What is the end times timeline?

From the whole then, briefly: it appears plain, that the Lord may come at any moment to take His bride — the body — all believers joined by one Spirit during this day of grace — up to meet Him in the air. This may take place at any moment. Then the man of sin is revealed. The Roman empire reconstructed, forming ten kingdoms under one terrible head. The Jews gathered to Palestine in great wickedness, under the man of sin. Idolatry or abomination placed in their temple. Then the time of the great tribulation. The Church with the Lord during this day of wrath. Then Christ comes with flaming fire, taking vengeance on the rebellious nations. Then takes place the blessed thousand years' reign; after which, takes place the judgment of the dead. The old creation having entirely passed away, a new heaven and a new earth appear. The eternal state then exists. The order of these events is not founded on the interpretation of any one scripture, but shown from the simple teaching and harmony of all scripture.

Summing up, then, the subjects we have been considering, we have revealed to us the following: (1) The rapture of the church to heaven. (2) A temporary calm in the world, and the rising of a great leader of remarkable and comparatively peaceful success, who is rewarded with a crown ("a crown was given to him"). (3) The sealing of a remnant of Israel as servants of God, and their going forth to preach the gospel of the kingdom. (4) A parallel movement in the hardened Jews. Under the wing of the protecting power of Isa. 18, they enter into possession of their land, the temple is rebuilt, and ritual established. (5) Persecution and martyrdom of the remnant for the name of Jesus. (6) Cessation of the world's delusive peace, and the outbreak of wars and rumours of wars; but the end not yet. (7) The nations (western) come into a state of tumult and revolution with awful threatenings; society is alarmed, men's hearts failing them for fear. (8) Reconstitution of the Roman Empire in ten kingdoms, with Rome at the head. (9) The new power (the beast) confirms a covenant with the Jews for seven years. (10) The ten horns and the beast destroy the harlot (corrupt Christianity), utterly abandoning and ending Christianity, thus consummating the apostasy in the west. (11) The beast breaks his covenant with the Jews, abrogating the Jewish ritual, causing the sacrifice and the oblation to cease. This in the east is really the full consummation of the apostasy. The destruction of Christianity in the west, and Judaism in the east (10 and 11) prepare the way for "the man of sin." (12) Revelation of the man of sin — the antichrist and second beast of Rev. 13:11-18. (13) The gospel of the kingdom being preached in the whole world, the time of the end comes on. The accomplishment of the preaching being a matter of degree, the criterion which determines and characterises that time is the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. (14) The great tribulation. (15) Complete subversion of all government and the Son of man is seen coming in the clouds with power and great glory (Matt. 24:30).

The Lord has come once as the Saviour, almost two thousand years ago. He was crucified, accomplished the work of redemption, but is now in heaven. He shall return, for He has promised it. His second coming will have two phases. The first is the rapture, the parousia, when He will take His own into heaven. It will not be seen by the world and the world will not realise it happens. This takes place between Revelation 3 and Revelation 4 of Revelation. It is not directly mentioned because the approach the Spirit of God takes to events is different in Revelation. Then there will be a second stage of the Lord's second coming which is the epiphaneia, when the Lord comes back to earth with His saints. The first time He comes for His saints, the second time He comes with His saints in glory. In between those two stages of the Lord's second coming there will happen a series of events which essentially will take place in about seven years, though we don't know the precise time scale, and should not try to breach that secret. The seventh of the seven weeks — weeks of years — which will take place, is divided into two half-weeks, each of three and a half years. The distinction between the first three and a half years and the second three and a half years can be linked to that war in heaven referred to in Rev. 12:7 to 12. Michael the archangel and his angels will be warring against Satan and the fallen angels, and that will result in Satan being vanquished and thrown down to the earth and he will be furious. He knows that his days are numbered. This opens the last phases of the judgments. There will be another thing which happens at the same time. The image of the Roman beast will be set up in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, and this is the abomination which causes the desolation. The Jewish sacrifices and holy priestly service will be caused to cease. Those two events mark the beginning of the second half-week of Daniel (Dan. 9:27). I would think that the seals and the first trumpets take place in the first half-week of Daniel while the last part of the judgments, essentially the vials, will take place in the second half-week. I think the parenthesis of Revelation 7 takes place at least after the seals, but I would venture to say that the great tribulation is more in the second half-week of Daniel. And the second part of chapter 7 takes place after the tribulation because those saints have gone through the great tribulation and have been saved as the remnant of God. Chronologically it's very difficult to say.

Nor will this come until after the apostasy of Christendom leads to the revealing of "the son of perdition," the anti-christ. He will be revealed after the church is taken to glory, and before the middle of Daniel's 70th week (Dan.9:27). The last 3 ½; years of this is called "the great tribulation," and is initiated by the placing of "the abomination of desolation" in the temple area of Jerusalem. This is "the image to the beast" (Rev.13:14), raised by the anti-christ, and is the event that signals the advent of "the day of the Lord." Mr. Nee says that the day of the Lord "is the coming of Christ and rapture. But it is not so. The rapture is not the day of the Lord, but the coming of the Lord for His saints. And the day of the Lord begins some time before He comes in His great power and glory, for it involves all the terrible judgements of the 3 ½; year great tribulation. Compare 1 Thess.5:2,3; Joel 1:15; Jer. 46:10; Amos 5:18-20; Zech.14:1,2. That day of course culminates in His coming in His great glory, but the term even embraces the whole time from then until the heavens melt with fervent heat, and eternal conditions of glory are introduced after the millennium. See 2 Peter 3:10. Today is "man's day" (1 Cor.4:3 - margin), for God is allowing the will of men to exert and express itself in bold independence, until man exceeds to the point of brazenly, publicly challenging the authority of God by the bringing of idolatry into God's temple. This will begin "the day of the Lord," and "sudden destruction" will spread terrible desolation in Israel and the surrounding nations for 3 ½; years, at the end of which the Lord will appear in power and great glory, to subdue all under Himself. Compare Dan.9:27, Matt.24:15-30.

After the catching up of the Church, God will resume His dealings with Israel, and a selected sealed company will be entrusted with "the gospel of the kingdom" (Matt. 24:14), to proclaim it to the millions who have not heard the gospel of the grace of God. Then will come the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), when the abomination of desolation will be set up in the holy place (Matt. 24:15; Dan. 12:11), when Antichrist will sit as God in the temple and will demand universal worship (2 Thess. 2:4; Dan. 11:30-39), the head of a world-wide religious-political-commercial syndicate (Rev. 13:18). The persecution to which the godly remnant of the Jews will be subjected will be so severe that God will intervene about seven years after the rapture of the Church (Dan. 9:27), and will shorten the tribulation for the elect's sake. Then the Lord will come as a thief in the night with myriads of His saints to the Mount of Olives, and Antichrist will be destroyed with the brightness of His coming, and the Devil will be chained. Then the Lord will set up His kingdom in display on earth by a judgment of the living nations, when He will separate the sheep from the goats according to the way they will have treated His Jewish messengers (Matt. 25:31-46). That judgment has no reference whatsoever to Christendom or the gospel of the present dispensation. After the earth has been purified the Sun of Righteousness will arise with healing in His wings, and will establish His millennial kingdom, and will reign in equity for a thousand years.

He begs them "by the coming of the Lord and our gathering together unto Him" not to be disturbed by the rumours these false teachers were circulating, as if the day of the Lord is present. The Authorized Version has the misleading translation, "the day of Christ." (Equally incorrect is the translation, "the day of the Lord is at hand." The meaning is "present," that it had actually come. The same Greek word is also used in Rom. 8:38, "things present.") There is an important difference between the day of Christ and the day of the Lord. The day of Christ concerns the Church, the saints of God. The day of the Lord concerns the earth-- Israel and the nations. The day of Christ begins when He takes His saints in glory and they are with Him. The day of the Lord will bring, as stated before, the visible manifestation of the Lord from heaven. The day of Christ comes first and the day of the Lord follows at least seven years later. The following passages speak of the day of Christ, and it will be seen that that day is for God's people only (1 Cor. 1:8; 2 Cor. 1:14; Phil. 1:6-10, 2:16). The day of the Lord does not concern the saints at all; it falls on the world. Before the day of the Lord can come, His saints have to be gathered together unto Him. The promise of 1 Thess. 4:16-18 needs first to be fulfilled. He uses this hope of being gathered to Christ, when He comes for His saints, as a motive why they should not listen to those who said the day of the Lord is present. He reminds them of the fact that their gathering unto Him had not yet taken place. How, then, could the day of the Lord be present? And this opens the way for still more important teaching.

This day is to come, but 'it is near, and hasteth greatly' (Zeph. 1:14). It will not come before the manifestation of the man of sin, the Antichrist (2 Thess. 2:3). It will take place after 'the times of the nations' are ended through the destruction of the Beast, the head of the Roman empire, and the false prophet, the Antichrist (Dan. 2:37-40; Rev. 19:19 & 20). The judgment will then fall suddenly on apostate Israel, on the Assyrian and the nations which are enemies to Israel, and on 'all the nations' (Obad. 15). It will precede and introduce the reign of Christ on the earth. Paul clearly contrasts the coming of the Lord to take His own to Himself, a subject of hope and comfort (1 Thess. 4:16-18), and the day of the Lord, a subject of terror for the unbelieving world (1 Thess. 5:3). The Christians will be taken to be with Christ before the day of the Lord (Rev. 3:10).

Based on the situation described above, the following events, then, will take place in connection with the appearing of Christ. This list is not complete and in some cases the precise sequence of events cannot be ascertained. However, the following list contains some of the major events in the order in which they are likely to take place (any comments or additions will be greatly appreciated).

It may perhaps help to simplify this subject to those unacquainted with God's ways if we briefly sketch the order of coming events as taught in other portions of Scripture. Two great events are spoken of as before the Church and the world. These are the coming of the Lord for His saints, and the coming of the Lord with His saints. It is most important that the distinction, both of time and character, between these events should be carefully borne in mind.

Sound out the glorious tidings—Jesus is coming again! He comes as the glorified Lord to reign, but first He comes into the air to call His own. Mark the order revealed in those verses in 1 Thessalonians 4, coupled with the corresponding passage 1 Corinthians 15:42-54. First, the raising of the dead, or sleeping saints, in glorified bodies. Second, the changing of the living saints into an equally glorified condition in the twinkling of an eye. Third, the catching up, or rapture of all together into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and once with Him, to be with Him for ever.