Timeline for the last seven years.
I am looking at the last seven years before Christ returns to claim His inheritance and to rule the nations.
In the first three and a half years two witnesses for God appear, proclaiming the day of vengeance of our God. The last three and a half years is the time of the rule of the beast plus the day of vengeance.
What is the day of vengeance? The day of vengeance is the day of God’s vengeance for His people which is during the “day of the Lord” which also includes the “day of God’s wrath.”
Christians do not go through the time of God’s wrath which happens during the rule of the beast (the Antichrist). 1 Thessalonians 1:10 tells us “to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come”. Romans 5:9, tells us that “We shall be saved from wrath through Him”. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 says, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” However the Jews (the non-Christian Jews, that is) do go through the “day of the Lord,” that is when Christ makes Himself known to them.
When Jesus first started His ministry, He went into the synagogue in Nazareth and read from the book of Isaiah chapter 61, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Then He closed the book. However the passage in Isaiah that He was quoting from doesn’t stop there but carries on with, “And the day of vengeance of our God.” That final part, “The day of vengeance of our God” was obviously not for that day, that day was the day of grace, when God accepts us by His grace when we believe on Christ. It is still the day of grace.
The ‘day of vengeance’ is yet future but will be proclaimed by Christ the Head, through His body before the day of wrath, in other words, when the two witness are on the earth fulfilling their ministry.
It is during the ‘day of vengeance’, that is, the last three and a half years, that Christ visits Bozrah in Edom (most likely the place that the Jews have fled to when the antichrist tries to destroy them) it is here that Christ takes vengeance on the enemies of Israel. Isaiah 63: 1-6 says, “Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, This One who is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength?— “I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is your apparel red, and your garments like one who treads in the winepress? “I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, and trampled them in My fury; their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all my robes. For the day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redeemed has come. I looked and there was no one to help, and I wondered that there was no one to uphold; therefore My own arm brought salvation for Me; and my own fury, it sustained Me. I have trodden down the peoples in My anger, made them drunk in My fury, and brought down their strength to the earth.”” In Isaiah 34:6 we read, “For the Lord has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom.” Then in verse 8 it says, “For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.”
Before the rule of the beast begins 144,000 Jews are sealed on their forehead to protect them from the wrath of God during this time. The Christians don’t need sealing because we are sealed when we receive the Holy Spirit to keep us safe until Christ returns for us, which is before the wrath of God. Three and a half years before the manifestation of the beast (antichrist) there are two witnesses who begin their ministry and bring the fear of God on the earth (Revelation chapter 11). Two is representative number for God’s witnesses so there could be many pairs of witnesses all over the world, but there will be two witnesses in Jerusalem, one being Elijah (or in the spirit of Elijah, as John the Baptist was). Malachi 4:5 says, “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.” I believe the body of Christ (His Church), which is one body with Christ as its Head will be one witness all over the world, their proclamation will be warning about the coming day of vengeance of our God. The witnesses will be the Lord’s functioning body (that which God has been preparing for this time); many Christians will not be mature enough at this time, so the witnesses will be what the Bible calls the ‘first fruits’ of the Lord’s body (Revelation 14:4, Exodus 34:22). The message they bring will not be acceptable to the mass of the people. These witnesses will have power to shut the heavens so that no rain falls, they can turn the waters to blood, and strike the earth with all plagues. No one will be allowed to stop them for three and a half years, until the beast arrives on the scene and is allowed to kill them. After three and a half days they stand up, back on their feet, and a voice from heaven says, “Come up here,” and they ascend to heaven. I think it most likely that these witnesses are the overcoming Christians of Revelation chapter 12:11, and are also the first fruits of the wheat harvest in Revelation chapter 14:4. After this, One like the Son of Man comes on a cloud and reaps the rest of the wheat harvest (the Church) which is now ready (this is all in Revelation 14). After the wheat harvest is taken then another angel comes for the vine (grapes) harvest, these are gathered into the great winepress of the wrath of God. In other words the wheat harvest happens first before the grape harvest which is representative of the wrath of God.
A Sign in the Heavens, a Woman with Child
When we come to chapter 12 of the book of Revelation, we find a sign in the heavens of a woman clothed with the sun who is about to give birth. She wasn’t giving birth at that moment but was about to give birth, even the dragon took notice and stood by ready to devour the child as soon as it was born. Who is this woman? Did she have any more children than this male child? It is important to know this because we can then know who her children are. This woman is heavenly and is represented by heavenly Jerusalem. Christ came from heaven. John the Baptist said “He who comes from above is above all;” (John 3:31), and Jesus said to the Jews, “You are from beneath, I am from above, you are of this world, I am not of this world” (John 8:23) (see also John 1:1-14, John 16:27-28). Also the Church was born from above (see John 3:3 margin), from heavenly Jerusalem, Galatians 4:26 says, “But the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all” (Paul was writing to Christians). Jerusalem below is representative of Jerusalem above, however Jerusalem below is in bondage while Jerusalem above is free. Jerusalem above is a great city with high walls, Mount Zion is in Jerusalem, and on the north side of the Mount is the city of the great King, the city of God (Psalm 48:1-2). The city of God is where the children of God are born. The high walls of Jerusalem are the bride of the Lamb; the wall is built on the foundation of the twelve apostles (Revelation 21:9-23, Ephesians 2:20-22). God makes a record of all that are born in her. Psalm 87 says “His foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God! Selah. ——– And of Zion it will be said, ‘This one and that one were born in her; and the Most High Himself shall establish her.’ The Lord will record, when He registers the peoples: ‘This one was born there.’ Selah.”
In Hebrews 12:18-24, the author is contrasting the Old Covenant of the Jews under the law (given on Mount Sinai), with the New Covenant that the Christian Church has now come to. In verses 22-24 he says, “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.” It does not say that we will come to Zion when we die, but we have come to Zion now (see Ephesians 2:1-7 and Collosians 3:1-4).
To try to explain heavenly things in earthly language is very difficult, we can take away from the spiritual depth of heavenly things by trying to explain them. However I will try to explain about the new birth. Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” It is the spirit that is born in heaven and registered there, our heavenly Father is the Father of spirits (Hebrews 12:9). When a person believes on Jesus and is “born again” in heaven, then our earthly, physical bodies become the temple of our new heavenly spirit. Immediately the devil is waiting to devour the new Christians as soon as they are born. Peter warns us that the devil is walking around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). It is so important that we are not only born of the Spirit but that we receive the anointing of the Spirit, that is, the power of the Spirit upon our bodily temple that we might be His witnesses. Jesus said, “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). That is, not just going out telling others about Jesus, but the very way we live and act should be a witness to others that we have something different from other people. That difference is power to live by, however these days Paul’s letter to Timothy is fulfilled where it says that they have a form of godliness but deny it’s power (2 Timothy 3:5). After having believed and been washed in the blood of the Lamb and washed in water; we should by faith receive the Spirit into our lives in order that we may walk continually in the Spirit. This needs to happen as soon as possible. In Matthew 13:3-23 Jesus tells the parable of the sower sowing the seed. When someone hears the word of God, which is the seed, and does not understand it, immediately the wicked one snatches it away; that is the seed that falls by the wayside. Those who receive the word on stony ground receive the word with joy, but as soon as tribulation or persecution arises then they stumble. Others are choked by the thorns around them, that is, the cares of this world and the desire for riches choke the word, and they become unfruitful. Others have good ground for the seed to grow and bear fruit. The devil is waiting to devour Christians any way he can.
However, here, in Revelation chapter 12, the woman in heaven is travailing in birth to bring forth sons of God, not babies, not little children, but sons. Romans 8:19-22 says, “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now.” The whole creation is expressing the same birth pangs that heavenly Jerusalem is expressing. It is an earthly type of what is happening in heaven. Verse 23 says “Not only that, but we also who have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.” When it says “waiting for adoption”, it is not waiting for adoption as we understand adoption, but waiting for the placing of His mature children as sons, the acknowledging by God of His sons at the redemption of the body, the manifestation of the sons of God.
Heavenly things have a corresponding earthly type. When Moses was instructed to build the tabernacle it had to be exactly according to the pattern that God gave to Moses. The corresponding earthly type of the woman in heaven is Israel. The Bible says that Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3), yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15), and that He was born of the seed of David according to the flesh (Romans 1:3). In Revelation chapter 12 it says that this heavenly woman brought forth a male child (male son) who shall rule the nations with a rod of iron. Who is this child? Revelation 19:13 tells us that the One who rules with a rod of iron is called “The Word of God”, and verse 16 calls Him the “King of kings and Lord of lords”, in other words we know Him as the Lord Jesus Christ. In Revelation 2:26-27 however, we read that those in the church who overcome shall rule the nations with a rod of iron. So this male son is both Christ and the overcoming Church who will rule the nations. The child was caught up to the throne out of the devils reach (Revelation 11:12, Revelation 12:5) (see also Ephesians 1:18-2:7). The overcomers overcame the devil by reason of the blood of the Lamb, and by reason of the word of their testimony, and they have not loved their life even unto death.
A word about overcomers, all Christians are overcomers, initially Christians are Christians because they have overcome unbelief, they have got the victory through faith, however there is a lot more to overcome. We keep overcoming until we are fully mature. When Christ returns those who are fully mature are called first fruits, the rest will quickly mature after the first fruits have been offered to the Lord.
There was war in heaven between Michael with his angels and the dragon (Satan) and his angels. The dragon lost and he and his angels were cast out of heaven to the earth where he, being in a great rage because he knew his time was short, persecuted the woman on earth (Israel) who is the type of the woman in heaven who gave birth to the child, the earthly woman (Israel) fled into the wilderness, a desert place, which is prepared for her by God. In the day of vengeance the Lord shall stand on the Mount of Olives and a great earthquake shall split it in two causing a valley which the children of Israel can flee by. To the south of the land of Israel is the wilderness of Zin and also the wilderness of Paran, these border on the land of Edom where Petra and Bozrah are located. The land of Edom is now Jordan. Scripture shows that the Lord delivers Israel from the wilderness that borders Bozrah in the time of the wrath of God (the day of vengeance). Here the Lord reveals Himself to them and they see He is the one they crucified and they believe on Him (see Zechariah chapters 12 and 13, Isaiah 63: 1-9, Isaiah 61:2).
The devil (dragon) cannot touch the woman (the Jews) so he goes after the rest of the woman’s offspring (showing she had more than one child), that is, the Christians who are left after the first fruits have gone to heaven. Revelation 12:17 says, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, (that is because she had escaped from his hand) and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Brackets mine). That is when the rapture happens for the rest of the Christians (in other words the wheat harvest) who have now matured (Revelation 14:14-16, see also 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18). Then the wrath of God is cast onto the earth after which Jesus comes back, takes the beast and false prophet and cast them into the lake of fire and brimstone, the devil is chained up in the bottomless pit for a thousand years.
The Two Witnesses
Let us look at the ministry of these two witnesses. These witnesses will come in the spirit of Elijah and the spirit of Moses. Just like John the Baptist they come to prepare the way of the Lord.
Elijah’s ministry was to rebuke the Kings of Israel, to expose the false prophets and prove to the people that Jehovah is God. He spoke future judgment on King Ahab and immediate Judgement on the false prophets. He stopped the rain from falling, caused fire to fall on his enemies, and did other signs including raising the dead. Elijah was a man the same as ourselves, with the same feelings as ourselves, his emotions would rise to the highest heights and crash to the lowest low. Although he was often afraid, yet when the Lord sent him to speak out in rebuke he would obey the Lord and do it without fear. When his ministry at that time was finished he didn’t die but the Lord took him up to heaven in a whirlwind.
Moses, a Hebrew, was brought up in Pharaoh’s courts in Egypt. When he was forty years old he felt ready to help the children of Israel. He was a strong man with confidence in his own ability, but having killed an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew, he had to flee from Egypt to the land of Midian. When he arrived in Midian he found some shepherds stopping the daughters of a priest from watering their father’s flocks, he went to the aid of the women, not being afraid to stop the shepherds and help the women to water their flocks. When the priest heard how Moses had helped his daughters he invited Moses to stay with them and gave his daughter Zipporah to be the wife of Moses.
Moses’ life changed, and also he himself began to change. From being strong and confident and having a purpose in his life, he was now humbled and accepted his lot of caring for his father in laws sheep. His ambitions gradually faded away into nothing. Another forty years past, caring for the flock in the desert land of Midian and bringing up his own family. However, although Moses didn’t realise it, God had been preparing him until he was fit and ready to do the work which had been on his heart to do all those years before. His ministry was to show signs and wonders to Egypt and finally call judgement upon them, also to prepare God’s chosen people to leave Egypt and go to the Promised Land.
John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah calling the people to repentance and rebuking the leaders.
We could say that the apostle Paul came in the spirit of Moses calling the people out of the dead bondage of Judaism into the liberty of the sons of God.
We are now at the time when Jesus is about to return, this same spirit of Elijah and Moses is needed to prepare the way for the Lord’s coming, and to prepare the people to be ready.
The Man Child
Finally some thoughts about the “man child”, who the woman gave birth to. In the Greek the actual words are better translated “male son”, however it is not logical to say “male son”, so it is changed to male child or man child. My question was, “why would God say male son, unless He wanted to convey something to us.” The meaning of “son” is that the child has come of age, he is now mature enough to act on behalf of God, God has prepared him and he is now ready to do God’s will. Wouldn’t it have been better then to just say “son”? I believe the word “male” gives the character of this son. In Genesis 17:7-11 God says to Abraham, “And I will establish my covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I give to thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be a God to them. And God said to Abraham, and as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is My covenant which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee—that every male among you be circumcised. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and that shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.” (J.N.D. version).
Before the children of Israel were able to enter the land that God had promised them, God told Joshua to circumcise all the people because all the males that came out of Egypt were circumcised but now they were dead and all those born in the wilderness were not circumcised because they had neglected it, therefore before they could enter the promised land they all had to be circumcised.
All this is all typology for us. In Christ there is neither male nor female, we are all one in Christ, therefore circumcision is not that which is outward in the flesh but is inward, of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter (Romans 2:28-29). Philippians 3:3 says “For we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
The male son is one who is circumcised in the heart, his heart is completely separated unto God, and he walks in the Spirit and has no confidence in the flesh. He doesn’t act out of his own self, but is led by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:14).
Mark Greenwood
Contact; [email protected]
April 2024