Bible / End of days & Revelation: The Seven Trumpets

What will happen in the end times?

A summary of the events that will take place in the end times.

Written by ActiveChristianity

What will happen in the end times?

There’s a lot written in the Bible about the end times and it can be confusing to try to follow along with everything. Here we have summarized references from all over the Bible in order to give a better picture of the events that will take place in the end times.

The thought of the end times doesn’t have to evoke fear in us. Listen to this podcast about how we can best prepare ourselves for the day when we meet Jesus!

The breaking of the seven seals

“And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.”  Revelation 5:1. The breaking of each seal signifies an increase in war, famine, natural disasters, etc. on the earth. We can read a full account of the seven seals in Revelation 6-8.

The breaking of the seals is the first stage in the Great TribulationTribulations or trials refer to any event or situation that comes your way that tempts you to sin; that gives opportunity for sinful thoughts and temptations to rise up in you. The tribulation or trial arises when your..., a time of turmoil and distress that signify the end times.

(Read more about the Great Tribulation here.)

The rapture of the Bride

The rapture is the name given to the occasion when Jesus calls His bride home. We do not know exactly when the rapture will happen. Only God knows that. (Matthew 24:36) A clear description of the rapture is given in these verses from 1 Thessalonians:

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

This event is not the same as the second coming of Jesus, which takes place at the end of the Great Tribulation.

(Read more about the rapture here.)

The marriage of the Lamb

The marriage of the Lamb is the wedding feast in heaven between Jesus and His bride.

“‘Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.’ And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!”’ And he said to me, ‘These are the true sayings of God.’”  Revelation 19:7-9.

There is not much written about the marriage of the Lamb in the Bible but we can infer that the marriage of the Lamb takes place between the rapture, and the second coming of Christ, right before the Millennium.

(Read more about the bride and the marriage of the lamb here.)

The blowing of the seven trumpets

After the bride has been raptured and the harlot has been cast down comes the second stage of the Great Tribulation. This stage consists of seven angels blowing seven trumpets in heaven. Each trumpet blown brings a new plague onto the earth. Details about this time can be found in Revelation 8-11.

This stage also sees the rise of the Antichrist and the Beast, a confederacy of world leaders and governments that blaspheme God and worship themselves. You can read more about the beast and the Antichrist in Revelation 13.

Once the final trumpet is blown then all of the secondfruits will have been harvested (given their lives as martyrs.) Satan will be thrown out of heaven and down to the earth. (Revelation 12:9) Then God will be ready to pour out His wrath and judgment over the earth.

The emptying of the seven bowls

The third and final stage of the Great Tribulation is the emptying of seven bowls of wrath over the earth. Now God has taken up both the firstfruits and the secondfruits. Those who are left on the earth are Satan, the Antichrist, the beast, and all those who follow them. Those who have chosen to follow Satan up until now will be beyond repentance. They will experience God’s judgment.

Each bowl brings new plagues and tribulation to the earth. A full account of this can be found in Revelation 16. During this time the nation of Israel will be the only stable and safe country. God’s promises to Israel still hold fast. Because of this the Antichrist will gather all of his forces and move to make war on Jerusalem. In Israel’s time of greatest need Jesus will come back with the armies of heaven to liberate the earth and begin a time of peace, the Millennium.

The second coming of Jesus

At the end of the Great Tribulation, when all the nations are gathered to make war on Jerusalem, Jesus will come back with His bride. This is what is known as “the second coming of Jesus Christ” when He returns with His bride to defeat the Antichrist, the beast, and their followers. (Revelation 17:14)

“Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle. And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east.”  Zechariah 14:3-4. See also Revelation 19:11-16.

After the battle Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:1-3) Jesus will cast the Antichrist and the beast into the lake of fire. Those who followed them will be killed with the sword of God’s Word. (Revelation 19:19-21) Now Christ along with the saints will reign for 1000 years. (Revelation 20:4) This is called the Millennium.

(Read more about the second coming of Jesus here.)

The Millennium

The Millennium is the name given to the thousand years’ kingdom of peace when Jesus will rule over the whole earth from Jerusalem.

It will be a truly amazing time on earth. Read Isaiah 65:20-25 for a fuller description of the wonder and harmony that will characterize this time. The entire earth will be ruled by Christ, His bride and the martyrs. (Revelation 20:4)

At the end of the Millennium Satan will be loosed from his chains for a short time, though it is unclear exactly how long this time is. He will then gather an army from all over the earth and they will surround Jerusalem again. God will then send fire down from heaven to devour them. The devil will finally be cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the Beast and the Antichrist are, and they will be tormented there forever. (Revelation 20:7-10)

This will happen at the end of the Millennium and will be the last event before the Final Judgment takes place.

(Read more about the Millennium here.)

The Last Judgment

The Final Judgment takes place at the end of the Millennium, after Satan’s last rebellion. This judgment will be for all those who have not experienced God’s judgment already.

Everyone who has died will now be resurrected and together with the living will be judged before God’s great white throne according to their works in their time here on earth. Books are opened which contain all the details of what everyone has done in their life. Another book is opened called the Book of Life. (Revelation 20:11-12)

Those who have shown patient continuance in doing good will receive glory, honour and peace. All who practiced unrighteousness, in any of its forms, and remain unrepentant, will earn God’s wrath and righteous judgment, regardless of who they are or their religious background. God is a righteous God. (Romans 1:27-2:16) All whose name is not found written in the Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 21:8)

(Read more about Judgment Day here.)

Eternity

When God makes everything new, that includes even a new heaven and a new earth, because both the old heaven and the old earth have been tainted by sin. Even heaven was blemished by Satan when he tried to exalt himself above God.

In God’s new creation, every consequence of sin from the first creation – sorrow, pain and death will be no more. Fellowship between God and man will be restored, as well as fellowship between people. Jesus will reign from Jerusalem with His bride, and from them the glory of God will illuminate the new earth.

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God …And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them … And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.’ Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’”  Revelation 21:1-5.

You may be interested in reading more in the free e-book “The Bride and the Harlot and the End Times,” or by exploring our topic page about the end times.

Watch this inspiring and thought-provoking video: The tremendous power in the spirit of expectation – Israel and the end times (English subtitles)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Revelation: The Seven Trumpets and When They Shall Sound

Five of the seven trumpets that signify the end of the age have come to pass. With only two left to occur, we must look to the Bible to understand what to expect.

The Bible indicates in Revelation that seven trumpets will sound before the end of the age and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Five of the seven have already sounded as evidenced by critical moments in recent history, and a third world war, which is the triggering event of the sixth trumpet, may have already begun. Our understanding of Biblical prophecies and the events that have already come to pass, will guide us in what to expect when the final two trumpets sound.

The First Two Trumpets

In Revelation 8:7, John describes an apocalyptic vision. His vision explains the triggering event of the sounding of the first trumpet — hail and fire mixed with blood falling to the ground, and approximately 33% of all of the grass and trees in the known world destroyed.

During World War I, large amounts of artillery shells and chemical agents were released on troops for the first time in history through modern warfare, killing over 8 million people. Soldiers on both sides burned vast tracts of land in order to eliminate any natural or man-made items that their enemies could use.

Another war, World War II is also the event that was triggered by the sounding of the second trumpet. Looking to Revelation 8:8-9, the Bible explains that a third of the ships involved in the conflict that coincides with the activation of this trumpet will be destroyed. During World War II, approximately one third of the ships that participated in the conflict were sunk. In turn, the nuclear bomb deployed at Hiroshima resembled “something like a great mountain burning with fire,” a sight that was new on the world stage.

The Third Trumpet

In a podcast discussing the seven trumpets, Irvin Baxter told listeners of his understanding of the sounding of the third trumpet, which occurred during the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. In Revelation 8:10-11, the prophet explains that the third trumpet will sound before a star, called Wormwood, will fall and affect a third of the waters.

In 1995, God prompted Irvin to research the Chernobyl disaster that occurred in the Ukraine in 1986, whereupon he learned that “Chernobyl” means “Wormwood” in Russian. Furthermore, the nuclear radiation that emanated from the destroyed power plant contaminated more than 33 percent of the water supply in Europe and Western Asia, killing thousands and affecting hundreds of thousands of other citizens with diseases caused by the radiation.

The Fourth Event

Revelation 8:12-13 explains that the fourth trumpet would sound before the length of the days become shortened, and the sun would not shine for a third of the day. Therefore, time will be shortened and our days around the world will be experienced differently. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, a “new world order” with a new age of globalization began to develop. President Ronald Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall!” and 29 months later the fourth trumpet sounded.

The Fifth Instrument

According to prophecy, the fifth trumpet will sound before a bottomless pit of fire causes a massive amount of smoke to block the light of the sun. During the Gulf War, Iraqi soldiers ignited over 700 oil wells around the deserts of Kuwait, which were some of the largest, underground wells of oil on the planet. From the seemingly bottomless hole in the ground, smoke entered the atmosphere and blocked sunlight for three months. With Suddam Hussein as their president, whose name means “Destroyer” or “Abaddon” in Hebrew as described in Revelation 9:11, Iraqi soldiers incited a battle with the United Nations in the Middle East, an area still under turmoil.

The Sixth Trumpet

This second-to-last trumpet will sound before a war is started near the Euphrates River. This waterway traverses Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran, which comprise the Middle East. Revelation 9:13-21 indicates that four angels will command an army of 200 million individuals.

With a population of more than 1 billion people, China is able to field an army that consists of more than 200 million soldiers, and in addition, countries united under the Islamic faith have the ability to create an army of the same size. When a new world-dominating government is established under the Antichrist, an event coming very soon, we will be in the midst of a great war that will see the Abomination of Desolation and the Great Tribulation.

The Final Trumpet

The sounding of the seventh trumpet will be the most dynamic event out of all the trumpets prophesied in the Bible, affecting all human beings. It is at this last trumpet that Jesus Christ will send angels to rapture all saints for their eternal reward and pass his judgments on the fate of the earth’s inhabitants. This event also marks the end of human government and the establishment of the Kingdom of God, on earth, for the next one thousand years.

At this time, the end time, all of what the Bible has prophesied will come to pass and prove the power of God’s will. To learn about what the Bible teaches and how to understand the end time, join us during our regular television and radio broadcasts. For more information about the seven trumpets, purchase your own copy of The 7 Trumpets DVD from our Understanding the Endtime Series.

A Letter From a Sleep-Training Baby

Dear mommy,

I am confused.

I am used to falling asleep in your soft, warm arms. Each night I lay snuggled close to you; close enough to hear your heartbeat, close enough to smell your sweet fragrance. I gaze at your beautiful face as I gently drift off to sleep, safe and secure in your loving embrace. When I awaken with a growling stomach, cold feet or because I need a cuddle, you attend to me quickly and before long I am sound asleep once again.

But this last week has been different.

Each night this week has gone like this. You tucked me up into my cot and kissed me goodnight, turned out the light and left. At first I was confused, wondering where you’d gone. Soon I became scared, and called for you. I called and called for you mummy, but you wouldn’t come! I was so sad, mummy. I wanted you so badly. I’ve never felt feelings that strong before. Where did you go?

Eventually you came back! Oh, how happy and relieved I was that you came back! I thought you had left me forever! I reached up to you but you wouldn’t pick me up. You wouldn’t even look me in the eye. You lay me back down with those soft warm arms, said “shh, it’s night time now” and left again.

This happened again, over and over. I screamed for you and after a while, longer each time, you would return but you wouldn’t hold me.

After I had screamed a while, I had to stop. My throat hurt so badly. My head was pounding and my tiny tummy was growling. My heart hurt the most, though. I just couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t come.

After what felt like a lifetime of nights like this, I gave up. You don’t come when I scream, and when you do finally come you won’t even look me in the eye, let alone hold my shaking, sobbing little body. The screaming hurt too much to carry on for very long.

Related post: 8 reasons to avoid sleep training your baby.

I just don’t understand, mummy. In the daytime when I fall and bump my head, you pick me up and kiss it better. If I am hungry, you feed me. If I crawl over to you for a cuddle, you read my mind and scoop me up, covering my tiny face with kisses and telling me how special I am and how much you love me. If I need you, you respond to me straight away.

But at night time, when it’s dark and quiet and my night-light casts strange shadows on my wall, you disappear. I can see that you’re tired, mummy, but I love you so much. I just want to be near to you, that’s all.

Now, at night time, I am quiet. But I still miss you.

Read more: http://www.alternative-mama.com/a-letter-from-a-sleep-training-baby/#ixzz6Jhajz2nj

Lilith, the Demonic First Woman Who Abandoned Adam and the Bible Censored

In some texts she is described as a demon, in others she is an icon of one of the darkest goddesses of paganism. Lilith is one of the oldest known female spirits in the world. Its roots are found in Gilgamesh’s famous epic poem, but it is also spoken of in the Bible and in the Talmud.

In the Jewish tradition, it is considered one of the worst demons, although in other sources appears like the first woman created in the Earth. According to a legend, God shaped Lilith as the first woman. He did it in the same way in which he created Adam, with the only difference that instead of using as raw material only clean earth also used garbage and filth. Traditionally Lilith has been considered to mean “the night”, and it is related to attributes linked to the spiritual aspects of sensuality and freedom, but also to terror.

The name of Lilith comes from the Sumerian word “lilitu”, which means wind spirit or female demon. Lilith is mentioned in Table XII of the Epic of Gilgamesh, a famous epic poem of ancient Mesopotamia dating back to a time around 2100 BC. This tablet was added to the original text much later, towards the 600 a. C., in its later translations to the Assyrian and to the Akkadian. Lilith is also represented by the branches of a tree in a story about magic. It is described along with other demons, although the researchers have not yet agreed to today whether it was a female demon or a goddess of darkness. Simultaneously, it also appears in ancient Jewish texts, so it is difficult to discover who mentioned it for the first time. Nevertheless,

In the Babylonian Talmud Lilith is described as a dark spirit with a dangerous and uncontrollable sexuality. It is said that she fecundates herself with the male sperm that does not fertilize any woman, thus engendering demons. In this way, she is considered the mother of thousands of demons.

Lilith was also known in the Hittite, Egyptian, Greek, Hebrew and Roman cultures. In later times, its legend even reached the north of Europe. It represented chaos and sexuality, and it was said that she had the power to bewitch men. His myth is also related to the earliest accounts of vampires.

Lilith appears in the Bible, in the book of Isaiah 34:14, which describes the desolation of Eden. From the beginning it has been considered a diabolical, impure and dangerous spirit. Genesis Rabbah describes her as the first wife of Adam. According to this text, God created Lilith and Adam at the same time. Lilith was very strong, an independent woman, and wanted to relate to Adam on an equal basis. He did not accept being less than himself, and refused to lie beneath him to copulate. The couple obviously did not work, and they never became happy. As Robert Graves and Raphael Patai wrote in his book “The Hebrew Myths”

Adam complained to God: “My companion has abandoned me.” Immediately, God sent the angels Senoy, Sansenoy, and Semangelof to bring back Lilith. They found her by the Red Sea, a region in which lascivious demons abound, from whom she begat more than a hundred “lilim” a day. “Come back to Adam without delay,” said the angels, “or we shall drown you!” Lilith asked them, “How could I return to Adam and live as an honest housewife after spending all this time by the Red Sea?” “If you refuse, you will die!” They replied. “How could I die,” Lilith asked again, “if God has commanded me to take charge of all the newborn children, and of all the males until their eighth day of life, that of their circumcision, and of all the girls until their twentieth day? However, whenever I see your three names or their equivalents written in an amulet on a newborn child, I promise to forgive your life. “The angels agreed; but God punished Lilith by causing a hundred of her demonic children to perish daily; and when Lilith could not end the life of a human child because of the angelic amulet, she became full of hatred against her own children.

Because of the misunderstandings and misunderstandings provoked by Lilith, God decides to create a second wife for Adam: Eve.

At present, Lilith has become a symbol of freedom for many feminist groups. Thanks to the growing educational level of the population, women understood that they could be independent, so they began to look for symbols of female power. Lilith has also been worshiped as a goddess by some followers of the pagan Wicca religion, created in the 1950s.

The attraction of the character of Lilith has been perceived by some artists, who adopted her as his muse. Lilith began to be a popular motif in art and literature in the Renaissance period, when Michelangelo portrayed her as a half-woman and half-serpent creature. The brilliant Italian artist painted it coiled around the Tree of Knowledge, thus increasing the importance of his legend. Over time, Lilith became even more interesting to the imagination of male artists like Dante Gabriel Rosetti, who portrayed her as the most beautiful female creature in the world. For its part, the author of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” CS Lewis, was inspired by the legend of Lilith for his character of the White Witch. A beautiful woman, but also dangerous and cruel. Lewis said of the White Witch that she was Lilith’s daughter,

James Joyce’s mind, however, evoked a less romantic image of Lilith, whom he called “the patron saint of abortions.” Joyce introduced Lilith into feminist philosophy, and began the process of her adoption as a goddess of independent women of the twentieth century. As women gained more rights, they began to disagree with a worldview centered on a male perspective, including the biblical account of the creation of man. Lilith’s name appears in a national literacy program in Israel, and is also the title of a Jewish magazine for women. The ancient and legendary demonic woman of the Sumerian myths is one of the most popular themes of feminist literature in relation to ancient mythology.