152    The Bible and the Future of the World 

much radioactive fallout. The sky will also change in appearance, so that it 

will seem as if the sky  vanished like a scroll that is rolled up .  (Rev 6:14). 

    These many nuclear weapons (or similar weapons) will be used during the 

war of the great monarch against the Arabs. The monarch's war will occur 

at the end of the Forty Years, in the mid to late A.D. 2030's, after the great 

persecution of Christians has begun.  World War IV will be shorter than 

World War III, but much more intense and more destructive. 

    During the earlier war when the Arabs invaded Europe, a few nuclear 

weapons (at least two) will be used by the Arabs. But in this war, at the end 

of the Forty Years, when the Arabs will be defeated and conquered, many 

nuclear weapons (or similar devices) will be used. That is why  every one, 

slave and free, hid in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains....  

because the destruction will be so widespread (Rev 6:15). 

    Only after much destruction and devastation do the people of the world 

finally realize that these events are a punishment from God. After fleeing to 

caves and mountains, the people say to the mountains and the rocks,   `Fall 

on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated  on the throne, and 

from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and 

who can stand before it?'   (Rev 6:16 17). 

The Seal of the Living God (Rev 7:1 8) 

     Then I saw another angel ascend from the rising of the sun, with the seal 

of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had 

been given power to harm earth and sea, saying, `Do not harm the earth or 

the sea or the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God upon their 

foreheads.'   (Rev 7:2 3). 

    At this time, the servants of God will receive a seal on their foreheads. 

This seal will be a real visible marking, a symbol of God's favor. Those who 

bear the seal of God will be protected from the remaining afflictions which 

are to follow (cf. Ezek 9:4 6). I think that the servants of God will be sealed 

sometime during the mid to late A.D. 2030's. This will occur during or soon 

after the war between the great monarch and the Arab forces. 

    The number sealed, 144,000  out of every tribe of the sons of Israel  (Rev 

7:4), is not the exact number of people sealed. It represents a large number 

from every part of God's Church (and even some of those who do not call 

themselves Christians). 

    Notice that there is considerable suffering given to the world  before the 

servants of God are sealed. In the book of Exodus, when Moses and Aaron 

brought God's plagues upon Egypt, the Israelites suffered from some of the 

plagues, then they were spared the remainder and the worst of the 

afflictions. In the same way, faithful servants of God will suffer with the rest