We shall now outline the basic truths we learn from the Bible that direct us to an exact understanding of the final timeline of history.

Throughout the last 2,000 years, during which time the entire Bible has been available, devout, dedicated true believers have earnestly searched the Bible to try to discover the future unfolding of this earth’s history. They were all aware of one truth, that is, there would come a time when this world’s history would come to an end. It would coincide with the return of Jesus as the righteous judge of the earth, and the rapture of all the true believers to a new heaven and a new earth, where eternally they will reign with Christ.

However, before this time would come, there would be a period of some kind of great tribulation. Commonly, this was wrongly understood to be a time of massive physical persecution of the believers in Christ. In reality, it is a time that can only be understood spiritually.

Chapters of the Bible like Matthew 24 and Mark 13 were particularly studied with great care because they seemed to focus on such a tribulation coming just before the return of Christ. It is true that within these two chapters, God gives us the best clue to help us begin to build a Biblical framework that ties the past to the end of history. That clue is in Mark 13:28, where God declares:

Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

This verse could not begin to be understood until about 60 years ago, on May 14, 1948. It was at that time that the Biblical fig tree, the nation of Israel, again became a viable nation among the nations of the world. This was almost a miracle, because for the entire period from A.D. 70, when Israel together with the city of Jerusalem and the temple were totally destroyed by the Romans, Israel had not been a nation of the world with its own homeland. However, almost miraculously, on May 14, 1948, it again became a nation with its own homeland.

Immediately a great many Christians correctly associated this dramatic event with the fig tree prophecy of Mark 13:28. They correctly saw that God typified national Israel as a fig tree, and that a fig tree in leaf related to Israel again becoming a nation.^*

Because this verse insists that when the fig tree is in leaf, all of the events recorded in Mark 13 and Matthew 24 will then occur, we must realize that God 

Another clue that God gives us is found in Revelation 7:9-14. There God speaks of a great multitude which no man could number, that would come out of the great tribulation. (The article “the” was not translated, but it is in the original Greek.) Additionally, in Luke 21:22, which is also speaking of the time of great tribulation, God speaks of this tribulation as a time of vengeance. God’s punishment on the wicked is a time of vengeance. During the great tribulation, God has begun to prepare the peoples of the world and all the local churches for the completion of God’s judgment process.

The next verse that helps us is Matthew 24:22, where we read:

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

We have learned from the examination of the unfolding of historical events of the Bible, and from the teaching of Colossians 2:16-17, that they link to ceremonial feast days. The year of jubilee, for example, emphasizes that liberty (salvation) is to be published to the world. The fact is, all of the Biblical evidence points to the very high likelihood that Jesus, who is the very essence of the jubilee, was born in the jubilee year 7 B.C., on the day of atonement, at which time the shophar (ram’s horn) of the jubilee (Hebrew “teruah”) sounded (Leviticus 25:9).^*

Moreover, we learned that Jesus was officially announced as the Lamb of God on September 26, A.D. 29, which Biblically was Tishri 1 (Tishri is the seventh month), which is also called the day of jubilee (Numbers 29:1). Because Christ, the jubilee, had come and was officially announced, the stage was set to

It would seem that if there is a great surge of salvation activity, then it would somehow relate to a jubilee year. Therefore, in the years following 1948, when would there be another jubilee year? There are exactly 50 years from one jubilee year to the next jubilee year. Indeed, 1994 is the first jubilee year after 1948. It is exactly 2,000 years after the jubilee year of 7 B.C. when Christ, who is the very essence of the jubilee, was born.

The jubilee definitely relates to God’s salvation program. But the Bible assures us that this jubilee year is in the midst of the time of great tribulation, which is a time of preparation for God’s final judgment activities. How can these simultaneous contradictory events be at the same time and relate to the year 1994?

The prophecy of Daniel 8 becomes very helpful. In Matthew 24, where we learn about this great tribulation, God directs us to look for more information in the Book of Daniel. Matthew 24:15-16 declares:

When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

In Daniel Chapter 8, God speaks of a time of 2,300 days during which a fierce king would rule. He would cause the daily sacrifice to be taken away and the abomination or transgression of desolation to take place so that the sanctuary and host would be trodden under foot (Daniel 8:12-14). Spiritually, this means that the true Gospel would be replaced with a satanic gospel. Significantly, concerning the vision of 2,300 days, God declares in Daniel 8:17, “for at the time of the end shall be the vision.”

We have noted that the year 1994 is a jubilee year that focuses on the worldwide proclamation of the Gospel. Is that year, then, the end of the 2,300-day period spoken of in Daniel 8, during which great abomination is taking place?

If that is so, and 2,300 days earlier than 1994 was the year 1988, so, could that be the year when the great tribulation began? That would mean that during that time, for the first part of the great tribulation, virtually no one was being saved. But it would also mean that during the last part of the tribulation, a great multitude, which no man could number, would become saved (Revelation 7:9-14).

As we puzzle about this, we should take note that in Acts 7:11 the words “great affliction” are used in connection with the experience of Jacob and all Israel when they left the promised land, the land of Canaan, to go to Egypt to  

Very significantly, we find that Jacob went to Egypt during his time of great tribulation in the year 1877 B.C. The year that we are examining in connection with the great tribulation of Matthew 24:21 is the jubilee year 1994. These years, 1877 and 1994, are 3,870 years apart. 1,877 + 1,994 - 1 = 3,870. (Since there is no year zero, in going from the Old Testament calendar to the New Testament, one year must be subtracted.) Very strikingly, 3,870 = 3 x 1,290.

The number 1,290 appears to be very significant because there was another time when Israel was driven from the promised land. Jerusalem and the temple were completely destroyed by the Babylonians. This occurred in the year 587 B.C., which was during a 70-year period of great wrath of God on the nation of Judah. This 70-year period began in the year 609 B.C. and ended in the year 539 B.C., when the city of Babylon was defeated by the Medes and Persians. The awful event, the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, occurred in the year 587 B.C. Curiously, and surely significantly, the three years we are examining (1877 B.C., 587 B.C., and A.D. 1994) are linked together by the number 1,290.

1877 B.C. - 587 B.C. = 1,290 years

587 B.C. to A.D. 1994 - 1 = 2,580 years = 2 x 1,290

1877 B.C. to A.D. 1994 - 1 = 3,870 years = 3 x 1,290

The number 1,290 is highlighted in the Bible in connection with the spiritual activity that takes place at each of the above three times. The Bible emphasizes this role of the number 1,290 in Daniel 12:11, where we read:

And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

We must remember that at times, God speaks of a day to represent a year. For example, in Numbers 14:34, God indicated that Israel would remain in the wilderness for 40 years, in accord with the 40 days the spies searched out the

We do know that the land of Canaan is used in the Bible to typify the kingdom of God. Jerusalem and the temple also externally typify the kingdom of God. Thus, for Jacob and his family to leave the land of Canaan, it was like leaving the kingdom of God. Also, to be driven from Jerusalem, and to know that the temple had been destroyed, that was like being cast out of the kingdom of God. But what typified the kingdom of God in the year 1994? We know that throughout the church age, all of the local churches typified the kingdom of God because they were the divine institution designed by God to externally represent that kingdom. They were the caretakers of the Bible, and they had the responsibility of sending the Gospel into all the world.

The great tribulation of Jacob’s experience (Acts 7:11-12) encompassed seven years of famine, but during that period, the worst time occurred at the end of two years, when Jacob had to leave the promised land (1877 B.C.). When Jacob and his family were commanded to leave the land of Canaan, it was like being commanded to leave the kingdom of God. Nothing could be more traumatic than that. It meant that the promised land, the land of Canaan, had been surrendered to the heathens who were in the kingdom of Satan. Therefore, symbolically, it was like Satan was given the rule of the kingdom of God. Therefore, the year 1877 B.C. was a sad and terrible year.

Likewise, the most terrible of Israel’s 70-year experience was the year 587 B.C., when Jerusalem and the temple, which also typified the kingdom of God, were destroyed. In that year, by God’s command, the temple and Jerusalem were destroyed by the king of Babylon, who typified Satan (Isaiah 14). Again, it was like the kingdom of God on earth had come to an end.

These two historical events typified what happened in the jubilee year, A.D. 1994. For 1,955 years, the churches all over the world were symbolic of the kingdom of God, even as was the land of Canaan in Jacob’s day, and as Judea, the land of Israel, Jerusalem, and the temple were in Israel’s day.

We will discover that some time earlier than 1994, God was finished using the churches to represent the kingdom of God. Thus, the wonderful jubilee year 1994 was a horrible year for the churches. All over the world, God was again saving countless numbers of people, but the churches remained under the spiritual rule of Satan. Truly, God was forever finished using the churches to represent the kingdom of God. The situation was just as it was in 1877 B.C., when the land of Canaan came under the complete rulership of the heathen, and in the year 587 B.C., when the land of Judea came under the rule of the king of Babylon.  

The year 1877 B.C. divided the tribulation that Jacob experienced into two parts, even as the year 587 B.C. divided the 70-year tribulation period that Israel experienced into two parts. So, too, the great tribulation of our day was divided into two parts in the year 1994, when it became certain that God was forever finished using the churches to represent the kingdom of God.

Since these two tribulation periods of seven and seventy years are patterns of the great tribulation of our day, we could expect that this present tribulation period will also identify with the number seven. We have already discovered that the first part of the great tribulation appears to identify with the 2,300 days of Daniel 8. Because Jacob’s tribulation experience encompassed seven years, and Judah’s tribulation experience encompassed 70 years, we can expect that the total time of the present great tribulation period will also feature the number seven. It could be 7,000 days or possibly 7 x 12 x 100, which equals 8,400 days. Spiritually, the number 100 signifies “completeness” and the number 12 signifies “fullness.” Later we will discover that the great tribulation period is 8,400 days (23 years), and this is solidly proven by much additional Biblical information. Amazingly, there are exactly 8,400 days in 23 years, and the number 23 very frequently identifies with God’s wrath.

Furthermore, we will note the parallelism that exists between the division into two parts of the seven years, the 70 years, and the 8,400 days. As we have learned, the seven-year period of Jacob’s tribulation was broken into two parts. The traumatic experience of leaving the land of Canaan was at the end of the first two years of the seven years (Genesis 45:6-8). Therefore, the first part was two-sevenths, or 28.6% of the whole period. Likewise, the tribulation of Judea began in the year 609 B.C. when King Josiah died, and continued to the year 539 B.C. when Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians. This 70-year period was divided into two parts, the first part being 22 years. Twenty-two is 31.4% of 70 years.

Remember, the tribulation of Jacob and the tribulation of Judea are patterns of our present great tribulation. Therefore, we would expect the first part of the great tribulation of our day also to be close to 28.6% or 31.4% of the whole tribulation period. Indeed, we find that 2,300 days is 27.4% of 8,400 days. We can see the parallelism that exists by the closeness of 27.4% to 28.6% and 31.4%. Later we will discover many proofs in the Bible that show us that the tentative division of 2,100 days as the first part of a total 8,400-day great tribulation period is very accurate.

Thus, we learn that the 8,400 days feature the number 7 (7 x 12 x 100). It also appears to be divided into two parts, the first part being about 30% of the whole time. And because 23 years, which in the Bible frequently identifies with God’s wrath, is exactly 8,400 days in length, we are strongly encouraged to believe that the great tribulation period is precisely 8,400 days in length.  

Earlier we learned that the last day of this earth’s existence, as indicated by the observance of the feast of tabernacles (feast of the Bible) is October 21, 2011. Thus, after the great tribulation there must be a final period of 153 days, which we will discover is the day of judgment, when God finishes His punishing process on the unsaved.

By God’s mercy, we have been able to tentatively discover the Biblical timeline of history all the way to the end of the world. We will now show how the Bible gives many proofs of the accuracy of this timeline.

A fundamental rule that has greatly helped in this endeavor is that which is set forth in Colossians 2:16-17, where God declares:

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

In these very enlightening verses, God declares the principle that the timing of the observances of the various ceremonial laws are pointing to and are related to the timing of things to come. Therefore, we immediately understand why Jesus, the Lamb of God, was crucified on the 14th day of the first month (Nisan 14) of the Biblical calendar, which was the Passover. We can also understand why the Holy Spirit was poured out and the church age began about seven weeks later, on the very day Israel was celebrating the feast of Pentecost.

Another very helpful prophecy of the Bible that we learned about earlier in this study was that of Mark 13:28- 29, in which God instructs us:

Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near: So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

National Israel is frequently typified in the Bible as a fig tree. After having been without country or national identity for almost 2,000 years, Israel almost miraculously again became a viable nation in the world. This stupendous event has been correctly identified by a great many Biblical teachers as a fulfillment of this Mark 13 prophecy. Since this event occurred on May 14, 1948, we are taught by these verses that all of the events outlined in Mark 13 were very soon to take place, in the years following 1948.

Another helpful clue that helped us discover the timeline leading to the end of the world is the fact that the year 1994 was a jubilee year. Earlier we had learned that Jesus, who is the very essence of the jubilee, was born in 7 B.C., which was a jubilee year. Remember, the jubilee signified that liberty (salvation) was to be published to the world.  

A very careful study of Mark 13, and parallel chapters like Matthew 24 and Luke 17 and Luke 21, indicates that the following events would develop as God closed the history of the world.

1. A time would come when all the churches throughout the world, which were typified as the temple of God, would come to an end. “There shall not be left here one stone upon another” (Matthew 24:2). They would be overrun by Satan who is called the “abomination of desolation” (Matthew 24:15).^*

2. This would be a time of great tribulation when the true believers were driven out and were commanded to leave their churches. It would be a time of great apostasy in the churches, as Satan came into many of them with signs and wonders (Matthew 24:24).

3. This time of tribulation was typified by the seven-year tribulation that Jacob experienced when in the year 1877 B.C. he was commanded by God to leave the promised land, Canaan, and go to live in Egypt.

4. It was also typified by the 70-year period , 609 B.C. to 539 B.C., that Judah suffered under God’s wrath. This was the 70-year period from 609 B.C., when Josiah, the last good king, was killed, until 539 B.C., when Babylon was conquered by the Medes and Persians, thus allowing the Jewish captives to return to Jerusalem. In the middle of this dreadful time that was experienced by Israel, in the year 587 B.C., Jerusalem and the magnificent temple of Solomon were completely destroyed by the Babylonians.

5. To a lesser degree, we might note that it was also typified by the seven-month period when the tabernacle was in Shiloh and the ark was captured by the Philistines and taken to their land. This occurred in the year 1068-1067 B.C.

Thus, the number 7 appeared to be intimately involved with the duration of the great tribulation that we read about in Matthew 24.

We learned that in all likelihood, the number 23 was associated with the period of great tribulation. Repeatedly, it is used in the Bible to signify God’s wrath, and the period of great tribulation is definitely a time when God is preparing the churches and the world for God’s wrath, which will immediately follow this period. The numbers 7 and 23 both became increasingly relevant when we discovered that precisely 8,400 days equal a full 23 years. The number 8,400  

We discovered that this 8,400-day tribulation period was divided into two parts. According to what we learned from Revelation 8:1, during the first part, virtually no one was being saved anywhere in the world. We identified the first part with the 2,300 evening mornings of Daniel 8:13-14.

We discovered that during the second part of the great tribulation, a great multitude, which no man could number, was being saved all over the world (Revelation 7:9-14). This was to take place altogether outside of the churches, which are to remain under the wrath of God.

We also discovered that the ceremonial feast of tabernacles (feast of the Bible), which must be a shadow of things to come, was identified with the very last day. Since the last day must identify with the end of the world, the Biblical timing of the feast of tabernacles must also identify with the end of the world.

One more difficult bit of information must be kept in mind, and that is the declaration of Mark 13:24-26, where we read:

But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

We must still learn more about this period.

Summarizing all that we have thus far discovered, we can conclude that the development of the events preparing for the end of the world appear to be as follows.

1. The church age, which began in A.D. 33, would end sometime after 1948, when Israel again became a viable nation among the nations of the world.

2. Because the church age began at the time of Pentecost, and it has been intimately identified with Pentecost, the bringing in of the firstfruits of the harvest, the official end of the church age, must be the day before a Pentecost date in whatever year the church age was to end.

3. Because the last part of the great tribulation was to identify with a great multitude being saved, that last part must begin in the year 1994, which was a jubilee year.  

4. Because the first part of the great tribulation must identify with the 2,300 days of Daniel 8, when virtually no one was to become saved, the beginning of the great tribulation, which must coincide with the end of the church age, must have occurred sometime in the year 1988 (2,300 days equal a little more than six years).

5. Since the official end of the church age should be the day before Pentecost in the year 1988, we discover that the day of Pentecost was May 22. Therefore, the end of the church age and the beginning of the great tribulation must have occurred on May 21, 1988.

6. Since the first part of the tribulation, during which time virtually no one was to become saved, was to be 2,300 days, then 2,300 days after May 21, 1988, brings us to September 7, 1994. This date then must be the beginning date of the great harvest of people who are to become saved during the remaining 6,100 days of the 8,400 (23 full years) of the great tribulation.

7. The end of 6,100 days after September 7,1994, is May 21, 2011, which must be the end of the great tribulation.

8. In the year 2011, what is the last day of the feast of tabernacles (feast of the Bible)? We have learned that it occurs on October 21, 2011. Thus, there are five months, consisting of 153 days of our calendar, during which time the events of Mark 13:24-27 must take place. Indeed, immediately, we are encouraged that we probably have arrived at a correct understanding of the unfolding of the events that lead to the end of the world. In Revelation 9, God speaks of a period of five months that identifies with the time when the sun is darkened and judgment has begun. And 153 days, May 21 to October 21, is exactly five months.