Pre-Three Woes

Post 196 (formerly un-numbered)

I apologize for this post being out of sequence in a systematic order, but it is where I am presently studying and felt it was time to post something. I will eventually move it to a more proper location but for now I trust you might enjoy a bit of speculation to keep your mental juices flowing. I confess there is much here I have yet to study out but my original goal was what comes after in the three woes!

Added 6/11/2011
I now see the need to leave this post in place and have assigned it a number in the order.
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Revelation is a very confusing book that is extremely hard to place events in a chronological order. It is not designed to be confusing, there is just so much going on for different reasons and causes it can’t all be addressed at once. But there are three woes that help us identify “sections” of events or reasons that things are grouped as they are.

“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” Revelation 8:13

To us; Woe, woe, woe, simply means; “Oh boy are things going to get bad!” but God does not waste words or use them as filler just to dramatize things. In this post series we will begin to explore at least superficially the three specific woes identified here. We will learn that these woes are not “events” but “sections” of measured judgment as a result of the cries of God’s saints.
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Pre-woe trumpets:
In the verse above we are told that these three woes are because of the sounding of the three trumpets yet to occur. Since Revelation 8:2-6 tells us there are a total of seven trumpets, and we have three remaining, we know there are four that have already sounded before the woes begin.
So lets take a moment and review the “pre-woe” trumpets:

Trumpet 1 - Hail and fire mingled with blood, which burn up 1/3 of trees and all green grass (Revelation 8:7). Ok, that sounds interesting…. What’s on channel 4?

Trumpet 2 - A great meteor the size of a mountain (on fire of course), falls into the sea turning 1/3 the sea to blood, which kills 1/3 of all living things in the sea, and sinks 1/3 of all the ships in the sea (Revelation 8:8). Wow that’s bad, Which Sea?
We are not told but it seems we have four seas to choose from; the Red, the Mediterranean, the Black, and the Caspian (click map below for a larger image). I propose for reasons I will show, it falls into the Caspian Sea. Regardless, to us not in that particular area it just makes for interesting news… and rising gas prices, but to them it is a catastrophe to rival or surpass the recent earthquake and tsunami of Japan! Imagine a mountain size meteor hitting the Caspian Sea! But while Hollywood will have us convinced it would be a global killer, the scriptures tell us it will not. In fact only 1/3 of the life in the Sea will die. Not bad.

Trumpet 3 - A great star *1 (burning as a lamp) falls on 1/3 of the rivers and springs resulting in 1/3 of fresh water becoming poisoned so that many people die from drinking it.
Now we naturally want to over dramatize things and so we just assume this means 1/3 of the entire planet, but this is not the topic. We see in verses 3-4 that these trumpets are at least in part due to the much prayers of the saints. What are they praying about? Circumstances that require God’s attention; Abuse.
Where does the scripture tell us the significant amount of abuse of the saints will be sourced? The Middle East; specifically Islam/Babylon. (Revelation 14:8,16:19,19:2 etc.) This trumpet is then a result of those requests and therefore we can understand the affect is speaking regionally. Since Islam/Babylon has been the source of trouble, we can expect this effect will be to that general area. What Seas affect that area? The Caspian and the Black for reasons I will show.

Since the source of both the Tigris and the Euphrates lies in the mountains just south of the Black Sea, we know this star will not fall there because only 1/3 of the rivers are turned poisonous.
Therefore it appears likely that the comet will land somewhere between Turkey and Iran between the Black and the Caspian Seas; the area that provides the lesser amount of water to the plains of Iraq.
What is in that specific region? The major source and pipelines of the none Muslim Middle East oil and gas bypassing both Russia and Iran going to Turkey and the United States *2, as well as the Russian Oil fields just North of those. Since the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia *3, Russia has had control of a significant diversion of oil that would have otherwise come west at lower prices. By reading current events and proposed development plans we begin to see a significant web of transfer pipes, rails, and ships all clustered between and across these two Seas, the Caspian being one significant source and thus probably the target of the mountain-like meteor. (see map in note *3)



Click to enlarge.

Imagine God’s one-eyed squint with the tip of his tongue metaphorically poking out the corner of his pursed mouth as he carefully aims his two arrows to perfectly destroy this works, both on land and sea. What kind of ships do you suppose will sink by that meteor? Oil tankers among others?
Now we can see perhaps new meaning behind God’s promise “…Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog (arguably Russia)…and say…I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen…Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them…After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years (end times) thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste:(while they were dispersed) but it is brought forth out of the nations, and shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.“ Ezekiel 38:3-9

Just what in the world could possibly cause these specific nations (Libya as far away as the other side of the Mediterranean Sea on northwest Africa, Ethiopia in southern Africa, Persia is Iran to the far eastern end of the Middle East and Russia to the far North) to come together against Israel by irresistible force? These specific nations are about as far to the four corners of the Middle East as you can get!
I contend it is never just one thing, but a combination of factors that force a hard decision. I submit that there are at least two simultaneous factors among others that will play a part:

My Hypothesis:
First - These falling space objects will destroy the oil and gas industry of extraction and transportation in Georgia and the Caspian Sea. This will create a sudden need that must be met elsewhere.
Second - I submit that by this time Israel will have discovered and learned how to economically extract the oil that is trapped inside their shale rocks. This catastrophe will be the force; the hook in the jaw of Russia, that will demand an organized conquest of Israel’s extremely wealthy oil fields.
How do I figure?
“…He made Jacob (Israel) to suck oil out of the flinty *4 rock.” Deuteronomy 32:13 (condensed). "And of Zebulun he said...for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand." Deuteronomy 33:19, also: "And to Joseph he said, Blessed of the Lord be his land...for the deep that coucheth beneath." Deuteronomy 33:13 "And to Asher he said...let him dip his foot in oil" Deuteronomy 33:24.
When will they succeed at this? According to the chronological order of the pre-Three Woes trumpets, this will happen before things even start to get real bad, but after Israel finds itself at peace. “…in that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts…and thou shalt come up against my people of Israel…” Ezekiel 38:14-16
Now I openly confess this is simply my studied interpretation of scripture as I see it. Only time will show the events as God intended.

Trumpet 4 - At this time the world has gotten familiar with stuff falling from the sky and the great fear of global extinction is quelled by experience. Now there is a new problem: 1/3 the sun is “smitten” and 1/3 the moon and 1/3 the stars; “so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.” Revelation 8:12
As we read this and wonder; “How in the world?....” I imagine those in that day actually witnessing it from their front yard with one hand on their mouth and the other trying to comfort a loved one asking a more earnest; “How in the world?...”. This is not an event that suddenly occurs in an otherwise blissful summer of happy times, this comes on the heels of a period of great consternation of political, economical, geological and now cosmic upheaval. “What in the world is going on?!”

I have spent some time exploring the scientific possible explanations of this event and find even a simple inquiry breeds a tremendous amount of factors that need consideration: Obviously the source location whether atmospheric or cosmic, the rotation of the earth, the results of 1/3 less light; is the sun diminished by 1/3 or the length of the day shortened by 1/3? etc. etc. With the moon on its own rotation around the earth how is it too affected by only 1/3? how is only 1/3 the stars affected?
What a fun study while I sit by my window enjoying a beautiful normal summer day.
Not such a fun study on the day it occurs!
But as huge as hail and fire mixed with blood, as unfathomable as two giant celestial strikes in the Middle East, as bewildering as 1/3 of all the lights in heaven going dark, These are just the warm up.
“And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpets of the three angels, which are yet to sound!” Revelation 8:13
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So When in the timeline?
Is this pre-woe period before or after the rise of Islam and Babylon? That is hard to say because the woes are specifically identifying judgments on wickedness for causing the Saints to cry out so they don’t include other facts that lead up to the climaxing trumpets of woes. Maybe the rise of Babylon has already begun by now, maybe not till later, but we know she is destroyed in the last woe of the last trumpet (Revelation 12:12, 10:7) which begins the end events I believe to be the last 3-1/2 years of Great Tribulation.
As we investigate the remaining trumpets in the Three Woes, we will find the Saints patently enduring the horrible events of the wrath of the Beast as well as God’s wrath on the world, because the saints know vengeance is finally come. It is curious to note that the Devil is cast to the earth at this time (Revelation 12:9) and while the saints overcome him with their testimony (Revelation 12:11) the Godless world is fully under the final woe of God!
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*1 Asteroid vs. Comet:
Science tells us that an asteroid is a dead rock that drifts in space outside a regulated gravitational system. When these enter our atmosphere the friction of speed causes them to burn making a streak in the sky as they fall to earth or burn up before reaching it. This is why I confidently identify the "as it were a great mountain burning with fire" of Revelation 8:8 to be a meteor.

A comet is a chemical composite usually of ice and other elements that as they travel in space they leave a tail of debris melted away by the sun. These too, though far less common, can fall into the earth’s atmosphere and burn up, or fall to earth.

Since the scripture makes a distinction between “as it were” a mountain on fire falling to earth, and "a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp" falling to earth, we understand scripture to be distinguishing one from the other in composition. Thus the theory: A meteor and a comet.

*2 Georgia’s Oil and Natural Gas Hub:
“August 09, 2008|By Anne Gearan, Associated Press:
There is more than meets the eye to the frantic U.S. efforts Friday to talk Russia and American ally Georgia out of war over an obscure mountain tract most Americans have never heard of. A look at the map and your gas credit card bill shows why.
The breakaway province of South Ossetia is claimed by Georgia, a former Soviet republic that cast its lot with the United States and the West to the eternal irritation of Moscow. But South Ossetia has resisted Georgia's rule and has been under Russia's sway for years.
Georgia sits in a tough neighborhood, shoulder to shoulder with huge Russia, not far from Iran, and astride one of the most important crossroads for the emerging wealth of the rich Caspian Sea region. A U.S.-backed oil pipeline runs through Georgia, allowing the West to reduce its reliance on Middle Eastern oil while bypassing Russia and Iran.” - Georgia's territorial integrity (http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-08-09/news/17122765_1_georgia-s-territorial-integrity-south-ossetia-russia-and-iran)

“Development of Caspian oil and gas resources and export routes has been slowed by regional conflict, political instability, and lack of regional cooperation. Many of the proposed export routes pass through areas where conflicts remain unresolved. Most of these are in the Transcaucasus part of the Caspian region, where conflicts in Georgia, the Chechnya portion of Russia, and between Armenia and Azerbaijan, hinder the development of export routes westward from the Caspian.
The future of the Caucasus region could be determined by the pipelines running through it. Each country in the region and several outside it have their own views on how oil and gas should reach the rest of the world. The western route for early oil from Azerbaijan goes from Baku to the Georgian port of Supsa on the Black Sea, and several other proposed pipeline routes also pass through Georgia. Pipeline construction on the western route was suspended briefly in October 1998 because of the fighting between government forces and those led by Akaki Eliava. The 1999 natural gas discovery of Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz field appears to have boosted the region's natural gas export prospects. The Shah Deniz field, thought to be the largest natural gas discovery worldwide since 1978, already was being developed for export to Turkey, and the infrastructure that will be built to deliver this natural gas helped to renew international interest in the region's natural gas. Prior to 1997, the only option for exporting Caspian region natural gas was via the Russian natural gas pipeline system…As oil production from the Caspian Sea region increased, the Caucasus region became an integral export route for oil and natural gas. Previously, the only way for Caspian energy to reach European consumers was via the Russian pipeline system. The United States has supported the principle of multiple export options for Caspian exporters, and three of the largest projects to these ends cross through Georgia (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan, South Caucasus Pipeline, and Baku-Supsa, a.k.a the “Western Early Oil Route”)--none of these passed through Armenia. Small oil resources exist in the region, and the new infrastructure will allow these smaller projects (i.e. refineries and smaller oil fields) to tie in to the pipeline and become economically viable.
Roughly 150 miles of the pipeline corridor extending from Baku, Azerbaijan to Turkey will pass through Georgia. This corridor includes the $3.9 billion Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, which began linefill in May 2005 and opened 13 July 2006, and the $1 billion South Caucasus Pipeline (SCP) natural gas pipeline, completed in late 2006. Regional governments and international investors expect these pipelines to become two of the primary conduits for Caspian Sea region oil and natural gas exports over the next decade. Georgia is paid transit tariffs by the pipeline’s operators, and will be allotted a small percentage of fuel passing through the Republic…The success of these projects would end an almost century-old Russian stranglehold on the oil and gas resources of the Caspian.An international campaign was waged questioning the benefits of BP's Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline in an effort to avoid a "zone of sacrifice" there. The new pipelines are clearly is meant to weaken the influence of Russia in the region and therefore are regarded as hostile by the Russian Government. Moscow might choose to cause more trouble in the Caucasus. It has fomented rebellions in the past and can do so again. Georgia, through which the new pipeline would pass, is particularly vulnerable. It blamed Moscow for backing the secession of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” - Global security org (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/georgia/oil-politics.htm)
This entire article is worth the reading.

*3 Russia/Georgia War:
“August 10, 2008: News reports indicate that Russia may have tried to bomb the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which runs through Georgia. If so, the bombs missed, and flow of oil through the pipeline was not interrupted. The BTC pipeline runs from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean coast of Turkey; note Russia to the north and Iran to the south: The BTC pipeline runs through Georgia, well south of South Ossetia: The pipeline, in which British Petroleum is the lead partner, can carry up to one million barrels of oil per day. It is of considerable strategic significance, as it is the only means by which countries in the region like Azerbaijan can get their oil into the international market without relying on Russia.” - powerlineblog com (http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/08/021212.php)



Note: this image only shows one specific trans continent pipeline of the related article.

“August 5, 2009: A year after the five-day military conflict between Georgia and Russia that left Russian forces occupying the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, tensions in the region are rising again. Georgian officials continue to place their hopes on the ability of the international community to resolve the situation. "The international community and international law are on Georgia's side," lawmaker David Darchiashvili, who chairs the Georgian parliament's Committee for European Integration, told journalists recently. "And we have nothing to be desperate about regardless of the recent provocations from the Russian occupying side," he added. "The international community, with all its capabilities, is always going to be able to overcome the actions of one, single, irrational, aggressive state, no matter how big that state might be."But the jury remains out on how the major international players -- Russia, the European Union, and NATO -- fared during the crisis and how the war changed the balance of power among them. EU and NATO sanctions imposed against Russia after the war were both toothless and short-lived.” - rferl org (http://www.rferl.org/content/A_Year_After_RussiaGeorgia_War__A_New_Reality_But_Old_Relations/1793048.html)

*4 Flint: 2496 challamiysh; probably from 2492 (in the sense of hardness); flint.
Today we call a particular rock by the name Flint. But his is not to confuse the original text with that material. The point of the passage is that oil will be sucked from flinty rocks.
Is this possible? Yes.
“Oil shale, an organic-rich fine-grained sedimentary rock, contains significant amounts of kerogen (a solid mixture of organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons called shale oil can be produced. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil; however, extracting shale oil from oil shale is more costly than the production of conventional crude oil both financially and in terms of its environmental impact. Deposits of oil shale occur around the world, including major deposits in the United States of America. Estimates of global deposits range from 2.8 trillion to 3.3 trillion barrels (450×109 to 520×109 m3) of recoverable oil.
Heating oil shale to a sufficiently high temperature causes the chemical process of pyrolysis to yield a vapor. Upon cooling the vapor, the liquid shale oil—an unconventional oil—is separated from combustible oil-shale gas (the term shale gas can also refer to gas occurring naturally in shales). Oil shale can also be burnt directly in furnaces as a low-grade fuel for power generation and district heating or used as a raw material in chemical and construction-materials processing.
Oil shale gains attention as a potential abundant domestic source of oil whenever the price of crude oil rises. At the same time, oil-shale mining and processing raise a number of environmental concerns, such as land use, waste disposal, water use, waste-water management, greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollution. Estonia and China have well-established oil shale industries, and Brazil, Germany, Israel and Russia also utilize oil shale.” - wikipedia on shale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_shale)

Therefore there are two factors that must come into play: The cost effective extraction, and the need. God will provide the need, we have yet to see Israel discover the means.
This is of course only a speculative theory at this time.
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