Revelation Chart
by Dr. Harry Ironside
The Lamp Of Prophecy;
Or, Signs Of The Times
(By Dr. Harry Ironside, D.D., Litt.D.)
[Dr. Harry Ironside (1876-1951), a godly Fundamentalist author and teacher for many years, served as pastor of Chicago's Moody Memorial Church from 1930-1948]
The above chart begins with the precious word “Calvary” (by the way, the corrupt modern Bible versions ALL completely remove this word). That's why I only trust and use the King James Bible! Then we see the Gentile Age (the history of the Church). The First resurrection is the PRE-tribulation Rapture when Christ returns FOR His saints (1st Thessalonians 4:17). Then we see that while the raptured saints will go through the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb; while back here on earth the Antichrist will rule the New World Order and God will pour out His wrath upon the world for their wickedness. After the 7-year Tribulation period there will be the Second Coming of Christ (the Lord's descent to the earth).
Christ here returns WITH His saints and the Battle of Armageddon is fought. Armageddon is a literal valley called “Megiddo” in Israel. The Beast (Antichrist) and the False Prophet will be defeated and the Lord will begin His earthly 1000-year reign from Jerusalem over the whole earth. Satan will be bound in chains and imprisoned for 1000-years.
At the end of the 1000-years, there will be a short rebellion after Satan is released from the Bottomless Pit. There will be humans during the Millennium who are the descendants of those saved during the Tribulation period. Some of these people will join Satan in his rebellion against God. Satan and his rebellion will be defeated and then the Great White Throne of Judgment will follow, during which all unsaved people throughout history will be convicted and cast into the eternal Lake of Fire. Satan, the Antichrist, and the False Prophet will also be cast into the lake of Fire to be punished day-and-night forever and ever. This will be the final judgment of all the doomed.
The earth will be burned over, purged with fire and God will make all things new (2nd Peter 3:7,12; Revelation 21:4). The saved throughout history will dwell upon the earth with God forever and ever in genuine love, lasting peace, true happiness, perfect harmony and bountiful plenty. 1st Corinthians 15:28, “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” Amen and amen! END
by David J. Stewart | October 2014
As I pondered over Dr. Harry Ironside's brilliant Revelation chart above, which I'm certain took him quite some time and considerable hard-work to make, it dawned on me that many sincere but unlearned Bible students are like casual spectators of the ocean. They see the calm ocean surface and that's all they ever see. They love the blue ocean water, they enjoy watching spectacular sunsets fall upon the ocean in the horizon, but that's all they ever see.
One of the biggest complaints that I hear from frustrated Bible students concerning prophesy is that they've never found any mention of the word “Rapture,” nor the teaching of a “Tribulation Period” in the Holy Bible. They claim that there's no passage of Scripture (in either the Old or New Testament) which supports a Pretribulation Rapture. They are as the casual spectators who sit idle on a sandy sea shore, looking at the ocean from a distance, but they never delve into it's glorious depths by putting on some snorkeling gear or a scuba-diving suit. The ocean is truly amazing!
It would be easy for someone who's never left the sea shore to stubbornly argue that they've never found any whales in the ocean, an octopus, lobsters, muscles, starfish, jellyfish, stingrays, Marlin, Tuna, or tiger sharks with sharp teeth. Yet, they would be very sincere in their speculation and doubts! How can they testify of what they have not seen? There are literally over one million[1] ship and plane wrecks under the water around the world, worth an estimated $60,000,000,000 (billion).[1] It is true that men know more about the surface of the moon than they do about what's on the ocean floor. The Ocean is still a big mystery, vastly unknown to mankind. Literally, according to a February 22, 2012 Popular Mechanics article titled, “What's the Total Value of the World's Sunken Treasure?,” the information states that 95% of what lies beneath the ocean surface is still unknown to humanity.
Likewise, many Bible students approach the Word of God as they would a newspaper. They read it through and then deny any teachings that don't run up and give them a big sloppy kiss on the face. My friend, just because you don't see something right away doesn't mean that it doesn't exist. You cannot see tiny jellyfish in the ocean, but you'll know when you get a burning sting by one or a handful of them. You cannot see the beautiful coral. You cannot see the spectacular deep sea creatures who live in the cold, dark, deep. I could name thousands of such amazing sea creatures. The ocean is an incredible world all its own, alive with vibrant life under the darkest evening sky. I was amazed to learn recently that there are more stars in the universe, than there are grains of sand upon all the world's beaches. Yet, there are more atoms in one tiny single grain of sand, than all the stars in the universe! God is amazing!!!
I've used this illustration to demonstrate the importance of studying the Word of God. You cannot just look up a ton of Bible verses and casually read them, then discredit them because you couldn't find the words Rapture or Trinity (or Bible for that matter). The wonderful and helpful Revelation Chart by Pastor Ironside paints an excellent prophetic picture of the Bible, giving it depth of perception. Students of the Bible who fail to see the Pretribulation Rapture doctrine are lacking the depth of theological insight which only the Holy Spirit can give to a believer (John 14:26), and some good old-fashioned deductive reasoning with the brain that God gave us to use. Please read, “The Great Tribulation” (chapter 8 from the book, “Lamp Of Prophesy,” by Dr. Harry Ironside, in which he uses deductive reasoning to prove the PreTrib Rapture).
How is it that one man, like Dr. Harry Ironside, can study the Holy Bible and see the depth of doctrinal insight that he drew into his handmade Revelation Chart; while another person instead will scoff and criticize the same information, challenging this and denying that, reading the Bible all the way through and not being able to see any of it? The difference is in knowing how to study. Some people simply don't know how to form conclusions through the thinking process of Deductive Reasoning. It's really fairly simple. God told us in 2nd Timothy 2:15 to “study.” We know from Daniel 12:11-12 that the “Days of Daniel” will be 7-years in duration.
We also know from the Lord's teachings in Matthew 24:21,29 that this time, particularly the last 3 1/2 years, will be a time of woeful persecution and “Great Tribulation.” 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17 and 1st Corinthians 15:51-57 plainly teach that Jesus is coming to “CATCH UP” the Church into the clouds, to meet Him in the air. This is a very different event than Christ's “Second Coming” after the 7-year Tribulation, when He will come in power with clouds, descending and stepping foot upon the Mount of Olives, accompanied by a great earthquake (Zechariah 14:4).
This will be the first time that Jesus has walked the earth in over 2,000 years. However, in the Rapture the Lord doesn't come to the earth, and only born-again believers will see Him. When the Lord returns at the Second Coming, everyone is going to see Him (Revelation 1:7). In view of these prophetic teachings, there is only one place in time that the Rapture makes sense and perfectly fits the puzzle, that is, before the 7-yearn Tribulation period. This is properly called a “Pretribulation Rapture.”
Jesus emphatically stated in Mark 13:32 that NO MAN, not even the angels in Heaven, know the timing of when Christ will return. Mark 13:32-37 explains the purpose of a pretribulation Rapture, which is, to keep believers on their toes, staying busy about the Master's business, not sure when He's coming back. The Lord makes clear that His return will be sudden, imminent, without warning and unpredictable! This cannot refer to His Second Coming, because we know exactly when that will happen (after the 70th week of Daniel, or the Tribulation period). Also, from the time of “The Abomination of Desolation” (the event when the false messiah, the Antichrist, proclaims to be God from the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem) until the Second Coming will be approximately 3 1/2 years (Matthew 24:15; Daniel 9:26-27).
So we would KNOW when Christ is coming! The only sensible answer that harmonizes with the rest of the Bible is that Christ is going to return FOR the saints at a Pretribulation Rapture, then the 7-year Tribulation takes place, and then afterwards, Christ return from Heaven WITH the saints to battle the False Prophet, Beast and Dragon. The Lord defeats them all and then sits upon the literal throne of David to reign over the world throughout the Millennium. Amen!
I encourage you to study Dr. Ironside's helpful chart, and read his insightful book titled, “The Lamp Of Prophecy; Or, The Signs Of The Times.” ...
