THE SEVEN SEALED BOOK
and a different pre-trib rapture view
To the Church,
the Body of Christ, of which I am most grateful to be a part.
The preparations for Daniel's 70th Week will become complete during the 6th Trumpet period.
PROPOSITION 6
In accord with what we have considered to this point, while the time of the last days' Day of the Lord judgment will commence the same day that the rapture occurs, Daniel's 70th Week will not commence until everything is readied and the Antichrist confirms his prophesied seven year covenant with Israel (Dan. 9:27). From another angle, if the rapture were to occur today, it is not necessary (according to Scripture) that the Antichrist confirm his covenant with Israel tomorrow. Nor is this likely, for with all that will happen on the day of the rapture, some amount of time would seem to be necessary for things to stabilize somewhat upon the earth and to fully prepare the world's stage (especially that of the Bible lands) for Daniel's 70th Week to formally begin. Just such an amount of time is spoken of in The Revelation.​
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First of all, in his account of the 5th Trumpet and first "woe" (Rev. 9:1-12), John speaks of a five month period of time (vss. 5 and 10). According to the chronology of The Revelation and what he writes concerning when this woe will be "past" (vs. 12), these five months will occur prior to the sounding of the 6th Trumpet (vs. 13) and also prior to the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week, of which nothing is shown until chapter 11. Whereas the locusts he describes (9:3-10) will torment people for these five months, the earth itself will have this time to stabilize somewhat from the preceding cataclysms. Also, it's not hard to envision such a time frame facilitating the rise of the Antichrist to power. While he may not hit the world's stage in all his dark glory on the day after the rapture, those left behind will begin to see his rise to power, and within as little as a matter of months, his infamous covenant with Israel will be ratified.​
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​Next, in his account of the 6th Trumpet and second "woe" (Rev. 9:13-21), John speaks of four angels "which are bound in the great river Euphrates" being loosed. He says of these angels that they were prepared "for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men" (vs. 15). Just how this time frame may or may not overlap into the first 3-1/2 years of Daniel's 70th Week we do not know for sure, but it is certainly of some relevance. Further, whatever kind of war it is that now takes place, it results in an unprecedented slaughter. Unlike "the fourth part of the earth" spoken of in Revelation 6:8---which is a geographical statement---John records plainly that "the third part of men" will be killed at this time (Rev. 9:15, 18).
Concerning the Euphrates, this river is like a line or a barrier between Israel and eastern Asia. Actually, it is supposed to be Israel's eastern border (Deut. 11:24 and Josh. 1:1-4). Isn't it amazing how the little country of Israel continues to exist on the same continent with such huge and hostile countries as those that lie on the other side of the Euphrates from it? Is there some connection between this and the four angels that evidently are presently "bound" there (Rev. 9:14)? Whatever the case, the populations of the nations east of this river easily represent one-third of the world's population. China and India alone are populated by this many people. And notice verse 20 of this 6th Trumpet passage. There is no land upon the face of the earth whose people are more known for their worship of "idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood" than that of the Far East. With the population of the Far West already out of the picture, if the population of the Far East is now also taken out of the picture, the focus would be brought to bear upon ISRAEL, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Asia Minor, and Europe---once again---AS IN THE BIBLE DAYS.
SPECIAL NOTE: If the population of the earth is systematically reduced to the point that the only remaining inhabitants during the time of Daniel's 70th Week live in the lands of the Bible days, this takes the mystery away from how "every eye" (Rev. 1:7) shall simultaneously see Christ at His Second Advent (I must give the credit for being the first one to make this observation to my brother-in-law and former pastor, Bro. Vic Hill. The Lord was certainly in our midst during our discussion that day!). Just as the sun at noontime in my home state of Kentucky is very visible to every eye in our hemisphere, so will THE SON be very visible to every eye in the lands of the Bible days when He returns to Israel at the time of His Second Advent!
Finally, if what John has seen to this point in The Revelation is for the purpose of resetting the world's stage for Daniel's 70th Week, there is nothing more appropriate that he could now be shown than what he sees next. What this is is the subject of my next proposition.
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