by
John Walvoord
Christianity
by its very nature is a faith based on the historic past, the present work of
God in the world, and a predicted glorious future. The history
of
the world as recorded in Scripture makes clear that God is working in our world
to carry out His eternal purposes. Central in this is the work of salvation
through
Jesus Christ, who in history died on the cross for our sins and rose again. The
result of this is that people today, as they put their trust in
Christ,
experience a supernatural new birth and an experience of walking in fellowship
with God. The Bible also, however, is a book about the future, and
about
one-fourth of the Bible was prophetic when it was written. It is obvious that
God intended that we should know something about the future. Though
prophecy
leaves many questions unanswered, it is also clear that God has given us all
the facts we need to prepare for the future that the Bible predicts
will
ultimately take place.
Unfortunately,
a great deal of confusion exists in the interpretation of prophecy. Most of
this is occasioned by the fact that people hesitate to accept
prophecy
as a literal prediction of future events.
If
a prophecy which is written in plain language is not interpreted literally, it
opens the door to dozens of views as people guess as to what it might
possibly
mean. The history of prophetic fulfillment, however, is that God fulfills
prophecy literally and about half of the 1000 prophecies of the Bible
have
already been literally fulfilled. This gives us reason to believe that the
predictions which have not yet been fulfilled will have a literal fulfillment
rather
than some other interpretation.
Of
major importance in prediction is the fact that Christ is coming again just as
literally as He came the first time. All the major orthodox doctrinal
statements
of Protestantism, Roman Catholicism, and Greek Orthodoxy contain a statement to
the effect that Jesus Christ is coming again to judge the world.
This
is a literal prediction and was considered to be so in church history.
Confusion has arisen, however, because having accepted this as literal, many
try
to interpret in a non-literal sense the prophecies of events preceding Christ's
return, as well as the events that follow. If interpreted literally,
however,
the prophecies of Scripture yield a consistent and intelligent picture of what
God is doing in the world and things will ultimately work out for
His
glory.
Central
in predictions of the future is the second coming of Christ and the events that
will precede it. The most important character of preceding events
is
often called the Antichrist, or the future world ruler who will dominate the
world before Christ comes again. He will be "anti" in the sense of
against
Christ
and instead of Christ.
Armageddon
is an English translation of the mount of Megiddo, a geographic location in
northern Israel which will be the center of the final great world
war.
Antichrist, Armageddon, and the Second Coming of Christ are central to the
predictions which will bring the great climax of the world when Christ
returns.
According to Scripture, the events preceding the Second Coming are catastrophic
and world-shaking and form a dramatic prelude to the return of
Jesus
Christ. If the return of Christ is near, it is entirely possible that our
present generation of people will experience what the Bible predicts for
the
end time.
In
approaching these tremendous themes, it is important to have in mind the
chronological development of major events as they occur in the end time,
beginning
with
what is called the rapture of the Church.
First
the Rapture
The
next major event in the prophetic sequence is the rapture of the Church. The
term "rapture" refers to the catching up of the church and its
removal
from
earth and arrival in heaven, a major event of the future described graphically
in I Thessalonians 4:13-18. Though many confuse the issue by trying
to
link the rapture to the Second Coming of Christ, actually this is an entirely
different event as the details of the prophecy make clear. The rapture
occurs
some years before, and the period between the rapture and the Second Coming is
one of the most dramatic prophetic periods in the entire history
of
the world.
If
every true believer is suddenly and instantaneously taken out of the world, it
obviously will have an important impact on the world because many Christians
are
in prominent places and their sudden disappearance will call for an
explanation. Many will follow a powerful delusion and believe some explanation
of
the rapture other than the departure of believers in Christ. However, many
others will come to terms with the Lord and recognize that the rapture is
a
tremendous event.
Romans
11:25 specifically mentions how Israel's eyes will be opened. According to this
verse, "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers,
so
that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until
the full number of the Gentiles have come in." In other words, in the
present
age it is difficult for a Jew to understand that Christ is the Messiah, but
when the rapture occurs, this blindness will be lifted. While many
will
persist in unbelief, no doubt a great number will be saved. Because Israel has
representatives in almost every country and every language, once they
are
saved they will become the missionaries to the world with the truth of Christ's
salvation much as they were in the first century after Pentecost.
The
rapture will, however, mark the end of our present day of grace in which the
Church, consisting largely of Gentiles, has flourished, and will begin
the
time of the day of the Lord when God deals directly with human sin and divine
judgment. Instead of dealing with the church combining Israel and Gentiles,
God
will deal in a special way with both Gentiles and Israel as separate people
with somewhat different destinies.
According
to I Thessalonians 5:1,2, when the rapture occurs it begins a new period of
time called "the day of the Lord." This is a familiar term in the
Old
Testament and applies to any period of time during which God dealt in direct
judgment of Israel. This is described, for instance, in Isaiah 13:1-22
and
is characterized as "a cruel day, with wrath and fierce anger"
(Isaiah 13:9). The book of Joel almost entirely addresses this subject; it
speaks of
many
days of the Lord as, for instance, in chapter 1, when the invasion of locusts
causes starvation. Many descriptions of the day of the Lord go beyond
what
occurred in the Old Testament, for instance, Joel 2:30-3:3 with the verses that
follow describe this terrible time of judgment which is still in the
future.
The day of the Lord beginning at the rapture will continue even through the
thousand-year reign of Christ when there still will be direct judgment
of
open sin against God, fulfilling the prediction that Christ will rule with an
"iron scepter." There will be a display of "the fury of the
wrath of God
Almighty"
(Revelation 19:15). The major events of the judgment of God, however, may not
be immediately fulfilled after the rapture but will gradually increase
as
the period between the rapture and the Second Coming is fulfilled.
The
book of Daniel provides a broad prediction of how God is going to deal with the
Gentile world, beginning with Babylon in the time of Daniel about 600
B.C.
and continuing through the empires that followed, that of Medo-Persia, Greece,
and Rome. The predictions of Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece have
all
been literally fulfilled and are now part of the historic past. The Roman
empire, however, which was in power at the time of the first coming of Christ,
is
still a continuing part of God's purpose. It continued for many centuries after
Christ and then eventually disappeared, but, according to Scriptures,
will
be revived in the end times.
Daniel
7 pictures the four empires as ferocious beasts, with Babylon depicted as a
lion, Medo-Persia as a bear, and Greece as a leopard. The fourth empire
is
described in different terminology in Daniel 7 as follows:
After
that, in my vision at night I looked, and there before me was a fourth
beast-terrifying and frightening and very powerful. It had large iron teeth;
it
crushed and devoured its victims and trampled underfoot whatever was left. It
was different from all the former beasts, and it had ten horns (Daniel
7:7).
The
Roman empire literally fulfilled the picture of a beast with great iron teeth,
crushing and devouring everything before it. Its well-disciplined soldiers
went
into countries that were unprepared to fight. The soldiers then conquered the
country, carried off the able-bodied men as slaves, left a detachment
of
soldiers to collect taxes, and moved on to the next country. As the greatest
empire of the past, it was ruthless in its destruction of whatever opposed
it.
Most of Daniel 7:7 has already been fulfilled.
The
final statement in verse 7, however, states, "it had ten horns."
Nothing in history corresponds to this, and Bible expositors have been
struggling for
centuries
to explain this prophecy that has not been fulfilled.
But
Daniel 7:24 reveals that "The ten horns are ten kings who will come from
this kingdom." How can this be explained in view of the fact that the
Roman
empire
today is non-existent? In order to understand this period, one has to recognize
that the Old Testament described the events leading up to the first
coming
of Christ, but then many Scriptures skip from the first coming to the Second
Coming and omit reference to what we call the present age of grace.
This
is brought out in Christ's message in Nazareth, recorded in Luke 4:17-21, The
scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found
the
place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he
has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
freedom
for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up
the
scroll,
gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the
synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today
this
scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. "
This
is a significant illustration of the absolute accuracy of Scripture. Christ
here is quoting from Isaiah 61:1-2, which predicts His coming to the world
and
ministry to those in need. He quotes Isaiah 61:2, including the expression,
"to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." He does not quote the
last
part
of the verse, "and the day of vengeance of our God." The point is
that His first coming proclaimed the Lord's favor but the last part of the
verse
deals
with His Second Coming and judgment on the world. Here, as in many other cases,
the present age is not in view. While Old Testament Scriptures deal
with
the time of judgment preceding the Second Coming, they do not anticipate that
the Roman empire will go out of existence for many centuries, only to
be
revived in the end time in the form of these ten kingdoms.
Scripture
does not indicate exactly when this will happen, but as soon as the rapture
occurs, the ten kingdoms are in the background and apparently the
formation
of the ten-kings power bloc will come together either just before or just after
the rapture. The fact that the European Union is friendly today,
geopolitically
speaking-that is, the major players are not at odds with each other-provides
fertile soil for producing a united Europe, which would fulfill,
at
least in part, this prophecy.
What
is happening in Europe is especially prophetically significant. For centuries
the major countries of Europe, particularly Great Britain, France, and
Germany
have been engaged in war. Usually when one war ends, regardless of who wins,
the countries immediately begin to prepare for the next war. This
has
been going on for several hundred years. Suddenly, after World War 11, this
process stopped because all these countries now have the atomic bomb and
the
capacity to completely destroy the other countries. Accordingly, engaging in
warfare would not help any of the countries involved-even if they won-because
they
would suffer terrible losses in the process. Facing this realistically, the
countries of Europe decided to form an economic union and they established
the
Common Market. Having established friendly relationships with each other on an
economical basis, many have for years predicted the coming together
of
a United States of Europe. Steps in that direction-including implementing a
common currency- have already taken place. Accordingly, the situation described
at
the rapture of ten nations banded together is something that could occur at any
time and is strategic evidence that the rapture of the church could
be
near.
When
false teachers taught the Thessalonian believers that they were already in the
day of the Lord, Paul had to correct this. He argued in 2 Thessalonians
2
that they were not in the day of the Lord period after the rapture because the
man of lawlessness had not appeared. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 states:
Concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you,
brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy,
report
or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has
already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day
will
not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the
man doomed to destruction.
His
work is further described in 2 Thessalonians 2:4: "He will oppose and will
exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that
he
sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God."
The
"man of lawlessness" is another reference to the one who is also
called the Antichrist. The word "antichrist" is mentioned four times
in the Scriptures
(I
John 2:18,22; 4:3; 2 John 7). As used by John, it applies to anyone who is
opposed to Christ and is a false leader. The term has been used to describe
the
end-time ruler because his activities are so obviously anti-Christ, and he is
Satan's substitute for Jesus Christ as King of Kings, Lord of Lords,
and
God. However, the book of Revelation and other passages of Scripture outside of
the Johannine epistles never used the term.
The
Antichrist appears on the scene as the conqueror of the ten-nation revival of
the Roman empire. According to Daniel 7:8, a little horn comes up among
the
ten horns and uproots three of them, which signifies that he has conquered
three of the ten countries. From there on, although Scriptures do not explain
the
reasons, he is regarded as the ruler of all ten nations. In other words, he
takes over as the dictator of the revived Roman empire. From this position
he
rises to power gradually until finally he becomes the world ruler of scriptural
prophecy.
2
Thessalonians 2:14 offers remarkable evidence that the rapture of the church
occurs before the end-time prophecy. Paul is demonstrating that they are
not
in the day of the Lord as false teachers have taught them, because the man of
lawlessness has not appeared. When will the man of lawlessness appear?
His
full revelation comes in the middle of this last seven years of end-time
prophecy when he claims to be God. But he will be revealed earlier than that,
when
he makes the covenant of Daniel 9:27 for seven years leading up to the second
coming of Christ. In order to have this position of power, he has to
be
the one who conquers the Roman empire and becomes the head of the ten
countries. This must occur, therefore, more than seven years before the Second
Coming.
If he has to appear before the day of the Lord can begin, it should be obvious
that the day of the Lord will begin more than seven years before
the
Second Coming. This automatically disposes of counter-opinions which put the
rapture at the Second Coming or during the Great Tribulation or at the
beginning
of the Great Tribulation or the beginning of the seven years, for the man of
lawlessness will be revealed more than seven years before the Second
Coming.
Accordingly, the rise of the Roman empire will become a very important factor
in determining how soon the rapture of the church may take place.
One
of the great passages of prophecy in the Old Testament is found in Daniel
9:24-27, which predicts that there will be seven times seventy years of
Israel's
prophetic
future. While it is very complicated and various theories have arisen about it,
if it has to be fulfilled literally, the last seven years are
still
future. The first 69 sevens, or 483 years, were fulfilled just before the
crucifixion of Christ when the Messiah was cut off. But the last seven
years
has never been fulfilled, and it will become an important element of the
chronology of the end times.
In
Daniel's revelation of the seventy sevens, or 490 years of Israel's prophetic
future, a ruler will come on the scene during the last seven years that
lead
up to the Second Coming of Christ. He is described in Daniel 9:26 as "the
ruler who will come." The same verse refers to the people of the ruler who
destroyed
the city in 70 A.D. But the ruler is a future ruler who at the end time does
not destroy the city but does take control. According to verse 27
he
will confirm a covenant with many for one seven. These are the last seven years
of Israel's future. The covenant that the ruler imposes on Israel is
a
covenant of peace attempting to solve the problem of Israel in relation to the
world around her.
The
first half of the seven years is marked off as a special time. There is some
debate among scholars as to what events take place, but a probable solution
is
that it will introduce a temporary time of peace for Israel during which Israel
can relax from its present military preparedness and rely upon this
ruler
to defend them. However, this will be interrupted, according to Ezekiel 38 and
39, by an invasion from the north of six countries. All of these countries
are
named except the country from the far north, which is probably one or more of
the states formerly in the Soviet Union. Because they are largely Moslems,
they
would love to attack Israel, and this is in prospect for this period. As
Ezekiel 38 and 39 make clear, however, God intervenes and by a series of
catastrophes
wipes out the invaders.
The
attack is an attempt to weaken the power of the ruler of the ten nations
because he is Israel's protector. But when the invaders are defeated, their
bodies
scattered throughout the land, it tends to enhance the power of the ruler of
the ten nations and makes it possible for him to extend his power over
the
whole world in the middle of the last seven years. This is anticipated in
Daniel 9:27: "In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice
and
offering." Apparently he will take over as ruler over the entire world.
Revelation 13:5 confirms that his rule will extend for 42 months and will
climax
with
the second coming of Christ.
This
period of three and a half years which is the climax of the preceding events to
the Second Coming is described in Scripture as the Great Tribulation.
Daniel
12:1 describes it as "a time of distress such as has not happened from the
beginning of nations until then." It is predicted that resurrections
will
follow of both the righteous and wicked. Daniel, like many Old Testament
prophets, does not describe the period between the two comings of Christ.
Actually,
according to Revelation 20:11-15, the wicked will not be resurrected until
after the millennial kingdom.
When
Christ answered His disciples concerning the end times, He described the same
period in Matthew 24:21, "For then there will be great distress unequal
from
the beginning of the world until now-and never to be equaled again." This
is a specific period of time beginning three and a half years before the
Second
Advent and concluding with the second coming of Christ. The common tendency to
blur this with the natural troubles which have beset the human race
from
the beginning is not justified by the description which the Scriptures give
marking this period as a special time of limited duration.
The
period of this end time is pictured in Revelation 6:1-19:10. Many expositors
think this extends over the entire seven-year period, but others find that
it
is primarily fulfilled in the Great Tribulation of the last three-and-a-half
years.
The
details given in the book of Revelation concerning the Great Tribulation are
unfolded first in the seven-sealed manuscript which describes terrible
judgments
on the world, including the destruction of one-fourth of the world's population
(Revelation 6:7,8). This is followed by another series of seven
called
trumpets. As these are sounded, devastating judgments will descend over the
world, a period described in Revelation 9:14 as "the great
tribulation."
In
the sixth trumpet, a third of the world and its population will be destroyed
(Revelation 9:15). This is followed by a series of seven bowls of judgments
which
will be poured out on the world.
In
Revelation 16, these are devastating judgments on the entire world. The final
one will be an earthquake and the graphic portrayal describes the total
destruction
of much of the world and its population. Revelation 16:18-21 records this
devastating situation that will destroy all the nations of the world
and
most of the people who are surviving to that point:
Then
there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe
earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on
earth,
so tremendous was the quake. The great city split into three parts, and the
cities of the nations collapsed. God remembered Babylon the Great and
gave
her the cup filled with the wine of the fury of his wrath. Every island fled
away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones
of
about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of
the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.
Armageddon,
in connection with the final judgments of Revelation 16, is mentioned in verse
16, "Then they gathered the kings together to the place that
in
Hebrew is called Armageddon." Armageddon is the English equivalent of the
mount of Megiddo, a geographic location in northern Israel located not too
far
from the
Mediterranean
Sea. It is not a very high mountain, perhaps 800 feet in elevation. To the east
of this, however, is the broad valley that extends through
some
14 miles and extends to several other valleys, which is described in Revelation
16:16 as the central marshaling place for the final great war that
will
be underway in the months just before the Second Coming.
Actually,
if all the Scriptures concerning end time events are put together, the war will
extend all the way up and down the nation Israel for some 200
miles
from the Mediterranean Sea all the way to the Euphrates River and millions of
men will be engaged in mortal conflict. On the very day of the Lord's
return,
there will be house-to-house fighting in Jerusalem.
According
to Zechariah 14:1-4, the nations will be fighting for power: A day of the Lord
is coming when your plunder will be divided among you. I will gather
all
the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the
houses ransacked, and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile,
but
the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. Then the Lord will go
out and fight against those nations, as he fights in the day of battle.
On
that day, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and
the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great
valley,
with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.
When
the nations see the glory in the heavens which will be the sign of the Second
Coming, they will forget their differences and unite to fight the army
from
heaven. This is why Satan will have arranged for them to be there. The war will
be interrupted and brought to an abrupt end by the Second Coming of
Christ.
As
the Scriptures have abundantly demonstrated, catastrophic judgments will lead
up to the second coming of Christ before this event happens. The coming
of
Christ brings to a dramatic close these events as described in Revelation
19:11-16:
I
saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is
called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes
are
like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on
him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in
blood,
and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him,
riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out
of
his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "lie
will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury
of
the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name
written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
When
the heavens break open with the glory of Christ and He begins His descent to
the world to take over, it is clear that this will be a time of judgment
on
the world. Earlier in chapter 19, the wedding feast is mentioned, referring to
the fellowship of Christ and the church in heaven. The Scriptures record
that
there will be a terrible feast at this time, the slaughter of the great armies
gathered there in the Holy Land, which will be destroyed by Christ.
In
the process, the world ruler called the beast and the false prophet who has
supported him will be captured, and they will be cast alive into the fiery
lake
of burning sulfur (Revelation 19:20), the final place of judgment for the demon
world and for the unsaved.
According
to Matthew 25:41, the lake of fire was prepared for the devil and his angels
but it also will be the place of final judgment for those who follow
Satan
instead of believing in Christ. Scriptures distinguish between the lake of fire
and sheol in the Old Testament and hades in the New Testament; these
terms
are used sometimes to describe the grave itself and other times the state of
people after the grave. Sheol and hades are viewed, however, as temporary.
In
the final resurrection of the wicked, recorded in Revelation 20:11-15, hades
will be emptied and those in hades at that time who are unsaved will be
cast
into the lake of fire, their permanent place of judgment. As far as the
Scriptures reveal, the beast and the false prophet will be the first to be
cast
alive into the lake of fire. It is most significant, however, that at the end
of the thousand years when the devil is also cast into the lake of fire,
the
beast and the false prophet will still be there and "They will be
tormented day and night for ever and ever" (Revelation 20:10). The beast
and the
false
prophet will not be destroyed by the lake of fire, they are predicted to
receive everlasting punishment along with that of the devil.
The
Second Coming itself will dramatically demonstrate the power of Christ. The
heavens will be ablaze with the glory of God compared to lightning shining
from
east to west as described in Matthew 24:27. The heavens will be filled with the
glory of Christ as He returns to earth accompanied by all the saints
and
angels who are in heaven. The church will be included in that dramatic
procession, having been raptured earlier and taken to heaven before the
tribulation.
Now
they will return to be with Christ forever.
It
will be the most dramatic moment in the entire history of the world as Christ
manifests His true authority which was hidden when He first came, but which
will
now be displayed to the entire world. As mentioned previously, according to
Zechariah 14, He will return to the Mount of Olives from which He ascended,
and
when He does, it will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley
down to the Jordan River (Zechariah 14:4). Apparently the whole topography
of
the Holy Land will be changed and Jerusalem will be elevated, as indicated in
Zechariah 14:10, and other changes will take place in the Holy Land. The
judgment,
which will begin with the casting of the world ruler and the false prophet into
the lake of fire, will continue as all the armies that are gathered
against
Christ will be easily put to death along with their beasts (Revelation
19:17-21). Other judgments will follow, including the judgment and binding
of
Satan (Revelation 20:1-3).
Matthew
25:31-46 predicts the judgment of the nations of the Gentiles still living in
the world. The sheep and the goats represent the saved and the lost
and
the separation will take place several days after the Second Coming. This
should support the concept that there will be no rapture or resurrection
on
the day of the Second Coming itself. The resurrection of those who died during
the Tribulation period who are mentioned in Revelation 20:4-6 also occurs
after
the Second Coming. The sheep-goat separation of Matthew 25 comes after the
Second Coming, and if there had been a rapture, obviously the separation
would
have already taken place.
Clearly
mentioned six times in Revelation 20, a millennial kingdom follows in which
Christ will reign on earth and bring justice and righteousness to bear
upon
the world situation. The climax will come at the end of the millennium with the
new heaven, new earth and New Jerusalem, and the beginning of eternity.
It
would be impossible for any writer of fiction to describe a scene of greater
significance or more sweeping events affecting the entire world than the
period
after the rapture of the Church. While the present world may seem to be one in
which God is not dealing with sin and correcting the evil that does
exist,
it is clearly portrayed that in God's time and in God's way, every sinner will
be brought into judgment. The only way of escape from the righteous
judgment
of God will be the grace of God provided in salvation through Jesus Christ. If
there ever was a generation that should be considering the claims
of
Christ and the desperate need of every soul to be saved and forgiven by faith
in Christ, it is the generation that is now living that may soon be plunged
into
these end-time series of events after the rapture takes place.