The Darkest Hour Before the Dawn/Sunrise
This dispensation we’re now in is likened to the night time. While the church is taken
out, the night time doesn’t cease until the return of the Lord, the Sunrise. This means the
darkest period of the night is representative of the Tribulation. (1 Thess 5:1-5, 9)
Now this Tribulation period is a huge subject and it would be impossible to take it up
comprehensively in one message (it’s taken us over 13 months to cover the first 14
chapters of the book of Revelation), but I don’t want you to be able to the basic character
of this period and how it relates to this similitude of the heavenlies.
The period of the Great Tribulation is chiefly a time of God’s dealing with his
chosen people Israel. When God took Israel out of Egyptian bondage, and redeemed
them to himself, he intended for them to be a peculiar treasure, a holy nation (Exod 19:5-
6) unto himself. He prophesied of a Messiah that was to come and exalt them as a nation
in their own land of promise. This Messiah wouldn’t only be a righteous king over Israel,
but a light to lighten the Gentiles.
When the fullness of the time was come and Christ was at last sent to save his people
Israel he declared to them that they were to be the light of the world and the salt of the
earth. God had always intended to bless the nations of the earth through Israel (Gen 12:1-
3). And yet not only did they refuse to shine their light to God’s glory, but they said, ‘We
have no King but Caesar,’ and they themselves demanded the crucifixion of the Light of
the World himself, their very own Christ.
It was with this in view that Jesus prophesied of a time when there would be tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
It has two primary purposes for Israel… (Jer 30:4-8, Ezek 20:37-38, Daniel 12:1)
1. To judge Israel for its rejection of Christ. (A time of trouble)
The means of this judgment will be the Antichrist
2. To prepare Israel for the return of Christ. (A time of salvation)
The means of this preparation will be Moses and Elijah, 144,000
witnesses, and another trip to the wilderness. (Revelation 7,11-12)
The entire period of the Great Tribulation is characterized by darkness…
1 Thessalonians 5:7
For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
2 Timothy 3:13
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
1. Great Moral Darkness
a. With the restraining influence of the church absent from planet earth and
the deification of a human being in the person of Antichrist the whole of
the human race will be turned entirely over to fulfill its own lusts at the
expense of one another.
b. The crowning sins that day are enumerated in Rev 9:20-21. It begins with
idolatry that is ever degenerating going from devils, to gold, to silver, to
brass, to stone, and finally to wood.
c. It lists murders. This will be the consummation of abortion on demand,
legalized euthanasia, and modern-day terrorism.
d. Sorceries. The Greek word pharmakeia. This is the product of a generation
made to believe there is a pill for every flaw, disorder, ism, and phobia. It
will be ushered in by the legalization of recreational drugs.
e. Fornication will be rampant. The fruit of the destruction of the marriage
unit. This wicked vice will come even to be worshipped and incorporated
into religious service of the day.
f. Thefts. The concept of and respect for private property will be done away
with, every man for himself.
g. These various sins have always been around, but what will capitalize their
darkening effect in this time of tribulation will be man kinds refusal to
repent when confronted with his sin. It says five times in the book of
Revelation the man refused to repent. The love of many will have waxed
cold, the fear of God will have waned, and the willingness of mankind to
get right before a holy God will have past. Instead of repenting to give
God glory mankind with his conscience seared will blaspheme the very
God that reproves them.
2. Great Spiritual Darkness
The Empress of the Night will be entirely absent to reflect the light of the Lord Jesus
into the affairs of men.
a. The False Prophet will woo the inhabitants of the earth with lying signs
and wonders, and cause them to make an image to the beast, which he will
give life to, and cause all the inhabitants of the earth to worship the image
of the beast. (Rev 13:13-18)
b. It will be a time of unprecedented demonic activity when the earth itself
will open to loose hell’s inhabitants upon the earth.
c. Religion will prosper and, on a brand new scale, will damn the souls of all
those that take the mark of the beast and worship his image. (Rev 14:9-11)
This great moral and spiritual darkness will result in cataclysmic judgments upon
the earth. These judgments are revealed in the Book of Revelation under seals,
trumpets, and vials.
a. Death and Hell will be loosed upon the earth killing ¼ of the
population. (6:7-8)
b. Hail and fire mingled with blood will turn 1/3 of the face of the planet
into a barren wasteland. (8:8-9)
c. The water will become bitter and poisoned.(8:10-11)
d. Supernatural long-haired, horse-shaped, lion-toothed locusts with tails
like a scorpion will torment men for 5 months. (Ch. 9)
e. A demonic 200 million strong army of fire-breathing horsemen will
eliminate the 1/3 of the population. (Ch. 9)
f. Men will break out with noisome sores upon their bodies from
receiving the mark. (16:2)
g. The sea and the rivers will be turned to blood. (16:3)
h. The sun will scorch men with great heat. (16:8-9)
i. Their will be signs in the heavens. (7:12-13)
3. Great Physical Darkness: These cataclysmic judgments will actually result in
utter physical darkness.
Revelation 16:10
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was
full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Matthew 24:29
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken:
Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the
terrible day of the LORD come.
Joel 3:15
The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
Isaiah 13:10
For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun
shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
Revelation 6:12-13
…the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs,
when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness…
(Joel 2:2)
Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? Even very dark, and no
brightness in it? (Amos 5:20)
…a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness. (Zeph
1:15)
The good news is that the darkness doesn’t persist forever, the darker it grows the
nearer the morning becomes.
Ps 30:5 … weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet
him. Matthew 25:6
Psalm 19:4-5
Malachi 4:2
Matt 24:27 Out of the East
Turn to Rev 19:11-19.
Make sure you get the picture. When the Antichrist’s troops began to gather themselves
together, their were terrible cataclysmic events taking place, but at least they could see.
And as they prepare to make war with Christ and his heavenly forces the Sun ceases its
shining, and the moon turns to blood, and stars withdraw their shining, and in a moment
God turns the lights out on planet earth. And while this United National army can not
even see their hand in front of their face as they converge upon the capital of the world,
they can here the sound of ever unclean fowl flapping and squawking just above their
heads. And if they didn’t realize they were in trouble before now, I bet they have a pretty
good idea. Suddenly a light of unparalleled glory that puts the very sun which he created
to shame appears in the sky upon a white steed to reclaim the kingdoms of this world.
2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of
his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
A few things that happen when the Sun of Righteousness rises to declare the day of
the Lord:
Hosea 6:1-3 Israel’s reproach will be completely and finally taken away.
2 Sam 23:3-4 She’ll be restored as the head of the nations in full covenant
blessing.
Isa 60:1-3 The Gentile nations will be introduced to the Messiah and with one fail
swoop the struggles and shortcomings of mankind will be remedied, why?
Because Jesus will touch down on the Mount of Olives, he’ll dismount his horse and
when his toe touches the mount it will cleave in the midst making a straight and
level entry into the Eastern Gate through which the Lord Jesus will pass through to
sit down upon the throne of his father David and rule and reign over a kingdom of
peace and righteousness as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
You say, well what about us? Didn’t the Lord take care of that Jew? Didn’t the Lord take
care of that Gentile? Don’t you think the Lord will take care his own bride and body, the
church?
We’ll follow him upon white horses and take a front row seat to the most fantastic
spectacle the world has ever seen in all eternity. And you and I, the redeemed of God,
will reign with him as kings and priests upon the earth!