The Rapture of the Church
The age we live in is typically called the church age or the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. According to the Word, it ends with something commonly called the Rapture, or the catching away of the church.
Jesus will appear in the clouds, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are the believing church will rise to meet Him in the air (1 Thess. 4:16-17).
Daniel's Seventieth Week—The Tribulation
After the Rapture, a seven-year period of time often referred to as "Daniel's Seventieth Week" begins. This is the uncompleted last seven years of the Jewish dispensation in which the Lord will finish his dealings with Israel.
That seven-year period of time is also called the Tribulation, and it represents the greatest outpouring of God's judgment and wrath upon this world the earth has ever seen. The Tribulation will end with the Second Advent, or the coming of Jesus Christ.
Armageddon
The principle events in this season of time will be the battle of Armageddon, the defeat of the Antichrist and the establishment of Jesus' earthly reign. This marks the beginning of the last millennium.
Satan Cast Into the Abyss
The Word shows us that at the beginning of the last millennium, Satan is going to be cast into the bottomless pit and chained there for the majority of this period so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished (Rev. 20:3).
A Thousand Years of Peace With Jesus as Ruler
We will experience life in the last millennium free of the deception, which has harassed mankind ever since the Garden of Eden. Mankind is going to experience life on this planet under a divinely appointed system of government.
For 1,000 years God is going to give mankind every opportunity possible to exercise his freedom of choice without the distracting influence of Satan and deception in order to allow man to align his life and his purpose with God's purpose.
Satan Released After 1,000 Years
Then at the end of that 1,000 years, Satan will be released from the bottomless pit for a short while to deceive whom he may. As astounding as it may sound, he will deceive multitudes in that short time frame—even people who have lived on this earth with Jesus for 1,000 years without deception but with freedom from all the schemes of the devil and the world's curse.
The point of all this is to bring the earth to a place where as many human beings as possible can be secured for God's eternal purpose. Then the end of the world as we know it will come.
The Great White Throne Judgment
At the end of the millennial reign, we have what is called the Great White Throne Judgment. Everyone alive and all of the dead—who will be raised to life again—will have to stand before this judgment seat.
All of those who have aligned their lives with Satan and his demonic host will be cast into the lake of fire to dwell there in utter torment for all eternity.
Purification by Fire and a New Heaven and Earth
The earth at that time will be so corrupted by the sin and deception which has been in it since Satan's release from the bottomless pit that it will be destroyed and purified by the fire of God.
Then a completely new heaven and new earth will be formed, at the end of which God will transplant the New Jerusalem, the capital city of heaven right now, onto the planet earth.
He will then forever take up residence with His creation (mankind) here on earth. This marks the end of the last millennium and the beginning of the eternal state.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers