Introduction to the Last Days: The End Times
After looking at the present Kingdom of God with all its blessings and missions, it is time to look at the future Kingdom. We have to distinguish these two Kingdoms. The Kingdom of God has already arrived, but at the same time, we are waiting for a future Kingdom, which we will refer to for convenience as the millennial Kingdom. In the present Kingdom, we live in today, and the millennial Kingdom is an event that will take place in the future. Before we look at this, we must get a picture of the end times and what events will take place.
Time Schedule
The schedule below contains some critical points on God's timeline. Everything that happens on earth is in God's hands. God began with the creation of man and established a covenant with Abraham and the people of Israel in the Old Testament. Through the Lord Jesus, the Gentiles became partakers of the covenant with Abraham, and reconciliation was brought to all who trusted Jesus. Jesus confirmed the covenant by outpouring the Holy Spirit, and today, we live in the time of grace. This is the time between the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the next point on God's timeline: the rapture of the church. Let us first look at a simplified schedule and then briefly discuss the events yet to occur. This will give us a deeper understanding of the millennial Kingdom and when it will dawn.
The Rapture of the Church
An elaborate study on the rapture of the church is provided in my book "A Revelation of the End Times: Why the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is Biblical." In this section, we will briefly study what the rapture of the church involves so we can have a good idea of what God's timeline looks like. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 speaks clearly about the rapture and what it is like. The rapture has yet to happen and is, therefore, a future event that could occur at any time.
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
Behold, I (Paul) tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
In the book of Thessalonians, we learn that the Lord Jesus will call the dead who are in Christ, and they will be resurrected. After this moment, the living Christians will be taken up in the clouds, and we will meet the Lord Jesus in the air. The book of Corinthians adds that the dead and the living will receive an everlasting (immortal) body, and their present bodies will be changed to an everlasting body in an instant.
The church's rapture is when the Lord Jesus calls us (the Christians), our bodies are changed to immortal bodies, we are taken up into the heavens in an instant, and we will be with the Lord Jesus forever.
No one knows when the rapture of the church will happen. There are millions of Christians on earth, and one day, they will disappear. Some are driving a car, others are sleeping, and others are running errands. The rapture has yet to happen, and the millennial Kingdom only comes after the rapture of the church and the second coming. This means that we are not yet living in the millennial Kingdom today.
The Great Tribulation
A dreadful period would occur on earth after the Lord Jesus has taken His followers. God is going to judge the world during this period, and God's wrath gets poured out on the inhabitants of the planet. In addition, God protects His people, Israel, and all Israel will be saved. The Lord Jesus said the following about this period:
For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:21)
It will be a tribulation that has never occurred before. We learn about horrific periods during history classes. Think of the world wars, the civil wars in the Soviet Union and China, and the crusades of the Europeans. Also, think of the famines, the natural disasters, the corruption and deception of certain governments, and the persecution experienced by Christians in North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, and Pakistan. Today, the world is "broken" badly in many places, and the Lord Jesus says, "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be." The great tribulation will be a dreadful period filled with wars, natural disasters, and hardship.
Christ's Return
After seven years of great tribulation, the Lord Jesus will intervene. He will come to earth with the saints. After His first arrival out of a woman and His "intervention" to collect His followers, it is time for Jesus to come to earth to rule as King over all nations during the millennial Kingdom of peace. During His first coming, He came to serve and suffer, while at His second coming, He came to rule. He will set His feet on the Mount of Olives, which is close to Jerusalem.
And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. (Zechariah 14:4)
The Lord Jesus is returning to earth to defeat the devil, his demons, and anybody who serves the devil and establish a millennial Kingdom of peace in which He is King. All of us on earth will see the Lord Jesus come from the clouds, but this is not the case with the rapture of the church. If it wasn't obvious already, by now, everyone knows that the Lord Jesus is alive and has all the powers.
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7)
The Millennial Kingdom
The Lord Jesus rules on earth with His followers during the millennial Kingdom. The devil is kept in chains for a thousand years, and the earth's inhabitants must obey the Lord Jesus. A time of rest and peace dawns, and people will not wage war against each other. Jesus will proclaim justice from Jerusalem, and all the nations must give Him honor. Next to the people, the earth will experience peace. Deserts will bloom like a rose, and the Lord Jesus will solve the climate crisis. Yet this time comes to an end because the devil is released after a thousand years and deceives people to wage war against the saints of Israel. Then will Lord Jesus destroy those who wage war, and the age of the earth will be over.
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while. And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:1-4)
Next is the new heaven and new earth, where the followers of God spend eternity in God's presence in a beautiful location.
Summary
The subject of end times is one large study. Nevertheless, I hope this short chapter has provided knowledge and insight. It is important to know the events that are yet to occur before the millennial Kingdom comes to reality. These are the rapture of the church, the great tribulation, and the return of Christ. After the Second Coming, the Kingdom of peace will take place where there will be a millennial peace with the Lord Jesus as the physical King on earth.