We take a break from the Trumpet Judgments now to give the world its final warnings before the Great Tribulation begins. These are the Seven Thunders and the Two Witnesses that God will send to Israel to warn His people to “get right” with Him while there’s still time.  Remember, after the end of the Battle of Ezekiel 38-39, God will have brought every living Jew to Israel, leaving none behind (Ezek. 39:28).

Even though many will have already been martyred during the Seal and Trumpet judgments, especially among those who’ve found the Messiah, there will still be a huge population of religious Jews in Israel with a fully functioning Temple (Daniel 9:27).  The Abomination of Desolation will put an end to the sacrifice and offerings, but that won’t happen until the middle of the last 7 years, described in Rev. 13.

Revelation 10
The Angel and the Little Scroll
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.” (Rev 10:1-4)

Lots of things in this passage hint at the possible identity of this angel. He’s clothed in a cloud and his legs are like pillars of fire, which reminds us of the Angel of the Lord who protected the Israelites in the wilderness. The Rainbow over his head is symbolic of God’s mercy. His voice is like the roar of a lion.   Could this be the Lord?  The angel’s identity is not disclosed but the passage is certainly rich in symbolism.

The Seven Thunders most probably contain an undisclosed warning spoken by God between the 6th and 7th Trumpets. John was about to detail this for us when the Lord told him not to.

As a point of interest, in Psalm 29 the voice of the Lord is compared to the sound of thunder.  His name is spoken four times in the two-verse introduction of the Psalm and four times more in the two-verse conclusion (four is the number of Creation). It appears ten times in verses 3 through 9 (ten is a number that denotes the completeness of Divine Order) and the phrase “Voice of the Lord” is repeated seven times (seven is the number of perfection). Psalm 29 is often called “the Seven Thunders of God” as well.

With the coming Seventh Trumpet, we’ll be told that the Kingdoms of the world have become the Kingdom of our Lord (Rev. 11:15) and for the first time the traditional translation of God’s name as “the One Who is and Who was and Who is to come” is changed to just “the One Who is and Who was” (Rev. 11:17) The omission of the phrase “Who is to come” indicates that His reign has begun. (Some translations put the “Who is to come” part back in but the Greek text doesn’t include it.)

This means that in the Heavenly view, the Great Tribulation will have begun. After Satan’s losing battle in Heaven and confinement to Earth in Rev. 12, the anti-Christ will make his official appearance on Earth as Satan’s host at the beginning of Rev. 13. (He will have first come on the scene in Rev. 6 as a mere man.) This will signal the start of the Great Tribulation on Earth. The seven Bowl judgments will begin soon thereafter.

Put all this together and you can make a circumstantial case that the Seven Thunders will announce that the Great Tribulation with its Bowl Judgments will complete the Divine Order, perfectly satisfying God’s righteous requirement that the people of Earth be judged for their sins, and leaving Earth in a condition of readiness to receive her King.

Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, “There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.”

So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.” I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.” (Rev. 10:5-11)

The Lord told John to take the scroll and eat it. At first taste, it seemed sweet as honey, but after he swallowed it, his stomach turned sour. This is to signify that as followers of the Lord, we anticipate the fulfillment of End Times prophecy with much excitement and joy.  We know His judgment is righteous, and that He’s been long-suffering, and patient almost to a fault.  But because our enemy is so intent upon succeeding in his rebellion against God, the horror and carnage of the warfare necessary to accomplish his defeat is enough to make you sick.

Revelation 11:1-14
The Two Witnesses
I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. (Rev. 11:1)

Here’s evidence along with Daniel 9:27 and 2 Thes. 2:4 that a Temple will exist before the beginning of the Great Tribulation. Having seen the miraculous way in which God delivered them from certain defeat in the battle of Ezekiel 38-39, Jews from all over the world will respond to His offer of reconciliation and make aliyah (return to Israel).  Once their Old Covenant relationship is restored, they’ll need a Temple for worship, and early in the 70th Week of Daniel it will be built. Nearly 2000 years of diaspora (scattering) will finally end.

But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. (Rev. 11:2)

This verse has been used to support the idea that the Temple will be built next door to the Dome of the Rock. Later, I’ll offer an alternative to this view. But first let’s meet the Two Witnesses.

And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want. (Rev. 11:3-6)

The 3½ year ministry of the two witnesses is not congruent with either half of Daniel’s 70th week but overlaps them, beginning late in the first half of the 70th week and ending sometime before the 2nd Coming. Before discussing the identity of the two witneses we should note that they provide the ultimate fulfillment of Zechariah 4:11-14, the “Sons of Oil” prophecy partially fulfilled by Zerubbabel and Joshua in the time of the 2nd Temple’s construction.

Who Are Those Guys?
There are three primary candidates for their identity; Moses, Elijah and Enoch. Elijah and Enoch are popular choices because they’re the only two in the Old Testament who didn’t die, but were taken into heaven alive. And Moses and Elijah are liked because the powers of the two witnesses are identical to those exercised by Moses in the Plagues of Egypt and Elijah in his contention against idolatry in Israel. Remember, it climaxed in his spectacular defeat of the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel with fire from heaven and the end of the  3½-year drought he had earlier proclaimed (1 Kings 17:1, 1 Kings 18:16-46).  (You have to read James 5:17 for the duration of the drought.)

Also Moses and Elijah were on the Mt. Of Transfiguration with Jesus and the disciples (Matt.17:1-13) and according to early church tradition were the two men in white who appeared to the disciples following the Lord’s ascension (Acts 1:10-11).  And finally, Moses and Elijah are two of the most highly revered figures in all of Israel’s past, more able than anyone else God could send to convey His message.  Moses was the Law Giver and Elijah was the greatest of Israel’s Prophets. Their two names are all but synonymous with the Jewish name for their scriptures, the Law and the Prophets.

I believe Enoch’s disappearance before the Great Flood was a special event designed to pre-figure the disappearance of the Church before the Great Tribulation. As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the Coming of the Son of Man. (Matt 24:37) In the days of Noah the world perished in the Flood. They represent those who will perish in the End times judgments. Noah and his family were preserved through the Flood and represent Israel, preserved through the judgments.  Enoch was taken alive into Heaven before the Flood, representing the Church who will be taken alive into heaven before the judgments begin.  For all these reasons, I hold the Moses and Elijah view.

Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.

But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.

At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon. (Rev. 11:7-14)

There’s no question that their bodies will be left where they fall in the streets of Jerusalem, because that’s the city where the Lord was crucified.  And through the technology of satellite communications their dead bodies will be visible all over the world.

In Middle Eastern cultures the greatest insult one can convey is to deny burial to one’s enemy. Their deaths prompt the only expression of joy on earth in the entire book. But after 3½ days, symbolic of the length of the Great Tribulation, the two witnesses will hear the same command that John heard in Rev. 4:1, “Come up here!” and will ascend into Heaven in full view of the whole world. Just as the Lord’s command in chapter 4 was a model of the Rapture of the Church, the command here is a model of the resurrection of the Tribulation martyrs.

In the Psalms we read, O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble. They have given the dead bodies of your servants as food to the birds of the air, the flesh of your saints to the beasts of the earth. They have poured out blood like water all around Jerusalem, and there is no one to bury the dead.(Psalm 79:1-3) It’s a clear prophecy of things to come, and it begins in Revelation 11.

By saying that the earthquake survivors gave glory to God, John didn’t mean that they worshiped Him or came to faith in Him. It means that they correctly attributed these miraculous events to Him, like the Egyptian priests did in explaining the cause of the plagues in Exodus 8:19.

Where’s The Temple?
This part of chapter 11 hints at some troubling inconsistencies with our understanding of the coming Temple’s location. It’s given as the Holy City in verse 2, but in verse 8 Jerusalem is called the Great City, figuratively Sodom and Egypt. Are they the same? The Holy City will be trampled on by the Gentiles for 42 months, but Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled, over 2000 years.

For generations a controversy has existed among Jews and Christians alike as to the exact location of Solomon’s and Herod’s Temples. The Jewish Sanhedrin, formed again a few years ago after 1600 years, is tackling the question as one of it’s first priorities. It’s a good start, but I don’t think they’re asking the right question. Sure it’s great to know the exact placement of these historical monuments to God, but the real question is, “Where will the next Temple be?”

Many Christians think the coming 3rd Temple will be desecrated by the Abomination of Desolation during the Great Tribulation and then destroyed. For that reason they call it the Tribulation Temple. Then another Temple, number four, will be built at the beginning of the Millennium.  But the only model we have for what will happen is something that already has happened,  the desecration of the 2nd Temple leading up to the Macabbean Revolt. And it’s something that Jesus took pains to point us toward in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:15).

In the model, Syrian ruler Antiochus Epiphanes stormed the Temple and converted it into a pagan worship center in 167 BC. He slaughtered a pig on the altar and erected a statue of Zeus (Jupiter) in the holy place with his own face on it, proclaiming himself to be God (Epiphanes means god made manifest).  Then he forced the Jews to worship him on pain of death.  In 1 Macabbees, this act was called the Abomination of Desolation, the only event so named in history. It triggered the Macabbean revolt, a 3 ½ year battle to oust Antiochus from the Promised Land.  Almost 200 years later Jesus told Israel to look for the same thing to happen again in the future as the sign that the Great Tribulation has begun (Matt. 24:21), thereby identifying the statue of Antiochus as a model of the End Times Abomination of Desolation.   The Macabbean Revolt contains many remarkable similarities to the Great Tribulation.

Here’s the point. The Jews didn’t demolish the Temple after the Abomination of Desolation in 167 BC. When they recaptured it, they destroyed the statue and replaced the Altar. Then they subjected the Temple to the eight-day purification ceremony required by Law and began using it again. The purification is remembered to this day in the Feast of Hanukkah. If the model is complete, then the Temple built during Daniel’s 70th week won’t be destroyed either, but will become the Millennial Temple described in great detail in Ezekiel 40-44. (The Jews call Ezekiel’s Temple the 3rd Temple, which would make it the next one.) And that means it won’t be built in Jerusalem. Next time I’ll show you where it will be.

The first cycle of judgments is ending. The 144,000 have been commissioned and a huge group of martyrs has arrived in Heaven. In many places on Earth war rages unchecked, with its attendant famine and pestilence, and yet in other places peace still prevails. Those lucky enough to enjoy it are fooled into thinking that soon the rest of the world will settle down too, and it’ll be business as usual. Since the anti-Christ has not yet been revealed as Satan’s man for Planet Earth, many still see him as a talented world leader doing his best to restore order, and despite the unprecedented death tolls and all the missing people, they still give him high ratings.

Revelation 8
But in Heaven it’s a different story, because God is about to unleash the 7 Trumpet judgments. It gives Him no pleasure to do this. But as bad as they were, the now concluding Seal Judgments simply weren’t severe enough to turn man’s stubborn heart back to Him. Alas, He knew it all along, but that doesn’t make matters any easier. If only He didn’t love them so much, He could just let them destroy each other. But while His righteousness demands justice, His love requires that He keep on trying to save them.

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer
When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.

Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. (Rev. 8:1-5)

The half hour of silence fills Heaven with a sense of foreboding, as if all the angels are holding their breath, waiting for the Lord to act. The post-Rapture believers on Earth know what’s coming too, and their urgent prayers come up before the Throne in a giant cloud of incense.

But the time for mercy ended with the Rapture. This is a time for justice and as the angel hurls fire from the altar, God announces the coming judgments in His traditional way, with thunder, lightning and earthquakes.

The Trumpets
Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.(Rev. 8:6-7)

Reminiscent of the plagues of Egypt, the first judgment is upon the land. Fire breaks out over a third of the Earth, the acrid smoke from the grass and trees filling the skies above.

The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. (Rev 8:8-9)

This judgment appears to be a giant asteroid or meteor crashing into the Earth’s oceans. This has happened to Earth hundreds of times in it’s history. The latest was on June 9, 2006 when a meteor slammed into Northern Norway with an impact force equal to the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan.

Astronomers are currently watching thousands of potentially hazardous asteroids (PHA) and Near Earth objects (NEO). As of now none are projected to collide with Earth but these scientists caution us that NEO’s often appear suddenly and with very little warning. How many of us knew in June 2006 that one was about to strike Norway?

The meteor strike referenced in this passage causes astounding devastation, turning 1/3 of the world’s oceans a poisonous red color, killing 1/3 of marine life and destroying thousands of ships. (There are over 40,000 commercial and merchant ships registered in 143 countries. In addition there are more than 9,000 naval ships from  50 different countries, and an unknown number of large private vessels.)

The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. (Rev. 8:10-11)

The next judgment falls on the world’s fresh water supply. One third of it will become poisonous because of something like a shooting star that will fall from the sky. John called the star  Wormwood, from the Greek word apsinthos(absinthe).  Because of this, some commentators believe that the agent making the waters poisonous is radioactive contamination.

They say this because, although it’s not free of controversy, the Russian word chernobyl can be translated as wormwood and on April 25 and 26 of 1986 the world’s worst nuclear disaster occurred in the Ukranian city by that name. A nuclear reactor in the Chernobyl power plant exploded during testing, releasing amounts of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere 300 times greater than the atomic bomb exploded in Hiroshima. If you saw the movie “China Syndrome” you learned that out of control reactors can burrow into the ground and once that happens are all but unstoppable.

There’s no official word on whether that did or can happen at Chernobyl. But containment efforts are still ongoing 25 years later, and if European aquifers become contaminated, it’s easy to see how this view of Rev. 8:11 could be accurate.

The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night. (Rev. 8:12)

Between the smoke from the grass and forest fires, and particulates thrown into the air by the meteor strike the atmosphere will become so dense that 1/3 of the light from the heavenly bodies will be blocked. I’m reminded of TV footage from the fires that Saddam’s troops set in Kuwait’s oil fields while retreating toward the end of Gulf War I. The smoke was so dense that it was like night during the day, the sun like a dark red ball floating in the blackened sky above. That’s about what it’ll look like as the world awaits the fifth trumpet.

As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!” (Rev 8:13)

This is no ordinary eagle. The Greek text uses the word normally translated angel, indicating some kind of supernatural messenger, sent to prepare the world for what’s ahead. Four of the trumpets have sounded, and the Earth is reeling from this onslaught. But now the judgments turn supernatural and are directed at man himself. It’s about to get personal.

Revelation 9
The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. (Rev. 9:1-2)

This star had fallen some time previous to the 5th angel’s trumpet, and by using a personal pronoun, John identifies him as a living being, most likely a supernatural one.  Whoever he is he’s been told to open the shaft of the Abyss to release a swarm of “locusts.”

And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon. (Rev 9:3-11)

These locusts are unlike any such creatures ever seen on Earth before.  Normal locusts are vegetarian, but these creatures are prevented from eating the grass, plants, or trees. Instead they attack people, and when they do they sting them like a scorpion would, causing pain so intense that their victims will pray for death.  It’s been said that the sting from a small scorpion compares to hitting your thumb with a hammer at full force, but a sting from a large one is like a nail being driven through your thumb.  The sting from these locusts is like nothing man has ever experienced.  And their leader is the angel of the Abyss, whose name means “Destroyer” in both languages. (In one of those precious little tidbits of wisdom that God’s word is noted for, Proverbs 30:27 informs us that normal locusts have no king lending credence to the idea that these “locusts” are something else.) Only the 144,000 witnesses will be protected from this excruciating pain.

John had certainly never seen such a thing before, and in describing them he exceeded even the limits of his imagination. You’ve got to appreciate the nature of his challenge here. He was a first century man called upon to describe twenty first century warfare. But he had to do it in such a way that all the generations in between could interpret it as well. Even today we can’t relate these so-called locusts to anything in our world. They’re clearly a demonic manifestation of some sort.

Certainly this is a God ordained judgment, but did Satan willingly turn these little monsters loose on his own followers? Was he ordered to, or is it some diabolical scheme to further inflame the hatred of the people of Earth toward God? Did Satan deliberately do this so he could blame God for it, advancing his strategy of turning Darkness into Light and the Lie into the Truth?  A little later John will inform us that none of these torments turned the people of Earth from their rebellious ways.

The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.” And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was two hundred million. I heard their number.

The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulfur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths. The power of the horses was in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails were like snakes, having heads with which they inflict injury. (Rev. 9:12-19)

Traditionally, the Euphrates River has been the territorial, cultural and religious boundary between East and West. Rarely have customs, traditions or philosophies crossed from either direction. As a result the Eastern world is far different in almost every respect from its Western counterpart. This passage helps to explain why that’s so. There’s been a boundary in the spiritual world as well. But with this command from the very throne of God the boundary comes down and the effect is deadly beyond comparison.

The combatants released by the lowering of this barrier wind up killing 1/3 of the remaining population of Earth. Remember 1/4 of mankind met their end in the seal judgments. With this additional third that means that over 3 billion people will have died by the time the Trumpet judgments are over, and the Great Tribulation hasn’t even begun yet.

The cause of this destruction is the release of angels at the Euphrates River, but the River hasn’t been dried up yet allowing the Kings of the East to cross. That comes later in Rev. 16:12. Therefore, I think this passage is describing warfare that takes place in the Far East where over 40% of the world’s population lives (many in crowded conditions increasing the potential for mass casualties) where religious and ethnic tensions are traditionally high, and where several countries can mount huge armies. I think it’s the coalition formed by the winners of this war that storms across the dried up Euphrates while the anti-Christ is distracted by other uprisings. (Daniel 11:40-44)

The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk. Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Rev. 9:20-21)

You’d think that with those demonic locusts attacking them and 3 billion people dying from wars and other disasters, people would be flocking to the Lord in search of comfort and security. But this just doesn’t happen, and I’ll tell you why.

There is a belief floating around that’s as old as mankind but in the last days will become a religion that deceives almost everybody. It’s called the Luciferian Doctrine and understanding it helps explain why the world won’t turn to its Creator in this, the worst time in human history.

The Luciferian doctrine is named of course after Lucifer, a Latin name meaning, “light bearer.” It holds that Lucifer is the Angel of Light, the good guy trying to enlighten the people of the world in preparation for the spiritual evolution necessary to bring peace to all mankind.  According to Luciferian Doctrine our physical evolution is finished and all we need to do now is throw off the bonds of Judeo-Christian thinking to complete our spiritual evolution and enter into our long awaited Utopian Era.

But Lucifer’s being hindered in all this by the evil Adonai (Hebrew for Lord) Who, along with His followers, is working to thwart Lucifer’s grand plan, effectively preventing our spiritual evolution.  In order for humanity to achieve Utopia those who insist on clinging to their obsolete Judeo- Christian faith have to be eliminated. The Great Tribulation is characterized in Luciferian Doctrine as the evil Adonai’s last great effort to destroy mankind’s “light bearer” and prevent our ascension into Utopia, keeping us in bondage to Him.

Following the church’s disappearance the Truth will become pretty scarce on Earth and the whole world will be deceived into believing the Luciferian Doctrine just as Paul warned would happen (2 Thes. 2:9-12). So naturally, thinking the Lord is the bad guy, they will become even more intense in their worship of Lucifer, hoping that he’ll prevail and bring an end to their suffering. (There is a way that seems right to man, but the end thereof is death … Prov. 14:12) Lucifer, of course, is also widely known as Satan or The Devil.

Next time we’ll learn about the two witnesses and see evidence that a New Temple will be built early in Daniel’s 70th Week.  See you then.