Unfulfilled prophecy of the end of our age cannot be understood without elementary
knowledge of the time element. This time element is contained
in Daniel. Chapter nine gives us the time element in years, of which there are seventy groups of seven years, seventy sevens, sixty-nine of which are fulfilled
and do not concern us for present purposes. This leaves us with seven more years, the time element which is yet unspent and
the events of which remain unfulfilled. From later portions of Daniel, we see that these years each consist of 360 days.
The remaining seven year period is split in halves and contains two distinct 1,260 day periods, the first of which follows the
confirmation of the covenant between Antichrist and Israel, the second half of which is the Great Tribulation. Our
Lord Jesus said of this time, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world
to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matt. 24:21)
At the end of the second 1,260 days, the Great Tribulation simply expires. For those
who survive, they may have counted out the days. But it will not be necessary for them to do so. Following the Great
Tribulation, the last 1,260 days of the unfulfilled "seven," the sun shall be darkened, the moon shall not give its
light, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken. Our Lord Jesus said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken."(Matt. 24:29) Our Lord Jesus continues without pause to tell us exactly what happens next:
"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall
see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." This is all part of a long, uninterupted
discourse by our Lord Jesus to his disciples. They had just departed from the temple and a confrontation with the Pharisees.
The disciples had then asked, "...what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"
The time element progresses like this: Antichrist confirms the covenant with Israel (Levitical temple worship is reinstituted
for which the sacrifice of a special and rare red heifer is needed). 1,260 days pass, which lead to an event called "the
ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION." This is when Antichrist stands in the holy place, demands to be worshiped, "...so that he as God
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." (II Thess. 2:4) The ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION
is the middle of the last seven years and marks the commencement of the "mega thlipsis" or Great Tribulation, which itself
lasts 1,260 days. When this period of the Great Tribulation ends, the signs occur as discussed in the
preceding paragraph.
Next, our Lord Jesus returns with ALL his holy angels to gather the elect. This is the coming and gathering which occurs
on what is called the Day of the Lord.
This may be discussed elswhere, but for now understand that there is a forty-nine, perhaps twenty-five,
hour period in which these final signs can last but could end at any moment. This is what is meant by the day or the hour,
for the Day of the Lord/return of our Lord Jesus is celebrated in the Feast of Trumpets. This feast is started one day and
one hour early to ensure that the proper day is not missed. This is a forty-nine hour period, which would mean that if the
first day is not correct, then the next day is correct and vice versa. The disciples would have understood this. Indeed, many
observe the Sabbath one hour early before Friday's sunset. The same goes for the Feast of Trumpets, which
ultimately heralds the Day of the Lord.
Later in this same discourse of Matthew, our Lord Jesus says, "When the Son of man shall come in his
glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." (Matt:25:31)
Obviously our Lord Jesus has not come yet, or else we would have seen these signs
and this throne. Furthermore, our Lord Jesus' in His discourse in Matthew
specifically says not to believe anyone who says He is on the earth during
the Great Tribulation, and that His coming will be obvious.
But one thing will be important to remember for
later: Our Lord Jesus said that He would come and "all the holy angels with him."
This means exactly what it says, that all the holy angels
come with our Lord Jesus at his coming.
The same signs that immediately precede our Lord Jesus' coming appear in Joel, with a
noteworthy addition, that not only does the sun become "turned to darkness," but that also
the moon shall be turned into blood. There
is another place in scripture that says the moon shall turn to blood, which we shall attend to shortly. Continuing in Joel,
we see that these signs precede what in Joel is called "the great and terrible day of the Lord." The "Day of the Lord" is a
major theme throughout scripture, but particularly in the short book of Joel.
"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, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come." (Joel 2:30-31).
The prophet Jeremiah writes at the LORD's command to write the LORD's words. God bids Israel to ask whether a man can
travail in childbirth, then continues,
"...wherefore do I see
every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all
faces are turned to paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it:
it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out
of it." (Jer. 30:6-7)
If we commit these things to our heart, it should be no trouble to find similar instances of this sequence of events
in scripture.
Here is another passage that foretells the same events: "...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?"
Based on what our Lord Jesus told his disciples and what is in the prophets, do these events sound familiar? They should,
because they are the exact same events. This passage even includes a specific reference
to the coming of our Lord Jesus, "the Lamb." Based on the signs that we already know, this passage refers to the same time.
This passage is from Revelation, and the part that was intentionally left off from the first sentence reads, "And I beheld when
he had opened the sixth seal...."
From what we have read, we know that the sixth seal refers to the signs preceding the coming of our Lord Jesus. The
sixth seal also refers to the fear that mighty and powerful men experience when our Lord Jesus returns.
The seventh and last seal, which eventually follows, is very short: "And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was
silence in heaven about the space of half an hour."
Many people make a big mistake here: because what follows is a description of the seven trumpets, some
people begin thinking that the seventh seal is the start of the trumpets. But if one is careful,
one will see that in the trumpets, the fourth one in particular, "...the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part
of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for
a third part of it, and the night likewise." If the trumpets are opened by the last and seventh seal, when did the sun
and moon become light again, so that they could be darkened down this time only to a third?
In the Upright or Correct Record (book of Jasher), we learn that a third of the world was flooded before Noah's flood. We also
learn that Nimrod's Tower of Babel, which was located on the plains of Shinar, was destroyed in thirds with one third left
to stand "to this day." Early on, during the days of Enos, grandson of Adam, God destroyed one-third of the
earth with a flood.
"And the Lord caused the waters of the river Gihon to overwhelm them, and he destroyed and consumed them, and he
destroyed the third part of the earth, and notwithstanding this, the sons of men did not turn from their evil ways, and
their hands were yet extended to do evil in the sight of the Lord." (Js. 2:6)
Likewise, the LORD declares a great and terrible sentence against Israel in Ezekiel (ch.5) in which "a third" is repeatedly
in conjunction with terrible judgements and in which passage says, "Therefore thus saith the Lord
GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgements in the midst of thee in the sight
of the nations. And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any
more the like, because of all thine abominations." (v.8,9)
The emphasis on "that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like" should
remind us of what we have previously learned of the time which falls immediately after the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION:
"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 why? "...because of all thine abominations."
The frightening passage continues to say, "Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy
detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither
shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity. A third part of thee shall die with pestilence,
and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword
round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw our a sword
after them. Thus mine anger shall be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and
I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished
my fury in them. Moreover I will make thee a waste, and a reproach among the nations
that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by." (v.11-14) The passage ultimately ends
with utter finality: "I the LORD have spoken it."
Furthermore, Isaiah (ch. 28) shows hail to "sweep away the refuge of lies." This hail
is but part of the judgement directed toward "scornful men, that rule this people which
is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell
we are in agreement...." Hail is the first trumpet, and the first and second trumpet deal with
varying "third" judgements.
With regard to the trumpets, destruction of one-third is an adumbration or foreshadow of the utter
and final wrath of God, which comes on the Day of the Lord. "For the great day of his wrath is
come; and who shall be able to stand?"
So the partial, one-third darkenings of the fourth seal adumbrate or foreshadow the signs
of total darkness and the complete and total wrath of God which immediately follows. And as previously
discussed, the signs of total darkness herald the imminent return of our Lord Jesus, the
gathering of His saints, and His great and terrible wrath on those who rejected His love.
In conclusion, the sixth seal being opened heralds the Day of the Lord, in which our Lord Jesus returns to gather the saints and
execute wrath against those sinners who have rejected His love and mercy. The seventh seal's resulting in silence in
heaven is because ALL the holy angels are with Jesus Christ, gathering the saints, the ressurected along with
those who are alive and remain, the former being gathered first. The new information that we
learn from the seventh seal
is that we now know that this gathering takes "about the space of half an hour." Then heaven begins to resume activity and
is no longer silent.