In the previous message, we saw the last three and a half years of the present age and the great tribulation of the three and a half years. These three and a half years are for the Lord to clear away all the negative persons and things, leaving only the dead unbelievers and the demons to be judged at the great white throne after the millennium. On the positive side, these three and a half years are to bring in Christ's eternal kingdom and the eternal righteousness.
We also need to see that the last three and a half years of the present age are for the purpose of putting the Christians, the Jews, and the Gentiles into their proper posts. In the three and a half years of the great tribulation, God will deal with the Gentiles. First, they will be dealt with by the seven trumpets of the seventh seal. The first four trumpets are supernatural calamities on the earth and the heavens. The last three trumpets, the three woes, will touch man directly. The third woe is composed of the seven bowls as God's most severe judgment on men.
There will also be the war at Armageddon, waged by Antichrist, his false prophet, the ten kings, and their armies. They will be defeated by Christ and His overcomers in the treading of the great winepress of the fury of God. Revelation 14:20 says, "And the winepress was trodden outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress up to the bridles of the horses for a thousand six hundred stadia." The city here is Jerusalem. A thousand six hundred stadia is the distance of one hundred eighty-two miles from Bozrah (Isa. 63:1) to Armageddon (Rev. 16:16). Many will be killed in this war.
When Christ returns, He will set up His throne of glory to judge the nations who remain (Matt. 25:31-46). Those who are the goats will be cast into the lake of fire. Those who are the sheep will enter into the millennial kingdom to be the citizens. This is the way in which God will deal with the living Gentiles. The dead unbelievers will be judged at the great white throne after the millennium and will be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15).
The faithful Israelites who keep the commandments of God during the great tribulation will be transferred into the millennium as the priests on this earth (Zech. 8:20-23; Isa. 2:2-3). The overcoming Christians will be raptured before the three and a half years of the great tribulation, being kept out of the hour of trial. The majority of the saints who remain will be raptured at the end of the three and a half years. Then all the Christians will appear before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10). Some will be rewarded to share in the reign in the kingdom of a thousand years as the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens (Rev. 20:6), whereas others will be disciplined to be matured during the thousand years (Matt. 25:30).
Eventually, in the millennial kingdom the overcoming Christians will be in the New Jerusalem as the kings, the saved Jews will be the priests, and the righteous Gentiles who are the sheep will be on the earth as the citizens. Then there will be a new universe—the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem as the eternal kingdom of God.
In this message we want to go on to see the shining of the prophetic word in the Scriptures made more firm. Second Peter 1:19 says, "And we have the prophetic word made more firm, to which you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." The Old Testament prophecies were made firm by Jesus Christ the Lord and by some of the apostles in the prophecies of the New Testament. The New Testament prophecies confirm the prophecies of the Old Testament. In other words, the New Testament prophecies make the Old Testament prophecies firm. What we have today is the prophecies made more firm to us. In the New Testament age, the shining of the prophetic word is stronger and the warning is also stronger.