After the Rapture: Tribulation, Armageddon, Millennium

What will happen on earth once the Church is gone? The question frightens many and intrigues everyone else. Pastor Jean-Claude VILLA makes it the subject of the third part of his series "The End Times." That morning he was in heaven with the redeemed. That afternoon, he comes back down to earth to look, without fear but without detour, at what the Bible says about the calendar to come: the seven years announced by Daniel, the antichrist, the great tribulation, Armageddon, the Lord's return, the thousand-year reign, and, at the very end, the great white throne.

The thread running through it all comes down to three words: be ready. Because the Church is not meant to go through what's coming. She's taken up beforehand. And yet what will happen on earth still concerns us, because it reveals who God is, what his grace is worth, and why it's today that you need to be saved, not later.

Here's what Jean-Claude VILLA read in the texts, without preconceptions, letting the Word speak for itself.

Outline of the message

1. Daniel's 70 weeks: the key to the calendar

It all begins in Daniel 9:24-27. Daniel was praying, and the angel brings him this word: "Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city…" In prophetic language, a "week" is a period of seven years. Seven plus sixty-two weeks pass until the coming of the Messiah, who is "cut off," Jesus put to death on the cross. Then "the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary," which is fulfilled in AD 70 with Titus.

There remains, then, one week (seven years) that has not yet taken place. Between the death of the Messiah and this last week, Daniel's prophecy falls silent. Why? Because the Church is never included in the Old Testament prophecies. The Church is a parenthesis in human history. Two thousand years may seem long to us, but within the whole of God's plan, it's very short. And that parenthesis will close at the rapture.

The last week then opens: seven years divided into two halves of three and a half years. The same length appears throughout Scripture under different forms: "a time, times, and half a time" (Daniel 7:25; Revelation 12:14), "forty-two months" (Revelation 11:2; 13:5), "1,260 days" (Revelation 11:3; 12:6).

2. A non-chronological reading of Revelation

An important reminder before reading on: the book of Revelation is not a straight, chronological account. It's a book of scenes. We move forward in the story, then step back to shed light on a scene from another angle, the way some films flash back to the hero's childhood before moving forward again. From chapter 4 to chapter 19, the Church is no longer mentioned, except when John, in his visions, catches sight of "this great multitude, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages" before the throne (Revelation 7:9). That Church is already up above. Down on earth, Daniel's seven years are unfolding.

3. First half: three and a half years of peace and prosperity

When you hear "great tribulation," you think right away of disasters. But before the disasters, there's first an extraordinary period of peace and prosperity. The people who live through this moment will believe they're living in the best of all worlds.

For Israel. The people finally get their land back, the very land God had promised Abraham in Genesis 15:18-21: from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates. Israel, scattered since the great deportations, Assyria for the Northern Kingdom, Babylon for Judah, Titus in AD 70, the Third Jewish-Roman War in AD 135, then partly regathered in 1948, will fully take possession of that land. The temple will be rebuilt, sacrifices restored (Daniel 9:27). Israel will live in peace and safety among the nations.

For the nations. A political empire re-forms around a peacemaker, the first beast of Revelation 13:1, rising "out of the sea," that is, out of the unstable churn of the nations. A powerful, cunning, skillful, blasphemous man (Revelation 13:5-8; 17:11-14). This is the antichrist. Watch the word carefully: some think "antichrist" means "the one who comes before Christ." That's not it at all. He's truly the antichrist: the one who stands against Christ.

The luxury, the wealth, the thriving trade described in Revelation 18 belong to this first period. Kings live in opulence, merchants congratulate themselves, sea traders prosper. Everything is going well. Too well.

4. Second half: Satan cast down, the antichrist's true face

Halfway through the week, everything tips over. "In the middle of the week he will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. The desolator will commit the most abominable things" (Daniel 9:27). In Revelation 12:7-12, war breaks out in heaven: Michael and his angels fight the dragon, and Satan is thrown down to the earth. A voice from heaven rings out: "Woe to the earth and to the sea, because the devil has gone down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has but a short time!"

A "diabolic trinity" now takes shape, a grating imitation of the divine Trinity: Satan, the first beast (the political antichrist), and the second beast (the false prophet of Revelation 13:11-18). The antichrist passes himself off as God, demands worship, and imposes a mark on the right hand or forehead without which no one can buy or sell. The mark of the beast, in the Word, is not a barcode, a vaccine, or any particular technology: the beast isn't here yet, so neither is that mark.

5. For Israel: a time of distress and purification

Daniel 12:1 and Matthew 24:15-21 call it "a time of trouble such as never was." The only way to escape is to flee: "Let him who is on the housetop not go down… let him who is in the field not turn back," Jesus warns.

But in the middle of this distress, God is still pursuing a loving purpose toward Israel. Zechariah 13:8-9 declares: "It shall happen that in all the land," says Yahweh, "two parts in it will be cut off and die; but the third will be left in it. I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will test them like gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, 'It is my people;' and they will say, 'Yahweh is my God.'" That remnant finally has its eyes opened. The chosen people will recognize the Messiah they had once rejected.

Two major figures mark this period. The two witnesses of Revelation 11:3-13, sent by the Lord to stand up to the beast and prophesy for 1,260 days. And the 144,000 overcomers of Revelation 7:4-8, 12,000 from each tribe of Israel. Here, the pastor says, you have to read what the Bible says without twisting it: if the text goes to the trouble of naming each tribe, it's clearly talking about Israel, not the Church. The Church, by then, is already up above, made up of Jews and Gentiles converted to Christ.

6. For the nations: a time of wrath and an "eternal gospel"

For the nations, the second half of the week is a time of wrath. The judgments described in Revelation 6 through 19 fall: seals, trumpets, bowls. Remarkably, it's the Lamb himself who sets these judgments in motion. It's Jesus who opens the seals (Revelation 6:1). This is no accident. It's the time of the end, and God is judging.

In the middle of this catastrophe, an angel flies "in the midst of heaven" with "an eternal Good News to proclaim to those who dwell on the earth" (Revelation 14:6-7). Note carefully, Jean-Claude VILLA points out: this isn't the gospel of salvation by grace that we know today. The message proclaimed is: "Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come." This is the gospel of judgment, on top of the gospel of grace. We're no longer in the time of patient mercy: we're in the time when the King comes to render his verdict.

7. Armageddon and the King's glorious return

The high point is Armageddon, Har-Megiddo, the Valley of Megiddo, near Carmel, on the plain of Israel (Revelation 16:13-16). The antichrist gathers Israel there in order to wipe her out: it's a trap, the hatred of the nations concentrated in a single place. Zechariah 14 announces the scene: "Behold, a day of Yahweh comes… I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle" (Zechariah 14:1-7). Just as the Red Sea once split apart, the Mount of Olives splits in two when the Lord returns, and Israel pours into the open valley to be saved.

Then the King appears. Revelation 19:11-16 describes him: "I saw the heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called Faithful and True. In righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many crowns… Out of his mouth proceeds a sharp, double-edged sword, that with it he should strike the nations… And he has on his garment and on his thigh a name written, 'KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.'" And the armies following him on white horses are the Church. She returns with him.

This is no longer the Jesus rejected among men, gentle and lowly at Golgotha. This is the Jesus of judgment's full weight. The sword coming out of his mouth is not the makhaira, the small, double-edged blade of Hebrews 4:12, the one that sorts out the thoughts and feelings of the heart. It's the romphaia, the great sword of war. His feet come to rest on the Mount of Olives, the very place from which he ascended into heaven after his resurrection (Acts 1:11-12), the place where the glory of God once left the temple in Ezekiel 11:22-23, not far from Golgotha.

8. The destruction of the antichrist and the judgment of the nations

The antichrist is destroyed by the breath of the Lord's mouth (2 Thessalonians 2:8; Isaiah 11:4). The beast and the false prophet are thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur (Revelation 19:20). Satan, meanwhile, is bound for a thousand years in the abyss, but not yet thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:1-3).

Then comes the judgment of the nations described in Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus speaks there of three groups: his brothers (the people of Israel, tested during the tribulation), the sheep (among the nations, those who helped that people), and the goats (those who did nothing). "Most certainly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." The sheep enter the Millennium; the goats do not.

9. The Millennium: the thousand-year reign

The kingdom is inaugurated. Zechariah describes it all, the second coming of the Messiah, his kingship, his reign (Zechariah 14:9). His reign extends over the whole earth. "The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord, and of his Christ" (Revelation 11:15). Every knee will bow (Isaiah 45:23; Romans 14:11; Philippians 2:10).

It's a deliverance from evil (Revelation 20:2-3), a universal harmony (Isaiah 11:6-9), prosperity for all (Psalm 72:1-14), a lengthening of human life (Isaiah 65:20-25). No more war, no more sickness, no more disability. Israel will once again be the foremost of nations (Isaiah 14:1-2), Jerusalem the capital of the world, and Israel will teach the nations. The apostles will judge the twelve tribes (Matthew 19:28). The redeemed will reign with Christ: "He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne" (Revelation 3:21).

But be careful. The Millennium isn't quite what the Christian imagination makes it out to be. It's a reign of justice, Christ will shepherd the nations "with a rod of iron" (Revelation 19:15; Psalm 2:9-12). There will still be rebels. Isaiah 66:24 speaks of the corpses of men who rebelled against the Lord. Death is not yet abolished, "the sinner being one hundred years old shall be accursed" (Isaiah 65:20). And above all, this is the crucial point, during the Millennium, there is no more new birth. No more conversion. People walk with Christ simply because there's nothing else to do, in a visible and uncontested reign.

10. The final revolt and the great white throne

After a thousand years, Satan is released "for a little while" (Revelation 20:7-10). And here is the truly astonishing part: the nations follow him into his revolt. After a thousand years of peace, of the King's visible reign, of prosperity, with no sickness and no war, people let themselves be deceived and rise up against the Lamb. Why? Because they never experienced the new birth. Human nature remains human nature as long as it isn't regenerated by grace.

The judgment is swift. The devil, in turn, is thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, "where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Then comes the final scene, the great white throne (Revelation 20:11-15). "From his face the earth and the heaven fled away… I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne. Books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works."

We, disciples of Jesus, are not judged according to our works, we are saved by faith, by grace. For them, it's their works alone that judge them, and death and Hades are thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death. "If anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire."

11. New heavens and a new earth

Finally, Revelation 21-22 opens the last scene: new heavens and a new earth. The Bible doesn't give the details of exactly what these new heavens are; it mostly tells us what will no longer be there. No more sea, and in Scripture, the sea is the image of restless nations, turmoil, instability. No more death. No more mourning, no more crying, no more pain, no more curse, no more night.

During the Millennium, "righteousness will reign," imposed from outside. In the new heavens and new earth, "righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:13), because only the redeemed remain. The Church appears as "the holy city, New Jerusalem… prepared like a bride adorned for her husband" (Revelation 21:2). The glory of God is there. Holiness, perfection.

12. A call to be ready

The pastor closes with the only marching order that matters: be ready. The Lord's return is sudden. "Watch therefore, for you don't know when the lord of the house is coming… lest coming suddenly he might find you sleeping" (Mark 13:36). "Behold, I come like a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his clothes, so that he doesn't walk naked, and they see his shame" (Revelation 16:15).

This image of clothing spoke directly to John's first readers. Among the guards of the Jewish temple and the sentries of Rome, a superior officer would walk the night rounds to check that no one had fallen asleep at his post. If a sleeping guard was found, he was stripped of his clothing and marched through a line of public shame, whipped if he was a temple guard, beheaded if he was a Roman soldier. Jesus borrows this image to say: don't let yourself be caught naked and dishonored on the day I come.

Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says nothing different. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, he isn't warning the Church that she'll have to go through the tribulation. He's correcting a false teaching claiming that the day of the Lord had already come: that won't happen, he says, until the man of lawlessness is revealed, and the one who now restrains, the Church filled with the Spirit, must first be taken out of the way. The Lord will then destroy the lawless one with the breath of his mouth. So it isn't "the Church goes through the tribulation," but rather "as long as the antichrist hasn't come, now is still the time to be ready."

So: be ready. Today, grace is still being offered. Today, you can be born again. Today, the blood of Jesus washes and cleanses. "There is salvation in none other" (Acts 4:12). The book of Revelation closes with this invitation: "The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!'" (Revelation 22:17). Come, Lord Jesus. And get ready, be ready.

Key takeaways

• Daniel's seven years split into two halves. Three and a half years of deceptive peace under the peacemaking antichrist, then three and a half years of tribulation once Satan is cast down to earth and shows his true face.
• The Church is a parenthesis. She appears nowhere in Daniel's end-times prophecies. She's taken up beforehand, and returns with the King on the white horses of Revelation 19.
• Christ's return is not gentle. He sets his feet on the Mount of Olives, saves Israel, crushes the rebellious nations at Armageddon, and destroys the antichrist with the breath of his mouth.
• The Millennium is not paradise. It's a reign of imposed justice. New birth is no longer possible, and the final revolt proves that without grace to regenerate it, the human heart stays rebellious.
• Today is the day of salvation. The great white throne judges according to works; we are saved by grace, through faith. Now is the time to be ready.

Personal application

• When I hear talk about the end times, is my first reaction fear, or hope for my Savior's return?
• Am I certain, today, that I've personally placed my faith in Jesus, or am I putting that choice off for later?
• Am I living like someone who's waiting for the Lord, or like someone who hopes he'll wait a little longer?
• Do I know people around me who haven't yet heard that grace is offered to them today?
• What would need to change in my life so I'm not caught "naked," taken by surprise, when the King suddenly arrives?

Verses cited

• Daniel 9:24-27, the 70 weeks
• Daniel 12:1, a time of trouble such as never was
• Zechariah 13:8-9, the purified third
• Zechariah 14:1-9, the day of the Lord and the King's coming
• Matthew 24:15-21, the flight Jesus recommends
• Matthew 25:31-46, judgment of the nations
• Revelation 6 through 19, seals, trumpets, bowls
• Revelation 7:4-8, the 144,000 overcomers of Israel
• Revelation 11:3-13, the two witnesses
• Revelation 12:7-12, Satan cast down to earth
• Revelation 13, the beast and the false prophet
• Revelation 14:6-7, the eternal gospel of judgment
• Revelation 16:15, "I come like a thief"
• Revelation 19:11-16, the King of kings on his white horse
• Revelation 20, Millennium, final revolt, and the great white throne
• Revelation 21-22, the new heavens and the new earth
• 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8, the lawless one and the one who restrains him
• Mark 13:36, "lest he find you sleeping"
• Acts 4:12, there is salvation in none other

FAQ

Will the Church go through the great tribulation?
No, according to the reading Jean-Claude VILLA offers. The Church is taken up before Daniel's week even begins. She returns with the King on the white horses of Revelation 19:14. What Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2 doesn't announce that the Church will go through that ordeal: he's correcting a false teaching claiming the day of the Lord had already come.

Who are the 144,000 of Revelation 7?
Twelve thousand from each tribe of Israel, quite literally. They are Jews saved during the tribulation, not the Church, and not some universal symbolic category. If the Word takes the trouble to name each tribe, it's because it really is speaking of the people of Israel.

Why is there still a revolt at the end of the Millennium?
Because during the Millennium, there's no more new birth. People live under a visible, just reign, but their hearts aren't regenerated by grace. As soon as Satan is released, unconverted human nature lets itself be deceived one last time. It's a powerful reminder: only grace can regenerate a heart.