9 years ago
When the rapture takes place matters a lot. It matters so much that Jesus tells us not to be deceived concerning this very issue. Paul does as well. In fact it matters so much that Satan has introduced the pre tribulation rapture falsehood into the church to lead the church to believe that they will not have to prepare for the end times because they will be raptured out prior to tribulation. To survive the end times, all Christians must prepare Spiritually and materially as well. As is the days of Noah, so shall it be at the coming of the son of man. Noah prepared for many years prior to the big flood. Joseph prepared as well prior to the 7 year famine. The pre tribulation rapture doctrine is part of Satans final deception plan which he has been preparing and planning for thousands of years. The deception that Adam and Eve were exposed to will pale in comparison with what is coming. This clever demonic deception will catch the mainstream, luke warm, unprepared Christians and will sweep them entirely off their feet. Most will not be able to stand tribulation and will take the mark of the beast so as to avoid persecution. Most will end up believing the staged second coming of Christ by the antichrist as well, for the Antichrist will show all the false signs, miracles and lying wonders. LET US ALLOW THE BIBLE TO SPEAK FOR ITSELF. WHEN WILL THE RAPTURE TAKE PLACE?2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ[a] had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin[b] is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God[c] in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (The bible is so clear in this passage about our gathering together with Jesus Christ. We are told that that Day will not come until after the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition. How much clearer of an explanation do we need? We are further warned not to let anyone deceive us. Not your Pastor, not your family, no one. For the great falling away is happening now and it is a time of rampant deception. Do not be deceived by these Pastors telling you that you will be raptured. Furthermore, we are told that day will not come until we all witness the AntiChrist declare himself as God in the 3rd hebrew temple that will be built. For those who know scripture, Daniel the prophet clearly explains this as the abomination of desolation which takes place mid way into the last 7 years. This text clearly explains that at the midway mark, all Christians are still here on earth and will witness Antichrist declare himself as God. The false pretribulation doctrine preaches the Church will be raptured prior to the arrival of the antichrist. This is clearly false as you can see.)Matthew 24:9-13 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. (We are told in advance that we will suffer persecution and will be killed. This is authentic Christianity. Suffer for Christ’s cause. We are told he who endures to the end shall be saved. Till the end. Not the beginning. The end. The false pretribulation doctrine preaches that the Church will not suffer persecution or the need to endure hard times. If the old testament Prophets, Apostles and Christ himself endured persecution and death, why should we expect our end to be any different? The servant is not greater than the Master.)Matthew 24:15-22 15 “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’[c] spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. 18 And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. 19 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. (Here Jesus is clearly speaking of the abomination of desolation which takes place in the middle of the last 7 years (3.5 years into the 7 year peace treaty that the antichrist will forge between Israel and the arab nations. Jesus himself refers to babies and unborn children still on earth. Did God not rapture the babies? Did he leave the babies behind? Absolutely not. It is clear that the Church is still on earth midway into the 7 years. Also, for the elects sake, he will shorten the days of hardship. Does that not infer that the elect are still on earth?)Matthew 24:29-31 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Here we are so clearly told that AFTER the tribulation of those days, not before, that the sign of the Son of Man would appear in the clouds. The sign of the Son of Man would appear for all to see after the opening of the 6th seal of revelation at which point those who rejected him would try to hide in caves and under mountains. Once this sign appears to all, then Jesus sends his angels with a great sound of the trumpet to gather his elect as clearly depicted in the bible text above. The gathering happens after the sign of the son of man, not before. And this is at the end of the tribulation period. Those who remain after the gathering are than subjected to the 7 bowls of Gods anger.) 1 Corinthians 15:51- 5551 Behold, I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”[g]55 “O Death, where is your sting?[h] O Hades, where is your victory?”[i] (Here is another depiction of the rapture that clearly states that the rapture happens on the 7th and Last Trumpet, placing this towards the end of the tribulation period, but before the 7 bowls of Gods anger. How much clearer can the bible be folks? At the last trumpet, the rapture takes place, period. This agrees with all other text in the bible concerning the rapture timing. Why are the Christians so blind to the word of God? The 6 prior trumpet judgement are clearly during the great tribulation period where hell is being unleashed on earth. The Church is still present but protected with the seal of God on their foreheads : Revelation 9:4 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.) Revelation 10:1-7 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. 2 He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. 4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices,[a] I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me,[b] “Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”5 The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand[c] to heaven 6 and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. (This is a powerful representation of the Lion of Judah roaring and the Angels of the seven Churches uttering back in response to the Lion of Judah’s call to rise. The is the powerful point of resurrection for the dead. The Saints utter back with the sound of thunder in response to the King on the Seventh Trumpet. This is the moment of rapture of both the dead and living in Christ. This is the mystery that Paul talked about in the earlier paragraph. The transformation of our bodies from flesh and blood to Angelic beings similar to Christ. This is the great mystery promised to the prophets. And chronologically as laid out in the bible, it happens after the 7th trumpet )Revelation 11:15-18 15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms[f] of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying:“We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come,[g] Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. 18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints,And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth.” (Here we see the blowing of the 7th trumpet and God accomplishing the Great Mystery and rewarding his servants and the saints with everlasting life. We are told it is the time of the dead, that they should be made to rise. We are told that the Kingdom now belongs to Christ and no longer Satan, so the baton of ownership has now gone from Satan to Jesus Christ at this junction. We are further told that the time of his wrath has come, meaning that the wrath associated with the prior 6 trumpets which destroyed the earth was being administered by Satan and not God, during the time that Satan had ownership of the world. It is clearly stated that he would destroy those who destroy earth. Satan literally tries to destroy the earth and mankind during the first 6 trumpets when he still has power over the earth. God allows Satan to administer wrath on the earth but seals his followers from such wrath with a seal on their foreheads. He uses Satan as his judgment sword against the sons of disobedience as he frequently has done in the past. Once the Kingdom is handed over the Jesus Christ, the first thing he does is raptures his Church. Than we are told that it is his turn to administer wrath on those who are left behind. On those who destroyed the earth in the prior 6 trumpets, mainly Satan & his fallen angels & the sons of disobedience. )Revelation 14:14-16 14 Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You[i] to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. (Here we see again a representation of the rapture where an angel gives Christ the OK sign to thrust his sickle and reap the harvest after the 7th trumpet, but before the 7 bowls of God anger as depicted in the chronological layout of the book of revelation. This agrees with what Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 below)1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words. (Here we see again the Archangel gives the OK to Christ who is in the clouds at this time. The 7th trumpet blows, and he raptures us up into the clouds. We are told that Christ himself will descend from heaven and will appear to all as discussed earlier concerning the sign of the son of man appearing on earth)Luke 21:34-36 34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy[c] to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Many pretribulation rapture teachers base their conclusion in large part by this verse. It is because they are completely blind and confused by its meaning. So I dedicate some time to explain what this passage really means. I cover it at the end to enable us to read the passages above which enable a better understand of what is meant in the word “escape all these things”. It is important to understand the judgments of God to truly understand what is meant by escaping these things. Are the sons and daughters of God meant to suffer the wrath of God? Absolutely not. Will the sons and daughters of God suffer persecution in the hands of men and women who take the mark of the beast and those who worship the Anti Christ? Absolutely. We have been forewarned by Christ himself in the Olivet discourse of Matthew 10 & 24, Luke 21, and in many of Pauls Letters. Here is what Christ said- 18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. The Great tribulation and the persecution of the Saints begins mid way into the last 7 years after the opening of the 4th seal of revelation. The elect will be persecuted heavily on earth for refusing to worship the antichrist and taking his mark. Many will be put to death by sword (beheading) and fire (burning at the stake), similar to what was done to men and women of God by the Catholic church in an attempt to stamp out the reformation of the Church. What the Church will escape from while on earth is the wrath of God administered by Satan during the 7 Trumpet Judgement. This is a key point to note. The first 6 trumpet judgments reflect Satans attempt to destroy the earth and mankind. He literally turns against all his faithfuls who took his mark in an attempt to destroy creation on earth. Satan destroys the food supply first by destroying the vegetation. He poisons the fresh water. He destroys a third of the sea, and blocks out a third of the moon and sun light in an attempt to kill everyone on planet earth. He then continues with the release of his demonic locusts from the bottomless bit who attack those who have his mark of the beast for a 5 month period. And finally he kills a third of mankind with his 200 million strong demonic horsemen, led by Abaddon, the great fallen angel. During this entire period, the Church is still on earth but sealed as per revelation 9:4 which states: 4 They were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. It does not mean escaping persecution on earth by your fellow human beings who have taken the mark. The Kingdom of this world still belongs to Satan until the blowing of the 7th trumpet. After the blowing of the 7th trumpet, we are told the Kindgom of this world belongs to Jesus Christ. He immediately raptures his Church, and then begins to administer his wrath (7 bowls of Gods anger) on all those who tried to destroy the earth and on all those who received the mark of the beast. In summary, escaping these things in the passage of Luke 21:34 simply means being sealed during the 6 trumpets while Satan is allowed to destroy the earth. It also means being raptured to escape the 7 bowls of Gods anger which immediately follow the 7 trumpet judgment. Daniel 12:11-12 11 “And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. (Here Daniel so beautifully tells us that blessed are those who stand and endure to the end, which we are told is 1,335 days from the midpoint of the tribulation)
