The End Times Chronology

A Bible Study by Jack Kelley

Four major events that will yet occur as we approach the end of the age involve Israel and/or the Church. They are:

The Rapture of the Church
The Battle described in Ezekiel 38-39
The 70th Week of Daniel 9 including The Great Tribulation
The Return of our Lord to judge the world and establish His Kingdom

Four others are intended primarily for the Gentile world:

The Revived Roman Empire
The one world government of antichrist
The unified apostate church
The re-emergence of Babylon

We track some of these in our 7 signs updates, along with others already in some stage of fulfillment. In this study I will demonstrate that I've listed the four that pertain to the Church and Israel in chronological order.

The End times According To Jesus

In the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24-25 the Lord mentions the Great Tribulation (and by implication the 70th week) and the 2nd coming including His Judgements and the beginning of His Kingdom. He's answering the question, "What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" by describing events up to and including the beginning of the Millennium.

We in the church see the rapture as a huge sign that the end of the age has come, and for us it will have, but the Lord didn't include it in His presentation. This is further proof of two things; 1. He's speaking through His Jewish Disciples to Israel, and 2. The Rapture of the Church is not directly connected to other end times events.

Nine "time stamps" in Matthew 24:15, 21, 23, 29, 30,and 36, and 25:1, 14, and 31 all refer to the Great Tribulation and His 2nd coming. By this we can infer that the Rapture and the Battle of Ezekiel 38 will have already taken place and the 70th week is half over. But does the Bible give us any direct support for this view?

Let's Take An Easy One First.

Daniel 9 says that in the middle of the last seven year period, antichrist will set up an abomination that causes desolation. In Matt 24 Jesus tells His disciples that when they (Israel) see the abomination that causes desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet the Great Tribulation will begin. So the first thing we know is that the70th week is half over when the Great Tribulation begins.

An Overlooked Account

Luke 17:20-37 is a frequently overlooked passage containing discussion on the Coming Kingdom. Since some of the phrases are identical to those seen in the Olivet Discourse passages, it is often viewed as being redundant, but I think it's placed there for a specific reason. Let's dissect it.

In verses 20-21 the Lord is asked by Pharisees about the coming kingdom and tells them it's "within" them. Wait a minute. These were Pharisees, not followers, how could He say "within?" Well, it's one of those fascinating cases of double meaning. The Greek word en is also translated among, and both meanings are in view here.

On one hand He's telling us to look into our hearts to find the Kingdom within. On the other He's directing them to look at Him. The Personification of the Kingdom was among them; He had grown up among them. In neither case were any visible signs present. It was a hint that the Kingdom would come in two phases, and he was talking about the first one.

Another hint follows immediately. In vs. 22-25 He tells His disciples His Day will be like lightning flashing across a dark sky; a sudden spectacular event visible to all simultaneously. But first, He must suffer and be rejected. Here He's obviously referring to the second phase.

As It Was In The Days Of Noah

Next comes vs. 26-27, a repeat of the phrase in Matt 24 about the days of Noah. A careful reading of Genesis 7:1-4 tells us that the Lord gave Noah seven days to make final preparation for the judgement. For the next seven days they herded all the animals into the ark they had built while the people around laughed them to scorn. Then in verse 7:13 we're told that on the very day they entered the ark the flood came, and only Noah, his three sons and their four wives were saved. Many see Noah and his family as a model of the remnant of Israel, preserved through judgement.

From the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel there will be ample signs that the world is being prepared for judgement, and then on the day the believing remnant flees Jerusalem, having seen the abomination that causes desolation, the Great Tribulation begins. (The rapture will have to have occurred quite some time previously, or there wouldn't be any believing remnant to flee.

The church is to be kept from the time, the place and any relation to the judgement, and there has to be time for post-church converts.) Even during the time of the Great Tribulation, people will be trying their best to go about life as usual, ignoring the signs all around of the impending judgement. Then on the day they see the sign of the Son of Man coming on the clouds in great glory, all the nations of the earth will mourn. They'll realize they waited too long.

You Have To Leave, Lot

Verses 28-29 seem to the casual reader to be just another example of the same, but we know better. The story of Lot and his family contains striking differences from the story of Noah. Contrary to being two ways of saying the same thing, they actually describe two different sets of conditions. In Genesis 19:22 the angels tell Lot they are not permitted to do anything until he and his family are gone.

In 1 Thes 1:10 where Paul promises that the church will be rescued from the wrath to come, the word translated from is apo in the Greek. It means from the time, place and any relation to the event. Perhaps Lot is a model of the church; removed from the time, place and any relation to the judgement before it can begin.

Verses 30-33 bring us full circle. Where a man's treasure is, there is his heart. Going back or even looking back is an indicator of his motives. Learn what a person pays attention to, and you'll soon discover what his intentions are.

It's Greek To Me

Verses 34-36 confuse many, because we don't study the Greek. The word translated taken means to receive to oneself, and the one translated left means to send away. This can't be the Rapture because the words don't fit the event. Sure the Church is received to the Lord in the Rapture, but the rest aren't sent anywhere.

This passage explains the disposition of the "sheep and goats" from the parable in Matt 25. Those taken (received) refers to the sheep who go live into the Kingdom and those left (sent away) refers to the goats who are removed to the place prepared for the devil and his angels.Both the sheep and the goats receive the destiny mandated by the intent of their hearts at the end of the Great Tribulation, just at the outset of the Millennium.

The last verse, "where there's a dead body, the vultures will gather" is a parable. A dead body is the object of a vulture's interest. The question, "where, Lord?" pertains to both groups, the taken and the left. The Lord is confirming that the disposition of each will be according to the object of their interest. If the object is not heaven, then by default it becomes hell.

At the end of the age, the Lord will send clear warning that a time of judgement is coming. Many see early signs of that warning in events of today. Prior to executing it, He will make arrangements to preserve a remnant of Israel through the judgement (Noah), and extract His church from it (Lot). Use history as your guide.

A Prophecy Lesson

As a consequence of rejecting their Messiah, Jesus predicted destruction for Jerusalem and the Temple (Luke 19:41-44), and Prophets had earlier spoken of the scattering of the people as well. Within 38 years after the Crucifixion the city and Temple had been destroyed and the scattering begun. The Lord used the defeat of Israel in 70 AD to show He was turning away from them. During that same time period the church was born and became the object of the Lord's focus, and soon Israel disappeared as a nation. All this happened within the lifetimes of the generation into which Jesus was born.

Several Prophets had spoken of a future re-gathering of the people and Jesus said that Jerusalem would be restored when the times of the gentiles were complete. James clarified in Acts 15 that this would happen after the Lord had taken a people from among the gentiles for His own name's sake. The re-gathering became official in 1948, and Jerusalem was returned to Israel in 1967.

The Lord also proclaimed that He will use the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 to prove to Israel and to the nations that He is turning back to them. Therefore, that battle must take place before the 70th week begins. The treaty that ends the battle may in fact usher in the 70th week.

Because we can't know the future, the Bible instructs us to learn from the past. If the events of the 2nd Coming are a mirror image of the First, the Church must disappear, and then the Battle of Ezekiel, the 70th week, the new Temple, the Great Tribulation, and the 2nd Coming all happen within the lifetimes of the generation born between the rebirth of Israel in 1948 and the recovery of Jerusalem in 1967.

Better fasten your seatbelts. we've got an exciting ride ahead.

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