Revelation 9:1-11 “Then the fifth angel sounded: And I saw a star fallen from heaven to the earth. To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. (2) And he opened the bottomless pit, and smoke arose out of the pit like the smoke of a great furnace. So, the sun and the air were darkened because of the smoke of the pit. (3) Then out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. (4) They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. (5) And they were not given authority to kill them, but to torment them for five months. Their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it strikes a man. (6) In those days’ men, will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. (7) The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. (8) They had hair like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. (9) And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. (10) They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months. (11) And they had as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, but in Greek he has the name Apollyon.”
The book of Revelation reveals a progressive series of judgements that will be pronounced on the earth as God’s wrath is poured out during that time. The judgements that will be pronounced fall into two separate categories, the first being the sounding of the seven trumpets and the second being the seven bowls of God’s wrath being poured out. The scriptures reveal to us that each time a new judgement is pronounced there will be an increase in the severity and reach of that judgement in the earth. All of the judgements will be supernatural and thus difficult for the natural mind to comprehend. Take for example the judgement described in the above quoted passage of scripture. The locusts described in that judgement are unlike anything that we have ever seen before, and the reason for that is because these are creatures that currently exist in the realm of the spirit, which is a realm that we do not see at this present time. And so it is during the outpouring of God’s wrath on the earth that mankind will encounter beings of this sort for the first time. The book of Revelation records fourteen separate judgements that the earth will incur during the period of God’s wrath being poured out and, as already mentioned, each judgement will be progressively more severe the one preceding it. Nevertheless, during all the time that the earth will be experiencing the wrath of God being poured out, the church will be absent from the earth.
Daniel 8:13-14 “Then I heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said to that certain one who was speaking, "How long will the vision be, concerning the daily sacrifices and the transgression of desolation, the giving of both the sanctuary and the host to be trampled underfoot?" (14) And he said to me, "For two thousand three hundred days; then the sanctuary shall be cleansed.”
We know from the account in the book of Revelation, that the outpouring of God’s wrath will not take place all at once but that rather it will take place over a period of time. And in fact scripture does reveal to us just how long that period will be, for in the passage of scripture quoted above the angel tells us that from the time that the Antichrist begins his reign until the temple is finally cleansed, a period of two thousand three hundred days will elapse. When the angel refers to the temple being cleansed, he is referring to the third Jewish temple that must still be built, for it is that temple which will be defiled when the Antichrist sits in it to show the world that he is god (2 Thessalonians 2:4). And so it is that temple that will be cleansed by our Lord Jesus when He returns to the earth to reign for one thousand years. As we have already discussed, the reign of the Antichrist will last for one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days or forty-two months. Therefore, the balance of just less than one thousand days from the two thousand three hundred days mentioned by the angel will be the period in which the wrath of God will be poured out in the earth. That time period agrees with other scriptures such as the one quoted earlier when the fifth angel sounds his trumpet, for the scripture mentions that judgement lasting for a period of five months. And so that five-month period will fall within the roughly three-year period in which the wrath of God will be poured out on the earth. And so when the church steps out of this realm into eternity, time as we currently experience it on earth will continue for those who remain behind. And it is during that time period of just short of three years that the wrath of God will be poured out on those who remain on the earth.
Michael E.B. Maher
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