Overview of the End Times

Here’s an abbreviated overview of the different opinions which divide people who study aspects of the end time prophecies. The big category is called Pre-Millennialism, which is the view that Jesus will return and rule the earth for 1,000 years. Here are some basic things that nearly everyone agrees on about the end times:

1) There will be a final 7 year period before Jesus Returns for the 2nd time.

2) In the middle of that 7 years, the antichrist walks into the forbidden part of the Jewish Temple (there is currently no temple) and sets up an idol of himself on the alter.  Doing such a thing is a serious offense to God.  The Bible calls this action the “abomination that causes desolation.” 

“And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week [7 years], and for half of the week [in the middle of the 7 years] he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” (Daniel 9:27, ESV)

3) Beginning at that point, the period gets an official name: the “Great Tribulation,” which is the lasts 3 ½ years of that seven year period.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.” (Matthew 24:21, ESV)

4) 7 Seals will be unsealed.  There is a book held by God (some think it’s a scroll) that is closed tightly with 7 wax security seals.  At different points along the 7 years, and some believe it may even begin before the 7 years, Jesus will begin breaking open those seals. As each seal is opened, we learn something significant that will happen on earth or in heaven.

5) 7 trumpets will sound.  As each trumpet sounds, some different calamity is described as being unleashed on earth or on men.

6) 7 bowls will be poured out.  As each bowl is poured out, some different calamity is described as being unleased on the earth, but 2 of the 7 are unleashed specifically on the antichrist’s followers or on his kingdom.

7) Regarding the order of the seals, trumpets, and bowls, most believe they will occur in the order they are introduced in the Book of Revelation: the 7 seals are all opened, then the 7 trumpets sound one after the other, followed by the 7 bowls being poured out.

8) After all the seals, trumpets, and bowls are finished and the 7 year period is complete, Jesus returns to reign on earth for 1,000 years, (The Millennium).

Now, let's delve deeper to explain how people diverge into at least three main camps, depending on when they think believers will be raptured (taken to heaven): before, during, or after the final seven-year period known as the Tribulation.

These differences hinge on the emphasis placed on several specific verses and the extent to which other verses, which may not support the doctrine to which they’ve aligned themselves, are excluded.

We'll begin by exploring the passages that describe individuals being taken to heaven by Jesus, an event some refer to as the Rapture.

“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 ESV)

Behold! I 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 imperishable, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)

Next are the verses that promise believers will be spared from the wrath of God.

. . . and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10 ESV)

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV)

1) Pretribulation view.  Believe that Jesus will come for the believers just prior to the very beginning of the 7 year period and therefore they won’t experience any of the trials of the final 7 years. They believe the entire 7 years is the wrath of God.

2) Pre-wrath view.  Believers will experience most of the trials of the final half of the 7 years, but Jesus will come for the believers before he unleashes God’s wrath.  They believe wrath will be released by God with the 7 bowls, because the bowls are referred to in the Bible as wrath.  They believe that bowl wrath will occur sometime after the midpoint, but before the end of the 7 year period.

3) Post tribulation view.  Believers will experience the entire 7 years.  Jesus will return to both take believers to heaven and, at nearly the same time, his Millennial reign will begin.

The risk of choosing one of these philosophies over another is that nothing is as clear-cut as it seems.  With over 5,000 verses associated with the end times, many of which go into much more detail than these, it seems inconceivable that people would align themselves so immovably based on just a few verses and exclude all others.