Prophetic Events — page 15

probably America. ] Around this time a great political power in the West (a "great mountain" in the Scriptures symbolizes a long-established power, cf. Jer 51:25) will abandon all knowledge of God. This may refer to the United States of America or to some other prominent government in the West. As a result many will be led into apostasy. Rev. 8:8 (Second Trumpet).

Also at this time commerce will be destroyed in the Western world. The entire economy will collapse ("and a third of the ships were lost"). Rev. 8:9.

Then a great personality (the great star called "wormwood") will fall from his high position of influence, leading the multitudes of the West into apostasy. It is not known who this person will be. Rev. 8:10,11 (Third Trumpet).

After that, many other influential leaders in the West will fall, leading all the remaining people into apostasy and worship of the Beast. The result will be a flood of moral and spiritual darkness on a large scale. Rev. 8:12 (Fourth Trumpet). The Antichrist ("the fallen star")*, the Jewish false Messiah, will present himself in his full satanic character. He will release from the abyss a satanic and blinding deception that he will cast upon the ungodly apostate Jews who chose him for their own embarrassment. His mission this time will be to lead every remaining Jew on earth into complete apostasy. The torment of a guilty conscience (the sting of the scorpion) will be the affliction of all whom he deceives. Rev. 9:1-12 (Fifth Trumpet).

[ Note: *This is probably not the same person as the great star in Rev. 8:10,11) ] The Antichrist will exalt and magnify himself above everything that is of God. He will sit in the temple presenting himself as God, making himself an object of worship. Dan. 11:36; 2 Thess. 2:3,4.

Idolatry and the worship of the Beast and the Antichrist will be practiced openly. The lands of Israel and of Christendom, which were once enlightened, will be given over to demonic worship. The final state of the Jews compromised in this idolatrous worship will be seven times worse than when they welcomed idolatry in the time of the kings of the Old Testament. Matt. 12:43-45; Rev. 13:4; 2 Thess. 2:3,4.

False christs and false prophets will arise in the land of Israel showing signs and wonders and will deceive many. Matt. 24:23-26.

Around this time God will pour out on the earth the seven last plagues (the seven bowls or golden cups -- Rev. 15:7). These judgments are broader in scope than the judgments of the trumpets (Rev. 8-9), which were limited to the Western world. The judgments of the bowls will be poured out more specifically on the pagans in the surrounding nations.* It seems that these last plagues will harden, in a governmental way, the men who rejected God, preparing them to be voluntary agents of Satan's recruitment for the coming holocaust. Rev. 15-16; Ps. 79:6,12.

[ Note: *Notice that these bowls or cups are poured out on "the earth," "the men," "the sea," "the rivers," "the sun," etc., not "on a third of the earth," "on a third of the men," on "a third of the seas," on "a third of the rivers," on "a third of the sun" as in the judgments of the trumpets, showing that the sphere where the bowls are poured out is much broader and is not restricted to the territory of Western Rome. ] Any individual follower of the Beast in the distant nations, beyond the land of Western Rome, who has voluntarily received his mark and worshiped his image, will be afflicted by a terrible sore. The horrible wound will be the atrocious affliction of a guilty conscience. This will result in a condition of misery and mental unrest. Rev. 16:2 (First Bowl).

Those who, in the distant nations, do not believe the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 24:14) will apostatize from any light they have received from God -- perhaps as an attempt to escape the torments of their guilty conscience. Rev. 16:3 (Second Bowl).

The natural joys and well-being of life will be taken from those who are in the distant nations. It is God's retribution for persecuting His saints who went throughout the world preaching the gospel of the Kingdom (Matt. 24:14). They will be forced to drink the bitterness of their own apostasy. Life will be marked by misery and frustration. Rev. 16:4-7 (Third Bowl). A great governmental authority (under the symbol of the "sun") among the distant nations will be the cause of a terrifying oppression upon men. Perhaps it is something coming from Gog (Russia), closing its claws on its subjects. Men will become even more hardened against God. Rev. 16:8,9 (Fourth Bowl).

Darkness (moral and spiritual) will spread over the subjects of the Beast's kingdom (the Western world). This probably refers to a terrible sense of God's abandonment that will take possession of them. It is likely that they will also become hardened against God. Rev. 16:10,11 (Fifth Bowl). With men and women, both from the distant nations (Fourth Bowl) and from the Western world (Fifth Bowl)

hardened against God, the stage will be set for men to be used as voluntary instruments of Satan in the coming war, when he places them in battle order against their own Creator. Rev. 16:13,14; 19:19.

Although the multitudes, both in the West and in the distant nations, will become hardened against God, there will be a great multitude that will turn to God and believe in the Gospel of the Kingdom.* Rev. 7:9-17.

[ Note: *Eternity will be preached (Rev. 14:6,7) as a final call to Israel (Ps. 95) and to the nations (Ps. 96) before the Lord arises in judgment (Ps. 97). ] As the tribulation reaches its end, the two witnesses, who will bear a testimony on God's behalf amid the apostasy, will be killed by the Beast. Their bodies will lie in the streets of the city of Jerusalem literally for three and a half days. Rev. 11:7,8. But the triumph of the wicked lasts only a little while (Job 20:5), and the two witnesses, after lying in the streets of Jerusalem for three and a half days, will be resurrected. A great fear will seize everyone. Rev. 11:11-12. Around that time "a king, fierce of countenance" will arise from among the Mohammedan nations to the north and east of Israel. He will be skilled in the occult sciences and other satanic devices. He is called the "King of the North." It is likely that his origin is Turkey. Dan. 8:23,24.#3# The King of the North (probably with the help of Gog -- Russia -- Dan. 8:24) will gather the nations of the Middle East into a great Confederation of which he will be the leader. He will summon an immense army of two hundred million people.* This group of armies is the same as in Rev. 16:12 where they are called "kings of the east"**. Their intent will be to invade the empire of the Beast and particularly the land of Israel. Rev. 9:13-17 (Sixth Trumpet); Ps. 83:1-8. [ Note: *Some have thought that this refers to the Chinese peoples who boast of being able to dispose of such a number of soldiers ready for battle. However, the best expositors understand this to be the immense Confederation of the Mohammedan nations under the leadership of the King of the North (Ps. 83:1-8). Note that these are not kings "of the east" (cf. Rev. 16:12, Almeida Versão Corrigida), but rather "that comes from the east" (Almeida Versão Revisada) -- "peoples from the eastern side of the Euphrates"#4#. In the Scriptures China is identified as Sinim (Isa. 49:12) of which very little is said. Others have argued that those Mohammedan countries do not have enough people to summon an army of that size. There is research demonstrating that those countries already have about 270 million in population (if Afghanistan and Pakistan are included, which are 99% Mohammedan), with an average growth of about 3% per year. We know that this immense army will not attack until the end of the 7 years of tribulation comes. If the Lord were to come today (in the rapture), the number (adding seven years of population growth) would reach around 325 million. Each year that the Lord delays His coming the number will increase by about 10 million. It should also be remembered that there are Muslims scattered in other lands, of whom a large part will apparently return to their countries of origin. For example, there are more Turks outside Turkey than in the country itself. About 42 million Turks are found in the former Soviet Union and there are many more scattered elsewhere. The recent upheaval in the communist countries provoked the awakening of a wave of Turkish nationalism and the desire to be in their homeland. When a large group like this is added to the total population of those nations, the numbers may prove to be much larger. There is still news that reveals the existence of infantries of children, from the age of 6 onward, who are already being trained in the Middle East. The demand will require that practically every man, woman and child be engaged in the armies. This leads us to believe that it would be quite possible for such countries to summon an army of such a monstrous dimension. If China is involved, it may be when Russia (Gog) comes at the end bringing with it many other nations.#5# ] [ Note: ** When these armies are mentioned in the Scriptures in opposition to the King of the South (Egypt), they are seen as the armies of the King of the North, but when they are mentioned in opposition to the western powers, they are called Kings of the East. In Revelation they are called Kings of the East because Revelation reveals the prophecy mainly from the western point of view. In the Old Testament prophets they are seen as the armies of the King of the North (the Assyrians), for the Old Testament Scriptures reveal the prophecy from the point of view of Israel, for whom the Assyrians are the great enemy.#6# ] The Euphrates River will dry up preparing the way for the armies gathered by the King of the North to enter the land of Israel. Rev. 16:12 (Sixth Bowl).