THE RAPTURE JOHN 14: 1-3 “ I will come again! “ Here’s the scenario. + Jesus is coming at a time of peace and yet in the midst of war 1 Thess.5:3 Revel.19:11-21 + He is coming when no one would expect Him and yet He comes when all of the prophesied signs have been displayed to the world and even anti-Christ knows He’s about to come Matt.24:44 Revel.16:16-21 Revel. 1:7 + He comes when judgment is the last thing anyone on earth would expect and yet He comes to a world very aware that God’s wrath and judgment are being poured out Luke 21:34-36 Revel.6:15-17 How do we reconcile these contrary statements? Because they’re referring to 2 separate events THE RAPTURE & THE SECOND COMING At the Rapture Christ comes FOR His saints at a time of peace and normality and at the Second Coming He comes WITH His saints to rescue Israel at Armageddon and set up His Millennium reign in Jerusalem 10 SIGNS THAT WE ARE IN THE LAST OF THE END-TIMES
A world war started by one nation and joined by many followed by pestilence, famines, and earthquakes in several places at the same time.
After 1500 years without a homeland the Jewish people were recognised as a nation in 1948
Russia was on her knees under Yeltsin but she has become a world force again and even now is arming Arab nations against Israel
We live in the Information Age
They dominate media, education and politics
The power of the Catholic Church and Ecumenism
Since the establishment of the UN in 1945 there has been a move towards this. See it now in the increasing powers of the European Union NB: Killer earthquakes have increased decade on decade over the last hundred years as well as floods and famines. The earth is gearing up for God’s judgments In Rev. 11:9 the 2 Prophets are hated so much that eventually people kill them and they’re left in the street for all the world to see! Until recently this was impossible but modern technology has enabled this BACK TO THE RAPTURE In Revel.19:14 we find Jesus coming to earth at Armageddon to rescue Israel accompanied by the armies which were in Heaven “ clothed in fine linen, clean and white.” Just before this in Revel.19:7-9 we have the Marriage Supper of the Lamb where the Bride (the Church) is clothed in fine linen, clean and white. The saints could hardly be part of the armies of Heaven if they had never been there! But they have been there which means that the Church has already been raptured before the end of the Tribulation. Of vital importance regarding the Rapture of the Church prior to the Tribulation is the fact that the world will never be unified under one head without an unprecedented cataclysmic global disaster. Jews and Arabs, Hindus and Buddhists, all factions of religion reconciled and all ethnic and tribal hatreds removed? What could end nationalism and warring and cause the entire world to unite in a new world govt and a new world religion and to submit suddenly to the leadership of the anti-Christ as world dictator? The Rapture! Millions of people from every nation and background gone without trace. That’s the scenario and that’s when the theories will abound of Alien snatching etc and the world in fear will unite. We need to understand that Jesus’ First Coming fulfilled dozens of Old Testament prophecies and that the Rapture and Second Coming will fulfil the rest. Why were such prophecies given? + To show that God is in control of events and cares for us. History is HIS STORY. + Prophecy proves who the Messiah is. Anti-Christ will try to pass himself off as Christ but a knowledge of prophecy will reveal the lie Ignorance of prophecy caused the religious leaders to crucify Jesus. Neglect of prophecy will lead many to be deceived by the anti-Christ. Jesus criticised the leaders of His day for failing to recognise the signs of the times in which they lived. (Luke 12: 54-56) That same accountability is ours today. In Luke 21:28 Jesus said: “When these things begin to take place stand up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near. “ When in response to His disciples request for signs of His return Jesus gave a long list of events and then said “ All these are the beginning of birth pains.” (Matthew 24:8) So the things Jesus talks about will increase in frequency and intensity ahead of His return and this is what we see today AMAZING PROPHECY FROM DANIEL CHAPTER 9 Daniel Chapter 9 is one of the most amazing passages in the Bible. In studying Jeremiah Daniel has understood that the Jewish captivity in Babylon was to last 70 years and then they would be free to return to their homeland. Why 70 years? God had made a covenant with Israel that carried a penalty for its violation and Israel had failed to fulfil her obligations. How? When God first brought them into the Promised land He instructed them to keep the 7th year as a Sabbath of rest for the land. (Leviticus 25:1-7) Also every 7th year all Hebrew slaves were to be released and debts cancelled. ( Exodus 21:2 Deut. 15:12 ) But as the armies of Nebuchadnezzar invaded them Jeremiah underlined their sin. (Jeremiah 34:13-14) For 490 years Israel had failed to obey God’s law on the 7th year Sabbath. So Israel owed God 70 years (490 divided by 7) of Sabbaths that she had failed to keep. For 70 years the Jews would be slaves and the land would enjoy the 70 Sabbaths owing to God. So Daniel seeks God in repentance and prayer and God speaks to him. Another period of 490 years will lie ahead for Israel before the Messiah will ascend to David’s throne.( Daniel 9:24 ) An understanding of these verses is essential if we are to gain insight into the timing for the Rapture and Second Coming. These 70 weeks of years are specifically stated to be “decreed for your people and your holy city.” The 70 weeks are divided as follows: 7 weeks, 62 weeks and 1 week. Why? The first 7 weeks of years, 49, is probably that exact period until Malachi wrote the last of the Old Testament in 397B.C. To understand the 62 weeks which added to the 7 makes 69 and the 1 week we need to go back to the time when these 70 weeks began. Daniel is given precise detail in Verse 25. “ From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem.” This was when Nehemiah received such a decree from King Artaxerxes in Persia. (Nehemiah 2:1-8) Artaxerxes reign began in 465B.C. So the 20th year of his reign was 445 B.C. That Nehemiah didn’t specify another day in the month indicates as was the custom that he was referring to the first day. So here is the date for the 7 sevens and 62 sevens that Daniel is given. Counting 483 years (69 times 7) of 360 days each which was the Hebrew and Babylonian calendar of that time, 173,880 days brings us to April 6th AD 32, probably the day Jesus made His entry into Jerusalem on a donkey! WOW! When Jesus rode into Jerusalem He was fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 On this precise day foretold 500 years before, Jesus revealed Himself to Israel as the Messiah before being rejected and killed which was also foretold! THE FINAL WEEK As foretold the 69 weeks of years were climaxed by Jesus being hailed as Messiah and then betrayed and crucified. Thereafter Jerusalem and the temple were to be destroyed once again which is what happened in AD 70 (Daniel 9:26) But what of the final week of years? The climax of these 70 weeks of years is described by Daniel in verse 24 when the Messiah will reign as King of Kings in Jerusalem. Jesus isn’t yet reigning in Jerusalem so this prophecy is still to happen. Something has caused the delay. Everything that is to occur in that final 7 year period revolves around a man who has not yet appeared on the scene, “the ruler who will come.” Daniel gives us more information about this ruler in verse 27: “ He will confirm a covenant with many for one seven.” It was the armies of Rome which destroyed Jerusalem and the temple and the people of this empire are to be the people of this coming ruler. The Roman Empire will be revived in the last days. Daniel 7:23-24 prophesies that there will be 10 rulers over this final kingdom and the anti-Christ will be over them all. What is this covenant? Since the entire 70 weeks of years involve Israel it appears that the anti-Christ will make a covenant with them but in the middle of it he will go back on his word. Daniel 9:27 states that there will be a renewal of sacrifice at the rebuilt temple but then anti-Christ will set up an idolatrous image in the temple for all to worship. So many people will be deceived by anti-Christ. He will at first bring peace to the Middle East and so Israel will accept him as her Messiah but he will become their deadliest enemy as he turns against them and it will lead to a time of great distress for the Jews, the time of “Jacob’s trouble.” (Jeremiah 30:7) With Israel’s rejection of Jesus as her Messiah a new era dawned. Jesus called it “the times of the Gentiles which had to be fulfilled. Only then would Israel be liberated from Gentile influence. (Luke 21:24) Israel would be blind to the Gospel during this time. Just before His death Jesus told His disciples that He was forming a new entity which had never existed before. He called it His Church. (Matthew 16:18) It would be made up of all people. Since Christ’s death and resurrection the Church has been God’s focus in this world. She is His instrument of evangelism, His light and salt, calling people to repent and to be reconciled to God through Christ. During this time Israel was a wandering people without a homeland, scattered, under God’s judgment, but not forgotten. In 1948 Israel became a nation once again but she still doesn’t recognise Jesus as her Messiah nor will she until Christ rescues her at Armageddon. The Church then stands in the way of God’s final dealings with Israel. The formation of the Church marked the suspension of the 70th week and her removal will start the time clock of the final week of years. PREPARING A BRIDE FOR WAR AND TO REIGN When the Church is raptured then each one of us must come before Christ’s judgment seat to give an account for our lives. (2 Corinth.5:10 1 Corinth.3:12-15 ) After this cleansing work Jesus will want to spend time with His bride. In Jesus’ day the bride was taken to the father’s house where bride and groom were in seclusion for 7 days. Here we have that last week again! The Tribulation period. At the end of that time there is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb where the bride is clothed in white. All of the above will happen over that 7 year Tribulation period. For those who think that the Rapture and the Second coming are one event the above timetable is impossible. It’s hardly the way to treat a bride to catch her up momentarily and then bring her abruptly back into the middle of the most destructive war in earth’s history! 1 Thessal. 5:9 states that Christians will not experience God’s wrath in the end times which will be poured out on the earth in the Tribulation period. In Revel. 19:11 we find Christ coming to earth at Armageddon with the armies of Heaven “dressed in fine linen, white and clean. “ Such a phrase has just been given to the bride, the Church, so the bride must have been in Heaven prior to this. IMMINENCY Titus 2:11-13 encourages us to live lives for God in the light of His coming. Jesus’ coming again is our hope. Paul tells Titus to literally “ look for “ Jesus’ coming. This proves that no sign or event can precede this or else we’d be looking for that first. The Christian’s hope is to be rescued from the worst devastation the world has ever known. Matthew Chapter 25 warns against complacency and apathy which is where so much of the church is now. How many of us live each day believing that Christ could return that day? What about Matthew 24:29-31? The coming described here takes place after the Tribulation and is accompanied by unmistakable signs visible to all mankind. What about the gathering of the elect? This is totally different from being taken up into the air. So who are the elect here? Israel. They will be gathered by the angels from every part of the earth and taken to Israel where Christ has arrived to destroy anti-Christ and to set up His kingdom. All surviving Jews who have not yet returned to Israel will be gathered there to meet their Messiah. Daniel’s 70th week can’t start until the Church is removed. The saints must have been previously taken to Heaven in order to come from there with Christ at the Second Coming. Anti-Christ could not assume power without the Rapture terrifying the whole world into uniting under him. In 2 Thessal. 2:6-8 Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit holding back the anti-Christ until the Holy Spirit is removed. What does this mean? The Holy Spirit and the Church have a unique relationship. Ephesians:2: 22 1 Corinth. 6:19 God the Holy Spirit is present in this world now in a unique way that was not true before the Church was formed nor will be so after the Church is removed in the Rapture. When the Church is taken to Heaven that special presence of the Holy Spirit will also be removed though He will be here as God omnipresent. The Church wouldn’t tolerate the anti-Christ for a moment. She would expose his identity proving it from Scripture and oppose him. Then the anti-Christ would wipe out the Church but God has promised that this will not happen. Matthew 16:18 Those who are killed in the Tribulation are Christians who will not accept the mark of the beast who have come to faith during this time. Jesus’ return will be sudden and unknown. Matthew 24: 36,44 1 Thessal.5:2 This must be the Rapture because the time of Jesus’ Second Coming will be known. Daniel 9:27 states that the anti-Christ will break his covenant with Israel midway through that final 7 years so you only have to count 1260 days to know when Christ will return. In Revel.11:3,7 we are told that God’s two witnesses are killed 1260 days into the last week of years so you’d only need to count 1260 days to arrive at the date of the Second Coming. The Rapture can’t occur midway through the Tribulation or at the end of the Tribulation because we’ll know when these are! He could come at any time! The hope of Christ’s imminent return causes us to reach out to others more urgently and to live each day in the light of Jesus’ coming. This is our challenge! Will you take it up? Since 1948 when Israel returned to Her land and was miraculously protected by God from being destroyed by the Arab nations God’s end-time clock has been ticking. How long to the Rapture? Soon!
|