END-TIMES PROPHECY SERIES

 The rebuilding of wall and temple. Weeks 1-7 = 49 years (444 to 395 BC )  Time till Messiah is rejected and crucified and Jerusalem is destroyed. Weeks 8-69 = 434 years (395-BC to 33 AD)  (Pause) From 70 AD to the rapture  The tribulation. Week 70 = 7 years of tribulation as described in detail in Revelation 4-19

After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

 It is hard to build an air tight case that John represents the church being raptured but it is possible and it does fit.  A stronger argument may be the following. In Revelation 1-3 the term church or churches is used eighteen times and then only one more time in Revelation 22:16 at the very end. This begs the question: Why?

ChapterTitleChapterTitle 1Coming Christ Revealed 7144,000 Jewish Evangelists 21-4 Church Messages81-4 Trumpet Judgments 35-7 Church Messages95-6 Trumpet Judgments 4Heavenly Throne Scene 10Bitter Sweet Book 5Seven Seal Scroll11The Two Witnesses 6First Six Seals12Woman, Baby, Dragon

ChapterTitleChapterTitle 13Antichrist Head Wound 19Christ’s Second Coming 14The 144,000 Sealed20Millennium Then Judgment 15Seven Bowls Introduced 21The New Jerusalem 16Seven Bowls Judgment 22New Life Tree 17Religious Babylon Fallen 18Political Babylon Fallen

John is transported into heaven and witnesses God being glorified through worship and praise by a variety of both human and angelic beings. John gropes to find adequate language to communicate the splendor of this heavenly experience.

10the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.” Revelation 4:10-10

 On the Throne: The Father  The seven spirits of God: The Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2-3) speaks of sevenfold character  The four creatures: (Ezk. 1) Probably representing God’s divine attributes  The twenty-four elders are either all representatives of the church or half are and the other half are representatives of Israel

God is pictured as holding a scroll with seven seals which no one can open. The Scroll is best seen as the title deed to earth which was lost in Genesis 3.

 Roman law required that a will be sealed seven times  Jesus is pictured with seven, meaning complete or perfection, horns are the symbol of power and seven eyes representing perfect wisdom  Jesus as the slain lamb who alone can take the scroll and regain earth  Heaven cheers for finally earth’s rebellion is to be ended

The concise answer is that God’s character is as much holiness and righteousness as it is mercy and love. God demonstrates His mercy and love at Calvary and His holiness and righteous in the tribulation. How fair would God be if He did not punish unrepentant mankind for sin, evil, and constant rebellion against the Creator? But God has been patient giving all an opportunity to repentance. God has promised wrath on the world and the tribulation is the day of reckoning.

5But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, Romans 2:5 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 9For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Thessalonians 5:9

 The Seven Seals – Chapters 6,8:1-5  The Seven Trumpets – Chapter 8-9, 11:15-19  The Seven Bowls – Chapter 15-16

SEALS 6,8TRUMPETS 8-9,11BOWLS ConquerorThird of Earth burnedMalignant sores 2.WarThird of seal life destroyedSea turns to blood and sea life dies 3.FamineThird of fresh water ruinedFresh water polluted 4.DeathThird of atmosphere alteredUnprotected rays and heat from sun 5.MartyrsUnbelievers tormentedPains and sores on those who follow beast 6.TerrorInvasion of 200,000,000 man army; third of mankind killed Gathering for the Battle of Armageddon 7.The TrumpetsChrist makes the kingdom of the world His kingdom Great climatic events

1. The judgments intensify as each series progresses. 2. Several of the judgments appear to be the same among the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls. 3. The Trumpets and Bowls almost appear identical. 4. When one studies these series of judgments it begs the question, “Are these in part or whole talking about one series?”

A great illustration of what might be going on with the three judgment series is the 2008 movie Vantage Point. This movie is about an attempted assassination of an American president. The story is retold several times from different perspectives which add or subtract details from the other perspectives.

 The First Seal: World Conqueror (Antichrist?)  The Second Seal: War  The Third Seal: Famine  The Fourth Seal: Death  The Fifth Seal: Martyrs  The Sixth Seal: Terror

Question: Are the events of Revelation 6 best taken to refer to the entire seven year tribulation or the last three and a half known as the Great Tribulation? Answer: When compared to other passages in Daniel and Matthew’s Olivet Discourse, it seems best to see these events unfolding during the Great Tribulation initiated by the Antichrist entering the Jewish Temple and setting himself up as god to be worshiped (Daniel 9:27).

 Vss: The martyred saints of the tribulation cry out to God to avenge them, but God’s answer is not until the number of those who will be martyred during the tribulation is complete.  Vss: Those rejecting God during the tribulation would rather die than face His judgment.

a. God’s purpose in selecting the Jewish nation: (1)Messiah would come through this people (2)The Bible would be entrusted to them (3)To evangelize the world b.The tribulation affords the Jews an opportunity to fulfill a national destiny as light to the world.

 Chapter 7 is an interlude in the series of judgments  The important question of 6:17 is answered in this chapter, “for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”  Perhaps the catalyst of Jews conversion is the rapture of the church.  As Satan marks his own with 666 (13:18), God marks these with His seal showing: ownership, authenticity, and protection. Those believers who are sealed obtain supernatural protection from God during the tribulation.  14:1 reveals what is on the seal, the name of Jesus and the Father.