God’s Full Wrath

Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”

– Revelation 6:15-17

The Sixth Seal

The first five seals of the tribulation have been precursors to the full release of God’s wrath upon Earth. When the sixth seal of God’s judgment is opened in heaven, the world’s population enters a time of terror even worse than the worldwide obliteration of creation in Noah’s flood.

Some will even recognize the source of this judgment. Revelation assures us there will be a great harvest of humanity for Christ during this time as the veil between earth and eternity is rent. At the opening of the fifth seal, we are given a glimpse into the altar in heaven. Here the souls of those martyred during the tribulation are comforted. Since Christ has promised His Bride will not experience the time of God’s wrath, these can only be those who have come to Christ after the rapture of the church and who must be carried through this time, as was Noah and his family.

These “elect” from the tribulation are again identified in Revelation 7.

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

– Revelation 7:9-10

Who is this multitude?

These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

– Revelation 7:14

Running for Cover

An assault on Earth from space, possibly from either asteroids or a comet, will be terrifying, especially with the resulting earthquakes from widening fissures and shifting land masses as the crust fractures. Imagine feeling the only safe place is below ground. Scripture makes it clear both rich and poor, slave and free, will be running for cover. Some—the military, preppers, and the rich—will have bunkers already prepared.

Switzerland is riddled with bunkers.

A country committed to political neutrality on the world stage, Switzerland has dedicated its efforts instead to its national survival. Switzerland hosts a slew of bunkers; thousands of military bunkers lie beneath its surface and dug into its mountains. Some are camouflaged as homes or cabins.

Nearly 310,000 public and private bunkers and fallout shelters exist as well, enough to shelter all its citizenry in time of war. Most of these were built out of fear generated by the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. In 1963, the first regulations were passed requiring fallout shelters for citizens.

Today, Swiss Federal Law on Civil Protection requires all new dwellings to be fitted with shelters, and all inhabitants are required to have a quickly accessible, secure shelter.

Until 2006, Lucerne, Switzerland had the distinction of creating Switzerland’s largest bunker, the Sonnenberg tunnel. Created in 1976, the tunnel could accommodate 20,000 people. Though the tunnel is a motorway, seven floors above the tunnel were built in to provide services in the event of an attack or nuclear disaster.

The complex had glitches, however, not the least of which was the two weeks it would take to shut down the motorway below and convert it into a space for human habitation. The Sonnenberg was downsized in 2006, and the logistics center kept operational. It now has the capacity to house 2,000 people if needed.

Since 1951, Israel has required all residences, offices, and industrial buildings to have shelters. Today, the nation is well-equipped to ride out attacks from outside. Hospitals and schools are especially protected, some with reinforced concrete and bomb-proof windows. Residences have one-room shelters called “mamads, or “mammads.” Photographer Adam Reynolds has documented thousands of bomb shelters in Israel since 2014.

 The October 7th, 2023, massacre testified to the importance of Israel’s shelters.

Though the safe rooms weren’t enough to protect every Israeli during the attacks, they undoubtably saved lives.

Until a few years ago, the concept of a safe room was still foreign.

In the Western world, even the idea of preparing for some catastrophe needing that level of protection would have drawn the “prepper” label and jokes. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, rattled our sense of personal security. It opened our eyes to the collective dangers around us and created a new wave of unapologetic preppers outfitting their own personal safe spaces. 

In a September 4, 2022, article in The Guardian entitled, “The Super-rich ‘Preppers’ Planning to Save Themselves from the Apocalypse,” humanist Douglas Rushkoff discusses his interactions with billionaires preparing doomsday bunkers.

Meanwhile, a non-profit organization in Japan has built a model nuclear shelter and is actively encouraging the Japanese to build their own shelters against the rising threat of aggression from Russia and North Korea. 

Not everyone, of course, will have such a resource available in the event of a national or world-wide catastrophe. Many will simply find whatever cave or man-made hole into which to hide. 

Understanding what we do now in current events, Revelation 6 no longer seems implausible.

 

Coming next week: The Lazarus Brigade

 

Photo ID 201419415 | © Wirestock | Dreamstime.com

Photo ID 153310628 | © Arkadiusz WÄ™glewski | Dreamstime.com

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2022/sep/04/super-rich-prepper-bunkers-apocalypse-survival-richest-rushkoff

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/07/02/national/nuclear-bunker-japan/

https://bloodfalls.net/

This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/ 

 

The Beast of Revelation

The last book of the Bible is called The Revelation of Jesus Christ because it describes the culmination of sin, judgment, grace, and the revealing of the Lord in all His glory. Revelation, as it is commonly called, foretells the events of the final seven years of this age and introduces mankind to the age to come. Most of the book relates the judgments poured out upon an unbelieving generation and the grace by which God brings His people to Him through a time of great trial. The witness of Israel’s evangelists will bring in a large harvest of souls. 

The first three chapters of the book of Revelation are direct letters to each of seven churches operating within Asia Minor (now the state of Turkey) at the time of John’s vision. Many believe these churches represent not only the Church throughout the centuries but also the categories of believers present in the world at the time of the fulfillment of the prophecies of Revelation.

Chapter 4 of Revelation opens with the sound of a trumpet calling John to “Come up here, and I will show you what will happen after these things.” This verse indicates that the previous chapters have been a progressive unfolding of a timeline and, at the very least, hint prophetically at the “snatching away” of the believer John from Earth to the heavenly places and the throne of God. As the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders worship, John sees God is holding a scroll sealed with seven seals. Only the Lamb who was slain is declared worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. 

Thus begins the judgments of the Tribulation upon the earth.

The first seals introduce the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The first of these horses is the white horse representing conquest and upon which rides a conqueror wearing a crown. This man is most likely the prince who arises out of the revived Roman Empire, the man known as the Anti-Christ. 

Then after the sixty-two weeks, the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.

-Daniel 9:26

Daniel’s prophecy is crucial to unlocking the events of the last days. The “people of the prince who is to come” can only mean Rome. The Roman army led by Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple in AD 70. 

Who Is the Anti-Christ?

The Anti-Christ won’t be revealed until the restrainer, understood to be the Holy Spirit, is removed (2 Thessalonians 2:7). Since Christians in the age of grace are sealed with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13; 4:30; 2 Corinthians 1:21-22), He won’t be leaving Earth without them.

For those who read Revelation 13 preceding the Rapture, the Anti-Christ and his sidekick are introduced as “Beast.”

And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore.

Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads were blasphemous names. And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne, and great authority.

– Revelation 13:1-2

The second beast arises out of the earth and displays the external trappings of a messiah. Together, these two rule for seven years over the world systems. This seven-year period begins with the signing of a covenant between the Anti-Christ and Israel.

And he will confirm a covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come the one who makes desolate, until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, gushes forth on the one who makes desolate.

– Daniel 9:27

In the study of end times prophecy in the Bible, a prophetic “week” is seven years.

In the middle of the “week,” something happens to the Beast.

I saw one of his heads as if it had been fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” A mouth was given to him speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.

– Daniel 13:3-6   

God’s introduction to the Beast in Revelation 13 describes him as having ten horns and seven heads. Each of the horns bore a crown. These horns and heads are interpreted as being kingdoms. The difficultly in knowing what is actually wounded in verse 3: a kingdom or a person?

It could very well be both. It’s possible that a kingdom is felled when the leader is wounded in a way that appears to be fatal. 

Who is this leader? Revelation 17:8-11 explains that the Beast himself is the head of the revived Roman Empire. It is believed he could be the target of an assassination attempt that nearly fells his kingdom. Though the wound only appears (“as if”) fatal, Satan will make it appear as if the Anti-Christ has risen from the dead. Thus he will produce a demonic resurrection narrative to delude and amaze the world.

 

Coming next week: Running for Cover

https://www.bloodfalls.net/

This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/ 

The Challenge

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.

1 Samuel 17:1-3

It comes like a monster in the night, smashing in the door of your existence with a crash. The unthinkable has invaded your life, choking the very air you breathe with the stench of sulfur. Evil’s shadow looms over everything you thought you knew and believed. There are no answers, no way forward, no taking down the enemy encamped before you. Resistance appears futile. Only the valley of decision separates you from destruction and slavery. 

You can give in to the fear and run. Or you can ride down into the valley to the battle. The enemy won’t stay a respectful distance away. He’s on a mission to defeat you. You only have two choices:

Take the fight to him or be forever under his foot.

This was the dilemma facing the nation of Israel when the Philistine army arrayed against the nation. As the Israeli army advanced to the battle line, ready to fight, the Philistines sprung their trap. From their line a behemoth of a man stepped forward. Goliath stood at six feet, nine inches, clothed in bronze armor and well-armed. A shield-carrier walked before him. 

He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.  If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.”

– 1 Samuel 17:8-9

Israel’s army melted in fear before the Philistine’s champion, yet not one blow had been thrown. The soldiers believed Goliath’s threats and knew no one in their army could defeat him. Not one of them considered asking God for help nor considered the spiritual importance of the battle before them.

For forty days, the enemy’s champion tormented God’s people with his taunts.

As the Father Commands

Then a young shepherd arrived from Bethlehem. The youngest son of Jesse the Ephraimite of Bethlehem, David had stayed behind to care for his father’s sheep while his three eldest brothers followed Saul into battle. One day Jesse told David to take provisions to the army and check on the welfare of his brothers.

Loaded with grain, bread, and cheese, David journeyed to the front. He arrived at the circle of the camp as the army was again going out to face the Philistines. David immediately joined the men at the battle line. There he heard the taunts of the Philistine and offered to take on the giant himself. Despite the misgivings of his brothers, David armed himself with his sling and five smooth stones from the nearby creek. It only took one well-placed shot to fell Goliath. 

The shepherd boy delivered his people and destroyed the enemy because he knew the ways of war:

Obey your Father.

He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much.

– Luke 16:10

David was in the right place at the right time, not because he knew the future, but because he listened to his father and obeyed him. Had he refused Jesse’s order or procrastinated, he would have not been at the battle line, and Israel would have fallen into slavery. David’s faithfulness in what appeared to be a small request from his father positioned him to bring deliverance to his people.

Don’t drag your baggage into a battle.

Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line….

– 1 Samuel 17:22

David did not hesitate to respond to the need. For victory, nothing should hold you back from responding to the call of God. Let the baggage of the past go and leave it behind.

Don’t let fear predict your future.

When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid. 

– 1 Samuel 17:24

David did not fear Goliath, because he knew God would not bless the enemy. He did not believe himself stronger than his brothers. He believed God to be stronger than their enemies. He understood the battle and what was at stake, putting himself in danger for the name of the God of Israel and those he loved. 

Let your weapons be those of the Spirit. 

The LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.

– 1 Samuel 17:47

David rejected the unfamiliar armor and weapons of those who didn’t trust God and instead chose the weapons by which God had delivered him in the fields as he guarded his father’s flock. 

See the job through.

It wasn’t enough for David to strike Goliath down. He took a sword and beheaded him. Take care of any resentments or other attitude issues that might allow him back to challenge you in another valley. Jesus Himself crushed the head of the devil with His sacrifice and resurrection.

Then the LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

Cursed are you more than all the livestock,

And more than any animal of the field;

On your belly you shall go,

And dust you shall eat

All the days of your life;

And I will make enemies

Of you and the woman,

And of your offspring and her Descendant;

He shall bruise you on the head,

And you shall bruise Him on the heel.” 

– Genesis 3:14-15

 

At some point in every life, Goliath will appear. We may not be allowed to choose the place of battle, but we know to Whom the victory belongs.

 

Coming next week: Fatal Wound

https://www.bloodfalls.net/

This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/ 

Terror Rift is a real place.

The earth bears witness to a past torture by outside forces from space. It faces significant danger from beneath, as well, from volcanic activity. Most of us are familiar with the newsworthy eruptions happening around the world. Fewer imagine the witches’ brew that simmers beneath Antarctica’s frigid exterior.

Mt. Erebus is a stratovolcano with the distinction of being the southernmost active volcano in the world. It was actively erupting when it was discovered January 27, 1841, by Sir James Clark Ross, the polar explorer for whom Ross Island is also named. Ross named this volcano and Mount Terror after his two ships. In Greek mythology, Erebus is a region of Hades, personified as the deity of darkness and the son of the Greek god Chaos.

Erebus sports a deceptively placid, snowy coat.

It is one of the world’s volcanoes classified as being in a state of continuous eruption. It has been active continuously since 1972.

At 12,448 feet, Mt. Erebus is the second highest mountain in Antarctica, after Mt. Sidley. It is considered one of the Volcanic Seven Second Summits, a listing of the second highest volcanic summits on each continent by elevation above sea level. Erebus shares Ross Island with three other volcanoes: Mt. Terror, Mt. Bird, and Mt. Terra Nova. It lies in Terror Rift, where the earth’s crust has been thinned by stretching.

Erebus features a 1,700-degree Fahrenheit boiling lava lake and is one of only five such lava lakes in the world. It never lies dormant; its lake is always bubbling; it’s always belching fumes, regularly spitting up explosive volcanic bombs from its crater.

Its slopes were first ascended to the summit crater rim in 1908 by members of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s group during the Nimrod Expedition.

No deaths have been reported on the volcano, but gas geochemist Werner Giggenbach burnt his socks when they were torched in a small explosion on Erebus.

 

The Mt. Erebus disaster of 1979

Erebus was the site of the tragic crash of an Air New Zealand DC-10 airliner taking tourists on a sightseeing tour on November 28, 1979. All 237 passengers and twenty crew members died in the crash. The famous explorer Sir Edmund Hillary just missed becoming one more tragic statistic. He had planned to be on the flight but decided to cancel.

Investigators into the crash concluded the pilots of the New Zealand airliner were briefed on a different flight plan than the one entered into the plane’s computer. They also flew the plane at a lower-than-recommended altitude to give the passengers a better view. They apparently became disoriented by a whiteout (“flat-light” phenomenon) and flew the plane directly into the ground.

Controversy engulfed the investigation of the disaster for years and finally resulted in the admission of culpability by the airline, not for the accident itself but for its actions afterward. It would be the last Antarctic excursion for that airline. Wreckage from the crash can still be observed during the austral season.

Danger lurking beneath the ice.

It took an undergraduate geology student at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland to bring the dangers lurking beneath Antarctica’s surface into sharper focus. Max Van Wyk de Vries, curious about what lay beneath the ice, began studying the data describing the geography below Antarctica. 

He discovered many cones typical of volcanoes, ninety-one of them, in fact. Because their cones are intact, they are believed to be active. Inactive or dead volcanoes feature eroded cones. The cones of active volcanoes are constantly rebuilt.

Geologists at his school affirmed his findings. Some of the volcanoes are large, up to 3,280 feet high and at least a dozen miles across. His discovery of that many new volcanoes came as a surprise to the scientific community, since most research in Antarctica is conducted on the surface of the continent.

 

Photo ID 95734342 | © Martyn Unsworth | Dreamstime.com

Photo ID 243267627 | © Martyn Unsworth| Dreamstime.com

https://www.snexplores.org/article/giant-volcanoes-lurk-beneath-antarctic-ice

 

Coming next week: Goliath

https://bloodfalls.net/

This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/ 

The Day a Space Rock Split the Sky

The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

– Revelation 6:14

Twice in the last hundred years, Near-Earth Objects have shaken Russia. On June 30, 1908, a meteor estimated to be 150 to 260 feet wide exploded over Podkamennava Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. The blast equaled 5 to 10 megatons of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and leveled 830 square miles of trees, estimated to be about 80 million trees. It reportedly left hundreds of charred reindeer carcasses in its wake.

The largest impact of a space object with Earth in recently recorded history hit on June 30, 1908.

Eyewitness accounts of the event vary somewhat. But common threads connect the accounts. The object appeared in the morning and invaded a cloudless sky. It was described by witnesses as a bluish-white object that traversed the sky for several minutes, accompanied by a pillar of fire, turning the sky red. Many reported a shock wave so violent it knocked horses and people off their feet and shattered windows hundreds of kilometers away. Witnesses described a boom like thunder and what sounded like artillery or cannon fire.

The explosion registered at seismic stations and produced air waves felt as far away as Washington, DC. For several days, the night skies over Europe and Asia glowed.

The sky suddenly split in two…like an ancient scroll.

One man reported that as he sat outside, the sky suddenly split in two and fire appeared high over the forest. A hot wind rushed over the place, leaving marks on the ground. Then the sky shut, and a searing heat overcame him. There was a loud noise, and he was knocked briefly unconscious. The ground shook as sounds like cannon fire thundered around him. Later, he discovered windows shattered and an iron lock snapped.

A century later…

On February 15, 2013, an undetected meteoroid about sixty-six feet wide exploded, causing an airburst over Chelyabinsk, Russia. Though considered small, it contained an energy equivalent to nearly 500 kilotons of TNT, 20-30 times greater than that of the first atomic bomb.

Imagine the potential damage caused by a plurality of “stars” falling upon the earth, as is prophesied in Revelation 6. As we have seen in the last weeks, our world can change radically in a moment, whether the disaster is man-made or physical. We are only given this day to ensure our lives are right before God and we’ve said everything we need to say to our loved ones. This is the day to receive God’s grace and extend it to others.

In the light of eternity, nothing else matters.

 

Coming next week: Son of Chaos

 https://bloodfalls.net/

This weekly series follows the story line of the Christian thriller Blood Falls. Each episode occurs in chronological order, giving context, perspective, and Biblical foundation for the novel. Discover the true stories and incredible facts behind the book! See the entire series here: https://cmaddict.com/tag/behind-blood-falls/