This present age of the world will end with the rapture of the church and a seven year period of severe natural disasters, war, and tyranny called the Tribulation. After the Tribulation, Jesus will return to the earth to begin His 1,000 year reign on the earth. Many Christians refer to the sequence of rapture, tribulation, and second coming as “the last days.” Some Christians fill their time searching for evidence Christ will return soon. Some believe the Bible instructs them to study the signs to know if the world is getting closer to the end.

The Bible gives no signs indicating when the rapture will occur, and the Bible does not command people to search the daily news to discover the signs of the times. However, in Matthew 24 Jesus describes events which will occur before His second coming. Those events include widespread war, persecution of believers, earthquakes, famines, wide spread plague, astronomic upheaval, and the installation of a despicable, polluting idol in the temple of God. In Matthew 24:33 Jesus said, “So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near– at the doors!” Undeniably, Jesus was teaching people to look for the signs which would appear before His second coming.

However, the only believers able to obey Jesus’ command are those who live during the Tribulation. Matthew 24 does not discuss the rapture, but the second coming of Jesus. The rapture is the sudden removal of all Christians from the earth. This event will happen “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” (1 Corinthians 15:52) The raptured saints will be lifted off the earth to meet Jesus “in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17) At that time all Christians will ascend to Heaven with Jesus, and will return to Heaven with Jesus without Him setting foot on earth.

The second coming of Jesus is His descent to the earth to conquer. He will come down from Heaven to the Mount of Olives, defeat the armies of the anti-Christ, imprison Satan, establish of His 1,000 year kingdom, and physically rule the world from Jerusalem. This event will be preceded by seven years of signs like those described in Matthew 24 and Revelation 6-19. These signs will make it plain to all who have eyes to see that the Second Coming of Jesus is close. None can know the precise moment of Jesus’ second coming, but those who are faithful to Him will recognize the cataclysms of the Tribulation as the final woes before the return of Jesus.

The rapture and the second coming are separated by the seven year period of intense tribulation. Nothing foretold to occur during the Tribulation has to take place before the rapture. Therefore, the Bible gives no sign which allows the Christian today to conclude we are close to the rapture. Instead, the Bible tells Christians to stand guard, be persistent in prayer, and be faithful in holiness until the rapture.

Many Christians rightly identify situations in the world which resemble events which will also happen during the Tribulation. Many Christians see a resemblance between current international tensions and the international conflict during the Tribulation. The present troubles may be setting the stage for the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy. They may not be. None will know until the prophecies are fulfilled. The Bible does not command Christians to identify the relative proximity of Christ’s return. The Bible commands Christians to be obedient to the Lord until He returns.

“The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” The day of the Lord is mentioned a couple dozen times in the Bible and is a significant idea in the study of end times. The term may be a little confusing because it is not actually referring to a single day, but a period of time. This phrase is an idiom, a phrase that means something other than the literal meaning of its words. Calling someone your sweetheart is an idiom. The literal meaning of a sweetheart- a sugary, blood pumping organ has nothing to do with the idiomatic meaning of sweetheart- someone you love deeply. Likewise, the day of the Lord is not an entirely literal phrase. It is an idiom referring to a period of Divine judgment.

The phrase is used in the Old Testament to refer to several different kinds of judgment. It is used to describe the judgment of Israel (Amos 5:18-20) and Judah (Ezekiel 13:6) for their idolatry. In the book of Obadiah the day of the Lord is used to describe God’s judgment upon certain Gentile nations. (Obadiah 1:15)

In most cases the day of the Lord is used to describe the return of Jesus to earth in judgment and to establish His millennial kingdom. The Bible describes several specific events as making up the day of the Lord. The seven years of the Tribulation (Joel 2:31; Matthew 24:21, 29; Revelation 6:12-13), the second coming of Jesus to the earth (Zechariah 14:1-2; Revelation 19:11-15), the thousand year reign of Jesus over the earth (Zechariah 14:8-11; Isaiah 11) and the destruction of this universe (2 Peter 3:10).

The most lengthy single description of the day of the Lord is found in the book of Revelation. Almost all of the events foretold in chapters 6 to 20 of Revelation take place during the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is described as a day of judgment (Matthew 25:31-46), of vengeance (Isaiah 34:8), of fierce anger (Isaiah 13:9) and of darkness (Acts 2:20). The day of the Lord will include the battle of Armageddon, a great battle against Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:2; Joel 3:14). The day of the Lord is a great and terrible day (Joel 2:11)

The day of the Lord will also be a day of restoration, of peace and of righteousness. (Zechariah 14:16-21). During that day the world will be restored to a portion of the perfection it had before man sinned, including the absence of predators and venomous creatures (Isaiah 11:6-9), long life (Isaiah 65:20) and the removal of all sorrow (Isaiah 65:19). In the day of the Lord Israel will no longer worship false gods. Jerusalem will be the center of universal worship of Jesus as God and King.

The day of the Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly. The coming of the day of the Lord is repeatedly described as coming without warning, like a thief in the night (Luke 12:39-40; 1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10) When the world is going about life as usual, with little thought to the things of God, then Jesus will return. The suddenness of the day of the Lord teaches us to ready ourselves now for that terrible day. We must heed the warning given by Peter in Acts 2:20-21. We must turn to Jesus and call upon Him for salvation from His wrath.

The Bible prophecies several things that will happen at the end of the world. I am a premilliennialist who believes Jesus will rapture the church, the antichrist will rule the world for seven years, those seven years will be a time of massive natural disasters and great tribulation, the seven years of tribulation will end with the return of Jesus to the earth, and when Jesus returns He will judge the wicked and establish His kingdom. The kingdom of Jesus on earth will last for one thousand years. At the end of the thousand years Satan will stir up a final rebellion against God. That rebellion will be smashed, the unsaved will be condemned to eternal suffering in the lake of fire, the entire physical universe will be destroyed and a new heaven and new earth will be created.

Those who hold to postmillennial and amillennial views arrange these events differently and do not believe the church will be raptured. However, the timing of the rapture is an important question for those with a premillennial perspective. Those who believe the church will be raptured are divided on when they think it will happen. A minority group believes the church will be raptured in the middle of the tribulation. The two most popular views on the rapture are pre-tribulational and post-tribulational. The post-tribulationist believes the church will be raptured at the very end of the tribulation when Jesus returns to establish his kingdom on earth. The pre-tribulationalist believes the church will be raptured at the beginning of the tribulation at or before the start of the antichrist’s reign.

A pre-tribulational rapture seems to fit best with the Biblical prophecies, primarily because of one compelling reason. Revelation 19 describes the return of Jesus to the earth in power and victory. Just before the description of Jesus’ triumphal return Revelation 19 describes a scene of great praise in heaven. The saints in heaven praise Jesus for His justice and mercy. The great multitude praises God for His powerful rule and they then say, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.” This marriage supper of the Lamb is the wedding feast for the bride of Christ- the church. The wedding feast of the church and Jesus takes place in heaven before Jesus returns to the earth. Therefore, the rapture cannot take place at the end of the tribulation when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom on earth.

The pre-tribulational rapture seems to be the best interpretation of the Biblical prophecies regarding the church, but the Bible does not give a definitive statement on the timing of the rapture. Faithful Christians who uphold Biblical truth reach different conclusions on the timing of the rapture. This matter is of great interest, but should not be a cause for controversy or division in the church.

The rapture is an event that takes place at the end of this age when living Christians are taken out of the world by Jesus. They do not die, but are “caught up” into the air and taken directly to heaven. After the rapture a horrible seven year time period will begin. This time is called the Tribulation. During the tribulation the Antichrist will come to power, every person on the planet will be forced to worship the Antichrist and terrible catastrophes will unfold on the earth resulting in the death of billions of people and widespread destruction of the earth’s surface. At the beginning of the rapture there will not be a single genuine Christian on the planet (though there will be many who claimed to be Christian.)

The time of the Tribulation will be a time of intense religious oppression. The antichrist will seek to crush every religion but the worship of himself. The Holy Spirit will be less active in the world and Satan is given freedom to be more active. The antichrist and his chief of staff, the false prophet, will be great deceivers (Matthew 24:24; Revelation 13:14). Satan is a liar, and the father of lies (John 8:44) During the tribulation he will be even more aggressive in attempting to keep men from the truth of salvation. On top this, the Bible teaches in 2 Thessalonians that God will send a strong delusion on those who live during the Tribulation. With all that the Bible says about the difficulty of coming to saving faith during the Tribulation, it would seem that none can be saved after the rapture.

But the book of Revelation specifically describes certain ones who will be saved. Revelation 7 and 14 speak of 144,000 Jewish men who will be specially marked out as servants of God during the Tribulation. These men will stand firm for the Lord in a world that is going mad with hatred for God. On top of this, the book of Romans says that all Israel will be saved. (Romans 11:26) The prophet Zechariah says that during the Tribulation many Israelites will be put to death, but God will be at work in the survivors to bring them to faith in Him. (Zechariah 13:9)

Despite great difficulties against faith and great persecution against Christians many in the Tribulation will trust Jesus as Savior. The terrible time of the Tribulation reminds us today of God’s wrath against sin. The Almighty God will bring to judgment all who persist in rebelling against Him. God will graciously forgive those who cry out to Him for mercy and salvation. Those who trust Him will not have judgement, but eternal life and eternal joy.

“It is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment.” (Hebrews 9:27) The Bible contains a number of references to coming times of Divine judgment. The references are scattered between the Old and New Testaments, prophetic literature and letters to the churches. Because there is no single passage which lists all the judgments, many wonder how many judgments there are going to be.

The Bible describes one judgment that takes place at the return of Jesus and two judgments that people will face after death. When Jesus returns, there will be a judgment dividing “sheep from the goats.” (Matthew 25:31-46) At this judgment those who survived the Tribulation will be separated into two groups. Those who trusted Jesus for salvation are the sheep that will be brought into His kingdom. Those who rejected Jesus are the goats that will be cast into eternal punishment.

After death, Christians will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:10) At that judgment believers will be given rewards based upon what they have done in this life. Each Christian will be examined for how he has lived for Jesus. The Judgment seat of Christ is not a judgment of sin. If we were to be judged for our sin, then we would all be condemned. All of the believer’s sin is covered by the blood of Jesus.

The judgment seat of Christ is an examination of service. The works of believers will be tested to see how they stand up in the light of eternity. If we have wasted our time, served wrongly or selfishly then our rewards will be lost. If we have served in obedience, with faithfulness and for the glory of God then we will have great reward in heaven. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)

The last judgment will take place at the end of all human history. The unsaved will be judged at the Great White Throne. (Revelation 20:11-15) All who are judged there will be condemned by God because they have not obeyed the gospel. The criteria of this judgment is simple. Have you believed Jesus is God who died on the cross for your sin? Have you cried out to Him to take away all your guilt? Have placed all your hope of forgiveness, heaven and eternal life in Jesus alone? If not, you are not saved. Your name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of LIfe. You will stand before the Great White Throne of Judgment and be condemned. I plead with you today to turn to Jesus and cry out to Him to take away your sin.

All who stand before the Great White Throne will be punished according to their deeds in life. Jesus’ words to the cities of Bethsaida and Chorazin indicate that rejection of the knowledge of Christ is treated more severely than gross sin. Those who have heard the gospel and have heard the Word of God will suffer a greater penalty. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrha were wicked, violent and immoral. They were destroyed by God for their wickedness, yet they will be treated less severely in the day of judgment than the cities that were eyewitnesses of Jesus and rejected Him. Those who hear the gospel and reject it will face a harsher punishment at the Great White Throne than even a murderer who never heard the Word of God.