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Before we finish with Titus and Philemon, we go over the biblical timeline. If you’re new to the Bible, this will help you better understand where you are. And if you know the Bible well, I hope to help you be better equipped to know where you are in the story no matter what chapter or verse you might read, or what question you might get about any event in the Bible.

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Let’s start at the beginning Gen 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Back when I was on the radio and I was doing a lot more public debate a caller, or an inquisitor would call in or pipe up with an objection about the Bible, and I’d ask them if they had read the Bible, and as I recall they all said they had. So I’d ask them what the first sentence was, and as I recall, not one of them ever answered correctly. So I’d tell them they weren’t qualified to object and I’d hang up on them, or dismiss them. In hindsight I probably could have handled them better. But the exercise was instructive. And as I’ve moved away from debate, and now more into preaching and teaching, my desire is to help people understand the Bible and not just embarrass them to make a point. And so I present Gen 1:1 in that spirit, along with the rest of the story.

If you can get past this first sentence and believe it, and not doubt it, (and notice it’s not presented as an assertion or an allegation, it’s presented as a fact), if you can get to Gen 1:2 believing Gen 1:1 that’s half the ball game right there. If you feel like you have to object after 1 verse, or if you feel the urge to say “but wait”, or “but how do we know”, or but anything, the Bible has an answer to that. Turn to Heb 11:6, “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” So if you’re still with me, after Gen 1:1 and Heb 11:6, let me lay out the story in order.

After God created the heaven and earth he made everything else including man. God made man from the dust of the ground and he made a woman using a bit of the biological material he took out of the man. The Bible says he took the material from the man’s rib. And if you stumbled at Gen 1:1 this will trip you up too,. But if he created the universe, and everything in it, he was perfectly capable of creating one human being out of another human being he’d already made. And he did.

Then God took the man he had formed and placed him in a garden, eastward in Eden. East of where you ask? Well, east of here. And he told the man, (God called both the man and the woman “Adam” by the way). You might wonder where the tradition of the wife taking the husband’s name came from, and it came from right here. Because in Gen 5:2 we’re told that “Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. And he blessed them. In Gen 2:25 we learn that, “…they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.”

And that nakedness does not necessarily imply they could see each other’s bodies like we can if we’re naked. Maybe they could. But their nakedness meant they had nothing to hide; from God or each other. Then, on their first day together, which was Saturday, the day God rested to enjoy his creation he told them to have lots of kids and to freely eat of all the trees of the garden. But he told Adam in Gen 2:17, “But of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

So, God already knew about evil, but Adam didn’t. Now, at the end of making everything in six days God had said in Gen 1:31, that “…God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” No sign of evil anywhere, but God knew what evil was, and he put access to that knowledge right in the middle of the garden. And he told man not to partake of that knowledge. This was the first law God revealed to man. You’re not allowed to determine good and evil on your own, you’re to trust God. Turn to Rom 4:12

God also made heavenly beings to serve in governmental authority over the universe. And there was one particular cherub he installed in that heavenly government over the earth. That cherub met the woman at the tree of knowledge and told her they could eat of the tree and live, and even be as gods, (with a little “g”). This is the first clue that these other beings in the heaven were to Adam and his wife like like gods, high above them in the heaven & knowing good and evil like the Creator God. This cherub, called the serpent implied they could be like him. She eats, then gives the fruit to Adam, and he ate, and so he sinned.

And so, according to Rom 4:12, by this one man “…sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” And God cursed the ground, kicked the man out of the garden and allowed mankind to continue to live and multiply until the sin became so great that that God determined to destroy all flesh with a flood. But he saved out one believing man, Noah and his family, who built an ark as God commanded. Then God killed every living thing except Noah and the animals he preserved on the ark. After the flood God made a covenant with Noah. A covenant is a promise. God promised he would not curse the ground anymore, nor would he again destroy all flesh with a flood. And this promise was unconditional. Then he again allowed man to multiply in the earth. Turn to Gen 12:7

After Noah mankind, for the most part chose to ignore God, and were mostly ruled by the wicked until God called a man out of the east named Abram. And God made a covenant with Abram. In Gen 12:7 God promised: “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land…” In Gen 15:15, God “brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” And so God declared Abram righteous, unconditionally, merely for believing. Then Abram asked in verse 8, “whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” And so God gave Abram a sign. He had Abram kill and divide a calf, a goat and a ram, and kill a turtle dove and a pigeon. And after a horror of great darkness fell upon Abram, while he slept, God certified the covenant by walking the corpses of the animals Abram had slain. This is the Abrahamic Covenant, which included the blessing, the land and a great many children. And even though Abram asked for a sign, and God granted it to him, the promise was unconditional.

Now, Abraham’s wife Sarai became impatient, and convinced Abraham to have a son by her Egyptian handmaid Hagar and he named him Ishmael. But God told Abram that in due time he would have a child not by a handmaid, but according to the promise by his wife Sarai. And God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, and Sarai’s to Sarah, putting a part of his own name the “AH” sound in Jehovah, in their names, and he reiterated the promise. But now God added the sign of circumcision. He commanded Abraham to be circumcised, and to circumcise all the men of his house, and his son Ishmael. And so God gave Abraham a new name and a sign for him to perform.

And Abraham was 100 years old when Sarah, being 91 bore him a son who God had named Isaac. And just as God had told Abraham that the promise would be carried out through Isaac, when Isaac had twins named Jacob and Esau God told Isaac that the promise would be carried out through Jacob, the younger of the twins, and that Esau was to serve Jacob. And God called Jacob Israel. If you wonder why there are so many problems in the Middle East even to this day, they all go back to the jealousy Ishmael and Esau had toward God’s election of Isaac and Israel, instead of them. This jealousy bred hatred toward God and Israel in their children. Turn to Ex 35:3

And no matter what you hear about a peace plan in the middle east, there is only one plan that will finally end this hatred. Ezk 35:3-5, “Behold, O mount Seir, [this is where Esau’s children would live] I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD. Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity…” And so the enmity between Israel and their neighbors, their cousins really, continues to this day. And it’s not that Israel is good and the Arabs are bad, (at least no better or worse than anyone else). It’s that no matter who God chose and who he told to serve the other, there would be hatred. Everyone wants to be the chosen one. And no man wants to serve his brother. But one day all that will be ended by God.

Jacob had12 sons. They sold their younger brother Jospeh into slavery but he had faith in God and ended up becoming a great ruler in Egypt. Jospeh preserved his family there in Egypt unto the fourth generation and they became a great nation while they were there, just as God had promised Abraham. But by the fourth generation a new king in Egypt had put the children of Israel into slavery, and so God raised up Moses to free them.

And Moses was eighty years old when he led Israel out of Egypt amidst great miracles and signs that God wrought against the false gods of Egypt. And they fled through the midst of the Red Sea miraculously on dry land which we read about in I Cor 10:1-4, When the apostle Paul, a Jew by heritage said to the church: “Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” More about Christ later. Turn to Ex 19:8

And God led them into the wilderness to Mr. Sinai, and revealed his law to Moses: the 10 Commandments. And when Moses presented them to Israel in Ex 19:8, “…all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do.” This is the Mosaic Covenant. And it was conditional. If they kept the law they’d be blessed, if the broke it they’d be cursed. And Israel was disobedient and wandered in the wilderness for forty years until all the disobedient adults had died off. Then the next generation, led by Joshua entered the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And they were told by God that he would fight for them, and that they were to take the land and dispossess the wicked pagans out of it. But they disobeyed and failed. Turn to Jud 21:25

But they took part of the land, and destroyed some of the Canaanites and their pagan culture. And so God set judges over them for about four hundred years. And we’re told in Jud 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” And Israel became increasingly wicked, and disobeyed the law and broke God’s covenant, and they demanded a king be set over them just as God had predicted they would. Deut 17:14-15, “When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.” Israerl was to keep themselves separate from the nations.

So God had prophesied that Israel would ask for a king, and although God asked them not to do it in I Sam 8, they demanded it, so he appointed Saul of the tribe of Benjamin. But within just a couple years Saul disobeyed the Lord and he sought another man from among Israel to be king over them. And the Lord found in Judah a man after his own heart according to I Sam 13, and set David as king. And when David determined to build God a temple, God answered and made a covenant with David in II Sam 7:10-14, “Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son.” This is the Davidic Covenant, and it was unconditional.

And when David sinned against the Lord in the matter of adultery and murder with Bathsheba God spared his life, in seeming violation of the very law he had given Israel. The murderer and the adulterer were to be put to death. But God speaks of his covenant with David in Isa 55:3-5, “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.” And so, David was spared, but how could the Lord pass over the judgement of his law like that? More on that, along with Christ later.

After David, his son Solomon reigned and was turned away from the Lord in his old age, and upon his death the kingdom was divided, with the 10 tribes called Israel in the north turning fully to Baal worship, and the two tribes called Judah in the South not doing much better. And then a series of Kings ruled the divided kingdom for about 400 years until Israel became so wicked that God brought the Assyrians to carry them into captivity. Soon after he brought the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem and carry away Judah out of the land, all according to the conditional covenant God had made with Moses. But he promised to return them according to the unconditional promises to Abraham and David. Turn to Dan 9:25-26

During the time leading up to, during and after the captivity, God sent prophets to witness to, and against Israel and Judah. From them we get the 12 books of the minor prophets along with the five major prophetic books. It’s in these books, along with the psalms and the writings we find the earthly ministry of Israel’s Avenger, Savior, liberator, called their Messiah, foretold in prophecies of miracles and healings, and his death, burial and resurrection, including Daniels prophecy in Dan 9:25-26, “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself…”

The seventy weeks, counted rather cryptically, in two sets, seven weeks, and sixty two weeks are weeks of years. And so it was prophesied that 483 years after the end of the captivity the Messiah would be killed. And then during the final seven years, known as Daniel’s seventieth week, great tribulation and the end of days would come. And having given Israel the books of the prophets God was silent for about 400 years.Turn to Isa 4:3

Then at the time appointed God fulfilled another prophecy from Isa 40:3, “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” And God sent John the Baptist to prepare Israel by preaching repentance and cleansing them by baptism in the Jordan river at the same place Joshua had originally led them into the Promised Land. And John identified the Messiah as Jesus of Nazareth at his baptism.

And Jesus began ministering at about 30 years old and for about three years he prepared Israel to receive the kingdom that had been promised to David. He preached repentance, baptism and the keeping of the law. He fulfilled dozens, if not hundreds of prophecies, including those of his own crucifixion, death burial and resurrection. Before he died and rose again he called 12 apostles and sent them out preaching news of the Messiah’s kingdom to Israel in accordance with God’s prophesied plan to bless all the children he had promised Abraham, and as he’d foretold to Moses. The blessing was to come to the world through Israel and her Messiah. Turn to Ex 19:6

This program was foretold in Ex 19:6, “ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” And according to the prophecy of Zech 14:16, “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.” And it was commanded by Jesus to his disciples after he rose from the dead in Luk 24:47, “…that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Turn to Acts 2:38

And the Apostles preached after Jesus had ascended to heaven and sent them his Holy Spirit to empower them to show miracles, signs and wonders. And when the Jews at Jerusalem heard Peter call them to repentance for killing Jesus, they asked him what they should do. And he said to them in Acts 2:38-39, “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.” And some in Jerusalem believed.

But just as the nation had rejected and crucified their king, they rejected his apostles, and persecuted and killed them. When the disciple Stephen filled with the Holy Ghost, with his face shining like the face of an angel called the rulers and the people in Jerusalem to repentance, they dragged him outside the city walls and stoned him to death. And laid their coats at the feet of the chief persecutor, a pharisee and a Roman citizen from Tarsus named Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin. Turn to Acts 26:16

And Stephen saw the Lord in heaven stand up! And so was to begin Daniel’s 70^th week, and great tribulation and judgment leading up to the return of the Lord and the implementation of his kingdom. But as Saul was traveling on the Road to Damascus to persecute Christ’s little flock of believers who Paul’s persecution had scattered out of Jerusalem, Jesus appeared to him, and blinded him, and said to him as recounted in Acts 26:16-18, “But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Turn to Gal 1:11

And so Saul of Tarsus was converted and was called Paul. And he began to preach a message that had never been prophesied. Now Jesus was offering justification, salvation from the judgement to come and an inheritance in God’s kingdom not through Israel, but by a previously secret gospel message. We know this new gospel differed from the message John the Baptist, Jesus and the apostles had preached before because Paul wrote in Gal 1:11-17, “But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.”

And  through the book of Acts, as Paul’s ministry to the unbelieving world outside Jerusalem grew, the ministry of the apostles back in Jerusalem diminished. We learn that unbelieving Israel was blinded in Rom 11. And that God now counted all men, including even Jews by birth in unbelief and uncircumcised according to Acts 7 and Rom 11. And salvation had gone to the uncircumcised and they were not required to keep circumcision or the law. The salvation by the gospel they believed was unconditional. And so there was a controversy when men came down from Jerusalem saying that Paul’s converts had to keep the law and be circumcised.  Turn to Gal 2:1

So Paul went to Jerusalem and had a dispute with the 12 apostles, reported in Gal 2:1-3, “Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also. And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain. But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised…” And furthermore we read in verse 6, “….they who seemed to be somewhat (that’s Jesus apostles) in conference added nothing to me: But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter…” that by the command of the same Jesus Christ the 12 had preached, in verse 9 – “…when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.”

The 12 apostles in Jerusalem fade out of the story after that. But Paul’s ministry persists to this day, through us, the uncircumcised who Paul was sent to. The tribulation leading into the kingdom that had been prophesied, and by all indications would happen in the 7 years after the crucifixion according to Daniel 9 has been postponed. And instead, God has extended an offer of grace and reconciliation, by Jesus Christ through Paul’s gospel to anyone who will believe and trust Christ. And so by the gospel given to Paul, belief results in forgiveness of our sins and eternal life, without Israel, and without the law. Turn to I Cor 15:1

And Paul proves his ministry is from that same Jesus of prophecy, in I Cor 15:1-4, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.

For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures…” And he shows his own salvation as a pattern in verse 10, “by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain…” turn to I Tim 4:10

And furthermore, Paul teaches the method of salvation in I Tim 4:10b, “…we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.” We must simply believe & trust Jesus as our savior because he died for our sins. And we learn furthermore in Eph 2:8-9, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

And so the gospel of grace goes out into the world today. We live in an unprophesied grace period extended to all mankind by God in his mercy. And this has been called the great “plot twist” in the story! Because God revealed in prophecy to anyone who would study the word that he had a plan to reconcile the earth to himself via Israel and their Messiah. And the devil read it carefully. He knew the timing of Daniel 9 and he was ready when Jesus came the first time in his earthy ministry. And even though he knew God would save Israel, he was counting on that being a relatively small group. After all, mankind’s faithfulness to God had proven that just a few would follow. Satan knew he’d likely lose the earth to the Messiah and his small kingdom. But he was confident he’d retain his position in the heaven. After all, men only had dominion on the earth. Turn to I Cor 2:7

But there was something satan had not counted on. In I Cor 2:7 Paul writes, “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” And then in Eph 3:9 Paul lays out our role, “…to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ…” Jesus Christ was there in Gen 1:1. Turn to 2 Cor 5:17

So God took satan in his own craftiness by planning before the creation that by the very crucifixion satan would execute, God would be able to say in 2 Cor 5:17-19, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses.” Not just the earth, but the whole world, meaning the heaven and the earth.

I’m going to go through a number of verses too fast to look up. But I’ll post my entire notes on the website so you can check the verses for yourself and decide if I’m taking them out of context, or not. By this reconciliation being offered to the world God is making a New Creature, a creature different from all the other creatures he made in Genesis, including man and the cherubs and the angels. This New Creature is called the Body of Christ according to I Cor 12:27.

And that this new creature is, according to Eph 1:3 blessed, “…with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ…”

And that according to Rom 8:17 we are made, “…heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” And in II Tim 2:12, “we shall also reign with him…”

And we’ve been left alive on earth to be prepared for an eternal purpose. In Eph 6:12, the devil learned that this New Creature wrestles “…not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Eph 3:10-11, “To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord…” And that by the cross, according to Col 2:15, “…having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” And in I Cor 3:19, “For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.”

By keeping the dispensation of grace hidden God took satan in his own craftiness, offered salvation to the whole world, and provided a New Creature that is being prepared to reign over the heaven with Christ, even as he prepared Israel and their apostles to reign in his kingdom on earth. And so the story of the reconciliation of all things back to God by his son includes our salvation, our edification, and our implementation as the Body of Christ, to bring him glory reigning with God forever in the heavenly places. Turn to I Cor 15:51

And at some future time this dispensation of god’s grace will come to an end. According to I Cor 15:51, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” And God will implement his planned reconciliation of the heaven and the earth according to II Tim 4:1b, by the “Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom…”

That appearing is the gathering and judging of God’s present church at the Judgment Seat of Christ, commonly called the rapture. After which we understand that according to II Thes 2:3-4, God’s prophetic calendar will start right where it left off on that road to Damascus 2,000 years ago. And despite what you might hear about prophecies being fulfilled in the news today Paul says in II Thes 2:3-4: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” And so Daniel’s prophecy of the end times and the events of Mat 24 will begin to unfold again.

Daniel’s 70^th week, and the time of Jacob’s trouble will come about, and great tribulation such as the world has never seen will culminate in the Lord’s return to earth as a conquering king; when by the greatest military campaign ever seen Jesus Christ will appear in the air and follow a flight path from Lebanon, down along the Israeli coast and down to Egypt, then up into the Promised Land via the same route Joshua took and destroy all of his enemies. And then he’ll land on the Mount of Olives, gather the believing Jews preparing to meet him and take Jerusalem back as the capital of his kingdom. Turn to Rev 20:2

And he’ll rule the world for a thousand years. According to John’s vision in Rev 20:2-3, “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.” Turn to Ps 110:2

During this 1,000 year introductory period to the Lord’s eternal kingdom on earth Jesus will rule from Jerusalem. According to Ps 110:2, “The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” The secular nations outside Jerusalem will be governed in justice and righteousness enforced by the king, Jesus Christ. Then, according to Rev 20:7, “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth…” And then there will be one final battle, as all the nations under satan’s command surround Jerusalem to destroy it. But in Rev 20:9b, “and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”

Then in Rev 21:1, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The new Jerusalem and her saints are the bride of Christ. We’ll be in heaven, taking up our heavenly positions.

And so The story ends as prophesied in Isa 9:6-7, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,

to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”

And Paul tells us our place in it in Rom 8:18-25, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Our glory will be to reveal the glory of Jesus Christ by our presence there, and by the presence of those we ministered to. All of us former captives of the devil, hopeless sinners saved by his power and his cross. Vs. 19, “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.”

And so we wait patiently in hope as God’s ambassadors to this present evil world. And we have his story preserved in the scripture to prepare us. Now that I hope you have a better understanding of the timeline, I encourage you to study it for yourself, so that you can bring as much glory to Christ as possible. What happens after all that? Well, we know that the increase of his government and peace will have no end. So let’s look forward to arriving there together and see what that means!