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This chapter is quite crucial in our fellowship on the apostles’ teaching concerning God’s New Testament economy from the incarnation of God to the consummation of the New Jerusalem. In this chapter we want to see the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls in relation to the rapture of the saints — as the secrets of the universe concerning man from the time of Christ’s ascension to eternity in the future without ending. If we are going to understand the rapture, we must understand these three sets of “sevens” — the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls.
The seven seals are the mystery of God’s economy (Rev. 6:1-17; 8:1-2). The first four seals are the course of the four horses: gospel preaching, war, famine, and death (6:1-8; Matt. 24:6-8, 14). The course of these four horses is the course of the world in the present age of the church. Immediately after Christ’s ascension, these four things — the gospel, war, famine, and death — began to run like riders on four horses and will continue until the end of this age. Beginning with the first century, the gospel has been spreading throughout all these twenty centuries. The gospel takes the lead. War among the human race has also been proceeding simultaneously. War has always caused famine, and famine has issued in death. These four seals began from the ascension of Christ and will continue to the supernatural calamities in the sixth seal (Rev. 6:12-17).
The fifth seal is the cry of the martyred saints for vengeance (vv. 9-11). While the gospel is being preached, as indicated by the first seal, there is always the martyrdom of the faithful saints. Now we need to consider the rapture of the overcomers. We can consider this as an insertion between the fifth and sixth seals.
Before the sixth seal is opened, there will be the rapture of the overcomers. Before the supernatural calamities come in, God will take away His faithful ones. They will be raptured to Zion in the heavens, where the throne of God and Christ are today, and the time of their rapture will be before the beginning of the great tribulation in the sixth seal. The great tribulation begins from the sixth seal and ends with the seventh bowl.
According to the Bible, we can classify the overcomers into five categories. First, there is the man-child, composed of the resurrected martyrs who should participate in the “out-resurrection,” the “better resurrection” (12:5; Phil. 3:11; Heb. 11:35). Paul says in Philippians 3:11 that he wanted to attain to the out-resurrection. In Greek the prefix ex is added to the Greek word for resurrection. Paul wanted to attain to such an ex-resurrection. In Hebrews 11:35 the term better resurrection is used. The man-child will participate in this extra-resurrection, the better resurrection.
The second category of overcomers is the firstfruits (Rev. 14:1, 4). The third category is the overcomers in Philadelphia (3:7-8). The watchful and beseeching overcomers are the fourth category (Luke 21:36). Finally, the fifth category is the watchful one of the two saints (Matt. 24:40-42). The two saints in Matthew 24 represent the living saints at the time of the Lord’s parousia. In Matthew 25 the ten virgins represent the dead saints. Ten is the majority of twelve, whereas two is the remainder. At the Lord’s parousia, at His coming, a majority of the saints, represented by ten-twelfths, are the dead ones, and a minority of the saints, represented by two-twelfths, are the living ones. Among the living ones some will be taken away, raptured, and some will be left.
The above five categories of overcomers will be raptured before the opening of the sixth seal. After the rapture of the overcomers, in the midst of the last week (seven years) of the seventy weeks revealed in Daniel 9:24-27, Antichrist will break his one-week (seven years) covenant with Israel, and the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21) will begin and last for three and a half years — forty-two months — one thousand two hundred and sixty days, in which period of time the following evils, supernatural calamities, plagues, and woes will take place. First, Satan will be cast from heaven to the earth to cause, with great rage, woes to the earth and the sea and to persecute God’s people, those who still remain on the earth, and he will war with the Jews, who keep the commandments of God, and the believers, who have the testimony of Jesus (Rev. 12:7, 12b-13, 17). Second, Antichrist, who will come up out of the abyss (17:8), will exalt himself above all that is called God or an object of worship, seating himself in the temple of God and proclaiming that he is God (2 Thes. 2:4; Dan. 9:27b; Matt. 24:15). Third, all those dwelling on the earth will worship Satan (the dragon) and worship Antichrist (the beast) and his image; those who would not worship him and his image will be slain (Rev. 13:3-4, 8, 15). Some Christians surely will be slain, because in Revelation 15 these slain ones will be resurrected and raptured. They become the ones standing on the glassy sea (vv. 2-4). Revelation 20:4 also mentions these martyrs in the great tribulation who would not worship the beast and his image. Fourth, Antichrist will war with the saints, overcome them, and act as he wills for forty-two months (13:7, 5). During that time an angel will announce an eternal gospel to those dwelling on the earth, charging them to fear God and worship Him, that is, not to worship Antichrist and his image, because the hour of His judgment has come (14:6-7, 9-11). Because of this gospel, some among the nations will not worship the Antichrist or his image. Instead, according to Matthew 25, they will treat God’s people, the Lord’s brothers, kindly. When the Lord comes to earth, He will consider them as “sheep” and make them the people on the earth in the millennium. Fifth, the false prophet (another beast) will do great signs to deceive people to make an image for Antichrist and worship it (Rev. 13:11-15; 16:13; 19:20). Sixth, in addition to all the devastations caused by the satanic trinity — Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet — God will mete out His judgment in His wrath to men on the earth with supernatural calamities, killings, a malignant sore, and darkness, as woes in the sixth seal, the first six trumpets, and the seven bowls of the seventh trumpet. Now we come to the opening of the sixth seal.
The sixth seal is the shaking of the earth and heaven (6:12-17). It is the beginning of the supernatural calamities to damage the inhabitable earth and heaven with its hosts (Luke 21:11), as the beginning of God’s answer to the martyrs’ cry in the fifth seal (Rev. 6:9-11). The sixth seal is also the initiation of the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21) of three and a half years (Dan. 12:7; Rev. 11:2; 13:5), the hour of trial to come on the whole inhabited earth (3:10). It is also a warning to the inhabitants on the earth (6:15-17). After the sixth seal comes the seventh seal, which is the ushering in of the seven trumpets (8:1-2).
The seven trumpets are the contents of the seventh seal (v. 6—9:21; 11:14-18). The first four trumpets will be the intensified supernatural calamities to damage all the sources of natural provisions for men’s living. All the provisions for us to live on earth were prepared by God, but all these will be damaged with the first four trumpets. The first trumpet will be God’s judgment on the earth: hail and fire mingled with blood will be cast to the earth; and the third part of the earth, the third part of the trees, and all the green grass will be burned up (8:7). The second trumpet will be God’s judgment on the sea: a great mountain burning with fire will be cast into the sea; and the third part of the sea will become blood, the third part of the living creatures in the sea will die, and the third part of the ships will be destroyed (vv. 8-9). The third trumpet will be God’s judgment on the rivers: a great star, called Wormwood, will fall out of heaven, burning like a torch, and will fall upon the third part of the rivers and upon the springs of waters; and the third part of the waters will become wormwood, and many men will die from the bitter waters (vv. 10-11). The fourth trumpet will be God’s judgment on the sun, moon, and stars: the third part of the sun, of the moon, and of the stars will be smitten; and the third part of the three lights (the sun, moon, and stars) will be darkened, the day and night not appearing for the third part of them (v. 12). The third part of the day will be dark. The moon and the stars will not shine for the third part of the night. This is God’s judgment to damage the sources of the natural provisions for men’s living.
The fifth trumpet, which is the first woe, is God’s judgment on men to torment men by Satan collaborating with Antichrist (v. 13—9:11). There will not be much difference in time between the sixth seal, in Revelation 6:12-17, and the first five trumpets, in Revelation 8:7—9:11. Joel 2:30-31 proves this. The sixth seal and the first five trumpets are linked together as a group, covering the first two times of the supernatural calamities: the first time is to shake and damage the inhabitable earth and heaven with its hosts (Rev. 6:12-17); the second time is to judge all the sources of natural provisions for men’s living (8:7-12). They will take place nearly at the same time in continuation.
After the sounding of the fifth trumpet, Satan as a star will fall out of heaven to the earth to release “locusts” from the abyss (the bottomless pit) to torment men by stinging as scorpions for five months (9:1-5, 7-10). Furthermore, Antichrist, the angel of the abyss, will be the king over the tormenting locusts, with the name of Abaddon (destruction) in Hebrew and of Apollyon (destroyer) in Greek (v. 11). Antichrist will be both the destruction and the destroyer. He will come up from the abyss just to destroy man. In those five months, men will seek death and long to die, but by no means will they find it, because death will flee from them (v. 6). Today we do not want death. In that time men will want death, but they will not find it.
The sixth trumpet, which is the second woe, is God’s further judgment on men by two hundred million horsemen killing the third part of men (vv. 12-21). After this trumpet is sounded, the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates will be loosed to kill the third part of men within thirteen months and one day and one hour by two hundred million horsemen (vv. 14-16). The horsemen will kill men by fire, smoke, and brimstone proceeding out of the mouth of their horses and by the tails of their horses, which are like the tails of serpents (vv. 17-19). The rest of the men who have not been killed by these plagues will not repent of their idolatry, murders, sorceries, fornication, and thefts (vv. 20-21). The fifth trumpet and the sixth trumpet will last for more than one and a half years. After the sixth trumpet and before the seventh trumpet is another insertion related to the rapture of the saints and the second coming of Christ. This insertion is concerning Christ’s coming down out of heaven to the air.
Revelation 10:1-6 shows us Christ’s coming down out of heaven to the air. Before that time Christ was in the heavens with the overcomers who were raptured to the throne. That was the beginning of His parousia (presence). Now His parousia comes down out of heaven to the air. In His parousia in the air, He is clothed with a cloud — in secrecy (v. 1a). This is His secret coming, the secret section of His parousia. The rainbow is upon His head as a reminder of the covenant God made with Noah concerning the existence of the living creatures on the earth (v. 1b; Gen. 9:8-17). He will place His right foot on the sea and His left foot on the land to take possession of the earth (Rev. 10:2b). At that juncture He will declare that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet, the mystery of God, as the good news God announced to the prophets, will be finished (vv. 6-7). After this insertion of Christ’s coming down out of heaven to the air, God’s plan continues to be carried out with the sounding of the seventh trumpet.
In the days of the seventh trumpet will be the finishing of the mystery of God (v. 7; 11:14-18).
At the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet will be the eternal kingdom of God and of Christ (v. 15). It will be at that time that the kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of God and of Christ. He will reign forever and ever. The trumpeting of the seventh trumpet also comprises the judgment of the dead (v. 18a) to decide among all the dead persons who should participate in the first resurrection (20:6a), the resurrection of life (John 5:29a) before the millennium, and who should still remain in death until the resurrection of judgment (v. 29b) after the millennium to be judged at the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-12). First Corinthians 15:52 says that at the last trumpet the dead will be raised. This is the seventh trumpet, the trumpet of God (1 Thes. 4:16). This brings us to the insertions of the rapture of the majority of the saints and the rapture of the two witnesses.
The rapture of the majority of the saints will be to the Lord’s barn in the air within the clouds (Matt. 13:30), where Christ’s parousia (presence) will then be (1 Thes. 4:17). The majority of the saints will be raptured not to the peak of the universe, to Zion in the third heaven, but to the air. The Bible likens the believers to a harvest and the Lord to a farmer. The rapture of the majority of the saints as the harvest will be at the consummation of this age, after the manifestation of Antichrist, at the end of the great tribulation, at the last trumpet, that is, the seventh trumpet (Matt. 13:39; 2 Thes. 2:1, 3b-4; Rev. 14:9-12). This rapture will comprise the resurrected saints who will be resurrected “in the twinkling of an eye” (Matt. 25:1-12; Rev. 15:2; 20:4-6; 1 Thes. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:51-52) and also the remaining saints (1 Thes. 4:15-16; Rev. 16:15; 14:14-16; Matt. 13:30). The majority of the remaining saints, who will be left after the rapture of the overcomers to pass through the three and a half years of the great tribulation, will be preserved in a place prepared by God for them in the wilderness for those three and a half years (Rev. 12:6, 14). Because they are preserved in a place prepared for them by God for those three and a half years, which is the entire length of time of the great tribulation, the rapture of the majority of the saints must be at the very end, the last day, of the great tribulation. Those who will be saved in Christ and have the testimony of Jesus during the great tribulation (v. 17) will all be included among the remaining saints, whom the Lord will remind of His coming in Revelation 16:15.
At the end of the great tribulation, there will also be the rapture of the two witnesses — Moses and Elijah (11:3-12). What they will do in Revelation 11:5-6 is just like the deeds of Moses and Elijah (Exo. 7:17, 19; 9:14; 11:1; 2 Kings 1:10-12; 1 Kings 17:1), who appeared before the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-3). Moses, representing the law, and Elijah, representing the prophets (Luke 16:16), both testify for God. They are the two olive trees, the two sons of oil (Rev. 11:4) in Zechariah 4:3 and 11 through 14. They will prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, during which time the holy city, Jerusalem, will be trampled by Antichrist for forty-two months (2, Rev. 11:3). When they will have completed their testimony, Antichrist will make war with them and kill them (v. 7). Their corpses will be on the street of the great city (Jerusalem) for three and a half days (vv. 8-9). After the three and a half days they will resurrect and be raptured in the cloud on the last day of their ministry of one thousand two hundred and sixty days, that is, on the last day of the great tribulation (vv. 11-12). Since we have seen the insertions of the rapture of the majority of the saints and of the two witnesses, we come to the seven bowls, which are the negative contents of the seventh trumpet.
We have seen that the contents of the seventh trumpet include the eternal kingdom of God and of Christ and the judgment of the dead. Now we need to see the seven bowls as the negative contents of the seventh trumpet. The seven bowls will be the third woe, the last plagues of the great tribulation (vv. 14, 18a; 15:5-8; 16:1). The first woe is the fifth trumpet, the second woe is the sixth trumpet, and the third woe is the seven bowls of the seventh trumpet. Human words cannot describe how terrible these three woes will be.
The first four bowls are the consummating supernatural calamities to utterly damage men’s habitation in the universe (vv. 2-9). The first bowl will be God’s further judgment on the earth, causing an evil and malignant sore upon the worshippers of Antichrist (vv. 1-2). The second bowl will be God’s further judgment on the sea, causing the sea to become blood and every living soul in the sea to die (v. 3). The third bowl will be God’s further judgment on the rivers and springs, causing them to become blood that men have to drink (vv. 4-7). The fourth bowl will be God’s further judgment on the sun, causing it to burn men with fire, and men being burned to blaspheme the name of God (vv. 8-9). The fifth bowl will be God’s ultimate judgment on the kingdom of Antichrist executed on his throne, causing his kingdom to become darkened and his people to gnaw their tongues for pain and blaspheme God for their pains (vv. 10-11). The sixth bowl will be the damage on the great river Euphrates, causing it to dry up for the preparation of the way of the kings from the rising of the sun for the war at Armageddon (vv. 12, 16). Between the sixth and seventh bowls is the insertion of the preparation for the war at Armageddon.
Three unclean demonic spirits like frogs out of the mouths of Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet will go forth to gather the kings of the whole inhabited earth for the war at Armageddon on the great day of God (vv. 13-16). During the gathering of the kings by the three unclean spirits, the Lord will remind the remaining living saints concerning His coming (v. 15). After this insertion of the preparation for the war at Armageddon is the seventh bowl.
The seventh bowl will be the concluding plague of the great tribulation: the greatest earthquake and the great hail (vv. 17-21). That earthquake will be the last earthquake in the whole universe and the biggest one. The earthquake will divide the great city — Jerusalem — into three parts, and the cities of the nations will fall (v. 19a). Babylon the Great (the material city of Rome) will be destroyed (v. 19b). Every island will flee, and mountains will disappear (v. 20). The great hail (each weighing about one talent — approximately one hundred pounds) will smite men, and men will blaspheme God (v. 21).
After the seven bowls is the giving of the reward to the overcomers, judged at the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 11:18c). Right after the rapture of the majority of the saints, there will be the judgment seat. At the judgment seat, the Lord will give a reward to the overcomers. The marriage of the Lamb in Revelation 19:7-8 will be after the judgment seat of Christ.
After the judgment seat, the giving of the reward, and the marriage of Christ and His overcomers, He will come with His bride from the air to the earth (Matt. 24:27-28) to fight against and defeat Antichrist at the war of Armageddon (Rev. 16:14, 16). The war at Armageddon will be the last war of this age. At Armageddon Christ will tread the great winepress of the fury of God on the evildoers of the earth (14:19-20). That war will be a winepress to press all the evildoers. Christ with His bride — the overcomers — will fight Antichrist, the ten kings, and their armies and overcome them within one hour (17:12-14) to destroy the destroyers of the earth (11:18d). Christ will cast Antichrist and his false prophet alive into the lake of fire (19:19-20), into which the devil, Satan, whom they follow, will be cast also, to suffer the eternal torment by fire (20:10). It is by this war that the nation of Israel with their holy city Jerusalem will be rescued from the siege of Antichrist, and at that time the whole house of Israel will repent to the Lord and be saved by Him (Zech. 12:10-14).
The title Babylon is used in Revelation as a symbol in two aspects. In the first aspect it symbolizes the apostate Roman Catholic Church as the religious and mysterious Babylon revealed in Revelation 17, and in the second aspect it symbolizes the city of Rome as the political and physical Babylon revealed in Revelation 18. Both are evil and abominable in the eyes of God. Hence, God first will destroy the religious and mysterious Babylon (14:8), that is, the apostate Roman Catholic Church, by Antichrist at the beginning of the great tribulation when he will break the covenant with Israel (Dan. 9:27) and begin to persecute all religions (8:11; 2 Thes. 2:3-4). At the end of the great tribulation, right after the war at Armageddon in the seventh bowl, God will also destroy the political and physical Babylon (Rev. 16:19), that is, the city of Rome.
By all that we have seen thus far, at the trumpeting of the seventh trumpet, all the following things will take place on the same day, the last day of the great tribulation of three and a half years:
(1) The kingdom of the world will become the kingdom of God and of Christ.
(2) The dead saints will be resurrected and will be raptured with the remaining saints to the air.
(3) The two witnesses will be resurrected and raptured to the air. This will take place probably after the rapture of the majority of the saints or even at the same time.
(4) Christ will judge all His saints at His judgment seat to reward the overcoming ones.
(5) Christ will have His marriage with the overcoming saints.
(6) Christ with His bride, the overcoming saints, will come down to the earth to defeat Antichrist and his army, destroy the destroyers of the earth at the war at Armageddon, and cast Antichrist and the false prophet into the lake of fire.
(7) By the war at Armageddon, Christ will deliver the nation of Israel from the siege of Antichrist, and the whole house of Israel will repent and be saved.
(8) The political and physical Babylon, the city of Rome, will be destroyed.
(9) In the meantime, the seven bowls which constitute the last woe of the great tribulation will take place, and in the sixth bowl will be the war at Armageddon by which Antichrist and his army will be destroyed. The plagues of these seven bowls will be the negative contents of the seventh trumpet, which will be meted out by God on the same day, probably while the abovementioned positive things will be taking place.
After Christ has defeated and destroyed Antichrist and his followers, Satan will be bound and cast into the abyss, the bottomless pit. This is included in the seventh trumpet.
The seventh trumpet also includes the judgment on the nations by Christ at His throne of glory in Jerusalem (Matt. 19:28; Jer. 3:17) to divide them into “sheep” to be the people in the millennial kingdom and “goats” to perish in the eternal fire (Matt. 25:31-46). This is the last judgment before God’s judgment at the great white throne.
After this judgment on the nations, the Lord will set up the millennial kingdom, the kingdom of Christ for a thousand years (Rev. 20:4-6). At the end of the millennium, the nations, who are the people of the millennium on the earth, will be deceived by Satan, who will then be loosed out of his prison to rebel against the Lord. The rebellious nations will be devoured by fire from heaven, and Satan, the devil, will be cast into the lake of fire to be tormented forever (vv. 7-10). Then there will be the eternal judgment at the great white throne to judge all the dead unbelievers throughout all the centuries (vv. 11-15). After that judgment there will be the new heaven and new earth as the realm of the eternal kingdom of God with the New Jerusalem as the center of the eternal kingdom of God (chs. 21—22). This is the conclusion of the seventh seal and of the seventh trumpet, which will last forever. All these items are also the contents of the seventh trumpet, which is the greater part of the seventh seal that will proceed forever. This fellowship with all the Scripture references should be a help to us in understanding the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bowls in relation to the rapture of the saints.
In Matthew 24:36 the Lord said, “Concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but the Father only.” According to the context of this word, Matthew 24:32-44, that day and hour refers to the day and hour of the rapture of the overcomers into the secret section of His parousia (coming) in the third heaven. That day and hour no one knows but the Father only, who keeps that day and hour in Himself as secrecy.
However, the year of the appearing of the public section of His parousia (coming) to the earth can be figured out according to the last week (seven years) of the seventy weeks revealed in Daniel 9:24-27. According to Daniel’s prophecy, at the coming of the last week, Antichrist will make a firm covenant with Israel for seven years, and in the middle of the seven years, he will break that covenant and persecute the people of Israel and the remaining believers (v. 27). When the believers see the coming Antichrist making a covenant with the Jews for seven years, we can figure out, by the prophecies in Matthew 24:15-44, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, and Revelation 6—16, the year of the rapture of the overcomers, which will probably be in the first half of the fourth year of the last week, and the year of the rapture of the majority of the saints and of the two witnesses, which will be the last year of the last week. We can even figure out the day of the rapture of the majority of the saints and the two witnesses, which will be the last day of the last week, as we have seen already in this chapter.
In Matthew 24:32 the Lord gave us some signs that we may know the period of His parousia, which will be in the last part of the last week. The Lord said, “Learn the parable from the fig tree: As soon as its branch has become tender and puts forth its leaves.” The fig tree here symbolizes the nation of Israel, which was condemned by the Lord to be dried up in Matthew 21:19, and the branch becoming tender and putting forth its leaves signifies the restoration of the nation of Israel, which has taken place already. By this kind of sign, we have to realize that we are now in a time that is very close to the last week of the present age. Hence, we have to be more on the alert to get ourselves prepared for the Lord’s parousia (coming).
