What comes next--and in what order
Scripture reveals the order of end-time events, but not the timing:
"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."
This timeline shows what comes, not when. Use it to understand the biblical sequence--not to set dates.
These checkpoints prove Scripture's reliability. Each was predicted centuries in advance and fulfilled to the year.
Artaxerxes issued the decree to restore Jerusalem (Ezra 7). This starts both the 70-week and 2300-day prophecies.
Jesus was baptized in the 15th year of Tiberius, exactly 483 years (69 prophetic weeks) from 457 BC, as predicted in Daniel 9:25.
Jesus was crucified "in the midst of the week" (3.5 years into the 70th week), causing "the sacrifice and the oblation to cease" (Daniel 9:27).
"Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Daniel 8:14). The heavenly Day of Atonement began: the investigative judgment.
Four checkpoints. Four exact fulfillments. See the full mathematical proof →
We live in the judgment hour. Since 1844, specific prophetic conditions have been developing:
The heavenly sanctuary is being cleansed. Cases are being decided. Christ ministers as our High Priest in the Most Holy Place.
"The judgment was set, and the books were opened."
-- Daniel 7:10
God's final warning is going to "every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" (Revelation 14:6). The Sabbath truth is being restored.
Phase 1-2 of enforcement is underway: voluntary Sunday promotion, economic incentives, digital tracking systems, climate justifications.
2025 developments: Pope Leo XIV (first American pope, May 2025) continues the Laudato Si' climate-Sunday agenda. The European Sunday Alliance (founded by Catholic bishops' lobbying body COMECE) coordinates Sunday protection across the EU. Project 2025 explicitly defines "Sabbath" as Sunday in U.S. policy proposals.
The fall of Babylon is evident in pastoral scandals, empty churches, doctrinal confusion, and the world's rejection of compromised Christianity.
Scripture reveals what happens next (not when, but in what order). Each event is grounded in specific biblical texts.
The image of the beast is formed when Protestant churches use government power to enforce religious observance. Sunday worship becomes law, first with exemptions, then without.
"He had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed."
Economic enforcement begins: "No man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark" (Revelation 13:17). God's people are sealed with the Sabbath (the "sign between me and them" per Ezekiel 20:12).
"Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads."
When every case is decided, probation closes. No more opportunity to change sides. The judgment is complete.
"He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still."
God's undiluted wrath falls on those who received the mark. These are literal, not symbolic judgments.
"Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth."
God's people are protected: "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling" (Psalm 91:10).
Christ returns visibly, audibly, globally. Every eye sees Him. The wicked are destroyed; the righteous are caught up to meet Him.
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air."
Warning against counterfeits: Any "Christ" who appears before this visible, global event is a deception. "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be" (Matthew 24:27).
The righteous dead are raised incorruptible. Together with the living righteous, they ascend to heaven with Christ.
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power."
Where: The saints are in heaven with Christ (John 14:2-3), reigning and judging (Revelation 20:4).
On Earth: Satan is bound, not by chains, but by circumstances. With no one to deceive (wicked dead, righteous in heaven), he wanders the desolate earth for 1,000 years.
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years."
At the end of the 1,000 years, the wicked dead are raised. Satan is "loosed" because he now has people to deceive again.
"But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."
The New Jerusalem descends. The wicked surround the city. The books are opened, and every person sees why their case was decided as it was. God is vindicated before the universe.
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it... And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened."
Fire from God consumes the wicked, including Satan. This is the "second death" (Revelation 20:14). Not eternal torment, but eternal destruction. Sin and sinners cease to exist.
This is the goal. This is the hope. God recreates the earth. Eden restored. Death abolished. Suffering ended.
"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."
The Sabbath continues forever: "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the LORD" (Isaiah 66:23).
Understanding the sequence isn't enough. The question is: which side of the judgment will you be on when probation closes?
The remnant is identified by two characteristics: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12).
The time to decide is before Sunday laws are enforced. Once the mark becomes mandatory, choosing the Sabbath will cost everything.
← Read Chapter 4: God's Final Warning to Earth | Read Chapter 16: Sunday Law Progression