Revelation

The last Bible book to have been written identifies itself as “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.”

The last two chapters, as do the first two chapters of the Bible, stand as book ends holding all the others together as a single unit – the Bible story. The Bible begins with “In the beginning God creating the heavens and the earth” and ends with “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” The connecting story is about Jesus Christ, the necessity, the reality and the result.

Three times in the final chapter of the Bible Jesus says, “I come quickly.” Jesus took the revelation given Him by God and signified it by His angel to the apostle John to show us things we need to know in preparation for His coming, following which He will dwell eternally with us, His redeemed people.

A CHRONOLOGY OF ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENTS FROM THE

RAPTURE OFTHE CHURCH TO THE ETERNAL STATE.

By

Rev. William E. Inman

A CHRONOLOGY OF ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENTS FROM THE

RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH TO THE ETERNAL STATE.

This chronology is an attempt at the impossible, the scheduling of events, many of which are happening simul­taneously, which are rarely scheduled clearly in Scripture. Events enter the schedule at as near to their point of beginning as can be determined by this less than authoritative author.  Because there is not a direct  correlation between events associated with the church during the trib­ulation period and those happening on earth, the two have been scheduled separately.

I. EVENTS PERTAINING TO THE CHURCH FROM THE RAPTURE TO THE SECOND ADVENT.

A. The Rapture of the Church (1 Cor. 15:51-54; 1 Thes. 4:14-17)

     The Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God. The dead in Christ shall rise first with their incorruptible bodies.

          We who are alive and remain shall then be changed by putting on our incorruptible bodies and shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air and shall be with Him forever.

B. The Judgment Seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10; Ro. 14:10,12; 1 Cor. 3:11-15)

          Some time after the rapture of the church and before the second coming of Christ all believers must stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give account of their works. They shall receive reward for those works that withstand the judgment and prove to be of      gold, silver, and precious stones.        

II. EVENTS TAKING PLACE ON EARTH FROM THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH TO THE END

    OF THE TRIBULATION.

A. The Removal of the Restrainer (2 Thes 2:6-8; Mt 5:13-16)

     According to the second chapter of Thessalonians the second coming of Christ to the earth must be preceeded by two things. The apostasy of the church and the revelation of the anti-christ will take place first. The sin associated with these two events is already at work in the world but is being limited by the restraining one. The identity of the restraining one is not revealed here but is probably the Holy Spirit (Gen. 6:3) whose restraining effect is removed when the temple of the Holy Spirit, the church, is caught up from the earth.

B. The Rise of the Roman Prince (Dan. 7:24-26; 9:26-27)

     As the apostate church has its beginning before the rapture so the federation of ten nations from which the prince shall come has it’s beginning before the rapture of the church. This prince of the revived Roman Empire shall confirm a peace treaty with Israel for a period of seven years.

This beginning of activity by the prince is the first seal judgment. The opening of subsequent seals will happen in succession but one may not come to completion before another is opened.

C. Beginning of the Restoration of Israel to the Land

By the end of the first half of the seven year period the temple will have been rebuilt in Jerusalem and worship restored in the temple. This is made possible because of the treaty with the prince. The treaty will also be instrumental in bringing Jews back to their land.

D. The Sealing of the 144,000 Witnesses (Rev. 7:4-8)

     The seal judgments are not allowed to proceed until after the 144,000 witnesses are sealed.  Nature may not be harmed until these Jewish witnesses, representing the twelve tribes of Israel, are sealed for their witness which will be effective in evangelizing a great mass of Gentiles during the first 3 1/2 years (Rev. 7:9-17).

E. The Opening of the Seventh Seal and the Beginning of the Seven Trumpet Judgments (Rev. 8:1-2)

     The three sets of judgments in Revelation all seem to have an interrelationship with each other. The most clear connecting links seem to be the seventh seal and the seventh trumpet. As the first six seal judgments are reaching their zenith the seventh is opened which is the seven trumpet judgments.

F. Satan and the Wicked Angels are Cast down to Earth (Rev. 12:7-12).

     At the middle of the tribulation there is a war in heaven which results in satan and his evil angels being denied access to heaven and being restricted to an earthly realm. Satan will incarnate himself in the beast out of the sea, the Roman prince (Rev. 13:1).

G. The Revelation of the Man of Sin and the Establishment of a False Religious System centered in Jerusalem (Dan. 7:25; 9:27; Rev. 13:1-18; 2 Thes. 2:3-4)

     A beast shall rise up out of the sea and be empowered, enthroned, and authorized by satan for 3 1/2 years. This is the Roman prince being revealed for what he really is, the Man of Sin.

     A second beast shall rise up out of the earth who causes all who do not have their names written in the Lamb’s book of life to worship the first beast.  He will place an image of the first beast in the Holy of Holies and will promote an entire religious system around the worship of him.

     Both these beasts are empowered by the dragon, Satan.

H. The Empowering of the two Witnesses (Rev. 11:3)

     At this point two witnesses will be empowered by God to witness during the second half of the tribulation. Since this is the time of particularly hard trouble for Israel, their witness will probably be to Jews as God makes His final move to get, them to repent.

I. The Sounding of the Seventh Trumpet and the Seven Bowl Judgments (Rev. 11:15-19; 15:1-16:21)

     As the end of the seven years approaches the pressure on Israel to repent and turn to God will be at its worst then “the seventh trumpet sounds and the combined pressure of seventh trumpet and the seven bowl judgments is brought to bear upon them.

J. The Death of the Two Witnesses (Rev. 11:7-14)

     As the pressure builds up events start happening more and more quickly so that from here to the binding of Satan at Christ’s second coming there will be a rapid succession of events. 

     The two witnesses, having finished their testimony, will be slain by the beast and after

     3 1/2 days will be resurrected and caught up to heaven by God. This will cause great catastrophe and terror on earth.

K. The Fall of the Apostate Church (Rev. 17:1-18:24)

     By the end of the tribulation the apostate church will have established a strong relationship with the kings and merchants of the world. This relationship is an unholy one and is in some way fueled by the blood of the martyred saints. This is not the false religious system of the beast but is carried along by the beast. Since all who are not true believers are forced to worship the beast it would seem that the apostate church has been incorporated into the beast’s religious system while still maintaining its own identity.

L. The Gathering of the Armies of the Earth to Armageddon (Rev. 16:13-16)

     With the destruction of the apostate church the kings of the earth will feel great loss. Satan will take advantage of this situation to unite the armies of the world behind his cause by releasing three unclean spirits from his false religious system. These unclean spirits will go out to the kings of the whole world to gather their armies at the valley of Megiddo to do battle with God and presumably establish his superiority forever.

III. EVENTS RELATIVE TO THE SECOND ADVENT OF CHRIST

     The activities of this brief period of time are perhaps the most difficult of all to schedule because the numerous references to this period do not relate the events in a consistent order.   Because the Old Testament saints and the saints who have died during the tribulation seem to be included in the bride of Christ in Revelation 21:9, and because the marriage supper is held in view of the bride’s having made herself ready, it seems best to place the Marriage Supper after the second resurrection, but if the bride of Christ is seen as the church, then the marriage would be held in heaven prior to the second coming with only the church saints are included.  I tend to hold to the later date.

A. The Second Coming of Christ to the Earth (Dan. 7:26­-27; Joel 3:9-15; Zech.14:4;

     Mt. 24:29-31; Acts 1:11; 1 Thes. 3:13; Jude 14; Rev. 1:7; 14:14-20; 19:11-20:6)

     The second white horse of Revelation will carry Him who is faithful and true to judge in righteousness and to make war. He comes with His saints to the battle of Armageddon for which Satan and the armies of the world are gathered.

B. The Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 19:11-19)

     The battle of Armageddon is the first of several steps of preparation undertaken by Christ before the estab­lishment of His kingdom on earth.

C. The Judgment of the Beast, the False Prophet, and all Their Armies (Rev. 19:11-21;

     2 Thes. 1:7-10; 2:8)

     All the living enemies of God, except Satan, are judged at the battle of Armageddon.

               1. The judgment of the Beast and False prophet  (Rev. 19:20; 2 Thes. 2:8)

                  The beast out of the sea and the beast out of the land are judged and cast alive

                        into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.

              2. The Judgment of the Kings and Armies of the World Rev. 19:21;      2 Thes. 1:7-10).

                        The armies are slain, their flesh is consumed and their souls      await the final                                          judgment of Rev. 20:11-15.

D. The-Binding of Satan (Rev. 20:1-3)

     Satan is bound and cast into the bottomless pit and sealed there to deceive the nations no more until the thousand years are fulfilled.

E. The Completion of the First Resurrection (Rev. 20:4-6)

     It is now time for Christ to complete the resurrection of the saints. The church age saints and the saints of the tribulation period who are still living are with Him but at this time the Old Testament saints and the saints who have been martyred during the tribulation will be resurrected.

F. The Judgment of the Nations (Joel 3:11-17; Mt. 25:31-46)

    The judgment of the sheep and goat nations takes, place here as those nations who have been friends of Israel will carry their identity into the millennial kingdom and those who have been enemies will no longer be seen as nations.  This is not to imply that nations of unsaved people will survive this period but rather that the saved will maintain their national identity.

G. The Final Restoration of Israel to the Land (Is. 11:11-16; Jer. 16:14-15; 29:11; 30:7;

     Hos. 1:11; 3:4-5; Zech. 2:12)

     Since the last king of Judah was taken captive into Babylon, Israel has been looking for the day when she shall be reunited in the land. She will once again say, “the Lord is my God” (Zech. 13:9) when His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives (Zech. 13:6; 14:4).  Israel has now been delivered from her enemies and has acknowledged her king.

H. The Deliverance of Creation (Is. 11:6-10; Ro. 8:19-22)

     Since the fall of man all creation has been under the curse (Gen. 3:17) but will now be delivered by Christ in preparation for His kingdom reign on earth.

I. The Setting up of The Kingdom (2 Samuel 7:8-16; Dan. 7:13-14, 27)

     The theocratic kingdom will once again be restored to earth “this time by its king. Israel will have a place that is unaffiliated by the wicked and shall never be defeated.

IV. THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST

     During this 1000 year period of history when Satan is bound in the bottomless pit, we see Israel, the church, the saints of the tribulation all enjoying a blessed relationship with Christ, the King ofKings and Lord of Lords (Dan. 2:44; 7:13f, 26f; Rev. 11:15;

     20:2-7).

A. Christ Reigning on David’s Throne (2 Sam. 7:16; Jer 23:5f; Zech. 14:9; Lk. 1:32f)

     Christ’s eternal reign on David’s throne shall be characterized by justice, righteousness, and safety over all the earth.

B. The Church Reigning With Christ (Lk. 19:16-19; 1 Cor. 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 2:26f; 5:9f; 20:4-6)

     The faithful in Christ shall live and reign with Him for 1000 years. Those who have used their resources well in His service will be rewarded with a greater realm than the less faithful.

C. Israel, Regathered, Worshiping, and Evangelizing (Zech. 8:13920-23; Is. 66:19)

     Worship shall have been restored in Jerusalem and Israel will once again be worshiping the Lord there.  She will not be alone. Gentiles will be coming into        Jerusalem to worship as well as Jews.

D. The Gentile Nations Enjoying Peace (Is. 2:2-4; Mt. 25:31-40)

     The Gentile nations who have been kind to Israel will be identifiable in the millennial kingdom although only the saved from these nations will be there.  These nations will have access to Jerusalem and to the temple during this time. The plowshares that were made into swords and the pruning hooks that were made into spears by the Gentile nations prior to Armageddon (Joel 3:10) will now be made back into the tools of agriculture for peaceful usage.

V. EVENTS PREPARATORY FOR THE ETERNAL STATE

          The thousand year reign having been completed there are some details that yet need to be taken care of before the eternal state is brought in(Rev. 20:3, 7-15; 21:8; 1 Cor. 15:24-28).

A. Satan Loosed for a Season (Rev. 20:3, 7-9)

     At the end of this time Satan shall be loosed for a little season. He will immediately go out to deceive the Gentile nations which are scattered throughout the earth and to gather them to do battle against Christ and His kingdom. He is able to find many to follow him even though they have been free from sinful influence for 1000 years. Since all who entered into the millennial kingdom were believers, these are children born to those believers who were alive at the end of the tribulation period.

B.The Battle of Gog and Magog (Rev. 20:9)

     This is perhaps the greatest army gathered for the shortest battle in history. Satan and his new found followers will gather around the camp of the saints and God will send fire from heaven to devour them.

C. Satan Judged and Sentenced (Rev. 20:10)

     The great deceiver is finally cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet have been awaiting him for 1000 years. His sentence is to be tormented there forever and ever.

D. The Second Resurrection (Rev. 20:12-13)

     This leaves one group of people yet to be dealt with­ the unsaved of all ages still lie in their graves, that is their bodies do while their souls are in Hades, but here at the second and final resurrection they are resurrected unto final judgment.

E. The Great White Throne Judgment (Rev. 20:11-15; 21:8)

     The question here is not one of reward as it was at the judgment seat of Christ but is one of non-reward. Those who are judged here are given the benefit of every record that God has in order to justify themselves. If their name is not written in the Lamb’s book of life, and it isn’t, they will have opportunity to present their works before God perchance they will persuade Him. This will not avail either and they will all have their place for ever and ever in the lake of fire. This is the second death.

F. Purification of the Universe by Fire (2 Peter 3:10-13)

     After God created the earth and all else that He created He said that it is good. After the fall God told Adam that the ground is cursed for his sake. After all other aspects of the fall have been dealt with the earth and the universe will be cleansed from all effects of sin. This purification will require extensive testing by fire and will result in total destruction of the universe and the elements.

VI. THE ETERNAL STATE

A. The New Heaven and New Earth (2 Peter 3:10-13; Rev. 21:1f)

     The new heaven and new earth will replace_the present ones which have been judged by fire. The new earth will have no sea the sky will be free of clouds and there will be no more seasons (Gen. 8:22).

B. The New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:2-22:5; In. 14:2)

     The new Jerusalem will come down out of heaven. Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you” and this place, the bride’s residence, is now associated with the new heaven and new earth, apparently located above it.

C. The lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10, 15)

     The bad news is that, as good as the good news is, not all will believe and their unbelief will result in the lake of fire being their eternal state.

     “Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Rev. 22:14).

Last edited 07/12/2020