Nuclear War - Tumblr Posts

Mushroom cloud over Nagasaki, 9 August 1945

i think at the end of every war they should dump a cooler full of blood on the president

Just got better, more terrifying, and a more important lesson:

“In a 2013 interview, Petrov said at the time he was never sure that the alarm was erroneous. He felt that his civilian training helped him make the right decision. His colleagues were all professional soldiers with purely military training and, following instructions, would have reported a missile strike if they had been on his shift.” (Wikipedia, from BBC)

happy Stanislav Petrov Saves The World Day

On September 26, 1983, Duty Officer Stanislav Petrov, stationed at the Oko nuclear early-warning system command center, saw that his computer system was reporting that six missiles had been launched from the United States towards Russia.

Mr. Petrov correctly judged that the system was experiencing a malfunction and that the missile strike was a false alarm, and did not call for retaliatory launches of Soviet missiles, thereby preventing what would have been large-scale nuclear war.

I am very glad of Stanislav Petrov.

Why are they mining so much right now?

The New Republic

First They Mined for the Atomic Bomb. Now They’re Mining for E.V.s.

Miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo face few protections in the global rush for metals for the energy transition—as well as a toxic l

Cobalt has become the center of a major upsurge in mining in Congo, and the rapid acceleration of cobalt extraction in the region since 2013 has brought hundreds of thousands of people into intimate contact with a powerful melange of toxic metals. The frantic pace of cobalt extraction in Katanga bears close resemblance to another period of rapid exploitation of Congolese mineral resources: During the last few years of World War II, the U.S. government sourced the majority of the uranium necessary to develop the first atomic weapons from a single Congolese mine, named Shinkolobwe. The largely forgotten story of those miners, and the devastating health and ecological impacts uranium production had on Congo, looms over the country now as cobalt mining accelerates to feed the renewable energy boom—with little to no protections for workers involved in the trade.

The city of Kolwezi, which is 300 km (186 miles) northwest of Lubumbashi and 180 km from the now-abandoned Shinkolobwe mine, sits on top of nearly half of the available cobalt in the world. The scope of the contemporary scramble for that metal in Katanga has totally transformed the region. Enormous open-pit mines worked by tens of thousands of miners form vast craters in the landscape and are slowly erasing the city itself.

[...]Much of the cobalt in Congo is mined by hand: Workers scour the surface level seams with picks, shovels, and lengths of rebar, sometimes tunneling by hand 60 feet or more into the earth in pursuit of a vein of ore. This is referred to as artisanal mining, as opposed to the industrial mining carried out by large firms. The thousands of artisanal miners who work at the edges of the formal mines run by big industrial concerns make up 90 percent of the nation’s mining workforce and produce 30 percent of its metals. Artisanal mining is not as efficient as larger-scale industrial mining, but since the miners produce good-quality ore with zero investment in tools, infrastructure, or safety, the ore they sell to buyers is as cheap as it gets. Forced and child labor in the supply chain is not uncommon here, thanks in part to a significant lack of controls and regulations on artisanal mining from the government.

[...]When later atomic research found that uranium’s unstable nucleus could be used to make a powerful bomb, the U.S. Army’s Manhattan Project began searching for a reliable source of uranium. They found it through Union Minière, which sold the United States the first 1,000 tons it needed to get the bomb effort off the ground.

The Manhattan Project sent agents of the OSS, precursor to the CIA, to Congo from 1943 to 1945 to supervise the reopening of the mine and the extraction of Shinkolobwe’s ore—and to make sure none of it fell into the hands of the Axis powers. Every piece of rock that emerged from the mine for almost two decades was purchased by the Manhattan Project and its successors in the Atomic Energy Commission, until the mine was closed by the Belgian authorities on the eve of Congolese independence in 1960. After that, the colonial mining enterprise Union Minière became the national minerals conglomerate Gécamines, which retained much of the original structure and staff.

[...]Dr. Lubaba showed me the small battery-operated Geiger counters that he uses in the field to measure radioactivity. He had begun the process of trying to find and interview the descendants of the Shinkolobwe miners, but he explained that tracing the health consequences of working in that specific mine would be difficult: Many long-established villages in the area have been demolished and cast apart as cobalt extraction has torn through the landscape. His initial inquiries suggested that at least some of the descendants of the Shinkolobwe miners had been drawn into the maelstrom of digging in the region around Kolwezi.

In her book Being Nuclear: Africans and the Global Uranium Trade, historian Gabrielle Hecht recounts the U.S. Public Health Service’s efforts to investigate the effects of uranium exposure on people who worked closely with the metal and the ore that bore it. In 1956, a team of medical researchers from the PHS paid a visit to Shinkolobwe while the mine was still producing more than half of the uranium used in America’s Cold War missile programs. Most of their questions went unanswered, however, as Shinkolobwe’s operators had few official records to share and stopped responding to communications as soon as the researchers left.

[...]“Don’t ever use that word in anybody’s presence. Not ever!” Williams quotes OSS agent Wilbur Hogue snapping at a subordinate who had said the mine’s name in a café in Congo’s capital. “There’s something in that mine that both the United States and Germany want more than anything else in the world. I don’t know what it’s for. We’re not supposed to know.”

Don't really know what to call this

75 years ago, on August 6th, 1945, the USAAF dropped the first nuclear bomb ever on the city of Hiroshima.

The level of destruction was incomparable: black rain fell from the sky, some drank it, throats dry because of the smoke and the boiling heat in the air- they died soon. Little kids ran down the streets screaming and looking for their homes, many of which weren't even there anymore. People died on the sidewalks, on the river banks, crying, coughing up blood- they died alone. Survivors and their families are still paying the price of the abhorrent crime against humanity that President Truman committed.

I've had the honor of visiting Hiroshima almost two years ago, and I remember I was overjoyed to witness that it's one of the liveliest cities ever, where the people are kind and happy; they decided not to forget, but to move on nonetheless. The buildings that survived the explosion, like the famous 原爆ドーム (Genbaku Dome, the A-bomb Dome.) are kept as a reminder of the cruelties that men can do, but also of where Hiroshima started again. I've talked to some citizens, and even if they were all in their 30s (so, young.) I was told the same thing: to never forget, but to never dwell in the past either, or you won't move onwards and will only do more harm.

I can't wait to go there again with the Erasmus Programme; among all the places I've visited, Hiroshima is certainly one my first three favourites.

May humanity never forget and learn from the past, to have a better future.

(i do not own these pictures)

there are actually TWO countries that have used nuclear weapons in war. the second is france, which did “strategic nuclear testing” in algeria during and after the algerian war of independence.

"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

What is the Abomination of Desolation?

By Author Eli Kittim

Given that wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, pandemics, and increased lawlessness are not necessarily signs of the prophesied endtimes, since they’re arguably common in human history, there is nevertheless one sign that is unique to the imminent coming of Christ, namely, the sign of *the abomination of desolation* that is mentioned in Mark 13.14!

The Lukan “Desolation” Begins After Jerusalem Is Surrounded by Encamped Armies

The abomination of desolation is also mentioned in Matthew, but in Luke 21.20-21 (NRSV) we get additional information:

When you see Jerusalem surrounded by

armies, then know that its desolation has

come near. Then those in Judea must flee

to the mountains, and those inside the city

must leave it, and those out in the country

must not enter it.

The key words of the Greek text are κυκλουμένην ὑπὸ στρατοπέδων Ἰερουσαλήμ (Lk 21.20). The term κυκλουμένην means encircled or surrounded. The word ὑπὸ means “by” or “under,” while the word στρατοπέδων is a reference to military bases, camps, or encamped armies. Thus, this verse is explicitly telling us that when you see Jerusalem (Ἰερουσαλήμ) being encircled or surrounded by encamped armies, military bases or camps, “know that its desolation has come near.”

Luke further warns that when the inhabitants first see the encircled armies, “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.” Matthew 24.15-16 similarly says:

So when you see the desolating sacrilege

standing in the holy place, as was spoken of

by the prophet Daniel [9.27] (let the reader

understand), then those in Judea must flee

to the mountains.

So what Matthew calls “the desolating sacrilege,” Luke calls *surrounding armies* which bring about Jerusalem’s desolation. The so-called “holy place” may simply be a general reference to the Holy Land, especially since there is no Temple in Israel at present, nor is one expected in the foreseeable future, given that the erection of a Jewish Temple would necessitate the demolition of both the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqṣā Mosque.

When Daniel refers to the Antichrist, saying that “at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation” (9.27), it could be a reference to a nuclear warhead that might be stored or set up on the *Temple Mount,* a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem that is traditionally venerated as a holy site by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. The Temple Mount can certainly be referred to as a “holy place” (or as “the temple” for short). Continuing with the narrative, Matthew 24.21 (cf. Dan. 12.1) says:

For at that time there will be great suffering

[great tribulation], such as has not been

from the beginning of the world until now,

no, and never will be.

So, this “desolation” is an obvious reference to weapons of war and mass destruction, not to some sort of benign religious ritual that takes place inside a literal temple, as most Christian interpretations would have it. In other words, it isn’t simply offensive to religious sensibilities but rather deadly, lethal, and destructive. And this particular meaning would certainly conform to the usage of the term “desolation” in Scripture (see e.g. Ezek. 15.8; 33.29; Dan. 9.18; Zech. 7.14; Mt. 23.38). After all, the dictionary meaning of the word “desolation” is utter devastation, ruin, and destruction, or a barren wasteland.

Similarly, the definition of the word “sacrilege” is a violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred. This can certainly take the form of irreverence to sacred places. Nuclear weapons stored at a sacred site——like the Temple Mount, for example——would be a sacrilege (cf. Dan. 11.31). Such an act would be an abomination, that is to say, something that is decidedly disgraceful and horrific.

For those who are unsure as to whether the abomination of desolation already happened or not (i.e. whether it’s past or future), see my article “Preterism Debunked”: https://eli-kittim.tumblr.com/post/633828381376544768/preterism-debunked

Eli of Kittim

PRETERISM DEBUNKED

By Eli Kittim ——- Was 70 CE the Worst Period Ever in the History of the Earth? In talking about the great ordeal ( aka “the great tribulat

Is Zechariah Describing a Nuclear Attack Similar to that of Ezekiel 38 & 39?

There is a passage in Zechariah 14 that explicitly refers to the end-time when God will finally reign supreme (v. 9):

the Lord will become king over all the earth;

on that day the Lord will be one and his

name one.

Zechariah 14 is seemingly talking about the same climactic time-period that Matthew & Luke are describing. For example, Zechariah 14.1-2 mentions a unique “day [that] is coming” (cf. v.4 “On that day”) when God “will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle.” It issues the same caveat that we find in Luke, including a near verbal agreement, namely, that “you shall flee by the valley of the Lord's mountain” (v. 5) at that time (cf. Lk 21.21). In other words, it’s warning people to escape the blast radius. If that is the case, then it would be appropriate to discuss the aftereffects of that war as described by Scripture itself (Zech. 14.12):

This shall be the plague [blow] with which

the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage

war against Jerusalem: their flesh shall rot

[or dissolve] while they are still on their feet;

their eyes shall rot [dissolve] in their

sockets, and their tongues shall rot

[dissolve] in their mouths.

These are obviously the consequences of a nuclear explosion that cannot be explained by natural disasters or physical illnesses, as, for example, when people’s flesh disintegrates instantaneously before they can even hit the floor. Something similar happened when the US dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No wonder this period is called the Great tribulation (Mk 13.19; cf. Mt. 24.21; Rev. 8.7), and it’s no surprise that “in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light” (Mk 13.24; cf. Joel 2.31)! Jerusalem will become a *barren wasteland,* as we’ve often seen in such post-apocalyptic films as Mad Max, The Book of Eli, & The Matrix (see 2 Pet. 3.10).

Luke’s pericope also reminds us of the Ezekiel 38 War in which many nations will come against Israel in the latter days (vv. 8-9):

in the latter years you shall go against a

land restored from war, a land where people

were gathered from many nations on the

mountains of Israel, which had long lain

waste; . . . You shall advance, coming on

like a storm; you shall be like a cloud

covering the land, you and all your troops,

and many peoples with you.

Incidentally, there are mentions in Ezekiel 38 & 39 that could be taken as references to a nuclear blast (see e.g. Ezekiel 38.19-20; 39.6-9).

For further details, see my paper “HOW CLOSE ARE WE TO THE GOG MAGOG WAR AND ARMAGEDDON?”: https://eli-kittim.tumblr.com/post/132189853492/how-close-are-we-to-the-gog-magog-war-and

Conclusion

Most Biblical commentators view the abomination of desolation as a “religious” sacrilege, akin to the one perpetrated by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 bce when he outlawed Jewish rites and desecrated the Temple by erecting an altar to Zeus, according to 2 Maccabees 6.1–12. But today there is no Temple standing in Jerusalem! And although the future *sacrilege* that the gospel writers described certainly has religious overtones——given that the entire event seems to take place on or around the Temple Mount (which is historically considered sacred)——nevertheless it causes utter destruction and devastation, so much so that people have to run for their lives.

So, the answer to our original question (what is the abomination of desolation?) is, most probably, nuclear warheads that will be placed, and subsequently detonated, on the Temple Mount. This would certainly constitute the most horrible sacrilege in history.

Therefore, it’s important to watch the war that is currently taking place in Israel. Jerusalem is said to be the epicenter of the final global conflict that initiates the Great Tribulation! It is this unique sign, then, that heralds the imminent coming of Messiah! And the *Temple Mount,* which continues to be the center of much controversy, should be the focus of attention!

Is Russia on the Brink of Nuclear War?

By Author Eli Kittim

Who or What is Gog?

Joseph Stalin——the Soviet Union’s longest serving ruler from 1927 until 1953 (for nearly 3 decades)——was born in Gori, Georgia. Curiously enough, in both English and Russian, the initials of Gori, Georgia would be Gog or ΓοΓ (i.e. Гори, Грузия). If the Bible wanted to symbolize the terror of Communism in the 20th century, as well as the final empire on earth, what better way to do so than by pointing to its cruelest and most infamous leader, who was born in the land of Gog and Magog.

In the Bible, Γώγ or Gog symbolically represents the final leader of the last superpower on earth. The last-days prophecy of Ezekiel 38.1-2 (LXX) reads:

ΚΑΙ ἐγένετο λόγος Κυρίου πρός με λέγων·

υἱὲ ἀνθρώπου, στήρισον τὸ πρόσωπόν σου

ἐπὶ Γὼγ καὶ τὴν γῆν τοῦ Μαγώγ, ἄρχοντα

Ῥώς, Μοσὸχ καὶ Θοβέλ, καὶ προφήτευσον

ἐπ’ αὐτὸν.

Translation (NKJV):

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land

of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and

Tubal, and prophesy against him.

The term Γώγ might actually be an abridged version of the word Γεωργία (Georgia), the country that has a northern border with Russia and was once part of the Soviet Union. Based on both linguistic and historical studies, the rest of the names indicate a Russian connection: prince of Ρώς (Gk. Ρωσία/Russia), Μοσόχ (Gk. Μόσχα/Moscow) and Θοβέλ (Tobolsk). In his book The Footsteps of the Messiah (p. 70), the biblical scholar Arnold Fruchtenbaum provides a supplementary elaboration of Ezekiel 38:

The identification of Magog, Rosh,

Meshech, and Tubal is to be determined

from the fact that these tribes of the

ancient world occupied the areas of modern

day Russia. Magog, Meshech and Tubal

were between the Black and Caspian Seas

which today is southern Russia. The tribes

of Meshech and Tubal later gave names to

cities that today bear the names of

Moscow, the capital, and Tobolsk, a major

city in the Urals in Siberia. Rosh was in what

is now northern Russia. The name Rosh is

the basis for the modern name Russia.

Similarly, according to Wikipedia:

Josephus refers to Magog son of Japheth

as progenitor of Scythians, or peoples north

of the Black Sea [Josephus, Antiquities of

the Jews, Book I, Chapter 6]. According to

him, the Greeks called Scythia Magogia.

The Scythians were a group of nomadic warriors who lived in what is now southern Russia. More importantly, the Bible seems to point to Russia as the birthplace of the last-days Antichrist (see e.g. Ezekiel 38). In order to understand the historical reasons for tying the Ezekiel 38 narrative to Russia, see “The Magog Identity” article by Chuck Missler: https://www.khouse.org/articles/2002/427/print/

The Septuagint Conflates the Biblical References to Gog and Agag

In Numbers 24.7 of the Septuagint, Agag is called Gog (Γώγ), and the LSV translation of the Bible uses the two titles interchangeably in Numbers 24.7 (cf. Amos 7.1 LXX; Rev. 9.3, 7-12):

He makes water flow from his buckets,

‘And his seed [is] in many waters; And his

King [is] higher than Gog [or Agag],’

And his kingdom is exalted.

Here’s the Septuagint version of Numbers 24.7:

ἐξελεύσεται ἄνθρωπος ἐκ τοῦ σπέρματος

αὐτοῦ καὶ κυριεύσει ἐθνῶν πολλῶν, καὶ

ὑψωθήσεται ἢ Γὼγ βασιλεία αὐτοῦ, καὶ

αὐξηθήσεται βασιλεία αὐτοῦ.

In Hebrew, the pronunciation of Agag is Ag-awg, similar to that of Gog (gawg). Some scholars think that Agag represented a dynastic name for the kings of Amalek, much like the title Pharaoh that was used for the Egyptian kings. Interestingly enough, according to scholars, the root of the word Georgia (Γεωργία), which, as mentioned earlier, may represent the biblical Gog (Γώγ), is the Persian word gurğ (“wolf”), a possible cognate of Agag. One of Agag’s descendants is Haman the Agagite (Esther 3.1), whose cruel plot against the Jews can only be matched by those of Hitler and Stalin. Thus, the name Agag (or, alternatively, “Gog”) has become synonymous with antisemitism and with evil! It seems, then, that the titles Gog and Agag are interchangeable.

Old & New Testament Prophecies About the Same Cataclysmic Event

Even though in Ezekiel 38 the term Gog is an appellation of rank and status, notice that in Revelation 20.8 Gog and Magog (Γώγ και Μαγώγ) are references to nations (ἔθνη), not titles:

καὶ ἐξελεύσεται πλανῆσαι τὰ ἔθνη τὰ ἐν

ταῖς τέσσαρσι γωνίαις τῆς γῆς, τὸν Γὼγ καὶ

Μαγώγ, συναγαγεῖν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν

πόλεμον, ὧν ὁ ἀριθμὸς αὐτῶν ὡς ἡ ἄμμος

τῆς θαλάσσης.

Translation (NRSV):

and will come out to deceive the nations at

the four corners of the earth, Gog and

Magog, in order to gather them for battle;

they are as numerous as the sands of the

sea.

And the next verse (Rev. 20.9) is seemingly talking about the exact same event that Luke 21, Zechariah 14, and Ezekiel 38 are describing, namely, “Jerusalem [being] surrounded by armies” (Lk 21.20), or a gathering of “all the nations against Jerusalem to battle” (Zech. 14.2; cf. Ezek. 38.16):

καὶ ἀνέβησαν ἐπὶ τὸ πλάτος τῆς γῆς, καὶ

ἐκύκλευσαν τὴν παρεμβολὴν τῶν ἁγίων καὶ

τὴν πόλιν τὴν ἠγαπημένην. καὶ κατέβη πῦρ

ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ⸃ καὶ κατέφαγεν αὐτούς ·

Translation:

They marched up over the breadth of the

earth and surrounded the camp of the

saints and the beloved city [Jerusalem].

And fire came down from heaven and

consumed them.

This so-called “fire” may refer to a nuclear blast that causes the desolation of Jerusalem (cf. Ezek. 38.19-20; 39.6, 8; Dan. 11.31; 12.11; Zech. 14.11; Mt. 24.15-22).

Notice that the exact same word that is used in Revelation 20.9 to refer to the armies of Gog and Magog that “surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city [Jerusalem],” namely, the word ἐκύκλευσαν (derived from the word κυκλόω, meaning to encircle, besiege, or surround), is also used in Luke 21.20 (κυκλουμένην) to describe “Jerusalem surrounded by armies.”

This is presumably the same event prophesied by Jeremiah the prophet (10.22):

Hear, a noise! Listen, it is coming— a great

commotion from the land of the north to

make the cities of Judah a desolation.

For a detailed study on the nuclear implications of the phrase, “the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place” (Mt. 24.15), see my article “What is the Abomination of Desolation?”: https://eli-kittim.tumblr.com/post/651654379241406464/what-is-the-abomination-of-desolation

Eli of Kittim

What is the Abomination of Desolation?

By Eli Kittim Given that wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, pandemics, and increased lawlessness are not necessarily signs of the pr

If experts claim that it wouldn’t be difficult for terrorists to build and detonate an improvised nuclear device, how much easier would it be for an invading army to do likewise?

According to Wiki:

Since 1947, the Doomsday Clock of the

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has

visualized how close the world is to a

nuclear war. As of 2021, the current time to

'midnight,' (midnight representing nuclear

war,) is 100 seconds.

See the following article: “Are we on the brink of nuclear war? Un researcher says yes”: https://www.google.com/amp/s/sofrep.com/amp/news/are-we-on-the-brink-of-nuclear-war-un-researcher-says-yes/

SOFREP

Are we on the brink of nuclear war? UN researcher says yes | SOFREP

Renata Dwan, the director of the United Nation's Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR),  sounded the alarm that the world has never be

Breaking News‼️

The War of Gog & Magog Has Begun❗️

Follow this Twitter list for news & live updates from multiple sources. It’s a Twitter list called “Eli Kittim Prophecy News”:

https://mobile.twitter.com/i/lists/200355615

https://href.li/?https://mobile.twitter.com/i/lists/200355615

The Seven Seals of Revelation

Eli Kittim

In ancient times, papyrus scrolls with classified information contained several wax seals (Gk. σφραγίς) which ensured that only the appropriate recipient could read the document. Likewise, the Bible uses the term metaphorically to convey apocalyptic information about upcoming events. The seven-sealed scroll reveals seven chronological disclosures that will come in rapid succession. Each seal represents a coming event that will have a major impact on the world. The breaking of the seven seals occurs in Rev. 5–8. The first four seals are known as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

The first seal represents the first coming of Christ, who commences the sequence of end time events (Rev. 6:1-2). He rides a white horse, which is also mentioned in Rev. 19:11 using nearly identical language. In Rev. 6:2 (NJB), the white rider goes “from victory to victory” (Gk. νικῶν καὶ ἵνα νικήσῃ). The biblical term "victory" is intimately associated with Christ's resurrection from the dead, which ultimately results in the conquering of death itself (see 1 Cor. 15:54, 57). The terms νικῶν and νικήσῃ are based on the Greek word νικάω (nikao), which means to “overcome” or to be “victorious.” The word nikao can only refer to an overcomer in Christ and cannot possibly be attributed to an Antichrist figure (see e.g. Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26; Rev. 3:5, 12, 21). Also, the white horseman wears a stephanos crown, which is worn by believers and victors in Christ (see e.g. Mt. 27:29; Jas. 1:12; 2 Tim. 4:8; 1 Pet. 5:4; Rev. 2:10; 4:4; 14:14). The Stephanos “crown” is therefore a symbol of victory for the believers in Christ. Accordingly, the Antichrist would not wear a stephanos crown. We are also told that the rider of the white horse “was holding a bow” (Gk. toxon), which represents God's covenant with the human race (see Gen. 9:13). The Septuagint (LXX), an early Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, translates the Hebrew word ‎קַשְׁתִּ֕י (qaš·tî), which means “rainbow,” with the Greek word “toxon” (bow) in Gen. 9:13! In Rev. 6:2, the Greek word “toxon” is the same word that is translated in the English Bible versions by the word bow. Therefore, the Antichrist would not be “holding a bow,” representing God's covenant. And there are no counterfeit signs in the Bible. That’s why all references to God, Christ, and to the saints are always couched in white imagery (see e.g. Isa. 1:18; Dan. 7:9; Mt. 28:3; John 20:12; Rev. 1:14; 2:17; Rev. 3:4-5, 18; 4:4; 6:11; Rev. 7:9, 13-14; 14:14; 19:14).

The second seal represents the coming of the Antichrist (Revelation 6:3–4), the red horse. The red horseman represents the last king who comes out of the final world empire, which is represented by the red seven-headed dragon with ten horns. World War 3 commences with the red rider, who was given a huge and mighty sword and granted permission to slaughter mankind.

The third seal represents economic collapse (Revelation 6:5–6). The rider of the Black horse holds “a pair of scales,” which merchants used in order to barter for their goods. In those days, meals will be so expensive that it will cost a whole day's wages just to have one.

The fourth seal (Revelation 6:7–8) introduces the “deathly pale” horse whose “rider was called Death, and Hades followed at its heels.” The fourth horse mainly represents a global food crisis, famines, and pandemics that kill off “a quarter of the earth[‘s]” population, coupled with wars and other devastations.

The fifth seal represents the martyrs of the faith throughout the centuries, but especially those who will be killed during the great tribulation (Revelation 6:9–11). The clue is given in verse 11 where “they were told to be patient a little longer, until the roll was completed of their fellow-servants and brothers who were still to be killed as they had been” (cf. Mt. 24:9). These martyrs include the 144,000 who are mentioned in Revelation chapter seven. Rev. 7:13-14 explains that the 144 thousand are the elect “who have been through the great trial.” However, Rev. 7:4-8 is obviously describing not just the tribulation saints but the entire church as a whole. In fact, Revelation 7:9 gives us the identity of the 144 thousand by stating that they’re “a huge number, impossible for anyone to count,” and that they come from every nation on earth.

The sixth seal represents nuclear war, the resurrection, and the rapture (Revelation 6:12–17). The first part of the sixth seal represents nuclear war, which is described as “a violent earthquake” that causes the sun to turn black and the moon red. This event precedes the day of the Lord, according to Joel 2:31 (italics mine):

“The sun shall be turned to darkness, and

the moon to blood, BEFORE the great and

awesome day of the LORD comes.”

There are other devastations as well, such as massive upheavals of the earth's crust and space debris hurtling back to earth, islands and mountains are moved out of their place, as everything will be shaken to its foundations (cf. Hebrews 12:27). It is right after this event that Christ will appear to rapture the elect. See Matthew 24:29-31 (italics mine):

“Immediately AFTER the distress of those

days the sun will be darkened, the moon will

not give its light, the stars will fall from the

sky and the powers of the heavens will be

shaken. And then the sign of the Son of

man will appear in heaven; … And he will

send his angels with a loud trumpet to

gather his elect from the four winds.”

Similarly, Daniel 12:1-2 indicates that the general resurrection of the dead will occur after the great tribulation, which will be an event “unlike any other from the nation’s beginning up to that time.” In line with these passages, the sixth seal indicates that after the great tribulation “all the kings of the earth, the governors and … the whole population, … hid in caverns and among the rocks of the mountains,” and “they said to the mountains and the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us away from the One who sits on the throne and from the retribution of the Lamb. For the Great Day of his retribution has come, and who can face it?' “ (Rev. 6:15-17). This pericope is taken from Isaiah 2:19, which describes Yahweh rising from the dead to shake the earth:

“they will go into the caverns of the rocks

and into the fissures of the earth in terror of

Yahweh, at the brilliance of his majesty,

when he arises to make the earth quake.”

We know from 1 Thess. 4:16-17 that the resurrection and the rapture happen simultaneously. Thus, the aforementioned passages coalesce to give us the big picture, namely, that the sixth seal represents the resurrection and the rapture, which will occur right after the Great Tribulation!

The seventh seal represents the Day of the Lord (Rev. 8:1-5). The prelude to the day of the Lord begins with a short respite, as “there was silence in heaven for about half an hour” (verse 1). It represents the lull before the storm. This is the close of the tribulation period (Satan’s wrath) and the beginning of the Day of the Lord (God’s wrath), as the severity of the judgments begin to increase with the coming of the seven trumpets. But before the sounding of the seven trumpets, an “angel took the censer and filled it from the fire of the altar, which he then hurled down onto the earth,” causing massive earthquakes and devastations (verse 5). Thus, the seventh seal represents the commencement of the Day of the Lord!

Christ, Antichrist, and the Coming Apocalypse

we met at

the end of the world

and sat

hand in hand as

the stars went out