Explanation of Timeline.
The following three timelines are essentially the same. They are the simplest timelines you will ever see, however, because they are a bit different from others it does take some explanation. They are based on the books by Mr Alexander which rightly divides the Word of God concerning the end times prophecies. This explanation is provided since most people skip reading of the contents of the book and go straight for the timelines.
The first thing that we want to notice is what we will call Gog Specific. This is an event that takes place before any of the other events of the end times ever begin. In the Ezekiel 38:1-6, Gog is identified as the bulk of Middle Eastern countries, including Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan, along with parts of North Africa. They combine forces before the anti-Christ rises to power in an attempt to destroy Israel. God intervenes and and destroys all but a sixth of the invading forces. After the defeat of this invasion force, the anti-Christ will rise to take over the ten nations which will provide him with his base of power. Revelation 17 tells us that the seventh king continues a short time, and then the beast, who is the eighth, and is of the seven, will take over. God never intervenes against the anti-Christ when he attacks Israel so the initial attack of Gog could not be the anti-Christ. Israel spends seven years gathering the spoil of Gog from the fields. This will be the same seven years as the anti-Christ peace accord. The spoil of Gog will be the provision of the 144,000 in the wilderness. The reason that this is called Gog Specific is because Gog will again attempt to overthrow Israel and the saints in Revelation 20:8-9 at the end of the Millennial Reign. That attack will meet with total destruction as fire descends from heaven to consume them. That attack of Gog will involve armies from a much broader group of countries”the four quarters of the earth.”
The second thing that we need to understand is that the Tribulation and the Wrath of God are two different things, times or series of events. They do not overlap at all, however, the anti-Christ is involved in both. The Tribulation is caused by the combined efforts of Satan, the anti-Christ and sinners, and is directed at the innocent, the saints, Jews and God. The Wrath of God comes later and it comes from God alone. It is directed at the anti-Christ and sinners who were the cause of the Great Tribulation. The entire Church is here during the Tribulation, but not one saint will go through the Wrath of God.
The Bible never tells us that Daniel’s seventieth week includes the Wrath of God. In Daniel 9:24-27 the Tribulation is described as the desolations of war after the daily sacrifice is taken away. In the rest of Daniel any mention of the anti-Christ is in connection with leading ten nations in war and devouring the earth. There is never any mention of a one world government. Daniel’s seventieth week begins with a seven year peace covenant between the anti-Christ and the nations which he controls, and Israel. In the middle of the seven years the peace accord is broken and the three and one-half year Great Tribulation begins. The anti-Christ makes the peace accord and then breaks it, and at the end of the entire seven years the Tribulation comes to an end. Daniel 9:27 makes it clear that the Tribulation and the defiling of the temple will continue “until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” Consummation means a total destruction, and that is what the Wrath of God will be. Those things that God has determined that He will pour out on the desolate ones will begin after the Tribulation is finished, or more accurately, after God cuts it short. It is God's intervention to cut short the activities of Satan and his the anti-Christ and to rescue His people by way of Rapture that brings a conclusion to Daniel’s seventieth week. That is exactly what Jesus said when He declared that He would come for His New Testament elect after the Tribulation of those days. He then likened it to Noah's time, when the flood started after entered the ark that would "Rapture" him above the judgment of sinners. So, the anti-Christ will make and then break the seven year peace accord, and then God's Wrath will come on those who caused the Tribulation and refused salvation. The anti-Christ will be around not only for the entire seven years of Israel's final of turmoil, but for the entire time of God's Wrath until he and the false prophet are taken and cast alive into the lake of fire.
The bold upward pointing arrow that divides the middle of the page is the Rapture. To the left of it is the Tribulation, and to the right is the Wrath of God. When the disciples of Jesus asked what the sign of His coming and the end of the world would be, it took Him half of Matthew 24 to finally reveal that sign. Then He declared for all to hear that immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun, the moon and the stars will go dark, and then the world will see the sign of Son of Man coming in the clouds for His New Testament elect. A few verses later He declared that it would be as in the days of Noah. The day that Noah entered the ark, God’s judgment came. The ark was Noah's "Rapture" out of a world of tribulation and unrepentant sin. On the day that the elect are removed from the earth, the Wrath of God will come. Everything that happens before the skies go dark is tribulation in the form of wars, famines, persecutions and natural disasters. Everything that happens after the the skies go dark and the elect are removed from the earth is wrath. God’s wrath is different, and consists of many of the things that we read about in the Revelation: stinging locusts, 200 million warring horsemen from the bottomless pit, the scorching sun, the rivers and seas of blood; these are the things that God has prepared for those who hate Him.
In the Book of Revelation Jesus opens a book that is sealed with seven seals. It is in effect the heavenly version of the Book of Revelation. The seven seals provide the same timeline that Jesus spelled out in Matthew 24. Seal 1 reveals the anti-Christ. Seals 2-4 reveal the Tribulation which he causes. Seal 5 reveals that many saints will be killed during the Tribulation. Seal 6 shows the 144,000 being sealed in their foreheads. They are born-again Jews, which makes them Christians, and as such take part in the Rapture. Immediately after they are sealed the entire Church is shown in heaven; whether of Jewish or gentile decent, the whole church is shown all together in heaven for the first time ever. Seal 6 is the Rapture of the Church. After the Church is delivered into heaven seal 7 is opened, which reveals the Wrath of God as the seven trumpets begin to sound. The Revelation repeats this theme and sequence three times from different perspectives. The seven vials, or bowls, of Revelation 16 parallel, reenforce and further enlighten us to what is taking place during the seven trumpets.
In Daniel 12:11&12 we are told that the daily sacrifice will be taken away 1335 days before the “blessing” which we refer to as the Rapture. However, in Daniel 8, which is a prophecy about the anti-Christ in the end times, we are told that the daily sacrifice will be taken away for 2300 days, and then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. That means that 965 days after the Tribulation ends with the Rapture of the Church, and the Wrath of God begins, the temple will be cleansed. The two witnesses have been universally assumed to be a part of the Tribulation, however, the truth is they appear as a part of the sixth trumpet judgment of God's wrath. In Revelation 9:13 the sixth trumpet is sounded and it is not until immediately after the two prophets are slain and raised up again that the final trumpet sounds in Revelation 11:14. The anti-Christ controls the temple for at least 1335 days before the Rapture when he stops the sacrifice. He seats himself as God 1260 days before the Rapture, and the Tribulation begins. The two prophets cannot occupy the temple during the same time as the anti-Christ and the abomination. They cleanse and sanctify the temple 965 days after God's wrath begins by kicking the anti-Christ out. Afterwards, they begin their three and one-half year ministry of torment against sinners as a part of God's wrath which He sent them for. There is absolutely nothing about their testimony that is of a conciliatory nature. They are not ministers of salvation, they are ministers of doom. They take part in the Wrath of God, and they mete out plagues and destroy their enemies at will until their 3 1/2 years of prophecy is completed. Since the two witnesses appear 965 days after the Wrath begins and hang around for 3 1/2 years, that means that the Wrath of God is over 6 years long, and presumably a full seven years since God’s number of completion is seven. We have to remember that the wedding feast of the Lamb is taking place at the same time. Since this is a Jewish wedding, we can expect it to last a full week. But, since God is the one who is throwing the party, we can expect it to be a week of years, or seven years to mirror the seven years of troubles of Daniel's seventieth week when the anti-Christ troubles the world.
This is just a quick explanation of the timeline and how things will actually unfold in the end times. For more, you are going to have to read the books.
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