RESOURCE: The End of the Age
As the Lord’s wrath unfolds across a world wracked by the worst wars, famines, pestilences and great earthquakes in its history, a dark celestial wild card appears in space. It is the “sixth seal.” The last of the birth pangs seals to open. This leaves only the “seventh seal” opened two chapters later which unleashes the seven trumpet judgments followed by the seven bowl judgments — the seven-year tribulation. These horrific birth pangs are only the beginning of the end times.
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
Revelation 6:12-13
The sky is darkened and not only at night. The moon is red. The sky is falling with a multitude of objects raining down like figs from a tree when it is “shaken by a mighty wind.” There must be many and they have the appearance of falling stars. John’s mysterious description flows into more mystery as objects rain down upon the earth. And the sky is disappearing.
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
Revelation 6:14
The prophet Amos adds to the mystery.
“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God,
Amos 8:9
“That I will make the sun go down at noon,
And I will darken the earth in broad daylight;
A sight never before seen by men unfolds before their eyes. The day sky begins to slowly disappear. Something is blocking light from reaching the earth at the same time great spiritual darkness engulfs the planet. It dominates the heavens. Its gravitational pull contorts the earth like a flimsy reed in the wind moving “every mountain and island … out of its place.” And all men regardless of rank react the same.
And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, 16 and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
Revelation 6:15-16
Be ye a king or be ye a slave all men seek the shelter of the cave. Mankind is forced into becoming a modern troglodyte. And the inherent wickedness of men tells them who is behind this wrath. They try to hide from He who has no beginning. But they cannot. Because His wrath has come.
For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
Revelation 6:17
By definition, the wrath of God is the day of the Lord. And these six seal judgments are simply its opening scene. These terrible events are nothing more than end-time birth pangs. The beginning phase of the day of the Lord. Soon to be followed by the seven-year tribulation unleashed by the powerful seventh seal. As for the sixth seal and its strange descriptions one candidate for its fulfillment appears to stand out.
Asteroid or Comet:
From the description of these prophecies it would appear the best candidate capable of fulfilling them would be a very large asteroid or comet passing very close to the earth. As its hulking mass slowly moves between the sun and the earth, a dark shadow would cover the sky as though it were being rolled up like a scroll. It would also produce something else.
Falling Stars:
Asteroids are not lone travelers through the vastness of space. They travel with a great company of friends called “debris clouds.” These debris clouds consist of countless meteorites and meteors of various sizes. As a result, a large asteroid that passes close enough to Earth to wreak gravitational havoc on mountains and islands would also hurl down to the Earth’s surface raining clouds of “falling stars” the like of which has never before been seen. Millions upon millions would plunge in fiery descent through the atmosphere creating an appearance like the stars of heaven fell to the earth, “as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.” And naturally, people would seek protection. Since the speeding hot rocks would easily cut through the typical rooftop like a hot knife through butter few would be safe. But those within rock enclaves — caves — would be safe. And the whole affair would usher in the fearful sights and great signs from heaven Luke 21 speaks of during birth pangs, as well as the sea and waves roaring completing the beginning phase of the day of the Lord — the end times.
Scripture is very clear that after this horrific birth pangs phase is finished the final seven years of the Lord’s redemptive plan for man begins. Daniel’s 70th week is popularly called the seven-year tribulation. Birth pangs announce the impending birth of the 70th week. Knowing that the tribulation period lasts seven years raises the most obvious question. How long do birth pangs last?
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