Peace will be taken from the earth.  Satan's overarching power structure will be weak and brittle, with national and religious ambitions still running rampant.  Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.  China vs. Taiwan, North Korea vs. South Korea, Russia vs. Ukraine.  Previous skirmishes will become major wars and millions will die.  Even the antichrist's regional lieutenants will jockey for power.

An alliance of Muslim nations immediately surrounding Israel will launch a blistering and bloody attack on the country to drive the Israelis into the sea.  They will use everything at their disposal—so much that Israel's Arrow and Iron Dome systems will be quickly depleted.  In the short and bloody war hundreds of thousands, possibly millions will perish in Northern Israel.  The progressive strongholds of Tel Aviv and Haifa will be almost entirely destroyed.  But Israel's retaliation will be swift.  Damascus will be destroyed by a nuclear attack in the night.  Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon will be completely eradicated.  Many Palestinians will be forced out of Judea and possibly Gaza, fleeing into what remains of Jordan and the Sinai, respectively.  Much of the Arab population of Israel will likely be forced out, as well.

With the loss of Tel Aviv and Haifa, conservative and Orthodox factions in Israel will have absolute control of the Knesset and the courts and non-Jews will be forced out of the Old City.  The Dome of the Rock will be bulldozed in preparation for the Third Temple's construction, but its construction will be blasphemous to God (Is. 66:1–6) because it signifies a people who still reject the sacrifice of His Son.  With no opposition remaining in the immediate areas surrounding Israel, the West Bank barrier will be torn down.

But despite the decimation of Hezbollah, Hamas, and the militaries in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon, Israel will still be in a weakened and vulnerable position.  Gog, possibly the antichrist's regional lieutenant over the Middle East or Russia, in conjunction with the Muslim countries of North Africa, will see Israel's vulnerability and seek to exploit it with overwhelming military force.  Muslim armies, with possibly Russia in tow, will assemble one of the largest standing armies the world has ever seen and storm through Israel's decimated northern frontier.  With what's left of Israel's nuclear deterrent, the IDF will be unable to launch a defensive attack out of fear of immediate nuclear reprisal from Russia or Pakistan.  They will be sitting ducks.

God intervenes.  Confusion strikes the hordes of Gog and the soldiers fight and kill one another.  Hail and burning stones of sulfur rain down and annihilate Gog and all those with him.  Strewn across Northern Israel are the bodies of hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Turkey, Russia, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and a number of other countries.

Many Israelis (and Gentiles in other countries) will see what God has done and finally turn to Him for salvation, but for a time Israel's leaders will still go their own way in pursuit of Judaism and the Third Temple implementation plan.

I believe this period of world war will be mere months in duration.  Things will change very, very quickly and many will be surprised at just how unstable and tumultuous the world situation will be—like a flood.  With the world's believing Christians gone and Muslims and Jews killing each other by the hundreds of thousands in the Middle East, the world's progressive media in league with the antichrist will foment a fundamental hatred of organized religion.  The last national opposition to the antichrist's total dominion will be religious in nature.  The Jews and Muslims of the Middle East will not readily submit to his rule.  Apparently his lieutenants in three of these key areas will be behind the rebellion.  He will gather his forces and storm through Egypt and Libya and a number of other countries in the region, overthrowing what Muslim opposition remains, and replacing the lieutenants in three of the world regions (presumably some combination of the Middle East, Africa, Russia, or China).  With Russian and Middle Eastern forces lying dead on the battlefield of Northern Israel and U.S. and Western European military might at his beck and call, he will sweep through these countries with ease.

But his solution to the "Jewish problem" will be different.  The IDF has nukes and Satan realizes Israel also has a very watchful God in Heaven as evidenced by the massacre of Gog and his horde.  He will present some sort of a regional agreement or treaty, possibly based on peace plans already in the works, that guarantees Israel's safety for a period of seven years.  It will allow Israel to build or continue building their Temple (my mind isn't made up on whether or not the covenant itself is what jump-starts the Third Temple's construction and occurs in conjunction with the first seal or if the Israelis begin building it in the immediate aftermath of Psalm 83 and Ezekiel 38).  The agreement will likely stipulate Israel not expanding its borders into the rest of Abraham's promised inheritance and that what few Arabs remain in Israel and Judea be protected.  In turn, the antichrist will promise Israel safety, the denuclearization of Iran, and other economic and geopolitical favors.  Israel's leaders will acquiesce, but unbeknownst to them is that this "covenant with death" is a major part of Satan's final plan to not only kill every last Jew and thwart Christ's return to reign on the throne of David, but also to rule the earth himself.

A lesson from history: The reason Hitler, a precursor to the antichrist, did not succeed in his murderous plans was that there were still large and numerous Jewish communities outside of Europe.  Satan's plan is different.  He intends to chase the Israelites who still remain scattered throughout the world back into Israel, so that they will be quarantined to a single area and vulnerable to attack, yet what the enemy has intended for evil, God intends for good.  According to Jeremiah 16:14–17 God will use this to bring all the remaining Israelites back to the land to fulfill His ancient promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The seven-year covenant may very well include a provision requiring all Jews to immigrate to Israel and the antichrist promises that any Jews in Israel will be spared mistreatment.

As the covenant goes into effect, two mysterious men dressed in sackcloth appear in the Old City of Jerusalem claiming to bring a message of warning from the LORD.  Some in Israel claim they are Moses and Elijah.  Others say Elijah and Enoch.  Still others, new Jewish believers, say they might be Elijah and the Apostle John.

~ Seal 3: Famine ~

At this point, some number of months after the rapture and the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week, the third seal is opened.  With hundreds of millions missing, millions dead from war, and the antichrist's chaotic world transformation well underway, the global economy finally collapses and government efforts become powerless to halt the breakdown.  Increasing numbers of earthquakes also strike major cities, speeding up the meltdown and severing important supply lines.  Many people have only enough money for a few scarce pieces of bread.

~ Seal 4: Death and Hades ~

The devastation from war and a collapsed world economy takes a very heavy toll, but especially in a particular quarter of the world—likely Africa or Asia.  Hundreds of millions die from starvation and martyrdom (especially believers) under the antichrist's oppressive reign.  It will be like Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution, but on a much larger scale.

During the first several years of the Tribulation, the antichrist invests his time and resources into completing a functioning neural lace technology—what will ultimately become the mark of the beast.  This technology is already being pioneered by engineers at Google, Facebook, and Elon Musk's Neuralink, but with otherworldly help from Satan and his fallen angels, the antichrist's engineers will be able to complete the project.

Our world is increasingly connected to the internet (an "internet of things"; called IoT).  Your home, car, phone, refrigerator, TV, Alexa, etc.  Even pacemakers and implants are already networking with the World Wide Web.  This is the avenue through which I believe the antichrist intends to control the minds (and souls) of men.  The neural lace is the final step.  A neural lace is a device or implant that can allow a computer to directly interface with the human brain, transferring information directly into the mind.  Believe it or not, the technology is already well on its way.

~ Seal 5: Souls Under the Altar ~

With most remaining national opposition to the antichrist stamped out, the iron bars of the ultimate Orwellian state grow thicker and stronger.  Most people turn inward, numbing out with virtual reality and media.  Any opinions that deviate from the progressive, globalist agenda are strictly prohibited.  Anyone sharing "wayward" ideas, conservative opinions, or Jewish or Christian literature are banned from social media, lose their employment, or even disappear.  The paranoia and fear in the population is palpable.  For the "good" of society, everyone is ordered to report anyone (even family members) who might deviate from the "utopian" narrative... especially if someone is suspected of being Jewish or possessing Bibles or Scripture materials.  The Christian Bible and Tanakh are considered detrimental to society to the point few dare even mention their existence in public.

Conservative, Christian, and Jewish elements of society try to congregate underground and in secret.  Some hide in caves and others in abandoned buildings.  Some even escape to the sewers.  Many millions across the planet are caught and executed for their faith in Jesus, but their stalwart resolve plants the seeds of faith in millions more who also become willing to die to escape the misery of the antichrist's hell.

~ Seal 6: The Dragon Cast Down ~

A mighty earthquake shakes the earth.  The sun then turns black and the moon to the color of blood.  The world is baffled at how a simultaneous solar and lunar eclipse could occur... and then... the sky is again torn open revealing the Throne of God.  Wicked men and women scramble for cover, many hiding in caves and under beds.  "It's God!  He's finally going to kill us!"

Faint lights like dim stars appear in the sky and stream down to the earth (Rev. 6:13; cf. Rev. 12:4).  Many believe the lights to be aliens.  Indeed they are aliens, but not extraterrestrial.  They are inter-dimensional.  Christ's Church has displaced Satan and his cohorts.  The dragon and his wicked horde who accused God's children day after day have been forced out of the heavenly realms after a mighty battle with God's angelic army (Rev. 12:3–4; 7–9).  While they appear to some, these ghouls mostly remain in the shadows as they regroup and lick their wounds.  Their spiritual leader is wroth with anger and eager for vengeance.

When the sky opened up the first time, the Church was taken up.  When it opened up this second time, Satan was cast down.  Because they overstepped their bounds, Satan and his minions lose their place in Heaven and lose their immortality (Ps. 82:6–7), but still remain immensely powerful.

~ Seal 7: The Seven Trumpets ~

When Christ opens the seventh seal there is a brief period of silence in Heaven.  Somberness overtakes the worshipers as they realize what is about to happen to the unrepentant earth dwellers below.

Then the silence is interrupted as the seven trumpets begin to blow.

~ Trumpet 1: Hail and Fire ~

The first trumpet blows and hail and fire rain down on the planet.  All grass is burned up and one-third of the planet's forests are incinerated.

~ Trumpet 2: Meteorite and Tsunami ~

The second trumpet blows and a large meteorite crashes into the ocean—likely the Pacific or Atlantic—and one-third of the sea turns into blood.  One-third of the world's ships are capsized and sink from the resulting tsunami and one-third of all sea life is killed.

~ Trumpet 3: Wormwood ~

The third trumpet blows and another meteorite, a smaller one, slams into one of the earth's larger continents.  The object brings with it some sort of toxic gases or chemicals, which contaminate the many rivers.  One-third of the earth's fresh water is made too toxic to drink and many people die from drinking the poisoned water.

~ Trumpet 4: Days Cut Short ~

The fourth trumpet blows and some sort of large, interplanetary object passes by the earth.  The massive object rocks the planet, pulling it in a gravity well.  The earth's spin is fundamentally altered—its rotational speed accelerating from 460 meters per second to 690.  The days are cut short from 24 hour periods to only 16 hours.  Daylight now only lasts for about 7–8 hours.

~ Trumpet 5: Demonic Locusts ~

The fifth trumpet blows and a large rift in the ground opens.  Smoke as from a billowing volcano lurches upwards into the sky.  TV cameras and live webcams capture the terrifying sight as millions of small, demonic beings—monstrosities—emerge from within the earth.  The nightmarish creatures look like a cross between locusts, scorpions, and men.  They seek out the earth's inhabitants to sting them, tormenting them for five months before the plague is subdued.

~ Trumpet 6: One-third of Mankind Killed ~

The sixth trumpet blows as the demonic plague dies down.  Humanity breathes a collective sigh of relief, but only for moments.  Shortly after the earth dwellers are promised by the beast an end to the earth's burgeoning catastrophes, a much bigger catastrophe is unleashed than anything that has come before.  Again the physical and spiritual realms intermingle and some sort of portal is opened near the Euphrates River in the Middle East.  Out from the spacetime rift emerge 200 million angelic (or demonic) beings ready for battle.  They are unlike anything the world has ever seen: interdimensional mounted troopers riding upon what look like fire-breathing lions with carnivorous, serpentine tails.  Most people believe it to be an extraterrestrial invasion.  This otherworldly army spreads out into the earth bringing with it the greatest cataclysm since Noah's Flood.  Fully one-third of all people are killed by the army.  But the beast-loving remainder of earth dwellers refuse to turn to God for mercy.  After the army "disappears" the peoples' hearts are hardened once again and they rally behind the antichrist and his false prophet.

~ The Abomination of Desolation ~

Nearing the very end of the first 3.5 years and with the remaining Jews gathered to Israel, the antichrist puts his final plan into motion.  He summons the armies of many nations and surrounds defenseless Jerusalem.

Then the city is ransacked and overrun by the beast's armies.  In the midst of skirmishes across the city, the antichrist arrives.  Though under heavy guard by a security detail, a sophisticated assassination is perpetrated and the man of lawlessness is killed.  While some news reports attempt to cover up the assassination, it can't be hidden for long.  Soon the world is mourning over the loss of their beloved leader.

But the now mortal Satan comes to the "rescue," entering and reanimating the antichrist's corpse through direct possession just as he once entered into Judas (see Lk. 22:3).  The world marvels after the beast.  The false prophet declares it to be evidence that he is indeed the world's savior and perhaps even a god.

The Two Witnesses are executed, and the man of lawlessness enters the Third Temple, declaring himself to be not only the world's ruler, but god in the flesh.  Mystery Babylon—the whore—is finally revealed.  It's none other than Jerusalem, the "great city" (cf. Rev. 11:8).  It's the city that rules over the kings of the earth, adorned in scarlet and fine jewels like a prostitute (Rev. 18:16–17).  The city that has now twice rejected the Messiah in favor of Satan and has rejected the message of the prophets.  The whore has been found guilty of shedding the blood of all the prophets (Rev. 17:6; 18:24; cf. Mt. 23:34–39).  The woman rides the beast, but is not the beast—the beast hates the woman.  It's from this city that Satan hates that he unveils his penultimate plan to enslave mankind and overthrow God's rightful rule of the earth.

With the help of his false prophet, an "image" of some sort is installed in the inner sanctum of the Temple (likely some form of AI or quantum computer that will allow control over all those taking the mark).  The neural lace mark of the beast is revealed and everyone the world-over is demanded to have it implanted in either their forehead or right hand.  Without it you won't be able to eat.  With it you won't be able to escape God's judgment.  The entire earth will finally have one final choice to obey God or reject Him.  The choice will be clear.

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 666.

- Revelation 13:18

Revelation 13:17 tells us people will need the number of the beast or his mark to buy or sell.  The Greek word some translate "calculate" is best understood as simple arithmetic—counting.  In the Bible's Hebrew and Aramaic alphabets, the sixth letter is 'Waw'.  In Modern Hebrew, 'Vav'.  In Bible times it was the 'W' sound.  Waw-Waw-Waw.  WWW.  666.  At the mid-point of the Tribulation, the antichrist has complete digital control of the planet via the World Wide Web.  He controls every TV, security camera, phone, and electronic device on the planet and can manipulate them at whim.  All that remains is for him to directly connect humanity to that same internet, so he can control and manipulate them, too.

Submitting to the antichrist and receiving his neural lace "mark" will bring individuals beyond the possibility of redemption for the very reason that he, via his "image" and infrastructure, will be able to transmit apostasy directly into the human mind.

~ Escape ~

The Two Witnesses are resurrected and raptured to Heaven and earth-dwellers are stricken with terror.  Then the remnant of Israel heeds the warnings of Scripture and with divine help escapes to the east, into Jordan—most on foot—with the blasphemer's armies in close pursuit.

~ Great Tribulation ~

God now defends his believing remnant and the fury of his wrath is displayed to the world in defense of His people once again—just as it was 3.5 years earlier when He decimated the hordes of Gog.  A mighty earthquake shakes the Holy Land, so powerful that 1/10th of Jerusalem immediately collapses into dust.  7,000 people are crushed in the rubble—likely many who were loyal to the antichrist.  The earthquake opens a rift in the desert behind the escaping remnant and the armies in pursuit are swallowed up just as Pharaoh's army was once swallowed by the Red Sea in the days of Moses.  The antichrist is now powerless to stop Israel's escape (Rev. 12:15–16).

While the Tribulation had already been inexplicably terrible, the Great Tribulation is far, far worse (Mt. 24:21).  Aside from scattered bands of believing Gentiles and the remaining people of Israel, mankind has chosen to follow the beast and has taken his mark.  Their fate has been sealed.  All that remains is a terrible and protracted judgment.

Realizing that Israel is beyond reach, Satan now turns his attention to those Gentile believers who still remain scattered throughout the nations.  The remainder are quickly killed now that the beast and his followers have near-complete control and surveillance of the planet.  No one on earth can then resist him.

~ Trumpet 7: Delusion to Rebellion ~

The seventh trumpet blows and a third tear in the sky reveals God's heavenly temple and the Ark of the Covenant.  Lightning flashes forth across the heavens.  Another mighty earthquake shakes the earth and large hail pummels the ground.  Voices echo from Heaven declaring that ownership of the earth's kingdoms has been transferred from the devil to Christ.

The Church is complete, the full number of Tribulation Saints destined to be martyred have been killed, and Israel is safely in hiding.

Whereas most were severely deluded in the lead up to the Great Tribulation, believing various lies about what had been happening, the beast's followers now realize with certainty that God is who He says He is and the time of His final judgments has come (Rev. 11:18).  They are in for it.  Their delusion now becomes utter hatred towards God and they openly oppose Him.  Like the demons, they believe and tremble.

The final segment of God's triple-septad judgment (seals-trumpets-vials) is about to begin in the lead up to a dramatic, grand finale.

~ Vial 1: Sores ~

The first angel pours out his vial of wrath and painful, blistering sores break out all over the bodies of those with the mark of the beast.

~ Vial 2: Sea of Blood ~

The second angel pours out his vial and the rest of the oceans turn to blood.  Every single living creature in the sea perishes.

~ Vial 3: Rivers of Blood ~

The third vial pours out and all the world's rivers turn to blood.  What little flowing, fresh water is left is now gone and wicked mankind is now reliant on dew, existing supplies, and stagnant bodies of water to survive.

~ Vial 4: Death Star ~

The fourth vial pours out and the sun's energy is substantially increased.  Many, especially near the equator, are scorched and burned by the unbearable heat.

~ Vial 5: Darkness Covers the Land ~

When the fifth vial is poured out, it is as when darkness covered the land of Egypt in the days of Moses, but this time the darkness covers the whole earth.

~ Vial 6: The Euphrates River Disappears ~

The sixth angel pours out his vial of wrath and the Euphrates River dries up completely.  All the nations in Central and East Asia now have direct foot access into the Holy Land.  God is baiting them, urging a final confrontation.

Knowing that Christ and His saints are now on the way, the antichrist and false prophet, under the direction of Satan, stir up the nations into a murderous frenzy.  The plagued hordes, including large armies from the east, gather in the land of Israel to fight the coming "alien" intruder and kill the remnant in hiding.  They gather on the plain of Megiddo and make their way south to the outskirts of Jerusalem.  Satan now has a scorched-earth policy like Saddam Hussein several decades earlier—He controls Jerusalem and will stop at nothing to prevent the Son of David from capturing the city and assuming David's throne.  Antichrist's army and followers then burn much of the city to the ground (Rev. 17:16).

~ Vial 7: Armageddon and the Destruction of Mystery Babylon ~

The seventh angel pours out his vial and the LORD God utters words from His Throne that He had not spoken since He hung on a cross some 2,000 years earlier: It is finished (Rev. 16:17).  Then a great earthquake shakes the entire planet—the most violent earthquake ever to strike the earth.  Mystery Babylon—Jerusalem—comes crashing down, as do cities all over the world.  And survivors find little solace away from the wreckage for 100-pound hailstones fall from the sky, crushing many to death.

The hundreds of millions of rebels encompassing Jerusalem fire weapons and throw stones into the sky with futility trying to kill the Rider on a white horse (Rev. 19:19), but the torrent of giant hailstones pounds them into the ground like a mortar and pestle.

~ The Return of the King ~

Jesus Christ descends from Heaven once again, but this time with His mystical Body in tow.  An army of hundreds of millions, clothed in radiant light, descend with their LORD to finish off the unholy trinity (Satan-antichrist-false prophet) and the remainder of their army.  The feet of the LORD touch down on the Mount of Olives just as prophesied (Zech 14:4; Acts 1:11) and a huge rift splits the mountain, with half moving north and half moving south.

The blood of the largest human army ever assembled begins to flow outside the city and through the rift.  In places the blood is nearly five feet deep.  It flows for 180 miles.

All opposition to Christ and His saints has been eliminated.  The antichrist and false prophet are captured alive and cast into another dimension—the lake of fire (Rev. 19:20).  The fallen Cherub, Lucifer, now separated from his host, is incarcerated in a spiritual abyss—unable to harm mankind for 1,000 years (Rev. 20:1–3).

The LORD and His co-heirs begin their reign upon the earth.  The remnant of Israel returns from hiding.  Gentile survivors are gathered and judged—all with the mark of the beast are burned outside the city.  The repentant without the mark are preserved and rewarded.  The Tribulation Saints are resurrected (Rev. 20:4).  The LORD's people begin rebuilding Jerusalem, but this time as a much larger square with a much larger Temple.  The world is cleansed and restored to an Edenic paradise and the last 1,000-year period of human history begins.

- - -

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Revelation's chronology is something that has long confused students of Bible prophecy (specifically the inner-workings of Daniel's 70th Week).  One of the chief reasons is that there are many chronological indicators that make simple assumptions about the book untenable (e.g., that it is a perfectly-ordered, Western-style timeline).  Another reason is that certain patterns and events are repeated in a similar fashion.  This can make it tempting to believe some of these patterns are pointing to the same event (sometimes they are and sometimes they are not).

I surveyed a number of different literalist chronologies.  Some (like Dr. John Walvoord) place all 21 judgments in the last half of the Tribulation.  A smaller minority use a historicist-futurist hybrid, believing that the seals have been opening successively since Christ's ascension.  The majority place at least the first six seals in the first half (as do I).  That leaves how to handle a flurry of mid-tribulational events, such as the Abomination of Desolation and the death and resurrection of the Two Witnesses.  It's definitely a tough call and I could be mistaken about some of the details, but I think the mid-trib break occurs between the sixth and seventh trumpets.  Revelation 11 is the decisive prooftext for me, because of the second woe and when the seventh trumpet is blown in relation to the end of the Two Witnesses' ministry (this article explains part of the reason why Revelation 11 is so decisive).

The bottom line for me is that of all of Revelation's many details, the clearest, most unmistakable chronology of events during the 70th Week is that presented by the triple-septad judgments because they have ordinal numbers and must follow one after the other (if you take the text literally).  Revelation directly connects them as follows:

Just as important, Revelation is chronological, but not in the Western sense of the word.  It's a Semitic chronology similar to the Book of Genesis.  Semitic chronologies often give an ordered overview of events followed by an in-depth explanation of certain key details from the previously mentioned list.  The cycle then repeats.

Genesis is a prime example.  Genesis 1–2:3 is an ordered list of events during Creation Week, including the Sabbath.  Genesis 2:4–25 rewinds to Day #6 and spells out lots of details.  Interludes can look back or back and forward, but never only forward.  In relation to Revelation's 21 judgments, that's what we see.

So a foundational understanding of Revelation's overall macro chronology is as follows:


Revelation 1:1–1:18: Things past

Revelation 1:19–3:22: Things present

Revelation 4:1–22:21: Things future


Moving from the macro to the micro, we can order the chronology like this:


Revelation 4–5: Rapture and the Church in the Throne Room in Heaven (cf. Rev. 3:21; 12:5; and notice that from Rev. 4:1-on the Church is not mentioned until the very end of the Book in v. 22:16)

Revelation 6: Ordered overview of seals #1–6 (First part of the first half of the Tribulation)

Revelation 7: Interlude explaining the previous ordered list plus events still to come (Rev. 7:1–8 looks back, while Rev. 7:9–17 looks forward)

Revelation 8:1–5: Seventh seal triggers the seven trumpets.

Revelation 8:6–9:21: Ordered overview of trumpets #1–6 (Second part of the first half of the Tribulation)

Revelation 10–14: Interlude explaining key details from the previous ordered list plus many events still to come.  Keeping with Revelation's chiastic structure, this interlude is central to the entire narrative and contains two of the most important themes in Revelation (Rev. 12:5 - the rapture; Rev. 12:7–9 - Satan's fall).

Revelation 15:1–16:21: Ordered overview of vials #1–7 (The last half of the Tribulation)

Revelation 17:1–18:24: Interlude explaining a key detail from the previous ordered list (that Mystery Babylon—Jerusalem—is destroyed)

Revelation 19–22: Conclusion (Christ returns, the unholy trinity is defeated, the Tribulation Saints are resurrected, the Millennial Kingdom is established, and a new heavens and earth are created along with a new Jerusalem)

It's likely that each seal, trumpet, and vial takes a unique amount of time and some are longer than others.  However, I think trying to fit either the seals, trumpets, or vials into a very short or uneven amount of time leads to many problems.  When you average them all out in duration, a sixth trumpet mid-trib is the most even possible break (possibility #3 below):

Additionally, when you factor in that shortly before the middle of the Tribulation, trumpet #4 changes days from 24 hours to 16 (fulfilling Mt. 24:22), the division becomes even more practical because the last half of the Tribulation will still be 1260 days in length, but only two-thirds the number of hours as the first half of the Tribulation.

~ MARANATHA ~

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