“Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’

“But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

“Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

“Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:3-4, 8-18).

Notice two things are stated here concerning the day of the Lord. First, it will come like a thief. Second, this will be a day in which the heavens and the earth will be destroyed.

Jesus says in Mark 13:28-29, “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door.” Jesus continued in verses 32-33, “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.”

Jesus is telling us that no one knows the time that the day of the Lord will come. However, He tells us that there will be very clear signs of its coming, so we must be alert and watchful so that day does not overtake us as a thief in the night.

Paul writes in I Thessalonians 5:1-11, “Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.  While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

In Matthew 24:15, 21-22, Jesus tells His disciples that when they see the “abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place,” they need to flee and pray that their escape would not be in winter or on a Sabbath. He continues saying to them, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”

Jesus is telling them that here is one of the signs they must be watching for, “the Abomination of Desolation spoken of through Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place.” He is telling them that when they see that sign, they should be aware that a great tribulation will begin.

Paul reaffirms this warning in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 3-4, “With regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.”

Both Paul and Jesus clearly state that the day of the Lord will not come until this event, the abomination of desolation, the man of lawlessness is revealed. Notice that the coming of our Lord and our gathering to Him will not happen until this sign takes place. When this sign happens, we are told by the Lord that then there would be the great tribulation.

Jesus continues in Matthew 24:29-31, “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

Again Paul writes in 1Thessalonians 4:13-18 to comfort the believers saying, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

Paul writes in I Corinthians 15:52, “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.” Here we see that the sounding of the trumpet is not just any trumpet, but the last trumpet. At the sounding of that last trumpet we, the Christians, will be changed. When is this last trumpet sounded?

The apostle John writes in Revelation 5:1,6-7, “Then I saw in the right hand of the One seated on the throne a scroll with writing on the inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.” “Then I saw One like a slaughtered lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of the One seated on the throne” (HCSB).

Then the Lamb, our Lord Jesus Christ, began to open the seals, one by one. After He opened the sixth seal, we read in Revelation 6:17, “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (WEB).  Here we see the beginning of the great and terrible day of the Lord (Joel 2:11).

When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then John sees the seven angels who stand in the presence of God; seven trumpets were given to them. And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them (Revelation 6:1-8:6).

John tells us about the first six angels as they sound their trumpets and the things that transpire (Revelation 8:1-9:21). Then John writes in Revelation 11:15, “The seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.’” The elders say in verse 18, “The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged, and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth” (HCSB).

Here we see the last seven trumpets being sounded. The last trumpet to be sounded is the seventh trumpet. It is at the sounding of this seventh trumpet that the dead will “be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” It is at the sound of this last trumpet that the “dead in Christ will rise first, then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air.” It is also at the sounding of this trumpet that God will give the reward to His prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear His name, both small and great.

This is the time referred to in Matthew 24:30-31, after the great tribulation, that “they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”

When you read the details of what happens at the opening of the first six seals and at the blowing of the seven trumpets of the seventh seal, it can be very overwhelming, even frightening. However, the Lord is always faithful to encourage and comfort His people that walk in humble obedience to Him. In Zephaniah 2:1-3, we are encouraged to, “Seek the Lord, All you humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; Seek righteousness, seek humility. Perhaps you will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.”

We can also be encouraged because Jesus assures us that the time of tribulation will “be cut short” and that “for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” Jesus also assures us of His faithful protection in Revelation 3:10 where He tells the church in Philadelphia, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (NIV).

The Greek word “teros” translated as “keep” actually means “to guard”.  Revelation 3:10 should then be translated, “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also guard you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth” (HCSB). It becomes quite apparent that it does not mean to take us out of the world to avoid going through the tribulation. It means that He will guard us, protect us, from the coming trial.

This is consistent with our Lord’s prayer in John 17:15 where Jesus prays to the Father for His disciples and for those who would believe through their message saying, “I am not praying that you take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one.” Jesus is fully confident that the Father is able to protect those that are His.

The Bible is full of accounts of God keeping those who are faithful to Him through all kinds of trials. Hebrews 11:35-40 tells us, “Some men were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection, and others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us” (HCSB).

Hebrews 2:10 says, “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings.” Again, in Hebrews 5:9, “And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation.” Paul says in Colossians 1:28, “We proclaim Him (Christ), admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete (mature, perfect) in Christ.” Should we not also suffer, that we might also be brought to perfection, to maturity, in Christ?

 In 2 Corinthians 13:9, Paul tells us of God’s promise that “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” We have been sealed, just as the 144,000 are sealed in Revelation 7. Ephesians 1:13, says that in Christ we were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when we believed. Ephesians 4:30 says that God’s Holy Spirit sealed us for the day of redemption. Surely our God is able to guard us and watch over us through the tribulation. But even if it is His will that we die for the testimony about Jesus, we are truly blessed. We are assured that as believers, whether we live or we die, we are the Lord’s.

John tells us in Revelation 20:4-6, “Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.”

The tribulation and the refusal of the mark of the beast should not be things to fear if we are walking by the Spirit in obedience to the Lord, but should be a time of rejoicing for being given the opportunity to suffer for our Lord!  In Acts 5:40-41, “After calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them. So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.”

In Revelation 19, we see Christ defeating and capturing the beast and the false prophet and casting them alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. Then, in Revelation 20, we see that an angel seized “the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for 1,000 years.” He threw him into the abyss and put a seal on it.

Then those faithful believers that were martyred, are shown ruling and reining with Christ for 1,000 years. After the 1,000 years are completed, Satan is released and goes forth and deceives the nations. Then Satan will be defeated and will be cast into the lake of fire where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

In Revelation 20:11-15 John writes, “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.” Then the dead, the great and the small, are judged. The books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

Here we see the fulfillment of Peter’s prophecy that the “heavens will pass away” and “the earth and its works will be burned up.”  Here we see the end of the 1,000 year long “day of the Lord.”

In summary, the great tribulation will take place after the abomination spoken of in Daniel is seen standing in the Holy Place. It is “immediately after” this tribulation that the Lord comes with the sound of the trumpet and the voice of the archangel and the dead in Christ rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be gathered together to meet the Lord in the air. At the last trump, the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

The Lord Jesus defeats the false prophet and the antichrist and casts them alive into the lake of fire, and Satan is bound and kept in the abyss for 1,000 years. The Lord rules and reigns over the earth for 1,000 years with those that come to life at the first resurrection. Then Satan is released, defeated, and cast into the lake of fire.

At the great white throne, the heaven and the earth flee from His presence. The dead are judged, and those whose names are not found in the Lamb’s book of life are cast into the lake of fire. This is the end of the 1,000 year long day of the Lord, the last day, that great and terrible day of the Lord.

Four times in John 6, Jesus says that on the last day He would raise up those that believe in Him. In verse 40 Jesus says, “For this is the will of My Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

To those that have believed and taught a pretribulation rapture, I would only ask, “What if you are wrong?” What impact will it have on your faith and the faith of those you have taught if you should wake up and find that the great tribulation is taking place and all of us Christians are still here?

I fear that most believers have been taught that Christians will not have to go through such a time of suffering, and therefore, are not prepared for it. We need to be those that encourage believers to be prepared to suffer for the Lord that they may be brought to maturity in Christ.

Hebrews 5:7-9 reminds us that, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.”

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 4:7-12, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.  For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death works in us, but life in you.”

He continues in verses 16-18, “Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer man is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (HCSB).

We must not let fear keep us from trusting that God will give us grace sufficient to endure whatever trial we may encounter. He uses suffering in the life of His people to bring them to maturity, to perfect them.

May we consider it a great joy whenever we experience various trials, knowing that the testing of our faith produces endurance, knowing that God is working it for our good (James 1:2).

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.