Future Dispensations and the World to come

 

Very simply: Time is split up into dispensations. 

A dispensation means a different way that God deals with man.

 

You've got the dispensation of Law and grace for example!

 

This section deals with the dispensations to come, for an overview of the whole history and future of the world, click here!

 

So start off by reading:

Daniel 9:20-27

 

Daniel was very upset with how his people were behaving, they were not following God at all. He prayed to God and asked what was going to happen to the Children of Israel. God spoke (through an angel) and said that from the moment Jerusalem starts getting rebuilt there would be 70 weeks or heptads (a Hebrew word like our word dozen, meaning 7-so seventy sevens) before everything would be put right. So basically what God is saying is, that in 490 years, a King will reign in righteousness (Is. 32:1) and all the troubles the Children of Israel are going through would be finished.

 

Soon, Jerusalem begins to get built again, (Nehemiah 2:58) and the God’s prophetic clock begins to tick. 490 years until this great moment. 

 

Jerusalem is built during the 7 weeks (49 years), it took so long because the builders mucked about it and it was a stop, start job. 

 

So then we have the 62 weeks (434 years) if we add those two together, we get 69 weeks, or 483 years. Guess how many years it was between the start of the building of Jerusalem and when the Lord rode in on a donkey before He was killed (cut off)?

Yep you guessed it, 483 years exactly!

(Ah, maths!)

 

So thats 69 weeks, what happened to the 70th?  

 

Well thats where we fit in. After Jesus was crucified and they rejected their Messiah, God’s clock paused. And the Church age is bought in. The Church is like a massive event in brackets, an important event, but still in brackets in terms of Old Testament prophecy. Nobody knew it was going to happen.

 

So what’s special about the Church?

 

• Spirit indwelling 1 Corinthians 12:13

• God has been revealed as Father 1 Peter 1:3

• We are the bride of Christ Ephesians 5:25

• We have the full Word of God available Revelation 22:18

• We will be united to Christ Revelation 19:7-10

• We will be raptured 1 Thessalonians 4:17

 

 

So…The Rapture, what exactly happens?

 

• There will be a great shout 

• The Lord will descend

• Dead in Christ will rise first

• We the living, will be caught up

• We will be changed, our bodies can’t handle living in eternity!

• Meet the Lord in the air

• Be together with the Lord forever

• This will all happen in the twinkling of an eye.

 

Blink your eyes, it goes dark for a fraction of a second. Imagine blinking one day, opening your eyes and seeing the Saviour!

 

This happens as soon as the last believer is saved, the Lord won’t hang around, the Spirit and Bride are calling “Come!”

 

Along with the church, the Holy Spirit leaves as well (2 Thessalonians 2:6)

 

Ok, so back to 70 weeks…

 

Now that the Church is gone, God gets back to dealing with His people. The 70th week begins, and it’s not a very good one if you’re a Jew! The Tribulation begins…

 

God begins to judge the Earth, so you get the bowl judgments, the seven seals and others as God send terrible wrath up the Earth and the people left upon it. 

 

Up steps the anti-christ (literally: against Christ). 

A man who claims to the Messiah. The Jews will accept him, and will make him King of Israel. He will reinstate the temple and begin to make sacrifices again. He will be empowered by Satan. Because of the terrible conditions of the Earth, the world will be crying out for a leader, the anti-christ makes short work of becoming a world leader, even worshipped for his charisma, charm, knowledge and wisdom. 

 

• He is the first beast from the sea (Revelation 13)

 

Also at this time…

• Completing the unholy trinity (Satan and Anti-Christ) is the False Prophet. A more religious man. He is spoke of in Revelation 13:11-15.

• He’s like a lamb, very attractive and innocent. Probably a great preacher and good with words, able to manipulate people. He speaks like a dragon, what he says gives away what his true inspiration is (Matthew 15:11)

• He gets an image of the Anti-Christ set up in the temple (Revelation 13:14).

 

This is the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15,16). He makes everyone bow down to it. Those who don’t are killed. 

 

He also sets out the mark of the beast. (Revelation 13:17)

Some sort of mark or piece of equipment that does not allow anyone without it to buy or sell anything. People are left with a choice, be killed by the followers of the anti-christ, or feel the full force of God’s wrath followed by a Christless eternity.

 

Meanwhile, the Jews preach an everlasting Gospel, a message that the true Messiah is coming. (Revelation. 14: 6, 7) There are also two witnesses during the Tribulation, sent from God.

 

It gets worse…

 

Halfway through the 7 year tribulation, Satan is cast out of Heaven (yes he still has access there!) He comes to the earth, furious and begins to make life even more unbearable for the Jewish people. (Revelation 12:7-17) The woman speaks of Israel. This begins the last part of the Tribulation known as the Great Tribulation.

 

What are we doing though?

Of course the church has been raptured and does not take part in any of the judgments. So what are we doing? Well, its purely speculation,  but many people believe that during this time that the individuals that make up the church will appear before the Judgment seat of Christ (Romans. 14: 10; 2 Corinthians. 5: 10).

 

Once our lives have been straightened out, and we see where we went with our lives, this event will then be followed by the marriage of the lamb. The coming together of the Bride and Christ. Never to be apart again. 

 

And back to reality.

Meanwhile, the Gentile nations begin a massive fight, they converge upon Israel. Motivated by Satan, there is a massive bloodshed, as he tries to completely destroy God’s chosen people. This is known as the Battle of Armageddon. (Revelation. 16: 14-16) Jerusalem will be ransacked and it will seems as though the anti-christ and Satan have succeed in their plan. Just as it seems there is no hope left, the Lord returns with his army, countless billions of soldiers, who wipe out the enemy in a second. 

The anti-christ and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 19:20)

 

The Appearing-The King sets up His Kingdom.

 Zechariah 14:3-5

The Jews will look upon their Messiah, with a sickening feeling, they will realise that the same man standing in power before them, was the very same Jesus who they crucified on that cross. (Zechariah 12:10, John 19:37). A new covenant is made with Israel (the same that we enter into spiritually now) (Jeremiah. 31: 31-34; Romans. 11: 27).

 

More Judgments

Before Christ can set up His kingdom there are a few matters to be dealt with. There are still people living on the Earth who will not accept Christ as King. This time, its like a reverse rapture. Those that treated the Jewish people well during the Tribulation will stay on the Earth for blessing, those that didn’t are taken off to await their fate. This event is metaphorically told as:

 

• The people left in the field or working the mill (Matthew 24:40) 

• The Wheat and Tares (Matthew 13:24-30)

• The Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

 

The Millennium

Isaiah 11

Micah 4

Satan is bound in the bottomless pit by an angel. The Lord reigns from Jerusalem. Israel is the prominent nation in the world. All the trade and business is directed through the city. A new temple is built and things are great. Not perfect, but things are dealt with in a perfectly righteous manner. The King is reigning in righteousness! Our place in the Kingdom determined by how we act now (Luke 19: 11-27) We will reign with Christ.

“They shall be priests of God and of the Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Rev. 20: 6).

 

 

 

The Final Rebellion 

At the end of the 1000 years, Satan is released. He gathers together all those people who didn’t accept Jesus during His reign. These will probably be the children and further generations of those who started the millennium. As all those who didn’t accept Christ as king at the start of the millennium were taken for judgment (see above) It’s like the Children of Israel in the land, their children didn’t care for the land in the same way that their parents did. 

 

There will be a great battle and Satan will finally be crushed. Satan is cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20: 7–10). The Antichrist and the False prophet are already there as well remember! The unbelieving dead are then raised to appear before The Great White Throne (Rev. 20: 11–15). This final resurrection is the “second death” (v 14)

 

Jesus will give His Kingdom to the Father, everything will be placed in subjection to God, that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:28). The Jews will live on the Earth, and the Church will be with Christ. 

 

From eternity to eternity thou art God

Psalm 90:2