BIBLE STUDY | WHAT WILL THE TRIBULATION BE LIKE (2)
1. Bible Study: Tribulation a) What is the tribulation period? When is the tribulation supposed to begin? Will Christians be around when it occurs? What does the Bible say about the tribulation?
2. What Will The Tribulation Be Like?
a) We begin to see nature itself begin to show signs unraveling because, “Immediately after the distress of those days“ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (Matthew 24:29). Could this blotting out of the sunlight and moon and the stars being hidden by the clouds be the result of nuclear fallout or from gigantic volcanic eruptions and fissures of the earth opened up by such titanic earthquakes that the world has never seen to date (Revelation 16:18, Matthew 24:8)?
b) Things really turn horribly bad when the Seventh Seal is released and an angel takes a fire-filled censor and casts it down to earth (Revelation 8:5) because this causes “peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.” When the Seventh Seal is opened, the seven angels blast seven trumpet blasts, each with a fierce and mighty judgment for the earth’s occupants.
c) In Revelation 8:7-12 we see what happens when the first angel sounds his trumpet:
And there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down on 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.
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.
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.
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."
d) "When the fifth angel blows his trumpet John “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. And out of the smoke locusts came down on 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 allowed 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. During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them” (Revelation 9:1-6). What these “scorpions” are we can only imagine. And for those who “seek death but will not find it” for “they will long to die, but death will elude them” reveals that the suffering is so great that people will want to kill themselves to end their suffering but will be unable to do so.
e) It is so bad that beast like locusts “had tails with stingers, 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 is Apollyon [that is, Destroyer] (Revelation 9:10-11).
f) The hearts of the unsaved will be so hardened by this time that God has to send beasts where, “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. The rest of mankind who 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” (Revelation 9:17-21).
g) Amazingly, through all of this, mankind doesn’t repent. If this sounds like a nightmare, it is worse than any you could ever imagine, dream, or invent.
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.
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.
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."
d) "When the fifth angel blows his trumpet John “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. And out of the smoke locusts came down on 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 allowed 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. During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them” (Revelation 9:1-6). What these “scorpions” are we can only imagine. And for those who “seek death but will not find it” for “they will long to die, but death will elude them” reveals that the suffering is so great that people will want to kill themselves to end their suffering but will be unable to do so.
e) It is so bad that beast like locusts “had tails with stingers, 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 is Apollyon [that is, Destroyer] (Revelation 9:10-11).
f) The hearts of the unsaved will be so hardened by this time that God has to send beasts where, “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. The rest of mankind who 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” (Revelation 9:17-21).
g) Amazingly, through all of this, mankind doesn’t repent. If this sounds like a nightmare, it is worse than any you could ever imagine, dream, or invent.
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