Cyclone of Apocalypse

Dave Breese / Prophezine

We live in one of the most remarkable ages in the history of the world. It is a notable time for many reasons, the first of which is the remarkable technological developments which make yesterday’s cutting-edge technology decidedly crude by today’s standards. The tide of progress continues to roll, bearing the promise of even more amazing developments for the days to come.

This is also a remarkable age because of the rise of iniquity in our time. By any standard in which wickedness can be statistically measured, the percentage of the increase of abominations is greater than ever before. It seems like every week someone invents a physical, moral, or spiritual absurdity that soon develops into a frightening cult. Add to this the staccato gunfire of drive-by shootings and the emergence of the drug culture and we have before us a complicated society. A great number of “answers” are being presented to solve the problems of our time. Unfortunately, none of them work, partly because God has made life deliberately precarious so that we should be forced to trust in Him. There will, therefore, never be a solution to the concerns of society short of the glorious return of Jesus Christ.

The third-and perhaps the greatest-reason that this is a remarkable age is because of divine forbearance. Many ask why God allows these things to happen, why He doesn’t just kill the devil or pull every shred of iniquity out of the world. But perceptive readers know that the answer to that question is that God has made man a free moral agent with the power to choose. God refuses to interrupt that power lest man be turned into a mindless automaton with no power of choice.

In the midst of this rise of iniquity, God continues to show His forbearance. Nevertheless, the Scripture announces that man is storing up wrath for himself against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will “render to each one according to his deeds” (Romans 2:5,6). So the fund of human iniquity and consequent divine judgment is building in a kind of cosmic bank. While this is the day of grace and God is not moving in devastating judgment, it is also the time that iniquity is being recorded in a book that will one day be opened. Do we see the opening of that book today? We think so and we certainly must allow for that possibility.

When we think about divine forbearance, we are stating in another way that this is the day of grace. It is not the day of judgment but rather a time in which this Scripture is being fulfilled: “God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). So the day of divine condemnation is not upon us now. Be sure, however, that it is sure to come. Because of His moral universe, nothing that is an exception to the perfect will of God will go unrecognized and unpunished.

Is there a day, an era, a period in history that will be particularly characterized by divine judgment? The answer is yes. It’s called the Tribulation. Grace will end one day and after that will be the day of divine judgment.

The event that will punctuate that change is a remarkable time called “the rapture of the church,” the time in which the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, taking His own-members of the body of Christ-to be with Him. That is the time when this relatively calm and peaceful generation will be subject to the cyclone of the oncoming Tribulation. At that time, man, having sown the wind, will reap the whirlwind. This very picture is given to us in Scripture. To face a cyclone is not a pleasant experience. God also gives us another picture which presents the surprising, overwhelming nature of the oncoming of the Tribulation.

In the early pages of Revelation (chapters 5 and 6) we see the picture that should not be forgotten. First of all, we see a discussion in heaven concerning the question “who is worthy to judge the world?” The answer, found in the Word of God, is “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12). So Jesus Christ is accounted worthy to pass judgment upon the world.

The nature of the judgment becomes most pronounced with an account of the rise of four horsemen of the apocalypse: “And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on Him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him, and He went forth conquering, and to conquer” (Revelation 6:2).

Here we have a picture of the false Christ, the diminutive Christ. Here is presented to us the rise of Antichrist. Indeed, during the days of the great Tribulation, the Antichrist will organize world politics, world religion, and many other things to become master of the earth. His dreadful presence, empowered by Satan, will be felt strongly in the world. The Revelation picture continues, “And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given unto him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth and that they should kill one another” (Revelation 6:4).

So the rider on the red horse, denoting war and death, breaks upon the world as a frightening picture indeed. He steals peace from the earth and turns the world into a system of deadly anarchy.

And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny (Revelation 6:5,6).

The rider of the black horse signifies the rise of economic manipulation, indicated by the balances carried in the hand of this deadly rider. This economic manipulation worsens to the point that, finally, it will take a day’s pay to buy a loaf of bread. What a picture! With this begins the Tribulation.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat upon him was Death, and Hell followed with him.

And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth (verse 8).

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