Planning for the Tribulation
So, to better help those who are planning on riding out the Tribulation to the other side of Chaos and Annihilation, I am making you a list of things that you will have to deal with during that coming seven year period. This list is not exhaustive because the events of the Tribulation are literally cataloged all over both the Old and New Testament.
The most familiar components are those in the Book of Revelation so I'll start there.
Before we begin survival mode, it is important to note that there is a seven sealed book that needs to be opened. There is a group of people in heaven who are saying to the Lamb, which of course is Jesus Christ, that He is worthy to take the book and open the seals. They identify themselves as the redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ to God and they are out of every kindred, tongue, people and nation. Jesus has made this group kings and priests to God and this group will reign on earth. These are the people who were raptured before the first seal of Revelation is opened.
The first thing of course are the four horsemen. The question is have they already been released and the full culmination of their activities on the edge of converging to begin the Tribulation, or will they be released at the beginning of the Tribulation? Honestly, I can't decide definitively which it is.
First, there will be the noise of thunder and then in succession the white horse rider goes forth conquering, the red horse goes forth to take peace from the earth and that people will kill one another, the black horse will make food prices soar out of the reach of the common man without hurting the oil and the wine, the pale horse will be mounted by Death and Hell follows with him. These four will have power over 1/4 of the earth to kill with sword, hunger, death and beasts of the earth.
So, first on your plate will be to avoid being numbered in that 25% of the population destined for the scourge of the Four Horsemen.
Second, a large portion of the churched world will realize that the rapture has occurred and they have been left behind. At this point they will have to make a decision, fall on their knees and truly repent and receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior or believe whatever lie is put forth by the authorities as to what happened to millions and millions of people who disappear from the planet. This is because the fifth seal is about the martyrs who cry out for the Lord, Christ Jesus, to avenge their blood and judge those who dwell on the earth. They are told to wait until the rest of those who are to be martyred is completed.
Third there is going to be a great earthquake and a feature of that quake turns the sun black and the moon red. Is this particular quake one that triggers the eruption of a super volcano thereby throwing ash miles and miles into the upper atmosphere. It is suggested that the ash plume from Yellowstone would rise 25 miles into the atmosphere. Is that what darkens the sun or does a total solar eclipse darken the sun? Right now there is a lot of chatter about the four lunar tetrads or blood moons that will occur over the next two years. So, is this a reference that the great earthquake will coincide with one of these solar/lunar eclipses? One has to wonder if you can't see the sun or the sun is turned black, then how could you see the moon? Hence, the conjecture that this might occur during a solar eclipse with a blood moon. In 2015 a total solar eclipse will occur on March 20, 2015 followed by a lunar blood moon eclipse on April 4, 2015. This is conjecture I can't possibly know. So, you have to hope you are not in the immediate earthquake zone.
Along with this great earthquake the stars of heaven are going to fall to the earth. Now is this the fallen angelic host that rebelled with Lucifer or is it a huge meteor shower or both? The heaven is going to depart as a rolled up scroll. Is this a huge nuclear blast or a cosmic event of unheard of proportions or just the results of the earthquake and a super volcano eruption because every mountain and island will be moved out of their place.
Subsequent to this event; apparently, mankind will be able to see the throne of God and the face of him that sits on the throne because every man; kings of the earth, great men, rich men, chief captains, mighty men, bondmen, free men are going to hid in the dens and rocks of mountains to try and hide from the face of God and the wrath of the Lamb.
Some suggest that there is a dimensional barrier between this world and the world where the supernatural beings of the Biblical text exist. So, does this earthquake rip open the dimensional barrier?
Let us recap the first six seals -
- Avoid being in the 25% of the population that the 4 horsemen will kill
- Decide whether you will be a martyr for Christ Jesus and repent or continue on into the tribulation
- Survive the great earthquake and hid in dens and rocks from the Face of God
Before we proceed to the final seal let us notice that another group of people appear in heaven. This group of people are also from every nation, kindred, people and tongues, they are clothed in white robes and palms are in their hands and this group are identified as having come out of the great tribulation. This group will serve God in His temple. I have always thought that there is more than one rapture, I think this text gives weight to that thought.
Group I - is already in heaven prior to the beginning of the Tribulation and will reign on earth.
Group II - comes out of the great tribulation, wears white robes and has palm branches in their hands and will serve God in His temple.
The seventh seal will produce an approximate half hour of silence in Heaven. Then seven angels will be given seven trumpets. An angel will take a censer and fill it with fire from the altar of God and cast it into the earth and this will cause voices, thunderings, lightnings, and another earthquake.
The first trumpet will cause hail and fire mingled with blood to be cast on the earth and one third of all the trees and green grass will burn up. The second trumpet will cause a great mountain burning with fire to be cast into the sea and one third part of the sea will become blood. This will cause one third part of the sea creatures to die and one third part of ships to be destroyed. The third trumpet will bring a great star falling from heaven and it will fall upon one third of the rivers and fountains of waters which will cause them to become bitter and will kill many men. The fourth trumpet will smite a third part of the sun, the moon, and the stars and will cause one third part of the day to be darkened. Then an angel is going to herald woe to the inhabitants of the earth for the sounding of the next three trumpets.
The fifth trumpet is definitely an angel because he has the key to the bottomless pit which he opens. The opening of the bottomless pit will release a great cloud of smoke that will darken the sun and the air and will release the locusts upon the earth which have stings like scorpions. These locust are commanded not to hurt grass, any green thing nor any tree and they cannot hurt the men who have the seal of God in their foreheads. They are going to torment all other mankind for five months without killing them but men will desire to die and death will flee from them. You can read a description of these locust in Chapter 9 of Revelation.
The sixth trumpet is going to loose the four angels that are bound in the great river Euphrates. Their job is to slay one third of mankind.
The seventh trumpet involved the two witnesses who will perform a manifold of supernatural events. Fire will proceed out of their mouth to kill men, they will shut up heaven so it doesn't rain, they will be able to turn the waters of the earth to blood, they will smite the earth will plagues as often as they will it. Then they will be killed and their bodies left in the street for three days and mankind will celebrate their death. Then God will resurrect them after three days and they will be raptured into heaven. The city they were killed in will then experience a great earthquake and a tenth part of that city will fall and seven thousand men will die in the quake. The temple of God will be opened in heaven and the ark of his testament will be seen with lightnings, voices, thunderings, an earthquake and great hail.
There is a whole bunch of stuff that happens after this and then in Chapter 16 the seven vials are poured out one right after another.
Vial one - grievous sores upon any one who has the mark of the beast and those who worship his image.
Vial two - turns the sea as blood and every living soul died in the sea.
Vial three - turns the rivers and fountains of waters as blood.
Vial four - the sun will scorch men with fire.
Vial five - the kingdom of the beast (the antichrist) will be struck with darkness.
Vial six - the great Euphrates is dried up to make way for the army of the east and three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon and the beast, working miracles. These unclean spirits go forth to all the kings of the world to draw them to battle of that great day of God Almighty.
Vial seven - this vial pronounces that it is done and there are voices, thunders, lightnings and a great earthquake such as has never been since man was upon the earth. The great city will be divided into three parts, every island and mountain fled away and were not found, great hail weighing about ten pounds fell on earth.
As you can see the list of things that a person will have to avoid and survive during the Tribulation is exhausting at the least and horrifying at the most. You have to ask the question will my bunker survive all the earthquakes and volcanoes and cosmic missiles falling to earth? If your bunker can survive can your mind survive. It just wears me out to go over all this and I haven't even touched the Old Testament prophecies. So, you have to think really long and hard about trying to survive this.
By the end of the Tribulation the total population will be decimated. There are approximately 7.1+ billion human beings on earth today. First, you have to take into consideration the first rapture. I feel I can safely guess that perhaps a billion or more people will be removed from the Tribulation before it starts. Out of the 6 billion left, 1.5 billion will be killed by the 4 horsemen. That leaves 4.5 billion. Then if I'm correct there will be a second rapture which just for arguments sake takes another billion. Now we are down to 3.5 billion people. The sixth trumpet is going to take another one-third of mankind that knocks us down to 1.15 billion people. We have to consider all the people killed during the other trumpet and vial judgments and then those who are numbered among the huge army coming to fight the final battle of Armageddon. Numerically speaking there just aren't going to be that many survivors at the end of the Tribulation. How's your luck been lately? Are you willing to take a chance that you of the 7.1 billion people on earth will survive the Tribulation? Those are terrible odds.
Or, you can choose right now to acknowledge your need for a Savior, choose Jesus Christ as that Savior, repent of your sins, take up your Cross and follow Jesus daily. Start reading your Bible from Genesis straight through to Revelation. Avoid all the insanity of the Tribulation and be part of the Rapture. It is a much better choice! Don't wait another day because the storm clouds of the Tribulation are on the horizon.
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