The last days- A Bible Study of Last Days Circumstances and Events – Installment #3 There is considerable controversy and argument among the Christian community as to whether the rapture of the church is real and if real when it occurs in relation to the Tribulation Period. Some would argue that Gods people are not immune to the bad things that happen on earth and they suffer along with the rest of humanity the innocent with the guilty. They view the church as enduring to the end of the Tribulation. (The tribulation period sometimes referred to as the Day of the Lord is a seven year span of time when the worse trials the earth has ever seen falls upon mankind.) They believe that we will go out to meet the Lord as he returns to set up his kingdom much as people in olden days went out to greet an arriving noble. This view is foreign to my learning over the years but when someone I respect taught this I felt compelled to set aside my Baptist teachings and examine the view in light of the Scriptures. I believe this would be the Berean way. Here is my thinking on the subject and the Scriptural basis for my beliefs. (Zep 2:2) Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORDS anger come upon you. (Zep 2:3) Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORDS anger. Verse 3 advises the meek of the earth to seek righteousness that they may be hid in the day of the Lords anger. To be hid is to be out of sight. Some believe that the church will some way be hidden and kept safe on earth but to me this seems unlikely. In the Book of Revelation the only group we are told that is set aside and sealed and kept safe is a group of 144,000 Jewish male virgins, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel. Why if the entire Gentile church is hidden on earth as we would expect from Zep 2:3 is there no mention of this fact in Revelation? (Gen 8:10) And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; (Gen 8:11) And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth. (Gen 6:15) And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. (Gen 6:16) A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. We know that all Scripture is profitable. Why was the story of where the window was placed in the ark and how Noah couldnt look out and see the water on the earth an important fact? I truly believe the ark is a picture of the rapture of the church as the animal sacrifices were a picture of the coming death of Jesus. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He and his family were called into the ark. God shut the door. The waters of judgment came down and Noah and his family went up inside the ark above the face of the earth. They were positioned in such a manner they could not possibly see the judgment of God fall on the earth. They were safe as Gods judgment was poured out on the earth below. After the judgment of God had fallen the waters came down and Noah and his family returned to the earth. This to me is a type of the rapture of the church with the church lifted up above the earth while Gods judgment falls below them. (Mat 24:36) But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. (Mat 24:37) But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. (Mat 24:38) For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, (Mat 24:39) And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. The exact time of the coming of Jesus is a closely guarded heavenly secret. Even the angels dont know when He will return. Note also Jesus uses Noahs flood in a discussion of His return. To me the fact of the secrecy around the time of the Lords return proves that those who claim that our understanding of the rapture is flawed that it is simply our going out to welcome the coming king at the time of His taking the kingdom on earth after the Tribulation is in error. (Dan 11:31) And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate. (2Th 2:3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2Th 2:4) Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (Dan 12:6) And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders? (Dan 12:11) And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. There will come a day at approximately the midway point of the tribulation, 42 months before the end of the tribulation, when the Anti-Christ will physically enter the Jewish Temple and will stop all daily sacrifices place his image there and sit down there and demand to be worshiped as God. He will begin a horrible persecution of the Jews so that they need to run immediately away from Jerusalem. The Tribulation Period ends when Jesus returns with the armies of heaven and destroys the Anti-Christ and the False Prophet and Satan is cast into the bottomless pits in chains. The exact day of this event is known to those living at that time because it is on the 1290th day after the Anti-Christ stops the daily sacrifice. Comparing Scripture with Scripture the secret date that the Lord comes back cannot be the same date of the well known date of his return to set up His Kingdom. The rapture is thus a separate event as described in: (1Th 4:16) For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: (1Th 4:17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. The rapture of the church is a meeting of the Lord in the air whereas His return to establish His Kingdom requires Him to set foot on earth. (Zec 14:4) And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. (Zec 14:5) And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. (Zec 14:6) And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: (Zec 14:7) But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. (Zec 14:8) And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. (Zec 14:9) And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. Based upon these Scriptures I have no doubt that there is a rapture of the church that is a calling out of all true believers prior to Gods hand of judgment falling on mankind. The church will be in Heaven for the Tribulation Period. On earth Israel will come to find the error of their ways and will accept Jesus as their Messiah. Many people of all nations who had not heard the truth of the gospel or I believe (contrary to some Baptist teaching) even some who ignored it will heed the message of Gods two witnesses and will resist the Anti-Christ refusing to worship him. Strong delusions will be sent and the Anti-Christ and his henchmen will work miracles. Gods two witnesses will convince many of the truth and many will pay the ultimate price for their faith through martyrdom. Some will hide out and survive having endured unto the end of the Tribulation to enter the Kingdom alive and in flesh and blood bodies.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 12:29:56 +0000
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