Hi Vet, Your words: "In Matthew 24 and Mark 13 is where He first covered those 7 Signs. The very last Sign He covered there is about the time of His second coming and our gathering to Him. So what do you think the very last Sign of His Revelation ought to be? That's right, the time of His coming and our gathering to Him on the last day of this world."
In a way I agree with you and in a way I don't. The last day of this world? No!
That the 7 signs of Matt. 24 and Mark 13 parallel the seven seals? I agree whole-heartedly.
That the trumpets and vials parallel the seven seals? No way! They are chronological. You were right the first time. isn't there some adage about never second-guessing one's self?
That the last sign, the 6th seal is just prior to the rapture, the end of this age for believers? Yep, I agree.
The time of our Lord Jesus' second coming is when the resurrection spoken of here will occur...
John 11:24
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
(KJV)
John 6:54
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
(KJV)
The "last day" those verse refer to are the last day of this 'present' world time. It will be the end of this 'present' world as we today know it. So I don't know how you be confused with such a simple matter as that, especially in light of weightier Scripture about the end of this present world on "the day of the Lord" per 2 Peter 3:10, which is when our Lord Jesus returns also.
To put it into plain speech what is going to occur on that day of Christ's 2nd coming, all still alive upon this earth are going to go through an instant literal 'change', the change at the twinkling of an eye which Apostle Paul declared in 1 Cor.15. Both the just and the wicked here on earth will go through that change to a "spiritual body". At the same instant, man's works upon this earth are going to be burned off it by God's consuming fire, which is what 2 Peter 3:10 is about. It's not a destruction of the material earth, it's a destruction of man's things on the earth to end this present world time, just as how God before cleansed the earth in Noah's days, except using fire this next time. This matter is what Peter's main lesson in 2 Pet.3 is about.
2 Pet 3:10
10
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
(KJV)
In 1 Thessalonians 5, Apostle Paul linked that "day of the Lord" and "thief in the night" with the time of our Lord Jesus' coming and our gathering to Him. He even revealed how the deceived on earth will be saying, "Peace and safety" right up to that event of "sudden destruction" upon them.
As for the 7 signs of Matt.24 and Mark 13, they parallel the trumpets and vials also, because events in the 7 Seals also parallel the trumpets and vials.
For example, the 5th Seal timing parallels the 5th and 6th Trumpets, especially the 6th Trumpet. Our Lord Jesus gave 3 Woe periods with the last 3 Trumpets. The 2nd Woe period happens with the 6th Trumpet, and the 3rd final Woe period happens with the ending of the 6th Trumpet going into the 7th Trumpet, which is the trumpet of His return per Rev.11 (as also hinted as the final sign in Rev.10:7). What I'm getting at with that, is that the event of the 5th Seal involves a time when some of Christ's servants are delivered up to give a witness for Him, and those are the ones which God told the souls under the altar they must wait until they are killed as they were. Our Lord Jesus gave us that as one of the 7 signs in Mark 13. And that event is especially linked to the killing of God's two witnesses within the 6th Trumpet - 2nd Woe period of Rev.11.
In Rev.16:15, a verse I've well covered in many threads here already, Christ is giving a warning for His servants still on earth, His Church, DURING the 6th Vial timing, that His coming will be "as a thief", which is the very same... time marker that Paul gave in 1 Thess.5:2 & 4, and Peter in 2 Pet.3:10 about the "day of the Lord" event which is when Jesus returns to gather His Church and end this present world time, and the wicked's reign upon it.
One can easily look at the 6th Trumpet and 6th Vial events and see the wicked still reigning on earth, so this is not that difficult to understand per the Scripture as written. It's doctrines of men only that will stand in the way of grasping this.
Veteran .... just a quick comment from me ...... (I hear what you are saying) ....... at one time I started (and never finished) a timeline for revelation.
I quit because I realized to do it properly would require it be laid out on a huge chart (I am talking about 3 feet wide by at least 20 feet long).
With a set of arrows connecting the duplicate descriptions (happenings) (within the book of revelation).
Then a set of other bible references (prophecies) that appear to parallel the book of revelation
And connecting lines to each.
Hope that makes sense. In other words it would give a "complete picture" of all the (unfulfilled) prophecy in one spot and at one glance.
It would take a lot of work and a scholarly approach.
I do not feel our minds can keep all the information intact simply by reading all the bits and pieces.
I think Hal Lindsey made a decent (written) attempt in his 1970's book "Late great planet earth" .
Now it needs to be laid out as a 3' X 20' scroll type of document.
My opinion anyway Veteran. Think about it and i look forward to your thoughts.
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ps: to everybody else :
(I do not need lectures regarding Hal Lindsey) (I have heard them all) ( prophecy was a dead baby until he came along) (everything happens for a purpose) (Hal Lindsey is a friend of Christianity) (he did a good job of kick-starting our interest)
I assure you, our Lord Jesus Christ intended that all His servants living in the last days understand it, that is, those who take the time to study all of His Word.
I won't say a specific number, but a great percentage of our Lord's Book of Revelation comes from what had already been written in earlier Books of God's Word, especially the Old Testament Books of the prophets.
Many brethren are lacking in Bible study of the OT prophets, and that's why those tend to treat Revelation kind of like an 'independent' study, when it is not meant to be. When I speak of our Lord Jesus giving only 7 Signs of the end in His Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 and Mark 13, and how those 7 signs directly parallel the events and even given 'order' of the 7 Seals, that was our Lord Jesus Who made that link between those Bible Chapters. Very much so then, He was giving us a major 'hint' on
how to unravel the timing and events of Revelation making it 'easy' to understand.
Some just stumble upon that direct link between the 7 signs in His Olivet Discourse and the 7 Seals of Rev.6, meaning, some don't have to hear someone (like myself) teaching about that direct link. That has to mean it's easy to discover, which makes sense as to how our Lord teaches. We just have to pay attention.
So what other links has He provided past the Olivet Discourse - 7 Seals link? Are there more... links like that which make His Revelation easy for us to understand? Yes. And it does not require that we do some war room type of chart layout, and call in the world's great scholars to do it for us. Simply stay in study of all His Word with self-discipline, and try to keep in mind what you learned from earlier Bible study when opening His Revelation, and it's proper order and timing of events will be revealed to you, according to your Faith and prayer for it to The Father through His Son Jesus Christ.
This might be a little off-topic, but I think the 6th seal is about to be opened. I know it sounds crazy, and because I'm off topic, I'll keep it short and let you do the reseach yourselves. 1st seal: White is the official color of Catholicism, red is the official color of communisum, black (the 3ed seal) is the official color of capitalism, and pale (actually the word is green) is the color of Islam (one fourth of the world's poplulation is islamic)
the 1st trump was WWI--scorched earth by hitler in 1941-42 and as far back as nepoleon. 2nd trump WWII one third of all the ships used in WWII were distroyed, 3rd trump (bare with me here) the nuke pwr plant that blewup in USSR Chenopel??? how ever you spell it, it means wormwood and people are still dying from the poision waters from that. the 4th and 5th probably the desert storm war the smoke was from the bombed oil wells and refineries. The locuses were the choppers used--don't recall their names but the king over them in hebrew is Abaddon, and in greek Apollyon both mean destroyer. So does Saddam. very few people were killed in the 5 to 7 month war (like 135 people). It just seems to fit very nicely together.
I don't believe the Revelation is written in any order except the obvious 1st trump will come before the 2nd, but the all 7 seals don't need to be opened before the first trump sounds. However, I do believe the viles will not come until the Church is raptured, and I also believe we here on earth will not see it as dramatic as the Bible spells it out, but i bet in the spiritual realm, it is very dramatic.
Doesn't that make it seem like His return is close?
His return is very, very close. But even from other Bible Books than our Lord's Revelation we should already know certain required events on earth still are yet to happen before He will return.
The 6th Seal is not yet, but mainly the events of the 5th Seal are next, which is about "great tribulation" timing. The event of "great tribulation" our Lord Jesus mentioned in His Olivet Discourse has yet to occur today. When it does, it will parallel events of the 5th Seal (and a very small portion of the 6th Seal), and the events of the 6th Trumpet and 6th Vial. Then our Lord Jesus' coming will be after that.
