A Study on the Timing of the Snatching Away, Part 5 (Why the Snatching Away Will Most Likely Occur Before Daniel’s 70th Heptad Begins)

In the previous installment of this study, I argued that the time period during which the “beginning of pangs” will be occurring is distinct from, and prior to, the second half of the 70^th heptad. I will now demonstrate that this earlier period of time (i.e., when the “beginning of pangs” begin to occur) is within that broader period of time referred to as the “day of the Lord.” As a corollary of this, I will argue that the “beginning of pangs” referred to by Christ is the earliest expression of God’s indignation during the “day of the Lord.”

The Seven-Sealed Scroll

In Revelation 5-6 we read of Christ receiving, and then opening, a scroll given to him by his God and Father (who is described as “Him who is sitting on the throne”). This scroll is described as having writing “in front and on the back,” and as being “sealed up with seven seals.” Moreover, we discover that, besides Christ, “no one in heaven, nor yet on earth, nor yet underneath the earth, was able to open the scroll, neither to look at it” (Rev. 5:3). No one except our Lord Jesus Christ was found worthy of this.

After the breaking of each of the scrolls’ seven seals, we read of a different future event taking place. As has been noted by many students of scripture, there seem to be striking similarities between the various events brought about by the opening of the seven-sealed scroll and the events prophesied by Christ in the Olivet Discourse. For example, we’re told that the breaking of the second seal of the scroll results in peace being taken “from out of the earth,” which is a reference to war (Rev. 6:3-4). This seems to correspond with what Christ declared to his disciples in Matt. 24:6-7: “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...”

We’re also told that the breaking of the third seal results in famine (6:5-6), and that the breaking of the fourth seal results in people dying from “the blade,” “famine,” “death” and “the wild beasts of the earth” (6:8). This, too, seems to correspond with what Christ declared concerning the “beginning of pangs”: ”Besides, there shall be great quakes and, in places, famines and pestilences.” The quakes to which Christ referred can also be understood as related to the breaking of the third and fourth seals, since earthquakes can, of course, bring about death as well as contribute to food scarcity. The breaking of the sixth seal also implies the occurrence of an earthquake (Rev. 6:12-17). But should the events that will be brought about through Christ’s opening the seven-sealed scroll be understood as expressions of God’s indignation during the day of the Lord? I think there’s very good reason to believe that they should.

First, it was noted in part two of this study that, in Rev. 1:10, the apostle John wrote that he “came to be, in spirit, in the Lord's day.” I went on to argue that the expression "the Lord's day" should best be understood as an alternate form of the expression "the day of the Lord," and that John understood it as conveying the same meaning. Understood in this way, John had in mind that future period of time during which God will begin intervening in world affairs to judge the inhabitants of the earth and restore the kingdom to Israel. It was by means of a vision (“in spirit”) that John came to be in this future "day," and saw what was going to take place during this period of time. The implication of this is that all of the prophesied events and judgments that John subsequently describes as leading up to Christ’s return (as well as the events taking place afterword, until the passing away of the present heaven and earth) will be occurring during the (broad) day of the Lord. And this, of course, includes the events associated with the opening of the seven-sealed scroll.

In addition to this fact, I argued in part three that we should understand both the seven bowl-related calamities as well as the seven trumpet-related calamities as expressions of God’s indignation. But if the trumpet and bowls are to be understood as essentially related to God’s indignation during the day of the Lord, then the seventh seal must also be understood as essentially related to God’s indignation. The reason this is so is because (as argued earlier) it is the breaking of the seventh seal which results in the sounding of the seven trumpets (Rev. 8:1-2, 6).

Just as the breaking of the first four seals result in the “four horsemen” that follow, so the breaking of the seventh seal results in the subsequent sounding of the seven trumpets (and in this sense, we could understand the seven trumpet-related calamities as being “contained” within the seventh seal, just as the four horsemen-related events can be understood as being “contained” within the first four seals). And given that the seventh seal must be understood as essentially related to God’s indignation, consistency demands that we view the previous seals as equally related to God’s indignation in some way. That is, just as the breaking of the seventh seal results in a certain manifestation of God’s indignation (i.e., the seven trumpet-related calamities), so we should understand the breaking of the previous six seals as also resulting in (or at least promising) a manifestation of God’s indignation during the day of the Lord.

Seals Five and Six

As is the case with the trumpet-related calamities, the mere fact that the word “indignation” is not explicitly used in reference to a particular seal is in no way an argument against the position that the breaking of the seal is, in some way, related to the expression of God’s indignation (see part three of my study for a more in-depth defense of this particular point with regards to the seven trumpets). However, it’s significant that the word indignation does, in fact, occur in Rev. 6:16-17, as part of the response of those who will be going through the frightening events brought about by the breaking of the sixth seal. Here’s how the events resulting from the opening of the sixth seal are described:

12 And I perceived, when It opens the sixth seal, and a great cataclysm occurred, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood,
13 and the stars of heaven fall on the earth as a fig tree is casting its shriveled figs, quaking under a great wind.
14 And heaven recoils as a scroll rolling up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the magnates, and the captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every slave and freeman, hide themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.
16 And they are saying to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him Who is sitting on the throne, and from the indignation of the Lambkin,
17 for the great day of Their indignation came, and who is able to stand?"

It should be noted that the same word translated “came” in v. 17 is consistently used by John to refer to either a time that has already arrived (Rev. 11:18; 14:7; 14:15; 19:7) or a time which arrived at some point in the past (Rev. 18:10). So it can be reasonably concluded that God’s indignation is, in fact, being expressed through the event(s) that follow the opening of the sixth seal. But what about the fifth seal?

In Rev. 6:9-11 we read, “And when It opens the fifth seal, I perceived underneath the altar the souls of those who have been slain because of the word of God and because of the testimony which they had. And they cry with a loud voice, saying, "Till when, O Owner, holy and true, art Thou not judging and avenging our blood on those dwelling on the earth?" And to each of them was given a white robe, and it was declared to them that they should be resting still a little time, till their number should be completed by their fellow slaves also, and their brethren, who are about to be killed even as they were.”

Rather than resulting in a particular expression of God’s indignation, the opening of the fifth seal reveals why further expressions of God’s indignation are necessary. At this point during the day of the Lord, there will be saints who will have been slain because of their faith in Christ. These martyred saints are figuratively represented as asking how long it will be until they are avenged by God. It’s then revealed that more saints are about to be killed “even as they were,” and implied that the avenging of the saints represented as crying out for justice will not take place (at least, not in full) until after the full number of saints have been killed.

Earlier I argued that, during the first half of the 70^th week, Jewish believers will be persecuted and killed by both unbelieving gentiles and unbelieving Jews. It’s possible that this is the category of saints who are represented in John’s vision as crying out for justice, and that those saints who we’re told “are about to be killed” are those who will be martyred during the second half of the 70^th heptad (i.e., during the time of great affliction). In any case, the vision that results from the opening of the fifth seal seems to point forward to a time of continued (and possibly intensified) martyrdom for the saints, and thus provides the reader with reason to expect further – and more severe – calamities to come upon “those dwelling on the earth,” until every saint who is to be killed during this time has been avenged by God.

The First Four Seals

Perhaps one of the most compelling pieces of evidence confirming the inseparable relationship that the seven seals have to God’s indignation is found in Rev. 6:7-8. There, the breaking of the fourth seal (and its devastating results) is described as follows: “And when It opens the fourth seal, I hear the voice of the fourth animal saying, ‘Come!’ And I perceived, and lo! a greenish horse, and the name of him who is sitting upon it is Death, and the Unseen followed him. And jurisdiction was given them over the fourth of the earth, to kill with the blade and with famine and with death and by the wild beasts of the earth.”

When we read that “jurisdiction” was given Death and the Unseen, the question naturally arises:  “From whom does this “jurisdiction” come?” The answer to this question is clear: ultimately, it comes from God himself (i.e., the one sitting on the throne, and who gives Christ the seven-sealed scroll to open). But what needs to be emphasized here is that the instrumental means through which “a fourth of the earth” is to be killed as a result of Christ’s breaking the fourth seal are the exact same means that God used in the past when bringing judgment against unfaithful Israel and “pouring out his fury” on them. In Ezekiel 5:12-13, 15-17 we read the following sobering words (spoken by God to the people of Jerusalem):

“A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them. Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am Yahweh—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them…

“…You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am Yahweh; I have spoken—when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread. I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am Yahweh; I have spoken.”

Similarly, in Ezekiel 14:21 we read: “For thus says the Lord God: How much more when I send upon Jerusalem my four disastrous acts of judgment, sword, famine, wild beasts, and pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!” [Note: With regards to the use of “death” instead of “pestilence” in Rev. 6:8, it’s likely that this is simply an example of the figure of speech “metonymy.” A.E. Knoch also notes in his commentary that, whenever “famine” and “plague” are joined together in the Hebrew Scriptures (see 1 Ki. 8:37, 2 Chr. 20:9, Jer. 21:7, 9; 24:10; 44:13; Ez. 6:11; 7:15) the LXX translation replaces “plague” with “death.” It’s thus not surprising that John would do the same in Rev. 6:8.]

These same four figures are prophesied as expressions of God’s wrath in several other passages as well (cf. Lev 26:21-28; Numb 11:33; 16:46; 25:8-11; Deut 11:17; 28:20-26; 32:22-25; Jer. 15:1-9; 16:4-11; 19:7-9; Ezek 6:11-12; 7:3-15). The fact that it is by means of these exact “disastrous acts of judgment” from God that a fourth of the earth will be killed after the fourth seal is broken by Christ strongly implies that the result of the breaking of the fourth seal will be an expression of God’s indignation.  

As far as the three preceding seals and their corresponding “horsemen,” little needs to be said at this point. Insofar as the events associated with the opening of the second and third seals can easily be understood as preliminary to the widespread death and devastation which results from the opening of the fourth seal, they, too, can be understood as expressions of God’s indignation. In any event, seals two and three are clearly associated with events that involve human suffering and hardship (i.e., world war and scarcity of food/inflation), and as such can be reasonably understood as two early expressions of God’s indignation during the day of the Lord (when “pangs” will just be beginning).

With regards to the opening of the first seal, we’re told that it will unleash a rider on a white horse. This rider is said to have a bow, to be given a wreath, and to come forth “conquering and that he should be conquering.” Many students of scripture have understood (rightly, I believe) the first horseman to represent the coming wicked world ruler whom Paul referred to as “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:4), and whom John referred to as “the wild beast” (Rev. 11:7; 13). If this is the case, it is significant that John twice referred to this future world ruler as engaged in “conquering.” In Rev. 11:7 we read that the wild beast will be “doing battle with [the two witnesses] and will be conquering them and killing them.” And in Rev. 13 we read that the wild beast will be “given authority to do what it wills forty-two months,” and that it will be “given to do battle with the saints and to conquer them” (Rev. 13:4-7). In light of this fact, it would be highly appropriate for this wicked ruler to be first described as coming forth “conquering and that he should be conquering.”

Given that the “horseman” associated with the first seal likely represents the man of lawlessness, the opening of this seal can be understood as bringing about his rise to power, and his emergence on to the world scene as an influential political leader (and, for unbelieving Israel, as a possible Messiah figure). Given the likelihood that it is his actions as a world leader that will, whether directly or indirectly, lead to the calamities associated with the subsequent seals (among other evils that will unfold during the final years of this eon, including widespread deception), the opening of the first seal can also be easily understood as an expression of God’s indignation.

We can, therefore, reasonably conclude that the breaking of the seven seals involves, in some way or another, the expression of God’s indignation against the inhabitants of the earth, and that this indignation continues with the more severe trumpet-related calamities and concludes with the even more severe bowl-related calamities. The judgments related to the seals, trumpets and bowls are clearly sequential and progressive, and simply intensify as they are unleashed upon earth’s inhabitants. And given the reasonable inference that the seal-related judgments are to be unleashed on the earth during the first half of the 70^th heptad, it can be reasonably concluded that the day of the Lord encompasses the entire 70^th heptad, and will be characterized by God’s indignation (which, again, will be expressed through increasingly more severe calamities as time progresses).

“Now whenever they may be saying ‘Peace and security’”

That the day of the Lord will begin when the judgments associated with the seven-sealed scroll commence is, I believe, further confirmed by what Paul wrote in 1 Thess. 5:1-3. In v. 3 we read that the day of the Lord will begin when people are saying, “Peace and security!” In other words, they will see peace and security as characterizing their present state of affairs, and it is for this reason that the “extermination” which “they may by no means escape” will be “standing by them unawares.” This being the case, it follows that the time of peace which unbelievers will see as characterizing the world when the day of the Lord begins will most likely be before the opening of the second seal (when peace will be taken from out of the earth), and before the fulfillment of Christ’s words in Matthew 24:6-7 (in which we’re told that nation will be roused against nation and kingdom against kingdom).

Consider also the imagery that Paul used to describe the devastating judgments that will commence with the coming of the day of the Lord. Paul likened the “extermination” that will be standing by people “unawares” at the start of the day of the Lord as “a pang over the pregnant” (1 Thess. 5:2-3). Similar “birth pang” imagery is found in Isa. 13:6-9 and Jer. 30:6-7, and was, of course, also used by Christ in his Olivet Discourse when describing some of the earliest events that will be taking place during the final years of this eon. Moreover, although most translations have “labor pains” (plural) in 1 Thess. 5:3, Paul actually used the singular “pang.” Paul was not referring to labor pains in general or collectively, but rather to the first labor pang experienced by a pregnant woman. It is this labor pang which, by virtue of its being the first, comes most unexpectantly (it also foretells even more pangs to come, which will become increasingly more intense until the baby is finally born).

It is, therefore, reasonable to infer that Paul had in mind the same general period of time as Christ did when he referred to the “beginning of pangs.” If this is the case, then Paul understood the day of the Lord to include the first half of the 70^th heptad, when the “pangs” would begin (and which correspond with the opening of the first four seals of the seven-sealed scroll). This, again, would place the beginning of the day of the Lord – when the “pangs” of which Christ spoke begin – no later than the earliest part of the time period described by Christ in his Olivet Discourse.

The Unveiling of the Man of Lawlessness

Based on the conclusions we’ve reached so far, it would be reasonable to understand the opening of the first seal as resulting in the event that Paul had in mind in 2 Thess. 2:4 (i.e., the unveiling of the man of lawlessness). But how will the man of lawlessness be unveiled? In part three of my study on the snatching away, I suggested that this could be at the midpoint of the 70^th heptad, when the man of lawless sits down in the temple as if he were God. However, I’ve since reconsidered this scenario as being the best interpretation of what Paul wrote here. Given the plausibility that the events brought about by the breaking of the seven-sealed scroll will occur during the first 3½ years of the 70^th heptad, it’s more likely that the unveiling of the man of lawlessness will involve some earlier prophetic event.

If this is the case, then what Paul wrote in 2 Thess. 2:4 shouldn’t be understood as indicating when the man of lawlessness is unveiled; rather, the information found in this verse was simply intended by Paul to further explain who, exactly, the “man of lawlessness” is. Paul most likely referred to this event simply because it was of greater prophetic prominence/emphasis in scripture, and would make the particular person he had in view more easily identifiable to his readers (both in a prophetic sense, and by more clearly highlighting his lawless nature). But if this “mid-70^th -week” event is not what Paul had in mind when he referred to the man of lawlessness as being “unveiled,” then what did Paul perhaps have in mind?

One possibility that I think deserves some consideration is that the unveiling of the man of lawlessness will take place when the first prophesied event concerning him is fulfilled (or when the prophecies concerning him begin to be fulfilled). If that’s the case, then there’s one prophecy in particular that comes to mind as possibly marking the unveiling of the man of lawlessness (or the beginning of his unveiling). In Daniel 9:27, we read that a “prince” or “governor” who is to come (and whose “coming” will correspond with Jerusalem and the temple being “laid in ruins”) will make or confirm a seven-year covenant “with many” (or, as the Concordant Version has it, this future ruler will become “master of a covenant with many for one seven”). It’s possible that the fulfilling of this prophetic event involving the man of lawlessness will constitute his unveiling (or the beginning of his unveiling). Although there is not as much scriptural emphasis on this event as there is on the actions of the man of lawlessness at the midpoint of the 70^th heptad (which could be why Paul didn’t refer to it), it nevertheless remains of great prophetic significance.