Where I Stand On The End Times

A simple explanation of my current understanding of the last days according to Scripture.

I’ve always been fascinated with end times theology in the Bible. I remember as a little girl, watching the moon every night to see if it would turn “orange” - a sign that Jesus might be coming back soon. Sounds so silly now.

I read all the Left Behind books multiple times.

I studied the Book of Revelation more than any other book.

I also followed several pastors and teachers that spoke specifically on end times theology.

That interest fell away quickly as I became an adult and had more present and pressing matters to attend to. But here I am, back in the Bible now - sometimes for hours a day - and along with studying Torah and the Gospels, I’ve rekindled my interest in end times scripture & prophecy.

I by NO MEANS am an expert in eschatology. I do have a knack for vetting good scripturally sound books, I have decent intuition, a decent knowledge of scripture and classic interpretative techniques, and I can consume large amounts of information and distill it down quickly, and so what I’m going to do is give you a…

“Where I stand today with end times according to scripture as if I were explaining it to my 10 year old.”

Part of the problem with end times theology is that it’s complicated. It’s not just in one part of the Bible. There’s TONS of scripture in Torah (specifically in Deuteronomy), then more in the Prophets (Isaiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Joel), then Jesus talks about it in the gospels (Matthew 24), then we see it pop up again in Thessalonians, and then of course the book of Revelation.

Not only that, there’s all different types of writing. Is it literal, allegorical, is it linear, is the author jumping timelines, is it two-fold, is it layered?

And THEN (yes there’s more), we have the fact that Israel is at the center of a lot of this prophecy. How does the body of believers fit in? Are the promises of Israel literal or not?

And THEN (yep this too), we have the surge of AI technology and geopolitical news that often hints of scriptural prophecy, but then we don’t know where to fit it in the timeline.

It’s a lot.

I may update my position later but here’s where I’ve landed on what scripture teaches, and want to understand it enough to be able to explain it to a child.

According to Jewish belief, the world will follow the pattern of the 7 days the way God laid out creation.

• Creation: 6 days of work, 1 day of rest.

• Timeline: 6000 years of living in the age of work and toil, 1000 years of rest.

Christians call this 1000 years the Messianic Age. The age of the Messiah. Generally it unfolds in ages… like this:

• First 2000 years - Creation to Abraham

• Second 2000 years - Abraham to Jesus

• Third 2000 years - Jesus to Present Day

Let’s zoom in on the last seven years before Jesus returns.

One of the most fascinating parts about studying this is that it gives you a zoomed out view of the absolute scandalous level of love & patience that God has for His people. It’s remarkable.

It also helps to put today’s problems in perspective.

Here’s the easy-to-understand timeline I’ve come to accept as what scripture actually teaches in the plain meaning of the text.

All the scripture references are at the end of this article.¹

1. Seven years before Jesus returns, the Tribulation will start.

2. This will be marked by the rise of the Antichrist, and he will make a “false” covenant with Israel. There is no rapture here. We are all on Earth when this begins.

3. The majority of the Tribulation is Satan’s activity through human rebellion, allowed by God, not yet God’s direct wrath.

4. Halfway through the Tribulation, the Antichrist will break the covenant with Israel, beginning what scripture calls “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble”. This is when it’s also called The Great Tribulation.

5. This is when there will be deep persecution for those who believe in Jesus, but also a ton of people coming to the knowledge of Jesus.

6. This is when the mark of the beast becomes required for buying & selling.

7. As we get to the end of the Great Tribulation, we see the “Day of the Lord” approaching. This is the moment where two things happen.

8. Number one, believers in Jesus are raptured and given new resurrected bodies. Number two, there’s a remnant of Jews (that don’t yet believe Jesus is the Messiah) that are marked and sealed.

9. For the sake of argument, let’s say this is year 6 out of 7. That is not exact (for illustrative purposes ONLY). I’m just using an idea to make it easier to imagine. It’s called “pre-wrath” as the bowls and last seal mentioned in Revelation are directly speaking of God’s wrath being poured out. God spares His body of this wrath and believers are in heaven (scripture notes at the end to explain this).

10. During this wrath, the majority of the remaining population dies. Remaining survivors are mostly unbelievers, though some repent during this time — especially in Israel. The sealed Jews make it to the 2nd coming of Jesus because they were protected.

11. Jesus then returns (with all the resurrected saints). He comes to the remnant of Israel and rescues them, and defeats the Antichrist.

12. He then sets up His Kingdom in Jerusalem.

13. He binds up Satan in the abyss for 1000 years.

14. Jesus separates the “sheep from the goats” right before the start of the Millennium. With those that survived (several hundred million people left let’s estimate), he only allows believers into the Messianic age. Those who are not believers are removed.

15. The Millennium begins and there is prosperity, long life, and peace. This is when there is the Marriage supper of the lamb.

16. Resurrected believers reign with him. Those who are alive, who survived the Day of the Lord and believed, enter into this age with mortal bodies. They repopulate the Earth. Because the Earth is at peace there’s an explosion in population. People live a long time.

17. Because of the nature of God, He wants to give all these new people born during this century a chance to choose Him. At the end of 1000 years, Satan is released one last time. People must choose - allegiance to Jesus or to Satan.

18. All who rebel are consumed with fire, and those who are in Him are immediately resurrected into their new bodies.

19. Then every person who’s died as an unbeliever is raised to life and faces the Great White Throne of Judgment. They are judged according to their deeds. Then cast into a lake of fire.

20. A new heaven and new Earth is created and God dwells with His people forever.

This timeline and theology does several things: Follows the storyline of Israel faithfully without replacing the promises made to her. Keeps believers from the wrath of God but does not spare us tribulation. He specifically said we’d face tribulation, not wrath.

Continues to show grace, mercy, and patience that all would come to the knowledge of Him. You can even see that the Great Tribulation (giving Satan permission to unrestrain himself is a way to drive people to God through suffering).

It also assumes the plain meaning of the text from Torah, Prophets, Gospels, Epistles, and Revelation.

I’ve prayed and reflected a lot on the Israel-centric nature of all this. How does the Western world, the rise of AI, how does that all fit in?

I watched a YouTube podcast from The Diary of CEO where they were discussing this “future utopia” with AI. Aside from the fact that it goes directly against scripture, I do believe the technology of AI will be the infrastructure and system on which things spoken of in Revelation can actually come to pass. No AI is not the Antichrist. It’s just a tool. But it’s a tool that can be used for great evil or good. And in human’s case, we almost always exploit things of power for evil.

We as believers in Jesus are grafted into the promises of the Covenant. God is going to complete what He said He would do for Israel. We will co-reign with Him. But so much of end times theology flattens this. It pulls believers out of tribulation making it sound like we won’t have to suffer at all.

So what are the signs that point to the fact that the Tribulation is near?

• The Gospel is preached to all nations (Matthew 24:14)

• Increase in lawlessness, deception, and apostasy (Matthew 24:10-12 & 1 Timothy 4:1-2, 2 Thess 2:3)

• Alignment of nations against Israel (Zechariah 12:2-3, Psalm 83, Ezekiel 38-39)

• Tech infrastructure for more global control (Revelation 13: 16-17)

• Wars, instability, and fear (Matthew 24: 6-7, Luke 21: 25-26)

• Signs in nature (Luke 21:11, Revelation 6:5-8)

Every generation has thought they are close to the end times. And watching and waiting in a way that keeps you from focusing on your current relationship with God or your responsibilities here on Earth is NOT fruitful.

Are we truly standing on the edge of the Tribulation? I have no idea.

If you go with the 2000 year epochs and start from the resurrection of Jesus, does that mean the Tribulation kicks off in 2030-2033?

If you go with the Hebrew calendar, we’re in year 5785 which means it could be up to 215 years before Jesus returns?

If you don’t take a young Earth position or a Jewish one, then who knows!

Two books I’ve read (both are excellent, but a little heady) by Travis Snow. The Passover King and The 70 Weeks Jubilee. They are a lot to wade through, but if you’re interested, I highly recommend them.

The goal of understanding this theology is to understand the seriousness of sin. The astounding mercy of God. The patience He has. The urgency to live rightly here on Earth. The relief and gratitude that this life is not all there is. That there is HOPE for a beautiful future. That both Jewish and Gentile believers have a part to play. That God does keep His covenant, yes even to Israel. That tribulation is temporary.

I explained some of this to William the other day as we were reading together. As someone who loves numbers, he tracked with me the entire time. At the end, he looked at me, wide eyed and said, “Well Mom. That is quite the theory.” 🤣

I told him it wasn’t my idea, I just extracted it from the ancient text. He asked if we could read the Bible more together, and of course I said yes. ❤️

1. Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:21, Deuteronomy 4:30–31, Deuteronomy 31:29, Deuteronomy 32:1–33

2. Daniel 9:27, 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4, Revelation 6:1–2, Isaiah 28:14–18, Numbers 24:17–24

3. Revelation 12:12, Revelation 13:5–7, Matthew 24:9, Isaiah 24:4–6, Deuteronomy 31:16–18

4. Daniel 9:27, Matthew 24:15–21, Jeremiah 30:7, Isaiah 10:20–23, Ezekiel 20:33–38

5. Revelation 7:9–14, Matthew 24:9–14, Revelation 6:9–11, Isaiah 26:8–9, Isaiah 59:19–21

6. Revelation 13:16–17, Isaiah 55:1–2

7. Matthew 24:29–31, Joel 2:31, 1 Thessalonians 5:2, Isaiah 13:6–13, Isaiah 24:21–23, Ezekiel 30:2–3

8. 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17, 1 Corinthians 15:51–53, Revelation 7:3–8, Isaiah 26:19–21, Ezekiel 9:4–6

9. 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Revelation 6:12–17, Isaiah 26:20–21, Isaiah 34:8, Isaiah 63:3–6

10. Revelation 9:15–21, Zechariah 13:8–9, Revelation 7:3–4, Isaiah 24:1–6, Ezekiel 20:34–38

11. Revelation 19:11–16, 2 Thessalonians 2:8, Zechariah 12:10, Zechariah 14:3–5, Isaiah 59:17–20, Isaiah 63:1–6, Ezekiel 38–39

12. Isaiah 2:2–4, Zechariah 14:9, Zechariah 14:16, Ezekiel 37:24–28, Isaiah 11:1–10

13. Revelation 20:1–3, Isaiah 24:21–22

14. Matthew 25:31–46, Ezekiel 34:17–22

15. Isaiah 65:20–25, Micah 4:1–4, Revelation 19:7–9, Ezekiel 47:1–12, Isaiah 25:6–9

16. Revelation 20:4–6, Isaiah 65:20–23, Zechariah 8:4–5, Ezekiel 37:25, Isaiah 11:6–9

17. Revelation 20:7–8, Deuteronomy 30:19, Isaiah 26:10–11

18. Revelation 20:9, 1 Corinthians 15:52–54, Isaiah 66:15–16

19. Revelation 20:11–15, Isaiah 66:24, Ezekiel 18:30–32

20. Revelation 21:1–4, Revelation 22:1–5, Isaiah 65:17, Isaiah 66:22, Ezekiel 48:35

1. (Torah Eschatology - The Foundation - The end times begins in Torah, and here are the main readings that all the future scripture were built on)

Genesis 3:15, Genesis 9:25–27, Genesis 49:10–12, Numbers 24:7–9, Numbers 24:17–24, Deuteronomy 4:27–31, Deuteronomy 31:29, Deuteronomy 32:1–43, Deuteronomy 33:2–29, Exodus 15:1–21

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My official position is: Pre-Wrath Rapture / Historic Premillennialism with a Literal-Futurist Hermeneutic and a Distinct Future for Israel.

I believe Jesus will return to reign on earth for 1,000 years, just as the Bible describes. I hold a Pre-Wrath view of the rapture, meaning believers will go through the tribulation but will be taken to be with the Lord before God’s final wrath is poured out. I interpret prophecy in its plain meaning unless the text clearly shows it’s symbolic, and I believe God will keep every promise He made to Israel — including her future restoration in His kingdom. My understanding is built on the whole Bible, from the Torah and Prophets to the Gospels, Epistles, and Revelation.

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No AI was used to write this article. AI was used to gather all the scripture references. The books I recommend are linked in this article and I highly suggest you study Torah, Matthew, Revelation, and the Prophets Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel.