End Times Speculations  (NIV based)
by Mel W. Coddington, Ph.D. 					July, 2020

Some SEARCH KEYWORDS: mass abductions, mass vanishing, people floated up into the sky and then disappeared
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Table of Contents

PURPOSE (of this document)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	  2

The 7-year Tribulation Period - select topics

DESCRIPTION	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	  2
THE INITIATING EVENT - THE RAPTURE	-	-	-	-	-	-	  3
THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF THE RAPTURE	-	-	-	-	-	  4
ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	  5
ONE-WORLD ARMED FORCES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	  5
ONE-WORLD FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEM	-	-	-	-	  6
THE NUMBERING OF MAN - "666"	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	  6
LOSE SALVATION	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	  7
SEVERE PERSECUTION - A TIME OF TESTING	-	-	-	-	-	  8
THE POWERFUL DELUSION:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	  8
     1. Hostile invading aliens from outer space	-	-	-	-	-	  8
     2. A statue that comes alive	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	  9
     3. A man raised from the dead	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	  9
     4. An imminent invasion of the outer space aliens at Armageddon	-	-	  9
     5. Born-again Christians are collaborators with the outer space aliens	-	-	10
     6. The Supreme Leader is the Messiah	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
     7. The One-World Religion	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	10
OTHER USEFUL TECHNOLOGIES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	11
3 RAPTURES:	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
     Rapture #1		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
     Rapture #2		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
     Rapture #3		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
THE TEMPLE		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12
THE TWO WITNESSES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13
THE 144,000	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13
WORLDWIDE EARTHQUAKE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14
SHORTENED DAYS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
RAMPANT AND EVER-INCREASING SINFULNESS	-	-	-	-	16
THE ANTICHRIST	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	17

Living During The Tribulation

WHAT TO UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT:	-	-	-	-	-	-	18
     1. During the Tribulation, God wants that humans suffer and die in mass	-	18
     2. During the Tribulation, God wants humans to immediately repent and
         believe in Jesus		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18
     3. During the Tribulation, God wants the Kingdom of Darkness to be
         essentially unrestricted	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18

HOW BELIEVERS SHOULD RESPOND:	-	-	-	-	-	-	19
     1. During the Tribulation, God wants believers to persevere in the faith while
         enduring great suffering, persecution, and torture - even to their death or
         execution	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19
     2. During the Tribulation, God wants believers also to boldly and verbally
         witness to other people about placing their faith in Jesus	-	-	-	21
     3. Other exhortations for believers who are living during the Tribulation		-	21
KEY SECTIONS OF VERSES regarding the Tribulation	-	-	-	-	22

Works Cited	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22
Copyrights	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22
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PURPOSE (of this document):
     The purpose of this document is to speculate on the nature or characteristics of select aspects of end times events of the Great Tribulation and relating details that are recorded in the Bible, as more enlightenment, information, and developments occur in our time and become evident that they excellently align with the details in the Bible (Matthew 24:32-33).  Please note, though, that the assertions about the future that are contained herein are essentially speculation, derived from exegesis of Scriptures, analysis, science, common sense, logic, and recent historical developments, but are not derived from any supernatural direct audible or visual prophetic revelation.  Thereby, the verb tenses in this document will utilize the sense of "there will be..." for convenience of literacy and understanding, but this sense is intended to be understood and applied in the sense of being essentially speculative but seemingly reasonable and perhaps likely to occur as asserted - or very close to what is asserted herein.
     The Scriptures instruct believers to watch and be ready for the return of the bridegroom - Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:42-44).  Hopefully, the contents of this document will fascinate readers, stimulate contemplation, motivate making preparations, and encourage friendly lighthearted discussions, with no anger, frustration, or arguing.  Also, for people who personally experience these events during the Great Tribulation, they can read this document to recognize and gain an understanding of what is occurring to the Earth and its inhabitants, why God is doing these things, and how they need to respond in order to acquire for themselves eternal life rather than eternal punishment.

The 7-year Tribulation Period - select topics:

DESCRIPTION:
- - The "Great Tribulation" (Revelation 7:14) is a 7-year period (Daniel 9:27) that will immediately follow the end of the 'Church Age', which is still functioning currently (as of July, 2020 A.D.) and it was established about 2,000 years ago right after when Jesus ascended into heaven and the Holy Spirit came during Pentecost.  (Acts chapters 1-2; v.20 in Matthew 28:16-20; 16:18)
- - During the 7 years of the 'Great Tribulation', God will impose a continuing succession of progressively more-severe horrific calamities, devastations, destructions, wars, natural disasters, plagues, "great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, fearful events, great signs from heaven" (Luke 21:11), and etc. on the Earth and its inhabitants because of the extreme evil that they are engaging in and refuse to repent of.  (see Revelation chapters 6-19; 9:20-21; 16:9,11)
- - The nature of this pouring-out of wrath from God suggests that the wickedness of mankind progresses to the extent that God considers this state of behaviors as being necessary to inflict such harsh discipline upon them, similar to His treatment of the inhabitants on the Earth during the time of Noah (Genesis 6:5-7), and those of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 13:13; 18:20; 19:13).

THE INITIATING EVENT - THE RAPTURE:
- - Right up to the moment when the Great Tribulation technically starts, the general population of people on the Earth will have no awareness or intuition about the wrath that God is now going to inflict upon them worldwide - in mass.  (Matthew 24:36-42; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3)
- - For God's dearly loved 'true' believers on the Earth, who have genuinely placed their faith in Jesus Christ for the payment of the punishment for their own sins when He died on the cross and rose from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-5; Romans 3:20-26; John 3:16), this pouring-out of God's wrath on them becomes a very disturbing prospect.
- - Indeed, God addresses this very issue in 1 Thessalonians 5:9, "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ".
- - Furthermore, the Scriptures (that relate to the Tribulation) clearly indicate that God has a specific and extensive agenda for all of the numerous developments, situations, and events that He wants enacted for the humans on the Earth, for other life and nature on the Earth, for the elements of the Earth, for the spiritual beings in the invisible realms, and even for the elements in the cosmos.
- - Therefore, rightly and logically to achieve all of His various objectives within such a short time (7 years), some kind of serious major unforeseen incident or phenomenon or event would need to shockingly occur on the Earth to initiate and set in motion all of the dynamics worldwide that are necessary to accomplish the entirety of God's agenda for the Great Tribulation.
- - In several places in Scriptures, descriptions are given of "the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night" (from v.2 in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3), during which select persons "will be taken" while other persons are left behind (vv.39b-41 in Matthew 24:37-44; c.f. Revelation 16:15).
- - A reasonable assumptive conclusion, then, is that a 'rapture' will occur and be the serious major unforeseen event that shockingly incites the humans and their governments, and technically starts the 7-year Tribulation.
- - The assertion, herein, is that Jesus Himself will return to no closer than cloud-level of the Earth, and with a voice that sounds "like a trumpet", He will call all of His living 'true' believers to "Come up here!", like indicated in Revelation 4:1b.
- - Consequently, at the very same moment all around the world, 'true' believers will float up into the sky and then disappear - while being alive, conscious, bodily, visibly, and perhaps even talking along the way.
- - The living 'true' believers will thus be 'raptured' - physically removed from the Earth and "gathered" together with Jesus in the clouds to then be transported into "heaven" to stay there during the entire duration of the 7-year Tribulation, thus entirely avoiding the imminent horrific wrath of God being inflicted upon them as it is being inflicted upon all of the other inhabitants on the Earth.  (2 Thessalonians 2:1; Revelation 4:1a; cf. Acts 1:9-10a; 1 Thessalonians 5:9)
- - This 'rapture' of the church perfectly coincides with the assertion that the presence of the Holy Spirit will simultaneously be taken up from the Earth along with all of the 'true' believers, because He indwells each believer during this Church Age, sealing the ownership of God upon them, and guaranteeing their salvation.  (2 Corinthians 1:21-22)
- - An evidence and consequence of this removal of the presence of the Holy Spirit from the Earth will be that the salvation of subsequent believers will not be sealed and guaranteed.  In other words, as people living during the 7 years of the Tribulation become believers, nevertheless they can lose their salvation and upon death, go to eternal punishment, as clearly pronounced and described in Revelation 14:9-13.  (cf. v.10 in Matthew 24:3-13; NOTE: This topic of losing one's salvation will be further discussed below in this document.)
- - As an additional evidence that the presence of the Holy Spirit will be removed from the Earth at the very moment of the start of the 7-year Tribulation, also removed will be His functioning of "holding back" the Satan-empowered Antichrist from being revealed and coming to power worldwide over the inhabitants on the Earth.  (vv.6-8a in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)
- - In Revelation 13:7 is recorded that during the Tribulation, the Antichrist (with his various one-world governmental institutions) "was given power to make war against the saints and to conquer them", but in Matthew 16:18 Jesus declares that "the gates of Hades will not overcome...", "overpower, or prevail against" (Strong's #2729) "[His] church".  Together, these two declarations in Scriptures strongly imply that the 'church' is no longer present on the Earth when the Tribulation starts because the saints do indeed get conquered during the Tribulation.  In order for both of these verses to be true, the 'church' has to be removed from the Earth before the Tribulation, along with the One who anoints, seals, and guarantees salvation (2 Corinthians 1:21-22), the Holy Spirit.  Being united together (1 Corinthians 6:17), the saints of the 'church' and the Holy Spirit are both removed together right before the Tribulation starts.

THE IMMEDIATE IMPACT OF THE RAPTURE:
- - The rapture will happen simultaneously around the world, which means that people in half of the world will be actively awake in the daylight and people in half of the world will be sleeping in the darkness of nighttime when the rapture occurs.
- - In the daylight half of the world, with most people awake and alert, there will be numerous eye-witnesses to having seen other people, neighbors, friends, or family members suddenly float up into the sky and then disappear.
- - There will be numerous car and truck crashes, some airplane and boat crashes, and numerous corresponding accident injuries, deaths, and property damage.
- - With the recent proliferation of surveillance cameras and cell phone videos, certainly there will be countless numbers of videos that vividly record the raptured believers floating up into the sky.
- - In the nighttime half of the world, with most people sleeping, there will be few eye-witnesses and a few dimly-lit videos that are not very clear and helpful in documenting and detailing the event.
- - Countries that have higher numbers of born-again true believers in their population, such as the United States of America and South Korea, will have significant major impacts, disruptions, and subsequent problems from the sudden loss (rapture) of so many of their citizens.
- - People everywhere, and especially those who had a loved-one taken, will be severely stricken with shock, fear, panic, bewilderment, grief, distress, and anxiety.
- - Initially after the rapture, the widely-accepted natural and seemingly only reasonable explanation will be that outer space aliens abducted all of those humans, using their advanced technology to transport all of those victims through the air into their numerous awaiting spaceships that were hovering hidden in the sky above the clouds.  This event will initially become known as 'The Great Abduction'.

ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT:
- - 'The Great Abduction' (rapture) will immediately and powerfully motivate and incite the uniting and mobilizing of nations of the world and their armies, to counter this distinct existential threat of more abductions and perhaps even an imminent invasion of these outer space aliens.
- - Indeed, as prophesied, presented, and corroborated in Revelation 6:1-2, the first phenomenon to occur after the rapture is that a one-world government is formed and established on the Earth.
- - Most of the nations of the world are quickly ready and willing to unite against this real, and what they perceive to be hostile, and powerful alien enemy that has already demonstrated that it presents a global threat to the very existence of the people of the Earth.
- - So the nations promptly form a one-world government, which has been predicted and described 2,000 years ago by the Apostle John in Revelation 6:2 as, "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".
- - A person ("rider"), perhaps with an accompanying small delegation, is officially appointed and authorized ("given a crown") to go out to all the nations of the world ("he rode out" on a "horse") with the mission ("as a conqueror") of recruiting them to join as members of a one-world government ("bent on conquest").  This person is probably an existing leader of a nation, because he already has his own army ("held a bow") as he seeks to establish peace among and peacefully unite ("white (horse)") together all of the nations of the world.
- - The European Union (E.U.), "a political and economic partnership between 27 European countries", has been the model of and forerunner to this uniting of multiple nations under one governmental entity.  (Google Search: 'what is the E.U.')

ONE-WORLD ARMED FORCES:
- - Logically and naturally, the next step for the nations of the world is to unite their armed forces under one command structure - to better coordinate and defend against anticipated further global attacks of the outer space aliens who abducted all those people.
- - Indeed, next, in Revelation 6:4, this uniting of armed forces is described, "Then another horse came out, a fiery red one.  Its rider was given power to take peace from the Earth and to make men slay each other.  To him was given a large sword."
- - This person ("rider"), perhaps with an accompanying small delegation, is officially appointed and authorized ("was given power") to go out to all the nations of the world ("horse came out") with a 3-part mission:
- - - - 1. to "get hold of" peace ("take peace") "off or away" from the world ("from the Earth") (in v.4, Strong's #2983, #0575), in other words, to establish a declaration and state of war ("red" (horse)) by the one-world government and its member nations against the outer space aliens;
- - - - 2. to establish and enforce martial law in all of the nations ("and to make men slay each other") in this desperate time of facing a technologically-advanced fleet of outer space aliens;
- - - - 3. to unite under one command all of the military armed forces within the nations of the one-world government ("to him was given a large sword"), in order to effectively come against the outer space aliens and to effectively impose strict martial law among the peoples of the nations, where rioting, looting, and property destruction are taking advantage of the breakdown of governmental law-enforcement functioning;
- - - - 4. and to force other nations and peoples to submit and comply to the one-world government ("to make men slay each other").  (cf. Matthew 24:6-7; Revelation 13:7)
- - The European Union (E.U.) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O), "an intergovernmental military alliance", have been the model of and forerunner to this uniting of the armed forces of multiple nations under the command of one governmental entity.  (Google Search: 'what is N.A.T.O.')

ONE-WORLD FINANCIAL AND ECONOMIC SYSTEM:
- - An aftermath of this 'Great Abduction' will be such phenomena as: initial mass hysteria / panic / fear; hoarding; shortages of essentials such as drinking water, food, medicines; looting; price gouging; hyperinflation; panic-selling in the stock markets; bankruptcy of individuals / corporations / governments; insurance claims / lawsuits of exorbitant losses, and etc.
- - To stabilize and strengthen the economies of the nations, a one-world financial and economic system is formulated and established, as indicated in the next verses in Revelation 6:5c-6, "I looked, and there before me was a black horse!  Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.  Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!""
- - Again, the European Union (E.U.) has been the model of and forerunner to this uniting of economies, financial systems, and currency (the 'euro') of multiple nations under one governmental entity.

- - Notice that each of these one-world institutions (government, armed forces, economic system) has been "sealed" by God throughout the history of mankind until now at the very beginning of the Great Tribulation (Revelation 6:1,3,5).  Up until this precise point in history, God has been actively restricting Satan and his Kingdom of Darkness from gaining unified governmental control over all of the nations of the world as a whole.

THE NUMBERING OF MAN - "666":
- - At probably the midpoint during the Tribulation, the Antichrist and his One-world Government force all humans to get numbered by means of "a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark".  (Revelation 13:16-17a)
- - The number is referred to as "666".  (Revelation 13:18)
- - Realistically, if every person had the number "666" branded on their hand or forehead, every person would have the exact same number, thus preventing the individual identification of each person by means of that number.
- - However, small electronic 'Radio-Frequency Identification' chips (R.F.I.D.) currently exist that can be implanted under the skin and can be scanned to read the identifying information that is contained on the chip.  Currently, people get them implanted in their pet dog so that if the dog runs away, it can be immediately and easily identified by this chip and returned to its owner.
- - These particular R.F.I.D. chips that number humans will each contain a unique number that consists of 3 groups of 6 digits like this:
_ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ _ _  , for example 314159-265358-979323.
- - In addition to being used to force membership in the One-world Government and force compliance to its Economic System, this numbering also will be used to instantly expose any person who fails to or refuses to get this 'mark of the beast' number chip.
- - Undoubtedly, the Antichrist and his One-world Government will use this technology to hunt down and execute 'true' believers in Jesus Christ, who are strictly forbidden by God to receive this "mark... of the beast".  (Revelation 17:6; 14:9-12)

LOSE SALVATION:
- - With the removal of the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit of true believers during the entire 7 years of the Tribulation, "At that time many [believers] will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other".  (Matthew 24:10)
- - ""Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child.  Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.  All men will hate you because of me [Jesus]..."".  (Mark 13:12-13a)
- - This very real and graphic consequence of execution will impel many believers to abandon the faith, thus losing their salvation because they did not "stand firm" in the faith "to the end" of their life.  (Mark 13:13b)
- - Facing the consequence of execution will likewise impel many believers to receive the 'mark of the beast', thereby losing their salvation because they did not heed and obey the warning command from God in Revelation 14:11-12 to refuse to receive the 'mark of the beast' and "remain faithful to Jesus" to the end of their life.  (Revelation 14:11-12)
- - Many believers will succumb to the deception of false prophets, false teachers, and false Christs, thus losing their salvation.  (Mark 13:6,21-22)
- - The key concept to understand here is that believers during the Tribulation must be willing to endure persecution, torture, and even execution for their faith - be martyred - in order to fulfill God's requirement for salvation that they stand firm in the faith until the end of their life.
- - This is not a 'works-based' salvation that God utterly rejects, which is defined as 'doing good works that attempts to make oneself worthy to receive eternal life' - in other words, trying to earn salvation by means of one's good works; instead, it is still the God-approved 'faith-based' salvation but with the accompaniment of standing firm in the faith until the moment you die, like in the Old Testament times.

SEVERE PERSECUTION - A TIME OF TESTING:
- - Clearly indicated in the Scriptures, God is using the severe persecution conditions in the Tribulation period to test the faith of people - a time of intense testing - that "calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints".  (Revelation 14:12)
- - These same people were living during the years just prior to the start of the 7-year Tribulation, when they had plenty of opportunities to easily and safely place their faith in Jesus Christ to pay the punishment for their sins.
- - During those prior years, they rejected the offering of easy, safe, and sealed salvation.
- - So now during the Tribulation, by God's intentional design, these 'potential' believers are being subjected to a time of intense testing of their faith - to test if they appropriately remain in the faith and "stand firm to the end", thereby proving themselves as 'true' believers and qualified by God to "be saved".  (Matthew 24:13)
- - They will be exposed to "great signs and miracles" that are being performed by people who masquerade as authentically being Christ or a prophet in order to deceive the 'potential' believers.  (Matthew 24:24)
- - The 'potential' believers will be exposed to tests of hearing authentic-sounding reports that specify a (supposed) sighting of Christ - that He has arrived and is located at a certain place.  (Matthew 24:23,26)
- - The 'potential' believers ""will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and [they] will be hated by all nations because of me [Jesus]"".  (Matthew 24:9)
- - The 'potential' believers ""will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues"".  (Mark 13:9)
- - As a part of this intense testing of their faith, 'potential' believers ""will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them"".  (Mark 13:9)
- - God wants believers to openly proclaim their faith in Jesus Christ, and during this time of the Tribulation, consequently, a great number of believers will be martyred for their faith (v.11 in Revelation 6:9-11) - "those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained" (Revelation 6:9), "those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name" (Revelation 15:2), "those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.  They had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or their hands" (Revelation 20:4).
- - Satan, the Antichrist, their One-World Government, the One-World Religion, and the people of the Earth will wage war against the saints (true believers), will be very resolute and proficient in finding and capturing them, and will openly execute them at will - without delay or remorse.  (Revelation 13:7; 12:17; 16:1-7; 17:1-6; Mark 13:9,12-13; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; Matthew 24:9-10)

THE POWERFUL DELUSION:

1. Hostile invading aliens from outer space:
- - Satan and his various human agents, his governmental agencies, his one-world religion, and his vast army of evil spirits will coordinate and weave together a web of lies that produces a "powerful delusion" which the humans on the Earth will readily believe, starting with taking advantage of the natural conclusion of the humans that 'The Great Abduction' was indeed perpetrated by a race of aliens from outer space.  (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12)
- - With the Holy Spirit being withdrawn from holding them back, these various agents for the Kingdom of Darkness will perform great miracles to generate convincing and compelling evidences and proofs to support this conclusion about hostile invading outer space aliens.  (Revelation 13:12-15)
- - With great skill at performing witchcraft, they will produce some live captured aliens and a few of the (supposedly actual) alien spaceships and fighter-crafts.
- - Indeed, for decades now, the agents for the Kingdom of Darkness have already been producing UFO's (Unidentified Flying Objects), which pilots for the United States military have been reporting seeing, filming, and briefly pursuing.  Pilots report that the UFO's can hover in midair (fully airborne), and then from a dead stop in midair instantly accelerate to supersonic speeds, and then make sharp (not rounded or curved) right-angle turns at those supersonic speeds, and then instantly disappear.  These observations from pilots distinctly suggest that the UFO's do not possess any actual physical mass or weight, meaning that the UFO's are composed of light.  This reality aligns with the assertion in Scriptures that demons are in fact (fallen) angels of light - evil spirit beings who enjoy deceiving humans through the manipulation of light, physical matter, and/or manifestations of themselves to look as though their manipulations have real physical substance doing a miraculous action that defies laws of nature.  (A side note: I, the author of this document, have personally seen witchcraft performed that defied laws of nature.)

2. A statue that comes alive:
- - In Revelation 13:13-15 is reported that an agent of the Kingdom of Darkness (probably the 'false prophet' (vv.19:20; 16:13)) "...performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to Earth in full view of men", and furthermore, he orders the construction of a statue of (presumably) the Antichrist and then "gives breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed", a statue that speaks - visually, audibly, and intelligently.

3. A man raised from the dead:
- - One of the agents of the Kingdom of Darkness (probably the 'false prophet') (Revelation 13:12 with 19:20) will use great powers (probably from Satan himself) to release from the Abyss (vv.11:7; 9:1-2; 17:8), heal the wounds, and raise from the dead a previously mortally-wounded high-ranking government official (probably the man who becomes the Antichrist) (v.13:3), therewith acquiring great fame and vast numbers of followers for the leaders of the One-World Government (v.13:3; cf. 17:8).

4. An imminent invasion of the outer space aliens at Armageddon:
- - One main objective of the Kingdom of Darkness for these displays of Satanic power and witchcraft is to delude, convince, and motivate the humans on the Earth to amass and assemble a huge formidable army at Armageddon to completely overwhelm and utterly obliterate the imminent invasion of these hostile aliens that will occur at the end of the 7 years (of the Tribulation), which in reality is the physical return of Jesus Christ, accompanied by the true believers that He previously raptured.  (Revelation 16:13-14,16; 19:19)
- - Certainly for this great battle, the Kingdom of Darkness will want the humans on the Earth to use their most powerful nuclear bomb weapons, poison gas weapons, stealth aircraft, guided missiles, and etc. to kill Jesus again - and permanently this time.

5. Born-again Christians are collaborators with the outer space aliens:
- - As time and situations progress during the 7 years of the Tribulation, the various agents of the Kingdom of Darkness will slightly shift and adjust the narrative about 'The Great Abduction' (rapture) to now claim that born-again Christians are in fact collaborators with the invading outer space aliens, working in coordination with the aliens to sow fear, chaos, disruption, destruction, and rebellion against the One-world Government and its leaders - especially against the Supreme Leader (who in reality is the Satan-empowered Antichrist).  Born-again Christians will be portrayed as having been infiltrating, conspiring, and accumulating intelligence information for millenniums for the space aliens in preparation for their coming invasion.  Therefore, all born-again Christians must be immediately identified, located, apprehended, and executed.
- - Thereby, 'The Great Abduction' will transform into being known as 'The Great Vanishing' (Of Collaborators), which will fuel worldwide hatred of born-again Christians - true believers in Jesus Christ.

6. The Supreme Leader is the Messiah:
- - Included in this delusion, at about midpoint of the Tribulation, the Antichrist will come to power as Supreme Leader of the One-World Government (Revelation 13:5-8) and declare and promote that he is in fact the Messiah, that he has returned to the Earth to save mankind from the (outer space) enemy that is about to invade and destroy mankind, and he will perform miracles (2 Thessalonians 2:9-11) to prove this declaration of his (supposedly) true identity of being deity - God Himself.  "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", "standing in the holy place" of the Temple in Jerusalem, "where he does not belong" (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14).  And being God the Messiah, therefore, all people of the Earth must worship him - the (Antichrist) Messiah, and any person who opposes him must be working in collaboration with the outer space aliens and thereby must be executed (Revelation 13:8,7,15).

7. The One-World Religion:
- - Another aspect of the 'powerful delusion' will be the existence and activities of the One-World Religion, which God labels as "The Great Prostitute" or "Babylon The Great".  (Revelation 17:1,5)
- - The One-World Religion will be a unifying of most of the various religions of the world into one religion - widely accepted by, composed of, and supported by a variety of ethnic "peoples, multitudes, nations, languages", and governments.  (Revelation 17:1-2,15,10-11,18)
- - The One-World Religion will be led by and predominated by a 'large existing worldwide religion', the "woman" (Revelation 17:3), which possesses great wealth (v.4), has committed "abominable things and the filth of her adulteries" (v.4), and will contribute greatly to the martyring of born-again Christians, being "drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus" (v:6).
- - The 'large existing worldwide religion' - "the woman", that leads and predominates the One-World Religion, will be based in Rome, Italy, the 'city of "seven hills"'.  (Revelation 17:9, Unger p.1089)
- - One delusion is that this 'large existing worldwide religion' - "the woman", that leads its One-World Religion, projects itself as having access to and approval of God, and that it implements the will of God, when in fact God regards it as an "abomination" and "the mother of prostitutes" (v.5), suggesting that it is doctrinally perverse, "blasphemous" in its nature and functioning (v.3), and that it has a prior history (before the Tribulation) of being totally corrupt (v.4).
- - Another delusion of this 'large existing worldwide religion' - "the woman" and its One-World Religion is that even though this religion is suppose to be all-inclusive, tolerant, and accepting of all diverse religious views, it is unequivocally intolerant and downright hostile to the religious views and doctrines of born-again Christians, even to the extent of "making war against the Lamb" (v.14), and thereby in reality functioning as a tool of the Antichrist (vv.13-14).
- - It is interesting to note that currently (as of July, 2020), there is a 'large long-time-existing wealthy worldwide religion' that is headquartered in Rome, Italy, in which its highest-ranking leader has been trying to unite other major world religions with it in order to hold joint religious events, and that many of its clergy have committed numerous criminal abuses over recent decades of time, which have been covered-up by the hierarchy of this 'large currently-existing worldwide religion'.

OTHER USEFUL TECHNOLOGIES:
- - Within his intense obsession of forcing believers to worship him or be executed, the Antichrist and the various other agents for the Kingdom of Darkness will undoubtedly utilize the most current technology available to them.
- - One technology that has been developed recently (as of the year 2020) is 'contact tracing' - wherein teams of government workers utilize mandatory apps (applications) and G.P.S. (Global Positioning System) features in commonly and widely used smart cell phones to track whom every person has been in contact with.
- - Another technology that has been developed recently (as of the year 2020) is 'facial recognition' software, wherein camera systems are installed in various public locations and scan the faces of people as they walk by the cameras, from which an 'Artificial Intelligence' (A.I.) computer program then visually matches each face to their identity and records the time and location where each person was sighted.  Also, cell phones can be identified electronically when the owner walks with it near a detector that is located in public places, stores, restaurants, and etc.
- - Relatively cheap and easy-to-fly 'aerial drones' could be outfitted with infrared and night-vision cameras to find hated born-again Christians who are hiding in remote or wilderness areas.  Military satellites, aerial drones, and aircraft are already functioning in this manner over enemy territories.
- - It is easy to see how technologies such as 'contact tracing', 'facial recognition', and 'aerial drones' could be used as effective means to watch for any additional abductions of people by the outer space aliens, to identify and track any person who does not have the required R.F.I.D. chip 'mark of the beast' (Revelation 13:16-18), to identify and track people whom the hated born-again Christians are associating with and conspiring with, and to locate born-again Christians hiding in wilderness areas.

3 RAPTURES:
- - Even though there are direct declarations in the Scriptures of when one rapture will occur - right at the return of Christ, there are subtle possible indicators in the Scriptures that seem to support two additional times of a rapture occurring.  Therefore, a strong possibility is that there will be three raptures during the 7-year tribulation period.  All of the raptures will be a visible, bodily, alive, and conscious floating up into the clouds of only true believers in Jesus Christ.
- - Rapture #1:  As described above in this document, the first rapture will be the initiating event that abruptly and technically starts the very beginning of the 7 year tribulation period (v.4:1 in Revelation 3:22-4:1), resulting in the people, governments, and armies of the Earth being instigated to unite and prepare to defend against outer space aliens (or whomever they think has snatched away all of those humans).
- - Rapture #2:  The second rapture will be near the end of the tribulation period (v.15 in Revelation 16:14-16), especially timed and designed by God to instigate the assembling of all of the armies of the Earth in one location (Armageddon) (vv.12-16) in order to be outright slaughtered by Jesus Christ as He returns to the Earth.
- - Rapture #3:  And the third rapture will occur at the very end of the tribulation period (v.27 in Mark 13:24-27; cf. v.31 in Matthew 24:29-31), as Jesus Christ is physically returning and visibly "coming on the clouds of the sky" (Matthew 24:30) to start His 1,000 year reign on the Earth.  True believers will be raptured right before Jesus mows down (like using a sickle) the armies of the Earth that have gathered at Armageddon to battle Him, most likely cutting each soldier in half, so that their "blood flows... as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 180 miles" (300 kilometers).  (v.20 in Revelation 14:14-20; 16:16; 19:15)

THE TEMPLE:
- - Currently (as of July, 2020), the mosque called the 'Dome Of The Rock', belonging to the Islam religion, is situated on the temple mount in Jerusalem exactly where the Scriptures indicate that the future 'Temple' is to be built by the Judaism religion.
- - When I (the author of this document) was in Israel in 1974, our Hebrew tour guide told us that at that time in 1974, Israel already had all of the component materials in warehouses, ready to build the Temple (to the specifications as described in the Old Testament Scriptures), and waiting for the mosque to be destroyed, because the Israelis will not initiate the destruction of the mosque and thereby they will wait for it to be brought down by some other means.
- - The terminology indicating the act of "measuring" that is used in Revelation 11:1-2 suggests that the Temple is built during the first half (3.5 years) of the Tribulation, with Gentiles (i.e. non-Jews) having access to "the outer court" of the Temple during the second half of the Tribulation ("42 months" or 3.5 years).
- - Logically, therefore, the Dome Of The Rock must be destroyed either shortly before or at the latest perhaps on the very day that the Tribulation technically starts and at the same time that the (first) rapture is happening, in order for enough time for negotiations to occur in which the Antichrist quickly brokers a peace agreement at the very beginning of the Tribulation between the Israelis and Arabs to allow the Temple to be built and have enough time to complete its construction and start making (animal) sacrifices in it before the 3.5 years midpoint of the Tribulation (Daniel 9:27; 12:11).
- - The Antichrist may try to persuade the Israelis and Arabs on being important partners in a new one-world religion that will make the Temple the worldwide center of worship for the new one-world religion.  He may use money (or foreign aid), military guarantees of security, and promises of increased tourism, pilgrimages, and holding religious conferences in Jerusalem to entice them into this agreement.  Of course, we know that the Antichrist has a hidden motive to make himself the Messiah and sit on the throne in the Temple (v.4 in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; cf. Daniel 9:27, 11:31, 12:11; Matthew 24:15).
- - The Dome Of The Rock probably will be destroyed by some natural cause or an act of nature (or God) such as: an earthquake, or a very strong wind (tornado), or a meteorite, or perhaps a mis-directed Arab missile, or some other manner so that its means of destruction will become clearly evident to the Israelis and the Arabs that the Israelis have not implemented some kind of covert plot to destroy the Dome Of The Rock and make its destruction appear to be of a natural cause.  It seems most likely that the destruction of the Dome will be from an earthquake (similar to the earthquakes that will occur there later during the Tribulation, as recorded in verses 13,19, and 8 of Revelation 11:3-13,19), which necessitates that the Israelis will have to construct the Temple to Old Testament specifications and yet have it be earthquake-proof and safe to be inside of.

THE TWO WITNESSES:
- - During the Tribulation in Revelation 11:3-13 is the account of the "two witnesses" (v.3).  One of these witnesses is the Old Testament prophet Elijah (of 1 Kings chapters 17-19,21 and 2 Kings chapters 1-2), according to verse 5 in Malachi 4:5-6, "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes" (cf. Matthew 17:10-13).  At the end of the (Old Testament) time that Elijah was a prophet, he never died because he was taken alive "up to heaven in a whirlwind" (2 Kings 2:11,1).
- - Another person who "was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death" (Hebrews 11:5) was Enoch (of Genesis 5:21-24), who "walked with God" (v.24) during his life in Old Testament time.  Because Enoch was taken up into heaven alive like Elijah and did not experience death, a sound assumption is that Enoch is the other witness with Elijah in Revelation 11:3-13.
- - At the end of their appearance and activities during the Tribulation as recorded in Revelation 11:3-13, the two witnesses are murdered (v.7) and then 3.5 days later, they are resurrected from the dead and raptured (vv.11-12).  Their deaths correspond exactly to the pronouncement in Hebrews 9:27 that it is "reserved" for man "to die once" (Strong's #0606).

THE 144,000:
- - In Revelation 7:3-8 and 14:1-5 are described the "144,000", about whom a close examination reveals interesting details that will clarify exactly who they are and how they became selected by God to fulfill this role during the Tribulation.
- - The "144,000" are all celibate men (v.14:4), they all are of the Hebrew race - with equal numbers of them from each specific tribe of Israel (vv.7:4-8), they all are religiously devout (vv.14:4-5), they all are "servants of our God" (v.7:3), they all zealously follow Jesus (v.14:4), they all are sealed by God with an engraving on their foreheads of the name of God the Son (Jesus) and God the Father - for ownership and guaranteed salvation (vv.7:3-4; 14:1,3-4), they all are specifically and individually protected by God from any harm (vv.7:2-3; 9:4), and they all are pure or righteous in character and conduct (v.7:5).
- - The nation of Israel is of the Judaism religion and vehemently restricts and diligently guards against any proselytizing within its borders by other religions - including Christianity.
- - Judaism staunchly rejects Jesus as being Deity and the Messiah, and it rejects that the New Testament of the Bible is the inspired Word of God.
- - Considering these realities about the nation of Israel and Judaism, the mystery arises as to how do 144,000 Hebrew men appear at this time as fervent true believers in Jesus Christ, within the borders of Israel on "Mount Zion" in Jerusalem itself, holding a large outdoor religious rally and music festival proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah!  (Revelation 14:1-3)
- - When I (the author of this document) was touring Israel with a group of Christian believers in 1974, we had a Hebrew tour guide who was of the Jewish faith, and we told him that we were (born-again) Christian believers in Jesus Christ as the Messiah.  During our tour, he told us that the boys and young men in Israel who are being trained and prepared to become rabbis are all required to take comprehensive classes on Christianity (and the New Testament of the Bible).  Our guide said the purpose for them thoroughly learning Christianity was because the nation of Israel did not want to offend Christian tourists who are primarily from the United States of America, upon whom their nation so extensively benefits from tourism, (military aid, and other various forms of support).
- - I propose that the 144,000 described in Revelation 7:3-8 and 14:1-5 are these Hebrew men that became rabbis in Judaism, but they all have been thoroughly trained in Christianity, so they all have an in-depth knowledge about Christianity, the Tribulation, and the end times prophecies as recorded in the New Testament of the Bible, even though as Jews they reject all of these.  During this time in the Tribulation period though, they all start to see that prophecies are coming true exactly as written in the New Testament.  So they experience a mass revival and conversion, placing their faith in Jesus as the Messiah.  Therefore, the 144,000 probably are all Hebrew-raced Jewish rabbis and scholars in Judaism who convert to being 'Messianic Jews' during the Tribulation, being highly motivated to convert because they see occurring the accurate fulfillment of New Testament prophecies of Christianity.  Being 'Messianic Jews' means they essentially practice Judaism but they acknowledge and worship Jesus of Nazareth as the 'Messiah' and incarnate deity, who died on the cross approximately 2,000 years ago as the sacrifice for the punishment of sins and resurrected from the dead on the third day.  (Revelation 14:1,3-4)

WORLDWIDE EARTHQUAKE:
- - In Revelation 16:17-21 is recorded: v.18 "...a severe earthquake.  No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on Earth, so tremendous was the quake"; v.19 "...and the cities of the nations collapsed"; v.20 "Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found."
- - The indication in this section of verses is that this earthquake is worldwide, occurring everywhere on the entire planet at the same time.
- - Due to various characteristics that compose the Earth and the causes of earthquakes, when an earthquake occurs, it is local or regional but not worldwide.  Also, they do not level all the mountains on the Earth nor sink all the islands on the Earth into the oceans.
- - The immediate and surrounding verses of the description of this event do not cite nor imply that any object in or from outer space is the generating cause of this worldwide earthquake.
- - Certainly, this worldwide earthquake could be caused solely by a raw miracle from God, as represented by the action of the angel in verse 16:17 of "pouring out his bowl into the air".
- - If, however, God implements actions within nature to generate this worldwide earthquake like it appears that He does in all of the other cataclysms in nature during the Tribulation, then there is a plausible way that God can cause and use actions within nature to generate this worldwide earthquake of such magnitude.
- - God could cause an inversion of the magnetic North Pole - in which the magnetic mass in the Earth's molten core shifts from being located at the North Pole to being located at the South Pole.  Modern scientists have somehow determined that the shift of the magnetic mass to the opposite pole has happened to the Earth in the past (before the recorded existence of humans), and that it can happen again.  And if this shift occurs, they say there will be resulting worldwide great upheaval, earthquakes, alterations, disruptions, devastation, and destruction to various aspects of the Earth worldwide, such as to land, rivers, lakes, oceans, mountains, valleys, islands, volcanoes, weather patterns, ecosystems, animal migrations, human-made buildings, roads, bridges, dams, ports, shipping, and etc.  Apparently, this resulting destruction will even generate "huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each" "to fall upon men" "from the sky" (v.16:21).

SHORTENED DAYS:
- - In Matthew 24:22 is recorded about the Tribulation, "If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened."
- - Clearly, this description is referring to the Lord intentionally shortening the number of hours that are in a day - to be significantly less than 24 hours in a day, which is the time that it takes for the Earth to rotate on its axis once.
- - To accomplish this phenomenon, certainly God could implement a raw miracle.  If, however, God wants to implement actions within nature to accomplish this phenomenon, then the rotation of the Earth would have to be speeded up by some action in nature.
- - Logically and scientifically, one God-orchestrated natural way to speed up the rotation of the Earth is for a meteorite of sufficient size to strike the Earth near the equator, hitting land, traveling from west to east, being aligned with the equator, and coming in on a trajectory that is nearly tangent to the surface of the Earth where the meteorite strikes.  This would be like a basketball player spinning a basketball balanced on his finger of one hand while simultaneously contacting and twirling the basketball with a light swift contacting motion of his other hand. 
- - Another possible and perhaps more likely God-orchestrated natural way is for a huge asteroid, composed of mostly magnetized iron, traveling very fast from west to east in alignment with the equator but passing extremely close above the Earth without striking the Earth, upon which gravity and magnetism from the Earth briefly capture the motion of the passing asteroid and thereupon propel the rotation of the Earth faster.  This would be like how magnetism is used in electric motors to spin their armature.

RAMPANT AND EVER-INCREASING SINFULNESS:
- - In Revelation 9:20-21 is a list of sins that God holds against the people that inhabit the Earth before and during the Tribulation, inciting Him to bring all of the various numerous severe calamities and disasters upon them.  One of the cited sins is translated as "magic arts" (v.21), which in the original Greek is the word "pharmakeia" (from which we get the English word "pharmacy"), meaning 'medication or pharmaceutical drug used in an illicit manner or as part of sorcery or witchcraft' (romanized Strong's #5331).  In societies around the world since about the year 1970, there has been an ever-increasing acceptance and pervasive usage of alcoholic beverages, illicit drugs, and prescription pharmaceuticals, to produce a physical and mental 'high' and/or pleasant intoxication.  Regarding the 'witchcraft' part of 'sorcery', involvement includes an ever-increasing acceptance and pervasive participation in: the occult, Satanism and the "worshiping of demons", witchcraft, and magic, which includes through media such as books (e.g. Harry Potter), movies, board games, and video gaming platforms (v.20; cf. Deuteronomy 18:9-14).  [ As a point of interest, victims of sexual assault, whom I (the author of this document) have biblically counseled, have reported widespread usage and integration of witchcraft, Satanism, and Satanic Ritual Abuse ceremonies by and in all hierarchy levels of the street gangs whose territory those victims had lived in.  One street gang was even named 'Satan's Disciples'. ]
- - Participation in the other cited sins in verses 20-21 has also become more rampant in recent decades in societies worldwide:
- - - - "worshiping idols" - which several major religions in the world actively promote and engage in, through shrines, booths, physical objects that supposedly possess supernatural power, and etc.;
- - - - "murders" - by means of: inexpensive easily-available handguns and automatic weapons; street gangs; criminal cartels and syndicates; abortions; and etc.;
- - - - "sexual immorality" - fornication, cohabitation, homosexuality, homosexual marriages, wife-swapping (to have sex), change of sexual identity, child pornography, and etc.;
- - - - "thefts" - greed, swindles, scams, looting, fraudulent business schemes, false advertising, robberies, embezzlement, and etc.;
- - - - "the work of their hands" - all of the various other kinds of sins that people engage in, for examples: ethnic and religious hatred, racism, physical / verbal / sexual assaults, kidnappings, vandalism, rioting, damaging property, financial oppression, inappropriate / frivolous / excessive lawsuits, political or judicial corruption, coercion, deception, slander, sensuality, recklessness, traffic violations / speeding, and etc.

THE ANTICHRIST:
- - In verse 5 of Isaiah 10:5-7ff, the Antichrist is referred to as the "Assyrian", apparently indicating that the Antichrist will be of Assyrian ethnicity.  A reasonable profile assumption is that the man, who will become the Antichrist, will have been extensively involved (before the Tribulation) in political and government activities on an international scale, perhaps employed in the United Nations or the European Union, and is personally profoundly familiar with and experienced in politics, negotiating, diplomacy, and knowledge about facilitating peace between nations.  Currently (as of July, 2020), one person has these qualifications, work experience, education, position, and reputation, which seem to align him well with this profile as a distinct possibility of being the man who during the Tribulation becomes the Antichrist.  His name is H.E. Bashar Ja'afari, Ph.D., the current Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, and information about him can be found on the United Nations webpage: https://www.un.int/syria/staff/he-bashar-jaafari-phd 
- - It seems reasonable to assume that before the Tribulation, the Kingdom of Darkness will select, groom, prepare, and equip the man who will become the Antichrist during the Tribulation.  Therefore, before the Tribulation, the man will covertly desire to 'exterminate Israel' and 'kill all Christian infidels' on the earth, in other words he will be an undercover sympathizer of, hold these ideals of, and perhaps be a member of I.S.I.S. (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) - a radical violent militant branch of the Islam religion.  But yet, He will overtly project himself as being accepting of everyone, fair-minded, likeable, a smooth persuasive talker, and a masterful peacemaker.  

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE:
- - When reading through the various sections of Scriptures that pertain to the Tribulation, there are numerous calamities that relate to changing climate and unusual imbalances in the weather on the Earth.
- - Currently (as of July, 2020), scientists claim 'Global Warming' is occurring and accelerating due to man's burning of fossil fuels, which is dumping massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.  To support their contentions, they produce hard scientific data of mass melting of glaciers, increasing global temperatures, rising sea levels, shifts to more extreme and severe weather, and etc.
- - While this claim may indeed be true, an additional possibility could be that God is also actively involved in and/or coordinating this presently-occurring 'Global Warming', preparing the Earth for all of the numerous weather-related catastrophes that He will implement during the 7-year Tribulation period.  Thereby, if the time of the Tribulation is getting very close, then we can expect that 'Global Warming', changing climate, and unusual imbalances in the weather will continue to increase in frequency, severity, and unanticipated ways.
- - On an interesting side note of long-shot conjecture: If the trend of 'global warming' continues, the glacier on Mount Ararat in the nation of Turkey may melt enough to see if there are timber beams from Noah's Ark on that mountain (Genesis 6:14-16; 8:4).  The flow of the glacier would have long ago broken up the Ark but nevertheless would have preserved in glacier ice its timber beams from rotting away.  If the glacier melts, the timbers should become visible along the lower sections of the glacier slopes of the mountain where the glacier flow would have deposited most of the timber beams.  The nation of Turkey is predominantly Islamic, and reportedly, Turkey does not allow foreigners or Christians to climb the mountain to investigate.  However, magnified satellite photos could be taken of the top of Mount Ararat, which commercial satellite-photographing companies are now currently doing in various (other) locations and are making the photos available to the public.

Living During The Tribulation

WHAT TO UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT:
1. During the Tribulation, God wants that humans suffer and die in mass:
- - Everything that happens during the 7-year Tribulation is under the sovereign rule of God, and the destruction events by forces of nature are being directly orchestrated by God - for examples, the opening of seals in Revelation chapter 6, the sounding of trumpets in chapters 8-9, the empowering of the two witnesses in chapter 11, and the bowls of God's wrath in chapter 16 (see v.16:9 "...God, who had control over these plagues...").
- - By God's design, sovereign rule, and orchestration, a vast majority of all the people on the Earth will die during the Tribulation - for examples: a third of mankind is killed in just one battle in Revelation 9:15-19; and the death toll has to be extremely high for the worldwide earthquake in Revelation 16:17-21, causing: massive tidal waves; flash floods from broken dams, from lakes that have been leveled, and from rivers that have become diverted; cement or wooden houses, apartment buildings, commercial buildings, and hospitals are collapsed, killing people who were inside of them; electricity, water, and gas utilities are destroyed, leaving no way to refrigerate food or acquire clean drinking water; grocery stores, food factories, and farms are destroyed, leading to mass starvations; unfathomable numbers of people are instantly homeless and destitute, leading to mass deaths from exposure to winter weather; and "100 pound hailstones" (40 kilograms; v.21) will kill every person and livestock that they land on.
- - God also intentionally inflicts mass suffering on the humans during this time, for example: "to harm", "to torture them", "the agony they suffered", and "they will long to die" (verses 4-6 in Revelation 9:1-12).
- - Large numbers of 'true' believers will die from destruction events during the Tribulation.  (verses 9,13-14 in Revelation 7:9-17; cf. vv.6:7-8)

2. During the Tribulation, God wants humans to immediately repent and believe in Jesus:
- - God's purpose during the Tribulation is to offer those people one last opportunity to repent and to believe in Jesus, individually giving them some time during the 7 years to repent and believe before they are terminated at any moment.  (Revelation 9:20-21; 16:9)
- - Amidst the ongoing destruction and chaos, God nevertheless finds ways to communicate and offer them salvation, "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".  (Matthew 24:14; cf. Revelation 14:6-7)

3. During the Tribulation, God wants the Kingdom of Darkness to be essentially unrestricted:
- - During the Tribulation, demons are being released from the "Abyss" (Hell) (Revelation 9:1-2,11), and the man that died, was later resurrected from the dead, and then becomes the Antichrist, is allowed release from the Abyss (v.17:8).
- - As previously stated in this document, during the Tribulation, the Holy Spirit will no longer "hold back" or restrict activities of the Kingdom of Darkness (vv.6-8a in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12), which includes "to make war against the saints and to conquer them" and execute them because of their faith (Revelation 13:7; 6:9-11; 17:6; 14:13).
- - During the Tribulation, God wants the Kingdom of Darkness to test the humans, primarily through deception (vv.9-12,4 in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12), which includes testing 'potential' believers - whereby "many... will be deceived" and "will turn away from the faith" (Matthew 24:4-5,10,23-26).
- - Agents for the Kingdom of Darkness will even be given the ability to "perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect".  (Matthew 24:24)

HOW BELIEVERS SHOULD RESPOND:
1. During the Tribulation, God wants believers to persevere in the faith while enduring great suffering, persecution, and torture - even to their death or execution:
- - First and foremost, you and every person need to:
- - - - 1. hear the gospel message of salvation from the Scriptures, how Jesus is both fully God and fully human, that He came to the earth to intentionally be severely tortured and die an excruciating death on the cross to pay the eternal punishment for the sins of those persons who will believe in Him, and that He rose from the dead on the third day, proving that His sacrificial death on the cross is sufficient to pay the penalty for the sins of those persons who believe in Him (1 Corinthians 15:1-6; Romans 5:8-11; 1 Peter 2:24); "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,  that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  (John 3:16)
- - - - 2. believe the gospel message from the Scriptures, sincerely and specifically placing your faith in Jesus, that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins, that He rose from the dead on the third day, and that through Jesus is the only way to save you - to get your sins forgiven so that you can get to heaven when you die (Romans 3:20-26; John 3:16-18; Ephesians 2:8-9); ; "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  (Romans 3:23-24)
- - - - 3. repent, turning away from and ceasing your sinful activities, sinful thinking, sinful words, and sinful desires;  (Ephesians 4:17-24; Romans 6:19-22)
- - - - 4. and turning towards Jesus, making all the necessary corrections in your life to be successful at living in righteousness, and fulfilling the service or mission to God of what He has for you to do while you are still alive on this Earth.  (Luke 9:23-26)
- - Next, you and every believer are to be steadfast in the faith, focusing on fulfilling the requirement and promise of God during the Tribulation that "he who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:13), thus proving yourself to be a 'true' believer (rather than a mere 'potential' believer who was interested for awhile but then fell away from the faith and thereby lost your salvation).
- - "Obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus", so that you urgently do NOT "worship the beast [the Antichrist] and his image [the talking statue]..." or "receive... his mark [the R.F.I.D. numbering chip embedded] on the forehead or on the hand", which would result in you being permanently condemned to eternal "torment with burning sulfur" (Revelation 14:9-12).
- - Likewise, consistently "maintain your testimony" about your faith in Jesus and do NOT ever make a verbal statement in which you deny your faith in Jesus (Revelation 6:9; 12:11,17; 17:6).  "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."  (Revelation 13:9-10; cf. v.14:13)
- - In the Scripture sections that correspond to the Tribulation, the warning is repeatedly given that believers are "to watch out" and not let "anyone deceive you in any way".  (Matthew 24:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:3)
- - Be on guard that "false Christs" and "many false prophets will appear" "and perform signs and miracles" "and deceive many people" (Mark 13:22 with Matthew 24:11).  It is interesting to note that in the Scripture sections that correspond to the Tribulation, there is no mention of the saints performing signs and miracles, other than the 'two witnesses' (Revelation 11:3-6), thus implying that during this time, the saints are being lead as innocent and defenseless sheep to the slaughter, like Jesus when He was crucified on the cross (Romans 8:36; Acts 8:32-35; cf. Isaiah 53:7-8).
- - Do not believe reports that Jesus has returned, until you go outside and "see [Him] coming on the clouds" (Matthew 24:26-27,30), which will be at the very end of the 7 years of the Tribulation when the armies of the world gather at Armageddon to battle Jesus as He is returning (Revelation 19:11-21; 16:13-14,16).  Note: If you are one of the believers that survives until near this late in the 7 years of the Tribulation, then be aware, "keep watch", and be ready to be raptured, because "Behold, I [Jesus] come like a thief!  Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go [i.e. get raptured] naked and be shamefully exposed".  (Matthew 24:42; Revelation 16:15)
- - "See to it that you are not alarmed" (Matthew 24:6) or "frightened" (Luke 21:9) by perilous developments and by great destruction that is occurring on the Earth during the Tribulation (Matthew 24:6-8).
- - "Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man".  (Luke 21:36)
- - Maintain confidence that your prayers are "going up before God".  (Revelation 8:3-4)
- - "Love the truth", "believe the truth", and do not "delight in wickedness".  (2 Thessalonians 2:10,12)

2. During the Tribulation, God wants believers also to boldly and verbally witness to other people about placing their faith in Jesus:
- - God has a mission for you - to visibly and verbally be a consistently excellent witness of faith in Jesus Christ - no matter what the risk or outcome will be for you.  Therefore, live each day focused on fulfilling this mission that God has appointed for you during this time in history.  Persevere in this mission and the faith until the end comes upon you.
- - Find ways to actively do your part in "proclaiming the eternal gospel to those who live on the earth", "preaching... the gospel... in the whole world" before "the end comes".  (Revelation 14:6; Matthew 24:14)
- - "Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say [in regard to your verbal witness about Jesus].  Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit".  (Mark 13:11; see Luke 21:13-15)
- - "Make the most of every opportunity" to boldly share the gospel with unbelievers, "because the days are evil" and their time is short (Ephesians 5:16).  You may be their last opportunity to hear the gospel, repent, and believe before the end comes upon them.
- - Each day should not be for you a preoccupation of 'desperation to survive', but instead each day should be a preoccupation of 'watching for and making opportunities to verbally witness' to other people about Jesus and the gospel.  In a sense, you want to take as many people to heaven with you as you can before your time and their time soon run out.

3. Other exhortations for believers who are living during the Tribulation:
- - As you strive each day to fulfill God's mission for you, have and maintain a good attitude and an eternal perspective, without succumbing to a fatalistic or debilitating depression, and do not blame God or be resentful towards Him for any dire situation that you experience, are in, or are facing (Luke 21:34-35).  Each day, "entrust" yourself and your situation to God (v.23 in 1 Peter 2:20-25), while nevertheless simultaneously exercising good judgment, for examples: avoid getting "pregnant" during the Tribulation (Matthew 24:19); do not live at low elevations near the oceans because of impending tidal waves (e.g. Revelation 8:8-9); and do not live in Rome, Italy (Revelation 18:4).
- - Be thankful that during this time of tribulation, God has given you a second opportunity to acquire salvation - which He did not do for any of the unbelievers on the Earth when the flood suddenly came upon them, during the time of Noah and the Ark.  (Matthew 24:38-39)
- - Extend love to those who persecute you; "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you", "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse [them]" (Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:14), because ""Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me [Jesus].  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you"" (Matthew 5:11-12).
- - Realize and remember that the powers of the Kingdom of Darkness are being released and unleashed (e.g. Revelation 9:1-11) to fully impose their influence, their will, and their agenda on the humans of the Earth during this time of the Tribulation; so assume that during this time, unbelievers will be under increased and significant demonic influence, oppression, or control.
- - Do not be deceived by what other people, the One-world Government, and the top One-world Government leaders are saying during these 7 years of Tribulation.  Stay focused on what the Word of God is saying about the Tribulation, and recognize and follow the sequence of events in the Scriptures as they occur on the Earth.  Therefore, in order to respond properly, you need to be sufficiently informed, understanding, and remembering what the Scriptures say about events that are coming and when.  So, study thoroughly and frequently the 'Key Sections Of Verses' that are listed below.  Acquire a printed copy of them and perhaps this document in case your electricity service gets destroyed.
- - You will know with absolute certainty when Jesus has returned only when you go outside, look up into the sky, and see Him coming, accompanied by His vast army of angels and His believers (Matthew 24:29-30; Revelation 19:11-14; cf. Luke 21:25-28).  There will be 7 years of the Tribulation before Jesus returns (Daniel 9:27).

KEY SECTIONS OF VERSES regarding the Tribulation:
- - Matthew 24:3-25:46; Mark 13:3-37; Luke 21:7-36
- - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-4
- - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
- - Revelation 3:22-20:6
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Works Cited:
Bible. “The Holy Bible: New International Version.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.

Google Search.  Accessed August, 2020.  Available from http://www.google.com, Internet.  

“Strong's Greek Dictionary.” The Bible Library CD-ROM. Oklahoma City, OK: Ellis Enterprises, 1988.

Unger, Merrill F.  The New Unger's Bible Dictionary.  Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1988.
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Copyright © 2020 Mel W. Coddington, and permission is hereby granted that this document may be used, copied, and distributed non-commercially to non-profit organizations, individuals, churches, ministries, and schools worldwide, provided the copies are distributed at no charge and retain this sources documentation as supplied herein. This document is not for sale, resale, or for use as a gift or premium to be offered in connection with solicitations or contributions.
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