Now shall we see the truth about the mystery of the rapture. It is important to understand the reason for the rapture. It is not so that we can escape wrath, be it from G-d or Satan. The rapture is the call to the wedding, the marriage of the bride to the Lamb of G-d. That is why the dead and the living all go together, and there can be only one wedding, period. The Messiah Jesus is not a polygamist, (that teaching is of the depths of Satan). The mystery of the rapture is revealed to us in
1 Cor.15: 51-52.
v.51) �Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
v.52) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.�
Now some teach that this will happen at the Feast of Trumpets, Tishri 1 or 2. I am in agreement with this teaching. The rapture will be the fulfillment of the Feast of Trumpets. However, it is clear that this last trumpet, which is blown in this passage, is not an earthly trumpet! It must be an angelic trumpet or a trump of G-d, no man made trumpet could wake the dead.
1 Thess.4: 15-17 gives us the answer,
v.15) �For this we say unto you by the word of the L-rd, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the L-rd shall not prevent them which are asleep.
v.16) For the L-rd himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of G-d: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
v.17) then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the L-rd in the air: and so shall we ever be with the L-rd.�
So there it is, Christ will descend from heaven with a shout when the archangel sounds the trump of G-d. Is this not what verse 16 is saying? The shout will come, along with the voice of the archangel, and along with the trump of G-d.
Now from 1 Cor.15: 52 we know that this is the last trumpet! Are there not seven trumpets that are to be sounded in the book of the Revelation, are they not sounded by angels? When does the seventh angel sound his trumpet? Rev. 11 tells the story of the two witnesses who prophesy during the 1260 days of the Great Tribulation, the last half of the seventieth week. When they finish their testimony, the beast, the Antichrist, kills them. Their bodies are allowed to remain in the streets of Jerusalem three days and a half; meanwhile the world celebrates their demise. Then, before the eyes of the entire world, the Spirit of life from G-d enters them and they stand up.
Rev.11: 12-15a continues the story,
v.12) �and they heard a great voice from heaven, saying unto them, come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.�
Here is the dead in Christ rising first! What is the cloud? The cloud pictured here is the rest of the dead in Christ! They shall precede those who are alive and remain! The two witnesses will be resurrected with the dead in Christ! Even Paul spoke of "So great a cloud of witnesses" in his famous rally cry to "run the race!"
v.13) �And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and a tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the G-d of heaven.
v.14) The second Wo is past; Behold, the third Wo cometh quickly.
v.15) And the seventh angel sounded.�
Now the result of the resurrection of the two witnesses is a great earthquake! What else? The people of Jerusalem finally start to give G-d his glory! The very next thing to happen is the seventh and final trumpet! And it happens immediately! I will tell you now; the seventh trumpet will sound on the same day that the two witnesses are resurrected. They are with the dead in Christ who rise first, the seventh trumpet is the rapture of those who are alive and remain! In fact these two events will probably happen within the �twinkling of an eye!� Now that�s quick! It�s almost as if there were no time to get the statement out: thesecondwoispastbeholdthethirdwocomethquickly, and the seventh angel sounded! So then, the seventh trumpet sounds after the 1260-day ministry of the two witnesses. What is the result of this trumpet being blown?
Rev.11: 18) �and the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and should destroy them which destroy the earth.�
Two important clues are given here. This is the rewarding of the prophets, (old covenant), and the saints, (new covenant), the resurrection of the dead prophets and the dead, and living, saints. Rewards are not given until after the resurrection. This then, would be the first resurrection! The other important clue is that, according to this verse, G-d�s wrath does not come until the seventh trumpet has sounded, �and thy wrath is come.� This point we shall go more into later.
The evidence given here in Rev.11 is overwhelming evidence that the rapture does not happen before the Great Tribulation. The prophet Daniel is included in this resurrection, for he was told that he would stand in his lot at "the end of the days." What days? Notice that this verse in Daniel 12 says "end of THE days," not THE end of days! There is a huge difference there! The 1260 days of the last half of the seventieth week, these are the days it speaks of! The 1260, 1290, and 1335 days are all explained later in detail and shown on the TimelineCharts.
KJV Daniel 12:11-13
11. "And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.
12. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days.
13. But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."
John later, in Rev. 20, sees these prophets and saints seated in their thrones, ruling and reigning with Christ a thousand years. And tells us that this is the first resurrection. We shall now read all of Rev.11: 15), �and the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become of our L-rd, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.� Can this possibly be the beginning of the Tribulation? HA!
So if the wrath of G-d does not come until the seventh trumpet, what then, are the seven seals and the other six trumpets? Could it be that instead of being the wrath of G-d, maybe these things are to open the hearts, eyes, and minds of the people of G-d, the Jews? I believe so! We learn from Rev.16: 1 that the bowls, or vial judgments, are �the wrath of G-d upon the earth.� So if the rapture were to happen on Tishri 1 or 2, at the end of the Tribulation, what would be the implications? The bowl judgments would take place during the �Days of Awe,� between the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement! These days are called the Days of Awe by the Jews because of the fearful expectation of the Day of Atonement, the Holiest of days. It is a time for intense cleansing of the body, mind, and soul. If the rapture occurred on Tishri 2 and Christ returned with us on the day before Atonement, this would put us in heaven for a literal seven day Jewish wedding ceremony! The �type� will be fulfilled literally!
So, what of the arguments for a pre-tribulation rapture? We shall now discuss them, but I do not need to discuss the mid-tribulation point of view. Knowing now what we know about G-d�s timetable, we are already at the mid-point of the seventieth week. So, if you were mid-tribulation, then you are now pre-tribulation, and if you were pre-tribulation, then your rapture happened at the baptism of Christ! UH-OH!
The first argument that we shall look into is the one used by the former pre-tribulation crowd who left us in 27 AD. Ok, seriously now, they say that because the twenty-four elders of Rev.4 have crowns, the rapture must have already taken place. They speculate that these must be the twelve apostles, (with Paul instead of Judas, or Matthias instead of Judas? I don�t know,) and the twelve heads of the tribes of Israel. This leads to the idea that in Rev.4: 1, when John sees a door open in heaven, and he is called up to heaven, that chronologically speaking, this represents the rapture of the church before the Tribulation. And a further proof, they say, is that the church is not mentioned as being on earth again until Christ returns with us, towards the end of the book of the Revelation.
I must tell you, this is a very good sounding theory, and I believed it for twenty years! The problem with it is that it stands alone in the word of G-d. It is speculation, and cannot be substantiated by other scriptures. This alone began to be a burden on me. Then, when I started to search for clues elsewhere in scripture, I could not find them, so I began to be not so trusting in what men have said, as I had been for so long. With this theory taunting me, I set out to either prove or disprove it by the scriptures. This letter is the result of my journey with G-d in his word. Not that my journey is over, but this is what I have found so far. The twenty-four elders are not the twelve apostles and twelve sons of Jacob. The reason is this:
Rev.5: 8-9,
v.8) �and when he had taken the book, the four beasts, and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
v.9) And they sung a new song, saying, thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to G-d by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.�
Now the sons of Jacob and all the apostles were Jewish! They were not from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation! Notice also that the prayers of the saints come before G-d in golden vials, from where are the saints praying? Still some will say that the twenty-four elders have crowns, they have already been rewarded, and so the rapture must have already happened. It is true they do have crowns, so who are they? The scriptures do have an answer, even though the modern shepherds do not.
Matt.27: 50-53,
v.50) �Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.� There is that voice again, the voice that also called Lazarus from the tomb, the voice that will one day call us all home!
v.51) �And Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom: and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;�
Here is another earthquake! So now we have the voice, or shout, and also the earthquake, just as in Rev.11!! Then finally:
v.52) �and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept, arose,
v.53) and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the Holy city, and appeared unto many.�
The first thing I notice here is that it does not say all of the saints, but says �many bodies of the saints.� Now there were many Old Testament saints that were not Jews, (Job, Rahab, Adam, Seth, etc.) Just the fact that G-d had Matthew write down this account, means it is more plausible, and to be preferred over a theory that has no scriptures to back it up! Where did these saints go after they went into the Holy city? We are not told, so we must assume they went to heaven to receive their rewards. The twenty-four elders then, are more likely to be of these people.
The next thing that we shall look at is the fifth seal. In Rev.6: 9-11 John sees, under the altar in heaven, the souls of those slain on earth for their testimony. They cry out to G-d for vengeance, yet their cries do not come before G-d in golden vials! They are no longer on the earth; they can speak directly to G-d! However, in Rev.5: 8, the prayers of the saints on earth come before G-d in golden vials. So if the rapture happened in Rev.4: 1, why are the prayers of the saints on earth still coming before G-d in golden vials in Rev.5? Did the raptured saints of Rev.4 get to heaven before their prayers did in Rev.5? OH-NO! All of this is before the first seal is even opened! The Great Tribulation has not even begun, yet according to the modern shepherds the rapture has taken place and a whole new set of saints is on earth praying! And on top of all this, to add salt to the wound, the souls of Rev.6: 9-11 are told to wait! They�re given white robes, but no crown! They have no crowns yet! We find many more in Rev.7: 9, with white robes and palm branches in their hands, but no crowns.
It is at this point that the shepherds raise another argument: �If the rapture happens just before Christ returns, who is left to repopulate the earth?� They say that �If G-d raptures the saints that are alive at the end, and destroys the wicked at his return, there would not be anyone left to repopulate the earth for the millennial reign.� I have heard this argument many times and must admit that it always seemed to make good sense to me; until G-d showed me otherwise. What is wrong with this idea? I must say now in retrospect, that this is a boastful and prideful way of looking at ourselves. Have you ever heard that G-d always has a remnant? In 1 Kings 19, Elijah, speaking with G-d says that all Israel has forsaken the covenant, torn down the altars, and slain the prophets, and only he remained, and that he feared for his life also. What does G-d tell him amongst other things?
1Kings19: 18) �Yet I have left seven thousand in Israel, all the knees of which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.�
G-d will have his remnant during the last half of the seventieth week also! Remember the woman of Rev.12, hiding in the wilderness for 1260 days, in a place prepared of G-d? When they see the abomination of desolation standing in the Holy place, they will flee Jerusalem! They will not accept the mark of the beast or worship him, or his image! However, this does not mean that they worship Jesus yet. They already know from the old covenant that it is forbidden to worship idols and
images!
When Christ returns with us, his remnant will be saved, and they will be a major factor in the repopulation of the earth. Zechariah spoke of that day.
Zech.12: 8-14.
v.8) �In that day shall the L-rd defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David as G-d, and as the angel of the L-rd before them.
v.9) And it shall come to pass in that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
v.10) And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of Grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourned for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born.
v.11) In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.
v.12) And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;
v.13) the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shemei apart, and their wives apart;
v.14) all the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.�
Who will repopulate the earth? It is like G-d knew that question would arise and decided to answer it 2500 years in advance! Sure there will be other survivors from across the world, but I�m betting that all the families that remain of the children of Israel will have pre-eminence. I hope you don�t have a problem with that, if you do, it could be that the wicked one has planted evil seeds in your heart. Salvation is to the Jew first, then to the gentiles. We gentiles are lucky G-d even noticed us!
When Christ returns they will see his wounds in his hands and feet, and the wound in his side, where he was pierced at his crucifixion. What a horrific day of mourning it will be in Jerusalem! But also a day of great joy! Oh Messiah, Anointed One, return soon! Thy kingdom come!
Now the next argument of the modern shepherds comes from 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7. They quote these two verses to prove their pre-tribulation rapture theory, and sadly this is some of the strongest evidence they have. This passage is the one that helped open my eyes to the truth. As we shall see shortly, they take these two verses out of context, a claim that they are constantly leveling at others. By the way, remember hearing phrases like �don�t get left behind?� I hear the pre-tribulation crowd saying things like, �if I�m right and your wrong, you might get left behind.� This is how fanatical they are about their view! What I say in return is this: if I�m right and your wrong, will you be prepared to follow Christ, and love not your life unto death?
Now we shall look at 2 Thess. 2:6-7,
v.6) �And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
v.7) for the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.�
The shepherds say that the �he� that will be revealed is the Antichrist, well of course that part is correct, but you really only know for sure if you read from verse one down to these verses. So they must have read all of the passage, but they go on to say that the withholder must be the Holy Spirit, withholding evil in the world. And that he who now �letteth� will be taken out of the way, and this also must be the Holy Spirit. So then they conclude that if the Holy Spirit goes, then so does the church of G-d, and this is the rapture of the church before the Antichrist is revealed.
As I hear and read these types of statements, I am often reminded of one of the funniest verses Jesus ever spoke; the point however, is very serious. Matt.7: 4-5,
v.4) �or how can you say to your brother, �let me remove the speck out of your eye�; and look, a plank is in your eye?
v.5) Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck out of your brother�s eye.� (N.K.J.V.)
Quite funny indeed, but go on yourself and look up verse six and you will see that what the modern shepherds have done with the word of G-d is quite a serious offense. Their story sounds believable on the surface but we shall now dig a little deeper. I think it would be wise to read verses one through five to get the background information on verses six and seven.
2 Thess. 2:1-5,
v.1) �Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our L-rd, and our gathering together unto him,
v.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.
v.3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin revealed, the son of perdition;
v.4) who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called G-d, or that is worshipped; so that he, as G-d, sitteth in the temple of G-d, shewing himself that he is G-d.
v.5) Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?�
This is the background for verses six and seven. What does it tell us? The Thessalonians were fearful that the day of Christ was at hand! They must have received a false report from somebody other than Paul! What does Paul�s answer tell us about the doctrine of the eminency of Christ�s return? Now this passage includes the rapture, verse one says �the coming of our L-rd, and our gathering together unto him!� Paul tells them that, �that day,� will not come until the final signs happen. What are they? First we will see a falling away, and the man of sin, the son of perdition will be revealed, then the day of Christ will come! And Paul gives a warning that goes out to all of us: let no man deceive you by any means! These signs, according to the word of G-d, must come first! The modern shepherds don�t use these verses when they quote their version of verses six and seven! If they did, then they wouldn�t be able to make their theory work! This now borders on deliberate misinformation! Wo unto them! Feed the flock!
Let us now reread 2 Thess. 2:6-7,
v.6) �And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
v.7) For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.�
There is no alternate translation for verses one through five; therefore the withholder cannot be the Holy Spirit being taken out of the way! Now then, knowing full well that G-d has just told us that he will not gather us until after the falling away, and the man of sin is revealed, how can the shepherds say, with a straight face, that these two verses prove a pre-tribulation rapture? In fact they have no alternate scriptures to back up their interpretation of these two verses! It is pure conjecture!
Where else does it say that the Holy Spirit must be taken out of the way before the man of sin can be revealed? Where does it say that the Holy Spirit is holding back the tide of evil in the world, the tide of evil that causes the falling away? Look around you! The falling away is already happening! And why? Partly because the shepherds have led the flock astray! Many of the flock are wolves in sheep�s clothing. How have they been able to slip into the fold?
It is a case of massive insurance fraud, here is why: if a minister tells his flock that they will one day have to suffer like Christ did, and that they may actually have to take up their cross and follow Christ in death for what they believe, then that minister may not get as many new converts as the church across the street. Which in turn means less tithes and offerings for his church. Now this type of thinking clearly shows that the ministers are more concerned about the church building than the real church! So what does he teach the flock? He sells them insurance policies by telling his flock that just accepting Jesus will insure them a place in G-d�s kingdom, and all they have to do is claim the promises of G-d. He teaches that G-d wants all of us to be rich, so the flock will see him as holy when he drives off in his 70,000-dollar car! And the flock thinks that if only they had faith like their minister, G-d would provide for all their wants too! He says �don�t worry, the rapture will escort us all out of here before any trouble starts.� �Since we are not destined for G-d�s wrath, we will be raptured.� The shepherds of this caliber have gone the way of all the other unreformed churches, �bring in your tithes and offerings and we will tell you anything you want to hear, be it of G-d or not.�
So then what does the stranger who comes into this type of church think of this teaching? He says to himself; �Hhmm, strange teaching this rapture idea, but what
the heck, I�ll throw Jesus in my backpack just in case!� I say to them, where does it
say that the rapture is our blessed hope? I have heard many preachers say this, they have put much more into the rapture than G-d intended. Our blessed hope is the love, life, and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
Let us now see what the scriptures say about the �withholder� of 2 Thess.2: 6, and who it is, who now �letteth,� until he be taken out of the way, in verse seven. In Daniel 10, we are given some clues as to how nations and kingdoms rise and fall. We are told of the actions of some of the angelic hosts, and how they affect the affairs of men. Daniel is about to receive a vision and we are told in Dan. 10:2-3, that he was in fasting and mourning three full weeks. Then in Dan.10: 12-13, we read that an angel or possibly Christ himself, (compare Dan.10: 5-6 with Rev.1: 13-15,) was sent to Daniel, with the vision, and Daniel gives this account; Dan.10: 12-13,
v.12) �Then said he unto me, fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before G-d, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
v.13) But the prince of the kingdom Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.�
�Withstood� is important in this framework, for it is very close to �withheld,� which is the past tense of �withhold.� What we learn from this passage is that angels, (and demons,) can be �withholding forces!� And we find that Michael, the archangel, is one of the �chief� princes of these withholding forces. When we come to Dan.10: 20-21 we are given more insight. Dan.10: 20-21,
v.20) �and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.
v.21) But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but Michael your prince.�
�Holdeth?� Did I read that correctly? Yes, it says holdeth! What is the difference between holdeth, and withholdeth? Not much! And the angel tells Daniel that Michael is his prince, meaning Daniel�s people, Israel!
Now the fact that Michael is the prince of the nation of Israel, is reinforced in Dan.12: 1a,) �And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.�
Michael stands watch over the nation of G-d�s chosen people, Israel! Who then, is a better candidate for the �withholder� of 2 Thess.2: 6-7? Is it Michael or the Holy Spirit? Remember, the shepherds have no scriptures to support their �withholder� theory. I�m sure they will stick to their theory, but as for me, I will stick to what the scripture of truth says.
In Revelation 7 we have another clue:
Revelation 7:1) �And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.�
So here again we have angels acting as holding or �withholding� forces. It is interesting that the damaging wind, that is being held back here, has been said by some to be a evil spiritual �wind force.�
This is not all of the evidence we are given; the last piece of this puzzle comes from the last book of scripture, the book of the Revelation. You see angels are not like G-d or the Holy Spirit, in that they cannot be in more than one place at one time. Angels are created beings like us; they do not have omni-presence as the Holy Spirit does. So whereas the Holy Spirit cannot be removed from the earth because of omni-presence, the angels can be removed from their posts! The book of the Revelation tells us exactly where Michael will be at the beginning of the great tribulation, the last half of the seventieth week.
Rev. 12:7-9,
v.7) �and there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon: and the dragon fought and his angels,
v.8) and prevailed not; neither was their place found anymore in heaven.
v.9) and the great red dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.�
Michael the �withholder� is taken out of the way! He is in heaven fighting a war with Satan and his angels! This is the beginning of the great tribulation; Satan is cast to earth and enters the man of sin! This is where the �woman,� Israel, flees into the wilderness for 1260 days! Why haven�t the shepherds told us these things! Feed the flock! Feed the flock of the slaughter! Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, blessed be the L-rd; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not! Wo unto the shepherds; feed the flock of the slaughter! Feed G-d�s flock!
