Our outline for the Tribulation Period has been:
I. THE PURPOSE OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD
II. THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD
III. THE PLAGUES OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD
We also have looked at why God allowed this period of time to take place. It is for two reasons:
(1) TO CONVINCE THE JEWS HE WAS WHO HE SAID HE WAS
(2) TO SEND JUDGMENT ON THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH THAT REJECTED HIS BELOVED SON
In the last sermon, we started dealing with God’s judgments as the first four seals were opened.
In those four seals we saw:
• THE WHITE HORSE (Rev. 6:1-2) The rider we discovered is the antichrist. Notice, he has a bow, but no arrows. This means the first three-and-a-half years he will bring about a temporary peace not through force, but through diplomacy.
• THE RED HORSE (Rev. 6:3-4) The red horse represents a drastic change on the part of the antichrist. The peace that he established in the first three-and-a-half years is over, and he now makes war against anyone who would oppose him.
• THE BLACK HORSE (Rev. 6:5-6) The black horse represents the famine that will be imposed on the inhabitants of the earth. Not only will the antichrist take control of the food supply of the world, and not allow anyone to buy or sell unless they have the mark of the beast, the plagues God will send will wipe out much of the food supply of the world.
• THE PALE HORSE (Rev. 6:7-8) The rider of the pale horse represents the many deaths that will occur during this time.
But now we come to the-
(5) THE FIFTH SEAL JUDGMENT
This seal is different. How? Up until this time, all the activity has been taking place on the earth. But now the attention switches from the earth to heaven.
Look at Rev. 6:9-11, we read, “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were 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, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
• These are people who did not take the mark of the beast. They responded to the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish Missionaries.
• These are the ones who were not deceived by the man riding the white horse.
The 144,000 Jewish Missionaries had told them not to take the mark. They did not! They ENDURED whatever they had to endure, and these are the ones who evidently had their heads cut off rather than take the mark of the beast.
Most likely, many of these are Jews. Remember, the Jews rejected Christ and they said, “Let his blood be on us and our children.”
Illus: We all know that through the years, the Jews have had to suffer more than any race of people on the face of the earth. They are hated and despised.
Illus: Adolf Eichmann said this about the Jews; “I shall leap in my grave, for the thought that I have destroyed five million Jews. This is a source of great comfort!”
The Jews paid a tremendous price for rejecting the Son of God. But notice, these who John saw wanted to know how long it would be before justice prevails for the cruel death they had to face.
The Lord assured them it would not be much longer. The Lord said it would not be long before justice prevails, most likely this seal takes place almost at the end of the great tribulation period.
WHAT DID THEY RECEIVE? White robes, robes of purity - they were saved by the blood like we are!
(6) THE SIXTH SEAL JUDGMENT
This seal takes us back to earth again.
Look at Rev. 6:12-17, we read, “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
There is an old saying, “When it rains it pours!” If things were not bad enough with what the antichrist was doing, now even nature itself seems to turn against the inhabitants of the earth.
One of the things that God is going to do during the seven seal judgments, is to send an earthquake like this world has never experienced before. The scientists will tell you they know it is coming. All the rock formations beneath the earth tell us that a big one is on the way.
WHAT CAUSES EARTHQUAKES?
Earthquakes are caused by forces deep within earth's interior that continuously affect its surface. When the energy from these forces is released suddenly — usually by shearing movements along faults in the earth's crust — an earthquake results.
• The deadliest of all earthquakes is believed to have occurred on Jan. 24, 1556, in Shaanxi (Shensi) Province, China — 830,000 were killed.
• The Alaskan “Good Friday” earthquake, in 1965, a 9.2 earthquake, sent a tidal wave that reached 50 feet high and traveled a phenomenal 8,445 miles at 450 miles per hour.
• On Oct 17, 1989, when that earthquake struck San Francisco that registered 6.9 on the Richter scale, they wondered, “Is this the big one?”
As bad as these were, the big one is yet to come. It will be a worldwide event.
When the sixth seal is opened, notice what is going to happen.
• The sun shall become black
• The moon shall be blood red
• The stars will fall out of the sky
But it does not get any better, it gets worse! Look at Matthew 24:15-22, we read, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”
Notice, things will be so bad that people will literally try to run and hide from the wrath of God, but there is no place that the wicked can hide from God.
But look what else is about to happen. Look at Rev. 8:1, we read, “And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”
What is about to happen, will leave them speechless. Let’s look at-
(7) THE SEVENTH SEAL JUDGMENT BEGINS THE SEVEN TRUMPET JUDGMENTS
The Seal Judgments were bad enough, but now we come to the Trumpet judgments which are far worse. Notice-
A. THE FIRST TRUMPET JUDGMENT
Notice that chapter 7 is a parenthesis or interlude between chapter 6 and the 7th seal.
WHY IS THIS? Probably because chapter 6 closes with a question. Look at verse 17, we read, “For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
Chapter 7 answers that question. One group that will be able to stand against all that is going to happen is the 144,000 Jewish missionaries.
These judgments, the great day of His wrath, are now placed on hold until the 144,000 are sealed. This is the time that Matthew 24:22 talks about, “…Except those days be shortened, there should no flesh saved…”
Once they are sealed, the great day of God’s wrath continues in the SECOND TRUMPET JUDGMENT.
Look at Rev. 8:7, we read, “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.”
Can you imagine living in a storm where hail and fire mingled with blood are falling upon the earth? Some say this cosmic disturbance will send, “Hail that looks like fire mingled with blood.”
But look again at what the Bible teaches us. It does not say anything about hail LOOKING like fire mingled with blood. The Bible says the storm that is coming at this time will be a world-wide storm with, “…hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth.”
The Bible says it will be so severe that, in Rev. 8:7, “…the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.” This is very similar to what God did during the days of Moses.
Look at Exodus 9:23-24, we read, “And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.”
But as bad as it was in Moses time, we have to remember that during the days of the tribulation period, we will see suffering like we have never seen before. Look at Matthew 24:21 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
B. THE SECOND TRUMPET JUDGMENT
Look at Rev. 8:8-9, we read, “And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”
Notice, the Bible says this was, “…As it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea…” It did not say it was a mountain, but it appeared AS a great mountain.
Can you imagine what would happen if something as large as a “Great Mountain” was forcefully plunged into the ocean? Some speculate that this is a large asteroid from space. Considering the description that the Bible gives, this could be the case.
Look again at Rev. 8:8-9 we read, “And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.”
Look at the damage that is done by this object. In verse 9, we read:
• The third part of creatures which were in the sea died
• The third part of the ships were destroyed
The fishing industry is going to be virtually wiped out. This will be a worldwide catastrophe, and the loss of ships and food supplies will be devastating.
Illus: Remember in May 18, 1980 when mountain St. Helen exploded?
• The bulk of the avalanche was deflected westward, down the North Fork of the Toutle River valley. The front of the avalanche traveled a distance of 15 miles in about 10 minutes.
• Part of the avalanche slid into Spirit Lake, raising the lake bed roughly 180 feet, and damming its natural outlet.
When this large object that is big enough to kill a third part of the creatures in the sea strikes, it is going to cause such a tidal wave that it will destroy a third part of the ships. Many of these ships will be on the sea when they face this giant tidal wave that will completely destroy them.
C. THE THIRD TRUMPET JUDGMENT
Look at verses 10-11, we read, “And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.”
Notice again, something is falling from heaven. All of these plagues are coming from God.
WHAT FELL FROM HEAVEN? Look at the word “Wormwood”, this is the Greek word, apsinthos, (Pronounced as ap'-sin-thos) which means it was most likely a poisonous herb.
But notice, the Bible says in verse 10, “…and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters.”
It will poison the water, and before many realize the danger of the water, they drink it, and they die.
• Not only will the people have to contend with the antichrist, who states that no one can buy or sell unless they have the mark in their foreheads or right hand.
• They are also going to have to deal with the wrath of God that wipes out a third part of the rivers and falls upon the fountains (drinking water).
This plague alone will cause:
• A shortage of water for drinking and cleansing
• The problem of trying to get water to the people who live in these areas where 1/3 of the water had become contaminated
Conclusion:
WHY IS GOD DOING THIS? Because
• These are the people who have REJECTED His beloved Son and RECEIVED the antichrist
• These judgments are falling on the evil government of the antichrist.
• These judgments are falling on those who have abused, mocked, cursed, beaten, imprisoned, and killed the followers of God’s Son.
The Bible says in Rev. 16:7, “And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.” While God is pouring out his judgments, the Bible says His judgments are “True and righteous.”
That is, for God to be a holy God, a God of Justice. He must do these things. If a nation is going to be a nation of justice, a nation has no choice but to believe in capital punishment.
Some say, “But if a person kills someone and the state takes their life, that will not bring that person back.” But if a nation is going to be a nation of justice it is not justice to make the tax-payers and the victims families feed, and lodge him the rest of his life.
The nearest thing to justice that you can have in a situation like this, is for the one who committed the act to have his/her life taken from them. When a nation does this, they are not a nation of injustice, they are a nation of justice.
And when God pours His wrath out upon these wicked people, they are getting exactly what they deserve. And God is not going to ask you, or anyone else, what you think about it, He is going to do what is RIGHT!
Our outline for the tribulation is:
I. THE PURPOSE OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD
II. THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD
III. THE PLAGUES OF THE TRIBULATION PERIOD
A. THE SEVEN SEAL JUDGMENTS
B. THE SEVEN TRUMPET JUDGMENTS
C. THE SEVEN VIAL JUDGMENTS
