HEAVEN STANDING OPEN

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

      There will be a sequence of major events which all creation will observe when the heavens are rolled back. The wrath of the Antichrist will have been under way for almost 42 months, the world will be proclaiming "peace and safety" (I Thess 5:4), a remnant of Israel will have been in their place of protection for 42 months (Rev 12:6,14), the two witnesses, Elijah and the apostle John (???), will have been witnessing for the same 42 months (Rev 11:1-13), and the slaughter of Jews, church saints, and all others who will not submit to the Antichrist will still be going on, Rev 6:9-11; 12:17; Mt 24:22.

      The two witnesses will be killed, their bodies lie in the streets of Jerusalem for 3 1/2 days, their bodies will then be made alive by God, and caught up into heaven in the sight of the world, Rev 11:11-12.

      There will be a great earthquake, a tenth part of Jerusalem is destroyed, seven thousand die, the remnant are scared and give glory to God, Rev 11:13. This will be only a few days, perhaps only a few hours or even minutes, before the next great prophetic event.

      There will be signs in the heavens of universe shattering magnitude, Lk 21:25-26; Mt 24:29: Mk 13:24-25. The sun and the moon will be blacked out and stars will streak through the sky, the powers of the heavens will be mightily shaken, and the earth will be moved out of its place, which will cause an earth-wide earthquake or earthquakes with the further disturbances of cities, mountains, islands, oceans, and continents, Lk 21:25-26.

      The heavens will be rolled back and the throne of God is seen with the Son sitting on the right hand of God, Dan 7:9; Rev 4: Mt 26:64; Mk 14:62. Hundreds of millions of angels are rainbowed about the throne and multiplied myriads of other angels stand in readiness before it. The twenty-four elders are seated on their thrones, the four cherubs are in their places around the center throne, and the judgment books are opened.

      Christ will be brought before the Father on the throne, Dan 7:13-14. Be assured, this real life drama will not be over in a moment or the twinkling of an eye. The first major event in this inauguration and crowning of the King of kings ceremony is for Christ to be ushered in before the heavenly Father, probably by the mightiest and most glorious of the holy angels and in the midst of the most worshipful and festive acclaim of praise and righteousness and worthiness ever.

       The throne of God will be intensely observed by all creation, Dan 7:9-10,13-14,18,22,26-27; Rev 6:12-17; Mt 26:64; Mk 14:62; John 1:51 et al. The greatest drama in the history of creation has begun to publicly unfold before the eyes of every living creature. This will be an open display of such irresistible and infinite power and majesty of the divine Persons and their attendants that the earth and the whole universe tremble and shake exceedingly, Isa 24:1-23, read this whole chapter. Only the power of God preserves it through His wrath to be given as an inheritance to His Son and His elect covenant people.

      Christ will be formally crowned in a divine inaugural fashion as King of kings and Lord of lords by the supreme Judge of the universe in the presence of the greatest audience ever of both friend and foe. Christ will be given the covenanted kingdom (Lk 22:28-30) to rule the nations a thousand years and put down all enemies, Dan 7:13-14; I Cor 15:21-28; Rev 20. As Christ formally receives the kingdom from the Father, Satan and all evil spirits, the Antichrist, the false prophet, and all the nations of the earth including everyone in hell will be looking on in indescribable terror, Rev 6:12-17.

      God will laugh at the Antichrist and his sin-enslaved followers, and taunt the nations. He will have the nations in derision because of their unbelief, their persistent rejection of His constant and merciful efforts to bring them to repentance, and their unceasing and willful rebellions against His ever present and urgent warnings as they stubbornly rush on seeking to satisfy their insatiable appetite for their own sinful ways, Ps 2:1-6; 59:8; Prov 1:26; Rev 6:12-17.

      God will speak to the nations in His wrath, Ps 2:5-6,10-12; Prov 1:24-33. After Christ is crowned, but still sharing in the inaugural ceremonies, He will be seated at the right hand of God, Mt 26:64; Mk 14:62. About this time God will address all intelligent beings in the whole universe, angels, wicked spirits, and mankind in heaven, on earth, and in hell. God will personally and publicly proclaim Christ King and Head of all things on behalf of the church, Ps 2:6-12; Eph 1:18-23; Col 1:16.

      Christ will descend with Michael and his angels and the spirits of the saints whose bodies are still in the graves, I Thess 4:13-18. Christ will stop somewhere between the throne of God and the earth, where the judgment seat of Christ will be set up for Him to judge the nations, particularly His saints, Mt 24:40-51; 25:1-46; II Cor 5:10. Ministering angels escort the spirits of the saints on down to their bodies which God will quicken, glorify, and bring out of their graves. The living saints will also be glorified. The angels will then accompany the glorified saints back to meet Christ in the air, I Thess 4:17.

      Christ will judge the nations by taking each faithful saved person to Himself and leaving the unfaithful saved and the unsaved on the earth to suffer God's wrath, Mt 24:40-51; 25:1-46. Hundreds of millions of saved people not in the covenants will be left behind, many of whom will cry, "Lord, look what we have done in your Name, "but Christ will say, I never knew you." Knowing God and Christ and being known by them is a unique covenant relationship. All the unfaithful saved will be raised and left on the earth among the nations (see other studies on this subject).

      Christ will present His bride (the faithful covenant people) to Himself in holiness without spot (Eph 5:27), will judge and reward the saints for their "by grace through faith" works, II Cor 5:10; II John 8. Christ will punish the unfaithful saved according to their works (Mt 18:34-35; Lk 12:2-3,46-48), and will destroy the unsaved with the mark of the Antichrist (beast) from the earth by the end of the 1335 days of the wrath of God, Dan 12:12; Isa 13:3-13; Mal 4:1-3; Mt 13:41-42. This will leave only unfaithful saved people in flesh bodies on the earth after God's wrath is finished.

      The heavens are still standing open, God's throne is still seen as before, and the general scene is still within the coming of Christ. While still in mid-heaven Christ will presents His bride "blameless in holiness before (in the presence of) our God and Father IN the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ WITH all His saints," I Thess 3:13. This is the same scene we see in Rev 7:9-17; 14:1-5; and 15:1-4. These passages present to us what is comparable to different photos of the same scene.

      God sends Christ and the glorified bride, the covenant people, to execute His wrath upon the enemy, to remove from the earth Satan, the Antichrist, the false prophet, and all their followers, and to reign for a thousand years. One reason God leaves the nations on earth still in sinful bodies, though the curse, Satan, and all evil spirits are gone, is to demonstrate to angels and men the exceeding sinfulness of sin. In a perfect utopian society, man in his sinful state is still a slave of sin.

      Christ with the glorified saints and angels descend from the heavenly throne to the earth to execute The Wrath of God, Jude 14-15; II Thess 1:7-9. Caiaphas, the high priest, before the Sanhedrin charged Jesus to tell them if He was the Son of God. "And Jesus said, 'I am. And you will see the Son of Man SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF THE POWER, AND COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN," Mk 14:62; Mt 26:64; Rev 6:12-17; John 1:51. This statement requires the heavens to be standing open so Christ would be seen from the earth both sitting on the right hand of God and then coming back to judge the earth, requiring one series of events as is being seen from many other passages also.

      Christ descends to the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4-11), then to Jerusalem (Rev 14:1-5; Isa 4:2-6), where Christ will sit on the throne of David (Lk 1:32-33) and execute God's wrath through the saints as seen in Dan 7:18,22,26-27; Joel 2:1-11. While the saints are executing God's wrath from Jerusalem, the angels will be pouring out the vials, Rev 16. For a while the heavens will remain standing open with the saints and angels visibly traversing between the throne of God and the throne of Christ, John 1:51.

      The period of God's wrath is what was requested by the souls under the altar (Rev 6:9-11), and includes the wrath under the 6th seal (Rev 6:12-17), the wrath and destruction referenced under the 7th trumpet (Rev 11:18), and the wrath of God of all 7 vials, Rev 16. Again, it is during this period of time that the saints are wearing out the Antichrist and his kingdom, Dan 7:18,22,26-27; 12:12; Joel 2:1-11.

      Watch therefore for you do not know what hour your Lord will come, Mt 24:42. It is the period of God's wrath on earth that we are urgently warned against -- NOT the wrath of the Antichrist, but the wrath of God. REPEAT: we are warned to be watching and be prepared for the coming of Christ and the wrath of God that follows on the earth, NOT the wrath of the Antichrist, Mt 18:1-14,23-35; 22:13; 24:36-51; 25:1-30; Mk 9:38-50; Lk 12:35-48; 17:26-36; 21:34-36; Jno 15:6; Rom 2:5,8-9; I Cor 11:32; II Cor 5:10-11; Col 3:6; Heb 2:3; 10:26-31; I Pet 4:17-18; I John 2:28; Rev 2:20-22; 3:10; 16:15; 18:4; 22:18-19; et al. The faithful covenant people are NOT appointed to the wrath of God (I Thess 5:9), but we have been told explicitly that God will deliver the saints into the hands of the Antichrist for 42 months to be worn out by him, Dan 7:21,25; Rev 13:7. These "saints" are the covenant people who are joined to Christ to conquer and possess the kingdom and reign with Christ, as indicated in the five scenes of Dan 7 and many other passages throughout the Scriptures.

      The false bride is called great Babylon, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the great city Babylon, the great whore, the mother of harlots, with explanations that "the woman whom you saw is that great city  which reigns over the kings of the earth," Rev 17:18. The mother harlot, her daughters, and all false religions that join with her will be judged under the 7th vial which is down toward the end of the 1335 days of God's wrath, about 3 years after Christ returns, Rev 16:17-21; 17:16-18; 18:1-24. The Lord puts it into the minds of the Antichrist and the ten kings that are with him to utterly destroy the false bride, Rev 17:15-18. This is just before the battle of Armageddon, Rev 16:17-21; 17; 18; 19.

      The writer of the book of Hebrews speaks of an innumerable host of angels in festive assembly, Heb 12:22-23. This is addressing particularly the time of the Lord's return. Likewise, in Luke 12:36 Jesus instructs us to be alertly waiting for Him when He returns out of the wedding feast or festivities. When will the marriage feast begin? The Bible says Satan and his angels will make war in heaven but will be permanently cast out to the earth and have only 42 months left. This is precisely the period of the wrath of the Antichrist, Rev 12. So Satan will be cast out of heaven just before the middle of Daniel's 70th week of 7 years. When Satan is cast out a loud voice in heaven will say, "Now is salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ for the accuser of our brethren is cast down. ....Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them....," Rev 12:10-12.

      It appears that the wedding festivities begin when Satan is cast out of heaven in the middle of the week and continue on through at least until the wedding proclamation just after the false bride is destroyed near the end of God's wrath and just before Armageddon, Rev 19. This means the wedding feast will begin 42 months before Christ departs out of the wedding festivities to come for His bride, and lasts another 44 1/2 months or more. The actual wedding takes place when Christ and His bride become ONE FLESH (Eph 5:31-32) when Christ returns, i.e., when the saints are glorified. When the false bride is destroyed some 3 years later (Rev 19), there will be a formal proclamation.

      Armageddon is the last major event in the period of God's wrath. Throughout God's wrath the Antichrist and the nations on earth will be battered so intensely as to be in complete confusion and utterly helpless, Joel 2:1-11; Rev 16. With vial 6 God will hold back the forces of His wrath and permit Satan, the Antichrist, and the false prophet to regroup their forces, Rev 16:12-16. Then the evil forces will be called up to the valley of decision (Joel 3) where they are destroyed, Rev 19:11-21; 20:1-3. Armageddon is 1335 days AFTER the return of Christ.

      NOTE TWO: The many warnings throughout the New Testament to be "WATCHING" and be "READY" for the return of Christ is in regard to the wrath of God, NOT to the wrath of the Antichrist. True indeed, we must be knowledgeable and prepared for the rise of the Antichrist, yet the church and all others who are alive will go through the wrath of the Antichrist. It is the wrath of God on earth which begins when Christ returns that we are warned against. Those who are not prepared will be left to go through the wrath of God. Those who have died but were not faithful by God's grace as God counts faithfulness will be raised and put through the wrath of God, they will be scourged, put to shame, and suffer great pain, Lk 12:46-48; Mt 25:30. But no one in a glorified body will suffer any of these things. Be assured, the Bible has much to say on this subject.