The Seven Last Trumpets

...under the heavens knows its time; a turtledove, crane, and swallow mark their time, when they should return, but my people do not want to recognize the time and the justice of the Lord. The author is completing the biblical quote from Jeremiah 8:7 started on the previous page.

And the eternal Son of God also says: "You hypocrites, you can judge the appearance of the sky, but can you not also judge the signs of these times?" Matthew 16, verse 3. Here, he certainly means not only the scribes and PhariseesA Jewish sect described in the New Testament; here used as a symbol for religious leaders who fail to see spiritual truths. of that day, but also those in our own days.

Furthermore, Christ says: "Jerusalem! Jerusalem—you Christendom—how often I have wanted to gather you, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not; therefore behold, your house of God and your dwelling place shall be left unto you desolate." Matthew 23, verses 37, 38. The author explicitly interprets "Jerusalem" as a stand-in for the Christian world of his own time.

From the year 1813 until 1836, we currently have a period of 23 years remaining; then it will no longer be far from the ultimate goal. In this short period, the very greatest divine judgmentsFrom the German "Strafgerichte," referring to the trials and punishments sent by God to purify humanity before the end times. of God, which are surely promised in the Prophets and the Holy Revelation, will be carried out over the whole world, but especially over Christendom and over France. The focus on France is typical of early 19th-century apocalyptic writing, which viewed the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars as divine punishment or signs of the end times.