There are multiple passages throughout the Bible dealing with the immediate events surrounding Christ's second coming. For this post I would like to focus on those with the goal of harmonizing them, hopefully making it a bit easier to understand.
I will begin with the opening of the sixth seal ( Revelation 6:12-17). Part of the confusion surrounding the events of the last days comes from a wrong understanding of how the seals, trumpets, and bowls of wrath fit together. Do they occur consecutively or concurrently?
John is given a vision of events that will transpire over the final seven year period of this age and on into the eternal state. This is what is recorded in the book of Revelation. Throughout this book you find that the same events are portrayed again in several places describing different aspects of these events. This applies to the seals, trumpets and bowls. These events are happening together not consecutively. To prove this we will look at the terminating point of each of these.
12. I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
13. and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind.
14. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15. Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains;
16. and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb;
17. for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Revelation 6:12-17 NASB
What we have just read confirms the words of Jesus concerning His return. He describes the cosmic signs immediately preceding His second coming like this.
25. "There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
26. men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27. "Then they will see the SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory.
28. "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Luke 21:25-28 NASB
29. "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30. "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
31. "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Matthew 24:29-31 NASB
Jesus is referencing Isaiah 13:9-11, as well as Joel 2:10-11, 30-32, 3:14-17. These passages all speak of the same heavenly signs proceeding the second coming. The Sun going dark, the moon becoming a dark blood red, the stars refusing to shine.
As we read in Revelation at the opening of the sixth seal the sky will be rolled back like a scroll and men will hide in fear at Christ's return. Again, this is also shown in Isaiah 2:12-22, a passage describing a "day of reckoning" that the LORD will have against the proud and lofty. A day when He arises to make the earth tremble. This is the same "day of the Lord" Peter writes of, a day when the heavens will pass away, the elements melt with fervent heat, and the earth will be laid bare (2 Peter 3:10-12). As Jesus a stated in Luke, men will faint from fear as these things begin to occur. While it is true that Christ returns to gather His elect, it is also true that He comes in judgement as well, a fact that many perhaps overlook.
We find an interlude in Revelation chapter seven where the sealing of the 144,000 is described (Rev 7:1-8) and a vast multitude of martyrs from every nation are seen, martyrs who have come out of the great tribulation (Rev 7:9-17). The opening of the seventh seal occurs in Revelation 8:1.
When this seal is opened there is silence in heaven for a half an hour. A lot of teachers believe that the opening of the seventh seal sets the seven trumpets into action. I disagree however. If we have the return of Christ in the sixth seal how can there now be seven trumpets releasing tribulation period events that transpire over the course of many months at the very least, and more than likely several years?
The silence in heaven is more likely caused by the awesomeness of Christ's return in victory when the world systems have been overthrown, Satan has been bound, and now Christ assumes possession of the kingdoms of this world. This in fact is the announcement proclaimed when the seventh trumpet sounds.
Instead of the trumpets following the seals, John now sees the events of the last days from another perspective. It is the same final seven years of history described with additional details.
Instead of looking at all seven trumpets, I would like to go to the period leading up to and when the seventh trumpet is blown.
John sees an angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, with a rainbow on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. This is similar to descriptions of the glorified Christ, like on the mount of transfiguration (Matt 27:2), in Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 1:26-28), and in His appearance to John in Revelation 1:12-15.
It can be debated whether or not who John sees here is an angel or Christ coming in a cloud, but I want to focus on what this angel says about the seventh trumpet.
5. Then the angel who I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to heaven,
6. and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, WHO CREATED THE HEAVEN AND THE THINGS IN IT, AND THE EARTH AND THE THING IN IT, AND THE SEA AND THE THINGS IN IT, that there will be delay no longer,
7. but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He preached to His servants the prophets.
Revelation 10:5-7 NASB
Compare this passage with Daniel 12:6-7 where Daniel witnesses an event much the same as the one John saw in the passage above.
6. And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be until the end of these wonders?"
7. I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed.
God mystery, His plan of bringing in the Gentiles, and then the remnant of Israel will be complete at seventh trumpet. The same time that the deliverer will come to Zion and remove ungodliness from Jacob (Romans 12:25-27, Isaiah 59:20). Christ will return to a repentant nation (Israel) who will mourn for and receive the Messiah they once rejected (see Zechariah 12:10-13:1).
We see in Daniel's prophecy the tribulation will last three and one half years. The scriptures interchange the term time, times, and half a time with 42 months, and 1,260 days to refer to this three and one half year period of time. This is also shown in several passages in Revelation as well.
Jesus warns that Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until their time is fulfilled (Luke 21:24). This is confirmed in Revelation 11:1-2, where it states that the Gentiles or nations will trample the holy city for 42 months. Again in Revelation 13:1-7 we read of the "beast" who is granted authority over the earth for 42 months. This is the antichrist who will make war against the saints during this time.
At this same time period God will send two witnesses who will prophecy for 1,260 days. At the end of these days the "beast" will overcome them and kill them. Three and one half days later they rise from the dead and ascend up to heaven. This is followed by a severe earthquake (Rev 11:3-14).
This is the point where the seventh angel sounds his trumpet. This 42 month, 1,260 day, time, times, and half a time period amounting to three and one half years is at its end. Now the seventh trumpet sounds..
15. Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever."
16. And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God,
17. "We give You thanks, O Lord God the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.
18. "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth."
19. And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
Revelation 11:15-19
The seventh trumpet announces the return of Christ to reign upon the earth. It announces the time of God's wrath is come as we have seen in the sixth seal ( Rev 6:16). It is also the call to gather the elect. Jesus states in Matthew 24:31 that His angels will be sent with the sound of a great trumpet to gather the elect from the four winds, and from one end of the sky to the other.
This was no new concept to Jesus's listeners. It had been prophesied centuries before Jesus uttered these words. There are numerous prophecies concerning Israel and the last days found in the Old Testament.
12. In that day the LORD will start His threshing from the flowing stream of the Euphrates to the brook of Egypt, and you will be gathered up one by one, O sons of Israel.
13. It will come about also in that day that a great trumpet will be blown, and those who were perishing in the land of Assyria and who were scattered in the land of Egypt will come and worship the LORD in the holy mountain at Jerusalem.
Isaiah 27:12-13 NASB
Then the LORD will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning; and the Lord God will blow the trumpet, and will march in the storm winds of the south.
Zachariah 9:14 NASB
These verses are found within the greater context of the tribulation and God's deliverance of His people. The chapter in Isaiah begins with a prophecy that foretells of the day of the Lord, when he comes to destroy the beast and his armies who have assembled at Armageddon (Isaiah 27:1). This day is also the day that the great trumpet will be blown. In Zachariah we find themes relating to The return of Christ and His deliverance of His chosen people throughout the book. This particular verse specifically mentions the trumpet being blown as Jesus returns.
There are those who will look at these verses and the words of Jesus in Matthew 24 and claim that the elect He is speaking of are the Jews. The point they are trying to make is that the Church has already been raptured prior to the tribulation, so Christ cannot be speaking of Christians being gathered at this time. But look at what the apostle Paul says here,
51. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52.
These are Christians, many who are Gentiles, who are pictured here. This passage is often used as a proof text by pre -tribulational advocates. But we must ask ourselves if the last trumpet is blown some seven years before Christ returns, how can there be seven more trumpets to follow?
16. For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
17. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 NASB
There is only one last trumpet, and that is the seventh trumpet. This signals Christ's post- tribulational return to gather His elect, both Jew and Gentile, and to execute His wrath against those who oppose Him.
There are two other events that occur at the second coming of Jesus that we will look at as well. When Christ returns there will be a great earthquake, and a hailstorm.
At the opening of the sixth seal we read of the mountains and islands being moved from their places, and men calling on the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb (Rev 6:14, 16). When the seventh trumpet is blown there is an earthquake and great hailstorm (Rev 11:19).
There are several Old Testament passages that refer to an endtimes earthquake that occurs on the day of the LORD. Ezekiel 38 is a chapter describing a last days invasion of Israel by a vast army led by an individual called Gog. This individual is the endtimes anrichrist who leads a ten nation coalition against Israel. The following passage describes the overthrow of Gog and his troops like this.
19: "In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
20. "The fish of the sea, the birds of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every wall will fall to the ground.
21. "I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains," declares the Lord God. "Every man's sword will be against his brother.
22. "With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgement with him; and I will rain on him and his troops, and on many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.
23. "I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the LORD."
Ezekiel 38:19-23 NASB
And likewise we read in Zachariah 14:1-10 of the LORD coming to fight against all of the nations who have gathered against Jerusalem. When He stands upon the Mount of Olives it will be split in its middle. This passage also tells us that it will be a unique day with no light, just like we have seen in the sixth seal. All of the landscape will be changed due to the severe earthquake, on the day that the LORD is king over the whole earth.
There are also seven bowls of God's wrath which are poured out upon the earth. Just like the seals and trumpets, they describe events during the final days leading up to the return of Christ. I would like to look at the last two bowls to show that the seals, trumpets and bowls all terminate at the second coming of Jesus.
The sixth bowl is poured out on the Euphrates, causing it to dry up and allow the kings of the east to cross over. They are gathered together to a place called Armageddon (Rev 16:13-16). It must be noted that the "thief-like" coming of Jesus has not happened yet, but is about to (see Rev 16:15). This again strongly refutes the idea of a pre-trib rapture.
17. Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, "It is done."
18. And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.
19. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.
20. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.
21. And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of hail, because its plague was extremely severe.
Revelation 26:17-21.
The angel in Revelation 10:7 announced that when the seventh trumpet was about to sound the mystery of God was finished. When the seventh bowl was poured out a voice proclaimed, "It is done." The seventh trumpet and seventh bowl are the same event. We see the same devastating earthquake, and the same destructive hailstorm that both tell of, along with the other Old Testament passages that we have examined. And just like the events of the sixth seal the mountains and island are moved out of their places (Rev 6:14). This is when Christ returns.
Prophecy is not easy. It takes work to study it out, and ultimately we must have open minds and willing hearts to recieve what the Holy Spirit desires to teach us. Years ago I chose to take off my "denominational glasses", let go of my preconceived ideas, and allow the Holy Spirit to teach me.
The Bible tells of these events over and over throughout its pages. As it does with all of the doctrines it contains. A long time ago in Sunday School someone once said that the Bible interprets itself. That was some fifty years ago, and I have never forgotten it.
I would encourage all of my readers to get into the word. Don't take my word for it, but prove it for yourselves. Someday these events will be upon us, or if not us our children. It is vital to our very souls that we are living ready and in expectation for what is to come (Luke 21:34-36).
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