Main article: The Prophetic Week
Related: The Great Tribulation
The Beginning of Sorrows. The first 3 1/2 years of Daniel's seventieth week is called “The Beginning of Sorrows” (Matt. 24:8). During this period the first six seals of Revelation are unfolded. It begins when The Beast makes a covenant with Israel, and ends when "the abomination of desolations" is set up in the holy place. Passages that deal directly with the Beginning of Sorrows are Rev. 6, Matthew 24:4-14, and various places in the first book of the Psalms. Relatively little is written about the first three and a half years of Daniel's seventieth week, compared to the volumes that deal with the events that come later.
The Book of Revelation fills in the details of Daniel’s seventieth week in a very orderly way. Revelation is a book of judgment outlining the steps God will take to glorify His Son! Revelation is mainly focused on the effects that the coming judgments will have on the Revived Roman Empire (Christianized lands), while Old Testament prophecy focuses more on the effect of the coming judgments on Israel.
The Sealed Scroll. Revelation speaks of a book (or scroll) that is “written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals” (Rev. 5:1). This book contains the counsels of God for the blessing of the earth that will be brought about through judgment.1 One of the themes of Rev. 4-5 is that the Lord alone is able and worthy to open the book and break its seals. Another important thing we see in Rev. 4-5 is a great change of administration when the Lamb takes the book. The saints in association with Christ will replace the angels as administrative executors – a change fully developed in the Millennium.
The seven seals. The first six seals are described in Revelation 6. Each seal unlocks a new portion of the book.
- 1st Seal: Great political changes occur, alliances are formed. Possibly this is when the 10-nation Western Confederacy is formed. read more...
- 2nd Seal: Civil war erupts. Massive bloodshed in the West. read more...
- 3rd Seal: Famine and economic failure strikes the West. The wealthy are still untouched. read more...
- 4th Seal: A fatal, epidemic disease brakes out. Animals attack citizens in the West. read more...
- 5th Seal: Many Jewish believers are martyred. They cry to the Lord to avenge their blood. read more...
- 6th Seal: A tremendous political upheaval occurs in the West, creating terror and building an appetite for the empire to welcome the Beast and Antichrist. read more...
Indirect Judgments. These judgments are "providential" or "indirect". That is, God will be using natural things as instruments of judgment. Jesus described these first 3 1/2 years as follows:
"But ye will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not disturbed; for all these things must take place, but it is not yet the end. For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places. But all these are the beginning of throes." Matt. 24:6-8
