THE GREAT TRIBULATION AND THE RAPTURE : PART 6
Copyright 1994 - 2008 Endtime Prophecy Org
Last Updated : July 23, 2006
Slaughtered At Armageddon, Worldly Leaders Survive, We Shall
Rule With A Rod Of Iron, Millennial Christian Backsliders?,
Satan Bound And Millennial Learning, Gog: The Final Rebellion
John's 'Come Up Hither', The Church And Female Symbolism,
Uniformity In Interpretation, On The Right Hand Of God, The
Caught Up Experience, Similarities Between Jesus' And John's
Words, The Real 'Come Up Hither', Mystery Of God And The
Seventh Trump, Matthew Twenty-Four One More Time, Conclusion
It is my understanding that one of the reasons why some
Pre-Tribulation Rapture theorists embrace the false belief
that not all Christians will be miraculously transformed at
Christ's return, is because they are under the erroneous
impression that everyone in the world is going to be killed
during the great Battle of Armageddon. In other words, all
of the world, except Christian Believers, are going to bow
down to Satan and receive the Mark of the Beast; and all the
world is going to be damned to the Lake of Fire. As we saw
in part two, this might not necessarily be the case. What
John meant when he wrote that 'all' will receive the Mark of
the Beast, might not be the same as what some of us have
come to understand today. Being as all Endtime prophecies
center around Israel, we may be looking at more localized
events. Time will certainly tell.
It is because of these ideas, that some Pre-Tribulation
Rapture theorists believe that the only ones over whom the
Lord and His Saints can rule during the Millennium, will be
those Christians who haven't yet received new resurrected
bodies. For them, this is the only way to fill this void in
their understanding; however, once we begin to examine this
idea from both a worldly and a Scriptural perspective, we
begin to see how unsound this belief really is.
Under the current system of man, when there is a war, under
normal circumstances, the entire world does not go to fight
in it. The war is usually fought between a limited number of
nations who have formed alliances with each other. Neither
does a nation send its entire population into battle; but
only those men and women who have specifically been trained
for military combat. The vast majority of people remain at
home leading normal lives. This is how I believe that the
Battle of Armageddon may be fought. Not only that, but as I
pointed out earlier in this series, I suspect that the war
will be primarily fought by the Israeli forces, and the
Muslim armies from the surrounding Arab nations. Of course,
their Russian and American allies may provide logistical
support. As we saw earlier, the Bible is in agreement with
these views. The Holy Scriptures tell us that the Beast, the
False Prophet, and all those who follow them into battle
against the Lord will be destroyed:
"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their
armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat
on the horse, and against his army. 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."
(Revelation 19:19-21)
"I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which
the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and
his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As
concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion
taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and
time." (Daniel 7:11-12)
Notice that collectively, John and Daniel tell us that both
the Beast and the False Prophet are going to be destroyed at
the Battle of Armageddon; and their bodies cast into the
Lake of Fire. In addition, we are told that those 'kings of
the earth', or military leaders, and their armies who follow
the Beast into battle against Christ, are also going to be
slain. Notice, however, what Daniel says about the rest of
the worldly leaders, or beasts. Are they also destroyed? No.
Daniel states that their dominion, that is their sovereignty
to rule the Earth, from the Aramaic word 'sholtan', is taken
from them, and their lives are prolonged 'for a season and
time'. That word 'season' is derived from the Aramaic word
'zeman', which means a set time, time, or season. As we have
already seen, the word 'time' means year, and is derived
from the Aramaic word 'iddan'. Thus, what Daniel may be
saying is that the rest of the worldly leaders will have
their lives prolonged for a set time and year. This goes
right along with what Daniel tells us only five chapters
earlier when he writes:
"And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set
up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall
break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand for ever." (Daniel 2:44)
Thus, as I point out in other Endtime articles, we see that
while the Ten Horns who follow the Beast into battle against
Jerusalem may be destroyed, all of the other governments of
the world, which number about two hundred at this time, are
going to be stripped of their political and military power;
and they are going to become subservient to the one, true,
righteous Government of Jesus Christ; and He is going to
rule them with a Rod of Iron during the Millennium. Not only
that, but as we have already seen, we will rule with Him; if
we are faithful, as the following verses verify:
"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine
inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy
possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou
shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
(Psalms 2:8-9)
"And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end,
to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall rule
them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall
they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father."
(Revelation 2:26-27)
"And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all
nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto
God, and to his throne." (Revelation 12:5)
"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." (Revelation 19:15)
Because some of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theorists either
reject these Scriptural truths, or simply do not understand
them properly, as we have already seen, they have found it
necessary to invent ideas which fill in the gaps in their
understanding. According to them, the Christians who survive
the Great Tribulation, and who live into the Millennium in
their natural bodies, will have children of their own who
will likewise have to choose to accept the Lord. They claim
that some of these Millennial descendants will choose not to
believe, although 'accept' might be a better choice of words
being as everyone will be fully aware of who Jesus Christ
is; after all, He, and we, will be ruling over them for one
thousand years in our new Glorified Bodies. So, it isn't
that they won't know and believe in who we are; it is simply
that they won't accept our authority over them. This is why
we will be forced to rule over them with a Rod of Iron.
According to the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theorists, it is
these rebellious descendants of Post-Tribulation Christians,
who will surround the Camp of the Saints in the final Battle
of Gog and Magog; led of course by none other than Satan
himself; who will be released from the Bottomless Pit, as a
final test for the people of the world.
Obviously, I personally do not accept these views concerning
the identity of the Millennial survivors, because as I have
already made clear, we will all be changed and raptured when
Jesus Christ returns at the end of the Great Tribulation.
The only ones left on the Earth following the great Battle
of Armageddon, will be the non-believers. Being as Satan
will be bound in the Bottomless Pit; these people will be
free from satanic influence, and they will have a thousand
years to repopulate the Earth. Not only that, but they will
have an excellent opportunity to learn the ways of the Lord.
It seems to me that after the Second Coming, the Rapture of
the Saints, the Battle of Armageddon, the Seven Plagues,
etc., some of these humans left on Earth are going to enter
the Millennium as fearful Believers; after all, they will be
able to believe by sight; but they will have missed the
greater blessing of having believed by faith; for as Jesus
said to Thomas:
"...because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed
are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
(John 20:29)
As I point out in 'From Armageddon To The New Earth', and as
we also saw earlier in this series, despite this golden
opportunity for learning the wonderful Truth of God's Word,
straight from the Word of God Himself, as well as from His
resurrected and changed Saints, the minute Satan is released
from the Bottomless Pit, these rebellious Earthlings will
once again be filled with pride and rebellion; and they will
make one final effort to defeat the Saints of the Most High.
This demonstrates to me that despite the Lord's strict but
fair rule during the Millennium, in their hearts, these
wicked people will slowly be hardening their hearts with
each passing generation; and eventually, as King David
prophesied in the Psalms, they will become so vain in their
evil imaginations, that they will actually come to believe
once more, that they can defeat the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords, and His faithful followers at the Battle of
Gog and Magog:
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain
thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers
take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his
anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast
away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then
shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his
sore displeasure." (Psalms 2:1-5)
Of course, as we already know, by this time, the Lord will
have run out of patience; and He will simply consume them
all with fire from Heaven. This will be the Lord's final
fiery Wrath upon Earthly men. After this will follow the
resurrection of all of the dead, and the Great White Throne
Judgment in which evil will be snuffed out once and for all
in the Lake of Fire:
"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed
the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire
came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and
shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
(Revelation 20:9-10)
While we have temporarily taken a time capsule into the far
future in order to explain some of the views held by some of
the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theorists, let us backtrack in
time now to the main event which these people believe will
occur in our near future. In fact, they are convinced that
the Rapture is so near, that it could happen at any moment,
before all of the events I have described for you in this
series. Because they believe that Christ's Second Coming
will only be an aerial event which will only be seen by the
Believers, it has sometimes been referred to as the 'Secret
Rapture'. To add further weight to their Pre-Tribulation
Rapture position, they point to the words 'Come up hither',
found in the following verse in Revelation chapter four:
"After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in
heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of
a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I
will shew thee things which must be hereafter."
(Revelation 4:1)
According to Pre-Tribulation Rapture adherents, because this
verse is found at the beginning of the fourth chapter of the
Book of Revelation, it is interpreted as meaning that the
Church will be raptured before all of the other events which
are described between this point, and the final chapter of
the Book of Revelation. In other words, it is claimed that
the Apostle John is symbolic of the entire Endtime Church;
and because he is being told to 'Come up hither', this means
that the entire Endtime Church is also being told to 'Come
up hither'; but is this really the case? I beg to differ
with those who say that it is.
Based upon the preponderance of Scriptural evidence I have
shared with you in this lengthy series, I cannot accept that
this verse has anything to do with the Rapture of the entire
Endtime Church as Pre-Tribulation Rapture theorists would
have us to believe. The only way that one can possibly come
to such an erroneous conclusion, is by totally ignoring the
many verses and sequence of events I have already shared
with you; and that would be sloppy exegesis. It would not be
comparing Scripture with Scripture, or rightly dividing the
Word of Truth as Paul described it.
To begin with, I see absolutely no indication here that John
is meant to be understood to represent the Endtime Church.
As far as I know, there are absolutely no other Scriptures
in the entire Bible which support this view. In fact, quite
to the contrary, as I clearly point out in such articles as
'Once Upon A Time: A True Story' as well as in 'Revelation's
Babylon The Great Whore', from the beginning of its pages,
to the very end, the Holy Bible indicates that the Lord's
children, His Church, is always represented in the feminine
form. Whether we are talking about the ancient Israelites,
or the New Testament Church, the Lord uses the very same
descriptive terminology. Sometimes the Lord describes her as
a rebellious, unfaithful wife who has gone awhoring after
other gods, while at others, she is described as a faithful
virgin Bride; but the Church is never ever described in the
masculine form. Not only that, but when the Lord's Church is
discussed, it is normally in the plural form, and not in the
singular form, because God has a multiple Bride; just like
in the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
It is easy to conclude then, that John cannot represent the
Endtime Church as Pre-Tribulation Rapture theorists would
have us to believe. Read the verse carefully. The Angelic
Messenger is simply talking to one man, John; and there is
absolutely no mention of the Church, or of the Saints, or of
anybody else. Just like a number of other Prophets and holy
men of old, one lone man, one Prophet of God, that is, John,
is being caught up to Heaven in order to behold his Heavenly
visions. Those who insist that this is the Rapture of the
Endtime Church are twisting the Scriptures. This verse is
describing one man's experience; and they twist it so that
it includes the entire Endtime Church. These people are
simply grabbing at straws, because in my view, the entire
Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine is built upon a false
foundation of nothing but straws; and someday it will be
burned when they see how wrong it really is.
Even if we were to accept this weak argument that John being
caught up to Heaven represents the Rapture of the Endtime
Church, then we need to apply this same meaning to any other
place in the Bible where similar phraseology is used to
describe someone being lifted up to Heaven. If we don't do
this, then we are not being uniform in our interpretation of
the Scriptures. We cannot say that a certain phrase means
one thing in one place of Scripture, and then turn around
and suggest that it means something entirely different in
another. That would be very confusing; and we all know that
God is not the author of confusion. His Holy Spirit helps us
to understand His Word; it doesn't confuse us further. For
example, wherever we see the phrase 'caught up', in order to
maintain Scriptural uniformity, we should also assume it is
a reference to being raptured up to Heaven; since this is
the phrase used by Paul in 1 Thessalonians chapter four to
describe the Rapture of the Saints:
"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the
air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
(1 Thessalonians 4:17)
Notice again that this is a pluralistic picture of God's
multiple Bride being called up, caught up, raptured up, to
Heaven. Now let's take a look at a certain verse found in
chapter twelve of the Book of Revelation. Verse five reads:
"And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all
nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto
God, and to his throne." (Revelation 12:5)
Exactly who the 'she' is in the previous verse, is a matter
of speculation. As I explain in my article 'The Woman In The
Wilderness And The 144,000', while we can view her as being
symbolic of Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a prophetic sense,
it is more fitting that she represents the spiritual nation
of Israel; that is, the Israel of faith who brought forth
the Saviour; of which Mary was indeed a member. Please see
the aforementioned article for more details concerning this.
The main point to consider here is that this can be none
other than Jesus Christ being caught up to God and to His
Throne. In other words, this is the Lord sitting down at the
Right Hand of His Father, following His Ascension from Earth
just prior to the Book of Acts; exactly as was described by
both the Apostles Peter and Paul in the following verses:
"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us."
(Romans 8:34)
"Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the
dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places," (Ephesians 1:20)
"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which
are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God."
(Colossians 3:1)
"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of
his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down
on the right hand of the Majesty on high;...But to which of
the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until
I make thine enemies thy footstool?" (Hebrews 1:3, 13)
"Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We
have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of
the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;" (Hebrews 8:1)
"But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins
for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;"
(Hebrews 10:12)
"Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of
the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)
"Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God;
angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto
him." (1 Peter 3:22)
In light of all of these Scriptures, there should really be
no doubt that this man child who is 'caught up unto God, and
to his throne', can be none other than Jesus Christ. We have
compared Scripture with Scripture, rightly dividing the Word
of Truth, and the proper interpretation of them seems quite
obvious. Let us take a look at one more example of this
phrase 'caught up', as it is used in Paul's second Epistle
to the Corinthians. In this example, we see Paul discussing
a certain man who was caught up to the Third Heaven in order
to hear and see marvellous things. Some Bible students have
suggested that Paul is actually referring to himself. Due to
a lack of strong Scriptural support, I prefer to leave it in
the realm of speculation for now:
"I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether
in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I
cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the
third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body,
or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he
was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words,
which it is not lawful for a man to utter."
(2 Corinthians 12:2-4)
In all three of the previous examples, I have been quite
consistent in my interpretation of the phrase 'caught up'.
In fact, no interpretation is really even necessary, because
all of those verses speak for themselves. It might interest
you to know that these are the only places in the entire New
Testament where this phrase 'caught up' is even used. Please
note, however, that there is a very big difference in how it
is used in each case. As you can see, only one of the three
previous examples involves the Rapture of the Lord's Endtime
Church, God's Bride, and it is a pluralistic event. In one
of the other examples, we have the Son of God singularly
ascending to Heaven, as per the Book of Acts; and in the
final example, we have a man who temporarily ascends to the
Heavenly Realm, and then apparently returns to Earth. There
is no way that Paul could even know this man, or know what
the man had experienced, if he hadn't returned. If this man
was indeed Paul, then this is even moreso the case.
If we compare these three examples to John's experience, it
isn't difficult to understand that it is most similar to the
last example. In fact, when I first read Paul's words years
ago, I wondered, and still wonder, if perhaps Paul wasn't
referring to John; thus suggesting the possibility that John
may have had his revelations a few decades earlier than we
have been led to believe. Let's be honest. We really don't
know, because we weren't there; and it was so long ago. All
we have is the word of church historians and Bible scholars.
We don't know with one hundred per cent accuracy exactly
when John had his revelations, or when he wrote them down.
One thing we do know is that some of the books of the Bible
were written after the fact, based upon memory and the
guidance of the Holy Ghost. Perhaps this is the case with
the Book of Revelation. Of course, this is only a theory,
and I certainly cannot prove it.
The main point I wish to emphasize is this: Considering the
similiarity between John's experience, and that of the man
in Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians, why is it that certain
Pre-Tribulation Rapture theorists insist that John being
called up hither is actually the time of the Rapture? What
proof do they have? As I have already shown, they really
don't have any, once we really begin to examine the various
verses they use to support their wayward doctrine. The only
reason they use that verse, is because it just so happens to
be in the Book of Revelation, and it is the earliest verse
they can find which will appear to add weight to their false
doctrine. Let me repeat that the Rapture is always described
as being pluralistic in nature, and that the Church is never
symbolized by a male figure in the Bible. She is always
female, as was ancient Israel.
These are not the only flaws with using Revelation 4:1 as a
verse to support the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory. If we
adopt the same attitude, and look for the earliest verse in
the Book of Revelation were the Rapture might occur, we can
very easily use a verse found in the very first chapter of
the book. Consider the following verse:
"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."
(Revelation 1:7)
We all know that when Jesus returns in the clouds of Heaven,
following the three and a half years of Great Tribulation,
that is when the Rapture will occur, correct? All we have to
do in order to verify that this is so, is to look at a few
verses found in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of
Matthew where the Lord Himself makes it very plain for us to
understand:
"Immediately after the 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: 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. And he
shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31)
Notice the similarities between these two sets of verses.
John states 'he cometh with clouds'; and Jesus says 'coming
in the clouds of heaven'. John states 'every eye shall see
him'; and Jesus says 'they shall see the Son of man'. John
states 'all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of
him'; and Jesus says 'then shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn'. Obviously then, Jesus and John are describing the
very same events; that is the Second Coming and the Rapture.
Being as John describes these things three chapters before
his invitation to 'Come up hither' in chapter four, does
this mean that the Rapture occurs in chapter one? I don't
believe that it does. Like many writers, John is basically
giving a powerful introduction to his book, before he goes
into the details and chronological order of the events which
will follow. The Rapture can't occur in chapters one or four
because the Angel told John to 'Come up hither, and I will
shew thee things which must be hereafter'. Please note that
my emphasis is on the word 'hereafter'. One of the things
which the Angel reveals to John 'which must be hereafter',
in other words, after John has been called up to Heaven, is
the Rapture itself; and it isn't until seven chapters later!
If you doubt my words, please consider the following. There
are only two places in the New Testament in which we find
the phrase 'Come up hither'. The first one we have already
identified. Allow me to share the second one with you:
"And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them,
Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud;
and their enemies beheld them." (Revelation 11:12)
As we saw earlier in this series, this is the resurrection
and rapture of the two Sackcloth Witnesses, which occurs at
the very end of the Last Seven Years, following the three
and a half years of Great Tribulation. While John was told
to 'Come up hither' on a temporary basis in order to behold
his Heavenly Visions, these two witnesses are called up on a
permanent basis; because this is the real Rapture! Only one
of these can be the real 'Come up hither' of the Rapture;
not both; and this one in Revelation chapter eleven is it!
You will notice that the two Sackcloth witnesses ascend up
to heaven 'in a cloud'; just like the clouds that Jesus and
John mentioned in earlier verses. Please notice also that we
are told that there is a great voice speaking to them. You
may recall from the verses in Thessalonians, that prior to
the Saints being caught up to meet the Lord 'in the clouds',
they will hear 'the voice of the archangel', and 'the trump
of God':
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with
them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so
shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
It is the very same voice here in the eleventh chapter of
the Book of Revelation, because they are speaking of the
very same events. All of the dead in Christ will rise at the
same time, followed by the living Saints, exactly as I told
you earlier in this series; and this will include the two
slain Sackcloth Witnesses. As all of the following verses
will reveal, the 'trump of God' mentioned by Paul in the
previous verses, is none other than the final Seventh Trump,
which will herald the completion of the Mystery of God; that
being the Resurrection, Transformation and Rapture of His
beloved children at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. That
is the Mystery which is revealed in all of the following
verses which the unbelieving world refused to accept; that
we shall not all sleep forever; we shall arise!:
"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." (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
"And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the
earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that
liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things
that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein
are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that
there should be time no longer: 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." (Revelation 10:5-7)
"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."
(Revelation 11:15-18)
All of these events clearly occur at the sound of the Last
Trump; that is, the Seventh Trumpet of God; there should be
no doubt about this whatsoever; thus if we accept that the
Rapture of the Saints occurs in Revelation chapter four, we
are really saying that the Seventh Trump occurs in chapter
four, ahead of all of the events I have described for you in
this series. In my opinion, this makes absolutely no sense
whatsoever. John is being called up to view these Endtime
events which the Angel tells him will occur 'hereafter', yet
Pre-Tribulation Rapture theorists would have us to believe
that they have already all happened since, according to
their view, Revelation chapter four is the time of the
Rapture.
Notice how that last set of verses ties together some of the
various themes we have discussed throughout this series. We
are told 'thy wrath is come', meaning the Lake of Fire for
the Beast and the False Prophet, and the destruction of
their followers. We are also told that it is 'the time of
the dead', in which all of the Prophets and Saints of all
time will be raised at the First Resurrection, in order to
receive their just reward. The Prophet Daniel wrote of this
time when he said:
"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and
everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as
the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars for ever and ever."
(Daniel 12:2-3)
To complete this series, let us take one more look at the
major events of Matthew chapter twenty-four; leaving out the
extraneous verses and descriptions. By doing this, we can
obtain a very clear, condensed picture of the chronological
order of events which lead up to the Seventh Trump, and the
completion of the Mystery of God. Please read the following
verses slowly and carefully a few times, and you too will
see that everything I have shared with you in this series is
indeed true. There is no Pre-Tribulation or Mid-Tribulation
Rapture. There is only one Rapture which will occur at the
end of the Last Seven Years, following the final three and a
half years known as the Great Tribulation or Jacob's
Trouble:
"When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy
place...then shall be great tribulation, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be...Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light...And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven...And he shall send his angels with a great sound of
a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
(Matthew 24:15a, 21, 29a, 30a, 31)
In my view, there is absolutely no way that any honest
Truth-seeking person can interpret these verses any other
way. They are perfectly clear and can stand on their own,
without the need for private interpretation. These verses
are clearly talking about the Second Coming of Christ and
the Rapture of the Saints, His Bride, at the sound of the
Seventh Trump. The Lord clearly tells us that these events
will occur 'immediately after the tribulation of those days'
and not before; so there can be no Pre-Tribulation or even a
Mid-Tribulation Rapture. I believe I have now demonstrated
this beyond a shadow of a doubt. There is simply no possible
way to twist this verse so that it means immediately before
the tribulation of those days. If Jesus said that He will be
coming for His children after the three and a half years of
Great Tribulation, then that is precisely what He meant.
In conclusion, if you have been led astray by well-meaning
but wayward Bible teachers who have tried to convince you of
their anti-Scriptural beliefs, I trust that this series will
assist you in removing the confusion which has filled your
mind and heart. God's Word has spoken clearly. There is no
Pre-Tribulation or Mid-Tribulation Rapture. Neither will the
Great Tribulation last the full seven years. Neither will we
the living Saints be changed and resurrected before the dead
Old Testament Saints. Please remember that it doesn't matter
what I say, or what you say, but rather what God's Holy Word
says; and I have done my best to present it to you in a very
direct and easily understandable manner for your honest
consideration. Won't you please accept it? God bless you!