Interpretations:  A Survey of the Prophetic Ages Using Timelines

The timelines used at THSCoC are intended to aid the reader in understanding the order and extent of Biblical prophecies in context with other concurrent prophetic events that are presented throughout the Bible.  These timelines are general in nature and every effort has been made to assure their accurate depiction of the prophetic events.  However, there are instances where precision is unattainable with the drawing tools that are available.  At times detail was reduced to avoid an increase in clutter on the charts that would reduce clarity.  These limitations are noted as they occur.  The timelines are generalized in nature and in many cases, intervals of time along the horizontal do not portray equal intervals of time, only the relative occurrence of one event with another.  In all cases, it is incumbent upon the reader to search the scriptures for themselves and evaluate the content of this site or any other source against what the Word of God says. The basic prophetic timeline with its historical beginning     The basis for all the timelines used on this web site build on a simple horizontal bar, as seen in the following graphic.  This bar graph depicts the Gentile Age that begins at the time King Nebuchadnezzar first defeated Jerusalem. A thorough understanding of the book of Daniel provides the context for understanding prophecy throughout the Bible for many reasons.  First, the Lord revealed to Daniel, King Nebuchadnezzar, and to all peoples, His plan for the ages.  Beginning with Daniel 1, Daniel is carried away captive as a young boy, with other well learned and skilled Jews from Jerusalem to Babylon.  After three years of training, the young man Daniel and his friends completed their Babylonian training and were matriculated within the a system of advisors to the King. Then Daniel 2 provides tremendous revelations concerning the rise and fall of major kingdoms beginning with Babylon, then its defeat to her enemy, the Medes and Persians.  This was portrayed by an awesome image of a man in a dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, beginning with a head of gold, and ending with feet mixed with clay and iron.  This is reflected in the chart below by the color of the horizontal bar transitioning from a gold color to a color of iron.  Only four kingdoms are identified in this prophesy and the revealed prophetic timeline was truncated beginning with King Nebuchadnezzar's military conquests.  No other kingdom in that region such as Assyria, Egypt, or other great historical kingdoms, was part of this march in time of important kingdoms that defined the beginning of the Gentile era. Second, though the northern tribes of Israel had already been taken captive by the Assyrians much earlier than Nebuchadnezzar's conquest against Judah, only the Babylonians gained complete dominance over the land of Judah and Jerusalem.  An important key to understanding prophecy is to know that the land of Israel was promised to Abraham and his descendants, Genesis 15:7, 18-21, the people of Israel are the apple of God's eye, Zechariah 2:8 and the temple is where He chose to meet with His people Israel, 2Chronicles 6:5-6.  The times when other great world dynasties existed such as China, Mayans, or other great societies on other continents in the world are not considered to define the Gentile era since they neither trampled underfoot, nor controlled or significantly influenced the affairs in Jerusalem.  Third, Jerusalem is another important key to understanding prophecy.  This is brought out in the prophetic timeline revealed to Daniel by the angel Gabriel, Daniel 9:21-25, in which the 70 prophetic weeks (490 years, see this discussion in this site on Daniel 9) begins with the order to restore and rebuild Jerusalem's walls and streets, not just the temple.  In Daniel 2:36-38, the era of the Gentiles began with the three military campaigns of King Nebuchadnezzar against Jerusalem, and this era will not end until the return of Jesus Christ to establish His millennial kingdom, as shown in Revelation 19:11-21 with the Lord's return and the Lord's eternal reign on earth as shown in Revelation 20.  The base prophetic timeline with critical historical dates   The following graphic shows the timeline that builds upon the basic timeline above that is used in this web site with all the prophetic passages in the books of Daniel, Ezekiel, the gospels according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, and with 1Corinthians 15, 1Thessalonians, 2Thessalonians and Revelation.  There are important dates included on the timeline below to illustrate when the times of the Gentiles occurred, the approximate date of the Lord's crucifixion, the date when the Jews began to be dispersed from their land to all corners of the world by the Romans, and when Israel became a nation again.  All of these dates, and others are important in understanding prophecy. The graphic also exposes the days that we live in within the context of the prophetic timeline, which is the church age.  The church age will continue until the day that the Lord calls the church to come up to Him in the clouds.  On that day, the saints in the body of Christ will be resurrected and those living will be raptured to be with the Lord for eternity.  There may be a period of time between that event and the beginning of the tribulation.  That event is signaled by the Lord opening the first seal on a scroll with seven seals, and by the Antichrist signing a seven year covenant with Israel. The end of the seven years of the tribulation will occur with the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints at the battle of Armageddon.  Thereafter will be the 1,000 year reign of the Lord with His saints, then Eternity future.  Between the Millennial reign of Christ and the period of eternity future, there will be the great white throne judgment, where the unrighteous will be judged by God, and thrown into the lake of fire for eternity. The following timeline further builds upon the 'Prophetic Timeline with Critical Historical Events' timeline above and illustrates critical historical events and prophetic events yet to occur relative to the church age.  The church age is the period of time that began at Pentecost, Acts 2, and will end with the rapture of the church, 2Thessalonians 2:1-8.  The date when this site was updated is still within the church age, and serves as a reference point to much of what is written in this website.  As shown in the Lord's first earthly ministry, He had said Jerusalem would continue to be trodden down by the Gentiles until their time was fulfilled, which is at the end of the seven years of tribulation when the battle of Armageddon occurs.  This is the time of the Lord's return for His second advent.  However, unlike His first advent when He appeared as a humble servant and as a lamb for the slaughter, at His return He will be the King of kings and Lord of lords.  In Revelation 5 the Lord is shown and referenced both as the slain lamb and the Lion of Judah.  The end of the Gentile age is shown in the timeline below by the solid red arrow from left to right below the yellow oval with the scriptural reference to Luke 21:20-24, and above the quotation of the scripture that appears in the yellow box.  The right arrow head indicates the fulfillment of the Gentile age.  For more information on the Gentile age, follow the link to another of this site's web page where you will find written, what constitutes the age of the Gentiles..