Lesson for July 21, 2021
The Tribulation – Lesson 1
The Tribulation begins immediately after the Rapture of the Church and lasts for seven years (one period of “seven” called a week in the Bible – Hebrew word for week “shabua” means “seven”) according to Daniel 9:24-27. It is the final seven years of Dispensation of Israel since the Age of Israel was interrupted by the Church Age. Christ offered the millennial kingdom to Israel, and they rejected it and rejected Him as Messiah. God is now forming a royal family of believers for His Son, who will become the Bride of Christ in Heaven at the Rapture. The Tribulation begins with only unbelievers left on earth.
Temple worship will be restarted by means of a covenant between Israel and the Antichrist during the first half of the Tribulation. This covenant will be a peace treaty allowing Israel to rebuild their Temple. The promise of world peace will be how the Antichrist seduces people into believing that he is the answer to all their problems. (Daniel 9:27, 11:31; Revelation 11:1-2) During the Tribulation there will be 144,000 Jews who become believers and become evangelists for Christ. It is through these Jewish evangelists that many will come to know Christ as Savior. (Revelation 7:1-14)
Most of the book of Revelation is John’s vision of the Tribulation given to him by an angel from God. Revelation 1-3 are messages to certain local churches from Jesus Christ that culminate in the Rapture. The Church is not seen after chapter 3. Revelation 4 is a scene in God’s throne room in Heaven. In Revelation 5, John saw a book that was sealed with seven seals that no one was worthy to open until he saw Jesus Christ, Who was worthy to open the sealed book and reveal the contents of the book which described the events of the Tribulation.
In Revelation 6 the first six seals are opened, The first seal was opened and revealed a white horse with a person on it who had a bow and a crown and went out into the earth to conquer the nations. Both the bow and the crown speak clearly of a conqueror. Notice the bow had no arrows and that the crown, a sign of authority, was freely given to the rider. This can refer only to the peaceful takeover of the world system by the Antichrist, which occurs in the first half of the Tribulation. This rider is a counterfeit Messiah. (Matthew 24:5, 24; Mark 13:6; Luke 21:8; I Thessalonians 5:1-3; II Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 19:11-13)
The second seal was opened and revealed a red horse and its rider was given power to take away the peace that was given by the Antichrist, rider of the white horse. This occurs in the middle of the Tribulation. When this happens, the killing begins, and nations rise against nations. The red horse is typically used to describe a war-horse and there can be little doubt that this rider brings war and internal strife to nations around the earth. (Matthew 24:4-8,15; Mark 13:7-14; Luke 21:9-10)
The third seal was opened and revealed a black horse. The rider had a pair of scales in his hand. Ezekiel’s prophecy makes a statement regarding the buying of food during this period, which pictures famine and inflation. The control of the world’s money will be in the hand of the Anti-Christ and even gold and silver will become worthless. The result will be widespread famine and starvation. (Ezekiel 4:10-16, 7:19)
The fourth seal was opened and revealed a pale horse. The rider of this horse was the personification of death, and Hades followed him. The last half of the Tribulation has begun. Power is given this rider to kill with the sword, with famine, with disease and with wild beasts. (Ezekiel 14:12-21; Revelation 20:13-14)
The fifth seal was opened and reveals the souls of those who were martyred during the Tribulation, and their plea for justice on those who killed them. The Lord’s word to these believers in Heaven is to rest for a while. The answer to their plea will come when the Lord avenges the deaths of these faithful believers by sending judgment upon the entire earth. (Revelation 7:9,13)
The sixth seal was opened and reveals a series of events will be unleashed upon the earth unlike it has ever experienced. The first of these is an earthquake, the second is the sun is blackened, the third is the moon turns red, the fourth is the stars fall from heaven, the fifth is the sky is “rolled up”, and the sixth is the mountains and the islands are dislodged from their place. So terrible will be these occurrences that men will hide in caves and ask the mountains to fall on them rather than face the wrath of God. (Matthew 24:27-30; Isaiah 2:10-21; Luke 23:28-30)
Revelation 7 is parenthetical in that it occurs sometime during the Tribulation period. John heard about the 144,000 Jewish believers who were witnesses for Christ. John then saw a multitude of believers who had been believed in Christ during the Tribulation. John then saw seven angels, with trumpets as they prepared to blow them, signifying a judgment upon the earth. Before this happened however, another angel came and stood before the altar in Heaven. This angel offered incense along with the prayers of the believers from the Tribulation on the golden altar that was before God’s throne. It is used symbolically to add a sweet smell to the prayers in order to make them more acceptable to God. (Exodus 30:34-38) These are the martyred believers who are asking for revenge upon the evil ones on earth.
Chapter 8 the seventh seal is opened, and silence was in Heaven for about half an hour. The final judgment was about to take place and silence was the response to what was about to happen on earth.
Everyone was in a state of awe and expectation awaiting the retribution from God upon those who had killed the martyred believers. The final judgment described here is fulfilled in Revelation 20.
In Revelation 8:7 the first angel had blown his trumpet and what seem like meteorites fell to the earth and destroyed one third of trees and green vegetation. In Revelation 8:8 the angel blew the second trumpet and something that resembled a great mountain, blazing with fire, was thrown into the sea. When this occurred a third of the sea was turned to blood, a third of the creatures in the sea were killed and a third of the ships were destroyed. This certainly seems like a volcanic mountain, or perhaps it was a very large meteorite, that was literally thrown into the sea, which caused the sea to turn to blood, killed a third of the animals in the sea and destroyed a third of the shipping vessels.
John continued to describe the scene in Revelation 8:10 when the third angel blew his trumpet. This blowing of the trumpet caused a huge star to fall from heaven, which was burning like a torch. This star dropped on a third of the rivers and springs. This star had a proper name, which was Wormwood. Wormwood was a plant with a bitter taste that when eaten caused nervous derangement and apparently death in some cases. (Jeremiah 9:15, 23:15; Lamentations 3:15-19)
The fourth angel blew his trumpet and a third of the sun was destroyed, a third of the moon was destroyed and a third of the stars were destroyed. The result was a third of the daylight was removed and a third of the moonlight was removed. Revelation 8:13 was a warning to the inhabitants of the earth regarding the last three trumpet judgments. God used a flying eagle, who could talk, to deliver His warnings. Only God is justified in seeking revenge, which He will do against Satan and his followers by destroying their sources of food and water, and by showering them with meteorites from the sky.
Revelation 9 begins with blowing of the fifth trumpet signifying the expulsion of Satan from Heaven. The identification of Satan in this passage is not hard to make. A star is often used in Scripture to identify an angel. In this case it is Satan. (Isaiah 14:12-17)
Many people mistakenly believe that throughout human history, Satan has already been banished from Heaven, or that he reigns in a kingdom called Hell. That isn’t true. Satan has always had access to the throne room of God, where he serves as the principal accuser of the saints of God. (Job 1:4)
This “star” (Satan) carries with him the key to the bottomless pit. He didn’t have it before; it was given him by Jesus Christ who holds the keys to Heaven, to Hell and to death. Jesus gave Satan the keys so that he could be released to carry out destruction. The abyss (bottomless pit) is the home of Satan and the demons. When Satan opened the abyss, the demons came out in force to deceive and destroy. They have such a vicious nature that God had to bind them to keep the human race from being annihilated before the appointed time, but now the restraints are off. The appearance of these locusts is both frightening and repulsive and they do not act in an unorganized way – they are demons (fallen angels). Their ruler has the name Apollyon meaning “destroyer.” God’s instructions are, “You may torment those who have the Antichrist’s mark, but you may not kill them.” Though this will be a period of great anguish, it is really the grace of God at work seeking to encourage them to trust Christ as Savior.
In Revelation 9:13-21 a sixth trumpet was blown which is the second woe being released which will be the release of four angels who have been bound at the great river Euphrates.” The angels kill one third of the population of earth. A quarter of mankind was killed during the seal judgments, leaving three quarters of the remaining population. As one third is now killed, 50% of mankind now has been killed. The death of one third of the earth’s remaining inhabitants will be the most catastrophic disaster to strike the earth since the flood during the days of Noah.
It is so unimaginable that after many years of suffering and death by this time from the horrible judgments of God, combined with the 144,000, the two witnesses, an angel who gives the Word of God to humans, not to mention the countless number of Tribulation saints, that everyone did not trust Jesus Christ as Savior.
Revelation 10:1 through Revelation 11:14 are parenthetical as John once again paused to record specific events that take place during the sounding of the trumpet judgments. This event seemingly takes place on earth when John is given a small book and told to “eat it.” Up to this point one half of the world’s population has been destroyed, the remaining unbelievers unwilling to change their minds and accept Jesus Christ as Savior and a continuation of God’s judgment upon the “evildoers” on the earth. This pause in the chronological events was to repeat the fact that God was still in control, the wicked will be punished, and the faithful believers will be rewarded.
The trumpet judgment of the seventh angel was about to sound, which will culminate in the final destruction of God’s enemies. The mystery in this passage is not the mystery of the Church, but rather the bringing to a conclusion the dispensation of the Tribulation. The angel refers to the fulfillment of these events that were earlier prophesied by God’s servants throughout history. The timing of these events is what was hidden and thus now revealed that the time of the final judgment is “at hand.”
Beginning in Revelation 10:8 John gave a description of how he came to eat the little book. The voice that John hears and obeys was obviously that of God, who commands him to take the book. When John had taken the book, he was told by the mighty angel to eat it. I believe we can safely say that this is symbolic in nature. When John had followed the instructions of the angel and had eaten the book it was sweet to the taste, but bitter when swallowed, as the angel had predicted.
Remember that John was recording catastrophic events of the judgment of God on the rebellious people of the earth. The judgments that John had to record were not “sweet” but “bitter.” The intake of God’s Word is also “sweet” to the advancing believer who is truly interested in learning Bible doctrine. However, what the Word of God says, commands, demands or mandates may not be “sweet,” but “bitter.” (at least in human terms). God’s Word may demand a change in our way of thinking. Eating the book leads to the renewal of John’s commission as God’s prophet to record these end-time events. The new prophecy will be a “fresh” one based on new information that John will be given. This new prophecy will concern many nations, people, kings and races (the entire world). It will be a prophecy regarding the final days of the Tribulation before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom on earth.