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Thus Say The Prophets
The Revelation

The Opening of the Seventh Sealed Scroll

Revelation 8:1 And when he opened the seventh seal, there followed a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Our text says this silence lasts "about a half hour." Some commentators find this fascinating and look for deeper meanings. One popular method is to divide the 1,260 days (the first 3 1/2 years of the Tribulation Period: Revelation 11:3) into hours and half hours to determine the length of this silence. We assume this planetary silence will be longer than a literal thirty minutes, but there is some debate on this point; in any case, for our purposes here, the meaning is taken that the universe will be "holding its collective breath" for God's next set of righteous judgments, much as a disobedient child awaits his parent's reaction knowing he will be held accountable. Our "earthly chickens have no come home to roost," so to speak,

The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets of Judgment

Following this experience:

Revelation 8:2: I saw the seven angels that stand before God [at the Merkaba]. They were given seven trumpets.
3 And another angel came and stood before the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should add to the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar before the throne.
4 And the smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand.

Think of the Seven Sealed Scrolls as computer files. Within each file are various documents or prophetic events. The Sounding of the Seven Trumpets is located within this Seventh Sealed Scroll or file. Until Mashiach ben David opens these files, their contents will remain mostly unknown, other than through the prophecies.

At this point on the prophetic timeline, the most sadistic despot in history will rule the Earth. Were his reign not shortened by divine intervention, no flesh would survive according to Yeshua (Matthew 24:22)! By this point in the prophetic timeline, "the New World Order" (or Novus Ordo Mundi) will have established its worldwide fascism (through the Novus Ordo Seclorum or "New Order of the Ages") and enslaved the world. Paraphrasing Revelation 4:10, at this point, the twenty-four elders who represent all life on Earth will now prostrate themselves before HaShem, throwing their crowns or authority to rule at his feet in resignation, demonstrating their acknowledgment of our collective inability and our need for God's rule. The "souls before the altar" are the martyrs who have given up their lives rather than surrender to the Beast System. More evidence of our collective guilt is added to their testimony as witnessed by the overseeing angels. The world, at this point, will be careening toward complete genocide.

Revelation 8:5 And the angel took the censer; and filled it with the fire of the altar, and cast it upon the earth: and there followed thunders, and voices, and lightning, and an earthquake.

Note this combination carefully! According to the prophecy, HaShem is not happy with the Earth! His is a holy fire of righteous indignation! He has seen the abuses done to the poor, the weak, the helpless. He has watched as greed, hypocrisy, and warfare have destroyed the peace and decimated everything He has given to the earth for our collective good. Now His righteous anger is being added by measure to the prayers of the human tzadikim (saints) and loyal celestial denizens. He will now come to their defense. Their combined prayers confirm the righteousness of His anger and what He will now cause to happen.

This combination of incense, testimony, prayers, and divine wrath is now cast ("ballo": hurled or thrown with great force) onto the Earth! With devastating results, the rebels who reject God's sovereignty will now be held accountable for their actions!

As previously discussed, the first six of the seven-sealed scrolls were all opened during the first three and half year Tribulation Period, with the sixth possibly spilling over into the second half. Mashiach ben David opened these scrolls in the presence of HaShem, much as a prosecutor lays out his case before a judge and jury in preparation for this Seventh and Final Sealed Scroll and the Sounding of the Seven Trumpets it heralds. We expect these Soundings to occur in chronological order with the beginning of the second three and half year period, known as the "Great Tribulation" (Matthew 24:21). The Seventh or "Last Trumpet" (referenced by Paul at I Corinthians 15:52) will announce the establishment of the Earthly Kingdom of the Olam Haba as we will see later. The opening of the Seventh Sealed Scroll covers the period from its opening near the "middle of the week" to the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom at its conclusion. Again we note our textual certainty that Mashiach ben David has not yet come because neither his kingdom nor the events leading up to its implementation have occurred thus far.

As discussed earlier, we know the Rapture theory is incorrect because whatever Paul talks about in I Corinthians 15:52 does not happen until this "last trumpet" is sounded. According to the text, the final trumpet will not be sounded until Mashiach, as earthly King, takes to the Throne of David after the War of Magog or Armageddon. This point rules out the pre-trib, mid-trip, and post-trib rapture theories.

As the seven trumpets sound, the earth will move farther into the final three and a half years of "great tribulation." While we know the basic timeline of these events, we can only offer approximations. As explained before, many of these events overlap and depend on human free will and our reactions.

Later, Yochanan will return to this same period to share more information about the rapidly unfolding events of the age's final three and half years. The sounding of these trumpets marks the passage of events along the prophetic timeline but is not definitive for our purposes.

It is essential to remember that these soundings reference human desecration and warfare, not just nature gone awry! During these events, humanity itself, homo sapiens, will be under assault to transform into a lab-created perversion known as homo deus by the Soros-lead servants of the Rex Mundi. The weapons used against homo sapiens will be planes, tanks, drones, AI, and the manipulation of nature! But in reality, it will be HaShem Who is unleashing these massive forces upon the Earth in defamation and denial of the claims of Rex Mundi! He will use whatever means He chooses for His purposes. Further, the celestial forces will fight as they have been for millennia, but now in the open for all to see! Meanwhile, throughout the Levant, Mashiach ben Yosef will battle the Globalists and expel them from Israel in battle after battle. Devout men and women of faith everywhere will resist the Global Junta as best they can in myriad ways.

And Rex Mundi's wrath and irritation levels will go through the roof! Battles of Light and Darkness have been raging in the celestial and terrestrial realms for thousands of years, but HaShem has mercifully, usually shielded our eyes from these realities. Once HaShem removes His protective shield, as discussed in Revelation 6:14 where the dome of the firmament is rolled away like a scroll, and as referenced in II Thessalonians 2:7, the world will become fully ichabod, and the naked realities of the Rebellion will be exposed. Daniel also references this in Daniel 12:9-13 where he says the Remnant will serve the Light fully while the rest will do wickedly. Both sides will be empowering their agents with diverse abilities beyond anything the world has ever known!

This seven-year period is not something we will merely be trying to survive. The 144,000 Israelites and the Great Multitude of Gentiles who serve with them will be theocratic soldiers working together for HaShem's glory. Most of these folks will embrace martyrdom for His glory! Consider Philippians 1:21!

HaShem will empower His servants to stand according to His desired role for each of us. Some of His servants, like the Two Witnesses, will be granted the ability to call forth fire from the sky and perform other wonders. Others will lay down their lives like sheep to the slaughter. All that matters is that we willingly obey His Orders as revealed within our Torah-enlightened consciousness. During this period, everyone throughout terrestrial and celestial existence will be a combatant on one side or the other!

There is a common misconception that the People of HaShem who are alive during the Tribulation Period will be huddled in fear, focussed merely on survival. This belief detracts from our actual assignments. The Earth is our Home, and HaShem will empower us to take it back from the Babel-born Globalists (Joel 2:28)! As the Torah, which is the Mind of God, is revealed to us, humanity will choose sides. Some will fully embrace the Darkness, some the Light. Both sides will stand and fight, each as HaShem leads, to final redemption or utter annihilation. HaShem will lead His people. He will direct the paths of Mashiach ben Yosef. He will guide the 144,000 Jews and the Great Multitude of Noahidim. He will instruct the Two Witnesses. He will guide the celestial armies and lead Mashiach ben David. And His Will will be done on Earth as it is in the Heavens. Then He will be One, and His Name will be One (Zecharia 14:9).

Revelation 8:6 And the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
8:7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mixed with blood and thrown to the earth consuming one-third of the earth and burning up one-third of the trees and all of the green grass.

As I have noted a few times, if the prophecies make sense at face value, we do well to take them that way! Literal warfare is raging across the face of the earth, and the forces of God are already fighting the powers of the Great Re-set Globalism. HaShem is already demonstrating the deceptions of the Rex Mundi and showing that once awakened, a significant percentage of humanity will choose His rule and fight back. The Satanic New World Order will not succeed! Much can be learned and inferred from these events. However, it is essential to, first and foremost, accept them as written. These battles are coming, as foreseen in our prophetic works. The attacks and counterattacks will have literal and symbolic realizations as they play out, and none will escape them.

Recall this verse from before: Revelation 6:8: And behold, a pale horse. He who sat on it was named Death, and Hades [Sheol: the grave] followed him. He received authority over one-fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, famine, death, and by the earth's wild animals."

The attacks and counterattacks now being described follow the appearance of this rider. The percentages cited here and elsewhere are best understood based on what remains from previous events rather than the initial total. This "third" is a third of the remaining three quarters. The numbers indicate the vastness of devastation rather than numerical certitude. Such vast numbers of death, in part, cause many people to seek shelter in the caves. Uncertainty and fear abound everywhere. The world will now have entered the most chaotic period in its history, the Great Tribulation. The righteous who seek the safety of the caves, literally or figuratively, will devote themselves to prayer and fasting while the evil to all curses and vitriol. Life during this period will resemble a Mad Max movie of complete barbarism where only the strong survive. Concerning this period, Yeshua warned:

Matthew 24:21 "Then will be great tribulation, like has never been seen from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.
22 If those days are not shortened, no flesh will survive, but for the sake of the elect (i.e., the Remnant of righteous Jews and non-Jews), those days will be shortened. (Matt 24:22).

Those living in areas where most people embrace the Rex Mundi, like the cities, will probably suffer more natural destruction than those living in areas where the majority side with HaMashiach. The former will live under the oppressive boot of the Globalists, and all who veer from the rules will suffer terribly. Homo Deus creating MRNA DNA manipulations and AI (artificial intelligence) will strip them of humanity. The latter will doubtless suffer more human-caused violence, animals gone wild, and military and vigilante abuses as roving hordes seek food and sustenance. Rural folks will more easily disappear or be enslaved without defense and witnesses. In some areas, independent fiefdoms will appear for mutual aid; most will succumb to the old proverb that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. This global war and chaos will be worldwide, and no area will be safe. Those who heed the Voice of God may likely receive warnings to take cover etc., as the various plagues are released, but this is supposition. In war, collateral damage is unavoidable.

There are no guarantees, and most people will not survive these Seven Years regardless of preparation or strategy. Still, wisdom advises spiritual and material preparedness while the opportunity exists. When the global War of Magog ends, over 3/4 of the human population entering the Seven Years will have perished, regardless of sides. However, those who side with HaShem and survive will dwell within His blessings and enter the Olam Haba without death. They will be a blessed minority of witnesses to the rightness of everything that will have transpired.

The Second Trumpet

Revelation 8:8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
8:9 and the third part of the living creatures which were in the sea died, and the third part of the ships were destroyed.

There is every reason to take these prophecies literally as written. Throughout history, humankind has demonstrated its lack of regard for the Earth. Our Creator placed homo sapiens here to be caretakers of the planet (Genesis 2:15), but instead, we collectively chose to exploit and abuse it. The Earth is now devastated for the third time. However, HaShem will establish the Messianic Kingdom on the purified earth soon. Much of what the Kingdom inhabitants will be doing during the early period will be cleaning up after this devastation and recreating the planetary Gan Eden. These coming devastations will be vast and beyond comprehension. We have seen death and destruction on a broad scale before, but this will be beyond anything we have ever known. Scripture says, The Earth is HaShem's and the fulness thereof (Psalm 24:1), but we have destroyed much of Earth's splendor. Under the Olam Haba's theocratic administration, Earth's inhabitants will rebuild human civilization upon godly principles with justice and cleanse so that it will become like Gan Eden. In these verses, the destruction of the old world and the laying of the foundation of the new is happening.

The "sea" here can only refer to the Mediteranian, the great Middle Eastern Sea. As this mountain-size burning meteor plunges into the Mediteranian the results will impact the whole world. The atmosphere will be set on fire, dense smoke with spread everwhere. It will trigger massive earthquakes and other divinely channelled nature disasters as we will see in the next chapter.

The Third Trumpet

Revelation 8:10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell from heaven a great star, burning as a torch, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and the fountains of the waters.
11 The star's name is Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood. Many men died because the waters became bitter.

The English word wormwood refers to various plants. Here the word is apsinthos and almost certainly refers to absinthe, an anise-flavored herb extracted from the flowers and leaves of the artemisia absinthium plant. This herb is sometimes known as "la fée verte" (the Green Fairy) when distilled. Drinking small amounts will give one a nice "buz" and quench thirst; however, more than that makes one quite sick and may even cause death. Those who crave intoxication often find stopping at the medicinal level most difficult.

Humanity has abused diverse drugs throughout its history. Now a third of the remaining freshwater sources will become a highly intoxicating beverage in punishment and testing! Some will drink but a bit to quench their thirst or seek out uncontaminated water sources, but others, seeking an escape from the many woes or enjoying the intoxication for its own sake, will gorge themselves on the drug and become quite drunk and then violently ill. Recall the situation of those living in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the United States dropped nuclear bombs on civilian targets there. Many of the survivors spoke of their almost uncontrollable thirst. Countless people who had survived the initial U.S. bombing rushed into the rivers and streams, drinking deeply of the radioactive waters, and died. Those who were wise suffered from their intense thirst but only drank enough to survive. History repeats. Many will go further insane under its influence, and many more will die from the absinthe-tainted waters.

The Fourth Trumpet

Revelatiion 8:12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; that the third part of them should be darkened, and the day should not shine for the third part of it, and the night in like manner.
13 And I saw, and I heard an eagle, flying in mid-heaven, saying with a great voice, "Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth, because of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels, who are yet to sound."

What is coming is beyond the minds of even our most outstanding science fiction and horror writers. But these things will happen, possibly within this generation.

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