Tribulation Chronicles Part 5: A Brief Pause to Introduce You…

If you are still here and have so far managed to survive to continue reading these letters, then you will know that in the loose chronology of coming events that I’ve been relating, where I left off was giving to you a very broad, generalized overview of events that are recorded in Revelation chapter 6 through the opening of the 5th “seal judgment” thus far.

As I’ve already told you, there will be emerging onto the global scene (perhaps remaining behind the scenes for a while) a man who will “confirm a covenant” between Israel and “many” others. Remember, I told you that this man will come onto the world scene using “peace” as his platform. As a result, he will be able to do that which hasn’t been done as yet – that is to bring about a “peace” which will allow for the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.

I’ve told you that this final 7 years will be divided into two halves of 3 1/2 years, and that the first half will:

(1) bring the rise of this global leader to power. This man will be THE Antichrist.

(2) thrust the tiny nation of Israel into the very center stage of end-time events.

(3) see the world, on a global scale, suffer catastrophic upheaval from the aftermath of the “great vanishing,” which is the rapture of the Church.

(4) eventually bring about a global war that will cause widespread destruction, from which will ensue famine on a global scale, after which will follow:

(5) pandemic diseases and widespread death from an exponential increase in violence, rape, murder and animal attacks.

(6) see the arising from Jerusalem of two men who will be special emissaries sent directly by God (the Bible calls them God’s “two witnesses”). They are also metaphorically called the two “olive trees” of God. These “two witnesses,” as the Bible calls them, will bear powerful testimony to the Jews of the Most High God, and His Son, Jesus Christ, who is and always has been Israel’s Messiah. These men will be given supernatural powers from God as well as protection for a period of time. Their ministry will last for exactly 3 1/2 years, or the first half of the 7-year Tribulation period. Their preaching and proclamation of Jesus Christ as Israel’s true Messiah will bring MANY Jews to belief in Jesus Christ as their Savior and long-awaited Messiah.

The testimony and impact of these two supernaturally anointed men will have global repercussions. It will result in the reaching of and bringing to salvation millions upon millions of people from every kindred, nation, tribe and tongue. The 144,000 Jewish virgins, who will be saved and sealed, will be the “first fruits” of the two “witnesses,” and from there the number of converts will multiply into all the world.

Remember too, I told you that, at the very midpoint of the last 7 years, God will allow the AC (Antichrist) to kill these two men; their dead bodies will lie unburied in the streets of Jerusalem, where the entire world of unbelievers will see and celebrate their deaths via satellite TV and social media. Then, 3 1/2 days later, God will resurrect these two men. He will, in full view of the entire world, “catch them away” back up into Heaven.

All of this takes place during the first half of the last seven years of human history under a fallen creation.

What I want to do now is to give a recap of those who will be the major players during these last 7 years. As you study the book of Revelation, and as you live through it (for as long as the Lord allows you to live), you will meet these men in the pages of Revelation. As time goes on, you will recognize them in the reality in which you now live. The impact they will have will be enormous. Some will become great servants of God working on behalf of the coming Kingdom of God. Others will be unholy and will bring chaos, death, destruction and the wrath of God down upon all of the “Earth dwellers,” as the Bible calls those who continue to willfully reject God – those who willfully choose to follow and to worship these enemies of Almighty God.

So, who belongs to this end-times cast of characters? We meet the first group of them in Revelation chapter 7. In verse 4 you will be introduced to a group of men whose impact for God within these last 7 years will be incalculable. They are men and they are all Jews. These men come to salvation in Christ most probably as a result of the powerful witness of God’s two emissaries. The distinguishing characteristics of this group are their number and their ethnicity. The Word of God is very precise, exact, and specific in identifying this group and their calling. Here is the listing of end-times groups and people of whom you need to be aware and prepared:

#1 – The Two Witnesses: possibly the Old Testament prophets of Moses and Elijah (although they are never named in Revelation, so we can only speculate on their identities). You will, however, easily recognize them by their singular appearances and supernatural abilities when they appear in Jerusalem, Israel after the rapture of the Church. (Read about these two extraordinary men in Revelation chapter 11).

#2 – The 144,000: These are all men – all Jews – all virgins, and there are 144,000 of them in number. God has (will have) sealed these men for His service, 12,000 from each of the 12 ancient tribes of Israel, as listed in Revelation 7. God will seal in their foreheads some type of mark that will identify each one of these 144,000 Jewish, male virgins as belonging to Him.

God will use this group of Jews to do that for which He had set the nation of Israel aside to do from the beginning. These men will finally fulfill the mission that Israel herself failed in doing. They will go out into the entire world as God’s missionary emissaries. It is by their testimonies and preaching that the greatest evangelical effort of all times will result in the greatest number of converts to salvation in Jesus Christ that has ever been. Perhaps you yourself will be won to Christ as a direct or indirect result of the testimony of these 144,000 Jewish, end-days evangelists.

These men will be supernaturally protected by God from the horrors of the judgments that He will be bringing upon the earth, for they will be His missionaries who will proclaim the way of salvation to those left behind after the Church has been removed.

Be very careful how you treat these men. Jesus, in speaking about this 7-year time period (in Matthew 24–25), calls these men “MY brethren.” To those who look after, harbor, give refuge and aid to these Jews, Jesus will liken your treatment of them as if you were doing the same to Him. In other words, Jesus identifies with these men; and whoever helps or mistreats them, it will be for them as if it were Jesus Himself in their place.

#3 – The Antichrist: You have already been introduced to the man who is the Antichrist. As you remember, I told you, according to the scriptures, that it will be he who “confirms a covenant” between Israel and “many” other countries. That “confirmation of a covenant” is what lets you know this man’s true identity and purpose. I will tell you more about this man, Lord willing, in coming chronicles.

#4 – The False Prophet: There is yet one more person of whom you need to be made aware. This man is (will be) a renowned religious leader who will bring together, under his leadership, a merging of all the world’s religions – an “ecumenical uniting of all “religions.”

This man will be satanically inspired and controlled, but he, like the AC in the beginning, will give the appearance of being a humble “man of peace” as well. He will appear as a great uniter of “faiths.” He will come across as having the meekness of a lamb, but will in truth have the heart and ruthlessness of a “dragon.” He will be utterly consumed by and be a worshiper of Satan himself.

This “religious leader” will be allowed by God to be granted from Satan great power, along with abilities to perform dark, supernatural acts. This religious leader will align himself with the Antichrist; it will be he (this global, religious leader) who will put into place a global religion that will mesh with a global government, all controlled and enforced by a global, military power. The Bible calls this man the FALSE PROPHET. You can read about this imposter in Revelation chapter 13. Watch out for him.

He may appear to be humble, wise, and benign in the beginning; however, he is anything but benign. He is wicked and deceptive to the core, and his outreach and influence will be vast.

As I write this letter pre-rapture, I have my suspicion as to the identity of this man, but I cannot know for sure, and even though I feel fairly confident in what I think, I will not speculate. You will know for certain whom he will be. This is because, in the following letter, I will tell you more about these two evil men (the Antichrist and the False Prophet) who will both do something that will finally and fully identify them with absolute certainty. The acts that they will do will bring horrendous cataclysm upon mankind and direct judgment from Almighty God upon all who are left alive on Earth.

From this point forward, you will have moved into the 2nd half of this last 7 years. From this midpoint, you will now be entering the time period Jesus Himself called “great tribulation” – a time that is unprecedented in all of history – a time that will be unlike anything ever seen upon the earth in all of Earth’s history, including the time of the global Flood of Noah’s day.

So to recap, the prominent end-times cast of characters are these:

The RIGHTEOUS ONES

(1) God’s Two Witnesses (possibly Moses and Elijah).
(2) The 144,000 young, Jewish, male virgins sealed by God as His worldwide missionaries.
(3) God’s Holy Angels, including Michael the powerful Archangel, who fights for and stands in defense of God’s people Israel.

The UNHOLY ONES

(1) Satan: the fallen cherubim identified in the Bible as “The Dragon,” along with all of his demonic hordes and fallen angels.
(2) Gog: the “Chief Prince” (leader) of Magog, which is in fact modern-day Russia (Vladimir Putin almost certainly).
(3) The Antichrist
(4) The False Prophet

Hold on Tribulation Saints, for though the worst is yet to come on Earth, there is great hope and glory beyond your imagining for all of you who become believers in Christ and who remain “faithful unto death!”

Read on…  (Part 6 to come).

Jewish Tribulation – Israel is the Key

Before I begin this next letter, let me take a moment to explain something to you, Dear Reader. As you progress through this series, you will notice that some of the information from one letter will be stated again in some way in successive letters. I am writing this series of chronicles in this manner on purpose.

First of all, every bit of information contained within these missives is vital for you to know. If you (or anyone else) are not familiar with the Bible or with biblical prophecy (as you are most likely not since you were left behind), then re-reading the truths contained within each letter will help solidify these truths in your heart.

Second and most importantly though, the main reason that these letters will carry some redundancies is this: although the entire series has been written to be read as a cohesive whole, it is entirely possible, even probable, that the entire series may not be available to you. In fact, it’s likely that only some portions of this series of letters may be available at any given time because of the great upheavals that will be occurring. Therefore, I have deliberately chosen to put as much pertinent information as possible into each individual letter just in case the entire series is unavailable for any reason. I want each letter to contain as much information as possible for just this reason.

If you are able, try to keep the entire series together (I strongly urge you to print them out in hard copy or put them onto flash drives if you have the ability to do so) as I have attempted to write this series in the chronological order of coming events. However, if having the entire series together is not feasible for any reason, perhaps there will be enough information and Bible passages given in each individual letter to give you a starting point so that you can readily know where in the Bible to look for what you will most certainly need to know.

With that said, in the previous chronicle, I did my best to try to explain to you just how perilous things will be here on Earth after great vanishing will have occurred – that is after the Church will have been taken out in what is most assuredly the rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Remember I told you that, according to the scriptures, this period of time – the last seven years of human history under fallen creation – will be divided into two halves: the first 3 ½  years, and the last 3 ½  years, with the ending of those last years culminating in the literal, physical return to Earth of Jesus Christ, who will be returning as the conquering King of Creation.

Upon His physical return to Earth, Lord Jesus will do several things:

(1) He will rescue the remnant of the Jewish people (one third of them will finally believe in Jesus Christ as their true Messiah, and will be kept alive throughout this seven years (Zechariah 13:8-9), and ALL – every single one of these one-third believing Jewish remnant, will have finally come to recognize Jesus Christ as having been their true Messiah all along. At that time, the now-believing remnant of Jews will cry out to their Messiah Jesus to rescue them. Their Messiah King will hear their cry and will respond to rescue, save and preserve them from annihilation.

Sadly, two thirds of the remaining Jews will continue to refuse and reject their true Messiah, and will die as a result of their continued rebellion. At the midpoint of this last seven years, the believing remnant of Jews will be hidden away, most probably in the ancient rock city of Petra in Jordan, somewhere near Bozrah (Isaiah 63; Revelation 19:11-16). There they will be protected until Jesus returns to physically rescue them.

(2) At His return, King Jesus will utterly destroy the armies of the Antichrist and all others who have rebelled against Him (Revelation 19:17-21).

(3) At the time of His return, King Jesus will send His holy angels out into the world to gather and bring to Jerusalem, from all over the earth, the relatively few living people left (both Jew and Gentile), who will have managed to survive to the end of the Tribulation. There in Jerusalem, the conquering King of Glory will separate all those who remain alive – the believers from the unbelievers.

Those who are believers – those left alive from among the Gentile nations who remained faithful to Christ will not have taken the “mark of the Beast.” They will aid and protect any Jewish person – particularly one of the 144,000 Jewish young men who were sealed by God to act as His missionaries during this time (whom Jesus called “My (His) brethren”). These Gentiles will demonstrate their love and devotion to Christ by protecting, preserving, and defending the Jews, and (along with the surviving one third of the now-believing Jews) will be allowed to enter into Christ’s new earthly Kingdom alive and in their mortal bodies (Matthew 24-25).

All those left alive who rebelled against Christ by accepting, worshiping, and following the Antichrist – all those who accepted the Antichrist’s “mark” – these lost, marked, rebellious ones will be judged and cast immediately into Sheol/Hades to await their final judgment at the Great White Throne, after which they will all be consigned for all eternity to the Lake which forever burns with fire

This separating out of believers from unbelievers is what is referred to in Matthew chapters 24 – 25 as the judgment of the “sheep” and the “goats.” This judgment is not, I repeat, not a judgment of the Church at all since the Church will have already been in Heaven with Christ before the Tribulation began, and will have already returned with Him when He returns to put an end to this final seven years. No, this judgment is rather the separating out of all Tribulation survivors, the believers from the unbelievers, in preparation for entering Christ’s Millennial Kingdom.

This “sheep and goat” judgment takes place on Earth just prior to the beginning of the Kingdom Age. Only redeemed believers in Christ, both Jew and Gentile, will be allowed to enter the earthly Kingdom of the Lord, King Jesus.

This believing remnant of humanity (consisting of both believing Jews and Gentiles) will enter the Kingdom still in their mortal bodies along with those who are also now immortals, which includes the glorified Church, all of the Old Testament Saints (such as Abraham, Daniel, David, Moses, etc.) and all Tribulation Saints who died during the Tribulation, both sets of whom will have by then received their Immortal and glorified bodies just like the Church-Age Saints. Thus, the Kingdom will begin with both mortals and immortals as inhabitants of Jesus’ new Kingdom on Earth.

(4) He will renovate and restore the earth to its original, pristine condition, just as it was in Eden before the fall of man.

(5) He will establish His Kingdom on Earth where He will rule as absolute Monarch from His throne that He will establish in Jerusalem, Israel. This earthly Kingdom will last for 1,000 literal years, after which He will create an entirely new heavens and Earth. He will then abolish Time itself, change every living, believing mortal at the end of the Kingdom Age from mortal to immortal, and every believer of every age will forever after exist in immortal, glorified bodies in eternity – in what will be an “eternal now” with God forever.

But before Jesus returns, He will bring judgment upon this wicked world. He will use this last seven years to exact vengeance and holy justice upon all wicked and sinful mankind, who have shaken their collective fist in His face and who have embraced and reveled in their rebellion, debauchery, and sin. In essence, what Jesus Christ will do is cleanse Earth and restore Paradise lost.

As I told you before, the first 3 ½ years will be cataclysmic. One quarter (1/4) of earth’s inhabitants will die from what in essence will be WWIII and all that ensues from it, along with unprecedented natural disasters both terrestrial and celestial in nature.

The aftermath of that will be famine on a global scale; rampant, pandemic diseases and pestilences will kill millions upon millions; animals on the brink of starvation will turn on humanity; and violence, treachery, and murder will become the norm.

This final seven-year period will begin benignly enough with the “confirmation of a covenant” made between a charismatic global leader and Israel. (Read the Old Testament book of Daniel, chapter 9, to learn about this last seven years).

The confirmation of this covenant will be the starting point of these last seven years of human history as we know it. Also, remember that I told you to watch closely the movements of a coalition (which is actually forming and strengthening as I am revising  this series now in late autumn of 2017) involving Russia, Iran and Turkey as the principle leading forces, called in the Bible by their ancient names of Magog, Persia and Togarmah. This coalition of nations along with others such as Libya and Sudan will attack Israel; but it will be God Himself who will intervene on Israel’s behalf and save her from what would otherwise be certain annihilation.

As I am writing this, the precise timing of this attack is still being debated among Bible students. Most Bible students (including this writer) believe that this concerted attack upon Israel will most likely occur either just after the rapture or possibly simultaneously with it, and will likely be the first thing that will happen post rapture. You, of course, will know precisely.

Look for this coming covenant to come about as a result of this battle waged on the mountains of Israel. The Old Testament book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 & 39, recounts this battle using the ancient names for these modern countries. For example: Magog/Rosh is Russia, Persia is Iran, Togarmah is Turkey, etc.

What you need to know is this: the tiny nation of Israel is the key to everything. It is through this final seven years of this fallen world order that God is working to prepare the land of Israel and a remnant of the Jewish people, in order to fulfill to them the remainder of the covenant that He made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and their posterity (see Genesis 15:18; Daniel 9).

Watch the tiny nation of Israel very closely. Not long after the covenant between Israel and the other nations is confirmed, there will be two mysterious men who will arrive in Jerusalem from seemingly nowhere. As I write this pre-rapture, I cannot be certain of their identities; however, there is a greater than good chance that one of them will be the Old Testament Prophet Elijah, and the other possibly the Old Testament Prophet Moses, whom God will have returned to life and to Earth for just this purpose (if indeed they are ever identified at all). At the time of this writing, it is impossible for us to know who they will be. You will be able to recognize them though.

Whoever they are, and whatever their names turn out to be, they will be very easily identified, because they will be two emissaries from God. They will be strong men with great supernatural power given to them directly from God. Their mission will be to open the eyes of Israel regarding Israel’s true Messiah, Jesus Christ, whom Israel collectively has continually rejected (Revelation chapter 11).

It is through the ministry of these two emissaries of God, that God will save, seal, and eventually send out into the world 144,000 young, Jewish male virgins – 12,000 from the descendants of each of Israel’s twelve ancient tribes.

These young men will be saved, called and sealed by God. They will be witnesses to Israel and will also be sent forth into every nation on Earth to preach the gospel of salvation and the soon- coming Kingdom.

The result of those saved because of their ministry will be incalculable. They will reap the greatest harvest of souls saved that will have ever been in history. They will fulfill Christ’s “Great Commission” to “go into all the world and preach the gospel.” Their salvation and calling will come as a direct result of the preaching and prophesying of these two mysteriously powerful “witnesses” of God. You can read about these 144,000Jewish evangelists in Revelation chapters 7 & 14.

These two men (the two witnesses) will be bold, unrelenting, powerful and utterly unstoppable for the first 3 ½  years. The man, who is the Antichrist, will hate them with a supernatural hatred, and they will be a thorn in his side for the entire first half of this seven-year period. As a direct result of their ministry, MANY, MANY Jews will finally come to believe in and accept Jesus as their Messiah and Savior. These two men, as I said, will have supernatural powers and will be able to call down fire from Heaven on anyone who tries to do them harm. They will be supernaturally protected by God for the first 3 ½ years.

At the very midpoint of this last seven years, God will allow these two men to be killed. Their dead bodies will not be buried, but will lie in the streets of Jerusalem where ALL of the unsaved people will be able to view their dead bodies. The world will actually party over their deaths. This partying will go on for 3 ½ days when God will suddenly raise these two men back to life in full view of the entire world via satellite TV, the Internet, YouTube etc., or by cell phones. Three and one half days after they are killed, God will resurrect their bodies and take them up into Heaven in full view of the world as further testimony to God’s power, authenticating that God is indeed in full control of everything.

At the midpoint of these seven years, events from this point on will get far worse than is even possible to fully describe. You will now be entering the period Jesus Himself referred to as “Great Tribulation.”

As horrific as the first half has been, this last half will be exponentially, exceedingly worse. There will be torment, death, and cataclysmic judgment unleashed on an unimaginable scale. If you will have somehow survived thus far, your odds of survival to the end will drop to almost nil. If you become a believer, you will be ruthlessly hunted down and your survival will be even less likely.

As I keep telling you, the chances that you will live to the end are extremely small, and if you should physically survive but have still refused salvation – that is, if you take the Antichrist’s “mark” in your right hand or in your forehead – then you will absolutely and certainly be cast into Hell anyway. For to take that mark (whatever it turns out to be) will seal your fate in Hell for all eternity.

You are entering a time unprecedented in human history. Supernatural occurrences and events will become the norm from now on. You will see and witness things that no one in history has ever seen. Do not forget, that during just the first half of this last seven years, these things will happen in rapid succession:

(1) A powerful global leader who will be the Antichrist (although he will at first seem like a savior) will use peace as his rallying cry, and by peace will destroy many.

(2) War on a global scale will break out which will most likely involve multiple nuclear events.

(3) Global famine will ensue as a result of this war. Murder, violence, diseases, and pestilence will increase exponentially. (Read the New Testament book of Revelation, chapter 6 up through the opening of the 5th seal to find out what will happen during this first 3 ½  years after the signing of the covenant).

Again, I urge you, come to Christ while you still can. You have no guarantee that you will survive the next seven minutes let alone the next seven years.

Keep reading, for you need to know what is to come in the last half of these years if you should be granted the chance to live through them.