"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. . . ." (Revelation 6:12)
The two passages of Scripture, above quoted, describe a particular set of celestial phenomena which, when those occur together at the same time, signifies one and the same prophetic Event. That combination of celestial phenomena, I have elsewhere called the "Cosmic Sign". And that great Event--which is signified by the occurrence of the Cosmic Sign, is, the Rapture of the Church.
Thus, the appearing of--let us call it the 'sign' of the Black Sun, is, to the true Church, a singularly most important, visible sign of HOPE. For--if we actually get to see the sign of the Black Sun while still in our mortal bodies, it shall be the very last thing we shall see with our natural eyes, in this present world, before we are raptured to be with the Lord. Or, if the Rapture may occur hours or, perhaps, some number of days prior to the solar blackout above described (something far more significant than any ordinary solar eclipse, I believe), then, even the approach of some other, celestial body--which appears likely to cause such a phenomenon (solar blackout), should bring great joy and hope to the expectant (and well informed) Believer.
But I want to focus on the phrase, in the first of the above-quoted Scriptures, "after the tribulation of those days". A very close examination of the "seals" (in the sixth-thru-eighth chapters of the Revelation), when correlated with a certain sequence of events in modern history (circa 1850 until now), reveals that we are now living in the days of the Fifth Seal. That is to say, that the first five of the Seven Seals (in Revelation) have already been "opened"; meaning, that the events foretold in the description of those seals, respectively, have already occurred (and are still occurring), in recent history.
Thus we are right now living in the "days" of the Fifth Seal. Nor was the Fifth Seal "opened" yesterday. But in order for us to be capable to discern that that Seal has, in fact, been "opened", an unprecedented number of Christian martyrs must first have been slain--in proportion to a relatively brief period of time; thus, establishing a record-setting rate of persecution of Christian persons. That "record-setting rate" was, in fact, established, during the last century. In confirmation of the fact, that the Fifth Seal has already been "opened", the slaughter and persecution of Christians continues, and at an ever increasing rate--beyond the all-time record set in the twentieth-century.
Importantly, the sign of the Black Sun--in conjunction with several other cosmic events (as described above), signifies the opening of the Sixth Seal: as is explicitly stated, in the second of the above-quoted verses. Though I do not have the time to explain it, here, I will simply state that the first of the Seven Seals was "opened" in the mid-1800's. As I did just explain, too, it required no little amount of time, in order for the events of the Fifth Seal to unfold substantially enough so that it then became possible to discern that the Fifth Seal had in fact been "opened". In other words, considering that the first five Seals were "opened" within the space of about 125 or so years (1850-1975); and, that it must now have been at least 40 years or so since the last of those five seals was "opened": how close, indeed, must we now be to the "opening" of the Sixth Seal?
Doesn't the thought of that thrill you? It should--if you are ready for Christ to come.
Yet, I said, above, that I want to focus on the phrase, "after the tribulation of those days". Do I mean that the sign of the Black Sun is going to occur after the Tribulation--and, therefore, that the Rapture of the Church must be post-Tribulation? Is the faithful Church going to have to go through the Tribulation? Absolutely NOT. Nevertheless, misunderstanding that phrase, "after the tribulation...", is one of the principal reasons why it is that so much confusion has arisen, concerning the time when the Rapture shall occur.
It is obvious, from the two Scriptures above quoted, that the sign of the Black Sun occurs simultaneous with the "opening" of the Sixth Seal. And since the sign of the Black Sun is prophesied to occur "after the tribulation of those days", therefore, many mistakenly attribute the opening of the Seven Seals to occur during the Tribulation. And, yet, without exception, everyone who claims that the Seven Seals belong to the Tribulation period, agree that the Seven Seals are the first in a series of divine judgments during that seven-year period.
How, then, could the Black Sun (the Sixth Seal) appear "after the Tribulation" (capital 'T'), if--as almost all teachers of Bible prophecy claim--the Seven Seals occur at the beginning of the Tribulation? It cannot be. And it cannot be, because, it is not true.
The phrase, "after the tribulation [lower case 't'] of those days", is a reference to THESE days--that is to say, the days which Jesus called "the beginning of sorrows": that is, from the opening of the First Seal (circa 1850) until now (the Fifth Seal having been opened for at least 40 years). "After the tribulation of those days"; that is to say, after:
- (First Seal): a tsunami of spiritual deception has been unleashed against the Christian Church--from within (beginning circa 1850);
- (Second Seal): the whole world has been set aflame with unprecedented wars (WWI, WWII, et al);
- (Third Seal): unprecedented period of famine has killed record numbers of souls: more famine-related deaths occurred between 1920-1969 than occurred in all nineteen centuries since Christ;
- (Fourth Seal): record-setting destruction and death due to (un)natural disasters (large earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, typhoons, etc.); and, diverse plagues: (300 Million smallpox deaths in late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries); AIDS; influenza pandemics; et al; and, phenomenal increase in demonic activity throughout the world;
- (Fifth Seal): unprecedented numbers (and ratio) of Christian martyrs, and widespread persecution of Christians.
Those events, just described, signify--for the inhabitants of the world who are not ready for the Lord's coming, the beginning of the Tribulation.
But for the faithful Remnant--those of us who are earnestly looking for Jesus Christ to come and receive us in the Rapture, those same events, including the sign of the Black Sun, signify the end of our days of tribulation. The Sixth Seal shall be "opened" "...after the tribulation of those days".
I am certain--based upon what the Holy Ghost has taught me, in Scripture, that "those days" are almost over. And have not "those days" (modern times) been, for true Christians, days of great tribulation? When Jesus himself said to the Church, "In the world ye shall have tribulation" (John 16:33); did he mean that only those Christians who would be alive at the very end of this Age would have to suffer during a brief seven-year time period in which the Antichrist would then reign on earth? Or, was Jesus instead referring to the fact that, for true Christians, living in this "present evil world" (Galatians 1:4) would entail "great tribulation" (Revelation 7:14)? Surely, every reasonable person will recognize the indisputable fact, that the twentieth-century and onward has been a time of tribulation unlike any other time in human history. And it is steadily growing worse and worse, to the point that, now, there remains no sanctuary in the earth.
"When these things begin to come to pass", Jesus said, "then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28). In order to "look up", doesn't one necessarily have to lift up his or her head? Why is the sentence so constructed? I believe Jesus is trying to tell us something, besides the obvious. The first part of the sentence, "When these things begin to come to pass", is a reference to the events of the first five Seals (as I have discussed). When you see those things come to pass (they are not only fulfilled, but they are still ongoing--which is the nature of all the events associated with the seals): "THEN look up". In other words, the final "sign" of Christ's soon appearing is not something which shall appear on earth, amongst men; but the final sign is one which shall appear in the heavens above! The first five Seals all had to do with events on the earth. But the last sign, to the Church, is an heavenly one. How fitting.
"Then look up, and lift up your heads". I believe Jesus is thus telling us to BE ENCOURAGED, by seeing evidences of the near-approaching of the Rapture; in order as we are enabled by God to perceive and to discern the "signs" of the time of our visitation.
Within the past 2-3 years, there has been occurring a phenomenon not only involving increasing interest in 'something' (like "Planet X", or "Nibiru", or "Wormwood") . . . 'out there in space' . . . approaching earth. Moreover--and FAR more important, within that same time period, the Holy Ghost has been unveiling (to me, at least) certain revelation in Scripture; which, knowledge, not only corresponds, essentially, to what thus far has amounted to so much 'speculation' by a number of persons, including many who are not Christians, regarding a soon-coming cosmic cataclysm. But the Holy Ghost has furthermore revealed to me, in Scripture, a remarkably clear picture of what is actually (and soon) coming towards earth, from the outer regions of our solar system, and which shall produce exactly those events described in the passages of Scripture quoted at the head of this essay (and even more catastrophic events than what are there described).
In light of the revelation I have received from God, pertaining to the Seven Seals (http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Seals-Prophecy-History/dp/0692245707/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457700512&sr=8-1&keywords=randy+wills+the+seven+seals+in+prophecy); and, in light of the revelation I have more recently received from God, pertaining to prophecies of Scripture related to events associated with the Sixth Seal, in particular; and, finally, in light of the phenomenal increase of interest in Planet-X, or Nibiru, or Wormwood (as that is variously called): I am persuaded that God is, in fact, giving--to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear--clear and abundant evidences of Christ's very soon coming for the Church.
I have even gone so far as to discuss with my own children and grandchildren, in great detail, what they are to expect when (soon) they shall begin to hear news reports (in mainstream media) related to a hitherto-unknown object in space, approaching earth. I explained to them that, whereas such news shall cause great fear and panic amongst the world's inhabitants, yet, those very same new reports shall be, to us, a reason for great rejoicing--as we shall then know more perfectly that the Rapture is truly imminent.
For some, this present world is the only heaven they shall ever know. But for others--that is, for faithful Christians, this present world is the only hell we shall ever know. And, thanks be to God! the days of our tribulation are almost over. And after our tribulation is over, the Tribulation of the world shall then begin--in the fury of God's wrath.
I think that, from now on, whenever anyone wants to argue with me about the relative time of the Rapture, I'm going to answer thus: "The Rapture is post-mid-pre-tribulation". You figure out what I mean by that. And if you know the truth, the riddle is simple.
But if you haven't figured it out before the Black Sun appears in the noon-day sky, it will be way too late for you, then.
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