Looking at the events of the Seven Years, and even the time leading up to them, can cause a lot of fear. It will, after all, be a time of unprecedented upheaval in every area of life. In a moment, everything we’ve known in our lives, all the status quo of the things that give us security will change and disappear, and life will never be the same. People will no longer be able to work, all resources will dry up and there will be danger at every turn. It is the end of the age.
Anyone who looks at the events that the Bible foretells, and believes that they will come at some point, should understand that they will be the scariest time in all of history. That’s the reality. I can’t tell you it’s all going to be ok. It’s not. That’s the point. Jesus Himself said, “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again” Matthew 24:21. So how can we combat the fear of the events that could possibly be coming on the world in our time?
[Note: For those who have not yet decided to follow Jesus...I have often been told that I shouldn’t discuss any of this because it spreads fear - that it is unkind and unloving. But I believe it would be extremely unkind for me to see the train coming and not alert someone who is standing on the track unaware. It is loving to tell the truth. And the truth is that the reality of the events of the end of the age, death and eternity in hell are things to be afraid of if you have not trusted Jesus yet. You should be afraid. But you don’t have to be. Right now you can choose to believe Jesus’ died for your sins, and God will forever wipe your slate clean so that you can spend eternity in heaven.]
For those who do believe, events of life, and possibly what we are facing leading up to the Seven Years right now, are still terrifying if we aren’t abiding in trust day by day, and even sometimes, moment by moment, in our faithful God. He wants us to look at the situations we face, and assess them accurately, understanding why they are occurring and our place in them and response to them. And we need to assess our outlook. What are we focusing on, and how can adjusting our focus help us to mitigate the fears that overcome us?
1) Assessing the Situation - Why is this coming?
The first step when combating fear of anything, is to look at it for what it is, and understand it’s purpose. It does no good to push it aside, to pretend it isn’t happening and to distract ourselves with other things. That may abate it for awhile, but eventually that thing will overtake us and we won’t be able to ignore it anymore. In truth, the hard times that are coming are no different than the reality of death itself. We can do our best to fill our lives with good things and wonderful experiences, but even someone who achieves their best life now, will someday grow old, get sick and die. It is the reality. We are usually given years to face this eventuality and think about the afterlife, but in truth, none of us knows when that day will come for us. Because of this, it’s not a good idea to delay the inevitable, distract ourselves with shiny things, and then be caught off guard. We need to face our fears of death, and of the end times, head on - to come to terms with their reality, understand why they are coming, and make decisions about life and death - today.
God Wants to Give Everyone a Chance
Some have said dismissively that people have always said, ‘This is it! This is the time before Jesus returns.” It is true, people have always looked at their own times, seen the evil ramping up and thought it was the time. And Jesus told us not to jump the gun and predict a specific date because, “...of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be” Matthew 24:36-40. At the same time, He told us to watch, so that we would not be overtaken by the coming events. So He gave us a detailed set of events as signs to be aware of so that we would know that the season was near. People in history were not wrong to be paying attention to the signs of their own times. They were being obedient to Christ. But while all those times showed upheaval in the world, they didn’t fulfill every last sign that Jesus gave. To be good watchmen, it is critical to know all the signs, and the details of each, because Satan will try to trick us by creating similar events for us to believe, but then when they fail to bring about the Second Coming of Jesus, the message appears discredited. But when that time, God’s ordained time, truly comes, every last detail will be fulfilled. And it will be so unimaginable, that there will be no mistake.
The Bible tells us why it seems like we wait and wait for His coming. It tells us that people will scoff that we believe that the time will someday come. God loves humanity, and He’s waiting until the last moment, giving everyone a chance to believe, before He allows the consequences of humanity’s sin to overtake the world. But even once the Seven Years begins, there is still an opportunity to turn to God. He allows all of the destruction to wake people up, so they will come to Him before its too late. It isn’t advisable to wait this long to ask God’s forgiveness and trust Him. Quite honestly, people will be dying right and left, and chances of living through it all will be small. “Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.’ But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:3-9.
Why do the Seven Years have to happen?
The first thing that someone needs to come to terms with who reads these events and becomes fearful, is to understand that God gives us all of the details of what is coming for a specific reason. He is warning us, and has been for centuries, even millenia. If He didn’t care about us, if He was a spiteful tyrannical God, He would just let it all happen without warning. His warnings over and over, and all of the time that He has allowed to pass, show His patience, grace and mercy. He has given an abundance of time, so that people can come to Him and repent. But before we repent, (by realizing in humility that we have sinned and come to Him for forgiveness and change), we have to sometimes be shocked awake to see what the consequences of the wrong we do are. Mankind has free will. God allows people to make choices, but wrong choices lead to everything from destructiveness in our relationships, to disenfranchising and brutalizing those less fortunate, to poor stewardship of the environment, and on and on. And it all accumulates over time exponentially until it comes to a point where God has to put a stop to it. The next verse in Matthew 24:22 says, “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.” God is waiting for the very last moments, so that everyone can have the chance to place their trust in Him. He is holding back the dam of self-imposed destruction until the very last second.
The sins of the first man and woman, began a great cosmic unraveling. It’s not simply the wrongs that we do that affect our relationships with one another. The wrongs we do affect society and even the universe because everything was created perfect in perfect harmony. And once the first people sinned, everything started to unravel. “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies” Romans 8:22-23. God has been holding back the floodgates of the consequences of our cumulative interconnected sins for awhile. The Seven Years are a time when the effects on absolutely everything are seen in its disintegration. It is said that everything that can be shaken will be shaken. “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words ‘once more’ indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire’” Hebrews 12:25-28.
If we think about the Seven Years, everything that happens is a shaking of each element that our sin has affected. A One World Government will rise with a World Leader who will force everyone on the planet to obey him and be enslaved, or die. This is the ultimate result of how people’s greed and lust for power has affected government. In order for this New World Order to begin, those in power will destroy freedom-loving nations through war and devastation worldwide that will result in famine, disease and death on a global scale (see Matthew 24, Revelation 6). As those who remain clamor for a solution, the Antichrist will rise to ‘save’ people who take his ‘mark.’ Technology will advance to the point that it is used to track, control and subjugate all of humanity. The sun turns dark, the moon to blood, the seas and rivers are poisoned, earthquakes and volcanoes erupt everywhere polluting the air, huge hail falls, asteroids hit the earth, mass numbers of trees are burned up, and mass animal causalities occur. These things are a result of the unraveling connectedness that the initial sins created when they jump-started entropy. And they are the product of the poor stewardship and pollution of the planet God gave us to caretake, the direct attempt to control the weather to war against and control populations and nations, and of God removing His hand of protection from extra-terrestrial dangers so that eyes will be opened to the overwhelming consequences of sin.
The boundaries that God created between the spiritual and physical realms to protect humanity from what we cannot handle, and from seeing and interacting with the creatures in the unseen realm, will be breached. People using both scientific (CERN) and spiritual (Luciferianism) methods, (who have been deceived into thinking that they know better than God), will open the gates, and the earth will be overrun. Mankind will attempt to access eternal life through transhumanism using genome altering nanotechnology, biometrics, vaccines, Ai implants and chips, hoping to bypass the need for Jesus’ redemption and restoration. This will result in hybrid humanity, like in the days of Genesis 6, who are no longer fully human, and therefore can no longer be saved by Jesus Christ, who came to die as a one to one, human for human, substitute for us. This may all sound like science fiction. But it is the ultimate result of what our cumulative sin has led to down through the ages. And it is all coming onto the scene of planet earth - right now.
God has been holding all of this back for a while now. He wants to give humanity as much time as possible either to choose to accept His forgiveness, or to go their own way. But at some point, everything will be so corrupted that it will come to a head, and He will come back to stop it, before we completely annihilate ourselves.
Why does God have to Judge Sin?
God has many attributes that make Him who He is. He has perfect love. He loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die in our place for our sins, offer reconciliation with Him and eternal life of love and peace. He is patient. He did not create us to be robots. He gives us free will. He waits until the last moment before allowing the consequences of sin to overtake us. He gives us grace, which means He does not give us what we deserve. He could judge us the moment we sin, but instead He gives us a lot of time to come to Him. And He graciously sent Jesus who took our sins and the punishment we deserve on Himself when He died. He did this so that we wouldn’t have to pay the punishment for our sins ourselves. Sometimes we are tempted to feel like it is unfair of God to judge sin. But the reality of the situation is that it was unfair for Jesus to suffer a horrifying excruciating death of suffocation being nailed to a cross and hanging there to be tortured to death - not for His own sins, but for ours instead. This was unfair to Him. But He did this out of love. But why does God have to judge sin at all? Because although God is loving and kind and gracious and merciful and patient, He is also Just. If God wasn’t just, if He didn’t punish sin one way or another, He would be not be good.
The Reality of Morality
Think of it this way. All countries, communities and families, have some kind of moral code, laws, sets of rules and justice. Where do those things come from and why do they exist? I would say a couple of places. First, they come from a need for an agreed upon set of standards for people so they can work together in the way people interact and live. These types of laws and codes we live are not necessarily based upon morality, or right and wrong, but instead on setting the organization and boundaries that give people a mutual understanding (which in the end allows for better relationships and more freedom). Think of something like traffic laws in this category. Stopping and going at a stoplight are not moral issues, but when everyone adheres to the same rules, then everyone gets to where they are going safely.
In a second category are laws that are based on morality. They come from something within everyone that says, ‘this is right’ and ‘this is wrong.’ While all moral codes may not be exactly the same, throughout human history and across cultures, the lists of rules have often been similar, about things that are ‘good’ and things that are ‘bad’. The question is where does this inner prompting or conscience come from? It’s more than only a need for order within a community. We all believe in right and wrong, and that some kind of justice is needed when people do wrong. If one person murders another, our belief that it is ‘wrong’ comes from something deeper within us than a simple belief that it destroys the organization or function of the community.
When a nation or community is formed, some set of laws are established, and some of these laws may simply be strategic, others have to do with things that are moral. Once the law is agreed upon, the ‘law’ itself is the deciding factor of whether judgment or punishment needs to happen. Because if there is no law that is above everyone, everyone would do what they want and the society would be a ‘mad max’ sort of world. But even in societies and families and nations, people don’t always agree exactly what the law should be, and there’s always the question of who decides what it should be.
The issue is that all people are sinful. We all do wrong things. We are all self-seeking at times. And at times we all hurt one another. The Bible says we are all sinners, imperfect and do wrong. So why would any of us have the right to judge others or set the laws? We all fail and we’re all in the same boat. But at the same time we all believe in right and wrong, and that there should be some kind of justice when someone harms or hurts another person. For example, someone should not be able to just steal someone else’s car and keep it for their own. In our society, (and in other’s), we consider that to be wrong, so that person would need to pay some sort of ‘debt’ for that wrong in the form of returning it, or buying another, but usually also some form of jail time or other punishment.
This is the type of ‘debt’ we owe to God. People are all sinners and do wrong, so we cannot really be each others judge. So we create a Law that is above all of us to adhere to. But that Law is based on something more than just a need to make the society work. It’s based on right and wrong and can only truly be just and enforced by someone outside of humanity, who has never done anything wrong - someone who is actually above the Law. Only someone who hasn’t done wrong has the right to judge anyone else truly. God hasn’t done anything wrong. And He’s the one who created us. He also is the one who sets the rules for right and wrong based upon His own character - who He is. The Bible says humanity was created ‘in His image’, and because of this, all humans also have a sense of right and wrong and a belief that there needs to be justice to punish wrongs and reparations made to the people who experienced the injustice. The wrongs we all do are the ‘debts’ we owe to God and others.
We believe a horrible injustice is done if people do not pay for their crimes. If someone gets off free without any jail time for murdering someone else, we are horrified. The murderer ‘owes a debt’ to the victim, their loved ones, society, and ultimately to God. They pay the debt through some kind of punishment - jail time, etc.
God cannot be Good, if He isn’t Just
The ultimate law of God is based on His character. God’s character is life, love, joy, peace, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, gentleness, patience and self-control. Anything that goes against this character, goes against the law of God. Jesus was a sacrificial servant who put other people’s needs before His own in every way. And Jesus is the full expression of God in human form. He was perfect (He never sinned or did anything wrong), but because He loves us, He died to pay for all the debts the rest of us owed to God for all the wrongs each of us have done.
I think this is a helpful illustration. Imagine that you are in a court of law for whatever wrong things you’ve done in your life. God is the judge, and you’ve done wrong things, so you are guilty and must pay for your sins with some sort of judgment. It would be unjust for God to just let us go without consequences. In the courtroom, God has heard the list of wrongs that you have done, and knows how they have affected and hurt others (and have hurt Him). He slams down the gavel and pronounces you ‘guilty’. But at the last moment, before God delivers your sentence, Jesus runs into the courtroom and says, ‘take me instead!’ Jesus is hauled off to the electric chair, and you get to go free. Why? Because the debt has been paid by Jesus. Why can Jesus be a substitute for you? Because Jesus is both God and Human. Jesus is God, and so He is perfect. Jesus has no sins of His own to pay for. Jesus is human, so He can be an equal substitute for other humans.
It is part of our human justice system to require a life for a life. If someone murders someone else, we think it is only fair that they lose their life too - either by losing their freedom to live the life they want and being imprisoned or the death penalty. That’s what Jesus did. A life for a life. He died in our place, and even went to hell, for us. So we wouldn’t have to. Our ‘debt’ to God for our wrongs is paid by Jesus. God did this out of His love and grace for us because He doesn’t want us to have to pay the debt for our sins.
Why does God have to Judge during the Seven Years?
There will be a couple of reasons that judgment will come on the world during the Seven Years. First, because God gives us free will, this means that people will choose evil as they always have. The sinful choices of humanity are cumulative and almost exponential in their effect. For example, if someone abuses a child, that child often grows up to abuse others. And all of the effects of that abuse can have many manifestations with many other relationships connected to the people around them, and the sins and the effects of broken relationships and broken interactions ripples out into families and friendships and the community and society. Since we are all sinners, we are all sending out these ripples of damaging effects. Since this has been happening with billions of people for thousands of years, sin and its affects on everything are snowballing to a point where God will have to bring it to a stop. The effects of sin will result in the worldwide wars, environmental collapse, societies full of drug use, and demon worship, and human trafficking and slaughter, and famine and disease and economic collapse.
The Seven Years will be a time when the unraveling comes to a point where sin and its destruction permeates everything. The four horsemen begin to ride at the beginning of the Seven Years as the world begins to unravel, It begins with the white horse when the Antichrist confirms the treaty with Israel and begins his campaign of ‘peace’ that ends in destruction.
The second reason is that while it is true that God is loving and gracious and patient, it is also true that He is just, and He will judge humanity for what sin has caused. The Antichrist will rise and will seek worship for himself. He will have the power of Satan, the False Prophet, the demonic hoards, and humans who have chosen to be on his side. His campaign will be to enslave humanity to worship him. He will seek out to kill everyone worldwide who does not show him allegiance by taking his mark on their hand or forehead. This mark will give people the ability ‘buy and sell” - to pay their bills, receive a paycheck and buy what they need to survive. Those who do not give him their allegiance and take the mark, will be cut off from society, and the Bible says they will be beheaded.
God will have to judge the actions of all of these humans and fallen entities. God’s judgment will also come because of the sin of humanity in general. God will judge the nations for their sins.
Assessing the Situation - Where is Our Focus?
The Prime Directive - Focus on Spreading the Gospel
So how does this knowledge help us face the fears of the coming end of the age? It helps us understand that God is not out of control, that evil will not go unchecked, and that His ultimate desire is for as many people to be saved as possibly can. Sometimes this comes as a result of fearful things that shake people awake to the reality that they need to make decisions about life and death. And sometimes we suffer right alongside others, so that they can see that we trust the Lord, and prayerfully, they will want to know Him too. As horrible as it is, it is the persecution of the Church and incredible suffering that can bring people to Jesus faster than anything, because people see that we have peace and joy that surpasses anything that makes sense. And no matter what comes, one of the main reasons we are here, is to bring people to Jesus.
“I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith” Philippians 1:20-25.
No matter what is happening around us, this prime directive has never changed. God loves us and has promised never to leave us or forsake us. For the believer, hard times can shake us free of our distractions, our crutches and our idols, and forces us to focus on the reason we are here - a lost and dying world destined for hell.
To Know Christ and Understand on Deeper levels what He has done for us
Missionaries, Christians suffering around the world today, martyrs in church history, and the Apostles were all able to come to a place in their hearts, minds and spirits, where they would do anything, and go through anything, for the sake of the Savior and spreading the gospel. It was even thought of as the highest honor to suffer and die for Christ. How do we get there? How do we find that kind of courage, resolve, perfect peace and fortitude, and dare I say even joy, in such circumstances?
The Apostle Paul knew that he would be murdered for his faith. God told him so. And every step of each day, he lived with the reality that he was coming one step closer to his death, and that it likely would be a painful one. So how did he keep from running from his destiny, from hiding from God, from wasting his life away in depression and despair, from distracting himself with temple prostitutes, and even from committing suicide? I’ll admit, it can be easy for me to read his story and say, well he was an Apostle, he had some special grace or gifting that I don’t have... but is that true? Was he different from the rest of us in that way that God gave him more to work with than you or I? Paul told his readers to imitate him, so he must have believed they had every spiritual resource that he had to face whatever they would encounter in life. And one of the ways he faced suffering was to do all that he could to know Christ, to spend time with Christ, through learning and praying and fasting and communing with Him more and more. To do all that he could to really understand what Christ had done for him, and by doing this, it caused Paul to want to even share in the sufferings of Christ.
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:7-14.
We are ultimately to be imitators of Paul because he was an imitator of Christ. To become so humble and self-sacrificial and loving that we would do whatever is asked of us for the One who suffered so much for us.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” Hebrews 12:1-2.
We may have read these words dozens of times, and have applied them to our daily struggles, and even the heartbreaks and tragedies we have endured in life. But we may not have yet had the opportunity to apply them to circumstances that more directly relate to those that Paul and his readers were experiencing - of severe persecution and death. And Paul, and the other Apostles, thought of these experiences in this way - as opportunities to become more like Christ, to understand Him and what He did more fully, to suffer for the sake of others, to show unconditional love and devotion, and to share with others hope beyond this life.
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” James 1:2-4.
“Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” 2 Corinthians 4:13-18
Ultimately Jesus wins in the end, will receive all the worship and praise for everything He’s done to save His own, and we will spend an eternity with Him in perfect peace.
America and the Rapture
Some people use the concept of the Rapture of the Church to stave off fears about the coming Seven Years. For those unfamiliar, the Rapture is an event that is discussed in verses such as 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, and 1 Corinthians 15:50-52 when Jesus Christ will snatch away His Church from the earth at some point with respect to the Seven Years. Many believe this event will occur before the Seven Years rescuing believers from this terrible time. Many others believe that this event occurs at other times - at the middle of the Seven Years, before the worst of the events towards the end, and right before the Second Coming of Jesus when He returns to fight the battle of Armageddon. And there are those who don’t really believe in the event at all. A discussion of the timing of this event is beyond the scope of what will be discussed here for a specific reason.
It is very possible that even if the rapture occurs before the Seven Years begin, that America (and other nations) will fall into great disaster and persecution before these events even occur. And because of this, it is important to set our minds on things above when dealing with our fears regardless of what comes our way.
When the time comes, the evil world leader (the Antichrist) will rise from obscurity from within the ten nation conglomerate that makes up the One World Government. It makes sense that the process of this One World forming must be underway as the Seven Years begins. For this to happen, the world, and all of its nations, must be assimilated into this borg. Many have noted that there is no nation from beyond the seas (or any nation at all) that comes to rescue Israel when the Antichrist breaks his treaty betraying Israel, sets up his image to be worshiped and begins his rampage against the Jews. It is only Jesus who will come to save them in the end. So something must happen to Israel’s greatest ally before these events ever occur.
I bring this up, because we can see right now, the Global Reset coming online. It is a plan that is connected with the World Economic Forum, the World Health Organization and the United Nations agendas. It is interesting to note that the United Nations splits the world in to ten regions. Time will tell if these are the ten divisions of the One World Government spoken of in Daniel and Revelation. It seems very possible that NWO is forming, and America is coming to an end. And there is no guarantee that the Rapture, even if it occurs before the Seven Years, will occur before we see great suffering in the United States. All over the world in other nations, and for centuries since the beginning of the church 2,000 years ago, Christians have suffered greatly for their faith. We need to be prepared for this possibility. So we need to be steeling ourselves against fear now.
Assessing the Situation - Who is Our Focus?
The Book of Revelation, which contains all the details of the Seven Years, can also be called the Book of the Apocalypse. This leads us to think that the focus of this book is terror and destruction, but it's not. The word ‘apocalypse,’ actually means ‘unveiling’. The title of this book is actually The book of the Unveiling of Jesus Christ. He is the main point of the book. Throughout scripture, all of the horrible events described during the Seven Year time period are often combined with the idea of ‘birth pangs’. The events become greater and more painful and closer together right up until the time of the final unveiling. The ‘birth’ moment for those present on the planet comes at the end of the Seven Years, when Jesus Christ is revealed in the clouds of heaven and bursts forth onto the scene of planet earth. He will literally return back to the earth to judge, and to set everything right.
The Bible itself tells the story of God’s interaction with humanity down through the ages, and His direction for our future moving forward. Our existence as a human family is not aimless. We are on a trajectory through time and space with God’s end goals as a part of that purpose. God formed the earth for humanity’s habitation, rule and care as God’s representatives in this realm. When Adam and Eve sinned, they not only severed the physical world from eternal life, but they also brought dysfunction in all relationships - humans with human, human with God, human with animals, humans with angels, man and woman, parents and children, and so on. When we read the Bible, we can see that as God interacted with humanity, He set up boundaries to mitigate the harm we cause each other, society, and the earth. He gave Adam and Eve a conscience. He gave Noah instruction for humanity to govern one another. He gave Abraham a land with borders. He gave Moses laws for the nation of Israel to live by. All of these boundaries keep wrongdoing in check and help people live in better relationships. But even with all of these boundaries, dysfunction, division and brokenness still continues, because the core issue isn’t corrected by these measures. All of these help and have their place, but none of them fixes mankind’s sinful heart.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?
Jeremiah 17:9
So onto the stage of human history, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God Himself is born. He lived a perfect life, died for the sins of humanity, came back from the dead three days later, and ascended back into heaven. “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep” 1 Corinthians 15:3-6. For all those who believe, He will give them a new heart and a new spirit. He gives them the Holy Spirit and transforms them from the inside out. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” Ezekiel 36:26. But while the believer lives in this world, that person is at constant war with their own body, so that they still struggle with sin. What Jesus came to do at His first coming was to suffer and die for the sins of humanity. But He hasn’t finished everything He set out to do yet. He has to restore everything that sin started to unravel. He will heal our physical bodies and minds. He will restore planet earth. This is the restoration of our conscience. He will defeat the Antichrist and will restore order to the earth when He reigns over it for 1,000 years. This is the restoration of the government. He will ensure that Israel will have new hearts and spirits and will live in true peace and security in the borders of their land. He will rule the earth with the higher Law of Love and justice. He will heal broken relationships. And ultimately He will create a new heavens and new earth. All that was destroyed by Adam and Eve’s sin, and the cumulative sins of humanity through time, will be set right again in and through Christ.
God’s Purpose: Christ Will Receive All the Glory
When we think about assessing the situation that we are faced with, whether it be the loss of a job, a cancer diagnosis, our own death or that of a loved one, or even the Seven Years, the solution to fear is always the same. It’s always about our perspective, and what, or Who, we are focused on. None of what will come on the earth at the End of the Age is out of God’s control. God still loves us. He is still with us no matter what comes. He has a purpose for our lives, and we need to abide in Him no matter the circumstance. From this perspective, it actually doesn’t matter if it’s the end of the world, or just another day in paradise. We deal with fear in the exact same way in all circumstances. We fix our eyes, our thoughts, our hopes, our circumstances, and whatever each day brings - on Jesus. He is faithful. He will guide us. Life may not be as comfortable as it once was, but He will lead us to what we need as long as we are walking with Him, and are listening to His guidance. And even when we lose sight of Him, and get sidetracked, He is still there for us because of His grace and mercy.
We may soon be in days where the work is gone, and provisions are limited. Our lives may be more like those who have had to live in developing nations, and who have had to place their faith not in their wealth, or in society’s safety nets, or in the government. All of those things could be gone, and our faith will grow as we really experience what it is like to have all of our faith for our daily needs placed solely in Christ. And there may come a day when persecution comes, and even threat of death for our faith, and we come to understand more fully what it means to ‘count it all joy’ as we suffer for our Savior. But He promised never to leave us or forsake us. We must fix our eyes on Him no matter what comes, or it will overwhelm us.
Verses about Fear
Deuteronomy 3:22
“Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”
Deuteronomy 31:6
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Joshua 1:9
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Psalm 23:4
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
Psalm 27:1
“The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?”
Psalm 34:4
“I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.”
Psalm 34:7
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”
Psalm 46:1
“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”
Psalm 55:22
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”
Psalm 56:3
“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”
Psalm 91:1-16
Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.”
Psalm 94:19
“When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.”
Psalm 118:6-7
“The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The Lord is with me; he is my helper.”
Proverbs 12:25
“An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.”
Proverbs 29:25
“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.”
Isaiah 41:10
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Isaiah 41:13-14
“‘For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Do not be afraid, for I myself will help you,’ declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”
Isaiah 43:1
“But now, this is what the Lord says…Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”
Zephaniah 3:17
“The Lord your God is in your midst, A victorious warrior. He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.”
Matthew 6:34
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Mark 4:39-40
“He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
Mark 5:36
“Jesus told him, ‘Don’t be afraid; just believe.’”
Mark 6:50
“Immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’”
Luke 12:22-26
“Do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
John 14:27
“Peace is what I leave with you; it is my own peace that I give you. I do not give it as the world does. Do not be worried and upset; do not be afraid.”
Romans 8:38-39
“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.”
Philippians 4:6-7
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
2 Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
1 Peter 3:14
“But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats.”
1 Peter 5:6-7
“Humble yourselves, then, under God’s mighty hand, so that he will lift you up in his own good time. Leave all your worries with him, because he cares for you.”
1 John 4:18
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Revelation 1:17
“Then he placed his right hand on me and said: ‘Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.’”
