Here is what I am trying to say. There are millions today who have studied what the Bible says about the future, and many would consider themselves experts as to all that needs to happen before the return of Christ. There are covenants, wars, falling stars, apostasy, the rise of world leaders, and all the cataclysmic signs from Matthew 24 that have to be fulfilled for Jesus to return. And you also have the seals and trumpets that have to happen.
Many if not most people today think about the seals and trumpets as some vague thing that we can never really know. The big phrase I keep hearing today is... THE RAPTURE WILL HAPPEN AT THE 6TH SEAL. But who can explain it? Can you? Tell me now, how were the first five seals all opened, and how exactly can we see from the Bible that the sixth seal brings rapture? Its more than throwing a phrase on something that sounds interesting... everything we teach and believe should be grounded in the word of God.
For example, the seals and trumpets. Many say these will not take place until after rapture and during the final 7 years of tribulation. That is exactly the point I was making above. People love talking about prophecy, but God forbid anyone saying that something has already happened. The end is near... but Dear Lord do not say the end is HERE.
The Seals and Trumpets are as follows, an overview...
SEALS - REVELATION 6
SEAL 1 - WHITE HORSE CONQUEROR
SEAL 2 - WAR
SEAL 3 - FAMINE
SEAL 4 - DEATH
SEAL 5 - RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION
SEAL 6 - A GREAT EARTHQUAKE AND OTHER MAJOR COSMIC DISTURBANCES
SEAL 7 - OPENS THE WAY FOR THE TRUMPETS - REV 8
TRUMPETS - REVELATION 8 - 11
TRUMPET 1 - HAIL, FIRE, SCORCHED EARTH
TRUMPET 2 - BURNING MOUNTAIN, DISASTER IN THE OCEANS
TRUMPET 3 - FALLING STAR, WATERS CONTAMINATED
TRUMPET 4 - CHANGES IN THE SUN MOON AND STARS
TRUMPET 5 - 5 MONTHS (SHOWN TWICE) OF LOCUSTS BITING MEN, COMING UP FROM THE SMOKE
TRUMPET 6 - IRAQ WAR - GREAT RIVER EUPHRATES IS SHOWN AS THE LOCATION
TRUMPET 7 - THE MYSTERY OF GOD REVEALED
For those who would say the seals and trumpets are all still in the future, then all these world disasters that have happened in the past were nothing, not even warnings, not even precursors... and they fulfilled no prophecies. 2000 years have passed since John wrote Revelation and we are still waiting for the first seal to open... and it won´t happen until after we are gone... SO IT DOESN´T MATTER! That is the way most people live today. I interact with a lot of people, and from what I see, that is the way most people want to live.
But what about these world disasters... none of these fulfilled any Bible Prophecies that we can put our fingers on and say... THAT WAS THAT!? Here is a short list...
GREAT CHINESE FAMINE - From 1958 to 1962, China experienced a monumental famine that killed at least 45 million people.
WORLD WAR I - 1914-1919, About 15 million, military and civilian, died, unless we include deaths from Spanish influenza, which was itself a direct result of the War. That puts the estimate at about 65 million.
THE BLACK DEATH - 1346, England suffered about 20% dead. The total average was about 25% of the whole world, as evidence indicates plague deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, India, and the Orient. As much as 66% of Europe and Asia succumbed. Approximately 100,000,000 people died in 4 years.
WORLD WAR II - 1939-1945 1.1 million were murdered at Auschwitz, 700,000 to 800,000 at Treblinka, 600,000 at Belzec, 360,000 at Majdanek, 320,000 at Chelmno, 250,000 at Sobibor. Merely because they were Jewish. Meawhile, at least 750,000 soldiers and civilians died in 199 days in Stalingrad. That was only one battle of the War.
THE CRUSADES - The Crusades remain the blackest moment in the history of all religion. It lasted from c. 1063 until c. 1434. There would be 6 more Crusades, with the Holy Land changing hands several times, costing hundreds of thousands of lives, all in the name of one god or another. All the while, both bibles stated, “Love your enemies.”
1. China 1958-62 - Between 10 and 30 million people died
2. Soviet Union 1921-22 - 9 million people died.
3. Soviet Union (Ukraine) 1932-34 - Between 7-8 million people died
4. North-west China 1927 - Between 3-6 million people died.
5. China (Henan) 1943 - 5 million people died
6. North Korea 1995-99 - Between 2.8 - 3.5 million people died
7. India (Bengal) 1943 - Between 2.1 - 3 million people died
8. China (Hunan) 1929 - 2 million people died
9. Soviet Union (Ukraine and Belorussia) 1946-47 - 2 million died
10. Cambodia 1979 - Between 1.5 - 2 million died
FAMINE IS THE THIRD SEAL
This is only a list of THE WORST FAMINES of the 2OTH CENTURY. 2000 years have passed since John wrote the book of Revelation. How many famines have there been worldwide over the last 2000 years? 100 or more? And only the worst in this century and easily there is a list of 10.
How anyone can say that the seals have not been opened at all is beyond me. Yet I hear it over and over again. "The seals don´t open until after rapture... the seals don´t open until after rapture." Ask them to show you that in the Bible and they get thrown in a tizzy.
WAR, FAMINE, DEATH, AND PERSECUTIONS have been rampant for centuries. Yet the easy thing to say is that everything that is going to happen is all still in the future. Well doesn´t that make life easy!
I would like to challenge you to consider the following document. This shows how the Book of Revelation is not a Book sealed for the time of the end, but a History Book, written in advance, from the times of the Apostles until the Return of Jesus Christ and into eternity. The fulfillments have been happening for the entire world history since Christ, over the last 2000 years, and I show from the Bible text how we can know that everything happens in chronological order.
I am not a Bible Expert in the way that term is used today. I have not studied and come to my conclusions over years and years of contemplation. But I have been given wisdom, an understanding of the scriptures, and it makes it quite clear for those who are willing to consider a new approach. Pride is the biggest obstacle for someone to take a look at this new approach. Most people today simply say they already know how everything will happen and they won´t even consider a new idea or scenario. Here is what I would say to them: PHARISEES! Just as at the first coming of Christ, everyone missed the Messiah because the way they were expecting Him to arrive, so it is today.
Here are some documents for your consideration. May God bless the humble, and may God shame the proud!
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FOR THE COMPLETE END OF DAYS TIMELINE...
SHOWING HOW ALL SEALS AND TRUMPETS
WERE FULFILLED THROUGH TRUMPET 6...
HOW TRUMPET 6 WAS FULFILLED...
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ARE YOU READY FOR THE RETURN OF JESUS CHRIST?
PREPARE NOW WITH THE KNOWLEDGE YOU NEED...
THE NAME OF THE BEAST, AND THE NUMBER OF HIS NAME:
THE ANTICHRIST HAS BEEN REVEALED:
(with links to each fulfilled event embedded)
