Part 21
What
Are the Next "Things to Come"?
"Eschatology"
is defined as the study of "things
to come as relating to the
ultimate destiny of mankind
and world as we know it."
This entire series has been eschatological, examining not only the Rapture but all the
key events to come, as best
we can see by closely examining both the Old and New Testaments. In this
installment I offer a sequential timeline of the "things
to come" as I currently see it. In the next installment I
will offer a further "Explanation of Things to
Come."
So
what does the Bible tell us about the things that are to come after
the Rapture?
God
has withheld His wrath even while man has long-declared war on God.
Rather, God freely offers all mankind full salvation by grace through
faith in Jesus Christ alone. We've already well established that the
Rapture of “the
church, which His body”
is imminent. After the
Rapture of the church occurs, the long-prophesied seven-year Tribulation
judgments will come upon the world, setting the stage for the Lord Jesus'
2nd coming to earth to establish His kingdom.
The
Psalm 83/Isaiah 17 war is
also imminent.
Regarding this soon coming war, Isaiah 17:1 says
Syria
’s capital,
Damascus
, will "be a ruinous
heap."
The events of our day certainly indicate this could occur very soon. Both
the Rapture and Psalm 83 war will occur sooner rather than later, but
it’s not entirely clear to me whether the Psalm 83/Isaiah 17 war is
before the Rapture or after the Rapture of “the
church which His body.”
Then
the Gog & Magog War
of Eze. 38-39 will occur, but only after
both the Rapture and Psalm
83 War have occurred. These three events will occur before
the Tribulation. In the Gog & Magog War a Russian and Iranian
led coalition will attack Israel while Israel will be at that time
militarily secure,
then dwelling “safely…without walls” (Eze 38:11, 14).
Israel
will be seemingly secure
at the time of this attack because
Israel
will have attained regional superiority over its immediate neighbor states
as result of its God-given triumph in the earlier Psalm 83 War. I will
expand on this in the next installment of this series.
In
all, three wars will follow the Psalm 83 War. All three will occur after
the Rapture. 1) The “War
of Gog and Magog” will occur just before
the Tribulation. 2) The following war, Armageddon, will occur is at the
end of the Tribulation. 3) A final brief war will occur
when Satan is loosed at the end of the Millennium.
Below
is the order of the soon coming end-time events, as I see it. I’m quite
certain that all these wars
and events listed below, except possibly the Psalm
83/Isaiah 17 War, will occur after
the Rapture of “the
church, which is the body of Christ,”
but I will list the Rapture as being first to come.
1.
Rapture of the “church,
His body” to dwell eternally in heaven (1Thes 4:13-18, 1Cor
15:51-58, 2Cor 5:1).
2.
The “Psalm 83 War” will result in
Israel
growing territorially by victoriously subjugating most of the “inner
ring” of its surrounding Arab neighbors (
Syria
,
Gaza
,
Lebanon
,
Jordan
; etc (cf., Psa 83, Isa 17).
3.
The “War of Gog
and Magog” (Ezek. 38-39) - In this war the more remote
Arab nations, led by
Russia
and
Iran
, will come against
Israel
and set the stage for the Tribulation. God will intervene to smash
Israel
's largely Muslim attackers (Ezek 38:18-23), as He will in the earlier
“Psalm 83 War.”
4.
Then the Tribulation begins when
Israel
signs a security covenant with
Antichrist (Dan 9:27).
5.
After 3-1/2 years of the Tribulation, Antichrist will reveal himself
when he as "
3that
man of sin be revealed... 4 who...
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the
temple
of
God
, shewing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4)
6.
The “
Battle
of Armageddon” will
end the Tribulation.
Russia
, among ALL the nations of the earth, including the
“kings of the east, (
China
)” will rebel against Antichrist's rule and the Lord's
Israel
.
7.
Then the Lord
will return to rescue
Israel
and set up His
Millennial
Kingdom
(Rev 16:12-16).
8.
In the course of "the
end of the world (Gk., aion, current age)" (Mat 13:39) the
"Wheat and Tares"
will be harvested (cut down). The Lord's angels will harvest out and "burn"
the religious “tares,”
(the imposters);
"out" keeping them
from "His Kingdom" (Matt
13:41). The “wheat,”
the believing martyrs, will be gathered to the Lord’s “barn”
(Matt 13:30, apotheke, repository,
i.e., paradise), awaiting the Kingdom.
9.
Antichrist and the False Prophet are then “cast
into the lake of fire.” (Rev 20:10)
10.
The Sheep
and Goats of the "Nations"
(Gk. ethnos, "the Gentiles") who survive the Tribulation are judged by Jesus Himself at the
beginning of the Millennium (Matt. 25:31-46). Only Gentiles who
believed to help
Israel
(Matt 25:34-40) are saved and blessed to enter the
Millennial
Kingdom
(v34).
11.
Satan is “bound
a thousand years” (Rev 20:2-3).
12.
The current earth
will become "renewed" (“New
Earth" (New, Gk., kainos,
refreshed)”
(Rev 21:1-8).
13.
The city "New
Jerusalem" appears “coming
down from God out of heaven”
to the New Earth (Rev
21:2).
“The
Bride,” the “Lamb’s
wife,” is seen in the Holy
City New Jerusalem (Rev 21:10). Access to the city New
Jerusalem’s “River of life”
and “Tree of life” on
the New Earth will be available to all
believers for their healing
restoration. “he
shewed me a pure river of water of life,
clear as crystal, proceeding out of the
throne of God and of the
Lamb. 2 In
the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there
the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her
fruit every month: and the leaves of the
tree were
for the healing of the nations
(Gentiles)." (Rev
22:1-2)
14.
The
Temple
within the City will be
restricted to the co-reigning
resurrected saints of
Israel
as His kings, priests
and servants (cf., Rev 5:10, 20:6;
21:8). They will reign, preach, teach, and lead all men on the
New Jerusalem (cf.,
Zech 8:23, Micah 4:1-2).
15.
Satan will be “loosed”
after 1,000 years (Rev 20:7).
He will stir the newborn unbelievers of the Millennium to the final
war. This Millennium will end when ALL
the rebellious attackers are destroyed; “fire
came down from God out of heaven and devoured them,” (Rev 20:7-9).
16.
Satan is “cast
into the lake of fire.”
(Rev 20:10). His job as the adversary is ended.
17.
“The
Great White Throne” judgment immediately follows. ALL
the lost dead of ALL ages will be resurrected from Hades to “stand”
before the “Great
White Throne” to be judged (Rev.
20:11-15).
18.
At the
“Great White Throne” judgment
ALL who appear before the Throne to be judged by the Lord will find
that their names are “not
found written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Rev
20:12). They will
be “cast into
the lake of fire”
(Rev 20:14) and experience "the
second death" of Rev 20:6.
19.
Death and Hell (Hades) are “cast
into the lake of fire” (Rev
20:14)
20.
All the living believers of the Millennium, and the co-reigning
resurrected saints of
Israel
, will go on to enter
Eternal
Kingdom
on the New Earth. In the Tribulation the curse will have only
partially been removed; in the
Eternal
Kingdom
it will be fully removed (Isa 11:1-9).
"3
And THERE SHALL BE NO
MORE CURSE: but the
throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his
servants (the 1st resurrection believers of
Israel
, c.f., Rev 20:6) shall serve him:
4 And
they shall see his face;
and his name shall
be in their foreheads (minds).
5 And
there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of
the sun; for the Lord God giveth them
light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation
22:3-5)
Then
"the earth"
will have become "filled with the
glory (expression) of the Lord (Num 14:21)." All the
earth's people will be in full accord with the sovereign rule of the Lord
Jesus Christ, being eternally blessed with His indwelling Spirit of life (Eze 37:14) and also the "light"
of His literal presence.
“That
In The Dispensation Of The Fulness Of
Times he might gather
together in one all things In Christ, both which
are In Heaven, And Which Are On Earth; even
In Him: (Ephesians
1:10)
In
the next installment we will examine the Scriptures and fill in the
details necessary to understand and explain many of these coming events in
yet more detail.
