Don't all of the seals and trumpet judgments have to take place prior to the middle of the 70th Week, and what causes you to think that some of the seals already have been opened?

Ted’s Response:

I am convinced that at the midpoint of the 70th Week (final seven years), the fifth seal will be opened, at which time the Great Tribulation, including great persecution of Christians and Israelites, will begin. I realize it is a common belief that the "last trumpet" of 1 Corinthians 15:52 is equivalent to the "seventh trumpet" of Revelation 11:15. I disagree. To get an idea why I do not believe that, you can read my response to someone else's question: Why are the "last trumpet" and the "seventh trumpet" not the same trumpet?

If we miss the "Jewishness" in the Scriptures, including in prophecy, there are many things that we will not understand. Basically, since Jesus fulfilled the four major Jewish Spring festivals/holy days at His first coming, He can be expected to fulfill the three major Jewish Fall festivals/holy days at His second coming. I am convinced that the (main) Rapture event will take place on a Rosh haShanah, when the "last trumpet" is blown.

However, that is not the final eschatological trumpet. That trumpet, which I believe is the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15, is the "great trumpet" blown on Yom Kippur, which is when I believe Jesus will return physically to earth, at His second advent at the very end of the 70th Week, to rule and reign. A proper chronological understanding of the Book of Revelation is important. If you have an interest, read my (lengthy) three-part Chronology of Revelation.

Now, if the seven-year European Neighbourhood Policy is the prophesied agreement of Daniel 9:27, then many of our traditional views of what the seals should be like (especially the first four seals) may need to be modified. That is, they may not be like how Bible scholars always have assumed that they would be.

I don't think we can point to any specific date and say, "Boom! There went the second seal!" It's not like we woke up one day and World War III had begun, and woke up another day and the entire world was having a famine with instant hyperinflation.

I think it is plausible to consider that the opening of the first four seals, and the appearance of all four horsemen, could take place, in rapid sequence; yet their effects would not be immediate. The opening of each seal simply "empowered" each horseman to do what he was prophesied to do, in his own time.

Another possibility is that the first four seals were/are opened gradually, but the initial effects of each horseman's activities were/are minimal, maybe even imperceptible. With time, the events associated with each seal probably will escalate. Also, I do not see any reason why the phenomena linked to each seal cannot overlap with those of subsequent seals, becoming cumulative by the midpoint of the 70th Week.

For instance, if the white horse (first seal) is indicative of "peace" or an "attempted peace" process, then that very well could correlate with the establishment of the European Neighbourhood Policy in October 2006. Some of the wording in the document entitled European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument: Israel definitely reveals the EU's central aim of "lasting peace in the Middle East," "a two-State solution leading to a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," and "a democratic, viable, peaceful and sovereign Palestinian State living side-by-side in peace within secure and recognised borders and enjoying normal relations with their neighbours."

But John wrote that the rider of the white horse will ride out "as a conqueror bent on conquest" (Revelation 6:2). How can this be explained if the first beast (Antichrist) does not "take over the world" soon after the beginning of the 70th Week? It is because the first beast will "exercise his authority for forty-two months" (Revelation 13:5), which will be the second 3½ years or 1,260 days (11:2,3, 12:6) of the 70th Week. (Many, mostly those who embrace the notion of a pre-tribulation rapture, believe that the 1,260 days will encompass the first half of the 70th Week; however, I am confident that their assessment is incorrect. See Are the 1,260 days mentioned in Revelation a reference to the first half or to the second half of the 70th Week?)

So if the first beast will not take control, globally, until the midpoint of the 70th Week, then evidently it will take him 3½ years to become successful in his "conquest" (Revelation 6:2). Thus, evidently, his rise to world power will transpire while the events of subsequent seals are taking place.

I see a distinct parallel between the first six seals and Jesus' Olivet discourse (see Parallels Between the Six Seals and the Olivet Discourse). I think that Jesus briefly described the first four seals, referring to them as the "beginning of birth pains" (Matthew 24:5-8). As such, wars, rumors of wars, and nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom may be descriptive of second seal events. Can I attach specific dates to the opening of the second, third, or fourth seals? No. However, I do see the collective effects of these seals as very likely continuing and intensifying, not diminishing.

In the Greek, "nation" is translated "ethnos" or "ethnic group." In the USA, and around the world, I do not see racism as decreasing but, rather, as distinctly on the rise. I also see kingdom against kingdom (for instance, Iran against Israel and North Korea against South Korea) as clearly increasing. I do not think that there will be a real end to this until Jesus returns, to rule and reign on the earth, and stops it.

Incidentally, there are many who believe that the apparent warfare of the second seal depicts the Gog/Magog attack of Ezekiel 38 and 39. I flatly disagree. I am convinced that the latter will begin near the end of the 70th Week, probably during the seventh year, as described in my Final Battles commentary and also in my email response When does the Gog/Magog battle, described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39, occur?

As far as the third and fourth seals go, I have observed what seems to be a marked increase in earthquakes and other seismic activity (such as volcanic eruptions), famines, plagues, and pestilences worldwide. The H1N1 global pandemic very well may be a fourth seal plague. If so, I would not be at all surprised if it mutates into a more deadly form, and I also would expect for other diseases to reach epidemic proportions.

I do not see the "wild beasts" of the fourth seal as being represented by the "bugs" causing deadly diseases. Rather, I believe that there will be an increase in attacks on humans by literal wild beasts, such as mountain lions, jaguars, bears, monkeys, coyotes, sharks, and others. I actually have seen, in the news, what seems to be an increase in such attacks, but it does not yet seem to be widespread. I even think it is likely, as global conditions worsen in every way, that many tame animals will become antagonistic toward humans and other animals. Basically, I see "survival of the fittest" becoming the rule of the world, both for humans and for animals.

The bottom line is that I am not waiting for distinct, unmistakable events, associated with the opening of the seals of the heavenly scroll in Revelation, to determine whether or not we have entered the 70th Week. So far, I have seen a general worsening, deterioration, and decline of world conditions in numerous ways, some of which very easily could be example of seal events.

The one thing that would raise my level of assurance to about 99%, that we are in the final seven years, is the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem. And if that structure is completed prior to Passover Week 2010, I will feel essentially 100% certain that the beginning of the Great Tribulation, midway through the 70th Week, is imminent.