Nations Are Angry

Bible prophecy foretold conflicts among the nations leading up to the second coming of Christ. Here is a chart placing some of those conflicts in relation to other prophetic events in Daniel and Revelation.

Understanding the Judgment

Daniel's Climaxes

Here are the details and dates for the end of each line of prophecy in the book of Daniel.

Daniel's Prophecies Compared

When we lay out the prophecies of Daniel in parallel, it helps us identify the important players and the thematic emphasis. All the prophecies climax with Jesus receiving His kingdom.

The Closing Work

The Bible explains the closing work of Jesus in the heavenly sanctuary through a number of different expressions. This closing work is a significant focal point of Bible prophecy and of Christ's own teachings. Each one of the activities listed below describes the same process. It is a work that began at the end of prophetic history on October 22, 1844, and will conclude at the close of human probation when Jesus leaves the most holy place. Some Bible verses depict it as a singular event, perhaps even at a point in time after the fact, rather than expounding on the details of the process. That's because certain explanations only describe what is ultimately accomplished by the process, or its resulting product.

The Bible can correctly summarize the whole operation as a singe event because, as evidence indicates, the business was never intended to take much time. The measurement of prophetic time stopped in 1844. No set length of time was allotted for the closing work. It is a task to be accomplished, and as soon as it is done, Jesus will leave the sanctuary, probation will close, and the unrepentant will have no shelter.

Below are seven ways the Bible explains this closing work.

The Separation
Matthew 13:47-50  The Parable of the Net
Matthew 25:31-46  The Sheep and the Goats

The Harvest
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43  The Wheat and the Tares
Revelation 14:14-20  The Two Harvests
Mark 4:26-29  The Harvest

The Sealing
Ezekiel 9:4  A Mark in the Forehead
Revelation 7:1-3  The Seal of the Living God
Revelation 14:1  The Father's name in the forehead
Revelation 22:11  Everyone's Condition is Fixed

The Wedding
Revelation 19:7-9  The Marriage of the Lamb
Luke 12:35, 36  The Wedding
Matthew 25:1-12  Meeting the Bridegroom
Matthew 22:1-14  The Wedding Garment
Revelation 3:4, 5, 18; 7:9, 13-15  White Raiment

The Kingdom Established
Revelation 11:15-17  The Seventh Trumpet
Daniel 2:34, 35, 44, 45  The Stone Mountain
Daniel 7:13, 14  The Son of Man Receives a Kingdom
Daniel 12:1  Michael Stands Up
Luke 19:12, 15  The Noble Who Receives a Kingdom

The Lawsuit
Romans 14:10-12  All Are Summoned
Daniel 7:9, 10  The Court Convenes
Revelation 14:6, 7  The International Press Release

Zechariah 3:1-5  The Plaintiff Brings Accusation
Revelation 4 & 5  The Jury and the Opening of the Depositions
Matthew 12:36, 37  The Evidence
Ecclesiastes 12:14  The Evidence
Romans 8:34  The Counsel for the Defense
Revelation 12:10, 11  The Verdict

The Cleansing of the Sanctuary
Hebrews 9  The Earthly and Heavenly Sanctuaries
Daniel 8:14  The Cleansing of the Sanctuary
Leviticus 16  The Day of Atonement
Revelation 11:1  Measuring the Temple, Altar, and Worshippers
Malachi 3:1-5, 16-18  The Lord Comes to His Temple

The Seventh Trumpet

The events of the seventh trumpet cover a broad period of time.

"And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." Revelation 11:18

"I saw that the anger of the nations, the wrath of God, and the time to judge the dead were separate and distinct, one following the other, also that Michael had not stood up, and that the time of trouble, such as never was, had not yet commenced. The nations are now getting angry, but when our High Priest has finished His work in the sanctuary, He will stand up, put on the garments of vengeance, and then the seven last plagues will be poured out." Early Writings, p. 36

The wrath of God takes place after probation closes. The time of the dead to be judged follows that, so that would be the judgment of the wicked during the 1000 years. The ultimate reward of the saints and the destruction of the wicked after the 1000 years is described in the last half of Revelation 11:18. So the seventh trumpet events extend from the anger of the nations during probationary time until the final rewards and punishments are given after the 1000 years.

Overall, the seventh trumpet is more about the spiritual conquests of truth than it is about military conquests. The first six trumpets were God's initiatives in history to prevent the complete takeover of catholicism (Roman and Eastern). And in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, God's truth fully triumphs.

Three scenes are presented in Revelation 11:15-19 in connection with the sounding of the seventh trumpet:

• Great voices in heaven declare what is accomplished during this period (verse 15).
• The twenty-four elders worship God in words of praise to Him (verses 16-18).
• The temple of God is opened in heaven (verse 19).

In verse 15 we see the final, uncontested establishment of God's universal kingdom. In verses 16-18 the twenty-four elders celebrate that accomplishment. And in verse 19 the heavenly sanctuary and the law of God are opened to the view of all. These three scenes sum up God's final moves in the war against error as it comes to its conclusion in the seventh trumpet. Unlike the specific markers listed in verse 18, these broader scenes are not events to be charted on a timeline, but rather are a summary of the effect of God's work during this period. If we had to identify a focal point, I would suggest the culmination of the investigative judgment and its results.

The Judgment

Most people don't want to think about the judgment. Maybe that's because they imagine themselves as a criminal on trial. In this study I talk about the difference between a criminal trial and a civil trial, and I show that the judgment is not a criminal case at all. In fact, the judgment is an essential process in God's efforts to save you!

Listen to the message  (41 min)

If you'd like to get the powerpoint slides for this message, click here.

The Harvest

In my last post I pointed out that Bible prophecy focuses on the making up of Christ's kingdom, which takes place before Jesus comes back to earth. The making up of His kingdom was also the focus of Jesus' parables. He sought to turn His hearers' thoughts "from the hope of a worldly kingdom to the work of God's grace in the soul." COL 62. "For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:21. His kingdom is made up as His people experience the work of the gospel in their lives. That work will culminate in a final harvest — Christ's character fully reproduced in His people. This is the establishment of His kingdom to which all prophecy points.

"Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church." COL 69.

"For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations." Isaiah 61:11.

"And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; and should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear." Mark 4:26-28.

"The divine Husbandman looks for a harvest as the reward of His labor and sacrifice. Christ is seeking to reproduce Himself in the hearts of men…. The object of the Christian life is fruit bearing — the reproduction of Christ's character in the believer, that it may be reproduced in others." COL 67.

"But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come." Mark 4:29.

"And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man [compare Daniel 7:13, 14], having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe." Revelation 14:14, 15. This harvest marks the close of human probation.

"The harvest is the end of probationary time." COL 72. "When the work of the gospel is completed, there immediately follows the separation between the good and the evil, and the destiny of each class is forever fixed." COL 123.

Daniel and Revelation in a Nutshell

Every historical line of prophecy in Daniel and Revelation reaches the same climax, the making up of God's kingdom. The second coming of Jesus is not the focus, for the kingdom is made up before Jesus returns. The emphasis of these two great apocalyptic books is the work that Jesus is doing in making up His kingdom right now. Listen as we capture the highlights of Daniel and Revelation in a talk I gave this summer at the Northeast Washington Campmeeting near Republic, Washington.

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