Jesus gave us a sign to watch for that we didn’t mention in the Last Days book. It’s in Luke 21:25-26 and is found in the verses right after the verses that describe Jerusalem surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20-24) and right before the verses that describe Jesus’ return (Luke 21:27). The verses say,

And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth anxiety of nations in perplexity of the sound of the sea and the waves, and men will be fainting from fear and expectation of the things coming on the earth for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Luke 21:25-26

The following four points help explain Luke 21:25-26:

1. What is Jesus describing?
2. A review of how the 7 years start.
3. How this description fits with the “peals of thunder, rumblings, and flashes of lightning” mentioned four times in Revelation (listed on page 76 in the Last Days book).
4. A brief summary of the timing of the first two “peals of thunder, rumblings, and flashes of lightning.”

1) What is Jesus Describing?
Jesus’ description sounds like a hurricane.

• The “sound of the sea and the waves” seems like a description of a weather event at sea, which fits a hurricane.
• Also that men will be in “expectation” of what’s coming fits a hurricane—news broadcasts always give us days and days of coverage and weather maps show multiple tracks the hurricane might take and give us warning of where it is expected to strike land.
• “The powers of the heavens will be shaken” could be a description of the way a hurricane’s force appears in the sky with incredible wind, dramatic clouds, lightning and thunder, and even tornadoes.

If it is a hurricane, it seems like it would be a much stronger hurricane than normal since men will be perplexed by the hurricane and will be anxious and fainting in fear (many people get worried about impending hurricanes, but they don’t usually faint in fear).

2) A Review of how the 7 Years Start
Before we talk about how Luke 21:25-26 fits into the “peals of thunder, rumblings, and flashes of lightning,” let’s review how the 7 years start. The 7 years start when two things happen—

• the first occurrence of the peals of thunder, and
• the antichrist confirms/strengthens a covenant with many.

The first mention of “peals of thunder, rumblings, and flashes of lightning” in Revelation marks the start of the 7 years—it takes place just before the seals are opened (Rev. 4:5) and about the time the antichrist strengthens/confirms a covenant with many.

Because this first occurrence of “peals” marks the start of the 7 years, the church is still on earth and will literally see this take place. It is possible that the first occurrence of the peals also refers to a hurricane; however, we might not recognize the significance if it is a “regular” hurricane—we need to be aware.

3) How Luke 21:25-26 Fits in the “Peals of thunder, rumblings, and flashes of lightning”
Now let’s consider the hurricane described in Luke 21:25-26.
The description of this hurricane fits quite neatly into the sequence of “peals of thunder, rumblings, and flashes of lightning” in two ways:

A) The timing of the Luke 21:25-26 hurricane fits the second mention of the “peals of thunder, rumblings, and flashes of lightning”; this second mention takes place after the seals but just before the 1st trumpet sounds. And this is what we see in Luke 21:25-26. In Luke 21:25-26, people are in fearful expectation of what’s going to happen. They are expecting a storm, but the verse doesn’t say the storm actually hits before the Lord returns. People will be fainting in fear and expectation, the Lord will return, and then the hurricane/peals will hit.

B) The very strong emotions Jesus describes that the people will feel—“anxiety and perplexity” and “fainting in fear”—tell us that the second storm will be much stronger than usual, so this fits the increasing severity of the “peals of thunder, rumblings, and flashes of lightning.”

4) Let’s summarize the sequence of the first two mentions of “peals…”:
The first mention: A hurricane/storm happens at the time the antichrist strengthens/confirms a covenant because the first mention of “peals” happens before the seals begin, Rev. 4:5. The first occurrence begins the 7-year tribulation; the church will see the first mention.

The second mention: The church will hear about the second mention of “peals” as an impending hurricane of unusual severity but will not be on earth when it hits because the second mention happens right after the Lord returns and right before the first trumpet sounds.

One Final Comment:
Jesus said, “When you see these things…” (Luke 21:31, Matthew 24:33). We can see that Jesus expects us to be watching for the signs he tells us about. We need to be watching so that we will recognize these events for what they are when they happen.

Be watching for a storm before his return.