Asteroid Fallouts, World War 3 & The Antichrist: Exposing the Great Tribulation

As I watched, the Lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll. Then I heard one of the four living beings say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked up and saw a white horse standing there. Its rider carried a bow, and a crown was placed on his head. He rode out to win many battles and gain the victory (Revelation 6:1-2 NLT).

As the first seal is opened up, the Antichrist is given the power to rule.

It’s amazing that already today we can feel the world getting ready for this. Someone has to come on the scene with answers for the Palestinian and Israeli issue and the Middle East because there’s plenty of conflict and animosity raging there now. At the opening of the first seal, the Antichrist comes into power with all his great ideas to bring prosperity to everyone.

I’ve heard the left say it’s understandable that the Palestinians object to Israel occupying their land. Seriously? Israel has been living there for 3,500 years. This is not to mention that Arabs in Israel are more blessed than Arabs in all the rest of the world. Israel is the only democracy in that whole area where Arabs and everyone else have rights. The truth is, there is no such thing as a “Palestinian people.” In 1976, Hafex al Assad, former Syrian president, told Yasser Arafat, former president of the State of Palestine, “There is no such thing as a Palestinian people, there is no Palestinian entity, there is only Syria…we…are the true representatives of the Palestinian people.”

Listen to what happened recently. Israelis had to give a moment of silence for Palestinians who were killed for killing Israelis. That’s how insane it is right now. That would be like one of our policemen killed someone to save your life, but you were sad for the guy who got killed trying to kill you. It’s nuts! That mentality spreads into all the earth when that first seal is opened up.

The Antichrist will come to rule on a platform of peace, and he will bring what seems to be an answer for the whole situation. The monetary collapse in many countries and others bogged down in economic trouble will cause whole nations to be grateful and eager as the Antichrist suggests one-world currency. He will say to these nearly bankrupt nations, “Don’t worry about it! We will forgive your debt and start over with one currency.” Everyone falls in line because it will seem like a great idea. In reality, however, it will be Lucifer’s way of gaining control of the entire earth. He wants everyone to worship him, but you and I know that just won’t happen.

The Antichrist always comes to deceive people just like Lucifer because he is Lucifer’s representative on the earth. These scriptures fall mid-Tribulation when Lucifer actually enters into the Antichrist incarnate. Up until then, the Antichrist is a human motivated by the devil.

When the Lamb broke the second seal, I heard the second living being say, “Come!” Then another horse appeared, a red one. Its rider was given a mighty sword and the authority to take peace from the earth. And there was war and slaughter everywhere (Revelation 6:3-4 NLT).

The opening of the second seal brings World War III. This war will be different from World War I and World War II, fought with M-1 carbines, grenades, and bombs. This war will be fought with intercontinental ballistic missiles. Israel has already developed some pretty impressive weaponry like the Arrow 3 Protector, the Iron Dome protector, and David’s Slingshot. David’s Slingshot is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) defense system; when a missile is fired at Israel, it will shoot up a thermonuclear warhead and eliminate it in the upper atmosphere. God knows what He’s doing, and He’s already directing them whether they know it or not.

Can you imagine John seeing all this in a vision when God imparted the book of Revelation to him? I’m sure John wondered how God would protect Israel. But today, we can see the technology already in place. In 2016, Israel developed a new unmanned ship that goes into the Mediterranean and can fire missiles at other ships and take out submarines. So cool!

I’ve read of 10 to 15 Israeli generals who have said, “We’re already prepared now for World War III.” Israel already has spoken out about World War III. I’ve even read that diplomats have said, “There’s a setup underway for the entire world to go to war.” Thank God, you and I will not be here. The world, on the other hand, is about to go through more catastrophic events than ever before. Even worse, this is still only the first half of the Tribulation we are discussing.

When the Lamb broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say, “Come!” I looked up and saw a black horse, and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice from among the four living beings say, “A loaf of wheat bread or three loaves of barley will cost a day’s pay. And don’t waste the olive oil and wine” (Revelation 6:5-6 NLT).

After World War III, there will be famine. It’s probably hard for us to imagine the terror of all this, but to some extent, Hollywood movies provide a general idea of what it will be like. Movies like The Terminator help us visualize the horror of antiballistic missiles targeting major cities like Los Angeles, Sydney, and New York. After that many nuclear hits around the world, all of a sudden, there will just be no more food.

Some of the seals talk about no grass left and one third of the trees destroyed. People will go through absolute hell on earth. Once again, the whole reason for the Tribulation is to persuade people to repent. Think of how hardheaded a person would be to go through these horrific events and still not repent.

Later, we will talk more about the Second Coming, where still only 50 percent of the people have repented. Referring to the Second Coming, Matthew 24:40-42 says, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” It’s like at Calvary where one thief got saved; the other thief did not.

Again, these are some hardheaded, stiff-necked people, because it’s hard to imagine more fireworks than nuclear weapons exploding all over the earth and the food supply vanishing. You would think people everywhere would be saying, “Hmmm, we’re not eating, and we’ve got missiles coming at us just like the Bible prophesied. I need to change my heart.” But because of the hardness of heart, God will send even more fireworks to get people’s attention.

The whole purpose of all these seals is that every human being will need to decide whether he or she is for Jesus or against Him. There’s no in-between. Right now, people say, “I know there’s a God, but I’m not sure I want to serve Him.” But we’re reading about a point where each person will have to decide. That’s why the Bible calls it the valley of decision, because all through this seven-year period people will be boldly confronted with the choice.

When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the fourth living being say, “Come!” I looked up and saw a horse whose color was pale green. Its rider was named Death, and his companion was the Grave. These two were given authority over one-fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword and famine and disease and wild animals (Revelation 6:7-8 NLT).

When this fourth seal opens, the Antichrist is empowered to kill over a quarter of the earth’s population, and he gains sections of power over all the earth. At one point, a third of all the earth is killed, which is some two billion people.

What I’m about to say here is conjecture, and as I said earlier, whenever I give you my opinion, I label it. Some of these seals occur in stages. So, all of a sudden, someone in the middle of the Congo may look up in the sky and think, Hmmm, all the major cities of the world are being vaporized. But eventually, the Antichrist controls a quarter of the earth. I imagine it will be Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia where he will control annihilating everyone. I realize this is sobering, but I want you to see how blessed you are that you don’t have to be here.

When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of all who had been martyred for the word of God and for being faithful in their testimony. They shouted to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you judge the people who belong to this world and avenge our blood for what they have done to us?” Then a white robe was given to each of them. And they were told to rest a little longer until the full number of their brothers and sisters—their fellow servants of Jesus who were to be martyred—had joined them. I watched as the Lamb broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake. The sun became as dark as black cloth, and the moon became as red as blood. Then the stars of the sky fell to the earth like green figs falling from a tree shaken by a strong wind (Revelation 6:9-13 NLT).

Isn’t it something in verse 10 that the people are crying out to the Father, “Sovereign Lord, avenge our blood!” Then in verse 13, the sixth seal opens, which is different from the others. It is more supernatural than natural. With the first five seals, we saw intercontinental ballistic missiles, famine, and so on. But at the sixth seal, the hand of God alters the heavens—the sun and the moon change. Major earthquakes occur, and there are cataclysmic events on the earth to pressure people on earth to change. Wow.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, 144,000 Jewish evangelists are being raised up to preach during this timeframe.

The Trumpet Judgments

In Revelation 8, we read of the seventh seal, which begins the trumpet judgments. Everything you have read until now is sobering, but the events that follow are unimaginable and hard to even comprehend. Let me remind you once again that if you are born again, you will not be here.

When the Lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and they were given seven trumpets. Then another angel with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God’s people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God’s holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. Then the angel filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth; and thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake. Then the seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts. The first angel blew his trumpet, and hail and fire mixed with blood were thrown down on the earth. One-third of the earth was set on fire, one-third of the trees were burned, and all the green grass was burned (Revelation 8:1-7 NLT).

When the seventh seal opened, there was silence in heaven for about 30 minutes. Hebrews 12:1 says those who have gone on before us are looking over the banister and cheering us on as we run our race here on earth. So, there’s scriptural precedence that those in heaven can see some activity on earth. The 30 minutes of silence may well be to reflect on the catastrophic events on the earth as the seals are opened. It goes from bad to worse—from seals to trumpet judgments.

Notice verse 7 that I mentioned earlier. This is where a third of all the trees are burned up, and there is no more grass. Think about that for a minute. That significantly injures photosynthesis, the process whereby trees, plants, grass, etc. produce oxygen. In other words, there will be a weird atmosphere on earth when the first trumpet judgment starts.

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. 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 the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter (Revelation 8:8-11).

In verse 8, an asteroid hits the earth and a third of the sea becomes blood. These are some pretty significant changes to the earth. Then in the next few verses, a great star named Wormwood falls from heaven. These signs sound like the worst nightmare from a graphic Hollywood horror movie.

Years ago, I was preaching at a Bible school in the Ukraine, talking about how these two asteroids would hit the earth during the Tribulation. I pointed out that one of them is called Wormwood, and the entire class gasped. I thought, What’s wrong? The interpreter explained that the word Wormwood in the Russian Bible is the word Chernobyl. Let that soak in. How many remember the Chernobyl accident in 1986 when a nuclear reactor melted down and killed some 4,000 people? The first time I preached in the Ukraine, a restaurant used a Geiger counter on my potato to make sure it wasn’t radioactive. Can you imagine a Geiger counter reading after two asteroids hit?

Maybe you’ve seen movies like Armageddon or Deep Impact that tell fictional stories of the world ending because of asteroids. Truth be told, the movies don’t have anything on the terror the earth will see during the Tribulation. But listen to me. The world does not end, but it will go through some serious devastation. We’ve read that a third of the water will be radioactive. A third of the trees, grass, and plants will be eliminated, affecting the atmosphere. What kind of a mental image does this give you? The grass is toast, and this is only a trumpet judgment. The vials have not even been opened yet.