TIMING OF THE RAPTURE

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Sadly, the Left Behind books by Tim Le Haye and Jerry Jenkins and now this film adopt a Pretribulation rapture position which was not what the early church fathers taught nor is it what the Bible teaches.

The foundational text in the New Testament related to the specific timing of the Rapture can be found in Matthew 24:29-31. In this passage, Jesus tells us in no uncertain terms the general timeframe during which believers will be supernaturally gathered to meet Him in the air. It is “immediately after the tribulation of those days and supernatural celestial signs in the sky“.

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, 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. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:29-31

Paul tells us that the rapture does not take place until after the Antichrist is on the scene and claims to be God. This occurs halfway through the tribulation period so the Saints are still on earth at that time.

“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him: We ask you, brothers, not to be easily upset in mind or troubled, either by a spirit or by a message or by a letter as if from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has come. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he sits in God’s sanctuary, publicizing that he himself is God.”  2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

John tells us that at the fifth seal, he sees the souls of the martyrs under the altar crying out to God when will you judge and avenge our blood? At the fifth seal, the rapture has not occurred. This is at the fifth year of the last seven years of Daniel’s 70th week.

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Revelation 6:9-10

At the sixth seal, the supernatural celestial signs that Jesus spoke of appear in the sky and as well as “the great day of His wrath has come”.

“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... Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone…calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:12, 15, 16-17

It is at the trumpet blast at the opening of the seventh seal that the rapture occurs and John sees the resurrected Saints clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands praising God the Father and Jesus.

“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!” Revelation 7:9-10

God promises to protect us from the wrath of God, not the tribulation which He uses to purify His church prior to the Rapture.

Each of the seven churches in Revelation represents the church in each of the seven years. It is the church in the sixth year, the church of Philadelphia that is raptured

“Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” Revelation 3:8, 10-11

The people in the church in the seventh year, the church of Laodicea thought they were saved but were not. Note, Jesus still stands at the door and knocks so they had not taken the Mark of the Beast and still have the opportunity to repent and be saved.

“Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” Revelation 3:15-18

“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.

REVELATION AND THE COMING TRIBULATION

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Revelation is a discipleship manual to help the Body of Messiah, “the saints,” walk through the coming Tribulation to the glory of God. Look how it opens up “Show His servants the things that must soon take place”. Mind you a thousand years is as a day to the Lord and Revelation clearly says the things that must take place are “end-times” events prior to Jesus’ return to rescue Israel and set up His Millennial rule in a totally restructured Jerusalem.

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” Revelation 1:1-3

Jesus also said at the end of this critical book of the Bible that it was written for us. The New Testament scholar Douglas Moo explains it well:

Jesus claims that He has sent His angel “to give you (plural!) this testimony for the churches.” It is difficult to see how the chapters on the Tribulation could be a “testimony for the churches” if they are not involved in it. Finally, it simply appears improbable that the event described at the greatest length in Revelation (the Tribulation) would have no direct relevance for those to whom the book is addressed.

When we zoom out to take an objective look at what Jesus, Paul, and John taught about the Body of Messiah during the end times, it is not hard to see that they all communicated the same basic message. They all taught that believers will see the Antichrist and live through the Great Tribulation.

“So when you see the abomination of desolation (Antichrist) spoken of 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 & Luke 13:14

“For the Lord, himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”1 Thessalonian 4:16-18

“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word… to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness (Antichrist) is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.“ 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

“Forces from him (Antichrist) shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action. And the wise among the people shall make many understand, though for some days they shall stumble by sword and flame, by captivity and plunder. When they stumble, they shall receive a little help. And many shall join themselves to them with flattery, and some of the wise shall stumble, so that they may be refined, purified, and made white, until the time of the end, for it still awaits the appointed time.
“And the king shall do as he wills. He shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak astonishing things against the God of gods. He shall prosper till the indignation is accomplished; for what is decreed shall be done.” Daniel 11:31-35

The Saints will see the Antichrist and live through the tribulation, even great tribulation. We all need to pray that the Lord will grant us the heart, mind, and physical strength to live for Him all the way to the very end, no matter what the future may hold.

The good news is “our being gathered together to Him” happens before God pours out His wrath upon the unrepentant with the Trumpet and Bowl judgements. Note that the golden censer which contained the final offering of the prayers of the Saints is used to initiate the wrath of God upon the earth. It is filled with fire from the altar and cast down to earth.

“When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
The Seven Trumpets
“Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up” Revelation 8:1-8

The intensity of the judgements escalates through the Trumpet and then Bowl judgements. Note the people’s reaction to the final plague of hail.

“The Seventh Bowl
The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail because the plague was so severe.“

WHY THE PRETRIBULATION RAPTURE POSITION IS DANGEROUS

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Apostle Paul explains the timing of the Rapture in 2 Thessalonians 2 so clearly and yet many recognised scholars willfully deny the truth. This scripture clearly contradicts their doctrine that nothing has to happen before the rapture happens. The Rapture does not happen until after the Antichrist takes his seat in the temple and declares he is God.

“Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him… Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:1,3-4

Why is this so important? It means that Christians will go through tribulation, even great tribulation that the Antichrist unleashes on all those people that will not take his mark. Jesus also tells us that the tribulation will be great but for the elect “those days will be cut short”. He also tells us that the Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world and only then will the end come so Saints we need to be busy proclaiming the Gospel.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.” Matthew 24:21-22

“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. 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.” Matthew 24:9-14

This is Part 4 of the film 7 Pretrib Problems and the Prewrath Rapture. You can see the whole film in one video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwXoM… or go to Part 5 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8nQ6…

TIMING OF THE RAPTURE

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This important new documentary, Seven Pretribulation Problems and the Prewrath Rapture, identifies seven flaws in pretribulation rapture theology. Identifying the problems, however, does not stop there as this documentary responds compellingly to these pretribulation problems with seven prewrath answers. This documentary marshals leading biblical prophecy teachers who walk through each of the seven problems, answering them with sound biblical investigation!

TEACHERS INCLUDE
Alan Kurschner
Alan Hultberg
Charles Cooper
David Rosenthal
Ryan Habbena

7 PRETRIB PROBLEMS
The Basics
#1 The Precursor Problem
#2 The Olivet Discourse Problem
#3 The 2nd Thessalonians Problem
#4 The Book of Revelation Problem
#5 The Imminence Problem
#6 The Church and Israel Problem
#7 The Early Church Problem

There is a lot of information in this presentation. You will need to make notes and may need to pause the video on many occasions so you can at least note the scriptures. I suggest that you will need to watch this video several times to enable you to make the case yourself for the PreWrath position.

TIMING OF THE RAPTURE

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“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole inhabited earth as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” Matthew 24:14

The event Jesus is referring to hear may well be the angel who God commissions to preach the gospel to those who dwell on the earth – to every nation, tribe, tongue and people –

Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the ...

God sends out three angels before the wrath of God is poured out with the trumpet and bowl judgements. The third angel likewise tells all those who dwell on the earth the consequences of taking the mark of the beast.

“Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.” Revelation 14: 9-10

The church will not be raptured until the three angels deliver their messages to all the world. Five words demonstrate this point: “then the end will come” (Matt 24:14). The church will not be removed until this prophecy is fulfilled. It is simply another prophetic event that undermines an any-moment return of Jesus prior to Christians experiencing the Antichrist and tribulation.

On a related noted, having established that the church will be present on earth up to the end of the age in verse 14, notice in verse 15 Jesus says, “Therefore [oun] when you see the abomination of desolation…” The interpreter should not miss that Jesus has the same audience in view after verse 14. In verse 15, Jesus begins to describe the Antichrist’s great tribulation in more detail. There is no justification to claim that the referent “you” in verse 15 and afterwards is different from the “you” before verse 14. In other words, the disciples, who represent the new community of God (i.e. the church) will be on earth to see the Antichrist declare himself to be god and be the recipients of the tribulation even great tribulation that the Antichrist will inflict on Jews and Christians at that time.

TIMING OF THE RAPTURE

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Dr Douglas Hamp has a special guest Alan Kurschner on his programme, The Awakening Report to discuss reasons why a Prewrath Rapture best fits Scripture and all of the problems with PreTrib and MidTrib rapture positions. Most of you know I support Alan’s PreWrath view of The Rapture of Christians prior to Jesus return to rule and reign from Jerusalem in the Millennium. Douglas Hamp has realised the PreTrib position is not Biblically tenable but is yet to decide on PreWrath versus Post Trib positions. I am confident that you will find this video instructive as did Douglas. He intends to have Alan back on his programme at some future date.

TIMING OF THE RAPTURE

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David Rosenthal, Director of Operations at Zion’s Hope, discusses the epic events which will take place in a brief, but crucial interval between the breaking of the sixth and seventh seals around the scroll in the Book of Revelation.

Before God’s wrath and fury rains down upon a sinful and unrepentant humanity during the Day of the Lord, 144,000 Jews will be sealed for protection and a great multitude of faithful followers of Jesus Christ will be gloriously resurrected or raptured.

Dr Rosenthal has produced three videos in this series, so if you are inspired by this video which is the third, then I suggest you check out http://www.zionshope.org to access the first two videos. Also please share these videos with your friends and family!

TIMING OF THE RAPTURE

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The debate between pretribulation and prewrath rapture scholars about Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians has been fierce – mostly centred around 2 Thess. 2:3 and the meaning of the Greek word apostasia.

Image result for book Rapture Case Cosed by Neslon Walters

Dr Nelson Walters of Gospel in the End Times has written about that passage at length in his book Rapture: Case Closed?  However, he points out in this presentation that very little discussion has taken place about the passage that precedes 2 Thess. 2 and provides its “context,” that is 2 Thess. 1. The eschatological material in chapters one and two are really one continuous teaching! We cannot understand chapter two without understanding chapter one that provides introductory thoughts on the more hotly contested chapter.

Nelson does a stellar job of presenting the Prewrath case for the timing of the Rapture in this seven minute video.

 

TIMING OF THE RAPTURE IS IMPORTANT

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Once again Nelson does a great job of challenging us all about the state of the church in these last days. What is the state of your church? Has it compromised with the worlds values? How many in your church are actually born again? Is it even discussing Jesus Second Coming and prophesied tribulation at that time?

IMPORTANCE OF RAPTURE TIMING

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Increasingly, this site will focus on prophesied end times as they unfold in our time. The aim, to equip believers to use prophecy in evangelism. As I have mentioned in previous posts, there are far more prophecies about Jesus Second Coming than there were about His First coming. All the OT prophets were given a picture of a restored Israel with Jesus (descendant of King David) ruling and reigning from Jerusalem.

Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Nehemiah, Zechariah, and Micah are all stand outs for me in providing us with pictures of future “end times” events. All through Isaiah we get snippets of Jesus ruling from Jerusalem. As early as Isaiah 2, we read “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be firmly established above other mountains, and exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares  and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore”. Isaiah then goes on to paint a picture of The Day of the Lord when the Lord alone will be exalted on that day, everything proud and lofty, everything lifted up will be brought low.

As Nelson Walters states in this important video, the timing of the Rapture is not just a theological debate, its timing is critical, in terms of whether the church will face the tribulation, and even great tribulation outlined in Daniel’s 70th week. In the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21), Jesus gave His disciples and us, a lot of information about His Second Coming. He said, many times, WATCH, BE ALERT, for it will be like the days of Noah, they will be eating, sleeping etc and suddenly, He will appear in the clouds with the angels and every eye will see Him, believers will be taken up, but most look for rocks to hide under. God then pours out His wrath upon the unrepentant in the Trumpet and Bowl Judgements.