Day 362: Revelation 10-12

(In the previous post we saw the first explanation of the events for the Tribulation from beginning to end were given with six seals. The seventh seal was not a continuation of the six seals, it contained seven trumpets, which were concurrent with some of the seals but more concentrated: The first six trumpets gave a more specific explanation of the events for the second half of the Tribulation. Before we find out about the seventh trumpet, there was more layered information that was presented.)

Revelation 10

(This chapter was informational and focused on John's perspective and role.)

¹ And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, arrayed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire;
² and he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left upon the earth;

(John saw an angel with a little book.)

³ and he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth: and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices.

(The angel shouted and seven thunders uttered their voices.)

⁴ And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

(John was about to write down what the seven thunders said when a voice from heaven told him not to write them and to seal them up. We have no way of knowing what was stated, so if this angel gave some explanation of the context and/or chronology of what John had seen, we do not know.)

⁵ And the angel that I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his right hand to heaven,
⁶ and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created the heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, that there shall be delay no longer:
⁷ but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to the good tidings which he declared to his servants the prophets.

(The angel with the little book swore that in the days of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God will be finished. The angel confirmed the timing of the seventh trumpet (which we have seen was the third woe) was at the end of the Tribulation, which was the same timing as the sixth seal. The first six seals gave a Big Picture chronology of events (in order) from the beginning of the Tribulation to the end. The seventh seal revealed seven trumpets. The events (woes) of the seven trumpets also give a chronology of events (in order), however, these woes covered the time from just after the midpoint of the Tribulation to the end of the Tribulation.)

⁸ And the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard it again speaking with me, and saying, Go, take the book which is open in the hand of the angel that standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.
⁹ And I went unto the angel, saying unto him that he should give me the little book. And he saith unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but in thy mouth it shall be sweet as honey.

(John stood the same way as the angel stood and took the little book. The angel told John to eat the book.)

¹⁰ And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.
¹¹ And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.

(John ate the book and the angel told John that he must prophesy again. It appeared that the little book was the revelatory word of God and John would be able to divulge this information to the world through writing this book. Specifically, the following events occurred near the end of the Tribulation. We did not put a "10" on the diagram because it did not correspond to chronology of the future. However, the next chapter is denoted by an "11 Two Witnesses" with an arrow.)

Revelation 11

(This chapter was informational looking at the last half of the Tribulation from the perspective of the Two Witnesses.)

¹ And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

(The angel gave John a measuring rod to measure the temple of God.)

² And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

(Unbelievers will tread over the holy city for forty-two months. This was the second half of the tribulation: three and a half years.)

³ And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

(The Two Witnesses clothed in sackcloth will have power and will prophesy for three and a half years which is also during the second half of the Tribulation.)

⁴ These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth.

(Zechariah 4 gave an explanation of two olive trees and lampstands that stand before the Lord. In that passage, they represented the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord. The Two Witnesses are anointed to stand for God and witness during the second half of the Tribulation.)

⁵ And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed.

(If any man tries to hurt the witnesses, he will be killed by fire out of their mouths.)

⁶ These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire.
⁷ And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.

(They will have power over the physical realm. Examples were given that reminded people of Elijah and Moses/Aaron. Consequently, some people believe the Two Witnesses will be Elijah and Moses. The Jews know that Elijah needs to physically return before the Messiah can physically return in His Kingdom, and Elijah did not die. We see that the Two Witnesses eventually die, so if the Two Witnesses were people who had already died, then the scripture (Hebrews 9:27) that stated its "given once for man to die" would be wrong. The only other person who left the earth without dying was Enoch. It would appear that Elijah and Enoch will be the Two Witnesses who testify for God and if anyone tries to hurt them, they will be killed with fire coming from the witnesses' mouths. However, when their work is finished, the beast that comes from the bottomless pit will make war against them and kill them.)

⁸ And their dead bodies lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

(The witnesses' bodies will lie in the street of Jerusalem.)

⁹ And from among the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations do men look upon their dead bodies three days and a half, and suffer not their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

(They will lay there for three and a half days.)

¹⁰ And they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.

(Those on earth will rejoice over their dead bodies because the testimony of the Two Witnesses tormented them, caused them to doubt whom they were following: the Antichrist.)

¹¹ And after the three days and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them that beheld them.

(After the three and a half days they will be raised from the dead by the Holy Spirit and all that see it will fear.)

¹² And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they went up into heaven in the cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

(Remember, these events will take place during the end of the Tribulation. A voice from heaven will say "come up hither." This was a rapture which will occur near the end of the Tribulation. The Two Witnesses will be resurrected and raptured in the "Post-Tribulation Rapture."

Now we have seen evidence for three separate raptures: Pre-, Mid-, and Post-Tribulation. Again, this is why people who believe in each of these raptures are correct, and why they are incorrect when they claim there will only be one rapture. Nowhere in God's Word did it state there would only be one rapture.)

¹³ And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in the earthquake seven thousand persons: and the rest were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
¹⁴ The second Woe is past: behold, the third Woe cometh quickly.

(The second woe (which coincided with the sixth trumpet) was past (Revelation 9:13-21). The third woe would be the end of the Tribulation and it came quickly after the second woe which came within an hour of the death of the Two Witnesses.)

¹⁵ And the seventh angel sounded; and there followed great voices in heaven, and they said, The kingdom of the world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ: and he shall reign for ever and ever.

(When the seventh trumpet sounded a voice from heaven announced that the kingdoms of this world are God's and Christ's and Christ will reign forever. This was the third woe and the end of the Tribulation.)

¹⁶ And the four and twenty elders, who sit before God on their thrones, fell upon their faces and worshipped God,
¹⁷ saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who art and who wast; because thou hast taken thy great power, and didst reign.

(The twenty-four elders (Church) worshipped God.)

¹⁸ And the nations were wroth, and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, the small and the great; and to destroy them that destroy the earth.
¹⁹ And there was opened the temple of God that is in heaven; and there was seen in his temple the ark of his covenant; and there followed lightnings, and voices, and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail.

(Verse 18 mentioned judgment, which showed this was the end of the Tribulation. In verse 19, the Ark of the Covenant was seen in heaven. This chapter covered events from the midpoint of the Tribulation up to near the end of the Tribulation.)




Revelation 12

(This chapter was informational and took a very big picture view (from the beginning (Genesis 1:1) to the end of the Tribulation) from Satan's perspective and is denoted by the "12" with the arrows (click on diagram to enlarge).)

¹ And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman arrayed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars;

(The woman was Israel.)

² and she was with child; and she crieth out, travailing in birth, and in pain to be delivered.

(The child was Jesus.)

³ And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads seven diadems.

(The great red dragon was Satan.)

⁴ And his tail draweth the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon standeth before the woman that is about to be delivered, that when she is delivered he may devour her child.

(This verse has been used to show that one third of the angels fell with Satan. During John's time, these first four verses presented the history from the beginning to Jesus' birth...all of these events had occurred in the past relative to John's time.)

⁵ And she was delivered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and unto his throne.

(This verse referred to Jesus' earthly ministry: from birth to resurrection and sitting at the right Hand of God - this was the present for John, and is the present for us. Next, John presented the future.)

⁶ And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

(The believing Jews who heed Jesus' warning to hide will remain hidden for 1,260 days, which is 3 1/2 years: from the midpoint of the Tribulation when the Antichrist takes over the temple to the end of the Tribulation.)

⁷ And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon; and the dragon warred and his angels;
⁸ And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven.
⁹ And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.

(There will be war in heaven. Satan is not omnipresent. He can only be in one place at one time. From this point on, Satan will be confined to spending his time on earth.)

¹⁰ And I heard a great voice in heaven, saying, Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, who accuseth them before our God day and night.

(The devil who accuses people living on earth was cast down to the earth. This could be seen as the devil possessing the Antichrist at the midpoint of the Tribulation.)

¹¹ And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death.

(Satan and his angels were overcome by those whom he accused because of Jesus' blood, the believers' testimony, and believers being willing to die.)

¹² Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time.
¹³ And when the dragon saw that he was cast down to the earth, he persecuted the woman that brought forth the man child.

(Satan persecuted the woman (Israel) who brought forth the child (Christ). We know this will happen at the midpoint of the Tribulation. Notice, this third woe was towards the earth, while those in heaven were told to rejoice. The woe was that Satan himself would be directly persecuting Israel. He would only be able to do this through the Antichrist.

This introduced the concept that while Satan influenced the Antichrist during the first half of the Tribulation, during the second half of the Tribulation Satan would possess the Antichrist.

During this chapter, John gave the perspective of the events of the second half of the Tribulation from the perspective of Satan, whom he referred to as the dragon. It was no longer the person of the Antichrist that was doing this, it was completely Satan through possessing the Antichrist.)

¹⁴ And there were given to the woman the two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

(After Satan comes to earth, believers in Israel will be hidden for a "time, times, and half a time." Daniel 12:7 used the same phrase:
-A time was one year.
-A times was two years.
-A half a time was half a year.

This is 3 1/2 years total, the time of the second half of the Tribulation.)

¹⁵ And the serpent cast out of his mouth after the woman water as a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the stream.

(The "flood" were words of Satan coming out of the Antichrist's mouth trying to terrorize believers from Israel who will be hidden.)

¹⁶ And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the river which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
¹⁷ And the dragon waxed wroth with the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, that keep the commandments of God, and hold the testimony of Jesus:

(The events during the last half of the Tribulation will cause the Antichrist to cease from pursuing those believing Jews who will be hidden in order to focus on the rest of the world. In the KJV, this chapter ended with a period. In the ASV, it ended with a colon signifying the beginning of chapter 13 focused on what distracted the Antichrist, that was possessed by Satan, just after the midpoint of the Tribulation.)

Day 363