And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals (Revelation 5:1). John the Revelator is in Heaven in a vision. He has been caught up—a type of the Bride of Christ that will be caught up at the second coming of Jesus—and he sees a book with seven seals that must be broken. The events in this vision will be experienced by those left in the Tribulation Period immediately after the Rapture of the Church. John, holding a heaven’s eye view of the opening of the book, is conscious of the great significance of the breaking of these seals. The prophecies in the Book of Revelation seem unbelievable, but they are thus saith the Lord—and they will soon come to pass. It is a book you must study. Know every chapter. Unless you are ready to meet the Lord in the air at the Rapture, you will no doubt live to see this day of horror and devastation described in Revelation when you meet the Lord in judgment. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen (Revelation 1:7). God is ready to pour out His judgment; not much longer will Jesus Christ be able to stand between man and the wrath of God the Father. The Holy Ghost is hurrying to get the Bride ready for the Rapture because He knows He does not have long. The Book of Revelation waves a red flag of warning to everyone in this end-time hour.

As the first six seals in John’s vision are broken, great destruction falls. The antichrist, represented by a horseman, rides onto the scene bringing a peace that quickly changes to war, famine, and death—preludes to the total havoc to erupt at the breaking of the seventh seal.

Catastrophes Imminent after the Opening of the Seventh Seal

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour (Revelation 8:1). The breaking of the seventh seal is such an awesome moment that even the angels hold their breath. For millions of years they have lifted their voices in praise to God, but now they are silent—probably for the first time. Never before have they seen anything so dreadfully horrifying about to be poured out on the human race. Thirty minutes to chaos, to the breaking of the seventh seal. What happens when that seventh seal is broken? All of these following events.

Blood and Fire

Seven angels stand ready to pour out God’s judgment. There were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake. 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 (Revelation 8:5,7). Think of it! Fire and hail mingled with blood! A third part of the trees throughout the whole universe burn at one time. You run out and see trees burning everywhere. All the green grass disappears at the same time. It’s the judgment of God. He speaks, and His words come to pass.

Some of you are lukewarm, some backslidden. If you choose not to change, your destiny is written in this vision of John. In the near future you will look into the eyes of the man of sin, into the eyes of the devil.

The Deadly Third of the Sea

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 (Revelation 8:8,9). These dead sea creatures wash to shore, combining their odor with the smell of rotting bodies already littering the earth.

Woe, woe, woe to the peoples of the earth when God comes to the end of His longsuffering! God will destroy you if you don’t turn to Him. He won’t care—won’t shed a tear over you. God will harden His heart until He’ll hold no feeling for you at all, wiping you from His mind entirely.

At different times down through the ages, God has reached the end of His longsuffering and rained down judgment without mercy. Fire and brimstone obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah; and in Noah’s day all but eight souls were destroyed in the great flood. I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh, God tells us in Proverbs 1:26. He will again mock those who have refused Him. Why? Twenty-four hours around the clock God has been working, pleading with you, trying to show you Calvary, a crucified Savior. The shed blood of the Son of God is more precious to God than any other sacrifice could ever be. Imagine how He feels when He sees that blood trampled underfoot! If you reject such love, if you feel it’s too difficult to serve God, His hand of mercy will be withdrawn and He will mock as judgment falls.

Poisoned Water

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 many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter (Revelation 8:10,11). Think about it—you run for water but as you reach it, you see the dead lying all around, flies swarming over the bodies. Your tongue is swollen, your lips cracked from thirst. Drink the water and die, or die of thirst—what a choice!

A Third of the Heavens Darkened

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 (Revelation 8:12). The sun, moon and stars are out of control. You find no security anywhere, no place to turn. The sun will shine only part time and then become dark, preparing you for the time it will shine no more.

Monsters from the Bottomless Pit

These things sound terrible? Get ready, there’s more. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; 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 upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power (Revelation 9:1-3). John is amazed by what spews forth from the bottomless pit! As the boiling, swirling smoke clears he sees locusts, creatures like no one has ever seen before. They’re demon spirits—no doubt the fallen angels that God has been holding in chains of darkness since He cast them out of Heaven.

Death Withheld

What happens when the locusts are released upon the inhabitants of the earth? Men are not to be killed but tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them (Revelation 9:5,6). Think of it—you’re sick enough to die, in so much pain you desire death, but no death. You shoot yourself in the head—and live; jump from a twenty-story building only to wallow, smashed in your torment.

What do these creatures look like? And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months (Revelation 9:7-10). Horrible, monstrous fiends are these locusts! Because of them death will cease for five months. Up until this time death had ridden freely. The stings in the tails of the scorpions make the bite of a rattlesnake seem like a kiss. Just seeing these creatures would be enough to frighten you to death—but you won’t die. The prophet Joel said they would climb the walls like mighty men of old. You hide yourself—but they find you. Think of jolting awake at night to the stinking breath of living death! They’re reaching out for you. To see these monsters outside your door with their long tails swinging back and forth, waiting for you…it will be a time of horror beyond the imagination. The noise of them, John says, is like the noise of many chariots and horses going to battle. Knowing this, dare you sit in the pathway of God’s wrath? Nothing man has ever made will be able to stop these beasts in their destruction. The only people safe are those in Heaven and those with the seal of God in their foreheads. Many of you reading this will live to see these things take place if you don’t repent of your sins.

Just as God has shown you His love, He is going to show His judgment to you who reject Him, His wrath poured out without mixture, without one little drop of love or mercy. It will be the pure wrath of God. God will look on you as He looks on the devil. He’ll treat you the same. If you are not ready to meet Jesus, you have the seal of Satan upon your heart. Judgment is nigh, even at the door.

An Army of Death Screams into Action

The sixth angel sounds, and a voice from the golden altar before God instructs the angel to loose four angels which were bound in the great river Euphrates. And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared…to slay the third part of men (Revelation 9:15). An army of two hundred thousand thousand scream into action, riding horses with the heads of lions. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt (verses 18,19). You think life is hard now? Nothing will be so terrible as the Tribulation Period. Satan wants you to be discouraged; he whispers that Jesus isn’t coming after you. He knows that if he can cause you to miss the Rapture, there will not be much chance you can endure the Tribulation Period and make it through to Heaven. Some people will give up, backslide just before the Rapture takes place.

The Bible tells us that in the last days scoffers will say, “Where is the sign of His coming?” Scoffers…walking after their own lusts. Will you be one who heeds them? The wrath of God is about to be poured out; the judgment of God is on its way. Now the Lord is showing you amazing, tender, loving mercy as He deals gently with the inhabitants of the earth—even those blaspheming His name—because God knows what He will be like when the change comes, when the Holy Ghost takes His flight and the antichrist sets up his reign of terror.

John sees the seventh angel, hears him cry with a loud voice like a lion. In response to that cry seven Thunders utter their voices. What message of great devastation does John hear? We won’t know until that devastation is upon the earth, for John is instructed to seal up the words and write them not. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets (Revelation 10:7).

Seven Plagues of Wrath

Beginning in chapter 15 John records: And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God (Revelation 15:1). And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth (Revelation 16:1). Seven angels hold seven bowls filled with the wrath and the judgments of God about to be poured out upon the earth. Why is God so angry? The world today is filled with the most evil people since God destroyed the wicked in the days of Sodom and Noah. Never have so many degraded people blasphemed God’s name as now.

Noisome and Grievous Sores

The first angel went forth and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image (Revelation 16:2). Such terrible agony from these sores—noisome and grievous! Sores cover the body like boils. People have no relief but are tormented day and night with this awful plague. Medical science is not able to help. This is a judgment of God. Only through the blood of Jesus can you escape the judgment of God, the wrath of God poured out upon the earth without mercy. Never has there been a time like this period of great tribulation!

A Full Sea of Blood

And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea (Revelation 16:3). If you are watching the second angel, your heart almost stops beating for fear of what is coming. Everywhere you see bloody mayhem and hear shrieking panic. Humanity, tortured beyond bearing, now is cursed with another plague. Imagine the blood of a dead man and then imagine the seas full of that blood! Everything in the sea with life remaining dies. Imagine the horrible smell that will fill the earth!

God Gives Blood to Drink

Has the earth seen enough judgments? No. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy (Revelation 16:4-6). “They are worthy!” the angels are crying. “God, you’re giving man what he deserves!” Throughout the ages, angels have battled Lucifer and his demon spirits. At last God is reaping His vengeance for the violence against His Kingdom. It had seemed as though the mercy of God would never come to an end as the angels watched injustice and blasphemy after injustice and blasphemy. Now God has given sinners blood to drink because they are worthy of it. You turn on a faucet and blood gushes out.

These judgments are coming; they will actually happen. Think of it: blood pouring out of your faucet! Numberless multitudes will die drinking blood.

Scorched with Fire

The fourth angel comes—what is he going to do? Power was given him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory (Revelation 16:9). The fourth angel pours judgment out of his golden bowl upon the sun and the sun shines so hot that man is scorched with the heat of it. No air conditioner can help him now. Scorch means burn; skins will be burned. For all of that, men will still curse God. If people don’t want God, neither love nor judgment will bring them in.

Men Gnaw Their Tongues in Pain

Now the fifth angel is about to pour out his vial. He stands waiting. What does that vial contain? John doesn’t know what any of the bowls contain until he sees them poured out. Imagine what an experience he lived through in this vision! Although he was in the Spirit, it was just like the real thing taking place. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds (Revelation 16:10,11). Have you ever seen anyone chewing his tongue in pain? What an awful sight! Hundreds of thousands of people writhe in extreme agony in this terrible darkness. They loved darkness, and God is going to give them darkness. They sought to walk in the night, and so God will give the night. No light will be able to penetrate it. You strike a match, but no flame. Electric lights will not affect this darkness at all. You have never experienced darkness like it, darkness that cannot be penetrated by light. Will it be worse than the plague of darkness called down on Pharaoh and the Egyptians in Moses’ day? We don’t know, but probably so. It’s the judgment of God. When God gets ready to seal man into darkness He’ll do a perfect job of it.

A Highway to Armageddon

The Euphrates is a great river, seventeen hundred miles long, ten to thirty feet deep and in places several miles wide. The sixth angel holds a vial in his hand which will alter the river drastically. And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared (Revelation 16:12). You think God cannot do this? Look at the Red Sea when God dried up a path for the Israelites to cross over. He piled up the water high on either side. It’s no more difficult for Him to dry up an entire river. The Euphrates riverbed is to become a great highway for the kings of the East to enter the Battle of Armageddon.

There comes a time you can’t repent even if you want to. The tormented who do not want God will find more judgments falling on them every time they look up and blaspheme. They have been taken over by the devil, and there is no repentance in their hearts. Multitudes in the Tribulation Period—like the demons, the devil himself—will never repent. But one day they will say that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, because God will make them say it. As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God (Romans 14:11). God will force the devil and his demons to confess. It won’t save them, but they will have to say it, anyway. Everyone on Earth will confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. It’s coming. God will see to it. God despises the spirit that denies His Son.

The river is dried up now, and John reports: I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty (Revelation 16:13,14).

One Hundred-Pound Hail, and Mountains Flattened by Earthquake

As the armies are gathered, the seventh angel prepares to sound. This is a most dreadful time in dreadful times. Great voices are heard out of heaven, thunders, lightnings and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great (Revelation 16:18). And a voice from Heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done! Never has there been an earthquake like this one. All the great cities of all nations will crumble. Jerusalem will be divided into three parts. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 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 (verses 20,21). Think how terrifying it will be to feel the ground shake beneath your feet, heaving so violently that everything around you crumbles and crashes to the ground. Huge gaps appear in the earth’s crust. Entire cities are swallowed while the lightning flashes and the thunder roars. The seventh angel is pouring out his vial. Hailstones weighing almost one hundred pounds rain down. We know the damage hailstones weighing a pound or less can cause; think what havoc these gigantic hailstones bring! It’s a wonder any life at all will be left—and none would be had God not promised to shorten the time.

Hell Has Been Enlarged

If you won’t fear God, He will send you something to fear. You who have been so bold as to say you don’t want God, you will scream for His protection in the Tribulation Period. It will not come. Think of waking at night to the rasping breath of a horrible “thing” standing over you. You hear a roar of thunder mingled with screams and cries coming down the street. You look out to see this terrible army of beasts. You try to hide, but you can’t—there are hundreds of thousands of them. Even before the creation of man, these animals were in chains; and now that they’re released they hate you, despise you. They have been assigned to destroy you. Running as one in a nightmare trying to escape while the sounds of chaos howl erratically and insanely, you hear people cry, “I’m stung! I’ve never been in such agony! Please, please kill me! Please take my life!” Perhaps you try to put a suffering one out of his misery, but you can’t. Then a grim memory flashes back—where have you heard about this terror before? Why, the preacher…he said it was in the Bible. You didn’t believe him then, but the whole prophecy now is leaping out of the pages of the Bible into a horrible caldron of reality: In those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them (Revelation 9:6). Now you’re seeking death, too—desperately looking for it, pleading for it to come. You don’t think to ask for an angel of mercy; death is the only thing you long for. You look up only to see lion-headed horsemen. What will you do? Dear God in Heaven! Will this never end?

For many ages God has kept His wrath bottled. He has reached out to man, given man His Son Jesus. “See the nailprints in my hands,” Jesus has pleaded. “Give me your heart. Please, please take my love!” God has been so kind, so loving; but now there is no mercy as God’s wrath is poured out without mixture.

The Bible tells us that God prepared hell for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41), and that hell has been enlarged (Isaiah 5:14). God had not intended to enlarge hell; He had not expected man to turn against Him. But God found He was forced to make room for man. The Tribulation Period will not actually be hell, it will be a hell on Earth, a scene of terror and agony beyond description.

You Have Been Warned

Are you ready to meet the Lord? Do you believe the judgments that John tells us about in the book of Revelation? Do you believe these things are really coming to pass? The Lord said: I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches (Revelation 22:16). And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life (verse 19). God has instructed clearly that the words of this book be not touched or altered. You don’t have long to flee the wrath of God. God knows every secret sin in your life; He knows whether or not you are on fire for Him.

The end-time signs are plain before us, not only in the Bible but in the newspapers. We don’t have long. If we can just hold on a few more days….

Praise God that the Tribulation Period isn’t upon you now. There is still time to set your house in order, still time for salvation and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The path will be rough because the devil has decided he will cause you to miss the Rapture if there is any way at all to do it. He will tell you every lie he can to turn you away from the truth, to get you to let up on praying and reading the Bible. He will try his hardest to wreck your faith in God, to destroy your body and spirit, to break you down, to keep you from the house of God and to deceive you about God’s salvation, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and God’s power. He will do all to destroy faith in the nine gifts of the Spirit that have been given to the church—the body of Christ—and to wipe out faith in the second coming of the Lord.

Hallelujah: There Is a Way of Escape!

The midnight cry is about to be given: Behold, the Bridegroom cometh! Go ye out to meet Him! Oh, Lord, will it come today? Through the Holy Spirit, Lord, let us look at the clock tonight—see the late hour—and then be strengthened by that look to arise and draw closer to the Lord than ever before.

God has provided a way of escape: the Rapture for those saved, filled with the Spirit and on fire for God. Jesus said His coming would be in a day like this, that we should look up, our redemption draweth nigh. Isaiah tells us about it: Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast (Isaiah 26:20). Give your heart to Jesus one hundred percent, pray, fast, and live in the Word of God. Be baptized in the precious Holy Spirit and be ready to meet Jesus in the air.

Only total obedience to God—or death—will keep us from that time of unimagined horror that will rage throughout the earth. Make yourself ready, for the hour is at the door—and you have been warned. Woe, woe to the earth when that seventh seal of judgment is broken!