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The Revelation of Jesus Christ It is well to remember also that the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls of wrath-all picture the scenes which are to take place on earth during the great tribulation period. Begin ning with the appearance of the Antichrist in the first seal. and continuing right through the seventh vial of wrath, unspeak able suffering and chaos and woe are depicted. Each group of sevens-the seals, the trumpets, and the vials-portrays the entire tribulation period. Thus we have a kind of repetition for the sake of emphasis and warning of impending judgment, soon to fall upon a wicked world. Again, each succeeding pic ture seems more terrible than the preceding scene; likewise, the anguish of "the great tribulation" period will be intensi fied as this period goes on to its swift and certain close. Open ing with "the beginning of sorrows," the powers of hell will work feverishly, seeking to bring to naught God's eternal purpose. But their doom is sealed, and our holy God will permit Satan to bring his wicked devices to pass during "the great tribulation" period, thus purging the earth with His purifying judgments before His only begotten Son returns to reign. Two other significant portions of Scripture tell of this same period of tribulation: 1. The Olivet Discourse of our Lord, found in the twenty fourth and the twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew, presents an outline picture of this yet future time, called by Him "the great tribulation." You will remember that our Lord was in the temple; and as He went out, His disciples called His attention to the beauty of the building, and the"goodly stones and_gifts" with which it was adorned. Then Jesus said to them, "There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Naturally, the disciples wondered what He meant by His statement; and "as he sat upon the mount of Olives," they went to Him and asked what He meant..-when those things would be, and what would be the sign of His coming and of the end of the age. Now, when the disciples asked Jesus for the sign of His coming, they did not have in mind the translation of the church. They did not know anything about the rapture at that time. That was "a mystery ... hid in God" (Eph. 3:9),
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