Let us recall that when the fifth seal was opened the Apostle John saw under the alter the souls of those who, having been martyred in the distant past,  ask the Lord how long it would be before He avenged their deaths.  His reply was that He would indeed avenge them, but only after “… their fellowservants and their brethren were killed as they were” (Rev. 6:9-11).  The words “fellowservants” and “brethren” referred to a future group who would worship and serve the same God by obeying Him in the same way.  The Scriptures tell us that there will be a mass martyrdom of people who served the same “Master” and “Lord” as those who died at an earlier time.  The murderers of this future group will be the political-religious descendants of those who murdered the original martyrs–the Beast government and counterfeit church that are rising up and gathering power at this time.  The Beast government is forming in the area of Europe where the ancient Roman Empire once ruled.  The Catholic Church that used the original Beast to kill over 50 million people during the Middle Ages is once again on the rise internationally and is gathering her Protestant “daughters” back to her nest.  More on this in the following series.  Read The Ingathering: The Rise of the End-time Church.  Instructions for downloading any series see the instructions under the NOTICE section on the Introduction page to this website.  Use the key word “Ingathering.”

God will pour out His wrath on this political/religious consortium during the Day of the Lord–a one year period that will immediately follow the Great Tribulation, also referred to as “the hour of temptation that will come upon the world” (Rev. 3:10).  Those who had obeyed God during their lives leading up to the Tribulation will have been taken to their “place of safety” where they will wait out the 3 1/2 years of terror, death and destruction that is soon to ravage the earth and its inhabitants.  These are God’s Very Elect who are obeying His Law now.  The year-long Day of the Lord will end at the return of Jesus Christ at which time He will award eternal life to His obedient ones.

Revelation 3:10,11 reveal a great promise by God to those in the Philadelphian Era written about in 3:14-20.   These saints are alive now and are obeying “… the Word of My (Christ’s) patience.”  They are showing their allegiance to God by obeying His Law, thereby proving that they “love His Truth above all else” (2 Thes. 2:10).  For this reason they will not go through the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord.  The billions of “sinners saved by grace” who have lived in sin throughout their pre-tribulation lives will be forced to endure it.  There will be no pre-tribulation “rapture” to save them from the what is coming.  See The Rapture.  Use the key word “rapture.”

The fifth seal has everything to do with the Great Tribulation which will focus mainly on the Jews of the Promised Land (tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi) and national Israel (primarily the United States and Britain).  See Who and Where is Israel Today?  Use the key word “Israel.”  Now we will study the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord as they pertain to the world in general.  Those who will be forced to endure these times of terror will  include those who had spent their lives in the Catholic/Protestant religious system.  They will be shocked to learn that the rapture they were depending on was nothing more than a cruel joke Satan had played on them.  And if this were not enough, they will have God’s Two Witnesses to remind them that what they are suffering is the result of having rejected His Truth throughout their lives.  Read God’s Two Witnesses.  Use the key word “witnesses.”  As horrible as the world situation will be during the Tribulation, there is a group of people who will survive it.

To learn about these people turn to Revelation 7:9: “After this I beheld and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds, and people, and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and having palms in their hands.”  These are people from every nation on earth, including the nations of Israel (Americans, British and Jews of the Middle East).  “These are they which came out of the Great Tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  Therefore they are before the throne of God where they serve Him night and day in His temple.  He that sits on the throne will dwell among them” (vss 13-15).  These are those who, having realized during the Tribulation that they had sinned against the Lord, will at last recognize the Truth and turn to God in complete submission to Him.  They will fully repent of their sins and will accept Jesus Christ as having died for them. Verse 14 shows that this “great (innumerable) multitude came out of the Tribulation.”  Why will they be allowed to come out of it alive?  Because they had repented and embraced God and His Truth while going through it.  This group will undoubtedly include many “sinners saved by grace” who had been led astray by Satan’s false prophets during their pre-tribulation lives.

Because of their repentance, God promises the “great multitude” protection from His wrath that will soon come during the Day of the Lord.  “They will hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither will the sun light on them, nor any heat.  For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne will feed them and will lead them unto living fountains of waters.  And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes (vss 16,17).

The salvation of the great multitude gives God’s Very Elect hope that their loved ones who will enter the Great
Tribulation will see the light and come to it during the terrible times ahead.  I remember these Scriptures when I am with  my super-religious loved ones who reject what I am teaching and preaching through this website and my YouTube site which can be viewed at proveallthingsofgod.  I also have friends who know about my ministry but refuse to believe what I teach.  Hopefully they will all see God’s light during the Tribulation, repent and embrace the God of the Holy Bible.  L.J.