Pre-Tribulation Rapture
Last Updated:
02/25/2009 02:15
|
According to the
Bible's definition of the
great
tribulation, a pre-tribulation harpazo occurs anytime before Israel's
persecution starts at the abomination of desolation.
Matthew
24:15-22 Many view the harpazo prior to the beginning of the final seven
years appointed to Israel,
Daniel
9:27, but by the very use of "tribulation" in the term
"pre-tribulation," identifies the timing with that of the
great
tribulation. There is no seven-year tribulation spoken of in scripture. As shown in the definition, and straight from
Matthew
24:21, this time doesn't start until mid-way through the 7 years. This also
limits the time of the
great
tribulation to just over 3½ years maximum. Since the
time of great tribulation begins at the abomination of desolation spoken of by
Daniel the prophet in the midst of the 70th week of Daniel and it begins with
the dragon's persecution of the woman, the great tribulation is defined as the
time the antichrist is after the saints on the earth. As
Daniel 7:23-25 points out,
"they
shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time."
Now I used to hold the pre-tribulation view of the harpazo until
I did my study on the term
great
tribulation. It was also after finding
Luke
17:24-37, that I realized that when looking at the scriptures themselves, a
pre-wrath harpazo was more apparent and fitting with the whole council of God.
I think the main problem between all the different viewpoints is the fact that
their harpazo timing revolves around "tribulation." How you define
"tribulation"
changes your perspective on the harpazo because your harpazo is labeled in
direct relation to the tribulation, pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib. It is
imperative to define what "tribulation" you're talking about.
Why I don't hold this belief anymore:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5
Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, [the harpazo]
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.
Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except
- there come a falling away first, and
- that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
How is the son of perdition revealed?
-
Who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped;
so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is
God.
Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told
you these things?
Pre-trib means before the great tribulation. That starts
at the abomination of desolation, which is what the revealing of the man of sin
is described as in
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5.
Matthew 24:15-22
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation,
spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let
him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let
him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And
woe
unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 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. And except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days
shall be shortened.
Daniel spoke of the abomination of desolation in several
places.
-
Daniel 9:27 (70
Weeks of Daniel tied to the future "prince that
shall come" of the Romans that destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD)
-
Daniel 11:31 (Detailing of the "time of
the end")
-
Daniel 12:11 (Abomination of desolation
to the end)
These are pointing to a point 1290 days before the end
of the
70th week of Daniel where the daily sacrifice is
taken away and the abomination of desolation "set up."
set up (H5414)
נתן
nâthan (naw-than')
A primitive root; to give, used with great latitude of application (put, make,
etc.): - add, apply, appoint, ascribe, assign, X avenge, X be ([healed]),
bestow, bring (forth, hither), cast, cause, charge, come, commit consider,
count, + cry, deliver (up), direct, distribute do, X doubtless, X without
fail, fasten, frame, X get, give (forth, over, up), grant, hang (up), X have,
X indeed, lay (unto charge, up), (give) leave, lend, let (out), + lie, lift
up, make, + O that, occupy, offer, ordain, pay, perform, place, pour, print, X
pull, put (forth), recompense, render, requite, restore, send (out), set
(forth), shew, shoot forth (up). + sing, + slander, strike, [sub-] mit,
suffer, X surely, X take, thrust, trade, turn, utter, + weep, X willingly, +
withdraw, + would (to) God, yield.
I think that the abomination of desolation is described
in
2 Thessalonians 2:4 and it's explicitly
stated that the
day of Christ will not happen
unless those two conditions are met.
The beast,
or antichrist, has not revealed
himself by declaring himself god in the Jewish temple, and since that starts
the great tribulation, the Bible goes directly against the term pre-trib in
reference to the harpazo because the great tribulation doesn't start until
after the man of sin is revealed. I believe " the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering to Him" is the " day of Christ"
according to
2 Thessalonians 2:1,2
and these other scriptures:
The "day of Christ" is a day we as Christians look
forward to as opposed to the
day of the Lord, which is
His wrath to which we
are not appointed.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 I believe the day of Christ and the
day of the Lord happen very close in time to each other, but I think the day
of Christ is first, when He harpazos His bride, the church.
Ephesians 5:23
Regarding His wrath:
Matthew 24:37-42
But as the days of Noah were,
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
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, And knew not until the flood came, and took them
all away;
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other
left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,
and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord
doth come.
Notice that the sudden
destruction is flanked on both sides with the coming of the Son of man. In
other words, we should expect the sudden destruction about the same time
as Christ's coming for His bride. This is seen in the multitudes in heaven
standing before the throne and before the Lamb after the sixth seal,
Revelation 6:12-17,
and before the seventh,
Revelation 8:1,2.
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;
The sudden destruction from God's wrath does not
occur before the man of sin is revealed at the abomination of desolation.
Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the
moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the
LORD come.
Matthew 24:29
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:
All this means that the wrath
of God, associated with the coming of our Lord, can't happen until after
the abomination of desolation. This is in complete agreement with
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 which states that the falling away and the
revealing of the man of sin must precede the coming of our Lord and our
gathering to Him.
Another reason for me not holding the pre-trib
viewpoint of the harpazo has to do with an in-depth study of the day of
the Lord and how that is connected to the wrath of God coming and also the
sealing of the 144,000 and the vision of the multitudes in heaven before
the throne.
First, I would like to point out another case where
the changes in translation between the KJV and NIV subtly hide details
from us. The differences are
bolded.
2 Peter 3:8-10 (NIV)
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends:
With the Lord a day is like a
thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is
not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is
patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.
??? The heavens will disappear with
a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and
everything in it will be laid bare.
2 Peter 3:8-10
(KJV)
But, 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. The Lord is not
slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief
in
the night; in the which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be
burned up.
Notice that in the KJV, we see that the destruction of
the heavens and earth is within
the "day of the Lord." From verse 8, we see that this time period is 1,000
years long. So according to the KJV, this destruction is within the 1,000
year period whereas with the NIV translation, the destruction of the earth
seems to follow the Lord coming like a thief.
However, since the Lord rules on the earth from Jerusalem, the heavens can't
pass away, elements melt with a fervent heat, and the earth can't be burned
up on the day of the Lord if it isn't 1,000 years. The end of the 1,000
years of Christ's rule will be with the great white throne judgment. Then
the new heavens and new earth made way by the destruction of the current
heavens and earth.
Now we see several other scriptures that label the day of the Lord as the
wrath of God and that it comes like a thief.
Isaiah 13:6-11
Howl ye; for the day of the LORD
is at hand; it shall come as a destruction
from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and
every man's heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows
shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth:
they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
Behold, the
day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with
wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall
destroy the sinners thereof out of it. [6th Seal] For the stars of
heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun
shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her
light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked
for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease,
and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
Here we see the day of the Lord directly related to
destruction from the Almighty. And once again, we see the sixth seal
associated with the day of the Lord, describing the sun darkening and the
moon darkening. I believe the moon turning to blood is literally a hunter's
moon, or lunar eclipse. This both darkens the light from the moon and turns
it red. More on the other signs of the sixth seal and what I think they may
be
here.
Isaiah 2:10-12
[6th Seal] Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the
LORD, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be
humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD
alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the LORD of hosts shall
be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is
lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
I think it's interesting how verse 10 starts with
hiding under the rocks for fear of the Lord. That's exactly what
Revelation 6:15 says about the sixth
seal! This fits perfectly with the wrath of God starting just about ½ hour
after the seventh seal is opened when the trumpets begin to sound God's
wrath upon the earth.
1
Thessalonians 5:1-11
But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write
unto you. For yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the LORD so
cometh as a thief in the night. For
when they shall say, Peace and safety;
then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with
child; and they shall not escape.
But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all
the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the
night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let
us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they
that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day,
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet,
the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether
we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort
yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
The day of the Lord does come like a thief in the
night. However, we are not in darkness like the world such that this day
won't surprise us, we'll be watching for it. Notice also that the sudden
destruction comes upon them and they shall not escape. Notice also that we
are not appointed to wrath but salvation by our Lord Yeshua the Christ.
Those are in direct opposition to each other. Some do not escape (those in
darkness) while those who are not in darkness are not appointed to that
wrath that comes suddenly like a thief in the night. The Lord is taking
something from the earth, our current house. He is taking His bride before
His wrath comes upon this house.
What this all shows me is that the Bible places the day of the Lord as the
beginning of God's wrath. We are not appointed to that wrath, but are told
we will escape from this time that comes upon all them the dwell on the
whole earth. To not be a part of that group receiving the wrath of God, we
must not be on the earth.
Luke 21:34-36
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged
with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day
come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that
dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come
to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
This all shows a transition at one point in history.
The day of the Lord is God's wrath coming on the earth. Since our harpazo to
Him is after the revealing of the man of sin,
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, and before
God's wrath, see
here for all the scriptural proof, then
before the day of the Lord comes, we are removed. More specifically, I
believe it is simultaneous. I believe that's why the "day of Christ" is
differentiated from the "day of the Lord." Even though they are the same
time, it's a matter of perspective. For the unbeliever, it is a scary time
of God's wrath coming on them. For the Christian, it's the day of Christ,
the blessed hope we've been waiting for. I would also like to point out that God's wrath is completely poured out by
Christ's return in glory to take the kingdoms. The day of the Lord can't be
post-trib then because that's when His wrath begins and just the fifth
trumpet is 5 months of demon locust stings. The seven trumpets and seven
bowls will take longer than 5 months to be poured out on the children of
disobedience. As far as the timing, there are several pivotal scriptures.
Joel 2:31 states that the day of the
Lord is after the sixth seal.
Matthew 24:29-31 places the sixth
seal "immediately after the tribulation of those days." What days? What
tribulation? We only have to look to earlier in Matthew 24 to see that it is
the unparalleled time of great tribulation which Yeshua said would require
the obedient in Judea to run to the mountains to survive. Notice it was in
Judea.
Jeremiah 30:4-7 and
Daniel 12:1 both make the same claim
of describing a time of unparalleled trouble in all of history and once
again, it's focused on Israel.
Revelation 12:13-17 shows that
Satan's wrath is initially just on the Jews. At that time, the majority will
be living in Judea. However, as verse 17 points out, there are a remnant
throughout the world that Satan will go after when he can no longer get the
woman in Judea.
Revelation 12:14 states that Israel
is protected from the dragon for 3½ years.
Daniel 12:11 states that from the
Abomination of desolation is 1290 days. The time of great tribulation starts
at the abomination of desolation and continues for 42 months (3½ years).
Revelation 13:1-5
So if Israel's protected from the dragon for the same time the dragon is
given power, how can he get Israel? The answer is the 30 day period after
the abomination of desolation. See the chart below:
What this all means when put together is that the
sixth seal is about 30 days after the abomination of desolation. Around this
time, Israel is taken to the wilderness and the 144,000 are sealed. This is
also the time that the bride of Christ is caught up before God's wrath.
I believe this will be the "fullness of the Gentiles" from
Romans 11:25-27 and the point when
Israel is unblinded. I believe this will also be the point when Israel
becomes jealous of the bride because they're unblinded and realize what is
going on somewhat.
What's more is the sealing of the 144,000 and the fulfillment of
Luke 21:36 is seen in
Revelation 7, nestled nicely between
the sixth seal in Revelation 6 and the seventh seal and trumpets in
Revelation 8! Could it be this placement is not an accident given the
scriptural evidence above? I believe that to be the case.
As The Days of Noah
Another reason I don't hold pre-trib to be valid comes
from how Christ is described as coming, in relation to the days of Noah.
Matthew
24:37-42
But
as the days of Noah were,
so shall also the coming of the Son of man
be. 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, And
knew not until the flood came, and took them all away;
so shall also the coming of the Son of man
be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be
taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the
one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for ye know not
what hour your Lord doth come.
The days of Noah consist of
the time from before the flood until the door to the ark was shut by God and
the flood came and took all those who didn't believe by faith away.
What this tells me is that the Son of man comes when the wrath of God,
destruction from the Almighty, comes. This is defined as the day of the
Lord.
Isaiah
13:6-13
Howl ye; for the
day of the LORD is at hand;
it shall come as a destruction from the
Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every
man's heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows
shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that
travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as
flames. Behold, the day of the LORD
cometh, cruel both with wrath and
fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners
thereof out of it. [6th Seal]-> For the stars of heaven and the
constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be
darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to
shine. And I will punish the
world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I
will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the
haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine
gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
Therefore I will shake the heavens, and
the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of
hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
So God's wrath is the beginning of the day of
the Lord and is associated with the shaking of the heavens. We know the
great tribulation starts with the abomination of desolation according to
Christ, who refers to Daniel's 70th week and places the abomination of
desolation in the midst of the week. To place the day of the Lord (God's
wrath) in that timeline, we need only look at
Matthew 24:29,
which connects again the shaking of the heavens after the sixth seal as
Isaiah 13:6-13 does. The wrath of God is the beginning of the day of the
Lord and according to Joel, that comes after the sixth seal.
Joel 2:31
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
the great and terrible day of the LORD come.
This places the destruction after the sixth
seal, which is after the abomination of desolation. The abomination of
desolation starts the great tribulation.
Matthew 24:37-42 associates the coming of the Son of man with the
sudden destruction of the flood. The similarity of God closing the door to
the ark is also there as the door to heaven no man can shut. So it would
seem to me that this passage is talking about the coming of the Son of man
at the time of sudden destruction, which places our harpazo "at the last
day," which is the day of the Lord, just before the sudden destruction
comes.
This cannot be pre-trib because the "trib" started prior to the wrath of God
and
Matthew 24:37-42 associates the coming of the Son of man with God's
wrath and the sudden destruction. This also enlightens us as to why we don't
know the day or hour of His coming. Because if we did, everyone could and
the time is supposed to come suddenly and unexpectedly upon the children of
disobedience. This shows everyone who really desires Christ and who could
care less until they're in trouble. The bride is comprised of those who love
God and give themselves to Him during the good times as well as the bad.
They're completely in love with their Creator. That's what a marriage should
be built on anyways right? Mutual love for each other?
Tempers on this subject always seem to flare, but we need to be one body and
one mind on what the Word of God says. I was once very sure about pre-trib
and defended it with what I knew. I feel I was wrong. However, I had to come
to that conclusion on my own. I had to be willing to drop my pre-conceived
notions in exchange for a frank, honest look at scripture without the lens
of pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib, or pre-wrath among other lenses. It seems
to me that the coming of the Son of man is associated with sudden
destruction as in Noah's time. Same with Lot, the just are removed from the
destination of God's wrath, then it comes. In both examples from the past
associated with the coming of the Son of man, the destruction immediately
follows the removal. For Noah and family, the removal into the ark to be
elevated above the destruction. God closed the door. With Lot, they were
moved from the destination of God's wrath and it came so soon that they were
able to turn and watch the destruction take place if they desired to become
salt. In both cases however, the wrath immediately followed.
We know that the abomination of desolation starts the great tribulation by
which pre-trib defines the harpazo. We know also that the day of the Lord,
destruction from Almighty, is after the sixth seal (Joel
2:31), which is "immediately after the tribulation of those days,"
the
time of Jacob's trouble.
Any way you look at it, this is after the tribulation has begun so it must
not be a pre-trib harpazo. This is in accordance with
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
as well.
Addressing Imminence
Imminence
the state or condition of being imminent or impending.
I posit that the coming of Christ for His
bride is impending indeed! However, I also believe from my research of the
Bible that we truly aren't in the dark about this time.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
I also believe that everything we need to know in order to not be in
darkness about this time is contained in the Bible, which was written by
the prophets of old as led by the Holy Spirit. We therefore need the
guidance of the Holy Spirit to fully understand the detail written into
scripture.
Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto
his servants the prophets.
Yes it is true that we don't know the day or
hour. But where else in scripture is there any indication we don't know
the week or month or year? Not knowing the day or hour has prevented many
from looking deeper into scripture in the area of timing because they then
feel they are date-setting.
However, the closer we get to the end, the more prophetic events from the
end we will begin to see come to pass, and our understanding of the
meaning of scripture will increase.
Daniel 12:4
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the
time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased.
My point is that the Bible itself, with an
understanding of history and Bible prophecy, lays out a complete timeline
of events with incredible precision all centered around the apple of God's
eye, Israel and her judgments. Israel has been blinded since the triumphal
entry.
Luke 19:41-44 That blindness to the
Truth will remain until the fullness of the Gentiles.
Romans 11:25
God gave very specific prophecies to Ezekiel, Daniel, and John
(Revelation) about the future of Israel and how that plays out in the
timeline of history. I can't stress this enough, that God wrote into the
Bible exact timeframes that lay out the judgments allotted for Israel and
can be connected to historical events that bring us to this very day in
Bible prophecy and lay out the 70th week of Daniel in great detail with
exact days between events. The judgments of the Old Testament for Israel
bring us to right now in history and the clock is almost at midnight! The
Lord's coming is imminent indeed, but that doesn't mean it could be at any
time. God's plan is set in stone from the foundation of the world. We just
don't know the day or hour of the harpazo because it occurs very close to
the day of the Lord, which is supposed to come like a thief in the night
to the unsuspecting children of disobedience. But again, we aren't in
darkness about this time.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Please examine the group of Bible studies in
HIStory, Our Future: Pearls for the Bride
as they lay out the historical judgments of Israel that lead to our time
now. I believe you will see why the 70th week of Daniel started at the end
of those prophesied judgments, it's time for God to save Israel and that's
what the 70th week is, the completion of the future of Israel as
prophesied to Daniel in Babylon over 2,520 years ago!
I will address some points from
THE DOCTRINE OF IMMINENCY: IS IT BIBLICAL?
By: Dr. Gerald Stanton
Dr.
Gerald Stanton wrote:
The primary thought expressed
by imminency is that something important is likely to happen, and
could do so without delay. While it may not be immediate nor
necessarily soon, it is next on the program and may take place at
any time. If the event is evil or potentially dangerous we would
call it impending for it is threatening to occur. But if it is an
event full of hope and joyful expectation we express it by the noun
imminence or the adjective imminent Among believers, these words
normally relate to the possible soon coming of our Lord Jesus Christ
to catch up His Church in that happy and monumental event called the
harpazo.
The word imminent should not be confused with immanent which means
in theological language that God is not only transcendent, far above
us, but that He is always with us and active on our behalf. Nor
should it be confused with eminent a title of honor usually reserved
for a king or other person of outstanding distinction. Imminence is
used to describe the coming of Jesus Christ for His Church, the
harpazo experience, and to declare that it is next on the prophetic
program of God.
I believe
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 directly
contradicts the idea that the harpazo is the next event on the prophetic
timetable. I believe the
day of Christ is the beginning of the
day of the Lord, just from different
perspectives.
We as the bride of Christ are not appointed to God's wrath. Tribulation,
yes. Persecution, yes. God's wrath intended for the children of
disobedience, NO.
Luke 21:34-36 directly addresses
our escape from the wrath of God, which is fulfilled after the harpazo as
seen in
Revelation 7:9. God's wrath is
coming on all them that dwell on the whole earth. Therefore, to escape it,
we must not be on the whole earth. That is where
the harpazo comes in. (I'm
pre-wrath
for these reasons)
The children of disobedience to God are prophesied to have this sudden
destruction come upon them suddenly and they won't escape.
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
According to
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, the day of Christ will not come unless
there is a falling away first, and the man of sin is revealed. It goes on
to describe the abomination of desolation when the man of sin sets himself
up as an idol to be worshipped in the Holy of holies in the rebuilt
temple. That is also the beginning of the
great tribulation according to
Christ.
Matthew 24:15-22 It
is also connected by Christ to Daniel, who says that the abomination of
desolation is in the "midst of the week," which is the 70th week of
Daniel.
Therefore, the idea of a pre-trib harpazo being the next event doesn't fit
with Bible prophecy because it also talks about
- A confirmed covenant with many
- Gog/Magog attack, which must come
while Israel is dwelling in safety and before Christ returns in glory.
Explained
here.
- The implied rebuilding of the temple
in order for the abomination of desolation to take place. The temple
WILL be rebuilt. It's a physical temple described in
Revelation 11:1,2 More on that
here.
- The false peace required to get the
temple rebuilt.
All these things lay out an exacting plan
which lists several events in Bible prophecy that will happen before we
are harpazod. Therefore, the harpazo cannot be the next event we're
waiting for.
Dr.
Gerald Stanton wrote:
Actually, the term imminency
normally implies three important truths concerning our Lord's
coming:
(1) While no one knows the time of Christ's return, He may come at
any moment and it is possible that He might come today. It is this
hope which keeps the Church singing: "Jesus may come today. Glad
day! Glad day! And I would see my friend! Dangers and troubles would
end, If Jesus should come today."
Similarly we sing with
expectation: "Jesus is coming to earth again. What if it were
today?" In the midst of all the trials
and sorrows of life, it is the hope of Christ's imminent return
which never fails to encourage the troubled heart.
I've found that understanding the details of God's plan has completely
taken away any fear because there is understanding about the future and
faith in the Bible brings the realization that the future is known by
those who love God and trust His Word! Also, as I pointed out above,
knowing the details of God's plan reveals that there are events that will
unfold before the harpazo of the bride.
What concerns me is that those who look to the harpazo as the next event
put a mental block in their mind many times preventing them from
connecting current events to Bible prophecy because their view is set
already that they only need to watch for Christ. While I don't believe
this takes away their salvation nor prevents them from going in the
harpazo as long as they keep watching, Christ told us to watch and gave us
details about all the things that would happen to watch for.
Given my personal studies and seeing them laid out in scripture and
history while seeing prophetic fulfillments that fit with Bible prophecy
now, I'm amazed at how few believers recognize the times we are in. We're
supposed to be watching and I want everyone to have an open mind guarded
by the Word of God.
Acts 17:11 If someone has set it in their heart that a
perspective is correct, they are more prone to disregard other information
that doesn't fit with that perception. Look at history and you can see
this pattern repeated for any concept. Evolution is a big one. I'm not
associating pre-trib with evolution, but rather trying to bring to light a
concept brought to light in the two quotes I opened with. This goes for
pre-trib, pre-wrath, and post-trib alike.
As the body of Christ we need to be united, and the Bible is that
singularity that should bring us together as one. However, we all need to
read it the same way. The only way we can do that is if we all agree that
what the Bible says, it means and that all symbology should be interpreted
from within scripture itself. This way, we add nothing and take nothing
away from the Word. I know it's easier said than done with some, but the
end is coming and we will be united then. I just believe the Bible gives
us what we need to be united in Spirit and Truth
RIGHT NOW!
Dr.
Gerald Stanton wrote:
(2) The
harpazo is signless, and will be unannounced and largely unexpected.
It is next on the revealed program of God, and is so presented in the
Scripture that every generation may enjoy the hope, challenge and
other blessings of His appearing. We are all exhorted to watch but no
one can know the day nor the hour when the Bridegroom will come (Matt.
25:13).
I agree that it will be unexpected. I believe we don't know the day or
hour of the harpazo because it comes just before God's wrath does. The
Bible says that the children of disobedience will be caught unawares. If
we knew when the harpazo was, the world would know when the destruction
was, but the Bible says they won't. Therefore, we cannot know the day or
hour of the harpazo either. It is however set for an exact day and hour
since the beginning. Seeing God's plan laid out in
HIStory, Our Future
demonstrates how exacting His plan has been since creation.
I do believe that the harpazo will be announced though.
1
Thessalonians 4:16-18
For the Lord himself shall
descend 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: 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.
And again, I disagree on the harpazo being
next on the agenda given the studies referenced above.
Dr.
Gerald Stanton wrote:
(3) No
clearly prophesied event must transpire prior to the harpazo, for this
might date the time of His coming. If the return of Christ for His
Church is imminent, then obviously it will be before the coming period
of Tribulation with its clearly predicted signs and judgments. In
theological language, the harpazo of the Church must be
Pretribulational We do not first look for an invasion of the Holy Land
by Russia or some other northern confederation, nor the revelation of
Antichrist and his godless ambitions, nor the predicted Battle of
Armageddon with its vast devastation. We look next for the coming of
Christ from heaven to take His own to the Father's house (John
14:1-3), and the Bible calls this our "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13).
- Gog/Magog must occur when Israel is
living in safety in the latter years.
Ezekiel 38:8 (This places it in
the end-times and at a time when Israel is living safely. This
eliminates the possiblity of it occuring any time after the abomination
of desolation since from that point until the end of the week Israel
will be protected in the wilderness, not living in Jerusalem.
Revelation 12:14)
- Gog/Magog marks the end of Israel's
polluting of God's name.
Ezekiel 39:6,7
(This means that from that point on, they will not be the largely
secular society they are now. This limits the Gog/Magog invasion to
sometime before Israel is taken into the wilderness and explains why
Israel might want to rebuild the temple given the problems that would
cause with Islam now. They still haven't accepted Christ, so when they
see God save them, they will turn back to Him the only way they know,
the ways of their fathers.)
- These two eliminate the possibility of
it being in the millennium because Israel's petition and acceptance of
Christ is what brings His return.
Matthew 23:37-39 |
Hosea 5:15
This leaves the only possibility that
Gog/Magog takes place before the abomination of desolation and after
today, since Israel is not really living in peace and Gog/Magog hasn't
happened yet.
The news is also pointing to peace developing in the Middle East, pushed
forward by the 7-year
ENPI, which "breathes new
life" into the 1995 Barcelona Conference's Euro-Med agreement. And as
prophecy would have it, the group putting forth this ENP is based out of
the same footprint nations of the Roman Empire. Daniel 2 relays a statue
which has the same metal that makes up the two legs (Roman Empire) and the
feet/10 Toes. Since the EU has 10 voting member states, it seems to all
fit quite well.
Dr.
Gerald Stanton wrote:
It is
this which gives such great importance to our speaking of the
"imminent return of Christ." We believe that the Bible teaches clearly
that the harpazo of the Church will take place before the coming Great
Tribulation, the time of the outpoured wrath of God. This has become
the cherished hope of a vast number of Christian people, especially
those of conservative theology and Premillenial expectation. Which is
why those of Posttribulational persuasion oppose it so vigorously.
I disagree with his interpretation of what the "great tribulation" is. I
define this term by what causes it's beginning.
Matthew
24:15-22
When ye therefore shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the
holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them
which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the
housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let
him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto
them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 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. And except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake
those days shall be shortened.
This has nothing to do with God's wrath. It
has everything to do with Satan's wrath.
Revelation
12:13-17
And when the dragon saw that he
was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the
man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great
eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she
is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of
the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood
after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the
flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth,
and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
And the dragon was wroth with the woman,
and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
God's wrath doesn't start when Satan is cast
to the earth. It starts after the time of Jacob's trouble, when Israel is
protected from the dragon. It starts soon after the sixth seal.
Joel 2:30-32
And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and
fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great
and terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass,
that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered:
for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD
hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Dr.
Gerald Stanton wrote:
WHY DO WE
BELIEVE IN THE IMMINENT RETURN OF CHRIST?
There are a number of reasons. (1) First, we see clearly that the
harpazo is not identical with the Revelation, commonly called the
Second Coming of Christ. There are some obvious differences. The
harpazo relates to the Church, when the dead in Christ shall rise and
the living will be translated to meet the Lord in the air (1 Cor.
15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16-17). It expresses hope and a warm spirit of
expectancy (1 Thess. 1:10), all of which should result in a victorious
and purified life (1 John 3:2-3).
On the other hand, the Second Coming of Christ does not deal primarily
with the saint but with the sinner. When Christ returns to earth,
Armageddon must be terminated (Rev. 19:17-18), the Beast and the False
Prophet will be cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 19:19-20), Satan
shall be bound in the abyss (Rev. 20:1-3), the nations of earth will
be gathered and judged (Matt. 25:31-46), and Israel, which has gone
through deep trial, will now behold and put their trust in Christ,
their true Messiah (Zech. 12:10; Rom. 11:26-27).
(2) There is a vast difference in the language used for these two
events. While both relate to the endtime and both describe actions on
the part of Christ, early believers were taught to look for the Savior
(Phil. 3:20; Titus 2:13). "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear
the second time without sin unto salvation" (Heb. 9:28). Likewise,
they were to wait for God's Son from heaven (1 Thess. 1:10). They were
to watch and be sober (1 Thess. 5:6), and to comfort one another with
the hope of Christ's coming (1 Thess. 4:18). These frequent
exhortations caused them to believe that the return of Christ was
imminent.
I think because of
Daniel 12:4, we
should expect that we will have more understanding of the details as time
goes closer to the end. They were told back then that they wouldn't know
the day or hour and that it was yet future. However, until Israel became a
nation again, the fig tree putting forth it's leaves, the end couldn't
come and so neither would Christ for His bride...yet. In the vein of
understanding Bible prophecy, I think we have a better, more clear
perspective now than they did then. That clarity also reveals other truths
in scripture as I'm trying to present here that give more clarity than
they had in the early church to understand the details of what was
written. We have the same Bible, but we also have the keys occurring
around us to connect history to Bible prophecy, and therefore reveal the
future through the lens of scripture.
Dr.
Gerald Stanton wrote:
Paul
seemed to include himself among those who looked for Christ's return
(1 Thess. 4:15, 17; 2 Thess. 2:1). Timothy was exhorted to "keep this
commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our
Lord Jesus Christ (1 Tim. 6:14). Jewish converts were reminded that
"yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not
tarry" (Heb. 10:37). Many have concluded that the expectation of some
was so strong they had ceased their work and had to be exhorted to
return to their labors (2 Thess. 3:10-12), and all were exhorted to
have patience (James 5:8). Finally, John concluded the book of
Revelation and closed the canon of Scripture with the glad cry: "He
which testifies these things says, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even
so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20). Such Scriptures form the very
foundation for the widely acclaimed hope of Christ's imminent return.
But we should use the exact nature of Bible prophecy to define our
foundation. Look at all the
exact day prophecies that
lay out our framework. We need to have that framework before building the
rest of the house. It's based solely on scripture and using the only
common language, numbers. No misinterpretation will occur there unless we
don't accept them for what they say.
Dr.
Gerald Stanton wrote:
How very
different is the language of the Second Advent when Christ returns to
deal with the unbelief and rebellion of the wicked. In that day, He
will "in flaming fire take vengeance on them that know not God, and
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thess. 1:8).
Failure to distinguish harpazo from Revelation has become a major
source of confusion among the various schools of eschatology.
(3) Imminency has been the consistent belief of evangelical Christians
down through the centuries. While theological terms such as trinity,
theophany imminency inerrancy and premillenial developed gradually
over the centuries, it is clear that although they did not use the
term, imminency was indeed the expectation of the Apostolic Church.
John F. Walvoord, a prime authority in the field of Bible eschatology,
forcefully states and illustrates this truth:
"The central feature of pretribulationism, the doctrine of imminency,
is, however, a prominent feature of the doctrine of the early church
... [which] lived in constant expectation of the coming of the Lord
for His church."
He then quotes the Didache dated about 100-120 AD, which contains
the exhortation:
"Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your
loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our
Lord cometh."
It's a good way to keep the body of Christ in constant awareness of their
place in God's plan. Clearly though God's plan is set in stone and spelled
out for us. They may have said the Lord could come at any time back then,
but He didn't. In fact, He couldn't because for almost 2,000 years, Israel
was blinded by God. They couldn't understand as a nation if they wanted
to. That blindness will be lifted in the near future.
We should apply that same understanding now and trust that everything we
need to know to be good watchmen is contained completely in the Bible. God
said He wouldn't do anything without revealing His plans to His servants
the prophets.
Amos 3:7 Look at the example at Sodom and Gomorrah as
He told Abraham about the coming destruction. He also called us friends
and that the master tells his friends what He is doing. This means that if
we're told to watch, we will be given the information to understand what
we're looking at. That's what is contained within Bible prophecy, the
framework from which to watch events unfold! Christ will return at a set
time, we just are told we won't know the day or hour of that set time.
Looking at the fulfilled prophecies, it's all laid out in a framework of
certain timeframes. 2,520 | 1,260 | 1,290 | 14,000 | etc. This is God's
fingerprint on our history, showing that He is always in control. The only
time we are told we won't know is the day and hour. God's Word lays out
the rest!
HIStory, Our Future: Pearls for the Bride
Related Topics:
|
