EXPLAINING HUMAN DESTINIES IN BIBLE PROPHECY (CHARTED)

Part II: Explaining Human Destinies Of The Tribulation Period

 

I.               Introduction

A.    Following our initial, single lesson on “Human Destinies In Bible Prophecy (Charted),” feedback from class members revealed the need for a five-part follow-up lesson series to explain key details of that initial lesson.

B.    Thus, we are teaching a follow-up series, using the chart of our initial lesson for clarity and detailing key subjects of that chart, and this second lesson in the series handles human destinies of the Tribulation Period:

II.            Explaining Human Destinies Of The Tribulation Period.

A.    After the Rapture of the Church comes the Tribulation Period, the 70^th “week” of Daniel 9:27, and we explain:

1.      The Daniel 9:24-27 KJV “Seventy weeks” was a timeline God gave to Daniel in the Babylonian Captivity, and this timeline runs from the edict to restore Jerusalem after the Captivity down to Christ’s Kingdom.

2.      The word “weeks” in this passage is “sevens” in Hebrew, and Dan. 9:24-27 tells of 70 sets of seven years as “Daniel had been thinking of the years of the captivity (9:2),” R. S. B., KJV, ftn. to Dan. 9:24.

3.      These 70 sets of seven years, or 490 years, entail God’s work with Israel, the “thy people” of Daniel (Dan. 9:24 KJV).  The Church is not mentioned in this timeline, for it was hidden until it was revealed in Paul’s ministry after Christ’s earthly life (Eph. 2:11-3:6).  The Church is hidden in the timeline at Daniel 9:26b!

4.      The 7+62 sets of Daniel 9:24-25, that is, the first 69 sets, or the timeline’s first 483 years, were fulfilled in the Hebrew calendar of 360-days-per-year starting with Artaxerxes Longimanus’ March 5, 444 B. C. decree (Neh. 2:1-8) to rebuild Jerusalem and ending with Christ’s formal presentation to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, March 30, A. D. 33! (Dan. 9:25; H. Hoehner, Chron. Aspects of the Life of Christ, 1979, p. 139) The first 7 sets (49 years) entailed the building of Jerusalem’s wall, public square and moat (Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Dan. 9:25) and the next 62 sets (434 years) entailed getting to Christ on March 30, A. D. 33.

5.      AFTER the END of the 7+62 sets, that is, AFTER the END of the first 69 sets of 483 years, at Daniel 9:26a, Christ was crucified and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its temple.  Today, we are at Daniel 9:26b when Israel faces war and desolations and the hidden Church exists and waits to be raptured!

6.      So, Daniel 9:27 is the 70^th set, the seven-year Tribulation Period, that follows the Rapture of the Church.

B.    Thus, after the Rapture comes the Daniel 9:27 Tribulation Period when the antichrist is revealed (2 Thess. 2:6-9) and forms a treaty with Israel.  Halfway through the Tribulation, or 1260 days or 3½ Hebrew years later, the antichrist breaks his treaty, defiles the temple (Dan. 9:27), and tries to destroy Israel (Rev. 12:1-17).

C.    Jesus in Matthew 24 predicted key details of this Daniel 9:27 Tribulation Period AND His Second Coming:

1.      Some say Christ’s Matthew 24 address refers to the Church, but Ephesians 2:11-3:6 shows the CHURCH was STILL HIDDEN in Christ’s earthly life, so Jesus in Matthew 24 told of God’s work with ISRAEL.  

2.      Thus, (a) Matt. 24:4-8 tells of the first half of the Dan. 9:27 Tribulation, (b) Matt. 24:9-15 tells of the middle of the Tribulation when Antichrist defiles the temple and pursues Israel (Dan. 9:27b), (c) Matt. 24:16-22 tells of the last half of the Tribulation, (d) Matt. 24:23-30 tells of Christ’s Second Coming and (e) Matt. 24:31 tells of God’s following worldwide gathering of believing survivors of the Tribulation.

3.      Some say that the Matt. 24:40-41 event where one is taken and the other left is the Rapture, but this event occurs at Christ’s Matt. 24:29-30 Second Coming, so viewing it as the Rapture makes it a posttribulation rapture that 2 Thess. 2:1-12 shows errs, for a posttribulation rapture errantly makes Christians face the Tribulation that is for those who reject Christ!  Rather, Matt. 24:40-41 predicts the angels’ taking of unbelievers to hell like the near context of Matthew 24:37-39 has unbelievers taken away in the Flood!

D.    During the entire Tribulation Period, God will provide 144,000 Hebrew evangelists who are sealed so they will be protected from the Antichrist and God’s judgments to be able to witness to people worldwide (Rev. 7:1-8), and people from all over the world will believe in Christ by their ministry, Revelation 7:9-17.

E.     In the first half of the Tribulation, God will raise up two witnesses to world rulers.  The Antichrist will kill them, but after 3½ days, they will be raised and ascend to heaven as a witness to the world, Rev. 11:3-14.

F.     Also, during the entire Tribulation Period, many believers will die and their souls will go to heaven until their resurrections that occur at the start of the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:4-6).  Some believers will survive the Tribulation period in natural bodies by living by faith in Christ (Luke 18:7-8; Matthew 24:13, 31).

 

Lesson: After the Rapture, the Tribulation Period will occur as a time of great trial but also of great evangelism.

 

Application: May we not give up hope on unsaved people we know, for they can be saved even after the Rapture.