Last Times Basics (Part III)
- Tom
- Jul 31
- 4 min read
What the Last Times Will Look Like
Let's get a vision of what the Last Times will look like, a snapshot. The first thing you'll notice is that it won't be easy. There will be suffering, misery, hunger, and danger.
Yes, it's going to be bad for us on Earth. Things will be grim. Not that salvation won't come. It will, but we'll have to wait until the Seventh Trumpet to see it. And that's not going to happen until after approximately five painfully long years of:
World War
cataclysmic natural disasters
the Apostasy (the great Falling Away of the Church)
the implementation of the 666 financial system
Yikes! Let's get a snapshot of what this will all look like so that we can be better prepared for what we will face. Click on the link or image below for the timeline we're calling What the Last Times Will Look Like.
The defining events of the Last Times, ones that we include on the timeline, include:
The 10 Plagues of Egypt which prove that God does indeed send trouble and judgements upon the Earth to bring people to repentance.
The 7 Seals which, taking more than 3.5 years, will shake up the planet.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are the first 4 Seals and are merely the beginning of the end. Jesus calls them nothing more than "birth pangs."
Then there will be a pronounced increase in seismic activity: many Earthquakes!
The Wars of the Antichrist against Arab nations will protect Israel.
The Antichrist will be killed, but will be Resurrected--amazing the World.
The False Prophet, the Antichrist's biggest sponsor and promoter, will take center stage in global media.
A group of 10 Kings will rule with the Antichrist and dominate the World.
The 7 Trumpets will sound and with them the Great Tribulation will unfold.
The Rapture will take place at the Last Trumpet, the Seventh.
Angels will pour out the 7 Bowls of Wrath on the Earth. These are intended to be judgments against the kingdom of the Antichrist.
After perhaps 2 years of global dominance, the empire of the Antichrist will perish. The destruction and Ruin of Mystery Babylon will come.
The great battle of Armageddon will occur. Jesus will triumph over the Antichrist.
Jesus will return in Glory to establish God's Kingdom on the Earth.
A Restoration Period will prepare the World for Jesus' righteous rule.
Jesus Will Begin to Reign from his Throne and World peace becomes a reality.
Israel's Agricultural Miracle will bless the Promised Land and make it arable.
The Ingathering is the influx of Jewish people from every corner of the planet into Israel.
The Judgment of the Nations is when Jesus decides who will enter the Kingdom.
We Inherit the Earth when Jesus divides it up among us.
Animal Nature is Renewed so that all animals become tame and coexist peaceably.
The Millennium Begins and will offer our strong support to the Lord and King Jesus for a full 1,000 years.
Prepare for the Worst
As Christians, the times we are facing will not be easy. We will be hated. We will be persecuted. Remember what our Lord Jesus said:
If the World hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the World, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the World, but I have chosen you out of the World. That is why the World hates you.
Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me (John 15:18-21).
There will be intense persecution against Christians. Are you ready for it? Nobody can be completely prepared for the times we'll have to face, but if you suffer now, at least you'll be partially prepared. The systematic persecution of Christians is already on the rise globally, but expect it to intensify in the Last Times.
You've Been Warned
If you will stand on the Truth, preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and share the Word of God, you can expect to be hated and rejected. You can expect life to become very uncomfortable. Jesus warned us extensively on this sad reality:
All this I have told you so that you will not fall away... the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God... I have told you this, so that when their time comes you will remember that I warned you about them (John 16:1-4).
God will strengthen us, and will keep us from the temptation of denying Jesus, if we seek God's strength and courage. But we will suffer greatly--even to the point of defeat. As Jesus said, we've been warned.
Can you deal with defeat? The single most undertaught Bible verse is the one about the Antichrist's victory against the Church. People in churches simply don't want to hear it. But please read it, understand it, and prepare for it:
It was also given to him [the Beast] to make war with the saints and to overcome them (Revelation 13:7; NASB).