This article is written as a response to a video on Youtube (20) 7 Reasons Against Pre-Trib Rapture - YouTube with which I agree, (I am not recommending this person at all, however what he says in this video is correct) to further elucidate the idea that there is no pre-trib (nor mid-trib, nor pre-wrath, nor post-trib) rapture. As mentioned in the video the rapture theories that people are familiar with are pre-trib (before or at the beginning of Daniel's 70th week), the mid-trib (at the abomination), pre-wrath (sometime in the middle of the second half of Daniel's 70th week, after the great tribulation is cut short of the 3 ½ years), and post-trib, which comes at the end after Armageddon (at least this is how I understand it). I offer one more solution. The resurrection/rapture is where Paul said it is, at the last trump. At the seventh and last trumpet judgment, when Christ returns, before God's wrath is poured out. This trumpet is blown at the end of the 3 ½ years (aka 42 months or 1260 day period.) The following is offered in addition to what is offered by the above mentioned video. I try not to repeat what he says. Everybody has their beliefs, but the only truth that matters is the one that teaches exactly what Scripture says. I try to lay this out in a logical fashion laying the foundation and building up from there. I advise anyone reading this to pull out their Bible and double check these things for yourself.
Scriptural Facts
The Day of the Lord is God's Wrath.
Zephaniah 1:14-15 “The great DAY OF THE LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. THAT DAY IS A DAY OF WRATH, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,”
There are unique signs the precede or come BEFORE the Day of the Lord – God's wrath, to warn us it is coming soon. We cannot move God's wrath to where we want it to be. It is where it is.
Joel 2:30-31 “And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.”
Acts 2:19-20 “And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE that great and notable day of the Lord come:”
There are other signs that accompany the sun and moon signs to show this is not a simple eclipse, or a series of eclipses, but an extinction level type of event.
Isaiah 2:12, 19 “For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:....And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”
Isaiah 13:8-10, 13 “Behold, the Day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine....Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.”
Isaiah 34:4 “And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.”
These signs that PRECEDE or herald the Day of the Lord are the same signs as in Seal #6.
Revelation 6:12-15 “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;”
Christ tells us when these signs that herald the coming of the Day of the Lord occur in the abbreviated timeline that He gives the disciples at the time of the Olivet Discourse. John expands upon that timeline in Revelation when Christ gives him more details. One must study the Scriptures diligently to find all the clues to piece it all together in the correct order.
Matthew 24:29 “Immediately AFTER the (great) 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:”
Christ Himself tells us that the Day of the Lord comes at some point after the great tribulation is cut short of the 3 ½ years (to accommodate the time needed for the trumpets.) We must trust Christ to tell us the truth. God's wrath does not begin at the beginning of Daniel's 70th week. It doesn't even start at the mid-point. It starts sometime after the great tribulation is cut short.
Another sign that precedes the Day of the Lord is someone coming in the spirit of Elijah.
Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.”
The two witnesses begin their ministry around the time of the abomination of desolation, for they witness for 1260 days and they die just before the blowing of the seventh trumpet. It will be shown further down that the seventh trumpet is blown at the end of the second half of Daniel's 70th week.
Revelation 11:3,7,14 “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.......And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them...... The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.”
The first woe is the fifth trumpet. Rev. 9:1, 12-13 And the fifth angel sounded......One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter. And the sixth angel sounded,” The second woe is the sixth trumpet. Rev. 11:14-15 “The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded.” The third woe is the seventh and last trumpet. The witnesses are killed just before the third woe or seventh trumpet, so their witness is in the second half of Daniel's 70th week. And their appearance must precede the Day of the Lord. If they do not begin until the midpoint, the Day of the Lord cannot possibly begin before that either.
Daniel's 70th week is not the Day of the Lord. If the Day of the Lord, God's wrath, does not begin until after the great tribulation is cut short, then Daniel's 70th week is not the Day of the Lord. It is merely the seven years that God covenanted to give Israel. Nowhere is it referred to as “the tribulation” either, even though Christ does call it the beginning of sorrows. And tribulation “thlipsis” (Gr.) is not wrath “thumos” or “orge”. The former refers to persecution, the latter two refer to God's vengeance.
The fifth seal martyrs are the only victims of that particular seal. If this were God's wrath, He is avenging Himself on Christians ONLY. But that makes no sense. Why would He pour out His wrath on Christians, while the wicked are not being punished? It's not possible. Added to that, they complain that God has not yet begun avenging them on those who have killed them. So they are stating God's wrath has not yet begun. And God tells them that He will not avenge them until all those who must be martyred, as they were, are killed. They are waiting for those who will appear on the sea of glass, who come out of the great tribulation. By death.
Revelation 6:9-11 “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.”
Whose wrath is it then? Satan's.
Revelation 12:9, 12 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him..... Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for THE DEVIL is come down unto you, having GREAT WRATH, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”
We are not appointed to God's wrath. 1 Thess. 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”
However, we are not exempt from Satan's wrath or God's chastisement. 1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the FIERY TRIAL which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, WHEN HIS GLORY SHALL BE REVEALED, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” Trials, tribulation, and testing are the same thing. They are not God's wrath. They are either Satan's persecution which God allows for our spiritual growth and His glory, or God's chastisement for our sins and apostasy to get us to repent from our ways.
God GIVES the saints over to Satan for him to persecute them. He begins His judgment by addressing the apostasy of the church, just as He addressed Israel's apostasy.
1 Peter 4:17-19 “For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.”
Revelation 13:7 “And it was GIVEN unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was GIVEN him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”
Daniel 7:21, 25 “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and PREVAILED against them;....And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be GIVEN into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”
Revelation 12:17, 11 “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ....And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the DEATH.” Many will die to overcome the beast.
The letters to the seven churches in Revelation warn each congregation of God's judgment coming down on them, if they do not repent. Only the overcomers are promised to be with the Lord in the end. The only ones with a possible exemption are the Philadephians. One out of seven churches. Those odds are not good. They are told that those who keep the word of God's patience will be kept from the temptation that will come on the whole world to try them.
Revelation 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
It is important to look at what this verse says. First of all, they have to do certain things to qualify. They must keep the word of God's patience (as well as other things). Do people even understand what that means? Second, it says they will be kept from something. The word “keep” is “tereo” which means “guard”, not remove from. It is the same word used in John 17:15 when Christ said, “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil.” They are not being taken out of the world, but being guarded, while in the world, from evil. It is the same thought here. They will be guarded from the testing. The word temptation means “testing” or “putting to the proof,” not vengeance. When God tests us, it is not His vengeance. Not His wrath. It is putting our faith to the test, to see if like Abraham, our faith is alive or dead, which is what the great tribulation is. A test of our faith. Only the few who qualify as Philadelphians will be exempt from this test by being guarded from its consequences, while it goes on around them. It's like at school when you have a teacher who says if you do the work and get certain marks on the quizzes and tests, you are exempt from the final exam. There are prerequisites.
Then there is the mystery of God. A big part of the mystery of God that was not revealed in the O.T. is the Church. Ephesians 5:32 “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” and that blindness would happen to Israel until the Church is complete or the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. Also referred to by Luke as the time of the Gentiles being fulfilled.
Romans 11:25-26 “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”
Luke tells us the time of the Gentiles or Church age, is still ongoing after the abomination of desolation when he speaks of the time of the abomination in the Olivet Discourse and what follows.
Luke 21:24-25 “But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
When is the time of the Gentiles fulfilled? When will the Church be complete? How long will Jerusalem be trodden down by the Gentiles after the abomination of desolation until the bringing in of the fullness (completion) of the Gentiles (Church).
Revelation 11:1-2 “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”
The city and temple are trodden for forty-two months after the abomination, which means the fullness of the Gentiles or Church is not complete until that time, and then the blindness is lifted from Israel. This is three and a half years after the abomination. The Church, or as Paul says, what is left alive and remains after the great tribulation, is here for the entire 70th week of Daniel.
What happens when the time of the Gentiles, the completion of the Church, the mystery of God is finished? The seventh and last trumpet is blown.
Revelation 10:7 “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”
The mystery of God is finished at the blowing of the seventh and last trumpet, just as Paul has prophesied, for he was inspired by the Holy Spirit to tell us exactly when we would be raptured. It's a neon sign that we have all ignored thinking that Paul couldn't possibly know what John would write. Maybe or maybe not, (He was taken to heaven and shown things), but the Holy Spirit did.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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.”
At the seventh and last trumpet, when the mystery of God is finished, we shall all be changed in the twinkling of an eye.
What else occurs at the seventh and last trumpet?
Revelation 11:15-19 “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.”
Just as one would expect, at the last trumpet, three and a half years or forty-two months after the abomination, the kingdoms of the world revert to Christ's possession. His reign begins, God's wrath has come, the time of the dead has come (to be resurrected), the time has come to judge and reward the prophets and saints, (The Bema Seat Judgment) and the destruction of those who destroyed the earth (Day of the Lord) has come. The temple of God is opened and the ark of the testament is seen for the first time.
The resurrection is at the last day of the time the Gentiles when the Church Age is completed or fulfilled.
John 6:39-40, 44, 54 “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. 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.... 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....Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the LAST DAY.”
John 11;24 “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the LAST DAY.”
Israel has her blindness lifted when she and the world see the Lord come in His glory at the Second Coming, after the fullness of the Gentiles or completed Church has come in.
Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”
Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”
Matthew 24:30 “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.”
Christ must remain in heaven until His enemies are made His footstool, (antichrist destroyed) and there is restitution of all things (the world is restored to His dominion). Therefore He must remain in heaven (can't come for a pre-trib or mid-trib or pre-wrath rapture) until the antichrist's forty-two months are complete. Then He destroys the antichrist with the brightness of His Second Coming.
Revelation 13:5 “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”
2 Thessalonians 2:8 “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.”
Acts 2:34-35 “For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool.
Acts 3:20-21 “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”
Christ was the firstfruits of the resurrection, and we are resurrected at His Second coming, at the first resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:22-23 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's AT HIS COMING.” (The Second Coming).
Christ (and His angels) gathers the elect at the Second Coming, (the “parousia”, which means to come and remain)to meet Him in the air to go to New Jerusalem, and has the angels gather the wicked to throw into His wrath on the earth at the same time.
Revelation 14:14-20 “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped. And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”
After the resurrection/rapture, it would appear that the elect are taken to New Jerusalem, (not heaven) our home which Christ apparently brings with Him (as it is here for the millennium) which appears to be a satellite city. It is 1500 miles (2414 km) in length, height, and depth and appears to have to be orbiting the earth (it cannot rest on the present earth, it is far too big), for all the nations to be able to walk in its light, which they are said to do. It is where the elect are judged and rewarded during God's wrath, and where we will live forever. It would explain how Christ remains close by (a parousia requires He stay) instead of returning to heaven, to pour out God's wrath during this time, and how we return in our resurrected bodies at Armageddon (on horses) with Him.
Revelation 21:23-24 “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it:” (The sun goes dark during God's wrath. New Jerusalem with God's glory will light the world during the millennium.)
While we are being rewarded, the world is receiving God's wrath. The temple was opened at the last trumpet revealing the ark of the testimony. It is seen again when God's wrath is again announced in Revelation Chapters 15-16 showing that chapters 15 & 16 follow the end of chapter 11 (chapters 12-most of 14 being information filling interludes.) The vials and only the vials are God's wrath.
Revelation 15:1, 5-7 “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.......And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.”
Revelation 16:1 “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.”
The last trumpet is blown 3 ½ years or 42 months or roughly 1260 days after the abomination when the mystery of God is finished and Christ returns. The wrath of God follows in a thirty day period after that, finishing up the redemption of the world.
Daniel 12:7-8, 11 “And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?........And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”
There are 1290 days from the abomination until the end of the age. As the seventh trumpet sounds after 42 months, the extra thirty days are for the vial judgments.
Christ returns on a horse at Armageddon with the elect behind Him after they have been rewarded, and God's wrath is concluding, to finish things up and celebrate the marriage of the Lamb.
Revelation 19:7-9, 11-14, 20-21 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.,,,,And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God......And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.”
Zechariah 14:12 “And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.”
There are many more Scriptures that verify all of this, but this is a synopsis for those who are seeking the truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment