ESCHATOLOGY – The Study of the End Times – PART V.
THE ANSWER TO “WHEN” – part 3:
Martyrs, persecution, Anti-Christ, falling away– as corresponding to – The 5th Tribulation Seal
(Please Note: The corresponding verses in the books of Matthew and Revelation are color-coded for your reference and convenience).
Matthew 24:9, “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. Verse 10, And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. Verse 11, And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. Verse 12, And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”
As corresponding to:
Revelation 6:9, “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; Verse 10, and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Verse 11. And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”
AN IMPORTANT HISTORICAL AND CHRONOLOGICAL MARKER:
The events Jesus describes in verses 9 through 12 had already begun in His day and His disciples suffered this ‘tribulation’ (internal pressure of a tribulation, especially when feeling there is “no way of escape”) of persecution, alienation because of Jesus’ name, the rise of false prophets, lawlessness and death.
Jesus goes into greater detail in the sixth chapter of the book of Revelation, verses nine through 12, regarding this time of tribulation, death, hatred and the falling away of Christians from one another and from faith in God. This is a description of the breaking of the fifth seal of the tribulation scroll, which is the great apostasy, the great falling away from the faith and the great persecution of the Church.
Let’s remember, as the tribulation seals are broken (open), the effects of each seal will overlap with the preceding seals and the effects will compound and intensify, leading us to the 6th Tribulation Seal, also known as the beginning of The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord and the Wrath of the Lamb.
BACK TO: PART 4 – Click Here.
NEXT: PART 6 – Coming Soon.
NOTE: 
CHRONOLOGICAL MARKERS are useful for identifying events in their chronological order, which can help us identify our placement on God’s End of Days ‘calendar’.
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