The Order of End Times Events from Biblical Narratives

The Order of End Times Events from Biblical Narratives

You are probably familiar with eschatological events according to Revelation and Matthew 24, but how well do you know what the Old Testament has to say about end-time events? In this article, I will synthesize all of the major texts dealing with eschatological events into an ordered list of events while providing a little commentary.

This article is my attempt to map out the major data points to establish a sequence. Revelation and Matthew 24 are the eschatological master template. For this reason, I will try to parenthesize the events as I see them in the other books to link them back to the Revelation and Matthew 24 logical sequence. Before the parentheses, I will write out key phrases and ideas from the particular chapter or book so that you can see where I am making the interpretive correlation for those events matching up with the ones in Matthew and Revelation.

One of the main purposes of this study is to understand more about what the “gathering” event is in Matthew 24:31 from an Old Testament context. If this gathering event happens at the same time as the rapture, then if we find what events are before it and after it, map out those data points, and establish a biblical consensus on that, we might be able to determine where in the sequence of events the rapture happens.

The Bible passages below are not an exhaustive list of all the eschatological prophecies, since there are many more covering the subject of God’s wrath, which I have mostly excluded here, since they did not fit the scope and purpose of this study. Additionally, many of those wrath texts do not have three or more sequential main events in order to make a broader eschatological map out of them.

The passages I have included in this map are: Revelation; the Olivet Discourse; Daniel 7, 11, 12; Zechariah 12, 14; Isaiah 24, 27; and Ezekiel 36-39.

Revelation

Seals 1-5 = Tribulation and Birth Pains

Seal 5 = The Abomination of Desolation

Seal 6 = The Coming of the Son of Man (Rev 6; 14; 19)

Seal 7 = The 144,000 and the great multitude

Trumpet and Bowl Judgments

Seal 7, Trumpet 7, Bowl 7 = The Gathering of the Elect (Rev 7, 11:15-19, 14:1-5; Rev 20:4-6).
Note: These are overlapping events, since the seven bowls are contained within the seventh trumpet and all the trumpets are contained within the seventh seal.

The first resurrection is also here somewhere.

So does the gathering happen first or the trumpet and bowl judgements?

[……..]

The Battle of Armageddon

Satan bound

The first resurrection

The New Jerusalem in the process of coming down from heaven that brings healing to the nations

The restoration/reclamation period (thousand years) with the river and tree of life

Satan’s release for a short time & Gog and Magog final battle

Final throne judgment at the end of the thousand years

Death destroyed

All bad things have been cleansed from the earth = New heaven and new earth

The New Jerusalem has fully touched down onto earth

The Olivet Discourse: Matthew 24 & Luke 21 & Mark 13

Birth pains and times of tribulation worse than has ever been or will be. But the Lord has shortened the days for the sake of the elect. Otherwise, no life would be spared. There will also be wars, false reports, false Christs and false prophets performing signs and wonders to deceive, famine, earthquakes, plagues, lawlessness, the gospel being preached to all nations, persecution, martyrdom, and the need to be vigilant and persevere so that you can stand before the Son of Man (Seals 1-5)

Jerusalem surrounded by armies, Abomination of Desolation, the days of vengeance, exile, fleeing to the mountains, the times of the Gentiles, false teaching and reports of Christ’s return (Seal 5)

Celestial disturbances, roaring waves, dreadful fear and anticipation for what is to come. Redemption of believers and the kingdom of God is drawing near. Then the Son of Man will come on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. The tribes of the earth will mourn when they see Him (Seal 6)

A great trumpet is blown, and the angels are sent forth to gather the elect from the four winds (the Gathering)

The time for reaping the harvest comes. Like in the day of Noah, some people will die, and others will be preserved (Trumpets, Bowls, and Armageddon. Harvest)
For harvest theme with appearances of Christ, see Rev 6:12-17; 14:14-20; 19:11-21. Do you think these are recapitulations (repeated events of the same event)?

Notes: Matthew 24:4-14 is a summary of the tribulation up to the return of Christ, while verses 15-28 are a closer look into that time period, starting with whenever the AoD happens to the return of Christ. Then verses 29-31 describe what will happen in the tribulation of “those days” (after the AoD). It is a thematic summary of the coming of the Son of Man, while the following verses are additional randomized facts about that time period, not a chronological sequence of what comes right after the gathering. Therefore, the harvest judgement could be before or after the Gathering of the elect. But I think the harvest judgement comes first and then the gathering (tares then wheat).

Summary:

Tribulation

Abomination of Desolation

The Coming of Christ

Tribes of the earth mourn

The Gathering or Harvest judgments

Daniel 11-12

Israel surrounded by armies and invaded

Abomination of Desolation and terrible time of distress

Michael the angel will arise to defend Israel (the coming of Christ would be here)

Antichrist will come to an end as his armies are gathered around Israel to attack (Armageddon)

Rescue, gathering, resurrection of the dead, and rapture happen at the end of the age

Note: the end of these wonders will happen as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, which is the full 1,335 days

Summary:

Abomination of Desolation

The Coming of Christ

Armageddon

Israel Rescued from her enemies

The Gathering

Resurrection

Daniel 7

The fourth beast with ten horns and a little horn has dominion over the earth. (Rev 13:1-10)

The court will sit for judgement before the Ancient of Days, and they will decide and execute the taking away and annihilation of the fourth beast’s dominion. (Rev 20:4)

The beast is slain and thrown into the fire (Armageddon)

The rest of the beasts have their dominion taken away (Satan bound at the same time)

An extension of life for the rest of the beasts at an appointed time (Gog and Magog battle)

The Son of Man comes with the clouds of heaven, and He is given dominion, glory, and a kingdom. This is when the saints receive the kingdom to rule with Christ forever. The saints receive cosmic dominion over all the kingdoms of the earth unchallenged. (reclamation period)

Note: Compare Daniel 7 to Rev 13:7-8 and to 20:1-4 and understand all the actors who have dominion and who and when that dominion is transferred and when the reigning period begins with Christ. Does the beast still exist or has he been destroyed?

Note: Ancient Rome = legs of iron. The ten kings that come from that beast are the iron and clay kingdom of the ten toes. The kingdom is set up in the days of “those kings” (Dan 2:44). The legs and the feet are somehow connected but also separate.

Summary:

Armageddon

Satan bound

Gog and Magog

Reclamation

Zechariah 12 & 14:

Jerusalem surrounded by armies and the city is taken (Seal 5 - Abomination of Desolation)

Coming of Christ to fight against the nations, the Lord appearing on the Mount of Olives to defend Jerusalem, and to destroy all nations that come against her. A great earthquake happens, and people flee to the mountains. There will be celestial disturbances (Seal 6 – Coming of Christ)

When people see Jesus coming, they will look upon Him whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son. (Seal 6)

The armies that came against Jerusalem will be destroyed by their flesh rotting out, along with their horses and other animals. The armies will be stricken with madness, and they will kill their own. (Armageddon)

People will come to live in Jerusalem again after the war, and there will no longer be a curse (part of the gathering)

Living waters flowing out of Jerusalem and the Lord will be king over all the earth unchallenged (reclamation/restoration period)

A plague of no rain for anyone who refuses to go up to Jerusalem to worship the king

Summary:

Abomination of Desolation

The Coming of Christ

Tribes of the earth mourn

Armageddon

The Gathering

Restoration period

Isaiah 24:

“The Lord lays the earth waste, devastates it, distorts its surface and scatters its inhabitants” (v. 1).

A curse devours the earth because of everyone’s sin. The pollution of evil causes the earth to mourn and wither.

The curse results in the inhabitants of the earth being burned up, and few men are left.

All joy turns to gloom. No wine is left. The music stops.

“Desolation is left in the city and the gate is battered to ruins” (v. 12), indicating invading armies.

“For thus it will be in the midst of the earth among the peoples, as the shaking of an olive tree, as the gleanings when the grape harvest is over” (v. 13).

There seems to be no escape from these disasters (v. 18).

The sin is so great on the earth that the earth sways back and forth like a drunkard, and “it will fall, never to rise again” (v. 20).

Isaiah 24:21-23

So it will happen in that day,
That the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high,
And the kings of the earth on earth.
22 They will be gathered together
Like prisoners in the dungeon,
And will be confined in prison;
And after many days they will be punished.
23 Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed,
For the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem,
And His glory will be before His elders.

Verses 21-22 echo Revelation 19-20. Verse 23 echoes Revelation 21, especially 21:22-27.

“That day” (Isa 24:21) indicates the verses before, which sound similar to Revelation’s imagery of Babylon the great harlot who was drunk on sin, her sin piled up as high as heaven, she spread her sin throughout the world, then her music stopped, and she was left desolate so that she would never recover. Isaiah is not speaking about Jerusalem here but rather, all the people of the earth. Therefore, I do not believe verse 12 is a reference to the Abomination of Desolation. So if “that day” is the destruction of Babylon the Great, then it is also the season of the Harvest of judgement. The passage also describes an increase in tribulation from what seems similar to the birth pains of the earth and the earth groaning for the sons of God to be revealed.

After this, a general summary is given: both the kings of the earth and the rebellious angels will be gathered together and imprisoned in the underworld. (Armageddon, the binding of Satan, and the beginning of the thousand years). But it’s not just Satan. It’s all the rebellious angels, because “host of heaven” is plural. Question for the Amillennialist: are all the demons bound right now? My answer is no. That’s still future.

After they are imprisoned, it says “after many days,” indicating a time much later. If we connect this to Revelation’s one-thousand years, then that one-thousand is not literal. It’s probably just there to give the book pacing, and perhaps to symbolize something as well. So then, after this unknown time-period, it sounds like both Satan and the kings of the earth will be punished. This summary of Isaiah does not include the Gog and Magog battle beforehand. It just jumps right to the punishing. But its exclusion does not prove it won’t happen.

The moon being abashed and the sun ashamed (afraid to show themselves), connects to Revelation 21:22-27 where the city has no need for the sun or moon to shine because God’s glory will illumine it, and the nations will walk by its light.

Then it says that after all these things have happened, this is when the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem. This seems to be speaking of literal land. Revelation 21:10 says that the New Jerusalem will “come down” out of heaven from God. That means it has to come down onto something. Revelation 21:3 also indicates that since the land has been cleansed, God’s presence is ready to come down to earth to dwell among all people. It’s the earth becoming the Garden of Eden again and even better than Eden.

Summary:

Tribulation

The Harvest of Judgement

The destruction of Babylon the Great

Armageddon

The Binding of Satan, demons, and the kings of the earth in the underworld

The Restoration period (The thousand years / ‘many days.’)

Final Judgement (all the evils taken out of prison to be punished)

The Eternal State (New Heaven/Earth) and the glory of God coming down to Jerusalem to fill the whole earth. Christ will reign forever.

Note: it is possible that Isaiah put this last part of verse 23 here thematically rather than chronologically. I believe that’s the case, and so I would put some of these elements in the thousand-year restoration period, since we know Christ reigns during that time from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 27

The Lord is responsible for exiling Israel because of her sin (Abomination of Desolation)

A great trumpet will be blown, and the Lord will reap a harvest (of wheat). The sons of Israel will be gathered up one by one and be brought to the mountain of Jerusalem to worship the Lord (the gathering, resurrection)

The Lord will punish the Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, with His sword (Satan bound)

Briars and thorns easily burned up with fire in a day of battle (Gog and Magog battle)

Jacob and Israel as fruit trees that will fill the whole earth with fruit (restoration period)

The Lord will kill the dragon (Satan) who lives in the sea (Final Judgement)

Summary:

Abomination of Desolation

The trumpet gathering of Israel to Jerusalem

Satan bound

Gog and Magog

Restoration period

Satan destroyed and Final Judgement

Ezekiel 36

They have made you desolate and crushed you (Mountains of Israel) from every side. God’s consequential wrath is poured out on Israel for their sin by invading armies. Israel is exiled. (Seal 5 -Abomination of Desolation?)

God will remember their evil deeds, and they will loathe themselves for their iniquities and abominations. (Seal 6 – Coming of Christ?)
(mourn and look upon Him whom they pierced?)

But in the future, God will cleanse them from their sin. Their cities will be reinhabited, their land will be fruitful, and it will become like the Garden of Eden. (the gathering to restoration period)

People will be brought back to the land of Israel and rebuild the desolated city. The Mountains of Israel will be like fruit trees and bear fruit for God’s people, Israel. They will no longer devour men or bereave their nation of children. Their harvest will be plentiful and they will never again have famine. Their people will be multiplied like flocks upon the land. (restoration period)

Summary:

Abomination of Desolation?

Coming of Christ and look upon Him whom they pierced so that they mourn?

The Gathering to Restoration period

Ezekiel 37 Valley of Dry Bones:

In a valley full of dry bones, God breathes into them and puts their flesh and skin back on, and they come to life (come up out of their graves). He calls the breath (His Spirit) from the four winds (across the earth) to breathe on these slain that they may come to life. Then they rise up and become like an exceedingly great army, and they will be gathered into the land of Israel.

The literal explanation for the vision is that these Israelites are dead and they will be bodily resurrected from the dead and then placed upon their own land. Also, Israel and Judah (the two sticks) are dispersed or exiled among the nations, but God will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land.

Rather than being two kingdoms, God will make them into one nation on their land on the mountains of Israel, and one king will be king for all of them. They will no longer defile themselves (Daniel’s: ‘put an end to sin’?) with their idols or transgressions. But God will deliver them from the dwelling places in which they sinned, and God will cleanse them. “And they will be My people, and I will be their God.”

Ezekiel 37:24-28

“My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. 25 They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.’”

Summary:

Israel and Judah are not dwelling in their own land because they are dispersed and exiled among the nations.

The Resurrection of the dead.

The Gathering.

The restoration period of the Davidic Kingdom (Millennium).

Note how the physical land is explicitly mentioned in multiple ways. Also, if their sons and sons’ sons are going to live on the land forever, that means it is not possible for them to be exiled again. The sanctuary of God being in their midst forever is the presence of God never leaving them and continually dwelling in their midst (Rev 21:22-27; 22:3-5).

Ezekiel 38 Gog and Magog Battle

This event is said to take place “After many days” and “in the latter years” (v. 8), and it comes after Ezekiel 37, where the land has now been restored from the sword, Israel is no longer dispersed, but they are all on their own land “at the center of the world” and dwelling securely. They are “the land of unwalled villages,” “living without walls,” “having no bars or gates.”

God will set bait for Gog and all his armies across the lands to lure them out for battle. They will bring out all their weapons and troops to come against Israel and surround them like a storm. God will orchestrate all of this to happen so the nations may know Him when He is sanctified through Gog’s army in their eyes.

But God’s fury will mount up in His anger. In His zeal and blazing wrath, He will cause the earth to quake in the land of Israel. Everything in the earth, sky, and sea will shake at His presence. Mountains will fall and steep pathways collapse. Every wall will fall to the ground.

Ezekiel 38:21-22

“I will call for a sword against him on all My mountains,” declares the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.”

Summary:

Restoration period (The Davidic kingdom continues from the last chapter)

Gog and Magog = “After many days,” “in the latter days,” and “in the last days,” the armies of the nations will come against Israel. “I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety” (Ezek 39:6), “fire came down from heaven and devoured them” (Rev 20:9)

Ezekiel 39

Gog, who is the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, will come from the North and attack Israel. This is the same battle as the previous chapter.

Gog’s armies will all die and be given over as food for the scavenging animals. The prophet is instructed to speak to every beast and bird to come feast on their flesh and enjoy the sacrifice God has prepared for them until they are glutted and drunk on the fat and blood.

God will send fire on Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands in safety.

The Israelites will bury Gog and all his horde in a valley in Israel for seven months to cleanse the land. At the end of the seven months, they will look for bones and bury them until the land is cleansed.

Verse 23 and onward seem to speak mostly of a different time, as it involves remembrance of things past, and the phrase, “Now I will restore,” indicating a soon to be present reality in Ezekiel’s day. Then the text seems to shift again to speaking about a more distant future.

Summary:

Gog and Magog (during the Davidic kingdom nearing its culminated state). The armies die by God’s fire.

The land in the process of being completely cleansed

Conclusion

According to this survey of biblical texts on eschatology, looking at them side-by-side and combining them together reveals a consistent ordered pattern of events.

Across Revelation, the Synoptic Apocalypse, Daniel, Zechariah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, the same sequence of end‑time events consistently emerges. Although each book presents its visions with different imagery, pacing, and literary structure, they all describe the same set of events in the same macro‑order. Their visions and prophecies overlap, telescope, and recapitulate, but they do not contradict one another.

When the texts are aligned and summarized by event categories, these books consistently affirm the same overarching order:

1. Tribulation / Birth Pains

2. Abomination of Desolation / Jerusalem surrounded

3. Cosmic signs + The Coming of Christ

4. Mourning

5. Harvest / Armageddon / Destruction of the Beast (Armageddon)

6. Gathering + Resurrection (first resurrection)

7. Satan bound + Restoration / Reclamation period (millennial kingdom)

8. Gog & Magog rebellion after “many days”

9. Final judgment of all evil

10. New Heaven & New Earth / New Jerusalem fully descended

Note: #5 Harvest includes everything from the seventh seal and onward to Armageddon.

Discussion on the Gathering Event

From what I have learned from this study is that “the Gathering” event of God’s elect in Matthew 24:31 is a reference back to Old Testament Scriptures, and is speaking of the gathering of God’s elect people, specifically Israel, to place them back on their own land to live and dwell securely forever. At least, that is the outcome of what the gathering event brings about, while its beginning is the resurrection of the dead/rapture.

The Israelites who had previously died in the wilderness or in exile throughout history (and had saving faith), will be resurrected from the dead and will be placed back on their own land to inherit the earth. Conceptually, it would make the most sense for this gathering to happen after the trumpet and bowl judgments for the restoration period of one thousand years, as there is no need to place them on a land in which the earth is experiencing global destructive events. And theologically, 1 Thessalonians 4 says that the resurrection of the dead must happen first before anyone alive is raptured up to heaven to meet the Lord in the air. Therefore, whenever the Gathering is, that is when the rapture is. But since the believers will meet the Lord in the air before being placed back on the land, it would be reasonable to believe that this could happen before the battle of Armageddon. But since Jesus describes the tares being burned up first before the wheat is gathered into His barn, it would make sense that at least some of God’s wrath would be poured out on earth before the resurrection event happens. Since Paul describes this time as happening during “the trumpet of God” and “at the last trumpet,” it is most reasonable to conclude that the resurrection/rapture will happen at the seventh trumpet right before the seven bowls are poured out.

However, to provide some pushback on this position, we could say that there are multiple gathering events, or that the gathering event starts at one point, while its intended purpose is not required to be fulfilled immediately after in time. A period of waiting is permissible before people are placed back on the land. Furthermore, there is certainly a difference between the church being raptured up into heaven to meet the Lord in the air vs. Israel being gathered to be placed on their own land. One gathering seems to be vertical, while the other is horizontal. Therefore, they could be two different gatherings. However, it is still impossible for the rapture to precede the resurrection of the dead event. This means that if we say there are two different gatherings, we are not separating Israel and the church. Instead, we would just be separating the going up and then the going down as distinct events. Or, we could just conceptualize them as two phases of the same event. That seems like the most rational choice for interpreting Matthew 24:31.

Though I place Matthew 24:30 as the sixth seal, I am not sure what to do with the next verse, since these verses could be telescoping, meaning they are a summary of ordered events, not necessarily a temporal order of events. That means many events could happen in between verse 30 and verse 31. We just don’t know. All in all, the most likely outcome is that the rapture/resurrection of the dead event happens between the sixth seal to seventh trumpet.

For anyone who desires to prove this otherwise for an earlier date (like pre-trib or mid-trib), then they need to prove that the resurrection of the dead (the vertical gathering event) happens earlier. And from my point of view, no such evidence exists. God will certainly protect His children from wrath, yes, but there are many ways to do that without removing people from the earth, as God has done it many times in the past in various ways.