Marcus O'Reillius

The Last Trumpet is in 1Co 15:50-51. It is tied to the raising of the Dead in Christ. In turn, the Dead in Christ are raised before the Rapture in 1Th 4:16-17. And that is tied their raising to when Jesus comes on the clouds. The Son of Man will return on the Day of the Lord on the clouds to gather the Elect in Mt 24:29-31. And that is tied to happening after the Midpoint Abomination and after the Great Tribulation. You're right Last Daze, it certainly is not "imminent" as being able to happen at any time, but rather, the Bridegroom will tarry, and we will not know when the day or hour of His Arrival will be, even though we wait for Him, expecting Him now that those things have come to pass at some time in the future.

As a word test, which I don't favor by the way, "imminent" is, generally, not in Scripture. Never is it is said to be connected to the Rapture. So I begin to be dubious. Between the King James Version, the English Standard Version, the New International Version, and the New American Standard Version of the Bible, only the NASB uses "imminent" to translate the Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek into English - and only one time at that - and it has nothing to do with the Rapture. 2Pe 1:12 Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you. 13 I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, 14 knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind. If the coming of the Lord were "imminent", then what happens to all those believers who lived and died for two millennia? However, as the Dead in Christ are resurrected first, and then the Rapture of the Elect happens for those "who remain" (1Th 4:17) ~ then the meeting of the Bride and Christ is as close as the end of every believer's life up until the point when Jesus Returns on the Day of the Lord. And Paul said that would not happen until things which have not yet happened, happen.

Going in order, here is the second John 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is [fn]the Son of Man. 28 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. The first part can be taken two ways, but juxtaposing the then-present situation in verse 24 to verse 25, allows for a second, future application when those who have passed away are then called out. This is a selective calling, only those who hear, live. We are not to marvel at this, because a time is coming when ALL who have passed away will hear. And to the latter group, they are separated just as Daniel 12:2.

There are five times that God reveals two Resurrections of the dead to an afterlife not of this earth. The sequence is always the same: First for just the Righteous; the Second for both Righteous and Wicked. The very first time was given before Jesus came. Dan 12:1 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 "Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. Notice here that the First Resurrection is tied to the Great Tribulation. We can know this because it is unique in being the worse time ever. It is at that time, that everyone who is written (in the Book of Life) will be "rescued". The second verse is confusing without interjecting the Millennium, but the Man in Linen (Jesus in my opinion) gives Daniel this information without that explanation. At this point, His Plan remains a mystery. Taken by itself, you can mix the two into one. However, with further revelation, we can see how simply God stated one then the other.

I recall an amusing anecdote I saw in a church basement in Charlotte. It said: "Don't believe everything you think." This theory is a about as amusing as Roy's rendition of Revelation Rev 21:10-22 as a pyramid, so that it's "walls" are gentle slopes from the vantage point of standing on the earth, going up to a point well above heaven, even into the vacuum of outer space as Roy defines "heaven"... This theory of Roy's does not work with any Pre-Millennial eschatology. Nor does it have any real Scriptural basis except for that required to interpret the languages as he does - like saying the word "ark" means box, when actually it is a "loan word" from the Egyptian language: tebah ~ which means "palace" and not "box", or "coffin". Because He just trampled out His Wrath in Israel and it's not a fit place for His Bride! Well that's what Paul says, "Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come." (1Th 1:10) ~ and it would be necessary when it affects the whole of the earth as it does with the Bowl or Vial Judgments. And that takes care of the "aiming" ~ only the Remnant is marshaled through the second half of the one 'seven'. Rev 3:10 is not the iron-clad protection everyone makes of it when you look at the language John uses.

In the detailed, parallel account of Revelation chapters 13-16, Jesus is standing on the earth before the Harvest from the clouds. So there is an alternative view which comports with that Scripture, where your view does not. Midpoint Abomination - Setting up the talking image of the anti-Christ Those in Judea flee / Remnant protected Two laws which make the Great Tribulation the worst time ever “Mikael" arises Two Witnesses 1260 days - call down Wrath Great Tribulation - the Elect are persecuted Sun/moon/star event Day of the LORD Scrolling of the sky = sign of the Son of Man Jesus touches down on Mount Zion Jews flee through the cleft of the Mount of Olives Mustering the 144,000 on Mount Zion with Jesus standing upon the earth 3 Angels fulfill the Great Commission / Warn the wicked The Last Trumpet Call of God Dead in Christ are Resurrected Son of Man coming on the clouds with the Saints Harvest Redemption / Gathering Elect from the earth Those who are alive and are left are gathered up Great Multitude arrive in Heaven out of the Great Tribulation Books / Scroll opened with breaking of seventh Seal First Trumpet fire and blood – 1/3rd of earth burned Avenging Angels – supplying Blood and managing the Fire In this view, we are exempt from Wrath, in line with your first option, but not the Great Tribulation: and we should never confuse the two as being the same.

Again - inchrist has no ability to discuss a subject like the "Sequence-of-Events". What is on display here is how one "muddies" the waters. This is a tactic of those who are unable to argue so as to destroy, so to achieve similar ends, they pull the thread off-topic with innuendo, red herrings, tar babies, addresses to the person or ad hominen attacks ("calm down") and other fallacious tactics so as to just argue and pretty soon the whole point of a thread is lost anyway. That is what is happening here, and I will not let it stand without exposing it for what it is: a cheap trick. Like challenging a "soapbox debate". Eschatology is too serious for 15 second sound bites in any "soapbox debate".

No, I have no desire to "discourse" with someone like you. You have nothing to offer. Your only goal is to eliminate any thinking outside of your own, and to that extent, you cannot allow any point or counterpoint to stand such as when you say: "You refuted no such thing," when Scripture was produced directly aimed at, and refuting your lockstep approach to applying the timing of the Festivals in the Hebrew calendar to the end-times. Such a person cannot be sharpened, and as a round stone can only try to 'roll over' everyone else who they see as an opponent and not a fellow brother in Christ.

Shirley, you can't be serious.

Now this is a thread about the sequence-of-events. It is not a thread about parables, or patterns. However, with a foundation for the sequence of events: how can this parable be viewed? Literally. ........And it matters little if inchrist does not allow this; the interpretation rests upon itself. Let's look at a side-by-side of two sequences: Revelation 13-14, which is part of a greater detailed parallel account of the one 'seven' in Revelation chapters 13-16, and The Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24. Revelation 13:14 – 14:16 13:14-15 Erection of the talking image of the anti-Christ: the midpoint abomination 13:15-17 Two laws which make the Great Tribulation the worst time ever for the Church in terms of persecution 14:1-5 144,000 assembled on Mount Zion with Jesus standing upon the earth 14:6-11 3 Angels fulfill the Great Commission / Warn the wicked 14:14 Son of Man coming on the clouds 14:16 Harvest from the earth Matthew 24:15-31 24:15 Midpoint Abomination, which adds: standing in the “Holy Place” v. 21 Great Tribulation, which is shortened by the: v. 29 Sun/moon/star event, which heralds the Day of the Lord v. 30 Sign of the Son of Man v. 30 The Son of Man coming on the clouds v. 31 Gathering Elect from the earth Now in this side-by-side sequence of events analysis, which skips descriptive verses and gets just to the action laid out within, we can see a strong correlation between the first two points, and the last two. In the two linear narratives, two additional bits of information are provided in one and not the other. This omission in one and not the other does not negate either account from corresponding to each other. An omission of information is not a commission of an error by God. What the added information does is fill in the gaps, and there are plenty of "gaps" in prophecy. Nowhere is everything spelled out for us. In the timeline of the sequence of events, I put these separate accounts together like this: Midpoint Abomination Erection of the talking image of the anti-Christ Two laws which make the Great Tribulation the worst time ever for the Church in terms of persecution. Great Tribulation. Sun/moon/star event Day of the LORD. Scrolling of the sky = sign of the Son of Man Jesus touches down upon the earth. Mustering the 144,000 on Mount Zion with Jesus standing upon the earth 3 Angels fulfill the Great Commission / Warn the wicked Son of Man coming on the clouds. Harvest Redemption / Gathering Elect from the earth. So let's put ourselves into the future and we come to the midpoint of the one 'seven' and all of a sudden: we are faced with a terrible dilemma! We cannot be seen in public lest we take the Daniel Test of worship or die. We cannot go to work without the 'mark' of the beast. We cannot pay our bills, or procure food; ultimately - our utilities will be cut off. We are IN the Great Tribulation and dying is now happening to us left and right. In this time of Great Distress - our hero, Jesus, tarries. The time goes on and we are being reduced rapidly. Family and friends are being slaughtered. Whole communities are being wiped out. Very few of us are left... To these few, who have sheltered themselves, they wait. They endure patiently. And when the end is near, desperation is setting in. Some do not have enough supplies to last. Remember two things: The five foolish virgins didn't lack oil - they lacked having enough. And the 'mark' of the beast is tied to a literal, physical activity: buying and selling. In this time - when the five wise virgins tell the ones asking that they share to go buy some more oil - they are literally testing them to see if their faith is enough - WILL THEY RISK LOSING THEIR LIFE FOR CHRIST, or are they going to try to save their life so that they can "see" (literally) Him come? In a literal application during the Great Tribulation - right up and to just before the dawning of the Day of the Lord - it is imperative that: You "keep the faith" And NOT take the mark of the beast. There is both a literal and a figurative side to this interpretation of the parable. When Jesus comes, those who fail the Daniel Test of faith, who succumb to trying to save themselves by taking the mark, and thinking OSAS, or that 'they have Jesus in their heart'; will be sorely vexed to see that they came so far only to come up vastly short of receiving their inheritance. God will use the tarrying of the Groom to weed out those who are not truly of the Elect. Endure Patiently. Keep the Faith. Remain Steadfast.

And then inchrist says this: This is hardly a scholarly approach. Sometimes when people complain about something they don't like about another, there are two things are at work: They are actually complaining about something they see in themselves reflected in another, and, They are at the same time putting themselves above another by putting the other person down. Both cases are examples of unchecked ego, and I have learned this applies to me as well. Whenever we compare ourselves out from others, we also destroy any unity in that group. When we look at the sequence-of-events presented in the parallel accounts within the book of Revelation, there is no 1:1 correlation to a literal basis for applying the Appointed Times to the end-times in terms of 10 literal days when the first Woe alone takes five months! This is an ultra-literal approach, which is just as fallacious as taking literal events figuratively; when Paul explicitly warns us against doing so. Along with taking everything literal figuratively, it is not so much that each is wrong, but that these are examples of using the wrong tool to interpret and force an eschatological view onto Scripture. Then, the person dictating using a hammer when a polishing cloth is needed, insists that only the hammer be used. So discernment is the byword in knowing which tool to use, and by examining which interpretation tool we're using we can see how that shapes the interpretation thereof. There is, however, a very strong correlation between the sequence of the Appointed Times of the Fall Festivals to the sequence-of-events I have found in compiling end-time linear prophetic narratives. This is quite in line with what Paul is saying in Colossians. Like the first century Jewish wedding festival, and the agricultural methods of harvesting implicit in Appointed Times, the Festivals themselves lend added meaning, order, pattern, and examples for us in discerning the nature of God's Plan.

Again, using "clear" indicates that inchrist has reached a conclusion and allows no other. However, there are between 187 and 214 references to "oil" in the Bible, depending upon which English version translation you favor in your reading. Offering 3% of those hardly makes an overwhelming argument that oil must ALWAYS be taken figuratively - and that is inchrist's argument here: everything must be taken figuratively. The problem with commentators who take everything literal figuratively, is they literally get to assign meaning to whatever they're taking figuratively according to their own fancy. This does not mean that we cannot assign figurative meaning, like faith, spirit, or righteousness to the aspect of oil, but to so in the extreme leads to fanciful interpretations. Fanciful interpretations are fun; it's like a child's game of imagination - the more wild, the more fun. However, it does not reflect sober discernment.

This is not an indicator for grounds for a discussion. This is the attitude a tyrant or a dictator brings to any discourse. So it is of no surprise that one side makes no effort to allow the other side to have any basis for what they present, and instead just talks past the other person nonstop. Yet, for the reader, I will offer an alternative view to the straitjacket mentality of inchrist's.

You can claim all you want, it doesn't make you correct. As I said, there is more than one way to interpret this parable, and the reader may rely on more than one in how to apply this parable to the end-times. God gave us Free Will. He did not give us you to dictate how we must think. There's that use of "clear" again! LOL

You say that Rosh ha-Shannah comes after the one 'seven' is concluded. However: There is no evidence that the Day of the Lord is connected with the victory at Armageddon. The sun/moon/star event which precedes it (Joel 2:31) is shown happening when the sixth Seal is opened - before any of the Trumpets sound. The Great Multitude, who provides evidence for the delivery of the Dead in Christ and those Elect who remain and are still alive - the result of the gathering on the Day of the Lord - and coming after the Great Tribulation as Jesus said, evidenced by the Elder's answer that they 'come out of' that time - also is shown in Scripture as happening with the sixth Seal - before any of the Trumpets sound. The evidence in the Bible is that Rosh ha-Shannah, the Returning Anew, the Day of the Lord, happens before God's Wrath comes upon the wicked. ____________________________________________________________ And if that is not enough, now you have an internal inconsistency within your own points: you now say Revelation 2:10 relates to the Jews, and not to the Church. This is the nature of confusion: facts don't line up.

Jesus didn't say that. That is a conclusion you have read into Scripture. Rev 2:10 ...and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

No, I am NOT constrained by your eschatology, and every time someone tells me it is "clear" or "very clear" I know it is is anything but! First of all, I already refuted your claim that the timing of the end-times exactly comport to the timing of the Fall Festivals. This was done with Scripture! Colosians 2:16-17 Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. So repeating your argument is a fallacy: repetition. Some people would typify such a repetitive approach as 'stuck on stupid'. As to a literal ten days of God's Wrath - that is not supported either. God's Wrath is not tribulation, and we are not to endure that - Paul again in 1Th 1:10. Nor is this termed the Great Tribulation, which is a specific and unique time - Jesus: Mt 24:22. The Expositor's Bible Commentary on Revelation 2:10 says this: The "ten days" may be ten actual days. Or it may be a Semitism for an indeterminate but comparatively short period of time (cf. Neh 4:12; Dan 1:12). In the first- century Roman world, prison was usually not punitive but the prelude to trial and execution, hence the words "Be faithful, even to the point of death." So the message to the second type of Church may only involve them, and many commentators have drawn a conclusion that the Churches also represent a timeline of The Church - and that Smyrna represents the second and third centuries in this progression. What we are to take from the Church of Smyrna is that if we persevere and remain faithful through times of tribulation, and that has come and gone through the ages; he who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death. - there is a promise to all if this happens to you.

I would link the first to the second. I do think that the Industrial Revolution has brought war on a scale which was never before possible. And Capitalism, while it has conquered the world without firing a shot, bringing down both the iron and the bamboo curtain, has not made the world a more peaceful place. The scope continues to grow. The things we are seeing now, build up successively, and perhaps even logarithmically, and they will crescendo in the one 'seven' in my opinion. While not included in my posting, I look at the sudden, and rapid growth of disease coming from animals - the Zika virus, being just one of over 20 such mutations to affect the world - as being just another manifestation of the four spirits at work in this world to bring the world up to a fever pitch. It is only in turmoil and chaos that tyrants look attractive with their promise to restore order, and the byword, which is a lie, in the end-times is: peace and safety.

Thank you for the discourse. As to the timing of the Rapture, that was not my purpose in this thread, but it has been interesting to learn another's perspective, which is something I've never heard before.

After these things is said twice, once by John and next by presumably Jesus - and reading the demonstrative adjective "these" as referencing the last thing to happen would be the visions of the Churches. "These things" refers to that in the text. I know of no other way to read the reference. At the inception of the Church in the first century A.D., the first revelation is that there are seven Church types, and the first vision John receives adds meaning to a like vision that Zechariah saw of a lampstand with seven lights in his book: 4:1-3. The Churches come first, and I consider each to be fully in existence from their inception, but also being a demonstration in the order in which they are presented as a predominant type of Church as so many others have suggested the Church has changed over the centuries.

Leaving out some more work, I'll just get to my conclusion: The First Horseman, or Spirit, goes to work in the West as was shown in Zechariah. As a force that makes war possible working in the West, Western countries have been the leader in producing weapons of war that have unprecedented destructiveness. Indeed without the modern Capitalistic system that makes the Military-Industrial complex possible the West would not be able to wage its war on Terrorism and try to bring peace and safety to the world. Even Communist China has adopted Capitalism as a means to gain military and economic strength without a shot being fired. The idea of Capitalism as the vehicle that propelled the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century as a force to make war in the twentieth century possible could fit. As a false Messiah, people do worship Mammon. And some seek security in it. In commenting on politics, one JFK campaign manager speaking of Joe Kennedy said “his money could work miracles” — (PBS series on the Kennedy’s). A conclusion here is that the first Horseman is not a person. It is a Spirit which is at work in the world. The supposition here is that the first Horseman is manifested in the economic system which has revolutionized the world. Indeed, a system of economics has sprung up, propelled by men throughout a century as first an idea, and then a working concept until such time as it has thoroughly enveloped the world. It is not a coincidence that Communist China, in its war against the Capitalistic West, has been felled into being the most Capitalistic nation on the face of the earth and that it did so without a single shot (arrow) being fired. One system of economics has conquered the world; and people do place their trust in it: Capitalism allows people to live without depending on God. Thus, this system is also a type of anti-Christ and at the same time it paves the way for the second Spirit which induces war on a scale never seen before. A final interpretation of the first Horseman eludes a definite answer. The conclusion here might be controversial, and it certainly will not end the debate, however, any rendering to the meaning of the First Horseman must include the characteristic of appearing good or being victorious as in white, the ability to project power with the bow, the act of triumph or headship with the crown, the claim to be able to save, and to be able to deceive many. As a sequence of Spirits or forces whereby one makes a condition favorable for the next, and so conditions the world for the climatic events of the seventieth ‘seven,’ this first Horseman should have some attribute that accomplishes the fermentation of war too. What is proposed here is that the aspect of Capitalism with the earth-changing Industrial Revolution fits all the necessary pieces of prophecy. Capitalism is seen by many as a white knight, which acts as a sort of savior, but in the context of Christianity; it is an anti-Christ. Any person or thing in whom a person places trust for their safety, such as a 401K plan, is an anti-Christ and there are many in this world. Some people place their trust in government... But as a system which has taken over the world, conquering Red China without as so much as a shot being fired, Capitalism is a conqueror. As such, Capitalism with its attendant Industrial Revolution, marks an historic event that has propelled the world into a new era far different than the millennia of agriculture known before and dependence upon the land for all people, and so has prepared the world in a manner which is necessary for the sixth head of Satan to assume total control. Without industry which changed rural family life and broke up the family, without the concentration of people in cities which fostered diverse political systems to control the populations, without the resultant technology which has brought about the Information Age: the one ‘seven’ could not have the anti-Christ exert total control. The basic conclusion here is that the events of the end-times not only cannot happen until the beginning of birth pains ensued, but they could not happen without these four conditions first coming to fruition upon the earth as a prerequisite.

REV 6:4Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword. The second Horseman represents war. The second through fourth horsemen are not in much contention as to their meaning. Each can also be thought as being the natural outcome of the previous one. This would support an argument for interpretation in sequential fashion, and keeping with the linear aspect of having the seals numbered as well. In the matter of war, the 20th century stands as a testament to war, being the bloodiest century of man's history with more people dying than any other with the total count well over 100 million dead. Like the ox, the second living creature, it is a powerful force able to plow through resistance.

Good question. A little study of mine, which I will share here: Breaking the seal and the calling out unleashes a character acting autonomously. As each Horseman is called out, the pattern is repeated and another Living Creature in order says the very same; “Come!” This also suggests some attributes that can be applied to the Horsemen by the nature of the creature that summons them. The Living Creatures order the Horsemen out in sequential fashion as well. The faces of the four Living Creatures are: "lion," "ox," "man," and a "flying eagle." These are the heavenly Creatures sheltering God, and thus they suggest qualities that belong to God. One commentary suggests they represent the qualities of royal power, strength, spirituality, and swiftness of action.—EBCNT If the Living Creatures represent these qualities, then the forces sent out mirror those attributes: power through knowledge, strength of might, human spirit, and rapidity in effect. Rev 6:2I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. The first seal poses the most problems for interpretation. While the symbols are known, their application can be considered in two contrary manners. The initial assessment of the first seal is that it is has no known correlation within the Bible. Comparisons to Christ are incomplete but noted for the white horse, and the crown. In the aspect of this horseman being representative of the Church, the weapon of war and conquest are incongruent. In the opposing aspect, this is said to be a description of the false Christ. The lion, the symbol of royalty, power, and might does the calling which lends additional support to a powerful conqueror-king. The first Horseman is given a bow, a kingly weapon of power. A bow is the only weapon that allows one to kill at a distance in this era. He does not have any arrows to fire though, so this bow is not meant as a literal weapon of war, but a symbol of power. This analogy of the bow to power is supported in the Bible. JOB 29:20My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.' JOB 30:11 Now that God has unstrung my bow and afflicted me, they throw off restraint in my presence. JER 49:35This is what the LORD Almighty says: "See, I will break the bow of Elam, the mainstay of their might. So the bow can be thought of as the ability to project his power, but not necessarily conquering as with war. The second issue is the crown. This signifies victory, and accomplishment. So the force that makes war possible does succeed without firing a shot. Along with the crown is the color white. This third aspect signifies goodness but also is the color of a victor. So this first Horseman must be seen as beneficial, or desirable on one hand, and victorious on the other. As a force, it can be expected to be able to project its power through its autonomous actions. Two people the first Horseman is commonly thought to represent are the anti-Christ and Jesus. These two wildly conflicting extremes of interpretation can both be nullified. First, as the point of unsealing the Scroll is to unleash God’s Wrath upon the desolator from Daniel 9:27, to put the anti-Christ as the first Horseman has him participating in his own demise. Logically, this would be like God sending out Pharaoh to be obstinate. In that account, God hardened what naturally occurred in Pharaoh’s heart. And from the point of view of the desolator, he could also foil God’s plan by failing to perform the task for which he was designated: to conquer. From 2nd Thessalonians 2:7, the “one” blocks the anti-Christ from acting in his normal manner. This one must be removed from the midst before the anti-Christ can act freely. That is not part of the command here. In addition, in Revelation 13:5 the anti-Christ is given authority for a limited time. Both passages suggest a holding back of the anti-Christ with his natural disposition against God until a certain time, whereas the first Horseman is sent immediately out to do his role. For the first identifiable person that this first Horseman could represent, the anti-Christ should be eliminated from consideration. He is not “sent” by God. The other interpretation has Christ as the first Horseman. If Christ’s coming is indicated by the first Horseman, then with Jesus as the Lamb opening the Seal, He is effectively doubled. Jesus cannot both break the Seal and come out from behind the Seal. While Christ’s coming presages the rapture, to view the first Seal as representing this presents a contradiction in real terms because there is only one Christ.

The question was how you equated the one 'seven' to the Great Tribulation. You "assign" the one 'seven' as Tribulation, and then make the minor distinction of having the second half be great. Let me rephrase the question so it fits your eschatology: How is it that you say the one 'seven' is the Tribulation Period? What specific Scripture allows this designation? Anytime someone tells me it is "clear," I know I am reading their conclusion, and that the matter is anything but "clear." We all take Scripture into account because it cannot be broken, but most eschatology I read about limit what they take and ignore what doesn't comport with how they fashion it.

I have done that and I cannot agree with your assignment of the first six Trumpets to the first half of the one 'seven' whereby the anti-Christ, that beast of a man, is given authority to rule and wages war upon the Saints and overcomes them - Rev chapter 13. I can assign a timing of the sixth Seal to being AFTER the midpoint abomination of the talking image of the beast of a man, the anti-Christ. This sequencing, provided by blending the Olivet Discourse with the broad overview of the end-times in Rev 4-11 (exclusive) and the detailed parallel account of just the one 'seven' in Rev 13-16 (inclusive) means that all seven Trumpets are sounded in the second half of the one 'seven'. I would put the length of the Great Tribulation not as years as you would, but in months or weeks. After all, how long can you survive today without electricity? In just three days, you're in survival mode... and societal order breaks down. Now imagine you have no electricity, and no ability to travel openly, and no water except what is naturally provided - but that the authorities - added by your neighbors and fellow countrymen - are actively hunting you down to make sure you "worship" as they do - or they'll kill you! Again, the "cutting short" is an agricultural term for 'docking' an animal's tail. That's pretty short... but even then, for those who are in the Great Tribulation, it will seem like Jesus is not showing up - and in the parable of the "wheat and tares", He tarries ~ which again works to having those who survive as winnowing out those of little faith - as being the True Elect.