Pastor Leslie Chua

Many Christians, especially those in the Spirit-filled circle, are keenly anticipating God to send a great revival throughout the world. They expect millions of souls to be saved and Christians to be revived as God pours forth His Holy Spirit in an unprecedented manner. It will be the greatest revival in human history.

Many prophetic voices are prophesying that this revival is on the horizon. Many preachers are proclaiming the inevitability of this revival because Jesus is coming back soon. They would cite the prophecy of the prophet, Joel (Joel 2:28-32), and the declaration of the apostle, Peter (Acts 2:17-21).

____________________________________________

Many Christians, especially those in the Spirit-filled circle, are keenly anticipating God to send a great revival throughout the world.  
____________________________________________

This prophecy was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost immediately following the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. Peter’s declaration attested to it.

But like many Old Testament prophecies, it can have a double fulfilment, the first time in the aftermath of Jesus’ First Coming and a second time during His Second Coming.

This is hardly surprising. Take Daniel’s well-known prophecy of the abomination of desolation for example – “And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator” (Daniel 9:27).

This prophecy was fulfilled in 167 B.C. when Antiochus Epiphanes sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Holy Place of the Jewish temple. Most prophecy scholars agree with this observation.

However, Jesus, in His Olivet Discourse, indicated that there was yet a final fulfilment of this prophecy – “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains” (Matthew 24:15-16). Here, Jesus was alluding to the Antichrist who would defile the temple in the middle of the 7-year Tribulation. In the case of the Antichrist, his act of abomination is putting up an image of himself in the temple instead of sacrificing a pig.

The same interpretive principle can also be applied to Joel’s prophecy. Many Christians believe that there will be a second and final fulfilment of this prophecy.

I share the same view. I will show you another significant biblical reference to this End-Time revival later to back up my view.


Will the Great Revival Occur During the Church Age?

The question is the timing of this great revival. When will it take place and will the church experience this sweeping move of the Holy Spirit?

____________________________________________

From my understanding of the Bible, this great End-Time revival will not happen during the church age. Instead, it will occur only after the rapture of the church. This revival will break out during the 7-year Tribulation, most probably during the first half of the Tribulation. In other words, we will not get to witness and experience it.
____________________________________________

It is an important question to ask since many pastors, prophetic voices, and Christians are speaking about it and eagerly expecting it.

From my understanding of the Bible, this great End-Time revival will not happen during the church age. Instead, it will occur only after the rapture of the church. This revival will break out during the 7-year Tribulation, most probably during the first half of the Tribulation. In other words, we will not get to witness and experience it.

I am not making a prophecy here. Neither am I speculating. I am basing my assertion on the Word of God.

For clarity, I am not saying that God will not send any revival from now to the rapture of the church. God may send pockets of revival in various places. The Spirit of God may move in unprecedented ways. I am merely saying that the great End-Time revival that was prophesied by Joel will take place only during the Tribulation after the church has been raptured.


God Will Use the 144,000 Jewish Evangelists to Awaken the World

For the longest time, it has been said that the church will complete the evangelization of the world, and then, Christ will return.

I am going to make another shocking statement. That is not a biblically accurate statement!

In the last two thousand years, the church has brought the gospel to different corners of the world. However, the church will not be the entity to complete the Great Commission.

Believers who claim otherwise will point to Matthew 24:14. The verse reads - And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

For context, this will happen during the Tribulation period. Matthew chapter 24, verses 1 to 31 is a record of the events that will happen during the Tribulation, and not before the Tribulation. The church is no longer present during the Tribulation.

It begs the question - if the church does not finish the job of world evangelisation, then, who will complete it?

The answer is Israel. More specifically, the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.

After the rapture of the church, God will raise up these 144,000 Jews to continue with the proclamation of the gospel. God will not leave the world without any witness.

These 144,000 evangelists are Jews. Many people mistakenly identify them as Christians or the church. Their identity is obvious. They come from the 12 tribes of Israel, 12,000 from each tribe (Revelation 7:4-8). This fact is explicitly stated. There should not be any argument about it. Besides, they cannot be Christians because the church would have been raptured.

God will use these 144,000 Jewish evangelists to bring millions upon millions of people into the Kingdom of God. Revelation chapter 7 gives us a glimpse of this great awakening on a global scale.

____________________________________________

This will be the greatest revival in human history, eclipsing even the phenomenal event on the Day of Pentecost following Jesus’ ascension.
____________________________________________

Immediately after the sealing of the 144,000, the apostle, John, was given another vision.

Revelation 7:9-10 (ESV) - After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

This will be the greatest revival in human history, eclipsing even the phenomenal event on the Day of Pentecost following Jesus’ ascension. We are not just talking about 3,000 people saved followed by many more thousands in the next few decades.

____________________________________________

What Joel prophesied, the first-century Christians had a foretaste, but the full reality of it will be realised during the first half of the Tribulation.
____________________________________________

In this End-Time revival, “a great multitude that no one could number, from all tribes and peoples and languages” will be ushered into the Kingdom of God. All this will happen within a matter of 3 years. Countless people of all nationalities from all over the world will be saved.

Though it is not mentioned, the proclamation of the gospel by these 144,000 Jewish evangelists will be accompanied by signs and wonders. After all, they are invincible. They will be supernaturally protected from all manners of harm and disasters during the Tribulation (Revelation 7:2-4).

What Joel prophesied, the first-century Christians had a foretaste, but the full reality of it will be realised during the first half of the Tribulation.

This phenomenal move of the Holy Spirit will take place amid the fiercest persecution ever against the believers of Jesus Christ. The Antichrist and his one-world government will work overtime to stir hostility against Christianity and systematically cull these new believers.

As soon as they believe in Jesus, they will be hunted down and terminated. Christians will not be tolerated during the Antichrist’s reign.

This accounts for the great multitude before God’s throne in John’s vision. As explained in the vision, “these are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). These are the Tribulation saints who are martyred.

This is a unique and remarkable feature of Christianity. Persecution does not kill the Christian faith. On the contrary, it fuels it. The more intense the persecution, the more people come to Christ.


The Great Revival will Happen around the Time of the Sixth Seal

Here is another evidence that this End-Time revival will happen during the Tribulation.

Joel’s prophecy indicates that this revival will be accompanied by  “wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes” (Joel 2:31; Acts 2:20).

____________________________________________

Given all that has been said, there will indeed be a great End-Time revival. But the church will not experience it because it will take place during the Tribulation. By then, the church will already have been raptured.
____________________________________________

You read the same description in John’s vision when the sixth seal is opened – “When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place” (Revelation 6:12-14).

Immediately afterwards, John’s apocalyptic vision moved to the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the great multitude of Tribulation martyrs in heaven.

Given all that has been said, there will indeed be a great End-Time revival. But the church will not experience it because it will take place during the Tribulation. By then, the church will already have been raptured.


The Great Apostasy Instead of the Great Revival

Here is another shocking biblical truth. Instead of experiencing a great revival, the church will suffer from a great apostasy.

The great apostasy refers to a massive falling away of the church. Many Christians will abandon their faith in Christ for different reasons. Deception, persecution, and lawlessness are three main reasons.

The great apostasy is clearly stated in the Bible.

Jesus mentioned it in His Olivet Discourse - “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:9-13).

____________________________________________

Here is another shocking biblical truth. Instead of experiencing a great revival, the church will suffer from a great apostasy.
____________________________________________

The apostle, Paul, also talked about the great apostasy. Speaking on the subject of the rapture, Paul said – “Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction…” (2 Thessalonians 2:3 - NASB). In other words, this great falling away of the church will precede the rapture.

While any revival that God sends our way is welcomed, it is not explicitly stated in the Scripture. However, the great apostasy happening before the rapture of the church is a certainty. Therefore, let us guard our faith in Christ.