The Day of the Lord and Dispelling the Myth of The Pre-Tribulation Rapture.

TLDR at the bottom.


The Day of the Lord is a day of sudden and total destruction of God's enemies.

[Isa 13:6-13 NASB95] 6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is near! It will come as destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore all hands will fall limp, And every man's heart will melt. 8 They will be terrified, Pains and anguish will take hold of [them;] They will writhe like a woman in labor, They will look at one another in astonishment, Their faces aflame. 9 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. 10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light. 11 Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. 12 I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold And mankind than the gold of Ophir. 13 Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts In the day of His burning anger.

[1Th 5:2-3 NASB95] 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.

[2Pe 3:10 NASB95] 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

Jesus confirmed in the Olivet Discourse that the darkening of the Sun and Moon, associated with the Day of the Lord, will happen after the tribulation, and will alert everyone to the Day of the Lord. This will mark the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[Mat 24:29-30 NASB95] 29 "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. 30 "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.

[Mar 13:24-27 NASB95] 24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26 "Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory. 27 "And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

Paul explains that our resurrection happens on our Lord's return.

[1Th 4:15-17 NASB95] 15 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. 16 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. 17 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.

Paul further indicated that the Day of the Lord is the day of our salvation and resurrection.

[1Co 5:5 NASB95] 5 [I have decided] to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

[Rom 8:19, 23 NASB95] 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. ... 23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for [our] adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

TLDR: After carefully reading the scriptures presented here, it should be clear that the Day of the Lord is when Jesus returns. Every eye will see. The "rapture" or resurrection of the Body of Christ happens only at this point, which is at the end of the tribulation.

~' The painkiller will be swift into the night, the redeemer of souls will shine gold in the clouds and lay waste to the wicked. This Man is Jesus Christ, The Almighty!

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

I agree. It looks like all the believers will have to go through their wilderness. No one gets a free ride, except Enoch, of course.

They're going to witness it all and feel it all. Not even Noah was unscathed.

...and it's going to be bad. Really, really bad.

a reply to: Timber13

Enoch had to tolerate 365 years of who knows what before God took him. We get 80 years, at best. It's not the worst deal.

I really don't think the tribulation will happen in our lifetime. We still have about three to four more generations to go. That's not to say it's all fun and games until then.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest
Fully agreed. Rapture theory is one of the MANY modern examples of what happens when people take Biblical words, phrases, and sentences out of context and try to interpret them in isolation. in this case, reading Paul's statement that we will rise to meet the Lord, and not reading about WHEN we rise to meet the Lord.

a reply to: DISRAELI

About a decade ago, I remember trying to convince you of the pre-tribulation rapture. I even got frustrated with you. Needless to say, I was wrong, and I was seeing only what I wanted to see. I appreciate your comment.

The word “rapture” is understood by some persons, but not by all, to be the meaning of 1 Thessalonians 4:17. The word “rapture” does not occur in the inspired Scriptures.

When the apostle Paul said that Christians would be “caught up” to be with the Lord, what subject was being discussed?

1 Thess. 4:13-18, RS: “We would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep [“those who sleep in death,” NE; “those who have died,” TEV, JB], that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall 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.” (Evidently some members of the Christian congregation in Thessalonica had died. Paul encouraged the survivors to comfort one another with the resurrection hope. He reminded them that Jesus was resurrected after his death; so, too, at the coming of the Lord, those faithful Christians among them who had died would be raised to be with Christ.)

Who are the ones that will be ‘caught up in the clouds,’ as stated at 1 Thessalonians 4:17?

Verse 15 explains that they are faithful ones “who are left until the coming of the Lord,” that is, they are still living at the time of Christ’s coming. Will they ever die? According to Romans 6:3-5 and 1 Corinthians 15:35, 36, 44 they must die before they can gain heavenly life. But there is no need for them to remain in the death state awaiting Christ’s return. They will instantly be “caught up,” “in the twinkling of an eye,” to be with the Lord.—1 Cor. 15:51, 52, RS; also Revelation 14:13.

Will Christ appear visibly on a cloud and then take away faithful Christians into the heavens while the world looks on?

Did Jesus say whether the world would see him again with their physical eyes?

John 14:19, RS: “Yet a little while, and the world will see me no more, but you [his faithful disciples] will see me; because I live, you will live also.” (Italics added.) (Compare 1 Timothy 6:16.)

What is the meaning of the Lord’s ‘descending from heaven’?

Could the Lord “descend from heaven,” as stated at 1 Thessalonians 4:16, without being visible to physical eyes? In the days of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah, Jehovah said that he was going to “go down to see” what the people were doing. (Gen. 18:21, RS) But when Jehovah made that inspection, no human saw him, although they did see the angelic representatives that he sent. (John 1:18) Similarly, without having to return in the flesh, Jesus could turn his attention to his faithful followers on earth to reward them.

In what sense, then, will humans “see” the Lord “coming in a cloud”?

Jesus foretold: “Then they will see the Son of man [Jesus Christ] coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” (Luke 21:27, RS) In no way does this statement or similar ones in other texts contradict what Jesus said as recorded at John 14:19. Consider: At Mount Sinai, what occurred when God ‘came to the people in a thick cloud,’ as stated at Exodus 19:9? (RS) God was invisibly present; the people of Israel saw visible evidence of his presence, but none of them actually saw God with their eyes. So, too, when Jesus said that he would come “in a cloud,” he must have meant that he would be invisible to human eyes but that humans would be aware of his presence. They would “see” him with their mental eyes, discerning the fact that he was present.

Is it possible for Christians to be taken to heaven with their physical bodies?

1 Cor. 15:50, RS: “I tell you this, brethren: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.”

Does the experience of the prophet Elijah contradict this? Not at all. It must be understood in the light of Jesus’ clear statement centuries later: “No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of man.” (John 3:13, RS) Although Elijah was seen as he “went up by a whirlwind into heaven,” this does not mean that he went into the spirit realm. Why not? Because he is later reported as sending a letter of reproof to the king of Judah. (2 Ki. 2:11, RS; 2 Chron. 21:1, 12-15) Before humans invented airplanes, Jehovah there used his own means (a fiery chariot and a whirlwind) to lift Elijah off the ground into the heaven where the birds fly and to transport him to another place.—Compare Genesis 1:6-8, 20.

Will faithful Christians perhaps be taken to heaven secretly, simply disappearing from the earth without dying?

Rom. 6:3-5, RS: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? . . . For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” (What occurred in the case of Jesus set the pattern. His disciples as well as others knew he had died. He was not restored to heavenly life until after his death and resurrection.)

1 Cor. 15:35, 36, 44, RS: “Some one will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’ You foolish man! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body.” (So death comes before one receives that spiritual body, does it not?)

Will all faithful Christians be taken miraculously from the earth by the Lord before the great tribulation?

Matt. 24:21, 22: “Then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world’s beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short.” (This does not say that “the chosen ones” will all have been taken to heaven before the great tribulation, does it? Rather, it holds out the prospect to them, along with associates in the flesh, of surviving that great tribulation on earth.)

Rev. 7:9, 10, 14, RS: “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!’ . . . ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation.’” (To “come out” of something a person must go into it or be in it. So this great multitude must be persons who actually experience the great tribulation and come out of it as survivors.)

What protection will there be for true Christians during the great tribulation?

Rom. 10:13, RS: “Every one who calls upon the name of the Lord [“Jehovah,” NW] will be saved.”

Zeph. 2:3, RS: “Seek the LORD [“Jehovah,” NW, AS, Yg, By], all you humble of the land, who do his commands; seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the wrath of the LORD.” (Also Isaiah 26:20)

Will all true Christians perhaps be taken to heaven after the great tribulation?

Matt. 5:5, RS: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Ps. 37:29, RS: “The righteous shall possess the land [“earth,” Ro, NW], and dwell upon it for ever.” (Also verses 10, 11, 34)

1 Cor. 15:50, RS: “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” (also see Myth 3: All Good People Go to Heaven, from the article series: One Myth Leads to Another)

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

A quick answer to when the rapture happens. Obviously it happens as part of the 6th seal of Revelation. Apparently much of the first 5 seals goes unnoticed by most of humanity. But when the 6th seal is opened it's obvious to everyone that something is going on. Then at the end of the description of the 6th seal you have this.


Revelation 7
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

It's pretty obvious the great multitude is the raptured. And it wasn't there at the start of the opening of the seals.
And then it's obvious this from Matthew 24 is a companion prophecy describing the same event from another viewpoint.

27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Some might consider this pre-trib since to them it appears to happen out of the blue. One minute everything's normal then 5 minutes later you're having a world wide earthquake and the sky is doing amazing things on top of millions of people dying or vanishing. Matthew 24 does also say the following.


37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
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,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

To many people their first sign something is going one is the earthquake and signs in the sky.

a reply to: ntech

Some might consider this pre-trib since to them it appears to happen out of the blue. One minute everything's normal then 5 minutes later you're having a world wide earthquake and the sky is doing amazing things on top of millions of people dying or vanishing. Matthew 24 does also say the following.

If you look closely at the sixth seal along with Matt 24:27-31 and the corresponding verses from Isaiah 13:6-13, it becomes abundantly clear that these events all happen at the end of the tribulation. The seven seal are basically the "trailer" for the tribulation before the act actually begins. This is a common writing style in the Bible.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: Timber13

Enoch had to tolerate 365 years of who knows what before God took him. We get 80 years, at best. It's not the worst deal.

I really don't think the tribulation will happen in our lifetime. We still have about three to four more generations to go. That's not to say it's all fun and games until then.

I'm afraid you're wrong on the timing of things here. Put simply if you managed to figure out the fig tree parables then you realize the warning Jesus Christ makes about the nation of Israel.

Explained simply the warning is that when you see a nation of Israel know that the end times is near. Even at the door.

Matthew 24
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Mark 11

13And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
14And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
*
20And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.
21And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.

Luke 13
6He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.
7Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?
8And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:
9And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.

Hosea 6
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

2nd Peter 3
8But, 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.

Israel according to Hosea was to face a 2000 year curse. And the Matthew 24 fig tree parable is a warning that when Israel reappears in the world their curse is almost over. And the "End Times" it appears is all about the end of the curse. And the 2000th anniversary of the death of Jesus Christ is in 2033.

So all things considered the end times started on May 14 1948 when Israel was reborn. Happy 75th Israel/End times.

a reply to: ntech

I'm afraid you're wrong on the timing of things here. Put simply if you managed to figure out the fig tree parables then you realize the warning Jesus Christ makes about the nation of Israel.

The parable of the fig tree has to do with Israel when the temple is fully built, rededicated, and the sacrifices are being offered. That is when the 70th Week begins and when the fig tree puts forth leaves. Test scripture with scripture. Not according to worldly national events that come and go.

Hosea 6
Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

Yes, I agree with you on Hosea 6:2, but you need to take it in conjunction with John 2:19. We're the Body of Christ too, so the two days from Hosea 6 do not start counting from the cross, but from the death of the apostles, which resulted in the Church going into apostasy and being broken into denominations. When we are resurrected, the Church overcomes the gates of Hades. The third day would then correspond to the millennial reign, after which the Church is exulted as the temple on New Jerusalem.

[Jhn 2:19 NASB95] 19 Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

With all this taken into consideration, the earliest that the Lord would return would be 2070 or 2094 AD, but I think there's more time to be accounted for, which requires too much background information to explain here.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

One problem here. There's more than one tribulation in the end times.

Matthew 24
28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29Immediately after thetribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

There's a tribulation that occurs before the 6th seal and most of Revelation. The 6th seal of Revelation itself would be considered a tribulation.

When the elder of Revelation 7 said great tribulation he was saying great tribulation in general. Not the event called the Great Tribulation.

As I see it there's several time periods to the End Times all of which end at the 1000 year reign of the saints. they would be as so.

The lifetime of the generation of Matthew 24-34. Started on May 14 1948 and should last approximately 75-85 years.

Then the 7 year agreement of Daniel 9. Starts 7 years out from the reign of the saints.

Then the 3.5 years of the Anti-Christ. This is the "Great Tribulation".

The seals appear to happen before the 7 year agreement.

Then the trumpet seals start opening in the 7 year agreement time frame. And the Thunders and Bowls happens in the 3.5 years of the Anti-Christ.

So the bulk of the Raptured get to watch the End Times happen from the cheap seats. Then it would appear there would be the random end time saints that get killed for various reasons and they get individual raptures of their own.

So multiple tribulations and multiple raptures. But there will be a fair sized number of people that live all the way through the end times and make it to the 1000 year reign of the saints.

a reply to: ntech

The tribulation I'm referring to is the 70th Week. The sixth seal, darkening of the Sun and moon, etc., and the Day of the Lord all happen at the end of the 70th Week, which is also when the rapture happens. I don't know where you're getting all these other ideas from, but its not the Bible. The tribulation that peaked in 70 AD is not relevant here; neither are any other tribulations. We're talking about the Day of the Lord, which follows the 70th Week.

The modern Israeli state is just a secular national entity. Until the temple is built, dedicated, and fully functional, it has no prophetic significance. The 7-year agreement is not an agreement, but is the Old Covenant being strengthened again. That's what the Hebrew text literally says. It's being strengthened so that when Jesus returns, the latter rains of the Holy Spirit will be poured out on the remnant of Israel who believe only when they see him: Then, with the Holy Spirit, they will keep the Law during the 1,000-year reign. This was the originally disclosed reason for the New Covenant.

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

The problem here on timing the Apocalypse is this event from Matthew 24.

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

This is the very first fig leaf or end time event. And it's supposed to happen after this one.

6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8All these are the beginning of sorrows.

World War 2 ended in August of 1945. Israel became a nation in May of 1948. Therefore the very first fig leaf opened on or before May 14 1948. The "generation" will be 75 years old at a minimum on May 14 2023.

And on the 3 days of John 2-19? Remember what Revelation 21 says about New Jerusalem.
22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

So New Jerusalem descends to Earth 3000 years after the death of Jesus Christ? Then March of 2033 should be the end of the Apocalypse. 2000 years after his death and the start of the 1000 year reign of the saints.

a reply to: ntech

The problem here on timing the Apocalypse is this event from Matthew 24.

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

The 144,000 are the one's who carry the gospel into all of Israel and the rest of the world at that time, then the end comes.

World War 2 ended in August of 1945. Israel became a nation in May of 1948. Therefore the very first fig leaf opened on or before May 14 1948. The "generation" will be 75 years old at a minimum on May 14 2023.

There have been wars and rumors of wars since Jesus died. WWII was nothing special, and again, the modern state of Israel is not prophetically relevant.

And on the 3 days of John 2-19? Remember what Revelation 21 says about New Jerusalem.
22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

We are the Body of Christ. We are in union with him, and through us, he is on earth. So the Lord is the temple of New Jerusalem with us in him.

[Rev 3:12 NASB95] 12 'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.

[1Th 4:17 NASB95] 17 ... so we shall always be with the Lord.

So New Jerusalem descends to Earth 3000 years after the death of Jesus Christ? Then March of 2033 should be the end of the Apocalypse. 2000 years after his death and the start of the 1000 year reign of the saints.

No. You're counting from the cross, when you should be counting from the death of the apostles. They were the foundation of the Church, with Jesus as the cornerstone. Without them, we have no one to properly ordain elders and overseers to manage congregations. This is why we're broken into thousands of heretical denominations. So at the earliest, its 2070 AD, not 2033; but like I said, there is more time to be accounted for.

It clearly states there will be a huge war that an Airforce of Angels from heaven coming to defeat the army of Satan and start the 1000 year reign of Christ. The non believers will be resurrected after that and proceed to the final phase where Satan and his minions are cast into the lake of fire never to be resurrected again.

Maybe that means they will cease to exist while the souls of the rest of us continue for perpetuity in our new bodies of light. The mudpit on ATS will be empty of nasty people who offend the unprepared if that happens.

originally posted by: BELIEVERpriest
a reply to: ntech

Some might consider this pre-trib since to them it appears to happen out of the blue. One minute everything's normal then 5 minutes later you're having a world wide earthquake and the sky is doing amazing things on top of millions of people dying or vanishing. Matthew 24 does also say the following.

If you look closely at the sixth seal along with Matt 24:27-31 and the corresponding verses from Isaiah 13:6-13, it becomes abundantly clear that these events all happen at the end of the tribulation. The seven seal are basically the "trailer" for the tribulation before the act actually begins. This is a common writing style in the Bible.

38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Matthew 24 : 38 - 41 .

a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

I believe there are merits for all 3 scenarios (Pre, Mid, End)

But, again it is speculative to know which is true.


PREPARE for any of the 3 possibilities.

I agree and it is my belief that the rapture will no occure until after the tribulations.
I also realize I may be wrong.
Best advice, be ready for all contingencies.

originally posted by: infolurker
a reply to: BELIEVERpriest

I believe there are merits for all 3 scenarios (Pre, Mid, End)

But, again it is speculative to know which is true.


PREPARE for any of the 3 possibilities.

This.

We should all be watchful and spiritually prepared. God comes for us when He will and not on our timetable. Any of us could drop over dead at any time. Knowing that, it is the wisest course to always be ready for Him to come.

This course prepares you NO MATTER WHAT. Whether we are talking about our natural end in this life or the Rapture or the End of Days and White Throne Judgment.