The Chronology From Here To Eternity

Isaiah 46:9-13:

9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,

10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:

11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it.

12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness:

13 I bring near my righteousness: it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

Most are intrigued about the Biblical declaration of the future day of world judgment and of the beginning of eternity. This feature will lay out that basic chronology recorded in the Scriptures: 11 steps from here to eternity.

Step #1: One of the next events and the first in the 11 steps in this feature is the great catching up of the blood-bought followers of Christ to meet Jesus Christ in the clouds. This event is commonly known as the rapture. Acts 1:11:

Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.

I Thessalonians 4:13-18:

13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

II Thessalonians 2:1-4:

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

The great catching up of the children of God, and the son of perdition, the antichrist, going into the Jewish temple in Jerusalem and confessing himself to be God, appears to happen nearly simultaneously.

Step #2: Soon after the great catching up of the church, the nations of the world, led by the antichrist, will converge upon Israel with the intent to destroy the seed of Abraham from the face of the earth, once and for all. Zechariah 14:1-4:

1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.

4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

This battle is the great battle of Armageddon.  The Word of God declares that the sky will roll back like a scroll and Jesus Christ Himself will come down from heaven with His saints. He will set foot on the Mount of Olives, which will split in two, as the greatest earthquake of all time rocks the globe and the King of Glory will destroy the armies of the antichrist.

Step #3: Step number three on the way to eternity will occur when the proverbial "swords are turned into plowshares" and the "plowman shall overtake the reaper" during the 1,000-year reign of the Lord Jesus Christ here upon this earth, which begins directly after the battle of Armageddon. Isaiah 2:4:

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Amos 9:13-15:

13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

At the beginning of the thousand-year reign, commonly known as the millennium, Satan is bound up and cast into the bottomless pit for the duration of those years. Revelation 20:1-3:

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

Step #4: Revelation 20:7-10:

7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Step number four finds Satan loosed from the bottomless pit to gather carnal humanity to the final of all battles. But this time God’s children will not fight. God rains fire down on the enemy and destroys them.

Step #5: Revelation 20:11-12:

11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Step number five is the final Great White Throne Judgment.

Step #6: All of mankind will arise from the dead. Revelation 20:12-13:

12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Adam and Eve, and all their sons and daughters whose names are not found in the Book of Life, will stand naked in judgment before God. Nimrod will be there. Balaam, Ahab and Jezebel will be there. Ghengis Khan, Charles Darwin, and Adolf Hitler will be there. Carl Sagan, Pol Pott, the Palestinian suicide bombers, and everyone that "loveth and maketh a lie" will be there. No one will be absent from this muster. The dead shall arise to judgment.

Step #7: In step number seven, death, hell, and all whose names are not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life are cast into the Lake of Fire, which is also known as outer darkness. Revelation 20:14-15:

14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.

15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

This is a horrible place of eternal torment located somewhere in outer space. Some take consolation in the false idea that if they are found wanting in the Day of Judgment, they will suffer for a moment and simply cease to exist. To those I suggest the following: Matthew 25:45-46; Luke 16:19- 31; Mark 3:29; Matthew 18:8; and Revelation 20:10. The end for the unredeemed is eternal torment in the Lake of Fire.

Step #8: II Peter 3:10-12:

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

During step number eight, God destroys the heavens and the earth.

Step #9: God creates new heavens and a new earth. II Peter 3:13:

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Revelation 21:1:

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Step #10: This will truly be an eternal marvel. It is the final destination for all those who have made a covenant with God by sacrifice—the living sacrifice of their being unto the Christ of Glory. Step number ten is the magnificent and glorious city of God, called the New Jerusalem. It will be approximately 1,500 miles long, wide, and high. It will come down out of heaven to the new earth that God has created for those who have been purchased by the blood of His only begotten Son, Christ Jesus. Revelation 21:1-3:

1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

Revelation 21:9-27:

9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

The Lord Jesus said, John 14:2-3:

2 In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Step #11: Step eleven in the chronology of "here to eternity" is the beginning of eternity. Revelation 22:1-5:

1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

Revelation 21:3-5:

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

In review, the eleven steps from here to eternity are as follows:

Step #1: The great catching up of the church to meet Christ in the clouds.

Step #2: The Battle of Armageddon.

Step #3: Jesus Christ reigns on the earth for 1,000 years and Satan is cast into the bottomless pit.

Step #4: Satan is loosed from the bottomless pit to lead carnal earth in one last rebellion.

Step #5: The Great White Throne Judgement takes place.

Step #6: All of mankind arises from the dead for judgement.

Step #7: All whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life are cast into the Lake of Fire.

Step #8: God destroys the contaminated heavens and the earth with a loud sound and a fervent heat.

Step #9: God creates new heavens and a new earth.

Step #10: The New Jerusalem comes down out of heaven.

Step #11: Eternity begins.

Are you ready? Soon you will arrive at the end of your life’s journey. You are on a highway, and as with every highway, it leads somewhere. Faith in Christ Jesus and obedience unto His Words are the highway of holiness and it leads to eternal life and blessings. Romans 2:9 reads:

Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

Rebellion against God’s Word leads south into hell and finally to the Lake of Fire for all eternity. If you haven’t made a decision to surrender your life to Christ Jesus, do it today while time for you remains. Click on to "Further With Jesus," now. This could be the best day of your life.




References:

King James Bible

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