Joseph Candel
1. Signs of the times
Happenings that Jesus said would signal His return and the end of the world as we know it are taking place today (Matthew chapter 24).
2. Rise of the Antichrist
A Devil-possessed man known as the Antichrist conspires to lead an anti-God world government (Daniel 8:23-25; 11:21,24; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
3. Confirming of the covenant
The Antichrist is welcomed as a savior when he initiates a seven-year agreement, or covenant, that temporarily brings a measure of peace and security to the world (Daniel 9:27a). This signals the start of the last seven years of man’s rule on earth.
4. Breaking of the covenant
Halfway through his seven-year reign, the Antichrist breaks the covenant (Daniel 9:27b), abolishes all religious worship (Revelation 13:7-8), and declares himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4).
5. Great tribulation
The final three and a half years of his reign is the time of greatest trouble the world has ever experienced (Matthew 24:21). The Antichrist government demands that the entire world worship the Antichrist and his “image”–which could be a computerized robot–and persecutes those who refuse (Revelation 13:11-15). A mandatory economic system is put in place, by which everyone is compelled to receive the “mark of the Beast” (Revelation 13:16-18). Meanwhile, God lets loose pestilences and plagues on the Antichrist and his followers (Revelation chapter 8; 9:1-11; 11:3-6), and God’s two special Endtime prophets lead the believers in performing miracles and defying the Antichrist, even as martyrs (Revelation 11:3,5-6; 12:11).
6. Nuclear war
At some point, possibly toward the end of the Great Tribulation, the Antichrist and 10 “kings” who have joined forces with him will destroy “Babylon, the great whore” in a final judgment (Revelation 17:12-13,16-17; 18:2,7-8).
7. The Rapture
At the end of the final three and a half years, Jesus returns to rescue His children out of this world and they receive new immortal bodies (Matthew 24:29-31; Revelation 1:7).
8. Marriage of the Lamb
In Heaven, Jesus unites with those He rescued in the Rapture, and at the Judgment Seat of Christ rewards His faithful children with eternal “crowns of life” (Revelation 19:7-9; 2:10).
9. Wrath of God
The horrific plagues of the great “wrath of God” are poured upon the Antichrist and his forces (Revelation 11:18; 14:9-10; 16:1-11).
10. The Battle of Armageddon
On a plain in northern Israel, the Antichrist musters his armies for his greatest campaign against the nations that still oppose him, but Jesus and His heavenly army, including the resurrected believers from throughout the ages, return to earth to utterly destroy the Antichrist and his forces (Revelation 16:12-16; 19:11-21).
11. The Millennium
The earth is restored (Isaiah 11:6-9; 14:7; 65:25; Hosea 2:18), and Jesus and His saints set up the kingdom of Heaven on earth, where they rule for 1,000 years (Daniel 2:44; 7:18, 22,27; Revelation 5:10). During this time the Devil, who plagued humankind throughout history and possessed the Antichrist, is bound and cast into the bottom less pit (Revelation 20:1-3), while those who survive the cataclysms surrounding Armageddon live on in a simpler but righteous world ruled by love (Isaiah 2:4; Revelation 2:26; 20:4-6).
12. The Battle of Gog and Magog
At the end of the Millennium, Satan is released from the bottomless pit for a “little season” and recruits followers who form an open rebellion against Jesus and His government–a rebellion that is obliterated in the Battle of Gog and Magog . The entire surface of the earth is re-created, and the Devil, along with death and Hell, is cast into “the lake of fire” (Revelation 6:14; 2 Peter 3:10; Revelation 20:7-10; 21:1).
13. The Great White Throne judgment
The unsaved of all ages are resurrected, stand in judgment before God’s throne, are rewarded or punished according to their works, and assigned to their places in the hereafter (Revelation 20:11-13; 2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:4; ).
14. The heavenly city and the new Earth
God’s great heavenly city descends to the re-created earth, and God and Jesus dwell in the city with the saved (Revelation chapters 21-22).
I just have one problem with all this: How can I simply believe a book? I have no proof, not evidence of where or the validity of Earth’s creation. Nor am I stating that The Big Bang is responsible for this whole mess.
I simply don’t know what to believe. There’s only one way to find out..and that’s after death. I don’t think anyone that has died has been able to tell us..
So…how…can ..you ..believe….?
I can at least speculate one thing: Something created something..Nothing could not have created this Something (LIFE).
It is very simple. Do what I did. Ask God himself. If He is real, one must presume He is all powerful and showing you His existence should be a simple task for Him. “Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find.”
Ask Jesus to come into your heart and show you the truth. I know He will answer. He always does.
And about coming back from the dead. A lot of people have come back to tell us about it. Just Google NDE or Embraced by the Light or life after death and you’ll find lots of stories. In fact there is one on our site here: http://endtimeinfo.com/2011/02/after-near-death-experience-boy-says-heaven-is-real/
Yes Thea, you speak the truth. Yahweh will be with you if you ask him to forgive and surrender unto him.