Kingdom Against KingdomThe order of events

The Order of Events

Jesus, Daniel, Paul and John each gave events that must happen before others. Put together, they make twenty-five stages, from the wars of today to the new heavens and new earth. Under each stage is the reason it sits where it does, and the scripture that puts it there. Where we stand is marked. It is our best reading now, and it will be corrected as the light grows.

Before the storm

Pangs of distressNation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, food shortages, earthquakes. Wars that must happen while the end is still not here. (Matthew 24:6-8^↗ and Luke 21:9-11^↗)

Why hereJesus put the wars at the beginning and said plainly that they are not the end. (Matthew 24:6, "See that you are not alarmed, for these things must take place, but the end is not yet.") A beginning comes first.

We are here1 reading

Peace and securityThe cry goes up, and sudden destruction follows it the way birth pains come on a pregnant woman. (1 Thessalonians 5:3^↗)

Why herePaul puts the cry right before the blow, and calls what follows birth pains. The first pangs have to be under way before the cry, and the cry has to come before the destruction. So it sits after the wars and before everything else.

III

Inspection of God's houseA judgment inside the house that bears Jehovah's name, before anything visible collapses. (1 Peter 4:17^↗, Malachi 3:1-3^↗ and Ezekiel 9:1-11^↗)

Why hereJudgment starts at home. (1 Peter 4:17, "For it is the appointed time for the judgment to start with the house of God.") Malachi has the Lord come to his temple to refine it, and Ezekiel has the marking begin at the sanctuary. The inside is judged before the outside falls.

Ahead

Sealing of the remnantChrist recognizes his own. Standing in an organization is not the same thing. (Revelation 7:3^↗ and Ezekiel 9:4^↗)

Why hereThe winds are held back until the sealing is done. (Revelation 7:3, "Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until after we have sealed the slaves of our God in their foreheads.") In Ezekiel the man with the inkhorn marks before the executioners move. Sealing always comes before destruction, and a verdict comes before a seal, so this follows the inspection.

Ahead

Man of lawlessness revealed; pressure on the sealedHe is exposed where he sits, inside the place that claims Jehovah's name and authority. The sealed preach against him, and the hatred that follows tests who really hears Christ's voice. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-8^↗, Matthew 24:9-12^↗ and Luke 21:16^↗)

Why herePaul says the day cannot come until this man is revealed, and that he sits in the temple of God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3, "the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed.") The restraint is lifted only after Jehovah has marked his own, so the unmasking follows the sealing. And the pressure follows the unmasking, because the hatred and betrayal Jesus foretold answer the preaching against him.

Ahead

Jerusalem surrounded; the disgusting thing standsThe king of the north turns on the holy covenant. Forces stand up from him and profane the sanctuary. The public sign that judgment has already been passed and protection withdrawn. (Luke 21:20^↗, Matthew 24:15^↗ and Daniel 11:30-31^↗)

Why hereLuke gives the surrounding and Matthew gives the standing as the same cue. (Luke 21:20, "when you see Jerusalem surrounded by encamped armies, then know that the desolating of her has drawn near.") Daniel says where the forces come from. (Daniel 11:31, "And there will be arms that will stand up, proceeding from him; and they will actually profane the sanctuary.") The text does not say who the forces are, and this page does not name them. Whether Daniel 12:11 counts its 1,290 days from this placing or from a later one is under examination.

Ahead

VII

Flight to the mountainsThe cue to run, before the tribulation. The first of three departures. (Matthew 24:16-20^↗ and Luke 21:21^↗)

Why hereJesus ties the flight to the sight of the sign, not to the tribulation. (Luke 21:21, "Then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains, and let those in the midst of her withdraw.") Only after the flight does he say "then there will be great tribulation", so the running sits between the standing and the storm.

Ahead

VIII

Michael stands up; Satan cast downWar in heaven. The ruler of this world is hurled to the earth, with great anger and a short period of time. (Daniel 12:1^↗ and Revelation 12:7-12^↗)

Why hereDaniel puts the standing up at the time of distress. (Daniel 12:1, "And during that time Michael will stand up, the great prince who is standing in behalf of the sons of your people.") John hears the warning that follows the hurling. (Revelation 12:12, "Woe for the earth and for the sea, because the Devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time.") Where this falls relative to the flight is under examination.

Ahead

The great tribulation

The seventh head's death stroke; the great tribulation beginsThe seventh head takes its death stroke, and the dragon turns on the woman. (Matthew 24:21^↗, Revelation 13:3^↗, Revelation 17:10^↗ and Revelation 12:13^↗)

Why hereJohn says the seventh king "must remain a short while", and Jesus says "then" there will be great tribulation, after the standing and the flight. (Matthew 24:21, "for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again.") The short while ends here. This page does not name any power as the seventh head.

Ahead

The gap: the beast that was, and is notA short interval with no head on the beast, while the death stroke heals. (Revelation 17:8^↗ and Revelation 13:3^↗)

Why hereJohn describes the beast as one that "was, but is not, and yet is about to ascend". That is a gap, and it sits between the death stroke of the seventh head and the rise of the eighth.

Ahead

The eighth king rises; the 1,260 days beginThe beast comes back for forty-two months, and for the sake of the chosen ones the tribulation is cut short. (Revelation 17:11^↗, Revelation 13:5^↗, Daniel 12:7^↗ and Matthew 24:22^↗)

Why hereThe eighth king "springs from the seven", so the seven must be finished first. The forty-two months are counted from his rise, which fixes every later event against this one. And the cutting short lands here. (Matthew 24:22, "but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.")

Ahead

XII

The sealed revealed as the two witnessesThe sealed are shown to the world for what they are, and given authority to prophesy. (Revelation 11:3^↗, Romans 8:19^↗ and Colossians 3:4^↗)

Why hereThey were sealed back at stage IV. Here they are revealed. (Revelation 11:3, "And I will cause my two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days dressed in sackcloth.") Their commission runs the same length as the eighth king's authority, so it starts with his rise. Creation has been waiting for exactly this revealing.

Ahead

XIII

Flight to the wildernessThe woman is carried away from the serpent to a place prepared. The second departure. (Revelation 12:6^↗ and Revelation 12:14^↗)

Why hereHer protection is measured in the same span as the witnessing. (Revelation 12:14, "there is where she is fed for a time and times and half a time away from the face of the serpent.") So it begins with the 1,260 days. Whether the revealing and this flight happen in one moment or in a set order is under examination.

Ahead

XIV

Get out of her, my peopleThe command to leave Babylon, given while the witnesses prophesy. The third departure. (Revelation 18:4^↗)

Why hereThe call comes before her plagues arrive. (Revelation 18:4, "Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues.") Separation answers a verdict. It does not trigger one. John hears "another voice out of heaven". Whether that call goes out through the witnesses is an interpretation, and this page treats it as one.

Ahead

The two witnesses killedTheir witnessing ends, and the beast from the abyss kills them. (Revelation 11:7-10^↗)

Why hereJohn says the beast that ascends out of the abyss kills them "when they have finished their witnessing". Their witness runs 1,260 days, so it ends at the close of the eighth king's period, and the killer has to be on the scene.

Ahead

XVI

Raised after three and a half daysSpirit of life enters them, and they are called up in the sight of their enemies. (Revelation 11:11-12^↗ and Romans 8:19^↗)

Why hereThe dead in Christ rise first, before the living are gathered, and creation sees who the sons of God are. (Revelation 11:12, "And they heard a loud voice out of heaven say to them: 'Come on up here.'") The gathering completes before the war, because the armies that ride with him are made of these.

Ahead

The end of the age

XVII

The seventh trumpet; Christ takes rulershipThe kingdom of the world becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. (Revelation 11:15^↗)

Why hereJohn hears the trumpet right after the witnesses are called up. (Revelation 11:15, "The kingdom of the world did become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will rule as king forever and ever.") The rulership is proclaimed before the wrath is poured.

Ahead

XVIII

The bowls of wrathSeven bowls of the anger of God, poured out on the beast's world. (Revelation 16:1-21^↗)

Why hereThe bowls come out of the temple after the kingdom is proclaimed, and the seventh bowl reaches Babylon. (Revelation 16:19, "Babylon the Great was remembered in the sight of God, to give her the cup of the wine of the anger of his wrath.") So they run before her fall.

Ahead

XIX

Babylon destroyedThe harlot is burned by the very powers she rode. (Revelation 17:16^↗, Revelation 16:19^↗ and Revelation 18:21^↗)

Why hereIt is the ten horns and the beast that hate her and burn her, so the beast must be in its final form before she falls. She is remembered at the seventh bowl and goes down like a millstone, late, after the call to get out of her is long finished.

Ahead

ArmageddonThe kings of the earth are gathered, and the Word of God rides against them. (Revelation 16:16^↗, Revelation 19:19-21^↗ and Daniel 12:11-12^↗)

Why hereThe armies in heaven follow him into this war, so the sons of God must already be revealed and with him. The beast and the false prophet are taken here, which is what the next stage needs. Where Daniel's 1,290 and 1,335 days reach their ends in this neighborhood is under examination.

Ahead

The thousand years and after

XXI

Satan boundThe dragon is seized and shut in the abyss for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:1-3^↗)

Why hereJohn moves straight from the beast being hurled into the lake of fire to the angel with the key. The war has to be over for the abyssing to happen, and the thousand years cannot start while he is loose.

Ahead

XXII

The thousand yearsThose who came to life reign with Christ. (Revelation 20:4-6^↗)

Why hereThey "came to life and ruled as kings with the Christ for 1,000 years" while Satan is bound. It can only begin once he is.

Ahead

XXIII

The final testSatan is released for a little while and goes out to mislead. (Revelation 20:7-10^↗)

Why hereJohn dates it exactly. (Revelation 20:7, "Now as soon as the 1,000 years have ended, Satan will be released from his prison.") Not before.

Ahead

XXIV

The final judgmentThe great white throne, and the books opened. (Revelation 20:11-15^↗)

Why hereThe throne appears after the devil is thrown into the lake of fire, and death itself is thrown in last. Everything that could still die has to be dealt with before the last stage.

Ahead

XXV

New heavens and a new earthThe former things have passed away. (Revelation 21:1-4^↗)

Why hereJohn sees this only after death is gone. (Revelation 21:4, "and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.") Nothing can come after it.

Ahead

Where we areStage I

Pangs of distress. Peace and security is next. The Great Tribulation is stage IX, 8 steps away.

The wars we are watching now, Iran among them, are the pangs Jesus said would come first. The cry of peace and security is what we look for next.

Read the latest

The rules we read by

Judgment is always internal before external.Sealing always precedes destruction.Organizational association does not equal divine approval.Christ knows his own before the crisis breaks.The standing of the disgusting thing is evidence of withdrawal, not the cause of it.Separation is a response to a verdict, not the trigger of one.Israel and Jerusalem are prophetic templates for the end time.

How we reason

Scripture interprets Scripture. No doctrine is built on a single verse in isolation.Sequence precedes symbolism. Timing and order govern meaning.Type precedes antitype. Shadows establish the boundaries of fulfillment.Witness precedes separation; separation precedes judgment.

All fourteen

Scripture interprets Scripture. No doctrine is built on a single verse in isolation.Sequence precedes symbolism. Timing and order govern meaning.Covenant context defines audience. In-house instruction and world-directed proclamation must not be conflated.Type precedes antitype. Shadows establish the boundaries of fulfillment.Witness precedes separation; separation precedes judgment.Entry does not equal legitimacy. Presence within a structure never guarantees approval or consecration.Status is granted, not self-generated. Identity, standing and righteousness are assigned by God, never claimed.Identity is determined by outcome, not position. Completion defines who one is, not association or location.Internal assurance can be false. Familiarity, confidence or perceived peace does not equal divine safety.Conceptual reality can precede experiential reality. God may define categories before creatures experience them.Correct action taken prematurely becomes disobedience. Timing is integral to obedience.Revelation is progressive, not exhaustive. God discloses purpose in stages.Understanding is granted by God, not deduced by intellect. Comprehension is tied to consecration.Fulfillment may occur before full comprehension. God's purpose can be enacted before it is fully understood.