Dear Readers:
I want to update you for the lack of new posting these past few days. My elderly father is in serious condition in hospital which has necessitated me travelling away from home for a few days now. This situation has prevented me from writing but I hope to have the next segment of ‘Is this the end of the world’ series up shortly. In the meantime I have the following links are to two shows I recorded on the subject last week. I have also included a brief synopsis of the chronology of the end times events that I will detail in subsequent parts to this series.
In previous segments of this series it was concluded that prophecy of yet future events forms a major part of the Bible. Beginning in the OT and continuing in the NT, and culminating with the book of Revelation, the Bible provides an incredible amount of detail in regards to end of the world and the events that must come to pass as the world begins to end, and finally comes to an end with the return of the King of kings, and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, to set up His everlasting Kingdom upon Earth. As explained in preceding parts of the series, the events of the end will last some period of time, possibly as long as forty years. Any event that lasts forty years or thereabouts must by necessity occur in stages. Even the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert for forty years was not a continuous trek but was divided into clearly demarcated stages in which certain significant events occurred that propelled them towards the end, which in their case was the possession of the Promised Land. So too will the events of the end of the world transpire in stages over a period of time. Based on the book of Revelation, and supported by the gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, the end times events may be divided into three main categories with many significant events transpiring as a sub – category or within the time frame of the three main categories.
Before listing these categories and expounding upon them in detail, I want to clarify what I mean by terms such as ‘End of the World events’, ‘Last Days events’, ‘Day of the LORD’ events, and other such terms that signify the end of this world and the present age. As proven in part 5 and in previous segments, the events that are prophesied to occur that will signal the end of the world will transpire over the course of the lifespan of one generation. This is a time period that would be a maximum of 40 years, but in all likelihood will be shortened by a few years or else all life would perish on Earth. So the prophesies of the end of the world refer to the events that will transpire over the lifespan of just one generation which in this series will be termed ‘the last generation’. As proven in previous parts to the series the end of the age, and of the present world, will occur in stages that may last up to 40 years altogether. Based on Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation the end will transpire over three distinct stages or phases. The following is a brief summary of these stages and what transpires in them; I will fill in the details in the next segment.
STAGE 1 – THE ‘NATURAL’ STAGE / The ‘beginning of sorrows’
I have termed the first stage the ‘NATURAL STAGE’ since the events that will transpire in this stage will be of a nature that is not extraordinary or something that has not been witnessed on Earth in the past. Wars, famines, pandemics and earthquakes have been seen on Earth for thousands of years and the destruction that will be wrought in this stage is of the natural variety, not supernatural or cosmic.
Before the beginning – wars, rumors of wars – people screaming ‘this is the end’, this is the end but Jesus said for us to not be deceived; the end is not yet. Matthew 24:4-6 I believe we are currently living in these days which precede the beginning of the days of the last generation.
The beginning of sorrows – Wars, famines, pandemics and great earthquakes will cause much destruction and loss of life – this is the phase of the opening of the first four seals in the sixth chapter of the book of Revelation. This phase may last up to seven years and will result in the loss of human life of as much as a ¼ of the earth’s present population.
Short pause after the opening of the fourth seal when all four of the horsemen of the Apocalypse will have ridden and have wrought much destruction on a planetary scale. The destruction and loss of life will not necessarily be spread uniformly across the globe but some parts may be inflicted with much more severe destruction than others.
Enduring to the end – Judgment of the house of God by afflictions, persecutions, imprisonments, even death. This phase which is included in the first stage is timed between the opening of the fourth and sixth seal in chapter 6 of the book of Revelation. It will result in a great multitude of believers being martyred for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I will detail the expected events of stage 1 that I believe will begin very shortly, and the stages to follow in the next post.
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