Friends,
God bless you through reading His Holy words. This is a one of God’s messages
sent to me today by Sister Mick of Global Media Outreach. I share you in the
name of our Lord and Saviour Jesu Christ. Please study this.
The word
Rapture is not found in the Bible; it is a shorthand way of talking about
when Jesus comes to take His faithful followers off the earth to
meet Him in the air. The Greek for this can be translated snatching
up or catching up. Bible Scholars agree that 1) the Rapture will
occur and is not Christ’s Second Coming; 2) there is to be such great
devastation on the earth as has never occurred before, which the Bible
calls the Tribulation or Great Tribulation; and 3) Jesus is coming
physically to the earth again to inaugurate His thousand-year reign as
King of kings and Lord of lords, Head and Ruler of all the leaders of all
the governments of the earth.
Regarding
the Rapture itself, the Bible tells us: “For the Lord Himself will come
from heaven with a shout of command, 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, who are left, will be suddenly caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we
will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
and ”Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep
(in death), but we will all be changed - in a moment, in the blinking of
an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will
be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable
body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put
on immortality. Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable,and this
mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen,
‘Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15: 51-55)
What
the Bible scholars do not agree on is when the Rapture will occur in
relation to the Tribulation. There are basically three opinions on this:
1) Pre-Tribulation; 2) Mid-Tribulation; and 3) Post-Tribulation. The
Pastors and teachers whom I most respect believe in the Pre-Tribulation
theory, so that is what I will cover.
The Bible
in Daniel tells us that as he was praying, an angel brought a message to
him: “Seventy weeks have been determined concerning your people (the Jews)
and your holy city (Jerusalem) to put an end torebellion, to bring sin to
completion, to atone for iniquity, to bring in perpetual righteousness, to
seal up the prophetic vision, and to anoint a most holy place. So know and
understand: From the issuing of the command to restore and rebuild
Jerusalem until an anointed one, a prince arrives, there will be a period
of seven weeks (years) and sixty-two weeks (years). It will again be
built, with plaza and moat, but in distressful times. Now after the
sixty-two weeks, an anointed one (Jesus) will be cut off and have nothing
(Jesus crucified). As for the city and the sanctuary, the people of the
coming prince (the anti-Christ) will destroy them. But his end will
come speedily, like
a
flood. Until the end of the war that has been decreed, there will
be destruction (tribulation). He (anti-Christ) will confirm a
covenant with many for one week (7 years). But in the middle of that
week (3-1/2 years) he will bring sacrifices and offerings to a halt
(Jewish temple worship). On the wing of abominations will come one
who destroys (the anti-Christ and the Beast will operate in the power
of the devil), until the decreed end is poured out on the one
who destroys.” (Daniel 9:20-27)
Bible
scholars agree that 69 of the 70 prophesied weeks (490 years)
have
taken place and the last week (7 years) in which God deals with
Israel’s
apostasy is yet to occur. The Tribulation will occur on the earth during
that last prophesied week.
Those
that believe the Rapture will occur prior to the beginning of that time
believe that it is contrary to God’s nature to punish the followers of
Jesus along with unbelievers. Among others, they cite the following Bible
verses to substantiate their position:
”For
God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our
Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are alive or asleep
(in death), we will come to life together with Him.” (1 Thessalonians
5:9-10)
Jesus
said in Revelation 3:10: “Because you have kept my admonition to endure
steadfastly, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to
come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.”
Jesus
said in John 14:1-3: “Do not let your hearts be distressed. You believe in
God; believe also in Me. There are many dwelling places in My Father’s
house. Otherwise, I would have told you, because I am going to make
ready a place for you. And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will
come again and take you to be with me, so that where I am you may be too.”
”For
if God did not spare he angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and
locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment,
and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald
of righteousness, along with seven others (Noah’s family), when God
brought a flood on an ungodly world, and if he turned to ashes the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, having
appointed them to serve as an example to future generations of the
ungodly, and if He rescued Lot (and his two daughters), a righteous man in
anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless men, (for while he lived
among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his
righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard), if so, then the
Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the
unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment, especially those who
indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority.”(2 Peter 2:4-10)
”There
is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For
the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from
the law of sin an death. For God achieved what the law could not do
because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, He condemned sin in the
flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in
us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
(Romans 8:1-4)
The
Bible tells us that Jesus said that no one knows the day or the hour
except the Father. But Jesus gave us signs to look for as the ”beginning
of birth pangs” prior to the Rapture. We are to look for earthquakes of
greater than usual severity, often with devastating tsunamis, for wide
spread famine and economic ills, for plagues of deadly diseases. We have
had these to some degree or another for hundreds of years, but what we did
not have before is Israel as a nation once again. My Pastor, looking at
world events, believes that Jesus is likely to be coming very, very soon.
He is urging people to get right with God and stay right with Him; and to
look up “for our redemption draws near.”
I
hope this helps you understand the Rapture. Please write back and let me
know if you found this interesting or if you have any questions, concerns
or prayer requests. I look forward to hearing from you.
You
haven’t told me if you want any other of the materials I’ve input to my
word processor, and if yes, which study. Almost everything I send
you is under copyright, so you would need to re-write the material into
your own words. (The Topical Bible Study Lessons are from an old
[1970’s] Bible so I don’t suppose that material is still under copyright.)
You have put together a great site, Lalkam! May our Lord continue
to bless you, your family, and your efforts to spread His good Word!
Love
in Jesus,
Mick
