Tribulation Timeline Series

Tribulation Timeline

Return of the King: Week 4

Scripture: Revelation 1-19

Introduction

So the first week of June is a time looked forward to by all school age kids. It's a time of the year in which summer vacation begins.

For me, it was not only the start of my summer vacation, but the time let my parents and grandparents would be arranging for me to spend the summer with my grandparents in Hayward.

This would usually take numerous phone calls, maybe a few arguments about where to meet, but we almost always decided somewhere around Portage for us to meet and hand me off.

My father in particular is a planner. It comes from being a noncommissioned officer in the military, in his case Navy and Coast Guard.

He likes having everything set and ready before we leave home. We will be packed the day before, we will wake up at a certain time, and we will leave at least 10 to 15 minutes before we needed to in order for the itinerary to be met.

In fact, if we said we'd be in Portage by noon, he would be there at 11:30 even if it meant driving straight through and everyone squeezing their legs together because they had to go to the bathroom so bad.

I have a lot of my dad in me, both good and bad, and in this I am my father’s son.

Having the itinerary helps us prepare and makes the trip more relaxed at least for me knowing that we are ready for anything including unexpected delays.

The Bible says that one day soon, we will go through a seven year period called “The Tribulation,” or the time of distress, just before the return of Christ.

God has given us an itinerary for the seven years of Tribulation. He even wrote it down so that this generation that is on the brink of it will know what is coming.

Looking over this timeline will help you anticipate and prepare. In fact, God put this itinerary in scripture so we could do just that.

So during this fourth installment of our Return of the King series, I want to walk you through the timeline of the seven years of Tribulation that are coming.

We’re going to cover 19 of the most fascinating chapters of the Bible, which are Revelation 1 through 19.

So strap in for a ride! I’m going to give you lots of information today.

Prayer

According to many experts in Bible prophecy, the last major prophecy to be fulfilled before the beginning of the Tribulation is Ezekiel’s War – a war described in Ezekiel 38 and 39, between Israel and the nations of Russia, Iran, and Turkey

Interestingly,

Right now those three nations of Russia, Iran, and Turkey all have troops stationed inside the country of Syria. The Syrian government is still very close to collapsing. Should that happen, military forces from Russian, Iran, and Turkey will be on Israel’s northern border.

It’s almost as if God’s word is accurate in its ability to foretell the future.

1st Point-Ezekiel’s war is the kickoff if you will that announces the tribulation is about to begin.

1. Ezekiel’s War is likely the last major prophecy that needs to be fulfilled before the Tribulation begins. Ezekiel 38-39

If you are a believer in Jesus, when that war breaks out, pack your bags for heaven- just kidding, you can’t bring anything with you

But this is the starting block if you will for the Tribulation to begin.

The second point on our itinerary of the Tribulation

According to Daniel 9:27,

2. The first major event of the Tribulation will be a treaty with a world ruler who will later be identified as the Antichrist. Daniel 9:27

Daniel 9:27 says:

He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.

Daniel 9:27

Remember from last week- the word for week in the Aramaic is literally the word 7, so putting into context of the rest of Daniel 9, it means 7 years. (Go back to last weeks’ message online if you want to hear more about that)

Therefore we know from Daniel and other scriptures that

The 3rd Point in our itinerary is this truth-

3. The Tribulation is a seven-year period that ends with the return of Jesus.

Now, God has provided us with a detailed itinerary of the last 7 years of our world as we know it.

In fact, he dedicated an entire book of the bible toward it-

“The Book of Revelation.”

Let’s do a quick summary of the first few chapters of Revelation-

The book of Revelation begins with a vision of Jesus.

In Revelation 1, the Apostle John,