You guys have all seen the movies about the end of the world, with all the destruction and death, and a small group of rag tag humans fighting to survive each day.  Usually there is only a small amount of people left because some major catastrophe, climate disaster, or nuclear war hit the planet.  The earth is always dark and looks like a bomb just hit.  The special effects during the disaster scenes are usually awesome, especially nowadays with CGI.  Some of the things happening to the earth in those movies are not that far off from the things the Bible discusses happening at the end.  At the end of this age, the earth and the universe will experience levels of destruction never seen before.  The largest earthquakes we experience now will seem mild compared to what is to come. 

There is so much in the Bible about the end-times that I am struggling to try and simplify it into a chapter.  I figured I would put a quick list together here, and discuss what is most important to the Christian right now.  The rest of the bullets below you will have to study on your own; or wait for me to do a Bible study on it.  Here is what God told us is coming, but hasn’t happened yet:

• The rapture/resurrection of the Church .
• Elijah, a prophet from the Old-Testament will come back to Israel.
• The Antichrist will start to come on the scene.  He will broker a massive peace deal that will allow Israel to build their temple back on the temple mount in Jerusalem.  (A Muslim mosque sits there now.)   
• There will be at least one more world war that will start when the antichrist takes power.
• We will go from a world with hundreds of world leaders to only 10 world rulers, and they will all be under one man, the Antichrist. 
• Satan gets kicked out of heaven for good and is stuck down here.  This is not good news for the Jews and any Christians still on earth. 
• Satan eventually possesses the Antichrist, and he sits on the throne in the temple like God used to.  He goes back on the deal he made with Israel and desecrates the temple. 
• We learn that this period of time where the earth is being destroyed, and the Antichrist is killing Christians and Jews is called the tribulation period.   
• Before the 7-year tribulation period is over, most of the Christians who recently came to faith after the rapture/resurrection will have been killed.  Some will die in all the disasters to the earth, and many more will die due to persecution from the Antichrist and for not taking the mark of the beast.
• Satan, through the Antichrist, false prophet and the unbelievers still alive, will kill anyone who doesn’t pledge their eternal allegiance to him.
• The last 3 ½ years of the end of the age are called the great and terrible day of the Lord for a reason.  Satan will have his way going after and killing all the Christians and Jews in an unmatched period of martyrdom.
• In the very last days, Satan and his army of unbelievers will go to Jerusalem to try and kill everyone in the city. 
• They enter the city and kill 1/3 of the people before the whole nation of Israel, will all at once, call out for Jesus to help. They all came to understand Jesus was their Messiah at the same time, and they mourn because their ancestors killed Jesus, and they think they lost their chance.   
• The minute Israel calls out to Jesus for help, He comes back and destroys the enemy in a flash.  The example God gives is like a winepress.  Satan and all of his followers are the grapes that God will squish so that all their blood comes out like the grape being squished in the press.   It won’t be a  pretty site, but there is a reason Jesus does it that way.     
• This whole conflict and more are what many call the battle of Armageddon.  Turns out it won’t be much of a battle once Jesus gets involved.  
• After all the unbelievers in the world are killed, their spirits go down to sheol/hell as they wait until the end of the 1,000-year kingdom to be judged and sent to their permanent home in the lake of fire. 
• All believers on earth, and with Jesus from heaven, will enter the Kingdom and start to enjoy 1,000 years of peace and prosperity in Jerusalem. 
• Satan and his demons are locked up in Sheol/hell until the end of the Kingdom, when they will be let loose.  They will gather all the rest of the unbelievers born during the Kingdom, and head for war to try one last time to defeat God. 
• God brings fire down from heaven when the enemies get close, and they are all destroyed. 
• Satan and his demons are then thrown into their forever home in the lake of fire.  All unbelievers from the beginning of time are judged, given their new physical bodies, and thrown in to the lake of fire as well.   
• Next, we get a new heavens and new earth, and a new heavenly city of Jerusalem comes down from heaven and we live there forever.  (Believers only)
• God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit will all live in the new place with us. 
• There will be no Sun, God will be the light. 

Wow, that is a lot, and I didn’t cover a bunch of things.

 If you are a Christian, the next event you are looking forward to is either going to heaven after your physical body dies, or getting caught up in a flash while still alive on earth to meet Jesus in the clouds.  This is called the resurrection of the Church.  All Christians are members of Jesus’ church.  This event is the time when our bodies get back to the way God originally designed them…without sin.  Without sin there is no death, and the new physical body we get will match up with our perfect spirit and we will live forever that way. 

Did you know there is a judgement for the believers at this same time?  It is called the Bema seat.  Don’t worry, the Bible makes it clear that there is no condemnation that will be happening for the believers after we die, this is to judge the stuff we have done for God while we were here on earth.  If God says our service meets His qualifications, we will be rewarded in the 1,000-year Messianic kingdom.  The rewards are not spelled out in detail for us in the Bible, but they will be things we can use in the Kingdom.  Some rewards will include positions in Jesus’ government, or some kind of leadership role.  It could be the nicest house on the block; but again we aren’t sure.  One thing we do know is that God knows how to reward those who do what He asks of them. I am sure we will wish we took Him up on the offer for rewards when we see what they are.  These rewards will last forever; unlike any reward we get here that we leave behind when we die.   I’ll take whatever rewards I can get for the Kingdom life.    

Before you go rushing out to volunteer at the soup kitchen, you should know there are some disqualifiers God put in place to only allow certain good works to count for reward.  Good works are things we do to serve God that the Holy Spirit inside of us is leading us to do.  God knows our hearts, so if we are doing something for selfish reasons like to look good at church, or to brag to your friends, then it won’t be eligible for a reward in heaven.  God’s insight will eliminate a lot of things done for the wrong reason.  Next, God says we are supposed to do this stuff without letting anyone else know.  I blew it a few times when I first started reading the Bible.  Zach, Steph, and I went out and passed out a card with the gospel message I wrote out, and some cash to families in need.  I posted it on FB, not to brag, but so you all could see there is charity we can do.  I got all kinds of praise from the world, so I will lose my praise/reward for it from God.  He says if we get our reward here, there will be no reward there.  If it is possible, God says don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing.  Don’t seek praise from men, but from God and you will get a reward. 

So how do you earn these rewards?  There are countless ways, it’s all about what God is asking you to do. Here are a few examples:

• Tell a friend about Jesus
• Live a life that gets others to notice so they ask how you do it.
• God pulls on your heart to stop and give a few bucks to a stranger.
• God wants you to volunteer somewhere and you do it without bragging or seeking praise
• God wants to you be a loving parent who teaches your kids the Bible
• You stick up for your Uncle Bill when you hear his little sister picking on him.  (not sure about this one, but you never know…lol)

God gives each of us different ways we can serve Him while we are here and He is in still in heaven.  Some of us will have a much larger opportunity to serve than others, but everyone will have the same ability to get max rewards.  Billy Graham had a lot more time and people he could affect, but your rewards can be the same as his if you follow what God asks of you.

The one thing God asks of all of us is to be a reflection of Christ here on earth.  That means living a life that others will notice, and give credit to God for.  The only thing we can do here that we can’t do in heaven, is help unbelievers know who God is.  That is why we are still here.  God could have all of His children in heaven right now, instead we stay here for our whole earthly lives.  The only way to have a chance at being a reflection of Jesus, is by getting to know who He is.  You can’t do that without studying the Bible.  You won’t feel the peace inside that radiates out so others can see it, until you know the whole truth in God’s Word.  It will be hard to answer questions about the God you believe in when you don’t know much about Him. Make not mistake though, rewards are a bonus, not a requirement.  Only faith can save you, but serving God now has an incentive that we should all strive for.      

 

Let’s get back to that rapture event.  Why does God need to remove the Church from the earth?  Because something bad is coming, and it wasn’t meant for us.  There are a few movies about the rapture, and they are usually called left behind or something like that.  They are the same sort of plot as most of the end of the world movies, a small group of people fight for survival while trying to find out what really happened.  The fight is against an evil force, this time the antichrist and the false prophet.  I’m going to tell you that I think when the rapture happens, and all the Christians are caught up in an instant and brought to Jesus in the clouds,  most of the world won’t even notice.  There will be religious people all over the world saying it wasn’t the rapture, because they are still here.  The news will cover it up, and all that will be left are a few conspiracy theorists who nobody pays attention to.  If it happened today, there would be so many people left behind that most won’t even notice.  God doesn’t plan for the rapture to be a mass awakening event that leads to millions seeking God, so it must not be a worldwide panic when the Church is brought home to heaven.    

So when is it happening?  The timing is a mystery,  although you will see people all over the world try to predict the day.  There is a pastor in Africa who recently predicted the rapture was coming.  People were selling their homes and possessions because they thought they were leaving the earth soon. This happens every 10-20 years or so.  People can’t accept that God wanted it to remain unknown for a reason.   In fact, if you predict the date of the rapture, that guarantees it won’t be that day.  This panic that the false teacher in Africa started could have easily been avoided if the people knew the Bible.  The rapture is the only event that we can’t pinpoint or look for signs that have to happen before it.   It could have happened a few years after the Church started, and it could happen today.  We should always be ready for the day Jesus collects His Church. 

If we knew Jesus was coming back 20 years from today, how would we do things differently?  Maybe some of us would get moving on being a better Christian right away, maybe most of us wait until the last minute to get ready.  Think of it like me and your aunt Steph when we plan a vacation.  It could be 2 years away and I am already getting ready for it.  I’m ordering things for the trip, planning the itinerary, doing my research of the place, and visualizing myself on vacation almost every day until it arrives. (Yes, I’m a nut) Steph on the other hand, doesn’t like to waste all that time.  As soon as we get a few weeks away, she gets ready and we go.  God wants us to act like Uncle Bill and think about and prepare for His return every day even though it could be years or decades or even a century or two from now. (I think it will be sooner than later, but I’ll be prepared either way)   We need to be ready as if the vacation is today and we are packed and just waiting for our ride to get there.  Jesus wants us always ready for His arrival, this is why He told us no one can predict the day.

Now we get to why God is pulling the Church off the earth.  Because the last 7 years of the punishment Israel earned for breaking God’s law, will be coming soon after the rapture.  Chapter 24 from Isaiah below gives you some insight into how awful life on earth will be and what will be happening to it.  The book of Revelation then expounds on this chapter with more of the detail.   

Isaiah 24:1-23

‘Behold, the Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants. And the people will be like the priest, the servant like his master, the maid like her mistress, the buyer like the seller, the lender like the borrower, the creditor like the debtor. The earth will be completely laid waste and completely despoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and withers, the world fades and withers, the exalted of the people of the earth fade away. The earth is also polluted by its inhabitants, for they transgressed laws, violated statutes, broke the everlasting covenant. Therefore, a curse devours the earth, and those who live in it are held guilty. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. The new wine mourns, The vine decays, All the merry-hearted sigh. The gaiety of tambourines ceases, The noise of revelers stops, The gaiety of the harp ceases. They do not drink wine with song; Strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. The city of chaos is broken down; Every house is shut up so that none may enter. There is an outcry in the streets concerning the wine; All joy turns to gloom. The gaiety of the earth is banished. Desolation is left in the city And the gate is battered to ruins. For thus it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, As the shaking of an olive tree, As the gleanings when the grape harvest is over. They raise their voices, they shout for joy; They cry out from the west concerning the majesty of the Lord . Therefore glorify the Lord in the east, The name of the Lord , the God of Israel, In the coastlands of the sea. From the ends of the earth we hear songs, “Glory to the Righteous One,” But I say, “Woe to me! Woe to me! Alas for me! The treacherous deal treacherously, And the treacherous deal very treacherously.” Terror and pit and snare Confront you, O inhabitant of the earth. Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit, And he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare; For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken asunder, The earth is split through, The earth is shaken violently. The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard And it totters like a shack, For its transgression is heavy upon it, And it will fall, never to rise again. So it will happen in that day, That the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high, And the kings of the earth on earth. They will be gathered together Like prisoners in the dungeon, And will be confined in prison; And after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, And His glory will be before His elders.’

This chapter in Isaiah, which is in the Old-Testament, lays it all out for us in a very general, high-level way.  Isaiah is telling us about the last 7 years right before Jesus comes back.  In the Bible it is called tribulation, with part of it being the great tribulation. It is also called the time of Jacob’s troubles, and the great and terrible day of the Lord.  These last 7 years will be a time unlike any the earth have ever experienced.  Just look at some of the details in those verses. 

-The earth laid waste, devastated and distorted, and humans scattered.   

-There will be no class system, because aint nobody gonna care that you are rich if you are sleeping in a ditch. 

-“All” joy turns to gloom.

-There will be as many people left, as grapes are left after you shake the vine. (very few)  No one will want to be alive on earth during this time.

-Also notice that it talks about the curse in verse 6.  This is more confirmation that the curse on the earth is still in effect, and will be until it is replaced.

This is a great example of how God worked when writing the Bible.  Here is a chapter in Isaiah written around 700 years before the book of  Revelation was written.  In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, we learn the details of this chapter in Isaiah.  God revealed His plan over time and through different people.  He gave Isaiah this level of detail around 700 BC, then gave the apostle John the rest of the detail around the end of the 1^st century AD.  Think about it.  If you had a plan that was going to take years to get done, but you needed to make sure nothing or no one got in the way of that plan, would you share the whole plan all at once so the world had years to try and disrupt it?  No, you reveal only what needs to be known at each step along the way.  God did the same thing when first announcing a savior would come.  The closer we got to Jesus, the more the plan was revealed.   Guess what, the closer we get to the end, the more of the plan can be revealed.  There are parts of the book of Revelation that no one born prior to the late 1800s could have known, and only within the last 50 years or so has it become pretty obvious.  Time tells all.   

There are only 3 times in history that God showed mighty signs and wonders that the whole world could see and know they came from God.   The first time was in Egypt, then Elijah and Elisha and their huge miracles, then Jesus and all the miraculous things He did while He was here.  The next time the world sees such incredible power that they can only attribute to God, is during the tribulation period.  At first, the people living on earth won’t know God is behind it all, but it won’t take long before everyone knows who is causing all the chaos and destruction. When they realize it is the creator God, they don’t get on their knees to say sorry and ask for forgiveness, they basically give God the bird and wait for someone else to help them.  They find their “savior” in the Antichrist, because most will be happy with what he is doing during this time. It will look to them like the Antichrist is saving them from God’s destruction.  They later find out it was just a short period of peace for them.

Just in case any of you are here during the tribulation, I put together a page of things to look out for that will tell you if you are in it.  God gave us a list of things that have to happen before the tribulation period starts, so I will list them out for you in the back of my book.  In the meantime, Jesus gave us some really good detail so we know when we are getting close to tribulation.  He tells us that certain events will start to increase in size and regularity.  Jesus compares it to birth pangs.  When you first become pregnant, they are not really noticeable, but they get more severe, and come more often the closer you get to birthing that kid.  We can also look at the pain that comes before childbirth as an afterthought when the new birth comes.  The tribulation is painful, but at the end, a new birth:  the Kingdom. 

Here are the things Jesus said would increase in size and frequency the closer we get to the end.  There is much more we can cover in a Bible study, but here are a few:

• He tells us not to look for wars and skirmishes as a clue, but only world wars.  No one ever thought we would have the first world war, but now we have had two.  WWII was worse that WWI, and WWIII will be worse than WWII was.  The pattern Jesus talked about is definitely there.  Many people get worked up by any war that starts, and then try to show how its proof the end is near.  Jesus said only world wars count, so the sign is foolproof. 
• There will be more famines in the world and they will be more widespread.  The closer we get, areas that never had food insecurities will.  Look up info on world famines and you will see they are much more widespread than they have ever been. Had Covid lasted much longer, famines would have been in most of the world. 
• Earthquakes is another sign God gave us.  In keeping with the birth pangs theme, earthquakes will get more frequent, more severe, and show up in places they never were before.  I pulled earthquake data from the government website a few years ago and the trend is moving just as Jesus said it would.  The worst earthquake the world has ever seen is coming in tribulation. 
• False prophets will increase and mislead many.  Holy cow, I can attest there are way more false prophets than real teachers of the Bible.  I struggled to find Biblical based pastors and teachers, and I looked for years. 
• Lawlessness will increase and most people’s love with grow cold.  Boy if this isn’t happening now, I don’t know what is.  I just watched a Christian young man and father get shot in cold blood, and then his death celebrated all-over the place on social media, mostly from adults who influence our kids.  If that isn’t love grown cold, I don’t know what is. 

Lots of Christians worry that they will miss the second coming of Christ.  Again, that fear can easily be removed if you read the Bible.  God tells us there is no way a Christian will miss Jesus when he comes back to rules as king.  We won’t be fooled by anyone claiming Jesus already came, because we know the truth.  The Bible tells us that we will be with Jesus when he comes from heaven down to earth to rule.  How can we miss him when we are part of the procession that will follow right behind Him?  This is why the Bible tells us so confidently that we won’t miss Him, or the event.  Remember, that all Christians alive on earth before the 7-year tribulation, are raptured/resurrected and in heaven waiting for the Kingdom to start.  We leave to go back to earth with Jesus when he does.     

Even the people on earth at the time will all see Jesus when He comes back.  As you read from that chapter in Isaiah, the earth has been basically turned upside down.  There will be no electricity, and the sun, moon, and stars, will not give off their light.  It will be pitch black.  Then, out of the blue, comes a light so bright it will be seen from East to West.   Think of lightning, but constant without every stopping.  The contrast is how dark the earth will be, and how bright the Son of God will be on His way down.  God makes sure no one will miss Him. 

The First thing Jesus does when He comes back is crush the antichrist/Satan and his human and demonic army.  This is what most call the battle of Armageddon.  It is Satan and his crew against Jesus.  It won’t be a fair fight, and it will be over quickly.  God then moves to clean up the earth after all the destruction over the last 7 years of tribulation, and we all go into the Kingdom and start with a huge feast.  

After the Kingdom, when Jesus finally gets to show us what perfect rule is, this earth is destroyed and we are given a new one.  There isn’t a ton of detail on the new heavens and earth, and the prophets of the Old-Testament weren’t given any insight into it.  What we have is from the book of Revelation. 

Revelation 21:1-4

‘Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them , and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” ‘

There is a new city of Jerusalem that will come down from heaven for us to live in.  Check out the size of this city:  It is a cube, 1,500 miles long x 1,500 miles wide x 1,500 miles high!  Wait, what?  The atmosphere in the new place must be much different than what we have now, or maybe our new eternal bodies can handle altitude differently.  I can’t even image what that will be like.  The best part of it all, is that we get to live with the full Trinity or Godhead.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit will all be with us.  There won’t even be a temple, because God lives with us.  There is One God, in three personages, that is the Trinity.  God is One, but three.  I don’t think anyone will really understand how that works until we get to heaven, but I can give you more detail in a study down the road.   God the Father is not able to be with us here on earth now, or in the Kingdom later, because sin still exists in both of those times and places.  It won’t be until the new heavens and new earth come that sin will be gone for all time.  This why the Father can live with us there. 

  

By now you should all see that the end is just the beginning.  The place we live changes a few times, but we will live forever.  Will you spend eternity with God or separated from Him?   That’s the choice you have in front of you.  Unlike what some religions will tell you, the decision needs to be made before you die.  That is why there is always a sense of urgency to help people find the Truth.  We never know when our day will come.  We never know when Jesus is coming back for the Church, and we don’t want any of our loved ones to experience the last 7 years of hell on earth.