"Are the next two weeks to bring the Tribulation?"

There are too many myths about the end times.  One of those myths is that the bride of Christ will be here to see the start of the 70th week. Sorry, but the scriptures are clear, the rapture will take the Bride to heaven BEFORE the 70th week begins. So we won't be here to see the beginning of the "tribulation" or 70th week. Please study 1 Thes. 5, and see that we are gone before the Day of the Lord begins.

The next myth is that the 70th week begins with the first seal. Sorry, but this comes only from human reasoning. If we study Rev. chapters 4 and 5, we see that this vision of the throne room was a vision out of history - a vision looking back in John's life to the time Jesus was still on the earth. A careful study will reveal that Jesus was not standing at the right hand of the Father, when John first looked into the throne room. Why not? Because He was on the earth.

John writes that "no man was found," in the ongoing search for one worthy to break the seals. Why was no man found? Because Jesus had not yet risen from the dead to become worthy. Yet as John wept much, Jesus rose from the dead, and was then found worthy, and John was told to quit weeping - for a man had been found. Then John saw the Lamb, "as it had been slain" standing before the throne.  That was Jesus the moment He ascended - probably right after telling Mary not to hold onto Him for He had not yet ascended.  So John got to see (in this vision of the past) the very moment that Jesus ascended into the throne room. And when was that? Around 32 or 33 AD. 

All this is the CONTEXT of the first seal. You will read that the FIRST THING Jesus did upon arriving (after worship) was to get the scroll from the Father. WHEN did Jesus take the scroll? Approximately 32 AD.  So this sets the context for the first broken seal to be right after Jesus ascended.

If you read through the seals, the first hint of a long delay is at the 5th seal: the seal for the martyrs of the church age. Stephen was one of the first of this group. They are told they must wait until the last church age martyr - which means until the rapture. The rapture will be BEFORE the Day of the Lord and 70th week.

So we are now waiting on the rapture, and the 6th seal, which will be the signs for the Day of the Lord.

Lyle