"...LOOKING FOR the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ..." Titus 2:13 In the late 60's and early 70's there was a great world-wide revival wherein multitudes came to the Lord. In fact, most of the believers I know today came to the Lord during that time. In the early 70's there was a lot of excitement about the coming of the Lord for his church, the event called "the Rapture." Books were being written about it, sermons were teaching on it, and there was a general hopeful expectation in the air. But as time went on, the fervor cooled down and this subject got less and less attention. I guess many who heard it years ago got tired of hearing it, lost interest in it, to the extent that today VERY FEW pastors even mention it anymore. So will believers who are no longer interested, no longer eagerly watching, still be taken when the Rapture does take place? I don't know, but it is worth taking a look at. There is one Scripture that suggests that NOT ALL will be taken. The Scripture says the Lord will appear the second time "to those who eagerly wait for him." What about those who are not "eagerly waiting for him?" "TO THOSE WHO EAGERLY WAIT FOR HIM he will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. Hebrews 9:28" Admittedly, that is open to interpretation. I believe all who are born-again will be taken by Christ when the Rapture happens. But it's also true that many who THINK they are saved, actually are not. "Religious" people are often people who have not been born again, thinking they are righteous because they follow religious practices. The day after the Rapture, many churches will still be here, filled with those who missed it. There is another passage which might imply the same thing. In Matthew chapter 25 we are given a picture of ten virgins, all of whom were waiting for the Bridegroom. Five of them were wise and took oil in their lamps as they waited for him. But the other five did not take oil, and their lamps went out. When the Bridegroom came, only the virgins with oil in their lamps went with him. There are several different interpretations of this passage, but it is wise to keep in mind that if a believer looking for the Bridegroom does not have oil in his or her lamp, he may be left behind. In the Bible, oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. Have you lost your eager anticipation of the coming of the Bridegroom? Does the passage of time mean the Lord has forgotten about it? Or - rather - is he separating out those who truly are eagerly waiting for him versus those who are "religious?" Will those who don't even believe in the pre-trib Rapture go with him when he comes? Perhaps. I hope so for their sake. But there are many who are "preparing" for the Tribulation and many of those I know in that camp actually mock those who are eagerly waiting for the Bridegroom. And there is certainly Scriptural reference to that: "...knowing this first: that SCOFFERS will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.'” 2nd Peter 3:3-4 When Jesus was on the earth the first time, he had harsh words for the religious leaders and scoffers for not knowing the signs of the times. "He answered and said to them, 'When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red;' and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times!" Matthew 16:2-3 Jesus expected the religious leaders to be able to discern the time and to recognize him. He called them "hypocrites," and that word in the Greek is translated "actor." They were religious actors, and as such, they were not able to discern the time or to recognize the Messiah. And now, he expects US to be able to discern the time. For those of you who have once longed for the Lord but have lost "the blessed hope," I suggest you go back to your first love. Don't take a chance on missing it. MORE: The Doctrine Of The Rapture
"Jesus then came and took the bread
and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.
This is now the third time Jesus showed himself
to his disciples after he was raised from the dead."
John 21:13-14
Some question the fact that Jesus Christ actually rose from the dead. All kinds of stories have been promulgated to foster the claim that he either didn't really die, or that it was not he who was seen after the crucifixion. Muslims teach that someone else took his place on the cross. Others put forth other wild stories to deny the resurrection of Christ.
For a person who has been born again through the Spirit of God this isn't even a question because they believe the Word of God. But for others, there are several points that refute the false accusations against the work Jesus accomplished in his death and resurrection. One of those points is the sheer number of eye-witnesses. Hear the words of the apostle Paul who also saw the risen Christ:
"For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
and that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
and that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.
After that he was seen BY OVER FIVE HUNDRED brethren at once,
of whom the greater part remain to the present,
but some have fallen asleep (died)."
1st Corinthians 15:3-6
A second point is that the apostles went on to preach the Gospel for the rest of their lives, in spite of what they would suffer for it. They were beaten, imprisoned, stoned, and in the end most of them were martyred. They could have escaped these sufferings if only they would cease preaching the resurrected Christ. It's highly unlikely that anyone would choose death rather than deny that they had in fact seen the resurrected Jesus. Would they allow themselves to be tortured for a lie? Would they give their lives for a lie?
Here is the summation of the matter clearly stated by the apostle Paul:
"Now if Christ is preached that he has been raised from the dead,
how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty
and your faith is also empty.
Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God,
because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ,
whom he did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.
For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile,
you are still in your sins!
Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men the most pitiable."
1st Corinthians 15:12-19
But if it is TRUE, then we are of all people the most blessed!
I am one of them.
Are you?
The prophecy of Daniel's 70 weeks is the one most persuasive passage that shows that the Rapture takes place BEFORE the Tribulation. This prophecy of Daniel tells what the PURPOSE is for the last seven years. If you understand the PURPOSE, then the rest will make sense. “Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." Daniel 9:24 "Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people…" What does the passage mean by "Weeks?" In the Hebrew, the word is "shavua" and it is a period of seven in the same sense that in English a decade is a period of ten. This passage is speaking of seventy periods of seven years. Seventy periods of seven equals 490 years which were decreed "upon your people" and "your holy city." All but the last seven have been fulfilled, and that last period of seven is what is referred to as "Daniel's 70th week." It is a period of seven years decreed upon the Jews, upon Israel, and upon Jerusalem, and it is to take place in the last seven years of this age. Jesus Christ referred to it as the Tribulation, (Matthew 24). Upon whom is the last seven years determined? This is the defining question. . It's determined "upon YOUR people," which is the Jews. . It's determined "upon YOUR holy city," which is Jerusalem. The purpose of that last seven year period is twofold: 1. It's "the time of Jacob's trouble" in which God will be dealing with the Jewish people. It is not two half-weeks that are "determined" upon Israel and Jerusalem, but one period of 7 years according to Daniel 9:24. 2. It's the outpouring of the wrath of God which will fall upon the whole world against the wicked. The wrath of God is NOT upon the church. "For GOD DID NOT APPOINT US (THE CHURCH) TO WRATH, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ..." 1st Thessalonians 5:9 The Book of Revelation gives more details, showing the events of the period revolve around Israel, The Temple, Jerusalem, the Two Witnesses, and the 144,000 from the twelve tribes of Israel ...not around the Church. The church was not present during the first 69 weeks, and is not present in the last week. The church conspicuously missing: The first three chapters of the Book of Revelation are ALL ABOUT THE CHURCH, where Christ is seen walking among them and sending messages to seven different churches. And then abruptly - after Revelation 4:1 - there is no more mention of the church until the end and the subject changes to the Tribulation. The church is conspicuously missing from chapter 4:1 when a door is opened, and a voice from heaven says "come up here." "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place AFTER this.” Revelation 4:1 The Tribulation takes place AFTER the church age. The church was a mystery hidden in the Old Testament. The church age was a HIDDEN MYSTERY not revealed to the prophets of the Old Testament. It has to be removed before Israel's story begins again in the last 7 years. Paul was given the task of revealing this MYSTERY to believers. "I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of his body, which is the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God, THE MYSTERY WHICH HAS BEEN HIDDEN from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to his saints." Colossians 1:24-26 The church age began suddenly and unexpectedly on Pentecost, and ends suddenly and unexpectedly, at the Rapture, before the events of the 70th week begin. THEN, after the Rapture, the Tribulation begins. Isaiah 26 Shows The Rapture Taking Place Before The Judgments: First the resurrection: "Your dead shall live; together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." Isaiah 26:19 Then a hiding away: vs 20: "Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, UNTIL the indignation is past." Then the judgments: vs 21: "For behold, the Lord comes out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain."
The Rapture is Not Post-Trib
The post-tribulation view requires that the church be present during the 70th week of Daniel, even though it was absent from the first 69. The Tribulation is not purposed upon the church, it's purposed on Israel.
Not Pre-Wrath
The pre-wrath view requires the church to be present during the first part of the 70th week, which indicates a misunderstanding of the purpose and continuity of the 70 weeks. It also suggests that the first half of the week will be relatively calm. No, as soon as "the Lamb" opens the seals (Revelation 6) THE WRATH OF GOD begins, and is anything but calm.
Here is the entire 70th Week passage in Daniel, chapter 9:
24: Seventy weeks are determined upon your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
25: Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times.
26: And after the sixty-two weeks MESSIAH SHALL BE CUT OFF (the crucifixion of Jesus Christ) but not for himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; the end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.
The destruction of Jerusalem took place in 70 AD. That was the end of the 69th "week."
The MYSTERY of the church age is parenthetical. It began on Pentecost after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and ends with the Rapture before the beginning of the Tribulation. Then the story goes back to Israel.
The 70th week begins when the Antichrist confirms a seven-year covenant:
27: Then he (the Antichrist) shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering; and on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.
Only born-again believers in Jesus Christ will be taken by him in the Rapture. False "Christians" will not be taken, as shown in the "seven wise and seven foolish virgins" passage in Matthew 25 1:13.
The day after the Rapture there will be many churches remaining. Make sure of your position with Jesus Christ lest you be in one of them.
MORE:
The Rapture