Day of the Lord Signs
These are just a few of the signs heralding the Day of the Lord. These signs will be seen again in the gospels and Revelation.
Isaiah 2:17,19,21 - men hide in rocks and caves for fear of the Lord, Lord alone exalted
Isaiah 13:9-10,13 - wrath, anger, destroy land, destroy sinners; sun, moon, stars go dark, earth & heavens shake
Isaiah 34:8 - day of the Lord's vengeance
Jeremiah 46:10 - day of the Lord's vengeance
Joel 2:10 - sun, moon, stars turn dark, earth & heavens tremble
Joel 2:31 - sun turns dark, moon turns blood (dark red) before the Day of the Lord
Joel 2:32 - deliverance for the remnant who call upon the name of the Lord
Malachi 4:5 - Elijah comes before the Day of the Lord
Acts 2:20 - sun turns dark, moon turns blood (dark red) before Day of the Lord
From these few verses we see that it will be a day of God's wrath and vengeance, and that there will be some very specific heavenly signs. The sun, moon, and stars will stop giving their light. Some people believe this will simply be eclipses. The problem with this is that 1) eclipses are not seen the world over, and these signs are, meaning they are not ordinary eclipses. 2) People do not run into the caves of the earth to hide from mere eclipses of the sun or moon. These things happening are not only life threatening, they threaten the very existence of the planet as far as people are concerned. The earth and heavens will both shake. The earth will literally shake with earthquakes, and the heavens, both literally and spiritually as the heavenly bodies are disrupted and the spiritual world will be at war. There will be incredible destruction of the earth and the wicked, and people will try to hide in caves or anywhere they can for fear of what is coming. Elijah's ministry will precede these signs. When he appears, people can know that the Day of the Lord will follow after.
Daniel's 70th Week
Daniel 9:27 “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
The 70th week of Daniel is a seven year period of time when God will finish His work of redemption. It is divided in half (3 ½ years x 2) with the midpoint known as the abomination of desolation when the beast, son of perdition, or dragon ( Dan. 7:21,25, 8:9-11, 11:31; 2 Thess. 2:3-4; Rev.12: 7-17, 13:5,7) declares himself God and persecutes the saints. The second half from the day of the abomination is 1290 days long for all to be accomplished - Dan. 12:11. There is a period of 1260 days, also known as time, times, and half a time, or forty-two months from the time of the abomination. - Rev. 11:3, 12:6; Dan. 12:7, Rev. 12:14; Rev. 11:2, 13:5. The beast's reign lasts forty-two months or time, times and half a time. The two witnesses of Rev. 11:3-4 prophesy for 1260 days after the abomination. The temple is trampled underfoot for forty-two months after the abomination. Rev. 11:1-2 The woman (Israel) who flees to the wilderness is protected for time, times & half a time or 1260 days, Rev. 12:6,14. All of these are in the same time frame from the abomination of desolation. There is also a period of 1335 days from the abomination, Dan. 12:13. Those who reach this day are blessed. So there is a period of thirty days from the 1260th to the 1290th day, and a period of forty-five days from the 1290th day to the 1335th day. This entire seven year period is not referred to anywhere in Scripture as the tribulation. That is an error which has led to erroneous assumptions and conclusions. It is merely Daniel's 70th week.
The time of sorrow's beginning is not really specified except to say in Matthew that when these things occur we are not to get upset, as it is not the end yet, however we know that whenever it begins, it lasts up until the mid-point of the 70th week of Daniel.
Seals #1-4 – Time of Sorrows – Matt. 24:8
False Christs – Seal #1 - Matt. 24:5; Mark 13:6; Luke 21:8; Rev. 6:1-2
Wars - Seal #2 - Matt. 24:6-7a; Mark 13:7-8a; Luke 21:9-10; Rev. 6:3-4
Famine - Seal #3 - Matt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11; Rev. 6:5-6
Death - Seal #4 - Matt. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11; Rev. 6:7-8
(through famine,pestilence,martyrdom, earthquakes, etc.)
Seal #5 – Martyrdom – begins before the abomination of desolation and goes through the tribulation, getting much worse during that time.
Martyrdom - Seal #5 - Matt. 24:9-10; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-17; Rev. 6:9-11, 7:14
The mid-point of the 70th Week – The Abomination of Desolation
Abomination of Desolation - Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20
2nd half of the 70th week commences, starting at the abomination
Jerusalem trodden by Gentiles - Luke 21: 24; Rev. 11:1-2 – 42 months
2 Witnesses Rev. 11:3 – 1260 days
Women flees Rev. 12:6, 14 – 1260 days; time, times & ½ time
Beast reigns Daniel 7:25 – time, times, ½ time, Rev. 13:5 – 42 months
Tribulation - see below
Seal #5 (cont.) The Great Tribulation
This is the only event which is referred to in the Bible as the tribulation, and it does not encompass the entire time of the three and a half years after the abomination of desolation. It is cut short of that period of time. There appear to be no Scriptures that tell when that may be.
Seal # 5 continues - Rev. 7:14
Tribulation - Matt. 24:15-21, Mark 13:14-19; Luke 21:20-24
The Tribulation is cut short of the 3 ½ years
The tribulation is cut short from the entire length of three and a half years, time, times, and half a time, forty-two months, or 1260 days. What appears to cut it short is the sixth seal, which are the signs of the Day of the Lord. People are scared and running for their lives, so they are no longer interested in persecuting the saints. Now all the saints martyred in the tribulation will show up in heaven.
Trib cut short - Matt. 24:22; Mark 13:20
Rest of martyrs in heaven - Rev. 6:11, Rev. 7:14
Seal #6 - Signs Heralding the Day of the Lord
DOL signs - Seal #6 - Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24-25; Luke 21:25-26; Rev. 6:12-17
Seal #7 – Trumpet Judgments #1-4
Seal #7 - Trumpets #1-4 - Rev. 8:1-13
Seal #7 (cont.) - Trumpet Judgments #5-6 – Woes #1-2
Trumpets #5-6 - Rev. 9: 1-21
Woes #1-2 - Rev. 8:13, Rev. 9:12
End of Day 1260; 42 months; time, times & ½ time end, Mystery of God Finished, Trumpet #7, God's Wrath Begins
2 witnesses die - Rev. 11:7-12
Beasts's reign ends - Dan. 7:9-14, 21-22, 26, 11:45; 2 Thess. 2:8, Rev. 19:20
Trumpet #7 - Rev. 15-16
3rd woe - Rev. 11:14
Last trump - Rev. 11:15, Matt. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16
Mystery finished - Rev. 10:7
2nd Coming - Matt 24:30; Mark 13:26, 14:62; Luke 21:27; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 2:19, 3:13
4:14-17, 5:23; 2 Thess. 3:1; James 5:7-8; 1 John 2:28; Rev. 11:18, 14:14-16
Resurrection - Dan. 12: 2; John 5:25, 28-29; 1 Cor. 15:23, 52; 1 Thess. 3:13, 4:14-17;
Rev. 11:18, Rev. 20:4-6
Rapture - Matt 24:31; Mark 13:27; Luke 21:28; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 1:10, 4:14-17, 5:9;
2 Thess. 2:1; 1 John 2:28; Rev.11:18; Rev. 14:14-16; Rev. 15:2
God's wrath - Rev. 11:18; Rev. 14:10,19; Rev. 15:1,7 ; Rev. 16:1-21; 18:3, 19:15
Israel saved - Zechariah Chapters 12-14, Rom. 11:25-27
End of Day 1290 – Sheep & Goat Judgment begins
Sheep & Goats - Matt. 25:31-46, Dan. 12:13
Day 1335 – Millennium begins
1000 yr reign - Rev. 20:4
Temple restored – Ez. Chapters 40-48
Jewish Feasts & Traditions
The Jewish Festivals and traditions help in understanding how this timeline works. Christ fulfilled the spring festivals when He came. He died on Passover, was raised on the Feast of Firstfruits, the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. Everybody knows this, yet they ignore the fall feasts and everything that surrounds them as having anything to do with the Second Coming. They are the pattern of what is to come and we need to study them to understand Revelation more fully.
Rosh haShanah (Head of the Year)
Rosh ha Shanah (new year's day). Also known as the Feast of Trumpets - as there are many trumpet blasts sounded, also known as Yom Teru'ah – the day of the sounding of the shofar(trumpet), also Yom haDin – the day of judgment, Yom Hazikaron – day of remembering, and the Day that No Man Can Know – as it was determined by the sighting of the new moon which required two witnesses reporting to the temple and then the temple declaring it to the public.
Judaism associates this day as the day that God will be crowned and hailed as King, the day of God's judgment, the day heralding the Messianic age, and day the dead will be resurrected at the last trump (which sounds on this day). It is believed that creation started on this day and that God will judge man on the anniversary of this day. They believe that the ten days between this holiday and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) are the days of awe when men will pass before God in judgment. The righteous are written in the Book of Life, the wicked are sent to punishment, and those who do not really fall into either camp are given these ten days to repent. Their fate will be decided on Yom Kippur. They can at that time either have their name written in the Book of Life or will receive God's wrath. These have been Jewish beliefs about this day from the start. When Paul wrote about the last trump, he was referring to this trump. When John wrote, the last trump he mentioned also fulfills these teachings. They are indeed the same last trump.
Notice that the ten days seem to be the time when the Jews will see the Messiah when He returns at the 2nd Coming at Rosh haShanah. Their decision will be too late then to be of the Bride of Christ and be raptured, but their names can be written in the Book of Life and they will be protected during the wrath of God and can go into the Millennium, or they can continue to reject Christ and suffer God's wrath of the vial judgments. Whoever has not been killed in God's wrath and is left at the end of the 1290 days will go through the sheep and goat judgment. Those who have taken the mark are automatically sent into perdition.
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is the tenth day of Tishri (first month of the civil Jewish year, the 1st day being Rosh haShanah). It is the Day of Atonement. It will be Israel's ultimate Day of Atonement as they will finally see and accept the Final Atonement Sacrifice. One strange tradition that they have about this day, which is a complete mystery to them, as this is the most somber of all the days of the year due to the atonement being offered, is that there is a tradition that Yom Kippur is one of two of the merriest days of the year, for young women would dress in white and go out in the fields to dance, and young men would come and choose brides. They do not understand this association at all. To them it makes no sense, but to us it does.
The Feast of Tabernacles - Sukkot
The Feast of Tabernacles, otherwise known as Sukkot, is on the 15th of Tishri. This is the Feast of Ingathering, when the final harvest of the year, the grape harvest, comes in. It is an eight day festival of thanksgiving. People build booths and live outside as a reminder of the wilderness experience. At this time of the year, Israel not only offered sacrifices for themselves, but offered sacrifices for the other seventy nations in the world. One of the associations is the theme of Israel returning to Zion at this time. The passages of Scripture read throughout this week have to do with that as well as with God's judgment and the Gog/Magog war. The seventh day of the festival is known as Hoshana Rabbah. It is known as the final day of judgment. This Feast is also known by the names The Feast of Booths or Sukkot (for the outdoor structures known as sukkah, booths, or tabernacles), and the Season of Joy. It is known as “THE Feast” of the entire year (think marriage supper) and is simply referred to at times as “The Feast”. This will no doubt be the week of marriage celebration.
Marriage Customs
Jewish wedding traditions say that at the betrothal, a groom would sign an agreement (made with her father) called a Ketubah* (see below) which outlined his responsibilities and rights toward the bride, (Christ agreed to redeem us and the earth before creation) and he and she would drink a glass of wine to seal the deal. (Christ drank that glass at the last supper and won't drink again until the marriage supper. Matt. 26:29 “But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” ). Then he would return to His father's house to build a place for them to live. (John 14:2-3 “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”) When it was finished, the Father would have to look it over and if satisfied, he would give his son the approval to go get the bride. It was a day that only the father could know as he was the one issuing the approval, (Matt. 24:36 “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”) even if it was apparent the time was at hand. When he would return to get his bride, there would be a noisy procession beforehand, so that the bride knew he was coming and would be ready to return (signs of the Day of the Lord). When he got her there would be a marriage ceremony at which time the ketubah would be read aloud under the canopy for her and witnesses to hear, and it would be witnessed (signed) by two witnesses (the two witnesses of Rev. 11?) as a legal document. The marriage celebration would last a week (the length of the Feast of Tabernacles).
The Ketubah - It appears that the little scroll in Rev. 10 might be a ketubah which is the pre-nuptial agreement. The reason for thinking this, is that the rapture of the Church will occur at the last or 7th trump and therefore the marriage ceremony should follow shortly thereafter. The events of this chapter occur at that time after the 6th trumpet. This is the time when Christ can really claim the earth as His again, as the last of the conditions of the seals have been met. He plants one foot on the earth and one foot on the sea, claiming all the earth, both land and sea, back for Himself. A ketubah is read at the wedding under a chuppah (canopy). He is canopied with the sky, the clouds, and a rainbow. The heavens are His chuppah. He seals the words up and doesn't have them written, as the Bride should not hear her ketubah read until the actual ceremony. He redeemed the Bride herself when He died on the cross and was resurrected. He has redeemed back the earth for His Bride, finishing the mystery of God, or the plan of redemption. There is also a bride price that must be paid for the bride. Part of what may be in it could be the bride price. Christ gives us back dominion over the earth - Dan. 7:27 after He takes it back Rev. 10. Part of what is due the saints in the sense of responsibility is that God has promised to avenge them (Romans 12:19- His wrath) and He says that now, at the last trump the mystery of God will be finished. What that mystery is will be discussed in a moment.
The Laws and Customs of a Mortgage
The mortgage on planet earth - The following is the way mortgages were handled in Bible times. When an owner lost his property, he would make a deal with the person who was holding the mortgage for a way to redeem it. There would be a price, and terms and conditions that would have to be met for the mortgage to be redeemed. At first the terms were written on two scrolls with one kept in the temple. Then they gradually changed it so that the conditions were written on only one scroll to be kept in the temple. The conditions would be written on the inside of the scroll as the legal document, then it was rolled and sealed, but the conditions were then written on the seals so that they had to be broken one at a time before the mortgage could be opened and declared null and void. The number of conditions that had to be met would determine how many seals were on the scroll when the parchment was rolled up. There was a reason for this. If a person did not have the money to redeem the mortgage, a kinsman could redeem it, if he had the price and could fill the conditions. When he went to the temple he first had to prove his kinsmanship to even be allowed access to the scroll. Then next he had to pay the price to have the scroll handed into his possession, so that he could have the privilege of breaking the seals and meeting the terms and conditions. Then he had to fulfill each condition on the scroll in turn before witnesses. He would read the first seal, break and fulfill it. Then he could move down to the next seal doing the same. When all the seals were broken, and all the conditions (including those on the last seal) were met, he could open the scroll and declare it null and void. At the time that the last seal was broken, there no longer remained any seals or conditions to be met, so technically in a way, the property reverted back to the owner, however the conditions of the last seal still had to be finished before the property actually was no longer under the control of the person holding the mortgage, and it could be declared null and void. Only then was he completely the owner with no liens on the property and could do as he wanted with it. This is the scroll that Christ opens in chapter 6. It is the mortgage on the earth.
Adam and Eve forfeited both their eternal spirits and dominion over the earth when they sinned, and Satan became our father at birth and the prince of the world. Jesus had to redeem both us and the world back from Satan. He redeemed us when He came the first time at the spring feasts and gave His life as a substitute for us on the cross. Becoming a human man, He became a kinsman. As a kinsman redeemer (He redeemed us) who paid the price (satisfied justice for our sins on our behalf), He was the only one worthy to open the scroll. The seals that He breaks are not God's wrath. They are the terms by which Satan agreed to hand back the earth. Not to God, for God owns everything, but to us, for we are the ones who sold out our dominion. Christ is redeeming it back for us. God does everything in a fair and legal manner so that nobody can accuse Him of not being fair, including Satan. He has the power to take back the earth whenever He wants, and Satan could not do a thing, but then God would not be just, as technically Satan owns it fair and square, because he was able to get Adam to hand himself over to Satan's lordship, which also gave Satan lordship over the earth. God arranged a legal way of getting it all back. Satan hoped to foil that plan, but he was not able to do it, hence the way the seals play out. Notice that they increase in hatred, wrath, and destruction as they go along. Satan wants first to deceive us, then to destroy us, and when that fails, he wants to destroy the earth. His purpose is to still foil God's plan. While redemption of man may be complete, God has still a promise to Israel to fulfill. If Satan can stop that plan, He will make God a liar by default. So if he can destroy the planet, that ends the whole game.
While Christ is done with His part at the time the last seal is broken, thereby the Day of the Lord can be said to begin in a way, as He has completed breaking the seals which are the terms of redemption and can open the scroll declaring it null and void, He is not free to do that and reign over the earth (the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord Rev. 11:15) and pour out His wrath (Rev. 11:18) until the last conditions of the scroll (trumpets 1-6) are completely finished. This is why His declaration of the mystery of God* (the plan of redemption of us and earth – see below) being finished (Rev. 10:7), and His wrath do not come until the last trump (Rev. 11:15; 16:1-21) when the last seal has run its course.
The Mystery of God
The mystery of God - We are told in Rev. 10:7 “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” At the sounding of the 7th trumpet the mystery of God will be finished. What is this mystery? It is the entire plan of redemption, not just the existence of the church as some say. The church is only a part of the mystery.
The gospel or plan of redemption of grace through Christ's blood as the mystery.
Romans 16:25 “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began. (This can also refer to the church)
Ephesians 6:19 “And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel.”
Colossians 1:26-27 “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Colossians 4:3 “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds.”
The church as part of the mystery:
Romans 11:25 “ For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.”
Ephesians 3:4-6 “Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.”
Ephesians 5:32 “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.”
The reigning of sin, Satan, and antichrist is part of the whole redemption plan also.
2 Thessalonians 2:7 “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
Faith in Christ being the means of salvation is a mystery.
1 Timothy 3:9 “Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.
The rapture is part of the mystery.
1 Corinthians 115:51 “ Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” The rapture is part of this mystery.
God becoming a man and being a triune being was part of the mystery.
1 Timothy 3:16 “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.
Colossians 2:2 “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.”
This shows that the end of the mystery which includes the church and the rapture happens at the last or 7th trumpet. It is not finished until that time. When Christ said “it is finished” on the cross, he was only speaking of man's redemption from sin, but the entire mystery is the redemption of the world, including the planet. Now in Rev. 10:7 He declares that it is all completely finished. The plan of redemption is complete. Now God can pour out His wrath on a wicked world and cleanse it for His kingdom.
Colossians 2:2 “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ.”
This shows that the end of the mystery which includes the church and the rapture happens at the last or 7th trumpet. It is not finished until that time. When Christ said “it is finished” on the cross, he was only speaking of man's redemption from sin, but the entire mystery is the redemption of the world, including the planet. Now in Rev. 10:7 He declares that it is all completely finished. The plan of redemption is complete. Now God can pour out His wrath on a wicked world and cleanse it for His kingdom.
This is the timeline according to Scripture. Any misplaced hope for an early departure out of this world is not upheld by the Word of God. We are told in Luke 21:36 "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
