A: Thanks for your clear, short question. My answer requires an explanation of how I read and interpret Scripture.
Background
Based on my professional background as an international strategic planner, I read The Bible, not as a collection of 66 books, nor as a religious book, but as The Lord’s multi-millennial, strategic plan for humanity. Moreover, I endeavor to ‘interpret Scripture with Scripture’, allowing The Bible largely to ‘interpret itself’. Thus, The Holy Spirit significantly broadens and enlightens my understandings of The Mind of Christ, complete with His iteratively-stated prescriptions, proscriptions, predictions, retributions, and promises, all backed-up with several positive and negative examples that help to convey His intentions. (See: The Bible, So Unique (Poem))
I apply at least three pivotal keys in this regard:
1. Be alert to recognize when The Lord is doing what some folks might call ‘double-speak’. That occurs when, in the midst of speaking about, or in context of a (past) current, immediate issue, He transitions to speaking about a broader, future issue that was/is deeply on His Mind, as is later confirmed elsewhere, often in several places in Scripture. These are 'embedded prophecies'. Connecting the dots between such occurrences builds a framework within which we can more broadly understand His incredibly broad and complex strategy. There is no other keener strategic thinker than He.
2. Understand His references to specific versus non-specific geographic locations on Earth. When, in the midst of citing a specific location, He segues to referencing a much broader location, we can perceive His broader intent, especially when what is said is echoed, often in several places in Scripture.
3. Discern the various meanings of the phrase, ‘Day of The Lord’. It is typically referred to as a specific day or time of His judgments on a particular people, nation or group of nations. The Millennial Reign is often cited as the Day of The Lord. I interpret it in the broadest possible sense, as being the second, generic point in His declared three-point strategy for dealing with humans, as summarized in Jeremiah 9:23-26. This generic point is any and all of His judgments to anyone at any time He directs, even to the ends of the Earth, at any time of His choosing after His first generic point, long-term Grace/loving kindness, has expired without repentance from offender(s).
Typically, questions about ‘Where exactly in The Bible does it say x, y or z,’ might signify a search for a clear, neat chapter and verse quotation, which cannot be satisfied from a strictly narrow reading of The Bible as a religious text. Such questions may seek to understand ‘the strict letter’ of the text, while not perceiving ‘the spirit’ of the text. Both are important within their differential contexts.
My Answer
The notion that The Lord intends to make mankind on Earth as rare as the gold of Ophir shortly after the anti-Christ is revealed is strategically derived from the broadest possible understanding of His strategic plan. I was brought-up in an ole fashioned Pentecostal church in which members very narrowly focused on specific verses, often missing or ignoring the prior or the very next verse(s). This taught me to use my highest mind and level of thinking in order to derive the highest point The Lord was making. Why? While The Bible is indeed Heaven’s multi-millennial strategic plan, it clearly is NoT laid out as such, based on my experience developing and working with a complex 5-10 year USG international strategic plans. Ergo, this signals The Lord’s intent for us to rely on His Spirit to ‘see through’ the narrow foci of historical stories, poems, prophecies, etc., to perceive His Mind. His strategy is ‘hidden for, not from us’ who are redeemed. Yet the typical ways in which we read The Bible may not lead the average readers to discover His broadest Mind because they may not perceive and connect key, strategic dots.
Isaiah 13:11-13 are my starting point in answering your question. These verses are nestled into a very specific prophecy of judgment against ancient Babylon, yet these three verses seem to target a significantly broader area. Babylon reportedly once ruled the world, if Daniel 2:38 is to be understood, literally. This point aside, apart from the global flood that only eight people survived, these verses raise the obvious questions:
o When, since the flood, was mankind so rare on the entire Earth, and if never, when does The Bible signal humans will indeed one day be very rare on Earth?
o When in human history have the heavens been shaken so severely that [planet] Earth ‘moved out of her place’?
Yes, there have been meteor showers and asteroids hitting Earth, and of course, in quakes and volcanoes, earth (not the planet) does ‘move out of its place'. Ergo, these questions inspire my ‘strategic hunt’ for other similar references across the pages and ages of The Bible. If found, and especially if they are iterated, this points to a much broader set of planned judgments than the narrow one mentioned in the first part of Isaiah 13.
Voila! References to exceedingly violent earthquakes are repeated across Scripture. Indeed, most related to geo-specific judgments. Yet others are clear in their much broader target areas, including ALL the Earth. This raises the question:
o When in human history have there been truly simultaneous GLOBAL earthquakes, and if none, when does Scripture predict such will occur. (See: Global Earthquake Confirmed (Poem))
Voila! Such are predicted during the run-up to The Millennial Reign. (See: Revelation Earthquakes, especially the worst quakes ever since humans were created. See also: Ezekiel 38:18-20 and Revelation 16:18)
Finally, back to humans being rare on the entire Earth. If your knowledge of history leads you to agree humans have not been extremely rare on Earth since the flood, then ponder the normal ways lands have been conquered in history. Ancient invaders seized lands via massive wars, killing as many people as possible, leaving a relatively small, pacified remnant over whom they would rule in absentia, through appointed lords across the lands. Now let’s ramp-up this view to The Lord’s extremely oft repeated, strategic vision and plan to conquer the WHOLE planet!!!
He began His invasion plan in Revelation 6, a picturesque view of Him opening an ancient scroll with seven seals and writing on both sides, possibly representing His title deed to Earth that Adam’s sin effectively transferred to the kingdom of satan. History demonstrates the first FOUR seals have long been opened! The FIFTH seal represents the pending FOURTH age of human history, the tribulation age, during which the anti-Christ’ government will slaughter countless new Christ-believers. (See: Audacious Christians (Series) and also Revelation - The 6th Seal (Poem, Part 3))
If the 5th seal points to the slaughter of tribulation age believers, the 6th seal seems to point to the FIRST War of Gog and Magog, described in Ezekiel 38. Opening of this seal appears to correlate very closely with Ezekiel 38, a geographically-confined war in Israel that will be triggered when the starving, desperate world realizes Israel is being protected in the upturned, post-rapture world. Once this war is ended in such a dramatically manner as described in Zechariah 14:12 and Matthew 24, The Lord, with His army of resurrected saints from across the first FOUR ages of human history, will initiate His strategy to conquer the entire world, starting with the trumpet judgments (Revelation 8 - 11), and concluding with the bowl judgments (Revelation 16), and the dramatic end of the Armageddon War. (Revelation 19:7-21)
By the time of the last (7th) bowl judgment, humans will be extremely rare on Earth. If the tribulation age will only last about 7 years (two halves of 42 months each), then this rarity will manifest ‘shortly after the anti-Christ is revealed’. His reign won’t be long at all. Similarly, I suspect the ‘little while’ post-Millennial Reign age (Revelation 20:3, 7), might similarly be very short, though on the surface it seems a long time could be required to mount the last war after a thousand years of no warfare and no military industrial complex on Earth, unless that war will not involve a formal military structure.
People in the pre-Millennial Reign remnant group will have the anti-Christ’s brand (mark of the beast) on their bodies, and will, therefore, be destined for the lake of fire (likely on the new, eternal Earth I refer to as Earth 5.0) into which the anti-Christ and his prophet (prime minister?) will be cast, eternally ALIVE, at the end of the 2nd War of Gog and Magog, over a thousand years before any other unrepentant sinners will be cast therein. (Revelation 19:7-21) But before people in this pre-Millennial Reign remnant group die, they will have a special role to play in the first few decades of The Millennial Reign, namely to sow seeds to repopulate Earth with mortal humans who will very likely live exceptionally long lives, perhaps similar to lifespans during the first age of human history! (See: Salvation in the Millennium (Series))
Yours is a good, short question. My answer is ANYTHING but short… ;o) I hope and trust this lengthy reply answers your question, and much more….
Blessings,
J!
Additional references for deeply curious minds:
--Humans, Rare on Earth!!! (Poem)
--Revelation – Unsealing The Scroll (Series)
--Revelation – Seven Trumpets Sound (Series)
--Revelation – Seven Bowls Poured (Series)
