**********************************************Article 0 End Time Events and The 2nd Coming of Jesus. For those of you who want bottom line information on the 2nd coming of Jesus and all of the main end time events that will be occurring leading up to His visible return back to our earth, below are a list of articles giving you the full details from Scripture on exactly what will be occurring. We strongly recommend that you keep these end time articles on the shelf in the event that we start to live through these end time events in our lifetime. Included in this series of articles is an End Time Summary Outline giving you the specific order of events as they will be occurring so that you can be properly informed. God is really big on giving His people fair warning on what is coming down the road and He goes more than overboard on this subject in the Bible. The Bible is fully loaded with all the information we will need in order to be properly prepared for these coming end time events. 1. Blessed Are Those Who Reed and Study From the Book of Revelation. 2. Basic Overview of Main End Time Events. 3. Summary Outline of Main End Time Events. 4. The Rapture . 5. Warning – Do Not Take the Mark of the Beast. 6. The Rise and Fall of Babylon. 7. Russia and Her Allies Will Attack Israel. 8. A War in Heaven. 9. God's 4 Avenues to Reach the Lost During the Tribulation. 10. The 7 Seal Judgments. 11. The 7 Trumpet Judgments. 12. The 7 Bowl Judgments. 13. The 1000 Year Millennium Kingdom. 14. Satan is Let Loose One More Time. 15. The Great White Throne Judgment. 16. The New Heaven and New Earth. 17. Recommended Books on End Times. **********************************************Article 1 Blessed Are Those Who Reed and Study From the Book of Revelation. There are a total of 66 books in our Bible, but there is only one Book that promises some kind of a special blessing for those who will attempt to try and read it and keep the words, revelation, and knowledge that is contained in it – and that one Book is the very last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation. Why would God single out the very last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, as the only Book that He will actually say that "blessed" is he who "reads" and "hears" the words of this Book? For those of you who are not aware of this very profound verse, here it is, word for word: "BLESSED is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near." (Revelation 1:3) Notice this statement is being made right at the very beginning of this Book. Right at the very beginning of this last Book in the Bible, God is officially making the statement that "blessed" will be the man or woman who will attempt to try and read and keep what is in this Book. If all 66 Books of the Bible are highly anointed and inspired by God Himself, then why is He making the statement that the Book of Revelation is the one Book that will cause someone to become blessed in some way? When God is making this kind of direct statement right at the very beginning of this Book, He is trying to tell all of us something very important – and that something is that He is really wanting all of us to try and read and assimilate what is in this last Book. Otherwise He would have never made this kind of a direct statement right at the very beginning of it. Many Christians, including some pastors, are afraid to try and get into this last Book and make an attempt to try and fully understand it. For some, they feel it is too hard to try and fully understand. For others, it is just too frightening and scary to try and read, due to the extreme events that will be taking place in the end times. They would prefer to keep their heads buried in the sand due to the severe and extreme judgments that will be taking place, as God will be releasing His wrath and fury on this world in a way that the world has never seen before and will never see again. Not even Hollywood, with all of its special effects capabilities, could even begin to duplicate on the big screen what is going to happen to this world once we enter into the Great Tribulation, which will be the last 7 years on this earth before Jesus comes back to set up His Millennium Kingdom from the city of Jerusalem. I believe there are three main reasons as to why God is really wanting all of us to read this last Book, and then make an attempt to try and fully grasp and assimilate the knowledge and revelation that is contained in this Book. 1. The first main reason that God is really wanting all of us to read this Book is due to the fact that it is the very last Book of the Bible – it is the very last chapter. It is the climax to our whole story in the Lord. As such, each Christian should know exactly how everything will eventually play out and exactly what our final ending is going to be in the Lord. Can you imagine reading a good fiction novel, and then all of a sudden you quit reading as you get to the last chapter, never finding out what the final ending came out to be? Can you imagine watching an exciting movie on the big screen, and then all of a sudden you walk out on the last 10 minutes of the movie never finding out exactly how the movie was going to end? It's the exact same way in our walk with the Lord. There will be an eventual end to all of the bad things that keep occurring on this earth on a daily basis. As Christians, we all should know exactly what our final ending is going to be in the Lord and how everything will eventually play out. Once again, this information and knowledge should be basic 101 knowledge and revelation that should be taught in every single Christian Church, especially with the Lord Himself singling out this Book and the revelation that is contained in it as something that will cause all of His own to become blessed in some way. If you ask many Christians what the final end of their story in the Lord is going to be, they will tell you that when they die and depart from this earth, they will go straight to heaven and live with God, Jesus, and all of their saved loved ones forever and ever up in heaven. However, unless you have read from the Book of Revelation and all of the other Scripture verses that pertain to these coming end time events, you will not know that there are two more chapters that will play itself out after you had already died and entered into heaven. After you have died and entered into heaven, the next thing that will occur is that all of the saints who have been living with Jesus up in heaven, will be coming back down with Him to rule this earth during His Millennium Kingdom. This Millennium Kingdom will last 1000 years. After this 1000 years has passed, the next, last, and final event will be God the Father creating a New Heaven and a New Earth where He will then bring both Himself and the city of New Jerusalem down upon our new earth where He and Jesus will then rule this new earth from this new holy city of Jerusalem for the rest of all eternity. The Bible tells us that our world is a world that will know no end. Unless you have studied from the Book of Revelation, along with all of the other Scripture verses pertaining to these coming end time events, you would not have been aware of these two remaining chapters. The heaven where God and Jesus now live in is not going to be our final abode. The New Heaven and New Earth will be our final resting place with the Lord, and this information and knowledge can only be found in the Book of Revelation. 2. The second main reason that each Christian should have basic knowledge on how everything is going to eventually play out and end up is so they can share and transmit this knowledge to other Christians who do not have this knowledge and information under their belt. Until more churches start to teach on this subject matter, you are going to have many Christians, especially in the times we are living at right now, who are going to be very hungry for information on this topic, and they will seek out teachers who can educate them on this topic. 3. The third main reason that every Christian should be fully armed with knowledge on this topic is because we will never know which generation will be the one that will start to live through these end time events. And once these end time events start to take place, your knowledge on this subject matter and your faith in the Lord will be the only two things that will help get you through some of these horrific events. You will need to know exactly how everything is going to play out. If you do not, you could easily lose your faith in the Lord due to the extreme activity that will be occurring during these very trying times. This is why the Lord goes more than overboard in the Bible on this entire subject matter. He wants to give all of us more than enough fair warning on exactly what will be coming down the road so we can properly prepare ourselves to be able to handle all of it once it does, start to come our way. Many teachers who are anointed by the Lord to be teaching on this subject matter in this day and age believe that there is a very good possibility that our current generation may be the generation that will see the return of our Lord back to this earth. No one obviously knows the exact date of our Lord's return back to this earth, but there is no question that the end time events prophesied to occur from our Bible are all starting to form out. Only time will tell if our generation will be the one to see our Lord's visible return back to our earth. But sooner or later, all of these end time events will eventually occur because our Bible tells us so. As such, each and every Christian should have some basic fundamental knowledge on this part of our walk with the Lord so they cannot only have it for themselves and their own knowledge base in the Lord, but so they can also have it to be able to teach and educate others about it. Recommended Authors and Teachers. In the End Times section of our site, we have 15 good basic articles giving you the basic information and knowledge on all of the main end time events that will be occurring leading up to our Lord's second coming to this earth, and then all of the events that will take place after He sets up His Millennium Kingdom from the city of Jerusalem. We have tried to keep all of these articles very basic, simple, and straight-to-the-point so that you can fully grasp and understand what specific events will actually be taking place, along with the possible chronological order of all of these events. For those of you who would like more detailed information on this topic, below is a list of what I believe are highly anointed authors and teachers on this subject. You simply cannot go wrong with most of their teachings on this topic. Though there are some minor differences between some of them on the possible order of some of these events, most of them are all on the same page in their interpretation and understanding of these end time events. I believe that Hal Lindsey's best seller book, "The Late Great Planet Earth," published back in the seventies, was the door opener for the Body of Christ to being able to fully understand this part of our Bible. The prophet Daniel was told by an angel of the Lord that this part of our Bible would eventually be opened up at the end of time so God's people could fully understand what He was trying to tell them with all of this specific information. And I believe that Hal Lindsey was one of the first ones that God had anointed so he could teach on this particular subject matter in this current day and age. From there, God has raised up and anointed many of the following men to be able to teach on this subject matter to the rest of the Body. Again, I believe these great men of God are some of the best of the best in being able to teach on this subject matter to the rest of the Body. I simply cannot recommend these men highly enough. 1. Tim LaHaye. 2. Perry Stone. 3. Jack Van Impe. 4. Grant Jeffrey. 5. Mark Hitchcock. 6. Hal Lindsey. 7. John Hagee. 8. Ed Hindson. 9. Thomas Ice. 10. J. R. Church. 11. Hilton Sutton. 12. David Breese. 13. John Waalvord. Many of these men have their own websites. They have different books, CD's, DVD's, and audio tapes that you can order from their websites or from Christianbook.com or Amazon direct. Some of them also have their own radio and/or TV ministries. Below is a list of some of the better books that some of these men have written to date. Recommended Books on End Times. Here are some of the better books written to-date by some of the above authors and teachers. Again, you cannot go wrong with some of their solid teaching on this subject matter. 1. Are We Living in the End Times? By Tim LaHaye / Tyndale House 2. Revelation Unveiled, softcover By Tim LaHaye / Zondervan Corp. By Tim LaHaye 4. The End Times Controversy By Tim LaHaye & Thomas Ice 5. The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy: Over 150 Topics from the World's Foremost Prophecy Experts By Edited by Tim LaHaye & Ed Hindson / Harvest House Publishers 6. The Late Great Planet Earth By Hal Lindsey / Zondervan Corp. 7. Planet Earth: The Final Chapter By Hal Lindsey / Oracle House Publishing 8. Prince of Darkness By Grant Jeffrey / Random House, Inc 9. From Daniel To Doomsday: The Countdown Has Begun By John Hagee / Thomas Nelson / W 10. Jerusalem Countdown By John Hagee 11. Prophecy at Ground Zero: From Today's Middle-East Madness to the Second Coming of Christ By William James / Faithworks Publications 12. 101 Most Asked Questions about the End Times By Mark Hitchcock / Multnomah Publishers Inc. 13. The Second Coming of Babylon: What the Bible Says About the End Times By Mark Hitchcock / Multnomah Publishers Inc. 14. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (End Times Answers-Book #7) By Mark Hitchcock 15. Is America In Bible Prophecy By Mark Hitchcock / Multnomah Publishers Inc. 16. The Truth Behind Left Behind: A Biblical View of the End Times By Mark Hitchcock & Thomas Ice / Multnomah Publishers Inc. Every single one of these books will provide you with up-to-date, solid teaching on this subject matter for those of you who would really like to further your education into this specific area. Conclusion Over the years there have been many pastors, churches, and Christians who have argued that they simply could not even begin to understand what God was trying to reveal to the apostle John when he was given these incredibly profound and powerful visions on what would eventually be coming our way in the end times. But the prophet Daniel was specifically told by an angel from the Lord, when he was receiving his own visions and knowledge on specific end time events that would eventually be occurring, that this part of our Bible would eventually be opened up so that God's people could fully understand what He was trying to convey not only to the apostle John, but also to some of the other Old Testament prophets who were also given visions and information on these end time events, such as Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, and Zechariah. In order to be able to piece together what the Lord is trying to show us from His Word on this subject matter, what you really have to do is search for and locate all of the specific Scripture verses pertaining to these end time events. God has purposely scattered all of these end time verses throughout the Bible. The Book of Revelation puts much of it together for us, but in order to be able to get a very clear and concise view into all of these end time events, you really need to put all of these verses together on this subject matter just like you would pieces to a jigsaw puzzle. And many of these verses are located back in the Old Testament, especially with some of the above named Old Testament prophets. But once you put all of these Scripture verses together like pieces to a jigsaw puzzle, and then match them up with the visions and revelation that was given to the apostle John in the Book of Revelation, then you can see quite clearly what the Lord is trying to show us. And all of the above authors and teachers have done a very good job in putting all of these puzzle pieces together for you. Any Christian, and any Christian pastor can quickly educate himself in a very short period of time on this subject matter if they will just take the time to read and study from some of the above anointed teachers and authors. These men and their teachings on this subject matter can save you years of trying to find and match up all of the Scripture verses on this topic for yourself. The other reason that many Christians are afraid to try and tackle this subject is because of what I call the "fright factor." I have personally met many Christians who have told me they are simply too afraid to try and read the Book of Revelation due to the intensity and severity of all of the action that is described in it. The Book of Revelation tells us that there will be three sets of 7 judgments released upon this earth. These three sets of judgments are called the Seal, Trumpet and Bowl Judgments. What will occur in these 21 judgments is so horrific, so intense, and so catastrophic, that many Christians can hardly even begin to read what is going to happen in these judgments, much less really meditate and assimilate this specific knowledge into their minds. But the above verse from the Lord tells us that not only must we "reed" and "hear" the words in the Book of Revelation in order for us to be blessed, but that we must also "keep" these words in us. To "keep" these words in us means that we have to grasp the full meaning of these words, and have committed the basic facts of this revelation into our minds so we cannot only keep it for our own storehouse of knowledge in the Lord, but so we can also use it to help educate others in this area. As frightening and as intense as this revelation and knowledge really is, God is still wanting all of us to really make an attempt to try and understand it. We not only need to know what the final outcome is going to be and all of the specific events that will be leading up to this final outcome, but we also need to know exactly why all of this is going to happen in the first place, and exactly why God is going to release such severe judgments on this earth. At the beginning of my article on the 7 Seal judgments, I give you the specific reasons as to why God the Father will be releasing His fury and wrath on this earth with these 21 judgments in a way that the world has never seen before and will never see again. There are specific reasons for everything that will be occurring, and you need to know exactly what those specific reasons are so you can perfectly understand why all of this has to play out the way it has been prophesied to occur from our Bible. Once you know what the final chapters are going to be in our walk with the Lord, it will just help give you deeper insight and knowledge into this awesome God of ours. The Book of Revelation is without question, the icing on the entire cake. This Book will tell us exactly what is going to happen in these 21 judgments, what exactly is going to happen to Satan and the rest of his fallen angels, what will happen to all of the unsaved who have ever lived on this earth, and then what the final glorious end will be for all Christians who have stayed true, loyal, and faithful to the Lord. This information and knowledge is so vital and so important for all of us to have, that the Lord Himself has promised that "blessed" will be the man or woman who will take the time to try and reed from this powerful final Book of our Bible. It is my own personal belief that we are at the beginning of many of these end time events starting to form out. And sooner or later, there will be some incredible end time events that will start manifesting on this earth. And when it does, you will have hordes of both the saved and the unsaved coming after Christians who will have knowledge and understanding of this subject matter. If you will allow the Lord to help build up your knowledge base in this area, then He will be able to use you to help educate these other people once they start looking for answers to help explain all of the incredible end time events that will start occurring on this earth. The Lord has officially opened up not only the Book of Revelation, but also the rest of the Scripture verses pertaining to these coming end time events. Many of these puzzle pieces have now been put together. It is now all there for the taking for those of you who want to dive in and further your education in this area. **********************************************Article 2 Basic Overview of Main End Time Events. In part 1 of this series of articles, I am going to go ahead and outline all of the main events that will be occurring that will be leading up to the 2nd coming of Jesus to our earth. This will be a basic overview of the main events. I will then go into additional parts in other articles giving you more detail into some of these specific end time events. The Bible once again very explicitly lays out exactly what is going to happen before Jesus returns back to us for His second coming. The problem is that all of the verses pertaining to the second coming of Jesus to our earth are all scattered throughout the Bible. You thus have to search them out and then match them up like you would pieces to a jigsaw puzzle to be able to see exactly what is coming down the road. God always seems to want to make you seek and search for all of the knowledge that is in the Bible. Seek and then you will find. The subject of end time events is no exception. I will keep this specific article focused on the main, basic, end time events so as to give you a good road map as to what may be getting ready to come our way. This subject can get very detailed due to all the incredible events that will occur before Jesus comes back to us in His second coming. Basic Outline of the Main Events Here is a basic outline of the main events at a quick glance. I will then talk about each one of them in a little more detail after this caption. 1. Miscellaneous Signs Here are some of the specific signs that will be occurring as told by Jesus to His apostles in the New Testament. a) Perilous times will come. b) False Christs and False Prophets will come to deceive even the elect. c) Wars and rumors of wars. d) Nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. e) Increase in famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. f) Lawlessness and immorality will abound. g) The love of many will grow cold. h) Some Christians will depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. i) Men will become lovers of self, lovers of money, unholy, proud, boasters, blasphemers, unloving, disobedient to parents, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, traitors, headstrong, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and unthankful. j) The Holy Spirit will be poured out on all flesh. k) The Gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached to the whole world and then the end will come. l) God will open up end time prophecy for all to understand and interpret so as to prepare for His second coming. 2. Restoration of the Jewish People Back to the State of Israel 3. Rebuilding of the Jewish Temple 4. Rise of the Antichrist, False Prophet, and a 10 Nation Confederacy From Which They Will Rule This World From 5. The 7 Year Great Tribulation 6. The Battle of Armageddon 7. The Return of Jesus to our Earth to set up a 1000 Year Millennium Kingdom 8. The New Heaven and New Earth The Miscellaneous Signs 1. Per the above miscellaneous signs listed, Jesus tells the apostles what the signs are going to be that will let us know when He is about ready to come back to our earth for His second coming. The verse is from the Gospel of Matthew and it reads as follows: "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying ‘I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come." (Matthew 24:3-14) 2. Here is another verse on the false christs and false prophets that will be coming. "For false christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, the elect." (Matthew 24:24) 3. Paul also talks about how bad the state of man is going to get in the latter days in the following verse. "But know this, that in the LAST DAYS perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power." (2 Timothy 3:1) 4. Paul also states in the latter days that some Christians will be departing from their faith in the Lord due to the influence and doctrines of demons. Here is the verse specifically telling us this. "Now the Spirit expressly says that in LATTER TIMES some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons." (1 Timothy 4:1) 5. Here is the verse about end time prophecy being sealed up until the end of time, at which time this verse implies that God will then be opening up our understanding of it. This is an angel speaking to Daniel in the Old Testament after he just got done giving him visions and knowledge of what was to come at the end of times. And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end … and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." (Daniel 12:9-10) And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 22:10) All of the above are what I call the miscellaneous signs that will start to take place as we start to approach the time of Jesuses second coming to our earth. The next 7 are specific events that will take place in perfect chronological order. Only one of these events has come to pass at this time, the other 6 have not. The 7 year Great Tribulation will be the countdown to when Jesus will be coming back to us. This 7 year Great Tribulation will be the last 7 years on earth before Jesus comes back to us in His second coming. There's an event that will occur right in the middle of the Great Tribulation called the "Abomination of Desolation." Once this events takes place, the Bible tells us that there will be exactly 42 months before Jesus comes back to our earth for His second coming – which is three and a half years from the time of this one event. The Abomination of Desolation will be when the Antichrist seats himself up in the rebuilt Jewish Temple to proclaim himself to be God. This event will be very easy to pick up and spot once it happens with the technology that we now have in place to pick up news events as it is actually occurring throughout the world. Here is a brief explanation of the other 7 key events that will be occurring, with one of them having already occurred. The Restoration of the Jewish People. Back to the State of Israel. This is the event that has already occurred. In 70 AD, after Jesus' death on the cross, the Jewish people were dispersed throughout the entire world. The Romans destroyed their Temple, and they were then scattered throughout the whole world as prophesied in the Old Testament as a result of their failure to get their act together with God the Father. God the Father pronounced this judgment on the Jewish people as you get near the end of the Old Testament. However, God then says after pronouncing this severe judgment on them, that He will still be their God, that He will still keep the original pact and covenant that He had made with their earlier forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that He would then bring them back to their homeland of Israel at the end of time shortly before Jesus would come back to our earth for His second coming. Here are two verses specifically telling us this. 1. "I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; they shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them: they shall make gardens and eat fruit from them. I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them," says the Lord your God. (Amos 9:14-15) 2. "It shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush … He will set up a banner for the nations, and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isaiah 11:11-12) This major event occurred on 5/14/48. After the German holocaust, Jewish people from all over the world started coming back to their native homeland Israel and were able to re-establish it as their home state on the above date. Then on 6/7/67, they recaptured the city of Jerusalem in what was called the 6 Day War. However, they were not able to recover the Temple Mount which is where they want to rebuild their Holy Temple once again. Jesus uses the analogy of a fig tree when talking about this. He says the generation that sees this restoration take place with the Jewish people will not pass away until He comes back for the second time. There thus is a very good chance that we may witness the return of Jesus back to our earth in this lifetime. I do not know what the time frame is when Jesus uses the word "generation." It could be 100 years or maybe a little less. If so, His second coming could occur anytime between now and the year 2048. The Rebuilding of the Jewish Temple. The Jewish people were able to recover their homeland Israel and their main city of Jerusalem, but they were not able to recover the Temple Mount, which is the ground they want to rebuild their Holy Temple on. When the Jewish people re-captured the city of Jerusalem in the 6 day war in 1967, they had initially taken control of this Temple Mount, but they went ahead and relinquished control of the Temple Mount back to the Muslms for political reasons. They wanted to show a broad type of tolerance to the Muslims, and they allowed them to retain control of this holy site. Right now, there is a Muslim Mosque on this site called the Dome of the Rock. The Muslims obviously have no intentions anytime soon on removing their Mosque in order to allow the Jews to rebuild their Holy Temple. However, this Jewish Temple has to be rebuilt once again in order for all of the prophecies in the Bible to be literally fulfilled. The Jewish people have already made plans as to how they will rebuild it should they ever get the chance. Apparently it will only take them about 2 years to rebuild it once God supernaturally clears the way for them to be able to do it. The first Temple was built by King Solomon back in the Old Testament. It was then destroyed in 586 BC. The Temple was then rebuilt a second time around 26 BC and then once more destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD when the Jews were dispersed out of Rome and then into all the other nations of the world as a result of God's judgment on them as a people and as a nation. This Temple has to be rebuilt once again because there is an event involving the Antichrist called the "Abomination of Desolation." Remember these 3 words! When this event happens, we literally have a countdown of 42 months before Jesus comes back. What the Antichrist does in this event is to seat himself up in the Temple of God proclaiming himself to be God, and from this point on, the second half of the tribulation takes place, which will then have the greatest persecution of Jews and Christians the world has ever seen! The Antichrist cannot seat himself up in this Temple unless it has already been rebuilt. The consensus is that in the first three and a half years of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will establish some kind of peace treaty or covenant with Israel. He will then allow the rebuilding of the Temple, and once that is completed, he will then break his pact with Israel and seat himself up in the Temple proclaiming himself to be God. Remember, it will only take two years to rebuild the Temple, so this could easily happen in the first half of the 7 year Tribulation. I am sure this event will be televised throughout the whole world due to the conceit and arrogance of the Antichrist. He will want the whole world to know what he has just done. Think about this. The devil has always wanted to be like God and to have His throne for his own. Now he will get his one and only chance to be able to rule this entire world through this coming Antichrist. The Antichrist will be under the guidance and influence of Satan. Satan, through the Antichrist, will now be able to seat himself up in God's Holy Temple for the next three and a half years – and from that position, start the greatest mass slaughter of Jews and Christians that the world has ever seen. He will literally kill two thirds of the Jewish people. Believe it or not, this persecution will be worse than the German holocaust where 6 million Jews were killed. More on this under its own caption below. Bottom line – the Jewish Temple has to be rebuilt so the above event with the Antichrist can take place. It will also serve as a main key event for the rest of the world to lock in on as it will literally tell us exactly how much time we will still have left before Jesus returns back to us for His second coming – 42 months! Rise of the Antichrist, False Prophet, and a 10 Nation Confederacy. The Bible says that an unholy trinity will arise in the latter days. This unholy trinity will be Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet. Satan is called the Dragon in the Book of Revelation. He has always wanted to be like God, if not God, and this will be his one and only chance to actually play God in the last 7 years on earth. Satan will take the role of God the Father, the Antichrist will take the role of Jesus, and the False Prophet will take the role of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's job is to lead people to Jesus. In the same way, the False Prophet will be the one to lead the world to serve the Antichrist. He will be instrumental in arranging for people to have the mark of the beast put on either their right hands or their foreheads. The 10 nation confederacy will be 10 nations that the Antichrist and False Prophet will rule from. The consensus among many prophecy scholars is that the 10 nation confederacy will be 10 nations from Europe. This will be a revived Roman empire. Right now, there are 25 countries in what is called the European Union. By the time the Antichrist gets ready to take center stage, there can only be 10 countries left to fulfill this part of Scripture. I am going to list the main verses from Scripture having to do with the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and the 10 nation confederacy they will rule this earth from. Read these verses very carefully! You are getting an incredible look into the future from the Word of God as to what will be coming our way! 1. The Antichrist is called the Beast, the Lawless One, the Man of Sin, and the Son of Perdition in the following verses. The first verse is right out of the Book of Revelation. "Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name … And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:1-10) Jesus is the Lamb. Notice that Satan is the one who arranges to give full power to the Antichrist to be able to rule with the power and authority that he will have. This verse literally tells us that the Antichrist will have full rule over the entire world for a short period of time before Jesus finally comes back to defeat him. 2. The next verse will tell you that the 10 horns mentioned in the above verse are 10 kings – 10 nations that will give their allegiance to the Antichrist. "And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdoms as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful." (Revelation 17:12-14) 3. The next verse comes from the prophet Daniel out of the Old Testament. Daniel was given very powerful dreams and visions as to what was going to happen at the end of time. The first verse was a dream given to him by God on the Antichrist. This verse also tells you that the Antichrist will be a man! "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the other beasts before it, and it had ten horns. I was considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking pompous words." (Daniel 7:7-8) Notice Daniel's description of the Antichrist. He tells us that this man will be the worst dictator the world has ever seen. He will make Hitler look pale in comparison to what he is going to do once he gets on center stage. He says that this beast is "different" than all of the other beasts that have ever come before him and that he will be terrible, dreadful, and exceedingly strong! The above verse also implies that 3 of the kingdoms under the Antichrist may not at first go willingly under his rule. He will have to subdue them to get their allegiance as will be shown in the next verse. 4. The next verse from Daniel also interprets the 10 horns as being 10 kingdoms. It goes on to say that the Antichrist will subdue 3 of these kings. It also says that he will be allowed to persecute the saints of God for three and a half years. An angel from God is giving him this message. Thus he said: "The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth which shall be different from all other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break it in pieces. The ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall arise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings. He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, shall intend to change times and laws. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time." (Daniel 7:23-25) A time = 1 year. Times = 2 years. Half a time = half a year. This comes to a total of three and a half years. The first verse from Revelation 13:1-10 states he will have authority to continue for 42 months, which is also three and half a years. 5. The next verse from Daniel gives more information as to some of the personality traits of the Antichrist. He will have fierce features, understands sinister schemes, will be very cunning, and will be the epitome of conceit and arrogance. "And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have revealed their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; He shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human hand." (Daniel 8:23-26) Notice the last sentence. He will not be destroyed by any one man or nation, but by Jesus Christ Himself when He comes back to our earth in His second coming. The description of what Jesus does with him will be in the caption on the battle of Armageddon. 6. The next verse from Daniel gives some additional information on this man. He may be gay as he has no desire for women. He also may have some Jewish descent in him as it states he has no "regard" for the God of his fathers. "Then the king shall do according to his own will; he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall magnify himself above them all." (Daniel 11:36-37) This man will end up being the ultimate ego-maniac of all time! He will be Satan incarnate with the amount of pride, conceit, and arrogance he will have operating through his personality. 7. The next verse out of John tells us that his name is Antichrist. "Little children, in the LAST HOUR; and as you have heard that the ANTICHRIST is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour." (1 John 2:18). 8. The next verse tells us that he is also called the lawless one. "The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders." (2 Thessalonians 2:9) Also notice that the Antichrist will be working and operating on the power that Satan himself will be giving to him. 9. The next verse shows that he is called the man of sin and the son of perdition. This verse also tells us that when he seats himself up in the rebuilt Jewish Temple at the halfway point in the Tribulation, he will literally pronounce himself to be God! "Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4) 10. The next two verses are on the False Prophet. The first verse tells exactly what this man is going to do. The second verse gives us his name – the False Prophet. The Bible also calls him another beast. "Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive the mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666." (Revelation 13:11-18) "Then the beast was captured, and with him THE FALSE PROPHET who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image." (Revelation 19:20) You will also note that the Antichrist apparently receives some kind of wound that should kill him. My guess is that there is probably some kind of assassination attempt on his life. He miraculously survives this wound and apparently receives a real healing, obviously from Satan himself, and this then causes the entire world to marvel at him and makes it easier for the rest of the world to fall under his demonic spell and follow him. Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet will now set the stage for what is called the 7 year Tribulation. This 7 year Tribulation period will be the worst period of time that the world has ever seen. Jesus Himself told the apostles that there never has been a time of trouble throughout human history as bad as this time is going to be, and that there will never ever be another period as bad as this one is going to be! Just as God gave His Son Jesus three and a half years to walk with His power on this earth, God is going to allow Satan, through the Antichrist, to wreak as much havoc and destruction on this earth as he possibly can in the last three and a half years of this Tribulation. The 7 Year Tribulation. As you will see in the Scripture verses listed below, the Great Tribulation will last for 7 years. At the midpoint of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will seat himself up in the Temple of God that will have to rebuilt by the Jewish people. He will proclaim himself to be God. This event is called the abomination of desolation by the prophet Daniel. Jesus Himself specifically refers to this event in the New Testament. Jesus says that once this event occurs, that His people are to literally run for the hills. Jesus says that the last three and a half years of the Tribulation set off by this abomination of desolation will be the worst tribulation and time of trouble that the world has ever seen. He says that had these days not been shortened by God the Father, that no flesh would have been saved. I believe Jesus is implying that man probably would have destroyed the entire earth at the Battle of Armageddon. The Antichrist starts to lose control of his empire. Other nations come against him in the battle of Armageddon. With the availability of nuclear weapons, my guess is that the Antichrist may have been willing to hit the nuclear button if he thought he was going to lose his empire. If he hits the button, then chances are the other nations he is going to fight against will also be willing to hit the button, and you thus could end up in a full scale nuclear war. You have already seen what an ego-maniac this man is going to be from the description of his personality in the above verses. With him being under the influence and guidance of Satan, I believe the most logical conclusion is that both he and Satan would be more than willing to hit the nuclear button if they thought they could not retain control of their built up empire. I really feel that this is what Jesus meant when he said that no flesh would be saved if God had not shortened these days at the end of this Tribulation. Now here are the key verses from Scripture on the 7 year Tribulation. 1. This first verse from Daniel shows that the 7 year Tribulation is initially established by the Antichrist confirming a covenant with Israel, and then in the middle of the covenant he will set up the abomination of desolation. "Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abomination shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate." (Daniel 9:27) One week has been determined to be 7 years. How do you know that? Because in the middle of the week, the Antichrist sets up the abomination of desolation. And we already know that once the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 42 months or three and a half years to go before the end. So this tells us that one week is equal to 7 years. This is how you know that the Tribulation is for a 7 year time period. 2. The next verse from Daniel specifically tells you that once the animal sacrifice is taken away from the Jews and the abomination of desolation is set up, that there will be 1290 days until the end! 1290 days is three and a half years and 13 days. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days (1290). Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty five days (1335)." (Daniel 12:11-12) Notice in the first part of the above verse that it says that the daily sacrifice is taken away. This refers to the fact that when the Jewish people rebuild their Temple, they will once more reinstate the practice of animal sacrifice as they did back in the Old Testament. The Antichrist will allow this to go on for a time, but when he sets himself up to sit in the Temple of God in the abomination of desolation, he will then take this privilege away from the Jewish people! This verse is thus giving us two key pieces to let us know when we are at the midpoint of the Tribulation – the taking away of animal sacrifices, and the Antichrist seating himself up in their rebuilt Temple proclaiming himself to be God. 3. Here is another good verse that bears repeating under this caption, once again showing that the persecution of the Jewish people and saints of God will only last three and a half years. "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time." (Daniel 7:25) Again, a time = 1 year. Times = 2 years. Half a time = half a year. Total comes to three and a half years. 4. Here is another verse showing that the Antichrist will have a period of 42 months to continue his carnage. This verse uses the unit of time of 42 months, which again is three and a half years. "And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty two months." (Revelation 13:5) 5. Here is the verse from Jesus telling everyone to run for the hills once the abomination of desolation occurs with the Antichrist. This is where Jesus also tells us that this Tribulation will be the worst tribulation that the world has ever seen or will ever see again. "Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, then those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in the winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:15-22) 6. And here is the final verse showing the carnage that will result from the Tribulation. This next verse says that two thirds of the Jewish people will be killed by the Antichrist. This is going to be worse than the German holocaust! I think in one of the books I read, two thirds of the Jewish people will equate to 9.3 million Jews being killed by this one man. This will top the 6 million Jews that were killed in the German holocaust. However, this verse does not tell us how many of the Christians will be killed by the Antichrist. "And it shall come to pass in all the land," says the Lord, "THAT TWO-THIRDS IN IT SHALL BE CUT OFF AND DIE. BUT ONE-THIRD SHALL BE LEFT IN IT: I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people'; and each one will say, ‘The Lord is My God.' " (Zechariah 13:8-9) The end of the Great Tribulation will now lead up to the Battle of Armageddon, which will be the last and final battle before Jesus comes back to put an end to the Antichrist, the False Prophet, Satan, and all the other nations who are coming against Israel in this final battle. The Battle of Armageddon This will be the last and final event of the Great Tribulation. The Bible says that immediately after the Tribulation occurs, Jesus will return back to us for His second coming! Here are 2 key verses on this battle and how it all gets set up to occur. 1. This 1st verse is very interesting. It implies that the Antichrist does not have full control over the entire world. It says that he hears news from the east and north that trouble him. This news causes him to go out in great fury to annihilate many. My guess is that China and Russia do not want to come under his rule and they are setting up to come directly against him. Here is the verse: "But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him." (Daniel 11:44-45) This verse tells us that he is going to meet his end and that no one is going to be able to help him. As you will see further down, Jesus is the One who will be putting a final end to him – so this verse is showing us that this event will lead up to the battle of Armageddon. 2. In this next verse, the word Armageddon is actually used to describe the place where this battle is going to take place. Armageddon is the plain of Megiddo which forms the only pass through the mountains which enters from the North and South of Israel. It is in northern part of Israel and it is a natural pass from the Mediterranean Sea through the mountains and the interior of Israel. This next verse tells us that the Euphrates River will dry up so that a pass and a way is made for the kings of the east to come against Israel and the Antichrist in this last battle. Here are the verses describing all of this: "Then the sixth angel poured his bowel on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty … And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." (Revelation 16:12-16) Also notice that the demons who are in the Antichrist and False Prophet will be the ones who will go out and draw the rest of the nations to Armageddon for this last and final battle. Talk about sheep being led to the slaughter! The stage is now set. You have what is probably China and some other Asian nations coming in from the east. Possibly Russia and her Arab allies coming from the north, and the troops from the Antichrist's 10 nation European confederacy coming in from the west – all converging onto Armageddon to battle it out to see who will rule the world. What happens next? Read on. The Second Coming of Jesus 1. In this first verse, God says He will allow all the nations of the world to come against Jerusalem. This verse tells us that Jerusalem will be taken, the houses will be rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will actually go into captivity, but the one-third remnant will not be killed during this takeover. Remember, two thirds of the Jewish people will be killed, one third will not. It's right at this point that Jesus will come forth to fight for His people and put an end to all this bloodshed and carnage. His feet will land on the Mount of Olives. Here is this most powerful verse! "Behold, the day of the Lord is coming, and your spoil will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; the city shall be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, but the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, from east to west, making a very large valley; half of the mountain shall move toward the north and half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through My mountain valley … Thus the Lord my God will come, and all the saints with You … And the Lord shall be King over all the earth … The people shall dwell in it; and no longer shall there be utter destruction, but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the people who fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh shall dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues shall dissolve in their mouths." (Zechariah 14:1-12) Notice the very graphic description of what God is going to do to Israel's enemies. This will be the wrath of God coming into full manifestation. 2. Now watch what happens in the next verse. God calls out to the birds in the air and will allow these birds to feed off the flesh of the army that He has just destroyed. The last part of this verse will then tell you what Jesus will do with the Antichrist and False Prophet. These two will be the first ones to actually get thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, "Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great." And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet, who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh." (Revelation 19:17-21) 3. Now what happens to Satan, the Dragon who orchestrated all of the events of the Great Tribulation? Jesus will now have him chained up and thrown into the bottomless pit for the entire length of His Millennium Kingdom. Here is the verse specifically describing this incredible event. "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him up for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while." (Revelation 20:1-3) As you will see a little further down, God will let Satan loose for a little while at the end of the 1000 Millennium Kingdom to set up one more battle before we finally get the New Heaven and New Earth. 4. Here is another good verse that shows us that Jesus will be coming back immediately after the Great Tribulation has run its course. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31) Here is another verse on Jesus' second coming and the vengeance that He will be taking on the wicked. "… since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed." (2 Thessalonians 1:6-9) 5. Now here is the verse that says that Jesus will be setting up a 1000 year Millennium Kingdom where He will rule this entire earth from the city of Jerusalem in Israel. "And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST FOR A THOUSAND YEARS." (Revelation 20:4) 6. Now what happens after the 1000 years are up? Two events will occur. Satan is let loose for a short period of time to try and set up one last battle against God and His people. God then finally throws him in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where He had just thrown the Antichrist and False Prophet 1000 years earlier. And then we get a New Heaven and New Earth. Here are the two verses. "Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle … They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and its beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." ( Revelation 20:7) Notice in the above verse that Satan once more surrounds what would appear to be the city of Jerusalem. But this time it appears that God Himself will stop him dead in his tracks before he can even begin to launch an attack against God's people. He is then thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone and that will be the last that we will ever hear from this evil blasphemous creature – ever again! Now here is the final chapter to the whole saga. After Satan is permanently taken out for good, the old earth and old heaven will pass away and a New Heaven and New Earth will now be given to God's people. Here is the verse that describes what our incredible final ending will be with the Lord. "AND I SAW A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I will make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be His God and he shall be My son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:1-8) Notice that in addition to a New Earth and a New Heaven, we also get a new city – the New Jerusalem. God the Father will also dwell with us in this New Heaven and New Earth along with His Son Jesus! There will be no more death, pain, and sorrow. Now here is another verse telling us what this New Heaven and New Earth will be like. "But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in the light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (and there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." (Revelation 21:22-27) Here is another verse on the New Heaven and New Earth and what we will have in it. "And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be no night there: they need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever." (Revelation 22:3-5) This verse tells us that the curse of Adam and Eve will have finally been broken and done away with. We will never die again. No more sickness, disease, hunger, crime, Satan, demons, bad people, or any type of aging or corruption. We will truly be in paradise in this New Heaven and New Earth and we will forever remain in this perfect God-environment for all of eternity! Is this a storybook ending or what! The above verse also tells us that both Jesus and God the Father will dwell and live with us in this new paradise and we will all have direct access to the both of Them! We will no longer have need of a Jewish Temple because God and Jesus will now be the temple of God Themselves. We will now be able to worship Them direct. Conclusion 1. Where is the Rapture in all of this? There is a big debate in the Body as to whether or not there is going to be a Rapture. If there is going to be a Rapture, it will probably occur at one of three possible points: a. Right before the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation. b. Right at the midpoint of the Tribulation at the three and half year mark where the Antichrist seats himself up in the Temple and proclaims himself to be God and starts the mass persecution of Jews and Christians. c. Right before the battle of Armageddon. I will be doing a separate article specifically on the possibility of a Rapture. I personally believe that there will be a Rapture of God's saints – and that it will occur sometime BEFORE the start of the 7 year Great Tribulation. In other words, it will be a pre-tribulation Rapture. 2. Where is the United States in all of this? People who study Bible Prophecy are having a hard time finding where we fit into all the above events. There is one very interesting verse that might give us a clue. This verse says that once the last part of the Tribulation starts with the persecution of the Jews, that Israel was given "two wings of a great eagle" to fly into where nourishment and protection was given to her. Some people think that it might be referring to the United States since our national symbol is that of an eagle. Others feel that the eagle refers directly to God Himself, and that God will arrange for some type of protection for the one-third of the Jewish people who will not be killed by the Antichrist. I cannot find any other verses at this time that would answer this question. If it is us, then that would mean we do not become part of the 10 nation confederacy that the Antichrist will rule from. We would continue to hold our superpower status and would somehow stay isolated out of all these end time events. However, the other possibility is that once God raptures all of the Christians out of America, that we will lose our superpower status and will cease to have any bearing or influence on future world events. Once America's power has been completely taken off the world scene, this will then free the Antichrist to be able take center stage as ruler over a 10 nation European confederacy. Of these two possibilities, I would say the second scenario may be the most plausible and most logical. And that may explain why America does not seem to be mentioned anywhere in the Bible in reference to end time events. Our country has been truly founded on the basics of true Christianity. Once all of the real Christians have been taken up to heaven in this Rapture, our country could literally fall apart overnight since God's hand operating through all of His people will no longer be in control of things. Our country may end up going down as a final history lesson on what will happen to a country that has been founded on God and true biblical principles and then those Christians are taken out of the big picture. The only reason we are the world's only superpower at this time is due to the anointing that God Himself has placed on this country as a result of our initial Christian foundations that were established with Him. It has only been the power of God operating on this country that has made us the superpower we are today. Once God's people are taken out of this big picture, I believe that our country will literally fall apart overnight, and the Antichrist and his 10 nation European confederacy will then move in very quickly to take our place as the world's only true superpower. This also may explain how the Antichrist will literally be able to take control of the entire world in such a short period of time. With America being left completely powerless with the loss of so many Christians, and no other countries big enough or powerful enough to take our place – the Antichrist, with his 10 nation European confederacy, will be the next one in line to have the muscle, technology, and ability to replace us as the next world superpower. Now here is the verse about Israel being given protection under the two wings of a great eagle if the first possibility actually occurs where our country will be used by God to provide safe harbor for the persecuted Jews: "But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent." (Revelation 12:14) You definitely know that verse is talking about the last half of the Tribulation because it uses the words "time and times and half a time." This is the same phrase used by Daniel in his prophecy and it has already been determined to be three and a half years! 3. One last point to mention on all of the above. Why would God allow such bloodshed and persecution to come upon His own chosen people, the Jewish people? First they go through horrible persecution after they are dispersed out of Rome in 70 AD. Then they go through the German holocaust where 6 million of their own are killed by Hitler. And now they are going to have two thirds of their own killed in the coming holocaust with the Antichrist. Here is the verse that specifically tells us why God has allowed so much persecution to fall upon these people throughout the ages: "The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them." (Ezekiel 39:23-24) The Bible also says that the Jewish people will go into extreme mourning when they see Jesus come back for the second time. They will see the nail scars in his hands and feet and will realize that Jesus was their true Messiah, and they were the ones who initially rejected Him and His message of eternal salvation. However, God, in His incredible love and mercy for these people, will take them back and they will continue to be His chosen people. God said in the Old Testament that He would not forsake the covenant that He made with their earlier forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and that He would bring them back to their homeland of Israel in the latter days. And once the Great Tribulation has fully ended, they would never again be uprooted or suffer any more persecution from anyone else ever again. The Jewish people will serve as a final testament to all of us regarding the consequences of forsaking and going against God the Father. There are no middle roads or neutral grounds on each person's choice as to who they should be serving in this life. You either choose God and Jesus and live this life the way They want you to live it, or your choose your own way or the ways of this world and die! The sad thing about all of this is that God will never force Himself on you to make you choose Him and His ways of living in this life. He will make sure that the knowledge is given to each and every person, but it is up to each person to make their own individual choice on this matter. There will only be maximum life in the New Heaven and New Earth or maximum death in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for each individual when everything is all finally said and done. The above commentary on end time events literally tells us that everyone is either going to end up in the New Heaven and New Earth, or in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they will then be tormented in this horrible place forever and ever! There are no middle or neutral grounds! It's all or nothing. Jesus Himself has said that those who are not with Him are against Him. There is no middle ground for people to go into if they do not want to accept God or the devil. If you do not want God and His gift of eternal salvation through the Blood of His Son Jesus, then you will eventually end up in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. This is the cold hard reality of what the real big picture is all about – and the sad thing about all of this is that an awful lot of people are going to end up making the wrong choice on the most important decision they will ever make in this life, and not even God Himself will interfere with each person's individual choice on this matter. For those of you who do not know much about end time events, you may want to print this article out and keep it on the shelf in the event that all of this starts to occur in our lifetime. All of the above is a broad overview of all the major events and the order in which they will occur. I just wanted to stay with the big main end time events in this article. There is a lot more to all of this and I will be discussing these additional events in the rest of the articles that will be listed under this caption. For more additional detailed information on all the incredible end time events that will be occurring, please go to our section titled, "The 2nd Coming of Jesus." In this section will be additional end time articles giving you more details on some of the other incredible events that will be occurring during this time period. **********************************************Article 3 Summary Outline of Main End Time Events. Per the series of articles I did on this topic, I am going to go ahead and do a summary outline on the main events and the possible order in which they will occur. I will not be stating any Scripture verses. This will all just be put into an outline form so you can have, at a quick glance, all of the major events that will be occurring leading up to Jesuses second coming to our earth. The best way to break up all of these events is to list all of the events that will be occurring before the 7 year Tribulation starts, all of the events that will be occurring during the Tribulation, and then all of the events that will occur after the Tribulation. Once the Tribulation starts, we know we have exactly 7 years before Jesus comes back. Main Events That Will Occur Before the Tribulation 1. Restoration of the State of Israel The Jewish people return to the land of Israel and re-establish it as a state. This sign has already come to pass and it occurred on 5/14/48. The city of Jerusalem was then regained by the Jewish people on 6/7/67. 2. Miscellaneous Signs. Jesus Himself tells us that the following signs will occur as we approach the end times. a) Perilous times will come. b) False Christs and false prophets will arise. c) Wars and rumors of wars. d) Nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom. e) Famines, pestilences and earthquakes. f) Lawlessness and immorality will abound. g) Love of many will grow cold. h) Christians will depart from the faith giving heed to doctrines of demons. i) Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, unholy, proud, boasters, blasphemers, unloving, disobedient to parents, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, traitors, headstrong, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and unthankful. 3. Rise of the Antichrist, False Prophet, and a 10 Nation Confederacy From Which They Will Rule This Earth From. 4. Rise of the City of Babylon. 5. Russia and Her Allies Will Invade Israel. God Will Then Supernaturally Destroy This Invading Army. Main Events That Will Occur During the 7 Year Tribulation. 1. The Antichrist Establishes a Peace Treaty and a Covenant with Israel. 2. The Jewish Temple is Rebuilt. 3. God's Counterbalances: · The 2 Witnesses. · 144,000 Jewish Witnesses. · Major Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. · Angel of the Everlasting Gospel allowed to preach the gospel. 4. The Antichrist Will Destroy the City of Babylon. 5. A War in Heaven Breaks Out. Saint Michael the Archangel and his angels cast Satan out of the second heaven and onto the earth. The Devil becomes furious when this event occurs because he knows that his time is short. 6. The Abomination of Desolation. Three and half years into the Tribulation, the Antichrist will break his peace treaty with Israel, seat himself up in their rebuilt temple and proclaim himself to be God. 7. The 7 Seal Judgments. These 7 judgments will probably occur during the first half of the Tribulation. They are as follows: a) The Antichrist will be released and allowed to set out to conquer the world. b) The Antichrist will be allowed to take peace from the earth and cause many people to kill one another. c) The Antichrist will cause slave labor conditions to exist where people will be working for minimum pay just to be able to buy enough food for a day. d) The martyrs will cry out to God in heaven to avenge their deaths. God says to wait just a little while longer. e) God causes a great earthquake to hit the earth, causing every mountain and every island to move out of its place. He also causes the sun to turn black and the moon to look like blood. f) There is silence in heaven for a half an hour. An angel offers the prayers of God's people to Him to avenge them. 8. The 7 Trumpet Judgments. These 7 judgments will occur during the middle to latter part of the Tribulation. They are as follows: a) God rains down hail and fire upon the earth – burning up one third of the trees and all of the green grass. b) God releases a meteor into the sea turning one third of the sea into blood, killing one-third of all living creatures in the sea, and destroying one third of the ships that are on the sea. c) God releases another meteor, hitting one third of the rivers and springs, causing contamination of the water and many men to die. d) God strikes a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars so they give no light. This causes a third of the day not to shine. e) The bottomless pit is allowed to open up releasing a huge swarm of locusts to attack all the people who do not have God's seal on their foreheads. They are not allowed to kill these people, but to just torment them with their bite. These people will be seeking death and will not be able to find it. f) 4 demonic angels are released from the Euphrates river to kill a third of mankind. These 4 demonic angels will lead an army of 200 million demonic spirits to carry out this mass slaughter of humans. g) Heaven is now beginning to rejoice because God is releasing His wrath upon the wicked on the earth and taking His vengeance. God then releases more lightnings, another earthquake, and more great hail upon the earth. 9. The 7 Bowl Judgments. These 7 judgments will occur during the latter part of the Tribulation. They are as follows: a) God causes loathsome sores to fall upon those who have the mark of the Beast. b) God causes the entire sea waters to become blood – killing every living creature in the seas. c) God causes all the rivers and springs to turn into blood. d) God causes the heat from the sun to scorch men with great heat and fire. e) God causes total darkness to fall upon the kingdom of the Antichrist. f) The Euphrates river is allowed to dry up so as to prepare the way for the kings of the east to come to the battle of Armageddon. Then 3 demonic spirits are released from the mouths of the Antichrist and False Prophet and they go out to all the kings of the earth to bring all of them to the battle of Armageddon. g) God causes the greatest and most severe earthquake to hit the earth. The city of Babylon is completely finished off and swallowed up whole. This earthquake causes all of the islands to flee away and all of the mountains to be no longer found. God then rains down great hailstones weighing 135 pounds each. God then says: “It is done.” 10. The Battle of Armageddon. All the nations of the world come against Jerusalem. Half of the city will go into captivity, houses will be rifled, and the women ravished. Then deliverance comes! Main Events That Will Occur After the Tribulation 1. The Second Coming of Jesus Immediately following the Tribulation and right in the middle of the battle of Armageddon, Jesus literally descends from heaven where every eye will be able to see Him. Jesus will land on the Mount of Olives and He will then destroy all of the invading armies who have come against Jerusalem. Their flesh will dissolve while they stand on their feet, their eyes will dissolve in their sockets, and their tongues will dissolve in their mouths. Jesus then throws the Antichrist and False Prophet into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. Jesus then throws Satan into the bottomless pit where he is kept chained up for a 1000 years. The rest of unsaved humanity is kept in Hades (Hell) until the 1000 Millennium Kingdom is over. 2. The Millennium Kingdom Jesus will literally rule our entire earth from the city of Jerusalem for 1000 years with all of the saints ruling the nations of the earth with Him. There will be no more wars ever again. Wild animals and beasts will be tame. People will live long lives, possibly up to a 1000 years. There will be no more weeping or crying. 3. Satan is Let Loose One More Time After the 1000 years have passed in the Millennium Kingdom, Satan is let loose from the bottomless pit for a little while in order to go out and attempt to deceive the nations of the world for one last time. God allows Satan to tempt and weed out the restless bad apples that were born into the Millennium Kingdom. They will all converge on the city of Jerusalem to go into battle. However, before any battle is fought, God will destroy this invading army with fire. Satan is then cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where he will now join the Antichrist and False Prophet. All three of them will now remain in this place forever and ever and we will never hear from the devil again. 4. The Great White Throne Judgment All of unsaved humanity is now pulled up out of Hades (Hell) where they will now all stand before God for their final judgment. All of those whose names are not found written in the Book of Life are thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they will all remain forever with Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet. 5. The New Heaven and New Earth. Our earth and our atmospheric heaven are now done away with, and in its place we will get a new heaven and a new earth. There will no longer be any more seas. There will no longer be any night. There will no longer be any sun or moon because the glory of God will be illuminating the earth. There will no longer be any more death in any way, shape, or form. The curse of Adam and Eve will have finally been broken and done away with for good. There will be no more sorrow, pain, crying, or weeping. All things will be made new. God the Father Himself will now come down from heaven and dwell with man forever and ever in this new heaven and new earth. We will also get the city of New Jerusalem which will come down from heaven itself. This new city will be like a square and possibly 1500 miles wide. The foundations of the walls will be adorned with all kinds of precious stones. There will be 12 gates with an angel at each gate. The gates will be made of solid pearl and the streets will be solid gold. There shall no longer be any temple as God and Jesus will be the temple Themselves. All the nations of the earth shall walk in Their light and the gates into this city will never be closed. Now with Satan, all of his demons, and all of the bad and unsaved people taken out of this new heavenly environment, we will now all live happily ever after with God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, all of God's good angels, and all of our saved loved ones in the most perfect God-environment imaginable – with no more pain, sorrow, or death ever again! This is our final end. This is our ultimate destination. Keep your eyes on this final glorious end as we start to approach and enter into these end time events. It will help get you through the fire. **********************************************Article 4 The Rapture Here is the 50 million dollar question – will there be a Rapture of God's saints before the Tribulation, or will all of God's people living at that time have to go through the Tribulation and possibly be martyred for their faith? I am going to go ahead and give you the main verses from Scripture that deal with the possibility of a Rapture. There is major divided opinion in the Body of Christ right now as to whether or not there is going to be a Rapture. Each one of you will have to come to your own conclusion on this issue per your own interpretation of the Scripture verses I will list below. I will give you my opinion on this subject, along with pointing out key words and phrases in the following verses. As you will see in the following verses, I believe there is very strong evidence from Scripture that there will be a Rapture – and that it will occur before the Antichrist starts the persecution of God's saints, and before God starts to pour out His wrath upon the earth during the 7 year Tribulation. In other words, it will be a pre-tribulation Rapture. 1. This first verse is very interesting. You already know that one of the names of the Antichrist is the "lawless one" per the Scripture verse I gave you in my first article. This verse is definitely talking about the Antichrist. Here is the verse: "And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8) You know the lawless one is referring to the Antichrist because then the verse says that Jesus will destroy him when He comes back for the second time. But look very closely at the phrase, "only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed …" The "H" in the word "He" is a capital H in the New King James Version of the Bible. This means "He" is either referring to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. Since God and Jesus are in heaven right now, the "He" has to be referring to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has always been referred to as the One who restrains evil from getting out of control on this earth. It says that the Antichrist cannot be revealed until "He" is taken out of the way. Since we know the Holy Spirit still has to be down here even if there is a Rapture, then who is "He" referring to? If there is a Rapture, there still will be a multitude of people who are going to get saved and then martyred. If they are saved, then they are sealed with the Holy Spirit, which means the Holy Spirit is living on the inside of them like He is with us. I believe the "He" may be referring to the "Holy Spirit operating through the Church." This means that the Body of Christ, the Church, will be what is taken out before the Antichrist can be revealed. Think about this. The Antichrist is going to be very easy to spot once he starts to enter onto the world scene. All of the Scripture verses I gave you on the Antichrist and 7 year Tribulation spell out exactly what is going to occur, and there will be more than enough astute Christians out there who are going to be able to pick up who he is once all of these events start to occur. With some of the powerful TV ministries that we now have in place, I am sure that the Body of Christ will be shouting from the rooftops once the Antichrist is spotted. The word would be spread very quickly and it would then become very hard for the Antichrist to rise to the kind of power that the Bible is foretelling. I believe the Church has to be taken out as the above verse is stating before the Antichrist can be revealed to the rest of the world. And the above verse states that the Antichrist will not be revealed until "He" who is restraining him is taken out of the way! Once the Body of real believers are raptured off the face of the earth, there will nothing left that will be able to stop the Antichrist from rising to full power. The rest of the world is going to be easily duped into believing in this man – especially with all of the false signs and wonders that will be performed on his behalf by the False Prophet. I believe the above verse alone is very strong Scriptural evidence that there will be a Rapture of God's saints before the Antichrist actually rises to full power. 2. This next verse talks about those who are "alive" will be "caught up" to meet the Lord in the "air." Here is the verse: "For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) This verse really seems to be implying that there will be a group of saints who are going to "caught up" or pulled up to meet the Lord in the air while we are still alive! These words spell possible Rapture to me. 3. The next verse tells us of a "mystery" – that not all of God's saints are going to "sleep" – and that this group is going to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and that this event will occur at the last trumpet. I believe the Last Trumpet is God's last call to His people, and that it implies that whoever is saved and born again when this trumpet sounds off will be raptured and spared from having to go through the horrors of the 7 year Tribulation. I believe the word "mystery" is being used to let us know that God is keeping the possibility of a Rapture a secret and a mystery to the rest of the world. This is why many of the Scripture verses pertaining to this event do not perfectly spell it out. However, there is enough of a hint in these verses for God's own people to pick it up, but not the rest of the unbelieving world. Here is the verse: "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." (1 Corinthians 15:51) I believe the words "last trumpet" tells us this event will occur at the end of times. The words "shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," really do describe what could be a Rapture – the immediate vanishing and disappearance of God's people from the face of the earth in the snap of a finger. 4. This next verse is coming direct from Jesus Himself out of the Book of Revelation. Here is the verse: "Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." (Revelation 3:10) This verse could be literal interpretation – that Jesus will keep His Body of believers who are living at this time out of the hands of the Antichrist. He obviously will do it by either rapturing them off the face of the earth, or by providing them with some kind of physical protection if there will be no Rapture. My guess is that He will do this by rapturing them off the face of this earth. 5. Here is another verse from Jesus stating that we watch and pray that we be counted worthy to escape all the things that may be coming our way in the end times. "Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:36) This verse really seems to be implying once again that God is going to allow His own to escape or be prevented from having to go through the horrific events of the Tribulation. 6. Now here are some additional verses that are not quite as strong as the above verses, but do suggest the possibility that God will keep us from these horrific events. "… and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come." (1 Thessalonians 1:10) This verse either means Jesus will deliver us before the wrath comes, which would line up with a Rapture, or it may mean when He comes down for the second time at the battle of Armageddon to put an end to all of the carnage with the Antichrist. "For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Thessalonians 5:9) This verse could be implying that His Body will not be appointed or be subject to the events of the Tribulation – or the wrath could simply be pointing to people going to hell for refusing to accept Jesus and His gift of eternal salvation. Conclusion If there is going to be a Rapture, I believe that God will rapture His believers off this earth sometime before the start of the 7 year Tribulation. I do not think He will wait to the midpoint of the Tribulation where the Antichrist seats himself in the Temple proclaiming himself to be God and then starts the persecution of God's saints. I believe the Antichrist will be fully revealed to the world near the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation when he enters into a peace treaty and covenant with Israel, and then allows them to start rebuilding their Temple so he can eventually get into it at the midpoint of the Tribulation to proclaim himself to be God. And remember the very first verse above, that the Antichrist cannot be revealed until "He" is taken out of the way. And when "He" is taken out of the way, then the Antichrist can be fully revealed to the rest of the world. And the "He" in my opinion may be the main Body of believers who are living at the time of these events. The other reason I think the Rapture will occur sometime before the start of the 7 year Tribulation is that the Antichrist is going to need some time to set things up. Once the Church is taken out, he will be free to start operating at full throttle. The first thing he is going to do is convince and persuade the rest of the world to follow him, and I feel he will first do this by trickery and deception. If he starts the mass persecution too early on those who will not accept and take his mark, he will risk not being able to gain full control of everything. I believe he will first suck everyone in by peace and diplomacy and the promise of a better world. Then once he has enough of the nations on his side and the Jewish Temple has once more rebuilt, that will be the time he will then go for all of the marbles. He will seat himself up in the Temple at the midpoint of the Tribulation, proclaim himself to be God, kill anyone who will not accept his mark, and will then seek total world domination and control. Think about this. This one man, through the power of Satan, will get a chance to have more power and more control over the entire world than any other man has ever had during the entire course of our human history. This will be the ultimate ego trip for a power hungry human being. I believe that the last three and a half years of the Tribulation are going to be the last and final history lesson from God to us. With the Church being taken out of the way so Satan and the Antichrist can operate at full throttle, I believe that God is going to show all of us how much terror, death, and destruction humans and demons are capable of committing if given half the chance without God directly intervening. In three and half years, Satan and the Antichrist are going to cause so much death and destruction on this earth, that Jesus Himself says that had these days not been shortened by God the Father Himself – that no flesh would have been saved! I really feel that Satan, if he knew he had the chance, would set up the entire scenario with the Antichrist to destroy the entire world through nuclear weaponry. Satan already knows he is defeated. He already knows he will eventually end up in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for all of eternity. He knows that this will be his last chance for mass destruction and terror. If God would allow Satan anymore time than these three and half years, I really believe Satan would set the world up for mass destruction through nuclear weapons. He would then have the satisfaction that he literally destroyed the entire world before he goes to his final fate. But thank our God, He will not allow this scenario to go this far. But God is going to allow it to go far enough to teach all of us a lesson that we will never, ever forget. He is going to show us how quickly humans can be deceived by Satan and his demons, and the only thing that has kept this world in one piece throughout human history has simply been the power and restraining force of God the Father Himself operating through the Holy Spirit. Bottom line – there is only maximum life with God or maximum death without Him. The last three and half years of the Tribulation will show us what maximum death will really be like when God removes His Church off the face of this earth, and then allows the Devil and the Antichrist to do what they want with the power that will be given to them. After we watch and see all of these horrific events unfold, we will never, ever want to forsake our God again. We will come to the full realization that without God in our lives – we can never have true happiness, joy, love, peace, or fulfillment in our lives. Without God in our lives, there is only eventual maximum death – and the last three and half years of this Tribulation is going to prove that point once and for all to all of us. It will be the greatest history lesson that the world will ever receive – and something that we will never, ever forget for the rest of our eternal lives. Will there be a Rapture? You will each have to decide for yourselves on the way the above Scripture verses are being worded. My own personal conclusion, after putting all the above verses together like pieces to a jigsaw puzzle, is that there will be a Rapture, and that it will occur sometime before the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation. I believe the Rapture is a "mystery" from God and that it is "hidden" in the above verses. God does not want the rest of the unbelieving world to have full access to this mystery, otherwise people will be accepting His gift of eternal salvation for the wrong reasons – to escape the coming horrors of the Tribulation and not with a true, repentant heart to want to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior for the sinners that we all truly are. Again, you may want to put this article on the shelf in the event that we start to fast approach end time events in our lifetime. This article will make for good debate with other Christians who may not believe in the Rapture. **********************************************Article 5 WARNING Do Not Take the Mark of the Beast. This article on the mark of the beast will be short, sweet, and straight to the point. This will be an extension off the articles that I just did on all of the events that will be occurring leading up to the return of Jesus back to our earth to set up His Millennium Kingdom. In the first article I did titled, "Basic Overview of Main End Time Events," I gave you the verse on how the False Prophet will set up a system on how he and the Antichrist will try to get everyone to receive the mark of the beast on either their foreheads or their right hands. This verse then goes on to say how no one will be able to buy or sell anything without this mark. This verse also says that anyone who will not worship the Beast will be killed. Due to the extreme importance on just this one issue, I am going to go ahead and restate this verse. I will then give you the verse on God's warning regarding this specific event. This verse is talking about the False Prophet and what he is going to do. "He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. And he causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666." (Revelation 13:15-18) Now here is the real scary part. God Himself says in the Book of Revelation that none of His people are to receive this mark of the beast. If they do, they will end up coming under His wrath that will be released upon the earth during the latter part of the Tribulation. God then pronounces what is the most dire warning imaginable if any of His people receive this mark. He flat out says that in addition to suffering His wrath that will be poured out during these last days – that they will also end up in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and Satan will eventually end up. In other words, you will go straight to hell when you die – no if, ands, or buts about it! Let these words sink into your memory banks and do not ever forget them in the event that there is no Rapture and the Tribulation takes place in our lifetime. Here is the verse giving all of us this very dire warning: Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name." Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." (Revelation 14:9-11) Notice the very graphic warning that God gives in reference to ending up in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. You will end up in this place and the smoke of your torment will ascend forever and ever – with no relief ever. This horrible torment will last day and night forever and ever! Bottom line – all Christians who get caught up in this predicament will have to be willing to lay down their lifes for the Lord. In other words, they will be martyred for their faith. This will be the ultimate test of faith for any Christian to pass. I really believe that God put this warning in writing in His Word because He knows many of His people may get weak and scared if they are approached with this choice by the Antichrist. But each Christian will simply have to override any fears or doubts they may have, believe what the Word of God has to say about the matter, and be willing to die for their faith in the Lord. If they do not, their eventual end will be too horrible for any human words to describe. I have already done an article on the possibility of a Rapture. Hopefully, there is going to be a Rapture of God's saints before the Tribulation starts, and we will not have to go through any of these horrible events. If there is going to be a Rapture, then the saints who will be persecuted will be the people that get saved after the Rapture occurs. It's almost as if God may be saying to the ones who get saved after the Rapture – "You all had your chance to accept My salvation before the Rapture and turned it down. Now that the Rapture has taken place, you now know that My people were telling you the truth about My message of eternal salvation. Now I will accept any and all who are willing to come to Me, but you will have to prove yourself to Me by being willing to die for your faith in Me by refusing to worship or receive the mark of the beast." If all of these events occur in our lifetime, I believe God will use all of us to get the message out to as many people as possible in order to save as many people as He possibly can from all of these horrible events. If there is going to be a Rapture, then it obviously is going to be the first train out, and God will try and get as many people warned, saved, and on that first train as He possibly can. But the sad reality is that there are many stubborn people out there who will not accept God's free gift of eternal salvation the first time around and they are going to have to suffer the extreme consequences for not doing so. Hopefully, they will accept God's gift of eternal salvation through His Son the second time around after all of the saints have been Raptured – but then it will cost them their physical lives as they will end up being martyred for refusing to accept the mark of the Antichrist. Pray that none of your loved ones miss the first train out if there is going to be a Rapture. But if by chance they miss the Rapture, let them know they are NOT to take the mark of the beast if they are ever faced with having to make this choice. **********************************************Article 6 The Rise and Fall of Babylon. According to the Book of Revelation, the city of Babylon has to be rebuilt once again. This is another key event for everyone to really keep an eye on. Prophecy scholars are divided in their opinion as to whether or not the city of Babylon will literally be rebuilt again. After studying the verses I will list below, I believe the Bible is using literal interpretation and it is meaning exactly what it is saying. If this is correct, then the city of Babylon will once more be rebuilt so God can literally wipe this unholy city right off the face of this earth! The city of Babylon is in the country of Iraq. Back in the early 70's, Saddam Hussein started to try and rebuild the city once again. He probably got about half of it rebuilt before we took him out in our war with Iraq. It remains to be seen if Iraq will continue to rebuild this city once a new government has been put into place and things start to settle down. God the Father has a MAJOR BEEF with the city of Babylon. I personally feel that He is going to allow it to be rebuilt once again so He can personally destroy it Himself. Here are the reasons as to why God would want to personally destroy this unholy city Himself. Back in the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis, the city of Babylon was the first city where man began to worship himself in organized rebellion against God Himself. It was where Satan officially set up his initial headquarters. The first official world ruler was Nimrod and he ruled from the city of Babylon. Most, if not all of the false religions of this world, can be traced back to the city of Babylon. As you will see in the following verses, Babylon is called a harlot - because from out of her came all of the other false religions that have set themselves up against the one and only true God. From these other false religions have come massive persecution of God's people throughout the ages. Satan and his demons have obviously been behind all of these other false religions such as Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Hinduism, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. Many in the radical end of Islam hate all Christians and Jews. There is horrible persecution going on right now with Muslims slaughtering Christians in the southern parts of Sudan and in some parts of Indonesia. Satan and his demons rule behind these other false religions and he is the one obviously causing all of this hatred towards Christians and Jews. As we get into the 7 year Tribulation, God arranges for this city to be rebuilt again, and then He will arrange for the city to be completely destroyed by the Antichrist and his 10 nation confederacy in one day! The Antichrist will have no idea that he is being used as a pawn by God the Father when he sets out to destroy this unholy city. I have a feeling Satan may be able to read what I believe will be a very heavy sign from God as to why this city is being raised up again – just so God can personally destroy it Himself. I believe God is saying with the destruction of Babylon, that He is in the process of getting ready to clean up the earth, and that all of the false religions of this world are going to be taken for out for good once Jesus returns back to our earth to set up His Millennium Kingdom. God will first destroy the city of Babylon and everything that it stands for and represents. And then He will eventually come after Satan, the Antichrist, the False Prophet, all of Satan's demons, and all of the other unsaved people of this earth when Jesus comes back to us in His second coming. When the Millennium Kingdom is set up by Jesus for 1000 years, all of the unsaved people, and Satan and all of his demons will be totally taken out so that we can all have true peace on this earth during the 1000 years that Jesus will rule for. As you will see in the following verses, Babylon is once again going to be rebuilt, and it appears to become a major governmental and commercial place in the world. The Bible says that this harlot will initially rule in tandem with the Antichrist. When the city is eventually destroyed by the Antichrist, the Bible says that many of the merchants, traders, and seamen will mourn because they are no longer going to be able to trade and make money with her. The Bible says that the kings of the earth were living luxuriously with her when she is destroyed and they are all mourning because of the loss of wealth that will occur to them as a result of her sudden destruction. The Scripture Verses 1. This first verse tells us that the beast, who is the Antichrist, and his 10 nation confederacy will be the ones who will destroy this city. However, this verse then goes on to tell us that it will be God Himself who will be the One to put it into the hearts of the beast and his 10 nation confederacy to destroy Babylon. Here is the verse: "And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, they will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman whom you saw is that GREAT CITY which reigns over the kings of the earth." (Revelation 17:16-18) 2. This next verse goes further into the actual destruction of Babylon. Apparently the city is literally destroyed in one hour! Here is the verse that wraps up what God has to say about destroying this unholy city. "After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird.' For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury … In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart,' I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow'. Therefore her plagues will come in one day – death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her. And the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.' And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore … Rejoice over her, O heaven, and your holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!" Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore … And the light of your lamp shall not shine anymore … For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth." (Revelation 18:1-24) 3. Here is another verse that says her destruction will come in one hour. ‘For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.' (Revelation 18:17) Conclusion 1. Babylon probably has to be rebuilt sometime before the 7 year Tribulation starts. If it is going to be a flourishing city by the time the Antichrist sets out to destroy it, it has to be rebuilt sometime before the Antichrist really comes to power in order to properly set the stage for it to be a flourishing and wealthy city again. Prophecy students feel that its destruction by the Antichrist will probably come somewhere around the midpoint of the Tribulation or shortly thereafter. Remember, the Antichrist will initially rise to power more on peace and diplomacy during the first three and half years of the Tribulation. It is in the last three and half years of the Tribulation that the Antichrist starts the mass persecution of the Jews, Christians, and anyone else who will not accept his mark. My guess is that Babylon is included in the last three and half years of his mass persecution and destruction of both people and countries. 2. You will also notice that Babylon is completely destroyed in one hour by fire. The first verse above says that the beast will burn her with fire. I have to believe that the Antichrist will probably launch some type of nuclear missile or bomb on Babylon to completely destroy it by fire in one hour. 3. The Bible says our God is a jealous God. The first of the Ten Commandments is: "You shall have no other Gods before Me." The second commandment says: "You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God …" (Exodus 20:4-5) All of the other false religions that have come onto this earth all have their origin in some way with the ancient city of Babylon, and they all involve some form of idol worship. With our God the Father being the one and only true God of the entire universe, He calls all of these other false religions originating out of Babylon harlots! This is because they are not following the one and only true God of the Bible. I have already done an article titled, "The Basics of Salvation Eternal Through Jesus Christ." The Bible makes it very clear that there is only one faith, one God, and one Savior – Jesus Christ. God the Father will not honor any of these other false religious systems in any way, shape, or form. All of these other false religions are an abomination in His sight, and they all have their origins direct with Satan himself. And the city of ancient Babylon was really the official starting point from where Satan started to develop and work all of these other false religions into the world today. Once you understand and see the big picture as to how God sees it, you can then understand why He would want to resurrect the city of Babylon once again – just so He can personally set it up for its final destruction at the end of times. The above verses also say that this destruction is set up by God in order to avenge all of His people who have been martyred throughout history by all of these other false religions. 4. If you want to read more on Babylon and its final destruction, go to chapters 17 and 18 in the Book of Revelation. Those two chapters were too long for me to type out for this article. The above verses are highlighting the basics on this subject for you. Note in Revelation 17:3 where it says: "And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns." The woman is the city of Babylon and the beast she is sitting on is the Antichrist. This verse tells us that initially Babylon will be riding on and working with the Antichrist and probably helping him set up his agenda. There are also predictions that out of Babylon will come much more of the New Age Movement, along with a heavy increase in sorcery, magic, and the occult. Demons and their supernatural powers will be at their peak during the end times, and the city of Babylon will have major occultic activity surrounding it, which will help it to draw many people from all around the world. This would probably explain why it is going to become so popular and wealthy again once it is resurrected. All of the above is just another powerful puzzle piece being given to us by God the Father to let us know when we are really starting to approach the end of times and the return of His Son Jesus back to our earth to set up His 1000 Year Millennium Kingdom. **********************************************Article 7 Russia and Her Allies Will Attack Israel This next event will be a major one! The Bible says that in the latter days that Russia, and what appears to be Iran, Libya, Turkey, and possibly Sudan, will descend upon Israel to try and destroy her. Israel will have no chance to win against this large invading army that will attempt to come against her. However, as you will see in the Scripture verse listed below, God the Father will come to her rescue and will literally wipe this unholy army right off the face of the earth. Here are the basic facts and Scripture verses that will tell you exactly what is going to happen with this awesome event. 1. The word "Gog" mentioned in the Scripture verse below has been determined by many Bible historians to be referring to what is now the country of Russia. The other strange names that you will see listed below have been determined to be Iran, Libya, Turkey, and possibly Poland and Sudan. All of these countries will be joining forces with Russia to try and destroy Israel. You already know that most of the Arab nations hate Israel and would love to have a chance to wipe her off the face of our earth. 2. When reading the Scripture verses listed below, you will notice that it appears to be God the Father who is the One who will be pulling Russia and her allies out to come against His chosen people. The Bible says, "I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws and lead you out." 3. The Bible says that Israel will be dwelling safely in her land when this event happens-so this event cannot be occurring at the midpoint of the Tribulation. It has to occur sometime before the midpoint. The Jews will not be living in peace and safety during the midpoint of the Tribulation because the Antichrist will be starting to massacre them once he seats himself up in their temple proclaiming himself to be God. The Bible says that after God destroys this army that will come against Israel, that it will take seven months to bury the dead and 7 years to burn all of their weapons left on the battlefield. If it is going to take 7 years to burn their weapons, this event will probably occur at least 7 years, if not longer, before the midpoint of the Tribulation to give the Jewish people that amount of time to be able to complete this kind of task. Remember, in the first half of the Tribulation the Antichrist will be establishing some kind of peace treaty with Israel – which may help explain how Israel could be living in any kind of peace as described in the Scripture verse below. 4. How does God destroy this army coming against His people? He will do it in 6 ways. This will be the full wrath of God coming into manifestation against this invading army! God will be releasing the following judgments against this army: A great earthquake. Pestilence, disease, and bloodshed. A torrent of flooding rain. Great hailstones. Will pour down fire and brimstone. This army will then be so decimated by all of the above judgments, they will then start fighting and killing one another, probably in an effort to get away from all of this which they will not be able to do. The Bible says that God will have "fury in His face" and that He will render all of the above judgments because of the jealousy for His own people. His fury and jealousy in seeing this army try to come against His chosen people will cause Him to release His wrath against them in full force. The release of God's wrath will be so powerful when He releases these specific judgments against this invading army – that the Bible says that all of the people and creatures on this earth will be shaking at His presence. I believe that God will be making a very powerful statement to the rest of the world with this one event. The Scripture verse listed below says that God will magnify Himself and that all of the nations of the world will know that He is the Lord after all of these events unfold! I believe this one event alone will cause many people to get saved. It will be so supernatural in its outcome, that many people will start looking for answers – and if the Church has not been raptured at this point, Christians will be able to provide answers to the rest of the world as to what just happened and how all of this was prophesied to occur back in the Old Testament. The Scripture Verse. 1. Here is the main verse that very clearly and very graphically describes this incredible event. This verse is from the Book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him," and say, 'Thus says the Lord God; "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with, all of them with shield and helmet … After many days you will be visited. In the LATTER YEARS you will come back into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely. You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you." 'Thus says the Lord God: "On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: you will say, 'I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates – to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land …' 'Thus says the Lord God: "On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it? Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. You will come against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the LATTER DAYS that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes …" "And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," says the Lord God, "that My fury will show in My face. For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: 'Surely in that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.' "I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains," says the Lord God. "Every man's sword will be against his brother. And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezekiel 38:1-23) 2. Now here is the verse that says it will take 7 months to bury the dead after God personally destroys this invading army and 7 years to burn all of their weapons that are still left on the battlefield. "Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years … It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel … For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. Indeed all the people of the land will be burying them, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified," says the Lord God. (Ezekiel 39:9-13) Conclusion. Just imagine all of the above events captured on our TV sets. The whole world is going to see the aftermath of God's wrath on this invading army. If the Church has not been raptured before this incredible event occurs, many people will be looking to Christians for some of the answers to this event. By the time this event does occur, many Christians will have knowledge on all of these end time events. We will then be able to show others who are not saved how this entire event was prophesied to occur in the Old Testament. This one event alone will help prove to others the existence of our God, that He is real, and that our Bible is truly the inspired and infallible Word of God. God will be making a very powerful statement to the rest of the world through this one main event in an effort to try and get as many people saved as He possibly can before things really start to heat up with all of the events that will be occurring in the Great Tribulation. Russia and all of the Arab nations surrounding Israel really need to be watched very closely in the coming years. Have you ever wondered why so much attention has been focused on the state of Israel and all of their battles with their Arab neighbors? This is because God is purposely drawing and focusing the world's attention on Israel due to the prominent position she will be playing in all of these coming end time events. We have a lot to look forward to in the coming years as world events slowly start to all come together as prophesied out of the Bible. **********************************************Article 8 A War in Heaven This next event, a war in heaven, will not be able to be seen with the naked eye by the people who are still left on the earth as the 7 year Tribulation starts to unfold. What happens in this next incredible event is that Satan and all of his fallen angels are cast out of heaven and cast down onto the earth by St. Michael and his army of angels. There will literally be a war in the heavens between God's angels and Satan and his fallen angels. To really understand what is happening with this war in heaven, you need to know there are three heavens. The apostle Paul says that he was taken up to the third heaven, Paradise, where I believe he encountered Jesus and possibly God the Father. He says he does not know if he was in his body or out of his body when he had this experience. Here is the verse: "It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows – such a one was caught up to the third heaven. And I know such a man – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows – how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which is not lawful for a man to utter." (2 Corinthians 12:1-4) Many believe that Paul was talking about himself, that he was the one who had the experience. If this verse is telling us that there is a third heaven, then there must be a first heaven and a second heaven. If God and Jesus live in the third heaven, then the first heaven has to be our earth. The second heaven then has to be the "air" or the atmosphere between heaven and our earth. Satan is called the prince of the power of the "air" in the Bible. This is where he and his demons live and roam in. I believe Satan and his fallen angels were cast out of the third heaven where God and Jesus live at long before we humans were ever created on our earth. Satan had rebelled against God before we were ever created and he thus was cast out of the third heaven down into the second heaven – the air. This is why the Bible calls Satan "the prince of the power of the AIR." Here is the verse that will specifically tell us this: "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience." (Ephesians 2:1-2) Satan is not confined to the Bottomless Pit or the Lake of Fire and Brimstone at this time. He is free to roam in the "air" until Jesus comes back to us in His second coming. After Jesus comes back, Satan is then thrown into the Bottomless Pit for a 1000 years and then eventually into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone at the end of the 1000 Year Millennium Kingdom. What happens in this next event is that Satan is cast from the second heaven down to the first heaven – which is our earth. The Bible says that Satan really gets mad and furious when this event occurs because he knows he has but little time left before Jesus comes back for His second coming to throw him into the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years. The Bible then says woe to the people who are still living on the earth when this event happens because Satan will then start to release his wrath upon the earth! He will first go after the Jewish people, but God will provide protection for 1/3 of the Jews, so he will not be able to kill all of them. The Bible says that he will then turn his attention to the rest of God's people, the saints in Christ. This is where you get the 42 months that God's saints will allowed to be given into the hand of the Devil and the Antichrist for mass persecution. This war in heaven will probably occur right around the midpoint of the Tribulation. This event may also help explain why the Antichrist all of a sudden in the middle of the Tribulation, breaks off his peace treaty with the Jewish people and then proceeds to seat himself up in the Jewish Temple proclaiming himself to be God and then starts the mass persecution of the Jewish people and God's saints. Some people think Satan himself may actually possess the Antichrist at this time since he has now been officially cast down onto the earth. Why would God cast Satan out of the second heaven? Why not just wait until His Son comes back and then cast him into the Bottomless Pit from the second heaven? I believe that when Jesus comes back the second time, He will start His descension from the third heaven where He now resides. He will then pass through the second heaven and then land on the first heaven, which is our earth at the Mount of Olives. I believe God may want the second heaven cleaned out from Satan and all of his demons before His Son Jesus starts to descend from the third heaven. The Bible says that God's saints will be coming back down with Jesus when He comes back the second time. If Jesus and all of God's saints are coming together at one time for this event, I believe God may want the second heaven free and clear of any demons in this middle realm. Satan will obviously know this when he is cast down onto the earth, and the Bible says from this point on, he knows his time is short and that is why he becomes so furious. Satan will thus have the last three and half years to wreak as much havoc as he can through the Antichrist and False Prophet before Jesus comes back and finally puts an end to his reign of terror. I really believe that God is going to give all of us an incredible history lesson when we see what happens when Satan merges with the Antichrist and False Prophet to cause as much destruction as they possibly can for the last three and half years – especially if the Church has already been raptured before all of this begins to take place. Without God and His Church in the big picture – man, in union with Satan and his fallen angels, will wreak nothing but pure havoc and destruction on a mass scale to a degree that no man would have ever thought was possible. For all those who think that man is basically good and that we do not need God in our lives, and that we are capable of creating an utopian type paradise on our earth through our own human efforts – these people will be shown first hand what will happen when the earth is left in the hands of humans under the influence of Satan and all of his demons. The result will end up being mass chaos and total destruction to a degree that the world has never seen before and will never see again! Jesus Himself said that had these days not been shortened by God the Father, that no flesh would have survived this horrible time of trouble. The Scripture Verse. Here is the Scripture verse that will tell us exactly what will happen with this event. "And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon who was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down … Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time. Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." (Revelation 12:7-17) The "woman" mentioned in the above verse is Israel. The "male child" that the woman had given birth to is Jesus. Notice that the woman Israel is given under the protection of a great eagle after Satan is cast down upon the earth. This protection is for a time and times and half of a time. We already know this stands for three and half years from the prophecy of Daniel already talked about in one of my earlier end time articles. So we know that this is referring to the last three and half years of the Tribulation. As I stated in my article titled, "Basic Overview of Main End Time Events," some people think this great eagle may be the United States since we have the national symbol of an eagle. Our country is still on good terms with Israel and we would be the most obvious choice to protect Israel if we are still considered a major super power and not under the control of the Antichrist at this time. Now that Satan, the Antichrist, and False Prophet are given incredible authority and power to carry out this unholy reign of terror for three and half years, how does God go about getting anyone saved during these last days if His Church and main body of believers have already been raptured off the earth? For this answer, go to the next article titled, "God's 4 Avenues to Reach the Lost During the Tribulation." God will arrange for an incredible counterbalance to take place during this time of trouble in an effort to get as many people saved as He possibly can. **********************************************Article 9 God's 4 Avenues to Reach the Lost During the Tribulation. If the Church is raptured off the face of the earth before the 7 year Tribulation starts, then how does God go about getting anyone saved during the 7 year Tribulation if there is no Church or main body of believers left to preach the gospel? The Bible says that a great multitude of people will end up getting saved during the Tribulation. God is going to reach the lost during this horrific time of trouble through 4 basic avenues. They are as follows: 1. The 2 Witnesses. 2. 144,000 Jewish Witnesses. 3. An Angel of the Everlasting Gospel. 4. A Major Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As you will see in the Scripture verses listed below, God will still make every attempt to get as many people saved as He possibly can before His Son Jesus returns back to us for His second coming. All of the above avenues will be extreme measures being taken by God to reach as many people as He possibly can with His Church having already been taken out of the big picture by way of the Rapture. Here are the Scripture verses to back all of this up. 1. The 2 Witnesses. The Book of Revelation tells us that sometime during the Tribulation, two witnesses walking with the power of God will come forth prophesying on His behalf to the whole world. The Bible says they will walk with God's power to prophesy to the world for 1,260 days, which is almost three and a half years. However the Bible does not tell us if they come onto the scene during the first three and a half years of the Tribulation or in the second half of the Tribulation. In either event, we know they will definitely show up sometime during the 7 year Tribulation. The Bible says that no one will be able to harm them or kill them during the 1,260 days they are walking with God's power. If anyone tries to kill them, the Bible says that fire will literally come out of their mouths to kill those who would try to harm or kill them. They will literally have the power of God to shut down heaven to keep it from raining if they should so desire. They will also have the power to turn our waters into blood and to cause plagues to come onto the earth to torment all of the nonbelievers. However, when their time is up, the Bible says that the Antichrist will then be able to overcome them and kill them. After he kills them, he then allows their bodies to remain in the streets of Jerusalem for three and half days. The nonbelievers will then be rejoicing because these two witnesses had been tormenting all of them during the three and a half years they had been walking with God's power. I also believe the Antichrist is doing this to show the world that he has just defeated and killed God's best. I also believe this will be shown worldwide on TV so the whole world will see what the Antichrist has just done. However, after three and half days with their dead bodies lying and rotting in the middle of Jerusalem, God all of a sudden turns the tables on the Antichrist for all the whole world to see. God will literally resurrect the bodies of the two witnesses right in front of the whole world. When their bodies are resurrected and these two come back to life, the Bible says that great fear will fall on those who actually witness this event. At this point, God will literally cause these two witnesses to ascend into heaven just like Jesus did. Right after these two witnesses ascend into heaven, God will then cause a great earthquake to strike the city of Jerusalem causing one tenth of it to fall, along with killing 7,000 people. Here is the verse that will specifically tell us all of this: "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days (1,260), clothed in sackcloth … And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. These have the power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the day of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. Now when they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three and half days, and not allow their bodies to be put into graves. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because the these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. Now after the three and half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand men were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven." (Revelation 11:3-13) For those who miss the Rapture but get saved afterwards, the exploits of these two witnesses will be a great faith booster to all Christians who are living at this time. They will see the power of God operating through these two witnesses and not even the Antichrist himself will be able to touch them until their 1,260 days are up. And even after the Antichrist initially kills them, God will still win in the end as He will go about fully resurrecting these two witnesses and literally ascend them into heaven. For those Christians who know they are probably going to get martyred for their faith during this time, to see these two witnesses fully resurrect and literally ascend into heaven after they are killed will give them great faith, and also let them know that they too will go straight to heaven once they are martyred for their faith in Jesus. 2. The 144,000 Jewish Witnesses. Sometime during the first part of the Tribulation or possibly right at the beginning of it, God is going to choose and mark 144,000 Jewish people out of the 12 main tribes of Israel. These 144,000 Jews will receive some kind of mark on their forehead from God. As a result of this mark and seal, the judgments that will fall upon the earth during the 7 year Tribulation will not touch or harm them. God also calls these 144,000 the "firstfruits to God and the Lamb." The Lamb is Jesus. God is making a statement that these 144,000 will be the first set of Jews to get saved and accept Jesus as their true Messiah. Though Scripture does not specifically state that these 144,000 Jews will actually be witnessing to others, the conclusion among many students of Bible Prophecy is that they definitely will be witnessing and preaching the Gospel to others just due to the fact that they have now been saved and will physically be protected from all the judgments that will be hitting the earth during this time. It is only logical to conclude that God will use these 144,000 Jewish witnesses to preach the Gospel, as they will now have the power of the Holy Spirit operating in them to be able to preach. I seriously doubt if God will just have them lying around and doing nothing, especially with the Church having been possibly raptured before they are sealed and come forth. God is going to need as many people as possible to be preaching, witnessing, and getting people saved, especially if the main body of believers are no longer on the earth to preach and witness to others. 1. Here are the two main verses from Scripture that will tell us about these 144,000 Jewish witnesses. "After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, "Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads. And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed." (Revelation 7:1-4) The rest of this verse then goes on to state the 12 main tribes of Israel and the 12,000 that will be taken out of each of them to total up to the 144,000. 2. This next verse tells us they will be the first fruits of the Jewish people to accept Jesus as their true Messiah. "Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand having His Father's name written on their foreheads … These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before the throne of God." (Revelation 14:1-4) Now what comes next is a real interesting twist. God is going to allow, for the first time ever, an angel to preach the Gospel to whoever is left on the earth during the Tribulation. 3. The Angel of the Everlasting Gospel. God has things set up down here on this earth for humans to preach the Gospel. This is not the job of His angels. However, God will apparently be making an exception to this during the time of the 7 year Tribulation. He is going to allow one angel to preach to all those who are still living on this earth during the Tribulation. I believe the reason that God will be making such an exception during this time is because the church will have been raptured, and things will be getting so bad during this time, that God will have to supernaturally try to reach as many people as He possibly can before the end comes. This next verse tells us that this angel will be preaching to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people that are dwelling on the earth at this time. This angel will be preaching at least in the last half of the Tribulation and probably before. I believe he could actually start preaching at the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation, just shortly after the Church had been raptured. Here is the verse: "Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth – to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people – saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water." (Revelation 14:6-7) You will notice that this angel is starting to preach at the "hour of His judgment." The next article I will be doing will be on the judgments that will come upon the earth at this time. There will be 3 sets of them and the first set will probably start right at the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation or just right before it. This tells me that this angel will probably start preaching right at the beginning of the 7 year Tribulation and will continue to preach during most, if not all of the 7 year Tribulation. The last avenue God will be using during this time to try and get as many people saved as He possibly can will be a major outpouring of the Holy Spirit Himself. 4. A Major Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Bible says in the latter days that God will be pouring out His Holy Spirit upon all flesh. When this event happens, people will be getting visions, dreams, and prophecies from God the Father. People will be getting major supernatural activity from God during this time! Again, I believe the reason for this is because people are going to need to hear from God in a major supernatural way during this horrible time of trouble. This will be God's extreme counterbalance to help offset all of the bad things that His people will be seeing and going through during this time. When reading this verse, notice that right after God makes this statement about pouring out the Holy Spirit, that the verse goes immediately into the physical description of end times – the sun will be turning into darkness, the moon turning into blood, and He then uses the phrase "the great and terrible day of the Lord." This phrase is talking about the last 7 years on earth which is the 7 year Tribulation. This is how you know that this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is going to come during these times. Here is the verse: "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also on my menservants and on my maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: Blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the remnant whom the Lord calls." (Joel 2:28-32) I personally believe that God will actually start this outpouring of the Holy Spirit even before the 7 year Tribulation begins. I believe the Holy Spirit will start to release and come onto a lot more people even before the Rapture takes place. I believe that God will start this major outpouring of the Holy Spirit in an effort to get as many people saved and pulled in for the Rapture as He possibly can. Then after the Rapture has occurred, I believe God will then intensify this outpouring in an effort to try and reach some of the real hardheads who did not get it the first time around and missed being taken out on the Rapture. Many people believe that this outpouring has already started to begin and I agree with that assessment. However, I believe this outpouring of the Holy Spirit will intensify to a much greater degree in the coming years. Conclusion. The next verse from Scripture will show you that a great multitude that cannot even be numbered from all the nations of the world will end up getting saved during the 7 year Tribulation as a result of the above 4 avenues God will be using. However, as you have seen in the other verses, many of these people who get saved during the 7 year Tribulation will end up getting martyred for their faith. However, the final part of this verse shows that God will allow these tribulation saints to rule with Him in the 1000 year Millennium Kingdom that will be coming to our earth. Jesus will literally be sitting and ruling from the Jewish Temple in Israel and these tribulation saints will be before Him serving Him in Jerusalem. This verse then ends stating they will never hunger or thirst again, and that Jesus will wipe away every tear from their eyes. The bad times will be forever over and they, along with the rest of us, will live happily ever after in the coming Millennium Kingdom, and then eventually in the New Heaven and New Earth that God the Father will be forming out. Here is the verse: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" … Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?" And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His Temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:9-17) As sad as it will be to see so many Christians put to death for their faith in God and Jesus during these end times, the ending will more than make up for it. I will be ending these series of articles with what it is going to be like in the 1000 year Millennium Kingdom where Jesus will literally be ruling this entire earth from the city of Jerusalem – and then the New Heaven and New Earth we will all end up with after the 1000 Year Millennial Kingdom has ended. The bad times will be forever over, and we will all truly liv happily ever after in this new environment with God the Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, all of God's angels, and all of the rest of saved humanity. I will leave you with one very consoling verse for the ones who will be martyred for their faith in Jesus during the Tribulation. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." (Psalm 116:15) I believe God will always hold a special place in His heart for all of the Christians who have been martyred throughout history for their faith and belief in Him. I do not believe there is a greater act of courage, bravery, and faith than to be willing to die for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. **********************************************Article 10 The 7 Seal Judgments. These next 3 articles are going to be extremely hard hitting. I am not going to pull any punches on what will be discussed in these next three articles. These 3 articles will be on the judgments and wrath of God hitting this earth full force during the 7 year Tribulation – which will be the last 7 years of the world. Many Christians are afraid to read this part of Book of Revelation because it is just too horrible to think about and contemplate on. However, God is specifically telling us what is going to happen with these severe judgments. If God did not want us to have this information due to the intensity and severity of these judgments, then He would have never put them in the Bible. But since He did, this means that He wants all of us to have this information for our own knowledge base in Him, and to also to be able to pass this knowledge onto other people if these events ever start to occur in our lifetime. For those of you who have the stomach to press in on exactly what is going to happen with these specific judgments, I challenge you to just sit back, relax, and use your own imagination to fully visualize these events as they are being described to you in the following Scripture verses. If you do this, you will be able to grasp the intensity, severity, and magnitude of these events. The world has never seen anything like this before – and the world will never see anything like this ever again! Remember one last thing when you start reading on exactly what is going to occur with these severe judgments – these events will be occurring on a worldwide global scale. When using your imagination to visualize these events, imagine you are hovering above the earth, looking down, and seeing these events occur on a worldwide global scale. Then you will be able to appreciate the magnitude and intensity of these events. The Judgments and Wrath of God. There will 3 sets of judgments that will come upon the earth during the last 7 years. Some of these judgments will be allowed by God to occur. The rest will come directly from His hand. These 3 sets of judgments will occur in chronological and successive order as they are presented to you from the Bible. They are called: 1. The Seal Judgments (7). 2. The Trumpet Judgments (7). 3. The Bowl Judgments (7). There are 7 judgments within each of these 3 specific set of judgments. If there is a Rapture, the Church should be off the earth by the time these judgments start to occur. These judgments are targeted for the rebellious and nonbelievers – the hardened sinners. When you reed what is going to occur, the first question you will ask is why? Why is God going to go to such an extreme extent to allow and cause this type of massive destruction to hit our earth? There are two main reasons as to why God is going to allow all of this to happen – and you need to get a strong firm grip on each of these two reasons so you can perfectly understand why God is going to allow and cause all of these extreme events to occur. The two main reasons are as follows: 1. To try and get as many people saved as He possibly can before the end comes. Remember, the Rapture will probably have occurred before these events start to occur. This means that all of the real Christians will be gone. What will be left are the real hard heads who either did not get it the first time around, or who were too stubborn and rebellious to get saved the first time around. God, in His incredible loving mercy, is going to be coming after these people for a second time. However, in an effort to try and reach them with the seriousness and gravity of the situation, He will literally be throwing everything at them, including the "kitchen sink" in an effort to try and to let them know that He does exist and that He is calling them for the last and final time. As you will see in some of these verses from Scripture, many of these people will still fail to repent and turn to God – even after the most serious of these judgments literally hit this earth with full force. After you reed what is going to happen, you are going to be blown away that so many of these people will still fail to repent and turn to God after seeing and literally living through these massive onslaughts by God. They will even know that it is God Himself doing all of this because these events will be so supernatural. But they will still continue to curse Him and refuse to break because of their hardened natures and sinful ways. Their eventual end, when it is all said and done, is that they will be thrown into what is called the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they will then live under severe torment for the rest of their eternal lives. But as bad as this eventual end is going to be for these people, you have to understand that God the Father did everything He possibly could to try and get these people saved before their final judgment takes place where they are then thrown into this horrible place of torment for the rest of their eternal lives. This is why these judgments will be so severe and so intense and will be occurring on a worldwide global scale. God does not want or wish that anyone should perish into this horrible place of torment, but He cannot make or force people to accept Him and His free gift of eternal salvation through His Son Jesus. However, He will be going to the most extreme lengths possible with these severe judgments to try and get some of these hardened and rebellious sinners to repent and turn to Him. If you read about all of these judgments in this light, you will be able to appreciate and understand why God will have to go to this kind of extreme length. When these judgments are over, and Jesus returns for the second time, there will be no second chance for these people. If they do not accept Jesus before He comes back, their final fate will be sealed for all of eternity in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. 2. The second main reason these judgments are going to be released by God is to punish and show His wrath to all the hardened and rebellious sinners, which will include the Antichrist, the False Prophet, Satan, and all of his demons. You will not only have the Antichrist and Satan killing and persecuting others, but other people will be killing one another as well. This will all be worse than the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. Many of the Christians who get saved during the Tribulation will be killed by the Antichrist. This one event alone will cause God to release His anger, wrath, and vengeance with full force upon the rest of the unbelieving world. It will also serve as a major warning and foreshadowing of what is about to come their way very shortly – eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. In one of the actual seal judgments, there is a whole seal judgment just devoted to the Christians who are martyred during the Tribulation. They are crying out to God to take vengeance on their behalf and He tells them to wait just a little while longer before He does so. This is how wicked the world is going to become during this time. The persecution and bloodshed caused by the Antichrist, Satan, and the rest of the unbelieving world will be so bad, that it will cause God to release His wrath with full force upon all of these wicked people. Again, if you can grasp how bad and how evil people are going to become during this horrific time, you can then fully understand and appreciate why God is going to release such severe judgments upon the earth during this time. As intense and powerful as these judgments are going to be, the real sad part about all of this is that there will still be many of these people who will not turn to God. But at least we can all take with us in the next life that our God did everything He possibly could to try and get these people saved and pulled in. But just as a certain amount of the angelic race have fallen, rebelled, and turned away from their God, a certain amount of the human race is also going to do the exact same thing – and there is absolutely nothing that we or even God Himself can do about it because of the free will that He has given to each and everyone of us. This is going to be the saddest part of human history after it is all said and done. Now on to the 3 sets of judgments that will take place during the last 7 years on earth. The Seven Seal Judgments. These first 7 judgments will more than likely occur during the first three and half years of the Tribulation. Here is a description of each of these judgments, along with the Scripture verses from where they are coming from. 1. The First Seal. The first seal judgment is the releasing of the Antichrist upon our earth. The rider on the white horse is the Antichrist. You will notice that he is given a crown to wear. He is also riding a white horse. The color white stands for the fact that he will initially rise to power on peace and diplomacy. People will think he will have the answers to all of the world's problems. He will appear to be a good guy. However, the color of his horse is going to change in the second seal revealing his true evil nature. Also notice this verse says that a crown was given to him. This means that God is allowing this man to come forth at this time to eventually rule most, if not all of the world, for a specified period of time. This man would not be able to come to this kind of power unless God Himself would allow it to occur. Also notice how this verse ends. Even though he is riding on a white horse, his ultimate aim is to conquer and gain control of the entire world. This verse then ends with the statement that he goes out to conquer. Once he is allowed to be released by God, this man will waste no time in gaining control of his 10 nation confederacy, which he will eventually rule from, along with the rest of the nations of the world. Here is the verse: "Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, "Come and see." And I looked, and behold, a white horse. And he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer." (Revelation 6:1-2) Notice that Jesus is the Lamb at the beginning of the verse. Jesus is the One who opens up the seal, which means that God is allowing this event to occur. 2. The Second Seal. The second seal is again with the Antichrist riding on it, but this time the color of his horse changes from white to fiery red! This means that the Antichrist starts to show the rest of the world his true evil nature. Again, the key word to catch is the word "granted." It says in this verse that it was granted for this man to start to wage war and to take peace from the earth. Again, this will all be happening only with God allowing it too. The last half of this verse tells you that this man will be allowed to take peace from the entire earth – not just from a few countries. When he starts to do this, this verse ends up saying that people will start killing one another. The last sentence of this verse says that the Antichrist is given a great sword, which means that he now can go out to start wars so he can get all of the nations of the world under his rule. "When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come and see." And another horse, fiery red went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword." (Revelation 6:3-4) Also notice that Jesus is the One who opens up this seal allowing all of these events to occur. 3. The Third Seal. Once again, Jesus is the One who opens up this next seal. In this seal, the horse of the Antichrist will now change from fiery red to black. As a result of the wars and the killing that starts to occur when the second seal is opened up, the color black represents the results of what wars will start – and that is famine, disease, and food shortages. In this verse, it says that people will work all day long in order to get just enough food to get them through for the day. It says a "quart of wheat for a denarious." A denarious was one day's wages back in the days of the Bible. A quart of wheat was just enough food to get by with. It also says that the oil and wine are not to be harmed, which means the rich and the affluent will still have their rich lifestyles, while many other people will go under this type of tyranny where they will basically be living under slave labor conditions. Imagine all of this with our wealthy lifestyles in our country. This verse also says that the rider on the black horse, who is the Antichrist, has a pair of scales in his hand. I believe these scales show that the Antichrist has the power and authority to tip the scales in his favor. He will have the power to arrange for many countries to be living under these slave labor conditions where they will have to work all day long just to be able to buy enough food to barely live on. Bottom line – living conditions will become horrible and deplorable for many people throughout the entire world once the Antichrist is able to adjust the scales to make all of this happen. Here is the verse: "When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." And I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and 3 quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine." (Revelation 6:5-6) 3 quarts of barley are also considered just enough food to get by on. 4. The Fourth Seal. In this next seal judgment, things start to go from bad to worse. The color of the horse now changes to a pale color. The pale color stands for death! I believe this is still the horse of the Antichrist. This verse then goes on to state that power is given to him to kill a fourth of the earth's population by sword, hunger, death, and by the beasts of the earth. I repeat, one fourth of all the people living at this time are going to be killed by one of the 4 ways mentioned above. The Antichrist will be the one responsible for arranging and setting up all of these events to occur in order for this many people to be killed. Again, notice that this power is given to him. This means that God is "allowing" these turn of events to occur through this unholy man. This verse also says that Hades follows death. This will be another whole article. However, long story short, Hades (hell) is the place where nonbelievers go when they die. Nonbelievers do not go to the Lake of Fire and Brimstone until after the 1000 year Millennium Kingdom has passed. Hades (Hell) is their temporary place of torment until that event happens. With Hades following after Death in this verse, it seems to be implying that the people who are being killed in this judgment are nonbelievers, not Christians. Many of the Christians that get saved after the Rapture are going to be martyred, but God seems to be keeping their deaths separate from the deaths talked about in this seal judgment. So if you put these two together, you will have most of the Christians who are saved after the Rapture getting killed by the Antichrist, along with one fourth of the rest of the nonbelievers also getting killed due to the wars and bloodshed that will be caused by this man and some of the other kings of the earth. This will be a mass killing of humans on a scale that the world has never seen before. This will be a world holocaust, not just a Christian-Jewish holocaust. Here is the verse: "When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come and see." And I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth." (Revelation 6:7-8) I believe the beasts of the earth are other kings and rulers who will be joining forces with the Antichrist in setting up this mass slaughter of humans. 5. The Fifth Seal. Now this next seal judgment is different than the first four. With many Christians now under heavy persecution, along with one fourth of the nonbelievers, this seal judgment deals with the cries of the martyrs who are now living in heaven with God. They are literally crying out to God asking Him when He is going to stop all of this persecution and bloodshed and avenge them for being killed in this manner. God tells them to wait just a little while longer until the number of their fellow servants still on earth are killed and martyred as they were. From this verse, you can tell that these days are literally numbered by God Himself, which we already know from previous verses. We already know that once the 7 year Tribulation starts, it will run for a full 7 years. This verse also tells us that even though the martyrs are crying out in heaven for God to take some kind of action on their behalf, God is still not going to move until these events run their course by the exact number of days as prophesied in Scripture. For God to allow this event with the martyrs crying out in heaven for Him to do something to act as one of the actual seal judgments – this shows us how bad this persecution is going to be on the earth. This verse may also be implying that we, who may already be in heaven from the Rapture, may be allowed to watch all these events unfold from heaven. I have always believed that this was a possibility, since the last 7 years on earth will be a major history lesson that God will never want us to forget. I believe that God wants to show all of us what will happen to our world once He pulls back His restraining hand and allows Satan and one evil man, the Antichrist, to wreak as much havoc and destruction as they possibly can. With the main body of believers having already been raptured before all of these events start to occur, God is going to show all of us what will happen to our world when He is not a part of our lives and a part of our world. All of the atheists and unbelievers who are living during this time are going to wish they were never born after they see what will be coming their way once God pulls His Church off the earth. Atheists and the rest of the unbelieving world are going to find out the hard way that man does not have all of the answers to solve all the world's problems – only God does. And if you take God out of the equation, then you will end up with maximum death as will be shown in these last 7 years. Here is the verse: "When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" And a white robe was give to each of them; And it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed." (Revelation 6:9-11) 6. The Sixth Seal. Now in this seal judgment God starts to take direct action Himself! With all of the killing that is starting to occur in the above events, God shoots a very heavy torpedo at the earth. God causes a great and massive earthquake to strike the earth. This earthquake is so heavy, that every mountain and island is moved out of its place! This verse says that when the kings of the earth see this event unfold, they will know that it is God Himself because of the intensity and magnitude of it. This verse says that all of the rich men, great men, the mighty men, the commanders-in-chief, and all the kings of the earth will initially hide themselves in caves and in the rocks of the mountains fearing that God will be coming after them next. They will know that God has just released His furious wrath against all of them for all of their atrocities and evil deeds. This will be a warning shot across the bowels of their deck in that their days are numbered, and that God will be coming after them very shortly to avenge the deaths of all Christians and Jews who have been martyred during this time. And as you will see in some of the other judgments to follow, these people still will not repent and turn to God. They will still continue to hold on to their evil ways and curse God. Unbelievable stupidity, pride, and arrogance! And eventually that pride and arrogance is going to get them thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for all of eternity. But we will all be able to look back on all of these events and realize that our God did everything He possibly could to try and get these people to repent and turn to Him. This great earthquake is the start of it. Here is the verse: "I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave, and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountain and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:12-17) Also notice in addition to this great earthquake, that the sun will turn black and the moon will look like blood. It also says that stars will fall to the earth. This could be possible meteor activity. But with God turning the sun black and the moon into blood, He is making a very powerful statement to the rest of the world. God is showing His wrath by the sun turning black, and He is showing, by the blood on the moon, that He will be taking His vengeance upon all of these evil people very shortly due to all of the evil atrocities they have just committed – especially against His own people. Talk about a warning shot! God is mad and these evil people's days are numbered! When Jesus comes back for the second time in the battle of Armageddon, God will be spilling their blood literally. I have already given you a physical description of what will happen in my first end time article of this series. The Bible says that Jesus will dissolve their flesh while they stand on their feet, dissolve their eyes right out of their sockets, and dissolve their tongues right out of their mouths. As brutal as this punishment might sound, you can begin to understand God's wrath and anger against these evil people due to all of the bloodshed and horror they have caused as described in the above seal judgments. These people will deserve the full punishment and the full wrath of God for all of their evil acts. God the Father is a God of maximum intensity. The Bible says that He is slow to anger. But the evil of the people in this day will cause Him to release His anger and wrath in a way that the world has never seen before and will never see again. I believe that the wrath God will manifest in this day will be greater than the wrath He manifested in the flood of Noah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. For God to get this mad shows you how evil people will really become during this time. Thank God we will never see another day or time like this ever again. 7. The Seventh Seal. This next and final seal judgment is another direct move from God. It is a prelude that will lead up to the next series of judgments called the Trumpet Judgments. In this chilling verse, it says that there was total silence in heaven for a half an hour. This is the quiet before the next round of storm activity – just like the quiet that sometimes occurs before a storm or tornado. The verse then ends with an angel throwing what is called a censer, which is filled with fire, to the earth. When he does this, the earth is hit by thunderings, lightnings, and another earthquake! There are now 7 angels who are getting ready to sound what will be called the 7 Trumpet Judgments. And wait until you see what God is going to do in this next series of judgments. Here is the verse: "When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. And I saw seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. And he was given much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake. So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound." (Revelation 8:1-6) This last and final seal judgment is an introduction to what is getting ready to occur in the next series of judgments. What God did in the seventh seal judgment was just a warm-up compared to what He is going to do in the next series of judgments called the 7 Trumpet Judgments. God is getting ready to release full, heavy, torpedo action against all of these evil people, and still many of these people are not going to break and repent. If you will also notice in the last seal judgment, the angel is offering all of the prayers of the saints to God. I believe the prayers this angel is offering to God are the prayers from His people to avenge their deaths. Now God has heard their prayers – and He is now going to start to take very heavy action against the rest of the unbelieving and evil world. The Bible says that "vengeance belongs to the Lord." Now we will all get to see the vengeance and wrath of God released full force against these evil people. Go to the next article titled, "The 7 Trumpet Judgments," to read about what is going to happen in this next set of 7 judgments. **********************************************Article 11 The 7 Trumpet Judgments This article will deal with the next set of judgments called the 7 Trumpet Judgments. Things will now go from bad to worse compared to what just happened with the 7 Seal Judgments. 1. The First Trumpet. In this first Trumpet Judgment, God will rain down hail and fire upon the earth. Literally one third of the trees and grass will be burned up. Again, just imagine on a worldwide global scale that one third of all the trees on our planet will be burned to the ground! "The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up." (Revelation 8:7) 2. The Second Trumpet. In this next judgment, a "great mountain burning with fire" is thrown into the sea, turning one third of the sea into blood, killing one third of all the living creatures in the sea, and also destroying one third of the ships that are in the sea when this happens. This great mountain burning with fire is probably a meteor that is launched by God to the earth to continue His judgment against all the wicked people now living. "Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood; and a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed." (Revelation 8:8-9) 3. The Third Trumpet. In this next judgment by God, a "great star burning like a torch" falls from heaven on one third of the rivers and springs causing major contamination, thereby causing many men to die because the waters were made bitter. This great star burning like a torch would appear to be another meteor. In the previous judgment, one third of the ocean waters became blood. Now one third of the rivers and springs are going to be highly contaminated to such a degree that it will kill many men. "Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of the water; and the name of the star is Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood; and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter." (Revelation 8:10-11) 4. The Fourth Trumpet. In this next judgment, God strikes a third of the sun, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars so they are darkened and thus give no light to the earth. This verse then ends giving a very serious warning about the next 3 trumpet judgments getting ready to be released. "Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them was darkened; and a third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, "Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!" (Revelation 8:12-13) 5. Fifth Trumpet. This next judgment begins what is called the "woes" as mentioned 3 times in the above verse. This one is the first woe, which means that it is a very serious judgment. In this judgment, the bottomless pit is opened up where a huge swarm of locusts are allowed to be released upon the earth. These locusts are only allowed to attack men who do not have God’s seal on their foreheads. They are not allowed to kill these men, but to only torment them with their bite. This verse tells us that their bite is like that of a scorpion and that this torment is allowed to last for 5 months. This judgment will be so severe, that people will literally be seeking death and won’t be able to find it. They will literally be desiring to die and won’t be able to do so. These locusts are also not attacking in a random fashion. They will literally have a demon from the pit of hell leading them. His name is called Apollyon, which stands for "Destroyer." This verse then ends stating that this is just the first woe and that two more woes are getting ready to follow. "Then the fifth angel sounded: and I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. And to him was given the key to the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. And the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for 5 months. And their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. And the shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle; and on their heads were crowns like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. And their power was to hurt men 5 months. And they had a king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon. One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things." (Revelation 9:1-12) 6. The Sixth Trumpet. This next judgment is called the second woe. This one is almost beyond human comprehension. In this very severe judgment, 4 demonic angels are released from the Euphrates river to literally kill one third of all mankind. They will be leading an army of 200 million demonic spirits – I repeat, 200 million demonic spirits! This army of 200 million is not China. China emerges in the battle of Armageddon. This judgment will occur before the battle of Armageddon. We are talking about 200 million demons let loose upon this earth to literally kill one third of the people that are still left on it! Remember, one fourth of mankind has already been killed in the fourth seal judgment. With one third now being killed in this trumpet judgment, 58% of the world’s population will now have been killed after this judgment passes. And the most amazing thing occurs at the end of this verse – it says that the people who are still left on the earth watching and experiencing all of these horrors still refuse to repent and turn to God. They still continue in their worship of demons and all of their wicked ways. They know that all of these severe judgments are coming direct to them from God Himself, but yet they still refuse to turn from their evil and wicked ways. This really does show how stubborn the human heart can be when it comes to spiritual matters. Some people will refuse to accept the truth of our Lord and Savior, even when faced with God supernaturally showing Himself with the way He will be doing during these times. Unbelievable! "Then the sixth angel sounded: And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, WERE RELEASED TO KILL A THIRD OF MANKIND. Now the number of the army of the horsemen was two hundred million, and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision: those who sat on them had breastplates of fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow; and the heads of the horses were like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths came fire, smoke, and brimstone. BY THESE THREE PLAGUES A THIRD OF MANKIND WAS KILLED – by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which came out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents, and having heads; and with them they do harm. But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; and they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts." (Revelation 9:13-21) 7. The Seventh Trumpet. This last and final trumpet judgment is the final woe. However, it is not really a judgment per se. In this judgment, we are shown that heaven is beginning to rejoice because they know the end is very near. They are rejoicing because God has been releasing His wrath on a sinful world and He is starting to take His vengeance. However, the last part of the verse says that more lightnings, noises, thunderings, another earthquake, and more hail is released upon the earth once again. However, these events are almost tame compared to what has just been occurring over the last set of trumpet judgments. Here is the verse: "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshipped God saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned. The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that You shall reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, and those who fear Your name, small and great, and should destroy those who destroy the earth. Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail." (Revelation 11:15-19) Believe it or not, there is still one more wave of severe judgments that will hit this earth. These are called the Bowl Judgments and there are also seven of them. Go to the next article titled, "The 7 Bowl Judgments," for what these judgments will entail. God will be turning up the heat for one last time to try and get some of these wicked people to turn from their evil ways before Jesus comes back for the second time to put a final end to all of this bloodshed. **********************************************Article 12 The 7 Bowl Judgments. There is now one more set of 7 judgments God will release before the battle of Armageddon is set up and Jesus returns back to us for the second time. This last set of judgments are called the 7 Bowl Judgments. This will be God’s last and final attempt to try and get some of these hardened sinners to repent and turn to Him for eternal salvation. Again, as with some of the last set of judgments, there are verses that once again state they will still refuse to repent and turn to God. These "bombshells" that God will be throwing at them will be so supernatural and so severe, that these people will know, without any shadow of a doubt, that it really is God doing all of this – but some of these verses will tell you that these people are still blaspheming God and still refusing to repent. When it is all said and done, we will realize that God did everything He possibly could to try and get these people saved and pulled in. These extreme events will really show us how hardened some people can become towards God, and there is nothing that even God Himself can do to turn these people around without breaking the free will that He has given to each and everyone of us. These judgments are severe and extreme. God is now releasing His anger and wrath with full force on this world that has now become extremely wicked and evil. 1. The First Bowl. In this first judgment, God releases a very foul and loathsome sore or boil to come upon all the people who have the mark of the Beast. Notice that this plague is not released on any of His saints who are still living at this time. This verse also tells us that these bowl judgments are the wrath of God being "poured out" – hence the word "bowl" judgments. Here is the first verse: "Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, "Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth." So the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshipped his image." (Revelation 16:1-2) 2. The Second Bowl. In this next bowl judgment, God causes the entire sea to turn to blood and every living creature in the sea is killed as a result. I believe the word "sea" is referring to all of our oceans. Just try to imagine the magnitude of such an event, not to mention the stench that will probably be in the air from all the rotting fish and sea creatures who have now died and who may be floating on top of the ocean waters. "Then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it became blood as of a dead man; and every living creature in the sea died." (Revelation 16:3) 3. The Third Bowl. In this next judgment, God now comes after all the rivers and springs and also turns them into blood. Also notice that an angel then makes the statement that the reason God is doing this is to pay back with vengeance those who have killed His prophets and saints. He says that God is now giving them blood to drink since these people spilled the blood of His saints and that this is now their just due. Again, just imagine that all of the oceans, rivers, and springs on this earth will now be turned into nothing but pure blood. "Then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters saying: "You are righteous, O Lord, the One who is and who was and who is to be, because You have judged these things. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and You have given them blood to drink, for it is their just due." And I heard another from the altar saying, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments." (Revelation 16:4-7) 4. The Fourth Bowl. In this next judgment, in an effort to really turn up the heat so to speak, God literally does exactly that! He allows the heat of the sun to scorch men with great heat. And you will also notice that after this event occurs, along with all of the oceans, rivers, and springs being turned into blood, that people still refuse to repent and turn to God. This verse tells us that people are still cursing and blaspheming God through all of this instead of getting on their knees and asking Him for His forgiveness. "Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given to him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues; and they did not repent and give Him glory." (Revelation 16:8-9) 5. The Fifth Bowl. In this next judgment, God goes directly after the Antichrist along with his kingdom. God causes total darkness to fall upon his kingdom. This verse also tells us that the people are still being plagued by the boils and sores from the first bowl judgment and that they are in extreme pain because of all of this. And once again, even after this judgment falls, these people are still refusing to repent and turn to the Lord. Unbelievable! "Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. And they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds." (Revelation 16:10-11) 6. The Sixth Bowl. In this next judgment, two things will happen. The Euphrates river is allowed to dry up so as to prepare the way for the kings of the east to come for the last and final battle on planet earth – the battle of Armageddon. The kings of the east are China and several other Asian nations. The second thing that occurs is that three demons, who proceed out of the mouths of the Devil, the Antichrist, and False Prophet, are allowed by God to go out to all of the kings of the earth to bring them to the battle of Armageddon. Talk about sheep being led to the slaughter! "Then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of the God Almighty, "Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame." And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon." (Revelation 16:12-16) 7. The Seventh Bowl. This next judgment is the last and final judgment. Early on in this verse the words, "it is done," are shouted out. And God saves what may be His biggest shot yet for this last judgment. In this judgment, the greatest and most severe earthquake that has ever hit our planet will strike! And then to top it all off, great hailstones weighing about 135 pounds apiece will be launched at this earth! This earthquake is so massive, that every island flees away and the mountains are no longer found. It says that cities of the nations fell, but it does not specifically tell us which cities these are going to be. Suffice to say that this earthquake is going to literally wipe out entire cities! The city of Babylon is apparently one of the cities that will be completely destroyed by this monstrous earthquake. Here is this most frightening verse: "Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" And there were noises and thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. Then every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And great hail from heaven fell upon men, every hailstone about the weight of a talent. And the men blasphemed God because of the plagues of the hail, since that plague was exceedingly great." (Revelation 16:17-21) The great city that is divided into three parts is probably Jerusalem. The voice from the temple of heaven shouting "it is done" is probably God the Father. His Son Jesus said "it is finished" right before He died on the cross. Now God the Father is going to say the exact same words as His last and final judgment is thrown onto this earth. After this last judgment has passed, the only thing that will be left is for all the kings of the earth to march towards the battle of Armageddon. **********************************************Article 13 The 1000 Year Millennium Kingdom. After the last bowl judgment is thrown by God the Father to the earth – the battle of Armageddon ensues and then Jesus comes back to put a final end to all of it. The Antichrist and False Prophet are the first ones to be thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. Satan is then thrown into the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years, and all of the bad and unsaved people are kept in Hades (Hell) for the next 1000 years. All of the above was discussed in my article titled, "Basic Overview of Main End Time Events," so I will not repeat what was in that article. All the Scripture verses were given to you in that article on all of the above events. Now that Jesus has returned back to our earth for the second and final time – what exactly is He going to do? He is going to be setting up a 1000 year Millennium Kingdom in which He will literally rule this entire earth from the city of Jerusalem in Israel. Here is what the Bible has to say about what will be going on during this time period. The Bible says this period will be a time of perfect peace. Jesus will rule this entire earth from the city of Jerusalem, and He, and He alone will be the only official Ruler and King of this earth. Men will no longer war with one another and even the wild beasts like tigers and lions will be tame. All of the saints who have been living with Jesus in heaven will be coming down with Him to help Him rule the nations of this world. Jesus will be the only God people will worship and serve. All other false religions will have been completely done away with. People will live long lives, possibly up to a 1000 years like they did before the flood of Noah. Here are the main verses from Scripture that will give us this specific information. Jesus Will Rule This Earth From the City of Jerusalem. Some people think that Jesus will not be literally ruling this earth from the city of Jerusalem. They think He will be ruling from Heaven where He is at now. I believe this view is wrong. The following Scripture verses will tell us, without any other possible interpretation, that Jesus will literally be ruling this entire earth from the city of Jerusalem, not from Heaven where He is at right now. 1. This first verse is from the Book of Psalms. It is God the Father making a statement that He will set His Son Jesus on the holy hill of Zion where He will literally rule from. God is saying that He is going to give Jesus the entire earth as His possession. "He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure: "Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You, ask of Me, and I will give you the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.' " (Psalm 2:4-9) 2. This next verse says that God the Father will be giving Jesus the throne of King David, which is from Jerusalem, and that His kingdom will last forever. "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David … And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:32-33) 3. This next verse tells us that this kingdom will never be destroyed and that it will not be left to humans to try and manage. Humans have made nothing but a mess of things over the course of human history, and God will no longer be putting up with us trying to run the world. This verse tells us that Jesus' kingdom will now consume all of the other earthly kingdoms of this earth and break them into pieces. "And in the days of these things the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." (Daniel 2:44) 4. This next verse tells us that all peoples, nations, and languages will serve Jesus. Jesus, and Jesus alone, will be our earthly King, and no one else will be worshiped as a god or king. Jesus will be the sole supreme Ruler and King of this earth forever and ever! "I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." (Daniel 7:13-14) 5. This next verse tells us that our earthly government will be on Jesus' shoulders. It says we will have a peace on this earth that will have no end! This verse also reaffirms that Jesus will be upon the throne of David and that He will rule with justice and righteousness from His throne. He will be called the Prince of Peace! We will literally have heaven on earth with Jesus in complete control of everything. "For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, ever forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." (Isaiah 9:6-7) 6. This next verse tells us that Jesus will literally be dwelling in the midst of Jerusalem. It says that Jerusalem will be called the holy mountain of God. I believe this verse is telling us that Jesus will literally rule this earth from the city of Jerusalem – not heaven! Thus says the Lord: 'I will return to Zion, and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth, the Mountain of the Lord of hosts, the Holy Mountain.' (Zechariah 8:3) 7. Here is another good verse that will tell us that Jesus will literally be dwelling in our midst. When the Bible says that Jesus will be dwelling in our midst, I believe this is literal interpretation – that He will literally, not symbolically or figuratively, but literally be dwelling and living among us in this Millennium Kingdom. "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," says the Lord. "Many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and they shall become My people. And I will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And the Lord will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem." (Zechariah 2:10-12) 8. Here is another verse driving home the point that Jesus will literally be dwelling in our midst. This verse also tells us that His tabernacle and sanctuary will also be in our midst in addition to Himself. This sanctuary will sanctify Israel. "… and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, where My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore." (Ezekiel 37:26-27) 9. Here is another good verse that tells us that Jesus will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel and that His glory and no other will once more fill their temple. "The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the temple. Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me. And He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places." (Ezekiel 43:5-7) 10. This next verse is very interesting, once more proving, without any shadow of a doubt, that Jesus will literally be ruling this entire earth from the city of Jerusalem. This verse also tells us that people will talk about going to see Jesus in Jerusalem and will come and actually seek Him out in Jerusalem. The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, "Let us continue to go and pray before the Lord, and seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will go also." Yes, many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.' "Thus says the Lord of hosts; 'In those days ten men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' " (Zechariah 8:21-23) The Saints Will Rule With Jesus Christ in This Coming Millennium Kingdom. The Bible tells us that the saints, who are actually in heaven when all this starts to take place, will also literally come down and rule with Jesus in this Millennium Kingdom. The earth will thus have a mixture of people who have survived the 7 year Tribulation who will continue to have children to keep the earth populating, and all of the saints who have died, passed on into heaven, and who then will be coming back down with Jesus to rule the nations with Him. 1. This first verse tells us that the saints of the Most High will literally receive this kingdom and actually possess it forever and ever. "But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever." (Daniel 7:18) 2. This next verse tells us that the saints who are overcomers will be given power over the nations. The word "overcomes" may be referring to the saints who were martyred in the Tribulation and who did not give into taking the mark of the beast and/or all of the saints who have ever lived who have made it through this life remaining loyal to Jesus. "And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations." (Revelation 2:26) 3. Here is another good verse that basically says the same thing about he who overcomes in this life for Jesus: "To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne." (Revelation 3:21) 4. This next verse specifically tells us that the saints who are martyred during the Tribulation will also be coming back down to rule with Jesus. This verse also tells us that this era will last for 1000 years. This is how you know that the Millennium Kingdom will be lasting for a 1000 years. "And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshipped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6) The rest of the dead refer to all of those people who are not saved. They will remain in Hades (Hell) until the 1000 years are over. At the end of the Millennium Kingdom, they are then resurrected to face God in what is called the Great White Throne Judgment, where they will then be judged for their last and final time before God. The first death is where the unsaved are thrown into Hades (Hell). The second death is when the unsaved are thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they will remain for all of eternity. You will notice the above verse tells us that the second death has no power over those who have been involved in the first resurrection. This tells us that the only people who will have part in the first resurrection are the ones who are saved in the Lord. 5. This next verse from Daniel also tells us that the saints will be possessing this kingdom and that they will also be given this kingdom. "…and a judgment was made in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom … Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High … His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him." (Daniel 7:22,27) 6. This next verse goes one step further and says that the saints will also be judging the world with Jesus. "Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you …" (1 Corinthians 6:2-3) Burn these major verses into your memory banks! They are telling us that all Christians will be having a major part to play in the coming Millennium Kingdom. Keep your eyes on this final end – as it will help give you the courage to become an overcomer if these end time events start to occur in our lifetime. There Will Be No More Wars – Ever Again! 1. This next verse is extremely powerful. It tells us that there will be no more wars between humans ever again – all because Jesus will now be the one and only supreme Ruler of this world. This verse also tells us that all of God's laws will be going forth from Jerusalem to all of the nations of the world. Jesus Himself will be the One to judge between the nations. It says that we will no longer "learn war anymore." People will no longer have to be afraid of anyone or anything, and everyone will be able to liv safely under his vine and fig tree. It says that our "swords will be beat into plowshares and our spears into pruning hooks." We will truly have heaven on earth in this new environment. It also says that Jesus will teach us all of His ways and that we will all learn how to walk in His paths. Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established at the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, "Come, and let us go to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations far off; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree. And no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken." (Micah 4:1-4) 2. The reason there will be no more wars is because Jesus will now be the only King and Ruler of this world. This next verse also tells us that there will be no other religions other than God the Father and Jesus Christ. Differences in religions throughout human history have always been the cause of many wars between nations. This next verse tells us that Jesus will reduce to nothing all the gods of this earth and that all peoples shall worship Him and no one else. All of the other false religions as we know them today will be forever taken off the face of this world. "The Lord will be awesome to them, for He will reduce to nothing all the gods of the earth; people shall worship Him, each one from his place, indeed all the shores of the nations." (Zephaniah 2:11 ) 3. This next verse tells us what will happen to a nation or a people if they do not come up to Jerusalem once a year to worship Jesus as King. It tells us that God will withhold rain from that nation, and you cannot live without the water that rains brings to a country. "And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles." (Zechariah 14:16-18 ) Wild Beasts and Animals Will Be Tame. This next verse will tell us that all of the wild beasts and animals on our earth will become tame. It says that lambs will dwell with wolves, calves will dwell with lions, and that the lions will eat straw like the ox. Lions and wild beasts apparently will no longer be meat eating beasts and they will no longer have to kill other animals for their food and nourishment! It also says that poisonous snakes will no longer be poisonous. It says children will be able to play by the viper's den. And if they can do that, then poisonous snakes will no longer be poisonous! This verse also tells us that these wild beasts and animals will no longer hurt or destroy. This incredible verse then ends by saying that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the seas. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; … and the lion shall eat straw like the ox, the nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:6-9) You know we are going to have heaven on earth when all of the wild animals and beasts of this earth will be tame. No longer will we have to keep some of these wild beasts and animals locked up in cages in zoos for people to see. They, like the rest of us, will be totally free from all of the people who like to control and dominate others for their own gain and profit. We will all be forever safe, free, and secure in this new heavenly environment. People Will Live Long Lyves – No More Weeping or Crying. This next informative verse will tell us that there will be no more crying or weeping. If all the bad and unsaved people are in Hades, Satan is chained up in the bottomless pit during this entire time, and Jesus is the sole King and Ruler of this earth, then there will be no more reason or cause for people to weep or cry over bad things that have always occurred on this earth. We will truly have perfect peace and a perfect environment in which to live in and work in. There will be no more crime or disorder on our earth – ever again! This next verse also tells us that people will be living long lives. People will live as long as trees, which could be up to a 1000 years like they did in the time before the flood of Noah. It also says that an infant will no longer liv but a few days and no old men who will not fulfill their days. This verse also tells us that people will enjoy the work of their hands and that they shall not labor in vain nor bring forth children for trouble. "… The voice of the weeping shall no longer be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. No more shall an infant from there liv but a few days, nor an old man who has not fulfilled his days: For the child shall die one hundred years old, but the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed … For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble …" (Isaiah 65:19-23) Again, just try and imagine a perfect world in which there will be no more wars and no more crime – a world where nothing bad will ever happen again that would cause us to weep or cry – all because Jesus will now be in full charge and running this world the way it should be run. Conclusion. The above verses give us a very good description of what this Millennium Kingdom will be like and what we can expect. After all the bad things that we will see occur over the last 7 years in the Tribulation, people are really going to appreciate and be very thankful when Jesus comes back down a second time to set up His 1000 Year Millennium Kingdom from the city of Jerusalem. The final history lesson that we will all learn from the last 7 years of the Tribulation, and from the entire course of human history for that matter, is that humans do not have the answers or the ability to create an utopian world in which to live in. Man will eventually be setting up this world for mass destruction with the increase in technological knowledge, especially in the field of weapons of mass destruction. Jesus Himself says that had the days of the Tribulation not been shortened by God the Father, that we humans would have succeeded in destroying the entire world. Jesus said that no flesh would have been saved had God not directly intervened and sent Him back down a second time to put a final end to all of the fighting and bloodshed. Now that all humans will have seen what a mess we had made of this world with the increase of technical knowledge that had been given to us, God is now going to show us what the world can be like with His Son Jesus in total charge. With God now in complete control of everything, you will notice that He will first take out all the bad and unsaved people from this earth. They will all be kept in Hades (Hell) during the entire length of the Millennium Kingdom. God also throws Satan into the Bottomless Pit during this entire period. Bottom line – we cannot have perfect peace and perfect order in this world as long as we have Satan, his demons, and bad and evil people running around causing as much trouble as they possibly can. So the first thing God is going to do is to take out all of these bad angels and bad people off the face of this earth. God means serious business when He takes full control, and He will no longer be putting up with these bad and evil influences in this world. As a result, we will now truly have heaven on this earth during this time. Just try to imagine what this world will be like once all of the above Scripture verses come true and Jesus comes back for this second time to set up this Millennium Kingdom. Now what happens after the 1000 years has ended? Believe it or not, things are going to go from better to best. We are going to get a New Heaven and a New Earth. But before this event happens, there are two more events that must take place before we can get our final ending with the Lord. These two events will be discussed in the next two articles. **********************************************Article 14 Satan is Let Loose One More Time. After the 1000 years have ended in the Millennium Kingdom, two additional things must happen before we get our new heaven and new earth. These two events will seal the fate of Satan and all of the unsaved people who have ever lived once and for all. This first event is almost unbelievable. When Jesus comes back for the second time to set up His Millennium Kingdom for a thousand years, the Bible tells us that Satan is chained up in the bottomless pit during those thousand years. He will no longer be free to tempt or torment humans during the Millennium Kingdom. However, after the thousand years have ended in the Millennium Kingdom, Satan is let loose for one last time to come upon our earth to try and cause one more round of trouble. The original King James Version tells us that Satan will be let loose for a "little season." The New King James Version says he will be let loose for a "little while." The Bible does not tell us how many years Satan will be allowed to run free again. All that we can surmise from the above words is that he will only be free to roam for a very short period of time. As soon as he is released from the bottomless pit, Satan will waste no time in doing what he does best. The Bible says that he will then go out to deceive the nations once again. He will be allowed to literally go to the 4 corners of the globe to get as many people as he possibly can to do his evil bidding once again. The Bible says that he will be targeting all of the people who are wanting to rebel against God from the Millennium Kingdom. He will get them to surround the camps of the saints and the beloved city, which is probably Jerusalem, and then get them to try and attack God's people and holy city. However, the Bible tells us they will not even be able to get to the point of actually launching any type of attack against Jerusalem or any of God's people. They get to the point where they are surrounding Jerusalem, but before they can even attack, God Himself will literally devour them by sending down fire from heaven. God will literally take them out right there on the spot! There will be no physical battles like there will be in the battle of Armageddon. No blood will be spilled with the passing of this event. And then the Bible tells us that Satan will then be thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where the Antichrist and False Prophet had been thrown in earlier at the beginning of the Millennium Kingdom. Once this is done, the Bible says they will remain in this place forever and ever! We will thus never hear from the Devil again. God will have finally taken out this blasphemous creature from His sight and our sight for all of eternity! If we have just had perfect peace for a thousand years in the Millennium Kingdom, why would God allow the devil to be set free to cause one more round of trouble? Here is my opinion as to why. In the Millennium Kingdom, the humans who survive the events of the Tribulation will still be procreating and bringing more children into our world. These children will then be raised up in the Lord and all of His ways. They will have never known demonic temptation since Satan and all of his demons will have been chained up and out of their sight during the entire length of the Millennium Kingdom. If Satan is let loose and manages to gather a certain amount of people to try and attack Jerusalem, then this means that some of these grown up children are going to rebel and go against God Almighty Himself in this last event. The fact that Satan will be able to easily dupe some of them into actually doing this tells me that some of these people had to have been restless and not totally committed to serving the Lord in the Millennium Kingdom. Otherwise, they would have never been so easily tempted by Satan to commit this one, last, final act of rebellion against God's people and His holy city of Jerusalem. I believe the main reason God will let Satan loose for one more time is to prune out some of these bad people who won't stay loyal and committed to serving Him. These people will not be able to start any kind of trouble against God in the Millennium Kingdom because Satan is not around yet, people no longer war with one another, and we will have perfect law and order in this new environment since Jesus will now be in full control of everything. I believe God will set these people up. He will allow Satan to roam free one more time so he can tempt these people into going against Him and His people. And right at the point where these rebellious ones are getting ready to encircle Jerusalem to attack it, God will literally destroy them right there on the spot. What this tells us is that there will still be some people who will rebel and go against God – even in the most perfect God-environment imaginable! These people will have all been born into and raised up in this Millennium Kingdom without any type of bad influence from Satan, his demons, and any other bad and unsaved people, since God had already thrown all of them into Hades for the entire length of the Millennium Kingdom. These people will have also been raised up being taught who the real God is, along with being taught all of His awesome ways. There will be no other gods or false religions to confuse or seduce them. And even in this most perfect scenario imaginable, there is obviously going to be a group of these people who will still choose to rebel against God and try to overthrow Him by attacking His holy city of Jerusalem once Satan is let loose to try and set all of this up. When you first examine all of the above, you have to ask yourself, how could a group of humans be so stupid to think they can overthrow or go against God Almighty Himself, especially since they have probably been taught the entire history of our world during the Millennium Kingdom? How could these people go against God when they have been raised up in the most perfect God-environment imaginable? To answer this, all you have to do is look at what happened to Satan and all of the fallen angels. They were all initially living up in heaven with the Lord with no negative influences until Satan started to malfunction through pride and conceit. They too were living in the most perfect God-environment imaginable, and possibly up to one-third of them decided with their own free wills to rebel against God Himself in this perfect heavenly environment. So just as a certain of amount of the angels decided to rebel and go against God Himself in a perfect heavenly environment, so too are a certain number of human beings going to do the exact same thing at the end of the Millennium Kingdom. And once again, God will allow Satan to be the one to tempt and cause these rebellious ones to fall. Bottom line – God knows there are going to be a certain number of people who will still try and come against Him, even in this perfect Millennium Kingdom. He is simply going to draw them out, expose them, and then prune them out by allowing Satan to deceive them like he did with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Then once all of this has been accomplished, you will have nothing but the good apples left that will finally inherit God's best for all of humanity – The New Heaven and the New Earth. Now here are the two main verses from our Bible that will give us all of the above information. The Scripture Verses. 1. This first verse will tell us that Satan will be let loose for a little while after he is released from the bottomless pit. "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while." (Revelation 20:1-3) 2. This next verse will tell us what happens after he is released from the bottomless pit. "Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." (Revelation 20:7-10) Now before God gives us our final reward with the New Heaven and New Earth, there is one more really bad event that must take place. This event is called the Great White Throne Judgment. This event will determine the eternal fate of all of the unsaved people who have ever lived. This event will discussed in the next article. **********************************************Article 15 The Great White Throne Judgment. Before we get the New Heaven and New Earth, there is one more big event that must take place – the Great White Throne Judgment. In my last article, "Satan is Let Loose One More Time," you saw that Satan will end up in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone forever and ever – never to bother, harm, or tempt humans ever again! Now what happens to the rest of unsaved humanity? They will all come before the Lord in what is called the Great White Throne Judgment. This event has to be the most disturbing and bothersome event in all of Scripture. Before this event happens, the Bible tells us that all of the unsaved people are kept in a place called Hades (Hell) until the Millennium Kingdom is over. Hades (Hell) is a temporary place of torment that these souls are kept in until they have to appear before God in this final judgment, which will then determine their eternal fate once and for all. The New King James Version calls this place Hades. However, the Original King James Version calls this place Hell. Either way, Hell or Hades is a temporary place of torment where all unbelievers go to before this final judgment comes to pass. Here is the verse that will give us the details on what will be happening to all of the unsaved in this final judgment. "Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire." (Revelation 20:11-14) Remarks 1. The above verse refers to a second death. The first death is when all the unsaved are thrown into Hades (Hell) after they physically die and then they are kept there until the Millennium Kingdom is over. The second death refers to when the unsaved are then cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they will then remain for all of eternity. Notice that the above verse definitely establishes that these unsaved people are kept in Hades until this judgment comes forth. The verse says that "Hades delivered up the dead who were in them." 2. After this final judgment is pronounced, not only are the unsaved cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, but Hades (Hell) itself is also cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. This would thus be a merger of Hades and the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. Not only is God going to merge His heaven with our earth when we get the new heaven and new earth, but God is also going to merge Hades (Hell) with the Lake of Fire and Brimstone when everything all is said and done. This will be God's final and ultimate end for the saved and the unsaved. The Bible does not give us the specific details of the nature of the torment they will be undergoing once they are thrown into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for all of eternity. And God may never tell any of us, even when we get into the New Heaven and New Earth. It may be something that He may never really want us to know about and we may be better off not knowing the full details. However, just the thought that a certain percentage of humanity will not make it into the New Heaven and New Earth, and will have to spend the rest of their eternal lyves in this horrible place of torment just blows the human mind! Some people ask how could a loving and merciful God create such a horrible place of torment for people to end up in if they choose for whatever reason not to accept Him. I believe there is only one answer to this question. I believe God has everything set up on a "all or nothing" principle. There is only maximum life or maximum death. If you choose God and Jesus, then you will end up with maximum life in the New Heaven and New Earth. If you do not choose God and Jesus, then you will end up with maximum death – which will be the Lake of Fire and Brimstone. There are no middle or neutral grounds! It's all or nothing. It's either God or the Devil, heaven or hell, or maximum life or maximum death. It's really all black and white. God the Father is a God of maximum intensity. He is not playing games. There is only one God and one Savior – Jesus Christ! There is only one way to live this life – and that is to choose Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and then follow all of God's ways and commandments as best you can. Here is the Scripture verse that perfectly spells all of this out for us: "… I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days …" (Deuteronomy 30:19) I do not think God could make things any more clear than by the way He has worded this specific verse. This verse is about as black and white as you can possibly get. You will notice that God says absolutely nothing about any type of middle or neutral areas. However, the actual choice is up to each person. God will not force Himself or His ways on anyone. Each person has to freely choose God and His ways with their own free wills. If they do not, for whatever reason, the final consequence will be maximum death in the most horrible place imaginable. The other thing to try and understand why God would create such a horrible place of torment is to just look at some of the people who commit pure evil in this life – the serial killers, the rapists, the murderers, and the leaders of nations who enslave and torture their own people. Just look at the nature of Satan himself and all of the horrors and evil he has caused throughout the history of our world. Some of these fallen angels and evil human beings really deserve nothing less than maximum death, which really does line up with their evil natures and personalities. The real sad part about all of this is why a certain percentage of the angelic and human race have chosen with their own free wills to live their lyves on the dark side, and to allow themselves to deteriorate to the lower levels of the dark side where they themselves have now become nothing pure evil, giving God no other alternative but to throw them into this lake of fire for the rest of their eternal lives. None of these angels and humans were born or created pure evil. They all became pure evil over the course of their lives and they freely chose to do so with their own free wills. To fully understand why these humans and fallen angels have chosen to live this life on the dark side, when they also had every chance to choose God and all of His righteous and holy ways will probably always remain a mystery. But for those of you who have chosen Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and have chosen to follow God and all of His holy ways, you will not have to go through the Great White Throne Judgment. Your final reward is going to be maximum life – and this reward is going to be the New Heaven and the New Earth. I will discuss what the Bible has to say about this new paradise in the next article. **********************************************Article 16 The New Heaven and New Earth. Now that Satan, all of his fallen angels, and all of unsaved humanity have been cast into the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, there is now only one thing left. God will now be giving the rest of saved humanity their final reward – the New Heaven and New Earth. Believe it or not, this is actually going to be better than what we will get during the Millennium Kingdom. This will be our final abode and resting place with the Lord and something very awesome happens when we get this New Heaven and New Earth. When we receive the 1000 year Millennium Kingdom, we get Jesus Himself literally coming down from heaven to rule our earth from the city of Jerusalem in Israel. When we get the New Heaven and New Earth – we will now get God the Father Himself literally coming down from heaven to our New Earth to live and dwell with all of us forever and ever! In other words, we will now have both God and Jesus living with all of us forever and ever in this New Heaven and New Earth! Here are some of the things that will be happening in this New Heaven and New Earth: 1. Our earth as we know it now and our atmospheric heaven will pass away. In its place we will be getting a new earth and a new atmospheric heaven. There will no longer be any more seas. 2/3 of the earth is now water. With all of the sea waters being taken out, we will have more land space in which to accommodate everyone. 2. There will no longer be any more night. It will be daylight all the time. There will no longer be any sun or moon to shine their light. The Bible says that we will no longer have any need of the sun or the moon because the glory of God will now be illuminating the earth! 3. There will no longer be any more death in any way, shape, or form. The curse of Adam and Eve will have finally been broken and completely done away with. In the Millennium Kingdom, as good as it is going to be, there is still going to be physical death for those humans who survive the Tribulation and enter into it physically. Though many of them will live long lives, they are still going to have to physically die. In addition to any kind of death being taken out, there will also be no more pain since we will all have brand new, glorified, spiritual bodies. The Bible says that all sorrow, pain, crying, and death will be fully taken away. Every tear will be wiped away. There will be no more sickness or disease! Our new, glorified, spiritual bodies will no longer age, corrupt, die, or be subject to any kind of disease or illness ever again. 4. All things will be made brand new. I do not think our imaginations can even begin to conjure up or imagine what this verse is trying to tell us. 5. God the Father Himself will now be coming down to our earth to live and dwell with all of us forever and ever. The Bible says that we will no longer need the temple that will be in Jerusalem in the Millennium Kingdom, as both God the Father and Jesus Christ will now be the Temple Themselves! The Bible says that the tabernacle of God will now be with men, that we will dwell with Him, that we will be His people, and that He will be our God forever and ever. 6. In the Millennium Kingdom, Jesus will be ruling this entire earth from the city of Jerusalem. It will be God's capital. However, in the New Heaven and New Earth, we will be getting a New Jerusalem. The Bible says that this new holy city, which will be coming down direct from heaven itself, will be like a square. It's length will be as great as its width. Bible Scholars feel that this city may literally be 1500 miles wide. It will be huge! This new city of Jerusalem will literally be descending down from Heaven itself and will be coming direct from God Himself. The Bible says that its walls are constructed of jasper and the city will be pure gold like clear glass. It says that the foundations of the walls will be adorned with all kinds of precious stones – the first foundation being jasper, the second foundation being sapphire, the third foundation being chalcedony, and the fourth foundation being emerald, etc. The Bible goes on to state that there are 12 of these foundations and that each foundation is made with a different beautiful element. This is all described in Revelation 21:19-20. There will be 12 gates with each of the gates being made of solid pearl. The streets of this city will be pure gold. Each of the 12 gates will have an angel on it. There will be 3 gates each to the north, south, east, and west. Since all of the bad and unsaved people will have already been taken out, there will be nothing left that will be able enter into this holy city that will defile it or cause any type of abomination to occur in it. As a result, the gates to this holy city will always be open. Now here are the Scripture verses specifically telling us all of this. The Scripture Verses 1. This first verse will tell us that our earth and heaven as we know it now will pass away, and in its place we will be getting a New Heaven and a New Earth. This verse also tells us that there will be no more seas on this new earth. "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had PASSED AWAY. Also there was no more sea." (Revelation 21:1) 2. This next verse tells us that the tabernacle of God will be coming down from heaven onto this new earth and that God Himself will literally be dwelling with all of us. It says that He will be our God and that we will be His people. This verse also tells us that God will be wiping away every tear, and that there will be no more death, sorrow, crying, or pain ever again. It then ends saying that all of the old and former things will now pass away, which will now make everything completely brand new! And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." (Revelation 21:3-5) 3. This next verse tells us that there will be no more temple because God and Jesus will now be the temple Themselves. It also tells us that we will no longer have the sun or moon because God Himself will be illuminating the earth with His glory. And with God totally illuminating the earth with His glory, there will be no more night. The gates of the New Jerusalem will also be open to all of the nations. "But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its Temple. And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it, and the Lamb its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." (Revelation 21: 22-27) 4. This next verse tells us that there will be no more Adamic curse and once again, states that there will be no more night. It says we shall be able to see at least the face of Jesus, and that we shall reign with God and Jesus forever and ever. "And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. And there shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever." (Revelation 22:3-5) 5. Now here are the two specific verses about the city of New Jerusalem that will be coming down from heaven from God the Father and what it will be like. "Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." (Revelation 21:2) "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. And her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. And she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of Israel: three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. Now the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he who talked with me had a gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. And the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as its breadth … And the construction of its wall was of jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. And the foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass." (Revelation 21:10-21). Conclusion As bad as things are going to get in the future, and possibly in the near future for all of us, each Christian has to keep their eyes on the final end. We will first be getting 1000 years of perfect peace in the Millennium Kingdom that Jesus will be setting up with Him being the sole supreme King and Ruler of this earth. And then we will receive the final and ultimate end which will be the New Heaven and New Earth – where God the Father Himself will literally be coming down to live with all of us forever and ever. This New Heaven and New Earth is going to be beyond anything that our imaginations can even begin to conjure up. The above Scripture verses only give us a partial vision and partial knowledge of what we are all going to end up with in this new heavenly environment. One of the most amazing things about the Bible is all of the knowledge and information that is contained in it telling us exactly what is in store for all of us in the future. When you put all of these verses together like you would pieces to a jigsaw puzzle, the knowledge and revelation comes through loud and clear. God the Father is telling us exactly what He has in store for all of us in the future so we can all properly prepare ourselves to receive it. I will end this series of articles on this subject with one last thought: Things are going to get bad, and I mean really bad in the coming years! The Bible is telling us exactly what is going to happen and why it is going to happen. But to each of you whose hands this series of end times articles may fall into, just remember one thing – God will win in the end, and the Millennium Kingdom and the New Heaven and New Earth will be the final reward for all of you who hold fast to your faith in the Lord during these very trying times. Keep your eyes on this final and glorious end with the New Heaven and New Earth. It will help keep you from being overcome by any major fears if we start to enter into these end time events. Jesus has already told us in the Book of Revelation that those who are the overcomers in this life will be the ones to rule the nations of the world with Him in these coming eras. Do not ever lose sight of this fact if all of these end time events end up occurring in our lifetime.