World War III is Coming!
As I was preparing for the topic of
the seven trumpets, several prophetic elements
“snapped together” in a way that I had not
seen before. This new discovery leads me to conclude
that World War III is on the horizon and a nuclear
exchange is likely. To help you appreciate how this
conclusion comes from Scripture, a little background
information is presented.
Notice Paul’s words: “Now
brothers, about times and dates we do not need to
write to you, for you know very well that the
day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
While people are saying, “Peace and
safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly [e.g.,
destructive judgments from God], as labor pains on
a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you,
brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should
surprise you like a thief.” (1 Thessalonians
5: 1-4, underline and insertion mine) As you know,
many Christians believe in a pre-tribulation rapture.
They believe the phrase, “the day of the
Lord,” refers to a specific moment in the future
when Jesus will rapture the church. They use
Paul’s word in 1 Thessalonians 5 to prove that
the rapture will occur without warning, “Like a
thief in the night.” They believe that Jesus
will quietly and secretly come to Earth. He will
snatch up righteous people and disappear with them.
Then, God’s wrath will fall on wicked people who
are ‘left behind.” The problem with this
conclusion is that the Bible mentions “the day
of the Lord” eighteen times. In all these cases,
the phrase ‘the day of the Lord” indicates
a span of time. In fact,
apocalyptic prophecy indicates ‘the day of the
Lord” contains fourteen predetermined events
which will require 1,335 days to complete.
Compare Isaiah’s words with those
of Paul: “Wail, for the day of the
Lord is near; it will come like
destruction from the Almighty. Because of this, all
hands will go limp, every man’s heart will melt.
Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip
them; they will writhe like a woman in
labor. They will look aghast
at each other, their faces aflame. See, the
day of the Lord is coming – a cruel
day, with wrath and fierce anger – to make the
land desolate and destroy the sinners within it. The
stars of heaven and their constellations will not
show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and
the moon will not give its light. I will punish the
world for its evil, the wicked for their sins. I will
put an end to the arrogance of the haughty and will
humble the pride of the ruthless.” (Isaiah
13: 6-11, underline mine) If you are acquainted with
the experience of the saints during the seven
trumpets of Revelation, you will also notice a
parallel between the words of Isaiah and the prophet
John. (Revelation 13:7; 13:10; 14:12; 17:6)
Second
Coming Will Not Come As a Surprise
Here is another problem with the
pre-tribulation rapture concept. Many people believe
that the Second Coming will catch the human race by
surprise, but the book of Revelation indicates
otherwise. For example, the wicked kings of Earth
will know and anticipate the date of Jesus’
appearing. They will be united and prepared to make
war on Jesus as He approaches Earth in clouds of
glory. This final war is called Armageddon.
Armageddon will not be a war between nations; it will
be a war between an angry God and His enemies,
namely, Lucifer, the Antichrist, and all who follow
him. Everyone who has the mark of the beast will
unite with Lucifer for the express purpose to
physically destroy Jesus as He approaches Earth. The
Bible speaks clearly about the timing of Armageddon.
Preparation for Armageddon occurs during the sixth
bowl and the war itself occurs during the seventh
bowl. Interestingly, Paul indicates “the day of
the Lord” will come as a surprise to many
people, but John indicates the “Second
Coming” will not. (See Revelation
17: 13,14; 16: 12-21.)
God is so good. He put the date of
Christ’s return in the book of Daniel, and then
He sealed up the book of Daniel until ‘the
appointed time of the end.” Once the censer in
Revelation 8:5 is cast down and the Great Tribulation
begins, the date of the Second Coming will no longer
be a secret for those who love God and want to
understand His Word. The date of the Second Coming
can be calculated. “Blessed is the one who
waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335
days.” (Daniel 12:12) Because they know the
date of our Lord’s appearing, the saints will e
encouraged as they languish and suffer through the
1,335 days of the Great Tribulation.
Peace
and Safety
Paul’s comment about “peace
and safety” in 1 Thessalonians 5 is connected to
the end of the world because he is specifically
talking about “the day of the Lord.” During
the past century, Earth has experienced two world
wars. During those times of war, people the world
over were crying out for “peace and
safety.” However, neither WWI nor WWII was
interrupted by sudden destruction from God. With
another world war on the horizon, we must wait
to see if this is the moment in history when God will
suddenly step into the affairs of man with His
destructive powers. The current situation in Iraq is
a prophetic sample of things to come for the whole
world. Iraq hopelessly languishes because there is no
peace and safety. Even the world’s most powerful
military can do little to impose peace and safety in
this unstable environment. Paul’s comments in 1
Thessalonians 5 indicate a time is coming when the whole
world will reach a hopeless state of violence and
unrest, like Iraq is today. People will be saying
“peace and safety” because there is none.
When the world reaches this point, God will rise up
and take matters into His own hands.
The time period designated ‘the
day of the Lord” will begin with the casting
down of the censer in Revelation 8:2-6. This is the
event that will catch most people on earth by
surprise. Jesus said, “As it was in the days
of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of
Man. For in the days before the flood, people were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they
knew nothing about what would happen until the flood
came and took them all away. That is how it will be
at the coming of the Son of Man…. So you also
must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an
hour you do not expect him.” (Matthew
24:37-39,44) The antediluvians were aware of the
coming flood. Noah had warned them for 120 years and
the construction of the ark was well known and widely
ridiculed (“Noah’s folly”). Therefore,
Jesus’ words must mean that the antediluvians
did not know how or when their mercy would
end. This is an ominous parallel for our day. On the
tenth day of the second month, Noah and his family
quietly entered the ark, and then an angel closed the
great door, the doorway to salvation, and the
antediluvians did not even notice. They were unaware
that mercy had ended. However, the antediluvians did
notice that rain began to fall on the seventeenth day
of the month and this is how end time events will be.
Corporate intercession will end in Heaven’s
temple and most of the people on Earth will not
understand the seriousness of this event; however,
the whole world will be shaken by the horrific
judgments that follow.
Discovery
Apocalyptic prophecy consists of an
intricate matrix that is based on the Jubilee
Calendar. I assume you are acquainted with the
Jubilee Calendar and the seven trumpets. I believe
the seven angels who stand before God in Revelation
8:2 were given the seven trumpets in the Spring of
1994 – at the end of 70 Jubilee cycles.
Corporately speaking, God’s patience with our
degenerate world ended on that date. At that time,
four angels with four trumpets came to Earth, fully
prepared and empowered to harm this planet with
God’s judgments, but Jesus stopped them with a
command. (Revelation 7:1-3) He told them to wait
until the 144,000 are sealed. Thus far, this delay
has been holding 12 years.
Why did an all knowing God create this
delay in the first place and why did He inform us
about it? These are critical questions because God is
very deliberate and purposeful in everything He does.
In short, God wants the final generation to know that
even though His wrath is overdue, He is waiting for
something that is more important than releasing His
wrath. With God, timing is everything. He is waiting
for “the perfect time” to start the 1,335
days of the Great Tribulation. Jesus will appear on
Earth the second time just as He did the first –
at the perfect time. Paul wrote, “But when
the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, born under law, to redeem those under law,
that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Galatians
4: 4,5) For reasons beyond the scope of this article,
it appears that Jesus will gather up the redeemed on
Earth on a Sunday, the very first day of the seventh
millennium. (See Exodus 12:41 for a beautiful
parallel on deliverance. Israel was freed from Earthy
bondage at the appointed time – to the very
day.)
Apocalyptic
Order
Consider the sequence of events in
this section from Revelation 8: “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 alter. 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 alter, and hurled it to
the earth; and there came peals of thunder,
rumblings, flashes of lightening and an
earthquake.” (Revelation 8: 2-5)
Now, please consider four points:
1.
Assume the seven angels were given the seven trumpets
in 1994.
2.
After 1994, an angel came to the Altar of Incense to
offer up much incense, together with the prayers of all
the saints. This service happens before the
censer is cast down in verse 5. What are all of the
saints on Earth praying for or praying about after
1994?
3.
For thousands of years, the saints of God have been
petitioning God for various things. So, the varied
petitions and prayers of saints have been ascending
for a long time. The problem is that the prayers in
Revelation 8:3,4 have to occur after 1994.
Furthermore, the language in Revelation 8:3-5
suggests that all the saints on Earth are
praying for the same thing at the same time.
What on Earth would cause all of God’s children
to pray for the same thing at the same time?
4.
The use of incense at the Altar of Incense dates back
to the wilderness tabernacle. Special incense was
offered each evening and morning on the Altar of
Incense to predispose God to be generous and
favorable toward “stinky” (highly
offensive) sinners. The service at the Altar of
Incense teaches us that a holy and pure God could
only dwell among offensive sinners if there was
continual intercession rising from the altar. This
fragrance used in the Old Testament masked man’s
“stinky” condition before God, just like
the righteousness of Jesus masks our sinful condition
in the New Testament. The use of the fragrance of
incense illustrates the wonderful doctrine of
justification. In bible times, people with serious
concerns would gather around the temple during the
evening and morning services to have their earnest
prayers ascend with the incense – hoping and
trusting the Lord would be favorable moved to grant
their petition. Thus, the use of incense in
Heaven’s temple, together with the prayers of
all the saints, indicates the saints are imploring
God to do something. What is it?
Now that these things have been asked,
consider how the mystery could be resolved:
Summary
Answer
Suppose a great war breaks out
somewhere in the world (Middle East?) and this war
escalates until an initial nuclear strike. At each
nuclear exchange occurs, allies will be forced to
take sides. Suddenly, the whole world is drawn into
World War III. Two atomic bombs were used in WWII,
but a nuclear exchange has never occurred. Because
nuclear bombs are so devastating and ruinous, every
nation suddenly finds itself wondering if its enemy
will annihilate another city with the push of a
button. At this extreme moment in Earth’s
history, man will be powerless to stop the carnage.
All of God’s saints on Earth will be praying for
the same thing at the same time, namely, peace
and safety. The saints will petition the Almighty to
quickly step into the affairs of mankind or mankind
will self-destruct. Of course, the world’s
religious and political leaders will be loudly
calling for peace and safety, too, but what can they
do? The United Nations is impotent.
If this World War III scenario were to
unfold, we can be sure the Almighty will understand
the dire situation on Earth. Suppose He calls an
angel before His throne and this angel does something
that has never been done before in Heaven’s
temple. He is given much incense and the smoke
together with the prayers of the saints ascend before
the Lord. The Lord hears the cries of His children to
do something quickly and He approves their request.
The angel at the Altar of Incense is told to throw
down the censer because intercession on behalf of
Earth has just ended. The timing is perfect. The
seven trumpets begin. These seven judgments are
the sudden destruction that comes from God while
people on Earth are desperately calling for peace and
safety. In the middle of what could be several
nuclear exchanges, God himself steps into the affairs
of mankind with destructive power that exceeds all
atomic bombs combined. Overpowered by God’s
arsenal of destructive judgments, angry nations
forget about the war. Suddenly, a world in conflict
discovers that man’s greatest concern isn’t
man – it is our Creator. God’s servants,
the 144,000, selected and empowered by the Holy
Spirit for this grand occasion, proclaim in unison
the world over: “Fear God and give him glory
for the hour of His judgment has come, and worship
Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the
fountains of waters…” (Revelation 14:7)
In this study, three things really
stand out to me. First, the verses in Revelation
8:3,4 make sense just as they read within the context
of a nuclear world war. If a nuclear exchange were to
occur, all of God’s people would be praying for
the same thing at the same time. Second, it seems
clear that God responds to the prayers of the saints
by casting down the censer. If this is not the case,
where in Revelation’s story is any answer given
to their petition? Even more, what is the point of
having Revelation 8: 3,4 inserted into the story of
the seven trumpets? These two verses have puzzled me
for many years. Last, I am impressed with the timing
of several pieces within this scenario: Man releases
atomic power on his enemy and God releases His wrath
on man – all of this occurs a mere 1,335 days
before the seventh millennium begins! Wow. With God,
timing is everything!
You
know, the closer we get to the commencement of the
Great Tribulation, the easier it becomes to
understand Revelation’s story. I’m excited!
