The Day of the Lord and Revelation Timeline
The Day of the Lord and Revelation Timeline
This study goes with the Revelation Timeline here: https://paradoxbrown.com/RevelationTimelineMed.jpg
On the timeline you can see the “Day of the Lord” is represented as one day. This day is summarized in the 7th Trumpet (Rev 11), and contains the 3rd Woe and the 7 Bowls of Wrath. During this one day many things occur, as you can see on the timeline. The emphasis of this study is to show how this timeline is in harmony with the passages in the Bible on the Day of the Lord.
Summarizing events before the Day of the Lord:
All the seals, and 6 trumpets have already occurred. It is my belief that the Antichrist or “beast from the Sea” is the fallen angel Abaddon (Rev 9) who will look like a human man. After arising from the Abyss, I believe Abaddon will claim to be the alien creator of humanity returned after a long absence. With him will be what seems to be an army of warrior aliens, which look generally like centaurs, with wings, and scorpion tails (other angels released from the Abyss). For more on the angels, “sons of God” imprisoned in the Abyss, see the related paper here: https://paradoxbrown.com/TheAbyssOldNewTestaments.htm
After establishing control over the Earth during the 5th trumpet as an invading alien, at the beginning of the 6th trumpet Abaddon begins to reign from Jerusalem, which is Mystery Babylon. The Antichrist not being released until the 5th trumpet necessitates that the 70th week of Daniel 9:27 begin after that, I think at the beginning of the 6th trumpet. Only 3.5 days after Abaddon begins his reign, the two witnesses showed up, and with them an army of slightly similar looking alien creatures, which killed a third of humanity. There is continual conflict between Abaddon and the two witnesses, who will not permit him to enter the holy of holies, though he has established Jerusalem as his capitol city over the world. After 3.5 years the two witnesses are killed by Abaddon. This marks the midway of the 70th week of Daniel. Abaddon then finally enters the Holy of holies in the temple in Jerusalem, declaring himself as god, and is the abomination in the sanctuary. The 2 witnesses lie dead for 3.5 days. During these 3.5 days, having had his victory, Abaddon decides that he will now destroy Jerusalem, and sends for ten human kings he has appointed, for them and their armies to join him in destroying Jerusalem. And so during these 3.5 days the armies begin to gather near Jerusalem. Then the two witnesses come back to life, and arise to heaven. The 3.5 days are the second half of the 70th week of Daniel. After this the stage is set for the day of the Lord, which immediately follows.
On the Day of the Lord:
While some of the armies are still arriving, and the 7 Bowls of wrath occur: sores, all the seas and springs are turned to blood, the sun scorches men with heat, everything goes dark, and the armies are in great pain. The Euphrates (about 500 miles east of Jerusalem, less than half a day’s drive) dries up to prepare the way for the kings from the east. Abaddon sends “3 evil spirits like frogs” (I believe this is the “gray alien” form) which go to gather these kings, perhaps supernaturally speeding their arrival, as they perform miracles, even towards gathering all the armies together. Then the Beast and his armies attack Mystery Babylon, and also there is a great earthquake that splits the city into 3 parts, divides the Mount of Olives, and a hailstorm. At this time Jesus returns, saving the remaining faithful so they may escape Jerusalem. After Abaddon attacks Jerusalem, this turns right around into the counterattack of Jesus Christ destroying the armies of Abaddon, in the battle of Armageddon.
(This battle is often thought to be located about 60 miles north of Jerusalem, which is a good distance away for a camp attacking a city if one plans to use long-range missiles, etc. at Megiddo, “Har Megiddo”. But it may be that Armageddon is located much closer to Jerusalem, Mt. Zion, and the Mount of Olives, just East of the city https://www.prewrathrapture.com/A%20Big%20Problem%20-%20Where%20is%20Har%20Magedon.pdf In either case, out of everywhere on the planet it could be located, Armageddon is located close to Jerusalem in Israel, and is less that 500 miles from the Euphrates River.)
Abaddon and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire, and all the armies are killed, the winepress of the wrath of God. There is also the resurrection of the dead, and Jesus Christ sends his angels to gather His people from everywhere on earth that they are, and in heaven that they may be (those raptured prior) and they all are gathered together to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. My assertion is that all of these events can and do happen on 1 day, the day of the Lord’s return.
(Also see my main study here: https://paradoxbrown.com/study-on-revelation-alien-antichrist.htm/)
So let’s see how this theory and timeline compares to the Bible passages referencing the day of the Lord. Keep in mind that on the timeline the 1 Day of the Lord is placed after the 6 trumpets, and is the 7th trumpet, that contains the 7 bowls and 3rd Woe. This study is going to work through all the day of the Lord references I could find, pointing out what I see in them, and showing how they line up, or don’t line up, with the Revelation timeline.
Old Testament
The Book of Isaiah
Isa 2:9-21
“And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not. Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly the earth.”
When Jesus Christ returns and destroys the armies of the Antichrist, all people will be humbled, but interesting to note here is the “cedars of Lebanon” and “Oaks of Bashan” will be humbled as well. Eze 31 likely refers to the imprisoned fallen angels of Genesis 6 as “cedars of Lebanon”.
As the “cedars of Lebanon” were released from the Abyss during the 5th Trumpet (the locusts) they are also present to be humbled at Christ’s return. The “Oaks of Bashan” likely refers to the demons. The previous chapter of Isaiah 1:29 mentions the “oaks which ye have desired” as trees that people worshipped as idols. But truly what the people worshipped was not idols, but demons (1 Cor 10:20). Also it should be noted that “Bashan” was a place known for its giants, even called “the land of giants” (Deut 3:13). So the “oaks of Bashan” are the “oaks of the land of giants”, which likely references to demons. AsJerusalem / Mystery Babylon is destroyed it is made a haunt for demons (Rev 18:2) and so the demons also are humbled at Christ’s return.
Jesus “arises” from His seat at the right hand of God to return to the earth in judgment, and to “shake terribly the earth”. And the day that Jesus returns is the same day when Jerusalemwill have a terrible earthquake which splits the city into 3 parts. This great earthquake is mentioned in the 7th Bowl of Wrath (Rev 16:18), “and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great” and this matches “shake terribly the earth” here in Isa 2. Accompanying this earthquake is a great hailstorm, which may relate to why men are trying to go into the clefts of rocks. The 7th Bowl also says “Every island fled away, and the mountains were not found” (Rev 16:20) ie they will crumble down and be gone, matching “the day of the LORD …shall be upon … every one that is lifted up… shall be brought low…upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up” here in Isa 2. And “the islands fled away” matches the reference here “upon all the ships of Tarshish” as if an earthquake is powerful enough to cause the islands to be destroyed, it would also likely destroy the ships on the seas.
At first glance there could appear to be some parallel here with Rev 6:12-15, the 6th Seal of an earthquake, followed by people hiding. But in the 6th Seal men hide in the “caves and among the rocks of the mountains” showing the mountains are still in existence after the earthquake, and specifying “every mountain… moved out of their places” (Rev 6:14), whereas here in Isa 2 the earthquake causes the mountains to be brought low. Isaiah seems to indicate the mountains will crumble, which is a much better match with the 7th Bowl of Revelation 16 (& Rev 11:19) in which the “mountains were not found”. As they are brought low, they are no longer mountains, and so men cannot hide in them, this matches that the people hide in the “clefts (and holes) of the rocks… tops of the jagged rocks” instead: but the people do not hide in the mountains. As such Rev 16:20 “mountains were not found” fits Isa 2 better than Rev 6:15. People hide in the clefts of the rocks etc. because they cannot hide in the mountains, because the mountains are leveled. In order, in Rev 16, first there is the worst earthquake ever, then mountains were not found, and then hailstones, and Isa 2 seems to reveal people also will hide in the rocks at this time.
Isa 13:3-13 “I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid:pains and anguish shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.”
This passage describes that on the day that Jesus returns, He is coming with the Holy angels (and some say the raptured saints) with Him, to do battle and destroy the land. Isaiah says the armies of the antichrist will be in terrible pain. This pain is described in the 1st bowl of sores “noisome and grievous sore” (Rev 16:2) and the 5th bowl of terrible pain “they gnawed their tongues for pain… their pains and their sores” (Rev 16:10-11). And one cause of this pain is found in the 4th bowl, of men being burned by the sun, “the sun… to scorch men with fire… scorched with great heat” (Rev 16:8-9) which matches “their faces shall be as flames” here in Isa 13. Rev 16:10, the fifth bowl, also describes “and his kingdom was full of darkness”, which matches here that the “stars shall not give their light” and the “sun shall be darkened” and the “moon shall not cause her light to shine”. Finally, such a great earthquake that the earth is moved out of her place is mentioned, matching the earthquake that splits Jerusalem (Mystery Babylon) into 3 parts, in the 7th Bowl of God’s wrath (Rev 16:18-19), as was mentioned prior in Isa 2. There is also potentially some indication here in Isaiah that the “wrath of the Lord of hosts” (which is highlighted in the “bowls of wrath”) is equated to “the day of His fierce anger”. This could be taken to indicate all of the bowls of wrath will be completed in one day.
Isa 34:1-3 “Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood.“
These first 3 verses in Isa 34 reference to Revelation in a summary, mentioning scenes from Christ’s return and destruction of the antichrist’s armies, and events that would happen at the time of Jesus’ return. The next portion seems to give more detail in order.
Isa 34:3-17 “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams: for the LORD hath a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls; and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For it is the day of the LORD’s vengeance, and the year of recompences for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow: there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. Seek ye out of the book of the LORD, and read: no one of these shall fail, none shall want her mate: for my mouth it hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.”
This starts off by referencing the 6th Seal, of stars falling and the heavens rolled like a scroll, “And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together” (Rev 6:13-14). This is followed by a reference to the Lord having a sacrifice, the land being filled with blood, and animals dying. This seems to reference to the first 2 trumpets of Rev 8:7-9, “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed”. Although it is not specified in Revelation, it makes sense that many animals would die as a result of the first trumpet which burns 1/3 of the grass and trees, and involves blood being thrown onto the land, similar to the 2nd trumpet killing 1/3 of the sea life.
This is followed by how Jesus will annihilate His enemies, “for it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance”. And this day falls within a year, which is called the year of recompense. The contrast of a “year” of recompense with the “day” of the Lord’s vengeance, taken at face value, implies that the “day” here is a day, and not a long period of time.
What is being recompensed is the controversy of Zion, and the verses after this point to Zion (a name for Jerusalem) as Mystery Babylon being destroyed. The controversy of Jerusalem mentioned is Israel has made a covenant with the Antichrist (Abaddon), and Jerusalem is his capitol. Comparing what is said here “habitation for… owls…vultures” with Rev 18:2, that the remains of Mystery Babylon will be “a cage of every unclean and hateful bird”, it seems that Zion/Jerusalem and Mystery Babylon are one and the same place. And Isa 34 also indicates that the remains of this place would be turned to an eternally burning place of “brimstone” and “burning pitch”, that’s “smoke thereof shall go up forever” same as is said of Mystery Babylon in Rev 19:3 “And her smoke rose up for ever and ever.”
More than any other place, the eternally burning remains of Mystery Babylon most closely match the description of the “lake of fire which burns with brimstone” (Rev 19:20). Isa reads “And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch” including that the streams (water) are turned to pitch, in this land of burning pitch and brimstone. Also interesting is that the “lake of fire” is not mentioned for the first time until Revelation 19, not until after all passages relating to the destruction of Mystery Babylon /Jerusalem are completed, the last one mentioning her smoke rising forever and ever (Rev 19:3). It seems the eternally burning remains of Mystery Babylon may become the “lake of fire”.
Isa 4:2-6
“In that day shall the branch of the LORD be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth [shall be] excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass, [that he that is] left in Zion, and [he that] remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, [even] every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem: When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory [shall be] a defence. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.”
Towards the end of the day of the Lord, after Jerusalem has been destroyed, the Jews who remain will be called holy, whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life. This scene seems to be the same as Revelation 14:1-5, (preceded by Zech 14). Jesus rescues the faithful Jews left in Jerusalem, and wipes out the armies of the Antichrist, and gathers all His faithful to Himself. Here it is mentioned that all of Mount Zion will be filled with smoke in the day and a fire in the night, which could be another reference to Mystery Babylon, Jerusalem, being turned into the lake of fire. It also seems a tabernacle will be nearby to mitigate the heat of the place, for anyone passing by.
Isa 22:5 “For [it is] a day of trouble, and of treading down, and of perplexity by the Lord GOD of hosts in the valley of vision, breaking down the walls, and of crying to the mountains.”
In context of the rest of the chapter, this passage seems to be about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and makes reference to Jesus Christ and His crucifixion. It seems there will be a partial re-fulfillment of some of this passage, in the destruction of Jerusalem on the day of the Lord’s return. But as this seems to be more of a secondary fulfillment, I’m not going to go into detail. But in general the passage describes the destruction of Jerusalem, followed by appointing Jesus Christ to rule the government. There do not seem to be any limiting timeframes mentioned that preclude the destruction of Jerusalem and the beginning of Jesus’ reign from occurring in the same day.
The Book of Jeremiah
Jer 46:4-12 “Harness the horses; and get up, ye horsemen, and stand forth with [your] helmets; furbish the spears, [and] put on the brigandines. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed [and] turned away back? and their mighty ones are beaten down, and are fled apace, and look not back: [for] fear [was] round about, saith the LORD. Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape; they shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river Euphrates. Who [is] this [that] cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers? Egypt riseth up like a flood, and [his] waters are moved like the rivers; and he saith, I will go up, [and] will cover the earth; I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. Come up, ye horses; and rage, ye chariots; and let the mighty men come forth; the Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield; and the Lydians, that handle [and] bend the bow. For this [is] the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates. Go up into Gilead, and take balm, O virgin, the daughter of Egypt: in vain shalt thou use many medicines; [for] thou shalt not be cured. The nations have heard of thy shame, and thy cry hath filled the land: for the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, [and] they are fallen both together.”
This passage describes that on the day of the Lord God will have vengeance against His adversaries, and included in this are those of Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia. This fits well with the gathering of the world’s armies for the battle of Armageddon as described in Rev 16, same as here in Jer 46 it says “come up ye horses… let the might men come forth”. And so this passage describes the armies of various nations coming to the place of Armageddon. It is also mentions that those who flee will fall “toward the north by the river Euphrates”. These armies may be trying to flee back to where they came from. This matches well with the 6th Bowl of Rev 16:12, which says, “The angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates, and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east”. The Euphrates is only 500 miles away from Armageddon, which is maybe an 8 hour drive. So some of these gathered armies came from the Euphrates in the east, and as Jesus Christ annihilates the armies on the day of His return, some seem to run back, towards the Euphrates, but they do not escape. (Whether Armageddon is near Megiddo or Jerusalem, it is still 500 miles away, but very close to Jerusalem seems to make more sense as the correct location.)
Unlike most battles, the battle of Armageddon seems to be a quick and terrible annihilation of the Lord’s enemies, who cannot put up a fight against Him, for He is God. As such it also makes sense that the flight of these few, who will fall by the Euphrates, is a flight that lasts only a matter of minutes, before they also are annihilated. As such it stands to reason that the “kings from the east” never make it very far past the Euphrates after they have crossed it in the 6th Bowl. Though not specified in the 7th Bowl that Jesus returns, Zech 14 indicates Jesus will return at the time of the earthquake which splits the city, to rescue His people there, and this earthquake is mentioned in the 7th Bowl (Rev 16:18-19). This aligns with “he arises to shake terribly the earth” in Isa 2, which is the same earthquake as Rev 16, again indicating Jesus returns at the time of this same earthquake. And it is in the 6th Bowl that Jesus warns he is coming quickly, “Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed [is] he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” (Rev 16:15). Altogether this indicates that the 6th Bowl is quickly followed by the 7th Bowl and the return of Jesus Christ the Lord. And so it may be that the same kings from the east who just crossed the Euphrates in the 6th Bowl do not even have 8 hours to transverse the 500 miles to Armageddon, before Jesus Christ returns in the 7th Bowl. This could place the 6th Bowl to be less than 8 hours from the 7th Bowl, and as they fall near the Euphrates while fleeing, maybe they were not even at the halfway there, or not even many miles past the Euphrates, leaving it so this could be even less than 1 hour between the 6th and 7th Bowls. So while Jer 46 references to men fleeing, events that take place shortly after Jesus returns, it still seems to likely reveal that the 6th Bowl is very quickly followed by the 7th Bowl.
The Book of Lamentations
Lam 1:8, 12-15, 21-22
“Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is removed: all that honoured her despise her, because they have seen her nakedness: yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward… [Is it] nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted [me] in the day of his fierce anger. From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it prevaileth against them: he hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me back: he hath made me desolate [and] faint all the day. The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his hand: they are wreathed, [and] come up upon my neck: he hath made my strength to fall, the Lord hath delivered me into [their] hands, [from whom] I am not able to rise up. The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty [men] in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, [as] in a winepress… They have heard that I sigh: [there is] none to comfort me: all mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that thou hast done [it]: thou wilt bring the day [that] thou hast called, and they shall be like unto me. Let all their wickedness come before thee; and do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my transgressions: for my sighs [are] many, and my heart [is] faint.”
This passage by Jeremiah is a Lament for Jerusalem, which is specified to be destroyed by God in the day of His fierce anger. This is another confirmation in scripture that Jerusalem, as Mystery Babylon, will be destroyed on the day of the Lord. Also mentioned here is a request that the enemies of Jerusalem, in this case the Antichrist, false prophet, and ten kings, and their armies, be destroyed also for their iniquities, as Jerusalem was destroyed. This also occurs on the day of the Lord as the attack on Jerusalem turns right around into the battle of Armageddon at the return of Jesus Christ.
Lam 2:1-5, 21-22 “How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, [and] cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger! The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of Jacob, and hath not pitied: he hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the daughter of Judah; he hath brought [them] down to the ground: he hath polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. He hath cut off in [his] fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, [which] devoureth round about. He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all [that were] pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire. The Lord was as an enemy: he hath swallowed up Israel, he hath swallowed up all her palaces: he hath destroyed his strong holds, and hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning and lamentation…The young and the old lie on the ground in the streets: my virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword; thou hast slain [them] in the day of thine anger; thou hast killed, [and] not pitied. Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD’S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed.”
Lamentations continues, making the point that the Lord will kill and not pity, and none of the wicked will escape in the day of His anger. This passage specifies that “in the day of the Lord’s anger” “the Lord was an enemy”, and in “mine enemy consumed” shows that the Lord is the enemy of Zion/Jerusalem on the day of His anger. This aligns perfectly with Mystery Babylon being the city of Jerusalem in Revelation, and God’s wrath on her.
The Book of Ezekiel
Eze 7:1-19 “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now [is] the end [come] upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come. An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come. The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble [is] near, and not the sounding again of the mountains. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations [that] are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD that smiteth. Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded. Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them [shall remain], nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither [shall there be] wailing for them.
The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath [is] upon all the multitude thereof. For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision [is] touching the whole multitude thereof, [which] shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath [is] upon all the multitude thereof. The sword [is] without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that [is] in the field shall die with the sword; and he that [is] in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity. All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak [as] water. They shall also gird [themselves] with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame [shall be] upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads. They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.”
This passage seems to reference to many elements of the day of Jesus return, the Day of the Lord. When the day comes God’s fury will shortly be “poured” out, which seems to reference to the seven bowls of wrath of Rev 16. The mention here of buyers rejoicing and sellers mourning may refer to the kings and merchants mourning over the destruction of Jerusalem, Mystery Babylon (Rev 18). However, Eze 7 may give the additional insight that the buyers (not the sellers) will rejoice as she is destroyed, that the poor who do not make profit from the wealth of her merchandise will rejoice. This makes additional sense when one considers that some of the merchandise she sold was slaves and human lives (Rev 18:13). So the poor and more helpless may rejoice over the destruction of Jerusalem, but the rich kings and merchants mourn. But Eze 7 makes clear that God’s wrath is on both groups, buyers and sellers, regardless.
Also “they have blown the trumpet” may reference to a trumpet of alarm being sounded for people to defend Jerusalem, but no people go to battle for her. This possibly could herald when Jesus returns, at the last trump, as the Antichrist and his armies attack Mystery Babylon / Jerusalem. (See this study on trumpets here, for the part about the silver trumpets: https://conspiracyclothes.com/nowheretorun/trumpet-mania-the-rapture-will-not-be-on-rosh-hashana-what-is-the-last-trump-referring-to/)
This is shortly followed by a mention of an escape of some of the people. These may or may not be the Jews who Jesus rescues, who escape through the Mount of Olives, as it is split in two (Zech 14). This could reference to those who escaped earlier from Jerusalem, before the attack, but any of God’s people remaining in Jerusalem to this late point, after the strong warning in Rev 18:4, “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues”, may have iniquities they still recently had participated in that they are repenting of in sackcloth and shame. Also interesting is that next Rev 18:5-6 reads, “For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid, and give her back double according to her deeds”. This double portion may reference to here in Eze 7, where God says twice He will recompense her iniquities according to her ways, as is italicized above, where God makes a near-identical statement of recompensing her according to her deeds, twice.
And God also makes it known that the gold and silver of the people will not be able to save them in the day of the wrath of the Lord. This may tie in with the theme, of both the rich who mourn over the destruction of Mystery Babylon, and also perhaps her wealth is part of why that even some Jews who will be rescued remain in her to this late hour. This passage seems to indicate that the wealth, gold and silver, of the city is the “stumblingblock of the iniquity”, the temptation, that kept those who stayed to this late hour. And even those who do escape (possibly rescued by Jesus at His return), repent in shame for their iniquity.
Eze 13:2-16 “Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing! O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made [others] to hope that they would confirm the word. Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith [it]; albeit I have not spoken? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I [am] against you, saith the Lord GOD. And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD. Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and [there was] no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered [morter]: Say unto them which daub [it] with untempered [morter], that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend [it]. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be said unto you, Where [is] the daubing wherewith ye have daubed [it]? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend [it] with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in [my] fury to consume [it]. So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered [morter], and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD. Thus will I accomplish my wrath upon the wall, and upon them that have daubed it with untempered [morter], and will say unto you, The wall [is] no [more], neither they that daubed it; [To wit], the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and [there is] no peace, saith the Lord GOD.”
Eze 13 correlates the day of the Lord with a storm of hailstones, as is seen in Rev 16:21 in the 7th Bowl of wrath, “And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, [every stone] about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great”. And this also corresponds to the same event of the 7th Trumpet mentioned in Rev 11:19 “and great hail” (the 7th trumpet contains the 7 bowls and summarizes the events of the day of the Lord). The main emphasis in Eze 13 is that God will send this storm of hailstones to punish the false prophets, which prophesy lies and peace. The false prophets do not build a “hedge”, a wall, to help defend Jerusalem prior to her being attacked, because they prophesy peace for her, even though she will be destroyed as Mystery Babylon on the day of the Lord. Not only that, but there is a metaphor used here that describes something else the false prophets do. Whenever anyone does “build a wall”, the false prophets “daubed it with untempered [morter]” or “whitewash” the wall (NASB). This could mean the wall is true prophecy from others, and the false prophets whitewashing of the wall, is prettying it up to make it seem like everything is alright, when it is not. It becomes a decorative wall, fit for a place of pretty things that will last, instead of a rugged wall prepared to be useful in a very soon day of battle and disaster. This is the false prophecy that even if disaster will come, there is no need to prepare for it soon, but rather it is alright to assume things are fine, and the city will be at peace for a long time. Or similarly, it might also mean that instead of building up a battle-ready wall for defense, the false prophets spend their time and resources building up decorative walls that will prove useless; frivolous false prophecies of lies that are of no help to the people, as the people need true prophecy.
This indicates there will be false prophets in Mystery Babylon among the Jews who proclaim peace for the city, although the Bible teaches Jerusalem will be destroyed. This passage specifies that God will send the hailstones in particular for these false prophets, destroying them along with their whitewashed wall at the same time. Prophesying peace for Jerusalem, they surely will not leave it. Instead they go down with Mystery Babylon, like a captain going down with his ship. God also specifies that these false prophets will not be among the assembly of God’s people, they will not be written in the writings of the house of Israel, nor will they enter into Israel, which seems to mean that these false prophets will not be part of the Lord’s salvation of Israel. And their vain prophesies “from their own hearts”, saying “The Lord saith” when He did not say, and did not send them, will only be remembered as lies and foolish vanity, when they prophesied of peace for Jerusalem, and instead God sent 100-pound hailstones down on them, killing them.
This information about the hailstones is also very important in studying the timeline of Revelation, because God sending the “great hailstones” or “mega chalaza” is only mentioned in Rev 11:19 and 16:21. We can know from here in Eze 13 that this event is on “the day of the Lord” and is referring to Jerusalem and her destruction as Mystery Babylon, by cross-referencing Eze 13 to Rev 16:21. We can also know that Rev 11:19 must be referring to the same events as Rev 16:21 because of “great hailstones” only being mentioned these 2x in Revelation. As such this indicates that the 7th trumpet summarizes all the 7 bowls, and contains all the events on the day of the Lord. The 7th trumpet summarizes therefore that Mystery Babylon is destroyed in close time with when Jesus Christ begins to reign. Rev 11:15-19, The 7th Trumpet:
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.”
The day of the Lord is fulfilled in the 7th trumpet, which means that the first run-through of the chronology of Revelation is finished at the end of chapter 11. This is why Rev 12 then goes all the way back in time chronologically to before the birth of Jesus Christ. The chronology runs through in full the first time in Revelation chapters 1-11, without breaking, and then stops. Only after the chronology has been given in full the first time, only then does Revelation go back to before Jesus was born in Revelation 12, and fills in more details, going forward again generally chronologically. Though Rev 12 goes back to before Jesus was born, mainly details on the time period covered in Revelation chapters 1-11 are given in chapters 12-20:6. The chronology does not seem to again resume going forward with later events, after the day of the Lord has come, until chapter 20. Lining up the “great hailstones” is an essential verification of this, as according to Eze 13 this event of great hailstones only occurs once in the end, when Jerusalem / Mystery Babylon is destroyed. (The same singular event is also paralleled in Isa 30:30 and Eze 38:22.)
Eze 30:1-8 “The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! For the day [is] near, even the day of the LORD [is] near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen. And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down. Ethiopia, and Libya, and Lydia, and all the mingled people, and Chub, and the men of the land that is in league, shall fall with them by the sword.”
Some parts of this prophecy may have been fulfilled once already, when Babylon fought Egypt around 560 BC. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Babylonian_Empire)
But here again as in Jer 46, Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, and Lydia are mentioned as part of a league that will fall by the sword. This sword, used often in prophecy, seems to likely refer to the sword that comes from the mouth of Jesus Christ in Rev 19:15 and 21.
“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God… And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” (This same sword seems to be mentioned in Eze 21, and Jesus may have also referenced to this sword in Matt 24:27.)
The day of the Lord is also mentioned to be a cloudy day, which matches the 5th Bowl of Rev 16:10, “and his kingdom was full of darkness”. It seems the 5th Bowl happens shortly before the return of Jesus Christ and battle of Armageddon. It also seems the 5thBowl is referenced after the day of the Lord is near, and is indicated to be on the day of the Lord. (Note: “the day of the Lord is near” here could also be translated “the day of the Lord is nigh” or “at hand”.)
The Book of Joel
Joel 1:4, 6, 9-12, 13-20
“What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; What the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; And what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten… For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth [are] the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion…
The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD’S ministers, mourn… The field is ruined, The land mourns; For the grain is ruined, The new wine dries up, Fresh oil fails. Be ashamed, O farmers, Wail, O vinedressers, For the wheat and the barley; Because the harvest of the field is destroyed. The vine dries up And the fig tree fails; The pomegranate, the palm also, and the apple tree, All the trees of the field dry up. Indeed, rejoicing dries up From the sons of men. Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the drink offering is withholden from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly; Gather the elders And all the inhabitants of the land To the house of the LORD your God, And cry out to the LORD. Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is near, And it will come as destruction from the Almighty. Has not food been cut off before our eyes, Gladness and joy from the house of our God? The seeds shrivel under their clods; The storehouses are desolate, The barns are torn down, For the grain is dried up. How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle wander aimlessly Because there is no pasture for them; Even the flocks of sheep suffer. To You, O LORD, I cry; For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness And the flame has burned up all the trees of the field. Even the beasts of the field pant for You; For the water brooks are dried up And fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness.”
Here we read that the “day of the Lord is near”, which means that it is close, but has not happened yet. Joel 1 contains an excellent parallel of events of the first 3 Trumpets of Rev 8. In the first 3 trumpets of Rev 8:7-11, “The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter”.
In Joel 1 this is paralleled by the “harvest of the field is destroyed… all the trees of the field dry up… fires have devoured the pastures… flame has burned up all the trees… the water brooks are dried up”. It seems in a short time that food and water are made scarce, and the land is made dry. Locusts love droughts and thrive during times of drought as it produces conditions conducive for them. As such, the beginning of this passage is more of a summary which is later expounded upon. Because of the fire and drought, locusts have come in waves upon the land, and these insects have eaten what was left. (This same time also seemed to be paralleled in Isa 34, of dead animals from the 2nd trumpet.)
But after a literal locust invasion of locust insects, also comes upon them a nation with teeth like lions. More detail is given on these in Joel chapter 2, which corresponds to the locusts of Revelation 9 of the 5th trumpet. We can know these are the same both because of the reference to “locusts”, first literal from drought coming in waves, and then this is followed by an army that “come up upon my land” with “teeth like lions”, as the same description is given of the locusts mentioned in Rev 9:2-3,7 “and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit… came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth… and their teeth were as [the teeth] of lions.”
Joel 2:1-14 continues,
“Blow a trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, For the day of the LORD is coming; Surely it is near, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, So there is a great and mighty people; There has never been anything like it, Nor will there be again after it To the years of many generations. A fire consumes before them And behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them But a desolate wilderness behind them, And nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses; And like war horses, so they run. With a noise as of chariots They leap on the tops of the mountains, Like the crackling of a flame of fire consuming the stubble, Like a mighty people arranged for battle. Before their face the people shall be much pained; All faces turn pale. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and [when] they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief.
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp [is] very great: for [he is] strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD [is] great and very terrible; and who can abide it? “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil. Who knows whether He will not turn and relent And leave a blessing behind Him, Even a grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?”
Here Joel continues from chapter 1, giving more detail on the army, the locusts, with teeth like lions. That they look like horses matches the description of the “locusts” of the 5th trumpet in Rev 9:7, “the appearance of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle”. Also Joel says “people will be much pained” which matches Rev 9:5, “And they were not permitted to kill anyone, but to torment for 5 months”. The locusts that look like horses emerge from the Abyss, and the bible teaches that it is fallen angels who are imprisoned there, and so these “locusts” that look like horses (“and their faces were as the faces of men”) are in fact fallen angels who appear in this strange alien horse-shaped form. (See https://paradoxbrown.com/TheAbyssOldNewTestaments.htm for more on them.)
Joel continues to place this event in exact chronological order with Rev 8 and 9. Just prior to the first trumpet sounding was the 6th seal in Rev 6:12-13, which contains both an earthquake, and “the stars of the sky falling… as shaken by great wind” which matches “the earth shall quake before them” in Joel. This is followed by the 7th Seal of the 7 Trumpets. And in Rev 8:12 during the 4th trumpet, “And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise”.
This matches “the sun and moon shall be dark and the stars shall withdraw their shining” here in Joel. Next, “the Lord shall utter his voice before his army”, may match the “Woe, woe, woe” of an angel speaking in Rev 8:13, as a brief pause between the 4th trumpet and the 5th trumpet, when these fallen angels locusts are released. What is of special import here is that the events inclusive of the 6th seal and the 4th trumpet are emphasized as being preparatory for the next big event, which is the coming of this “locust” army of the 5th Trumpet in Rev 9. Joel 1 began with a quick summary of locusts upon locusts, the first literal (the blood and burning and death of 1/3rd of the plants (animals dying), 1/3rd Sea blood and dying, and water becoming bitter) from drought brought on by the first 3 Trumpets, the last “locusts” being an army of fallen angels. This indicates that these events from the 6th seal through the 4th trumpet may happen very quickly and close together, in a short period of time, building up to the release of the army of fallen angels in the 5th trumpet. Joel 2:10-11 very closely matches the chronology of Revelation.
That being the case there are several things logically follow from this. Joel says the “day of the Lord is near” during this time, but it has not happened yet. Joel also says “the day of the Lord is great and very terrible”, a statement of a fact, and asks “who can abide it?” But we can know the first mention of the day of the Lord in this chapter takes precedent, and the day of the Lord is not yet occurring here, because of the next verse. “Yet even now’ declares the Lord ‘Return to me with all your heart… who knows whether He will not turn and relent?” This shows that there is still time for the people to repent before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. It points to “the day of the Lord” not including the 7 Seals up through the 5th trumpet, but happening at least after the 5th trumpet is completed. This adds support to the idea that the day of the Lord is a single day.
Also of import is that “the Lord shall utter His voice before His army”, which seems to match the angel who cries “Woe, woe, woe…” just prior to when the army of “locusts” are released at the 5th trumpet. The “before His army” in Joel may indicate that this army of angels is considered by God to be His army, under His command. This matches well with the fact that the “locusts” are permitted to attack “only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads” (Rev 9:4). While once imprisoned as fallen, it seems these angels have changed sides upon their release and now are working for God.
This may seem to conflict with what is said about them, that is usually translated, “they have a king over them… the angel of the Abyss…Abaddon” (Rev 9:11). However an equally valid translation and meaning is that these angels have “a king among them”, which means Abaddon is not their king, but simply an angel king who also comes out of the Abyss among them. If Joel stating, “the Lord shall utter His voice before His army” is taken with it’s most clear meaning, then it means these locusts have the Lord as their king or Lord. Joel 2 and Rev 9 are obviously referring to the same event, and so for there to not be conflict, the preferred understanding is that Abaddon is not the king of the locusts, but rather that Abaddon is a king that is “among” them.
(Note: the 8th king of Rev 17:11)
This also is a preferential understanding, in that there is terrible conflict with any other idea. If Abaddon is a Holy angel, then he would not be a king over other angels, as no such thing is mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. Holy angels work for God, and the Lord is their king, they do not have kings amongst themselves. The Bible does refer to angels as “princes” of countries of men, but only refers to one fallen angel as a “king” over countries of men, Satan, and Satan is the only one known to be the ruler of the fallen angels (Isa 14 “king of Babylon” and Eze 28 “king of Tyre” or also read here: https://paradoxbrown.com/Chapter_1.htm)
If Abaddon was a fallen angel, he surely would be under Satan, even if over other fallen angels, and so Abaddon should be called a “prince” and not a “king”, as he would still be under Satan. But even if Abaddon, as a fallen angel, somehow was a “king” over other fallen angels, then it makes no sense that these locust-angels spare all those with the seal of God on their foreheads, as Jesus said Mark 3:24-26, “And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.” (Luke 18:11, Mat 12:25) So how can these angels still be fallen?
If Abaddon is a Holy angel, then he cannot be a king over fallen angels, or a king over other holy angels as the Lord is their king. If Abaddon is a fallen angel, then these angels that spare the people of God cannot be working for him, as then Satan’s house would be divided, and as a fallen angel Abaddon would be “prince” over them anyway, not a “king” as Satan would be their “king”. (Unless Satan gave his kingdom to Abaddon, in which case then Abaddon could be called “king” – but this would prove Abaddon is the Beast from the Sea, as this precise event happens in Rev 13:2)
Any way you slice it, taking into account what the rest of the Bible teaches about angels and their hierarchal structures, Abaddon logically cannot be the “king” of these “locust” angels, whether they are Holy angels or fallen angels, and whether he is a Holy angel or fallen angel. And this matches what Joel 2 says, that these are the Lord’s armies, which Rev 9:11 also allows for. Yet as Abaddon cannot be a Holy or fallen angel that is a “king” over other holy or fallen angels, but he still is called a “king”, he must be a “king” of something. He must therefore be a “king” over men, the 8th king of Rev 17:11, the Antichrist, the Beast from the Sea, the Beast that ascends from the Abyss below.
Joel 2:30-32 “And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.”
Joel 2 makes another reference to the day of the Lord, and events that will precede the arrival of the day of the Lord. The sun turning to darkness and the moon to blood is mentioned in Rev 6:12 during the 6th Seal, “and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood”. Wonders of blood and fire occur in the 1st trumpet “fire mingled with blood” and the 2ndtrumpet “great mountain burning with fire… sea became blood”, which soon follow the 6th Seal. The first time a pillar of smoke is described is in the 5th trumpet, with the release of the locust-angels “and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts.” So in context of the prior chronology of Revelation already given in Joel 1 and earlier in this chapter 2, these are references back to the time period from the 6th Seal, again, and the first 5 trumpets, again, as occurring before the day of the Lord comes. In context, this is a summary of the prior references to the time from the 6th Seal to the 5th Trumpet, and a confirmation that the day of the Lord does not occur until after at least the 5th trumpet has been completed. These references back to earlier in this book are not chronological, but in context more detail was already given, in chronological order, and this is a summary that is meant to be understood in accordance with all that has been said prior in greater detail, so it does not matter that the chronology is out of order here in Joel 2:30-32.
The next chapter seems to continue in chronological order, to events after the 5th trumpet, with another reference to the day of the Lord made near the end of Joel 3. Taking Joel 3 in sections,
Joel 3:1-3 “For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will enter into judgment with them there for my people and [for] my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink.”
The Valley of Jehoshaphat is thought to be very close to Jerusalem. There is some chance that this is also referring to the place of Armageddon, if it refers to being near Mt. Zion (see prior linked paper on the location of Armageddon). Again, the nations are gathered together near Jerusalem and the Lord will judge them there. Slavery is mentioned, which seems to tie again to Mystery Babylon as Jerusalem, and emphasizes that God’s true Israel, His true believers, will not be faring well under the Antichrist regime.
Joe 3:4-8 “Yea, and what have ye to do with me, O Tyre, and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? will ye render me a recompence? and if ye recompense me, swiftly [and] speedily will I return your recompence upon your own head; Because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my goodly pleasant things: The children also of Judah and the children of Jerusalem have ye sold unto the Grecians, that ye might remove them far from their border. Behold, I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will return your recompence upon your own head: And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken [it].”
There may be a duel fulfillment of this passage, which occurred prior in part. Or there may not be, and this may reference to the non-saved remnant of the Jews, physical descendants but not spiritual descendants of Abraham, practicing the capture and selling of slaves during the reign of the Antichrist.
Joe 3:9-17 “Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I [am] strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness [is] great.
Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD [is] near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD [will be] the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I [am] the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.”
Here the day of the Lord “is near”. First the people are called to come to war, and then the vats will overflow. Then again, there are multitudes in the valley, when the day of the Lord is near, and then the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will not give their light. The Lord will then be in Jerusalem, and the earth will shake.
These events are all happening in very close proximity to each other. But we can know the passage has a first summary which ends with the vats overflowing, as this matches the actions of Jesus Christ personally destroying the armies of the antichrist at His return in Rev 14:20, “And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand [and] six hundred furlongs.”; Rev 19:15 of Jesus Christ, “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God”.
So then this passage starts over back with the multitudes in the valley, giving slightly more detail, that the multitudes are in the valley before the day of the Lord comes, while it is still “near” (very near), and it is once the day of the Lord seems to have begun, that after this the sun and moon and stars are darkened. Comparing this to the Revelation timeline that corresponds to this study, it matches.
During the 3.5 days the Antichrist is in the temple being worshipped as “god”, the same 3.5 days the 2 witnesses lay dead, this is when the Antichrist calls for the armies to come to destroy Jerusalem, which is Mystery Babylon. The armies start gathering outside the city, in the valley of Jehoshaphat, while still during this 3.5 day period. The day of the Lord is near, very near, at this time, and will happen within days, along with the destruction of Jerusalem / Mystery Babylon. Before the day of the Lord begins, during these 3.5 days, much of the armies are already gathered. This tied in very closely with Jesus’ warnings in Matt 24, that once the abomination of desolation enters the most holy place, that everyone must flee the city immediately. Abaddon is the abomination entering the holy of holies, and as soon as he enters in, he will shortly call for the armies, and the attack will happen soon after the 3.5 days are over. This is why people must flee immediately in great haste, not going back for anything, if they want to escape Jerusalem, and if they wait it seems they will become trapped. (See the Daniel study here for more on the “abomination of desolation” and Jesus’ warnings as paralleled in the Gospels https://paradoxbrown.com/DecipheringDaniel.htm.)
Then after the day of the Lord begins, the sun and moon and stars are darkened. The day of the Lord is the day of His Wrath, and this is when His bowls of wrath are poured out. And during the Bowls of wrath, all poured out in a single day, the 5th bowl has the kingdom going dark, which is the same as when the sun and moon go dark and the stars withdraw their shining here in Joel 3. This is not when the moon shines red, and stars are not mentioned to stop shining in the 6th Seal of Rev 6 “and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth”, nor is it when 1/3rd of the sun, moon, and stars stop shining for 1/3 of the day as in the 4th Trumpet of Rev 8 “and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise”, which are both described to be different in their specifics from “darkness”, as either the moon is shining red, or there is light 2/3rds of the day. But rather “The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining” in Joel 3 must refer to the kingdom going dark of the 5th bowl of Rev 16 “and his kingdom was full of darkness”, which also matches Matt 24:29-30 of just before Jesus Christ returns, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
Also on the day of the Lord, as a single day, the armies of the Antichrist Abaddon are still gathering and being completed in number, as is seen in the 6th bowl of the Euphrates drying up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. After this the Antichrist and his armies will attack Jerusalem, destroying Mystery Babylon, there will be the great hailstones and earthquake, and Jesus will return, and rescue His people, and lay waste to the armies of the Antichrist, and throw the Antichrist Abaddon into the lake of fire.
So, as a whole, Joel 3 parallels other passages about the day of the Lord, of the armies gathering to Jerusalem and the Lord returning and utterly annihilating these armies. The main emphasis here is on the gathering of the armies to near Jerusalem, and this chronology spans from verses 1-13, ending with the armies’ destruction at the return of Jesus Christ. Then after the chronology ends, we step back in time a little, and there is a brief additional detail given that there are multitudes gathered, the day of the Lord is near, and then this is followed by the 5th bowl of the land going dark. One could argue that “is near” here should be translated “at hand”, if so the picture here is still the same, as the multitudes have gathered when the day of the Lord is “at hand”, and right after it is “at hand” the 5th bowl happens. The important tie-in here to Revelation and it’s chronology is that the armies are already gathered some before the 5th Bowl, but in the 6th Bowl we can see they are still not all gathered yet, which places the 5thand 6th bowl as happening close together, as part of a reasonably short period of time in which the armies of the Antichrist are gathering to attack.
It would not make sense that the armies are gathering to attack before the 5th bowl occurs, and then a couple months or a year go by, and then after which the armies are still gathering for the same attack when the 6th bowl finally occurs. No, Joel here shows that the 5th and 6th bowls happen in close proximity, and the armies of the Antichrist are already called to gather and gathered to some extent before the 5th bowl occurs. Which if the day of the Lord is a single day in which all the bowls are poured out, this lends credence to the armies being called to gather before the day of the Lord even begins with the 1st bowl, namely during the 3.5 days in which the Antichrist Abaddon is in the holy of holies, after killing the 2 witnesses, the same 3.5 days in which they lay dead.
Joe 3:18-21 “And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim. Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be a desolate wilderness, for the violence [against] the children of Judah, because they have shed innocent blood in their land. But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood [that] I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion.”
Joel next describes that after this, during the time of the millennial reign of Jesus Christ on earth, the Lord will brings many good things for His people. Here “that day” seems like it could reference back to the “day of the Lord”, but it also could just be used in a general way, like “in that age” or “in that time” or “in those days”. But it seems to also be quite possible that the millennial reign is seen to represent a day as 1000 years. The apostle Peter in the New Testament surely drew the idea from somewhere, either from Jesus Himself, but also likely the Old Testament scriptures, that “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” 2 Pet 3:8.
It could be this passage relates to that idea of the Lord reigning for 1000 years. The first point being that not every reference to “that day” in a passage that also additionally says “day of the Lord” necessarily references to the actual day of the Lord’s return. If that was the case here, then the day of the Lord must extend though the millennium. The second point being that IF the day of the Lord was defined as a long period of time, this passage would clearly identify it as Beginning with the return of Jesus Christ, and carrying through the millennium, and NOT define the day of the Lord as a long time period of time that starts before Jesus Christ has even returned.
The Book of Amos
Amos 5:1-2, 8,18-27 “Hear ye this word which I take up against you, [even] a lamentation, O house of Israel. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; [there is] none to raise her up… [Seek him] that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD [is] his name: Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end [is] it for you? the day of the LORD [is] darkness, and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. [Shall] not the day of the LORD [be] darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept [them]: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name [is] The God of hosts.”
Here in Amos the same theme is very loosely repeated about the day of the Lord, but most of Amos is about the past deportment of most of the Israelites into captivity by the Assyrians. In context, this passage in Amos seems to have likely already been fulfilled once, with the capture of Israel by the Assyrians in the 700s BC. Sargon II king of Assyria finished this process, sending the ten tribes past Damascus where they became dispersed (2 Kings 17).
The main and simple point here is that the day of the Lord will be very dark, with no brightness in it. This is a very limiting definition to place on the day of the Lord; that it is “with no brightness in it”. The word here for “brightness” is used in context of the sun in 2 Sam 23:4 and the moon in Isa 60:19. So it can be this refers to no brightness from the sun or the moon. This could correspond very well to the 5th Bowl of Rev 16, in which the kingdom goes dark. Again, this seems to match up with Joel 3 of the sun and moon going dark and the stars not shining, and the same paralleled in Matt 24:29. But this would not match the 6th Seal of Rev 6 when the moon is still shining, albeit red, and the stars are not specified to not shine, and the sun alone is said to be darkened. And this would not match when 1/3rd of the sun, moon, and stars stop shining in the 4th Trumpet of Rev 8, as 2/3rds of them are still shining for 2/3rds of the day. The description of the day of the Lord being dark, and not light, with no brightness in it, seems to best fit the 5th bowl of Rev 16, “and his kingdom was full of darkness”. If the day of the Lord was a long period of time spanning years, this “no brightness” would be very difficult to be fulfilled, and hard to match with Revelation, which seems to (at most) allow for the changes of the 4th Trumpet to continue on indefinitely, and these changes still would mean there would be “brightness”. It is not until the 5th bowl that the “darkness” of “no brightness” seems to be mentioned in Revelation.
As the day of the Lord is mentioned here in Amos 5, some of this passage may have a parallel to a second fulfillment of judgment. Such as “the virgin of Israel” that is fallen and will not rise again being Jerusalem as Mystery Babylon. The mention of God no longer wanting to hear the “noise of thy songs” and “melody of thy viols” is also interesting, as this parallels of Mystery Babylon, “And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee… and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee” (Rev 18:22-23). And the city not rising again is paralleled in the prior verses “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen…and a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all” (Rev 18:2,21). Here Amos also says “let judgment run down as waters” which could loosely relate to Daniel 9:27, and Rev 12, other places, etc., where a flood is used as imagery of judgment.
Though not conclusive, I also found it interesting to note that the people are told to worship God “who made the seven stars and Orion”, making note that God is above these creations of His. If the Antichrist Abaddon claims to be an “alien” who created humanity, and if he looks like a human man, he would most likely claim to be of the “race of aliens” that “abductees” today report to be called the “Pleiadians”. They are said to be from the Pleiades, which is a cluster of seven stars in the constellation Lyra. It is also reported that of the “gray” type of “aliens”, there seem to be 3 divisions, some claim to be from Zeta Reticuli, some from the Bellatrax star system, and some from the Orion star system. I believe that the “3 evil spirits like frogs” mentioned in Rev 16 is a reference to the “gray alien” form. This could be entirely coincidental, but in any case it is interesting that both “the seven stars” and Orion are mentioned here, where the day of the Lord is also mentioned. Also interesting is the mention in this passage of “star of your god” of “Chiun” and “Molech” which corresponds to Saturn. In Roman mythology, Abaddon seems like he may correspond to Saturn, and the 6-pointed star is of Saturn, and the name Saturn equals 666. (This is detailed more in my main study on Revelation, which ties to this study and the Revelation timeline. See the main study here: www.https://paradoxbrown.com/study-on-revelation-alien-antichrist.htm/ ) Again this could just be coincidental… or it may hint this passage is meant to touch some people with a special message towards repentance, a little further from now in the future.
The Book of Obadiah
Oba 1:15-18 “For the day of the LORD [is] near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head. For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, [so] shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been. But upon mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions. And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle in them, and devour them; and there shall not be [any] remaining of the house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken [it].”
In this passage the descendents of Esau, those of Edom, are pronounced a targeted prophecy and judgment in the end times. In the larger context, it seems like this passage may refer to the actions of those of Edom against God’s remnant of Israel, actions taking place during the reign of the Antichrist. Even perhaps during the final 3.5 days of his reign, when God’s people may be trying to flee Jerusalem, and while the Antichrist has entered into the holy of holies. It seems the descendents of Esau will be wiped out at this time. The heathen drinking may refer to the cup of God’s wrath as mentioned in Rev 16:19 “and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath”, or perhaps more particularly to “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation” (see Rev 14:9-13).
The Book of Zephaniah
Zeph 1:1-18 “The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah. I will utterly consume all [things] from off the land, saith the LORD. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD. I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, [and] the name of the Chemarims with the priests; And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship [and] that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham; And them that are turned back from the LORD; and [those] that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.
Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD [is] at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests. And it shall come to pass in the day of the LORD’S sacrifice, that I will punish the princes, and the king’s children, and all such as are clothed with strange apparel. In the same day also will I punish all those that leap on the threshold, which fill their masters’ houses with violence and deceit. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, [that there shall be] the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. Howl, ye inhabitants of Maktesh, for all the merchant people are cut down; all they that bear silver are cut off. And it shall come to pass at that time, [that] I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil. Therefore their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a desolation: they shall also build houses, but not inhabit [them]; and they shall plant vineyards, but not drink the wine thereof. The great day of the LORD [is] near, [it is] near, and hasteth greatly, [even] the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day [is] a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.”
Here it is easy to see this passage remains in keeping with more detailed scenes covered previously. On the day of the Lord, Jesus Christ will personally punish all the kings (10 kings under the Antichrist), and merchants (tying to Mystery Babylon), and idolaters, those who have turned back from following Him, and those who never sought Him, and Jerusalem is specifically mentioned as the location. That the Lord “hath prepared a sacrifice, hath bid His guests” may be the same as Rev 18:17-18, “And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all [men, both] free and bond, both small and great.”
This passage specifies the day of the Lord is “a day of wrath”, “a day of clouds and thick darkness” (the 5th bowl again), and uses the word “day” many times. It is also “a day of trumpet and alarm” which likely references to an alarm being sounded in Jerusalem as the Antichrist’s armies start to attack Jerusalem. This would mean that the “day” that Mystery Babylon falls is the same “day” that is the “day” of the Lord, a dark and cloudy “day”, and it is “a day” of wrath, more specifically the “day” of the Lord’s wrath.
On the “day” of the Lord’s wrath, He personally will make a “speedy”, quick, end to His enemies. It is possible that just as this passage indicates, the 5th Bowl of darkness and the 7th bowl of the destruction of Mystery Babylon both come in one day. The destruction of Mystery Babylon is specified to only take “one hour” and all her plagues come on her “in one day” (Rev 18:8-10,19). If the 5th through the 7th bowls of God’s wrath are poured out on the same “day” it seems possible that the 1st through 4th bowls of the wrath of God could also be poured out on the same “day”. Also, this passage specifies that the “day” of the Lord is a day of the “presence of the Lord God”, which means this is also the “day” of Jesus Christ’s return. Jesus will make a “speedy riddance” of His enemies at His return, in the battle of Armageddon. So it seems the battle of Armageddon happens on the same “day” as Jesus’ return, the same “day” that Mystery Babylon falls (7th trumpet), the same “day” as the land becoming dark (5th trumpet). As all these events happen on the same “day”, which is the “day” of the Lord’s wrath, it makes sense that the 1st through 4th Bowls of the Lord’s wrath could be poured out on this same “day” also. If the 5th trumpet, destruction of Mystery Babylon, return of Jesus Christ, and the battle of Armageddon can all happen in the same “day” of God’s wrath, surely nothing is too hard for God, and the 1st-4th bowls of “God’s wrath” could also manage to occur on the “day of God’s wrath”, the “day” of the Lord.
It is also important to remember that lining up the “great hailstones”, a single event that occurs only as Jerusalem is destroyed, shows that the 7th Trumpet includes a summary of the 7th bowl of wrath. In the 7th trumpet (Rev 11) the elders say to Jesus Christ, “you have taken your great power and begun to reign” which means the 7th trumpet also includes Jesus Christ’s return. The 7thtrumpet also states “your wrath came, and the time… to destroy those who destroy the earth”, which means the 7th trumpet includes Armageddon. Zeph 1 here seems to indicate the events of the 5th trumpet through Armageddon occur in a single “day”. The 7thTrumpet also makes very clear that these same events are all lumped together for some reason, summarized together as the 7th Trumpet.
The 7th trumpet also states “the temple of God in heaven… was opened” and this is followed by the “great hailstorm” (Rev 11:19) which ends the chapter. We can compare this to the scene of Rev 15:5-7, which also states “the temple… in heaven was opened” and out of the temple come 7 angels with the 7 bowls of the wrath of God, which they pour out through then end of Rev chapter 16, again this chapter also ending with the same “great hailstones”. This indicates that the 7th trumpet includes all 7 of the Bowls of wrath, of which Zeph 1 indicates the 5th, 6th, and 7th Bowls will occur on the same “day” of God’s wrath. As such it is not a stretch of the text whatsoever to think that the other 4 Bowls will also occur on the same “day” of God’s wrath. In fact, lining up Zeph 1 with Revelation seems to point in the direction that the 7 Bowls will all be fulfilled in the same “day”.
So far there is nothing in the scriptures, in what they state, which conflicts with the Revelation timeline that goes with this study. Really the key issue as to whether the “day” of the Lord is a single 24 hour period or not, just seems to be a matter of if you are willing to define a “day” as a “day”, a 24-hour period, or would rather define a “day” as a longer period of time, such as a period stretching on for months or years. But just based on what the Bible states so far, it seems possible for the “day” of the Lord to be a single 24-hour period.
Zep 2:1-3, 12-15 “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, [before] the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD’S anger come upon you. Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’S anger… Ye Ethiopians also, ye [shall be] slain by my sword. And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, [and] dry like a wilderness. And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; [their] voice shall sing in the windows; desolation [shall be] in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work. This [is] the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I [am], and [there is] none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, [and] wag his hand.”
The next chapter continues with another indication in scripture (as was also in Joel 3) that the armies of the Antichrist gather together before the day of the Lord begins. The nation of the Antichrist is the nation “not desired” which is also translated as “shameless nation”. As is on the Revelation timeline that goes with this study, this gathering most likely begins during the 3.5 day when the Antichrist is in the holy of holies, and the 2 witnesses are laying dead, as Abaddon plans to shortly destroy Jerusalem. In contrast the meek are told to seek the Lord, meekness, and righteousness, that they might be hid, be spared, in the day of the Lord’s anger. Much destruction and the Lord’s defense of His people follows, and then verse 12 continues by mentioning the “sword” of the Lord, same as is seen in Rev 19:15,21 “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations… And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which [sword] proceeded out of his mouth”. This is the same time, in Rev 19 as where the birds were invited to “the supper of the great God” mentioned in Zeph 1.
In this passage there is also the mention of the destruction of Nineveh, which is significant as during the reign of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, and his father Sargon II, the capitol of the Assyrian empire was Nineveh. This prophecy of the destruction of Nineveh was fulfilled by the Babylonian kingdom, around 612 BC, the writings of Zephaniah dating to around 630 BC. This tie-in placing Nineveh in the role of Mystery Babylon may lend credence to the idea that there have been multiple cities that have fulfilled the role of Mystery Babylon over the time of the different kingdoms of mankind. At the time, the city of Nineveh fulfilled the role of Mystery Babylon for the kingdom of Assyria (as Babylon once did for Babylonia, and later Rome would for the Roman Empire). So in this way, this passage also references to the destruction of Mystery Babylon in the future, tying it to the day of the Lord, with the same scene of a city that makes haughty statements, and in which various birds stay (Rev 18:2,7).
Zeph 2:4-11 “For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up. Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD [is] against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. And the sea coast shall be dwellings [and] cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks. And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity. I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified [themselves] against their border. Therefore [as] I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, [even] the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them. This shall they have for their pride,because they have reproached and magnified [themselves] against the people of the LORD of hosts. The LORD [will be] terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and [men] shall worship him, every one from his place, [even] all the isles of the heathen.”
Going back to the verses that were skipped, what we can see here is the theme that the Lord loves and will defend His people. In the dark time of the reign of the Antichrist, the Lord will hear and see what the wicked do against His people, whom He loves. The Lord Jesus Christ will come in wrath, defending those He loves, and laying waste to their enemies, and will be terrible to their enemies, who have reproached His people Whom He loves. This same theme is seen in Revelation (and Zech 14), as Jesus comes to rescue His people who have become trapped in Mystery Babylon, and slaughter the armies of the Antichrist, who have imprisoned and killed His beloved saints. The same spirit of love and protection is seen in Rev 14, with the rescued 144,000 Jews, and in Rev 19, as the Lord avenges His people, and they rejoice. They are dressed for the marriage supper, and the “great supper of God” takes place, and the birds are called and invited as guests to feast upon the armies of the Antichrist. And the people of Jesus Christ are united with Him, to be with Him, the dead are raised and the living transformed, and are gathered together to be with Jesus Christ.
After last mentioning the destruction of Nineveh, the haughty city in Zeph 2, then Zeph Chapter 3 continues,
“Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city! She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the LORD; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her [are] roaring lions; her judges [are] evening wolves; they gnaw not the bones till the morrow. Her prophets [are] light [and] treacherous persons: her priests have polluted the sanctuary, they have done violence to the law. The just LORD [is] in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to light, he faileth not; but the unjust knoweth no shame. I have cut off the nations: their towers are desolate; I made their streets waste, that none passeth by: their cities are destroyed, so that there is no man, that there is none inhabitant. I said, Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off, howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, [and] corrupted all their doings. Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: formy determination [is] to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, [even] all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.”
Here again the emphasis is made that the Lord has an intent to gather the nations together, to “pour” his indignation and fierce anger on them. He says to wait for “the day” for his “determination” is to gather the nations. And this time of both gathering the nations, and the destruction of the city, are tied together, with the day of the Lord’s wrath.
“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.”
The next verse is interesting as it seems the people will all again have a “pure” or united language, which brings to mind the story of Babel. It was originally the Lord who separated all the people of the earth to their nations, and gave them many languages, after they started building Babel together. And the Lord’s intent is to have all the nations, people of them, reassemble to a single city, and after much destruction, to again give the remnant of people a “pure” language, a united language.
This theme is interesting as it was Nimrod who started Babel and was its king,
“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar [Babylon]. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same [is] a great city.” (Gen 10:8-12)
And it was Nimrod who founded Assyria and is called the Assyrian in scripture,
“Behold the land of the Chaldeans [Babylon/Shinar]; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin.” (Gen 10/ Isa 23:13)
But it seems that Abaddon or some fallen angel from before the flood, that was imprisoned in the Abyss at the time of the flood, is also called the Assyrian in scripture,
“Behold, the Assyrian [was] a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs… I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that [were] inthe garden of God, envied him. …Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.” (Eze 31:3,9,15-16).
The Assyrian is also who the Lord is prophesied to destroy when He returns (Isa 14:24-27) and may claim to be Nimrod returned (Rev 13:3), portraying Nimrod as having been an “alien” who was here in the past and seeded humanity (2 Thes 2:9-12). So the story of the division of the people and an evil city begins with Nimrod and Babel, and also seems to end with Abaddon as “Nimrod” and Jerusalem as “Mystery Babylon”.
As God says in Isa 14:24-27,
“The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, [so] shall it stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. This [is] the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this [is] the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul [it]? and his hand [is] stretched out, and who shall turn it back?”
Zeph 3, out of all the passages on the day of the Lord, is the one that most clearly makes reference to the Lord having purposed a plan, “my determination is to gather the nations, to assemble the kingdoms” and the same is mentioned here in Isaiah 14, “this is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth”. History is not a random series of events, but the hand of God is more powerful than is comprehensible, despite free will. It is God who thought of the idea, and purposed for this to occur, God who separated the nations under Nimrod king of Babel, and in symmetry the nations will again assemble, under a lie and strong delusion of “Nimrod” king of “Mystery Babylon”, under the Assyrian, Abaddon, who the Lord will break both this fallen angel and Nimrod, but all the more, the very concept of there being any king over the earth besides the Lord, for all time, and then God will unite His people under one language again. This is an amazing symmetry.
In the time before the Flood, Ezekiel 31 reveals that the fallen angels of Genesis 6 did have a leader. This was the first ruler or king over the world, and he was the fallen angel Abaddon. After the flood, the first ruler or king from among men was Nimrod. In the end, God brings all this together in the time of judgment, that Abaddon the first king of the world, who was judged once already with the Flood, will lie to claim to be Nimrod the first human king of the world, who God judged once already with the dispersion at Babel. And so false kingship, whether of fallen angels or of men, is brought together, as the nations reassemble, to be judged, and then the only King will be Jesus Christ the Lord, forever.
The Bible refers to and defines the “Assyrian” as both Nimrod, and as someone who was destroyed and buried at the time of the Flood in the pit of the Abyss. There is an important reason for this. It is very important to understand how it is that the Bible can define BOTH a human king from after the flood, and some individual from before the flood who went down to the Abyss, as “the Assyrian”. The Bible does not contradict itself, and so it must be true that “the Assyrian” is both Nimrod, and someone buried in the Abyss at the time of the Flood, and this is fulfilled in Abaddon claiming to be Nimrod. This would make no sense, except that of all the false beliefs in the world today, there is the “evolution/ET/exogenesis” false belief, which alone can make sense of this idea of Nimrod having left and returned, while being Abaddon a fallen angel who will show vast supernatural powers. This is the strong delusion that comes so they will believe THE lie (2 Thes 2:11), the Singular lie, of Abaddon/Nimrod, the “alien” Antichrist…
Getting back to Zeph 3, it continues,
“From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my suppliants, [even] the daughter of my dispersed, shall bring mine offering. In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy mountain. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the LORD. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make [them] afraid. Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, [even] the LORD, [is] in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more. In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem, Fear thou not: [and to] Zion, Let not thine hands be slack. The LORD thy God in the midst of thee [is] mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. I will gather [them that are] sorrowful for the solemn assembly, [who] are of thee, [to whom] the reproach of it [was] a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you [again], even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.”
Here the millennial reign of Jesus Christ on earth is described. This is another passage in which the general term “that day” is used, showing a couple things. The first thing this shows is that not all occurrences of “that day” necessarily reference to the day of the Lord when Jesus Christ returns, because at this time that day has already passed. And the second thing this shows, is that IF the “day of the Lord” was to reference to a long period of time, it seems both here in Zeph 3 and also in Joel 3, it would reference to the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on earth after His return, and not to a time before His return.
The Book of Zechariah
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, [and] all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, the light shall not be clear, dark: But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD,not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, at evening time it shall be light.”
Zechariah 14 describes that as the day of the Lord comes, the Lord will gather all nations to battle against Jerusalem. Jesus Christ will return on the day of the Lord and stand on the Mt. of Olives. An earthquake is mentioned, which seems to split the mountain creating a valley for the people to escape through. This is paralleled in Rev 16:19. Jesus is also mentioned in Rev 14 to stand on Mt. Zion, in the same range of mountains around Jerusalem as the Mt. of Olives, with the 144,000 Jews. Based on Zech 14 it seems that Jesus rescues some Jews from the destruction of Jerusalem / Mystery Babylon, but these may not be the same as the 144,000. As said earlier in Eze 7 of those who escape, “But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.” This does not match Rev 14:5 of the 144,000 “And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” So it seems these who escape through the valley are not the 144,000. In chronological order in Rev 14, Babylon is pronounced fallen after the scene of the 144,000 on Mt. Zion, so it seems that it is after Jesus meets the 144,000 on Mt. Zion that he will go to the Mt. of Olives, and the earthquake that splits Jerusalem will take place, and His people left in Jerusalem will escape through the valley made by the earthquake. This seems to tie in very well with every reference to “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Joel 2:32, Rom 10:13, Acts 2:21), and “All Israel shall be saved” (Rom 11:26) and that more Jews can and will be saved at this time than just the 144,000, who are called “firstfruits” in Rev 14:4, also indicating Jesus goes to them first.
Jesus also fights against the gathered nations at His return, which describes the battle of Armageddon, as seen in Rev 19:11-21. Zech 14, as referenced a couple times prior in this study, is a key passage that clearly shows the destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus’ return, and the battle of Armageddon all happening in very close proximity to each other, in parallel to Revelation, as well as clearly indicating that Mystery Babylon is Jerusalem.
All these events tie to “the day of the Lord”, and this passage clearly specifies that it shall be “one day”. This one day is also described to be a dark day, which seems to be another reference to the darkness of the 5th Bowl of wrath, again indicating the 5thbowl occurs on the same day as the 7th trumpet, fall of Mystery Babylon, return of Jesus Christ, and the battle of Armageddon. Taking the scriptures most plainly, “the day of the Lord” is 1 day.
It is also interesting here that this one day is described to be “not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, at evening time it shall be light”. This seems very ambiguous, but it could relate to the difference between Biblical days, in comparison to standard modern days. This description is an apt one of a modern standard 24-hour day. A Biblical “day” starts at sundown, the evening dark comes first, then the morning at sunrise, and ends at the next sundown. This is different than standard modern days, which begin at midnight, so the night comes first, then the morning around 6am, then the evening around 6pm, regardless of if it is light out or it is sundown, and then some more night follows before the day ends again at midnight. Unlike biblical days, our modern days are not defined around day and night, sunrise and sunset. Also a biblical “evening” is defined by the sun going down, starting at dark, but a standard modern “evening” starts before sunset while it is often still light, around 6pm. A “modern standard day” could be what is described in “not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, at evening time it shall be light”. A modern day is still light in the (biblical) “evening” (which by definition should be dark), and “not day, not night” as it is not a matter of daytime and nighttime, not measured by sunrise and sunset. So it is possible that this is a prophetic confirmation for us, that the “one day” of the “day of the Lord” is still just 1 day, and still will be measured as a 24-hour period of 1 day, even using our standard modern system of days that begin at midnight.
While on the topic, it also seems that this discrepancy between biblical days and standard modern days could be significant in the timing of the 3.5 days the two witnesses lay dead. After they arise, “they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them” which seems to indicate it is daytime, or morning (Rev 11:11-12). But definitely which system of measurement is used for these 3.5 days is important. Using biblical days, to measure that it has been 3.5 days, then they must be killed either at sunrise or sunset. Using biblical days, if they are killed at sunset, then after 3.5 days they must rise at sunrise, and if they are killed at sunrise, then after 3.5 days they must rise at sunset. As people watch them go into the clouds after rising, it seems likely they will be killed in the evening and rise at sunrise, which would parallel the tomb of Jesus Christ being found empty in the morning. However, if modern standard days are used, then they must simply be dead for 84 hours. It seems more likely that biblical days would be used in this prophecy about the 2 witnesses. But if this is the case, then in order for the “day of the Lord” and Jesus’ return to all fall within the same 1 biblical day, from evening to evening, that day could not begin until the evening (Gen 1). This is why there is 1/2 of a day on the Revelation timeline that accompanies this study. It assumes the 2 witnesses are killed in the evening, rise in the morning, and events must wait half of a day before the next biblical day can begin in the evening, in order for the events of the day of the Lord to all fall on the same biblical day. It seems unlikely that the day would be measured by modern standards, in which the singular day of the Lord would not begin until midnight, rather than sunset. This seems unlikely because God’s definition of a day being “evening and morning” (Gen 1) has been in place since the beginning of time, and He seems unlikely to alter it to stick to our modern definitions.
“And it shall be in that day, [that] living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin’s gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and [from] the tower of Hananeel unto the king’s winepresses. And [men] shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited. And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance. And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague. And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that [have] no [rain]; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.”
In this passage of Zech 3, like Zeph 3 and Joel 3, it seems the phrase “that day” when tied to a mention of “the day of the Lord” is used only to describe the millennial reign of Jesus Christ on earth, and is not used to describe a long period of time occurring before the Lord has returned.
The Book of Malachi
Mal 3:2-5 “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he [is] like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit [as] a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in [his] wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger [from his right], and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.”
Here the day of the Lord is described as a day of judgment, and of purifying fire, in which the Lord will be a swift witness against evildoers. This word “swift” means “to make haste, to be hurried, to do quickly”.
Mal 4:1-6 “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do [this], saith the LORD of hosts. Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, [with] the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”
Here the day of the Lord is described as a day when the wicked will be burned away, and the Lord shall do this, and His people will tread their remains under their feet as ashes. Also Elijah will appear before the day of the Lord arrives, and will be sent to Israel, even to the temple as seen in Mal 3, to prepare the people for the return of Jesus Christ. This is seen in Revelation with the appearance of the 2 witnesses during the 6th trumpet of Rev 9:13-11:14. One of these witnesses is surely Elijah returned, who was taken to heaven alive (2 Kings 2:11) around the 800s BC, not dying. (Somehow Elijah returned in a way as John the Baptist also, but will return again, I think more fully as himself.) The other witness could very likely be Enoch, who is the only other man the Bible records to have been taken by God without dying (Gen 5:24). This would be very fitting and useful to the people, as Enoch likely knew of Abaddon in the time before the Flood. Enoch witnessed obscure history from in the time before the Flood, when the “sons of God” angels lived among men (Gen 6:1-4), and when Abaddon seemed to have had a kingdom (Eze 31).
It should be noted that if the strong delusion is the false belief in evolution/ETs/exogenesis, which prepares the way for the antichrist Abaddon as some alien “god” who created or seeded humanity here in the past… then this same strong delusion has also been working to indoctrinate the public at large with the propaganda that the Bible describes that Elijah was taken up to heaven in a spaceship. It is very likely that if the fallen angel Abaddon, who looks like a human man and seems to have supernatural powers, claims to be an alien… then he will also likely claim that the 2 witnesses including Elijah, who also look like human men and also seem to have supernatural powers (working miracles) are also aliens of generally the same species as him – who he has conflict with (Rev 11:5-7). This conflict continues for 3.5 years, in which the public comes to worship Abaddon, and despise the 2 witnesses, who as prophets who preach repentance and judgment and truth are probably disliked, but unlike most prophets they have been given by God the ability to defend themselves and not get killed by all the people they irritate. But after the appointed 3.5 years, Abaddon will kill them, and the world will celebrate their deaths (Rev 11:7-10). They will rise from the dead after 3.5 days (Rev 10:5-7, Dan 12:5-7), which are the second half of the 70th week of Daniel 9:27, and then they go (back) up to heaven. The day of the Lord and return of Jesus Christ immediately follows this (Rev 11:12-19).
New Testament
As the day of Jesus’ return is the day of the Lord, we are first going to look at what Jesus personally said about the time of His return, before moving into other references to the day of the Lord, or day of the return of Jesus Christ, in the rest of the New Testament.
The differences between the parallels of Matt 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 are covered in the paper here:https://paradoxbrown.com/DecipheringDaniel.htm
Therein it is shown that out of the 3 passages, Matt 24 pertains the most to future prophecy, and the second fulfillment (from then) of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, so I’m just going to be including the Matt 24 parallel here. In context Jesus speaks of the temple’s destruction, and the disciples ask Him 3 questions:
Mat 24:3 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, (1) when shall these things be? and (2) what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and (3) [the sign] of the end of the world [age]?”
The 3 questions asked in this passage (versus the parallels in Luke and Mark) are particularly more inclined towards the far-future fulfillment of these things, and Jesus answers the questions with a far-future fulfillment greatly emphasized.
The third question is answered first, which is them asking what would be the sign of the end of the age. The age referred to here is in fact the age or time of the Gentiles.
(“And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Luke 21:24, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” Rom 11:25).
Mat 24:13-14 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
So the time of the Gentiles will be over shortly after we see the sign of the end of the time of the Gentiles, which is that the Gospel has been preached to all nations. The time of the Gentiles started once the Messiah came, likely technically when Jesus was born, which marked the end of the 7 plus 62 weeks of Dan 9:25 “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince [shall be] seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks”, and this is confirmed in message of the angels that heralded His birth (Lk 2:10 “to all people”). And it was “after” the 62 weeks (reached when Jesus was born) when He was “cut off” (Dan 9:26 “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself”).
As for the end of the time of the Gentiles, comparing this to Revelation and the accompanying timeline, it seems the sign of the Gospel being preached to all nations should precede the rapture, which happens at the 6th Seal. As such Matt 24:13 “But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved” is the reference to the Rapture at the 6th Seal. The word here is “sozo” and it means to be rescued. Also looking at the accompanying Revelation timeline, the 70th week of Daniel (final fulfillment) begins 3.5 days after the 6th trumpet is blown, and so this is the marker for the beginning of the remaining time of the Jews, and the final end of the time of the Gentiles. However, it seems that the rapture occurs at the 6th Seal, which is at least 5 months prior, though not necessarily much more prior than this. The gospel being preached to all nations should precede the rapture at the 6th seal, and this sign precedes the end of the time of the Gentiles, at least 5 months later, but probably not much more than 5 months later.
Chronologically this is followed by the 70th week, and the accompanying timeline is in accordance with Jesus’ chronology given in Matt 24. He answers the disciples first and second questions next, both a sign of His coming, and of the temple being destroyed, at the end of the 70th week.
Mat 24:15-16 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:”
The abomination enters the temple after 3.5 years, at the midpoint of the 70th week, and then the people must flee immediately to escape, as there are merely 3.5 days until the destruction of the temple, and Jerusalem, will come. The accompanying timeline fits perfectly with the urgency of this warning.
Mat 24:21-22 “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”
After the antichrist enters the temple, there will soon be the worst tribulation ever seen. Here Jesus specifies that the days would be shortened. This implies that the length of a specific time of days has been specified somewhere, and that the specified time involved will be shortened somehow, and this surely references to the 70th week, as this is the only time period expected to be longer, which could be shortened. You cannot shorten something unless it was once seen as longer, how else do you tell it has in fact been shortened? Jesus implies the 70th week, defined or anticipated as a longer time, has been shortened somehow. How, is that the last half of the 70th week is 3.5 days, not 3.5 years, these being the 3.5 days the 2 witnesses lay dead, and after this the Antichrist will destroy Jerusalem, which is why the people must flee immediately, as Jesus warns they must do.
Mat 24:29-31 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (heaven and earth in parallel Mk 13:27)
Immediately after the tribulation of “those days”, referencing back to the “shortened days” (3.5 days), then the sun, moon, and stars will go dark. This is a clear reference to the 5th Bowl. Jesus specified that it would be “immediately after” the “shortened days” that the 5th bowl would occur, the darkness of the day of the Lord, which is all in harmony with the “day of the Lord” being the next day following the 3.5 days that comprise the second half of the 70th week. This all harmonizes with the accompanying timeline very well. After the 5th bowl, in the 7th Bowl, Jesus Christ returns, all nations mourn, as the armies of the antichrist are destroyed, and Jesus Christ gathers His people to Him, from all reaches of heaven and earth. The scene of the angels and the gathering of His people is not the rapture, which already occurred over 3.5 years prior, but rather this is of the resurrection and gathering of all Christians, asleep or alive, on the earth, or in heaven already raptured, and this is when we are changed into our immortal bodies.
This and the accompanying timeline also harmonize with Dan 9:27 and Dan 12, as can be read in detail in the above linked paper “Deciphering Daniel”. But summarily, if the “daily sacrifices” in Dan 12 are understood to be different than the “oblation and sacrifice” of Dan 9:27, the first being daily sacrifices, and the second being the activities of the 2 witnesses… And if the 1290 days are understood to be the time specified BETWEEN the “daily sacrifices” stopping AND the abomination (antichrist) in the temple, rather than 1290 days being the time following both of these events combined, (and the Hebrew and Greek both do allow for this possibility to be the case and be valid), then there is no conflict between Daniel 9 or 12, Matt 24 (or parallels), the book of Revelation, and the accompanying timeline.
Mat 24:36 “But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.”
The only thing that might seem to be a conflict with this timeline at first glance, but is not actually one, is the idea that “no one can know the day or the hour of the Lord’s return”. It does seem possible that what is commonly understood on this may be mistaken, for a few reasons. There is the argument that prior to the book of Revelation being given, no one would know the day and the hour, but that after the book of Revelation was given, that the day could be pinpointed as future events unfolded, even though the hour would remain unknown. A thorough detail against the argument of the “day and hour being completely unknowable” by right deserves a paper of its own, which I hope to write and link here later. Suffice to say I think a good convincing argument can be made that the day of the rapture will be unknown, and the hour of Jesus’ return on the day of His return will be unknown, and the day of the week of Jesus return will be unknown, but that it is allowable to know the day of Jesus’ return will ‘essentially’ be the next day after the 3.5 days of the second half of the 70th week of Daniel 9:27, although until the 70th week begins, there would be absolutely no way to mark this day (or so) range on a calendar.
But in any case, the accompanying timeline DOES still include some obfuscation on which day Jesus will return, as to whether it will begin immediately after the 3.5 days, or if it will not begin until the next Biblical day (if the 2 witnesses rise in the morning, then having to wait for the evening), or even if it might begin the next day as counted by the modern standard of 24-hours beginning at midnight. As such the accompanying timeline in essence leaves the question of whether Jesus might return (for example) on Tues or on Wed, and as such DOES NOT violate that “no one will know the day or the hour”.
Moving on with “day of the Lord” references in the New Testament,
Acts 2:16-21 “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
This is a quote of Joel 2:28-32, which has already been covered. Referring back to the explanation already given, these verses in Joel 2 were a summary referring to the order of events already given prior in Joel in detail. This passage was a confirmation first referencing back to “blood, fire, vapour of smoke” of the 1st through 5th trumpets, and “sun to darkness, moon to blood” along with “stars fell to earth… like shaken by a great wind” of the 6th Seal. The chronological order in Joel was very clear when given the first time in detail, paralleling Revelation with amazing precision, and these verses were just a summary that referenced back to the chronology explained earlier in Joel. Because the chronology was already explained clearly earlier in Joel, it was acceptable for the summary here later to seem out of order chronologically, as in context it was meant to be understood as just a summary of the earlier detailed chronology that was in order. Without that context, here in Acts these events appear to be out of order when compared to Revelation, leaving one open to the misleading idea that the day of the Lord might immediately follow the 6th Seal, but in context Joel prior had given chronological detail specifying the day of the Lord would not occur until after the 5th trumpet was completed.
In the epistles there are many references to the day of the Lord Jesus Christ which have some focused similarities:
I Cor 1:4-8 “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and [in] all knowledge; Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall also confirm you unto the end, [that ye may be] blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Cor 5: 4-5 “In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
Phil 1:3- 6, 10-11 “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:… That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.”
Phil 2:14-16 “Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”
2 Tim 1:11-12 “Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him unto that day.”
2Ti 4:8 “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”
In the New Testament the day of the Lord is referred to as the “day of Jesus Christ”, and the day of “his appearing”, or return. It seems the early Christians anticipated being resurrected on the day of the Lord’s return, being reunited with one another, and hoped to be found blameless on that day of resurrection. The early Christians anticipated that the day of Jesus Christ’s return would also be the day of their resurrection, and reward. They anticipated seeing Jesus Christ personally, hoping to be found blameless by Him, rejoicing, being given a crown of righteousness by Jesus, and all this was on the day of His return, the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. The accompanying Revelation timeline reflects this truth, placing the resurrection and gathering on the day Jesus Christ returns.
After the straight chronology of Rev chapters 1-11 (including past-tense mention of the resurrection, and ending with the 7thtrumpet, and Armageddon) more details on these same events are given in Rev chapters 12-20 up through Rev 20:4-6, which gives specific detail on the first resurrection, the resurrection of the saints. This is the first resurrection, and it is in the gathering of Jesus’ people together after His return, “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet…” (Matt 24:31) “And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.” (Mk 13:27)
I Cor 15:51-53 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality.”
2 Cor 1:13-14 “For we write none other things unto you, than what ye read or acknowledge; and I trust ye shall acknowledge even to the end; As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also [are] ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
The early Christians anticipated that when the last trumpet sounded the dead would be raised, and the living changed, to their new incorruptible immortal bodies, and everyone would be gathered to Jesus. The last trumpet here may refer to a trumpet of alarm against the armies of the Antichrist attacking Jerusalem (a study on this was linked earlier), or it may be a heavenly trumpet. But as Jesus returns to annihilate the armies of the Antichrist who have attacked Jerusalem and rescue His people there, seems to also be when the dead Christians are resurrected, the living changed, including those prior raptured mortal to heaven, and His people anywhere on earth, are all gathered together by His angels, to be with Him. The apostles anticipated seeing each other again and rejoicing on this day.
I Thes 4:13-18 “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lordshall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
The apostles wanted the people to understand that all of them, those asleep, and those alive, all the brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ, would come together, the dead being raised slightly prior, all being given immortal bodies, and all being brought together to be with the Lord Jesus Christ, as is specified, on the day of His return to earth. These verses are not about the “rapture” that occurs 6th Seal, they are about the “gathering” and first resurrection that occurs on the day of the return of Jesus Christ the Lord. (It is not that the apostles were unfortunately unenlightened with the more recent and sophisticated varying theories of rapture theology. They knew more than we did, they knew what they were talking about, they said what they meant and meant what they said.)
1 Thes 5:1-11 “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”
Here Isa 13 seems to be quoted, and it is mentioned that the Lord comes as a thief in the night (Job 24:14 also Matt 24:43, Luke 12:39). The part referenced about “in the night” is likely Isa 13:10, “For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine”, which as we have already covered, references to the 5th Bowl of “darkness” in Rev 16:10. This is likely so, as the reference here in 1 Thes about a woman travailing is seen 2 verses earlier in Isa 13:8 “they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth”.
And also, apparently the end of Isa 13 had been lined up by the early Christians, as to the destruction of the city, with the false prophecies of Eze 13, “saying Peace” of Eze 13:10, which also seems to be quoted here in 1 Thes as “they shall say Peace”. This is at least a confirmation that Isa 13 and Eze 13 describe the same period of the day of the Lord, which Paul also ties to the day of Jesus Christ’s return and the resurrection of the saints. Along with Paul’s other letters, this is a confirmation that the early Christians believed that the destruction of Jerusalem (Mystery Babylon) (Eze 13, Isa 13), the battle of Armageddon (Isa 13), the coming of the Lord, and the resurrection of the saints, and gathering of them to Him (1 Thes 4, prior chapter), all occur on the same day of Jesus Christ’s return. All of these events are also represented together in the 7th trumpet of Rev 11, which seems to summarize the day of the return of Jesus Christ, the day of the Lord.
2 Thes 1:4-12 “So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: [Which is] a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing [it is] a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of [this] calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of [his] goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”
This passage ties the suffering of Christians, all Christians, to the vengeance of God that will take place when Jesus Christ returns, and that God will “recompense” tribulation to the nonbelievers. In a way this passage seems to indicate that Christians may be present (resurrected) with the timing in such a way that we will see the destruction of Armageddon as Jesus Christ lays waste to the enemies of God, the same being those who have persecuted and troubled His people and caused them to suffer. In any case, this passage ties the resurrection and the return of Jesus Christ and Armageddon to the same day. Also interesting here (note for later) is that Paul indicates that the Thessalonians will “rest” with Paul and those with him, all of them together, when Jesus Christ returns.
2 Thes 2:1-12 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and [by] our gathering together unto him,That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that person of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only what now restraineth will continue, until out of the midst he comes. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
The next chapter continues by again immediately tying the resurrection and gathering of the saints to the return of Jesus Christ. The battle of Armageddon and destruction of the Antichrist are also tied to the day of the Lord’s return. Paul also makes a statement that goes completely against the idea that no one can know the day of the Lord’s return, as if the day will come at any time randomly. Paul cautions them not to be deceived, as the day of the Lord’s return is not at hand, and will not come until the Antichrist is revealed, and has sat in the temple declaring himself as “god”. This is indicative that the early Christians, even prior to Revelation, had some idea that Jesus would not return until certain OT prophecies had been seen to be fulfilled, such as the completion of at least the first half of the 70th week of Daniel 9:27 (and likely also the 1290 days of Dan 12).
I have covered this passage of 2 Thes in other writings, arguing this passage refers to Abaddon the Antichrist being let out of the Abyss during the 5th trumpet, and also is a fulfillment of Isa 24:18. https://paradoxbrown.com/study-on-revelation-alien-antichrist.htm/ https://paradoxbrown.com/TheAbyssOldNewTestaments.htm
Here Paul also references to “a lie”, which has been thought to be something vague. But as I have already mentioned, it can be argued that “a lie” could be translated singularly specified as “the lie” that actually is found in scripture, and Paul may have been aware of this specific lie. “The lie” may be a reference to how it is that “the Assyrian”, who is tied to being destroyed on the day of the Lord in Isa 14:25 and Mic 5:6, can somehow be defined in scripture as both someone who was buried when God stayed the waters of the flood of Noah (Eze 31:3) and as Nimrod (Isa 23:13/Gen 10) from after the flood.
It may be that Paul was not being vague here, in new prophecy, but rather was summarizing things already known in specific from a far better understanding of Old Testament prophecies than we have today, understanding that was since lost.
It seems that the early Christians, whatever else they knew, they also anticipated that understanding would be lost by later Christians who were going to be living in the actual time of the Lord’s return. If in fact the early Christians, like Paul, were able to anticipate that the day of the Lord was Not at hand, understanding certain events must come to pass first, then surely they also understood that Jesus’ prophetic warnings to remain on the alert as if He might return any day, were meant more for the generation who actually would be living at the time of His return, who they must have concluded would have somehow lost the understanding that they then had, understanding by which Paul assured the people that the day of Jesus’ return was Not at hand. This logically follows, as how else could it be that Jesus would warn so many times to be on alert, for people would not know the day and it could be at hand, and yet Paul reassures the people that they do not need to be on the alert like the day is at hand, because they know the day is not at hand?
Paul was in fact certain, even prophetically, warning about it with tears, that the early churches would be infiltrated and led astray, just as arguably history shows did happen,
“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” Acts 20:29-31
But just how much knowledge and understanding the early church had, which was lost when this happened, which we may still lack, is a mystery. But in order for their understanding of what was future prophecy to be fulfilled, they did believe that certain information would be lost to future generations of Christians, such as Peter warned about in 2 Peter 3; this being our last passage which has several day of the Lord references:
2 Pet 3:1-18 “This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in [both] which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation.
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
Peter warned that in the last days there will be CHRISTIANS (not the lost world but CHRISTIANS):
Who will not believe that God originally made the world as water (made the earth… “darkness was on the face of the deep (deep waters)”, and added the land later “made the land to appear”, showing they do not accept the Genesis account as plainly written. It is Christians who do not accept Young Earth Creationism, ie, the straight Biblical account of Genesis, who here are called the “scoffers”.
These Christians claim that everything was the same since “the fathers” fell asleep, meaning they think the last 2000-4000 years of history, and how it’s been, in continuity and sameness, is how things have been since the beginning of creation. They are willfully ignorant of the world that used to be, and the flood, and that the world as it used to be was destroyed by the flood.
If you are ignorant that there was a flood that destroyed the world, and ignorant that the world used to be very strangely different, and not the same as it’s been the last 2000 years, then this ignorance revolves precisely around the “sons of God” of Genesis 6, and their imprisonment in the Abyss in Eze 31. People are ignorant that angels who looked like men once lived among men, siring giant children who upon death became demons, ignorant that these same angels were physically imprisoned inside the Earth to await judgment. (Both Peter and Jude made clear that the early Christians were NOT at all ignorant of these facts. “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” Jude 1:6) So most of the church today sits ignorant of what I believe the early church knew very well: that a fallen angel released from the Abyss, who was once a king over the world before the flood, “the Assyrian”, would be the Antichrist. Without understanding first the true history that the “sons of God” were angels, and that they were physically buried in the earth at the time of the flood, in the cataclysm of the flood, and reserved for judgment, you simply cannot arrive at the rest.
This message of Peter’s seems to have been targeted for us, our time, and based on a much greater understanding of scripture. But his warnings logically follow from a starting point of him knowing “the Assyrian”, a fallen angel released from the Abyss, would be the Antichrist. The basis of Paul’s reassurance in 2 Thes revolves entirely around this understanding that the day could not be at hand, because they could see the fallen angels had not been released first, and then at least the 1290 days of Dan 9/12 fulfilled. So if Peter knew this too, then Peter could have logically deduced that we would forget and stop taking Genesis literally, and the flood, because he knew that for the “day of the Lord” to sneak up on anyone as Jesus warned, we would have to not recognize when the fallen angels were released from the Abyss, and to not recognize they were released, we would have to forget that they were there, and to forget that they were there, we would have to forget the truth about the flood, and the pre-flood world and their sin, so the importance of the subject being lost on us, then we would also question the flood, the waters under the earth that broke open, and the upheaval of the earth which buried the “sons of God” physically inside the earth, and if all this, then even the very Genesis creation account itself. That Peter knew the church would later be ignorant and forget all of this logically follows if the accompanying timeline is correct, and Peter and Paul both knew that a fallen angel released from the Abyss would be the Antichrist. And this also explains how and why Paul could directly contradict Jesus’ firm orders to be watchful because the day could come at any time. The Lord’s commands we meant for us, and the apostles knew these commands were not targeted at them in their time, to happen at any time, because they understood they could anticipate at least 1290 days to pass (Dan 9/12) after the fallen angels were seen to be released, before the day of the Lord’s return.
While this is not conclusive, it is at least interesting that if Peter knew based on better understanding of Old Testament prophecies that “the Assyrian” would be a fallen angel released from the Abyss, then the simplest explanation for his future knowledge written in 2 Pet 3 would not have to be new supernatural prophecy that he received from God, but rather that Peter simply deduced these things would have to occur from what he knew would have to be forgotten by a later generation, in order for the day to sneak up on them.
What else did Peter have to say, perhaps to this generation in particular?
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day [is] with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Here Peter references to Psalm 90, a prayer of Moses which was recorded.
Psalm 90:4, 13-15 “For a thousand years in thy sight [are but] as yesterday when it is past, and [as] a watch in the night. Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants. O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad according to the days [wherein] thou hast afflicted us, [and] the years [wherein] we have seen evil.”
Moses stated that a thousand years was as a day to the Lord. Then Moses prayed and asked God to make us glad “according” to the“days thou hast afflicted us” and “the years wherein we have seen evil”. It seems this prayer will be fulfilled.
Starting with the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, there have been (roughly) around 6000 years since the fall into sin, 4000 years since the Global Flood, 2000 years since Jesus Christ came the first time. So it has been about 6000 years, or 6 days, that we have seen evil and God has afflicted us, afflicting the earth with a curse. And so the early Christians seemed to understand, that after 6 days, there would be 1 day of rest, and believed that the scriptures spoke of this as “that day” in reference to the day of the Lord. So far looking in this study, it has seemed that every reference to “that day” as a long period of time, tying to the “day of the Lord” when Jesus Christ will return, has referred to what Revelation says is the 1000 years of Jesus Christ reigning on earth. This, like so much else, was also foretold in the Bible prophetically. And Peter understood this, from Psalm 90 at least, and all the day of the Lord prophecies, and because Peter was a Young Earth Creationist as were ALL EARLY CHRISTIANS. And being such, they were in a much better position to understand prophecies, as this same one is explained in Hebrews 4:
Heb 4:1-13, “Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left [us] of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard [it]. For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh[day] on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this [place] again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. For if Joshua had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The point being that the early Christians believed in a time of “rest” that would last a “day” or a thousand years, prior to Revelation being written, and this understanding related to them believing in a literal 7 day creation week, 6 days or 6000 years followed by 1 day or 1000 years of rest, and the “day” of “rest” was drawn from Old Testament prophecies. As such, this points to “the day of the Lord”, if understood as a long period of time, being the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ on earth, which is the “day” of “His rest”, beginning on the 1 day the Lord returns. (Paul also mentioned this “rest” in 2 Thes 1.)
Jesus Christ also seemed to have had this understanding of time being like a 7 day week, calling the time of the resurrection, the day of the Lord, the “last” day.
Jhn 6:39 “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”
Jhn 6:40 “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jhn 6:44 “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jhn 6:54 “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jhn 11:24 “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jhn 12:48 “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
Jesus also seemed to refer to the judgment of the wicked and dead as the “day of judgment”, even though Revelation records this judgment occurs at the end of the millennium, showing Jesus also considered the millennium to be the same “day”, beginning to end. (Jesus Christ Himself also was and is a Young Earth Creationist.)
Mar 6:11 “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.”
Getting back to 2 Peter 3, Peter seems to have understood this, explaining the same thing,
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. [Seeing] then [that] all these things shall be dissolved, what manner [of persons] ought ye to be in [all] holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account [that] the longsuffering of our Lord [is] salvation;”
This passage when cross-referenced with Revelation seems to clearly confirm that the day of the Lord, when understood as a long period of time, is the millennial reign. It is not until the end of the millennial reign (Rev chapters 20-21) when the entire heavens and earth will pass away, and be replaced with a new heavens and new earth. This passage seems to clearly tie the “day of the Lord” beginning with the day of Jesus Christ’s return, together with His 1000 year reign, as both being the day of the Lord, whether 1 day, or 1000 years. But, however, all of this means that the Bible teaches that no time prior to the day of Jesus Christ’s return is “the day of the Lord”.
2 Peter 3 concludes:
“Even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all [his] epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as [they do] also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know [these things] before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and [in] the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him [be] glory both now and for ever. Amen.”
And this warning is just as applicable today as it ever was, and especially applicable if it was targeted especially for Christians at this time, living when these events are soon to take place, who have lost and forgotten so much, as was foretold, as the scriptures show the early Christians knew would someday take place. Peter knew what knowledge would be lost and forgotten, but he may have also known why. Peter seems to have perhaps known that we would have to forget about the flood, and pre-flood world, and the “sons of God” buried alive inside the earth, and that they would be released and the Antichrist would come from them, in order for Jesus’ warnings to be fulfilled that the day would come on us unawares, because they knew that if we knew now what they knew then, the day of the Lord’s return would not catch us by surprise, as we would recognize when the fallen angels had been released.
Similarly, Peter also seems to have known that we would forget about the “day” of “rest” of the Lord being 1000 years, because if we knew that all of time itself was going to be like a 7 day week, as they knew, then surely about 6000 years after the beginning of creation we would know we were on the cusp of the Lord’s return. And so they surely also knew that the Lord would not return for about another 2000 years, 2 days, as they could count from the Bible that only 4 days had passed by their time then. Peter knew the understanding of “the Day of the Lord” being 1000 years, the day of the “Lord’s rest”, like a 7 day week, would likely also be lost, or we would be aware of the time we were in, and be on the alert, which Jesus warned many would not be. And Peter also seems to have known that within the church in these times now, there would be twisting of scriptures by teachers, both of Paul’s letters and all of scripture, as he warned at the end of his letter, in order for knowledge to be lost of the “sons of God” and pre-flood world, “the Assyrian” antichrist released from the Abyss, the 6000 years being followed by 1000 years of the “day” of “rest”, and us being aware of the time we would be in.
John also prophesied of this, that the church would be in poor shape by this time:
Rev 3:14-22 “And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and [that] the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
(See more in this supplementary study on the 7 Church Ages and the only-partial rapture https://www.midnightcry.net/Seven_Letters.htm Note: I disagree with this study on the Laodiceans being defined as charismatic, rather they are defined as blind and rich…)
In the last church age of Laodicea, people’s opinions, we are described to be blind. James seems to have paralleled many of the same themes, regarding the “last days”.
James 5 from 1-9 “Go to now, [ye] rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon [you]. Your riches are corrupted, …Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. …Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. …
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.”
Peter and John (echoed by James) both prophesied the church at the time of Jesus’ return would be full of “scoffers”, “willfully ignorant”, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked.
According to the above linked study, it seems that there are 4 churches in this last age, the Catholics (Thyatira), Protestants (Sardis), those of Laodicea, and those of Philadelphia. According to this study, in the letters, Philadelphia seems to receive the strongest hope of being raptured, only a few of Sardis do also, but the Catholics and especially the Laodiceans do not receive much assurance. It is very possible that Revelation says, regardless of the timing of the rapture (6th Seal), that the timing is not of primary importance, as not all Christians will be raptured when the rapture occurs.
It is “the judge” that “standeth before the door” and “knocks”. The Lord says He will “rebuke and chastise” Laodicea, and in 1 Pet 4:16-19 it says that judgment must begin at the house of God… “Yet if [any man suffer] as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls [to him] in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”
It is not that the Laodiceans will not be saved to eternal life by the Lord Jesus Christ. But it may be they will not be raptured, be rescued, to be spared from the “coming” of the day of the Lord. He will “spit them out of His mouth” and as He loves them, He will “rebuke and chasten” them. Once we are saved, we are always saved. But it may be mainly only those who “overcome” who will be raptured before the events of the trumpets begin to unfold. If this is so, the strongest blanket guarantee is given to those of the church of Philadelphia, of brotherly love. (See The Jesus Style https://servant.org/resources.htm#FreeAudiobooks )
But the rest of the church will be disciplined by remaining here for the trumpets that precede the day of the Lord coming. One could argue, “but we are not appointed to wrath”. If His “Wrath” only takes place on the day of the return of Jesus Christ, if this is the 1 day of His Wrath, then the rest of the events preceding are not yet His wrath, but are the “coming” of His Wrath, before it arrives.
The fact is that the people of the world, the secular people, the rich people and kings, all will fear that the day of wrath has come… and then will decided “nope… that wasn’t it” and will proceed to soon after accept the Antichrist Abaddon and worship him as “god”.
Rev 6:15-17 (6th Seal) “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
Here everyone, the great men, the rich men (including the Laodiceans who Jesus says are rich and blind?) and all the secular kings of the earth (how corrupt are they?) think it is the day of the wrath of the Lord, even these worldly secular kings and rich men,think it is the day of the wrath of the Lord. It is so obvious to everyone, the lost, the rich, the secular world, non-Christians, that this must be the day of the wrath of God.
This is a major hint that this is NOT it, because the majority of people think this is it, and people in this age are defined as being “willfully ignorant” and “blind”. Also, do not forget, Christians were wiped out as martyrs in the 5th Seal, so the people who remain have recently been killing Christians, or are Christians who somehow missed being martyred. What these particular people are recorded to say they think is happening should not influence doctrine on when the day of the Lord’s Wrath takes place. Maybe if it were the 144,000 saying this, but not secular kings, rich men, and those who have recently been slaughtering Christians in the 5thSeal. What they say after killing off Christians in the 5th Seal, in fear Christ is coming for them, should not be an indicator for us that this is when “the day of the Lord” begins, no matter what “day of the Lord” might mean.
The fact that everyone has the expectation that this is the day, compared to Jesus’ warnings that the day would easily catch them unawares, compared to all of the trumpets following this time, show that this is NOT the day of the Lord’s Wrath in any sense. Rather, people who are blind and do not know what is going on will think this is it, when it is not, and then follow the Antichrist soon after this.
The Laodicean church is blind, poor, wretched, and naked, but thinks it is rich and has all it needs. This well describes many churches in this age, which is the age of Laodicea, of “people’s opinions”, in which there are many opinions. Some people are of the opinion that the “tribulation” comes after the rapture of Christians, so Christians do not have to go through tribulation. Other people are of the opinion that the “day of the Lord’s wrath” comes after the 6th Seal and rapture, there is some Christian tribulation or martyrdom, but it’s not the worst of it as we miss the “wrath”. Whether one uses the term “wrath” or “tribulation” to label the worst of it, both of these views attempt to prophesy that Christians will not be here for the worst of it, mainly catering to rich American Christians who are not currently suffering terrible persecution and martyrdom, unlike many Christians around the world who already are. Both of these theories, which avoid Christians being here for the worst of it, are made pointless in what they attempt to prove if in fact the 7 letters specify and warn that not all of the church will be raptured, such as the blind rich opinionated Laodiceans, who are not hot or cold, who He will spit out of His mouth. So unfortunately the truth may be harder than many people think it is.
In conclusion, this study has examined every day of the Lord reference I could find in the Bible, to see if the accompanying Revelation timeline is in accordance with the scriptures, or if something in the scriptures would show it is incorrect. Looking at every reference to the day of the Lord I could find, it seems that the accompanying Revelation timeline has not contradicted or violated any of the scriptures, and in fact seems correct.
Additionally, the Bible itself seems to clearly define the day of the Lord to be the single day of the return of Jesus Christ, as well as having a second prophetic meaning of the millennial reign as the “day” of the Lord’s “rest”, of a 7000 year, 7 day week. Beyond this the early Christians seemed to believe they would be resurrected together with Jesus Christ on the single day of His return and wrath. They also quite possibly were aware that “the Assyrian” or Antichrist would be a fallen angel released from the Abyss, definitely were aware that the day of the Lord’s return was not at hand in their time, seemed to understand there would be 2000 years to go, and anticipated the church would have lost much knowledge by this time now, and what knowledge would be lost. Prophecy of this time expressly warns that the church right now would be “willfully ignorant” and “blind”.
As such, even though this Revelation timeline and related studies might seem ridiculous, absurd, even ludicrous in contradicting the majority of the opinions of Christian teachers in the church today, I can only conclude that this is not a bad thing, as according to the Bible this could only lend more credence to these teachings being correct, and not less. However that cannot matter, as the bottom line and only thing that can matter, is if this Revelation timeline and the accompanying studies line up with the Bible, and are allowable by what the scriptures themselves say, which I hope this study has shown this is in fact the truth.
Thank you for reading.
Paradox Brown
11/22/11
Paradox Brown