Revelation 19:21

The rest of Jesus Christ’s enemies, the 10 kings and their armies, will die in a moment by His word and will go to Hades. There they will await resurrection and final judgment at the end of the Millennium (Revelation 20:11-15). "The rest" probably also includes all earth-dwellers. They had plenty of opportunity to repent but did not do so. How they will die is not clear, but their death proceeds from the mouth of Jesus Christ. Probably the sword proceeding from His mouth represents a word of judgment that He utters. The means that He uses are obscure, as is true of how He created the universe with a word. So many people will die that the birds will have plenty to eat (Ezekiel 39:17-20). [Note: For another exposition of this passage, see David J. MacLeod, "The Second ’Last Thing’: The Defeat of Antichrist," Bibliotheca Sacra 156:623 (July-September 1999):325-35.]

Some interpreters have seen the Rapture occurring at the same time as the Second Coming (i.e., posttribulationists). However none of the events John recorded in Revelation 19:11-21 correspond to the events predicted to take place at the Rapture (John 14:1-3; 1 Corinthians 15:50-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). The differences in the descriptions of these two events argue for a pretribulation Rapture.

What is the relationship of the Tribulation to the dispensation of grace? Dispensational writers have suggested several answers. Three of these are the major views. Some have seen the Tribulation as a revival of the dispensation of the law. They believe the dispensation of grace ends at the Rapture. [Note: E.g., Lewis S. Chafer, Major Bible Themes, p. 100.] The major problem with this view is that no other dispensation begins again once it has ended. A second explanation is that the Tribulation is a dispensation itself occurring after the dispensation of grace. Advocates of this view say the dispensation of grace ends with the Rapture and the dispensation of the kingdom begins with Christ’s second coming. [Note: E.g., William Evans, Outline Study of the Bible, pp. 30-37.] Critics of this view point out that the Tribulation does not bear the marks of a full-fledged dispensation. The marks of a dispensation include a change in God’s basic governmental relationship with humankind and a consequent change in people’s responsibility to God. A third view is that the Tribulation occurs within and at the end of the dispensation of grace. [Note: E.g., Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism Today, pp. 56-57; idem, Dispensationalism, p. 56.] Every other dispensation also ends with human failure and divine judgment. The Tribulation is the period of divine judgment following believers’ failure to fulfill God’s will during the inter-advent era (i.e., the dispensation of grace). The church age is only a part of this inter-advent era, since it began on the day of Pentecost and will end with the Rapture. This view seems to me to be the best explanation. It views the dispensation of grace as identical with the inter-advent era rather than with the church age.