Order of Events – Part 1

When you have a lot to do, what is the best way to stay on task?  Be organized and get things in order!  Without order, there is chaos and it’s difficult to get anything done, don’t you agree?  In thinking about the end time events, it troubles me greatly that so many people seem to be confused.  They don’t know what’s happening.  It’s like when you’re driving along and all of a sudden you hear a siren and you don’t where it’s coming from.  You wonder what to do, Should I pull over, keep driving, stop?  One thing is for sure. You have to get out of the way to let it pass because, after all, it is an emergency and someone needs help NOW!  And in a disaster, you have to be prepared because lives are at stake.  So in thinking about the end times, how much more should we have some kind of idea of the order of events and also be prepared? 

I believe that before we can really come to understand the end times, we need to know some important things about God, as He’s revealed Himself in His Word.  First, our God is a God of order, and this is what I want to talk about.  This is a tremendously comforting thought that God has everything lined up and there’s nothing that surprises Him or happens outside of His creation that He doesn’t already know about.   

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. 1 Cor. 14:33  NIV 

The fact that He is a God of order is very obvious when we look at creation.  When God began creation as we know it (see Genesis 1), there was a definite order to it; first there was light, then there was water, then there was sky, then land, then vegetation and so on.  He created everything, and then He created man at the last.  And just look at the minute detail in which He created everything -- the miracle of a single leaf, each snowflake is different, each of us have different fingerprints, the different seasons and the miracle of birth and re-birth.  In each 24 hour day, there is an order, from sunrise to sunset. In Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 2a, it says:  There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, (NIV).  God’s creation is both beautiful and beyond explanation and everything has an order. 

If you look at the Old Testament especially, you can see how important order is to God – just look at the building of the Tabernacle in Exodus, and all the laws for worshipping God in Leviticus.  God’s ways were exacting.  In the New Testament, God chose a former lawyer, Paul, who also knew the Jewish laws to the letter, to write much of the New Testament.  The Bible was inspired, but it was also written by mostly learned men.  There is an order in marriage (the husband is the head of the wife, see Eph. 5:23) and there is a definite order in the Church (Christ is the Head of the Church, Eph 5:23; I Cor. 12:28) and also in the way things are to be done.  And so it is when it comes to the end times, there is a definite order and no reason to be confused about it.  He has told us everything we need to know. 

Just as there is an order to a single day, and there is an order to the seasons (one follows another even though one may last longer than another), I believe if you go back in time, you can start to see that the events concerning God and how He deals with man can be divided into definite time periods.  Bible scholars call these blocks of time dispensations.   This is plausible if you also believe that God is sovereign, meaning that God has complete power.  So if we put the two together, God is a God of order and He is sovereign, it only makes sense to also believe that we would be able to understand God in human history in terms of these blocks of time, or dispensations.  Most scholars derive their information from C. I. Scofield.  There are numerous sites online that talk about dispensationalism, and it is generally agreed that there are seven dispensations (seven is also the number of God).   I’ve listed the seven below and found that this link is one of the better sites to consult about dispensation theology (gracenotes).   The Seven Dispensations are:

1.  Innocence -- from the creation of Adam and Eve until they fell into sin.

 2. Conscience -- from the fall into sin to Noah's flood.

3. Human Government -- from Noah to Abraham.

4. Promise -- from Abraham to Moses.

5.  Law -- from Moses to Christ.

6. Grace -- from the death of Christ to the rapture of the Church (approx. 2000 years).

7. Kingdom --where Christ reigns for 1000 years, (the millennium).

(** NOTE:  For a simple explanation with Biblical references to each dispensation, go to this article).

Most would agree we are in the age of Grace (#6).  So what happens between now and #7 is the end of the age as we know it, which (I believe) will include the Rapture, the 7 Year Tribulation (where the anti-Christ rules) ending with Armageddon and the 2nd Coming of Christ, then the 1000 year reign (#7), and finally the Great White Throne Judgement.

About the Age of Grace

Most scholars agree that we are currently experiencing the grace of God (#6).  In other words, He is not raising His Hand in severe world-wide judgement as long as the Church is here.  Some have said, “But what about Japan?”  Others have said, “What about Haiti and Australia and other countries that experienced natural disasters?”  Yes.  All of this is happening.  No one thought the First and Second World War would happen.  In fact, my parents have said that during the Great Depression of the 30’s and during both world wars, that many people thought it was the end of the world and that Hitler was the anti-Christ.  

I have always believed and been taught that Jesus will not snatch away (meaning “rapture”)  the Church until the Gospel has been preached to every person in every nation (Matt. 24:14), and then the Jewish nation will take over evangelizing.  But I’ve also believed that things will get shaken up like we’ve seen happening to get us doing just that – preaching the Gospel to every person.  No one is exempt from the persecution of man, but I believe that according to Scripture, we are exempt from the judgements and wrath of God.  However, we are not exempt from His loving discipline.  What does it have to take to get us consecrated to Him and doing the tasks He’s asked us to?

I do NOT believe for one minute that we are left here to go through the tribulation so that our sufferings will make us worthy to meet Christ.  No amount of suffering can ever make us worthy, but thank God we are accepted by Him and counted as one of His own thanks to Jesus when He died on the cross and forgave us each and every one of our sins (see Eph. 6:1).  But of course we must first receive Him before we receive this great salvation!  Suffering does not make us worthy, but it might draw us closer to Jesus, that’s for sure.  And I sometimes wonder if the current wars and disasters are happening to bring many more to Christ than could otherwise happen.  And if North America goes through more of these types of devastating disasters, I think it is meant to shake us up more than anything.  But it is not an indication that we are being “judged” by God to become better Christians!  I just don’t believe He is going to cripple us in the last days, but rather He is going to strengthen us, so that we can finish the work He has set before us and go out in blazing triumph and glory to Him!  But this doesn’t necessarily mean we won’t be persecuted or go through difficult trials!  What could result is what we’ve all been praying for – repentance, renewal and revival!  After all, nothing can drive us to our knees or the Word quicker than persecution, trials and near-miss disasters, don’t you agree? 

Thank you for reading and may God fill you with hope and joy!