The Tribulation Described in the Book of Revelation Part 2

The interludes of the Book of Revelation

This is a continuation of a series. Click Here for previous posts.

Introduction

Most Christians today are familiar with what Jesus said about the Great Tribulation in Matthew 24, in addition to references about it from other New Testament writers. But, when they look at the Vision of the Trumpets in the book of Revelation, very few realize that it reveals far more about the Great Tribulation, than all of them combined. For example, Paul wrote his letters to the Thessalonians and the Corinthians around 50-53 A.D., almost 40 years before John received his revelation around 95 A.D.. So Paul was not privy to what Jesus had revealed to John about it. His instructions do not take into account what Jesus said to him.

Jesus had more to say to His disciples, when He was with them, but knew that it would have to keep for another time:

John 16:12 (CHV) I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

Decades later, He visited John, on the Island of Patmos, to finish that conversation.

However, because of the symbolism of the Book of Revelation, understanding it would become mired in controversy for the next 2000 years. In fact, a majority of Christians today have concluded that no one can know for sure what the Book of Revelation means.

• Perhaps they have overlooked this prophecy from Daniel:

Daniel 12:9-10 (CHV) And he said, Go your way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked will understand; but the wise will understand.

Jesus came to John, on the Island of Patmos, to fulfill this prophecy.

• Perhaps they don’t realize what Jesus Himself said about the Book of Revelation:

Revelation 1:3 (CHV) Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written in it; for the time is at hand.

How can we keep what we can’t understand?

Welcome

I would like to welcome all my new subscribers to Substack.

Many of my readers are receiving email notifications about my articles, even though they haven’t subscribed. So if you haven’t yet, it will help to increase their circulation if you hit the free subscribe button below. I want to thank each and every one of you who appreciates them enough to subscribe. I am humbled, and simply want to say thank you for reading my substack.

I have written a book about the end times, under the pen name of Zachariah Topstone, entitled Christ Harbor. If you get the book (here), you will understand why I used that pen name. I am not happy with the price of the book because my publisher has greatly increased what I have to pay for both the print and digital versions, which in turn affects the price at which I sell them. Because of this, I am working on a second edition (not available yet), that I hope will improve the message of Christ Harbor, and I plan to offer it for free as a PDF to all paid subscribers who request it by email. This will apply to all new and existing monthly subscribers plus a 10 percent discount for new annual subscriptions.

Please note

I usually quote the King James Version of the Bible but I often change the verses to one degree or another. Some examples are, taking out the thees and thous or changing, for instance, the phrase them which to those who. In some instances, I also paraphrase the KJV wording to make it more understandable.

I have done it so often that I decided to warn my readers by identifying that it is my own paraphrase by including CHV(Christ Harbor Version) instead of KJV (King James Version) after the Bible reference. That way, if you want to, you can check to see what I have changed.

As always, my goal in all my articles is not just to tell you what I think, but to give you enough information so that you can make up your own mind.

The Interludes

In studying the Book of Revelation, I kept running into a number of significant, intervening pauses in the narrative, scattered throughout the book, that most scholars call “interludes”. They are highly symbolic, and seem as difficult to understand as it was for Winston Churchill, when he tried to explain Russia’s part in World War II. He said, “it is like a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside of an enigma.”

Because of their occurrence in the vision, most have come to believe that the Book of Revelation is not in chronological order. For instance, In Rev. 6:12-13 we read that under the sixth seal, “The sun turned black, the moon became as blood, and the stars in the sky fell to earth”.  But we read two chapters later in 8:12 that under the fourth trumpet, “..a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark”.  First the sun and moon are turned black and the stars fall from the sky then later a third of the sun and moon are turned dark.

And, in addition to that, because there have been so many subjective interpretations over the last 2000 years, to the symbols of the book, the Church has given up understanding it. In fact, this may be the first time many of my readers have even heard what I am about to tell you about them.

But it occurred to me that Jesus must have put the interludes in the vision for a reason, so I put them together in a chart to see if I could learn anything. When I did, I saw that there are 15 of them and I discovered that, because of them, there is a chronological order to the book. When I saw this, I realized why Jesus gave them to John the way He did. If you want to know what they represent, you must look at what is taking place at the time that they appear in the book.

Looking at the chart, I saw that they formed a sequence of events that remarkably align with what is happening on the earth today. And I suspected that, even though they have been available to read since the end of the first century, Jesus intended for them to be understood when the time is at hand (Rev 1:3); when they would match up with the circumstances of the last days. Essentially, He knew how His Church would need further guidance because of the satanic chaos of the last days. So, in the Vision of the Trumpets, He left a sequential map for us to follow, to show us the way through the troublous times of the Great Tribulation that we are now enduring.

But perhaps the most extraordinary thing I noticed, is the 8th interlude that occurs under the seventh trumpet, in the final days of the tribulation:

Revelation 14:1 (CHV) And I looked, and a Lamb stood on Mount Zion.

The seventh trumpet is unique because no interludes appear in the first five trumpets and only one appears in the sixth trumpet, but seven of them appear in the seventh trumpet. Jesus was clearly signaling that those who are living during this trumpet are a special generation.

Recall, “If you want to know what an interlude represents, you must look at what is taking place at the time that it appears in the book.” The 8th interlude appears just as the 6th interlude, of world government control, and the 7th interlude, of world government deception, is emerging on earth.

I believe that the 8th interlude points to God’s rescue of His Church from these two beasts. And since it is obvious that they have now emerged here on earth, it means that we are very close to that rescue. A prophecy from the Old Testament predicts some very interesting things that will happen during this interlude:

Zechariah 9:14-17 (CHV) And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar. And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! Corn shall make the young men cheerful, and new wine, the maids.

Clearly, this prophecy pictures the oppressed becoming the oppressors.

The Chart

Following the 8th interlude, the remaining interludes of the 7th trumpet point to the harvest of the righteous and the wicked (9th and 10th interludes). After the trumpets, the final five interludes appear under the Vials of God’s wrath. But notice that none of them appear under the first 6 Vials. Like the 7th trumpet, they all appear under the seventh vial. This vial is unique because it represents the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ.

Installments to Our Inheritance

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul said that the Holy Spirit was the down payment to our inheritance in Christ:

Ephesians 1:13-14 (CHV) In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, who is the earnest (down payment) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory.

So, if the Holy Spirit was a down payment, when is the next installment to our inheritance in Christ?

Most believe Paul taught that the next installment, to follow the Day of Pentecost, would be when all believers are resurrected to immortal life at the the Second Coming of Christ. Since John wrote almost forty years later, Paul was not aware of what he wrote. So he did not know that John’s vision of the Trumpets predicted another installment, as significant as the Day of Pentecost (Rev 14:1-5), that would occur before then. And since he did not see John’s vision of Christ appearing over His Church during the Great Tribulation, he did not see that this would be the next installment to our inheritance in Christ.

This is not to say that Paul did not have the full revelation of God in what he was saying. It’s just that, God chose to give to Paul a revelation of the last days that did not include John’s vision of this installment. He did not want Paul to guide the Church, during the Church Age, with that information. But, He chose to give it to John, to guide the Church during the last days.

Tribulation prophecies

The Great Tribulation, that Jesus described in Matthew 24, appears as seven trumpets in the Book of Revelation. Each trumpet symbolizes a progressive shift in end times events, and those 15 interludes appear with them. I discovered that these interludes are the key to understanding this second installment. They reveal the rest of the story to our inheritance in Christ

Since Paul was not aware that there was another installment that would occur before the Second Coming, he did not emphasize Old Testament prophecies about it. Here is just a small selection of those prophecies that will all be fulfilled during the tribulation, as predicted by the 8th interlude:

Daniel 2:44 (CHV) And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up (establish) a kingdom, that will never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Daniel 7:21-22 (CHV) I saw the same horn make war with the saints, and prevail against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

Daniel 12:3 (CHV) And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 

Isaiah 60:1-3 (CHV) Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory shall be seen upon you.  And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

Mal 4:2-3 (CHV) But you who fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and you shall go forth, leaping like calves from the stall.  And you shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.

Because most scholars are unsure of what Jesus has revealed through these interludes, or when the above prophecies will occur, they have not given the Body of Christ a clear call to queue up for the battle of the last days. Without understanding that Jesus also appears in the Clouds of heaven before His Second Coming, they don’t recognize that He is going to finish the war, here on earth that He has already won in heaven, and that He is going use His Church to do it. They don’t discern that this a battle for the last days Harvest (Rev 14:14-20), that He will prosecute through His Church, that will prepare the way for His return.

And yes, it will begin with a rapture during the tribulation, but according to the parable of the Wheat and Tares (Mt 13:24-30), it will not be a rapture of the righteous, but of the wicked.

Over two thousand years of history is coming to a climax, beyond our imagination.

The purpose for this series

I am writing these articles to explain this next installment. I think that most in the Church today are, by now, aware that something, never before witnessed in history, is about to take place on earth, and they are struggling to understand it. Some are describing it as a Third Great Awakening. Others are describing it as the Seven Mountains Mandate, based upon this prophecy from Isaiah:

Isaiah 2:2 (CHV) And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.

I concur with both of these descriptions, but I also think that what Jesus revealed to John on the Island of Patmos, was more than a third great awakening or a cultural transformation of our world. I think it is about the transfiguration of the Church.

Conclusion

Stay tuned as I continue this series. Next, we will begin with the 1st interlude of the 144,000 that occurs under the 7th seal (Rv 7:1-17) You might be surprised to learn that it is not referring to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Start writing today. Use the button below to create your Substack and connect your publication with Christ Harbor