GOD’S PANORAMA OF AGES

Scholars of prophecy do not agree on all the details of future events. But the following summary is a fair representation of what many prophetic scholars believe as to the order of events:

1. The Rapture of the church (1 Cor. 15:51–58; 1 Thes. 4:13–18). This can occur at any time.
2. The leader of the ten European nations makes a seven-year agreement with Israel (Dan. 9:26–27).
3. After three-and-one-half years, he breaks the agreement (Dan. 9:27).
4. He moves to Jerusalem and sets up his image in the temple (2 Thes. 2:3–4; Rev. 13).
5. The Antichrist begins to control the world and forces all people to worship and obey him. At this time God sends great tribulation upon the earth (Matt. 24:21).
6. The nations gather at Armageddon to fight the Antichrist and Israel, but see the sign of Christ’s coming and unite to fight Him (Zech. 12; Rev. 13:13–14; 19:11ff).
7. Jesus returns to the earth, defeats His enemies, is received by the Jews, and establishes His kingdom on earth (Rev. 19:11ff; Zech. 12:7–13:1). He will reign on earth for 1,000 years (Rev. 20:1–5).

God's Has Laid out the Steps from Here to Eternity

Bible prophecy is a record written long ago of how God will deal with mankind to the end of the earth. It is possible to trace a timetable of prophetic events, from the angelic hosts who announced Christ's birth  to the time when we join in  the multitude worshiping the King of Kings. 

One amazing portion of the Bible is in Daniel 9:24-27. In these verses God shows Daniel His 70 prophetic “weeks” (490 years). This is God’s timetable for the Jewish people and the city of Jerusalem. The events God describes are:

• Christ’s death as a sacrifice for sin,

• Christ establishing His kingdom,

• And a rebuilt millennial temple. 

The 69 weeks or 483 years contain the command for Jerusalem’s rebuilding, Christ's birth. When Christ is rejected and “cut off” or put to death by crucifixion, this ends the 69 weeks. The destruction of the Temple in AD 70 finalizes the effects of Israel’s rejection. After an unspecified period of time in Daniel 9:26, the last week or seven years start up. They speak of the end time evil of the Anti-Christ, and the momentous events prior to Christ's 2nd coming in power and glory. Zechariah 12-14 describe the remnant of Jews who see Jesus as Messiah, repent and turn to Him. The gap between the 69th and 70th week has been almost 2,000 years which is the church age.

1.   THE CHURCH AGE is Christ seeking (Worshipping – Waiting – Winning) – Remember Jesus promised to “build my church” (Matt. 16:18).  The church, born on the Day of Pentecost, was formed by God from Jews and Gentiles receiving Christ as their Savior (Eph. 2,3). God’s planned for  the church  to preach and teach the Word. God through His Spirit is calling out a people for His name.  As we go into all the world we are to “wait for the Son from heaven” (I Thess. 1:10; Acts 1:8).  This period of time called the church age ends during a growth of religious apostasy, a culture obsessed with pleasure and self-love, as well as great immorality and violence (2 Tim. 3:1-6; 2 Thess. 2:3).

2.   THE RAPTURE is Christ rescuing – When God is finished with the church He takes them home in the  (1 Thess. 4:16-18; 5:9).  rapture or “catching away” of the church. This opens the way for the  Antichrist to begin taking over on earth (2 Thess. 2:3-9) and the Tribulation begins.  Jesus promised He would meet His church in the air to “take you to be with me” (John 14:1-6; 1 Thess. 4:13-18).  The Rapture can happen at any moment, so it is our “blessed hope” (Titus 2:13). Revelation portrays the church in heaven during the Tribulation.  Believers of all the ages receive rewards, and the church becomes Christ’s “bride” and enjoys with all the saints the “marriage feast of the Lamb.”  Then Christ returns with His  saints to Earth (1 Cor. 3:11-15; Rev. 19:7-9).

3.   THE TRIBULATION is Christ initiating final judgment – The 70th week in Daniel 9:27 starts when God returns to work with the Jews. The central purpose of the Tribulation is to reconcile the nation of Israel to their Messiah.  The Jews are sought out and killed by the AntiChrist and abandoned by the world. At the darkest hour when there is no where else to turn, Israel looks to Christ at Armageddon and cries out repenting (Zech. 12:10). Some events the Bible portrays in the  Tribulation include: 

• Israel is  a nation but not aware of God's plan (Ezek. 37, 38).

• A great army from the North invade Israel (Ezek. 38).  These forces strike at the re-gathered remnant of Jews who are in the land, as Satan seeks to destroy the Jewish people before they can be reconciled to the Messiah.

• The Antichrist appears, first as a political super-hero of the West (Dan. 9:27).  At the midpoint of the Tribulation, he enters the temple in Jerusalem and declares himself to be God (the abomination of Desolation), demands worship, and refuses his “mark” to all who will not bow down to him. (Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:3,4; Rev. 13).  This act initiates the Great Tribulation, as God pours out His wrath upon a belligerent Gentile world system in a series of disasters that culminates in Armageddon (Rev. 16:14-16).

• Jesus Christ returns with His saints to take His throne and judge the nations (Matt. 24:25; Rev. 19:11-21).

• Israel’s national remnant, about one-third of the people, accept their Messiah and experience national reconciliation (Zech. 12:12; 13:8,9; Rom. 11:25-27).

4.   THE MILLENNIUM is Christ Ruling – For 1,000 years, believers “reign with him” in a theocratic kingdom where all of God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants are fulfilled (Deut. 30:1-6; Rev. 20:4-6). During this kingdom, universal peace and justice prevail (Isa. 11:1-10), and believers from all nations worship at the millennial temple in Jerusalem (Zech. 8:22, 23).  Satan’s influence on earth ends, though only temporarily (Rev. 20:1-3).

5.   THE FINAL UPRISING – At the end of Christ’s 1,000 year reign, Satan gathers a multitude of unregenerate people to rebel against the King (Rev. 20:7-9).  The uprising exposes conclusively the depravity of the human heart.  With Christ personally-present, and every opportunity to embrace righteousness, many still rebel against God.

6.   THE GREAT WHITE THRONE is Christ executing final JUDGMENT – The lost of all ages are judged, not to determine salvation, but the degree of punishment to be borne in the “lake of fire” (Rev. 20:11-15).  This will be consistent with the “light” received, and rejected, during their lifetime.  Before the Great White Throne, the lost of all ages finally acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ, but too late for deliverance (Phil. 2:10, 11). All human distinctions about power or position are meaningless – the small and the great face their “works” before a holy God and are condemned.  Their sentence is eternal, conscious internment in the lake of fire.  Satan is also cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10).

7.   THE NEW HEAVEN and NEW EARTH is Christ opening paradise – Next, the consummation of all prophecy appears:  the new heaven and earth.  A firestorm destroys the present planet (2 Peter 3:10), and God creates a new world (Rev. 21:1-5).  The saints live in a New Jerusalem (Rev. 21, 22) with many “rooms” prepared by Christ for them (John 14:2,3).   Here there is no pain, no death, no curse, and no adversary.  Above all else, we will be with the Lord, and He will share His glory with us for all the ages to come.