-10-
When They Shall Say, 'Peace and Safety' ...
The prophecies that God has put at our fingertips are wonderful. Jesus wants us to be familiar with them. You will have seen by now, that I repeat things quite a bit. Eventually the sequence of events that scripture gives us will begin to become familiar to you. It is at that point that you will have 'eyes to see' what is happening in the world, and how and where it fits in what God has prophesied.
As we have previously seen in scripture, the coming seven year, predicted 'tribulation' period will involve a powerful leader from the North, attempting to become a world leader. After 3 huge battles he will have a measure of success.
After the 3rd battle in which he destroys a super-power from the South he will turn against Israel, killing tens of thousands of Jews and then claiming all of their resources as his own.
In order to conquer Israel he will need help. The scriptures gives us the names of the countries who will support this wicked leader. Take note of the countries that are listed.
Eze 38:3 ... Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
4 And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.
5 Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6 Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes — many peoples are with you.
7 "Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
8 After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples (in 1948) and now dwell securely, all of them.
9 You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.
10 "Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme
11 and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ (this is not the case yet)
12 to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.
13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’
14 ¶ "Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it?
15 You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses (literally?), a great host, a mighty army.
16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
If you were to do an internet search of Ezekiel 38 and select 'images', you will see some very clear maps indicating the various nations surrounding Israel.
Remember, the God-believing Jews will be safe at this point. They will have fled the area at the mid-way point of the tribulation. The Jews who will be conquered here in this 4th conflict of the tribulation will be the atheistic Jews who had previously completely accepted this 'King of the North' as their benefactor and protector.
This battle will not be hindered or influenced in any way by the southern superpower … because the Southern power will be gone... having been wiped out in Battle 3 of the tribulation. So why will the 'King of the North' require all this 'help'?
I think the reason is, that Israel has a very sophisticated, powerful military known as the IDF.
The New York Post has said that Israel has “One of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world ...” That is quite a statement! At present Iran fires rockets into Israel frequently but according to sources there … none of them ever reach the ground. Prophecy speaker and resident of Galilee, Amir Tsarfati, claims that Israel, right now, is the safest place in the middle east.
Presently America stands with Israel as a force in the background, helping to support and endorse their place in the middle east. But as we can see in Daniel's prophecy, America will not be connected with Israel during the tribulation period.
Presently, America is the greatest superpower ever. The population of earth is greater than it has ever been, its military powers are equally great, but at this point in history, America stands as the country that more or less keeps the world in check. But that will change in the future.
Up to now I have only hinted at who the Northern power and the Southern powers might be today.
We are left with two choices of interpretation. Either the Kings of the North and South represent local powers … that is, perhaps Turkey in the north, and Egypt in the South, that is one option, or these kings represent present day superpowers.
I choose the latter because I simply cannot imagine some local powers battling over Israel, while the superpowers sit by and watch.
We don't really have a balance of powers in our world today. Quite clearly America is the greatest military power in the world today.
Russia has bounced back somewhat and is also very powerful. China is huge and is the third superpower to create and stockpile nuclear weapons.
But America, not the United Nations, currently keeps a check on the world. The reason goes further, I think, than just shear numbers. The other militaries have huge numbers of tanks, incredibly large armies, sophisticated aircraft etc. etc. But America has one up on them, and that is the dollar. Maintaining the right to, in a great sense, set the currency in the world, gives them a tremendous advantage in exercising control.
I would like to move on to another section of scripture to verify everything that we have been seeing here.
Daniel clearly shows the main 'players' or characters of the end time to be two kings and their respective allies.
Ezekiel identifies some countries and a 'king' from the north who will move against Israel at the very end.
So here is the question … can we find the same players in Revelation's account of the final seven years?
Let's have a look.
Just like Daniel's prophecies were given in 'layers', that is he gives an end-time prophecy that deals with the last days. And then he gives another prophecy dealing with exactly the same time period, but this time adds more details … and then does it again - so also in Revelation.
We start with John witnessing the opening of a book that contains details of the last days.
The book has been sealed with seven seals.
John sees the first seal broken, the scroll unrolled up to the point of the second seal, and then John describes what he saw. The opening of the first seal revealed a white horse and rider coming across his landscape. The rider was out to conquer. He is holding a 'bow'. But there is no mention of his having any arrows.
Compare this to Daniel's prophecy. The first thing we see is a conquering king who does so with slipperiness and flattery. No horse and no arrows, like the rider of the white horse in Revelation, but, nevertheless a conqueror who seems like a 'good guy'.. White represents the 'good guys'. This is a false 'good guy'.
In Daniel, within a year, this (phony) good peaceful leader will declare war against the king of the south.
In Revelation, the next thing John sees is a red horse and rider who 'takes peace from the earth'. He is given a sword … and the death toll of the earth begins to rise. This is Daniel's war #1 as the King of the North attacks the king of the South and almost takes him out.
Next in Revelation is seen a black horse coming across in front of John's field of vision.
Let's read these verses so far.
Re 6:1 ¶ Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"
2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
3 ¶ When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"
4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.
6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!"
The statement in verse 4 'take peace from the earth' could bear some extra comment. Apostle Paul said in 1Th 5:3 When men are saying "Peace and security," catastrophe will sweep down upon them as suddenly and inescapably as birth-pangs to a pregnant woman.
Previously we noted the descriptive term which is given to the 'early' signs of the end. Some of these signs are around us today. When the tribulation actually begins, the signs … birth-pangs continue. Interestingly, Paul's observation, 'When people are saying “Peace, Security”, sudden destruction will come', is included as a 'birth-pang'.
Similar to what we have noted regarding earthquakes as one of the signs … there have been earthquakes in various places and times all through-out history. For Jesus to offer this as one of the 'signs' means that the increase and frequency of earthquake activity will be totally obvious. So too, people have been talking about peace and security all through-out history. The talk of peace and security in the middle east has been the focus for years.
So what significance does Paul's statement really have? Much, really. When the King of the North will make his conniving, slippery, smooth-talking pact * with Israel, the world will be saying, “Yes! Finally!”
Apparently the peace agreement with Israel is seen as a wonderful thing all around the world. It looks like the world will be heaving a sigh of relief and thankfulness for the security they are feeling.
This is what Paul is addressing as he says, 'When men are saying “Peace and Security” … it is just a short year later that the King of the North will bring catastrophe on the countries of the King of the South. All peace and security will seem to have vanished at that point.
Let's look again at the opening of the 3rd seal in Revelation 6.
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.
6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!"
What we are reading about is the natural result of a battle of these epic proportions. Famine and deprivation like this will be felt all over much of the world.
The opening of the 4th seal reveals the extent and intensity of war between the King of the North and the King of the South. After the first war, Daniel says that they both will sit a table … obviously to have a peace talk. But they will both lie. The results of that first war will leave much of the world lacking the comforts of life that they were used to, as we have just read in verses 5 and 6.
Now, in verses 7 and 8 we read about Daniel's battle #2. This is a great battle, you remember, and the result was that the King of the South was somewhat prepared for the attack. After a great battle, the King of the North will have to retreat. As he retreats he will visit Israel and, as we previously noted, will break his agreement which had given the Jews the freedom to build a temple and institute temple worship … he will put a stop to the sacrificing … and will sit in the temple and declare himself to be god.
So to backtrack just a bit … what does Daniel's battle #2 look like in Revelation? Here it is:
Re 6:7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"
8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
Just look at how serious this is! The very names given to the rider underscore this. Death and Hell.
One quarter of the earth's population is killed in this war. And the King of the North retreats.
Here is the verse in Daniel 11: “For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.
A quarter of the earth will die. And he will not have succeeded as planned. And he will be angry. He will negotiate with the atheistic Jews. He will get support for his next move … and take away the daily sacrifices and claim to be god.
Da 11:31 “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
The God-believing Jews will run for their lives. And the King of the North/Anti-Christ will turn his wrath against Christians.
We can read about this in the opening of the next seal in Revelation.
Re 6:9 ¶ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.
Believers in Jesus will be arriving in heaven at an escalated rate.
Re 6:10 They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
The answer to their question is … just under 1260 days.
Daniel described the events of this fifth seal this way:
Da 11:32 … but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
We will leave it here for now.
To recap -
King of the North will have come upon the scene, creating peace by using flatteries and deceit -
This is Seal 1-White horse of Rev 6.
The King of the North removes peace when he attacks King of the South
this is Seal 2, -Red horse of Rev 6
Famine conditions over most of the world
Seal 3 - Black horse of Rev 6
Final results of casualties of war #2 in Daniel –
This is Seal 4, Pale horse ( ¼ of population dies)
The King of the North ...
- will violate the treaty made with the God-believing Jews
- will desecrate the temple,
- will attempt to destroy God-believing Jews
- will go after Christians to destroy them.
This is Seal 5 - Rev 6. Many souls seen before the altar in heaven.
In the previous chapter, I included war #3 in which the King of the South gets destroyed. I also included conflict #4 in which the King of the North kills tens of thousands of Jews in Israel, as per Ezekiel's prophecy.
In the next chapter we will take a closer look at these and examine them in Revelation also. I believe you will find the 'big picture' quite interesting.
For this time I will leave off with the opening verse.
1Th 5:3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Of the signs Jesus told us to watch for, including moral decay in the world, lawlessness, increase of famine, pestilence and earthquakes, perverted gender identifies, complacency in churches, … the quest for true safety and security in Israel and the world is a clear and important one for us to monitor.
Jesus is coming soon. We must be ready. Our lamps must be trimmed and bright. This has to do with our holding up of the gospel. It will be too late soon.
As we faithfully hold up the light to a fallen world we can come to the place that apostle John did … so that we too can say, 'Come quickly Lord Jesus'.
As we have previously seen in scripture, the coming seven year, predicted 'tribulation' period will involve a powerful leader from the North, attempting to become a world leader. After 3 huge battles he will have a measure of success.
After the 3rd battle in which he destroys a super-power from the South he will turn against Israel, killing tens of thousands of Jews and then claiming all of their resources as his own.
In order to conquer Israel he will need help. The scriptures gives us the names of the countries who will support this wicked leader. Take note of the countries that are listed.
Eze 38:3 ... Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
4 And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.
5 Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6 Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes — many peoples are with you.
7 "Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
8 After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples (in 1948) and now dwell securely, all of them.
9 You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.
10 "Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme
11 and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ (this is not the case yet)
12 to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.
13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’
14 ¶ "Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it?
15 You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses (literally?), a great host, a mighty army.
16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
If you were to do an internet search of Ezekiel 38 and select 'images', you will see some very clear maps indicating the various nations surrounding Israel.
Remember, the God-believing Jews will be safe at this point. They will have fled the area at the mid-way point of the tribulation. The Jews who will be conquered here in this 4th conflict of the tribulation will be the atheistic Jews who had previously completely accepted this 'King of the North' as their benefactor and protector.
This battle will not be hindered or influenced in any way by the southern superpower … because the Southern power will be gone... having been wiped out in Battle 3 of the tribulation. So why will the 'King of the North' require all this 'help'?
I think the reason is, that Israel has a very sophisticated, powerful military known as the IDF.
The New York Post has said that Israel has “One of the most technologically advanced militaries in the world ...” That is quite a statement! At present Iran fires rockets into Israel frequently but according to sources there … none of them ever reach the ground. Prophecy speaker and resident of Galilee, Amir Tsarfati, claims that Israel, right now, is the safest place in the middle east.
Presently America stands with Israel as a force in the background, helping to support and endorse their place in the middle east. But as we can see in Daniel's prophecy, America will not be connected with Israel during the tribulation period.
Presently, America is the greatest superpower ever. The population of earth is greater than it has ever been, its military powers are equally great, but at this point in history, America stands as the country that more or less keeps the world in check. But that will change in the future.
Up to now I have only hinted at who the Northern power and the Southern powers might be today.
We are left with two choices of interpretation. Either the Kings of the North and South represent local powers … that is, perhaps Turkey in the north, and Egypt in the South, that is one option, or these kings represent present day superpowers.
I choose the latter because I simply cannot imagine some local powers battling over Israel, while the superpowers sit by and watch.
We don't really have a balance of powers in our world today. Quite clearly America is the greatest military power in the world today.
Russia has bounced back somewhat and is also very powerful. China is huge and is the third superpower to create and stockpile nuclear weapons.
But America, not the United Nations, currently keeps a check on the world. The reason goes further, I think, than just shear numbers. The other militaries have huge numbers of tanks, incredibly large armies, sophisticated aircraft etc. etc. But America has one up on them, and that is the dollar. Maintaining the right to, in a great sense, set the currency in the world, gives them a tremendous advantage in exercising control.
I would like to move on to another section of scripture to verify everything that we have been seeing here.
Daniel clearly shows the main 'players' or characters of the end time to be two kings and their respective allies.
Ezekiel identifies some countries and a 'king' from the north who will move against Israel at the very end.
So here is the question … can we find the same players in Revelation's account of the final seven years?
Let's have a look.
Just like Daniel's prophecies were given in 'layers', that is he gives an end-time prophecy that deals with the last days. And then he gives another prophecy dealing with exactly the same time period, but this time adds more details … and then does it again - so also in Revelation.
We start with John witnessing the opening of a book that contains details of the last days.
The book has been sealed with seven seals.
John sees the first seal broken, the scroll unrolled up to the point of the second seal, and then John describes what he saw. The opening of the first seal revealed a white horse and rider coming across his landscape. The rider was out to conquer. He is holding a 'bow'. But there is no mention of his having any arrows.
Compare this to Daniel's prophecy. The first thing we see is a conquering king who does so with slipperiness and flattery. No horse and no arrows, like the rider of the white horse in Revelation, but, nevertheless a conqueror who seems like a 'good guy'.. White represents the 'good guys'. This is a false 'good guy'.
In Daniel, within a year, this (phony) good peaceful leader will declare war against the king of the south.
In Revelation, the next thing John sees is a red horse and rider who 'takes peace from the earth'. He is given a sword … and the death toll of the earth begins to rise. This is Daniel's war #1 as the King of the North attacks the king of the South and almost takes him out.
Next in Revelation is seen a black horse coming across in front of John's field of vision.
Let's read these verses so far.
Re 6:1 ¶ Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, "Come!"
2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
3 ¶ When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, "Come!"
4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.
6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!"
The statement in verse 4 'take peace from the earth' could bear some extra comment. Apostle Paul said in 1Th 5:3 When men are saying "Peace and security," catastrophe will sweep down upon them as suddenly and inescapably as birth-pangs to a pregnant woman.
Previously we noted the descriptive term which is given to the 'early' signs of the end. Some of these signs are around us today. When the tribulation actually begins, the signs … birth-pangs continue. Interestingly, Paul's observation, 'When people are saying “Peace, Security”, sudden destruction will come', is included as a 'birth-pang'.
Similar to what we have noted regarding earthquakes as one of the signs … there have been earthquakes in various places and times all through-out history. For Jesus to offer this as one of the 'signs' means that the increase and frequency of earthquake activity will be totally obvious. So too, people have been talking about peace and security all through-out history. The talk of peace and security in the middle east has been the focus for years.
So what significance does Paul's statement really have? Much, really. When the King of the North will make his conniving, slippery, smooth-talking pact * with Israel, the world will be saying, “Yes! Finally!”
Apparently the peace agreement with Israel is seen as a wonderful thing all around the world. It looks like the world will be heaving a sigh of relief and thankfulness for the security they are feeling.
This is what Paul is addressing as he says, 'When men are saying “Peace and Security” … it is just a short year later that the King of the North will bring catastrophe on the countries of the King of the South. All peace and security will seem to have vanished at that point.
Let's look again at the opening of the 3rd seal in Revelation 6.
5 When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come!" And I looked, and behold, a black horse! And its rider had a pair of scales in his hand.
6 And I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures, saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine!"
What we are reading about is the natural result of a battle of these epic proportions. Famine and deprivation like this will be felt all over much of the world.
The opening of the 4th seal reveals the extent and intensity of war between the King of the North and the King of the South. After the first war, Daniel says that they both will sit a table … obviously to have a peace talk. But they will both lie. The results of that first war will leave much of the world lacking the comforts of life that they were used to, as we have just read in verses 5 and 6.
Now, in verses 7 and 8 we read about Daniel's battle #2. This is a great battle, you remember, and the result was that the King of the South was somewhat prepared for the attack. After a great battle, the King of the North will have to retreat. As he retreats he will visit Israel and, as we previously noted, will break his agreement which had given the Jews the freedom to build a temple and institute temple worship … he will put a stop to the sacrificing … and will sit in the temple and declare himself to be god.
So to backtrack just a bit … what does Daniel's battle #2 look like in Revelation? Here it is:
Re 6:7 When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, "Come!"
8 And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.
Just look at how serious this is! The very names given to the rider underscore this. Death and Hell.
One quarter of the earth's population is killed in this war. And the King of the North retreats.
Here is the verse in Daniel 11: “For ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant.
A quarter of the earth will die. And he will not have succeeded as planned. And he will be angry. He will negotiate with the atheistic Jews. He will get support for his next move … and take away the daily sacrifices and claim to be god.
Da 11:31 “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation.
The God-believing Jews will run for their lives. And the King of the North/Anti-Christ will turn his wrath against Christians.
We can read about this in the opening of the next seal in Revelation.
Re 6:9 ¶ When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne.
Believers in Jesus will be arriving in heaven at an escalated rate.
Re 6:10 They cried out with a loud voice, "O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
The answer to their question is … just under 1260 days.
Daniel described the events of this fifth seal this way:
Da 11:32 … but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days.
We will leave it here for now.
To recap -
King of the North will have come upon the scene, creating peace by using flatteries and deceit -
This is Seal 1-White horse of Rev 6.
The King of the North removes peace when he attacks King of the South
this is Seal 2, -Red horse of Rev 6
Famine conditions over most of the world
Seal 3 - Black horse of Rev 6
Final results of casualties of war #2 in Daniel –
This is Seal 4, Pale horse ( ¼ of population dies)
The King of the North ...
- will violate the treaty made with the God-believing Jews
- will desecrate the temple,
- will attempt to destroy God-believing Jews
- will go after Christians to destroy them.
This is Seal 5 - Rev 6. Many souls seen before the altar in heaven.
In the previous chapter, I included war #3 in which the King of the South gets destroyed. I also included conflict #4 in which the King of the North kills tens of thousands of Jews in Israel, as per Ezekiel's prophecy.
In the next chapter we will take a closer look at these and examine them in Revelation also. I believe you will find the 'big picture' quite interesting.
For this time I will leave off with the opening verse.
1Th 5:3 While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labour pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
Of the signs Jesus told us to watch for, including moral decay in the world, lawlessness, increase of famine, pestilence and earthquakes, perverted gender identifies, complacency in churches, … the quest for true safety and security in Israel and the world is a clear and important one for us to monitor.
Jesus is coming soon. We must be ready. Our lamps must be trimmed and bright. This has to do with our holding up of the gospel. It will be too late soon.
As we faithfully hold up the light to a fallen world we can come to the place that apostle John did … so that we too can say, 'Come quickly Lord Jesus'.