The Events of the End

A lot of people have the events preceding Jesus' return all mixed up. Many teach of a 1000-year reign of Christ on this earth and a pre-tribulation rapture of the believers, but these teachings are not consistent with all that the Bible says.

4 times in John 6 it says the true believer will be raised up "at the last day" (John 6:39,40,44,54).

John 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. (notice the Lord did not say “some” of the believers, but “all” will be raised at this time)

John 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

Also, in John 11:24, the scripture clearly says that the resurrection is "at the last day".

John 11:24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

And in John 12:48 it mentions that the judgment will also take place "at the last day".

John 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Notice in John 6:39 and Matthew 24:31 that "all" of God's elect are in view, meaning that they will all be raised up at the same time ...on "the last day".

Notice also in Matthew 24:29 God says that the resurrection and the rapture of the true believers occurs “immediately after the tribulation”.

So, to sum things up here, the rapture, the resurrection and the final judgment all occur on "the last day" which is the day of Jesus' return, and Jesus will come after the tribulation period

One reason so many get this all wrong is that they simply are not allowing the Bible to interpret itself. Instead, they apply their “own” meanings to terms and phrases in the Bible. They call this a “literal” interpretation of the Bible. But it is nothing more than using something other than the Bible itself to explain the Bible (see page The Bible Explains The Bible for more on this).

**Another reason so many have these events of the end all wrong, is that

they simply do not consider that God has written His Word in such a way as to hide truth from those who don’t have His Holy Spirit.**

It is not God’s will that those who do not have the Holy Spirit should understand many of the Truths in His Word, (Mark 4:11; 34; Proverbs 25:2) perhaps because with knowledge comes power, and it is not God’s will that unsaved man should have too much power -- ultimately he will use it for an evil purpose, not a good one.

The main way the Lord hides truth from those who are not saved is by using terms and phrases that are “spiritually discerned”. 1 Corinthians 2:14 explains…

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Now look at the preceding two verses: 1 Corinthians 2:12,13…

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.”

The words that the Holy Spirit has provided for us are the words of the Bible (see page called “The Bible Only”). And it is clear from this passage that we come to know the things of God by “comparing spiritual things with spiritual” things. God gives us more insight into how to understand His Word in Isaiah 28:9-11…

“Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.”

Here the Lord makes it evident that before a person can really begin to learn the deep treasures of knowledge in His Word, they have to be weaned from the “milk”. That is, they need to mature in understand past the elementary principles of Salvation. This is evident in Hebrews 5:12,13.

Many people and churches come to wrong teachings and doctrines simply because they do not have a good understanding of the basic principles of Salvation that the Bible speaks of. In this Isaiah 28:9-11 passage it is clear that many truths are built upon other truths which serve as a foundation of understanding. “Precept must be upon precept” Also it makes it clear to us that God gives us truth in His Word “here a little and there a little” that is, many times we only see part of a truth in a passage and the rest of it is in another passage. This is why we must compare spiritual things with spiritual (or scripture with scripture). Note also the last sentence in this Isaiah passage…It says, He speaks to us with “another tongue”, that is, “another language” (the word ‘tongue’ means ‘language’). It is another language, because, as we have already seen, it is a spiritually discerned language. As long as we allow the Bible to explain the Bible and define it’s own terms, then we do not have to worry about accepting a spiritual meaning of a passage. Many passages are intended to be understood in spiritual terms altogether. Others have a historical or moral principle, but convey a spiritual truth at the same time.

A person can sometimes understand how a particular term is being used in a spiritual way by doing what is called a “word study”. This can be done by using a book called a Concordance. A Concordance takes a specific word, like “water” and then shows every verse that that word “water” can be found in within the Bible. I recommend the Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance for doing this. It seems to be the most complete one available. Other concordances are also good, but may not show every verse a word can be found in. Once you have seen how a word is used elsewhere in the Bible you can then determine if God is assigning a spiritual meaning to that word.

If you have questions or comments about what I’ve shared here, you may be interested in visiting this web site >> www.WhatDoesTheBibleSay.com