MCKEEVER'S ESCATOLOGY

Recently, in this post-tribulation camp, a new view has been put forth by Jim McKeever in his book The Coming Climax of History (Medford, Oregon: Omega Publications, 1982) that sees the second coming of Christ and the rapture as not occurring at the end of the great tribulation but at a short interval after it. On the basis of Matt. 24:29 and Daniel 12:11-12, McKeever believes that Christ will come to earth 45 days after the end of the great tribulation. During this 45 days there will take place the catastrophic event that McKeever calls "the Great Shaking". Jesus said,

"²⁹ But immediately after the tribulation of those days
THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE LIGHT,
AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken,
³⁰ and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky,
and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON CLOUDS OF THE SKY
with power and great glory."
(Matt. 24:29-30 NAS; see Luke 21:25-27).

The Great Shaking is the first part of what McKeever calls "the Awesome Event". This whole thing occurs after the Great Tribulation and before the end of the age. This Awesome Event consists of four parts:

1. The Great Shaking,
2. The Return of Christ,
3. The Rapture of the Christians, and
4. The Battle of Armageddon.

McKeever modifies this third relationship between the seals, trumpets, and bowls. Seal 6, trumpet 7 and bowl 7 are the same Awesome Event. Trumpet 7 (Rev. 11:19) describes the Awesome Event, and bowl 7 (Rev. 16:17-21) and seal 6 (Rev. 6:12-14) describe the Great Shaking portion of the Awesome Event. Seal 7 (Rev. 8:1) is 30 minutes of silence in heaven after the Great Shaking. Up until to Seal 7, there has never been silence in heaven, because the four creatures are continually praising God night and day. As the age ends, the last 30 minutes of it will be silence in heaven, and will be incredibly awesome since it has never happened before.

The Great Shaking is part of the wrath of God according to Rev. 6:14-17. But Christians will never experience the wrath of God. This means that Christians will either not be on earth during the Great Shaking or they will be here and will be divinely protected during it. McKeever believes that the latter is the case, since he believes that the Christians will be raptured at the Second Coming of Christ. And he believes that the Christians will be raptured then because of Daniel 12:12, where there is promised a blessing if one makes it through 1335 days to the Second Coming. The Great Shaking will be a geologic catastrophy similar to that which has occurred during recorded history, such history as when the sun stood still during Joshua conquest of Canaan (Joshua 10:11-13).

According to McKeever, the Great Shaking includes the following events:

1. THE HEAVENS ARE SHAKEN.
   1. The Sun Becomes Black (as Sackcloth)
   2. The Moon's Light is Diminished (like Blood)
   3. Stars Fall (to Earth)
   4. The Sky is Rolled Up like a Scroll
2. GREAT EARTH UPHEAVAL
   1. The Great Earthquake (the biggest of all time)
   2. Islands are move out of their places
   3. Mountains are moved out of their places
   4. Giant Hailstorm (100-pound hailstones)

EVALUATION OF MCKEEVER'S ESCATOLOGY

McKeever's escatology seems to follow the Biblical teaching concerninng the events leadinng up to the second coming of Jesus Christ. But there is one point that raises a problem. Why does McKeever place the 30 days of the 1290 days of Daniel 12:11 before instead of after the Great Tribulation? (Remember that the 1290 days is 30 days more than the 1260 days which is length of the Great Tribulation.) McKeever does not give any explanation why he placed these 30 days before the Great Tribulation. Why didn't he just place them at the end of the 1260 days of Great Tribulation? McKeever does not give any explanation.

Contrary to McKeever, let us put these 30 days after the 1260 days of the Great Tribulation. The angel in Daniel 12 tells Daniel that from the abolishing the daily scarifice and the setting up of the abomination of desolation that there will be 1290 days.

"⁹ And he said, 'Go your way, Daniel,
for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time.
¹⁰ Many will be purged, purified and refined;
but the wicked will act wickedly,
and none of the wicked will understand,
but those who have insight will understand.
¹¹ And from the time of that the regular burnt sacrifice is abolished,
and the abomination of desolation is set up,
there shall be 1,290 days." (Dan. 12:9-11 NAS).

"²⁹ But immediately after the tribulation of those days
THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE LIGHT,
AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken,
³⁰ and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky,
and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON CLOUDS OF THE SKY
with power and great glory."
(Matt. 24:29-30 NAS; see Luke 21:25-27).

The prophet Joel says that the Great Shaking will occur prior to the great and awesome day of the Lord.

"³⁰ And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
³¹ The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes."
(Joel 2:30-31 NAS)

1. THE HEAVENS ARE SHAKEN.
   1. The Sun Becomes Black (as Sackcloth)
   2. The Moon's Light is Diminished (like Blood)
   3. Stars Fall (to Earth)
   4. The Sky is Rolled Up like a Scroll
2. GREAT EARTH UPHEAVAL
   1. The Great Earthquake (the biggest of all time)
   2. Islands are move out of their places
   3. Mountains are moved out of their places
   4. Giant Hailstorm (100 pound hailstones)

Accordinng to McKeever, the Great Shaking is the first part of the great event that has been called by Jim McKeever "the Awesome Event." According to McKeever, this Awesome Event consists of four parts:

1. The Great Shaking,
2. The Return of Christ,
3. The Rapture of the Christians, and
4. The Battle of Armageddon.

"³⁰ And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
³¹ The sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes."
(Joel 2:30-31 NAS)

1. The Return of Christ,
2. The Rapture of the Christians, and
3. The Battle of Armageddon.

Note that the angel in Daniel 12 pronounced a blessing upon those who keep waiting and go through the entire 75 days between the end of the great tribulation and the end of the age; he is blessed because he is still alive at Christ's coming to earth and would not have to die physically.

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IN REVELATION

There are three sequence of the events in the book of the Revelation:
the seals,
the trumpets, and
the bowls/vials.
There are three basic ways these three sequence of events can be related in time:
(1) purely sequential order,
(2) complete overlap, and
(3) partial overlap.
McKeever thinks that the partial overlap is most likely wherein the first five of the seals occur first and then the trumpets and the bowls overlap to some degree with trumpets 6 and 7 completely overlapping bowls 6 and 7 and seals 6 and 7.

McKeever rejects the purely sequential order because according to Revelation 11:15-17 Christ returns and begins His reign on earth at trumpet 7 and the bowls of God's wrath don't occur until Revelation 16.
McKeever also rejects the complete overlap because according to this view the event of seal 1, trumpet 1 and bowl 1 would all be occurring simultaneously. McKeever sees that the difficulty with this view is that many of plagues happening under the seals and trumpets are similar but much less severe than those of events occuring during the bowls.
According to McKeever, the most likely view is some form of a partial overlap, wherein the seals (at least the first five) occur first as the birth pains and the trumpets and bowls overlap to some degree. McKeever admits that he does not know if there will be a complete overlap of the trumpets and bowls or if the bowls might occur between trumpets 6 and 7 or if the trumpets bring a partial plague on the earth which is followed by a bowl completing the plague around the world. If this is the case, the trumpets and bowls would alternate. McKeever admits that he does know exactly how these trumpets and bowls overlap, but he adopts the view that the trumpets and the bowls overlap to some degree with trumpets 6 and 7 completely overlapping of bowls 6 and 7 and seals 6 and 7.

But why does McKeever adopt this partial overlap of the trumpets 1 to 5 and bowls 1 to 5? It is clear that the events of these sequences of trumpets 1 to 5 and bowls 1 to 5 are not exactly the same. The order and the content of these sequences are not the same. There is no bowl that corresponds with trumpet 1 and there is no trumpet that corresponds with bowl 4 of Extreme Heat. And the sequence of events is different; the first event of the Sores of the bowls is the fifth event of the trumpets and the Darkness of event 5 of the bowls is the event 4 of the trumpets.

And those events that seem to be the same are not exactly the same.
Consider the second trumpet and the second bowl where the sea turns into blood.

"⁸And the second angel sounded,
and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea;
and a third of sea became blood;
⁹and a third of the creatures,
which were in the sea and had life, died;
and a third of the ships were destroyed." (Rev. 8:8-9 NAS)

"And the second angel poured out his bowl into the sea,
and it became blood like that a dead man;
and every living thing in the sea died." (Rev. 16:3 NAS)

Consider the third trumpet and the third bowl where the where fresh water becomes blood.

"¹⁰And the third angel sounded,
and a great star fell from heaven,
burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers
and on tthe springs of waters;
¹¹and the name of the star is called Wormwood;
and a third of the waters became like wormwood;
and many men died from the waters,
because they were made bitter." (Rev. 8:10-11 NAS)

"⁴And the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers
and the springs of waters; and they became blood.
⁵And I heard the angel of the waters say,
'Righteous art Thou, who art and who wast,
O Holy One, because Thou didst judge these things;
⁶for they poured out the blood of saints and prophets,
and Thou has given them blood to drink. They deserve it.'
And I heard the altar saying,
'Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Thy judgements.'"
(Rev. 16:4-7 NAS)

"And the fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun
and a third of the moon and third of the stars were smitten,
so that a third of them might be darkened
and the day might not shine for a third of it,
and the night in the same way." (Rev. 8:12 NAS)

"¹⁰And the fifth angel poured out his bowl upon the throne of the beast;
and his kingdom became darkened;
and they gnawed their tongues because of pain.
¹¹and they blasphemed the God of heaven
because of their pains and sores;
and they did not repent of their deeds." (Rev. 16:10-11 NAS)

But the sixth trumpet and sixth bowl are probably the same event. A comparison of the sixth trumpet and sixth bowl indicates that they are happening at the same time. An army of 200 million instigated by the four satanic angels at the river Euphrates enter the scene.

"¹³And the sixth angel sounded,
and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar
which is before God,
¹⁴one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet,
'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.'
¹⁵And the four angels, who had been prepared
for the hour and day and month and year, were released,
so that they might kill a third of mankind.
¹⁶And the number of armies of the horsemen
was two hundred million; I heard the number of them."
(Rev. 9:13-16 NAS)

"And the sixth angel poured out his bowl upon the great river,
the Euphrates; and its waters was dried up,
that the way might be prepared for the kings of the east."
(Rev. 16:12 NAS)

"¹³And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon
and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet,
three unclean spirits like frogs;
¹⁴for they are spirits of demons,
performing signs, which go out to the kings of the world,
to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
...
¹⁶And they gathered them together to the place
which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon [Armageddon]."
(Rev. 16:13-14, 16 NAS).

The seventh trumpet and seventh bowl seem also to happen at the same time.

"¹⁵And the seventh angel sounded,
and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying,
'The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord,
and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.'
¹⁶And the twenty-four elders,
who sit on their thrones before God,
fell on their faces and worshipped God.
¹⁷saying,
'We give Thee thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty,
who art and who wast, because Thou hast taken
Thy great power and hast begun to reign.
¹⁸'And the nations were enraged,
and Thy wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged,
and the time to give their reward to Thy bond-servants
the prophets and to the saints and to those who fear Thy name,
the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.'
¹⁹And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened;
and the ark of the covenant appeared in the temple,
and there were flashes of lightning and the sounds and peals of thunder
and an earthquake and a great hailstorm.
(Rev. 11:15-19 NAS)

"¹⁷And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air;
and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying,
'It is done.'
¹⁸And there were flashes of lightning and peals of thunder;
and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been
since man came to be upon the earth,
so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty.
¹⁹And the great city was split into three parts,
and the cities of the nations fell.
And Babylon the great was remembered before God,
to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.
²⁰And every island fled away,
and the mountains were not found.
²¹And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each,
came down from heaven upon men;
and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail,
because its plague was extremely severe.
(Rev. 16:17-21 NAS)

1. THE HEAVENS ARE SHAKEN.
   1. The Sun Becomes Black (as Sackcloth)
   2. The Moon's Light is Diminished (like Blood)
   3. Stars Fall (to Earth)
   4. The Sky is Rolled Up like a Scroll
2. GREAT EARTH UPHEAVAL
   1. The Great Earthquake (the biggest of all time)
   2. Islands are move out of their places
   3. Mountains are moved out of their places
   4. Giant Hailstorm (100 pound hailstones)

When will these events of The Great Shaking occur?
According to Jesus, these events will occur after the Great Tribulation and before His return. Jesus said,

"²⁹ But immediately after the tribulation of those days
THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE LIGHT,
AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky,
and the powers of the heavens will be shaken,
³⁰ and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky,
and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn,
and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON CLOUDS OF THE SKY
with power and great glory."
(Matt. 24:29-30 NAS; see Luke 21:25-27).