Lesson #14

Course in Biblical Doctrine
Lesson #14

Doctrine of the End Times

• Because so much of the Bible is prophetic, a good understanding of the basic end time doctrines is very important.
• We have already seen how there is so much misunderstanding and differences of opinion regarding the interpretation of Bible prophecy.
• The same differences and interpretations are involved in the doctrines of the end times.
• The definition of terms:

• Millennium

• A period of time when Christ will rule on earth for 1000 years while Satan is bound for 1000 years.
• Read Rev 20:2-7
• Pre-millennialism

• A theological position that believes the event of the second coming of Christ will occur before the Millennium.
• This was the most widely held view in the early church and the most common today.
• Post-millennialism

• A Theological position that believes the event of the second coming of Christ will occur after the Millennium of 1000 years.
• Therefore, it is the church that rules for 1000 years and not Christ.
• Church rule causes the world to become better and better so as to usher in the event of the second coming of Christ.
• A-millennialism

• A Theological position that believes the event of the second coming of Christ comes after a spiritual millennium.
• Christ rules in heaven for 1000 years and not on earth.
• The Tribulation

• A period of seven years on earth when the Antichrist will rule the world.
• During this period of time, God will again deal with the Jews.
• Read Jer 30:7
• The Great Tribulation

• A term that is frequently used for the 7 year tribulation.
• However, more specifically Jesus referred to it as the last 3 ½ years of the seven year tribulation.
• Read Mat 24:21
• The Rapture

• A theological position that literally means “catching up”.
• Read 1The 4:13-18
• At some unspecified point in time, Jesus will come in the clouds to remove His church from the earth.
• This event is different than the event of the second coming of Christ.
• Pre-tribulation Rapture

• This is a theological theory that the rapture of the church will occur before the beginning of the Tribulation period.
• There is evidence that the early church believed in the pre-tribulation rapture of the church by a statement by Ephramin in 373 AD.

• “For all the saints and the elect of God are gathered prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.”

• Mid-tribulation Rapture
• This is a theological theory that the rapture of the church will occur at the mid-point of the tribulation period.
• The purpose for the rapture at this point in time is to protect the church from God’s wrath that is poured out on the whole world at the end of the tribulation period.
• Pre-wrath Rapture

• This theory is a variation of the Mid-tribulation Rapture.
• The theory indicates that the rapture occurs about ¾ of the way through the tribulation period.
• Post-tribulation Rapture

• This is a theological theory that the rapture of the church will occur at the end of the tribulation period immediately before the event of the second coming of Christ.
• The church, therefore, suffers all the plagues, wars, and the rule of the Antichrist during the tribulation period.
• The church age

• The period of time between the Day of Pentecost and the Rapture of the Church.
• The church is God’s means of spreading the gospel and maturing Christians in this period of time.
• The Battle of Armageddon

• The war that ends the tribulation period.
• The event of the second coming of Christ occurs during the Battle of Armageddon.
• The Great White Throne Judgment

• This is the judgment for all non-believers from the time of Cain to the end of time.
• All non-believers will be judged according to their works.
• All non-believers are sent to the eternal lake of fire.

• Read Dan 9:20-27 The Prophetic Seventy Weeks of God’s Time Table
• This passage is one of the most important sections of prophetic scripture. This section is called the backbone of prophecy because it gives us God’s time table for the Jews and Jerusalem. It is the basis of understanding the time sequence of the last days and the book of Revelation.

• Gabriel

(21) = his name means “strong one of the strong God”. He is God’s heralding angel making announcements especially as regards Israel and the Jews.

• Phrase by phrase interpretation

(24-27):

• “seventy weeks determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city

” (24) =

• God divides time as to his dealing with Israel and Jerusalem.
• The word, “determined” = to cut off time from other periods, set apart, divided from.
• 70 weeks (“shabua“) = this is a prophetic phrase that literally is seventy sevens or 70 weeks of years (70 x 7 = 490 years) (Gen 29:26-28).
• God works with his people in cycles of sevens (remember the 70 year Babylonian captivity).
• We know the 7 weeks of years = 7 actual years because of Lev 25:8 (7 Sabbaths of years).
• The purpose of the 70 prophetic weeks:

• =1= “to finish the transgression”

= to put an end to Israel’s rebellion against God.

• Israel had consistently broken God’s law and commandments.
• This transgression will end at the second coming of Christ when Christ will rule on David’s throne. (Eze 39:24-25)
• =2= “to make an end of sin”

= to forgive Israel of their sins.

• Sin was judged at the cross, but it still reigns in the world. Because the nation of Israel has not accepted Jesus Christ as their Messiah, they are still in their sins.
• At the second coming of Christ, the nation of Israel will receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah. (Rom 11:26-27)
• =3= “to make atonement for iniquity”

= to forgive Israel for their supreme sin of the rejection of Christ at Calvary.

• When Jesus Christ comes again, they will accept him and this sin will be atoned for (Zec 12:10).
• =4= “to bring in everlasting righteousness”

= to make righteousness a way of life for Israel.

• It is only by receiving Jesus Christ into our hearts that we have righteousness. When the Jews receive Christ at the second coming, they will be made a righteous nation of people. That righteousness is for an eternal life with Christ. (Jer 23:6)
• =5= “to seal up the vision and prophecy”

= Daniel’s vision was sealed (Dan 12:9) until the time of the end. In Revelation the vision is opened (Rev 5:1-6:1).

• At Christ’s second coming, we see all prophecy fulfilled. There will be no more need for visions and prophecy as Christ will be present, communicating directly with his people. (Joe 2:27-28)
• =6= “to anoint the most holy

” = this refers to the Holy of Holies in the millennial temple.

• During the tribulation period, the Antichrist will desecrate the temple (Mat 24:15, 2The 2:4 Rev 13:15).
• When Christ comes, he cleanses it and Christ will be anointed the King of kings and Lord of lords. (Dan 12:11 Eze 43:2, 4-5)
• “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem” (25)

= the first official decree for re-fortifying Jerusalem and rebuilding the walls was issued by Artaxerxes i Longimanus in 454 BC (Neh 2:1, 4-9).

• “unto messiah, the prince” =

using a solar year of 365 ¼ days, 483 years brings us to 30 AD when Christ was crucified.

• “Seven weeks and three score and two weeks” =

7 prophetic weeks = 49 years

62 prophetic weeks = 434 years (threescore and two weeks)

1 prophetic week = 7 years

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70 prophetic weeks = 490 years

• “the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times”

= it took 49 years (7 weeks) to complete the temple and the city of Jerusalem.

• Then 434 years (62 weeks) until Christ came. There remains 7 years (1 week) left to be fulfilled with an unseen and undetermined interval between the 69th week and the 70th week. This interval period of unknown time is the church age.

• “Messiah be cut off but not for himself” (26)

= after 434 years Jesus was crucified on the cross for the sins of mankind.

• “people of the prince that shall come”

= the prince to come is the Antichrist. The people are those who follow him. This could not refer to Christ as they come to destroy.

• “shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”

= Titus, emperor of Rome, destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 AD. The Antichrist will seek to do it again in the tribulation period.

• There is a prophetic double reference here, so there are 2 fulfillments.
• “the end of it shall be with a flood”

= when prophecy begins to be fulfilled in the end time, the events start small and increase in frequency and intensity as the years draw closer to the second coming just like a woman in the labor of childbirth.

• “unto the end of the war”

= literally, unto the end shall be war. One of the signs of the end time will be war and the final war of the last days is the Battle of Armageddon.

• “He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week

” (27) = he is the Antichrist. He will sign a seven-year (1 week) peace treaty with the Jews. This is the event that begins the 7 year tribulation period.

• “In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease”

= after three and a half years into the tribulation, the Antichrist will break his peace treaty and turn against the Jews.

• “Overspreading of abominations”

= in the middle of the tribulation, the Antichrist will erect a statue of himself in the Jewish temple and demand worship.

• “until the consummation”

= the Antichrist will desecrate the temple for three and a half years until the seven year tribulation is complete.

• “that determined shall be poured upon the desolate”

= the pre-determined judgment of eternal death in the lake of fire will finally be fulfilled as the Antichrist and False Prophet are cast in that lake at the end of the tribulation period. (Rev 19:20-21)

• An important note:
• There is a parenthesis of time of about 2,000 years between verse 26 and verse 27.
• The schedule that we see fulfills scripture more completely is a Pre-millennialism position for the event of the second coming of Christ, and the pre-tribulation position for the rapture of the church.

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PRE-MILLENNIALISM

EVENT OF THE 2ND COMING

GREAT WHITE THRONE                                     JUDGMENT

CHURCH AGE	TRIBULATION PERIOD	MILLENNIUM		A LITTLE SEASON	ETERNITY
		SATAN BOUND		SATAN LOOSED
BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

 

POST-MILLENNIALISM

EVENT OF THE 2ND COMING

CHURCH AGE	MILLENNIUM	TRIBULATION	ETERNITY
SATAN BOUND		SATAN LOOSED
GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT

 

A-MILLENNIALISM

MILLENNIUM IN HEAVEN WITH CHRIST & ON EARTH IN THE HEARTS OF BELIEVERS

EVENT OF THE 2ND COMING

GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT

CHURCH AGE	TRIBULATION PERIOD	ETERNITY
SATAN BOUND	SATAN LOOSED
		BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

 

Pre-Tribulation rapture (pre-trib)

THE RAPTURE	THE EVENT OF THE 2ND COMING
THE CHURCH AGE	THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD	THE 1000 YEAR MILLENNIUM
	BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

 

MID-TRIBULATION RAPTURE (MID-TRIB)

 

THE RAPTURE

THE EVENT OF THE 2ND COMING

THE CHURCH AGE

THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD

THE 1000 YEAR MILLENNIUM

BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

 

PRE-WRATH RAPTURE

 

THE RAPTURE

THE EVENT OF THE 2ND COMING

THE CHURCH AGE

THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD

THE 1000 YEAR MILLENNIUM

BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

 

POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE (POST-TRIB)

		THE RAPTURE	THE EVENT OF THE 2ND COMING
CHURCH AGE	THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD		THE 1000 YEAR MILLENNIUM

BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON