The End Times in Chronological Order: A Complete Overview to Understanding Bible Prophecy

238 Pages·1.559 MB·English

by  Ron Rhodes

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS
EUGENE, OREGON
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Verses marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version.
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rights reserved.
All emphasis in Scripture quotations is added by the author.
Cover photo © Fotolia/sdecoret
Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota
THE END TIMES IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Copyright © 2012 by Ron Rhodes
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rhodes, Ron.
The end times in chronological order / Ron Rhodes.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 978-0-7369-3778-8 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-0-7369-4263-8 (eBook)
1. Bible—Prophecies—End of the world. 2. End of the world—
Biblical teaching. 3. Bible—Prophecies—Chronology. I. Title.
BS649.E63R52 2012
236'.9—dc23
2011042310
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means—electronic, mechanical, digital, photocopy, recording, or any
other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior
permission of the publisher.
To my son, David
Acknowledgments
I wish to publicly acknowledge and thank the late Dr. John F.
Walvoord, my primary prophecy mentor at Dallas Theological
Seminary (DTS) in the 1980s. I also continue to appreciate Dr. J.
Dwight Pentecost at DTS for his comprehensive courses on the
prophetic books of Daniel and Revelation. The insightful teachings of
Walvoord and Pentecost played a significant role in shaping my views
on biblical prophecy.
I am also brimming with gratitude for my wife, Kerri, not only for the
blessing she is in my life today but also for the blessing she was
during my seven years of graduate study at DTS. From the very
beginning, she has faithfully stood by me and my work, and I could
not have engaged in this life of ministry without her.
Finally, I remain eternally grateful to the Lord for blessing Kerri and
me with two wonderful children—David and Kylie, both now grown—
whose lives and Christian commitment are never-ending sources of
inspiration. Even as I write, David is busy taking seminary courses,
and Kylie just returned from missionary work in Ghana.
Praise to the Lord for His many blessings!
Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. Introduction to Biblical Prophecy
2. Prior to the Tribulation
3. The Rapture
4. The Results of the Rapture
5. The Church with Christ in Heaven
6. The Invasion of Israel
7. The Beginning of the Tribulation: The Emergence of the Antichrist
8. The Beginning of the Tribulation: The Temple and Signs of the End
9. The First Half of the Tribulation: The Lamb and His Witnesses
10. The First Half of the Tribulation: Judgments, Martyrdom, and
Apostasy
11. The Midpoint of the Tribulation
12. The Second Half of the Tribulation
13. The End of the Tribulation
14. After the Tribulation, Before the Millennial Kingdom
15. During the Millennial Kingdom
16. After the Millennial Kingdom
17. The Eternal State
Bibliography
Notes
End-Times Super Trends
About the Publisher
Preface
Thank you for reading this book. I hope it proves to be a blessing to
you!
To get the most out of it, you need to understand its layout. Each
chapter deals with the events in a particular time period in God’s
prophetic plan, and the chapters are in chronological order. The
specific prophetic events within each chapter are also arranged
chronologically. The opening page of each chapter lists the events in
the chapter, so navigating through the book is easy. The book is
designed to be a user-friendly chronological guide to end-times
biblical prophecy.
In some cases, the actual chronology of a prophetic event is based
more on theological inferences than on explicit biblical statements. In
view of this, there is room for some disagreement among Christians
regarding the timing of some prophetic events. The chronology
expressed in this book is faithful to the biblical text, based on a literal
interpretation of prophecy, and held by many devout believers in
God’s Word.
My prayer is that this book will help you to understand God’s plan
for the ages. I hope it will also help you get excited about God’s
Word!
Ron Rhodes
Frisco, TX
2011
1
Introduction to Biblical Prophecy
IN THIS CHAPTER
You Can Trust Prophetic Scripture
A Literal Approach Is Best
You Can Understand Prophetic Scripture
You Can Trust Prophetic Scripture
We are living in strange times. One very popular and influential
author—an Emergent Christian—says we cannot be certain about
anything, including such biblical doctrines as prophecy. We should
therefore dismiss any concern for such things as evidence, proof,
debate, and arguing for one position over another. All is ambiguous,
we are told.
As I read this author’s book, it struck me that one paragraph after
another was brimming with self-defeating arguments. For example,
he seemed completely certain that he was correct about his position
that we cannot be certain about anything.
He also asserted that there are no good reasons for what we
believe—and then provided what he considered to be good reasons
for holding that there are no good reasons for what we believe. This
kind of sloppy thinking is a reflection of our current culture.
A Certain and Trustworthy Revelation
In the Scriptures, God has provided everything He wants us to
know about Him and how we can have a relationship with Him. God is
the one who caused the Bible to be written. Through it He speaks to