Prophecy
15
The Day of the
Lord –
Revelation 19:11 – 20:10
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The
Beginning of the Sixth Bowl
(1,315th day*)
Ending Point in Time: The
End of the 1,000 Years
*
Note:This date is not
absolute. For reasons presented
in Prophecy 11, reference note
105, I believe the seven bowls
will occur over a period of
seventy days with each plague
allotted about ten days. If true,
the devil’s demons will go
to the ten kings of Earth (the
sixth bowl) on the 1,315th day.
When the kings of the Earth see
their impending doom, they will
have a few days to mobilize their
armies in an attempt to destroy
Jesus when He appears. The
seventh bowl will begin on the
1,325th day of the Great
Tribulation and when Jesus and
His entourage are close enough to
Earth, Armageddon begins. The
armies of Earth will attack Jesus
and His approaching entourage. Of
course, the combined military
might of mankind will do nothing
to stop Jesus and He will
continue to draw near the earth.
Panic will overtake His enemies
and they will run for their
lives.[1] It
appears that Jesus will deal with
the wicked on Sabbath, the
1,334th day of the Great
Tribulation. On Sunday, the
1,335th day, the saints (both the
dead and the living) will rise to
meet the Lord in the air.
Together with Jesus, a great
party of joyful saints will head
for New Jerusalem.
Summary:
The Great
Tribulation will be a culmination
between forces of good and
evil. A global struggle
between righteousness and evil
will occur and the struggle will
culminate in a horrific
war. The kings of Earth and
their armies will make war
against Jesus and His army as
Jesus draws close to Earth.
This war will prove that sinners
are willing to destroy Almighty
God if it means their own
survival. In other words,
Armageddon will prove that when
the carnal nature is confronted
with divine authority, it would
rather die than yield. What
a contrast! When divine
nature was confronted with sin,
the Father was willing to give
His Son and Jesus was willing to
die in our place so that sinners
might be restored to eternal
life! Armageddon will be
studied throughout eternity for
it summarizes the problem with
the carnal nature.
Armageddon will bring 6,000 years
of sin to a close. Jesus
will justifiably annihilate the
wicked and take the saints to
Heaven on the 1,335th day.[2]
Introduction
This
prophecy begins with scenes of
preparation in Heaven for the
Second Coming. During the
sixth bowl, the devil will entice
the kings of the Earth and their
armies to gather together and
make war against Jesus.[3] At
the appointed time, the Father,
Jesus, their entourage of angels,
and the 144,000 will leave Heaven
and travel to Earth. During
the final ten days of the Great
Tribulation (the seventh bowl),
the kings of the Earth will be
anxiously watching as Jesus draws
near. They will be armed
and prepared to destroy Jesus the
moment He draws close enough to
Earth. Ironically,
Lucifer’s great government
will be impotent. His loyal
officials and dedicated employees
will be useless because they were
blinded by the judgment poured
out during the fifth bowl.
Consequently, the kings of Earth
and their armies will have to
make war against the Lamb on
their own. There is a
reason for this. Jesus
wants the universe to see that
even after Lucifer’s demonic
power is neutralized, the carnal
heart is rebellious through and
through. Every sinner is a
miniature of Lucifer.
Stupid mortals will make war
against Almighty God thinking
they can save themselves.
Of course, the devil and his
angels already know that
inescapable doom will come.
They dread Jesus’ appearing
because they know that Jesus will
destroy their bodies and return
them to the Abyss for 1,000 years
– held there until death can
be imposed upon them.
After the
seventh bowl is poured out, a
“sign” of the Son of
Man will appear in the sky.[4] A
small object that looks like a
cloud will appear in the east and
it will grow larger with each
passing day until it completely
spans the horizon. As the
cloud draws near, people on Earth
will see flashes of lightning and
hear peals of thunder coming from
it. People will tremble as
this cloud fills the
horizon. The kings of Earth
will fire missiles and artillery
toward the threatening cloud, but
man’s weapons will have no
effect. Finally, on
Sabbath*, the 1,334th day of
the Great Tribulation, Jesus and
His mighty host will break out of
the darkness in full glory and
brilliance. This glory will
illuminate Earth with light
brighter than the Sun.
Earth will heave and crumble from
the pulsating glory of its
Creator. Sheets of
lightning will blaze from east to
west with peals of deafening
thunder, voices will cry out, and
burning hailstones will
fall. A final global
earthquake will rip the whole
world apart. All of
Earth’s islands and
mountains will be moved out of
their places. The
geological strata of Earth will
convulse. Gases and other
flammable substances buried deep
in the fiery core of Earth will
escape from ocean floors causing
the oceans to become a huge lake
of fire. Burning hail, each
stone weighing about one hundred
pounds,[5] will
pulverize the Lord’s
enemies.
When the
Great Day of God Almighty
arrives, Jesus will throw the
devil, his angels, his blind
officials, employees, the kings
of Earth, and their armies into a
lake of fire.[6]
Then, Jesus will speak a command
and the rest of the wicked,
everyone having the mark of the
beast, will drop dead. No
wicked person will escape the
sword that comes out of His mouth[7] and
vultures will gorge themselves on
the flesh of the wicked.
Sunday,
the 1,335th day of the Great
Tribulation will be the first day
of the seventh millennium.
This is the day which the saints
have longed for.[8]
Suddenly, Jesus will speak with a
thunderous voice from the sky.[9] He
will call the righteous dead of
all ages out of their
tombs. People like Abel,
Noah, Abraham, King David, and
Daniel will appear, rising up
from out of the dust. After
a few moments, these saints will
defy gravity as they ascend to
meet Jesus in the air.[10]
While the righteous dead are
ascending toward Jesus, He will
call the righteous living to join
with them so that together, the
saints of all ages will meet the
Lord in the air at the
same time! The Bible
teaches there is only one
gathering of the saints and
please notice that through all of
this that Jesus does not touch
Earth. He will remain in
the air, hovering above Earth
until all the saints are gathered
to Him. When every saint
has been accounted for, He will
return to Heaven with them.[11]
What an awesome day of joy that
will be! An unforgettable
day in Earth’s history that
will have no equal.
The
Day of the Lord
A few
words about the phrase, “the
Day of the Lord” are
necessary because the Second
Coming will be “the great
Day of the
Lord.” At the
first advent, Jesus came in peace
and with goodwill, to reveal the
truth and love of the
Father. However, the second
advent will have an entirely
different character. Jesus
will come with sovereign
authority and omnipotent power to
execute vengeance upon His
enemies. His vengeance will
be dreadful and totally
destructive. As you
consider the following passages,
remember that the “Day of
the Lord” prophecies,
whether in Plan A or Plan B,
share the same theme. When
the Lord takes matters into His
own hands, there is no further
recourse. His patience with
sin and sinners is exhausted, His
devastating actions are
righteous, and His objectives are
holy. The fear of the
Almighty separates the wise from
the foolish. King David
wrote, “The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of
wisdom.”[12] In
today’s language, this
statement would be, “When it
comes to acquiring wisdom, an
intelligent person will fear
God first.
Everyone and everything else is
secondary.”[13]
- Look,
He is coming with the
clouds, and every eye
will see him, even
those who pierced him;
and all
the peoples of the earth
will mourn because
of him. So shall it be!
Amen.[14]
The Bible
does not indicate when
Christ’s murderers will be
resurrected. I assume Jesus
will resurrect them on or about
the time of the seventh bowl
(1,325th day) to observe and
comprehend the majesty,
authority, and power of the Holy
One who they ridiculed, tortured,
and called a blasphemer. Of
course, those who crucified
Christ will be put to death on
the 1,334thday with the rest of
the wicked. However, the
righteous dead of all ages and
the surviving saints (who lived
through the Great Tribulation
without seeing death) – will
meet the Lord in the air.[15]
- For
the day is near, the day
of the Lord is near
– a day of
clouds, a
time of doom for the
nations.[16]
- The
Lord thunders at the head
of his army; his forces
are beyond number, and
mighty are those who obey
his command. The day of
the Lord is great; it is
dreadful. Who can endure
it?[17]
- Will
not the day of the Lord
be darkness, not light
– pitch-dark,
without a ray of
brightness?[18]
- The
day of the Lord is near
for all nations. As you
have done, it will be
done to you; your deeds
will return upon your own
head.[19]
- The
great day of the Lord is
near – near and
coming quickly. Listen!
The cry on the day of the
Lord will be bitter, the
shouting of the warrior
there. That day will be a
day of wrath, a day of
distress and anguish, a
day of trouble and ruin,
a day of darkness and
gloom, a day of clouds
and blackness, a
day of trumpet and battle
cry against the fortified
cities and against the
corner towers. I
will bring distress on
the people and they will
walk like blind men,
because they have sinned
against the Lord. Their
blood will be poured out
like dust and their
entrails like filth.
Neither their silver nor
their gold will be able
to save them on the day
of the Lord’s wrath.
In the fire of his
jealousy the whole world
will be consumed,
for he
will make a sudden end of
all who live in the earth.[20]
- The
sky receded like a
scroll, rolling up, and
every mountain and island
was removed from its
place. Then the kings of
the earth, the princes,
the generals, the rich,
the mighty, and every
slave and every free man
hid in caves and among
the rocks of the
mountains. They
called to the mountains
and the rocks, “Fall
on us and hide us from
the face of him who sits
on the throne and from
the wrath of the
Lamb! For the great
day of their wrath has
come, and who can
stand?”[21]
Notice
the distinction between “the
face of Him who sits on the
throne” and “the wrath
of the Lamb.” Notice
also the plural, “the great
day of their wrath
has come.” Compare
these facts with Matthew 26:64.
The Father will come to Earth
with Jesus at the Second Coming.
These few
verses (and there are others)
declare a profound truth:
Jesus’ return means the
wicked will be annihilated.
No one will remain alive on Earth
after the 1,335th day.[22]
Besides destroying the wicked,
Jesus will gather up all of the
saints in the air[23] because
He intends to fulfill a promise
that He made long
ago. “And
if I go [to my
Father’s house] and
prepare a place for you, I will
come back and take you to be with
me [in my
Father’s house] that
you also may be where I am.”[24]
The
Sequence
Revelation
19:11-12
And
I saw heaven opened, and behold a
white horse; and he that sat upon
him was called Faithful and True,
and in righteousness he doth
judge and make war. His eyes were
as a flame of fire, and on his
head were many crowns; and he had
a name written, that no man knew,
but he himself.{11} I
looked toward Heaven and I saw a
white horse whose rider is called
Faithful and True because He
fulfills every promise and never
deviates from truth. With
justice He judges the thoughts
and deeds of mankind[25] and
when necessary, He makes war
against His enemies. {12} His
eyes were like blazing
fire. No one can hide from
His penetrating gaze. He
had many crowns on His head (some
were stephanosand
some were diadema, crowns
of victory and authority,
respectively). He is an
experienced warrior. He
overcame every temptation to sin
and He will overthrow His
enemies. He had a name
written on Him that no one knows
but He Himself.[26]
Revelation
19:13-14
And
he was clothed with a vesture
dipped in blood: and his name is
called The Word of God. And the
armies which were in heaven
followed him upon white horses,
clothed in fine linen, white and
clean.{13} He
is acquainted with death.
He is dressed in a robe dipped in
His own blood. He was
wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities,
tortured for our sakes and with
His scars, we are healed![27]
His name is the Word of
God. He is the faithful and
true expression of the Father and
His will.[28]
{14} The
armies of Heaven followed
Him. They rode on white
horses prepared for battle.
They were dressed in fine linen,
clean and white.
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