Study – Grow – Know

What is the Coming Tribulation All About? Part 6

July 17, 2014 at 11:22 AM 5 comments

In Part 5 of this series on the Tribulation, we spoke about the fact that Seal 3 tells us that a world-wide famine will occur inside the Tribulation period. Seal 1 is the Antichrist who conquers politically (and to start things off, confirms a covenant with Israel’s leaders and the surrounding Arab nations for a period of seven years. Seal 2 represents the second rider on a red horse – war. Even though there is peace (to an extent) in the Middle East, this rider is given permission to take peace from the earth and is also given a large sword to accomplish it. These wars across the earth will result in Seal 3, famines.

Seal 4 represents something horrific and we need to remember that all of these individual judgments stem from God’s throne. He is in charge of what happens on earth. He unleashes each and every judgment and they individually and corporately represent His wrath on the human race. At the same time, these judgments are to be used by Him to purify and gather the final remnant of Israel. This same remnant will survive the Tribulation and will go into the Millennial Kingdom ruled by Jesus Himself, to finally take and possess all the Land that was originally given to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3, Genesis 15, and Genesis 17.

Please notice on the chart at right that Seal 4 starts getting very specific. It tells us that with the release of this particular judgment, 1/4 of the earth will be destroyed by sword (war), famine, (leading to) starvation, and wild animals.

The famine that will affect the entire world when the rider in Seal 3 is released does not simply or merely affect humanity. It will affect the animal kingdom as well. Animals will find food wherever they can and if that means killing (or eating already dead) humans, so be it. Instinct will push these animals to find a way to survive and their first, most important instinct is to survive by eating food. For animals, it really doesn’t matter where the food comes from, whether other animals or human beings. To carnivores, meat is meat and there will be plenty of human beings around for animals to forage on. It would also not surprise me if human being turn on one another and begin eating each others in order to survive.

There are many examples of cannibalism during WW2, where American soldiers were eaten after being executed by Japanese in their internment camps. All you need to do is a search for this subject on the ‘Net and many threads will come up that provide you with a plethora of information. During times of war, there are always shortages of many necessary items. Whether it’s fuel, ammo, weaponry, or food, one way or another, many have found ways to fill the need of the moment.

Can you see how the Tribulation period is increasingly becoming more dangerous, more terrible, and more deadly? Why is God doing this? He is doing it because of how evil humanity will have become. If He destroyed an entire globe of people except for 8 individuals during the time of Noah and if He destroyed the twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the level of constant evil then, doesn’t it stand to reason that He will put a halt to humanity’s growth because of how evil people will have become at the time of the Tribulation period? He wants our attention because He wants to give people an opportunity to repent, to come to Him for salvation, and to be saved. He will also use this time to pierce Israel’s heart so that they will come to understand how wrong they have been about Jehovah God. How can we continue to think that humanity will continue to go on as if God does not exist? He has patience for only so much and when He determines the end of His patience has come, He puts things in motion that will ultimately eradicate the evil that has become a stench to His nostrils for so long.

I received a short email from a person who had read Part 3 of this series. His brief comment was, “Ask Christians all throughout North Africa, the Middle East, Asia and any other place where Islam dominates. They will not tell you that the tribulation is coming. They will tell you it is already here.”

The problem though is that persecution, while being part of the Tribulation period as it is in life in general, is not a sign that the Tribulation is here. Did the Tribulation happen when Christians were being terribly treated and executed by Nero? They may have been tempted to believe it, but in the end, it was simply God-allowed persecution in order that His Word might spread through the Roman Empire and also force Christians to flee to other areas so that the Gospel could be spread there.

Persecution is never a barometer of whether or not we are “in” the “Tribulation” or not. Persecution is part of the generalized tribulation that all Christians suffer through in this life. It will simply become terribly, terribly, bad during the time of the Tribulation period.

We are not in the Tribulation now. That period of time will begin with one event, the confirming of the covenant with Israel and the surrounding Arab nations. That will be the event that releases the Antichrist to the world and makes him known. He will – because of this event – become an instant celebrity and people will begin to marvel after him. He will ultimately rise to become single leader of the revised “Roman Empire” that is in the making now.

When this same Antichrist defiles the Temple in the middle of the Tribulation, his true identity and purpose will be unmasked to the Jews of Israel, causing them to flee to the mountains where God will protect and take care of them for the remainder of the Tribulation period.

We’ll talk about Seals 5, 6, and 7 next time!

Entry filed under: Dr. Fred, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology.