Consummation of History
1997-04-30
This timeline represents the pre-tribulation rapture, which I held to in the past. This would be what the typical pre-tribulation viewpoint looks like. I rewrote it in 2012 here as my views evolved.
First, I would like to take a moment to describe what the prophetic books actually discuss about the end times, meaning, things yet to come. Much comes from the revelation brought to the Apostle John from the Lord Jesus in approximately A.D. 97, which is Revelation. This will be only a brief summation.
I will first try to explain the basic chronology of events to come:
Church Age and Tribulation
After Jesus was crucified, rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, we have the period known as the age of Church, in which we now live. At one point in the future, as many believe, there is a point in time known as the Rapture when all of the Christian believers are taken from the Earth (1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Revelation 3:10). At the same time seems to be the fall of Babylon, or “Mother of Harlots”, and the world will fall down from a chain reaction starting with this. It seems that seven nations that are dependent on Babylon weaken because of Babylon’s fall. And thus will begin the Tribulation which will last for seven years. At that same time a beast from the sea (antichrist) rises to power. The first forty-two months (three and one-half years) he fights for world peace (Daniel 9:27). The second forty-two months he demands to be worshipped. There was another beast who brought upon false miracles and causes the world to worship the first beast who was also casted into the lake of the fire, who is known as the False Prophet or beast of the earth (Revelation 13:11 ff). And those who were saved by the grace of God through Jesus Christ who were protected from the wrath of God and do not have the mark of the beast will be there to fight at the battle of Armageddon (transliteration of Har Megiddo, Hebrew for mountain of Megiddo), as followers of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. The followers number in 144,000. The 144,000 were from 12 of the tribes of Israel, numbering from each tribe 12,000: Judah, Reuben, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Manasseh, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin (Revelation 7, a peculiar listing considering Joseph and Manasseh are mentioned without Dan). The Lamb and His followers defeat the fiends, and the beast was cast into the lake of fire.
The Millennium and the New Jerusalem
The dragon, Satan, is casted into a bottomless pit for a period of a thousand years, that is known as the Millennium (Revelation 20:1-2). During this period, Jesus reigns on Earth, and there is no disease (Isaiah 11; Isaiah 65). People, however, still must accept the Lord as their Savior. After the thousand years, the dragon was let out for a short season, and started influencing the populations of the world once again. And thus began a second battle, known as Gog and Magog, where the dragon is defeated again and casted into the lake of fire for eternity (Revelation 20:7-10). Then the believers are brought before the Bema Seat (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:4) and rewarded for their deeds of goodness. Those unbelievers that remained in their sin are brought before the Great White Throne, and are punished for their deeds (Revelation 20:11-15). And thus begins the eternal age, where a new Heaven and a new earth are created, and New Jerusalem descend from the sky, and this begins the eternal age where evil is no more.