HE NUMBER SEVEN. IT MAY BE THE UNLUCKIEST NUMBER

EVER, BECAUSE SEVEN IS THE NUMBER THAT COUNTS DOWN TO THE

END TIMES. SEVEN ANGELS USHER IN

UNIMAGINABLE CALAMITY. AND SEVEN VIALS HOLD THE POISONS

THAT WILL DESTROY US ALL. EACH IS TRIGGERED OVER A

SEVEN-YEAR PERIOD THAT BEGINS AT THE PRECISE MOMENT WHEN A SAVIOR

BREAKS THE FIRST OF SEVEN SEALS. FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS, PROPHETS

AROUND THE WORLD HAVE PREDICTED THE END OF DAYS.

MORE THAN ONE SUGGESTS THE APOCALYPSE IS FAST APPROACHING.

WE CALL THIS THEORETICAL CONVERGENCE BETWEEN DOOMSDAY

PROPHECIES AND TODAY'S EVENTS THE NOSTRADAMUS EFFECT.

>> How will the end begin? >> Narrator: REVELATION, THE

FINAL BOOK OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, EXPOSES A CHILLING TIMELINE.

MANY ACCEPT IT AS A COUNTDOWN CHRONICLING GOD'S MASTER PLAN TO

END THE WORLD. THE MARKERS OF THIS TIMELINE --

THE SEVEN SEALS. SOME SAY THESE SEALS ARE BEING

BROKEN TODAY. BIBLICAL EXPERTS SUGGEST

REVELATION IS A BLUEPRINT OF THE FUTURE, OUTLINING A DEADLY AND

DESTRUCTIVE SEQUENCE, CULMINATING IN OUR DEMISE.

DISASTER WILL FOLLOW DISASTER UNTIL FINALLY THE FORCES OF GOD

AND SATAN FACE OFF IN THE ULTIMATE BATTLE BETWEEN GOOD AND

EVIL. >> THERE ARE A SPECIFIC SET OF

EVENTS WHICH LEAD UP TO THE FINAL BATTLE.

AND THESE EVENTS ARE OF GREAT AND WIDESPREAD PESTILENCE, WAR,

DESTRUCTION, PLAGUES. >> THEY CALL IT THE DAY OF GOD'S

VENGEANCE AGAINST THE POPULATION OF PLANET EARTH.

>> Narrator: SOME BELIEVE WE ARE NOW ENTERING A DECISIVE PERIOD

KNOWN AS THE TRIBULATION, A TIME OF EXTREME TURMOIL THAT PRECEDES

GOD'S FINAL JUDGMENT. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT CURRENT

EVENTS CAUSED BY BOTH NATURE AND MAN ARE CONVERGING WITH BIBLICAL

PREDICTIONS OF THE END OF THE WORLD?

WE WILL NEITHER REFUTE NOR ENDORSE THESE THEORIES, MERELY

PRESENT THE EVIDENCE. TODAY, BELIEVERS ARE SEEKING

CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE BOOK OF REVELATION AND SCIENCE TO

DETERMINE IF ANY OF THE BIBLICAL SEVEN SEALS HAVE ALREADY BEEN

BROKEN. BUT EVEN AMONG THOSE WHO BELIEVE

THAT THEY HAVE, DEBATE STILL RAGES.

MANY DISAGREE ABOUT WHERE OUR OWN AGE FITS INTO THE TIMELINE

SAID TO BE MARKED BY THE SEALS. ARE WE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE

SEQUENCE, AS SOME SUGGEST? IF SO, WHEN WILL THE FINAL SEAL

BE BROKEN, SUPPOSEDLY IGNITING THE END OF EVERYTHING?

>> THE MOST RELIGIOUS PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO READ THE BIBLE AS

THE LITERAL WORD OF GOD AND THE MOST SECULAR PEOPLE IN THE

WORLD, SCIENTISTS WHO STUDY THE PHENOMENON OF THE NATURAL WORLD,

AGREE COMPLETELY THAT THE WORLD WILL END CATASTROPHICALLY AND

FINALLY AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE.

>> Narrator: BELIEVERS SEARCH FOR A WAY TO DETERMINE WHETHER

REVELATION'S PROPHECIES MAY BE CONVERGING WITH BOTH RELIGION

AND TODAY'S UNREST TO HERALD THE END OF DAYS.

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, THE AUTHOR OF REVELATION'S DIVINE PROPHECY

IS REFERRED TO SIMPLY AS JOHN. LIKE OTHER BIBLICAL AUTHORS,

JOHN MAKES FREQUENT USE OF ONE PARTICULAR NUMBER IN HIS

WRITING. >> THE NUMBER SEVEN FIGURES VERY

IMPORTANTLY IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION, ALMOST OBSESSIVELY

OR COMPULSIVELY. THE AUTHOR RESORTS AGAIN AND

AGAIN TO THE NUMBER SEVEN. >> THE NUMBER SEVEN IS VERY

SIGNIFICANT IN THE BIBLE, GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE

BEGINNING OF THE WORLD, WHEN GOD MADE THE EARTH IN SIX DAYS AND

RESTED ON THE SEVENTH. >> Narrator: ACCORDING TO JOHN,

THE NUMBER SEVEN PLAYS AN EQUALLY CRUCIAL ROLE IN THE

WORLD'S END. HE WRITES THAT MANKIND WILL

RECEIVE THE WARNING OF ITS FATE IN THE FORM OF A SCROLL THAT IS

SEALED SEVEN TIMES. BUT JOHN WRITES OF ONE CRITICAL

CAVEAT. >> AND A QUESTION GOES OUT --

WHO'S WORTHY TO OPEN THIS SCROLL AND BREAK THE SEALS AND SEE

WHAT'S IN IT? >> Narrator: ACCORDING TO THE

PROPHECY, THE ONLY ONE WORTHY TO BREAK THE SEAL IS JESUS,

REFERRED TO IN THE BIBLE AS THE SLAIN LAMB OF GOD.

>> HE COMES UP AND TAKES A SEVEN-SEALED SCROLL OUT OF THE

HAND OF THE FATHER ON THE THRONE.

THIS APPEARS TO BE A TITLE DEED TO THE UNIVERSE AND GOD'S

PROPHETIC PLAN FOR ALL OF ETERNITY.

[ THUNDER CRASHES ] >> Narrator: SOME SCHOLARS SAY

THE PROPHECY OF REVELATION IS TRIGGERED AND THE TRIBULATION

BEGINS WHEN JESUS BREAKS OPEN THE FIRST OF THE SEVEN SEALS.

THIS RELEASES THE FIRST OF THE DREADED FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE

APOCALYPSE. ACCORDING TO REVELATION, THESE

DARK FIGURES WILL ELICIT AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF MISERY AND

DESTRUCTION, WHICH SOME SAY HAS ALREADY BEGUN.

>> MANY REASONS WE BELIEVE WE'RE LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS -- ONE

IS FAMINE, DISEASES THAT ARE OUT OF CONTROL, SEVERE NATURAL

DISASTERS. BECAUSE OF THESE THINGS, MOST

BIBLE SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT WE ARE INDEED LIVING IN THE LAST

DAYS. >> Narrator: THE REVELATION OF

THE FIRST SEAL SAYS... IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE WHITE

HORSEMAN COULD FALSELY PRESENT HIMSELF AS A BENEVOLENT WORLD

LEADER. BUT IN REALITY, HE IS AMONG THE

MOST SINISTER FIGURES IN THE BIBLE -- THE ANTICHRIST.

>> HE IS EMULATING JESUS. THE INTERESTING FACET OF IT ALL

IS THE BOW WITHOUT THE ARROW, THE BOW MEANING THAT HE HAS THE

POWER OVER THE AIR. [ INDISTINCT TALKING ON RADIO ]

HE'S GOING TO USE THE POWER OF THE AIR TO BE ABLE TO CONTROL

PEOPLE, BUT IT'S A SILENT, DECEPTIVE WAY OF CONTROL.

>> Narrator: ACCORDING TO THE PROPHECY'S SUPPOSED TIMELINE,

THE ANTICHRIST COULD BE AT WORK TODAY, USING DIPLOMATIC SKILLS

AND POWERS OF PERSUASION IN AN APPARENT EFFORT TO BRING NATIONS

TOGETHER IN PEACE. BUT HIS GOAL IS THE EXACT

OPPOSITE. HE WILL LEAD HUMANITY DIRECTLY

INTO ARMAGEDDON. >> THERE WILL BE INDIVIDUALS

THAT WILL COME AND WILL LEAD PEOPLE ASTRAY EN MASSE.

SOME MODERN SCHOLARS SUGGEST THAT ONE OF THE GREAT DECEIVERS

WAS HITLER, WHO WAS FOLLOWED BY MASSES AND COMMITTED GREAT

ATROCITIES. THE ANTICHRIST WILL COME, AND

THERE WILL BE ARMIES LED THAT WILL CREATE DEVASTATION AND

DESTRUCTION. >> Narrator: AFTER THE FIRST

SEAL BREAKS, A DOMINO EFFECT BEGINS.

ACCORDING TO REVELATION, THE SECOND SEAL OF THE SCROLL IS

BROKEN IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE FIRST.

THIS WILL REVEAL A RED HORSEMAN. >> NOW, THE RED HORSE IS QUITE

INTERESTING IN THE FACT THAT HE'S CARRYING A SWORD.

THE RED HORSE HAS ALWAYS BEEN THOUGHT TO MEAN A WORLD WAR.

>> Narrator: TODAY, THE RED HORSEMAN COULD BE A MILITARY

LEADER, CAPABLE OF LAUNCHING MODERN WARS RESULTING IN THE

DEATHS OF MILLIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

COULD THE BREAKING OF THE SECOND SEAL TRIGGER THE USE OF WEAPONS

OF MASS DESTRUCTION BETWEEN NATIONS OF OPPOSING IDEOLOGIES?

SOME INTERPRETERS BELIEVE A ROGUE NUCLEAR POWER, POSSIBLY

NORTH KOREA, COULD BE THE RED HORSEMAN.

THEY FEAR IT COULD LAUNCH AN ATTACK THAT WOULD IGNITE A

NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST. >> THERE ARE PEOPLE, AND NOT A

FEW PEOPLE, WHO USE THE BOOK OF REVELATION AS A SOURCE OF

INSPIRATION TO DO GOOD ON EARTH TODAY, AND THEY WOULD ARGUE IF

YOU THINK THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON WILL BE A NUCLEAR

WAR, THEN LET'S DO SOMETHING ABOUT NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT.

>> Narrator: AS THE PROPHECY UNFOLDS, BREAKING OPEN THE THIRD

SEAL SUMMONS THE BLACK HORSEMAN. AT THE TIME JOHN AUTHORED

REVELATION, A DENARIUS WAS A ROMAN SILVER COIN, OFTEN THE

EQUIVALENT OF A LABORER'S DAILY PAYMENT.

SOME BIBLICAL EXPERTS SEE A CONNECTION BETWEEN THE PASSAGE'S

BLACK HORSEMAN AND TODAY'S VOLATILE GLOBAL ECONOMY.

>> THERE IS GOING TO BE DEVASTATION ECONOMICALLY.

THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT IT WILL TAKE A MAN'S TOTAL WAGES FOR A

DAY JUST TO FEED HIMSELF, TO BUY A DAY'S FOOD SUPPLY.

>> I BELIEVE THAT THE MARKET CRASH OF 2008 WAS THE WORST

SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION. IN TERMS OF THE FORECLOSURES ON

PEOPLE'S HOMES, I THINK THAT'S WHY PEOPLE CAN SEE THIS AS THE

BREAKING OF THE THIRD SEAL. THE COLLAPSE OF BANKS, THE

BANKRUPTCY OF SOME MAJOR AMERICAN CORPORATIONS, AND THE

WORLDWIDE NATURE OF THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE -- IT WASN'T JUST ONE

COUNTRY. IT WAS MOST OF THE

INDUSTRIALIZED WORLD. >> Narrator: SOME BELIEVE THE

BLACK HORSEMAN COULD SYMBOLIZE A CRISIS IGNITED OVER THE

UNBALANCED DISTRIBUTION OF GLOBAL WEALTH.

TODAY, JUST 2% OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION OWNS MORE THAN HALF

OF ALL WEALTH, AND THE POOREST CONTROL JUST 1%.

SOME FEAR THIS INEQUALITY COULD BE A RECIPE FOR REVOLUTION.

FINALLY, THE FOURTH SEAL IS BROKEN AND, ACCORDING TO THE

BIBLE, UNLEASHES THE MOST FRIGHTENING OF THE FOUR

HORSEMEN. >> THIS IS WHERE IT SAYS, "POWER

WAS GIVEN UNTO THE FOURTH PART OF THE EARTH TO KILL WITH SWORD,

HUNGER, DEATH, AND THE BEASTS OF THE EARTH."

LET'S SUPPOSE THAT THERE'S 8 BILLION.

THAT MEANS 2 BILLION PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE KILLED.

AND WE'RE JUST STARTING THE TRIBULATION.

>> Narrator: SOME LINK THE FOURTH HORSEMAN TO FAMINE AND

FOOD SHORTAGES CURRENTLY SWEEPING THE GLOBE, WORSENING,

ACCORDING TO SOME, BY THE ACCELERATION OF GLOBAL WARMING

AND THE WORLDWIDE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE OF 2008.

IS THE PROPHECY OF REVELATION TRULY UNFOLDING TODAY?

HAVE THE FIRST FOUR SEALS ALREADY BEEN BROKEN?

IF THIS IS ACCEPTED AS TRUE, MUCH WORSE SUFFERING IS TO COME.

COULD EXPLOSIVE FORCES BENEATH ONE OF AMERICA'S MOST POPULAR

NATIONAL PARKS UNLEASH A CATASTROPHE BEYOND OUR

IMAGINATION? >> Narrator: DRAMATIC UPHEAVALS

ARE OCCURRING AROUND THE WORLD TODAY.

SOME BELIEVE THAT REVELATION, THE FINAL BOOK OF THE

NEW TESTAMENT, REFLECTS THIS EXTREME PERIOD IN THE FORM OF A

TIMELINE PORTENDING A GLOBAL APOCALYPSE.

THE TIMELINE IS MEASURED BY THE BREAKING OF SEVEN SEALS.

AND FOR BELIEVERS, THE BREAKING OF THE SEALS IS IRREFUTABLY

LINKED TO TODAY'S ESCALATING TURMOIL.

>> WE LIVE IN A TIME WHERE WE HAVE WITNESSED HORRIBLE, TRAGIC,

CATASTROPHIC EVENTS, THE MOST OBVIOUS OF WHICH IS THE TERROR

ATTACKS ON 9/11. THAT EVENT AGITATED A FRESH

UPWELLING OF PROPHETIC GLOOM. SURELY THESE ARE EVENTS THAT

WERE PREDICTED IN REVELATION. >> Narrator: BUT ARE DIVINE

FORCES ACTUALLY BEGINNING TO BREAK THE SEALS?

IS THERE ANY EVIDENCE THAT SUPPORTS THIS HYPOTHESIS?

CLUES MAY BE FOUND IN THE TEXT OF REVELATION, AUTHORED BY JOHN.

>> JOHN SEES THE CHRISTIAN MARTYRS IN HEAVEN, CRYING OUT,

"GOD, HOW LONG BEFORE WE'RE VINDICATED FOR THE BLOOD THAT

WAS SHED ON OUR PART?" >> Narrator: THIS SPEAKS TO A

FUNDAMENTAL BELIEF UNDERLYING NOT ONLY THE TIMELINE IN

REVELATION BUT ALSO CHRISTIAN FAITH, WHICH STATES BELIEVERS

WILL BE SAVED BY THE GRACE OF GOD.

THE REST WILL SUFFER GOD'S WRATH, AS UNFATHOMABLE MAYHEM

COMES TO DESTROY EVERYTHING WE KNOW.

ACCORDING TO REVELATION, THAT MAYHEM INTENSIFIES AS THE SIXTH

SEAL IS BROKEN. MANY LINK IT TO THE ONSET OF

UNPRECEDENTED NATURAL DISASTERS.

JOHN WRITES... ON JULY 15, 2009, A

MAGNITUDE-7.8 EARTHQUAKE STRUCK OFF NEW ZEALAND'S WESTERN COAST,

TWISTING THE SOUTH ISLAND'S TIP 12 INCHES CLOSER TO AUSTRALIA.

IT WAS ONE IN A SERIES OF RECENT, POWERFUL, AND SEEMINGLY

MORE FREQUENT TEMBLORS. NEW ZEALAND, INDONESIA, JAPAN,

AND THE WESTERN EDGE OF NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA ALL

PRECARIOUSLY SURROUND THE PACIFIC TECTONIC PLATE.

THIS CIRCLE MAKES WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE RING OF FIRE.

THIS VAST RIM IS A SEISMIC DANGER ZONE THAT MAY BE POISED

FOR A CATASTROPHIC EARTHQUAKE OF UNPARALLELED MAGNITUDE.

>> THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKE THAT WE'RE AWARE OF HAPPENED IN CHILE

IN 1960. IN MAY OF THAT YEAR, THEY HAD A

MAGNITUDE-9.5 EARTHQUAKE. AND THAT MAGNITUDE-9.5

EARTHQUAKE SHOOK A 600-MILE-LONG STRETCH OF CHILE FOR FIVE

MINUTES. IN THE DAYS FOLLOWING THE

EARTHQUAKE, SEVERAL OF THE LOCAL VOLCANOES BEGAN ERUPTING, AND

THEY WERE UNDOUBTEDLY TRIGGERED BY THE EARTHQUAKE.

>> Narrator: VOLCANOES MAY ALSO PLACE THE PACIFIC RIM AND

WESTERN UNITED STATES IN GRAVE DANGER.

THE RING OF FIRE HAS 452 VOLCANOES.

ONE OF THEM, MOUNT ST. HELENS IN WASHINGTON STATE, ERUPTED IN

1980. >> THE MOUNT ST. HELENS ERUPTION

IN 1980 WAS THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE VOLCANO IN THE HISTORY OF THE

UNITED STATES. ONE REASON WHY IT CAUSED SO MUCH

DAMAGE IS STUFF BUILT UP UNDERNEATH IT, AND YOU HAD A

CATACLYSMIC ERUPTION. IT WAS AN EXPLOSION.

>> Narrator: THE POWERFUL ERUPTION KILLED 57 PEOPLE.

IT ALSO DESTROYED 200 HOMES, 27 BRIDGES, 15 MILES OF RAILWAYS,

AND 185 MILES OF HIGHWAY. DOES REVELATION DESCRIBE A

MASSIVE ERUPTION AS THE CONSEQUENCE OF BREAKING THE

SIXTH SEAL? BELIEVERS SAY YES.

BUT WHICH ARE THE MOST POWERFUL VOLCANOES ON EARTH?

A SO-CALLED SUPERVOLCANO UNDER YELLOWSTONE PARK LAST ERUPTED

640,000 YEARS AGO. SCIENTISTS HAVE DEDUCED THAT A

NEW ERUPTION IS LONG OVERDUE. >> SUPERVOLCANOES.

THESE ARE ERUPTION EVENTS THAT ARE THOUSANDS OF TIMES GREATER

THAN WHAT HAPPENED AT MOUNT ST. HELENS.

THAT LAST EVENT 640,000 YEARS AGO DEPOSITED THICK ASH OVER

ABOUT HALF THE AREA OF THE 48 UNITED STATES, WOUND UP CREATING

A DUST CLOUD THAT ENVELOPED THE WHOLE EARTH AND CHANGED THE

CLIMATE OF THE EARTH. >> Narrator: IF THE YELLOWSTONE

SUPERVOLCANO ERUPTS, THE RESULTING ASH COULD BLOCK OUT

THE SUN FOR 40 YEARS. >> A VOLCANO THE SIZE OF

YELLOWSTONE WOULD PUT A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF DUST IN THE

ATMOSPHERE, AEROSOLS IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

HYDROGEN SULFIDE WOULD GO INTO THE AIR, CHANGE THE REFLECTIVITY

OF THE SUNLIGHT ON THE EARTH'S SURFACE.

WE'D EXPECT DECADES OF MAJOR GLOBAL COOLING IN THAT CASE

BECAUSE OF THOSE AEROSOLS. IN ADDITION, TREMENDOUS AMOUNTS

OF ASH WOULD BE SPEWED OUT ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.

>> Narrator: OTHER CULTURES HAVE ALSO PROPHESIED ALARMING

GEOLOGIC CATASTROPHES. >> THE INDIANS -- CHEROKEE AND

HOPI AND OTHERS -- SAW THE WORLD EVENTUALLY COMING TO THE POINT

WHERE IT WOULD BREAK APART WITH A MIGHTY EARTHQUAKE.

[ BIRD CRIES ] >> Narrator: IF THE SIXTH SEAL

ACTUALLY DOES CORRESPOND TO TODAY'S NATURAL DISASTERS,

REVELATION EMPHASIZES THAT THE CALAMITIES WILL BECOME SO

POWERFUL AND WIDESPREAD THAT NO PLACE ON EARTH WILL BE SAFE.

>> WILL IT MATTER IF WE LIVE IN EUROPE OR ASIA OR AUSTRALIA OR

NORTH IDAHO? THE BIBLE'S VERY CLEAR THAT IT'S

GOING TO HAPPEN ALL OVER THE WORLD, THAT HUMANITY JUST CAN'T

HIDE FROM THE FINAL EVENTS. I BELIEVE THAT THOSE THAT LIVE

IN THE COUNTRY WILL HAVE IT A LITTLE BIT EASIER THAN THOSE

THAT LIVE IN THE CITY. BUT ULTIMATELY, IT'S COMING,

WHEREVER WE ARE. >> Narrator: BELIEVERS IN

REVELATION ACCEPT THAT NO HORRORS IN HISTORY WILL COMPARE

TO THOSE COINCIDING WITH THE FIRST SIX SEALS.

BUT THEY ALSO BELIEVE THAT THESE HORRORS WILL BE DWARFED BY THOSE

CORRESPONDING TO THE SEVENTH AND FINAL SEAL.

JOHN WRITES THAT WHEN THE SEVENTH SEAL CRACKS, IT IS

FOLLOWED BY AN OMINOUS SILENCE. >> THE SILENCE IN HEAVEN IS DUE

TO EVERYBODY BEING IN AWE OF WHAT'S ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE.

>> Narrator: ACCORDING TO REVELATION, GOD WILL OFFER

HUMANITY A MERCIFUL RESPITE. BUT IT WILL NOT LAST.

SOME BELIEVE THE TEXT WARNS THAT AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL BODY IS ON A

COLLISION COURSE WITH EARTH AND THAT IT WILL CAUSE A CATACLYSM

THE MAGNITUDE OF WHICH MANKIND HAS NEVER EXPERIENCED.

>> Narrator: REVELATION -- LONG CONSIDERED THE MOST

CONTROVERSIAL BOOK IN THE BIBLE. IN ITS CRYPTIC LANGUAGE, MANY

SEE A TIMELINE FOR DESTRUCTION ON AN UNPRECEDENTED LEVEL.

SOME ARGUE THE TIMELINE WILL END SUDDENLY, VIOLENTLY, IN THIS

CENTURY. >> WE LIVE IN A WORLD THAT IS

CHANGING PROFOUNDLY AND FAST AND THAT IS FACING THREATS THAT SEEM

APOCALYPTIC TO US. WE WORRY ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING,

OVERPOPULATION. IT'S NECESSARY ONLY TO OPEN THE

NEWSPAPER OR TURN ON CNN TO SEE HEADLINES, WHICH, IN THE EYES OF

SOME READERS OF REVELATION, WILL BE SURE PROOF THAT THE BIBLICAL

PROPHECIES ARE COMING TRUE AT LAST.

>> JUST THINK ABOUT IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS -- WE HAVE SEEN

DEVASTATING HURRICANES. WE HAVE SEEN DEVASTATING

TORNADOES. WE'VE ENCOUNTERED EARTHQUAKES

VERY HIGH ON THE RICHTER SCALE. IF YOU LOOK AT HOW FAST THEY ARE

HAPPENING AND HOW MUCH CLOSER TOGETHER THEY ARE COMING, AS WE

GET CLOSER TO THE END OF DAYS, THEY ALMOST WILL COME RIGHT ON

TOP OF EACH OTHER. >> Narrator: THE PROPHECY WITHIN

REVELATION SUGGESTS THAT AS THE SEVEN SEALS OF THE APOCALYPSE

ARE BROKEN ONE BY ONE, WE MOVE CLOSER TO THE END OF THE

TIMELINE. SOME BIBLICAL EXPERTS CONTEND

THAT THE SEALS HAVE ALREADY BEGUN TO BREAK, SETTING THE

STAGE FOR A FINAL CATACLYSM. IF THIS IS TRUE, WHAT COULD

HAPPEN AND WHEN? EXACTLY WHERE ARE WE ON THE

TIMELINE? >> THERE WILL BE TERRIBLE

SUFFERING -- WARS, ILLNESS, A SERIES OF DISASTERS,

CATASTROPHES, THAT WILL BE VISITED ON EARTH, ON HUMAN

BEINGS LIVING ON EARTH, AS THE END OF THE WORLD APPROACHES.

AND IN THE END, WE WILL WITNESS THE FINAL DESTRUCTION OF THE

EARTH ON WHICH MORTAL HUMAN BEINGS LIVE.

>> Narrator: BUT WHAT FORCES WILL BRING ABOUT THIS FINAL

DESTRUCTION? HOW WOULD WE KNOW THAT THE MOST

IMPORTANT SEAL OF ALL, THE SEVENTH, HAS BEEN BROKEN?

REVELATION SAYS THE FINAL PUNISHMENT FOR MANKIND'S EVIL

WILL BE HERALDED BY THE PEALS OF CELESTIAL TRUMPETS.

>> YOU SEE SEVEN ANGELS, EACH HAVING A TRUMPET.

AND THEY COME FORTH, AND THEN BEGINS THE SERIES OF THE TRUMPET

JUDGMENTS. >> Narrator: SOME BELIEVE THAT

THESE JUDGMENTS WILL BE NATURAL DISASTERS OF UNPRECEDENTED

MAGNITUDE. THEY LOOK TO SCIENCE FOR

ANSWERS, AS THEY THEORIZE THAT THE CRYPTIC TEXT IN REVELATION

MAY ALLUDE TO PHYSICAL FORCES ON OR BEYOND EARTH.

SOME NEW TESTAMENT SCHOLARS SAY THAT THIS AND BIBLICAL

REFERENCES TO FIRE FALLING FROM THE SKY COULD BE INTERPRETED AS

ASTEROIDS. A COLLISION BETWEEN AN ASTEROID

AND THE EARTH MAY BE THE CATASTROPHIC EVENT PREDICTED IN

ANOTHER VERSE FROM REVELATION. SOME BELIEVE THAT REVELATION'S

AUTHOR, JOHN, IS NOT SPECIFYING A STAR IN THIS PASSAGE, BUT A

COMET OR ASTEROID. IT IS WIDELY ACCEPTED THAT

ANCIENT OBSERVERS COULD NOT HAVE UNDERSTOOD THE DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN VARIOUS TYPES OF CELESTIAL BODIES.

AND WHILE NO STARS ARE NAMED WORMWOOD, THERE IS STRONG

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE THAT AN ASTEROID STRIKE COULD PLAY A

MAJOR ROLE IN THE MASS EXTINCTION OF LIFE ON EARTH.

>> ASTRONOMERS NOW BELIEVE THAT ALL THREE GENERATIONS OF

DINOSAURS -- TRIASSIC, JURASSIC, AND CRETACEOUS -- WERE BROUGHT

TO EXTINCTION AT LEAST IN PART BY EXTRATERRESTRIAL COLLISION

EVENTS -- GIANT COMETS AND ASTEROID STRIKING THE EARTH.

IF SOMETHING THAT BIG WERE TO HAPPEN, HUMANITY WOULDN'T

SURVIVE. >> Narrator: TODAY, A COLLISION

BETWEEN EARTH AND AN ASTEROID JUST A FEW MILES IN DIAMETER MAY

RELEASE AS MUCH ENERGY AS 1,000 NUCLEAR WEAPONS DETONATED

SIMULTANEOUSLY. >> IN WINSLOW, ARIZONA, A CRATER

THAT'S ALMOST A MILE IN DIAMETER, THAT WAS CAUSED BY A

ROCK THAT WAS ONLY 100 FEET ACROSS.

IF ONE OF THE LARGER ONES, LIKE, SAY, SOMETHING 1,000 FEET

ACROSS, WERE TO HIT A POPULATED AREA, LIKE NEW YORK CITY OR

LOS ANGELES, THE ENERGY RELEASE WOULD BE SUCH THAT IT WOULD WIPE

OUT THE ENTIRE METROPOLITAN AREA OF ANY ONE OF THOSE CITIES.

>> Narrator: DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF THIS MAGNITUDE WAS EVIDENT IN

AN HISTORIC IMPACT EVENT IN 1908.

AN EXTRATERRESTRIAL BODY, LIKELY A COMET OR ASTEROID, ENTERED

EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE AND EXPLODED OVER CENTRAL SIBERIA, FLATTENING

OVER 700 SQUARE MILES OF THE TUNGUSKA FOREST.

THE REGION WAS SO REMOTE THAT ONLY ONE DEATH WAS REPORTED.

AS RECENTLY AS 2006, A HALF-MILE-WIDE ASTEROID, LARGE

ENOUGH TO CAUSE CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE CHANGE AND DISRUPT THE

WORLD'S AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, CAME WITHIN JUST 24 HOURS OF

SMASHING INTO EARTH -- IN SPACE TERMS, A NEAR MISS.

>> ASTRONOMERS TODAY ARE TRACKING HUNDREDS IF NOT

THOUSANDS OF ASTEROIDS AND COMETS OUT THERE THAT COULD MAKE

A CLOSE PASS OF THE EARTH. ABOUT AS LARGE AS THEY GET IS

ABOUT A KILOMETER ACROSS. AND SO YES, THERE IS A SERIOUS

EFFORT TO TRACK THOSE, BECAUSE IF THEY WERE TO STRIKE THE

EARTH, IT COULD CAUSE A LOT OF DAMAGE.

>> Narrator: BUT EVEN ASTRONOMERS USING ADVANCED

TRACKING INSTRUMENTS SAY IT WOULD BE ALL BUT IMPOSSIBLE TO

PREVENT A COLLISION, EVEN IF THEY COULD CALCULATE YEARS IN

ADVANCE THAT A LARGE OBJECT WAS DESTINED TO STRIKE THE EARTH.

NO TECHNOLOGY CURRENTLY EXISTS TO DEFLECT IT OR PROTECT US FROM

ITS IMPACT. SOME BELIEVE THAT THE HORRIFIC

AFTERMATH OF SUCH AN IMPACT IS DESCRIBED IN THIS PASSAGE FROM

REVELATION. IF A LARGE ASTEROID OR COMET

WERE TO STRIKE EARTH IN OUR LIFETIME, IT WOULD SEND MILLIONS

OF TONS OF DEBRIS INTO OUR ATMOSPHERE FOR YEARS.

THIS WOULD VIRTUALLY IMPRISON US IN A CLOUD OF DUST, CUT OFF FROM

THE LIFE-GIVING SUN. IS THIS THE SCENARIO DESCRIBED

IN REVELATION? IN ANY CASE, ITS AUTHOR WRITES

THAT MORE TRUMPETS WILL BLAST AND EVEN GREATER ANARCHY WILL

UNFOLD. >> AND SO THIS STARTS TREMENDOUS

CALAMITY. SAYS, "NOW CAME OUT OF THE SMOKE

LOCUSTS UPON THE EARTH." >> Narrator: ACCORDING TO

REVELATION, WHEN YET ANOTHER TRUMPET SOUNDS, A GIANT ARMY

WILL PILLAGE THE EARTH. ITS MISSION...

MANY EXPERTS INTERPRET THIS TO MEAN THAT AN ARMY 200 MILLION

STRONG WILL WAGE WAR AGAINST ITS ENEMIES, SLAUGHTERING

POPULATIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE. BUT WHO COULD SUMMON SUCH A

MASSIVE FORCE? [ CROWD CHEERING ]

>> MAO TSE-TUNG HAD GONE ON RECORD SAYING THAT CHINA COULD

FIELD AN ARMY OF 200 MILLION MEN, WHICH HAPPENED TO BE AN

INTERESTING CORRELATION TO THE NUMBER IN THE BOOK OF

REVELATION. >> Narrator: EVEN FRINGE

BELIEVERS DO NOT SUGGEST THAT THE CHINESE MILITIA IS AN ARMY

OF SATAN, ONLY THAT AN ARMY OF 200 MILLION IS ACTUALLY

POSSIBLE. WHATEVER THE ALLEGIANCE OF THIS

FORMIDABLE FORCE, REVELATION STATES IT WILL DESTROY ONE-THIRD

OF THE EARTH'S POPULATION. BUT ACCORDING TO THE TEXT, EVEN

GREATER TRIBULATIONS WILL FOLLOW.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN THE ANTICHRIST FINALLY REVEALS

HIMSELF TO THE WORLD? >> Narrator: MANY BIBLICAL

EXPERTS BELIEVE OUR CURRENT AGE COINCIDES WITH A DOOMSDAY

TIMELINE. SOME FEAR WE MAY BE SWIFTLY

APPROACHING ITS END AND ARE TRYING TO DECIPHER EXACTLY WHERE

IN THIS COUNTDOWN WE SUPPOSEDLY FIND OURSELVES TODAY.

FOR THEM, A CLUE THAT THE SEVENTH AND FINAL SEAL MAY BE

BROKEN PERHAPS LIES IN ANOTHER BOOK OF THE BIBLE.

>> DANIEL 12:4 TALKS ABOUT IN THE TIME OF THE END -- IT SAYS

KNOWLEDGE SHALL BE INCREASED. WE'VE SEEN AN ESCALATION OF

KNOWLEDGE THAT IS UNPRECEDENTED IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD.

WE HAVE SATELLITES, WE HAVE INTERNET, FIBER OPTICS -- ALL

THE TECHNOLOGY OF THESE DAYS, AND TO ME IT'S VERY CLEAR WHEN I

LOOK AT WORLD EVENTS THAT WE'RE DEFINITELY GETTING CLOSE TO THE

BIG DAY. >> Narrator: THE DARK PROPHECIES

IN THE BOOK OF DANIEL ARE ALSO REFLECTED IN REVELATION -- THAT

THE TRIBULATION WILL BUILD IN INTENSITY AS SEVEN ANGELS, ONE

AFTER ANOTHER, SOUND TRUMPETS THAT SIGNAL DISTINCT

CATASTROPHIC EVENTS. WHEN THE SEVENTH TRUMPET SOUNDS,

IT HERALDS THE MOST HORRIFIC EVENTS OF ALL, ORCHESTRATED BY

SATAN AND TWO EARTHLY ALLIES. >> ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING

FEATURES OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS THAT IT'S FILLED

WITH SATANIC VILLAINS. THE PRINCIPAL VILLAIN IS SATAN

HIMSELF, WHO'S DEPICTED IN REVELATION AS A DRAGON WITH MANY

HEADS AND MANY HORNS. BUT HE HAS TWO HELPERS ON EARTH

WHO ARE REFERRED TO AS THE BEAST FROM THE SEA AND THE BEAST FROM

THE LAND. ALL OF THEM ARE UNDERSTOOD TO BE

SYMBOLIC REFERENCES TO HUMAN BEINGS WHO WILL PUT THEMSELVES

IN SERVICE TO SATAN, WHO WILL HOLD POSITIONS OF EARTHLY POWER,

WHO WILL LEAD EARTHLY ARMIES INTO BATTLE.

>> Narrator: BIBLICAL EXPERTS BELIEVE THE BEAST FROM THE SEA

IS SATAN'S CHIEF EMISSARY, THE ANTICHRIST.

THE BEAST FROM THE LAND IS ANOTHER FIGURE, SATAN'S AIDE,

KNOWN AS THE FALSE PROPHET. >> YOU HAVE AN UNHOLY TRINITY --

THE DEVIL, THE ANTICHRIST, AND THE FALSE PROPHET.

AND THE DEVIL IS TRYING TO MAKE THE WORLD BELIEVE HE'S GOD.

AND THE ANTICHRIST IS TRYING TO MAKE THE WORLD BELIEVE HE'S

JESUS. AND THE FALSE PROPHET IS TRYING

TO MAKE THE WORLD BELIEVE HE'S THE HOLY SPIRIT.

SO YOU HAVE AN ANTITRINITY THAT OPERATES REALLY POWERFUL DURING

THOSE LAST 3 1/2 YEARS. >> Narrator: EXPERTS OF BIBLICAL

PROPHECY SUGGEST THAT THIS UNHOLY TRINITY BUILDS A WORLD OF

FOLLOWERS BY DECEPTION WHILE CONSPIRING TO SEIZE CONTROL OF

HEAVEN AND EARTH. BUT WHO ARE THESE TWO ALLIES OF

SATAN? THE IDENTITY OF THE ANTICHRIST

HAS BEEN DEBATED FOR NEARLY 2,000 YEARS.

>> MUHAMMAD WAS SEEN AS THE ANTICHRIST.

MARTIN LUTHER THOUGHT THAT THE POPE WAS THE ANTICHRIST.

THE POPE THOUGHT THAT MARTIN LUTHER WAS THE

ANTICHRIST. THE ENGLISH THOUGHT THAT

NAPOLEON WAS THE ANTICHRIST. IN THE 20th CENTURY, WE'VE HAD

MANY, MANY CANDIDATES -- HITLER AND MUSSOLINI, LENIN AND STALIN.

>> Narrator: THE FAMED 16th-CENTURY SEER NOSTRADAMUS

ALSO WROTE OF THE ANTICHRIST. BUT THERE IS NO CONSENSUS AMONG

HIS INTERPRETERS ABOUT WHOM HE MAY HAVE IDENTIFIED.

SOME BIBLICAL SCHOLARS SUGGEST THE ANTICHRIST, DESCRIBED IN THE

BIBLE AS A BEAST FROM THE SEA, MAY INDICATE THAT HE WILL RISE

FROM A COUNTRY BORDERING ANTIQUITY'S PRINCIPAL BODY OF

WATER, THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA. REVELATION STATES HE IS DESTINED

TO CONFRONT JESUS CHRIST, BUT NOT BEFORE A CRITICAL SERIES OF

EVENTS TAKES PLACE. >> CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALISTS SEE

THREE DEFINITE SIGNS BEFORE JESUS WILL RETURN.

THE FIRST WAS THE GATHERING OF ALL THE JEWS IN ISRAEL, AND

THAT, OF COURSE, HAS HAPPENED -- 1948, WHEN THE STATE WAS

DECLARED. THE SECOND WAS THE TAKING BY THE

JEWS OF JERUSALEM, AND THAT OF COURSE HAPPENED DURING THE WAR

OF 1967. THE THIRD IS THE REBUILDING OF

THE TEMPLE. >> Narrator: THE TEMPLE OF

JERUSALEM WAS DESTROYED BY THE ROMAN ARMY IN 70 A.D.

FOR NEARLY 2,000 YEARS, DEVOUT JEWS HAVE PRAYED FOR ITS

RECONSTRUCTION ON THE SACRED TEMPLE MOUNT.

BUT THIS LOCATION IS NOW HOME TO ONE OF ISLAM'S HOLIEST SHRINES,

THE DOME OF THE ROCK, COMPLETED IN 691 A.D.

>> THE DOME OF THE ROCK WAS A BARREN LOCATION, AND THE MUSLIMS

LOCATED WHAT THEY BELIEVED TO BE THE SPOT OF MUHAMMAD'S ASCENSION

TO HEAVEN. I FIND IT HIGHLY UNLIKELY THAT

ISRAEL WOULD DESTROY THE DOME OF THE ROCK AND BUILD THE TEMPLE IN

ITS PLACE. THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, I

DON'T THINK, WOULD PERMIT THAT. >> Narrator: DESPITE THE

FORMIDABLE REALITIES, MANY STILL BELIEVE THE TEMPLE WILL RISE

AGAIN AS PROPHESIED. >> ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, WHEN

THE ANTICHRIST GOES INTO THE TEMPLE REBUILT BY THE JEWS AND

PROCLAIMS HIMSELF GOD, THIS WILL BE THE LAST HUMAN EVENT ON THIS

PLANET. >> Narrator: REVELATION

DESCRIBES THAT AS THE ANTICHRIST AND THE REST OF THE UNHOLY

TRINITY SEDUCE MANKIND, A FINAL, HORRIFIC SERIES OF DISASTERS

STRIKES. THE BIBLICAL TEXT DESCRIBES THEM

AS SEVEN VIALS CONTAINING THE POISON OF GOD'S FURTHER WRATH.

>> AND THEY ARE SIMILAR TO THE TRUMPETS.

IN FACT, THEY FOLLOW PRETTY MUCH SEQUENTIALLY THE SAME PATTERN OF

HITTING LAND AND OCEAN AND RIVERS AND THE AIR.

BUT INSTEAD OF DOING ABOUT A THIRD PART DAMAGE, THEY DO TOTAL

DAMAGE. >> Narrator: REVELATION DEPICTS

THIS WAVE OF DISASTERS AS THE FINAL SWEEP TO EXTERMINATE ALL

THOSE WHO REFUSE TO FOLLOW GOD. THE SCENARIO DESCRIBED IS

GRUESOME. WHEN THE ANGELS RELEASE THE

CONTENTS OF THEIR VIALS, PESTILENCE AND DISEASE RUN WILD.

THE OUTBREAK REVELATION DESCRIBES IS ON SUCH A MAGNIFIED

SCALE THAT IT WOULD DWARF THE GREATEST PANDEMIC CRISES GLOBAL

HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS HAVE EVER FACED.

>> WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A PANDEMIC RIGHT NOW.

THE H1N1, OR THE SWINE FLU, VIRUS IS IN A PANDEMIC ALERT

STATE OF SIX BY THE W.H.O. THIS IS A FLU WHICH HAS CROSSED

SPECIES. WHEN A FLU IS ABLE TO CROSS

SPECIES, IT NOT ONLY CAN ACCESS FAR GREATER PEOPLE WHO HAVE

NEVER BEEN EXPOSED TO IT BEFORE AND SO DON'T HAVE ANY IMMUNITY,

WE'VE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE. SO FAR, IT STILL IS PRODUCING

MILD SYMPTOMS, BUT IF THIS PARTICULAR FLU VIRUS UNDERGOES

THE ANTIGENIC DRIFT, IT COULD INCREASE IN SEVERITY.

IT COULD ESTABLISH GREATER VIRULENCE.

AND THAT WOULD BE A MAJOR PUBLIC-HEALTH PROBLEM.

>> H1N1, SWINE FLU, MAY STRIKE UP TO 40% OF

AMERICANS BY 2012 AND KILL SEVERAL HUNDRED THOUSAND.

U.S. HEALTH OFFICIALS HOPE TO PROVIDE INOCULATIONS FOR

200 MILLION AMERICANS, BUT RESISTANT VIRUSES MUCH MORE

POTENT THAN SWINE FLU COULD PUSH MORTALITY RATES UP INTO THE 80th

AND 90th PERCENTILE, TAXING HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS BEYOND

THEIR ABILITY TO COPE. THIS MAY MEAN WE WOULD BE

VIRTUALLY DEFENSELESS AGAINST A PLAGUE OF SUCH EXTREME

PROPORTIONS. A GLOBAL MEDICAL CRISIS COULD BE

AMPLIFIED BY YET ANOTHER CATASTROPHE CHRONICLED IN

REVELATION, WHERE SEAS BECOME BLOOD AND THE BLOOD OF ANIMALS

AND HUMANS MINGLE. SOME INTERPRETERS SAY THIS PART

OF REVELATION'S PROPHECY SUGGESTS THE WORLD'S WATER

SUPPLY WILL BE RENDERED UNDRINKABLE, POSSIBLY BY THE

ROTTING, PLAGUE-RIDDEN BODIES OF MILLIONS OF VICTIMS.

THE BIBLICAL TEXT STATES THAT OTHER POISONS FOLLOW FROM EACH

VIAL UNTIL THE WORLD IS NEARLY DESOLATE.

SOME SUGGEST THIS MAY ALREADY HAVE BEGUN IN THE FORM OF A

NATURALLY OCCURRING PROCESS CALLED ALGAL BLOOM.

ALSO KNOW AS RED TIDE, IT IS A PHENOMENON THAT CAN TURN WATER

CRIMSON. A HIGH CONCENTRATION OF

MICROSCOPIC ALGAE PRODUCES HARMFUL NEUROTOXINS THAT CAN

KILL FISH, BIRDS, AND MARINE MAMMALS.

SPREAD GLOBALLY, MILLIONS WOULD DIE.

SOME SUGGEST THIS WILL BE THE PUNISHMENT FOR OUR FAILURES AS

ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDS OF THE PLANET.

>> WHEN JESUS COMES, HE WILL DESTROY THOSE WHO DESTROY THE

EARTH. AND I SEE THAT PHRASE, "DESTROY

THE EARTH," AS PREDICTIVE OF A GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CRISIS,

WHERE HUMANITY, THROUGH ITS POLLUTION AND DEFORESTATION,

CONTRIBUTING TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RESOURCES OF THE PLANET.

>> Narrator: IF REVELATION IS A BLUEPRINT OF MANKIND'S END, AS

MANY BELIEVE, BILLIONS WILL LIE DEAD AT THE CLIMAX OF THE

TRIBULATION. >> THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS

LIKE A LENS OR A MAGNIFYING GLASS OR A TELESCOPE THROUGH

WHICH WE CAN PEER AND PONDER THIS GREAT MYSTERY OF ENDINGS.

REVELATION IS FULL OF MONSTERS. IT'S FULL OF CATASTROPHE.

IT'S FULL OF VILLAINS AND EVIL FIGURES.

AND SURELY THE AUTHOR OF REVELATION WAS A GREAT CREATIVE

GENIUS WHO UNDERSTOOD HOW TO STAND IN A ROOM AND ADDRESS AN

AUDIENCE AND PROVOKE THAT KIND OF ANXIETY AND FASCINATION THAT

WE ALSO FEEL WHEN WE SIT IN A MOVIE THEATER.

>> BUT THE APOCALYPTIC SCENARIO IN REVELATION DOES NOT

END WITH THE CLIMAX OF THE TRIBULATION.

THE DEVASTATED EARTH WILL BE THE STAGE FOR ONE FINAL BATTLE.

THE FORCES OF THE ANTICHRIST WILL FACE OFF WITH THE ARMY OF

JESUS. BUT THIS SON OF GOD IS NOT THE

PRINCE OF PEACE MILLIONS OF US THINK WE KNOW.

>>  HAVE ALL SEVEN SEALS OF THE APOCALYPSE FORECAST

IN REVELATION BEEN BROKEN? IS IT POSSIBLE WE HAVE COUNTED

DOWN TO A SUPPOSED ARMAGEDDON? SOME SAY TODAY'S WORLD EVENTS

PROVE THIS BIBLICAL TIMELINE MAY BE DEADLY ACCURATE, AS IS THE

PROPHESIED LOCATION FOR THE EPIC BATTLE.

THE WORLD'S THREE MAJOR RELIGIONS -- JUDAISM,

CHRISTIANITY, AND ISLAM -- CONVERGE IN THE NATION OF

ISRAEL. GIVEN THE REGION'S LONG, VIOLENT

PAST AND PRESENT, SOME INTERPRETERS BELIEVE IT IS A

LIKELY FLASH POINT FOR A PIVOTAL CONFLICT, THE BATTLE OF

ARMAGEDDON. >> SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT THE

PLAIN CALLED THE PLAIN OF ESDRAELON, A BIG AGRICULTURAL

AREA BETWEEN SAMARIA AND GALILEE AND ISRAEL -- SOME PEOPLE

BELIEVE THAT'S THE VALLEY OF MEGIDDO, THE VALLEY OF

ARMAGEDDON. >> Narrator: MEGIDDO'S LOCATION

AT THE CROSSROADS OF A VITAL ANCIENT TRADE ROUTE MADE IT A

COVETED PRIZE AMONG WARRING FACTIONS IN ANTIQUITY.

BIBLICAL SCHOLARS BELIEVE THAT ITS LONG HISTORY AS A KEY

BATTLEGROUND INSPIRED REVELATION'S AUTHOR, JOHN, TO

DESIGNATE IT AS THE SITE OF THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN BETWEEN GOD

AND SATAN. ACCORDING TO REVELATION, JESUS

WILL EMERGE FROM THE HEAVENS ON A WHITE HORSE TO LEAD GOD'S

ASSEMBLED FORCES. BUT THE TEXT PORTRAYS HIM AS

ANYTHING BUT THE BENEVOLENT SAVIOR KNOWN TO HIS FOLLOWERS.

>> NOW, IT'S UTTERLY IMPOSSIBLE TO RECONCILE THE JESUS OF THE

BOOK OF REVELATION, WHO HAS BLOODSTAINED ROBES AND IS

LEAVING BLOOD FOR HUNDREDS OF MILES AROUND THE BATTLE SITE,

WITH THE GENTLE JESUS, THE LOVING JESUS OF THE SERMON ON

THE MOUNT. THE TWO ARE NOT THE SAME FIGURE.

>> Narrator: REVELATION DESCRIBES HOW THE WARRIOR JESUS

ADVANCES WITH HIS ARMY AGAINST THE ANTICHRIST AND HIS FORCES

CULLED FROM THE NATIONS HE HAS DECEIVED INTO WORSHIPPING HIM.

THE FORCES OF GOOD ULTIMATELY PREVAIL OVER THE UNHOLY TRINITY

AFTER THEIR YEARS OF DECEPTION. >> THEY'LL BE CAST IN THE LAKE

OF FIRE. THE DEVIL WILL BE CAST IN THAT,

THE FALSE PROPHET, THE ANTICHRIST, AND ALL THOSE WHO

TOOK THE MARK OF THE BEAST. >> Narrator: SO ENDS

REVELATION'S DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON.

DRAWING ANY CORRELATION BETWEEN THIS BIBLICAL PROPHECY AND

CURRENT EVENTS IS PROBLEMATIC, AS IT SPEAKS OF SUPERNATURAL

FIGURES CLASHING IN A SUPERNATURAL CONTEXT.

BUT IN ONE PROFOUND SENSE, THE PROPHECY AND THE PRESENT MAY BE

CONVERGING. >> SOMETHING LIKE 60% OF

AMERICANS BELIEVE THE EVENTS IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION WILL COME

TO PASS. NOW, THIS IS EXTREMELY

DANGEROUS. BECAUSE HOW CAN WE NOT SAY THAT

IF WE BELIEVE SOMETHING THAT WE DON'T ACT IN SUCH A WAY AS TO

MAKE IT HAPPEN? IF WE BELIEVE THAT THERE'S GOING

TO BE A BIG WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND JESUS IS GOING

TO COME BACK AND SAVE THE WORLD, THEN WE MIGHT JUST LET OUR

BEHAVIOR BE AFFECTED BY THAT BELIEF...

AND ALLOW IT TO OCCUR. >> Narrator: IT IS AN INTRIGUING

POSSIBILITY. AT ITS HEART IS WHAT CAN BE

CONSIDERED A CURIOUS FATAL ATTRACTION TO REVELATION'S

PROPHECY. >> THE GREAT TRADITION OF

REVELATION OVER 20 CENTURIES IS THAT EVERY NEW GENERATION COMES

TO THE TEXT, READS IT, AND IS CONVINCED THAT IT DESCRIBES

EVENTS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE IN THEIR OWN LIFETIME.

IT IS A HABIT OF OUR MIND IN WESTERN TRADITION TO LOOK FOR

SIGNS OF THE END. AND I BELIEVE IT'S A HABIT THAT

WAS FORMED LITERALLY BY WHAT WE READ IN REVELATION.

>> Narrator: BUT SURPRISINGLY, THIS INCLINATION AMONG MILLIONS

MAY NOT STEM FROM A MORBID FASCINATION WITH MAYHEM.

INSTEAD, IT MIGHT BE ROOTED IN THE PERCEPTION THAT REVELATION

ULTIMATELY IS A STORY OF HOPE. >> INEVITABLY, THERE WILL BE A

GENERAL JUDGMENT OF THE WORLD AND ALL THAT, BUT AT LEAST IF IT

HAPPENS IN OUR DAY, THE END OF ALL EVIL WILL BE SEEN IN OUR

LIFETIME. >> THIS LEADING PERIOD IS ONE OF

GREAT PESTILENCE, PLAGUE, WARS, ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, DESTRUCTION.

IT'S A PERIOD OF GREAT SUFFERING TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO

LIVE THROUGH IT. BUT AT THE END, JESUS COMES, THE

FINAL BATTLE IS FOUGHT, SATAN IS DEFEATED.

IT ALL BECOMES WORTHWHILE. THE FACT REMAINS THAT WE HAVE

THIS IDEA OF THE FINAL DESTRUCTION OF EVIL.

>> Narrator: BUT IF THE HORRORS OF REVELATION TRULY COME TO

PASS, WILL EVIL'S DEMISE BE OF ANY SATISFACTION TO THE FEW WHO

SURVIVE? ACCORDING TO THE BIBLICAL TEXT,

THEY WILL FIND COMFORT IN A REMADE WORLD.

>> ALL THOSE THINGS SEEM TO BE POINTING AT THAT THERE IS A TIME

THAT IS GOING TO COME THAT SOMETHING VERY BAD, VERY

CATASTROPHIC IS GOING TO HAPPEN. AND I DON'T THINK THAT THERE'S A

WAY FOR US TO ESCAPE THAT. I REALLY THINK THAT THIS IS

GOING TO HAPPEN, JUST AS IT'S BEEN PROPHESIED TO HAPPEN.

>>  ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

BASED ON HUMAN BEHAVIOR OVER THE PAST 100 YEARS, IT SEEMS LIKELY

THAT MILLIONS IN THIS GENERATION WILL LOOK TO REVELATION FOR

CLUES ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE, WONDERING WHEN AND HOW THE END

WILL BEGIN.