Lesson for July 28, 2021
The Tribulation – Lesson 2
Revelation 11 is parenthetical, as John paused to relate the final judgment. John was given a measuring rod and told to measure the sanctuary of the Temple, the altar, and its worshippers. The exact meaning of this command is unclear, but it relates to what will follow – evangelism and destruction. The court outside the sanctuary was not to be measured because the unbelieving Gentile nations will have access to the outer court and will come and go as they please. The Temple is for the Jews only. The Temple will be inhabited by and desecrated by the false messiah (the Anti-Christ) during this period, and it will be a place where people will worship him and his statue. (Matthew 7:2; Daniel 9:27, 12:11; II Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:14-15)
Since no actual measurements were given, it seems that God may be asking John to evaluate the activities at the Temple in preparation for the Two Witnesses before the final judgment. These two witnesses are sent by God to spread the Gospel during the final 3 ½ years of the Tribulation. The ones who were worshipping there will be unbelieving Jews who have been deceived by the Anti-Christ into worshipping him. It is still God’s desire that all people of the earth come to know Jesus Christ as Savior.
The Two Witnesses are commonly identified as Moses and Elijah, but Revelation doesn’t name them as such. These witnesses will have tremendous power to protect themselves, to stop the rain, turn “the waters” (rivers and seas) into blood and to smite the earth with plagues. Symbolically, these prophets are clothed with “sackcloth” as a sign that they are bringing a message of judgment upon the Jews, which will be a mournful event. The “sackcloth” with ashes sprinkled on them was a sign of mourning in the ancient world. (II Kings 1:10; Jeremiah 5:14; Exodus 7:17-19; I Kings 17:1; Isaiah 22:12; Jeremiah 4:8, 6:26)
When these two witnesses from God finish their ministry of spreading the Gospel, the Beast (Satan), who had come up from the abyss, kills them. Their bodies will be on display for all to mock and ridicule for 3 ½ days. The unbelievers in Jerusalem will be so jubilant that they will exchange presents. At the end of these 3 ½ days the Two Witnesses come back to life and are ushered into Heaven by God, as their enemies watch this happen. At the hour these witnesses were being taken to Heaven, a tremendous earthquake erupts and one tenth of Jerusalem is destroyed and 7,000 people are killed. Those who remained are struck with terror and began to glorify God.
The parenthesis ends and trumpet judgments are resumed in Revelation 11:15 with the seventh and final trumpet judgment. The seventh trumpet signals the beginning of the final judgment and return of Jesus Christ to earth to establish His earthly kingdom (the Second Coming). John then described what would follow this final trumpet judgment – the millennial reign of Jesus Christ. The announcement of the final judgment caused an angelic host to sing a song of rejoicing. (Revelation 11:15-18)
In Revelation 12, John first looks back in time and records the initial rebellion of Satan and his attempt to kill the Messiah (Jesus Christ). There are six characters in this chapter: 1) the woman 2) the red dragon 3) the child 4) the archangel 5) Israel and 6) the Jewish remnant.
The woman is a type of the nation of Israel, who had been “travailing in pain” awaiting the arrival of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. The cause of this pain was the persecution that the nation of Israel was enduring at the hands of Satan and his satanic forces attempting to stop the birth of the child (Jesus Christ) and destroy the people of God (Israel). The symbolism of being clothed in the sun, the moon under her feet and the twelve crowns on her head refer to the nation of Israel.
The red dragon is Satan. The seven heads, the ten horns and the seven crowns (diadems) represent a number of satanically influenced world powers who exist throughout history. The reference to one-third of the angels refer to the angels who rebelled against God and followed Satan (Lucifer).
The child is Jesus Christ the Messiah who was born a Jew. This Child will rule the evil nations and rule over the millennial nations with authority (a “rod of iron”). The Child was caught up to Heaven at His ascension and seated at the right hand of God where Satan could no longer inflict pain and suffering upon Him. Therefore, Satan shifted his attention to the nation of Israel, causing them to flee into the wilderness, where they will be protected by God, for the last half of the Tribulation.
The archangel is Michael, who along with his army of elect angels, wages war against Satan and his fallen angels. The result will be that Satan and his angels are cast to the earth during the last half of the Tribulation. When Satan and his followers are permanently cast out of Heaven, rejoicing naturally breaks out among the elect angels. Satan is also identified as the one who continually accused the believers before God, day and night. During the Tribulation, the way believers will overcome Satan and his evil forces will be by their faith in Christ (blood of the Lamb) and by their execution of God’s plan, purpose and will (the word of their testimony). Furthermore, they will be willing to give up their lives rather than worship the Antichrist. A warning will be given to those who are on earth during the last half of the Tribulation because Satan will be at work among them, and knowing that his time is short, he will be fiercer than ever.
Chapter 13 describes the beasts that will be Satan’s emissaries on earth during the Tribulation. Satan will be in full control of these two beings, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet. The Antichrist will dominate the world political system and will in many ways operate much like the ancient Roman Empire. The False Prophet will represent the false religion of Satan worship and will do the bidding of the Antichrist in convincing the world that the Antichrist is the true messiah. Satan forms an unholy trinity with these two, counterfeiting the true Holy Trinity.
The sea out of which the first beast arises is a reference to the abyss (bottomless pit). Therefore, we know that this is the same beast referred to in Revelation 11:7, who makes war with the 144,000 witnesses. This beast will be the Antichrist and his army who conquer all the nations (seven heads and ten horns) of earth and dominates the political scene. The seven heads and the ten horns represent kingdoms that are controlled by Satan.
The animals that describe this beast are similar to those in Daniel 7. Daniel saw this beast in a dream and interpreted it as a representation of a satanic person ruling a satanic kingdom. The leopard depicts swiftness, the bear fierceness, and the lion power. They have all been linked to earlier kingdoms on earth, but the Bible does not tell us specifically which nation is being referred to. We are told that this beast will derive its power from Satan and take over the rulership of the world system.
This beast draws attention to himself by counterfeiting the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Remember that he is the false Christ and performing this miracle will cause people to think of him in terms of deity, though he is not. People will worship him and Satan as gods. The Antichrist will be a persuasive speaker as he speaks against God, the Tabernacle and all who live in Heaven, which would include elect angels and believers from previous dispensations. He also engages in war with the earthly believers who have not yet fled to the wilderness. He will overcome the saints and he will have authority over the entire world system. Everyone on earth will worship him as if he were God with the exception of faithful believers.
The second beast will come out from the earth. This beast is the False Prophet. This beast’s role will be to convince the world to worship the Antichrist. He will have great power over mankind just like the Antichrist. Like the Antichrist, this beast can also perform miracles and does so to deceive people. The people of the world are duped into building an image to the Antichrist for the purpose of worshipping him. The False Prophet will also cause this image to come to life and speak. Those who refuse to worship his image will be killed. During this time, if anyone wants to buy or sell anything, they must first have the “mark of the beast (Antichrist)” put on their hand or forehead. This mark will be the name of the Antichrist or the number, which is 666. (Revelation13:17-18)
Revelation 14 deals with the ultimate victory of Jesus Christ at the end of the Tribulation. The Lamb Who John saw standing on Mount Zion was Jesus Christ at His Second Coming. With the Lord are the 144,000 witnesses of the Tribulation, who have the name of the Father and the Son written on their foreheads. We learned, in previous chapters, that these witnesses are protected by God so that they will remain alive to spread the Gospel message during the Tribulation.
In Revelation 14:1, Christ returned to earth with the 144,000 (and others not mentioned here). Therefore, the angelic host began making music and singing a song. This song will be a song for the ears of the 144,000 only. No doubt this song will be a song of victory for not defiling themselves with the worship of the Anti-Christ and the fact that they remained faithful to Christ during a period of intense persecution. These witnesses are unmarried because of their mission and the trials they will endure at the hand of Satan and His followers. Then, John saw that God sends an angel to present the Gospel proclaiming the coming judgment and the necessity of believing in and worshipping Jesus Christ, the Creator of the universe. The second angel God sends will proclaim the fall of the world religious system represented by Babylon. God’s wrath will be poured out on those who reject the truth and follow the false religion of the Anti-Christ.
Revelation 14:9-11, gives the results of taking the “mark of the beast.” Those who take this mark are rejecting Jesus Christ in favor of the false messiah and their fate will be the same as those who follow the false religion – God’s wrath. God’s wrath is illustrated by the judgment of fire in this passage. In contrast to those who reject Christ, the tribulational believers who do not take the beast’s mark are said to be steadfast and faithful and they refuse to deny their faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ now has His sickle in hand, which is a sign of impending judgment. Revelation 14:15, introduces the fourth angel of God’s judgment. This angel is the first of four angels who bring judgment on those unbelievers who remain on earth. This angel announces that the time has come for the final judgment and Jesus Christ begins the campaign by “swinging His sickle” against who have rejected Jesus Christ as Savior. These angels of judgment continue to carry out God’s judgment of wrath upon the earth until they are all gathered and destroyed. The description of this final campaign is graphic as their blood is as high as a horse’s bridle and stretches for about 200 miles.
In Revelation 15, John saw the sanctuary of the temple in Heaven opened and seven angels came out from the sanctuary with the seven plagues. These angels will each be given a symbolic bowl filled with the wrath of God. These bowls will be poured out upon the earth. Until these plagues are carried out, the Temple in Heaven will be closed to all except God. God’s glory and power are so intense at this time that no one can enter the Temple. The smoke is symbolic of God’s presence to emphasize that He is the One Who originated the judgments about to come.
Chapter 16 is the administration of the seven bowls plagues. These are the final judgments of the Tribulation period just before the return of Jesus Christ. The plagues of this judgment are ready to be poured out on the unbelievers of the Tribulation who have rejected Jesus Christ in favor of the false messiah and his false religion. Revelation 16 continues with an explanation of the seven bowls plagues. These are the final plagues upon mankind, which are designed by God to bring these people to Christ without coercing their free will.
The first bowl was poured out and it resulted in the loss of health (ulcers). The second bowl was poured out upon the sea and the sea became like blood and all the things in the sea died. The third bowl was poured out upon the rivers and the springs, and they too became blood. This angel proclaimed the righteousness and justice of God in carrying out this judgment against those who had killed the tribulational believers.
The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun and power was given to him to burn men with fire. Yet, these corrupt human beings will refuse to believe and continue to blaspheme the name of God. The fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the Antichrist’s throne and plunged his kingdom into darkness. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the Euphrates River and it became dry in order to prepare a road for the coming of the kings from the east.
Revelation 16:13-16 is parenthetical describing the reason for the gathering of the nations in the land of Israel for the battle of Armageddon. This is the final battle of the Tribulation. Demons come from everywhere – the mouth of the dragon (Satan), the mouth of the beast (Antichrist) and the mouth of the false prophet (religious leader) symbolizing the unholy trinity initiates the demons coming. Verse 14 tells us who these demons are – they are the ones who work miracles designed to deceive people and they go forth into the world to indwell those who will do battle against the Lord. Believers who are alive at this time of the Tribulation are told to be watchful and be ready for the Second Coming of Christ.
The seventh angel then poured out his bowl in the air and a voice came from Heaven saying, “it is done.” Revelation 16:18-21 describes the final days of the Tribulation where natural disasters will occur in much greater intensity than ever before in the history of man. Jerusalem will be split into three parts, Babylon will be destroyed, islands will be destroyed, mountains tumble and 120-pound hailstones fall upon men. Through all of this, the unbelievers will continue to blaspheme God.
Revelation 17 details the history and fall of religious Babylon during the Tribulation. Revelation 18 details the history and the fall of commercial Babylon. The similarities are obvious in Revelation 18 – they are both guilty of spiritual blasphemy, both cause the kings of the earth to come under their influence, both will to be burned with fire and destroyed. Greed will be the order of the day for both the religious and political powers during the last half of the Tribulation. With the final destruction of the Anti-Christ’s empire, he can only gather what army he has left and make war with Jesus Christ and His army.
In Revelation18, John observed an angel coming down from Heaven to announce and describe the fall of Babylon. Foul spirits, unclean birds take up residence in Babylon demonstrating the desolation of the city. In Revelation 18:3 the nations, the kings and merchants are mentioned as ones who joined with Babylon became rich as a result of their alliance with her. The destruction of Babylon will be to the same degree that she lived a life of luxury and ignored God and glorified herself and thought herself to be above all. God will give back to her double the sorrow and torment that she gave to others.
Revelation 19-22 are events that take place after the Tribulation.