THE CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENTS

1 THE CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENTS IN CHAPTERS 4 TO 19 OF REVELATION by Ian Macintyre , University of the West Indies, 1985 A THESIS Submitted to the faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Religion at Reformed Theological Seminary Charlotte, North Carolina July 2013 ii Accepted: _____ Dr. Simon Kistemaker, Thesis Mentor _____ second Reader iii ABSTRACT The thesis supplements arguments against the view that believers will not experience the Great Tribulation by seeking to demonstrate that this view is inconsistent with the CHRONOLOGY of the MAJOR ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENTS in Revelation 4 to 19.

2 After outlining the incompatibility of this view with Jesus' ESCHATOLOGICAL discourses in the Synoptic Gospels and with Pauline teaching, the CHRONOLOGY is developed from an examination of the structure of Revelation and a futuristic interpretation of the visions in Revelation 4 to 19. Revelation 4 and 5 are viewed as introductory to the whole apocalyptic section of Revelation comprising chapters 4 to 22. The visions in Revelation 6 to 19 are seen as portraying a cohesive story which answers the question of whether God will judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge the blood of the martyrs.

3 The answer is that the blood of the martyrs will be avenged after all those who are destined to be martyred are killed, the final set of martyrs being an innumerable multitude who will be killed during the Great Tribulation on account of their refusal to worship the Antichrist or his image. When all the martyrs have been killed, God will inflict terrible judgments on the worldwide kingdom of the Antichrist, but will provide special protection for the remnant of believers on earth. The divine judgments will culminate with the return of christ who will destroy the kingdom of the world and establish His own kingdom instead.

4 The ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENTS depicted in Revelation 4 to 19 are presented as building on the CHRONOLOGY in Jesus ESCHATOLOGICAL discourses by providing additional information iv with respect to the rise of the Antichrist and the False Prophet, the persecution of the Great Tribulation, the preservation of a remnant of believers and the judgment of God on the Antichrist, the False Prophet, MAJOR cities in the kingdom of the Antichrist, and the kings, armies and other inhabitants of the earth who follow the Antichrist. Readers are therefore encouraged to be vigilant and spiritually prepared for the advent of the Antichrist and the onset of the Great Tribulation.

5 V CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .. vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ..1 2. STRUCTURE OF REVELATION ..8 3. STRUCTURE OF REVELATION 4:1-22:9 ..14 4. THE INTRODUCTORY NATURE OF REVELATION 4:1-5:15 ..23 5. THE CHRONOLOGY OF ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENTS IN THE SEVEN SEALS ..30 6. THE CHRONOLOGY OF ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENTS IN THE SEVEN TRUMPETS AND THE SEVEN BOWLS OF WRATH ..43 7. THE CHRONOLOGY OF ESCHATOLOGICAL EVENTS IN REVELATION 12-15 AND 17-19 ..58 8. CONCLUSION ..70 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..73 vi ABBREVIATIONS AD Anno Domini Rev.

6 The Book of Revelation 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION The belief that Christians will be raptured and will not experience the Great Tribulation is widespread among evangelical believers. Dispensationalism, as summarized by Berkhof,1 advocates that the rapture of the saints can occur at any moment, since there are no predicted EVENTS which must precede christ s second coming . At the rapture , christ does not come down to earth, but, on the basis of 1 Thess. 4:13-17, the saints are caught up to meet him in the air.

7 The rapture is also referred to as the coming of the Lord for his saints. It is followed by an interval of seven years during which the world is evangelized,2 Israel is converted,3 the Great Tribulation occurs,4 and the Antichrist or the man of lawlessness will be After these EVENTS there is another coming of the Lord with his saints,6 which is called the revelation or the day of the Lord in which he comes down to earth. At this 1 Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B.)

8 Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1996), 695-696. 2 Matt. 24:14. 3 Rom. 11:25-26. 4 Matt. 24:15-27. 5 2 Thess. 2:1-8. 6 1 Thess. 3:13. 2 coming , christ judges the living nations7 and ushers in the millennial As Berkhof points out, however, Matthew 24:9 to 12 and 21 to 24 and similar text in Mark 13:9 to 22 attest to the occurrence of the Great Tribulation before the second coming of Some Christians believe that the Great Tribulation has already taken place and that there is no need for Christians to be concerned about it.

9 In Last Days Madness,10 Gary de Mar argues that the EVENTS which christ predicted would take place before his second coming , have already taken place and that the second coming of christ which marked the end of the age was the destruction of the temple in AD 70. If this is the case and Revelation was, according to Irenaeus, written in the early AD 90s at the end of Domitian s reign ,11 then the prophecies of Revelation would have nothing to do with the second coming of christ . John was in exile on the island of Patmos when he received the visions recorded in Revelation.

10 His exile was a result of persecution by the Roman Empire. There is debate as to whether the persecution was under Nero in AD60s or Domitian in AD90s. Several points indicate that it was under Domitian. Nero s persecution was restricted to Rome. Nero blamed Christians for burning Rome, and the Christians in Rome were persecuted as a result. Domitian s persecution was more widespread throughout the Roman Empire. Domitian declared himself to be a god and required all his subjects to worship him. It is more likely that John was in Asia before his exile to Patmos than in Rome.