The Beginning of the Day of the Lord

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The Opening of the Seals

We are nearly two thousand years into prophecies of Revelation. (see Day of the Lord Timeline) The first five seals are already open. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, prevailed to open the book and to loose its seals. The four horsemen have been riding ever since. The fifth seal, the martyrdom of the saints, has been going on since the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7.

The Sixth Seal

The first six seals of Revelation harmonize perfectly with Matthew 24:4-29. The Bible doesn't say "the great tribulation". It says there will be great tribulation. Jesus said in John 16:33, "In the world ye shall have tribulation. Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world." We haven't been waiting for tribulation to come. We have been living in it all along. The very end is called "the day of the Lord." Jesus said that until He returns, there will arise false churches, wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilence, earthquakes, persecution and martyrdom. Jesus called these "the beginning of sorrows."

Matthew 24:4-8  And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Matthew 24:9-13  Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

We have been living in the time of the first five seals of Revelation ever since Jesus became worthy to open the seals by overcoming the world. The sixth seal is what comes as a thief in the night and begins the day of the Lord. Once it starts, everything will transpire very quickly.

Revelation 6:12-13  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

Matthew 24:29  Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

Joel 2:31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

The sixth seal is a signpost that marks the end of the tribulation and the beginning of the day of the Lord. There isn't really a time called the great tribulation. Tribulation is a general description of the state of the world. It simply means times of trouble. “The tribulation of those days,” before the sixth seal, will be over when the sixth seal is opened. The tribulation of “the day of the Lord” will be much worse.

Matthew 24:21  For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Mark 13:19  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

Revelation 6:14-17  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Isaiah 2:12  For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:

Isaiah 2:19-21  And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

Psalm 76:5-7  The stouthearted are spoiled, they have slept their sleep: and none of the men of might have found theirs hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast into a deep sleep. Thou, even thou, art to be feared: and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry?

Luke 21:25-26  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Zephaniah 1:14-17  The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

Isaiah 13:13  Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Isaiah 24:19-20  The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.

Psalm 76:12  He shall cut off the spirit of princes: he is terrible to the kings of the earth.

Isaiah 13:9-11  Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations therefore shall not give her light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

The Rapture

People talk about a pre-tribulation rapture. It is too late for that. We were born in the tribulation. It began in the first century and it will end with the sixth seal. But the things that were set in motion by opening the seals will continue through to Armageddon. The tribulation period ends with the sixth seal and the Day of the Lord begins with the opening of the seventh seal and will continue through judgment day.

II Peter 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Revelation 16:15  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Christ's Return

The day of the Lord will come just like the flood came in Noah’s day. People went about their lives completely oblivious to what was going on around them; right up until "the flood came, and destroyed them all." Our generation is exactly the same. The day Christ returns, there will be two in a bed; one will be taken, and the other left. There will be two grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and the other left. There will be two working in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Where will the one be taken? Answer: Wherever the corpse is, the vultures will be gathered together. What about the ones who are left? Answer: They are the mortal humans who will repopulate the earth during the thousand year reign.  (Matthew 24:37-41, Luke 17:34-37)

 

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