Truthinlove

by Truthinlove on Wednesday, July 7, 2010

I'm not going to comment too much on these verses, as they speak for themselves. Scripture supports the traditional pre-wrath rapture view. For more commentary you can read my other blog on the rapture.

Compare these Scriptures.....

The well-known rapture passage

1 Thess. 4:15 - 5:2 "For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.

Paul states that in regards to the timing of the rapture/resurrection, it will occur at a time known as the Day of the Lord. Ok....when will the Day of the Lord occur?

2 Thess. 2:1-4 "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God."

The man of lawlessness (aka: antichrist) will defile the temple at the midpoint of the last 7 year period. Therefore, so far we see that the Day of the Lord (when the rapture/resurrection will occur) will not happen until sometime after the antichrist starts his terrible persecution.

God will give us a clear sign as to the beginning of the Day of the Lord when the rapture/resurrection will take place.

Joel 2:31 "The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes."

So, when in the time-line of end-time events will this sign occur?

Matt. 24:29-31 "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

I didn't post all of Matt. 24 here, but for context you should read it all. You will see that the sign of the Day of the Lord when the rapture will occur, happens after antichrist begins the great tribulation against believers.

What does the book of Revelation show?

Rev. 6:12-13 "I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind."

Here are the same signs that signal the Day of the Lord (rapture/resurrection). The actual rapture itself isn't shown here in Revelation. However, the result of the rapture is shown...the church in heaven before the wrath of God, yet after the persecution and killing of the saints by the antichrist.

Rev. 7:9-14 "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.' And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, 'Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.' Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, 'These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?' I said to him, 'My lord, you know.' And he said to me, 'These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

Christ gives us a lot of info of the times to come and warns us repeatedly to BE READY, BE AWARE, BE SOBER & to watch for His return. I believe the times are coming soon and we should know what to expect.