Tommy Ice: The Pre-Darby Rapture

Paul’s Encouraging Letters to the Thessalonians

Reblogged from prophecywatchers.com

by: Gary Stearman on July 21, 2015

During the last five or six decades, the restraining forces of Western civilization are quickly slipping away. Societal, moral and financial moderation is yielding to self-indulgent lust — just as the Bible said it would. In the words of Paul:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (II Tim. 3:1).

Here, as we have observed over the years, Paul suggests that a kind of social insanity would characterize the world of the latter days. As we observe the relentless downward spiral of global society, we recall that biblical prophecy clearly states this. It says that the latter days would be marked by a collapse of faith, morality and ethics. The question we’re now asking ourselves is simple: Have we gone beyond the point of no return, or can there be spiritual revival?


No one can really answer this question. God’s plans are His own. But our clear perception in the light of biblical prophecy is that we’ve entered the latter days. Israel is back in the Holy Land, embroiled in an international conflict that precisely matches a number of Scriptural prophecies. Everywhere, dark occultist and demonic schemes are growing in prominence. Having abandoned God as Creator, men have begun evil genetic experimentation on plants, animals and humans is now a reality. Morality is overwhelmed by shameless behavior. Many Christian writers have illuminated these developments for years.
The Apostle Paul wrote that this would happen. He noted a future “falling away” that would mark the coming of the Antichrist. The question is, have we reached that point?

As we examine the meaning of Paul’s expression, we would first note that it seems to be describing a latter-day spiritual collapse. A few months after sending his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul sent them a second one. It was an update and clarification of that first epistle, which had carefully laid out the doctrine pertaining to the rapture of the Church. And it dealt with a specific misunderstanding that had been spawned by deceptive false teachers in that interim period.

Certain “teachers” had entered congregations and had begun to point to the ongoing Roman persecution of Jews and Christians, coupled with a developing revolutionary undercurrent, as being prophetically significant. They taught that the Day of the Lord had already arrived. They were apparently persuading believers that the Tribulation had by that time already begun, and that they were currently going through it.
Paul vigorously refuted this mistaken idea, while supporting his original statement that the rapture would come before the Day of the Lord. We believe that this “Day” will consist of seven horrific years of catastrophe … God’s judgment.

Like Paul and his early followers, we too live in an increasingly tumultuous world. The constant downpour of new and dramatic anti-Christian developments is a daily reality. The state of Israel has set the stage for a procession of prophetic fulfillments. Bible-believing Christians of our era have honed their anticipation to a fine edge. For decades, we have been searching the Scriptures under the conviction that through them, the Lord will speak words of confidence, comfort and hope in a world that is spinning out of control.

But in a repeat of the way it happened in Paul’s day, there is now an increasing undercurrent of negative teaching, in which some Bible expositors are suggesting that the Day of the Lord will come while Christians are still on the Earth. In fact, many of them are presenting what they interpret as “evidence” of this fact. In other words, the same problem of interpretation that plagued early Christians is alive and well to this day.

Those of us who believe in a pretribulation rapture also live in the moment-by-moment expectation that our “blessed hope” will be realized during our lifetimes. We speak, of course, of our Lord’s promise to come and personally escort us home, as we experience rapture and resurrection. The timing of this event will be a total surprise! This is the doctrine of Christ’s imminent return, taught with great clarity by the Apostle Paul. He believed it, and taught the congregations of his own day to live in the light of this blessed expectation … awaiting the Lord’s arrival … which they all believed could come at any moment:
“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: 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” (I Thess. 4:16,17).

This was followed by Paul’s unequivocal statement that Christians won’t experience God’s coming judgment of planet Earth: “9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Thess. 5:9).
God’s wrath is His judgment of planet Earth, an event specifically addressed toward the unsaved, not the saved – the body of Christ.

“A Falling Away”

Amazingly, these and other assurances written in First Thessalonians weren’t enough for the believers in Thessalonica. Some of them were still being persuaded that the wrath of God had already begun.
In the process of writing a clarification in his second letter, Paul gave them (and us) a remarkable clue as to the sequence of events that would come before the Tribulation. Its opening statement is absolutely clear:
“1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 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” (II Thess. 2:1-3).

For Christians, this prophecy is at the top of their list. It tells us that prior to the Tribulation, something called “a falling away” must come. In the light of many other prophetic developments, this event seems to be in the process of happening at the present time. But we must ask: Is this really the case, and how will we know when it has reached completion? In other words, how much worse must things get before Paul’s prophecy is fulfilled?

Before answering this question, it is appropriate to note that over the last two thousand years, humanity has witnessed many calamitous episodes that might meet the terms of a “falling away.” In Paul’s own day, the decadence of the Roman Empire, along with the strained political ties between the Herodians and Jewish leaders could easily have been defined as an “apostasy,” or “falling away.”

The terms of Paul’s clarification are crystal clear. Here, he acknowledges that some of his contemporaries believed that the Day of the Lord (here called “the day of Christ”) had already arrived. Because of false prophecy, mistaken preaching or forged letters, they had become convinced that God’s wrath had already fallen upon the world.

And why wouldn’t they? At the time this letter was written (in the first century, around AD 51), the reign of Roman Emperor Claudius was nearing its end, marked by debauchery, political deceit and finally, the assassination that brought Nero to power. Claudius had persecuted the Jews, who had previously felt safe in the empire. Both Jews and Christians were shocked and repulsed by increasing debauchery in the imperial household. Roman society was devoted to the reprobate practice of worshiping gods and goddesses.

Furthermore, Claudius had appointed Herod Agrippa II as king of Chalcis. This dark king was married to his own sister, Bernice. This strange couple had become the focus of gossip throughout the empire. To make matters worse, Agrippa controlled politics and finances at the Temple in Jerusalem. And its priests had long since been corrupted by their unholy political alliance with both Roman and Herodian governance. Jerusalem, itself, had fallen into utter corruption.

Looking at these and other events, it would have been easy to conclude that the vaunted stability of the Roman government and law was rapidly disappearing. It was being replaced by unscrupulous madmen, creating the general conception that danger lurked on every hand. (Nero would soon be in power). The Jewish priesthood was irreversibly corrupt, suggesting that God’s judgment could be near.

Yet, with all this social upheaval and religious apostasy, Paul still assured the early Church that the event that he called “a falling away” had yet to happen. This term is a translation of the Greek apostasia, generally regarded as signifying apostasy from the faith.
We know with historical certainty that this mysterious “falling away” didn’t happen throughout the first century. This period marked the beginning and building of the Church, not its demise … and certainly not its rapture.
And even throughout the reigns of Nero, Vespasian, Titus and Domition, (AD 54-96) with their infamous and deadly persecutions of the early Church, this critical “falling away” didn’t occur.

Instead, there followed a continuing shift of power away from Jewish control of the Holy Land. Finally, in AD 135, the emperor Hadrian presided over the total defeat of Jewish resistance. He renamed the Temple Mount “Aelia Capitolina.” Israel, he called “Syria Palestina.” The diaspora had begun.
During all these events, the “falling away” hadn’t occurred. How do we know this? Because Paul wrote that when it came, it would introduce a chain of events. First, the “man of sin” would be revealed to perform the act of standing up in the Holy of Holies of the Jewish Temple, claiming to be God:
“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” (II Thess. 2:4).

It seems almost unnecessary to point out that none of these things has happened yet. The “man of sin” has not presented himself as God, or even “a god.” He hasn’t enthroned himself in the Temple of God. Nor did he do this in the first century, before the Temple was destroyed in AD 70. Around AD 132, Hadrian placed a pagan statue of Jupiter in his Temple … a rebuilt version of the Holy of Holies. And he also placed a statue of himself on horseback standing before this obscene idol. But after a short time, it crumbled into dust. Historically, this is as close as we can come to finding an example of Paul’s prophecy. From that time to this, no man has ever enthroned himself in a temple, let alone a Jewish Temple, proclaiming himself as God.

And this has been the situation throughout the Church Age. As E. Schuyler English put it in his book, Re-Thinking the Rapture, “How would the Thessalonians, or Christians in any century since, be qualified to recognize the apostasy when it should come, assuming, simply for the sake of this inquiry, that the Church should be on Earth when it does come.” [p. 70]
 
To read more click: prophecywatchers.com

The Pentecost prophecy

Vernon Gray: “Another Look at the Rapture”

By STLloyd April 28, 2015 Bible prophecy The Rapture

Another Look at the Rapture – By Vernon Gray – grayworxx@gmail.co

Introduction
Can we agree that one hundred percent sincerity in what one believes does not make it right? Simply believing something does not make it true. Hindu’s, Moslems, and scores of other religions all “believe,” but that does not make what they believe the truth.
My wife and I have studied the Scriptures seriously for several years now. For instance we have spent hundreds of hours reading, studying and discussing the Book of Revelation.
At the end of it all I have to say this…It has not been given to us to understand everything that is written in the Scriptures at this time. 

We as the Body of Christ certainly know a lot more than we did years ago, but there are so many unanswered questions. One point worth mentioning is that the Word of God is not as yielding if one studies it on a purely intellectual level.
The Bible is a living entity that is “quickened” by the Holy Spirit to our spirits (Rhema) so that we can come to know Christ and our God through His Word. This is a spiritual process and not an intellectual one.
Likewise believing the gospel is not an intellectual process, it is a decision of the heart; it is the will.
2 Timothy 2:15 admonishes us, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
Taking the time to study the Bible does not necessarily mean that the Scriptures will open up to you and reveal all that there is to know. God imparts “nuggets” to whom He will; however God “approves” of the diligent Christians who take Him and His Word seriously.
Aside from God’s approval, you will be able to “rightly divide” or correctly understand what the Scriptures are saying. 

John 2:27 tells us…”But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.”
This does not mean that we cannot learn from each other. But we are responsible for our own relationship with God. We are to take the time to learn whatever we can from the Bible in order to serve our God in righteousness, truth, faith and love.
And by the way; we are ALL anointed. No one gets a SPECIAL anointing to be a miracle worker or to perform wonders. The least in the Kingdom of God has as much “anointing” as the highest ranking Christian.

Folklore Theology
Much of the Church today has what is called Folklore Theology. Their theology is based on traditions, myth and folklore. They uncritically and unreflectively construct a Bible View from what they have heard and not from what they have studied or researched. Very often unproved tradition plays a major role in their theology.
People who cling to this kind of theology tend to be most dogmatic because they cannot defend their position from the Scriptures. The elevated voice is a sure sign that they are guided by passion rather than by the truth. 

A simple example of Folklore Theology would be “What does Jesus look like?”
Anyone throughout the world if shown a picture of the Catholic “Jesus” would immediately recognize the picture as that of Jesus. But the real Jesus does not look like the Catholic Jesus.
The picture is embedded in our traditions and lore which almost anyone can recognize.
To have an uncritical acceptance of mans teaching is dangerous to spiritual growth.
Personally I come from a Pentecostal background (for which I am grateful), but now years later I realize that even in “Biblically solid” institutions there can be false theology.
When you invest so much time and energy into something that is in fact false, you are not willing to let it go. You become unwilling to reason and you would rather accept the comfort of the lie than embrace the harsh truth. The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.

The time has come when they do not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; wanting to soothe their consciences with sweet comforting words. They have turned their ears from the truth, and believe the fables of ministers who appear to be ministers of righteousness. This is the age of apostasy.
And so I would say to you the reader… “Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.” (2 Timothy 2:7)

Rapture – The common view
For the sake of time we will deal with the Pre-Tribulation Rapture only.
This as we understand it is an event that will take place before the Tribulation which will plunge the world into terrible chaos and God’s judgement will fall upon a wicked unbelieving and unrepentant world.
At some point in time we will hear a trumpet sounding and in the twinkling of an eye we will be “caught up” in the air to Christ.
The dead in Christ will be raised first and then we which are alive will join them in the air to be with our Saviour forever.
There are variations of this view such as Mid-Trib, Pre-Wrath etc., but the Pre-Trib Rapture is what we will be discussing here.

When will it be?
The timing of the Rapture has been the subject of many a book and numerous debates.
The Rapture, unlike the Second Coming is signless. Predicting the Rapture has inspired many a fertile mind with speculation and assumption. Date setting and wild supposition has done much harm within the Church because honest sincere people have believed (perhaps wanted to believe) that the Rapture would happen on a certain day. When nothing happened as set out by the “scholar,” they are disappointed and hurt because “God” did not show up as expected.

This attitude is immature and dangerous because God did not tell you that the Rapture would happen at such and such a time – the deceived “scholar” told you and you believed him or her. God had nothing to do with your own self-inflicted stupidity.
God has given you His word. Weigh everything and test everything against what God said, NOT what some deceived date setter has told you.

Rapture or Second Coming?
The biggest pitfall today when applying Bible verses to the Rapture Event is the misapplication of Scripture. There are verses in the Bible that refer to the Rapture of the Church AND there are verses that refer to the Second Coming of Christ. Often these verses are confused. One cannot muddle these two distinct events by applying the wrong Scripture to the wrong event.

Let us look at the verses and passages that are usually quoted as referring to the Rapture and those which refer to the Second Coming and compare them to what the Bible says.
Wise and foolish virgins
A good example of this would be the parable of the 10 virgins.
Many believe that five wise and five foolish virgins are the Church waiting for the groom (Jesus) who came at midnight. They incorrectly apply this parable to the Rapture of the Church. The fact is that these virgins are Tribulation Saints. They are not part of the Church which is no longer on the earth.

After the Rapture of the Bride of Christ many half-baked Christians will suddenly realize that they have missed it. Many will have been witnessed to and encouraged by friends and family. But they had rejected or ignored the warning signs all around them. Now they realize that everything these Christians were telling them was in fact true. Many will get saved because of the Rapture, but their salvation will cost them dearly.
(Perhaps this is the “Great Revival” expected by the Charismatic Movement. The great revival they speak of is not found in the Bible.)
As of right now salvation is a free gift from God.
To accept it is to have God living within you FOREVER. 

After the Rapture, “Church Age” salvation will come to an end and salvation will revert to the Old Testament style of salvation where you are not filled with the Holy Spirit.
Righteousness for the Christian right now is imputed to by Christ to all who believe in His death and resurrection. From the Tribulation onwards righteousness will have to be earned which is why the five foolish virgins had to “buy” oil. They did not have the infilling of the Holy Spirit as do Christians. They had to keep their garment clean by works. This is not so for the Christians today.

The hour or the day
People love to quote Mathew 24: 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
The same idea is found in…
Matthew24: 42 “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.”
Mathew 24: 44 “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
Matthew25: 13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.”
Are any of these verses speaking of the Rapture? The answer is NO!
This verse is speaking of the Second Coming. How do we know?

Firstly the context of the entire passage is the return of Christ at the Second Coming.

Secondly if this were about the Rapture, how can we balance it with 1Thessalonians 5:1 – 4 “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you.
2) For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. (Speaking of the Second Coming)
3) For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labour pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. (Speaking of the Second Coming)
4) But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.” (Which day?)

Ok, you might say, so if we are not in darkness when is the Rapture because I don’t know and the Bible says that I am not in darkness about it?
This is a fair question.
We know from study that we are without question in the last days. Even the atheist agree that the world is at a crossroad of sorts. We know for a certainty that 2000 years have passed since the Cross, Resurrection and Ascension.
Jesus is soon coming to rule as He promised. THIS IS FACT.
We certainly do not know the day of the Rapture, this is true. But if we are to believe what this verse says, we will be given notice of it beforehand. This verse suggests that like Noah and Lot we will be given notice that the Rapture Event is imminent.

What is the premise for such a statement?
Noah, a type of the Church was given notice before the rains came down.
* Enoch, a type of the Church knew that he was to be Raptured.
* Noah and his family (a type of the Church) was given seven days notice.
* Lot was given notice before Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.
* Although not a type of the Church, Elijah was also given notice of his imminent Rapture.

I have not found anywhere in the Bible that we will be given notice or warning of the Rapture.
However, if the patterns are the same and if the types given to us in the Word of God are to clue, there is no reason that we might be given some form of notice before the actual rapture Event. It would not be “unscriptural” to consider the possibility that God will do the same now as He did in the past.

Where is the promise of His coming?
2 Peter 3: 4 “…and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.'”
Never before has this verse been as fulfilled as it is today. Waiting for Christ to return means getting your life right before God.
It means walking in righteousness and faith.
It means walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.
It means restraint and obedience to the Word of God.
During the Tribulation there will be no restraint. Men will do as they please.
They will not even believe that there is a Christ. In fact, if they do, they will probably believe that the “Man of Sin” is the Christ.

“Where is the promise of His coming” applies to the Laodicean Church who is bloated with excess’ and false doctrine to the point that they do not want there to be a Rapture event.
A Rapture event would expose them and their lies; people who have supported them will probably turn on these false teachers when they realize that these old fashion Believers were right all along.

When you are comfortable in your existence and have need of nothing, a rapture event would ruin everything. Many anti Rapture teachers who scoff at the Rapture do not want it to be true. 2 Peter 3: 3 “…knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,”
2 Timothy 4: 3, 4 is another rather sobering passage which describes the present Laodicean Church perfectly… “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Two men in a field – one taken the other left
Luke 17: 34 – 36 “I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed: the one will be taken and the other will be left. Two women will be grinding together: the one will be taken and the other left. Two men will be in the field: the one will be taken and the other left.”
Again here this passage is used a Rapture passage but this passage is speaking of the Second Coming.

The word “taken” in this verse is NOT the word harpazo which describes the Rapture.
Here the Greek word is paralambano. It is used which means “to take into close association, ‘take (to oneself), take with/along,’ ” not always in a positive sense.
The word “left,” Greek aphiemi, on the other hand, means “leave, depart from … abandon.”
Taken where? Left to what purpose? The context in Luke is pretty vague.

When we look at the parallel in Matthew 24 we get a hint of what Jesus might have meant.
“But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
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, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come…”
(Matthew 24:37 – 42)

In Matthew, Jesus has just talked about Noah entering the ark. We know that he took his family and a pair of every animal with him. Those who are taken along with him are saved from the catastrophe, but those who are left are destroyed by the impending judgment.
“And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:31)
“And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.” (Mark 13:27)
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52)
“After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.”
(1 Thessalonians 4:17)
“Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers….” (2 Thessalonians 2:1)

The Gates of Hell
Jesus said in Matthew 16: 18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”
When Jesus said that the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the Church, it sounds like the Church is in a weak position with the gates of Hades getting an upper hand. If we read it correctly, it is the exact opposite that takes place. The Church is pounding the gates of Hades and it cannot stand against such a powerful force.

Now we read in Revelation13:7…”It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.”
So which is it? Do the saints overcome or are they overcome?
Both are correct. The problem is in understanding the word “saints.” The Church is made up of “saints.” But there are others apart from the Church who are also called saints.

For example there are Old Testament saints and then there are Tribulation saints.
These saints spoken of here in Revelation 13: 7 are the Tribulation saints. They are NOT part of the Church which has been removed from the earth in the Rapture Event.
Old Testament verses relating to the Rapture

In particular I would like us to look at Isaiah 26:19 – 21 “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.
20) Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by.
21) See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the bloodshed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer.”
The flood had already passed and the next judgment in which God pours down His wrath on man concerning the whole earth is in the last days.
I believe Isaiah 26:19-21 fits right in line with the Pre – Tribulation Rapture theory.
There is a crown for those who love His appearing. Why? Because if you love the idea of Jesus coming back right now, you are probably trying to live for Him and are excited to see His return.

Zepheniah 2:3 “Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD’s anger.”
Isaiah 24 is talking about the Tribulation.
Verse 21 speaks of binding Satan and his hordes.
Verse 23 speaks of the moon being confounded and the sun ashamed.

Often the chapter and verse divisions in the Bible can obstruct the train of thought being conveyed by the Holy Spirit. If we ignore the chapter divisions, we carry on into Isaiah 25 with the same thought and context. The first five verses of Isaiah 25 are a song.
They are a celebration of the final over throw of Babylon that will never be rebuilt.
Isaiah 25: 8 says “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.” 

Paul quotes this passage from Isaiah in 1 Corinthians 15: 52 – 54 “…in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53) For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54) So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.'”

Also we read in 1 Thessalonians 4:16
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.”
Let’s move onto verse 20 of Isaiah 26. It speaks about enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you. This could mean the Jewish people he is talking to could be hiding, possibly sealed, when the Lord displays His wrath. However, a verse that also comes to mind is this one.

John 14:2, 3 “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”
Does this indicate that we will go to be in our rooms, or mansions, as the KJV states?
Then after the wrath, we come down with God at the end of the Tribulation?
At the rapture you receive your resurrected body, so one could enjoy his new heavenly dwelling with a new body.

It makes no sense if God raises the dead for a new glorious life in which they are rejoicing, and then have to shield or protect them during His wrath.
Zepheniah 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 LORD’S anger.”
Psalm 27: 5 “For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.”

Hosea 6: 2 “After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”
The above scripture needs a little explanation. A day is as a thousand years to God.
2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

After the Jews rejected their Messiah 2000 years ago, God has put them aside while (they are temporary blinded) He deals directly with the Church.
(The Church and Israel are mutually exclusive.)
“After two days (2000 years) will He revive us: in the third day (the 1000 years of the millennium) He will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.”
Isaiah 57:1 “The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.”
Zepheniah 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 LORD’S anger.”

grayworxx@gmail.com

Thirty–Six Pre-Trib Rapture Texts

By Daymond Duck

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1) There are no passages in either the Old Testament or the New Testament that say the Church will go through the Tribulation Period.

2) The Tribulation Period is called the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” [The time of unbelieving Israel’s Trouble], but it is never called the time of the Church’s Trouble (Jer. 30:7).

3) Gabriel told Daniel, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people [Daniel’s people are the Jews] and upon thy holy city” [The Holy City is Jerusalem] (Dan. 9:24). There is no mention of the Church.

4) The Church had no part in the first sixty-nine weeks and it will have no part in the seventieth week [the Tribulation Period] (Dan. 9:24).

5) In the Book of Revelation, the Rapture occurs at Rev. 4:1 which is before the Tribulation Period described in Rev. 6:1-19:21. In the sequence of events, the Rapture is before the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments.

6) The Church is mentioned more than twenty times in the first three chapters of Revelation, but the Church is never mentioned in the description of the Tribulation Period between Rev. 4:1 and Rev. 19:1.

7) The Tribulation Period is called a Day of Wrath in the Bible (Zeph 1:15), but the Bible says, “God hath not appointed us [the Church] to wrath” (I Thess. 5:9).

8) The Tribulation Period is called a Day of Wrath in the Bible (Zeph. 1:15), but the Bible says, Jesus has “delivered us from the wrath to come” [delivered the Church from the Tribulation Period] (I Thess. 1:10).

9) The Tribulation Period is called the Day of the Lord in the Bible (Zeph. 1:14). The Bible says, “the day of the Lord [the Tribulation Period] so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they [the unbelievers] shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them [upon the unbelievers], as travail upon a woman with child; and they [the unbelievers] shall not escape” (I Thess. 5:2-3). It clearly teaches that the Tribulation Period will come upon unbelievers, but it does not include believers.

10) Concerning the Rapture, the Bible says, “Comfort one another with these words” (I Thess. 4:18). There’s no comfort in the teaching that the Church will go through part or all of the Tribulation Period.

11) Jesus told the Church at Philadelphia, “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation [the Tribulation Period], which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:10). God promised to keep the obedient Church members out of the Tribulation Period.

12) According to the Bible, the marriage of the Lamb will take place in heaven before Jesus comes back to fight the Battle of Armageddon at the end of the Tribulation Period (Rev. 19:7-21). This means the Church will go to heaven [be Raptured] for the marriage of the Lamb before the Second Coming.

13) The end of the age will be like the days of Noah (Matt. 24:37). Noah and his family were removed from the earth [got on the ark] before the flood. Some believe this means that the Church will be removed from the earth before the judgment of God [Raptured before the Tribulation Period] (Gen. 7:23).

14) The end of the age will be like the days of Lot (Luke 17:28). Lot and his family were removed from Sodom before the judgment of God [before the fire and brimstone fell] (Gen. 19:16). Some believe this means that the Church will be removed from the earth before the judgment of God [Raptured before the Tribulation Period].

15) Jesus was talking about the Tribulation Period when He said, “Pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass” (Luke 21:36). It seems unreasonable to believe Jesus would tell the Church to pray for something He is unwilling to grant.

16) The Bible says, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming” (II Thess. 2:7-8). The most common interpretation of this is that the Antichrist can’t be revealed until the Restrainer [who most commentators say is both the Holy Spirit and the Church] is removed. If the Restrainer is the Church only, this means the Church will be removed before the Antichrist is revealed [that’s the Pre-Trib. Rapture]. If the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit only so that the Holy Spirit is removed without the Church, this means believers will cease to be indwelt with the Holy Spirit. It also means the Church will be left behind to go through the worst time the earth has ever seen [the Tribulation Period] without the help of the Holy Spirit. This would contradict the teaching of Jesus when He said, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John 14:16). And, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb. 13:5).

17) Isaiah wrote that God said, “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain” (Isa. 26:19-21). Notice, that the dead rise first [that’s the Rapture], next God’s people are summoned to enter into His chambers for a short while until the indignation [a name of the Tribulation Period is past]. God will raise the dead and summon His people because He intends to punish the inhabitants of the earth [send the Tribulation Period].

18) Malachi wrote that God said, “They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not” (Malachi 3:17-18). Pre-Tribulation teachers believe God is saying He will come for His Church [the Rapture] and then He will return with His Church [the Second Coming] to judge between the righteous and wicked.

19) In the Rapture, Jesus comes for His Church (I Thess. 4:16-17; John 14:3). When He comes at the end of the Tribulation Period, He will come with His Church (I Thess. 3:13; Rev. 19:14).

20) Concerning the Second Coming, Jesus said, “But of the day and the hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matt. 24:36). But if the Church goes through the Tribulation Period, some will know the day because it will be seven years from the signing of the seven-year covenant. Some will know the day because it will be 1260 days from the day the Antichrist defiles the Temple (Rev. 12:6).

21) Concerning the Antichrist, many scholars believe the Bible teaches he won’t be revealed until after the Church is gone (II Thess. 2:6-8), but if the Church goes through the Tribulation Period, some will know who he is because he will sign the seven-year covenant (Dan. 9:24-27), he will head up the world government (Rev. 13:1-10), he will try to force multitudes to worship him, and to receive his mark, receive his name or his number (Rev. 13:15-17). Many of those who are here and being forced to worship him and take his name or die will know who he is.

22) The Antichrist is not supposed to be revealed until after the Church is gone (II Thess. 2:6-8), but if the Church goes through the Tribulation Period, the Church will know who the Antichrist is because he will put a statue of himself in the rebuilt Temple (Dan. 11:31; Dan. 12:11; Matt. 24:15).

23) If the Church goes through the Tribulation Period, the Church will know who the Antichrist is because he will head up the world government and receive a deadly wound to his head that will be healed (Rev. 13:3). Some think he will be raised from the dead or at least fake the resurrection.

24) If the Church goes through the Tribulation Period, the Church will know who the Antichrist is because he will head up the world government and be supported by the head of the world religion called the False Prophet (Rev. 13:11-18).

25) If the Church goes through the Tribulation Period, the Church will know who the Antichrist is because he’s the one that will kill the Two Witnesses (Rev. 11:7).

26) Many people don’t think the Church will go through the Tribulation Period because of verses of Scripture that say things like, “The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked he will destroy” (Psa. 145:18-20). Many believe God will preserve the Church from the Tribulation Period or keep the Church out of the Tribulation Period not destroy the Church in the Tribulation Period.

27) There are verses of Scripture that say things like, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it” (Deut. 4:2; Prov. 30:5-6; Rev. 22:18-19). Some believe people have to throw away verses of Scripture to believe the Church will go through the Tribulation Period.

28) In the seven letters to the seven churches, Jesus said, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” seven times (Rev. 2:7,11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). When we get to the Tribulation Period, Jesus said, “If any man have an ear, let him hear” (Rev. 13:9). He left out, “what the Spirit saith unto the churches” because there are no churches on earth to go through the Tribulation Period. The Church will be in heaven.

29) When the Rapture happens the Church goes up to meet Jesus in the air (I Thess. 4:13-18), but at the end of the Tribulation Period the Church will come down to the earth with Jesus to witness what He does at the Battle of Armageddon (Rev. 19:14-21).

30) The Pre-Tribulation Rapture is more consistent with God’s grace, love, mercy, compassion, etc. The Mid and Post-Tribulation Rapture is more consistent God’s wrath.

31) If the Rapture takes place at the end of the Tribulation Period, and all the wicked are removed from the earth at that time (Matt. 13:24-30, 47-50; 25:41), no one will be left to re-populate the earth during the Millennium. If all of the saved are Raptured and all the lost are removed from the earth at the end of the Tribulation Period, no one will be left to re-populate the earth.

32) The Antichrist will prevail against the saints during the Tribulation Period, but the gates of hell won’t prevail against the Church (Rev. 13:7; Matt. 16:18). Therefore, the Church won’t go through the Tribulation Period.

33) The twenty-four elders [representatives of the Church] will be in heaven before the seven-sealed scroll is broken (Rev. 4:4; 6:1-17).

34) Jesus was talking about the Tribulation Period when He said, “Pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass” (Luke 21:36). He didn’t say, “Pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to endure some or all of these things that shall come to pass.”

35) There are no signs of the Rapture, but if the Rapture takes place during the Tribulation Period, it would have to be after the seven-year covenant is signed by the Antichrist, and perhaps after several other things depending upon what a person believes about Mid-Trib, Post-Trib, etc.

36) Jesus said, “When these things [the signs] begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).He didn’t say, “After all these things have happened your redemption draweth nigh.” He said, “When these things begin to come to pass it’s close.”

Prophecy Plus Ministries
Daymond & Rachel Duck
daymondduck@bellsouth.net
rachelduck@bellsouth.net