Let's wrap this up by picking up with the double asteroid hit.
We can speculate where these 2 asteroids will hit - but it is just speculation.
Let's take the one that falls into an ocean and poisons the sea. In the apostle's time 'the sea' meant the Mediterranean Sea, which will be poisoned and ships will be destroyed. However, if an asteroid landed in the Mediterranean Sea then the pressure wave and ocean wave it would cause would destroy cities near the coasts of all nations bordering the Sea, so this seems unlikely because these nations must be in place during the end time.
If this first asteroid were to fall in the Pacific it would kill millions in Asia and render the kings of the east devastated, which would hinder the 200 million person army coming to fight Israel at Armageddon, so that doesn't seem to fit - which is why an Atlantic landing seems plausible to me. It would send huge waves to all nations bordering the Atlantic, but have a lesser affect on those in the Mediterranean. A landing in the Atlantic would send tsunamis along the eastern coasts of the Americas, and the west coasts of Africa, the UK and Europe. But who knows?
What about the one that lands on land?
The dust cloud blots out one third of the sunlight. Revelation 9:2 says it will blot out the sunlight but doesn't say to what extent. Previous verses say it will blot out 1/3 of the sunlight (8:12). We know that the 'kings of the east' will come from Asia at Armageddon to invade Israel, so they cannot be affected. It is assumed there is an alignment with anti-Christ's rule in Europe, so Europe wouldn't receive a direct hit.
So if the land hit doesn't happen in Asia, it cannot happen in Europe, Africa, or the Middle East as any hit there would disrupt what we are told will happen before the Lord returns. That makes a hit in North America plausible, hopefully in the far north. The impact and dust cloud would destroy much of North America, and the dust cloud would be carried world wide, but leaving the players of the end of the age intact: Europe, Middle East, Asia. But who knows?
So do you still think we are currently in the Tribulation?
The vials or bowls are found in chapter 16, with the first 5 detailed in verses 1-11: They reinforce what has already been happening: Bowl 1 is v1; sores on unbelievers (who have the mark of the beast), bowl 2 is v2; the sea becoming poisoned, bowl 3 is v3; fresh water is poisoned, bowl 4 in v8-9 is what we would call solar flares causing people to be burned and the earth to be scorched.
This mirrors something the Lord told me in a visitation a few years ago but I only told Barb - He said the magnetic poles are shifting which would in part lead to climate changes and even earthquakes. With the 4th bowl we see the magnetic field of the earth no longer in place protecting the earth from solar flares - evidently the double asteroid hit and natural forces already at work conspire to allow solar flares to break through the atmosphere during that time, and burn people. Think what it would do to our modern electronic world.
That is the world the Lord comes back to.
I started this series talking about Daniel's 70 weeks, with the 70th week being that 7 year period we call the Tribulation, which Judaism calls the Time of Jacob's Trouble leading to the 'Day of the Lord'.
The last 7 years of the age is focused on Israel. Next week I'll start the series 'Why the Rapture comes first', which is actually a Jewish teaching which Paul was raised with. But for now we need to know that 70's week is focused on Israel coming to know their Messiah.
That is why there are 144,000 male evangelists in Israel preaching Jesus. It is why chapter 11 focuses on the '2 witnesses', who are Moses and Elijah. Why them and not Enoch? Because Enosh was before Abraham, before the covenant.
Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) have been used by the risen Lord to prove His case to the men on the way to Emmaus, as seen in Luke 24:27: "And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, He began explaining to them all the scriptures concerning Himself."
Later that evening, after the 2 from Emmaus had told the disciples the Lord was indeed risen, He appeared to them at that moment. Verse 44 tells us Jesus followed the same pattern: "...these are the words I spoke to you when I was still with you, that all things would be fulfilled; From Moses and the prophets and Psalms concerning me."
The 2 witnesses we are told, have the power to turn water to blood and hit the earth with plagues at will, and the other can shut off rain at will - Moses and Elijah.
The whole point of those last 7 years is for Israel to know Jesus as their Messiah, and for the governments of man therefore, to become subject to the kingdom of God, administered from a believing nation of Israel.
Because the focus then will be on Israel, we are now in the time called 'the time of the Gentiles'. When the Father is done with focusing on the Gentiles, He will remove us from the earth - the salt will be removed so the earth can 'go bad', the man of sin may then be revealed.
And that is what we will talk about next week. until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected] or [email protected]