The Coming Kingdom of Christ - part 5
Yesterday I mentioned that there is coming a day when several events will collide on the earth, and it will be so disastrous that most of the people living during this time will die.
What events are they?
Let’s start with the first event that will take place, the rapture. Last week we reviewed the many instances and prophecies concerning the rapture therefore I will not rehash that topic. For those that was not with us last week, please read the previous post to catch up, it will be helpful for your understanding of this post.
When will the rapture take place? I don’t know. There are no biblical signs for the rapture, we (true believers in Christ) are only told to live every second of every day like it will happen now. That means true believers in Jesus Christ should be promoting the gospel while setting their affections on heavenly things and not earthly things. We are to long for that which will live and remain for eternity and not the temporal things on the earth.
1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21
If all you are living for is what can be consumed, amusement, vacations, retirement, and more stuff, then on the day of your physical death, you will lose everything.
16 And he (Jesus) told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
21 “This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:16-21
Back to the rapture. When it takes place every born-again believer in Christ will immediately disappear to meet Jesus in the second heavens which cannot be seen by human eyes.
You say, wow, Kevin. Lay off the bottle man and go take your meds.
Aaahhh, no. These are not my words; they belong to God. Listen to the Lord Jesus; 1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:1-5
15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18
51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
When this event takes place every child will disappear, every mentally ill person who cannot decide for themselves will disappear, and every true believer will disappear in a twinkling of an eye.
Do you realize the chaos that will cause, especially here in America which may have the largest true believer population in the world? Millions of people will simply vanish. The problem with that is some of these people will be flying an airplane, others will be driving their families, other operating large pieces of equipment. Medical professional amid operations and procedures. And so on. What do you think will happen to the people on those planes? The passengers in the vehicles? Boats? Trains? The operating tables? Not good. Millions of people around the world will die when this event take place and absolute anarchy will break out as the earth dwellers attempt to make sense of what has happened. Of course, they will blame it on UFOs and alien invasions. What a joke these people are!
This will pave the way for the antichrist, the man of sin, the beast, the willful king, the prince who is to come, the son of perdition as Paul describes him.
3 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, 4 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.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 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. 8 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. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12
Immediately after the rapture of the true believers, Jesus begins to pour out the wrath of God upon the earth dwellers. This period of time is known by several names.
1. The time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) trouble. Jeremiah 30:7
2. The 70th week. Daniel 9:20-26
3. The tribulation and great tribulation. Matthew 24
During this seven-year timeframe over 90% of the earth’s population will die.
Kevin, do you realize that there are 8-billion people living on the earth. Yes, I know.
Then, how will this happen?
1. The rapture. Hundreds of millions will, maybe even a billion will depart with Christ. Hundreds of millions die from accidents and fear. That takes the population down to 7 billion.
2. Seal one releases the antichrist upon the earth. No one dies, except from natural death or a broken heart, as he conquers the earth by promising and delivering on those promises to quickly bring order to the chaotic scene.
1 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.” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. 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
3. Seal two release war upon the earth as nations began to fight it out for superiority. I believe the US is devastated from the rapture and loses its superpower status. The focus of power returns to the former Roman empire area as prophesied in the Bible. Hundreds of millions die during these wars. Now there are only 6 billion people living on the earth after factoring in natural death and people being too afraid to have children but not all.
3 When He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come and see.” 4 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
4. Seal three brings a worldwide famine such as have never been seen on the earth. Millions will die of starvation. The cause of the famine are the wars that are being raged around the world. During this time, a quart of wheat (one day’s meal) will be purchased for an entire day’s labor.
5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come and see.” So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine.” Revelation 6:5-6
5. Seal four release death with the grave following. The Bible states that 1/4 of all remaining people will die within a two-year period. This takes earth’s population from 6 billion to 4.5 billion. That means 1.5 billion people die in two years. Do you know that the current average is 56M deaths each year? Holy cow! They will not be able to bury that many people therefore plaques will break out on the earth.
7 When He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come and see.” 8 So 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
6. During this time the Lord, who is merciful and longsuffering, will assign and protect 144,000 Jews to be His witnesses on the earth since the “Church” is now in heaven. They will win millions of people to the Lord and the antichrist with his antichristian government and wicked earth dwellers will kill them. Do you realize that if you happen to make it into the tribulation period and then decide to follow Christ, that you will be killed? Those are not my words. The apostle John described it in the fifth seal. Hundreds of millions of believers will die. This takes the population down to 4 billion in the first 3 ½ years!!!
9 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. 10 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?” 11 Then a white robe was given 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
7. The Lord Jesus then breaks the sixth seal and the global warming crowd finally get it right. There is a worldwide earthquake, the sun turns black, a blood red moon, a meteorite shower falling onto the earth, and the entire sky spinning like a tornado! Millions die just from fear.
You say, no way that can happened, it’s all a fantasy. Remember it is Jesus, who is God, telling John what will happen. You decide whether you are right, or God is right.
9 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. 10 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?” 11 Then a white robe was given 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
8. The seventh and final seal is broken by the Lord Jesus Christ. After three and a half years of loud praises and worship in heaven by billions of believers and angels, they go completely silent. A very uncomfortable eerie silence. What in heaven did they see that caused everyone of them to STOP PRAISING GOD, who alone is worth of praise?!
They saw what was written within the seventh seal. It was the wrath of God which has never been revealed before now and it took their breath away. God will now begin to pour out His wrath upon all the remaining earth dwellers for all of their evil wicked deeds.
1 When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. 3 Then another angel, having a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. 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. 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. 5 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.
6 So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound. Revelation 8:1-6
9. Trumpet 1 – 1/3 of all vegetation is burned to a crisp. The pollution from the fires is breath taking. You think you are wearing mask today. You haven’t seen anything near this level of pollution. Of course, the antichrist and the lefties will blame it on, you guessed it, climate change. What a bunch of idiots! There’s no need to save the planet because God has promised to burn it up and destroy it after the millennium anyway. Peter said, 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 2 Peter 3:10
7 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
10. Trumpet 2 – 1/3 of all the creature living in the oceans and seas will die. 1/3 of every ocean and sea going ships will be destroyed. This will have a dramatic impact on the nation’s navies. What a stench!
8 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. 9 And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Revelation 8:8-9
11. Trumpet 3 – 1/3 of all the fresh becomes polluted. How long can you live without drinkable water? This is not good. Millions will die.
10 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 water. 11 The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. Revelation 8:10-11
12. Trumpet 4 – The sun, moon, and stars are darkened. This will send the climate into a climatic frenzy. There will be tidal waves, hurricanes, tornadoes, and all sorts of weather anomalies that will cause people to die from fear amongst other weather-related tragedies. The sun will only shine for 2/3’s the amount of time it is supposed to shine. I suspect that it will be cold.
12 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 were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. Revelation 8:12
13. Listen to this - 13 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 8:13
After all that has taken place, he says, woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth! That can’t be good.
Trumpet 5 – the devil receives the key to the bottomless pit which is beneath the earth’s surface. When he opens the pit, it releases demons that are so wicked and vile that God has locked them in this dungeon because if loosed they would kill every person on the earth. Our God is merciful.
These demons are commanded not to kill anyone but to sting them with some sought of scorpion like stinger that will torment people for five months! You read that correctly, five months! The Bible states that the pain will be so excoriating that people will attempt to commit suicide, but God will not allow them to die therefore they will be forced to suffer with the pain for the entire five months.
You say, what is the purpose for this. I will say it again, our God is merciful, loving, and kind. He is giving the earth dwellers a taste of what the permanent state of hell will be like to get them to repent and believe the gospel. Remember the 144,000 Jews and the two witnesses that are in Jerusalem are still preaching the gospel.
1 Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 2 And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. 3 Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. 6 In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.
7 The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. 8 They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. 9 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. 10 They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. 11 And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.
12 One woe is past. Behold, still two more woes are coming after these things. Revelation 9:1-12
The post is already longer than anticipated therefore I will allow you to digest this and continue, if the Lord spare us through the night, tomorrow.
Until then, take care.