Readers have often asked me how we’ll know whether we’re in the end times. Would you like to know what to look for, specifically in the seven years of tribulation prophesied in the Bible? Let’s take a look-see.
The Revelation to John foretells three cycles of judgment, each cycle having seven parts. The first cycle begins with the Lamb of God opening seven seals of a scroll in heaven. The second cycle follows with the blowing of seven trumpets each bringing its own judgment. And, the third cycle describes seven angels pouring out seven bowls of God’s wrath from heaven onto the earth.
The first step in disciplining a child is getting the child’s attention. In the first two cycles of judgments, God is trying to get our attention. For example, after the blowing of the sixth trumpet John writes, “And the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.” Those surviving the plagues of the first and second cycles will not repent or change their minds about God. Of all creatures, we are the most stubborn!
The first seven judgments when the seals are broken include four horsemen, believers being martyred, severe physical disturbances, and breaking the seventh seal initiates the seven trumpets cycle.
The first horseman in chapter 6 is riding a white horse, carrying a bow but no arrows, and wearing a crown. He goes into the world conquering. The second horseman is riding a red horse, and taking peace from the earth with a great sword making men slay one another. The third horseman rides a black horse and carries scales to measure the lack of wheat, barley, oil and wine indicating famine. The fourth horseman is named Death and has authority to destroy. Together the horsemen will kill a fourth of the world’s population.
Needless to say these are huge judgments. No doubt when these judgments are administered media will blame climate change as well as true believers who will testify these signs are judgments from God. Breaking the fifth seal reveals believers who have been martyred for telling the truth crying out to God. Breaking the sixth seal initiates a great earthquake, the sun goes dark, the moon becomes like blood, and the stars of the sky fall to earth.
So, here’s the deal. When it’s time God will get our attention in very big and loud ways. The judgments will be worldwide phenomena. Nevertheless the masses and media will blame everything except God for the disasters. After all, they believe God is not real, and even if He were real He wouldn’t do things like this. They have to blame something else.
Recent news suggests aliens may be planning an invasion, or AI will conquer its inventors and destroy earth, or mad scientists will create the ultimate concoction of bio and nuclear weapons of war. No one knows when the tribulation is coming, but God will get our attention when it’s time.
Daniel L. Gardner is a columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.
29 comments:
Please spare us the ravings of a "puffed up" Christian who may well have dementia and spends very little time on the words attributed to Jesus. I would remind him, that Jesus us tells us how to be pleasing in His Father's eyes.
I think Tool had a song about this.
Fairy tales are fine, until they intertwine with reality.
The author skips entirely the rapture, which marks the ending of the church age. That means if you are saved you won’t be here for those tribulation occurrences. That’s in Thessalonians, not Revelation, so maybe he missed it.
August 5, 2023 at 6:11 PM, list those scriptures, please?
I feel like we are more likely to have a violent alien invasion than to experience a Bronze Age extinction prophecy.
As the end times approach, the skies will fill with disco unicorns descending from glittering clouds. Their multicolored manes will create mesmerizing light shows, and their hooves will tap to the beats of ethereal disco music. This spectacle of divine dance will inspire love and unity among the inhabitants of the cosmos, ushering in an era of boundless grooviness.
"Oh Ye of Little Faith "
One thing for sure:
In the end, we'll all find out the exact same thing.
No one has ever seen a picture of black holes, protons, neutrons, electrons, or photons. But, I don't know of anyone who belittles people for believing in those things.
The closest thing to pictures are actually reactions of nearby objects or nearby energy to those objects. The objects themselves are not pictured.
And, making fun of someone's religious or spiritual beliefs is not the putdown you think it is. It makes you look bad, not the other person.
At first I thought those were fireworks down the street or some gangbangers slinging caps at one another. But, no, it was just leftist heads exploding after reading D.L.'s latest.
@10:43
You are missing the fact that the overwhelming majority of self-proclaimed Christian’s are hypocrites. Only like 1% are genuine and they do earn respect. I’ve known a few wise and godly men who were fantastic representatives of Christianity. Then you have the majority people like like shrill Karens, DL and Bryan Bailey. Total phonies using their religion to cloak themselves. It’s transparent.
6:17 said, "You are missing the fact that the overwhelming majority of self-proclaimed Christian’s are hypocrites."
The next time you see the aftermath of a hurricane or tornado, please count the number of volunteers from Planned Parenthood and the American Atheists. Then compared that number (presuming it is above zero) to the hoards of Salvation Army, Catholics and Baptists that show up to help people.
The rapture of the Church is referenced in 1 Thessalonians 4: 14 - 17.
More navel gazing from the self-ordained preacher from Starkville. I will pray for him this morning at church for God to heal him from his thinly veiled hatred and fear of people who think differently from him.
You would do well to have a reverent fear of the Lord.
He is the only One giving away free tickets to heaven.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16
7:23 AM, most of what I see right after a tornado or hurricane is someone telling a reporter how the lord was with him. Thank the lord only his house, everything he owned, his wife, and his dog were lost. The lord was looking out for him and his family.
“The rapture of the Church is referenced in 1 Thessalonians 4: 14–17.”, I have read those scriptures many times, and nowhere does it say the rapture is before the great tribulation.
I suggest you study, not read, Matthew 24. Paul told Timothy to study, not read, to show yourself approved. Invest in a Strong's concordance software program. Create in yourself, a hunger for the truth of GOD's word, and ask to be lead of the Spirit of GOD.
Nowhere in the Christian Bible is any indication given that the Church is removed before the great tribulation. Do not be deceived.
12:46 pm - Zephaniah 1:15-18 and Isaiah 13:9 make it clear that the Tribulation is a time of God's wrath, and I Thessalonians 1:19 and 5:9 make it clear that the Body of Christ is not appointed to wrath, so that is good evidence that the Rapture will occur before the Tribulation, otherwise known as Daniel's 70th week (Daniel 9:26, 27). The Book of Revelation is also about the Tribulation, and the Body of Christ is not mentioned in the Book of Revelation, as God will be dealing with Israel again, as Paul tells us in Romans 11:25 and following. People need to understand that the Body of Christ is a separate organization of which Paul was the first member (Ephesians 3, Colossians 1, I Timothy 1:16) from Old and New Testament Israel (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Hebrews 8:8-11).
I was a member of Colonial Heights Baptist Church 1993 to 2010, and I was told to shut up about the Rapture by a now former deacon in 2004. Southern Baptists are more concerned about waving their hands at the ceiling and listening to motivational speeches than Bible doctrine. I don't know how I survived 17 years of that place, as I would walk out after 17 seconds today. Hardly anyone cares about doctrine anymore.
People have worried about the end of times for centuries. It ain't happening.
That book he is quoting was written by MEN. Just like any other fictional work.
That book this guy is quoting is fiction. Just another book written by men, for men and open to individual interpretation.
The "Rapture" isn't biblical.
https://youtu.be/HrncfTWTUdI
"Keep them afraid"
"Suffer in life, the only life you have, to be rewarded in death."
"Give me everything you have and I PROMISE, I can double it"
What a grift.
Pro tip1: There is no mention of rapture in Revelation. Pro tip2: Anyone claiming to offer any clarity on "end times" is full of it. Perhaps they don't know they are full of it. Perhaps they have cultish aspirations. Matters not. Pure grift of one form or another.
To anyone who wants to "predict" it: King James Bible, Matthew 24:36
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
No angel knows, Jesus doesnt know. Only God knows. Period.
Now who amongst us is going to portray themselves on the same level as God to "know" when that day will be?
A wag might suggest February 4, 2004 as the day the world ended (it's a joke...sort of - look it up).
Now who amongst us is going to portray themselves on the same level as God to "know" when that day will be?
Does the answer depend upon how much money the parishoners can be conned into donating to the pharisees doing the 'predicting'?
It matters not 'which comes first' or whether all occur simultaneously or if at all. If one of us in involved in rapture, he won't be here to see tomorrow.
If tribulation, end times, rapture and the anti-Christ all descend this afternoon, nobody will see tomorrow. So why worry about any of it? Be prepared, or not, in your own way, not as someone tells you to be.
Nobody can predict whether or when any of it will occur so why dance around campfires pretending you have the ability to visualize unicorns and connect dots?
People of faith are entitled to have it and express it or not, without ridicule, judgement or stone-throwing.
Non-believers are entitled to the same. I would say 'live in peace', but since peace is a moving-concept, I won't.
I will now retreat to my study where there is an Elvis decanter (the last of seven) on the third shelf in the second cabinet from the left window. It's time to break the seventh seal.
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