The anti-christ, both political and religious, broke the peace and began to take away the freedom of worship from the Jewish people by desecrating their temple and taking over Jerusalem in the 43rd month of the Seventieth Week. Any person who did not receive the mark of the anti-christ was being beheaded for their new-found faith in Jesus as proclaimed by the two witnesses and new believers.

In heaven near the end of the Seventieth Week are two types of saints, saints who overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony (Raptured Believers) and saints who loved not their lives unto death (Tribulation Saints). All the saints are proclaimed to be preparing for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and their triumphant appearance on earth with Jesus, their Bridegroom, Savior, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Creator God! Revelation 12:11; 19:1-10

About month 69 the wrath of God begins with the appearance of the Pale Horse of Death and the Fourth Seal. The first trumpet of judgement and the first vial is unleashed. Hail and fire mingled with blood hit the earth. To a first century person seeing this vision he might very well be trying to explain bombs of all kinds raining on mankind. It is written that a third of the earth is burned and great pain is inflicted on the people with the “mark”. It seems that God shields the people left who have not taken the “mark”. Revelation 8:7; 16:1-2; 6:7-8

The sixth seal talks about the final unleashing from a heavenly perspective. Here we see the sun, moon, and stars affected. From an overhead perspective we see the land affected (mountains and islands being removed-possible nuclear blasts causing enormous movement) with supernatural occurrences on earth including earthquakes, strong winds, etc. Remember that only Jesus could begin the Tribulation period. In verse 16 of chapter 6 John proclaims that this is the "wrath of the Lamb". This is a fuller explanation of the beginning of the “Great Tribulation”. Revelation 6:12-17

The second trumpet and second vial affect the waters of the sea. Some kind of chemical warfare of massive bombing kills a third of the ocean’s creatures. Possibly the sea in the passage is referring to the Mediterranean Sea. It is rumored that possibly the “chemical weapons of mass destruction” from Iraq are now in the sands of Syria (bordering the Mediterranean Sea) for this moment. Revelation 8:8-9; 16:3

The third trumpet and third vial show a great star falling from heaven like a torch. This could mean large nuclear explosions that contaminate the waters of the earth. Many died from the poisoned waters. John may have been seeing visions of nuclear fallout and possibly chemical weapons poisoning the rivers and fountains of the earth. Revelation 8:10-11; 16:4-7

The fourth trumpet and vial are poured out on the earth. The fourth trumpet affects the sun, moon, and stars. Again, nuclear warfare creates huge clouds and could affect weather conditions, etc. John sees the sun causing a great heat scorching men with fire. John could be trying to explain the site of nuclear type blasts from the skies burning men like a mighty sun.

About the 76th month on earth the fifth trumpet and vial unleash the fury of the devil as the bottomless pit is opened. The devil knows that his time is very short to torment God's creation. It is written that this torment lasts 5 months. John possibly saw helicopters shooting missiles and all kinds of weapons. This could also mean a spiritual torment as satan and his demons are allowed all out torture of man except he is not allowed to kill. Man will cry out to be killed to no avail. In verse 4 the men not with the seal of God will be tormented. The men with the seal of God are those who have not taken the "mark" of the beast and have not been martyred yet. Revelation 9:1-12

The kingdom is in darkness possibly from the smoke from the warfare. The people cursed God because of their pains and sores and did not repent of their evil. This is when the devil focuses his full wrath on the peoples of the earth. The devil torments everyone but truly hates the Jewish people because they brought our Savior into the world. The devil set out to find all Jewish people and any person who has not taken the "mark". Revelation 16:10-11; 12:12-17; 14:8-11

The sixth trumpet and vial bring the armies of the east on the scene. They have an army of two hundred thousand thousand or 200,000,000 soldiers. China has this many soldiers in their military today. They cross the River Euphrates, possibly like our armies crossed the river on large barges, as if on dry land. Again, this type of equipment has never been seen by a first century man causing him to proclaim that the river has dried up.

They came with weapons killing many, even a third of mankind. This is a supernatural battle. The dragon and false prophet send out demons to draw all men of the earth to battle. The people of the earth were drawn to a place called Armageddon to a valley called Megiddo. Revelation 9:13-21; 16:12-16