SIGNS, VIEWS & TIMELINES

SIGNS

Did you know that the book of Revelation is a wonderful book that is filled with “Signs”? Why so many signs? So, that we can look for them and know when the end is near. He tells us “not to fear” but to keep our eyes open, our heads up and recognize the signs because he is coming soon! That is something worth looking for!

The “End” is not the end — It is only the “Beginning”!

The “End” must come in order to usher in Eternity with Jesus, our Lord and Savior, our Redeemer. Our blessed hope is in Jesus and the fact that Jesus is coming again to take us with him. Jesus is where we have to keep our eyes focused. God doesn’t want us to be unaware or in the dark about what will happen, but wants us to know and understand when these things begin to unfold. He gives warnings that the end is near. The object is not to get bogged down trying to figure out every meaning of every image and symbol. You can go crazy trying to figure it all out, especially since so many smarter people than me, and biblical theologians differ on opinions. If every detail and image was important for us to know, God would have told us, but he has explained to us exactly as much as he wants us to know. Or maybe as much as we can handle. He has given us the concept of what will take place. Don’t over look the bigger picture which is what God wants us to see and is what each of us can understand. He is coming back again! And he will gather us, the righteous who have put their faith in him as their Lord and Savior, to live forever with him in a beautiful new Heaven and Earth. A place where there will be no more sin, curse or death. That is what we have to look forward to! But, first he must deal with the sin issue. Because he is a Righteous and Just God who is “just” in all his ways, will judge and will bring judgement. Sin, evil, pain, suffering, death… Satan and all his followers, will eventually be cast away into eternal damnation. Separated forever from God and those who are his Righteous ones.

So, God has graciously given us “signs”, remember not every detail, to watch for and to understand. Remember “all these things must soon take place”, and they are in fact, playing out exactly like he said. We can see the signs today, showing us that everything is falling exactly into place and that our Redemption drawth near. We can rest in the fact that God has this! He is in complete control. This is where our hope lies and our response should be, “Come, Lord Jesus, Come“. Just as the Apostle John said after seeing all the visions and the many disturbing and frightening things. Most of which, he did not understand either. But, his last words, and the last words in Revelation, and the last words in the Bible are… “Come“. I think that should be our cry as well. “Come!” 

It is interesting to me that the Pharisees were always asking Jesus for a sign, even though they were missing every “sign” that Jesus gave them. They were right there in front of their noses! But, their eyes were not open to the truth and their hearts were not softened to the word.

In the Gospel of John, he records very specific “miracles” that Jesus performed just to give them a “sign”. A sign to the people to recognize and know for certain that he was the Messiah.  We talked about these in more detail during our study of the Overview of the NT. They were “signs” that the religious leaders not only were looking for, but knew would be performed by only the Messiah. Jesus did these Messianic miracles, but yet they refused to believe.

Revelation is the final book of the Bible and it is literally filled with “signs”.

I believe that at some point in the Tribulation, every living person on the earth will see the “signs” and they will know and understand that they are from God. All doubt will be erased. It will be obvious to them. There is a God! We see that specifically in the 6^th Seal judgement. After the devastating earthquake the people try to hide themselves from God “who sits on the throne” and from the “Wrath of God” that is about to come upon them. They have no doubt that there is a God in Heaven and he is in control. And with him comes judgement.

God gives “signs” all through the book of Revelation in order that people will understand the reality of the judgement that is coming. He wants to get their attention so that they will REPENT because time is running out. There will be clear battle lines drawn between evil vs holy, between Satan vs God and yet many will harden their hearts and refuse to repent of their evil ways, but will continue to do evil, even though they know the “truth”.  It reminds me of Pharaoh in Egypt when Moses called down all sorts of plagues. They were also signs to show Pharaoh that there is a God in Heaven who is powerful and just and holy. He gets Pharaoh’s undivided attention so that he can see and know that there is a real God who is over the universe. Not a god made out of wood or stone or any other created thing that man worships and calls a god. He wants all to know him. Pharaoh knew, but refused to believe and trust in him, and so he continued to harden his heart. He turned farther and farther away from God. Many during the Tribulation will refuse to repent even though they know there is a God, but will continue in their evil deeds.

Romans 1 speaks of exactly the same thing. They will “be without excuse” because they have seen and yet refused to believe, so God “gives them over” to their wickedness. He “gives them over” to their decision to refuse his mercy and grace and deliverance from sin, and sadly, they have to face the consequences.

VIEWS & TIMELINE OF REVELATION:

So, here we go. Let’s dig into the different views of Revelation. There are many interpretations of the book of Revelation, but there are 4 Basic Views that are widely accepted. Here they are in the simplest explanation:

• Preterist – Events already fulfilled in the past surrounding destruction of the Temple in 70AD
• Historicist – History playing out through the course of the church age
• Idealist – Symbolic timeless struggles of evil verses good
• Futurist – Literal events yet to take place surrounding the 2^nd Coming of Christ

 The Futurist View is the view that we will adopt for this study.

Here are a just a few definitions that can be helpful when studying End Time events.

DEFINITIONS:
Church Age – The Time of the Church’s existence which started at Pentecost (Acts 2) and will continue until the Rapture of the Church (1 Thess 4:13-18). This period can also be considered the time between Daniel’s 69 and 70th week (Dan 9:24-27). Don’t worry if you are not familiar with that.
Time of the Gentiles – The time when Israel is under Gentile rule. It started when the Israelites were taken into Babylonian exile beginning in 605 BC and will continue until Christ’s return and sets up His kingdom on earth.
Daniel’s Seventy 7’s – There were given 70 “weeks” (each week is a period of 7 years) are appointed to Israel (Dan 9). 69 “weeks” were completed at Jesus’s death and there is one final “week” (7 years) that is yet to come. That final “week” is the 7-yr Tribulation.

Let’s start with what we KNOW about the timeline of END TIME EVENTS.

• Tribulation – A 7-year period
  • It begins with a “Peace Treaty” that is signed between the Antichrist & Israel
  • At the Mid-Point of the Tribulation (3 1/2 years) the Antichrist breaks the treaty & sets up the “Abomination that causes Desolation”. He takes over the Temple and sets himself up to be worshiped as god.
• Millennium – A 1,000-year period after the Tribulation. Jesus comes to the earth and sets up His kingdom
• New Heaven and Earth
• Eternity 

Don’t worry. We will talk more about these things later.

VIEWS ON THE RAPTURE & 2nd COMING

Here are the basic views as it relates to the Rapture of the Church & The 2^nd Coming of Christ.

1. Rapture of the Church
   1. Pre-tribulation: The Rapture happens BEFORE the 7-year Tribulation
   2. Mid-tribulation: The Rapture happens at the MIDPOINT
   3. Pre-Wrath: The Rapture happens after the Seals and before the Trumpet Judgements
   4. Post-tribulation: The Rapture happens at the end of the Tribulation. The Rapture & the 2^nd Coming are the same event
2. The 2^nd Coming of Christ (as it relates to the Millennial, the 1,000-year reign on earth)
   1. Premillennial: Christ returns BEFORE the 1,000-year reign & literally rules on the earth
   2. Postmillennial: Christ returns AFTER the Millennium when the church ushers in the Kingdom of God on earth through the preaching of the Gospel. Christ will rule in the hearts of man. It is not a literal 1,000 years but moves toward a golden age of peace & prosperity.
   3. Amillennial: No literal millennial reign. It is symbolic of the time between Christ 1^st & 2^nd coming. The 1,000 years is symbolic representing a long time. 

PRE-TRIB / PRE-MINNENNIAL VIEW is the view that is accepted by:

• Most Southern Baptist
• Many trusted pastors & teachers: Adrien Rogers, David Jeramiah, John MacArthur, John Hagee, Mark Hitchcock, Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsey, Dwight Pentecost, Billy Graham…

PRE TRIB/PRE-MILLENNIAL EVENTS:

• RAPTURE: The “Church” is Raptured BEFORE the 7-year Tribulation
  • Resurrection of the “Church Age” believers
  • Receiving of glorified bodies
  • Bema Seat Judgement for Believers in Heaven to receive Rewards (2 Cor 5:10)
• CHRIST’S 2^nd COMING: AFTER the Tribulation & BEFORE the Millennial Reign
  • • Jesus returns with the “Church” to the Earth
    • Battle of Armageddon is fought… and won!
    • The Antichrist & False Prophet are thrown into Hell
    • Satan is bond for 1,000 years
    • Resurrection of those who died during the Tribulation & OT Saints
    • Judgement of the Sheep & Goats (The Nations) (Matt 25:31)
    • Christ’s Kingdom on earth. He will literally set up his throne & reign in Jerusalem & restores the earth. Believers who survived the Tribulation will enter into the Millennial along with those who returned to earth with Jesus, and those resurrected at the end of the Tribulation.

Whew! I know that is a lot of information! If you are new to a study on Revelation, it is a lot to take in. This study is an overview of Revelation so we will not study each of these view, but you can dig into these different views and concepts on your own. It is absolutely fascinating! But, here’s the thing. Again, you do not have to understand all the details and the exact timeline, because frankly God did not give us everything that we would like to know. Frankly, if you are like me, the more questions that I get answers to, the more questions that I have. We just have to understand that God is a very dramatic God and a God of mystery and adventure. He makes it exciting doesn’t he? There is so much mystery surrounding prophecy and End Time events, but, he has given us what we need to know and enough to understand that… things will play out exactly as he has written. And the best part…

He is COMING AGAIN!

Amen and amen! Keep our eyes focused on Jesus! Remember… the book of Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It’s all about our wonderful Jesus! And we will see him reveal more and more of himself and what he is doing throughout the pages and chapters ahead.

So, take a deep breath and hang on! It’s about to get exciting!