The Book of Revelation Decodedಮಾದರಿ

The Great Cleansing

As the Anti-Messiah rises to power, he will expose himself as the most evil, satanically empowered man to ever walk on earth.

Although the nations of the world initially will celebrate this mysterious “man of peace” and embrace him as the heaven-sent savior, they eventually will regret the day he was given power. His actions and pure cruelty will usher in an era of unprecedented tribulation throughout the world.

Yet what the Antichrist and Satan unleash in their limited power pales in comparison to the righteous judgments that God will use to begin to cleanse the world of its filth of sin and evil. In fact, the earth and its inhabitants will not have encountered God’s wrath with such force since the days of Noah and the flood. But this time, the earth will not be destroyed by mere water. This time, God’s full measure of cleansing judgment will be poured out in twenty-one portions, each building upon the previous one in intensity and destruction.

These twenty-one judgments are described in the Book of Revelation and divided into three main categories as they relate to being distributed upon the earth: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. The seventh seal introduces the first of the seven trumpets, and likewise, the seventh trumpet announces the arrival of the first bowl. (Don’t worry if you feel a little overwhelmed by the details of this section; stick with your reading, and I’m confident you will absorb the main points.) In general, each judgment gets progressively worse as the tribulation continues. Some are easy to understand, such as global famine or darkness; others are harder to comprehend and may mean something we have yet to figure out, such as how a third of all the world’s ships will be destroyed at once.

We must remember that Bible prophecy is rarely fulfilled the exact way people expect.

This was the case before and during Jesus’ time, and it will continue to be so upon His return. For example, almost five hundred years prior to Yeshua’s arrival on earth, the prophet Malachi issued the word of the Lord: “See, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreaded day of the Lord” (Mal. 4:5). In Matthew 11, however, Jesus publicly identified John the Baptist as “Elijah, who is to come” (v. 14). Others during Jesus’ ministry thought He might be Elijah (Matt. 16:14).

Does this mean the prophecy was not fulfilled?

Not quite. Malachi’s words may not have come to pass in a literal sense, but they were fulfilled in a spiritual sense, which is what was intended. John was indeed the forerunner for the Lord’s arrival, and the prophecy will be fulfilled yet again upon the true Day of the Lord. In the same way, many of the judgments John speaks of in the Book of Revelation may come to pass in what we would understand to be a literal fulfillment while others may not. Only God knows. The point is that it remains possible that some of these plagues will occur in a way that is different from what we are expecting. Biblical history proves that even the most educated prophetic scholars can miss a prophecy’s meaning and fulfillment, and it is very likely that during the season of the Lord’s return—including the time of God’s wrath unleashed—some things will happen differently than we thought they might.

Let’s look at each of these seals, trumpets, and bowls in the order in which they will be released and examine what each judgment will involve. And remember, if some of these do not make sense or sound confusing to you, don’t give up. Keep reading!