THE CHRONOLOGY OF PROPHECY

By Charles Bassett 

IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND how all the pieces of end-time prophecy fit together, we must first establish a chronological framework. There has to be an overarching timeline on which to place those pieces. 

This article therefore establishes that timeline. It is a timeline which, in our view, reflects the teaching of Scripture.

We understand that some of our readers might disagree with this structure, however, our purpose at this point is not to argue for these positions, but merely to state them clearly, so that each reader might comprehend how we arrive at our conclusions.

Accordingly, we believe that a correct understanding of Scripture includes the following four concepts:

1. Dispensationalism - History Is Divided Into 7 Dispensations

Ever since God created man in the Garden of Eden, people have been justified by repentance (turning away from sin) and exhibiting faith (obeying the Lord.) However, the Lord has established seven epochs or "dispensations" specifying, in each, how man is supposed to exhibit that faith.

In chronological order, the dispensations include: 

• Innocence (Creation to the Fall)
• Conscience (the Fall to the Flood)
• Human Government (the Flood to Abraham)
• Promise (Abraham to Moses)
• Law (Moses to Christ)
• Grace (Pentecost to the Rapture)
• The Kingdom (the Millennium)

Currently, mankind is in the dispensation of Grace.

2. Futurism - The Events of Revelation Are Still Future

The events described in Revelation 4 through 22 (minus the background chapters of 12, 17, and 18) have not yet happened. They are still in the future. The Tribulation has not yet started. And neither the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, nor the Antichrist, nor the False Prophet, nor the Two Witnesses, have yet arrived.

By extension, this also means that the judgments of the Tribulation were not unleashed during the First Century (the preterist view), nor have they been steadily unfolding over the last 2000 years (the historicist view).

3. Pre-Tribulationalism - The Rapture Will Occur Before the Tribulation Begins

The pre-Tribulation Rapture is established by verses such as 1 Thessalonians 5:3, which tell us that the judgments of Revelation will begin so suddenly that unbelievers will not escape any of them – a statement which clearly implies that believers will escape all of them:

• 1 Thessalonians 5:3 – For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them [unbelievers], as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. 

This is reinforced by other verses which state that only "worthy" individuals (i.e., genuine Christians) will escape "all these things," that is, the judgments of the Apocalypse: 

• Luke 21:36 –  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 

4. Premillennialism - Christ Will Return Just Prior to the Millennium

Jesus Christ will return to the earth just before the Millennium begins. He will arrive on the clouds of glory and dispatch his enemies at the Battle of Armageddon. He will then head south to the city of Jerusalem and touch down on the Mount of Olives. The mountain will split in two and rivers of water will flow both east and west from the capital.

The Lord will then inaugurate a reign of peace, prosperity, and holiness that will last for a thousand years:

• Revelation 19:11 – And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 

• Revelation 20:4-6 – [A]nd I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished... Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Two additional notes on the basics of prophecy deserve our attention:

1. Prophecy Points to Christ

All Bible prophecy centers on – and ultimately points to – Jesus Christ. Therefore, any last-days scenario proposed by an expositor must reflect, or at least be consistent with, this principle. If it doesn't, then that scenario is almost certainly wrong:

• John 5:39 (NKJV) – You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.

• Acts 3:20-21 – And he shall send Jesus Christ…which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

2. Prophecy Occurs Within the Framework of Israel

Prophecy always takes place within the framework of Israel. Therefore, to understand and decode Bible prophecy we must view the prophetic Word through the lens of Israel's patriarchs, tribes, history, religion, feasts, leaders, and territory. This includes Jerusalem, the Temple, and above all the Messiah and his mission to save the Jews:

• Romans 9:3-5 – [M]y countrymen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises.