The Times and the Seasons

The Apostles did not exactly understand what was coming next on the prophetic calendar. They asked our Lord, “Is it at this time that you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" They still thought of the kingdom in those political terms where Christ would come and free them from the dominion of Rome. It was an earthly kingdom that they were thinking about once again. But let us not be critical of them. We, too, may have misconceptions about the kingdom and the prophetic future. Prophecy is not a simple subject in the Scriptures. If it were, there would not be so much confusion in the minds of Christians about it today. For instance, it is often said nowadays, that the next event on the prophetic calendar is the Rapture of the Church. That is what is generally anticipated in Christian circles in our day. But I would like to suggest to you from these verses that this may not be the case, and that we should be preparing ourselves for 2 surprising events to take place before the Lord returns, and 1 surprising event when He does return. This afternoon I would like to use these verses as a launching pad to bring these matters to your attention so that all of us will have realistic expectations of what it means for the prophecies of the advance of Christ's kingdom to be fulfilled. (There is a footnote at the end of the Pdf file about "the rest of the dead" of Revelation 20, verse 5.