The Three Days of Darkness (Part Seven)
In his Book of Revelation, St John describes a series of disasters that will befall the earth shortly before the return of the Messiah or risen Christ. He divides these disasters into three different categories, each of which is set out in obscure and symbolical language.
The first category consists of the seven seals. Then come the angels with the seven trumpets. The final category consists of the angels with the seven vials (bowls). However, before these disasters begin, there are some who will be spared this tribulation. In chapter seven, John writes:
“And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
“And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
“And I heard the number of them that were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of Israel”. (Revelation 7: 1-4)
As if to emphasize its importance, John goes on to repeat this number two more times in chapter 14:
“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder:
“And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 14: 1-4)
The Rapture
In the two thousand years that have elapsed since these words were written, Christians have come to believe that those who are spared the cataclysms described by St John, will be released from their physical bodies by means of a transcendent experience that has come to be called the “rapture”.
Although the word “rapture” is never mentioned in any of the books of the Bible, it is the word that has come to be used in Christian eschatology when referring to the events that will precede the return of the Christ in the “latter days” spoken of by the prophets.
Shortly before his crucifixion, as Jesus and his disciples were leaving the great temple built by Herod, Jesus prophesied that the entire temple complex would one day be destroyed.
“Verily I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2) A short while later, while they were gathered on the Mount of Olives, his disciples asked Jesus to tell them about the events that would occur at the “end of the world”.
Jesus responded by outlining a series of events that would happen upon the earth in those days, as well as in the heavens. He then went on to make an unusual prediction.
“Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” (Matthew 24:40-41)
St Luke not only refers to this prediction in his own gospel, but he goes on to include something that is of vital importance as the three days of darkness draws near, and that is that this mysterious occurrence will take place at night.
“I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
“Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered and said unto him, where, Lord? And he said unto them, wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. (Luke 17: 34-37)
It is this enigmatic prediction by Jesus that has led to widespread controversy within the Church. This confusion has been compounded by the words of St Paul when speaking about the resurrection of the dead. In his first epistle to the Corinthians he writes:
“Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed”. (I Corinthians 15:51-52)
Where will they be taken?
St Paul also referred to this mystery in his first epistle to the Thessalonians when he wrote: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” (I Thessalonians 4:17)
The actual word used by Paul was the ancient Greek term harpagesometha, meaning “we shall be caught up” or “taken away”. When this passage was subsequently translated into Latin, the word used was rapiemur, also meaning “to catch up” or “take away”.
When the New English version of the Bible was published in 1961, the words used by the translators were “suddenly caught up” or “snatched up”. Because the Greek verb used by Paul implied that what would occur would be “quick or forceful”, they added the word “suddenly” to make this meaning clear.
But if the words used by the translators seemed clear to them when their New Version was published, the event they were describing has subsequently proved to be anything but clear to others. That is because different people have interpreted their words in different ways.
But taken on the face of it, the meaning of this mysterious event seems to be perfectly clear. Those who are taken from their beds, or their fields, will be caught up in the clouds in order to “meet the Lord in the air”. After all, that is where “the eagles gather together”. (Matthew 24: 28)
Jesus assured his disciples that his Father’s house contained “many mansions”, and that he was going to prepare a place for those who followed him so that when the time came, they could be with him.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (John 14: 1-3)
When will the Rapture occur?
One of the questions that has absorbed Biblical scholars over the years is when the prophesied rapture will take place, and who, and how many will be included. Those who have studied this question have differing views about what will happen, but in general they fall into one of three different categories:
- Pre-Tribulationists. They believe that all righteous Christians (dead and alive) will be taken up bodily into Heaven before the Tribulation begins
- Mid-Tribulationists. They believe that the rapture will take place midway through the Tribulation, or at some point in between
- Post-Tribulationists. They believe that Christians will be taken up to Heaven at the end of the Tribulation, where they will join Jesus when he descends to establish his kingdom on earth
But as we have already pointed out, in chapter seven of his Book of Revelation, St John describes how the four angels who have the power to hurt the land and the sea are commanded not to do so until the servants of God (the chosen ones) have been saved.
“And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads”. (Revelation 7: 2-3)
This verse makes it clear that the rapture will precede the onset of the three days of darkness. In fact, if the dreams and visions included in Part Four are to be believed, the rapture will signal the beginning of the seven years of Tribulation. And this is consistent with the past history of the Jews.
When God sees that humanity is corrupt and the earth is filled with violence, as described in the Book of Genesis, he decides to destroy “both man, and beast, and every creeping thing”. But before he does so, he orders Noah to build an ark so he and his family can be saved before the flood begins.
Likewise, when God threatens to rain “fire and brimstone” upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), he first warns Lot and his family so that they can escape before the cities are destroyed. In continuing with this tradition, the faithful will once again be saved before the Tribulation begins.
Pastor Carl Gallups
In confirmation of this point, we need only look at the many dreams and visions of the rapture that have been posted on YouTube. One of the most compelling of these occurred to Pastor Carl Gallups. His video is divided into two parts, as shown below.
Part One
Part Two
Dream Summary
- Carl had a dream – yet it was more than dream – when he woke up he could still vividly recall all of the sounds and smells
- In his dream he was standing in a field – it was night-time – he was looking up at the stars and the constellations in the sky – behind him he could hear the normal sounds of life from multitudes of people
- Then the stars began to take on colours – he saw something that looked like a comet streaking across the sky – then some of the constellations began to move and shift positions
- He was filled with awe and wonder – the sounds of life behind him began to express signs of panic – then the stars appeared to fall from heaven – he could hear sounds of terror coming from the people behind him
- He became aware of being in the arms of a benevolent presence and then being lifted up – he looked to his left and saw that his wife was with him – they seemed to burst into another dimension
- He then saw a scene of incredible beauty – people laughing and a sense of overwhelming peace – he asked if this was paradise – a voice replied saying – welcome home – this is where you will live – then he woke up
Although Carl Gallups was at first reluctant to tell anyone about his dream, several years later he felt the urge to share it with his wife. She sat spellbound while he related the contents of his dream, and then said: “You need to ask your grandson Parker about his rapture dream”.
It so happened that his grandson was due to visit him that very afternoon. When Parker was asked to describe the contents of his dream, which had occurred when he was only three or four years old, he proceeded to tell Carl the exact dream that he had experienced, right down to the smallest detail.
Then about five or six years later, Carl and his son Brandon happened to attend a prophecy conference in Minneapolis. After Carl had finished his speech, he and his son went out into the lobby where they had a table set out with copies of his publications.
Veronica
It was there that Carl saw a woman trying to make her way through the crowd towards him. When she finally reached him, she said that she had heard an inner voice say that Carl would be able to interpret a dream that she had about six months before.
To his utter amazement, the lady, whose name was Veronica, proceeded to describe the same rapture dream that he and his grandson had experienced many years before. There was however one striking difference, and that was in the way that her dream ended.
Instead of rising up into the sky with the angels, as had happened to Carl and his grandson, Veronica said that she had screamed and covered up her face in fear, before waking up. As soon as she started speaking, Carl said that he knew why she had been directed to speak to him.
What is surprising here is that this identical dream occurred to three different people over a span of many years, and yet it served two contrasting purposes. In the case of Carl and his grandson the purpose was to inspire others through their testimony.
In the case of Veronica, its purpose was to warn her that she needed to change her ways. The other remarkable feature about this encounter was that although Veronica was now married and living in Minneapolis, she had grown up in South America in the district of Comas in Lima, Peru.
It was then that Carl explained to her that he had not only heard about this location, but that he had visited it himself on many occasions, because the Baptist Church to which he belonged had been operating a mission school in the district of Comas for many years.
It is worth pointing out that the content of this dream is entirely consistent with Bible prophecy, and that the details described by Pastor Gallups about the rapture bear out the words of Jesus, as well as St Paul, when he wrote:
“Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” (I Thessalonians 4:17)
My friend Elise
I am convinced that the dream scenario described by Carl is exactly how the rapture will take place. And the reason I say that is not just because I find his testimony convincing, but because it matches a similar dream that was told to me by my psychic friend Elise, whom I mentioned in Part Six.
On September 30, 2011, Elise called me to say that she had just woken up from a strange dream that seemed to be related to “end times”. In her dream she saw fiery stones (brimstone) falling from the sky. As they struck the earth, they formed pools of burning liquid.
People were rushing everywhere in panic, even ignoring the cries of their own children. In the process of trying to escape, those who stepped into the molten pools died. Elise said that strange plumes of deadly smoke rose up from the ground.
She said that she could also see many tiny points of light that represented souls, and that certain of these souls would be led to safety, even if they happened to be with other people at the time. She was one of those who ran between the smoke and the fires.
Summary
Based on the various prophecies, visions and dreams quoted previously in this series, it is not only possible to explain the meaning of the seven angels with the seven trumpets described in the Book of Revelation, but also to provide a timeline of events that are predicted to unfold upon the earth.
Using the vision of the destruction of Vancouver described by Elise as a guide, as well as the prophecies of the Hopi Indians, it is probable that sometime before October 2026, two comets will appear in the skies above the earth. One of these comets will be coloured blue, and the other red.
According to Hopi prophecy, the Kachina coloured blue is referred to as “the watcher”, while the red Kachina is referred to as “the destroyer”. While it is possible that both of these comets could appear in the sky at the same time, it is more likely that the blue comet will precede the red one.
Since it is referred to as “the watcher”, the blue comet is likely to have a different orbit from the red one. For that reason it will remain visible in the night sky for an extended period, and serve as a warning to humanity of the destruction that is to come.
When the red comet appears, it will soon become apparent that it is on a collision course with the earth. It is then that the various disasters associated with the seven angels and their trumpets will begin, starting with dust particles emanating from the tail of the comet.
Because the nucleus will be composed of significant amounts of iron, it will shower the surface of the earth with enormous quantities of red dust. These red dust particles will contaminate the lakes, rivers and seas, causing them to look like blood.
This contaminated water will not only become thick and muddy, it will prove toxic to anyone who tries to drink it. As the comet draws closer to the earth, the fine dust particles in its tail will give way to larger particles. When these gravel-sized particles reach the outer atmosphere of the earth, they will become white hot with friction and become fiery meteorites that will look like “hail and fire mingled with blood”.
This fiery hail will devastate the entire surface of the planet. It will not only set fire to the grassy plains but also burn up entire forests as well. The damage caused by this shower of incandescent meteorites could easily cause “a third part of them to be burnt up”.
When the nucleus of the comet approaches the earth, a large asteroid will plunge into the sea, causing vast amounts of superheated water, molten rock and other debris to rise high into the upper atmosphere. This will then fall back down to earth in the form of blazing missiles. To those on the ground, it will appear as if “the stars are falling from the sky”.
In part six of “The Day of the Lord”, I described how Efrain Rodriguez had a series of prophetic dreams involving the earth and an asteroid. According to Efrain, this asteroid will hit the Caribbean near the island of Puerto Rico in the middle of the night, just after 2am local time.
As he explained on his website, the impact of this collision will cause a shock wave that will travel around the world at a speed of 300mph (480 kph). It will also cause a world-wide earthquake, as well as a series of gigantic Tsunamis that will spread out in all directions from the point of impact.
And this is where science meets religion. For as St. John has clearly laid out in his Book of Revelation, this will be the time when Bible prophecy will be revealed in the skies above the earth.
This will be the time when the stars will fall from heaven
This will be the time when the Rapture will occur
This will be the time when the three days of darkness will begin
This will be also be the moment when the whole of humanity, including every man, woman and child now living on the planet, will be divided into two groups.
One group will be the few who will be saved when the “stars fall from heaven”. The other will be those left behind to face the “three days of darkness”. And if they can survive that, they will have to endure the seven-year reign of terror conducted by the Anti-Christ.
And each new day that dawns brings us closer to that cold, dark night that will decide our fate.
