Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
The Midpoint of the Tribulation
Around three and a half years after the treaty is signed, and the seven years of Tribulation has begun, everything begins to heat up. A world leader in charge of the most powerful army in the world, will suffer a head injury and appear to die. The entire world will believe he is dead. Then miraculously he will return to life. The world will be in awe of him being alive, never knowing that the reason he is alive is because Satan himself has possessed the man.
Revelation 13:1-3 (NASB)
Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne, and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;
He will no longer be an ordinary man. He will be the antichrist. The one the Bible refers to as the “Man of Lawlessness”, the “Prince who is to come”, the “Beast”!
The antichrist will walk into the newly built Holy Temple in Jerusalem and commit the abomination of desolation. A repeat of an offense committed by Antiochus IV when he slaughtered a pig on the Holy Altar in 168 BC. This will render the Altar unclean and useless. Then he will take a seat in the temple and claim to be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (NASB)
3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Claiming to be God in the flesh is a mighty boast. One that would need to be backed up. So the antichrist chooses to back it up by doing what no other man can do.
For three and a half years there have been two men walking the land, wearing sack cloth and preaching the Gospel. They prophecy and use the plagues of God at will. Everyone who tries to harm them is killed. The Bible says they are destroyed by the fire from their mouths, but it is questionable if that is literal fire form their mouths (With God, anything is possible) or a reference to the Holy Spirit, meaning they will only speak words and their enemies will die. These two Witnesses will seem invincible to the people, but after prophesying for three and a half years, the Bible says the antichrist will kill them.
The people will now have seen the man survive a terrible head wound, and now ill see him kill the two witnesses as proof he is God, and they will believe him.
Revelation 11:7 (NASB)
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.
Their bodies will be left in the streets and nobody will be allowed to bury them. For three days the world will look upon their bodies when they will suddenly take a breath and stand up. Then they will be taken up into heaven with all of their enemies watching.
At that time, there will be a great earthquake and a tenth of the city will fall. Seven thousand people will be killed in that earthquake.
Revelation 11:11-13 (NASB)
11 And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that time there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
By this point, the antichrist will be in control of most of the world, with few nations holding against him now. He will rule from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and will begin a terrible persecution. He and the false prophet will push a one world government that is controlled by a one world money system. To have total control of this, they will push what the Bible refers to as the "mark of the beast".
Revelation 13:16-17 (NASB)
16 And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
The technology for this mark has never been possible until recent years. They now have microchips they can insert into the back of the hand, between the thumb and the first knuckle. These microchips will replace your bank cards. All one needs to do is wave their hands before a scanner and it will automatically complete their transactions. If the antichrist and false prophet were to push something like this, and do away with cash and cards, it would literally make it so nobody could buy or sell anything without it.
There will still be plenty who will hold out though. They will be the Tribulation Saints. Those who turned to Christ after witnessing the rapture. They will know from the Word of God that anyone who takes this mark will go to hell, so they will refuse to take it at all costs.
They will be hunted down and persecuted. Many choosing to be decapitated rather than accept the mark. Others will stay hidden, living from the land or by finding scraps when they can.
Revelation 14:9-11 (NASB)
9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
The next event will be the Seven Bowls of God's Wrath
Revelation 13:1-3 (NASB)
Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads were blasphemous names. 2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne, and great authority. 3 I saw one of his heads as if it had been fatally wounded, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;
He will no longer be an ordinary man. He will be the antichrist. The one the Bible refers to as the “Man of Lawlessness”, the “Prince who is to come”, the “Beast”!
The antichrist will walk into the newly built Holy Temple in Jerusalem and commit the abomination of desolation. A repeat of an offense committed by Antiochus IV when he slaughtered a pig on the Holy Altar in 168 BC. This will render the Altar unclean and useless. Then he will take a seat in the temple and claim to be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (NASB)
3 No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Claiming to be God in the flesh is a mighty boast. One that would need to be backed up. So the antichrist chooses to back it up by doing what no other man can do.
For three and a half years there have been two men walking the land, wearing sack cloth and preaching the Gospel. They prophecy and use the plagues of God at will. Everyone who tries to harm them is killed. The Bible says they are destroyed by the fire from their mouths, but it is questionable if that is literal fire form their mouths (With God, anything is possible) or a reference to the Holy Spirit, meaning they will only speak words and their enemies will die. These two Witnesses will seem invincible to the people, but after prophesying for three and a half years, the Bible says the antichrist will kill them.
The people will now have seen the man survive a terrible head wound, and now ill see him kill the two witnesses as proof he is God, and they will believe him.
Revelation 11:7 (NASB)
7 When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them.
Their bodies will be left in the streets and nobody will be allowed to bury them. For three days the world will look upon their bodies when they will suddenly take a breath and stand up. Then they will be taken up into heaven with all of their enemies watching.
At that time, there will be a great earthquake and a tenth of the city will fall. Seven thousand people will be killed in that earthquake.
Revelation 11:11-13 (NASB)
11 And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that time there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
By this point, the antichrist will be in control of most of the world, with few nations holding against him now. He will rule from the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and will begin a terrible persecution. He and the false prophet will push a one world government that is controlled by a one world money system. To have total control of this, they will push what the Bible refers to as the "mark of the beast".
Revelation 13:16-17 (NASB)
16 And he causes all, the small and the great, the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 and he decrees that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
The technology for this mark has never been possible until recent years. They now have microchips they can insert into the back of the hand, between the thumb and the first knuckle. These microchips will replace your bank cards. All one needs to do is wave their hands before a scanner and it will automatically complete their transactions. If the antichrist and false prophet were to push something like this, and do away with cash and cards, it would literally make it so nobody could buy or sell anything without it.
There will still be plenty who will hold out though. They will be the Tribulation Saints. Those who turned to Christ after witnessing the rapture. They will know from the Word of God that anyone who takes this mark will go to hell, so they will refuse to take it at all costs.
They will be hunted down and persecuted. Many choosing to be decapitated rather than accept the mark. Others will stay hidden, living from the land or by finding scraps when they can.
Revelation 14:9-11 (NASB)
9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
The next event will be the Seven Bowls of God's Wrath