Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember
(speaking to us here and now) the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no
other; I am God, and there is none like me. 10 I make known the end from the
beginning, from ancient times,
what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do
all that I please.
In other words, the Old Testament
is not just a book about history. It is
much more – a prophetic shadow picture to what will happen – even the end of
days.
Concerning a
pre-tribulation rapture
Many of my Christian friends believe that Messiah (Jesus)
will come and remove them from this present life before the time of ‘Jacob’s
trouble’ (the day of the Lord – tribulation).
And though I’ve not had any understanding to this debate for most of my life,
in the last several months Holy Spirit has been preparing me to ready his
peoples for a ‘great awakening’ – even a time of trouble that no man has seen
to date, nor will ever see again.
To be ready and prepared – to have our faith ‘perfected’ –
to learn to live in the supernatural peace of God in the midst of that great
and dreadful day of the Lord, holds a most critical understanding. For those who have eyes let them see and for
those who have ears let them hear.
Here are a few scripture verses that I submit for your
prayerful study and consideration.
Please note that parenthesis and bold are mine.
Matthew 13:24-30 Another parable put he forth unto them,
saying, The kingdom of God is
likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25But while men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26But when
the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
27So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou
sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto
them, An enemy hath done this. The
servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29But he said, No; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat
with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather
the wheat into my barn.
Note that
the tares are gathered first.
The word of God says that the evil
are gathered before the righteous
are gathered.
Matthew 24:37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be. 38For as in the days that were before the flood they (the wicked) were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered
into the ark, 39And [they] knew not until the flood came, and took them (the wicked) all away; so shall also (the same thing will happen) the coming of the Son of man be. 40Then shall
two be in the field; the one shall be taken
(the wicked - as in the days
of Noah), and the other left. 41Two
women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken (the wicked - as in the days of Noah), and the other left.
In order
to not contradict Matthew 13:24-30 we need to realize that just as Noah was
left on earth to fulfill God’s plan, so too will the righteous be left to
fulfill God’s plan. In other words, as
in the days of Noah, the righteous were left, but the wicked were removed.
Matthew 13:36-43 Then Jesus sent the multitude away,
and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto
us the parable of the tares of the
field. 37He answered and said unto them, He
that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38 The field is the
world; the good seed are the children
of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39 The
enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40As
therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. 41The Son of man shall send
forth his angels, and they shall gather out
of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity; 42And
shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth. 43Then
shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who
hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Once
again, we have scripture lining up with scripture. The children of righteous will not be taken,
but left to shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
Matthew 24:13-21
But he that shall endure unto the end,
(end of tribulation) the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in
all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come (no mention of a rapture here). When ye
therefore shall see (that means we’ll be here to see it) the
abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy
place, (whoso readeth, let him understand;) (Jesus
is speaking to you and me) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into
the mountains: But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on
the sabbath day; For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be.
In other words, we have to be here
in order to see these things happening.
And when we see these things happening, “then” shall be great
tribulation.
At no time has Jesus even hinted at
taking his children out of the world.
Matthew 24:29
–30 Immediately after the tribulation of those days (this
means we are now in a post-tribulation era) 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: And then (after tribulation) shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then (after tribulation)
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. (This is the second
coming of Messiah, and there is only one second coming) (see also Mark 13:11-23)
The following verse in John
includes us in a conversation Jesus had with the Father. Note that Jesus is actually praying that we
would not be taken out of this
world.
John 17:15-16
I pray not that thou shouldest take
them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
The evil Jesus speaks of is also a
shadow picture – an allusion to Jacob’s trouble – tribulation – the beginning
of the ‘day of the Lord’.
I Thessalonians
4:13-18 But I would not have you to be ignorant (don’t let this be hidden from you), brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him (the
first resurrection). For this we
say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive [and] remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (precede)
them which are asleep.
This means that we will still be
here when Christ returns, and so are the dead, which will precede those who are
alive.
For the Lord himself shall descend (immediately after tribulation Matthew 24:29–30) 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 (those who
were beheaded during the tribulation – see Revelation 20:4) 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.
Revelation 7:2-4 And I saw another angel
ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a
loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the
sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their
foreheads. (Now we have four angels who have
power to hurt but are told to wait until the servants of God are sealed. If we
were going to be raptured we would not need to be sealed! This means we are on
the Earth and staying on it.) And I heard the number of them which were
sealed:
Revelation
13:7-9 And it was given unto him (the beast) to make war
with the saints (If the saints are raptured out, how is it that the beast
is making war with them?), and to overcome them: and power was given him
over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Psalms 37:11
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
If the
wicked are left, then how do the meek (the saints) inherit the earth?
Matthew 5:5
Blessed are the meek: for they shall
inherit the earth.
Zephaniah 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.
In other words, only the meek and
the righteous will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger.
If Messiah is going to set up his kingdom and reign over all
Israel (the house of Jacob) for a thousand years (on earth), and if those
people (the meek and righteous) are going to reign with him (as the scriptures
above reveal), then it is the wicked that our Messiah is severely dealing with
(the tares), not the righteous; it is the wicked that he is removing and
burning in order to establish justice and righteousness in and over Zion.
Deuteronomy 30-31
When thou (God fearing people) art in tribulation, and all these things are
come upon thee, even in the latter
days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31(For the
LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither
destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers (Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob) which he sware unto them.
With this scripture we understand
that those who hear the voice of the Good Shepherd - obeying him, will not be
forsaken, nor destroyed in the time (latter days) of tribulation.
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