He replied, ‘All right, I agree to what you have asked. I won’t overthrow the city of which you have spoken.Hurry, and escape to that place, because I can’t do anything until you arrive there.’ For this reason the city was named Tzo‘ar [small]. ~ Genesis 19:21-22, CJB (underlined word is this blogger’s emphasis)
Lot went up from Tzo‘ar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, because he was afraid to stay in Tzo‘ar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. ~ Genesis 19:30, CJB
‘So when you seethe abomination that causes devastationspoken about through the prophet Dani’el standing in the Holy Place’(let the reader understand the allusion),‘that will be the time for those in Y’hudah to escape to the hills.’ ~ Matthew 24:15-17, CJB (underlined word is this blogger’s emphasis)
discipleship offerings spanning two thousand years,
accepters removed, no trace no fears;
raptured without a fight
taken by mysterious thief in the night…
centuries’ promised supernatural event
triggers the predicted advent—
those horrific times to follow,
surpassing Ichabod Crane’s sleepy hollow
or
Young Goodman Brown’s evil omen dream—
a time when “life” will be just as it seems…
final call to escape the coming nightmare;
this is not a test of truth or dare,
but a hope that eleventh-hour, redeemed delight in David’s dance
rather than reject this proposed last chance….
~ from Montage of Poetic Imaginations (composed 2001)
Note on 11th-hour reference:
This blogger uses the 11th-hour idiom to highlight what Christ Jesus Himself means when he says:
Also, at the time of the Son of Man, it will be just as it was at the time of Noach.People ate and drank, and men and women married, right up until the day Noach entered the ark; then the flood came and destroyed them all.Likewise, as it was in the time of Lot — people ate and drank, bought and sold, planted and built;but the day Lot left S’dom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.That is how it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed.~ Luke 17:26-30, CJB
For the record, the Rapture apostle Paul describes involves the Lord rescuing His Bride so She won’t experience ANY of the Tribulation Period. Thus, just like Enoch is translated/raptured long before the Flood starts, the genuinely faithful, obedient, and righteous Bride, who is walking with God, also will be raptured before the Tribulation Period begins.
Obviously, based on the context of the above Luke 17:26-30 passage, the Lord is not talking about His Bride, for these verses are comparing a faithful and righteous Noah and his family, the participants in a kind of Pre-Wrath 11th hour (at the last possible moment) rescue, who are provided safety from the Flood by being allowed to enter the Ark, with the Tribulation Period’s Jewish elect (a remnant of Holy Spirit led, faithful, and righteous left-behinders). These Jewish 144,000 evangelists (Gospel teachers and preachers) also are going to be rescued via a Rapture—a kind of Ark—right before the Time of Jacob’s Trouble begins. Even though their Rapture is not at the same time as the Rapture of the Bride of Christ, it will be in like manner! More important, during the first half of the Tribulation Period, this remnant neither is harmed by the Antichrist’s wrath nor contaminated by the Antichrist’s rule. The members of this remnant also are not swayed to adhere to the Antichrist’s laws.
Then too, there’s another predominantly Jewish remnant, one similar to Lot and his family. Unlike Noah, Lot is a wayward, backslidden, carnal believer in God. Lot, thus, represents the end time wayward, backslidden, carnal Jewish and Gentile remnants that are going to experience the satanic Antichrist’s wrath during the first half of the Tribulation Period. However, right before the Time of Jacob’s Trouble starts, the converted righteous believing Jewish remnant is going to find safety from God’s Wrath in a sheltered place He has provided for them. The place where they are going to be safe from the Wrath of God and any additional wrath of the Antichrist is located in the Judean hills—specifically, in Bozrah, which is a region in southwest Jordan. Bozrah is where the ancient fortress city of Petra is found (see Jeremiah 49:13-14; also see Isaiah 63:1-3).
No doubt, because the abovementioned lifestyles in Luke 17:26-30 were practiced during the days of Noah and Lot, AND because they are going to be repeated in the last days and end times, causing God to pour out His Wrath again on a sinful world, this Divine Truth is why the Lord Jesus also tells His true disciples to:
…keep watch on yourselves, or your hearts will become dulled by carousing, drunkenness and the worries of everyday living, and that Day [Lord’s Day of Vengeance] will be sprung upon you suddenly like a trap!For it will close in on everyone, no matter where they live, throughout the whole world.Stay alert, always praying that you will have the strength to escape all the things that will happen and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man. ~ Luke 21:34-36, CJB (inserted bracketed words and the underlined word are this blogger’s emphasis)
A word to the wise should be sufficient. Shalom . . . .
These are the words the Lord spoke to Israel and Judah. Yes, this is what the Lord says:
We have heard a cry of terror, of dread—there is no peace. Ask and see whether a male can give birth. Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale? How awful that day will be! There will be none like it! It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be delivered out of it. ~ Jeremiah 30:4-7, HCSB
As for you, My servant Jacob, do not be afraid— this is the Lord’s declaration— and do not be dismayed, Israel, for without fail I will save you from far away, your descendants, from the land of their captivity! Jacob will return and have calm and quiet with no one to frighten him. For I will be with you— this is the Lord’s declaration— to save you! I will bring destruction on all the nations where I have scattered you; however, I will not bring destruction on you. I will discipline you justly, and I will by no means leave you unpunished. ~ Jeremiah 30:10-11, HCSB
Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city— to bring the rebellion to an end, to put a stop to sin, to wipe away iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. ~ Daniel 9:24, HCSB
He will make a firm covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering. And the abomination of desolation will be on a wing of the temple until the decreed destruction is poured out on the desolator. ~ Daniel 9:27, HCSB
Many believers today are preaching and teaching the Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory. There are many problems with this theory, starting with the fact that Pre-Wrath is a misnomer, especially since ONLY Pre-Tribulationism is 100% pre-wrath!
Be that as it may, another widely used misnomer is Tribulation, as in the prophesied 7-year period: the 3½ years of Tribulation and the 3½ years of Great Tribulation. In the Old Testament, it is Daniel’s 70th Week that is described as the entire 7 years of Tribulation. This Week is the decreed time God has established for bringing Israel’s obstinate rebellion against Him to an end, and the decreed time for completing His final discipline and judgment upon Israel (His elect; His chosen Jewish people), as well as the decreed time for making His final judgment upon this world’s unbelieving inhabitants. Furthermore, Daniel’s 70 Weeks are described as the time when God cleanses the entire Earth (the time when He puts an end to ALL transgression, seals up and makes an end of ALL sins, makes reconciliation for iniquity, and brings in everlasting righteousness, seals up vision and prophecy, and anoints the most holy place; see Daniel 9:24). These abovementioned prophecies are scheduled to be completed before Jesus Christ’s Millennial Kingdom on Earth begins!
On the other hand, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble is the Old Testament’s description of the last 3½ years of Daniel’s 70th Week, which most end time biblical prophecy scholars also call the Great Tribulation. God says that though this time will be filled with birth pangs that increase in intensity and frequency, becoming more relentless than they’ve ever been at any other time, He will deliver/save Jacob. Here Jacob symbolizes God’s elect or chosen Jewish people, and they are the ones God promises He will NOT let perish during the terrible Time of Jacob’s Trouble, even though He will judge and punish them (see Jeremiah 30:4-24). The reason why the Jewish people as a whole must be judged and punished is because they still need to give their hearts to God, by accepting His Salvation program—Jesus the Christ, who is their Lord and Savior! Ultimately, the nation of Israel, like Jacob, will receive a new name—Hephzibah (my delight is in Her) and the land Beulah (married)! According to Isaiah 62:4, this name change also is the purpose of the decreed Time of Jacob’s Trouble.
Now there are many Christians who believe that ONLY right “…now is the day of salvation” (see 2 Corinthians 6:2). That is to say, these believers maintain that if unbelievers haven’t accepted Jesus Christ BEFORE Daniel’s 70th Week begins that NONE of them will receive salvation during this prophesied unparalleled seven-year Tribulation. They also believe that it is a lie of the devil to preach and teach that the people in the Tribulation Period will still have another chance to get saved.
While “NOW” always has been the time for the lost souls living on this Earth to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, “NOW” also is the time for all believers to allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify them completely. However, just like the majority of lost souls are not accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, too many saved believers are not allowing the Holy Spirit to do His sanctifying work in them. No doubt believers’ refusal to surrender totally to the Holy Spirit’s mighty sanctification process, and their refusal to surrender totally to His leading, prompting, teaching, and so forth, are why God does say in His Word that countless people will be saved during the seven-year Tribulation.
For sure, many unbelieving left behinders will be saved (receive salvation) before the Day of Judgment (before Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, when His feet actually touch the Mount of Olives, which is by the time the Book of Life and the Book of Death have been sealed). Moreover, many unprepared (not holy enough to be raptured or taken) believers in Christ also will be sifted like wheat during Daniel’s 70th Week, especially during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (cf. Jeremiah 51:33; Amos 9:9; Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17; Luke 22:31).
The sifting like wheat analogy refers to unprepared believers needing to experience some violent trampling or threshing, some forceful winnowing or throwing into the air to allow the wind to blow away unwanted parts, and some upside-down strong sieving or shaking, before their true “grit”—staying power, like steadfast faithfulness, holiness, obedience, and so forth—can be verified. Perhaps this end time wheat sifting is why, when John the Baptist describes the coming of Jesus the Christ, he does so by painting the image of the Lord separating genuine believers from fakes, via threshing, winnowing, and sieving. John the Baptist also describes the Lord as the prophesied One who will gather His shifted like wheat true believers into the Kingdom of God on Earth, in the same manner that grain is gathered into a barn. The Lord also will gather the fake believers and the ones who totally rejected Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but then He will throw them into the Lake of Fire where they will burn in an unquenchable fire (see Matthew 3:12;Luke 3:17).
There can be no doubt that this end-time sifting by the Lord certainly will cause not only countless numbers of lost souls to repent and be saved but also will cause numerous left-behind unprepared believers to get back onto the right path—the path that leads to an eternity with God. Therefore, it should be clear that, although numerous people will be saved and others sifted, during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, which primarily involves God’s chosen left-behind Jewish people, their salvation and sifting will be achieved only because they went through the worse Hell on Earth. Many of these left-behinders not only will suffer persecution, starvation, thirst, earthquakes, and so forth, but also plenty of them will experience a beheading! Even then, there still will be other left-behinders who will continue in sin, including cursing God up until the time of Christ Jesus’ bodily return!
Now, for the record, the gathering of His elect “…from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other…” (Matthew 24:31) is not a reference to the Rapture of the Bride of Christ. When Jesus Christ speaks of the gathering of the His elect in His Olivet Discourse, He is referring to His angels gathering together all of the nations of the world, from the four corners of the Earth, AFTER the Great Tribulation has ended. In other words, this is the gathering of the Tribulation survivors—the metaphorical wheat/tares and sheep/goats.
That the saved sheep/wheat will be allowed to enter into the Millennium, which is the time when Jesus Christ rules as King of this Earth for 1,000 years, is undisputable evidence that proves people (metaphorically, the sheep/goats and wheat/tares) in the Time of Jacob’s Trouble not only will be separated from one another but also will repent and get saved during the Tribulation Period. As mentioned in this blogger’s several other blog postings, the only people who will be able to re-populate this Earth during Jesus Christ’s Millennial Reign are those “saved” survivors from the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, because the Bride of Christ (both the dead and the alive in Christ at the time when they meet Him in the air); the alive and pure 144,000 Jewish evangelists, who have the seal of God; and the martyred saints ALL will have received their glorified bodies.
Now, Jesus Christ teaches the Sadducees that neither those resurrected nor those raptured humans who are in Heaven will be marrying and giving in marriage in Heaven. Matthew writes:
The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.’ But Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.’ And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. ~ Matthew 22:23-33, ESV
Likewise, the apostle Paul teaches in the Scriptures that those who enter Heaven are primarily the resurrected dead and raptured alive Bride of Christ members, who have received glorified bodies (bodies like what the angels have). Thus, since marriage is the only way people on Earth will be able to procreate, those people who re-populate this planet during Jesus Christ’s Millennial Reign will be the surviving saints from the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, who indeed are “saved” but still in their natural bodies!
Concerning the gathering of the Bride of Christ, whom the apostle Paul speaks about, this gathering is not the same gathering of the already mentioned end-time saints—the Tribulation’s surviving sheep/wheat. This gathering apostle Paul speaks about is the Rapture of the Bride of Christ—the taking or snatching out of harm’s way (catching up; harpazo). Now the only way this harpazo makes sense is if it happens before the 7-year Tribulation begins, because the apostle Paul repeatedly makes in clear, in at least four Scriptures, that the Bride of Christ is NOT going to experience God’s Wrath (neither during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble or Great Tribulation nor during the first half of the Tribulation Period). The apostle Paul writes the following about the holy, righteous, faithful, obedient, totally sanctified, and absolutely saved Bride of Christ:
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ~ Romans 5:9, ESV
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ~ Ephesians 5:6, ESV
and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:10, ESV
For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9, ESV
The problem then with far too many believers’ thinking, where the Rapture of the Bride of Christ is concerned, is that far too many of believers have not understood the difference between God’s Plan of Salvation (deliverance, rescue, preservation, safety) for the Bride of Christ who is both the resurrected dead in Christ and the raptured alive in Christ, and His Plan of Salvation for Israel who is the Jewish Time of Jacob’s Trouble saints, the saved Jewish people living in the Promised Land or Israel, at that time. In other words, these saved Jewish people will be the individuals who, as mentioned earlier, are experiencing the prophesied Time of Jacob’s Trouble—the decreed time for bringing Israel’s obstinate rebellion against God to an end, and the decreed time for completing His final discipline and judgment upon Israel (His elect; His chosen Jewish people), as well as the decreed time for making His final judgment upon this world’s unbelieving inhabitants.
Since numerous people don’t seem to know the difference between God’s Plan of Salvation for the Bride of Christ and God’s Plan of Salvation for Israel, it also is important to note here that there is a major difference between God’s Wrath and mankind’s persecution, including the Antichrist’s tribulation or persecution. Wrath is God’s RIGHTEOUS judgment and RIGHTEOUS punishment, which He will pour out on the rebellious UNRIGHTEOUS unbelieving people of this world. Tribulation is the unrighteous persecution of believers by unrighteous unbelievers!
There is no denying, then, that Jesus Christ prophesies that in this world there is going to be much persecution, but based on the above definitions of Wrath and tribulation, it should be obvious that what man does to people will in no way measure up to the Wrath of God, which will be poured out on a sin-sick world. This last point is why ALL of the persecution Christians have suffered from the 1st century A.D., and forward, will not compare to the suffering that happens in the 7 years of Tribulation. This future suffering will be unparalleled, so much so that if Daniel’s 70th Week isn’t sped up, NO ONE will survive it (see Matthew 24:22)!
For sure, as prophesied, during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (a.k.a., the Great Tribulation), God’s Wrath will increase in frequency and intensity, beginning with the Lamb of God’s Seal judgments (the wrath of the Lamb; see Revelation 6:16), and continuing throughout the entire Time of Jacob’s Trouble until the last bowl judgment is poured out. Thus, based on all of the above provided information about Daniel’s 70th Week, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, wheat sifting, and so forth, the Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory indisputably suggests that, even if the righteous and sanctified Bride of Christ goes through just the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week, She still would suffer some of God’s Wrath, despite the fact that the Word of God declares the Lord’s righteous and sanctified Bride has NOT been appointed to suffer ANY of God’s Wrath (orge, in the Greek language), because She has been DELIVERED or SAVED from the Wrath to come by Christ Jesus’ finished work on the Cross!
Still, believers in Christ Jesus should not be deceived! Not everyone who professes to be a Christian will be exempted from God’s Wrath. Indeed, many professed Christians who sin willfully and/or who neglect to live the Christian lives they should will suffer some, if not all, of God’s Wrath during Daniel’s 70th Week (the 7 years of Tribulation). A word to the wise should be sufficient!
‘In time, throughout that land,’ says Adonai, ‘two-thirds of those in it will be destroyed — they will die, but one-third will remain. That third part I will bring through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined, I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is my people’ and they will say, ‘Adonaiis my God.’ ~ Zechariah 13:8-9, 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
Because you did obey my message about persevering, I will keep you from the time of trial coming upon the whole world to put the people living on earth to the test.I am coming soon; hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. ~ Revelation 3:10-11, CJB
It boggles the mind how so many people who say they are born again, saved, and being sanctified believers in Christ Jesus also could say that the alive Bride of Christ members will be in the Tribulation Period. It is hard to understand how they could believe that God doesn’t say in His Word that the Lord’s Bride will ESCAPE the Tribulation Period.
These non-pre-Trib Rapture believers argue that if the early Christians suffered persecution, and if Christians today in various places on this Earth also are suffering persecution, just because they are Christians, then that proves that God will NOT remove the Bride of Christ off this Earth so that these believers won’t have to experience the Tribulation Period. Then too, even though the Scriptures are very clear that the genuine Bride of Christ ALREADY has been purified solely by the complete work Christ Jesus did on the Cross, there are so many non-pre-Trib Rapture believers who still think that the Tribulation Period is for purifying Jesus Christ’s Bride—they still believe that His Bride has to endure the Antichrist’s wrath and the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl judgments before She can become holy and righteous enough to enter Heaven. Say what?
If any of the above claim concerning the Bride of Christ being purified in the Tribulation Period were true, then that would mean that Christ Jesus died for NOTHING, especially if believers’ own shed blood, as a result of their persecution, could purify them and make them holy and righteous enough to enter Heaven! For sure, the Scriptures are very clear. Only the blood of Christ Jesus can purify/cleanse sinners and present them before God as justified, holy, and righteous men and women.
Furthermore, many non-pre-Trib Rapture believers think that pre-Trib Rapture individuals are escapists who are just trying to avoid persecution and/or any kind of trouble. This appeal to the flesh or the desire to feel comforted, thus, supposedly is the reason why the pre-Trib Rapture lie originally started. Nonsense, because even if pre-Trib believers don’t want to go through the Tribulation Period, globally many of them still are experiencing plenty of persecution or tribulation (great trouble or substantial suffering), and some of them more frequently and profoundly than others.
Now, one of the reasons why non-pre-Trib believers’ arguments are fallacious is that most of the people who either are making one, or two, or all of the above claims are American Christians, the majority of which, to date, have not and are not suffering any physical persecution. Secondly, Christ Jesus prophesies that there would be much persecution in this world, especially in the last days and end times, which is why this world’s current rising tide of persecution eventually will affect ALL believers worldwide, to some extent. Thirdly, what Christ Jesus also prophesies is that the persecution mankind and demonic forces commit on this Earth IN NO WAY will measure up to God’s Wrath or Fury, which He will pour out on this entire Earth. In other words, the Lord is saying that ALL of the persecution Christians have suffered from the first century A.D., and forward, down to this present century, will not compare to the suffering that happens during the seven year Tribulation Period—during Jacob’s Trouble. That suffering will be unprecedented, so much so that the Lord says:
Indeed, if the length of this time had not been limited, no one would survive; but for the sake of those who have been chosen, its length will be limited. ~ Matthew 24:22, CJB
For this last reason, believers must keep in mind that during the Tribulation Period (Jacob’s Trouble), two-thirds of the Jewish people living in Israel will perish (cf.Zechariah 13:8-9), leaving only that Jewish remnant the Antichrist/Dragon follows to the mountains/hills to kill (cf. Matthew 24:15-16; Revelation 12:17). Additionally, believers also should keep in mind that the Scriptures declare that, between the 4th Seal judgment and the 6th Trumpet judgment, over one-half of the world’s total population will have died during the Tribulation Period (see Revelation 6:8 [1/4 dies] and Revelation 9:13-18 [1/3 dies]). These two amounts of human deaths equal 58.33% of the world’s total population, and the Bowl judgments haven’t even begun yet!
If so many people (the Bride of Christ members, disbelievers, and unbelievers) will be dying throughout the Tribulation Period, then how is Christ Jesus keeping His promise to deliver/save/keep His true Bride from God’s Wrath (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; Revelation 3:10-11), if they aren’t Raptured until mid-Trib or, even worse, post-Trib? Isn’t it Christ Jesus Himself who sends the angelic messenger to the “church” in Philadelphia of Asia Minor (the Asian part of Turkey) to let the believers in that “church” know that because they have patiently and steadily been faithful and obedient disciples, He (Christ Jesus) would save them from the future mandatory testing that would expose the kinds of persons the people dwelling on the Earth really are? Thus, it should be clear that these Tribulation Earth dwellers the Lord speaks about are not His true Christians—they are not members of the Bride of Christ—but rather they are individuals who have rebelled (sinned) against God and refused to accept the Divine Truth in His Word.
Most important, EXCEPT for the holy and righteous Christ Jesus, upon whom God poured out ALL of His Wrath against sin, where in the Scriptures can it be found that God ever poured out even just an ounce of His Wrath on His righteous people? Again, even if the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happens at mid-Trib, that would mean that the righteous would experience some of God’s Wrath, both from the Antichrist’s persecution and from God’s Seal and Trumpet judgments!
Right here, it is necessary to note the difference between tribulation and wrath. Tribulation is the unrighteous persecution of believers by unbelievers. Put differently, tribulation is persecution directed at believers. In contrast, wrath is the righteous punishment of God poured out on those who reject Him. In other words, the Wrath of God is His judgment directed at the unrighteous!
By the way, one of the methods Father God uses during the Tribulation Period, when He is pouring out His Fury upon His chosen unbelieving Jewish people and the disbelieving and unbelieving Gentiles, is the Antichrist’s persecution. Although the individuals who become first-time Christians, and those who become truer Christians, during the Tribulation Period, to some degree, will all experience the Antichrist’s persecution, his persecution chiefly will be only part of God’s Wrath, which is meant for Israel and everyone else who rejected God’s preferred Salvation Plan—rejected Jesus the Christ. In a nutshell, the Antichrist and his persecution will be an instrument of God’s Wrath! Furthermore, using the Antichrist to judge and punish Israel is not the first time, in Israel’s long history, that God has decided to use the enemies of Israel to examine and correct His chosen Jewish people!
Back to the mid-Trib Rapture beliefs, wouldn’t those believers who are snatched off the Earth at mid-Trib also be ESCAPING—aren’t they avoiding the most horrific parts of God’s Wrath, since the Word of God describes His Wrath as increasing in intensity and frequency throughout the Tribulation Period, and since the Bowl judgments, which begin during the second half of the Tribulation Period, are the worst of God’s Wrath? So how would believers in a mid-Trib Rapture of the Bride of Christ not be escapists, as well?
Then too, if only those alive believers at the end of the Tribulation Period are snatched off the Earth at post-Trib, right before or at the Lord’s bodily return (His Second Coming), then when do the dead in Christ Jesus get caught up? The apostle Paul clearly says that the Rapture of the Bride of Christ consists of the dead in Christ Jesus, who would rise first, and then those believers who are alive in Christ Jesus would be caught up (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Additionally, since the angels also don’t resurrect the dead in Christ Jesus before gathering the people from all of the Earth for judgment, at least the Word of God doesn’t say that the angels resurrect the dead in Christ Jesus at this time, how could the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happen at post-Trib, if the dead in Christ aren’t even mentioned in any of the so-called post-Trib Rapture Scriptures?
Lastly, why would Christ Jesus Rapture His Bride at post-Trib and then immediately bring them back to the Earth so that they could be gathered again from the four corners of the Earth, once the Great Tribulation has ended? Aren’t His saints (the Bride who is wearing white linen—see Revelation 19:6-8, 11-16; Zechariah 14:5b)—returning from Heaven with Him? So why would His Bride, the armies of heaven clothed in white linen, need to be gathered again for judgment? Doesn’t the Bride of Christ stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ Jesus, which is in Heaven? Also, why would the Bride of Christ need to be separated from the goats and tares? Would not the Bride already be separated from them, by virtue of the Rapture?
The Bride of Christ, thus, is not coming back with the Lord, during His bodily return or Second Coming, which also is believed to be The Day of Judgment (see Zechariah 14:1-5) , just to be gathered, separated, and judged all over again. Obviously the post-Trib Rapture belief is the reason why there is no way that the end of the Tribulation Period gathering, which by the way is done by the angels and NOT by Christ Jesus, refers to the gathering of anyone who is NOT a Tribulation survivor, as the Tribulation’s survivors ONLY are those individuals who were never Raptured (the surviving Tribulation sheep and goats/wheat and tares).
In contrast, the gathering of the saints (the Rapture of the Bride of Christ), or the snatching out of harm’s way (the catching up of the Bride of Christ), which Christ Jesus does Himself, means that this harpazo must happen before the seven year Tribulation Period ever begins, since the Tribulation Period absolutely classifies as the worst kind of “harm’s way”! Once again, it is the apostle Paul who declares not only to the Thessalonians but also to the Romans and Ephesians that the Bride of Christ (every genuinely born again, saved, being sanctified, prepared, faithful, and obedient believer) IS NOT going to experience God’s Wrath (Jacob’s Trouble; the Tribulation Period; see Romans 5:9; Ephesians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9).
Honestly, if the purpose of “the hour of trial/temptation” (see Revelation 3:10) is to expose the kinds of persons the people dwelling on the Earth are, what would God be exposing about the true Bride of Christ, whose spirit or heart already has been born again from above and already has received its new nature, and whose whole spirit, soul, and body are being transformed into the image of Christ? The Bride of Christ already is in the Household of Faith. Each believer already is a child of God. In other words, the Bride of Christ has been made righteous by Grace through Faith in the work Christ Jesus finished while on the Cross. So, again, what is there to expose about Christ Jesus’ Bride? Absolutely nothing!!!
The problem then with far too many believers’ thinking, where the Rapture is concerned, is that they have not understood the difference between God’s Plan of Salvation (deliverance, preservation, safety) for the Bride of Christ—the Raptured saints—and His Plan of Salvation for Israel—the Tribulation saints, which primarily will be the saved Jewish people living in the Promised Land or Israel, at that time. In other words, these saved Jewish people will be the individuals who are experiencing the prophesied Jacob’s Trouble (the Tribulation Period). However, these Tribulation saints also will include the left-behind Jews and Gentiles out of every nation on the Earth. Furthermore, these surviving saved left behinders will be the “elect” people who become purified, sifted like wheat Tribulation believers. More important, they also will be the people who either never accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, prior to the beginning of the Tribulation Period, or, because of their disbelief, disobedience, unfaithfulness, and/or carelessness, they didn’t prepare themselves for the Lord’s Rapture of His alive Bride (cf. Matthew 25:1-13).
The bottom line is that instead of believers in Christ Jesus being divided about when the Rapture of the Bride of Christ will take place, they should spend more time preparing themselves and looking for Christ Jesus’ appearance in the clouds (the Rapture), while leading as many unbelieving Jewish people and unbelieving and/or disbelieving Gentiles to the Lord, as they possibly can. Furthermore, all believers in Christ Jesus should understand that the prophesied Tribulation Period is not going to be anything anyone can plan to survive. In fact, the only way the people in Noah’s day could have prepared for the Flood was to accept what Noah was preaching: It’s going to rain; the rain will flood the Earth, so repent and walk with God!
For sure, just like God, via His Wrath, which manifested as the Flood, destroyed ALL the wicked, unfaithful, disobedient, unbelieving individuals living on the Earth, but spared the righteous, obedient, and faithful Noah and his family, God, via His Wrath, which will manifest as the Tribulation Period, will destroy the wicked, unfaithful, disobedient, unbelieving individuals who are living on the Earth, but will spare the holy, righteous, obedient, and faithful Bride of Christ! There can be doubt that God is NOT going to destroy, via His Wrath, His sons and daughters—not after He has given them the gift of Salvation! This Divine Truth is why it just boggles the mind that any believer could think God would do something like that!
Finally, the spiritual stakes are extremely high! That’s why it is important that everyone who is born again, saved, and being sanctified, who also loves God and the Lord, should do his or her best to share the Gospel with the world’s lost souls NOW, and why each believer in Christ should live a bonafide Christlike life, for the entire world to see so that hopefully countless lost souls will long for Salvation and long to achieve the same kind of Christlike lifestyle.
Please view the below videos on the Rapture, Tribulation and the Great Debate. In these two videos, Andre Hendricks makes the case that the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is indeed not only biblical but also the only possible time the Bride of Christ will be removed from the Earth. Be blessed!
The Rapture, Tribulation and the Great Debate, Part 1
The Rapture, Tribulation and the Great Debate, Part 2
The third angel blew [his] trumpet, and a huge star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it dropped on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water–And the name of the star is Wormwood. A third part of the waters was changed into wormwood, and many people died from using the water, because it had become bitter. Then the fourth angel blew [his] trumpet, and a third of the sun was smitten, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that [the light of] a third of them was darkened, and a third of the daylight [itself] was withdrawn, and likewise a third [of the light] of the night was kept from shining. Then I [looked and I] saw a solitary eagle flying in midheaven, and as it flew I heard it crying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the rest of the trumpet blasts which the three angels are about to sound! ~ Revelation 8:10-13, AMP
All of the hype behind the June 15th blood-red moon over Israel, and the blood-red moons happening on the Feasts of Passover and Tabernacles in 2014 and 2015, are just that—hype (propaganda). The truth is that all lunar and solar eclipses are not the same, which is why the Scriptures make it clear that the lunar and solar eclipses that should matter to everyone are those that occur because of Revelation’s Wormwood, which is a literal “death” star that creates the devastations of Trumpet 3 (cf. Revelation 8:10-11) and Trumpet 4 (cf. Revelation 8:12-13). In fact, it is quite possible that the now approaching Wormwood star is the reason not only for the increase in frequency and intensity of the destructive earthquakes and tsunamis this Earth has been experiencing, but also its approach could be responsible for Trumpets 1 and 2’s hail and fire mixed with blood, and the burning mountain-like object, both of which will be behind the destruction of one-third of the Earth’s land, vegetation, seas, sea creatures, and/or ships (cf. Revelation 8:7-9).
What’s for certain is that during The Great Tribulation the Wormwood star, which brings with it ecological disaster, is prophesied to pass through our solar system and fall from the sky into Earth’s rivers and springs of water. According to Scriptures, it appears that after Wormwood falls from the sky there also will be, simultaneously, both solar and lunar eclipses (see Revelation 6:12 through 8:13; and Matthew 24:29). Furthermore, it needs to be noted here that simultaneous solar and lunar eclipses are not the “normal” predictable lunar and solar eclipses. Thus, neither NASA, nor Nostradamus, or any one else, can determine (predict) when this simultaneous event will happen!
Concerning the Trumpet Judgments of God, which happen during The Great Tribulation (the second 3½ years of the 7-year Tribulation Period, which is also the second half of the Prophet Daniel’s 70th Week), contrary to what so many people think today, we have neither experienced the first 3½ years of the 7-year Tribulation Period nor are we in the second 3½ years of the 7-year Tribulation Period! Having said that, it also has to be noted that believers today are not putting their trust ONLY in God and what He says in His Word will happen, but rather they are trusting in what humans have interpreted the Scriptures to be saying about prophesied events, especially when it is evident that some humans’ interpretations neither come from the Holy Spirit nor from a close encounter with Father God that results in Him revealing the future to them!
What the Holy Spirit confirms for this believer about that which Jesus the Christ describes as The Great Tribulation (or the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, see Jeremiah 30:7) is that His prophesied horrific time has not happened yet! What Christ says about this Time of Jacob’s Trouble is that it “…will be great tribulation (affliction, distress, and oppression) such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now–no, and never will be [again]” ~ Matthew 24:21, AMP (cf. Daniel 12:1).
To that end, where the CHURCH is concerned, the Scriptures declare that Jesus the Christ not only saves sinners but also He delivers His believers FROM sin, FROM suffering, and FROM death by means of His own suffering and death. These are Biblical Truths, which confirm for the Body of Christ that there will be a Rapture that will save (remove) the CHURCH from this world so that Christ’s true Bride will not have to suffer the Tribulation Period. Unfortunately, the Scriptures also declare that what has been true about the nation of Israel’s past deliverances is that God often rescued His Jewish people after they had gone THROUGH much suffering; for this reason, the Jewish people who still do not believe in Jesus the Christ before the Rapture will receive God’s promised end-time deliverance, where the Time of Jacob’s Trouble is concerned, but only after they go THROUGH the terrible suffering that happens during The Great Tribulation!
Ironically, it is after the angel Michael, the guardian “prince” of the nation of Israel, ushers in The Great Tribulation (the Time of Jacob’s Trouble) that the Jewish people (God’s chosen people) can be rescued and restored, as God has promised. When the angel Michael arises (cf. Daniel 12:1), it is so that God’s appointed process for the nation of Israel’s deliverance can manifest itself THROUGH Israel’s time of great suffering—the time when they are the most powerless and, thus, unable to save themselves. This is also the time when many Tribulation survivors will long for death, but they will not be permitted to die.
After the judgments of Trumpets 5 and 6 are given out, the Scripture says that Tribulation’s surviving men and women look for death but they “…will not find it; and they will yearn to die, but death evades and flees from them” (Revelation 9:6, AMP). For sure, there has not been any time in this world’s history that men and women have been soemotionally, physically, and spiritually worn out by the wrath of God, or by man’s wrath, that they have tried to kill themselves only to end up crippling and/or injuring themselves, because God won’t let them finish the job!
Therefore, it should be evident that this time of Great Tribulation that Jesus the Christ and the Prophets Jeremiah and Daniel speak about is yet to come. However, The Great Tribulation (the second 3½ years of the 7-year Tribulation Period) will not occur until after the Antichrist stops the resumed burnt animal sacrifices that take place in the rebuilt Jewish Temple (the Third Temple) and then commits the abomination of desolation about which the Prophet Daniel and Jesus the Christ prophesy (cf. Daniel 9:27; and Matthew 24:15-22).
So, instead of trying to figure out the purpose and/or significance of the scheduled June 15th blood-red moon, let us who trust and believe in God and His Word focus on those signs that God already has provided in His Word to prepare us rather than scare us. Let us continue to watch for those signs that relate to our Lord’s coming, and these signs will be in the heavens and on this Earth.Lastly, let us be ever so careful to heed the Apostle Paul’s following warnings: “Do not quench (suppress or subdue) the [Holy] Spirit; Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets [do not depreciate prophetic revelations nor despise inspired instruction or exhortation or warning]. But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21, AMP. AMEN!
Gone Fishin' 