THE SEVEN SEALED BOOK
and a different pre-trib rapture view
To the Church,
the Body of Christ, of which I am most grateful to be a part.
The United States' side of the earth holds the lands that are not in Israel's hemisphere.
PROPOSITION 4
In consideration of the "third part" destruction that happens with the sounding of the first four trumpets (Rev. 8:7-12), the land area of the continents of North and South America is interesting. These continents (with part of Antarctica) make up what is commonly referred to as the Western Hemisphere. Just a cursory glance at a globe will reveal that the earth's land area is approximately one-third on our side of the earth and two-thirds on the other side. This means that about one-third of the land area is in the hemisphere of which the United States is a part, and two-thirds is in the hemisphere of which Israel is a part (the Eastern Hemisphere).
Much more interesting is how the earth's land areas figure out by the data we have available to us in our day. For example, from the popular internet encyclopedia, Wikepedia, is the following data concerning the seven continents of the earth and the percentages of the total land area each represents (search continent area percentages):
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North America 16.4%
South America 11.9%
Antarctica 9.4%
Asia 29.6%
Africa 20.2%
Europe 6.8%
Australia 5.7%
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100.0%
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If a globe is dissected into two halves, one including the United States and the continents on its side of the earth, and the other including Israel and the continents on its side of the earth, the percentage of the total land area each half would contain is thus (giving each half an equal part of Antarctica):
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North America 16.4%
South America 11.9%
1/2 Antarctica 4.7%
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33.0%
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Asia 29.6%
Africa 20.2%
Europe 6.8%
Australia 5.7%
1/2 Antarctica 4.7%
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67.0%
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It is easy to see that the land area of the half of the earth of which the United States is a part equals a third, to an exactness that is incredible (1/3 = 33.3% and 2/3 = 66.6%). As can be seen, there is not even a full one percent discrepancy (see NOTE below).
Now, there were no globes in the Bible days, and the people who lived then could have had no concept of this. But, John got the opportunity for a little different perspective (Rev. 4:1)! It is easy to imagine that what he got to see was more on the order of what astronauts get to see and what we are blessed to be able to see on our televisions and computers. The devastation that John witnessed at this time, he referred to as affecting "the third part." It looks like he may have been pretty sharp on them fractions!
The possibility of the destruction of North and South America is major and would represent all of the Far West from the perspective of Israel. Also, it is conceivable that the impact of an asteroid sizable enough to wipe out the population of our hemisphere would be prevented by the earth's mass from having the same effect on its opposite side. Moreover, if an impact like this were to occur in our hemisphere, the land of Israel is situated such that it would be shielded from tidal waves resulting from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Furthermore, the resultant dust, vapor, and smoke from such an impact could fill the atmosphere to the point of affecting day and nighttime light by one-third (Rev. 8:12). The earth, being a sphere, is ideal for a cataclysm resulting in such as this to occur. Of course, the size of what impacts the earth, its speed, angle of impact, and exact place of impact are all factors---but no problem for God. Admittedly, this possibility is beyond what we can know for sure, before the fact, but it is more than pure conjecture. It has both relevant substance and strong scriptural support.
Also relating to the above, it is reasonable to wonder if God's primary purpose for bringing to pass the discovery of the Americas in the first place was to provide a further refuge for the Church as the population of the world increased. Refuge from what? The increasing persecution and martyrdom of true Christians. But, with the rapture, the Church will cease to need such a refuge. At that time, whatever might be left over here would seem to only complicate matters for anything related to Daniel's 70th Week. The bottom line may be this: As with the Church, what is in our hemisphere does not fit in the picture of Daniel's 70th Week, the same as it did not fit in the picture of the other 69 weeks. If THE DAY OF THE LORD is a fitting title for the book with seven seals (PROPOSITION H), and Daniel's 70th Week begins a short while after it is opened, is it not reasonable that the first thing in God's plan for that time would be to remove from the picture what doesn't fit that time?
The nature of what we have been considering supports the possibility that just prior to the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week, God is going to effect a systematic reversal of world conditions, so that in a very short while, things upon this earth may be looking much as they did in the Bible days. If this is what John is describing, this would be like a giant leap backward in time to the pre-Church era, the world's stage being reset for the fulfilling of Daniel's 70th Week and also for the Jew's witnessing of Jesus' Second Advent, this time as their King of kings, and Lord of lords---the same Jesus they rejected as their Messiah some 2000 years ago.
In PROPOSITION 2, I made the following statement: "I'm believing that when you see it, you won't be able to unsee it." Are you seeing it? Consider the SPECIAL NOTE near the bottom of PROPOSITION 6.
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NOTE: Over the years, as I have reviewed what various sources list as the land area percentages of the continents, I have sometimes noticed some very small differences in the figures, like a tenth of a percent. Over time, I have seen this with the same source as well. There have also been times when I have noticed that the percentages listed did not add up to an exact 100%. Notwithstanding such discrepancies, the exactness of what I am pointing out has always remained essentially the same.