Earthquake of the fall of Rome

Previously: Earthquake of the fall of paganism

We are talking about the earthquakes of Revelation because the events of the recent news are remarkably tectonic in nature.

The events of Revelation unfold sequentially: first the Lamb opens seven seals. Then angels blow seven trumpets. Then seven bowls of wrath are poured out. We know these events are sequential and not concurrent, because when the Lamb opens the seventh seal, that seal contains seven trumpets. When the angel blows the seventh trumpet, that trumpet contains seven bowls of wrath. It is an ingenious way to communicate visually a linear progress, resisting other interpretations.

We mentioned that following the sixth event in a series, there was an interval period, then the seventh event in that series went forward, which was the introduction of the next series of judgments. We saw that the opening of the first six seals described the decline of the Roman Empire and the fall of paganism, the system of worship of false gods established by Nimrod at Babel. Paganism, which held sway in the hearts and minds of men for millennia, fell so completely that when Julian the Apostate labored to restore it again, not even 50 years after the Edict of Milan in 313 which ended Christian persecutions and enjoined religious toleration, that all his influence and the power of his office could not do it. His successor restored Christian supremacy.

The interval period between the sixth and seventh seal is described in chapter 7. In this chapter, 144,000 of Israel, of the Jews, are sealed as servants of God, and then a numberless multitude from every tribe and nation are shown worshiping before the throne of God. They are the ones who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This interval describes the great ingathering of the saints, of Jews and Gentiles.

Then the Lamb opens the seventh seal. There follows a period of silence, then seven angels are given seven trumpets. The event of the seventh seal is the seven trumpets. The next earthquake, or violent cultural, societal, and political upheaval, occurs with the beginning of the seven trumpets. Remember where we are in history. The empire has declined dramatically, paganism has fallen, Christianity has triumphed, the seat of Roman authority has been removed to Constantinople, but Rome has not fallen yet. Its fall, which the next four trumpets describes, and the complete changing of one political system - imperialism - for another - feudalism - occasions the earthquake which accompanies the seven trumpets.