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Great Tribulation Scenario
Once the final 3˝ years of this age begin, the Great Tribulation also will commence. Then there will be several prophetic “dominoes” that will fall all the way until Jesus returns to earth, at the end of that 3˝-year period, to rule and reign.
I do make a few foundational assumptions; more details are at my website. Basically, I believe very strongly that Jesus, the Messiah, will return at the very end of those 3˝ years, at the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet, to make the kingdoms of the world become His Kingdom (Revelation 11:15,17). This will be on a Day of Atonement = Yom Kippur.
The length of time from the day the two witnesses begin to prophesy until the day Jesus returns to earth will be 1,260 days (Revelation 11:3) + 3˝ days (11:9,11) = 1,263˝ days or, rounding up, 1,264 days. Counting back 1,264 days from Yom Kippur typically will bring us back to Passover Week (which actually is the Feast of Unleavened Bread) 3˝ years prior.
I feel that a very plausible day to be day #1 is the Feast of Firstfruits = Easter Sunday (Resurrection Day). There usually is not a 1,264-day gap between the Feast of Firstfruits and the day of Yom Kippur 3˝ years later. It can be as little as 1,260 days or as much as 1,292 days. An example of a 1,264-day gap is counting from April 8, 2012, to September 23, 2015. Considering that Yom Kippur begins at sunset the evening before, this actually is closer to 1,263˝ days.
Both the permanent abolition of the daily sacrifice and the setting up of the abomination of desolation in Jerusalem should take place near the beginning of the Great Tribulation. For Daniel 12:11 to be fulfilled, I believe that there will be 1,260 days until the return of Jesus to earth plus 30 days more until the Battle of Armageddon, for a total of 1,290 days. Thus, it would seem that the two witnesses would begin prophesying about 3˝ to 4 days prior to the setting up of the abomination of desolation, perhaps warning people that it is imminent.
Finally, an additional 45 days will be added on to the 1,290 days (Daniel 12:11), completing the 1,335 days (12:12). From Yom Kippur to the beginning of Hanukkah is 75 days, and this would seem to be the ideal time to dedicate the millennial Temple—75 days after the return of Jesus on Yom Kippur and 45 days after the Battle of Armageddon.
Below is a basic list of Scripture references that I see as mostly a chronological order of events. Initially, some of the events may be known only locally, not globally. With time, though, people all over the world will be aware that all of these phenomena have taken place.
- Armies of some type will surround or encompass Jerusalem, for whatever reason. Whether these armies will be Israeli soldiers or some external military force is yet unknown. (Luke 21:20)
- The the two witnesses will begin to prophesy. Initially, they may alert people to the impending abomination that causes desolation to be set up and warning them to flee the city.
- In a supernatural war, the archangel Michael and his angels will hurl the devil and his angels out of heaven and onto the earth, where the devil will know that his time to accomplish his goals will be short: time, times and half a time or 3˝ years. (Revelation 12:7-10,12,14)
- The man of perdition or lawlessness, the Antichrist, will be revealed when the restrainer, Michael, steps out of the way; and the Antichrist/beast will exercise his authority for 42 months = 3˝ years. (2 Thessalonians 2:7,8; Revelation 13:5; Daniel 12:1a)
- An abomination that causes desolation, of unknown specifications, will be set up somewhere in Jerusalem. (Matthew 24:15)
- An unknown, unspecified number of people will flee Judea, the region in which Jerusalem is located. (Matthew 24:16; Luke 21:21)
- The ensuing Great Tribulation will be a period of the greatest distress for humankind from the beginning of the world up to that time. (Matthew 24:21)
- The False Prophet/beast will exercise the authority of the Antichrist/beast on his behalf, will perform great and miraculous signs to deceive the people of the earth, and will force most to receive a mark on their right hand or forehead, without which they cannot buy or sell. (Revelation 13:11-18)
- The opening of the Sixth Seal will cut short the Great Tribulation for the elect believers (Matthew 24:22, 24:29, Revelation 6:12,13)
- The Pre-wrath Rapture will take place, on one of the two days on which the Feast of Trumpets = Rosh HaShanah is observed; and believers who are caught up and away will enter heaven, having been taken out of the Great Tribulation. (Matthew 24:30,31; Revelation 7:9, 7:14)
- The Seventh Seal will be opened. (Revelation 8:1)
- God’s “day of vengeance” will ensue and will last for a year—the the seventh year of the 70th Week. (Isaiah 34:8, 61:2, 63:4)
- Jesus will descend to earth on the Day of Atonement = Yom Kippur, in conjunction with the blowing of the Seventh Trumpet, and will destroy the Gog/Magog armies at the first of two Final Battles. (Revelation 11:15-17)
- For 30 days, the Bowl Judgments will be poured out upon the earth, primarily on the kingdom of the Antichrist/beast. (Revelation 16:1-21)
- The nations of the earth will rage and conspire together against the Anointed One (Messiah), Jesus, the Son of God, who will be sitting on His throne in Jerusalem and ruling the world with an “iron scepter.” (Psalm 2:1-21)
- The Antichrist/beast and the kings of the earth will gather together to come against the Lamb, Jesus; but He will overcome them at the Battle of Armageddon. (Revelation 16:16, 17:12-14)
- As earth’s King, Jesus will rule and reign for 1,000 years: the Millennium. (Revelation 20:4)
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