"The Winepress of Wrath" art design by Pete Garcia
Sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees. Everywhere we look these days, the righteous are being trodden down, and the wicked are exalted. The criminal escapes justice, while their victims suffer irreparable harm. The innocent are being cut down, while the wicked thrive. The honest man is being railroaded, while the corrupt flourish. The false religions of the world are deceiving billions and sending many to eternal damnation, while the truth is being censored and oppressed. In fact, this wickedness has become so normalized and pervasive in our day that we often forget where this whole world system is ultimately heading toward...judgment. But not just any judgment though, but the terrifying judgment of the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
While there has been much noise lately by those who hold to the Pre-Wrath position and attempt (foolishly I might add) to claim the Seal Judgments aren't God's judgments, but rather, man's and Satan's, they seem to forget WHO opens the Seals in the first place.
And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it...And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne...Now I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, “Come and see.” Revelation 5:1-3, 6-7, 6:1
Before moving on, we must make one final notation regarding the judgments. First, is that these judgments are opened in sequential order. Meaning, the Seal judgments (1-7) are opened in order. These are followed by the Trumpets being blown (in order). The Seven Thunders (depending on how they are executed) fit somewhere between the Trumpets and the Bowl judgments. But this is ONLY speaking to their opening or deliverance...NOT their fulfillment. The actual execution and physical fulfillment upon the earth seem to drag on until the end, thus compounding the severity of the final years of the 70th Week. IOW, year one is going to be bad, but each successive year seems to add on more and more wrath until the final year is so unbearable, that it will literally become hell on earth.
Judgment Timeline
Out of Eight Billion (8B) Human Population
The seven seals (Revelation 6): When these are opened, they find their fulfillment at the Second Coming. One-fourth of the world’s population will die (6B remaining)
1. The white horse (Antichrist; false peace)
2. The red horse (global war)
3. The black horse (drought/famine/economic disaster)
4. The pale horse (plague/disease)
5. Martyrdom of those who refuse to worship the Beast (slaughter of the Tribulation saints)
6. A great earthquake that causes such a geological disturbance that the dust and smoke obscure the sun, stars, and moon
7. Silence in heaven
The seven trumpets (Rev 8–11): One-third of the world’s population will die (4B remaining)
1. Hail and fire mixed with blood
2. A great mountain cast into the sea
3. Wormwood—a meteor that poisons (makes bitter) a third of the drinking water
4. A third of the sun, moon, and stars darkened (great cold, darkness)
5. First woe (demonic locusts plague those who take the mark)
6. Second woe (one-third of mankind killed by a demon army)
· Seven thunders are proclaimed, not written down
7. Third woe (lightning, voices, thunder, an earthquake, and great hail)
The seven vials/bowls (Revelation 16)
1. Grievous sores on those who take the mark of the Beast
2. The rest of the seas turned to blood
3. Rivers and fountains turned to blood
4. Great heat
5. Great supernatural darkness over the seat (capital) of the Beast kingdom
6. Euphrates River dries up
7. A massive earthquake, hundred-pound hail stones, and vast geological changes
The Battle of Armageddon (Revelation 19)
While we aren't told how many will die during the Bowl Judgments and Armageddon, it is a reasonable deduction to believe that humanity will be reduced to such a great extent, that mankind will not only become rare but if Christ didn't personally intervene at His return, no flesh would survive. And thus, from the Rapture of the Church until the Second Coming, the human population will go from eight billion down to a minuscule number in just a few short years. It would seem between the Seven Thunders and the Bowl Judgments two and three (ex. no drinkable water) that it would make it impossible for mankind to move forward without divine intervention, especially for the believing remnant Jews and Gentiles.
At the end of the seven years, the Beast’s armies, along with the kings of the east, gather in the Megiddo Valley (Israel) to try to destroy what remains of the Jewish people. The skies are rolled back, and Christ returns in power and glory, followed by the armies of heaven. He destroys the armies gathered there. The Beast and the False Prophet will be cast alive into the lake of fire.
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.
Revelation 19:11-16