The Second Advent vs. The Pre-Trib Rapture in a Nutshell

07 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

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alive in Christ, Armies of Heaven, around midnight, Bride of Christ, Bridegroom, caught up, dead in Christ, end of Tribulation, Host of saints, imminent return, in secret, in the air on a cloud, jugment, Lion of Judah, mid-Trib, mid-Trib rapture, overcomers, pre-Trib Rapture, protect from Wrath, removed from the earth, saints, Second Advent, Second Coming, taken up, thief in the night, Tribulation Period, two witnesses, wise virgins, with the clouds

The Day Is Coming

^1-2Note well: God’s Judgment Day is on the way:
    “Plunder will be piled high and handed out.
I’m bringing all the godless nations
    to war against Jerusalem—
Houses plundered,
    women raped,
Half the city taken into exile,
    the other half left behind.”

^3-5But then God will march out against the godless nations and fight—a great war! That’s the Day he’ll take his stand on the Mount of Olives, facing Jerusalem from the east. The Mount of Olives will be split right down the middle, from east to west, leaving a wide valley. Half the mountain will shift north, the other half south. Then you will run for your lives down the valley, your escape route that will take you all the way to Azal. You’ll run for your lives, just as you ran on the day of the great earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Then my God will arrive and all the holy angels with him. – Zechariah 14:1-5, MSG

A White Horse and Its Rider

^11-16Then I saw Heaven open wide—and oh! a white horse and its Rider. The Rider, named Faithful and True, judges and makes war in pure righteousness. His eyes are a blaze of fire, on his head many crowns. He has a Name inscribed that’s known only to himself. He is dressed in a robe soaked with blood, and he is addressed as “Word of God.” The armies of Heaven, mounted on white horses and dressed in dazzling white linen, follow him. A sharp sword comes out of his mouth so he can subdue the nations, then rule them with a rod of iron. He treads the winepress of the raging wrath of God, the Sovereign-Strong. On his robe and thigh is written, King of kings, Lord of lords. – Revelation 19:11-16, MSG

^51-52But let me tell you something wonderful, a mystery I’ll probably never fully understand. We’re not all going to die—but we are all going to be changed. You hear a blast to end all blasts from a trumpet, and in the time that you look up and blink your eyes—it’s over. On signal from that trumpet from heaven, the dead will be up and out of their graves, beyond the reach of death, never to die again. At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. – 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, MSG

^15-18And then this: We can tell you with complete confidence—we have the Master’s word on it—that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words. – 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, MSG

^1-3I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman. – 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, MSG

¹¹“Then, after three and a half days, the Living Spirit of God will enter them—they’re on their feet!—and all those gloating spectators will be scared to death.”

¹²I heard a strong voice out of Heaven calling, “Come up here!” and up they went to Heaven, wrapped in a cloud, their enemies watching it all. – Revelation 11:11-12, MSG

⁶“In the middle of the night someone yelled out, ‘He’s here! The bride-groom’s here! Go out and greet him!’

^7-8“The ten virgins got up and got their lamps ready. The silly virgins said to the smart ones, ‘Our lamps are going out; lend us some of your oil.’

⁹“They answered, ‘There might not be enough to go around; go buy your own.’

¹⁰“They did, but while they were out buying oil, the bridegroom arrived. When everyone who was there to greet him had gone into the wedding feast, the door was locked. – Matthew 25:6-10, MSG

Recently, I have been reading several Facebook postings in which some “Christians” declare that the prophesied pre-Tribulation (pre-Trib) Rapture of Christ’s saints (the Bride of Christ) will not be done secretly. These “Christians” claim that every eye will see this Rapture. Now, while many people in the Tribulation may see the mid-Tribulation (mid-Trib) Rapture of the two witnesses who were killed and resurrected from the dead (see Revelation 11:11-12), the mid-Trib Rapture is neither the same as the pre-Trib Rapture of Christ’s Bride (the overcomers/saints) nor the Second Advent (Christ’s prophesied Second Coming).

Christ’s Second Advent (His Second Coming) happens when His feet touch down on the Mount of Olives and it splits (see Zechariah 14:4). Every eye will see Him, as Christ returns to earth with His saints/overcomers (see Revelation 1:7, Revelation 19:11-16). He comes back to bring judgment – God’s poured out Wrath – for those who have rejected Him (Christ) as their Savior.

This Second-Coming event is NOT the same as the pre-Trib Rapture of Christ’s Bride (saints/overcomers) event. Scripture clearly states that during the pre-Trib Rapture – when the Bride is caught up/taken up in the air (raptured) – Christ (the Bridegroom) meets His Bride in the air and on a cloud (see 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18, Matthew 25:6-10). This pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Bride of Christ (when the dead in Christ and those who are alive at the time the Bridegroom comes for His Bride are removed off this earth) is imminent – can happen at any time – and it will happen in secret because He will come for them like a thief in the night (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). In contrast, His Second Advent (Christ’s Second Coming) happens near the end of the seven-year Tribulation, and every person who is alive on earth at the time of Christ’s second bodily return will see Him coming with His Host of saints.

Once again, The pre-Trib Rapture is the event in which Christ returns to the earth but stays in the air and on a cloud. He will return, at that time and in that manner, because He will be fulfilling God’s Promise to remove all His saints/overcomers from the earth before Father God’s Wrath (the Tribulation Period) begins to pour out on the earth. The Second Coming (the Second Advent) is the event in which Christ returns to the earth (with the clouds – with His Host of raptured saints/the armies of Heaven). Christ will return to earth, at that time and in that manner, because He will be fulling God’s Promise to send the Lion of Judah to the Hebrews/Jewish people. Christ, as the Lion of Judah, will be bringing the Tribulation Period to an end by defeating the Antichrist and his evil world empire in the Battle of Armageddon.

Selah (pause and calmly think about that). Shalom . . . .

Christ’s Saints Are Barley Overcomers – Christ’s Carnal Believers Are Tribulation Wheat

02 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

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appointed times, Barley Believers, Bride of Christ, carnal believers, conquerors, feast days, First Fruits, first resurrection, glorification, Grapes, greater Harvest, holy, justification, overcomers, Passover, Pentecost, saintly overcomers, saints, sanctification, Tabernacles, three classes of people, Unleavened Bread, unsaved believers, victorious, Wheat Believers

The Master himself will give the command. Archangel thunder! God’s trumpet blast! He’ll come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise—they’ll go first. Then the rest of us who are still alive at the time will be caught up with them into the clouds to meet the Master. Oh, we’ll be walking on air! And then there will be one huge family reunion with the Master. So reassure one another with these words. – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, MSG

…To the one who overcomes I will give access to feast on the fruit of the Tree of Life that is found in the paradise of God. – Revelation 2:7, TPT

…To everyone who is victorious I will let him feast on the hidden manna and give him a shining white stone. And written upon the white stone is inscribed his new name, known only to the one who receives it. – Revelation 2:17, TPT

To everyone who is victorious and continues to do my works to the very end I will give you authority over the nations – Revelation 2:26, TPT

And the one who experiences victory will be dressed in white robes and I will never, no never erase your name from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge your name before my Father and his angels. – Revelation 3:5, TPT

For the one who is victorious, I will make you to be a pillar in the sanctuary of my God, permanently secure. I will write on you the name of my God and the name of the city of my God—the New Jerusalem, descending from my God out of heaven. And I’ll write my own name on you. – Revelation 3:12, TPT

And to the one who conquers I will give the privilege of sitting with me on my throne, just as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. – Revelation 3:21, TPT

The Bride of Christ (the collective Body of His Saints) is the prophesied Barley Harvest of Overcomers (Victorious Conquerors) – the glorified firstfruits who are raptured before the Tribulation Period begins.

The Non-overcoming Carnal Believers are the Tribulation Period’s Wheat because they resemble Tares. These Wheat believers are the ones who have not cooperated with the Holy Spirit’s sanctification process (have not allowed Him to gradually change them into the image of Christ).

Prophetically speaking, the Barley Harvest represents the first of God’s three end-time Harvests and, thus, part of the first resurrection. The Scripture refers to these saints as “overcomers.” Additionally, God’s first three feast days – Passover, Unleavened Bread, and First Fruits – spiritually represent the three stages of salvation: 1. justification (Passover), 2. sanctification (Unleavened Bread), and 3. glorification (First Fruits). Just as Jesus Christ was the first holy and saintly Barley Harvest Overcomer to be resurrected from the dead as the Barley First Fruits of the greater Barley Harvest to come, the Bride of Christ also represents the rest of the holy and saintly Barley Harvest of Overcomers.

It is written that only Christ’s holy and saintly overcomers – the spiritually mature believes who are transformed into the image of Christ – will either be resurrected from the dead as part of the first resurrection or raptured alive BOTH happening during the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. These are the saints who will rule and reign on the earth during Jesus Christ’s millennial reign. Please note that no matter if God is speaking literally or figuratively, it also is written that the Barley Overcomers (symbolizing the barley grain that always is planted AFTER the Wheat) is always harvested before the Wheat.

The natural (physical) and spiritual orders of the grain harvests are why the Wheat Harvest represents “carnal believers who today are mostly ‘Christian’ churchgoers.” These carnal believers are the end-time gathered Gentile nations. Indeed, Christ’s Gospels’ description of the gathered nations is a picture of God’s Wheat Harvest (see Matthew 25:32, Mark 13:27). It is written that all nations will come to know the Lord and serve Him.

This second harvest speaks of those believers who were justified by faith, but either they did not go through or did not submit to the Holy Spirit’s sanctification process. Many of these carnal believers will also be first resurrection believers, but just barely. They will be saved but have the smell of smoke on them. Furthermore, the alive end-time Wheat (carnal) believers will need to be shifted like wheat in order to become fully sanctified so that they can wear God’s Divine Nature and Character (be glorified). Unfortunately, they will be the beheaded Tribulation martyrs.

Carnal believers who are Wheat still have some rebellion or lawlessness in their lives that must be purged by the Fire of God (the Holy Spirit). The only way for this purging to happen is for this Wheat to be exposed to the Antichrist’s wrath during the prophesied end-time Tribulation. The believers who are part of the Wheat Harvest will be brought forth in the second resurrection (Tribulation Period’s Rapture) to be glorified “ yet so as through fire.” The apostle Paul writes:

Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely. – 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, MSG

If Christ’s believers are not saintly overcomers – victorious over the flesh, the world, and the devil – they are not Christ’s Barley Bride. It is only with the aid of the Holy Spirit that saints who become overcomers are able to control their flesh, conquer the corrupt world systems, and defeat God’s enemy the Devil. Selah (pause and calmly think about that)!

NOTE: God established that three of His seven commanded appointed times (feast days) would be associated with two different grain harvests and one fruit of the vine harvest that took place annually in Israel. The barley grain ripens first around the time of First Fruits, the wheat grain ripens later around the time of Pentecost, and the grapes from the vine ripen last just prior to the feast of Tabernacles. Moreover, God established that these three crops (barley, wheat, and grapes) would also depict, spiritually speaking, three classes of people. The Barley represents the holy and saintly overcomers, the Wheat represents the carnal believers, and the Grapes mostly represent the unsaved unbelievers.

Fearing End-Times Signs vs. Fearing the State of Your Spirit, Soul, and Body

10 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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Body, Bride of Christ, cooperative, empowered, end-times signs, faithful, form of godliness, glorified bodies, God lovers, Holy Spirit-Filled, in denial, justified, obedient, powerless, preoccupied, rapture, raptured, reborn, resting on laurels, reverence, saintly overcomers, salvation, Sanctification Process, sanctified, saved, soul, Spirit, submissive, victorious, work out your salvation

So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ]. ~ Philippians 2:12, AMP

But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear].For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good,traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them. ~ 2 Timothy 3:1-5, AMP

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.Many will say to Me on that day [when I judge them], ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name, and done many miracles in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them publicly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me [you are banished from My presence], you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].’ ~ Matthew 7:21-23, AMP

Too many professed believers in Christ are resting on their laurels—are living like they are satisfied with their past achievement (salvation), so much so that they refuse to consider additional effort from them is necessary. They have assumed that their salvation automatically made them the Bride of Christ—made them saintly Overcomers. As a result, they either overlooked the Scripture that commands them to work out their own salvation, or they read and studied said Scripture but concluded it does not pertain to them.

Maybe when we who claim to be believers in Christ finally get it right—finally understand that Christ isn’t coming back for any “church,” but rather He is coming back for His genuine Bride—we’ll begin to cooperate with His Holy Spirit and allow Him to transform us into Christ’s victorious Bride—into the saintly OVERCOMERS who have been faithfully and obediently defeating their flesh, defeating this world’s corrupt systems, and defeating the lying devil. Only then will we start using, and keep using, what time we have left on this planet to prepare for Christ’s coming instead of wasting our time being preoccupied with end-times signs.

There are numerous videos in which believers list all the things that are happening in this world that correspond with prophetic end-time signs. The truth is that the signs in those videos are pure HYPE (fear used to excite us and motivate us into being ready for Christ’s return—used as nothing more than some preachers’ forms of emotional blackmail). Because the people who are unnerved by the presented signs will more than likely spend too much time studying and interpreting the Scriptures that have end-time signs in them, they will overlook the Scriptures that tell them how to get right with God. As a result, they will end up doing all the wrong things they THINK are the right things that will get their spirit, soul, and body SANCTIFIED, but the things they will be doing only will obtain them “forms of godliness.”

There is a big difference between fearing the end-time signs and then taking action, and fearing the state of our soul, spirit, and body to the degree that we start choosing to do what we should have been doing to get the proper results God always wanted us to obtain. This truth is why those of us who know the signs of the end times and can recognize the ones that are happening right before our eyes already will have determined that we don’t want Christ to come back and say to us—I know you not; depart from me you workers of lawlessness (you folks who act wickedly by disregarding My Commands; see Matthew 7:21-23). Instead of staying busy seeking more and more information about end-times signs that only temporarily frighten us into wanting to live holy and righteous lives, we will stay busy preparing for Christ’s return. That is to say, we will focus on the main thing, which is happily surrendering our whole soul, spirit, and body to Christ so that His Spirit can make us Christlike.

When we are thinking, speaking, and doing the things Christ thought, spoke, and did, we will be living Christlike. The more Christlike we become the more we will know that we are His true Bride—His Overcomers—the saints He is coming back to rapture before the Tribulation Period begins. Selah . . . Shalom . . . . .

BTW: Just because we are saved believers our salvation doesn’t mean we are living like reborn, saved, justified, filled with the Holy Spirit, and being sanctified in spirit, soul and body (becoming fully Christlike) believers who will be glorified in our bodies when we are raptured. We must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, which means we must continually work to bring our sanctification to fruition by faithfully choosing to cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s Sanctification Process, AND we must revere Father God by continually showing Him that we love Him too much to offend Him by disobeying His Commands (see Philippians 2:12). Selah . . . Shalom . . . . .

Mini Sermons: Preach, Sister, Preach!

01 Friday Sep 2017

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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Barley Bride of Christ, Bride of Christ, churchgoers, devil, Divine Truth, evangelize, Feast of Trumpets, firstfruits, flesh, God's Truth, hard-hitting truth, inconvenient truth, mini sermons, overcomers, preach, Sanctification Process, spiritual maturity, The Rapture, uncomfortable truth, victorious, world

so proclaim the Message with intensity; keep on your watch. Challenge, warn, and urge your people. Don’t ever quit. Just keep it simple.

You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant. ~ 2 Timothy 4:2-5, MSG

The above four illustrated uncomfortable truths (a.k.a., inconvenient truths, or hard-hitting truths, and so forth) are rarely preached these days. Most churchgoers believe they are Christ’s Wheat—meaning, they believe that the end-time Bride of Christ or Body of Christ is symbolized as the Wheat Harvest. Nothing can be further from Father God’s Divine Truth.

Christ’s Bride is vividly described in the Holy Bible as Overcomers, and ONLY the Overcomers will be the fully sanctified Bride of Christ who is made spotless and free of any blemishes. This Bride of Christ always is symbolized in the Word of God as the Barley Harvest’s firstfruits. Selah . . . . .

Glorification Won’t Be Cosmetic

03 Thursday Aug 2017

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional

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ageless, anti-aging creams, blemish, Bride of Christ, Christlikeness, cosmetic, final stage, glorification, holy, overcomer, perfected, raptured, saints, sanctification, sinless, souls, spirits, spiritual lifestyle, spiritually mature, spot, spotless, transformed, wrinkle, wrinkleless

VERSE:

so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:27

COUPLET:
Spotless and wrinkleless in ageless dreams
Can’t be achieved with anti-aging creams.

PRAYER:

Holy Spirit, thank You for teaching us. Thank You, too, for changing us into the likeness of Christ, so we will be without spot or wrinkle, so others will see Christ in us, and so we’ll never resort to being those actors who once played three different roles: a “religious” role, a public role, and a familial role. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

~ this blog entry is from my manuscript Daily Manna: Bible Verse, Couplet & Prayer for Each Day of the Year

Bride of Christ Haiku

03 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Poetry

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Body of Christ, Bride of Christ, building not made by hands, called out assembly, Christ's Ekklesia, dressed in linen, genuine saints, glorified, permitted to wear white, sanctified, spiritual believers

And I heard a sound like the roar of a great multitude, like the rushing of many waters, and like a mighty rumbling of thunder, crying out:

“Hallelujah!
For our Lord God, the Almighty, reigns.
Let us rejoice and celebrate
and give Him the glory.
For the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His bride has made herself ready.
She was given clothing of fine linen,
linen bright and pure.”
For the fine linen she wears is the righteous acts of the saints.

Then the angel told me to write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” ~ Revelation 19:6-9, Berean Study Bible

Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. ~ Revelation 21-9-11. Berean Study Bible

NOTE: I wrote the haiku poem in my illustrated haiku on December 3, 2016.

Wheat Believers Were Carnal Christians Who Looked Like Tares

04 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

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Barley Christians, Bride of Christ, broken, carnal believers, crushing, first resurrection, firstfruits resurrection, glorified bodies, grain harvests, Holy Spirit wind, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of God economy, Leaven, left behinders, loaf of Barley, loaves of Wheat, Lord's barn, mansions in God's House, mature, multiplied measure miracle, perfection, rapture, resurrection of overcomers, ripen, sanctified spirits and souls, separating chaff, sheaf wave offering, spiritual harvests, spiritual maturity, tares, threshing, types of believers, Wheat Believers

…the servants of the householder came and said unto him, ‘Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath come the tares?’ He said unto them, ‘An enemy hath done this.’ The servants said unto him, ‘Wilt thou then have us go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ~ Matthew 13:27-30, KJ21

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able,for ye are yet carnal. For if there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men? ~ 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, KJ21

The Word of God teaches believers—in Christ’s day and in this century—about how important Barley is to the Kingdom of God’s economy (God’s sovereign plan for mankind). Several Scriptures imply that Barley is the perfect representation of the first resurrection’s firstfruits (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:23), which would include the raptured Bride of Christ—both the resurrected dead in Christ and the alive saints at His coming. Furthermore, since Christ arose from the grave on the Firstfruits feast day—the same day that the Jewish Temple priest waved a sheaf of Barley before God for His acceptance—this Divine Truth is why Barley also represents the resurrected Christ who is the firstfruits of those who have died (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20).

Now during biblical days, what was matchless about Barley was that it ripened in the spring before any other grains, and it did so without help from the Latter Rains. Barley also was a hardier grain than Wheat, because Barley was able to endure its harshest conditions—poor soil, less water, intemperate weather, and so forth—much better than Wheat. Perhaps the above facts are why Barley grew everywhere and in large amounts, or why Barley also was a healthy grain that resisted diseases. In fact, because of its early maturation, Barley wasn’t prone to pests and infestations like Wheat was. No doubt it was because of all the ancient health benefits in Barley that made Barley the grain that symbolizes perfection—the perfect firstfruits offering, the perfect sacrifice, and the perfect Bride of Christ.

Harvested a month earlier than Wheat, mature Barley—the seeds of which were planted in Israel the same time as Wheat’s—easily was separated from the chaff and the refuse. Surprisingly, mature Barley’s winnowing involved no crushing or threshing, even though it grew wildly and in abundant amounts. Barley only needed the wind, which effortlessly separated the chaff (husk, hull) from the grain.

Something else to note about both Barley and Wheat is that they also are used in the Word of God to symbolize types of believers. For this reason, it should be expected that what is true about Barley will be true about Barley Christians. Likewise, what is true about Wheat will be true about Wheat Believers.

For example, broken and multiplied by the Lord’s hands, the Barley bread—what He feeds the 5,000 and later His disciples at His Last Supper—represents how saved and born-again believers first must be broken so that the Kingdom of God work they will do can be multiplied. Christ is their example, for His body would be broken for many.

This last truth is why, on the day the Lord feeds the 5,000, He demonstrates the multiplied measure of Barley principle/miracle to His disciples and the multitudes, by causing each loaf of Barley bread in the His hands to be multiplied 1 to 1000 men. This multiplied measure of Barley principle/miracle first is seen in the Old Testament, as Barley is multiplied 2 to 1 over Wheat (cf. 2 Kings 7:1), with Barley costing the same amount as Wheat. Then again in the New Testament, the measure of Barley is multiplied 3 to 1 over Wheat (cf. Revelation 6:6), with Barley and Wheat once again costing the same amount. People certainly will get more bang for their buck from Barley, but not so much from Wheat.

There can be no doubt that the multiplied measures of Barley over Wheat suggest that in the Kingdom of God it is, and always has been, more Barley Christians than Wheat Christians who are spreading the Gospel of Christ, and rightly so. More later on this point. Then too, in the times of famine and scarcity, which often are the results of war—as in the case of the siege of Samaria during the prophet Elisha’s day and in the case of the seal judgments that happen during the Tribulation Period—God designed it so that the poor, who would only be able to afford Barley, would remain healthier than the wealthy who would buy Wheat. Why? Well, it is because Barley is considered to have a near-perfect balance among its nutrients.

Now concerning Christ’s broken Barley loaves symbolizing believers’ brokenness, with genuine Christians their brokenness is the removal of all self-righteousness, jealousy, envy, strife, impatience, and so forth. This brokenness is achieved through the filling of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing sanctification process—the process of sanctifying (perfecting) them so that they effectively can feed the Gospel of Christ to the world’s unsaved multitudes. Once the Holy Spirit fills believers, He then is allowed to begin His progressive sanctification, which transforms believers into the image of Christ—changes their personalities and mindsets, more and more each day, until they become Christlike. Put differently, Barley Christians only need to be exposed to the Wind of the Holy Spirit in order for them to respond by walking right, talking right, speaking right, and thinking right. They truly are the sons and daughters of God who want to be pure (holy) and righteous.

Another example of how what is true about the Barley grain is true about the Barley Christians is in the way the Barley grain ripens before the Wheat grain matures. This early maturation of Barley represents saved and born-again Barley Christians’ spiritual maturity. There can be no doubt that Barley’s early maturation agricultural truth means that the corresponding spiritual truth happens the same way—Barley Christians and Wheat Believers who are saved (sown into the Kingdom of God) at the same time also will mature at different speeds. In particular, the Barley Christians will mature quicker than the Wheat Believers.

What is irrefutable is that the firstfruits Barley grain harvest in the Scriptures is symbolized as the first resurrection’s overcomers—the saints (i.e., Barley Christians) who are resurrected and raptured (winnowed or thrown up in the air against the wind)—translated; caught up; snatched off of this Earth—at the time of the Rapture of the Bride, but before the alive in Christ firstfruits are raptured. Put differently, there is no doubt that the raptured Bride of Christ is represented as the Barley sheaf wave offering that is lifted up and then waved before God for Him to accept it as a firstfruits offering.

In contrast, the Wheat Believers are symbolized as the Tribulation Period’s left-behinders—the rest of the believers. Unlike the mature Barley Christians who are raptured before the start of the Tribulation Period (the Wrath of God), the left-behind Wheat Believers who ripen during the Tribulation Period are in the Tribulation Period to experience the kind of separation or crushing/threshing that will cause these believers to be separated from their much harder husk (chaff, hull)—the world systems and doctrinal errors they trusted more than they trusted the Lord and/or Father God, when they were on the other side of the Tribulation Period.

All of the above was said so that the following can be said about why the Wheat Believers gathered at the end of the Age of Grace are NOT the Barley Christians and therefore not the Bride of Christ. In order to be the Bride of Christ (Barley Christians) or a Loaf of Barley that is to be broken for many, believers in Christ cannot have lost their first love, cannot be listening to and/or following the teachings of Balaam (idolatry and immorality), cannot be listening to and/or following the Nicolaitans and the Jezebel prophetess (more idolatry and immorality), cannot have passion that is dead, cannot have incomplete works, cannot be lukewarm, cannot be proud, cannot be ignorant of the Word of God, and cannot be spiritually blind. For sure, the believers who have lost their first love, and etc., are the Wheat (Wheat Believers) that must go through the Tribulation Period.

Once again, the Wheat gathered at the end of the Age of Grace actually will be carnal Christians who finally reached their spiritual maturity during the Tribulation Period. God made this point clear when He mandated that the firstfruits of the Israelites’ Wheat Harvest, from which the two loaves of Wheat were made and then waved on the Day of Pentecost, should contain LEAVEN (cf. Leviticus 23:17). Now that is so interesting, especially since God makes it clear in many biblical passages that leaven represents a type of carnality and sin. This Divine Truth only can mean that the Wheat Believers who go through the Tribulation Period had to do so because of the carnality and sin that were still in their lives.

In contrast, the Barley bread was made without leaven, and this fact is another reason why Barley—NOT Wheat—symbolizes perfection—the holiness and righteousness of a pure spiritual life. Moreover, the difference between unleavened Barley Christians and leavened Wheat Believers should make it understandable that the Wheat gathered at the end of the Age of Grace will NOT be the Bride of Christ. Indeed, Jesus Christ definitely is letting His Bride know in the parable of the Wheat and Tares that the surviving Wheat Believers at the end of the Tribulation Period were never His true believers who—on this side of the Tribulation Period—humbly were growing in Grace through faith in the hope, love, wisdom, understanding and knowledge of God’s Will for their lives. That is why it is the surviving Tribulation Wheat Believers—NOT the Barley Christians—who have to be separated from the Tares and then stored in the Lord’s barn.

Certainly a barn or storehouse is a far cry from the Bridal Chamber the Bridegroom (Jesus Christ) has prepared for His Bride (Barley Christians) in His Father’s House. That’s why the barn image also lets the true Bride of Christ (Barley Christians) know that the Tribulation Period’s Wheat Believers are not the Lord’s firstfruits overcomers, because these Wheat Believers are not gathered into Heaven but rather into the Lord’s barn. That is to say, these alive Wheat Believers no longer have one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God. They are now fully in the Kingdom of God, but that doesn’t mean they also have received their glorified bodies. The only thing that being put in the Lord’s barn means is that the Wheat Believers are completely safe and out of the reach of God’s enemies—Satan and his imps!

Now here begins the main point of this blog entry, which for many will be an uncomfortable truth. Be that as it may. Also in the Wheat and Tares parable, Jesus Christ is making it clear that the reason why His spiritual servants are not able to tell the difference between the Wheat Believers and the Tares (unbelievers) is because Wheat Believers are the leavened carnal believers. In other words, it is the carnality in the Wheat Believers that makes them look too much like unsaved worldly people (unbelievers)—makes them look too much like the Tares! This last point is why, until the agricultural Wheat bows—becomes mature—it is almost agriculturally impossible to tell the difference between the Wheat and the Tares. Likewise, until the weight of the spiritual Wheat Believers’ fruit causes them to bow humbly before their Lord, it will be nearly impossible for other spiritual believers to tell the difference between the leavened carnal Wheat Believers and the Tares (unbelievers).

No doubt this last fact is why leavened carnal Wheat Believers are in the Tribulation Period. It is obvious that God is giving them time to mature and finally get separated from the chaff—to have what is godly in them completely separated from what is ungodly.

There also can be no doubt that carnal babes in Christ—on this side of the Tribulation Period—will become the sold out for Christ Wheat Believers who were once on milk. As the apostle Paul declares, carnal believers cannot be fed the meat of the Word of God. If they can’t eat meat, then their milk diet will be the reason why they do not grow up fast enough—spiritually speaking.

Carnal believers’ slow spiritual growth keeps them from being prepared and ready (sanctified, Christlike), when Christ comes for His Bride, who is without spot, wrinkle or blemish. Therefore, the Bride of Christ is His ripened and harvested Barley Christians.

It is very unfortunate that the hard truth for some Christians to swallow is that Jesus Christ will leave behind—close the door/portal/gateway to Heaven—on the carnal babes in Christ who are not spiritually mature. Why? Well, the obvious truth is that they are carnal believers instead of spiritual believers! As such, there was no way the Holy Spirit could finish the work God began in them—no way He could give them their completely sanctified spirits, souls and bodies so that they could receive their glorified bodies!

That’s right! Today’s carnal believers are not becoming Christlike because they are not being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, who cannot initially fill them (baptize them in Him) so that the sanctification process can begin. If these believers in Christ do not cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that He can give them His filling—His Baptism that is corroborated, first and foremost, by the speaking in tongues—then these carnal believers (Wheat Believers) will continue to look the Tares until these carnal believers either physically die—on this side of the Tribulation Period—or until they become completely faithful and obedient to Christ during the Tribulation Period. However, by then, they either will be martyred (beheaded for their love of Christ and God, and for their holy and righteous living) or they will survive the Tribulation Period and become the holy and righteous individuals who—like Noah and his family—repopulate the Earth.

In contrast, neither the Barley grain nor the Barley Christians resemble Tares. This truth no doubt is why Barley Christians represent genuine Christians. Moreover, Barley Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit, as well as empowered and endowed by Him. As a result, these believers will be producing the fruit of the Spirit and living righteous and holy lives that will make them standout instead of making them bear a resemblance to the Tares. This truth is why ONLY the carnal babes in Christ will be the Wheat that is growing right alongside of the Tares—both on this side of the Tribulation Period and during the Tribulation Period—at least until they become sold out for Christ followers.

The bottom line is this: In the Word of God, there are two grain harvests that belong to the Lord—the firstfruits harvest and the subsequent harvest (the Barley harvest and then the Wheat harvest), with the latter being larger than the former. Now that should be no surprise, since the Word of God reminds true Christians that only a few of people—a remnant—of all of the world’s people will find the narrow path that leads to the Kingdom of God gate, enter through the gate to the Kingdom of God, and continue walking on that path. This Divine Truth is why the Word of God also promises there will be two spiritual harvests—the harvest of Barley Christians and the harvest of Wheat Believers.

Just like the agricultural Barley harvest comes first with the agricultural Wheat harvest following, the Barley Christians or Bride of Christ’s pre-Tribulation spiritual harvest will come first, and it will be followed by the Tribulation Period’s finally sold out for Christ surviving Wheat Believers’ end of the Age of Grace spiritual harvest. Clearly, the Barley Christians and the Wheat Believers are not the same people, and that is why both of these groups of believers cannot be the righteous, pure (holy), and unblemished believers who, after being sanctified, are given glorified bodies and then admitted into Heaven as the Lord’s Bride.

Lastly, the reasons why Barley is important to the Kingdom of God are what follows. The first reason is because Barley’s multiplication principle/miracle represents how swiftly The Way—in the first century—and today’s real Christianity spreads. Put differently, Barley signifies just how often God has added another follower of Christ to the Lord’s ekklesia—the emphasis should be on GOD being the One adding genuine followers of Christ to His ekklesia and NOT on men and women adding new converts to their “church” rolls. Secondly, since Barley grows everywhere, tolerates the harshest conditions, and endures inclement temperatures, it should be obvious by now that ONLY Barley represents all of the persecuted Christians from the first century until the Rapture of the Bride of Christ, and all of the centuries of Christian missionaries—whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. In short, Barley is important to the Kingdom of God, because Barley symbolizes the Age of Grace’s pre-Tribulation raptured perfected Bride of Christ.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen.

Two Biblical Proofs Favoring Pre-Tribulation Rapture

04 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Study

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Abraham, biblical pattern, Blood of Christ, Body of Christ, Bride of Christ, brothers and sisters in Christ, correct, crucial, end-times, escape, essentials, eternal life, fair, God's wrath, Household of Faith, judge, Judgments, just, justified, Noah, radical, rapture, rescued, righteous, sanctified, saved, theological perspective, wicked

Avraham approached and said, ‘Will you actually sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in the city; will you actually sweep the place away, and not forgive it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are there? Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! Far be it from you! Shouldn’t the judge of all the earth do what is just?’ ~ Genesis 18:23-25, CJB

For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, CJB

In necessary things unity; in uncertain things freedom; in everything compassion. ~ Unknown Author; most often misattributed to Augustine

God help us all who call ourselves Christians, for even in a time such as this we still remain unable to become ONE. We primarily are divided by doctrines, issues, and practices. As a result, we who profess to be Your holy and righteous sons and daughters, joint-heirs with Your only begotten Son (Jesus the Christ), frequently end up treating each other like notorious enemies instead of like venerable brothers and sisters in Your Household of Faith.

There continues to be too much arguing among followers of Christ Jesus over doctrines, issues, and practices that neither are crucial to the Gospel of Christ nor to how anyone obtains eternal life (how someone is saved). Christians’ most commonly debated doctrines, issues, and practices include, but are not limited to: the Rapture, the Millennium, the Earth’s Age, Life on Other Planets, Food and Drink, Female Pastors, Observing the Sabbath vs. Worshipping on Sunday, Speaking in Tongues, Performing Miracles, and various legalistic Do’s and Don’ts (like going to the movies, dancing, smoking, drinking, playing cards, wearing makeup, and so forth).

How horrible our arguing with and our mistreatment of Body of Christ members must look to the unsaved world. No wonder the masses of lost souls in today’s world are not coming to Christ Jesus. Why would any of them want to be a part of this current 21st century body of believers who vehemently disagree with each other? These quarrelsome believers not only refuse to tolerate but also choose not to be civil to their brothers or sisters in Christ Jesus who think differently about things that usually have nothing to do with a person’s salvation nor with the Gospel of Christ!

If we agree on the essentials, yet disagree on the non-essentials, then let us learn how to agree to disagree without becoming/being disagreeable (unloving, compassionless, coldhearted, intolerable, argumentative, hostile, inhospitable, bad-tempered, grouchy, snarky, sarcastic, stubborn, nasty, offensive, unpleasant, unfriendly, rude, legalistic, insulting, disrespectful, and the list goes on). Let us learn how to remain loving, caring, and kind to each other. After all, one of the most crucial lessons Christ Jesus taught is this one: “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other” (John 13:35, MSG).

Having said that, let me say this: Because I know that the Rapture is one of the most commonly debated doctrines, I would like to share, strictly from a general theological perspective, two biblical proofs favoring a pre-Tribulation Rapture. Not only do I find these proofs to be two of the best but also I agree with them, as do so many theologians, countless other followers of Christ, and even copious churchgoers. For this reason, I am certain that numerous individuals who will read this blog entry probably already know these proofs, and I equally am certain that various other individuals who will read this blog entry neither had read nor had heard of these proofs before now. My hope then is that the end result of having read this article will be that those readers who didn’t believe will have come to believe what so many present-day followers of Christ already accept to be true about the Bride of Christ’s pre-Tribulation Rapture.

Biblical Proof Number One—from the Old Testament:

Anyone who believes that there is a radical and ESSENTIAL difference between the righteous and the wicked should agree that God knows the difference, and he or she should agree that God is the One who makes the distinction between those who are “righteous” and those who are “wicked.” Additionally, anyone who believes that there is a radical and ESSENTIAL difference between the righteous and the wicked also should agree that righteousness and wickedness are exact opposite spiritual (heavenly vs. hellish) characteristics, which is why God never wanted His righteous children and the world’s wicked persons to mix.

Furthermore, since God knew there would be a nonstop righteous vs. wicked battle taking place on this Earth, that is why He had some undeniable proof of His timeless pattern of Judgment placed in His Word. Biblical proof number one, therefore, is that God does not judge His truly righteous believers with the world’s very wicked unbelievers. This biblical pattern is most noticeable in the Scriptures describing the time of Noah, and it continues to become more evident throughout the rest of the Old Testament. God’s pattern of Judgment also is found in the New Testament, especially in end-times verses. That’s why there really can be no denying that God clearly is represented throughout the Holy Bible as a righteous Judge who pronounces Judgment that always is correct and fair.

For example, in the Old Testament, Abraham, who is one of Noah’s after-the-Flood descendants, knew quite well that God never would judge the righteous with the wicked, and that is why Abraham doesn’t shy away from reminding God of His existing Judgment pattern. Abraham says to God:

…Will you actually sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in the city; will you actually sweep the place away, and not forgive it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are there? Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! Far be it from you! Shouldn’t the judge of all the earth do what is just? ~ Genesis 18:23-25, CJB

The point here is that it had been established before Noah’s day that God is a just and righteous Judge who only punishes (pours out His Wrath only upon those whom He has judged as) the wicked, and then only AFTER He has removed (separated) the righteous from mingling with the wicked. Righteous Noah, his sons, and his sons’ wives were saved from God’s 40 days and 40 nights of the falling rain Flood Judgment, while God poured out His promised diluvial Wrath upon all of the Earth’s wicked inhabitants, as well as upon the Earth itself!

As already mentioned, this pattern of God’s Judgment runs all through the Testaments. Of course, there always is an exception, and the exception that must be noted here is that, although there are many New Testament verses that chiefly emphasize God’s Judgment, there is NO mention of God’s Judgment in the New Testament passages considered as Rapture passages. This observation leads to the second biblical proof.

Biblical Proof Number Two—from the New Testament:

Since there is no mention of God’s Judgment in the New Testament’s Rapture verses, then it is decidedly possible that the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happens at a separate time from when God judges and then punishes the Earth and the left-behind wicked, many who are followers of the Antichrist, with His fiery Wrath. The apostle John writes:

Then I saw another sign in heaven, a great and wonderful one — seven angels with the seven plagues that are the final ones; because with them, God’s fury is finished. ~ Revelation 15:1, CJB

Apostle John most assuredly is describing the last Judgments—the last of God’s judiciary righteous Judgments issued against the left-behind ungodly (His Wrath or Fury). The apostle also is describing God’s righteous Punishment for committed crimes His enemies are guilty of (His Wrath or Fury). Without doubt, these seven plagues (seven bowl judgments) are the last of all of God’s promised righteous end-times Punishment (His Wrath or Fury).

All the same, it must be noted here that apostle Paul says when Christ Jesus died on the Cross, His atoning sacrifice not only had made the gift of eternal life (Salvation) available, but also He had saved (rescued, delivered) believers from God’s end-times Judgments and Punishment (outpouring of Wrath). In other words, so that God’s righteous would not experience any of His end-times Wrath, Christ Jesus’ sacrificial dying absorbed it ALL. Thus, biblical proof number two is Christ Jesus already took the Wrath of God in place of God’s Household of Faith believers—bore the FULL brunt of God’s Wrath for the Body of Christ, also known as the Bride of Christ (both saved Christian Jews and Gentiles). Apostle Paul writes:

…you turned to God from idols, to serve the true God, the one who is alive, and to wait for his Son Yeshua, whom he raised from the dead, to appear from heaven and rescue us from the impending fury of God’s judgment. ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10, CJB

~ and ~

The point here is that it already had been established before Christ Jesus’ day that God still is a just and righteous Judge who only punishes (pours out His Wrath only upon those whom He has judged as) the wicked, and then only AFTER He has removed (separated) the righteous from mingling with the wicked. Therefore, it stands to reason that the Lord’s righteous Bride first will be saved (rescued, delivered) from any part of God’s seven years of the end-times Tribulation Judgments, after which God then will pour out all of His promised fiery Wrath upon all of the Earth’s left-behind inhabitants!

The bottom line is this: As it was in Noah and Abraham’s days, so will it be in these current last days. God will NOT have His spiritually renewed, saved, and reconciled back to Himself sons and daughters endure any of His prophesied end-times Judgments and Punishment that are reserved for His and Israel’s enemies. There is absolutely no way that God could explain or defend why He would let those individuals, whom the beaten and crucified Christ Jesus’ Blood has justified as righteous, and whom the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit completely has sanctified as holy (sinless), go through any of the seven years of the end-times Tribulation. That is why the Bride of Christ will NOT be in the Tribulation Period!

Once again, the two biblical proofs favoring a pre-Tribulation Rapture for the Bride of Christ are that God never would judge His righteous when He judges the wicked, and Christ Jesus already has emptied God’s full cup of Wrath so that born again, saved, justified, and fully sanctified followers of Christ would never have to experience any Wrath of God. AMEN!

For a detailed explanation about God’s Wrath, please read my blog entry Lost In Translation.

Raptures = Firstfruits’ Harvests of Souls

19 Wednesday Feb 2014

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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144000, Barley, beheaded, Bride of Christ, Firstfruits’ Harvests of Souls, Grapes, Martyred Saints, New Wine Grapes, overcomers, Pre-Tribulation Rapture, raptured Firstfruits, sifted like Wheat, threshed, Tribulation Believers, wheat, winnowed

In this YouTube video, Perry Stone explains the importance of the annually repeated cycles and patterns of God’s mandated seven Feasts and His Law of Firstfruits. He uses these annual Feasts’ cycles and patterns to prove they are shadows of the things to come, primarily the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. Perry also explains how the biblical literal firstfruits’ harvests are symbolic of the last days and end times’ Raptures (Gatherings) of Souls. That’s right . . . . Raptures, as in more than one!

Adonai said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘After you enter the land I am giving you and harvest its ripe crops, you are to bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest to the cohen. He is to wave the sheaf before Adonai, so that you will be accepted; the cohen is to wave it on the day after the Shabbat. ~ Leviticus 23:9-11, CJB (Barley, First of all the Firstfruits)

Observe the festival of Shavu‘ot with the first-gathered produce of the wheat harvest, and the festival of ingathering at the turn of the year. ~ Exodus 34:22, CJB (Wheat, Second of all Grain Firstfruits)

until the day after the seventh week; you are to count fifty days; and then you are to present a new grain offering to Adonai. You must bring bread from your homes for waving — two loaves made with one gallon of fine flour, baked with leaven — as firstfruits for Adonai. ~ Leviticus 23:16-17, CJB (Wheat, Second of all Grain Firstfruits)

You will also give him the firstfruits of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep. ~ Deuteronomy 18:4, CJB (Grapes “New Wine” First Firstfruits of all Fruits)

All the best of the olive oil, wine and grain, the first portion of what they give to Adonai, I have given to you. ~ Numbers 18:12, CJB (Majority of Barley, Wheat, and Grapes’ Harvested Crops Are for Farmers and Their Families’ Consumption)

Perry says there will be two Firstfruits Harvests, but I believe there are three Firstfruits Harvests, and my belief is based on the fact that the three major crops harvested in Israel are: Barley, Wheat, and Grapes. In the natural, all three of these crops have Firstfruits (the first to ripen grain or fruit, which is given to God).

So then the three Firstfruits Harvests of Souls that I believe happen are: 1. Firstfruits of Barley (initially, Christ and those who raised with Him after His bodily Resurrection AND secondly, the Bride of Christ—every Overcomer from Pentecost to the Rapture of the alive in Christ Overcomers; see Matthew 27:52-53, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17); 2. Firstfruits of Wheat (Perry says they are the 144,000, but I believe these Firstfruits are the saved martyred left behind Tribulation Jewish elect AND the saved martyred left behind Gentile Believers who have been severely sifted via threshing—cutting the stalk first and then slicing the head; sounds like a beheading; see Revelation 6:9, Revelation 17:6; Revelation 20:4); and 3. Firstfruits of Grapes (the “new wine” who are the Jewish 144,000; see Isaiah 65:8, Acts 2:15-17, Matthew 9:17, John 15:1-5, Luke 5:33-39, Ephesians 5:18; Revelation 7:1-8, and Revelation 14:1-5).

NOTE: I am sorry that the above posted video cannot be viewed. Please accept my sincerest apology.

I have posted video after video after video from different people’s YOUTUBE channels, where these videos in which Perry Stone teaches about The Rapture Law of First Fruits had been published, only to have each one of these shared videos blocked on this blog. The only reason for blocking the viewing of these videos that I can see is that apparently some third party, possibly Voice of Evangelism (VOE) or Perry Stone/Manna-Fest, or both since Perry Stone/Manna-Fest is VOE, has done so because of copyright infringement!

While there are more videos with the same content in them on YouTube, this servant of the Lord who does not expect to be paid for spreading His Gospel Truths won’t be posting any of them here on this freely shared blog! It is a shame that the spreading of the Gospel has become nothing more than a business!

Lost In Translation

15 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

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anger, at any moment, bridal chambers, Bride of Christ, Bridegroom, caught up, fierceness, fury, harpazo, Imminency, imminent return, indignation, Orge, paralambano, Philadelphians, Pre-Tribulation Rapture, precedent conditions, rapturo, Thumos, wrath

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. ~ Romans 1:18, ESV

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. ~ John 3:36, ESV

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. ~ 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, ESV

From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. ~ Revelation 19:15, ESV

Christ exhausted the cup of God’s wrath. For all who trust in Him there is nothing more in the cup. It is empty. ~ Jerry Bridges

I am a Pre-Tribulation Rapture believer (a Pre-Tribulation rapturo – Pre-Tribulation harpazo – Pre-Tribulation “caught up” believer), and I do not apologize for supporting this Divine Truth. As a Pre-Tribulation Rapture believer, I have confidence that there are NO precedent conditions that must be fulfilled before the Lord comes FOR His Bride—before Christ Jesus, who remains in the air, comes not only to resurrect His dead or sleeping Bride but also to rapture His alive Bride.

Notice please that in the most specific Rapture verses (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) it is the alive Bride who is being “caught up” to be with both the resurrected dead in Christ (them) and the Lord Jesus the Christ. In other words, the Rapture of the alive Body of Christ is about the Lord coming FOR His Bride before the Tribulation Period ever begins and NOT about the Lord coming WITH His Bride or Host of Heaven on the Day of the Lord!

By the way, there not only are specific Rapture Scriptures but also specific Imminency Scriptures about the Lord’s return FOR His Bride happening “at any moment.” These Imminency Scriptures also tell that the Bride of Christ (Body of Christ, CHURCH) not only should be ready and prepared for Her Groom or Her Lord’s imminent return but also She should be EXPECTING Her Groom or Her Lord to come FOR Her “at any moment”!

It should be evident that the Rapture and Imminency Scriptures are very different from those verses that speak about the Lord coming WITH His Host of Heaven (or with His Bride, Body of Christ, or CHURCH). In truth, only the Pre-Tribulation Rapture belief allows for the Rapture of the Lord’s Bride to be the result of a surprise appearance from Jesus the Christ, which is imminent in its timing. The Lord Himself says that His Rapture return would be like a thief in the night kind of “surprise” (see Matthew 24:42-44).

Put differently, the Lord is saying that He will come for His Bride when most people wouldn’t be expecting Him to come for them, and this surprise coming is why His Bride must stay alert, be prepared and ready, and keep looking for Him to come “at any moment.” Moreover, that He comes like a thief in the night is the main reason why knowing the “season” and the “signs” of His coming are different from knowing the exact day and exact hour! No one knows the exact day or exact hour of the Bride of Christ’s Rapture, not even Christ Jesus Himself, but once the Tribulation Period begins people will be able to count the days until the abomination of desolation happens at Mid-Tribulation, and people will be able to count the days from this Mid-Tribulation event until Christ’s Second Coming actually happens. In other words, the Lord coming for His Bride would not be imminent—would not be at any moment—for the Pre-Wrath Rapture and Post-Tribulation Rapture believers!

Furthermore, all the Rapture and Imminency Scriptures prove that the Lord’s Bride evidently will have been WITH Him in Heaven before She returns with Him during His Second Coming, which will be on THE Day of the Lord. This biblical Truth is why the Second Coming of Jesus the Christ Scriptures, when every eye will see Him, ONLY refer to His actual bodily return—to the time when His feet touch the Mount of Olives! This Second Coming event, thus, is a very different event than the imminent Rapture of the Bride event! When the alive Bride of Christ is raptured, the Scriptures are very clear that the Lord stays in the air during this event. Indeed, IN THE AIR is where both the resurrected dead in Christ and the raptured alive in Christ Bride meet their Groom, their Lord.

Now, assume, for the sake of argument, that if Jesus Christ is just going to snatch His Bride off of the Earth, slap a white linen robe on Her, and then bring Her right back to the Earth with Him all in a twinkling of an eye moment, then wouldn’t this brief twinkling of an eye moment spent with the Bridegroom in Heaven, before He actually sets His feet upon the Earth where every eye will see Him, mean that Christ Jesus is going to be way less than a Gentleman with His Bride? Taking His Bride off of this Earth and then returning Her back to the Earth, in a twinkling of an eye moment is equivalent to what many humans describe as a “wham bam thank you ma’am” quickie. Thus, it is preposterous to think that the Lord would be this rushed and this crass with His Bride—the Bride He sacrificed His life for and has been waiting thousands of years to be with Her.

The apostle Paul says that Christ Jesus:

…gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,so that he might present [her] to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.~ Ephesians 5:25b-27, ESV (the inserted bracketed “her” is this blogger’s emphasis)

In other words, the Lord’s Wife (the Bride of Christ) means too much to the Lord, which is why it is only reasonable to expect that He would devote more than a twinkling of an eye moment to honoring Her (presenting Her to Himself in splendor), instead of giving Her what would amount to as a quick “Thank you for your faithfulness and service” compliment, followed by a quick celebration/consummation of marriage event, which He then swiftly would end with something tactless like “we’ve got more important things to do right now than to let you bask in your earned gloriousness”! Indeed, the Scriptures make it clear that the Lord’s Bride is the One with whom He has promised to spend some quality time, so there is no way He will snatch Her off of this Earth just to give Her only a twinkling of an eye moment in Heaven before rushing Her back to the Earth to the Battle of Armageddon! Yet, this horrible insensitive treatment of the Lord’s Bride is exactly what the proponents of a Post-Tribulation Rapture are suggesting!

Moreover, those individuals who accept that the Rapture of the Bride of Christ (Body of Christ or CHURCH) will happen either Mid-Tribulation or later, including a Rapture that takes place just before the Lord returns to battle Israel and God’s enemies, are in essence saying that they believe their Bridegroom is going to allow the Antichrist and Satan to beat the heck out of His Bride, even behead some of them, and then He Himself also will batter, bruise, and/or martyr His Bride via the Wrath of God, before He then takes Her to Himself as the beloved Wife He promised to save—promised to rescue, preserve, and/or keep from the unspeakable hour of testing or trial (see Revelation 3:10) that is yet to come upon this Earth. For sure, if the Bride of Christ is the ELECT Christ Jesus mentions in His Olivet Discourse as the ones who face that terrific tribulation (the harshest ever persecution, testing, sifting), as well as the ones who face some or nearly all of the horrifying Wrath of God, both of which happen during the seven year Tribulation or 70^th Week of Daniel, such an experience would mean that there definitely are some precedent conditions that must take place before any Rapture of the Bride of Christ will happen!

These above understandings or interpretations of the Word of God seriously CONTRADICT Jesus the Christ’s promise to take or receive (in the Greek language, paralambano) His own unto Himself (see John 14:3), which alludes to the very act a Jewish bridegroom performs for His Jewish bride. The Lord and His disciples knew about the ancient wedding customs of a Jewish bridegroom, who after having paid the acceptable price for his betrothed then would leave her so that he could prepare a place in his father’s house where the both of them would live. Christ Jesus and His disciples knew that the bridegroom would go away, and that he would be spending that time away on building the bridal chamber in which he and his bride would stay for seven days, where they would consummate their marriage vows, and from where they will exit as the married couple who welcomes their wedding guests to the seven day Wedding Feast. In fact, the prophet Isaiah speaks of the wedding custom that pertains to being hidden away in bridal chambers, when he writes:

Come, my people, enter your rooms, and shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves for a little while until the wrath is past. For see! Adonai emerges from his place to punish those on earth for their sin. Then the earth will reveal the blood shed on it and no longer conceal its slain. ~ Isaiah 26:20-21, CJB

Notice that the prophet Isaiah not only says that God’s people will be hidden away in their “rooms” until the Wrath to come has past but also says that this is the time when God punishes the people on the Earth for their sin. Certainly, hiding His people away from the Wrath to come no doubt is how God will keep His promise to keep His people in perfect peace who trust Him and who keep their minds stayed on Him (see Isaiah 26:3).

Now, the only time God has established for punishing the people on the Earth for their sin, other than the time of the Flood, is the Tribulation Period—Daniel’s 70^th Week. Therefore, it should be obvious to New Testament believers that the punished end-time people are not hidden away in the “chambers” the Lord has prepared for His Bride, because they have not been raptured but instead they have been left behind!

For sure, knowing and understanding the Jewish bride and bridegroom’s wedding customs certainly would help all believers in Christ Jesus to realize that in none of the verses before or after Christ Jesus promises to take or receive His disciples to Himself does He ever say: BUT you first have to suffer during the 70^th Week of Daniel (suffer during the Tribulation Period)! The reason the Lord never tells His disciples that they will have to suffer during the Tribulation Period is because He knew His Jewish disciples understood His reference to Jewish wedding customs, in particular, to the one about the bridegroom going away to prepare a place for his betrothed. For sure, the Old Testament (the Jewish Tanakh; Hebrew Bible), as well as other Jewish writings and teachings, are replete with prophecies and Jewish idioms about God’s Bride and the Lord’s Bride, about being hidden away in bridal chambers, about the last days and end-time resurrections and/or end-time translations (raptures), and so forth. Thus, telling His disciples that they would first have to suffer during the horrific Tribulation Period, or only the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, before He could come back for them and take them to Himself would have been the most preposterous statement the Lord could ever have made to them.

Likewise, it is preposterous to think that the apostle Paul would assure the Thessalonians that the dead in Christ would rise first and then the alive in Christ would rise (be raptured; “caught up”; taken out of harm’s way; see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17), as well as preposterous to think that Paul would tell them to comfort and encourage themselves with his Rapture words (see 1 Thessalonians 4:18), if later he only was going to tell them that they were going to experience a dreadful thrashing during the Tribulation Period, and then be raptured. That is why it also is preposterous to think that the apostle Paul is telling the Thessalonians that they will suffer during the Tribulation Period, after explaining to the Thessalonians the difference between the time of their gathering (Rapture) and the time of the Lord’s Second Coming or THE Day of the Lord, and then, in this same context, end with:

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. ~ 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, ESV

What kind of “eternal comfort” and “good hope” could these Thessalonians, or other believers in Christ Jesus for that matter, expect if they only have to look forward to being beaten, sifted like wheat, starved, beheaded, and so forth, during the future gruesomest time that there ever would be on Earth? If believers in Christ Jesus are taught to expect that their Lord/Bridegroom is coming to get them at any moment (see Matthew 24:42-46; Philippians 3:20-21; Titus 2:12-14; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:17, 5:4-10; and Revelation 22:20), where then is their “eternal comfort” and “good hope” in going through either the first or second half of the coming Tribulation Period (70^th week of Daniel)? They already have eternal life. Salvation gave them that, so why would Christ tell His eternally saved believers that they also have an “eternal comfort” and a “good hope” in knowing they are going to be beaten, sifted like wheat, starved, beheaded, and so forth?

Without doubt, by the time the apostle Paul writes 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, he already has made it abundantly clear to these Thessalonians, and by extension to ALL believers in Christ Jesus, that NONE of God’s Wrath is meant to be experienced by His children; that is, NONE of God’s Wrath is meant to be experienced by the Bride of Christ, which includes Messianic Jews. This Wrath of God, which is NOT meant for the Bride of Christ, is the Greek word ORGE.

There are two Greek words used in the New Testament that have been translated in the English versions of the New Testament as either “wrath,” or “anger,” “indignation,” “fierceness,” “fury,” or “vengeance.” The first Greek word is ORGE, which is used in the New Testament 36 times: 31 times it is translated into English as “wrath”; 3 times as “anger” (see Mark 3:5, Ephesians 4:31, and Colossians 3:8); 1 time as “vengeance” (see Romans 3:5); and 1 time as “indignation” (see Revelation 14:10). The second Greek word is THUMOS or THYMOS, which is used in the New Testament 18 times: 14 times it is translated into English as “wrath,” and 1 time as “wraths”; 2 times as fierceness or fury (see Revelation 16:19 and Revelation 19:15); and 1 time as indignation (see Romans 2:8).

It is important to note here that of all the times Orge and Thumos or Thymos are used in the New Testament, in Revelation 14:10, Revelation 16:19, and Revelation 19:15 God uses both Orge and Thumos in the same verse. In these three mentioned Revelation verses, Thumos is NOT translated as the English word “wrath,” but rather it is translated as God’s “fury” or His “fierceness.” However, in these same mentioned Revelation verses, Orge is the word that is translated as God’s “wrath” or His “indignation”! The reason why it is so important to point out that THUMOS and ORGE are not the same thing in these three verses is because the translators clearly are showing that there is a real distinction between God’s Thumos and His Orge—a distinction that evidently has gotten lost in translation!

The information that countless English translations of the Greek word THUMOS or THYMOS have omitted and therefore LOST in translation is that THUMOS originally refers to very passionate inward feelings that rise swiftly but then recede as quickly as it took them to rise! THUMOS, thus, is a sudden, explosive but short-lived anger (originally, though, it wasn’t translated as “anger”). In many Scriptures, the Greek word THUMOS is used to describe a God who has “rushed along fiercely.”

Now, the Greek word ORGE, which mostly is translated into English as “wrath,” is very different from THUMOS, and here’s why. In most Scriptures, ORGE refers to the judiciary righteous judgment issued against the ungodly. ORGE also refers to retributive wrath carried out by a righteous Judge; in other words, God’s ORGE Wrath is His righteous punishment for committed crimes. More important, ORGE is defined as a smoldering “Wrath”—a “Wrath” that builds up over a very long time and then breaks loose. That’s why, in many Scriptures, the Greek word ORGE is used to portray a holy and righteous God who, after “storing up” His Perfect, Holy, and Just “Wrath” against sin and evil, then unleashes His ORGE Wrath. This is exactly what will happen during the time of the Tribulation Period. God is going to unleash His ORGE Wrath upon the unrighteous, unholy, sinful and evil Tribulation people.

This ORGE Wrath of God also is described in the Scriptures as God’s Nature or natural trait (see Nahum 1:2), as well as described as His state of mind, His righteous indignation, His righteous attitude, and/or, once again, His slow anger that over time manifests as His righteous judgment of sin or evil and His righteous punishment for those people who sin or rebel against Him. ORGE Wrath also is depicted as His slow anger that manifests as His righteous judgment of those people who refuse to accept His Son (Jesus the Christ) as their Lord and Savior. In other words, because God will forever hate sin, His ORGE (His slow to build up Wrath, which has been building for centuries) is eternal, not temporal or short-lived! This Divine Truth is why God’s ORGE (Wrath) doesn’t suddenly reach the boiling point and then explode. Indeed, that is the function or purpose of God’s THUMOS (seething fierceness or fury). It is God’s THUMOS, His inward passion against sin and evil, that rapidly boils over and then diminishes as quickly as it took it to flare-up!

This difference between THUMOS and ORGE, however subtle it might be, is what most people miss when they translate THUMOS as “wrath.” Once again, THUMOS reflects God’s inward passionate emotion, the fierceness or rage that boils up on the inside of God, while ORGE reflects God’s outward righteous expression of that passionate emotion. In other words, ORGE (Wrath) is God’s gradually unleashed THUMOS. For example, during the Tribulation Period, God’s ORGE (Wrath) will be expressed by degrees through the Seal, Trumpets, and Bowl Judgments and Punishments, which increase in frequency and intensity. However, after the 1000 year reign of Christ Jesus, God’s Orge Wrath will be expressed through the sudden and fierce way He consumes those who gathered against the Lord (see Revelation 20:9), and seen again when God throws Satan and every condemned human who ever lived into the eternal Lake of Fire .

Once more, the distinction between God’s ORGE and THUMOS is what has gotten lost in most of the English translations of these two Greek words. For sure, God’s ORGE, which eventually manifests as the expression of His inward THUMOS, is that Wrath to come that John the Baptist warned the people in his day to flee from (see Matthew 3:7). This Wrath (ORGE) to come is the manifestation of God’s ORGE—the kind of WRATH that breaks loose and, according to John the Baptist, burns the chaff (that which has been beaten out) with unquenchable fire (see Matthew 3:12). Ultimately this unquenchable fire will be God’s final Divine eternal ORGE Wrath—the Lake of Fire judgments and punishments (see Revelation 20:11-15), where the centuries of condemned people continually burn ad infinitum—for eternity—after having their chaff, the sin/evil in them, beaten out of them!

Point of clarification: I have said in a couple of blog entries that “Tribulation is the unrighteous persecution of believers by unbelievers…tribulation is persecution directed at believers. In contrast, wrath is the righteous punishment of God poured out on those who reject Him…the Wrath of God is His judgment directed at the unrighteous!” Thus, based on Scriptures, it is obvious that the Wrath (Orge) of God will be God’s judgment of left-behind individuals’ habitual sin or rebellion and punishment for their rejection of Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. This ORGE wrath will take place during the entire Tribulation Period, either indirectly as the Antichrist and Satan’s “wrath,” or directly as Father God and Christ Jesus’ “Wrath,” which is poured out during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (or the last half of the seven years of Tribulation).

More important, just like God’s THUMOS is temporal, the Antichrist and Satan’s wrath is going to be temporal “persecution” or “tribulation.” During the Tribulation Period, this temporal short-lived wrath can be seen in the Four Horsemen’s Seal judgments and punishments, seen in the rest of the three Seal judgments and punishments, AND seen in all of the trumpet judgments and punishments. That’s right! Without doubt, God’s Wrath is being executed through the Antichrist and Satan’s temporal “persecution” or “tribulation” or their wrath. In other words, their wrath—the Seal and Trumpet horrors—are what God permits. If God permits their “wrath” during the Tribulation Period, then that makes their “wrath” not only a kind of representation of the ORGE Wrath of God, which again is God’s settled displeasure with sin and evil, but also a kind of representation of the THUMOS Wrath of God, which is the sudden unexpected boiled over rage or the blazing forth of the ORGE Wrath of God.

The point here is that whether the Wrath of God is permitted to be poured out by the Antichrist and Satan, or is directly poured out by God or Christ, God’s ORGE and THUMOS actually are combined. This Divine Truth about ORGE and THUMOS being combined is why some translators show in the already mentioned three Revelation Scriptures that ORGE and THUMOS appear in the same verses! Clearly these two Greek words are definitely different in meaning, yet apparently both are needed to describe the horrible destructiveness of God’s Wrath.

Once again, ORGE is an eternal settled disposition that slowly ascends from out of God’s Divine Nature. His ORGE Wrath is aroused ONLY when it is against sin and evil. Indeed, God constantly says in His Word that sin/evil is rebellion against His Divine holy and righteous Nature and Character. In fact the only reason why God would allow His ORGE Wrath to be aroused is because of His Love for holiness, truth, and justice. In other words, because God Loves and commands holiness, truth, and justice He must use His Divine ORGE Wrath as righteous antagonism toward ALL that is unholy!

This is when God’s THUMOS gets involved. Once again, THUMOS is that inward passion that rapidly seethes, rages, or boils within God’s Nature. God’s THUMOS, thus, not only is the source of His passion but also His passion itself—the seat of His fierceness/fury, or righteous indignation. His THUMOS is a special kind of anger that is intertwined with God’s Love for holiness, truth, and justice. In essence, God’s THUMOS also is about HOLINESS—it is about God fighting against sin and evil. For this reason His THUMOS Wrath, though short-lived, obviously is always destructive.

Since ORGE clearly is God’s Wrath that eventually leads to an expression of His short-lived seething, boiling rage or fierceness/fury (His THUMOS or explosive passion), it is important to note here that His Thumos Wrath not only is always destructive but also always unpredictable and vengeful. For these reasons, it should be clear that this ORGE Wrath of God, this manifested outward expression of His boiled over rage (THUMOS), is very different from His Anger that results in Him disciplining His righteous children. Indeed, God’s Orge Wrath, which will be poured out during the Tribulation Period, is most definitely punishment that is NOT meant to cause corrective behavior in the lives of the truly unrighteous men and women. This last statement is why, based on Scriptures, it also should be obvious that God’s ORGE or Wrath will lead to His final eternal judgment (His final Divine verdict), which He will issue to all unrighteous men and women—the Lake of Fire!

Now, it is important to point out here that the people in the Tribulation Period will see NO ordinary kind of persecution. So many of today’s believers think that because the first-century believers, and other centuries of believers, have suffered tribulation (persecution) that this fact means the last-days believers also are supposed to suffer persecution. Clearly since the apostle Paul is giving many of the first-century believers his assurance that they will not suffer the kind of TESTING that happens when the Wrath to come appears, when the Tribulation Period begins, then today’s believers need to understand that they are not supposed to suffer the Tribulation Period, either. It is important to understand that the apostle Paul considered the tribulation first-century believers had experienced or were encountering is but a “light affliction” compared to that Wrath to come.

Indeed, Christ Jesus Himself promises in Revelation 3:10-11 that the Philadelphians, who are representatives of the Lord’s true Bride, His genuinely faithful, obedient Bride who is living a holy and righteous (spotless without blemish) lifestyle, would NOT SEE the kind of tribulation that will take place during Daniel’s 70^th Week or the Tribulation Period. The Lord promises them that they would be SAVED from the future mandatory TESTING/TRIAL/TRIBULATION, the purpose of which is to expose the unrighteous, unholy rebellious nature of the people who are living on the Earth during the Tribulation Period. Thus, it should be clear that these Tribulation Earth dwellers the Lord speaks about to the Philadelphians are NOT His true Christians—they are NOT members of the Bride of Christ—but rather they are individuals who habitually have rebelled (sinned) against God and/or refused to accept the Divine Truth in God’s Word about the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.

Put differently, those individuals who preach and/or teach the Bride of Christ will be in the Tribulation Period have missed a repeated Divine Truth. The Lord Himself makes it clear, again and again, in many Scriptures, that there indeed will be so-called “Christians” who will face the Tribulation Period. The so-called “Church” people who will receive thrashing, sifting, even a beheading, during the Tribulation Period, are those professed believers who are “Christians” in name ONLY!

Now, once again, God’s Wrath (Orge, or God’s Divine not-so-sudden yet ever-lasting natural disposition, state of mind, righteous indignation, or righteous attitude toward sin) results in His outward Divine judgment and punishment. This Orge (Wrath), which is poured out during the Tribulation Period is God reckoning with (dealing with the unpleasantness of) sin and evil, as well as Him reacting to (expressing how annoyed He’s been with) sin and evil. In contrast, God’s fierceness or fury (Thumos, or God’s Divine extremely quick yet not an ever-lasting abrupt flare-up), results in His deepest and most intense holy and righteous anger, which rapidly boils up but then hurriedly fades or declines. Both ORGE and THUMOS are in use during the Tribulation Period, and again the point here is that there cannot be any THUMOS without there being ORGE. In other words, God’s THUMOS is linked to His ORGE—they indeed are combined.

Bottom line is that when the apostle Paul says believers are not meant to go through God’s Orge (Wrath), which is a word that is used way more times in the New Testament than Thumos, the apostle Paul means exactly that. God never intended for His righteous sons and daughters to experience His holy and righteous indignation He has toward sin, nor did God intend for His righteous sons and daughters to experience His holy and righteous indignation that He has toward those who have rejected Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Father God allowed His Son to experience His Orge and Thumos, which He poured out against sin and evil—He allowed Jesus the Christ to be beaten beyond recognition, crucified on a Cross, and resurrected from the grave just so that the Lord’s Bride, everyone who not only believes in and accepts Jesus the Christ as his or her personal Savior, but everyone who is allowing God’s Holy Spirit to change him and her from the inside out, until he or she becomes like Christ Jesus, would be SAVED from all of the Wrath (Orge) to come. Now this Orge to come is the final Lake of Fire judgment and punishment, from which Christ’s Bride is saved, because She, as a whole, already has received eternal LIFE. This Orge to come also is the time of testing/trial/tribulation that is coming upon this Earth during Daniel’s 70^th Week (the Tribulation and the Great Tribulation or Time of Jacob’s Trouble).

Because of the gift of Salvation, the Bride of Christ believers who have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior have been born again (received a new nature—one that no longer is sinful), have been made righteous (justified; presented to God just as if they had never sinned), and are being purified (sanctified, perfected, which eventually leads to them being glorified at the moment they are Raptured)! Thus, based on so many Scriptures about Salvation and the Bride of Christ, it is clear that the only people who will suffer God’s Divine displeasure against sin, evil, and a refusal to accept His Son, as well as the only people who will suffer His consequent retributive action, are the left-behind people who neither were the resurrected dead in Christ Bride nor the alive in Christ raptured (“caught up”) into the air to meet Christ in the air Bride.

Finally, it is the complete work of Jesus the Christ that keeps His Bride from having to endure God’s eternal long-lasting ever-present Orge Wrath. For certain, the Scriptures are clear about the people who never have accepted the Lord as their Savior being those individuals who already know that the Wrath of God is upon them even now, and will be upon them during the Tribulation Period. God’s Orge and Thumos are sinners’ JUST judgment and punishment. That’s why, because God knew that there was no way that He could NOT pour out His Wrath on everybody, He also knew the kind of Salvation plan He would have to put in place to save His true and faithful believers. In essence, that Salvation plan is the complete work of Christ Jesus. The Lord’s sacrifice was the ONLY way that God could solve this pouring out of His Wrath problem. Again, it is preciously because God foreknew that He would have to pour out His Wrath on all human flesh that He Graciously grants, to anyone who would willingly accept by Faith and from Faith to Faith, His Gracious Gift of His Son’s imputed righteousness (see Romans 3:26).

Here’s the conclusion to the whole matter: The Scriptures have been clear. The people who will be left behind to experience the Tribulation Period are the spiritually blind Jewish people, the 144,000 Sealed Jewish evangelists who will witness to primarily the nation of Israel’s spiritually blind Jews, all of the truly unbelieving individuals, and many so-called “Christians.” These are the people who do not understand, or will not accept, that it is because of Jesus the Christ’s completed work on the Cross that His Bride will not have to go through the Tribulation Period. Because Jesus the Christ agreed to be God’s Divine, Gracious, Holy, and Righteous answer to God’s Orge Wrath dilemma, Jesus the Christ immediately became the Lamb God the Father would send to Earth as the once-and-for-all Sacrifice for the sins of the entire world. By willingly sacrificing Himself, Christ Jesus became THE ONLY viable Substitute for mankind’s sinful lives; thereby, He also became THE ONLY ONE who could redeem the entire world. Again, Jesus the Christ’s finished work on the Cross is why His Bride will not have to go through the Tribulation Period—these believers are not going to suffer any of the Antichrist and Satan’s “wrath” AND NONE of God and Christ’s ORGE Wrath, which includes some of His THUMOS (fury). As Jerry Bridges says:

Christ exhausted the cup of God’s wrath. For all who trust in Him there is nothing more in the cup. It is empty.

Without a doubt those individuals who profess to be Christians, in name only, will be in the Tribulation Period, but Christ’s Bride will NOT! She will be in Heaven with Her Bridegroom, living in the mansions (Bridal Chambers) He went away to prepare for Her (see John 14:2-3). The Bride of Christ will be in Heaven with Christ the Bridegroom long before the Tribulation Period ever begins, and will remain there during the entire seven years of Tribulation! Any believers who don’t agree with this Pre-Tribulation Rapture belief are suffering from not having the right information about God’s Orge and His Thumos, and perhaps suffering from not having the right information about a few other words like Rapturo or Harpazo, primarily because this information has gotten lost in translation!

Shalom . . . .

Gone Fishin'

~ …“Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!”

Tag Archives: Bride of Christ

The Second Advent vs. The Pre-Trib Rapture in a Nutshell

Christ’s Saints Are Barley Overcomers – Christ’s Carnal Believers Are Tribulation Wheat

Fearing End-Times Signs vs. Fearing the State of Your Spirit, Soul, and Body

Mini Sermons: Preach, Sister, Preach!

Glorification Won’t Be Cosmetic

Bride of Christ Haiku

Wheat Believers Were Carnal Christians Who Looked Like Tares

Two Biblical Proofs Favoring Pre-Tribulation Rapture

Raptures = Firstfruits’ Harvests of Souls

Lost In Translation

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