If one puts all the biblical pieces together from assorted areas of scripture a rather clear picture develops concerning the seven year period of time which is referred to as……..the time of Jacob’s trouble.
So, let’s explore a bunch of these biblical verses and see if indeed it may clear up some of the muddy water of this seven year period.
I think it’s safe to assume that this era of time we are now living in is completed at the second coming of Jesus to earth and then His millennial reign begins. I don’t believe there is any “carry over” in years or Shimittah cycles or Jubilee cycles into the 1000 year millennial reign of Christ. A completely new chapter of earth’s history will then be started. A period will be planted at the end of the sentence (so to speak) to mark the end of this era when Jesus’ second coming arrives. Again…No carry over years into the millennial period.
With that thought in mind, the bible says in Ezekiel 39 that after God the Father personally has intervened for Israel in the Gog and Magog war that Israel burns the “weapon spoils” of this war for seven years to meet it’s energy needs. So this to me represents the last seven year cycle before the millennial period starts….. meaning that the Ezekiel 38 and 39 war is what kicks off the last seven years or the time spoken of as Jacob’s trouble.
In order for God the Father to intervene, Israel has to be attacked. We learn in Zechariah 12 and Ezekiel 38 that not only Gog from the land of Magog with all his followers attack Israel but also all nations of the earth are “gathered” if not physically but mentally…in concert, cheering for the destruction of Israel. Is that not where we are today? The only real ally Israel has had……the United States, under this current evil administration has also turned their backs on Israel……just as Zechariah had portrayed it.
Prophecy says that Israel will be attacked and sustain very heavy losses and Jerusalem will be overrun, the houses rifled, the women ravished and half of the city will go into captivity. It appears from Deuteronomy 32:36 and following that God the Father waits until Israel is literally out of bullets and they are in great despair before He personally intervenes on their behalf. And when He does it will be monumental and there will be absolutely no doubt from anyone in the universe who has intervened for Israel. The events of this intervention and the carnage will be on a scale never before witnessed on this planet. The details of this intervention appear to be multifaceted and appear in many areas of scripture , here are several of them……
Ezekiel 37
Ezekiel 38
Ezekiel 39
Joel 2
Revelation 6
Revelation 9
Haggai 2
Isaiah 5
Isaiah 11
Isaiah 13
Isaiah 18
Isaiah 31
Deuteronomy 32
Zechariah 12
Zechariah 14
Habakkuk 3
Without going into all these verses verbatim here’s what appears to be the condensed version from these areas of scripture and others…….
Israel is surrounded by enemies and armies from their region of the world and then she is attacked. This could very well happen this year.
The rest of the nations of the world do not help and are actually rooting for Israel’ destruction.
God the Father and Jesus wait until Israel is in deep despair and at risk of being annihilated before They leave Their resting places and intervene……. so that there will be no doubt as to who it was that intervened.
As per Habakkuk 3 God the Father leaves His resting place called Teman and Jesus the Holy One leaves His resting place on Mount Paran.
God the Father’s mission is to intervene for His chosen people the Jews and Jesus is here to gather up His followers and then later they will both dispense great wrath.
This is chronicled in Revelation 6 during the time period of the sixth seal where we see both God the Father and Jesus front and center on the world stage. (Many biblical events will happen during this time frame of the sixth seal)
Behind the scenes God the Father and Jesus oversee a great resurrection. Not only do the millions who are the “dead in Christ” arise as per Thessalonians but also the whole house of Jacob, hundreds of millions of descendents from Jacob spanning thousands of years as per Ezekiel 37.
At this great resurrection during this sixth seal period the 144,000 are separated first and are sealed on their foreheads to be the first fruits of God the Father and Jesus but then become the personal entourage of Jesus to follow Him wherever He goes. (Revelation 14:4) And the remainder of this huge number of resurrected Jews from the whole house of Jacob become God the Father’s “end time spirit filled army” spoken of in so many areas of scripture.
At this point in Rev.6 or Ezekiel 38 it’s time for God the Father to intervene for Israel and it’s time for Jesus to take His followers (resurrected and / or alive) home. Which comes first? Does Jesus’ church witness what God the Father and His army does to Israel’s enemies as a last ditch witnessing / salvation tool before taking His followers to heaven or does Jesus spare His followers from watching the extreme carnage that will transpire?
I believe that everyone on the planet will witness what God the Father does and I say this because of all the many “banner scriptures” and what it says in Matthew 24. They say a banner, the sign of the Son of man will be displayed in the heavens (our atmosphere) over the mountains for all to see and then the sound of a great trumpet blast when Jesus comes for His followers. And Matthew 24 says that this happens..… after the tribulation of those days (the tribulation of Israel being attacked and almost over run) that the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (our atmosphere) and He Jesus will gather up his followers.
For a clearer picture of this here is a post I did that describes the many “banner verses” that foretell of a banner, the sign of the Son of Man, that will be projected on the sky just before Jesus takes His followers home right after Israel is almost over run.
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/nov2014/johnb112.htm
So it appears that indeed Jesus’ followers are taken near the start of this 7 year period which is kicked off by Israel going to war and right after God the Father shakes our planet to its core.
Lets take a closer look at what happens seemingly just prior to our departure.
So then, as per Ezekiel 38, Revelation 6 and several other areas of scripture God the Father bursts onto the world stage at the time of a solar eclipse and a blood moon. It’s my belief from reading Revelation 6 that when He bursts onto the world stage to intervene for His chosen people Israel that He does it in a grand terrifying fashion and that He is….. way way beyond upset. It’s my belief that the physical aspects listed in the sixth seal in Revelation 6 will be fulfilled and caused by an extremely irate all powerful creator of the universe.
I believe that when God the Father is ready to intervene for Israel that He will burst through our atmosphere everywhere at the same time (omnipresent) causing a world wide earthquake……all the men who are on the planet will shake at My presence Ezekiel 38:20.….behold there was a great earthquake Revelation 6:12
When He bursts through our atmosphere……. the sky will roll up like a scroll Rev.6:14. In other words our atmosphere will retract maybe miles up into space. This may cause the gravity of our planet to be extended miles farther out into space. What would happen then to all the hundreds of satellites and space junk that are in near earth orbit? They would fall to earth burning up and appear to the writer (John the revelator) as stars falling to earth as is stated in verse 13.
These satellites falling to earth will also prevent the nations of the world who rely on them to make war……… from doing so.
The great worldwide earthquake and our displaced atmosphere would cause the earth to react and move mountains and islands out of their places. …as per verse 14.
It says that 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 caves and mountains and reinforced structures.
Hid themselves from what? From the face of the one who sits on the throne (God the Father) and from the wrath of the Lamb…(Jesus) Rev.6:16
What does Ezekiel 38:18 say about the same event and God the Father? ….that the fury will show in My face… meaning that God the Father shows His face (being extreme light energy) to Israel’ enemies. Zechariah explains what happens when God the Father shows His Face to Israel enemies in chapter 14.……their flesh will dissolve while they stand on their feet, Their eyes shall dissolve in their sockets, And there tongues shall dissolve in their mouths…….
Is it any wonder that all manors of people were hiding in reinforced structures to prevent looking at the face of God the Father and meeting the fate of what is described in Zechariah?
It then appears that at some point soon after that that God the Father allows His four angels to release the four winds and blow His spirit back into the hundreds of millions of resurrected members of the whole house of Jacob creating His end times exceedingly great army of two hundred million personnel. Ezekiel 37, Revelation 7, Revelation 9, Joel 2, Isaiah 13 and all the other references I listed above at the start.
This army is tasked to kill one third of the people remaining (after Jesus has removed us from the planet) and I believe that the people targeted are the Muslims and their supporters. These followers of the false god Allah that have terrorized the world and especially the Jews will meet the same fate as they were going to dispense on the Jews and Christians if given a chance. They are to be eradicated. God even implies in Habakkuk 3:13 that He is going to behead them just like what they are doing presently to the Christians and others.
All these events have transpired and we still are only in the initial phases of the seven years known as Jacobs trouble.
What happens next?
When the dust settles I believe the Muslims, their supporters and all of Israel’ combative neighbors are gone. This will free Israel to rip down the Muslim mosque on the temple mount and replace it with their third temple. And after what God the Father just demonstrated on their behalf……there will be no protest to this rearrangement from the rest of the planet.
Remember we are still in the initial stages of the last 7 year period.
One of the next things to happen should be the arrival of the two witnesses. Their ministry as per the bible is 42 months or three and one half years. More on them later.
Obviously the planet will still be in shock and complete chaos from the events that have just transpired. The church is gone (the falling away has happened) so as per scripture the first beast or antichrist will now show himself. He will be a well known world figure and will seem to have the answers as to what just happened and he will promote a seven year plan to bring stability back to the planet. This plan will embrace a one world government with a one world currency and a one world religion. This man as per Revelation 13 and 17 will be a pope and his world headquarters will be as per scripture in Rome.
During the next 42 months (the same timeframe as the ministry of the two witnesses) this pope who now becomes indwelled by Satan will as per scripture perform all manors of lying signs and wonders to the point where as per Rev.13 the people were so impressed and fooled that they worshiped him saying……who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him? He was a great orator speaking great things and blasphemies.
So half way through the 7 years of Jacob’s trouble in this 42 month or three and one half year period that started after Israel’s war, this pope along with his false prophet side kick were able to con, marvel and bewitch the whole planet. And behind the scenes this demonic trinity broke the planet into ten areas and developed a power strangle hold on the planet so that they could completely control it.
The bible then says after these 42 months in Revelation 13:6 that this Satanic pope would go much much farther with his rhetoric. At this 42 month mark he declares to the world that he is the true God of the universe and to prove to the planet that he is indeed this God…….he kills the two witnesses. Over the course of the 42 month ministry many tried to kill the two witnesses but were killed instead by the God given powers of these witnesses. Revelation 11 states that God allowed these witnesses to be killed by the antichrist to deceive anyone who had not believed the teachings of these witnesses during their 42 month ministry.
Now at this 42 month mark from the start of Jacob’s trouble this Satanic pope / antichrist who has spent the same 42 months conniving and deceiving everyone behind the scenes now declares himself to be the true God of the universe and demands to be treated as such.
As per Daniel…..He cancels all sacrifices and offerings that are being offered up to heaven from the people of earth to God because he (the antichrist) now maintains that he is the true God of the universe and all these sacrifices and offerings should now be directed to him here on earth.
He then goes to the newly erected Jewish temple in Jerusalem and there erects a talking statue of himself and forces all to worship the statue and to take his mark on their hand or forehead. Anyone not complying will be killed.
I believe that this is the point in time where all hell breaks loose literally. The antichrist just after half way through the 7 years of Jacob’s trouble starts his full out terror spree on planet earth. And God the Father and Jesus unleash their 21 judgments which compile “the great tribulation” for planet earth.
Does God provide a refuge for the people who accepted the teachings of the two witnesses during their 42 month ministry? Are these people raptured along with the two witnesses when the witnesses leave in Revelation 11? Or is there yet another rapture of these now believing souls who have died believing in Christ and haven’t taken the mark of the beast? Or…..
A group of people described as “the woman” whom some align as Israel are hidden and nourished during this timeframe of three and one half years from the wrath of Satan / antichrist as per Revelation 12. This seems to align with the last 42 months of the 7 year period of Jacob’s trouble that these people would be sheltered and nourished by God.
I won’t go any farther into the great unmatched terror of the last half of the 7 year period except to say that at the end God on His white horse with the armies of heaven descend to earth to put an end to the forces of evil that were controlled by the unholy trinity. Satan is bound for a thousand years and the antichrist and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire for all of eternity.
If all of these events I spoke of start when Israel is attacked and God the Father intervenes during a period of a solar eclipse and a blood moon and if one were to factor in the Shimittah cycles and the earthquakes and wars and rumors of wars etc. etc. then it appears 2015 could be quite the year.
If Israel is attacked this year or whenever by her many enemies spoken of in the bible and she appears to be loosing the fight, then you need to mentally prepare yourselves for several catastrophic events and fear not….fear not. For there will be a worldwide earthquake. Our sky, our atmosphere as we know it will retract like a scroll, there will probably be no blue sky for a period of time and many many objects will fall burning from the sky.
Then there will be the sound of a great trumpet and we will see the sign of the Son of Man, a banner displayed in the sky for all to see signaling that Jesus is coming for us. Is that why in Luke we are told to “look up”. Look up and watch for the banner in the sky…..the sign of the Son of Man. Then we go home…..praise the Lord.
Blessing Doves……John B
P. S. Please feel free to critique this 7 year scenario I have outlined above. I don’t pretend to have all the answers but this is where I believe the Lord has led me using His words from scripture. Please note that these are my beliefs from my discernment of the Word and that I don’t propose or pretend to be a teacher or a prophet. Just another Dove who has spent a lot of time in the Word trying to figure it all out.