Chapter 2:
3 Keys To Understanding The Great Tribulation
If one is diagraming or charting the Great Tribulation it is essential to understand three important keys regarding this often confusing seven year period. The First major key is the "Woe! Woe! Woe...," or the three WOES of Revelation 8:13. These three "Woes" provide outstanding markers on the Tribulation time line for the 5th, 6th, and 7th Trumpets. The first two Woe's, or the 5th & 6th Trumpets are given a specific duration, in months or days, with each of the succeeding "Woes" proceeding immediately after the previous "Woe" is completed. The second key relates to just how and why Satan, the accuser of us brothren, is cast from heaven. And the 3rd major key is a revelation from Paul, regarding the Antichrist, or the man of lawlessness, from 2Thesalonians.
You may also click the following link to view and/or download the Excel spreadsheet which lays out the Seven Year Chronological time line of all the events of the Great Tribulation, including these three keys being discussed in this chapter: TribulationTimeLine.xlsx
Seven Years of Great Tribulation
To begin with, the seven year time frame of the Great Tribulation is very well documented in the Bible. In Daniel 9:27, Daniel is shown that the "[Antichrist] will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him." This event is also mentioned in Daniel 7:25, "He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws. The saints will be handed over to him for a time, times and half a time." This same event and the "time, times, and half a time" phrase is mentioned in Revelation 12:14, and also in Revelation 12:6 where the time frame is listed as 1260 days, or 42 months, which is 3 1/2 years. Rev 11:2 and 11:3 also validate this time frame as well.
1st Key - Three WOES
Based on the above verses, and many others, it's abundantly clear that we have a seven year time period for The Great Tribulation with the 'abomination that causes desolation' happening at the mid-point. Establishing the seven year duration of the Great Tribulation is rather simple compared to placing the Seven Seals, Trumpets, Bowls and other tribulation events in their proper place on the seven year time line, but the three "Woes" are very significant in helping to establish some important time elements for some of these tribulation events and exactly where they go on the Seven Year Tribulation Time Line:
As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: "Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!"
The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss. When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss. And out of the smoke locusts came down upon the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not given power to kill them, but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes a man. During those days men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.
The locusts looked like horses prepared for battle. On their heads they wore something like crowns of gold, and their faces resembled human faces. Their hair was like women's hair, and their teeth were like lions' teeth. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had tails and stings like scorpions, and in their tails they had power to torment people for five months. They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.
The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come. (Rev 8:13-9:12)
The 1st Woe, the 5th Trumpet Judgment, from beginning to end, is twice said to be 5 months long. As will be shown below this first 5 month period is just preceding the mid-point of the seven year Tribulation, that is, the last 5 months of the first half of the tribulation. During this 5 month period we see Satan, who was cast out of heaven to the earth at the 3rd Trumpet (Rev 8:10-11), receive a key to release terrorizing locusts from the abyss to torment anyone except the 144,000 servants of God who have the seal of God on their foreheads. Believers and non-believers alike will be subject to these demonic locusts for this 5 month period just preceding the seven year mid-point of the tribulation. This will be a devastatingly painful time as mentioned above, "men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them." But two additional "Woes" are coming:
The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.
The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God. It said to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, "Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." And the four angels who had been kept ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a third of mankind. (Rev 9:12-16)
The 2nd Woe starts with the sounding and beginning of the 6th Trumpet Judgment. This judgment begins with the release of two hundred million mounted troops that will kill a third of mankind three plaques of fire, smoke and sulfur (9:14-21). The earth's current population is just over 7 billion people, so these mounted troops will kill well over 2 1/3 billion people. This 6th Trumpet judgment also marks the mid-point of the Tribulation and begins the "abomination that causes desolation:"
I was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, "Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count the worshipers there. But exclude the outer court; do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. These men have power to shut up the sky so that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. Their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial. The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon. (Rev 11:1-14)
The passage above explicitly mentions that the duration of the 2nd Woe is 42 months for the Gentiles to trample the Holy city in Rev. 11:2, and 1260 days for the two witnesses to prophesy in Rev. 11:3, or 3 1/2 years. And since the 7th Trump sounds in Rev. 11:15 we know the time line length of the 6th Trumpet Judgment, all by itself, covers the full 3 1/2 year period. This time of the "abomination that causes desolation" is described as well in the following:
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring — those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (Rev 12:13-13:1)
The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months. He opened his mouth to blaspheme God, and to slander his name and his dwelling place and those who live in heaven. He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them. And he was given authority over every tribe, people, language and nation. All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast — all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.
He who has an ear, let him hear.
If anyone is to go into captivity,
into captivity he will go.
If anyone is to be killed with the sword,
with the sword he will be killed.
This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints.
(Rev 13:5-10)
There are some Post Tribulation Rapture scholars that teach that believers will be protected during the Tribulation but the passages above certainly do not support that deception since, "He was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them." The 2nd half of the Tribulation will not be fun for believers, either Christian or Jew, since Satan will be given power and authority over them to kill at will. Anyone involved in an abortion, either directly or indirectly (such as voting for a pro-abortion politician - typically Democrats), and has not repented and put that murderous death under the blood of Jesus will probably be targeted in the verse above that says, "If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword he will be killed" (See more in Chapter 9 - Abortion Is Sacrifice (& Murder)). There are many, many additional passages revealing how hellacious this time period will be but the primary purpose of this section is to show that the 2nd Woe and the 6th Trumpet Judgment are the full 3 1/2 years in length, encompassing the entire 2nd half of the seven yearlong tribulation.
2nd Key - Satan Cast Out Of Heaven
That brings us to this most important 2nd Key - Satan being hurled down to earth. Important for two reasons: First is the "when" on the seven year Great Tribulation time line, but second and foremost, the "how and why," or the 'very cause' of his being cast out of heaven.
Satan is cast out of heaven at the 3rd Trumpet Judgment:
The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter. (Rev 8:10-11)
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him. (Rev 12:7-9)
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. (Rev 12:13-14)
Satan is cast down in the 3rd Trumpet, is given a key to let loose his locust cohorts in the 5th Trumpet, and with the abomination that causes desolation in the 6th Trumpet Satan releases his hellish fury.
We have just established above that the 1st Woe and 5th Trumpet Judgment covered the 5 months just prior to the mid-point of the seven year Great Tribulation. The first 4 Trumpet Judgments do not have any timestamps given where we can accurately determine time or duration on the Tribulation time line. Therefore, we must approximate that the timing of the 3rd Trumpet Judgment and Satan being cast down to earth as being anywhere from a month to three years before the 1st Woe and 5th Trumpet Judgment. This is fine for our purposes here.
Now for the fun part: Satan was cast out of heaven because of the testimony of the martyred saints who had just come up to heaven with the raptured saints:
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.
They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens
and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
because he knows that his time is short."
When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child... (Rev 12:7-14)
It is the testimony of the martyred saints, given in a trial of some sort before the throne of God that caused Satan to be cast out of his place in heaven. As stated in verse 12:11, "They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." After the saints gave their testimony Satan is apparently banished from heaven, and Michael and his angels then came and fought against Satan and drove him and his followers from heaven. Up to that point, Satan has had free access to God's throne to make accusations against the saints living on earth and thus gaining access and authority from God to wreak havoc on these accused Christians, even to the extent binding and killing them. Satan's access, power, and authority over Christians during this current church age is based on doors and windows that we open up to him by our sinful actions. These sinful actions then allow Satan to make accusations against us before God, and God then allows Satan and his demons to do their will. Why else would Satan accuse the saints before God day and night if Satan was not getting something out it? Here on earth it's like the DA going before a Judge with sufficient evidence to get a search warrant to bust up someone's house to find even more evidence. Forgive me, I digress, but there are many other passages that support this concept as well - see the verses listed under the Sin-Sickness Connection in Appendix C.
But the major point to be made here is that Rapture has to have happened at some point in time before the 3rd Trumpet Judgment because it is the saints' testimony, in heaven, that causes Satan to lose his place in heaven. The Rapture happens when the Fifth Seal is opened:
When he opened the Fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed. (Rev 6:9-11)
At, or near the beginning, or perhaps just before the beginning of the Great Tribulation, Jesus opens the first four seals of the seven-sealed scroll to release the Four Horsemen of the impending Apocalypse: The False Christ, War, Famine, and Death. Then the fifth seal is opened and the martyred saints are shown under the altar of God receiving their white robes. As will be shown again in Chapter 3, the following verse shows that the "the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air:"
According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.
(1 Th 4:15-18)
Soon thereafter, John sees a great multitude standing before the throne in white robes:
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:
"Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb."
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
"Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!"
Then one of the elders asked me, "These in white robes — who are they, and where did they come from?"
I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
(Rev 7:9-14)
Because of their importance here in heaven, one of the elders asks a very pointed question to ensure that we understand just who the multitude are and where they came from. The elder then answers the question himself, emphasizing that they have come out of the Great Tribulation, just as Jesus promised the Church in Philadelphia: "Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. (Rev 3:10)
The first four seals are probably opened prior to the beginning of the Tribulation. The first seal:
I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, "Come!" I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. (Rev 6:1-2)
The False-Christ receives his authority and crown in Heaven and then rides off to earth to set up and establish his rule and reign. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Horsemen of War, Famine and Death also receive their authority in heaven as well, but cannot exercise their authority on earth until after the Sixth seal is opened and the 144,000 receive the seal of God on their foreheads (Rev 7:1-8).
As will be shown in Chapter 7, just before the Rapture something of tremendous significance will occur regarding the Anti-Christ, or Israel. Perhaps it will be something like the signing of a seven year covenant with Israel or maybe an announcement about the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. Whatever the event is the Body of Christ will take notice and the expectation of an imminent Rapture will quickly arise.
"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'
"'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
"Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!'
"But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
(Matt 25:1-13)
Whatever the recognized event is the Body of Christ will take notice and jump to the ready. Then, very shortly thereafter, the Bride of Christ will be separated out of the Body of Christ and be joined in the clouds with the dead in Christ, and together they will be caught up into heaven to be with the Lord forever. Back on earth the remaining half of the Body of Christ will be left behind to be refined in the fire of the Great Tribulation. As Jesus says to the Loadicean Church, "Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent." (Rev 3:16-19)
The Fifth seal, and the Rapture of the Bride of Christ, will be opened just before, at, or just after the signing of the seven year covennnt between the False-Christ and Israel. But the Sixth seal will be opened after the beginning of the seven year tribulation. Take a close look at the sixth seal:
I watched as he opened the Sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face 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 can stand?" (Rev 6:12-17)
The Sixth seal is opened at the beginning of the Great Tribulation period and appears to cover the first five Trumpet Judgments and whole first half of the Tribulation. "The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red," is an overview of the 1st & 2nd Trumpet Judgments. "And the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind," is an overview of the 3rd Trumpet Judgment where Satan and his demonic cohorts are cast down to the earth, since I can't see Satan being cast out of Heaven twice, unless of course, Michael lets his guard down and Satan sneaks back up into Heaven again. "The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place" is an overview of the 4th Trumpet Judgment. This 4th Trumpet Judgment is very interesting. For the sky to recede, or roll up like a scroll, it would appear that the earth's axis or rotation is being shifted, flipped or moved somehow. Or, as described by Amos, "In that day," declares the Sovereign Lord, "I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight." (Amos 8:9) For someone standing on the earth when the earth is jerked around on its rotation during a polar shift or reversal, as when the earth goes from noon to 8:00 pm darkness, it would appear to that person that the daylight sky would roll up into night like someone rolling up a window shade. This would also explain why both a third of the day and a third of the night would be without light if the earth were to experience a quick 8 hour shift in its rotation. Is this just a onetime 8 hour shift where the earth maintains its 24 hour day, or is it a new faster rotation of the earth where all subsequent days from then on be 16 hours in length rather than our current 24 hour rotation that could be caused by a large interplanetary flyby of some sort? (Just speculating outside the box here - help me if you can).
For my Tribulation time line I have the Sixth seal covering the whole first half of the Tribulation and the first 5 Trumpet Judgments. Then I have the Seventh seal being opened at the mid-point of the Tribulation:
"...When he opened the Seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (Rev 8:1)
I see the half an hour of silence being covering the latter half of the seven year period of Great Tribulation, which is allegorically referred to as being an hour long in Revelation 3:10:
Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. (Rev 3:10)
Therefore, half an hour of seven years would be about 3 1/2 years. Not that it matters significantly, but if this is the case, then the little scroll that John is told to eat at the end of the Great Tribulation, and just before the sounding of the 7th Trumpet Judgment, is probably the Seven sealed scroll previously opened by Jesus.
3rd Key - Paul's Revelation
Paul's revelation regarding The Man Of Lawlessness:
"Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.
Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming. The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness. (2 Thess 2:1-12)
Timewise, The Great Apostasy, The Falling Away, or The Rebellion referred to by Paul is very much upon us. Rebellion against God, and Jesus, is now sweeping over our entire planet like a plague, even with prominent Christian entertainment leaders, to their own detriment, renouncing their faith in Christianity! And as sickening as it may be many churches now are even demonically going LGBTQ! Lawlessness in Chicago, Illinois, and many other places, is growing in numbers and ferocity. Yes, unfortunately, the 'Rebellion' is in progress, and growing!
For our purposes here, however, Paul reminds the Thessalonians that 'the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him' (the rapture that he discusses in earlier letters) the 'day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed.' In other words, Paul is telling us that the man of lawlessness, or the Antichrist, will be revealed to us before we are gathered to our Lord Jesus Christ, that is before we are raptured into His presence at His coming! Wow! So, while still here on earth, we will see the revealing of the Antichrist, in all his demonic ingloriousness! Perhaps it's through the signing of a seven year peace deal with Israel? But, however the Antichrist is revealed we Christians who are waiting and looking for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ will recognize the Antichrist for just who he really is. Whatever that revealing event is we who are awaiting the return of our Christ will jump to our feet knowing that our redemption is drawing near:
"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'
"'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
"Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!'
"But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'
"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
(Matt 25:1-13)
At some noticeable event, a midnight cry will ring out and we will know that His coming, and our redemption, is near. And in the twinkling of an eye we will rise and be joined to our Christ forever. At this noticeable event even those who think that they are Christians, although apparently not in fellowship with Jesus, or known by Jesus, will also jump up - recognizing the Anti-Christ and that the time for redemption, and the rapture, is near; but unfortunately for them the results will be brutally agonizing for them as they will be force to endure the Great Tribulation.
When the seven Sealed Scroll is opened in Heaven the first four seals reveal four horsemen: a white horse, the Antichrist; a red horse, of war; a black horse, of famine; and a pale horse,of death. And even as Jesus was explaining the signs of his coming and the end of the age to his disciples He also mentions the falling away from the faith that Paul speaks of above as well as wars and famines of the horsemen of the opened seals listed above:
"As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, ' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
"Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come." (Matt 24:3-14)
Here we also notice that the four horsemen of the first four seals opened above, the Anti-Christ, War, Famine and Death are all four revealed BEFORE the rapture and the beginning of the seven year time frame of the Great Tribulation. The Anti-Christ will need some time to to set up his rule and reign. The other horsemen may need time to setup for their horrors as well. The fifth seal, the rapture, is very near but probably immediately following the beginning of the seven year time frame. Another important key here, though, is to notice that the first four seals of the seven sealed scroll are apparently opened a short period of time before the seven year tribulation even begins.
You may also click the following link to view or download the Excel spreadsheet laying out the Seven Year Chronological time line of the Great Tribulation: TribulationTimeLine.xlsx
Go to Next Chapter: 3 - Signs Of His Coming