We’ve been looking at what the Bible says about future events and Christ’s second coming. As we continue our study this morning concerning the 7 year tribulation, particularly the last 3 1/2 years of this tribulation, let me just give a quick recap of the first 3 1/2 years and why the Scriptures divide it this way.

You’ll remember that it was the prophet Daniel who was given a prophecy from God of this seven year period. And that’s where we find this 70th week of Daniel and it’s division.

DAN 9:27 "He (antichrist) will confirm a covenant with the many (Israel) for one 'seven.' (One seven year period). In the middle of the 'seven' (3 1/2 years) he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."

It is the middle of the 7 year period in which antichrist will turn his back on the covenant he made with Israel, and instead of peace there will be war and this is alluded to in the book of Revelation when our Lord gives John this vision.

REV 11:1 "I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there."
2 "But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months."

In the last 3 1/2 years there will be hostilities and Israel will come under constant attack from the forces of the antichrist.

All of this is the very opposite of what took place during the first 3 1/2 years because the antichrist was gaining the trust of the entire world, including Israel. And the way in which he did this was to show himself to be, not only a peace-maker, but also one who had power and authority beyond anything this world knew.

The man known as the false prophet, (anti-christ’s partner), would play a key role in showing the world the power of the antichrist. The antichrist would bring this false prophet to power and he would demonstrate to the world many miraculous signs and wonders to convince the world that both he and the antichrist are the chosen ones who will deliver and save the planet. (Rev.19:20)

Imagine turning on your T.V. and seeing both of these men who appear to be the most loving and caring people on the face of the earth, negotiating with all the leaders of the world and demonstrating miracles right on T.V. as the world watches. Imagine this false prophet hailing the antichrist and encouraging everyone to follow him because he is the true Messiah.

And imagine this false prophet walking over to a river or lake which has been polluted with waste materials and simply placing his hand on the waters and having them immediately turn clean and sparkling fresh.

Or imagine this same false prophet telling us on T.V. that he got a word from God who is telling all mankind to follow this antichrist, and then this false prophet calls fire down from heaven and consumes an abandoned ghetto and says, ‘now we can begin to rebuild a society without squalor and poverty and we’ll start right here in this ghetto.’

Who wouldn’t want to follow such leaders; leaders who apparently want to help mankind and who actually have the power to accomplish it. And yet, unfortunately, the genuine church, faithful to Christ, having been raptured, will not be around to sound an alarm concerning these false signs and wonders.

Undoubtedly, there will be people who had been witnessed to previously with the gospel of Jesus Christ, before the true church was snatched up to be with Christ, and many of these people will get their bibles out and question the truthfulness of the antichrist. And some will actually come to Christ in faith and find themselves targets of the antichrist.

This will be part of the scenario during the first 3 1/2 years of the tribulation. But remember, this is the antichrist and the false prophet. They may appear to be the real thing, but they’re not. This is a plot to accomplish their real agenda, which is to destroy God’s saints and Israel.

And so, when the first 3 1/2 years have come to a close, after the antichrist and the false prophet have gained the confidence of the world and have convinced the world, not unlike Hitler in Nazi Germany, they will persuade the world that both "radical Christians" and Jews must be eliminated for the sake of the peace of the world.

This is when Satan kicks his plan into high gear and empowers the antichrist to make war against God’s chosen. We read of this in Revelation.

REV 12:12 "Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil (the dragon) has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short."

REV 13:2 "The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon (Satan) gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority."

It is during this last 3 1/2 year period when the second seal of God’s judgment is opened and our Lord begins to deal with the earth and those who have rebelled against Him.

By the way, when you study the book of Revelation you notice that there are three sets of judgments, each having 7 parts. When you come to the seventh of any one of these judgments, that seventh one then opens the next 7. And so, we have the seven seals in Revelation 6-7, the seven trumpets of God’s judgment found in chapters 8-9, which then moves to the seven bowls of wrath in Rev. 15-16.

All of this takes place during this last 3 1/2 year period. And all of these judgments are meant to not only show the world God’s great power and judgment, but also to demonstrate to Israel that they still have their God who fights on their behalf. Ezekial the prophet speaks of this.

EZE 39:3 "Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand.
4 On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals.
21 "I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them.
22 From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God."

It is from this point that we begin to see the 7 seals of God’s judgment begin to open. Remember, the first seal came at the beginning of the seven year period. This seal was the first rider on a white horse coming to destroy. This is a picture of the antichrist coming on to the scene. (Rev.6:1-2)

But, now during the last half of the tribulation we see the other six seals being opened by God. It is seal number 2 which opens the door for war. It is at the beginning of this last 3 1/2 years that the antichrist goes back on his covenant with Israel as the abomination of desolation takes place, and war will soon appear.

DAN 11:31 "His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation."

Antichrist will set himself up in the temple of God. It is at this point that the Sovereignty of God begins to become apparent, at least to those who know the truth of His word.

REV 6:3 "When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"
4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword."

This is the time which Paul spoke of in his letter to the Thessalonians when he warned them of the plan Satan has for God’s chosen.

1TH 5:3 "While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape."

It appears that during this last 3 1/2 years everything begins to take a nose dive including the world economy, which is what the third seal indicates.

REV 6:5 "When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.
6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!"

Not unlike what many people experienced during the great depression, this world will experience a far greater depression and times will be very difficult. But this is only the beginning.

You see, the antichrist has set up a system where he is in compete control of not just the economy of the world, but of each individual in the world as it relates to the economy, as they are now totally dependent on this antichrist. You might remember that he has rid the world of money as a way to buy and sell.

REV 13:15 "He (false prophet) was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
16 He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,
17 so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
18 This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666."

Many people have speculated on this number and what it means. We’re told here in Rev 13 that is the number of man. And of course, we know that man was created on the sixth day of creation. We also know that it is one number short of 7 which is the number of perfection or completion. Man has fallen short of the glory of God.

But the number 666 is also the number of an unholy trinity of the beast, the false prophet and Satan.

These will be very difficult times for people who, by this point, may be very unhappy with the way this new messiah is handling himself, but as was seen earlier they realize that no one can wage war against him. His power is real, as Satan himself empowers this antichrist.

After the fourth and fifth seals are opened by God the earth is in complete turmoil. Not only has war broken out, but now plagues on a worldwide scale are effecting everyone. And we add to this a persecution of the saints of God, many of whom will give their lives as martyrs for Christ.

REV 6:7 "When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"
8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained."

As we move through these 7 seals we need to keep in mind that like in the days of Noah, God is now flooding the earth with judgment. God is judging mankind for its sin and it’s total rejection of the one true God, in light of the fact that all of this has been foretold in advance. We have it in our hands today, as people of that day will have access to it as well. And yet they will still reject the true Messiah.

The sixth seal of God’s judgment was actually spoken of in some detail in the book of Joel which was written about 800 years before Christ.

JOE 2:30 "I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD."

And this is exactly what we find in REV 6:12 "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,
13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.
14 The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."

There are going to be great cosmic calamities. Some have suggested that during this time there will also be nuclear war. But the one thing which cannot go unnoticed is that it will not be the natural calamities or even the man-made calamities, like nuclear war, which will take center stage. It will be supernatural calamities which only God could cause, which are designed to show people that they must repent of their sin and seek Him for forgiveness.

By the way, it’s important to note that during this time God is still concerned with the souls of people. God will raise up different people to bring the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to this world. There will be those who come to faith in Christ and will not compromise the truth and will be martyred for that truth.

But God, knowing that many people will not have a chance to carry on an effective evangelistic ministry because of the persecution, will raise up special witnesses during this time so that men might have a chance to hear and repent and believe.

Two very special witnesses will come to the forefront as God leads them and empowers them.

REV 11:3 "And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth."
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.
6 These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want."

These two witnesses are obviously no ordinary witnesses for Christ. Unlike witnesses for Christ today, who are not to take vengeance on anyone, and are actually told to turn the other cheek when it comes to defending the truth of the gospel, these witnesses will be turned loose by God and given the power to actually destroy any enemy who comes against them.

We’re told that their ministry of evangelism will last 1,260 days which is 30 days short of 3 1/2 years, before the end. And so, they will be around for most of that time sharing the gospel in power. And there will be many who will come to Christ through their ministry.

You can imagine how this will upset the antichrist because these two witnesses are going to make it very clear that this world leader, who has a one world government as well as a one world religious system, is a false christ.

And at this point there will be many who will consider this truth. Now some might say that it won’t make any difference because those who have received the mark of the beast are sealed for the day of judgment and you would be right.

We find this in the 14th chapter of Revelation .... 9 "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand,
10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath."

But there will be many who won’t receive this mark. And it’s certainly possible that many who don’t receive the mark will not necessarily be Christians. There are lots of people, even today, who want nothing to do with the government, thinking that they continually lie to them. I don’t know where they would get that idea.

These people are often branded as right wing extremists who all belong to some para-military organization and are looking for the right moment to come against the government. Well, don’t think for a moment that these same people, won’t be around during the tribulation, and won’t trust the antichrist.

These two witnesses will certainly have many whom they bring to Christ. And those who didn’t receive the mark will be part of that crowd. But, there is a very good chance that these two witnesses will be giving the gospel prior to anyone receiving this mark.

Remember, that these two witnesses will be preaching for almost the entire 3 1/2 year period, which means that there will be time before people take this mark, to receive the gospel. What amazing grace will be extended to people during those days. And, again, keep in mind that these will not be ordinary witnesses, but witnesses who cannot be destroyed by the most powerful leader this world has ever known. Is God gracious, even in the midst of judgment? You better believe it. And yet our Lord goes way beyond these two witnesses as He warns all of mankind not to take the mark of the beast and repent and turn to the Lord for salvation.

I read to you a moment ago from Rev.14:9-10, how God promises judgment on anyone who takes this mark. And someone might find that to be very harsh and that they won’t have a chance to change their minds after the fact. But let me put that in context.

REV 14:6 "Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth - to every nation, tribe, language and people.
7 He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."
8 A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries."
9 A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand,
10 he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.
11 And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name."

Do you realize what this means? God is going to send three angels who will take the gospel to the entire world. Every person in every nation will hear not only about the good news of salvation, but they will hear the bad news of rejecting the gospel. There should be no excuse for anyone taking the mark of the beast. And yet many will.

But despite the repeated warnings by God, people still accuse Him of being unloving, unmerciful, simply wanting an excuse to judge and condemn people. This could not be further from the truth. The same God who is judging the earth during those days is the same God who will also give them the clear message in a most miraculous way.

And the reason for this is because He is the same loving God who we’re told desires that none would perish. He takes no delight in condemning the wicked. And so, we see even during these last 3 1/2 years of judgment on a world-wide scale, the truth of the gospel going out during the entire time.

But there’s another group of people who are also going to be giving the gospel message during this time. Remember the 144,000 spoken of in the book of Revelation? God will call them out and seal them to carry out His work during this time. I don’t know about you, but this sounds like one of the greatest evangelistic campaigns of all time.

But who are these 144,000? It appears that these 144,000 are those called out from every tribe of Israel, 12,000 from each to go out into the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. This means that there will be at least 144,000 Jews who receive their Messiah, Jesus Christ, during this time.

REV 7:1 "After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.
2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:
3 "Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."
4 Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel."

John then goes on to name each tribe involved and designates 12,000 from each of these tribes. This happens around the sixth seal. Again, we don’t know the exact time frame of these judgments. They may months apart, or they may be days apart. And so, it is quite conceivable that like the two witnesses, these 144,000 Jewish witnesses for Christ may be carrying out their ministry during most of the last half of the great tribulation.

The other thing to consider is that we aren’t told that these 144,000 are all in one place. Now it is conceivable that since the antichrist made the covenant with Israel that many Jews from around the world would have come to Israel. And of course this would be beneficial to the antichrist since he would now have them all in one place.

But it would also make sense for God to scatter these 144,000 witnesses throughout the world so that they could bring the gospel to everyone. So, maybe they all start out in Israel, but then move throughout the world with Israel being their home base. We just don’t know for sure.

What we do know is that much more judgment is coming upon the world and in the midst of it God is faithful not to leave this world without a witness and a remnant who carries the banner of Christ’s blood throughout the world as a testimony to both God’s justice and His mercy and love.

As we come to the 7th seal an amazing thing happens in heaven and it strikes John with a sense of awe.

REV 8:1 "When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.
4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand.
5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake."

This seventh seal opens with silence in heaven for about a half an hour. Keep in mind that this is a vision which John is experiencing. In heaven there is no time. But for John there is. And this half hour just shows the solemnity of God’s involvement in the judgment of the earth. This half hour must have seemed like an eternity to John.

No praises before the throne, no angels singing to our God, no saints rejoicing in the presence of God, just silence concerning what is about to happen to God’s creation and to the people who dwell on this earth who have rejected Him.

We see that the prayers of the saints are still coming up to God during this time. And it appears that their prayers are asking for justice as the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Judgment is not over, it’s just beginning as we move into the next set of 7 judgments called the trumpets. And we’ll look at those next week. But keep in mind that despite all of the judging going on here on mankind, grace is always being extended as the gospel is going out into all the earth.

No one during that time will be able to say, "no one told me, no one warned me." They’ll have had the 3 angels going about the earth warning everyone not to take the mark. The two witnesses going out and demonstrating with power that they belong to the Christ and warning people of the danger of rejecting Christ as they encourage people to repent and embrace our Lord by faith. And of course, the 144,00.

God is always faithful no matter what part of history it may be. And this is why no one in this world today can accuse God of being unfair. Because you see we, as His people today, have the same message the angels will have together with the two and the 144,000.

We have a message of hope. A message which is life from death. A message found in Christ alone. Let’s get the message out in the power of the Spirit and in the love of Christ which has been shed abroad in our hearts, to the glory of our great God and Savior.