THE GREAT TRIBULATION
Part Two
THE THREE GREAT WOES
1. UNDERSTANDING THE BOOK OF REVELATION.
Since in the following chapters I will be examining what the Book of Revelation tells us about the Great Tribulation, it’s necessary to first say something about how I understand the Book. In some of the following chapters, I’m going to understand the Revelation in terms of recent scientific discoveries. This may be a totally new idea, and therefore may be offensive and totally unacceptable to some Christians. Therefore, I must pose and deal with a serious question: is it Biblically right and acceptable to use science as a tool for understanding the Scriptures? The following is an attempt to answer this question.
There can’t be a direct answer to this in the Bible since science as we know it didn’t exist when the Bible was written. But there are passages that give validity to extra-biblical knowledge. In Acts 17: 27 & 28, Paul appeals to statements made by pagan Greek poets to support his theological points of the fatherhood and omnipresence of God, with the words: "….as some of your own poets have said". As has been said by others, truth is truth no matter where it comes from. Again, the Wise Men who came to worship the baby Jesus were astrologers, not merely learned men. We know this from the Greek word
magoi, (anglicized as "magi"), translated "Wise Men". The same word, in the singular, is translated "sorcerer" in Acts 13:8. It must be noted that the astrologers of that time were also primitive astronomers, the scientists of their day. [1] So they had some real, if limited, knowledge of the night sky. They were able to come to the right conclusion from what they knew, by using their own reasoning. And they were the only ones who were able to do that. [2] Modern science is more likely to tell us the truth, in the material, factual sense, than either pagan poets or ancient astrologers. They were able to come up with truth worthy of inclusion in the Bible. So it follows that we might well be able to come to the right conclusions about the meaning of parts of the Book of Revelation by relating them to the findings of modern science.One of the most common ways of looking at the Book of Revelation is to see it as being mostly symbolic. As I will show in the following chapters, that unfortunately, and I mean very unfortunately, is not the case. As I will show, some of what has been traditionally understood as symbolic is in fact dead literal. But it takes scientific knowledge that didn’t exist before this century, and that wasn’t generally available to the public until quite recently to see it. But when one has that knowledge, and is familiar with the relevant passages in the Book of Revelation (and elsewhere in the Bible), the literal meaning referred to becomes terrifyingly obvious.
Knowledge of history is also essential for understanding the Book of Revelation. When we look at the prophecies of the Beasts and Mystery Babylon, we are going to view these passages in the light of little known but significant historical facts and seldom-quoted prophecies. The fact that some prophecies relevant to the Second Coming and Church History are seldom quoted is tacit testimony that some interpreters of prophecy aren’t nearly as knowledgeable about the Scriptures as they should be. And many interpretations have been wrong because the interpreters didn’t know history.
There are two other factors that have kept the Book of Revelation from being understood in its full and final meaning. One is the will of God, as expressed in Daniel 12:4 and 9-10, that the prophecies of the Second Coming aren’t to be understood until the time comes for them to be fulfilled. [3] (Note: it appears that not even this was understood until recently.) The second is that to understand some significant passages one needs scientific knowledge that only became well known within the past 15 years. I refer specifically to the meaning of Revelation 6: 12-14, 8: 7-9: 2. And 16: 1-12. But the fact that these passages can now be understood makes the imminence of the Second Coming alarmingly real. It has to be very close, in terms of the long run of history.
Another factor that makes the prophecies hard to understand is this: When the prophets of the Bible saw visions, they often, and John especially, saw things that were totally outside their experience. Therefore, they didn’t have the right words to describe what they saw. So the prophets did the best they could to describe what they saw with the words they had. This is especially true of Ezekiel’s famous "wheel within a wheel" vision in Ezekiel 1. His description of the vision doesn’t make visual sense. We still can’t be sure what his vision looked like. Fortunately, that isn’t important. In the light of the verses from Daniel referred to above, we know that God wanted the situation to be that way with the prophecies of the Second Coming for a long time. But to understand what John saw is soon going to be very important. It’s going to happen to us.
An example of this problem is found in Revelation 8:8, where John says "something like" (NKJV and NIV), or "as it were" (KJV). The Greek word he used,
wV, has no English equivalent. It meant, as used in that verse, that what he saw was like a mountain yet was distinctly not a mountain. He didn’t know what it was, so he compared it to the only thing he knew that it resembled at all. As you will see, with the scientific knowledge we have, we do know what he saw, and it is terrifying. Actually, we have two words, either of which could fit his "great mountain burning with fire". The words are "comet" and "asteroid". What he saw happening was a collision of one or the other with the earth, the impact occurring in one of the oceans.Another factor in understanding the Book of Revelation, and all Second Coming prophecy, and in fact most Biblical prophecy otherwise, is to realize that the writers often didn’t know what their prophecies meant. The Bible contains much evidence of this little known but important truth. It is revealed by the fact that in some passages prophecies are lumped together with other, irrelevant prophecies, and in no chronologically coherent order, but all have been fulfilled. In the first booklet of this series, this was shown from Micah 5:1-4. [4] Another example is found in Isaiah 11. That chapter includes prophecies of both the First and Second Comings of Christ, the restoration of the State of Israel, and the Millennium. The prophets often didn’t understand what they were saying, they only knew it was true. Remember Daniel 12:8, where he asked the angel the meaning of the visions he had seen. The prophets simply wrote as the Holy Spirit gave them the Words. John didn’t really understand what he saw, either. Again, the time for the prophecies to be understood is when they are being, or are about to be, fulfilled.
Not only does the Holy Spirit inspire the writing of Scripture, He also inspires the understanding of Scripture. Therefore, a passage can mean one thing to one person, and something else to another, and they can both be right. If you’ve attended many Bible Study groups, you’ve surely seen how different people get different things out of the same passage. The Holy Spirit reveals to each one the meaning he or she needs. The same thing happens with prophecy in different periods of history. It is a well-known concept of Biblical exegesis that some prophecies have multiple fulfillments. The Book of Revelation could have meant one thing to mostly Jewish Christians toward the end of the First Century, and yet have a totally different meaning to mostly Gentile Christians toward the end of the Twentieth Century and they could both be right. The same thing is true of the prophecies in Matthew 24 and the parallel passages in Mark 13 and Luke 21, as understood in 70 AD and in the present day. Again, both views would be correct for their time. The issue is not whether or not you believe these passages, but how you understand them. You must avoid the pitfall (which some otherwise brilliant scholars have fallen into) of insisting on understanding the prophecies in a manner that was meant for another time.
Insisting on viewing the Book of Revelation and the other Second Coming prophecies as having been fulfilled in the past is a major error that has been made by some scholars. Ironically, this is an error that is even spoken to in the Bible, in II Timothy 2:18. (You’d be surprised at how many common errors in Christian thought are directly addressed in the Scriptures, if you have the eyes to see it.) Another common error is to see the Book of Revelation as mostly symbolic, with no literal, historical fulfillment. As was shown in the "Seven Churches" and "Laodicea" chapters, the Book can and should be understood as future history from the time it was written onward. As it applies to our times, it is future history beginning with Revelation 6:12. People who insist in seeing it any other way are going to get at terrible surprise. SOON!
If a Christian is to be ready for the Great Tribulation, he must first of all be looking for it, which is to say, really expecting it (II Peter 3:12). Secondly, he must have a Scripturally accurate idea of what is going to happen so his faith won’t be shaken when it does. It is my position that the Book of Revelation was given for the precise purpose of allowing us to know this, when, of course, the time comes for it to be fulfilled. Then, the Christian must know what is expected of him if he wants to be ready, and it will be helpful for him to know what he has to do after the Tribulation begins if he’s not ready. I will deal with that topic in the fourth booklet. For now, be open to the ideas that will be presented. I acknowledge that I could wrong, but I have good reason to believe that I’m right. Better reason (I know this and I am not guessing) than some interpreters of prophecy have had. And if I’m right, you need to know these things. Most of my difference from other interpreters is in my understanding of the Book of Revelation.
In understanding two passages of Revelation, specifically Chapter 8:7-9:2, and Chapter 16:1-12, I will view them as an unusual literary form that is found in the Book of Revelation and that I believe is present in Genesis chapter 1. Basically, different aspects of the same event are viewed as a series of events. By viewing these passages in Revelation that way, with the scientific knowledge mentioned above, it is easy to understand what they describe. The former passage is about the effects of an asteroid or comet collision. The latter is about the effects of the sun doing something of the nature of "going nova". Both of these events are known to be scientifically possible, but are not really expected to happen in the near future. In the former case, however, the asteroid or comet collision, it is known, that it could happen any time, with little or no warning. The sun "going nova" is not expected any time in the foreseeable future. But we’re talking about what the Bible says will happen, above what science says.
Some scholars have made the mistake of seeing Revelation 8 and 16 as being two different descriptions of the same thing. But the trumpets are blown at the beginning of the Tribulation. The vials (or bowls) of God’s wrath are poured out toward the end. Understanding what will happen requires some consideration of the structure of the Book. It is a series of visions. Some of them are about events in Heaven, and some on earth, and some both. The events that take place in Heaven may all be to some extent symbolic. They don’t necessarily happen at any particular time, except as they relate to events on earth. There may be no literal trumpets or vials. But the events on earth aren’t symbolic unless the Book gives clear implication of this, and then the Book usually gives some interpretation of the symbolism, however mysterious. The descriptions of the events on earth that constitute the outpourings of God’s wrath are quite literal.
The visions that take place on earth, beginning with chapter 6, overlap in time. (Except chapter 12, which has its fulfillment in the Church Age.) Thus, we find that the Two Witnesses and the Two Beasts are on the scene at the same time. But they each exist for 3½ years, and the Beasts are still in power after the Two Witnesses are gone, so their 3½ year periods have to overlap. If you understand the Book of Revelation that way, it becomes relatively easy to work out a fairly clear-cut scenario of what is going to happen.
This brings up another significant question: How long does it last? The normal belief is that it will last seven years. This is based on the belief that the Tribulation is the seventieth week of Daniel 9:27. I don’t argue this one way or the other. But there is some evidence in the Book of Revelation on which to base an estimate of the time. As stated above, there are two significant periods of 3½ years that overlap. The question is, how much do they overlap? We can’t say, but it may be by as much as three full years. There is also a 5-month period of torment following the collision mentioned below. That gives us a period of 4-4 ½ years. It is my position that all the other events of the Tribulation could occur in a time of 6 months to a year. As a result, I lean toward it lasting about 5 years, give or take a few months. This doesn’t really conflict with the "Seventieth Week" theory. [5] Remember that in Mathew 24:22, Jesus said "for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened". So no matter what is or isn’t true otherwise, the Tribulation won’t go the scheduled distance. Thank God! Note, however, that you’re looking for error if you try to get too detailed and precise, except for the scientific understanding of the asteroid or comet collision and the sun going nova.
I will now give you a chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the Book of Revelation as it applies to the Tribulation.
Thus we have a general concept of what happens during the Tribulation. I will now outline this scenario in more direct form:
THE GREAT TRIBULATION:
A. The demonic "army" from the Euphrates region kills another 1/3 of the human race.
B. The Two Witnesses appear in Jerusalem and preach for 3½ literal years.
Christians, this is the last chance.
is inspired by and supported by God. This may include a long drought.
who attacks them.
C. After the Two Witnesses have begun their ministry, the Two Beasts, the King and the
False Prophet, rise to power and reign for 3½ literal years.. They do this with the
help of "Mystery Babylon".
Heaven three and a half days later.
5. A local earthquake heavily damages Jerusalem.
suffering, but can’t last for long; at most a few months.
The Beasts.
of a nuclear weapon, or weapons, during the Tribulation.
Jerusalem.
in the Battle of Armageddon.
Note that I say nothing about what happens in the first part of the 6th chapter, nor about what happens after the Millenium begins. I do not consider these topics important to my main focus, which is helping Christians to be ready for the Tribulation. I will say that I think the Four Horsemen are riding now, but that’s all. As I said before, the important thing for you to know is what will happen during the Tribulation. If you do, it won’t be such a terrible surprise (but it will still be terrible), and your faith won’t be shaken. Above all, you’ll know what’s going on and why, and you’ll know what to do. In the following chapters I’ll give you more detail of what to expect. Your eternal life may depend on knowing these things. Read the following chapters and remember them.
2. A MOUNTAIN BURNING WITH FIRE: The First Woe.
Newsdate: Sometime within the next 50 years:
A news flash goes out to the entire world. Astronomers have discovered an asteroid (or comet) headed for collision with the earth! And it’s too late to do anything about it! That group of scientists who thought we should build a defense system to protect ourselves from such catastrophes have a short time in which to say, "We told you so!". Astronomers hastily plot the course of the object and predict an impact in the mid-Pacific Ocean. Astrophysicists try to calculate the force of the coming explosion, and predict the extent of the disaster. In the final hours before the strike, radios and televisions everywhere are blaring futile advice on how to protect yourself. Along the Pacific Rim, highways are choked with traffic as people head for high ground. Airports are jammed with those seeking flights from Pacific islands and coastal regions. People everywhere are doing all kinds of things, some rational and some irrational, to try to get themselves some protection. There are scenes of pathos and scenes of hysteria. Churches, temples and synagogues are packed with people praying. Phone lines are jammed with people making a last call to loved ones, and others asking the authorities for information. Grocery stores are mobbed by people stockpiling food. In some places, mobs of looters run wild. But all material efforts to prepare, however wise, become worthless. Efforts to take advantage of the situation become a sick joke. A disaster many times greater than anything in recorded history (but not unknown in earth’s prehistory) overtakes the earth, and the world as we know it ends in one big bang. The Great Tribulation has begun. [9]The preceding paragraph may not sound like a fulfillment of Second Coming prophecy to you, but it does to a limited number of people who have an unusual dual awareness: They are familiar with (and perhaps believe) the Book of Revelation and Second Coming prophecy generally, and they are familiar with the subject of comet and asteroid collisions. I now know of a number of people other than myself who have that dual awareness. They include three top scientists (one of whom I interviewed some years ago) and a Bible teacher with twice the experience that I have. They all agree with me. I know of no one who has this dual awareness who doesn’t agree.
Before I go any further with this topic, I want to mention the one honest objection to my theory that I have heard: It has been said that it sounds too much like "The Jupiter Effect". [10] This phrase was the title of a book that became famous among Christians in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Briefly, it predicted an earthquake that would result from a line up of the planets, which would destroy Los Angeles. Of course, it didn’t happen. There is a major difference between "The Jupiter Effect" and what I’m saying: "The Jupiter Effect" was never accepted as true by the scientific community. As far as my basic concept in this chapter, the consensus of scientific opinion is that what I predict will absolutely happen sooner or later unless there is something we do to prevent it. The questions, scientifically speaking, are "When?" and "Where?" and "How big?"; not "if" or "maybe". The position of science on this matter is not "Impossible!". Rather, in the long run, it’s "Definitely!"
The only possible scientific objection to my theory as it applies to the near future is based on the issue of probability. That is to say, how likely is it that something like this will happen within, as I believe, the next 50 years, maximum, and probably much sooner? When I first published this theory in 1988, in the form of a tape with the same title as this chapter, the scientific position on this question was against me. I admitted that in the tape. However, I said that I was basing my theory on the Bible rather than what science said about the chances. I also said that I had some knowledge that suggested that the scientific estimate of the probability of a comet collision was seriously wrong. Since then, there have been developments that have swung the view of science on this issue to the position of siding with me!
In a recently published book on the subject, [11] the author (a noted astronomer) says that there were nine independent studies done in 1995 to determine the probable frequency of collisions large enough to cause global disasters. Four of the studies came to the conclusion that we should expect a collision such as I describe in this chapter about once every 5000 years. That, by the way, is less than the time span of known history. Although there isn’t space in this booklet to explain why, I think that the last major collision caused the Flood. If that’s the case, and the Flood was actually about 5500 years ago (which many scholars believe), then we are about due for another one. As the author of the book said, if a major collision occurs about every 5000 years, "it will not be long before we had better duck" [12] (quote verbatim). By some ‘odd coincidence’, I found this book while writing this booklet. History seems to have proven me right again!
The story of how I came to the conclusions expressed in this chapter began one Saturday night in the spring of 1971. I had gone to do some witnessing at the old Lost Coin Coffeehouse Ministry in Greenwich Village, NYC. It was cold and rainy that night, and few people were out. There wasn’t much happening in the way of witnessing. But what happened that night has changed the course of my life. I sat down at a table, drinking coffee and informally discussing the Bible with some of the other volunteers. We were talking about the silence in Heaven in Revelation 8: 1. We were saying that the judgments that followed were so terrible that the angels in Heaven stopped praising God! (This isn’t the usual interpretation given to that verse, but it may have been an awesomely correct insight.) Then my eyes drifted down the page to Revelation 8:8, and it "jumped off the page", as the saying goes. I didn’t recall ever having noticed that verse before (though I’m sure I must have read it previously) but at that moment I was sure I knew exactly what it meant. I read it aloud to the other volunteers and said "That sounds like an asteroid colliding with the earth!" As I write this, that was nearly 26 years ago. In the years that have gone by, I have found nothing but supporting evidence, and overwhelming supporting evidence at that; far more than I could have ever dreamed of back in 1971, to say that my initial conclusion was right. Dead literal right!
Of course, I’d had some preparation for that discovery. As a boy, I’d had a precocious interest in science, and especially in astronomy and space travel. So I was aware of some scientific facts and possibilities that most Christians at that time weren’t aware of. (Many still aren’t.) I knew that there were asteroids that had orbits that brought them close to the earth, and I knew that the danger of such collisions existed. I knew that a few years before, on June 14, 1968 an asteroid called "Icarus" [13] had given the earth a close shave, and that scientists had been seriously worried about the possibility of a collision. In fact, it provoked so much anxiety that a study was done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to figure out how to prevent such collisions. [14] I also had a good idea of what a collision would look like. That’s why I understood what Revelation 8:8 meant.
I was quite excited about my discovery at the time, and I told most of my friends, and quite a few other people about it. (They thought I was crazy.) But I was still a baby Christian at the time, and other matters demanded my attention. So before long, I moved the idea to the "back burner" of my thinking and turned the attention of my thoughts to other issues. Ten years passed, while I grew in the Lord and took up the ministry of Bible Teaching. Other ideas concerning the Second Coming formed in my mind, like the "BABEL RISING!" concept, and firm belief in Post-Tribulation Rapture. Then, in 1981, a major scientific discovery was made that you have probably heard something about by now (though if you’re an average Christian, you probably don’t know the details). Before I go into what it was, I want to say that it has great relevance to the Evolution vs. Creation controversy. I can’t speak to that at length right now. But I do think it worth including a brief statement about this:
Evolution vs. Creation.
No one who is truly Christian should believe in evolution as an accident of nature. The theory of evolution is in fact full of holes, as some scientists will admit. It is a little known fact that some scientists chose to believe in evolution rather than creation because they don’t want to believe in God. But although they are closely related, the biological theory of evolution and the geological theory of the extreme age of the earth are distinct concepts. So is the related astronomical theory of the extreme age of the universe. There is overwhelming evidence that the both earth and the universe are far older than the Genesis story and Bible chronology suggest. I therefore say, not caring who I offend, that anyone who is well informed on this subject, and/or calls himself a scientist, and who insists on a literal, scientific interpretation of Genesis 1 is lying to himself and is doing nothing but harm to the cause of Christ. He is giving intelligent, educated people honest reason to reject the Christian Faith. You can err to the right as well as to the left. "Creationism" is erring to the right.
If you’d like to know more about what I think about this issue, write to me and request a copy of my tape, "Creation vs. Evolution: A Balanced View."
Briefly, a father-son team of scientists, Luis and Walter Alvarez, made a discovery that suggested that the dinosaurs (along with about 80% of all living species) were wiped out by the collision of an asteroid or comet with the earth. (Note that this was ten years after I made my discovery in Revelation 8:8.) When this discovery was first published, it caused a storm of controversy. But additional evidence supporting their conclusions continued to be found, and the theory gradually gained acceptance. It is now even known where the collision took place; on the northeast coast of the present-day Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. [15] More recently, in July and August 1994, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 was seen in the act of colliding with the planet Jupiter. It is well understood by both scientists and laymen knowledgeable in the field that if Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 had hit the earth instead of Jupiter, the human race (and most other forms of life on earth) would now be extinct. As far as science is concerned, this collision did virtually wipe out disbelief in the collision theory. At this time, the theory that the dinosaurs were exterminated by an asteroid or comet collision is widely accepted as fact. Furthermore, it is well known that there have been many other such catastrophes in earth’s prehistory, including eight others that exterminated nearly all life on earth. And there is so much concrete evidence of this that if you reject this idea and think you’re being Christian and godly in doing so, what you’re doing is being foolish.
If you’ve ever looked at the moon with a small telescope or a pair of powerful binoculars, you have seen for yourself that its surface is scarred with many craters. In fact, scientists estimate that there are three trillion of them. (three billion to the British.) These craters were produced by asteroid and comet collisions. [16] There are similar craters on Mars and its moons, Venus, and some of the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. Even asteroids have craters on them! You may have wondered why there are craters on the moon and not on earth. If you did, your question was wrong. There are, by the most recent figure I’ve heard, something in the neighborhood of 200 impact craters (the scientific term for a crater caused by a collision, to distinguish them from volcanic craters) known on the earth, and some are very large. So large that they can only be seen from outer space. Over one hundred kilometers across! They are concrete proof that the earth has been struck by asteroids and comets many times in earth’s prehistory. They are also concrete proof that a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 is wrong. They could not have been produced by anything that has happened within human history. If they had been, we would be extinct.
Actually, the craters we know about are the ones that have been formed recently in earth’s prehistory. In the long run of history, there had to be at least four times as many craters on the earth as there are on the moon! This is simply because the earth is a bigger target. However, the surface of the earth is far more active geologically than the surface of the moon. Geological changes have erased the older craters beyond recognition. Otherwise, the surface of the earth would be just like the surface of the moon.
I want to say at this point that I have both been inside of, and flown over in a chartered airplane, and photographed from the ground and the air, the most famous impact crater in the USA, the famous Barringer Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona. On a visit to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, I picked up a 140 lb. chunk of the asteroid that made that crater. The crater is about 4/5 of a mile wide and 500 ft. deep. You could set the towers and central span of the Brooklyn Bridge down inside it. The asteroid impact that created the crater had the force of a 100 megaton hydrogen bomb. But as impact craters go, it’s a small one. It just happens to be very recent, and therefore it’s easy to see what it is, and it’s small enough to be noticeable from the ground.
Classical evolution theory calls for gradual changes in life forms on earth over a long period of time. But even evolutionists have been forced by the geological evidence to admit that this was not what happened. [17] What the fossil record shows is that there have been long periods when life forms remained the same, and then suddenly everything disappeared and a whole new order of life forms appeared to replace it. In most of these cases, there is concrete evidence of a major collision event having taken place at the time of the mass extinction. So what we have had is a series of events in which mass extinctions caused by asteroid or comet collisions were followed by new creations. Not evolution. The creation of Genesis 1 was the most recent major creation event [18] , following the last major impact and mass extinction event. This is attested to in Genesis 1:2, "The earth was without form, and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep". This was the chaotic global condition caused by the collision.
Over the years since the discovery was first made known in the early eighties, I have read everything of significance on this subject that I could get my hands on, and have accumulated a small library of books and a file of magazine articles and news clippings on the subject. What I have found, from all this study, is that if the various events of Revelation 8:7-9:2 are viewed as different aspects of the same event, [19] they form a detailed and scientifically precise description of an asteroid or comet collision and its effects. This is assuming it hits in one of the oceans. [20] (I believe, as shown at the beginning of the chapter, that it will strike in the mid-Pacific Ocean. I’ll explain why later.) I have also discovered that there are descriptions (howbeit more poetically phrased) of the same event in Psalm 18:7-15 and Habakkuk 3. The fact that these passages can be understood as such a complete, detailed and accurate description of such an event cannot be a coincidence. There are also bits and pieces of it scattered throughout the Book of Psalms and the Old Testament Prophets. The mere existence of these passages constitutes overwhelming evidence of a divinely inspired warning. A warning that Christians need to know about.
The phrase, "something like a great mountain burning with fire" in Revelation 8:8 is the most vivid and accurate verbal picture that John could have used to describe the object’s appearance in the last few seconds before the strike. It must be noted that anyone who was close enough to the point of impact to actually see that wouldn’t live to tell about it. This was a vision. I have also concluded that Revelation 6: 12-17 is a description of other aspects of the same event.
I will give you a point-by-point breakdown of how an asteroid or comet collision fulfills the prophecies mentioned above. But first, for those who don’t know, I will explain what asteroids and comets are. Comets are the better known of the two, since they often appear and make impressive, if not alarming, sights in the night sky. Comets orbit the sun. But unlike the planets, that have basically circular orbits, comets have long elliptical, or we might say, egg-shaped, orbits. Some of them have orbits that cross of orbits of the earth and the other planets. Because of this, collisions can and do occur. When we see a comet, we see a bright glowing head with a long, faintly glowing tail. Inside the head is what scientists regard as a "big, dirty snowball", made of rocks, mud and frozen gases. When the comet approaches the sun, some of the frozen gases evaporate, and form the "coma" which is the head we see. Sunlight has pressure, and the pressure blows some of the gases away from the head to form the tail. The "dirty snowball" is called the cometary nucleus. And it is the problem. If the comet collides with the earth, the nucleus will briefly become a "mountain burning with fire" as it comes down through the earth’s atmosphere. There are over 2000 earth-crossing comets known, and more are constantly being discovered.
We do not see asteroids except with the most powerful telescopes or space probes that get near them. Generally, they are mountain size rocks that orbit the sun. Most of them are in what is called the "Asteroid Belt" between Mars and Jupiter. They pose no danger to us. But there are some asteroids, called "Apollo Asteroids" (after the name of the first of this kind to be discovered) that have "eccentric", egg-shaped orbits like those of comets, that cross the orbits of the earth and other planets. Again, because they do, collisions can and do occur. When they occur, the results are in most respects the same as when comets collide. There are over 200 Apollo asteroids known, and again, more are constantly being discovered. Scientists estimate that there may be as many as 2000 of them. None of the known comets and Apollo asteroids appear to pose any immediate threat to us. But as the well known scientist, Dr. Eugene Shoemaker [21] has publicly said, "until we’ve tracked them all, something could sneak up on us". And that is just what the Book of Revelation suggests will happen. We actually have the technology to stop a collision from happening if we have enough time. But we won’t have enough time.
Either a comet or asteroid collision would generally fulfill the prophecies, but an asteroid would be more likely to take us by surprise. Comets are usually discovered when they are far away because they’re much easier to see, and we might have time to deal with an impending comet collision. Asteroids, on the other hand, are hard to see, even with powerful telescopes, because they’re small and dark. There was one that gave the earth a very close shave just a few years ago that wasn’t discovered until it had already gone by. Therefore, I have come to prefer an asteroid as the "mountain burning with fire".
Now here is how one of these collisions would fulfill the prophecies. In Revelation 8:7-9:2;
Understand this: you have to do quite a bit of reading to be able to see all this for yourself. I am including a bibliography at the end of this booklet, which will list a number of books that you can read if you wish to investigate what I’m saying. But you can take my word for this; I know I’ve done my homework on this, and I continue to do it. That’s why I found the new information about the probability of a collision mentioned above. If you don’t believe me now it doesn’t matter. But remember this: If you hear that an asteroid or comet is about to strike the earth, then know that the Great Tribulation is about to begin.
It must be noted at this point that there have been two alternate theories put forward to give a literal interpretation to Revelation 8:8. The fact that they have been put forward shows that other Bible scholars have realized that these prophecies are meant literally. But the theories can easily be shown to be wrong. The most popular, prior to our time, was that the "mountain burning with fire" is a volcano. This sounds good, but there are two things wrong with this explanation. First, the Bible says the "mountain" was "thrown into the sea". The Greek word translated "thrown" is
balloia, from which we get our word "ballistics". It means that whatever John saw was flying through the air as though it had been thrown. An asteroid or comet colliding with the earth would look like that. A falling asteroid or comet would have exactly the same kind of trajectory that a high-thrown baseball would have as it came down. A volcano wouldn’t. It would rise from the sea. John would have had no problem accurately describing that. (Note that in Rev. 13 he says that the Beast rises from the sea.) Secondly, there’s a good chance that John would have known what a volcano was if he saw one. The Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed by the volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD, only 16 years before the Book of Revelation was written, and he could hardly have not heard about it. But as shown, he didn’t know what he was seeing.The other idea which seems to make sense is that it is a nuclear explosion. The trouble is that a nuclear fireball, although mountain size, would not appear to be thrown into the sea. In the few moments that it exists, a nuclear fireball rises, and that quite rapidly. That’s why the mushroom cloud forms. The only thing known that could literally fulfill the prophecy in keeping with the details is an asteroid or comet collision.
Something else happens as part of the First Woe that I admit I don’t understand. I have to say that it appears to involve something that is totally outside our knowledge at this time. But like the "mountain burning with fire", I think it’s meant literally. I’m referring, of course, to those mysterious "locusts" in Revelation 9: 11. The reference to "Apollyon" suggests that these creatures are of a demonic nature, or something similar. As stated in the introduction to this booklet, during the Tribulation, things will happen that have never happened before and will never happen again. This is one of them. In all probability, when we see the "locusts", we’ll find that despite the limitations of language, John will be seen to have described them quite literally and accurately. The five months in which they torment the human race may coincide with the period of time during which the earth will be in darkness from the after-effects of the collision. When the darkness ends, the locusts will be gone and the First Woe will be over. There may be a brief time of respite then, before the Second Woe starts.
For Christians, the "locusts" may provide a useful service. They will indirectly tell everyone who has the Seal of the Living God and who doesn’t. Those who have the Seal won’t get stung. Those who don’t will. Christians will need leadership during the Tribulation. Look to the ones who don’t get stung. Start praying now that you’ll be one of the ones who have the Seal. The stings of the "locusts" are compared to scorpion stings. A scorpion sting is one of the most painful injuries a human can receive and live to tell about it! Being shot usually doesn’t hurt as much. As I said in Part I, chapter 4, during the Tribulation the Christians who aren’t ready will do a lot of crying. Believe me, if one of those "locusts" stings you, you’ll be crying! A lot!
3. The Two Witness Vs The Two Beasts: The Second Woe:
The Second Woe begins with something as mysterious and terrible as the strange locusts. We have the impression that this part of the Tribulation will be brief; brief but deadly. Although Revelation 8 never specifically says so, it follows logically that the human casualty rate in the third of the earth’s surface that is closest to the point of impact will be nearly 100%. Which is to say that about 1/3 of the human population of the earth dies. When the First Woe has ended, as stated, there may be a brief respite, and the survivors may be misled into believing that the worst is over. Not! Something else quickly follows, with no material explanation given or suggested, and the imagery is again mysterious. But again, it appears to be quite literal. Deadly literal.
Something that is called an "army", (Revelation 9: 13-19) an army 200 million strong, is released from somewhere in the vicinity of the Euphrates River. There is no explanation given or suggested as to why from there, and it is useless (I believe) to speculate about it. Again, it appears to consist of beings that are demonic, or something like it, in nature. Again, something we’ve never seen before and never will see again. But unlike the locusts, these don’t just hurt. These kill! In fact, they kill another 1/3 of the human race. Again, we can assume they won’t kill anyone who has the Seal of the Living God. But they will kill Christians who weren’t ready. Another possible difference between them and the killing by the asteroid, is that whereas the killing within the catastrophe area will be total a (except, perhaps , for those who have the Seal), the killing by the "army" will probably be random throughout the surviving world. It remains to be seen just who they’ll kill. But kill they will.
When their attack is over, 2/3 of the human race will be dead. This idea is also found in Zechariah 13:8: "It shall come to pass in all the land, says the Lord, that two thirds in it shall be cut off and die, but one third will be left in it". The key to understanding this is the Hebrew words translated "the land". They are "ha eretz", [24] and although they can be correctly translated "the land", they can also be correctly translated "the earth", and in the light of Revelation, that is how they should be read. In Zechariah 13:9, God goes on to say, " I will bring the one third through the fire…" This, of course, is a reference to the Christian survivors of the catastrophes at beginning of the Tribulation going through the whole time. Many of those who don’t die martyrs’ deaths will survive to the end.
One thing that must be noted about this "army": they aren’t human! The Bible makes it clear enough that they are of supernatural nature. There has been at least one attempt made to identify them as Red Chinese! This is ridiculous, as some Christians have noted. The logistics of moving an army of that size to the Middle East from China boggle the mind. It would be a practical impossibility for any nation. We’re talking about more ground troops than were involved in World War II. And China has shown itself incapable of fighting an effective war outside its borders on at least two occasions in the last half century. Besides, if the asteroid strikes where I think it will, China will be hit very hard. They won’t be invading anybody.
The attack of the "army" probably won’t last for long. At most, only a few months. When it has ended the surviving world will be in a state of chaos worse than the former Soviet Union was after the collapse of communism. It is then that the most important spiritual events of the Great Tribulation will begin. Two strange and powerful men will appear somewhere in the world. They won’t necessarily appear first in Jerusalem, although the Bible makes it clear that they’ll die there. The Bible says that they will prophesy, which can simply mean preach, dressed in sackcloth These will be no ordinary Christians. No ordinary evangelists. They will be the most superhumanly powerful men to have ever walked the face of the earth. In some ways they will be more divinely powerful than Jesus was during His earthly ministry. But they won’t be nice guys. They won’t likely heal or otherwise materially help anyone. Yet they will be uniquely Godly men. They will be the Two Witnesses of the Revelation.
Another major error that has been made by a number of interpreters of prophecy is to try to see these two as symbolic. Symbolic, I ask of what? And how do we know? I have read many attempts to describe various aspects of the Book of Revelation as symbolic, but the interpreters frequently fail to show why the particular passage in question should be understood as the thing they say it symbolizes. They simply say it symbolizes such and such, and leave it at that, and think they’re being scholarly. I tell you that something is meant literally, and as in the last chapter, I show you why. I am being scholarly.
I have a book in which the writer says that the Two Witnesses are the Church and the Jews. Oh yeah? Revelation 11: 6 says these two have the power to stop the rain. When did the Church and the Jews ever do that, and for that matter, when was there ever harmony between the two? Again, Revelation 11:5 says that fire comes out of their mouths and kills anyone who tries to harm them. I don’t know of any fire that came out of the mouths of the Jews and killed Nazis during World War II. Nor do I know of any communists being killed by fire coming from the mouths of Christians during the Stalinist era in the USSR. Do you? Of course, maybe that’s symbolic, too. But then what does it mean? And why?
No, these are real men. Just who they are in the human sense, the Book of Revelation gives no clue. Some have said that they might be Enoch and Elijah, because they didn’t die, and Hebrews 9:27 says, "it is appointed unto men once to die…." So they come back to earth and die as the Two Witnesses. Again, some have said they are Moses and Elijah, because they appeared with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. And they represent the Law and the Prophets (which was true in that case) and these are the Two Witnesses. Maybe. But we don’t know, and it probably wouldn’t tell us anything useful if we did know. So don’t waste your time trying to figure it out.
What makes the Two Witnesses special is what they are capable of doing. As stated, they will be able to breath fire and kill anyone who tries to hurt them before they’ve completed their testimony. And some people will try. They’ll try and they’ll die! The Two Witnesses will have the power to because they will need to be able to defend themselves to complete their ministry. They will also wield the wrath of God like a sword. They may duplicate Elijah’s miracle of causing a drought the whole time of their ministry. If this is true, then the Second Woe will have as it’s most long-term unpleasant feature a drought that could result in 10’s of millions of deaths by thirst and/or starvation. Like Moses, they can turn water to blood. (This may be supporting evidence for the idea that they’re Moses and Elijah.) But they’ll be able to do other things as well. The Bible says they can strike the earth with all plagues. "Plagues", in this sense, includes, but is not limited to, disease. Perhaps they can call down floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc. Or, perhaps, plagues in the sense of the Book of Exodus. If there’s any event that’s bad, they can make it happen. Whenever and wherever they want it to happen. And they will. Frequently. As stated, they won’t be nice guys. They’ll also be the most hated men in history. Even ordinary Christians may not really like them.
But just what is the purpose of their ministry? What is "their testimony"? We are given just a few clues in Revelation 11, but they are clear ones. We find one in verse 3, in the words, "clothed in sackcloth". This may or may not be literal. But wearing sackcloth definitely symbolizes repentance. We might note that their being "olive trees" and "lampstands" suggests the ideas of bearing good fruit, and giving light. The symbol of two olive trees also occurs in Zechariah 4, where they are linked with producing oil, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and with the giving of light (as in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, Matthew 25:1-13). Take it all together and you get an incredibly anointed preaching of the Gospel, a mighty, final call to repentance. A repentance, a total and unmitigated commitment to Christ that they embody in their lives and ministry; hence, "clothed in sackcloth". This message will be addressed primarily to the Christians who weren’t ready. It is their ministry that will instigate the en masse repentance of the Laodicean Christians.
The Two Witnesses will be genuine supersaints, no question about it. They will have repented to the point of having become totally sinless. [25] Some people, even some Christians have thought of a sinless state as being somehow a kind of weakness, but to be sinless is to be powerful. It is sinfulness that is weakness. Their preaching will have such power that it will command immediate response, whether for or against. You will either obey it or rebel against it. You will not be able to ignore it. The convicting power of it will be too great. That why some people will try to hurt them. To their own destruction.
Another important aspect of their ministry is calling the Jews to turn to Christ. The Book of Romans, chapter 11, verses 26 & 27, give the impression that the day will come when the Jewish people will turn to Christ en masse, in the same way that the unprepared Christians will repent. If there’s ever going to be a time when this may happen, it will probably be during the Tribulation. This is allowing that the Lord may have something else in store. Zechariah 12:10-14 suggests the possibility that the Lord will do something special for the Jews, and allow them to repent right at the Second Coming! Even if that is true, the ministry of the Two Witnesses will "prepare the soil" for that event. But the passage in Zechariah could also refer to what happens as the direct result of the ministry of the Two Witnesses.
It seems to follow logically that the whole surviving world will hear their message. What they say will contain insight into the nature of sin, righteousness and judgment that will cut lukewarm Christians to the heart. Their testimony will be finished when the Christians have repented, and anyone else who will be saved has repented and turned to Christ. Contrary to what some have taught, the Bible never says that the Holy Spirit will be withdrawn from the earth during the Great Tribulation. People, Jews and otherwise, will be saved during the Tribulation. And again, the majority of the lukewarm Christians will respond to the message of the Two Witnesses and repent. But when their ministry is over, all opportunity for repentance will have ended. This is why I believe that the passage in Zechariah 12 refers to what happens as a result of the ministry of the Two Witnesses.
This is what is meant by the statement of the angel in Revelation 10:7; "…the mystery of God" that the angel referred to isn’t the Tribulation. On the contrary, this term refers to salvation. How do we know this? The key is in the Greek word translated "declared" in the NKJV. It is the Greek word
euhggelizo. if you have any knowledge of Greek, you know that this is the word from which we get our word "evangelism". [26] The reading "declared" is actually a sloppy [27] , or more precisely, an incomplete translation. It would be better to read it, "declared its good news", [18] in which case a clear reference to the Gospel would be seen. This is the last time in the Bible that the Greek word musthrion is used in this sense. But it is used in the same sense the first time it occurs in the New Testament. In Mark 4:11, Jesus, addressing His disciples says, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables". There is further support for the idea that the possibility of repentance and salvation comes to an end at this time in the Greek word translated "would be finished". It is a form of the verb teleo, which means "to complete" and/or "bring to an end". Jesus used the same verb (in a different tense) on the Cross (John 19:30) to indicate that His earthly work of bringing salvation was "finished", and the atonement had been made. So the Gospel Age actually ends with the death of the Two Witnesses, but unfortunately, the Tribulation does not.At about the time the Two Witnesses begin their ministry, another major event happens somewhere in the world. A man who is also of presently unknown identity, in human terms, begins a rapid rise to power. At his peak, he will rule all the surviving world for 3½ years. He is the man whom many Christians erroneously call the Antichrist. The Bible, however, only calls him The Beast. In talking about him, we must begin by exposing a number of things that are often said about him that the Bible doesn’t say. For one thing, he doesn’t necessarily promise any solutions to the problems (and to call them "problems" is an understatement) facing humanity. Secondly, he isn’t a religious leader in the normal sense. Third, it isn’t said that he works any miracles. The Bible really says only four things that identify him that we can be sure of now:
There are other things said about him that we probably can’t understand now, but when the time comes that we need to be able to recognize him, the promise of Daniel 12:10 indicates that we will. We also know that he is in power for 3½ years, the same period as the Two Witnesses. Since he kills them, but the Tribulation continues for at least several months (and perhaps more than a year) afterward, we know he doesn’t achieve full power until after they’ve started their ministry.
One thing we should remember is that he won’t be recognizable for who he is until he has risen to power, and, again, that won’t happen until after the Two Witnesses have begun their ministry. So don’t waste your time, as some Christians unfortunately have done, trying to figure out who he is. Some years ago, there was a book published in which Henry Kissinger was identified as the Antichrist! Which is a good example of just how stupid some Christians can be about such things. I hope that the person or persons who wrote and published that book realize by now how wrong they were, and have made some constructive changes in their thinking. And the same thing goes for Christians who read that book and believed it. Another book that is equally ridiculous argues that the "Antichrist" is the resurrected Roman emperor Nero. It can’t be said with absolutely certainty that this isn’t true, but you sure shouldn’t make it an article of faith. Don’t fall for stories that say the Antichrist is in already in power, either. Too many Christians have made fools of themselves that way, and it’s a very bad testimony.
As stated, the Beast’s climactic act of evil will be the killing of the Two Witnesses. Again, we know from Revelation 11:8 that this will happen in Jerusalem. How this will happen, we don’t know, but the Bible says he will make war against them, which suggests it will be a fight. It may not be one sided. Nevertheless, the Beast wins and the Two Witnesses are killed. Then we find out just how much the Two Witnesses are hated. Public demand will forbid their burial. (Note that not all the people living in Jerusalem are Jews; many are Arabs, most of whom are Muslims.)They will lie dead in the street for three and a half days. While they are laying there, people will celebrate their deaths as though it was Christmas, sending gifts to each other and gloating over the triumph of the Beast. But for the unsaved world, this is "the last hurrah", literally. From then on, it’s nothing but wrath.
The people of Jerusalem get their first inkling of the truth when, after three and a half days, the Two Witnesses suddenly rise from the dead. They’ll stand up on their feet. The Bible says that great fear will come upon those who see them do it. And there will probably be a crowd standing around making fun of their corpses. One can just imagine just what a shock it will be. They had thought (like the men who crucified Jesus) that the men whom they most hated and feared were dead and rid of. And there they will be, alive and seemingly unharmed. It is also possible, that as was said of the saints at the Rapture, that they may light up like the sun. Then an audible voice will be heard, calling them up to Heaven. They will ascend into the sky just as Jesus did. They will be gone, but for the unsaved world, their departure is the harbinger of things worse yet for those who still survive than what has already happened. The inhabitants of Jerusalem get an immediate token of this as a severe but local earthquake heavily damages Jerusalem just after the Two Witnesses disappear into Heaven. Seven thousand people die. Again, the casualties will probably be mostly Muslims. This is punishment of the residents of Jerusalem for what they did to the Two Witnesses. But God has even more terrible things in store yet.
Meanwhile, the Second Beast has also risen to power. He is a religious leader, and we also know him as the False Prophet. He will be able to work miracles. Again, these miracles probably don’t help anybody; they are just meaningless demonstrations of power. Unless, of course, they hurt some people, which is not impossible. The Bible specifically says that he can make fire come down from heaven, that is, from the sky, in the sight of presumably large crowds, and whatever is left of the mass media. He uses this power to deceive people, and he supports the First Beast. Essentially, the First Beast says "I’m God" (or something equivalent), and the Second Beast says, "Yes he is. Worship him." In connection with this, the False Prophet has an image, that is to say, a statue, of the First Beast constructed, and he brings it to life. Then he commands everyone to worship it, and of course those who won’t, which will mostly be Christians, get executed. For the Christians who get killed, this martyrdom is their ticket to the First Resurrection.
His other main activity is that he, not the First Beast, makes people take the famous Mark of the Beast on their foreheads or on their right hands. However, the Mark does appear to identify those who take it with the First Beast. Like the Seal of the Living God, what the Mark actually is, substantively, we can’t say, and we won’t know until we see it. All we know is that without it, you won’t be allowed to buy or sell anything. And we know that it is the name of a man, or a number that represents his name, the famous "666". But it is a little known fact that this could be a mistranslation. It could be 616! We are told that those who are wise should calculate the number of the Beast. Why? Again, we won’t know until this happens. There must be something deceptive about it. It might be that some Christians will take the Mark without realizing what it is. For now, we can understand that during the Tribulation we shouldn’t accept any mark of any kind that anyone wants to put on us, no matter what the ostensible reason or how it’s done. To take the Mark of the Beast is to accept absolute damnation (Revelation 14:9-11). Beware! You’d be better off starving to death. There is one little-known possibility concerning the Mark that you should be aware of. The Mark may be made to supernaturally appear on the foreheads or palms of those who accept and/or declare allegiance to the Beast. There may be no direct, conscious acceptance or physical process involved with receiving it. Satan and his spiritual minions are capable of doing this. In that case, no Christian will get it. But the lack of it will be a giveaway to the followers of the Beast that a person is a Christian.
There is another major aspect to the Second Woe. It involves that entity referred to in Revelation 17 as "Mystery Babylon" or "The Great Harlot". There has been considerable disagreement among Christians about what this is. Roman Catholics tend to associate it with communism. Protestants tend to associate it with the Roman Catholic Church. There is, however, a major possibility that they are both wrong. If the question is addressed by way of the study of history; Church History and otherwise, a third and much more likely suspect suddenly becomes visible: Islam.
Most Christians in the western world are blissfully ignorant of the role of Islam in history. It is a dangerous ignorance that constitutes a parallel with the dangerous Christian ignorance of science. But the fact is that throughout it’s bloody (and I mean ‘bloody’ literally) history, Islam has been the most dangerous foe that Christianity has ever had. Other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism, would gladly leave us alone if we’d leave them alone. Hindus in particular see Christianity as a special case of a general principle and have no real philosophic problem with it, aside from the Christian insistence that belief in Jesus is the only way of salvation. Hindu and Buddhist opposition to Christianity is more a matter of culture than theology. And Eastern Religions tend to be non-violent in social attitude. Communism was a more dangerous foe of Christianity while it was going strong. But it was only so in the material sense. Communist atheism and materialism created a spiritual void in the lives of the people of communist nations. That’s why Christianity is catching on again very quickly in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even in countries where communism still officially rules, the governments are moving away from hard-line atheism and becoming tolerant of Christianity.
Not so Islam. Muslims, especially the Fundamentalist kind, see Christianity as a false religion, and they feel they have a holy obligation to destroy it. Revelation 17: 6 talks about the Great Harlot being drunk with the blood of the Saints. In the course of history, only communism rivals Islam in the number of violent Christians deaths it has caused. [19] The quantity of martyrs blood that has been shed by the Roman Catholic Church is a drop in the bucket compared to that shed by Islam. The same is true of the ancient Roman Emperors. Historians tend to condemn the Church for the Crusades. Although we cannot condone the way the Crusades were conducted, in the long run of history the Crusades were a counterattack, and massively provoked. Entire Christian populations have been exterminated by Muslims. Christians, and especially Catholics, have been accused of spreading the Gospel by the Sword. To what extent they have, they learned the tactic from the Muslims. Throughout its history, conversion at sword point has been the standard modus operandi of Islam [30] . The spread of Christianity, by contrast, has been mainly by peaceful evangelism, even when done with the backing of the state.
The role of Islam in the world since its beginning early in the 7th Century has been so great that it would make sense that it should be mentioned prophetically in the Bible. Yet few Christians could point to any passages that refer to it. Actually there are several, but it requires a better-than average knowledge of the Bible to see it. It is found, for example, in Revelation 12:15: "So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood." Now I can hear you thinking, "Where is Islam in this verse?" It’s in the word "flood". It is a little known fact that the word "flood" is used in the Bible as a symbol of large numbers of evil men acting in unity. [31] And the context of these passages indicates that in terms of literal, historical fulfillment, it refers specifically to Islam. This figure of speech is also found in Daniel 9:26.
If you can’t see a metaphorical analogy between Islam and a flood, you should learn a little about its early history. Islam began as an organized religion, in the desert near Mecca, with 73 Arab tribesmen in 622 AD. 16 years later, in 638 AD, the Muslims took control of Jerusalem. It is noteworthy that during the surrender proceedings, Sophronius, the Byzantine patriarch of Jerusalem, is said to have remarked to one of his aides, referring to the Muslims, "Surely this is the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the Holy Place". He was basically right. But the Muslims weren’t done their conquest yet. 94 years after they captured Jerusalem, the Frankish regent Charles Martel, with his army of Paladins, turned back the Moors (Muslims from North Africa) at the Battle of Tours, 70 miles from Paris, France. The prophecy of Isaiah 59:19 (KJV); "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him", may be a specific prophetic reference to this battle. Christians in Europe may be more aware of this, Christians in the USA generally are not; but Islam came very close to exterminating Christianity in the 7th and 8th Centuries. And although their movement ran out of gas (especially in the west) after the Battle of Tours, they have never completely given up. And in the past few decades, boosted by petroleum dollars, their global "jihad" has been gaining momentum again.
Few Christians are aware that the Muslims are expecting a messiah, whom they call the "Mahdi" ("he who is guided aright"). The coming of this leader was prophesied in the 10th Century. There is also a Shiite prophecy of the return of the twelfth Imam, that is, the twelfth and last Muslim leader to follow directly in the line of Mohammed. He died circa 880 AD, and the Shiites believe he will return someday and bring peace and justice to the world. If somebody appears, or even two somebodies, one of whom claims to be either or they claim to be both, and if one or the other or both can back up the claim with miracles, we would have the Beasts of Revelation.
If the Great Harlot is Islam, than it follows that the Two Beasts are at least superficially Muslims. There is, of course, reason to believe that this will only be an appearance. The only allegiance they have, other than to themselves, is to Satan. This will be revealed during the Third Woe. But this possible origin of the Beasts combines with other factors to form a logical consistency. It was said that the asteroid or comet collision occurs in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The reason why is basically this: The collision must devastate a third of the earth’s surface, and yet leave Israel virtually unscathed. This has to be because of the events that will occur there involving the Two Witnesses. The mid-Pacific happens to be as far as you can get from Israel and still be on earth, especially the mid-southern Pacific. But it could happen north of the equator and still not do any serious damage to Israel. And if it doesn’t do any damage to Israel, neither will it do much damage to the Arab-Muslim block of nations.
On the other hand, it will do terrible damage to the western United States, eastern Russia, and China. All three of these nations will effectively cease to exist as world powers. It just so happens that the United States has most of its military power concentrated in the western part of the country. Russia has most of its military power concentrated in the eastern part, that is, in Siberia. The collision will effectively disarm both nations. China may be nearly obliterated. As stated, the First Beast appears to be an opportunist who takes control by military force. No such thing would be possible for any Muslim leader now. If some such person tried it, the United States and its allies would step in and stop him, with the moral if not material support of Russia and China, as happened in the Persian Gulf War. But if all three of these nations have experienced catastrophic damage from the collision, the way would be open for a person like Saddam Hussein to seize power. [32] But even then, it will be the military backing of the Arab-Muslim block of nations that will make this possible.
Ezekiel 38:2-6 contains a list of nations which appear to take part in the Battle of Armageddon. All the nations mentioned are wholly or largely Muslim, which you can easily see if you know the correct meaning of the Biblical names as they apply to the modern world. For example, some interpreters of prophecy have erroneously identified "Gog and Magog" as Russia, but it is more likely that the words apply to modern Turkey. And although it’s well known that there is a large Christian population in Ethiopia, there are more Muslims than Christians. There is a war going on that began in 624 AD with a small battle at an oasis called Bedr near the Red Sea in western Arabia. It has been going on with intermittent battles ever since. The Persian Gulf War and the conflict in Bosnia were part of that war, and it won’t end until the Battle of Armageddon. It is ironic that the word "Islam" means "submission to God". It would be better defined as "unwitting submission to Satan". In the end, it will be clear to all Christians who are alive to see Armageddon that that is what Islam really is.
Briefly, when the earthquake has shaken Jerusalem, the Second Woe is over. But as stated, the worst is yet to come. God has yet another terrible surprise in store for the sinful world.
4. The Scorching Sun: The Third Woe.
Following the earthquake that damages Jerusalem and kills 7000 people, there may be another brief, deceptive respite. The drought will be over, and the Two Beasts will be firmly in power with the unwavering support of the Great Harlot. Those trouble-making Christians will be in hiding, and even many of those will be found out and imprisoned or martyred. Humans have a great capacity for quickly forgetting even the most horrible experiences, and rationalizing why they happened, after the horrors are over [33] . So nobody will be repenting, even though they will know that the Two Witnesses arose from the dead. In fact, this news will probably be suppressed. But just as everyone is starting to settle down to what seems like normal life, a new horror bursts upon the human race, and it makes them wish they were back with the Two Witnesses. Again, there will be no warning. There should be rather less indication that something terrible is about to happen then there will be for the collision.
One seemingly normal day, people start to notice that the sun seems to be getting brighter and hotter than usual. At first, they tell themselves that they are imagining it. But they can’t keep that up for long. Because it keeps getting brighter. And hotter. And brighter. And hotter. And brighter…. Before long temperatures in places exposed to direct sunlight pass the 200 degree
(Fahrenheit) mark. A few minutes of direct exposure to the sun results in horrible sunburn. Oceans, lakes and rivers are steaming. Mountain snowcaps and glaciers turn into torrential flash floods. Leaves wither away. And that’s only the beginning…. The Third Woe has begun!If you have been at all attentive to science, you’ve heard the terms "nova" and "supernova". These two words refer to catastrophic things that happen to stars. And of course I mean stars as in stars in the night sky. Physical bodies like the sun. Revelation 16:8 appears to prophesy that the sun will "go nova" during the Great Tribulation, and that will be the main outpouring of God's wrath during the Third Woe. Although the two terms, "nova" and "supernova", are well known, it is not so well known that they refer to two distinct types of events. A "nova" and a "supernova" are not the same thing. If our sun were to "go supernova", it would be the end of the world, period! Not a passing outpouring of the wrath of God. When a star "goes supernova" it explodes to the point that it basically ceases to exist. All that is left afterward may be a cloud of gases that astronomers call a ‘nebula" [34] . The increase in the star’s energy output during the explosion may be by a factor of billions (thousand millions to the British). If such an explosion happened to the sun, the earth itself would be vaporized. This will not happen to us. But what will happen is bad enough.
There is another type of explosive event that can happen to a star, which is simply called a "nova", also sometimes referred to as a "helium flash". It involves a much smaller increase in the star’s energy output. When it’s over, usually within a few months at most, the star returns to the same, or nearly the same brightness it had before. Why this happens is something that scientists believe they understand. A star may be described as a giant nuclear fusion reactor. The light and heat it emits are produced by the fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium atoms deep within the star. Over a period of time, this produces a lot of helium. When the concentration of helium in the star builds up to a certain critical point, a helium fusion reaction spontaneously ignites within the star. A helium fusion reaction produces far more energy than hydrogen fusion. So the star’s output of energy does a sudden, dramatic increase. This increase is the star "going nova". But before long, all the helium is used up (which is why the term "helium flash" is sometimes used) and the star goes back, as stated, to something equivalent to what it was before it "went nova". If we use astrophysics and some other relevant scientific knowledge to understand Revelation 16:1-12, we can see that this is what’s going to happen to our sun. The key to understanding this is verses 8 & 9: "Then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and power was given him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat….". Again, like the events of Revelation 8, the things that happen in the outpouring of the seven bowls are actually different aspects of the same event.
The Bible actually gives a measure of the amount of increase in the energy output of the sun. It’s in Isaiah 30:26: "….the light of the moon will be as the light of the as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold….". Since, as we know, though Isaiah couldn’t have known, that the moon gives no light but rather reflects light from the sun, it follows logically that a big increase in the brightness of the sun would be accompanied by an increase in the brightness of the moon. And if the sun increases it’s brightness, it also will increase its output of heat. And the heat is the problem. It must be noted that a sevenfold increase in the energy output of the sun is a very low-power "nova" event. A normal one would wipe out all life on earth. But a seven-fold increase is enough to turn the world into a literal living hell. Even under normal conditions, the summer sun can heat a sidewalk, or the top of an automobile, hot enough to literally fry eggs. It has been done! It can make a tarred road hot enough to melt the tar. So think of what seven times the heat will do! The sidewalk will crack from the heat. The paint will peel from the top of the car. The tarred road will ignite. The same thing will happen to tarred roofs. Spontaneous fires will break out everywhere. For those who go through it, it will be worse than the aftermath of the collision will be for the survivors. Except, that is, for the Christians.
You will notice that in verse 2, the "loathsome sore" only comes upon those who have the Mark of the Beast. By that time, this will probably include all living adults in the Middle East [35] who aren’t Christians. The only non-Christians who don’t have it will probably be small children. This indicates that during this outpouring of wrath, God supernaturally protects all the Christians, not just the ones with the Seal. He also protects all children. I believe there is a reason for this: The children of the followers of the Beast (and of Christians too) will constitute the flesh and blood human race during the Millennium.
Now here’s what the "nova" will do that fulfills the prophecies of Revelation 16:
During the scorching period, enormous quantities of water will evaporate from the oceans. The Arctic and Antarctic icecaps will melt. Every mountain snowcap will melt, and rivers in high mountain regions will briefly flood. But after the initial melt-off, they’ll dry up. So much water will evaporate that the sea level will briefly fall. In fact, all this evaporation will save the human race from extinction. It is a well known fact of science that it takes a lot of heat to evaporate water. Not only that, but as the water on the surface evaporates, it actually cools the water beneath it, which in turns cools the air above the water. This will absorb a lot of heat from the air. Meanwhile, with the ground so hot from the sunlight, the evaporated water will rise very high into the sky. There it will quickly begin to form a cloud blanket that will encircle the entire earth. This will block and reflect much of the sun’s radiation, and effectively insulate the earth. If it weren’t for this, the surface would become so hot that everything combustible would ignite. The fires that would follow would consume all the oxygen in the atmosphere, and all plant and animal life, humans included, would die. The cloud blanket will save us.
But the cloud blanket will be inherently unstable. It can only stay there as long as the intense solar radiation from the "nova" keeps it there. Once the nova subsides, it will at least partially collapse. The result could be described as the greatest thunderstorm in the history of the human race. It will be worldwide, and it will be, briefly, like the rain of Noah’s flood. Because the water vapor in the cloud blanket will be highly ionized, [36] there will be thunder and lightning such as has never been experienced by anyone in known history. The hail that will fall will be literal icy hail. It occasionally happens even now that a severe thunderstorm produces freakishly large hailstones, capable of doing property damage or causing injury. This one will produce many of them.
The earthquake will be triggered by the thunderstorm, but will also be a secondary effect of the nova. The physical changes to the earth that are caused by the heat. The melting of mountain snowcaps and the Arctic and Antarctic icecaps, the emptying of the rivers, and the lowering of the sea level, all will amount to big changes in the distribution of weight on the earth’s crust. This will in turn result in enormous tectonic stresses all over the world. These stresses will actually manifest themselves with audible "groaning" sounds from the earth. Every geological fault on the planet will be overloaded. When the thunderstorm occurs, the high winds that will accompany it will exert pressure on mountain ranges in fault areas that will trigger earthquakes on those faults. The ground shock from these will trigger other faults. The cumulative effect will be that every fault in the world (and there are far more of them than most people realize) will have an earthquake; in effect one big global earthquake. And because every fault will be overloaded, the ground shock effect will be greater than what the collision does, except in the areas close to the impact site.
There should be one big difference between this storm and the Flood. It won’t last 40 days. In fact, it may last only a few hours. But if anyone doesn’t have shelter on high, solid, level ground while it’s happening, he’ll need some extra divine protection to survive it. The good news is that once it’s over, for the world as a whole, the worst of God’s wrath is over. But the Tribulation isn’t. The "scorching sun" will have political effects in addition to its terrible physical effects. It must also be noted that the storm won’t refill the Euphrates (or other rivers). The ground will have become so desiccated by the heat that except in hard desert areas there will be little run-off. That is to say, most of the water will quickly sink into the ground.
As stated, this will be worse for those who go through it than the aftereffects of the collision. Although it isn’t mentioned, it should be expected that some people will be blinded by the sun’s intense light. Even if they aren’t burned, nor get skin cancer, even Christians will suffer at least extreme discomfort from the heat. This is the time when Christians, and everyone else, will be "struck by the sun" and "heat, and will "thirst", as referred to in Revelation 7:16. Drinking water will be very scarce, and, if God allows it, some people will probably die of thirst. There should also be considerable starvation during this time. Even if food supplies exist, people won’t be able to leave their places of shelter to get it. This will fulfill Jesus’ grim warning about those who "are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies" in Matthew 24:19. People may actually be driven to cannibalizing their own infants! If a pregnant woman suffers dehydration, it can cause terrible complications to her and her unborn child. Again, it’s a time when Christians, and everyone else, will do a lot of crying.
It is interesting that the Book of Revelation doesn’t clearly say that this will kill people. But it seems that it must, though it may not be as much proportionately as the first two Woes. But if it doesn’t, it will only be because the Lord doesn’t want it and intervenes to prevent even those with the Mark of the Beast from dying. It seems that He does intervene to prevent death during the scourge of the "locusts" during the First Woe. [37] If they don’t die, many will certainly wish they would. Keeping people alive when they want to die, in the First Woe at least, is actually part of God’s wrath. It may also be the case in the Third Woe.
The "nova" will cause a problem for the Beast and the False Prophet that goes beyond the immediate hardship. As stated, the Great Harlot is probably Islam. The Beast claims to be either the Mahdi or Allah incarnate or something like that. And the False Prophet may make some equivalent claims for himself, such as perhaps claiming to be the Twelfth Imam. Whatever the case, the scorching sun gives them what might be called a serious theological problem. Here they are supposed to be bringing peace and justice to the world, and here’s this terrible catastrophe, and the one who claims to be Allah, or at least have a direct line to Allah, can’t do anything about it. Islam is a big religion, and there are many leaders who are what we would call "traditionalists". Some of them may be suspicious of the Two Beasts to begin with. After the "nova" subsides, they might start to be very outspoken about their suspicions. A schism will open between the Two Beasts and those loyal to them, versus the leaders of traditional Islam. The Beasts will see this as a serious threat to their kingdom, and enough of a threat for them to do something drastic about it.
Revelation 17 says that the Beast and the Ten Kings who will support him will hate the Great Harlot. It appears that they may be ostensibly Muslims, but they’ll hold the appearance solely for the purpose of seizing and holding power. Once their power has been established, Islam, especially traditionally Islam, won’t matter anymore. So when it begins to be a problem, they will do away with it, and how they do it is the second part of the Third Woe. What is described in Revelation 18 is the work of the Beasts, not God. And again, we have a situation where there is only one thing we know of that can do what is described, assuming it’s man’s doing. Nuclear war. Actually, it could be the use of exactly one nuclear weapon. And it’s easy to figure out where.
Revelation 17:18 specifically says that "Mystery Babylon" is a city; a city that reigns over the kingdoms of the earth. Understand that this only needs to be true during the Tribulation. In verse 9 it says that the city sits on seven hills. Because of this, most expositors of prophecy have assumed that this is a clear reference to Rome. But guess again. The Greek word
¢epi, translated "on", can also mean "near" in Classic Greek [38] . And it happens that there’s another city that otherwise fits what I’m saying that although it isn’t on seven hills, it is nevertheless in fact surrounded by seven hills! Of course, the city I’m talking about is the headquarters of Islam: Mecca.Mecca could be called, in effect, an Anti-Jerusalem. The Great Mosque, and the Kaaba (the small, square, black building in the center of the Great Mosque) are to the Muslims what the Temple and the Holy of Holies were to the Jews of the Old Testament. To Muslims, the Kaaba is the most sacred place in the world. They believe that Abraham built it! The "Black Stone" (probably a large meteor) inside the Kaaba is to the Muslims what the Ark of the Covenant was to the Jews. If the Beasts are in fact Muslims, it logically follows that during their reign, Mecca will become the most powerful city on earth. This is remembering that one third of the world as we know it will be gone completely, and the population of the rest will have been cut in half. Mecca, not Rome, nor Jerusalem, will be the religious and political center of the world during the Tribulation. World commerce, such as it is, may be controlled by the Muslim leaders in Mecca, who will certainly have control of the world’s oil supply. Although Mecca isn’t on the seacoast, it is only about 50 miles from the Arabian seaport of Jiddah, to which it is connected by highways. So it could easily satisfy the conditions of Revelation 17 & 18 during the Tribulation, and that’s the only time it has to. It might be noted that Jiddah definitely, and possibly Mecca as well (I haven’t been able to find concrete information on this point) is supplied with drinking water by desalination machines that remove the salt from seawater. If Mecca is in fact supplied that way, it would be well equipped to survive the drought during the Second Woe. And the "nova".
But when the sun goes ‘nova" and the Two Beasts can’t do anything about it, it will also plant the seeds of discord between the Beasts and the traditional Muslim leadership in Mecca. They will start to openly question the validity of their claims. They might even start to question Islam, since they’ll probably know all about the Two Witnesses. This will create a situation that the Beasts will consider alarming in a way that even the sun going nova was not. They will find their position of absolute power threatened by the people they see as both their critical base of support and their most dangerous weakness. Such situations are not unknown in history. Such a thing is even found in the Bible, when the depraved King Saul sees David, his most loyal follower, as the most dangerous threat to his kingdom, and tries to kill him. The reaction of the Beast will be just as irrational, swift and deadly. Although much of our technological civilization will probably have been lost by then, some of it will remain. And among those things that will remain will be at least one large nuclear weapon. The Beast will use it. Mecca will get nuked. "Alas, Babylon!" Or, "good riddance to bad rubbish!".
The Beasts and the kings that follow them will also simultaneously launch a "jihad" against traditional Islam everywhere. In the greatest act of betrayal in history, traditional Islam as an established religion will be destroyed by the very leaders that it brought to power. Many traditional Muslim leaders will be killed or imprisoned, fulfilling Revelation 13:10. The Beasts will seize control of everything on earth that ostensibly belongs to Islam. They will replace it with something they’ll probably still call Islam, but it will be an Islam that is led solely by the False Prophet and that worships the First Beast, the King. But not for long. Not long at all. Their reign is about over. It’s time for the final showdown. Another King is coming!
5. ARMAGEDDON!
Again, there may be a brief period of respite, though it probably won’t be more than a few weeks. Surely no more than a few months. But during that time, the physical world will seem to be starting to return to normal. It will look like the Beasts are in a stronger position than ever. What little remains of Christianity has gone "underground". [39] Most of the surviving world is following a new form of Islam that sees the Beast as Allah incarnate. Even those who doubt this dare not say so, and most are deceived anyway. Those Christians who have survived are living like the catacomb Christians of Roman times. But they are uniting in prayer in a way that Christians have never done in the history of the Church since the Day of Pentecost. And they have but one petition: "Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly!" Their prayers get answered. Quickly.
Again, there is no warning. One morning a few days to a few months after Mecca gets nuked, as the sun rises on Jerusalem, an incredible sound is heard throughout the entire surviving world. No human words can describe that sound. It shakes the ground. It drives the Beasts and their followers to their knees in terror. It brings the surviving saints to their feet in joy.. It is the trumpet of God. As that sound dies, a second one is heard, this one recognizably a shout. In fact, it is a command. A command that cannot be disobeyed. The voice of the archangel. In a split second, in the twinkling of an eye, the martyred Christians are raised from the dead, and the living saints light up like the sun.
But that’s not all. Everyone who happens to be outdoors or near a window, saved or not, finds his eyes drawn to the northern sky. And there something appears that boggles the mind. A huge cross appears in the sky; The sign of the Son of Man! No matter where you are, you see it. It is bigger than the earth! It is brighter than the sun. Yet it doesn’t hurt your eyes to look at it! In fact, you can’t look away from it. [40] But then something else appears, coming toward you, so it seems, from out of the cross. It is also shining, but at first you can’t see what it is, but as it comes nearer you realize it is an army! An army of angels, so many that they resemble clouds in their countless numbers, coming down through the sky toward Jerusalem. And at their head, mounted on a white horse….the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! The resurrected and transformed saints take off like eagles, going up to meet Him. At this moment, even for those who hate it, there is no doubt about the Truth. Everyone knows what has happened. The unsaved weep. The saved rejoice. Jesus has come!
For Christians, the Tribulation is over. But not for the followers of the Beast. The Third Woe isn’t over yet.
The return of Jesus to Jerusalem in a manner that at least resembles the event described above seems to be virtually guaranteed. Although it is open to debate just how literally we should take the account of His return in Revelation 19, there is so much Scripture that supports this scenario that it has to at least approximate what really happens. We have further reason from Scripture to believe that He will actually land on the Mount of Olives, dismount, and walk across the Valley of Kidron to the Eastern Gate, which, although now walled up, will miraculously open for Him (and possibly be in that moment restored to it’s original appearance). Of course, He’ll be followed by the entire body of resurrected martyrs and raptured Tribulation saints, with an honor guard of angels. Once He’s inside Jerusalem, the event called the "marriage supper" or "Wedding Feast" of the Lamb will begin. Just what happens during that "Feast", we don’t know and it’s not important for us to know. It will certainly be glorious. Neither do we know how long it will last. But those who take part will enjoy every minute of it.
But outside Jerusalem, all is not well. We don’t know where they’ll be based, (I’d bet on Baghdad or Tehran) but the Two Beasts will still be alive and in power. And they won’t be taking the return of Jesus very lightly. They will move very quickly to do something about it. Now remember, even though they have supernatural power, they are deceived themselves. They somehow don’t understand the full implications of what has happened, or perhaps they are so enslaved by Satan that they can’t do anything but what he tells them, and Satan is in a way deceived too. So they’ll try to do what the Muslims have been trying to do down through the centuries: get rid of the Christian Faith by military force.
The Bible suggests that somehow they have foreseen this, or at least Satan has. According to Ezekiel 38: 10-13, the Beast may have originally conceived the idea of invading Israel for the purpose of looting, and perhaps wiping out, the entire nation. Israel, as implied previously, may have turned to Christ en masse by that time, that is, before the beginning of the Third Woe. The call will have already gone out for all the nations to bring their armies together for an assault on Jerusalem. It occurred during the "nova". Hence we see in Revelation 16: 12 that the waters of the Euphrates are "dried up so that the way of the kings from the east might be prepared" and, in verse 14 "spirits of demons...gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty" . That’s talking about Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. These kings will be coming to join the assault. Even nations that really don’t have any military power worth mentioning will be sending troops and weapons. Thus we find the call in Joel 3:10 & 11, "…let the weak say ‘I am strong’ [41] . Assemble and come, all you nations…". During the respite period, they’ll be seizing every farming tool they can find and turning them into weapons. Thus, "Beat your plowshares into swords…" (Joel 3:10). Every nation on earth that still survives as a sovereign state will join the campaign.
When the armies arrive in Israel, they won’t immediately launch their attack on Jerusalem. They will go first to the area of northern Israel presently known as the Plain of Esdraelon. (This word may be a Greek corruption of the Hebrew word "Jezreel".) It is a roughly triangular valley between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea south of the Sea of Galilee. Overlooking the valley from the west is the hill of Megiddo, which was the site of a huge fortress in Bible times. The Hebrew name of the hill has carried over as another name given to the valley: Har Megiddo, or as we say it in English: Armageddon.
They won’t go there planning to fight there. It will be planned as an assembly point, a staging area to prepare and organize for the assault on Jerusalem. Hence we see them being prophetically told to "assemble" or "gather" there (depending on the translation) in Joel 3:11. Most of them, however, will never see Jerusalem. God has a different plan for them. In the Korean War, at the battle of Hamburger Hill, someone in the U.S. Army is said to have put up a sign reading, "Welcome to the meat grinder". For the troops coming to the Battle of Armageddon, someone could well put up a similar sign. But it will have to read, "Welcome to the wine press". Blood is going to flow from the Battle of Armageddon like wine from a winepress. There is a prophecy in Revelation 14:20 which appears to refer to the Battle of Armageddon. It says that blood flows out of the "winepress", as high as a horse’s bridle, to a distance of 1600 furlongs. A furlong is about an eighth of a mile. It so happens that there’s a stream that runs out of the Plain of Esdraelon down to the Jordan River. If the distance is measured from the beginning of the stream to the Jordan, and down the Jordan to the southern end of the Dead Sea, it comes to just about 200 miles. So this prophecy appears to be meant literally. How does this happen?
You’ll notice, if you read Joel chapter 3, most of which is about Armageddon, that the place isn’t called ‘Armageddon’, though the word ‘valley’ is there. Instead, the prophet calls the place "the valley of Jehoshaphat". Why? It just so happens that in the known geographic history of Israel, there is no such place. Some scholars have speculated that this is a reference to the Valley of Kidron outside Jerusalem. But there is nothing in the passage to tell us so. The answer to the question appears to be that God is telling us something about what is going to happen at Armageddon. Most Christians have heard the story of King Jehoshaphat and the Battle of En Gedi in II Chronicles 20. After calling a mass prayer meeting in the face of an invasion, Jehoshaphat won a battle without having to fight. As it happened, the soldiers of the attacking armies turned on each other and wiped themselves out. The soldiers in the attacking armies at Armageddon are going to do exactly the same thing. This is testified to in Ezekiel 38:21, "every man’s sword will be against his brother". Another reference to this is found in Zechariah 14:13.
In short, at some point after the armies arrive in the valley, and perhaps after they start their assault on Jerusalem, they get a terrible fright. The Book of Joel, chapter 3, verse 16, says that "the Lord will also roar from Zion…The heavens and earth will shake". The Lord will roar. For the brief moment it takes, the Lord Jesus will show the Saints that He’s the God of the Old Testament as well as the New, in terms of what He can and will do. He may literally roar! A roar that is heard all the way to Armageddon. A roar that shakes the earth and sky. A roar that causes panic to break out among the troops at Armageddon (See Zechariah 14:13). Because of the panic, probably from brief but deadly misunderstandings, fighting breaks out among them. And then it spreads like wildfire. There will be no place to take cover; they’ll be too packed together. Almost everyone will be shooting, stabbing or whatever else he can do…until he falls. Men will be going down like dominos. But that won’t be all.
Some soldiers, particularly those one the fringe of the carnage, will have the presence of mind to try to flee. There may also be pockets of men who will keep their cool and not get involved in the killing. Some who are fighting may wake up to what’s happening and simply stop killing and hit the ground. A few may actually be able to take cover. If left to themselves, there would be survivors. Enough to pose a problem later. But these are all men (and perhaps women) who have the Mark of the Beast. God isn’t going to let any of them get away. He has His own little role in the action. We’re going to get another astronomical catastrophe, although highly localized. This one is of a kind that’s little known, though it has happened before. But not on top of an army on a battlefield. This one will.
The most recent event that is a precedent to what is going to happen at Armageddon actually is rather well known, though only students of the subject of asteroid and comet collisions understand what happened. The event took place in Siberia on the morning of June 30, 1908. Because it happened near the Tunguska River, it is generally known as the Tunguska Event, or Explosion. What is known, beyond all doubt, is that something came through the sky and exploded in mid air with the force of a 20 megaton hydrogen bomb. The explosion flattened about 2000 square kilometers of forest, and knocked a man unconscious 70 miles away. There have been a number of wild ideas put forward to explain it, including the idea that is was an alien spaceship come to grief, or a piece of antimatter [42] . But the scientific consensus is that is was either a piece of a comet nucleus or a small asteroid. Whichever, it came in at such a low angle that compression of the atmosphere ahead of it brought it to a dead stop in mid air, and at that point it exploded just as if it had hit the ground.
Although this is the best known event of this type, there have been others, and some have killed people, [43] though rather few compared to what will happen at Armageddon. The event that appears to be scheduled for the Battle of Armageddon will be of somewhat different nature than the one at Tunguska. This object is certainly a piece of a comet nucleus. The fallout includes, for example, a deadly rain of large, hot rock fragments and other cometary debris (See Ezekiel 38:22). This material will have actually detached from the nucleus before the explosion. There is also a blast of heat and shock waves, produced by the explosion. It will be like an "air burst" of a nuclear weapon, but minus the radiation. This will make peoples’ flesh ‘waste’ off their bones while they’re standing on their feet, as in Zechariah 14:12. (So, like the event in Revelation 8:6-9:2, we have multiple Scripture references that predict the same thing.) As the blast wave strikes the surface, it will burn and strip the flesh off the bones of men standing on their feet. [44] The result will be a "flash flood" of blood, that will literally fulfill the prophecy of Revelation 14:20. In the time it takes to clap your hands, the entire army of the Beasts will be dead.
It also appears that this may be a multiple strike, with other pieces of the nucleus hitting other places where the Beasts have strong support. The Bible, in the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 39 specifically mentions "Magog" as a target. So this event, which ends both the Battle of Armageddon, and the Tribulation, not only destroys the armies that invade Israel, but takes out all the Beast’s bases of power as well. (Remember that there will be ten kings who support him. Their capitals and/or military bases will have to go, just as Mecca did.) It appears that there will be an event similar to what is described in the science fiction novel, "Lucifer’s Hammer". A comet nucleus breaks up as it passes close to the sun at the low point of it’s orbit, and several large pieces then collide with the earth. There will be two major differences, though, between what the novel describes and what will happen at the Battle of Armageddon. First, the event at Armageddon will be much smaller in scale. The novel describes a disaster that almost wipes out the human race. This will be a relatively small, highly localized event. Secondly, this one will be precisely targeted. These won’t be random strikes. The hand of God will put the comet fragments directly on the targets He wants destroyed, as deliberately as a Stealth bomber attacking with smart bombs. The kingdom of the Beasts will cease to exist.
The final, climactic event goes a little beyond the scope of our understanding. The Beast and the False Prophet will be captured alive. It might be said that they have a little "rapture" of their own, but it won’t be one they’ll like. Note that it isn’t clear where they are when this happens, but it doesn’t matter. The interesting thing is that this is the only overt intervention of angels clearly mentioned. Angels will grab the Beasts and throw them alive into the Lake of Fire. They are gone from history forever. Satan is also captured, but his time for the Lake of Fire hasn’t come yet. Instead, he goes into the "bottomless pit". The Bible doesn’t really explain this term, and it’s useless to speculate. But what’s clear is that he won’t be able to bother anybody for a lo-o-o-o-ng time. When he’s gone, the Tribulation is over and the Millenium begins.
EPILOGUE: The Millennium.
As stated earlier, it isn’t my intention to say much about the Millennium. Frankly, there isn’t an awful lot that can be said about it on the basis of Scripture, except for broad generalities. However, it is my point of view, again, that the Bible isn’t specific about it because we don’t need to know. However, there is clear reason to believe that there will be flesh and blood survivors of the Great Tribulation, especially children. There may also be some pockets of adult, non-Christian survivors. This would likely include people like the Sikhs of India who probably wouldn’t follow the Beast, and perhaps Buddhists from places like Tibet and Nepal. There should also be some survivors along the east coast of the American continent. They would actually be fairly well placed to survive the Tribulation, and, if the Beasts are Muslims, people on the American continent may never be forced to take the Mark. But for all that, they’d be so beat up at the end that they’d accept the Lordship of Christ just to survive.
And survive they will. It appears that there will be very few deaths during the Millennium, and they will be limited to those who won’t accept the Lordship of Christ, but persist in rebellion. Such is the sin nature of man, that in spite of Satan’s absence, some will persist in sin. But not for long.
There is one thing that is going to happen, I’m sure, at the beginning of the Millenium that I would love to be there to see. (And of course I’d like to make it through to the Rapture.) You will remember that I said, in the "Mountain Burning With Fire" chapter, that the fossil record shows that there have been a series of mass extinction events that were followed by creation events. Well, I seriously believe that at the beginning of the Millenium, there is going to be another creation event.
I might say, before I go into that, that there was probably a limited creation event after the Flood, but it occurred while Noah was still in the Ark. If there hadn’t been one, he, his family, and the animals he had with him, might not have been able to survive. The earth had been messed up very badly. The Pre-Flood civilization had to have been quite advanced, but it was erased so completely that very little trace of it remains. We can get an idea from Genesis 8 as to when the creation event occurred. You will read, in Genesis 8:4, that the Ark came to rest long before Noah actually left it. According to verse 9, forty days after the Ark came to rest, he released a dove that came right back. A week later, he released it again, and the dove came back with a fresh olive leaf in it’s mouth. A week later, he released the dove again and it didn’t come back. In that two week period, the Lord had re-created plant and animal life throughout the world.
Now we find ourselves at the end of the Tribulation, Jesus has returned, and the Beasts are gone. But the earth has been devastated. Almost all plant and animal life has been exterminated, not just human life (remember what Jesus said in Matthew 24:21). But there are still at least several million (and that may be a conservative estimate) flesh and blood survivors. Most of them are children, and they need to eat. And they’re alive in a world that looks like Hiroshima after the atom bomb exploded. So what happens? A new creation! This won’t be as complete as the one that will follow the Final Judgment, but it will renew life on earth, at least to the point of making the earth beautiful and inhabitable again.
I do expect that the glorified saints will get to see it happen. Jesus will proclaim it from His throne in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit will make it happen. The sky, which may be filled with smoke and dark clouds, will clear into a perfect blue. The light of the sun will go back to normal, or close to it. Green things will just begin to appear everywhere, Without any rain falling, streams will start to flow again with clear, pure water. Birds will appear out of nowhere and start soaring and singing. Animals will reappear just as if nothing had happened. But there’ll be a difference in them: they won’t be afraid of people, but neither will any of them, even lions and tigers, ever attack people. A general feeling of joy and peace will be everywhere. A joy and peace so tangible it will seem like something solid. And the oppression of sin that we all live in now, and that most people are at best barely conscious of, will be gone. There will be a sense of freedom everywhere, as if the whole world had just gotten out of jail. A new world will have begun.
And so we will ever be with the Lord!
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The following Bibliography is intended to document only the asteroid and comet aspect of my theories concerning the Great Tribulation. I regret to say that at this time I am unable to present documentation for my theory concerning the sun "going nova". The only sources I can refer to are the feature article in the Science section of the New York Times, September 20, 1994, and the article on supernovas in the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 97 (deluxe edition). This is a CD-ROM encyclopedia, and it requires a computer running Windows 95 to use it. But I can assure you that this event is a scientific possibility, but is not expected any time soon. In fact, scientists don’t expect such an event for bill