Are the Sixth Seal events at the very end of the 70th Week?


Email Received:

I understand your comparison of the "cosmic disturbances" described by Jesus in Matt. 24:29 and by John in Rev. 6:12,13. They are extremely similar passages, and it makes sense to me that they are "parallel" in that they describe the same period of time.

Immediately after that, in Matt. 24:30,31, Jesus describes how He will come on the clouds. Isn't this at the very end of the 70th Week, thereby placing the Sixth Seal events also at the end?


Ted’s Response:

There are those (such as many who embrace the "Pre-tribulation" and "Post-tribulation" Rapture views) who believe that the cosmic disturbances and other events of the Sixth Seal (Revelation 6:12-17) will occur at the very end of the 70th Week. Thus, those of the "Pre-Trib" persuasion believe that Matthew 24:30,31 must be a picture of Jesus’ return to earth, while those of the "Post-Trib" persuasion believe that the same passage is a picture of the Rapture concurrent with Jesus’ return to earth.

Some also believe that the Sixth Seal, Sixth Trumpet, and Sixth Bowl are the same things and describe the same events. I agree with none of these views because, in fact:

  1. Matthew 24:30,31 says nothing about Jesus’ returning to earth, only about His appearance on the clouds of the sky, at which time He will send His angels to gather His elect (at the Rapture), and
  2. the Sixth Seal events do not occur at the very end of the 70th Week and are not the same as the Sixth Bowl events (see Sixth Seal and Seventh Bowl); after the Sixth Seal, the events of the Seventh Seal will still have yet to transpire before Jesus returns to earth at the end of the 70th Week.
Read The Chronology of Revelation for many more details regarding the chronology of the events about which John wrote in the Book of Revelation.


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