Here's why I believe the 7 Seals officially began this past Dec 21, 2016.
Matt 24 gives us this sequence of events
The meaning of the 'tribulation of those days' is both:
Let's look more in depth at this. People have seen this passage a bazillion times, but let's go through it one more time: Matt 24
[1st seal, false christ]
[2nd seal, war]
[3rd seal, famine]
[4th and 5th Seals, death and tribulation martyrs]
[I don't think many people would disagree so far...]
10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!
20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels ['messengers'/ aka the 144,000] with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
There are 2 incredibly important points here:
1) the great tribulation is cut short, then false christs and prophets arise
2) Immediately after the tribulation of those days, then the sun is darkened, moon doesn't give its light, stars fall, powers of the heavens shaken - then comes the sign of the son of man in heaven
Ok, so what? Here's the rub: when is the sun, moon darkened, stars fall, etc?
Most people would probably answer at the 6th Seal
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Now let's go back to “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,"
What 'tribulation of those days' is Jesus referring to? Isn't he referring to the 'great tribulation'?
The standard answer would probably be, the great tribulation of the 5th Seal, the martyrs under the altar. So we get the great tribulation of the 5th Seal, then immediately following that we get the 6th seal. Makes sense, right? We've successfully dealt with point #2 above: after the great tribulation then the sun, moon is darkened, stars fall, etc
But, what if the 'tribulation of those days' is actually referring to the 7 Seals?
Meaning, after the tribulation of the false christ (Matthew 24:5/ aka 1st seal of Revelation 6:1-2), war (Matthew 24:6/ aka the 2nd seal of Revelation 6:3-4), famine (Matthew 24:7/ aka 3rd Seal of Revelation 6:5-6), death given dominion and martyrdom (Matthew 24:9-11/ aka the 4th and 5th Seal)
If my assertion here is correct, that the 'tribulation of those days' refers to the tribulation of the 7 Seals, then what would we have to expect would happen?
"the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,"
Do we find this explained in Revelation? Yes!
1) the great tribulation is cut short, then false christs and prophets arise
If the 'great tribulation is cut short, then do we see false christs and prophets arise after the Seals? Yes!
At the 5th Trumpet is when Apollyon/ Abaddon arises from the bottomless pit, Revelation 9:11, 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
With this framework addressed, let's look at the sign of the son of man in verse 30
So, we have great tribulation at the 5th seal, then the 6th seal 'sun & moon darkened, stars fall, etc', THEN the sign of the son of man (aka the star sign that occurs Sept 23, 2017 from Revelation 12:1-2).
The 7 seals themselves are also the 'tribulation of those days' (because the first 4 Trumpets repeat the 'sun, moon darkened, powers of heavens shaken' motif which indicates that the seals are a set of 'tribulation' unto themselves.) Since the Seals are to be understood as a set, they have to occur before the 'sign of the son of man' which is the Revelation 12:1-2 sign that occurs on Sept 23, 2017. The winter day/ solstice must occur 1st before this sign occurs, thus this past Dec 21, 2016 was the 'official' start of the 7 Seals.
Matt 24 gives us this sequence of events
- Abomination, and 'great tribulation' at winter, sabbath;
- then false christs & false prophets arise
- "Immediately after the tribulation of those days', 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.'
- then the 'sign of the son of man'
- the 'angelos' / 'messengers' gather the elect
The meaning of the 'tribulation of those days' is both:
- At the 5th Seal (because at the 6th Seal comes the 'sun & moon darkened, stars fall, & powers of the heavens shaken')
- All the 7 Seals (because the first 4 Trumpets are the 2nd set of 'sun & moon darkened, stars fall, & powers of the heavens shaken')
Let's look more in depth at this. People have seen this passage a bazillion times, but let's go through it one more time: Matt 24
3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray.
5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.
[1st seal, false christ]
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,
[2nd seal, war]
and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
[3rd seal, famine]
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
[4th and 5th Seals, death and tribulation martyrs]
[I don't think many people would disagree so far...]
10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!
20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels ['messengers'/ aka the 144,000] with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
There are 2 incredibly important points here:
1) the great tribulation is cut short, then false christs and prophets arise
2) Immediately after the tribulation of those days, then the sun is darkened, moon doesn't give its light, stars fall, powers of the heavens shaken - then comes the sign of the son of man in heaven
Ok, so what? Here's the rub: when is the sun, moon darkened, stars fall, etc?
Most people would probably answer at the 6th Seal
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.
14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Now let's go back to “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,"
What 'tribulation of those days' is Jesus referring to? Isn't he referring to the 'great tribulation'?
The standard answer would probably be, the great tribulation of the 5th Seal, the martyrs under the altar. So we get the great tribulation of the 5th Seal, then immediately following that we get the 6th seal. Makes sense, right? We've successfully dealt with point #2 above: after the great tribulation then the sun, moon is darkened, stars fall, etc
But, what if the 'tribulation of those days' is actually referring to the 7 Seals?
Meaning, after the tribulation of the false christ (Matthew 24:5/ aka 1st seal of Revelation 6:1-2), war (Matthew 24:6/ aka the 2nd seal of Revelation 6:3-4), famine (Matthew 24:7/ aka 3rd Seal of Revelation 6:5-6), death given dominion and martyrdom (Matthew 24:9-11/ aka the 4th and 5th Seal)
If my assertion here is correct, that the 'tribulation of those days' refers to the tribulation of the 7 Seals, then what would we have to expect would happen?
"the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,"
Do we find this explained in Revelation? Yes!
- At the 1st Trumpet, Revelation 8:7, is 'hail and fire'. the stars will fall from heaven (in combination with this from the 6th Seal: the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit)
- At the 2nd trumpet, Revelation 8:8, is the 'burning mountain' falls into the sea
- At the 3rd Trumpet, Revelation 8:10, is Wormwood, the 'burning star fell from heaven'
- At the 4th Trumpet, Revelation 8:12, 'a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night.' This is a clear reference to: 'the powers of heaven are shaken'
- At the 5th Trumpet, Revelation 9:12, is the 1st woe, referring the 'nations mourn'
1) the great tribulation is cut short, then false christs and prophets arise
If the 'great tribulation is cut short, then do we see false christs and prophets arise after the Seals? Yes!
At the 5th Trumpet is when Apollyon/ Abaddon arises from the bottomless pit, Revelation 9:11, 11 They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.
With this framework addressed, let's look at the sign of the son of man in verse 30
"the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,"
So, we have great tribulation at the 5th seal, then the 6th seal 'sun & moon darkened, stars fall, etc', THEN the sign of the son of man (aka the star sign that occurs Sept 23, 2017 from Revelation 12:1-2).
The 7 seals themselves are also the 'tribulation of those days' (because the first 4 Trumpets repeat the 'sun, moon darkened, powers of heavens shaken' motif which indicates that the seals are a set of 'tribulation' unto themselves.) Since the Seals are to be understood as a set, they have to occur before the 'sign of the son of man' which is the Revelation 12:1-2 sign that occurs on Sept 23, 2017. The winter day/ solstice must occur 1st before this sign occurs, thus this past Dec 21, 2016 was the 'official' start of the 7 Seals.
