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Jack Gutknecht
Supporter
At the end of the present Church Age, there will be the great tribulation followed by the second coming of Christ.
Jesus in Matthew 24:29-30 states, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days... the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory." In this passage, Jesus defines the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21) as beginning with the revealing of the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24:15) and ending with Christ’s second coming (Matthew 24:30).
Christ will return at the end of the great tribulation {the tribulation is described explicitly in Rev. 6-18} to institute a thousand-year rule from a holy city (the New Jerusalem). Those who come to believe in Christ during the seventieth week of Daniel (including the 144,000 Jews) and survive will go on to populate the earth during this time. Those who were raptured or resurrected previous to the tribulational period will reign with Christ over the millennial population.
Jesus will establish His reign on earth, which will last for a thousand years and be a time of unprecedented blessing for the church. At the end of the millennium, Satan will be released {"After that, he must be let out for a little while." —Revelation 20:2-3}
And he (Satan) will instigate a rebellion, which will be quickly crushed (Rev. 20:7-10). The unrighteous will at this point be resurrected for judgment (Rev. 20:12-15), after which the eternal state will begin (Rev. 21-22).
Aurel Gheorghe
Supporter
The millennium is the thousand-year reign of Christ with His saints in heaven - it takes place between the first and second resurrections (Rev 20:1-7. During this time the wicked dead will be judged; the earth will be desolate, without living human inhabitants, occupied only by Satan and his angels. At its close, Christ with His saints and the Holy City will descend from heaven to earth. The unrighteous dead will then be resurrected, and with Satan and his angels will surround the New Jerusalem - fire from God will consume them and cleanse the earth. The sin and sinners will be no more. (Rev 20; 1 Cor 6:2, 3; Jer 4:23-26; Rev 21:1-5; Mal 4:1; Eze 28:18, 19.) The time of trouble (or tribulations) begins with the wrath of the devil against God's children (Rev 12:17) and ends with the wrath of God against the ones who obey the beast (Rev 14:9, 10). In Matthew 24:21, 22 Jesus said that a time of trouble would come upon the world just before His return - it will more intense than any other in world’s history - also see Daniel 12:1; Luke 21 and Mark 13. This great tribulation corresponds with the time during which the seven last plagues of Revelation 16 will fall - see Revelation 15:1. These are directed at the ungodly and unrighteous (Rom 1:18). The tribulation also coincides with the Battle of Armageddon. Both take place immediately before Christ's second coming (Rev 16:16, 17). According with Revelation 18:8 this time will last one day. In Bible prophetic time one day equal a year (Eze 4:6; Num 14:34; Luke 13:32). So, when it says that "her plagues come in one day," it most likely means within, or less than, one year's time.
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