The third woe follows quickly, which you identify as the visible Second Coming of Christ — not a prolonged tribulation scheme, but the final and decisive return of the Lord in judgment.
Rev 11:14-15
(14) The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
(15) And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
The sequence is crucial. Once the “hour” of judgment upon the unfaithful whore is completed, the third woe comes quickly. That third woe is announced by the sounding of the seventh trumpet — the last trumpet — marking the open and final triumph of Christ.
At that point, the kingdoms of this world are declared to belong to the Lord and His Christ. His reign is no longer resisted by rebellious systems. It is final, visible, and eternal.
We are not told the exact moment when that “hour” of judgment concludes. That is why Christ warned His people to watch. The “signs in the sun, moon, and stars” point to divine judgment of His rebellious House — symbolic language indicating that its foundational has been shaken (just like the mountain and island were removed out of their places). These signs alert believers that His coming is near.
The message is not date-setting, but watchfulness. When the one hour of appointed judgment is finished, the last trumpet will sound — and Christ will appear in glory. Which is why we read in Matthew 24...
Mat 24:29-31
(29) Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
(30) And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
(31) And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Immediately after the great tribulation for the saints within the church, the judgment of God upon that church brings that tribulation to an end for the elect. Why? Because they are obeying Christ’s command to flee. They come out of her and stand “afar off,” witnessing the judgment of the whore.
In doing so, they are no longer under that tribulation for they are separated from the city under wrath, just like Lot did with Sodom.
This is how they “see” the sun darkened, the moon not giving its light, the stars falling, and the powers of heaven shaken. These are not literal astronomical events, but symbolic language describing the collapse of a spiritual kingdom. The visible congregation — once claiming to reflect God’s light — is darkened. Its authority structure is shaken. Its teachers, represented by the stars, fall.
The church, now dominated by false prophets and false christs, comes under divine judgment. What once appeared stable and luminous is exposed as corrupt and is brought down by God Himself.
When the elect "see" the “abomination of desolation” standing where it ought not, they recognize that judgment has come upon the unfaithful church. The darkening of the sun, moon, and stars represents the extinguishing of that church's representative of the Kingdom of God. The “powers of the heavens” being shaken refers to the collapse of its authority as a kingdom representative of God.
This period of judgment is described elsewhere symbolically as “one hour.” It is not necessarily sixty minutes, but a divinely appointed, brief season, and guess what? A Little Season! A season that we will "know that summer is near," Matthew 24:32-35. That allows a short span of time between the beginning of judgment and the visible appearing of Christ.
The great trumpet in verse 31 aligns with the seventh trumpet — which is the last trump. This is not a separate event but the same climactic moment: the Second Coming of Christ. At that sound, the elect are gathered from the four winds. For them, it is deliverance. For those not sealed by God, it is the final woe — irreversibl