A proposed sequence of end-time events

The following is the scenario described in this article. It reflects what we understand to be the view held by most theologians; it is an interpretation of biblical prophecy, not a claim that every detail is undisputed.

• The Antichrist makes a peace agreement involving Israel and several nations.
• Construction of a Third Temple begins. In this scenario, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are somehow destroyed in the process. The author’s point is that the Antichrist would have to be such a diplomat that he could prevent a war between Israel and Muslim nations even after the destruction of two of Islam’s holiest sites in order to build the Temple.
• Animal sacrifices are restored, as they were before the Temple’s destruction two thousand years ago. One can imagine the reaction of animal-protection groups. 😭
• Three and a half years after the agreement, the Antichrist enters the Temple and commits the abomination of desolation, a grave offense before the Lord, perhaps declaring himself to be God there (Daniel 9:27; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–4). We believe this will happen in 2033, and we are not alone in that estimate. We believe the true Antichrist would not miss the opportunity to profane the faith of the greatest number of monotheists on a date associated with two thousand years after Jesus’ crucifixion. The exact year depends on which proposed crucifixion chronology is used; the 2033 calculation assumes a 33 CE date, while the chronology table in our related article lists 30 CE.
• Around that period, the two witnesses are expected to appear, although there is debate about their exact timing and identity. They are often identified as Elijah and Moses, or Elijah and Enoch; we are certain of Elijah because of Malachi 4:5. They preach publicly while the world’s media report their message, so that every inhabitant of the earth can hear of them. God supernaturally protects them, and fire consumes those who try to harm them. After three and a half years, the Antichrist kills them. Their bodies lie in Jerusalem for three and a half days; no one moves them. Then God raises them to heaven in a supernatural event visible to all, leaving no doubt about who sent them (Revelation 11:3–12).
• After the abomination in the Temple, God allows angels, including fallen angels, to bring destruction upon the earth and kill people. Unprecedented horrors and terrible suffering follow: in other words, an apocalypse. Anyone who reads the Tanakh, the New Testament, and the Qur’an should remember that none of us is so moral or without sin that we can expect God to magically shield us from all devastation. Noah, the person closest to God in his generation, built an ark; he did not ask God to build it for him. One purpose of this site is therefore to offer useful advice for preparing for the end times.

Some readers may ask: “If the New Testament is called the Gospels because it means good news, how can this destruction and the brutal killing of a third, or perhaps more, of humanity directly by God be good news?” We believe it is important to understand why God promised these events. We explain that reason in the continuation of this article.

• After the suffering, the Antichrist gathers an army and marches against Israel. At the same time, an army of two hundred million from the east (most likely the Chinese army with its allies, in our interpretation) crosses the dried Euphrates and advances toward Israel, the centre of the events in the last year of the world as we know it. Revelation 9:16 gives the number of the army, while Revelation 16:12 separately describes the Euphrates drying and the kings from the east. We connect these images in our interpretation; the verses do not explicitly identify the kings from the east as the two-hundred-million army.
• The Israelites who do not accept Jesus as Messiah, and especially the Zionists, realize that their weapons, even nuclear weapons if they have them, cannot save them from the united armies of the world. With no apparent escape, they cry out to their God. As an atheist might cry out to God during severe turbulence on an airplane, Israel’s people make their final appeal. Then they see and recognize the one “whom they have pierced”: Yeshua ha-Mashiach (in Greek, Iesous Christos) (Zechariah 12:10). He descends from heaven with the trumpet-blowing angels in a spectacle that leaves the world, and especially Israel, speechless. The Messiah opens his mouth, and a sword comes from it to strike down and kill the Antichrist once and for all; the remaining evil is then destroyed by the sword of the King of kings and his army (Revelation 19:11–21).

Everything above belongs to the scenario, which we remind readers is considered by most theologians to be what will happen. To see how this proposal fits the site’s chronology and its 2033–2037 dates, read Why Count Time by a Calendar That Spans Up to 7,000 Years?.