Are we the storied generation spoken of in the Bible (Matt 24:34), which is

prophesied to witness: the Rapture of the Church, a seven-year tribulation

th
(i.e. Daniel’s 70 Week), and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ? To
determine where we are on God’s prophetic clock, we need look no further
than what’s happened since Israel was reborn as a nation (Isa 66:8) in May,
1948. And if seventy-years determines a generation’s length (Ps 90:10),
2010 should be prophetically significant. As for a chronology of events,
biblical scholars still debate what precedes the rapture of the Church. For
example, while war drums currently sound over Iran’s nuclear program,
and sanctions could ignite a hot war, news headlines indicate that Iran may
instead order proxy incursions from Lebanon first. If so, this could lead to
broader conflagrations consistent with what’s prophesied in Isaiah 17 &
Psalm 83. To explore this further, we offer the following commentary.

A Chronology of End Times Events

Jack Kelley

More and more as we get closer to the end, people want to see a time line of coming events. Questions
about the order in which events will take place, the span of time between them and the likelihood of
there being enough time for everything to happen in the time we have left are becoming more
numerous with each passing week.

As you know the Bible doesn't provide this level of specificity. But neither are we left to make
unfounded predictions. There are a number of clues scattered throughout the New Testament that take
much of the guess work out of things. With diligent study, we can put them together and make some
pretty reasonable assumptions.

Romans 11:25

For example Romans 11:25 says Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of
Gentiles has come in. I've shown several times how the phrases "full number" and "come in" point to
the Rapture of the Church. In Paul's day they were often used in a nautical context. The “full number”
was the number of crew members a ship needed before it was authorized to set sail. As soon as the full
number of crewmen had been contracted the ship immediately left the harbor to begin its journey.

The phrase “come in” means to arrive at the ship's scheduled destination. It's still in use today. People
talk about how different life will be for them when their ship “comes in”.

From Romans 11:25 we get the notion that the Church has a full number, too. That's the number of
believers necessary for the rapture. Reaching that number frees us from the constraints of this world
and we'll immediately “come in” to our scheduled destination, Heaven.
 Jesus told the disciples He was going to His
father's house to prepare a place for us, and
then He'd come back for us to take us there
(John 14:2-3). He didn't say He'd come back
here where we are (to be with us here), as in
the 2nd Coming. He said He'd come back to
take us there to be with Him where He is.
This has to be a reference to the Rapture.
Once this occurs, Israel's time of hardening
will come to an end and the time of their
reconciliation will begin.

Isaiah 17, Psalm 83, & Ezekiel 38-39

Ezekiel said that one outcome of the battle he described in chapters 38-39 is that Israel will be
awakened to His presence (Ezekiel 39:22). Since Paul said Israel's awakening will follow the rapture and
Ezekiel said it will be an outcome of his battle, we can assume the rapture will likely precede Ezekiel 38.

None of Israel's current next door neighbors are mentioned by Ezekiel, even though they're all
antagonists, but the prophecies of Isaiah 17 and Psalm 83 feature them prominently. From this we can
conclude these prophecies will be fulfilled ahead of Ezekiel 38 but there's no way to tell if they will also
take place before the rapture.

Acts 15:13-18

A set of parallel clues can bring us to the same conclusion about the relationship between Ezekiel 38 and
the rapture. In Acts 15:13-18 James said that Israel was being set aside so the Lord could take out of the
Gentiles a people for himself, after which David's fallen Tabernacle would be rebuilt. The phrase "take
out" comes from a Greek word that means to take hold of something for the purpose of carrying it
away. It refers to the rapture of the Church.

David's fallen Tabernacle is the Temple which was destroyed in 70 AD and will be restored. But there
won't be any need for a Temple until Israel is back in an Old Covenant relationship with God. And this
will only happen after the Battle of Ezekiel 38. Being back in an Old Covenant relationship means
Daniel's 70th Week will have begun (Daniel 9:27). That means the Age of Grace will have come to an
end and the Church will be gone.

Matt. 24:34, Psalm 90:10 & Isaiah 23:15

Based on these verses, I believe Jesus said His 2nd Coming would take place about 70 years from the
time Israel became a nation again in 1948. (As I demonstrated in “Why the Re-Birth of Israel is a Sign of
the End”, it doesn't make sense to tie Matt. 24:34 to specific signs that happen just a few years before
the 2nd coming.) Adding 70 years to 1948 brings us to the end of 2018.
 When Daniel's 70th Week begins, there will only
be seven years left until the 2nd coming. That
means Daniel's 70th Week will have to begin 7
years prior to 2018, in 2011.

Other clues indicate the 2nd Coming will likely

happen on Rosh Hashanna, also known as the
Feast of Trumpets and the Jewish New Year.
Because it takes place at the time of the new moon
rather than on a full moon, it's often difficult to
determine the exact time of its arrival. For this
reason it was sometimes referred to in the past as
the feast where no man knows the day or hour.

Jesus used a form of this phrase 4 times in the span of 23 verses while referring to the time of the 2nd
Coming (Matt. 24:42, 44, 50, Matt 25:13). Computer projections tell us that in 2018 Rosh Hashanna will
occur on Sept. 9-10. But it takes a confirmed visual sighting to make it official and Matt. 24:29 says the
moon will not give its light following the end of the Great Tribulation, so no one will know the day or
hour of His return until they see Him coming on the clouds, with power and great glory (Matt. 24:30).

That's All Folks

That's as much of a hint as to timing that the Bible gives us. But remember Psalm 83, Isaiah 17 and
Ezekiel 38 are all called battles, not wars. If Israel acted without restraint Psalm 83 would likely require
only a week or so to fulfill. Isaiah 17 involves only the firing of a missile or the dropping of a bomb. The
Rapture of the Church will happen in the twinkling of an eye. God could annihilate the forces of Ezekiel
38 in an afternoon. My point is, this is not too much for Him to accomplish in the time that's left.

The way the Middle East keeps heating up its possible the fulfillment of Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17 could
happen very soon. When the Gaza Blockade issue threatened to ignite into a full blown confrontation
recently, I thought we were seeing its beginning. But sad to say it's not if these two prophecies will be
fulfilled but when. And from Scripture you can't tell if they'll happen before or after the Rapture. They
could all happen at once.

But after they do, the Battle of Ezekiel 38 will follow, Israel's awakening being necessary for Daniel's
70th Week to begin. This will bring the anti-Christ to the forefront to confirm the treaty that allows for a
Temple to be built. In the middle of the 70th Week he'll claim to be God, kicking off the Great
Tribulation, after which the Lord will return to establish His Kingdom.

Over the past few weeks we've taken a fresh look at Psalm 83, Isaiah 17, and Ezekiel 38-39. We've also
shown why the re-birth of Israel has to be the premier sign of the End of the Age. Hopefully, this
perspective on how all these prophecies are related will provide the overview we need to understand
how very close we are to the End of the Age.

Even angels have longed to look into these things (1 Peter 1:12), but you and I are blessed to experience
them firsthand. You can almost hear the foot-steps of the Messiah.
 To find this article, visit: http://gracethrufaith.com/ikvot-
hamashiach/a-chronology-of-end-times-events/#more-18805.
Jack Kelley is a Christian writer with several books to his
credit, including "Children's Stories of the Bible, the Adult
Version" and "The Stories of the Patriarchs" a fictionalized
account of the Book of Genesis. His latest effort, "The Seven
Churches Chronicle" is a commentary on Revelation 2-3.
Before retiring into full time ministry, Jack was engaged in
management consulting. In addition to traditional consulting
assignments, he has given over 10,000 paid presentations on
leadership, management, sales, customer service, and other
areas of personal productivity throughout North America.
Twenty-years ago experienced a radical conversion to
Evangelical Christianity. Since that time he has devoted most
of his time and energy to studying and teaching the bible,
conducting studies throughout the western US and serving as teacher, counselor, and lay pastor. He has led several pilgrimages
to Israel and Jordan, and is the author of all the website's articles. Jack and his family currently reside on the Baja Peninsula in
Mexico where they serve as volunteer missionaries. You can find Jack's site at: http://gracethrufaith.com/