God's Four sore judgments- Introduction

Part #1: Sword
Part #2: Famine
Part #3: Pestilence 
Part #4: Beasts
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The rapture is an event that has no signs associated with it. It is based on the completion of the full number God has in mind to make up His church (Romans 11:25) and when that is reached He will tell His son to go get His bride. A trumpet will sound and with the voice of archangel, true believers will be instantly translated to an incorruptible body, meeting the dead in the air who shall rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:15-16).

After this; "Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’" (Acts 15:14-17)

The remnant of mankind in my opinion in this verse are those who were not ready for the Lord when He called, being part of His bride, the global Church of born-again believers. This time is called The Tribulation (Matthew 24:9) or the Time of Jacob's Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), The Great Day of Wrath (Revelation 6:17), That Day (Joel 1:15) etc.

The bible has much to say about That Day. We are given graphic depictions of what will happen in it, for example, "their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth." (Zechariah 12:14b). "Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, 'Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.'" (Revelation 19:17-18).

The rapture has no sign, it will be a sudden supernatural interruption of man's life on earth. After this, the judgments will start. If we can see the set-up for the judgments happening, how much closer is the rapture? That is the only sign by which we may be able to tell the season of the Tribulation is closing in and thus that the rapture is even closer. "But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief." (1 Thessalonians 5:4)

That is what this blog entry is about. So many people can clearly see the signs coming together for the Tribulation that we know and understand that the rapture is even closer. It is the season. It is the month. We don't know the day or hour but it seems truly to be the metaphoric month, in other words, near. The return of the Jews to the Land in 1948 was a HUGE HUGE sign, and the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967 was also huge. How close are we? Only God knows. The point is, be ready.

Therefore the judgments are near also. The fire circle is cleared, the stones are laid, the wood is placed, the tinder is on top and the match is lit. All that needs to happen to trigger the judgments is the lit match to be put on the tinder.

God judges and in so doing He has different judgments He dispenses. He has a set of four that He considers especially severe. Ezekiel 14:21 lists them: sword, famine, pestilence, and the beasts of the earth.

"For thus says the Lord GOD, "How much more when I send My four severe judgments against Jerusalem: sword, famine, wild beasts and plague to cut off man and beast from it!"

Wesley's notes on Ezekiel 14:21 say, "How much more - If they could not be able to keep off one of the four, how much less would they be able to keep off all four, when I commission them all to go at once."

During the Tribulation, in Revelation 6:8, the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse, the fourth judgment seal, lets loose these four sore plagues all at once.We will take a look at what the biblical application of these individual judgments were in the past and what the news shows us is the nearness of all four today.

Part 1 will take a look at "Sword" in the context of the final judgment, the Tribulation. Part 2, "Famine". Part 3, "Pestilence." And part 4, "Beasts."

Comments

  1. I mean no offense. I really enjoy ur blog. I been told that the rapture before tribulation is one of the greatest deceptions. I think we are going through 3.5 yrs then the 7th trumpet, Jesus coming, 1st the dead and then us (the believers in glorifed bodies) will go with Him. After that...the bowls of judgement for the unbelievers. I am concerned about the ones who believe they will be raptured before tribulation. When it doesn't happen...many will turn from God. The bottom line we will all be judged, but we have a great advocate (Jesus) to defend us.

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    1. Hi Denise,

      Thank you for reading the blog! I appreciate it. No offense taken. One person's opinion doesn't alter what facts of what the bible say. Let's take a look.

      You said "I've been told". It is OK to listen to a preacher or a teacher but the Bereans were called noble for searching the scriptures for themselves. (Acts 17:11).

      The pre-trib rapture is the truth of the bible, but there is no scripture that says "The rapture will happen before the day of Jacob's Trouble!" but there are many verses which say so implicitly which a post or a mid trib rapture make contradict each other. If there is any contradiction in the bible, it is man, not God.

      1.
      We are not appointed to wrath (1 Thess 5:9.) The Tribulation- all 7 years- is the Day of Wrath, (Rev 6:17)

      Jesus said to us (the church) “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. (Rev 3:10)

      He would NOT on one hand say we're not to endure the wrath but then put us thru the wrath. He is not a liar.
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      2.
      Jesus said of the time "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." Mt 24:21

      Paul said of the Day of the Lord, "Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing." (1 Thess 5:11)

      How can we encourage each other with words of 'you'll go thru the worst time ever?' Can't. Paul was telling them about the Day of the Lord and to be encouraged because they WON'T go thru it.
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      3.
      Jesus said, "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Heb 8:12)

      God said the Day of the Lord is to "Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin" (Dan 9:24a)

      How can He forget our sin but then punish our sin? God is not contradictory.
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      So you see, these verses plus many others if you put them side by side, reconcile the fact that He will rapture us before The Day. The 7 year tribulation is to finish His work with the Jews, a time of decree that was paused when Jesus came into the world so He could build His church. He will resume and also punish all the nations on the basis of how they treated Israel. (Dan 9:27). It is a time of wrath, undiluted, judgments for sin against a Holy God. We have been forgiven of sin and in this age of grace, and will be kept from the hour of trial that is to come upon the whole earth. The deception, precious sister, is that Jesus would contradict Himself and drag us through the wrath after all. It isn't gonna happen. Therefore be encouraged by these words!

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    2. http://www.bibleprophesy.org/introtrumpets.htm

      There is pre tribulation rapture bc Jesus has to fuffill the feasts. Since we are his Bride the Church the seven years of hell on earth will not be required for true believers to endure. It's one of the reasons those who watch for the Lord's coming recieve a crown.

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    3. My Redeemer_Lives,

      Thanks for the link. I appreciate it. I do believe Jesus fulfilled the feasts, or, at least the first four of them. I don't so much believe the rapture has to do with the feasts. In other words, I'm not so sure that the rapture hinges on them. The Bride/Church is separate from Israel. It is an interesting study though, and for that I thank you. Below is even more info

      How did Jesus fulfill the meanings of the Jewish feasts?
      http://www.gotquestions.org/Jewish-feasts.html

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    4. You're very welcome and it was my pleasure :). From my limited understanding i gather that if Jesus fulfilled the first four then why not fufill the rest of them. When I first read that article in the link I realized that God put His plans in plain sight just as He said He would do. The blowing of the trump is a segnificant symbol to the rapture of the virgin church into the chambers of Chirst where the wise virgins will meet Him in the air.

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  2. I am still learning. I have a question about the trumpets. Do you think they're taking place now? Or do we wait for the seals? I was taught the prophcey of America. This nation is under judgement (Isaiah 7:8) Without any doubt... I know we are in the end times. it's just unclear to me about the series of events. I guess there is too much going on at once. I see it

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    1. Denise,

      We are not in the Tribulation now. There are no Revelation judgments happening now.

      When they begin, which will be after the rapture, they will progress as outlined in Rev 6-18. There will be 7 Seal Judgments. 7 Trumpet Judgments. 7 Bowl Judgments. In that order. There are also 7 Thunders which no one knows if they are judgments, or proclamations, or what. They are mentioned in Rev 10 and are the only words in Revelation Jesus told John to seal up.

      More here on 7 thunders
      http://www.gotquestions.org/seven-thunders.html

      If you look on the right side of my page and scroll down a bit there is a Tribulation chronology. You can also learn more here about the 21 judgments of Revelation here
      http://www.gotquestions.org/seven-seals-trumpets.html

      Anerica is not under judgment any more or less than sin usually condemns any nation. Some say, myself included, that the US is under a judgment of The Wrath of Abandonment, a judgment outlined in Romans 1. But that is not an eschatalogical judgment (end time judgment of Apocalyptic nature.) It is simply a judgment where God says 'you disobeyed and rejected me so I will reject you and abandon you.' He has done this in the past to nations. Acts 14:16 says this, this is from the Apostle Paul, "In the generations gone by," that's past history, "God permitted all the nations to go their own way." More at this link to a sermon about when God abandons a nation
      http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/GTY109

      The Tribulation judgments have not begun yet. Isaiah 7:8 has nothing to do with the US. That verse speaks of two nations in the Middle east- Syria and Israel, and the events spoken of have come to pass.

      The end times began when Jesus ascended to heaven.He started building His church. When the full number of all those God has in mind for the church to be filled, (Romans 11:25) He will come back for us, the living and the dead. That's the rapture. That will end the end times and the Tribulation will begin. After this He will turn His attention back to Israel (Acts 15:16-17)

      Jesus likened the end times, which turned out to be a 2000 year span, to birth pangs. That means as the time gets nearer for the tribulation the pangs of imminent agony of childbirth will crowd up and become more evident. So though we have been in the end times for 2000 years we are seeing the labor pangs coming to the fore now. We also see the prophecies promised to occur in the Tribulation starting to appear on the horizon. So if the Tribulation is visibly nearing the rapture must be closer.

      When people enter the Tribulation they will know it. We think it's bad now but this is nothing, NOTHING. Rev 6:8 one of the first judgments, shows us that a fourth of all people on earth will die. That is almost 2 BILLION people. Do you see 2 billion people dying? No. That's because we're not in the Tribulation.

      The tribulation is the orderly UNcreation of the world. The stars will fall. The mountains will crumble. The rivers will dry up. The people will die. It is all the opposite of the 6 day creation. There is a lot going on and will continue to go on at a more rapid pace each day! But Jesus has it all under control.

      Check the links of you want and see about the chronology and the meaning and purpose of the three sets of judgments (maybe 4). Thanks for asking, hope this helps.

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  3. I just want to thank God for your blog. I read it just about every day and it helps and encourages me in my walk with Jesus. What I really appreciate is the amount of discernment God has given you and the way you correlate current events and scripture. I have learned a lot from your blog but it only points back to the bible which in turn makes me want to get that much closer to Him. I have a long ways to go, as we all do, but I just wanted you to know how much your blog means to me and to continue writing until we all meet in heaven on that day.

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    1. With tears I just thanked the Holy Spirit again for the gifts he has given me, the strength to pursue increasing fruit bearing in using the gifts, and for people like you who read and respond. Nothing He does goes out and comes back void, I know this. But it sure is nice to hear that something He helped me do is helping someone else get stronger and more love for Jesus!

      I am going grocery shopping and then I have a discernment lesson with someone for a little while. I'll post part 2 of the $ Sore Judgments later today. The "Sword."

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    2. Amen! You are definitely blessed with writing and are using your gifts to exemplify Him, which is the greatest form of gratitude you can do! I'm a musician and I try every day to use my gifts for His glory. Once I get my album together I'll have to share it with you. I'm not sure why I appeared as anonymous in my last comment (I guess I'm still figuring this out lol) but I can't wait to read the next post! God bless

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    3. Hi Jaylati,

      Thank you. Yes, when you're finished with your music project let me know!

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