Part 2: The Great Tribulation vs. The Wrath of God

by Tad Lindley

There is a good chance that many of us will live to see these two events. What are they, and how and when exactly will they happen? I urge you as you read this to stop and check the scripture references in your own Bible. Mark it up. This is essential information if you want to end up on the right side of the end time.

Recap of Part 1

About three and a half years before the return of the Lord, the Antichrist will reveal himself in a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. He will cause the Jewish animal sacrifices to cease. Shortly thereafter he will introduce the mark of the beast. This will involve pledging allegiance to the Anti-Christ or worshipping his image and taking a mark in the right hand or the forehead. Christians and Jews (who refuse the mark of the beast) will be viciously targeted by the government of the Antichrist. Many will be killed during this time. It will be the wrath of the Antichrist.

Countries resisting the Antichrist

During the Great Tribulation not every country will be submitted to the Antichrist. It appears that perhaps only three nations will be allied together against the Antichrist. When the dragon [Satan] saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman [Israel] who had given birth to the male child [Jesus]. The woman [Israel] was given the two wings of a great eagle [the United States], so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the wilderness, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time [3.5 years], out of the serpent’s reach. (Revelation 12:13-14) The third nation is Jordan (see Daniel 11:41, Ammon is Aman, Jordan).

The seven bowl judgments

At the end of the Great Tribulation, the wrath of God is poured out on those who have worshipped the Antichrist and his image. I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed (Revelation 15:1). Revelation 16 details the bowl judgments (the word “vial” is used instead of bowl in some translations). In each of these, an angel pours out a bowl of judgment upon the earth, and the wrath of God ensues. Notice that these judgments are targeted at those who have taken the mark of the beast: The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly, festering sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped its image (Revelation 16:12 NIV). Here is a synopsis of the seven bowls:

1. Sores on people with the mark of the beast

2. Sea creatures die

3. Rivers turn to blood

4. Extreme global warming

5. Darkness and pain on the Antichrist’s home country

6. Battle of Armageddon

7. Greatest earthquake in history and huge hail

Battle of Armageddon

The sixth bowl judgment is the Battle of Armageddon. It is found in Revelation 16:12-16. I am oversimplifying things here, but understand this, that the Euphrates River in Iraq will be dried up temporarily, then there will be a massive troop movement positioning the armies that are in union with the Antichrist to attack Israel. Ezekiel 38 and 39 gives more details about this battle. Zechariah describes the horror like this: A day of the Lord is coming, Jerusalem, when your possessions will be plundered and divided up within your very walls. I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. (Zechariah 14:1-2)

Next what?

Then the Lord will return and establish his kingdom for a thousand years. You can read more about the coming of the Lord and the Millennium (the thousand years of peace) in Revelation 19 and 20.

Tad Lindley is a minister at the United Pentecostal Church in Bethel, Alaska.

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