The rest of this book consists of various tests I have applied to the Harmony of Revelation to see if anything could be found to prove it false. Although I have not applied every possible test to the theory, hopefully, I have provided a sufficient number of examples of every conceivable type to illustrate how you and others can perform additional tests.
This chapter tests the Harmony against various scriptures found in the New Testament. In fact, we will begin with the prophecies of Jesus Christ himself. After all, if harmonistic eschatology is consistent with the teachings of Christ, then there is a good chance that it will be consistent with all the other prophecies of the Bible as well.
In Matthew Chapter 24, Jesus, in response to some questions from his disciples, describes the signs of his coming and of the end of the age. Let us see whether or not this prophecy supports, contradicts, and/or supplements the harmonistic scenario:
MAT 24:
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
27 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.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In verses 1-3 of this lengthy passage, Christ prophesies the total destruction of the beautiful temple that only recently had been rebuilt. Through historical hindsight we know that this destruction occurred on Tuesday, the first of the "last days," in 70 A.D., but the disciples thought it would take place at the end of time when Christ returned. So they asked Jesus to describe the last days in more detail.
In verses 4-8 Christ continues describing other events and characteristics of Tuesday. He specifically warns us not to be deceived by false christs or by wars, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes, because these are only the beginning of birth pains. In other words, Christ predicts that such signs will continue to occur throughout the long duration of the Church Age.
Of course, in retrospect we can see that this prediction has been fulfilled literally. Furthermore, it is obvious that such signs cannot be used as a reliable indicator of the time of the Christ's return. Nevertheless, the recent increase of such signs does suggest that the Day of Salvation is almost over.
In verses 9-14, Christ begins describing Wednesday, the Day of Sin. Clearly depicted are the persecution of the saints, the apostasy (falling away of Christians), false prophets, extensive deception, increased wickedness, and preaching of the gospel throughout the world. Since this description is so similar to what was happening during the first century of Christianity, it is not surprising that the early saints thought the end of the world was near.
However, they were unaware of how big the world really was. Only recently has the gospel literally been preached throughout the whole earth. Furthermore, there has never been a time in history when Christians have been persecuted everywhere in the world. Therefore, this prophecy cannot apply to the past. It must pertain to some time in the future; namely, during the Day of Sin.
In verses 15-29, Jesus describes Thursday, the Day of Death. Beginning with "the abomination that causes desolation" and ending with the effects on the sun, moon, and stars, he depicts a period of suffering and destruction so severe that no one would survive except for the divine intervention of Christ (for the sake of the elect).
In verses 30-31 Christ begins describing Friday, the Day of the Lord. He says that his return to the earth will be visible to everyone, not just the saints[1], as he appears in the clouds accompanied by the hosts of heaven. He also mentions the sounding of the trumpet and the rapture of the saints associated with this event.
In verses 32-35, Christ tells us that we can know that his return is imminent when all these things happen. Furthermore, all of these things will take place within one generation.
In verses 36-39 Christ reminds us that no one knows the exact day or hour of his return and that, as far as the world is concerned, everything will be "business as usual."
All of this is consistent with harmonism, which predicts that Christ will return when the Antichrist is about to give the command to attack Jerusalem at the beginning of the Battle of Armageddon. Essentially everyone in the world will know that the attack is imminent, but no one will know the day or hour of that attack. Therefore, watchful Christians will know that Christ's return is imminent, but they will not know the day or hour of his return.
In verses 40-41 Christ describes in more detail the rapture mentioned earlier and stresses the fact that Christians will be working along side non-Christians when the rapture occurs. Obviously these Christians are not the isolated Jews trapped within the city of Jerusalem; so they must be those Christians who are dispersed throughout the world. But why would the few remaining Christians be cooperating with unbelievers?
I can think of three reasons: (1) Christians have to earn some kind of a living in order to survive; (2) many of the recently converted Christians are continuing to work at their old jobs; and (3) these faithful Christians are still witnessing to family, friends, and other lost souls right up to the very end of the world. So again there is nothing here that contradicts the Harmony of Revelation.
In verses 42-51, Christ commands us to watch for his return less it take us unaware. This warning is emphasized through two parables. The first parable tells us that if we watch, we can and will be ready for his return. The second says that if we are found faithful when he returns, he will place us in charge of all his goods. Conversely, if we do not watch and if we are not faithful, we will be cut in two and condemned with the hypocrites.
Since the last of these verses refers to the Judgment taking place at the end of Friday, we see that Matthew 24 contains a full, chronological account of the last days and that this description is perfectly consistent with the other Accounts of Revelation. In fact, were we to integrate this eighth account into the picture already derived from the seven, there would be no significant alteration of the harmonistic scenario! [2]
At the end of his discourse in Matthew 24, Christ uses several parables to emphasize certain truths associated with his return. Two of these parables have already been discussed. Three more follow in Chapter 25:
MAT 25
1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
The parable of the wise and foolish virgins emphasizes for the third time the importance of being prepared for Christ's return. The bridegroom is obviously Christ and the virgins are his professed followers. The parable shows that Christ will not return as soon as many Christians expect -- that he will delay his return until the time is right in God's sight. It also shows that not everyone who professes Christ will be ready for his return. Many who claim to be Christian will miss the wedding and be left outside of the eternal kingdom. And finally, it illustrates the fact that the Judgment is based upon works and not upon words. It is what the wise virgins actually did that counted -- not what the foolish virgins claimed to believe. It is the actual surrender to Christ's Lordship that saves us, not just the verbal profession that he is Lord. After all, even the demons believe in God (JAM 2:19) and confess that Jesus is Lord (PHI 2:9-11).
MAT 25
14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The parable of the talents emphasizes for the fourth time the importance of remaining faithful in doing the Master's will until his unexpected return. Here we see Christ entrusting his servants with certain talents to be developed to their fullest and used in his service until his return. And once again we see both the faithful rewarded and the unfaithful condemned at the Judgment following his return.
This parable also shows that the saved will have blessings in abundance while the lost will lose even the little that they had. This situation surely pertains to the conditions of their final abode, either the eternal kingdom or the lake of fire (here referred to as "outer darkness").
MAT 25
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
The parable of the sheep and goats is an illustration of the final Judgment following Christ's return. This passage shows that Jesus takes it very personally how Christians are treated; that true Christians (the sheep) serve from the heart and not for reward; that false Christians and non-Christians (the goats) are also unaware of the full significance of their actions (or lack thereof); and for the fifth time, that the Judgment is based upon works.
Yet this parable also shows that even though the Judgment is based upon works, the criterion for separating the sheep from the goats is based upon the difference in the species. This inference is consistent with the Harmony, which says that salvation is predetermined (before the Judgment) according to the names already written in the Book of Life. Both the parable and the Harmony agree that it is the one that receives a new nature by being spiritually "born again" who inherits eternal life.
I am sure that other truths besides the above can be gleaned from these parables, but the main point of all five parables is that Christians must live every day in faithful service to Christ because they do not know when he will return to judge both the righteous and the wicked according to their works.
Of course, there are parables other than these that Christ gave concerning the last days, but they also are generally consistent with the Harmony of Revelation.[3]
The topic of the Second Coming of Christ was so popular during the New Testament era that it frequently occurred in passing references. Such references are usually very brief and simply echo the prevailing beliefs of the first-century Christians. These fleeting glimpses of New Testament eschatology are usually quite consistent with the Harmony of Revelation. For example, in the middle of a short discourse, Jesus inserts the following thought:
MAT 16
27 "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.
As you can see, this brief reference to his Second Coming is perfectly consistent with the harmonistic view of the Day of the Lord.[4]
Although most of the New Testament prophecies seem to support the harmonistic view of eschatology, not all of them do so. The following passage, a quotation of Christ, is particularly difficult to reconcile with the Harmony of Revelation.
LUK 16:
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:
20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,
21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.
25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.
29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
31 And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
If taken at face value, this story implies that (1) lost people are resurrected immediately after death and are well aware of their environment even while others are still alive on earth, (2) everyone is judged individually and immediately after death, and (3) people go to their final abode immediately after that individual judgment. None of these conclusions are consistent with harmonistic eschatology.
How can we possibly reconcile this quotation of Christ with the Harmony of Revelation? Well, I can think of two ways.
First, as a physicist, I am well aware of the fact that time as we understand it is a physical phenomenon, able to be defined in terms of other physical quantities and measured with physical instruments. Since God is not restricted to this physical universe, he is not restricted to physical time. Therefore, time in God's domain must be different from time as we perceive it.[5]
This means that even time travel becomes a distinct possibility when viewed from God's perspective, so that our whole concept of chronology becomes irrelevant when we consider the above passage. In fact, in God's time frame, it is quite possible that the rich man could die, be resurrected after the end of the world, face the final Judgment, be cast into the lake of fire, and then make a request that Lazarus be sent back in time to warn his brothers.
Of course, the idea of time travel is a little difficult for most people to swallow, so let us consider the second way to reconcile this passage with harmonism. Namely, let us simply assume that the above passage is exactly what it appears to be: a parable.
The reason some people do not believe this story is a parable is that none of Christ's other parables ever use proper names for their characters. Furthermore, all of his other parables deal with common situations pertaining to life on this planet. In other words, all of Christ's other parables are earthly stories with heavenly meanings, while this one is a heavenly (or hellish) story with a heavenly meaning.
But there are good reasons for believing that this story really is a parable. For example, "Father Abraham" is asked to send Lazarus back from the dead, an act that only God can perform. Therefore, "Father Abraham" must certainly represent God rather than the resurrected patriarch. Furthermore, the whole situation, tone, and flavor of the story is identical to that of all the other parables of Christ. And finally, since Christ used many different settings as backgrounds for his parables, why should we disclaim this one as a parable just because its setting is different?
In any case, if we do assume that this story is a parable, then there is no problem reconciling it with the Harmony of Revelation. Why? Because no parable should ever be taken literally. The whole purpose of a parable is to illustrate spiritual truths to those who are spiritually minded while simultaneously hiding the intended message from those who are spiritually blind (MAT 13:10-15). Therefore, every parable must be interpreted with a spiritual rather than a literal mind-set. In every case we are expected to cling to the truths that are intended and discard the details that are irrelevant.
Among the relevant truths of this parable are the facts that lost souls in hell will be in torment, that they will lament their failure to believe in Christ, and that they will wish their loved ones could be spared the agony they are experiencing. Another relevant truth is the fact that even if God were to send someone back from the dead (as he actually did when Jesus rose from the grave) unbelievers still would not believe.
Among the irrelevant details of this parable is the whole time frame of the situation. Since the time frame of the parable is irrelevant, its agreement or disagreement with harmonistic chronology is also irrelevant.
Unfortunately, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is not the only New Testament passage that presents difficulty to harmonism. For example, there are several scriptures that suggest that Christians will not be resurrected until "the last day," after the "trumpet" sounds for Christ's return. Such scriptures seem to be in direct contradiction to the harmonistic prediction that during the Church Age (the millennium) all the saints will be resurrected immediately to reign with Christ. Examples of such scriptures are given below:
John 5:28-29 quotes Christ as saying that the hour is coming when both the righteous and the wicked will be resurrected to face life and condemnation, respectively.
JOH 5
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
John 6 quotes Christ as saying at least four times (vv. 39,40,44,54) that he will raise Christians up "at the last day."
JOH 6
39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
. . .
44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
. . .
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 11:24 shows that Martha "knew" that her dead brother Lazarus would not be resurrected until the "last day."
JOH 11
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
In 1 Corinthians 15:22-23 Paul says that Christians will not be raised until Christ comes.
1CO 15
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 Paul says that the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and the rapture will take place.
1CO 15
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
And in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 Paul says that Christ will descend with a trumpet sound, the dead in Christ will rise first, and then the rapture will take place.
1TH 4
16 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:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
All of these scriptures suggest (if not insist) that Christians are not resurrected until the day that Christ returns. Since this chronology clearly contradicts that of harmonism, what should we do?
Well, the first thing we should do is recognize the fact that the word "resurrection" has many different meanings in the Bible. One type of "resurrection" is purely spiritual and occurs when a person accepts Christ and is "born again" (JOH 3:3-7). Another type of "resurrection" is purely physical and occurs when a dead person is miraculously "resuscitated" only to eventually die again (JOH 11:1-44). A third type of "resurrection" is a "bodily resurrection" of the saints out of the graves, never to die again (MAT 27:52-53). A fourth type of "resurrection" occurs when we simply "pass" from this physical world into the next without actually "dying" (JOH 11:26). A fifth type of "resurrection" occurs when we acquire our spiritual body after our physical death (1CO 15:44). A sixth type of "resurrection" takes place immediately after the final judgment when Christians are "raised" from their past plane of existence into the realm of the new heaven and the new earth (REV 20 to 21). And finally, Revelation, itself, specifically mentions two types of "resurrections"; namely, the "first resurrection" associated only with Christians (REV 20:5-6) and the "final resurrection" that occurs immediately before the great white throne judgment (REV 20:13).
How many of these "resurrections" are speaking of the same thing? Which ones are distinctly different? Which ones pertain to which of the above scriptures and to various passages in Revelation?
These are not easy questions to answer. So it should not be surprising to find that different people will come up with different conclusions. Furthermore, it is not reasonable to expect harmonism to be consistent with everybody's set of answers. All harmonism needs to do is demonstrate that there is a set of answers that is consistent with the harmonistic eschatology.
For example, when one reads John 5:28-29, it is easy to get the impression that there will be a general resurrection of the dead at the end of the age that includes both the righteous and the unrighteous. But this passage never actually says that the righteous and the unrighteous dead will be resurrected at the same time. It only says that both will be resurrected.
Furthermore, when this scripture is placed into context by including verses 24-27, it becomes clear that Christ is speaking of a spiritual resurrection during this discourse, not a physical resurrection:
JOH 5
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
In verse 25 Christ says that this resurrection was taking place even while he was present on the earth, and in verse 24 he says that this resurrection occurs every time those who are dead in sin hear his word (i.e. when the lost are saved). Clearly this spiritual resurrection is essential for salvation and in no way contradicts the Harmony.
The four passages in John 6 where Jesus says he will raise Christians up "at the last day" also suggest that Christians are not resurrected until the end of the age. But again, reading the passages in context suggests a different conclusion. Notice that Jesus spoke these words after the miracle of feeding the five thousand, after the people wanted to make him King, and after he told them to stop worrying about worldly food and start eating the bread of heaven; namely, himself.
So symbolic was this discourse that none of them understood what he was talking about. In fact, people were so offended by what they thought Christ was saying that even many of his disciples turned away (v. 60). It was in the middle of this symbolic discourse that Christ uses the phrase "and I will raise him up at the last day." Therefore, we should be very cautious about interpreting what Jesus said from the worldly point of view lest we make the same mistake made by the people of Jesus' day. Instead of thinking that "raise him up" refers to a resurrection from the physical death, we should take the spiritual perspective and consider it to mean a deliverance from the second death -- a rising from this plane of existence into the next. According to harmonism, this occurs at the end of Friday, the LAST DAY of this world's existence, when the saints of God are raised up from the scene of Judgment to enter the glorious new heaven and new earth.
John 11:24 is another scripture that easily is reconciled with the Harmony of Revelation. Notice that the statement in question is made by Martha and reflects her opinion, not that of Christ. Also notice that, even though Christ does not correct her belief about the timing of the resurrection, he does correct her belief about his power.
Martha was missing the whole point! She was thinking that Lazarus could not be resurrected until the last day. She completely failed to realize that Christ was not bound by such preconceptions. He had the power to resurrect whomever he would whenever he would because he IS the resurrection.
Since Christ himself corrected Martha's misconception, why should we cling to that same misconception? Obviously, we shouldn't. So there is nothing in this scripture to prevent Christians from being resurrected to reign with Christ as predicted by the Harmony of Revelation.
But what about Paul's letters? Passages like 1 Corinthians 15:22-23, 51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 show clearly that Paul believed Christians would not be raised until the day that Christ returns in power and glory.
But then, Paul also thought he would be among those who were raptured on that day (1CO 15:52). So some of the beliefs and opinions of Paul were merely that -- his beliefs and opinions.
In fact, Paul himself often emphasized this fact in his own letters by asserting that some of the things he recommended were only his opinion while other things he commanded came directly from Christ (1CO 7:8-10).
Therefore, when we read Paul's letters, we also should distinguish between Paul's opinions and Christ's revelations. When we do, we find that, in Paul's opinion, the chronology of the Second Coming is as follows: first the trumpet will sound, then the dead in Christ will rise as Christ appears in the clouds to rapture the saints who remain. However, there is one and only one place in the Bible that Paul specifically states that his eschatological chronology comes directly from Jesus rather than from his own opinion. In that reference (1TH 4:15) Paul emphasizes the fact that the resurrection of the saints certainly will PRECEDE the rapture.
This one sure statement is consistent with the Harmony of Revelation, but it brings into question Paul's own chronology, which places both the resurrection and the rapture of the saints as being simultaneous with the appearance of Christ in the clouds.
We can conclude, therefore, that every one of the above passages about the resurrection of the saints on the last day can be reconciled with the Harmony of Revelation.
However, many Christians may not find the above arguments completely convincing. They simply are convinced that there are too many scriptures supporting the belief that Christians are resurrected when Christ returns. But there are just as many scriptures that support the belief that Christians are resurrected immediately after death. Therefore, the debate as to when Christians are really resurrected has been around for a long time -- long before harmonism ever came on the scene.
One way some Christians resolve this debate is to assume that Christians experience two resurrections: one immediately after death and another at the end of the age. According to this interpretation of scripture, a Christian is resurrected immediately after death as a spiritual SOUL capable of living and reigning with Christ in heaven until the end of the age. Then, when Christ returns to the earth, the Christian experiences a second resurrection -- a resurrection of his glorified BODY. It is argued that, just as it is impossible for this natural body to enter heaven (1CO 15:50), so it would be impossible for a bodiless soul to return to this earth (except possibly in the form of some supernatural ghostly figure). It is also argued that the reason God delays the bodily resurrection until the return of Christ is because the body is not needed until that time.
In any case, we know that Jesus experienced a bodily resurrection because his body was not left in the tomb (JOH 20:1-9) and he was able to be touched by humans (JOH 20:27-29) and to eat with them (JOH 20:9-13). Nevertheless, his body was different from what it had been previously: he often was not recognized (LUK 24:15-16; JOH 20:14; JOH 21:4,12), he could walk through locked doors (JOH 20:19, 27), and he could appear (LUK 24:36-37) and disappear (LUK 24:31) from sight. Therefore, Jesus was resurrected into a supernatural, glorified body just as we will be resurrected into a glorified body (1CO 15:35-49).
The Bible says that some, if not all, Christians will be given their glorified body when the trumpet of the Lord sounds the return of Christ (1CO 15:50-55). Perhaps the resurrected souls living in heaven will be given their glorified bodies at this time in order to return to the earth with Christ, while those saints remaining on the earth are transformed into their glorified bodies to rise and meet the other saints in the air. Then, after the earth is destroyed, a third resurrection occurs as the lost are raised to face their judgment.
This scenario is perfectly consistent with the Harmony of Revelation if we change our original assumption of two resurrections (one for the saved and one for the lost) to an assumption of three resurrections (two for the saved and one for the lost). The only problem with this modification is that Revelation never mentioned a second resurrection of the saints.
If Christians really are raised twice and if the Harmony of Revelation is complete, then why didn't Revelation mention the resurrection of the body? Well, perhaps the resurrection of the body is not mentioned because it is not nearly as important in God's sight as the resurrection of the soul. Therefore, Revelation, taking the heavenly viewpoint, only mentions the resurrection of the soul while other scriptures, which view things from the earthly perspective, focus on the resurrection of the body.
In my opinion, the above arguments are sufficient to eliminate any apparent discrepancies between the Harmony of Revelation and the above-mentioned scriptures. Of course, we have only considered a few of the New Testament prophecies about the end times, so it is certainly possible that other passages may still exist which do contradict the Harmony of Revelation.
So far, I have been unable to find such passages.
Can you?[6]
[1]Many premillennialists believe that only the saints will see Christ when he returns to rapture them out of this world immediately before the periods of "tribulation" and "great tribulation".
[2]See Appendix G, Exercise 1 for another example of Christ's description of the Last Days.
[3]See Appendix G, Exercise 2 and 3 for examples of parables of Christ pertaining to the Last Days.
[4]See Appendix G, Exercises 4 and 5 for additional examples of passing references about the Second Coming of Christ.
[5]See Psalms 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8 for Biblical confirmation of this conclusion.
[6]See Appendix G, Exercises 6 through 11 for additional examples of New Testament passages pertaining to the Last Days.