The Tribulation is a period of seven years during which God will serve His judgement on the human race for its rejection of Him, it will be a period of unprecedented destruction, death and suffering. The Tribulation consists of three sets of judgements, The Seal Judgements, The Trumpet Judgements and The Bowl Judgements. The Apostle John records these events which he was shown as visions. The Lamb is Jesus.
The Seal and Trumpet Judgements occur during the first half of The Tribulation along with other events which are all set out below;
The Seal Judgements
Revelation 6: 1 – 2 – I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals… I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
This is the rise of the man who will ultimately rule over the whole world, referred to as the Antichrist.
Revelation 6: 3 – 4 – When the Lamb opened the second seal… another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other.
This is a period of war during which the Antichrist starts his quest to take control of the world.
Revelation 6: 5 – 6 – When the Lamb opened the third seal… I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice…“Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
This is world-wide famine, shown by the limited food available at the cost of a day’s wages and care being taken over essential items.
Revelation 6: 7 – 8 – When the Lamb opened the fourth seal… I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
One-quarter of the world’s population is going to die through violence / war, famine, pestilence, disease and other means.
Revelation 6: 9 – When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
A great persecution of people who come to accept Jesus after the Rapture, will break out.
Revelation 6: 12 – 14 – I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
There is going to be a world-wide earthquake, a second blackout and meteor showers.
Revelation 8: 1 – 6 – When he opened the seventh seal… I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them…
…and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them. The seventh Seal opens the way for the seven Trumpet Judgements which are announced with thunder, lightning and another earthquake.
The Trumpet Judgements
Revelation 8: 7 – The first angel sounded 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.
One-third of the earth’s dry surface is going to be destroyed.
Revelation 8: 8 – 9 – 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.
Either a comet or a volcanic eruption will destroy one-third of the salt waters, sea-life and ships.
Revelation 8: 10 – 11 –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.
Revelation 8: 12 – 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.
One-third of the light that would normally reach earth will be cut out.
Revelation 9: 1 – 12 – The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I 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.
This is a demonic invasion whereby the demons are allowed to torment, but not kill, anyone who does not have the seal of God on their forehead, (has not accepted Jesus) for 150 days. It is perhaps a foretaste of eternity in The Lake of Fire (Hell) for those who die not having accepted Jesus as their saviour.
Revelation 9: 13 – 18 – The sixth angel sounded his trumpet… And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. The number of the mounted troops was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. I heard their number. The horses and riders I saw in my vision looked like this: Their breastplates were fiery red, dark blue, and yellow as sulfur. The heads of the horses resembled the heads of lions, and out of their mouths came fire, smoke and sulphur. A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulphur that came out of their mouths.
One-third of the people left alive will now be killed by a second demonic invasion meaning that, along with the fourth Seal Judgement, at least one half of the world’s population will perish.
As the breaking of the seventh seal announced the seven trumpet judgements, the sounding of the seventh trumpet heralds the seven Bowl Judgements that God levies on humanity in the second half of The Tribulation.
Other events of the first half of The Tribulation
144,000 Jewish believers in Jesus will preach the Gospel during at least the first half of the Tribulation. –
Revelation 7: 1 – 4 – Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
Two special witnesses will have a ministry during the first half of The Tribulation, based in Jerusalem.
Revelation 11: 3 – 6 – And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” … If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies… They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
A global religious system will exist during the first half of The Tribulation, working alongside the one world government.
Revelation 17: 1 – 2- One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute (Global religious system), who sits by many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery (indicates global influence) and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” (Earth’s inhabitants follow her teachings and practices which are contradictory to the teachings of the Bible).
What does that mean for you?– Good News