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The reviving of the two witnesses is followed by an earthquake, when the tenth of the
city fell, and in the earthquake were slain 7000 men (11: 13).
The result of the temple being opened in heaven (11: 19).
The result of the pouring out of the seventh bowl. This earthquake is the greatest ever
known (16: 18).
It will be seen that this "shaking" is connected with the presence of the Lord either on the
throne, in the temple, or manifesting Himself in the raising up of the two witnesses, and
in every case judgment is imminent. There is evident allusion in Rev. 6: 12, 13 to the
times spoken of by Joel 2: 10, 11:--
"The earth shall quake before them, the heavens shall tremble: the sun and moon shall
be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. . . . for the day of the Lord is great
and very terrible, and who can abide it?"
A further reference to similar phenomena is found in Joel 2: 30, 31, which Peter quoted
on the day of Pentecost, and declared that the outpouring of the spirit which had then
taken place was the fulfilling of Joel 2: 28, 29. The complete prophecy of Joel has not
yet been fulfilled, but a seven-fold beginning was made, leaving the wonders in heaven
and earth to take place in the day of the Lord.
It will be remembered that the mighty earthquake that ushers in great Babylon's
judgment in Rev. 16: is preceded by the gathering of the whole world to the battle of
that great day of God Almighty. The armies are gathered into the place called
Har-mageddon. In Joel 3: 9-16 there is a proclamation of "Holy War" (see margin
verse 9), and the Gentiles are gathered for judgment. There again we read:--
"The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens
and the earth shall shake."
In the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah we have The burden of Babylon. The reader should
read from the commencement of the chapter, noting parallels with Joel 3: In
verses 9-11, and 19 we read:--
"Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger. . . . for
the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be
darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will
punish the world for their evil. . . . therefore will I shake the heavens, and the earth
shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, and in the day of His
fierce anger. . . . and Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees'
excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah."
When considering the cry for vengeance under the fifth seal, we quoted Isa. 34: 8,
which links the day of the Lord's vengeance with the year of the recompense for the
controversy of Zion. That same chapter is an O.T. prophecy of the effect of the opening
of the sixth seal.
"The indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their
armies. . . . all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled
together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the vine,