Forum Class November 28, 2004

The Rapture of the Church

Two Aspects of the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ: The Rapture and the Second Coming

The First and Second Advents of Jesus the Lord are both described in Titus. Notice that the Second Advent is divided into two phases: The coming of Jesus for his saints (his parousia, the event we call the rapture) and his coming in glory (his epiphaneia,) with his saints:

"For the grace of God has appeared [the First Advent of Jesus] for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, [the rapture] and [then] the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, [the Second Coming in glory] who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds." (Titus 2:11-14)

Jesus will come for his bride, the true church at an unexpected hour. This is made clear by the use of the term "like a thief in the night." Parousia is used in key passages such as Matthew 24:36-44 and I Thessalonians 4:16-5:11. (From various Scriptures we can say that seven years after His parousia Jesus will be publicly unveiled on earth, together with his saints. This will be explained below).

The Greek word used to describe the return of the Lord Jesus for his church, parousia, occurs in 2 Peter 1:16, 1 Cor. 15:23, 1 Thessalonians. 3:13, 4:15, 5:23; 2 Thessalonians. 2:1, James 5:7,8, 2 Peter 3:4, Matthew 24:3, 27, 37; 1 John 2:28. The Greek word means an arrival and a consequent remaining with someone. Parousia is used in the following passages:

2 Pet. 1:16 "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty."

1 Cor. 15:23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

1 Ths. 3:13 "...so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.

1 Ths. 4:15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

1 Ths. 5:23 May the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Ths. 2:1-2 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our assembling to meet him, we beg you, brethren, not to be quickly shaken in mind or excited, either by spirit or by word, or by letter purporting to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

James 5: 7-8 Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

2 Peter 3:3-4 First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation."

2 John 2:28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

Matthew 24:3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"

Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of man.

Matthew 24:37 As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man.

The Second Coming of Jesus in power and great glory openly before the whole world is described by the Greek word epiphaneia which means a shining forth. This word occurs in the following passages:

1 Tim. 6:14-16 I charge you to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

2 Tim. 4:1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom.

2 Thessalonians. 2:8-10 And then the lawless one will be revealed (apokalupsis), and the Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing (epiphaneia) and his coming (parousia). The coming (parousia) of the lawless one by the activity of Satan will be with all power and with pretended signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. (Note the combination of epiphaneia and parousia in this passage).

Titus 13-14 "...awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds

The following passages refer to the Second Coming of Jesus, that is, His open unveiling in glory at the time He comes to set up His kingdom on earth. This is a fully public, world-wide event no one will miss:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:29-31)

"Behold, a day of the LORD is coming, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in the midst of you. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished; half of the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. And the valley of my mountains shall be stopped up, for the valley of the mountains shall touch the side of it; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the LORD your God will come, and all the holy ones with him. On that day there shall be neither cold nor frost. And there shall be continuous day (it is known to the LORD), not day and not night, for at evening time there shall be light. On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea; it shall continue in summer as in winter. And the LORD will become king over all the earth; on that day the LORD will be one and his name one." (Zechariah 14:1-9)

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords." (Revelation 19:11-16)

Two Phases of His "Presence" (Ray C. Stedman)

When Jesus speaks about his return he is not referring to a single moment of time when he will appear, but his talking about a return that covers a period of time. It will begin with a secret arrival, when he will come like a thief in the night. This will be the beginning of his "presence," (His parousia). But that presence will continue throughout all the time of trouble on earth, but behind the scenes, as it were, invisible to the world. Then, "after the tribulation of those days," he will manifest his presence visibly, appearing in power and great glory, (His epiphaneia).

This invisible presence of Jesus on earth is not something wholly new. During the forty days after his resurrection he was in exactly this condition. He appeared and disappeared among his disciples and they never knew when he was coming or when he would go. He was suddenly there, and just as suddenly gone. He was here, but not here. For forty days this manifestation went on until he ascended into heaven. When he comes again he will resume the same relationship to the believing Jews and Gentiles of that time. The church will be caught up to be with him, to join him in that remarkable presence during the terrible days of trouble on earth.

The Church Removed: The removal of the church is described also in other passages. Paul writes to the Thessalonians about that, too in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18:

"For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming [parousia] of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep [died]. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

This event is call the departure of the church. An older word for it is the "rapture" of the church. As you will note in what Paul says about it, it is intended to be a source of comfort to Christians. It is called in Titus 2:13 "our blessed hope." It means that one whole generation of Christians will not physically die, but will pass directly into a glorified state, as Jesus did on the Mount of Transfiguration before the astonished eyes of Peter, James and John (Matthew 17:2). No wonder one Christian said, "I'm not waiting for the undertaker; I'm waiting for the uppertaker!"

Don't let your imagination run away with you in trying to conceive what this event (the rapture) will be like. It is highly likely that it will not be visible to the world. It will be unseen and unfelt, with no disturbance of graves and nothing to indicate that anything has happened other than the strange disappearance of thousands. Just as the body of Jesus Christ was raised from the dead and passed out through the tomb in which he had resided without any physical manifestation whatever, so this event will take place. The stone was not rolled away from Jesus' tomb to let him out; it was rolled away to let the disciples in--so they could see what had happened. When Peter came in and found the grave clothes still lying as though wrapped around a body, but with the body absent, he was convinced that something unusual had occurred. So this will be a silent event, recognizable only by the unexplained disappearance of many. Paul describes the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52:

"Lo! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed (allasso, transformed)."

The whole point of our Lord's revelation of this fantastic event is, as he puts it, "Watch therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming." Do not be deceived, do not be misled or swept off your feet by the persuasive lies of unbelief in this day. Do not be distracted by the siren sounds of a deceived society which vainly imagines that all will go on forever as it does now. Do not be deterred in your service by the growing power of evil or the dark gloom of deluded men who can switch suddenly from glowing optimism to shuddering despair. The great removal can come at any time. Are you watching? (http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/olivet/oliv04.html)

The most dramatic event in all history will be the visible appearing of Jesus Christ, (His epiphaneia). No one can possibly miss it when it occurs. He himself describes it for us in Matthew 24:29-31:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

This is the most prophesied event in the Bible. The Old Testament contains many references to it, and it has been estimated that in the New Testament one verse out of ten refers to this coming of Jesus Christ. If all the references to this event were taken out of the New Testament, you find it unintelligible in many parts.

From "Presence" to "Unveiling"

But we must be careful to understand it in relation to the parousia, the presence of Jesus, which has been going on since the Church was taken out of the restrictions of time before the end of the age began. This flaming advent is part of the parousia, actually the event that marks the end of the secret presence. It is the outshining of his presence before the eyes of the whole world. What he has been in secret to his own during the dark days of the tribulation, he now will be openly before the whole world. He will especially manifest himself to the Lawless One. Paul says,

"The Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

That last phrase, "his appearing and his coming," is literally, "the epiphany of his parousia." Epiphany is a word that means unveiling, or outshining. Taken in that sense, Paul is calling this dramatic appearance of Jesus Christ, "the unveiling of his presence." It is the startling climax of the whole period which Jesus calls "the close of the age." The final crashing crescendo of civilization's last hour will be accomplished in three sweeping movements. Each of these is traced in broad strokes by Jesus. The first is a violent activity in nature:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken."

Notice that the Lord Jesus distinctly separates this event from the Great Tribulation. The tribulation will be essentially the manifestation of the naked brutality of man, the exhibition of the cruelty and unbelievable violence of the human heart unrestrained by grace. It is described for us in detail in the book of the Revelation, especially in the judgments of the seals and the trumpets. It will be a time when the horrors of Nazi persecution, reflected in the gas chambers of Buchenwald and Dachau, will be repeated all over the earth; a time when violence stalks the streets, and the nuclear witches of terror scream through the skies. As Jesus said, it will be a day of unprecedented human evil, of terrible slaughter and human suffering.

But immediately following this tribulation terrifying signs appear in the heavens. The phrase, "the powers of the heavens will be shaken," suggests severe gravitational disturbance of the solar system. This in turn would produce phenomenal effects on the earth. Showers of meteors will flash through the darkening skies. Earthquakes cause the land to heave and shake, and great tidal waves sweep the coasts. Luke reports that, "men [will be] fainting with fear," and there will be great "distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves." Volcanoes erupt, spouting out streams of lava and vast clouds of cinder and ash which obscure the sun and the moon. The sun is darkened and the moon reddens and is finally unable to shine at all. (from http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/olivet/oliv08.html)

THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS (Ray C. Stedman)

COMMENTATORS HAVE OFTEN portrayed the second coming of Jesus as a single dramatic event (Matt. 24:21, 29), following the Great Tribulation, where the Lord will suddenly appear in power and great glory, visible to every eye (Rev. 1:7). The church will be caught up to meet Him and will then return with Him to earth (1 Thessalonians. 4:13-18) where He will judge the living and dead. This either establishes His millennial kingdom or ushers in the new heaven and new earth, depending on which millennial view the commentator holds.

This scenario has numerous difficulties connected with it, however, not least of which are the several promises in the New Testament that the true church will not be present during the Great Tribulation. A key to understanding the teaching of the New Testament on this subject is the Greek word parousia. This word is commonly translated "coming," which in the mind of the reader projects the vision of the single dramatic appearance described above. But parousia should properly be translated "presence." This is the meaning given first by both Thayer and Arndt and Gingrich lexicons and includes the idea of an entrance, a consequent duration, and either an exit or a continued presence. It is not, therefore, a single event (V), but a continuum (I---------I) of unspecified duration.

This meaning is the only way to make sense of Jesus' revelation in Matthew 24 of His return to earth in the last days. There He describes a coming in power and glory immediately following the terrible time of trouble that He calls "the great tribulation" and the darkening of the sun and moon and the falling of the stars from heaven (Matt. 24:28-30). But it would be impossible for such a coming to take anyone by surprise who knew of our Lord's description. For in the same chapter Jesus speaks of His coming as unexpected and sudden as the flood came upon the people of Noah's day; and He likens it to a thief creeping into a household at night, without warning, and surreptitiously removing its treasure (vv. 36-44). Yet how could His coming be both unexpected and preceded by such cosmic events of dramatic character?

The only answer is that one passage describes His initial, totally unheralded and unexpected appearing while the other describes the disclosure of His presence by a dramatic display of power and glory after the Tribulation has run its course and the sun, moon, and stars have done their predicted thing.

Jesus' coming like a thief would be a fulfillment of I Thessalonians 4:13-18: He would catch up His true church to Himself and then remain on earth during all the events of the Tribulation, but in the same conditions He manifested during His forty-day post-resurrection ministry when He appeared and disappeared at will. After the darkening of the sun and the moon He would disclose His presence to the entire earth in fulfillment of Matthew 24:28-30 and Revelation 1:7. Thus His initial, thief-like coming, His continued presence behind the scenes on earth, and His final revelation in power would all be covered by the term parousia. It is noteworthy that where Paul refers to the public revelation of Jesus in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, he calls it "the splendor of his coming" (NIV), which literally means "the epiphaneia ("out-shining") of his parousia ("presence").

But what happens to the church after it is caught up to meet the Lord in the air, as I Thessalonians 4:13-18 describes? The answer of Scripture is "so shall we ever be with the Lord." Wherever the Lord is, there the church will be also, sharing with Him in His work whatever it will be. But some may object, "I thought the church was to be in heaven with the Lord."

And indeed it will--but what and where is heaven? It is certainly not another place in the cosmos, within the time-space continuum with which we are familiar. In the light of the new physics of Einstein and others, many are coming to see that heaven is a term for another dimension of existence. It need not be spatially removed from us at all, but may be as present on earth as it is anywhere else. When Jesus appeared and disappeared in the course of His post-resurrection ministry, He was simply stepping in and out of the invisible dimension where spiritual realities exist--heaven. Yet all the time He was in some sense on earth, for He said that He had not yet ascended to His Father.

While I admit that this may be somewhat speculative and mysterious, it is supported by several passages of Scripture. It simply implies that the church (consisting of believers with glorified bodies) will accompany the Lord in His behind-the-scenes directing of the events of the Tribulation. It is this same church that the apostle John sees under the symbol of a glorious city, coming from heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. The marriage supper of the Lamb will already have taken place in those invisible realms while the events of the Tribulation rage on earth. (Appendix to Ray C. Stedman, Waiting for the Second Coming, Discovery House Publishers, Grand Rapids, 1990. http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/thessalonians/)

The Next Major Biblical Event in History: The Rapture of the Church (by Ron Graff and Lambert Dolphin)

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve, as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up [harpazo] together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Meaning of "Rapture": Our English word "rapture" as used in Bible prophecy is derived from a word used in the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible. The Latin "rapere" means to "catch up," or "to snatch away." Specifically, rapiemur in found in the Latin version of I Thessalonians 4:17, while the Greek original word is harpazo with the same meaning-- "to seize upon by force." "to snatch up."

Three Events That Happen at The Rapture: The scriptures of First Thessalonians 4 and 5 are familiar to most Christians as a description of the so-called "rapture of the church." The rapture can be thought of as a point in eternity which will protrude into our historical time frame at some fixed point on God's calendar. However, as we have seen, God has not given us the date. Three specific events take place at the time Jesus calls his church out of the world:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven

(a) with a cry of command, (a shout), (b) with the archangel's call, (c) and with the sound of the trumpet of God.

The "cry of command" from the lips of Jesus is to awake the dead in Christ and to call them forth from their graves as God called his friend Lazarus forth (John 11:43).

Only one archangel is called by name in Scripture. He is Michael whose specific jurisdiction is over the people of Israel. At the time of the Rapture, the archangel will signal to Israel that God has returned the focus of his attention at last to the final redemption of his chosen nation, Israel. This event was spoken of by Daniel:

"At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people--everyone whose name is found written in the book--will be delivered." (Daniel 12:1)

The trumpet call, not to be confused with the last of the seven trumpets in Revelation, is a trumpet call to assembly associated with the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. It will be used to call the living saints at the time of the Rapture to be caught up and transformed together with the just-raised church saints of the past 2000 years. This is described also in 1 Corinthians 15,

I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1 Corinthians 15:50-58)

When an individual dies he or she leaves time and enters eternity. Some scholars think that all believers travel through eternity immediately, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," to arrive at the Rapture the next instant in his or her personal experience. If that is the case, all believers arrive in heaven at the same "time." Thus, "to be absent from the body is to be at home with the Lord." (2 Corinthians 5:8) We may have difficulty picturing this if we do not realize that eternity runs according to an entirely different time than the one-dimensional time frame in which we are constrained to live while in our mortal bodies.

Rapture Passages	Second Coming Passages
John 14:1-3	Daniel 2:44-45
Romans 8:19	Daniel 7:9-14
1 Corinthians 1:7-8	Daniel 12:1-3
1 Corinthians 15:51-53	Zechariah 12:10
1 Corinthians 16:22	Zechariah 14:1-15
Philippians 3:20	Matthew 13:41
Philippians 4:5	Matthew 24:15-31
Colossians 3:4	Matthew 26:64
1 Thessalonians 1:10; 2:19	Mark 13: 14-27
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18	Mark 14:62 , 23
1 Thessalonians 5:19	Luke 21:25-28
2 Thessalonians 2:1	Acts 1:9-11
1 Timothy 6:14	Acts 3:19-21
2 Timothy 4:1, 8	1 Thessalonians 3:13
Titus 2:13	Jude 14, 15
Hebrews 9:28	Revelation 1:7
1 Peter 1:7, 13; 5:4	Revelation 19:11-20:6
Revelation 2:25; 3:10	Revelation 22:7, 12, 20

The Rapture	The 2nd Coming
Christ comes for His own 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18	Christ return with His own Revelation 19:14
Believers taken to Father's House John 14:3	Believers come to Earth Matthew 24:30
Seen only by believers 1 Corinthians 15:52 Revelation 1:7; 19:11-16	Every eye will see Him Matthew 24:30
No reference to Satan	Satan bound, Revelation 20:1-3
Earth not judged	Earth judged Revelation 20:4-5
A Mystery 1 Corinthians 15:51	Foretold in Old Testament Dan. 12:1-3; Zech. 12:10; 14:4

Other Important Terms

Here are a few common terms frequently found in discussions about the future.

Millennium - 1000 years of history during which Christ will reign as King of Kings here on earth (Rev. 20:2-7).

Premillennialism - The belief that Christ returns visibly and bodily at the beginning of the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. He will rule the nations from Jerusalem.

Postmillennialism - The belief that Christ will return at the end of the present age to take over the earth. Meantime, He is assumed to reign on earth through the church now. Postmillenialists do not necessarily believe in a literal millennial age. Satan was defeated at the cross and is now bound, hence the final triumph of the church in history is assured.

Amillennialism - The belief that there will no literal 1000 year reign of Christ. Thus Revelation 20 is taken symbolically, not literally, by adherents of this view. Amillennialists generally believe that Israel has been permanently set aside for all time and that God's current plan of salvation involves only the church.

The authors' understanding (Graff and Dolphin, as well as Stedman) of future things is firmly premillennial. A literal interpretation of Scripture requires belief in an actual thousand year period of time during which Christ will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The book of Revelation describes these periods of time clearly: The Church Age (chapters 1-3), The Tribulation (chapters 4-19), The Millennium (chapter 20), and then The New Heaven and Earth (chapters 21-22).

Many evangelical Bible teachers who write and speak about prophecy are also premillennial. Among them there are various viewpoints about the timing of the Rapture. Here is a brief summary of these positions:

Pre-Tribulation Rapture - That Christ will rapture the church before the Tribulation begins

Mid-Tribulation Rapture - That Christ will rapture the church at the Mid-point of The Tribulation

Post Tribulation Rapture - That Christ will rapture the church at the end of the Tribulation

Pre-Wrath Rapture - That Christ will rapture the church just before the Battle of Armageddon

Partial Rapture - That Christ will rapture those who are ready and leave the rest to go through the Tribulation

Multiple Rapture - That there are more than one raptures, during which Christ receives those who are ready

Preterism - The believe that Bible prophecy with respect to Israel and the Old Testament was concluded in AD 760 with the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. All that remains to be fulfilled is one last judgment of the righteous and the unrighteous in one event.

"Pan-Trib" Position - No clue about future events, but think it will "all pan out in the end" (The last term is not really funny. There are too many people who just claim ignorance of this vital subject. When one pastor was asked recently what his views of prophecy were, he said, "I just don't handle it." Can you imagine? A pastor, who has the responsibility of teaching the whole counsel of God's Word, refusing to "handle" nearly one third of Scripture!)

Those who are "in Christ": Returning to the rapture passage in 1 Thessalonians 4, the last part of verse 16 and first part of verse 17 say,

"...the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall ever be with the Lord."

This event is only for those "in Christ." It does not, therefore, include Old Testament Saints. We will study the time of their resurrection later. The point here is that all believers of the church age, and only believers of this age are included--those who have died "in Christ," and those believers who are alive at the time. It should be added that the Rapture does include all Jewish people during this present time who have placed their faith in Jesus as Messiah. They too are part of the church, though they have not lost their identity as descendants of Israel.

Why the Rapture will take place before the Tribulation: We believe that, by far, the strongest Biblical evidence is in favor of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture position. There are many reasons for this. Here are some of the most obvious ones.

Any-moment expectation (imminence): In every age Christians have been expecting the return of Our Lord. Twice in the last chapter of the Revelation He tells us, "I am coming quickly." (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20) Paul referred to this ever-present possibility of Christ's return as "the blessed hope." (Titus 2:13) He also taught that His coming will be like a thief in the night.

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-6)

John also spoke often of Christ's appearing:

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

The pre-Tribulation position is the best from this point of view. If the Rapture takes place before the Tribulation, we can truly expect it "any day." If it is delayed to the middle or end of the Tribulation, we could not honestly have that expectation now.

Deliverance of the Saints from wrath: Here are some of the passages which indicate that believers of this Church Age will not be left to suffer the outpouring of God's wrath:

"But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:36)

And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead--Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath. (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

And if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day with their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment... (2 Peter 2:6-9)

In the message to the Church of Philadelphia (the world-missions age of the church), God said:

Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10)

The Bible does not teach that Christians are delivered from persecution, trials and temptations. In fact, the opposite is true. In 2 Timothy 3:12 we are told, "Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." (KJV) The books of James and 1 Peter were written to encourage Christians when they are called upon to go through trials. Paul himself spoke about his "thorn in the flesh" as a trial allowed by God in order that God's strength could be shown through him. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

Belief in the pre-Tribulation Rapture has nothing to do with a cowardly desire to escape persecution. Scriptural examples and history itself teach us that, when called upon to suffer for the name of Christ, it is actually a privilege to die for Him. In fact, we are being reminded today that more Christians have been persecuted and even put to death in our own generation than in all other periods of church history combined. For two thousand years God has allowed his people to suffer trials and persecution and even martyrdom. Why, however, should He ask only the final generation of the church to endure an unprecedented time of terrible destruction which is not intended for the church, but as a judgment of unbelieving world?

The belief that the church will be delivered from the Tribulation is based in part on the Biblical pattern that when God pours out His wrath He always gives opportunity for the righteous to escape it. This was true of Noah and his family, of Sodom and Gomorrah in the days of Lot, and even of the pagan Ninevites to whom Jonah was sent.

The true church is the Bride of Christ. God intends that she join her Bridegroom for a great wedding feast and after that share with Him in ruling the nations. Allowing His bride to suffer through the tribulation is inconsistent with the specific purposes for which He has called out the church from the world, why He has rescued her "from the coming wrath." (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

Antichrist not revealed until hindering force removed: In 2 Thessalonians we are told that the "man of sin (or lawlessness)" will not be revealed until "He who now restrains" is taken out of the way.

Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?

And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed.

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; (II Thessalonians 2:1-8)

In John 16:7-8 we are told that it is The Holy Spirit who will "convict the world concerning sin..." God The Holy Spirit can never be removed from the earth, but, in the sense that He is effectively restraining sin through Christians in whom He dwells, the time will come, once those Christians are gone, that wickedness will abound. Today Christians are everywhere: in their occupations, in the market place, in the schools, even in government halls. But during the Tribulation, true believers will be persecuted and either killed or driven underground, so that their godly influence will not be felt in the world. When the church is taken in the Rapture, the world will be ripe for Antichrist to step forth with his ungodly plans. True, multitudes of people will turn to Christ and will become true believers in the tribulation period. They will also be indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but they will not be permitted to take the place of the missing Christians in society. They will be outcasts, and therefore the Holy Spirit will not have the same restraining influence on the world that He now has. Most, or even all of them, will be quickly put to death by the man of sin.

The Death of the Believer -- Time and Eternity: The Apostle Paul adds further to our understanding of what happens when an individual Christian dies:

Because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Now we know that if the earthly tent [skenos, the present body is a temporary tent] we live in is destroyed, we have a building [oikodome, a permanent house] from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. (2 Corinthians 4:14-5:9)

There is no hint here of an intermediate state between dying and going into the presence of the Lord. Indeed the Apostle tells us that our resurrection bodies are already prepared for us, they are waiting for us to "put on" exactly as one would put on a new set of clothes over the old!

Events between the Rapture (the parousia) and Christ's Return (the epiphaneia)

There are certain future events which evidently will take place between the Rapture and Christ's glorious return as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Two of them are The Bema Seat Judgment, and The Marriage of the Lamb.

The Bema Seat Judgment (the "Judgment Seat of Christ"): According to 2 Corinthians 5:10, all believers of this age must appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Information about this event is also found in Romans 14:10; in 1 Corinthians. 3:10-15; and in 1 Corinthians 4:2-5. This evaluation of every believer is not for the purpose of dealing with sin --which was fully dealt with on the cross by the Lord Jesus. Rather it is a reviewing stand where quality of our Christian performance can be evaluated and rewarded. The motives of the heart will be made known, and most importantly, only the works the believer has undertaken by faith "in the Spirit"--by faith in the indwelling presence of God, will survive. The "works of the flesh" (our self-efforts to serve God) will be taken away and only what God has built into our lives since we came to know Him will go with us into the next life.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb - Revelation 19:7-9: During his lifetime on earth, Jesus did not marry. For a man not to marry was very rare in Israel (then as now). Following the typology in the story of Abraham's servant going to a far country to select a bride (Rebekah) for the patriarchs beloved son Isaac, (Genesis 24) we could say that God the Father dispatched the Holy Spirit into the world to call out and prepare a people who would be a suitable bride. The Spirit would also give the church a suitable wedding dowry that she might be a fitting love-gift from the Father to His beloved Son, Jesus. All sorts of people are welcome to be part of Christ's wife, the invitation is open to everyone,

Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'

"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'

"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'

"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'

"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'

"'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'

"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.'" (Luke 14:16-24)

The church can be thought of as the "Second Eve." But whereas the original Eve was one woman, the Bride of Christ consists of millions of men and children! When we are all brought together as a family following the rapture we shall join with our Lord is a great marriage feast. Christ's Bride is in Heaven before He returns in glory to the earth!

"Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." (Revelation 19:7-9)

Our return with Christ: To understand the events which take place after the Rapture, we need to bear in mind that there is a sequence of events taking place which occurs "in heaven" and there is a parallel sequence of events occurring "on earth." In the book of Revelation note is made of those who "dwell in heaven" and those who dwell on earth" during the tribulation period. The former group "dwelling in heaven" is the church. We who comprise the church will have been given our resurrection bodies and will walk in the company of the Lamb and His holy angels. Those who are (during this same time period) dwelling on earth--include non-believers, but also God's 144,000 Jewish evangelists. (they are regenerated men but do not yet have resurrection bodies), and likewise their converts, who are the saints of the Tribulation period. Many of these saints will become martyrs during the tribulation period, but they will not be given their resurrection bodies until the tribulation ends. (Revelation 20:4)

All this careful reading of scripture this tells us that heaven is not far away. It is in fact merely another dimension of reality. Earthly, material realities occupy only a small localized region of the realm the Bible calls the heavenly places. The material world is embedded in the spiritual. Therefore Jesus is never far away from any of us. The old notion that when Jesus takes us to heaven we are somehow far removed to a golden land beyond the furthest star is not a Biblical view of heaven at all! We need to adjust our thinking to the view that Jesus will be on the earth during the entire tribulation period, invisible, but probably appearing and disappearing in the same mysterious manner He did during the 40 days following his resurrection and His ascension. On earth, but unseen by unbelievers, Jesus will be the Commander and Chief of the armies of the Lord. He will also direct the 144,000 and their strategic work. Jesus will apparently involve Himself personally in the shepherding of His faithful remnant hidden at Petra during the last half of the Tribulation period. When Jesus returns, He will come not from "outer space," but simply step back into our space-time frame once again, bringing His church with Him.

The model prayer Jesus gave His disciples contains the phrase, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" This prayer assures us that Jesus now rules the entire universe. All authority in heaven and earth has already been given to Him. However, Jesus does not yet reign on the earth. For two thousand years the saints of God have prayed that He might soon come and reign on earth as He already does reign in heaven. In Revelation Chapter 4, a great scroll, which we may think of as the title deed to the earth, is handed to Jesus by His Father. Jesus is called to begin His long awaited reign on earth. He will accomplish this in stages, by first coming for His church, and then by strategically directing and orchestrating all of the events of the end time. Evidently He will establish a beachhead on the planet, a command center for those military operations which will culminate in His final appearance in public as earth's legal King of kings and Lord of lords. His activities during the Tribulation will not be detected by unbelievers, though there will be rumors He has returned. Many events occurring on earth, due to the clandestine operations of the 144,000, will cause earth's inhabitants to be nervous.

For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-- and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect-- if that were possible. See, I have told you ahead of time.

"So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

"Immediately after the distress of those days "'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'

"At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:21-30)

If we consider all the parallel events the book of Revelation describes, including the throwing -down of Satan and His hosts to earth during this last three and a half years, then it makes sense that our Commander-and-Chief should establish His battle headquarters for the end time right here on earth. This is where the final conflict will be fought, including the Seed of the Woman winning a final victory over the Seed of the Serpent.

But the church is the Body of Christ and the Head can not be separated from the Body! So we must begin to think of ourselves as present on earth with Jesus during the Tribulation period. Our resurrection bodies will make us invulnerable to sin and death. Furthermore, like our Lord, we will be invisible to the inhabitants of the earth. When Christ returns, it is with "armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean."

And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. (Revelation 19:11-14)

This is undoubtedly a picture of the His redeemed (Revelation 3:18) with glorified, immortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:35-50), able to descend from the heavens without the aid of a spacecraft! We are told in Colossians 3:4, "When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. And 1 Thessalonians talks about the "coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints." The book of Revelation tells what we will do, once we have returned with Christ:

Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. (Revelation 20:6)

The Centrality of Israel and Jewish People During The Tribulation: A great body of converted people from all the nations are mentioned several times in the book of the Revelation--after the Rapture of the church. Usually they are called the "Saints." They are believers in Christ--Jews and Gentiles alike, but they are not referred to as the church, nor are any of the usual descriptions of the church attached to them. The apostate church of the period will be corrupt, and will give its influence to Antichrist (Revelation 18), so these Tribulation Saints will not in any way be associated with this apostate church, the great harlot of Revelation 17.

The theme of Israel's place during the tribulation period will be expanded in the third section of the book, but here are some of the key points which illustrate the centrality of Israel and Jewish people during this period of time:

o It is synonymous with Daniel's 70th Week - Daniel 9:27; Revelation 13
o The 144,000 Sealed from the 12 Tribes of Israel - Revelation 7:1-8
o The Two Witnesses - probably Old Testament leaders - Moses and Elijah (or, as some think, Enoch and Elijah) - Revelation 11:1-12
o The Flight of Israel's remnant - Revelation 12
o Treaty with Israel, Defilement of the Temple - Revelation 13

Population of The Millennium by mortal believers: The pre-Tribulation Rapture interpretation best explains this important feature of God's future plan. According to Jesus' teaching on the Mount of Olives, there will be a judgment of the nations (Sheep and Goats - Matthew 25:31-46) just before the Millennium, just prior to the commencement of the thousand-year reign of Christ (Revelation 20:1-6). This taking of some and leaving of others is not the Rapture, but it corresponds to the Parable of The Wheat and The Tares (Matthew 13:24-30). In that parable, the tares are collected FIRST, and tied into bundles to be burned (later - The Great White Throne judgment), then the wheat is gathered into the barn. The wheat represents true believers who have survived the Tribulation period, and are thus permitted to enter the Millennial Age.

If the Rapture took place at, or near the end of the Tribulation, all believers would have glorified bodies, and there would be no righteous mortals left to enter the Millennium!

Differences between The Rapture and The 2nd Coming: We believe that much of the confusion about the Rapture is caused by a lack of understanding that Christ comes first for believers, and then comes later in what is properly called the Second Coming, or His Glorious Return as King of Kings. Here are some of the differences between these two events.
Absence of the Church: Finally, and probably most significant of all, is this fact:

The Church is Missing From The Tribulation - Revelation 4-19

In the first three chapters of Revelation, there are constant references to the church and to the Seven Churches. However, starting at chapter 4, verse 1, where John is told to "come up here," the church is obviously absent throughout the Tribulation period. The expression "come up here" does mean leaving the earth in Revelation 11:12 where the translation of the Two Witnesses takes place. (We are not suggesting that the Rapture takes place in chapter 11, only that the same expression, used there, does mean virtually the same thing for the Two Witnesses that the Rapture does to the church.)

There are numerous references to believers in these chapters, but they are not called the church. What might be called the church on the earth during this time is the apostate shell of nominal Christianity, which has lost its true believers, and has joined with other religions of the world to become a "United Religion," which, in turn will give its power to Antichrist. This apostate church is pictured as a prostitute riding the beast in Revelation 18. Finally, the absence of the church will undoubtedly account for the lawlessness spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2:3.

There's a War on, Folks!

The subject of Bible Prophecy (Eschatology) is VERY important. This is more true now than ever before. Governments and churches and countless individuals make decisions, choices, and investments based on their understanding of how the future will unfold. The majority of churches in this country today are Amillennial nowadays--wrongly believing that the church has replaced Israel in the plan of God and that God has no special future in mind for the nation of Israel. (See http://ldolphin.org/IsChUS.html for a comparison and contrast of Israel and the United States; and the Church. See also, The Error of Replacement Theology, http://www.ldolphin.org/replacement/). A good many churches ignore eschatology altogether, feeling the subject is too difficult to understand and to unravel. They argue that since no one has a clear understanding of the correct interpretation, why bother?

The Usual Pretribulation, Premillennial view

Summary: The next event in history will be the Rapture of the Church. It will be unannounced and could happen at any time. This event is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11. For the past two thousand years God has been calling out a special class of people for Himself, a people separate and distinct from the nation Israel--a heavenly people with a different calling from Israel's. In no way has the church "replaced" Israel in the plan of God. Paul emphasizes this at length in Romans 9, 10, and 11. The plan to create a church was not revealed in the Old Testament. God's plan to build a church was first announced by Jesus at Banias (Caesarea Philippi) fairly late in His ministry:

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do men say that the Son of man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter replied, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter (petros), and on this rock (petra, Himself) I will build (future) my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:12-19)

The clear intention of Jesus was an offensive not a defensive posture--the church would assault the very gates of Hell and the forces of evil would not be able to withstand this assault. The Church has been a-building for 2000 years now, since the Day of Pentecost. When the last of the chosen have been brought in to the church, God will turn His attention once again to Israel.

The Rapture of the church will be accompanied by the removal from earth of much of God's restraint of evil (which presently comes by the Holy Spirit through the salt and light functions of the church). This is described in 2 Thessalonians 2. Meanwhile the Church will (supposedly) be caught up into heaven and there experience (a) the Judgment Seat of Christ, and (b) the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Meanwhile down on earth, the "man of sin" (the final Antichrist) will rise to power in Europe in cahoots with a false Messiah in Israel. Together they will negotiate a phony peace settlement in the Middle East (Isaiah calls this faulty treaty Israel's "Covenant with Death"). A world-wide false (harlot) church will rise to temporary power in this time frame--and enjoy the support of a united Western-world coalition whose power center is in Europe. The Jews will build and put into service their long-awaited Third Temple with a functioning priesthood and sacrifices. The removal of the church from the earth marks the end of a long interval of history following the death of Christ, ("the great parenthesis"), between the 69th and 70th weeks of Daniel. Thus Israel will return to the center stage of world history once again, and the God of Israel will at last fulfill His unconditional covenants with the patriarchs of Israel.

The tribulation period, seven years total, will change radically in character after 3.5 years of apparent world peace--especially in the Middle East. At that time a false Messiah in Israel will appear on the scene of history (he is the Second Beast of Revelation 13 fulfilling the warning of Jesus, John 5:43, "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.") This "man of sin" will enter the Holy of Holies of that Third Temple and declare to the world that He is God. He erects an image of the "First Beast" who heads up the political, military and commercial power of Europe. This awful desecration of the temple was predicted by Jesus and is compared by Jesus (Mt. 24:15) to a similar, earlier desecration of the Second Temple by Antiochus Epiphanies (175-163 BC). The mid-trib point is the time for true believers in Jesus who are living in Judea at that time to flee for safety to nearby Jordan where they will be safely guarded by the Lord--while all hell breaks loose back in Israel.

"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been shortened, no human being would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." (Matthew 24:21-22)

A great and final war will break out in the Middle East in the second half of the tribulation period. Many details are given in the Bible. The principal powers involved are Egypt and allies, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Russia and armies from both the West and the East. It is quite likely that nuclear, biological and chemical weapons will be unloosed. In fact, at mid-trib, the God of Israel will personally intervene decisively in human affairs bringing great and terrible judgment on the nations of the world--including Israel. The second half of the tribulation period is variously called "the GREAT tribulation," "the Day of the Lord," and "the time of Jacob's trouble." (The term "the last days" refers to the entire time period between the First and Second Advents of our Lord). The period of history we live in now could be called "man's day," since to a large extent God allows man to have his own way. Apart from common grace to all men, and much restraint of evil, God now rules the universe but does not yet reign on earth--but this will soon change drastically, (see http://ldolphin.org/DayLord.html).

Yet at this approaching darkest-of-all times in history, God (in mercy and grace) will place into service 144,000 trained Jewish evangelists who will have the zeal and vitality of the Apostle Paul. They will travel around the world, preaching the gospel of the kingdom to those who have never heard the good news--with the result that many millions will come to Christ. Animosity against God will, however, be so high that these new converts (the "tribulation saints") will be quickly put to death (martyred). The judgments of God in the second half of the tribulation period will be a combination of horrendous man-made, and terrible natural disasters, cascading in rapid succession--with the end result that the planet will be totally laid waste and devastated. The majority of people on earth will be killed. (The book of the Revelation goes into detail about all these things. Ray Stedman, again is the best, http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/revelation/).

Near the end of the seven year tribulation period, while World War III is raging out of control in the Middle East, Jesus Christ will return in power and glory to the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem from whence He departed 40 days after His resurrection in AD 33. Jesus will bring with Him at His epiphaneia "the armies of heaven" --which includes all of us, i.e., his saints. Together with Jesus we Christians will participate in the establishment of world-wide righteous government on earth. Thus the devastated planet will be rebuilt and repopulated under the Kingly rule of Jesus. Our Lord will sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem and reign on earth 1000 years. The believing Jews of the Old Testament will be resurrected at the end of the tribulation (Daniel 12, Hebrews 11:39-40) and God will at long last fulfill His literal promises to the nation Israel, promises made to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and to Jesus.

"Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brethren: a hardening has come upon part of Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles come in, and so all Israel will be saved; as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob"; "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." As regards the gospel they are enemies of God, for your sake; but as regards election they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. Just as you were once disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may receive mercy. For God has consigned all men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon all. O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! "For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?" "Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?" For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:25-36)

As mentioned, during the thousand-year reign of Christ in earth, Christians will work together with the believers who survive Word War III (Mt. 25:31-46) to rebuild the earth. Then the judgment of all the wicked dead (the "Great White Throne" judgment) will occur (Rev. 20:11-15). Finally, God will renovate the heavens and the earth, by fire, (2 Peter 3:10-12, Rev. 21:1ff) removing all sources of evil sin permanently from both the heavens and the earth.

Very often books and lectures presenting this view of prophecy will be accompanied by a chart showing history from the time of Christ on into the future. My version of this chart is on my web site at http://ldolphin.org/eschat.html. I have made some subtle changes to the usual view, as will be explained below. At the time of the Rapture, the so-called "time line of history" on a typical end-time chart divides into two parallel sections. Christians are supposed to have been taken off far beyond the clouds to a land of clouds and beauty, bliss and tranquility, fully isolated forever from the terrible judgments of God taking place on earth. In other words, God will come to save us and take us out of this awful, sinful world to our just reward for living "good Christian lives." The implied view of heaven as a place of bliss and contentment in this scenario also suggests perpetual boredom and satiation with heavenly delights. But surely we shall soon miss the dynamics, the tensions, and the adventure of life back on earth? Are we not being trained for a more dynamic destiny than Sunday-school picnics in the clouds?

Because the above view of "going to heaven" when we die, or at the Rapture, is so lacking in realism and appeal, a good many people have decided that the church WILL go through the tribulation after all. This view is basically flawed because the tribulation period is basically a time of judgment on the unbelieving world, and Paul clearly says in 1 Thessalonians (5:9) that we (the church) have not been "appointed to wrath but to obtain salvation..." The church is the Bride of Christ. Christ is the Bridegroom, so the Lord will remove His bride to a place of safety before the "great and terrible day of the Lord." Why should only the last generation of Christians go through the tribulation when no other generation of believers have been asked to do this?

With these very brief remarks in mind, may I raise the following set of problems with the usual PreTrib PreMill point of view? I have not in any way abandoned my view of eschatology--I still agree with all the arguments that point to the Premill-Pretrib position being the correct interpretation of Scripture.

What I do believe is that we may have missed some key issues which deserve rethinking. To keep this article short, I'll first raise a set of questions about the above conventional scenario and then offer my speculative comments. Every week some new prophecy buff emails me with his (or her) new interpretations of prophecy and/or date setting. I have read almost all of the standard books on the shelves by prophecy experts, new and old--those who I agree with and those I don't. What I would like to provoke is some new thinking on old doctrines, not a new interpretation altogether. I have come to think that there is much in the currently-preached Pretrib, PreMill position which is a cop out--resulting from a failure to think things through a bit more carefully.

Problems with the Old, Standard Model

o Where is heaven located?
o Are there two aspects to the Second Coming or one?
o Where does Jesus take the Church for the seven years of the tribulation period?
o Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians that the church will (a) judge angels, and (b) judge the world. When and how does this take place?
o Who trains and leads the 144,000 during the tribulation period?
o Who trains and leads the faithful remnant who flees from Jerusalem to Bozrah and Petra during the last half of the tribulation period?
o Where, exactly, are the evil angels ("the principalities and powers in the heavenly places") we are called to battle with--where do they reside? How are they to be deposed?
o What is the overall goal of Jesus in returning to earth and setting up His kingdom here--with Jerusalem as the capital city of a restored earth, and Israel as the head of the nations?
o What purpose might the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, play in all this?
o What is God's overall plan for the church in this age, apart from winning converts to Christ?
o To whom does the planet belong? Who is the rightful owner and how will He reclaim what is His?
o What does the Lord Jesus do during the tribulation period?
o What does the church do during the tribulation period? What (if any) is our relationship with events on earth during the tribulation period?
o What should the church be doing while we wait for the Lord's appearing from heaven?
o What will the Church be like at the end of the Age, just before the Rapture?

Comments on the Above Issues:

Where is heaven located?

When a person becomes a Christian, he or she is taken out of the kingdom of this world and placed into Christ, and translated into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. The believer IS NOW in heaven--though he does not realize this because the body has not yet been redeemed. The fact that we are actually now already in heaven (it is all around us) is evident from passages such as Ephesians 2 and Hebrews 12. Pay attention to the verb tenses:

And you he made alive, when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us sit with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God--not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:1-10)

And Hebrews 12:

"For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers entreat that no further messages be spoken to them. For they could not endure the order that was given, "If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned." Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, "I tremble with fear." But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel. See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. His voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire." (18-29)

Now let's take a look at that all-too-familiar passage about the Rapture:

"But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the archangel's call, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. But as to the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. When people say, "There is peace and security," then sudden destruction will come upon them as travail comes upon a woman with child, and there will be no escape. But you are not in darkness, brethren, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunk at night. But, since we belong to the day, let us be sober, and put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we wake or sleep we might live with him. Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. (1 Thess. 4:13-5:11)

The passage says nothing about being caught up into heaven (as in 2 Cor. 12:1-9 for instance). It says only that we will be given our new resurrection bodies at that time and be caught up into the clouds (Greek: nephele: the clouds of the earth's atmosphere). Evidently we are not taken very far from earth while the events of the tribulation unfold on earth. Since we are already seated in Christ in the heavenly places we would not actually have to "go anywhere" to be in heaven. Heaven is all around us, it is not far away beyond the stars. We Christians are in heaven right now, and if we could put on our new bodies like a new suit of clothes, we'd be able to experience heaven in full, right around us!

Note: When Jesus ascended from the Mount of Olives, "...he was lifted up, and a cloud (nephele) took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold two men stood by them in white robes, and said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'" (Acts 1:9-11). It is likely that the cloud referenced in 1 Thessalonians 4 is this same cloud. It could be a natural cloud of the sky, or perhaps the Shekinah cloud of glory. However the Rapture is not the same event as the Second Coming in glory, (Matthew 24:29-31) which will be visible world-wide. The Rapture is not a visible event for those left behind on earth. See http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/acts/0411.html.

By the way, I should introduce another complication here, for the sake of completeness. At the Rapture (or when we die--which ever comes first) the believer leaves time and enters eternity. Resurrection bodies are not constrained to earth's time frame as our present unredeemed bodies are. (See http://ldolphin.org/time.html). After His resurrection, in the 40 days before His ascension, our Lord demonstrated the ability to walk through closed doors, to conceal His identity, and to appear and disappear at will. That is, He could step in and out of earth's space-time frame and into the space-time frame of the heavenly places at will. Our new bodies will evidently have this same capability.

Are there two aspects to the Second Coming or one?

Regarding the Second Coming in glory, Ray says,

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

"This is the most prophesied event in the Bible. The Old Testament contains many references to it, and it has been estimated that in the New Testament one verse out of ten refers to this coming of Jesus Christ. If all the references to this event were taken out of the New Testament, you would find it unintelligible in many parts.

From "Presence" to Unveiling: But we must be careful to understand it in relation to the parousia, the presence of Jesus, which has been going on since the Church was taken out of the restrictions of time before the end of the age began. This flaming advent is part of the parousia, actually the event that marks the end of the secret presence. It is the outshining of his presence before the eyes of the whole world. What he has been in secret to his own during the dark days of the tribulation, he now will be openly before the whole world. He will especially manifest himself to the Lawless One. Paul says, "The Lord Jesus will slay him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by his appearing and his coming" (2 Thessalonians 2:8).

That last phrase, "his appearing and his coming," is literally, "the epiphany of his parousia." Epiphany is a word that means unveiling, or outshining. Taken in that sense, Paul is calling this dramatic appearance of Jesus Christ, "the unveiling of his presence." It is the startling climax of the whole period which Jesus calls "the close of the age..."

Where does Jesus take the Church for the seven years of the tribulation period?

Jesus doesn't necessarily take us anywhere. He leaves us here on earth--or perhaps very nearby--certainly not out to a distant place beyond the far reaches of space. The church is called the Body of Christ in the New Testament. He is the Head and we are the torso. We can never be separated from the Head. Right now He is wearing His resurrection body and we are not, so when we get our new bodies, well then--"we are God's children now; it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)

Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians that the church will (a) judge angels, and (b) judge the world. When and how does this take place?

Right now we know next to nothing about the angels and most of us know little about the righteous government our planet needs so desperately. What better training ground than for us to be eye-witnesses to all the unfolding events of the final seven years? It's not a pleasant thought really--rather sobering. But we were forewarned, and in fact we are already supposed to be doing the things Jesus told His disciples to be busy with. We are supposed to be training now so we can handle the end of the age and the coming Millennium. How else will be have the knowledge and experience to rule and reign with our Lord and work with Him in the judgment of the world and of angels? (Read Luke 12).

Who trains and leads the 144,000 during the tribulation period?

These marvelous Jewish evangelists (Rev. 7) will be suddenly converted and pressed into immediate service. Surely only Jesus Himself, as Chief Shepherd, Chief Apostle and Chief Prophet, can quickly and adequately instruct them and grow them up for service in a short time. After all, it was Jesus who privately and personally trained the Apostle Paul. He was not one of the Twelve who lived and traveled with Jesus. Yet he ended up writing much of the New Testament. At the parousia of Jesus (when He returns to earth to remain here) Jesus will evidently assemble and personally train and then lead these gallant evangelists. One example of this presence of Jesus with the 144,000 during the tribulation is given in Revelation 14.

Ray Stedman (http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/revelation/4206.html), says,

Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as first fruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. {Rev 14:1-5 NIV}

"It is important to see exactly the location where these 144,000 and the Lamb are seen. The opening sentence tells us they were "standing on Mount Zion" -- the temple mount in Jerusalem. This means that they were on earth, in Jerusalem, not in heaven. And they are seen together, the Lamb (Jesus). They are 144,000 male Jews chosen out of Israel -- "Christ's Commandos," as we called them earlier.

I want to try and put some loose ends together here. According to the promise of Jesus given to the seven churches in the opening chapters of this book, he told them in several places that he would take the church (i.e., the true believers of this present age), to be with him before this last seven-year period would begin upon the earth. This was accomplished, as Paul describes it in First Thessalonians 4, in what is called the "rapture" (or departure) of the church to be with Christ. The last word of that Thessalonian passage is, "so shall we ever be with the Lord," {1 Th 4:17b KJV}.

The problem that people get into at that point is they think that being "with the Lord" in heaven means to be taken far off into space somewhere. We all have difficulty thinking of heaven as being right here on earth as well as off in space. In other words, heaven is another dimension of existence just beyond our present senses. You can be in heaven and still be on earth at the same time. As I read these prophetic passages I am more and more convinced that this will be the case -- the church is with the Lord, but the Lord is on earth during the whole last seven years. The church is with him, but invisible to the rest of the world, and ministering to this select group of 144,000 Jews as Jesus appears to them from time to time.

If this is true, Jesus will be in exactly the same condition with them as he was with the eleven disciples after his resurrection, when for a period of 40 days he appeared from time to time to them. At different times and in different places he was with them, and yet he would not be with them; he would step back into the realm of invisibility after appearing in their midst. This seems to be the situation here. These are not only 12 disciples -- they are 12 times 12 times 1,000 -- all men of Israel chosen for a special work on earth during these last days. If you can put that scene into your imagination you will get a much clearer picture of what is going on in these scenes."

Who trains and leads the faithful remnant who flees from Jerusalem to Bozrah and Petra during the last half of the tribulation period?

It seems clear from the Old Testament that Messiah Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the Sheep, will personally meet with, and train, His faithful remnant of Jews--believing Israel--at or near Petra, in Southern Jordan during the last half of the Tribulation period. As the greater Moses, Jesus will then lead this faithful remnant back to Jerusalem at the Second Coming.

Ray Stedman has a great discussion of Jesus as the Avenger of Blood for His own people Israel during the last half of the tribulation. (See http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/revelation) It is Jesus who Himself tramples out the "grapes of God's wrath"--the judgment of unbelieving Israel which precedes His second coming in glory (the epiphaneia). Centuries when the Jews had a chance to release Jesus, or the thief, Barabbas. The crowd chose Jesus saying, "May His blood be upon us and on our children." (Matt. 27:25). Ray says,

In Verse 13 [of Revelation 19] there is still another name [given to Jesus at His return]: "He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God." That Word of God is associated with the robe dipped in blood and with the armies of heaven following him, as well as with the sharp sword that comes out of his mouth. Some commentators refer to the "robe dipped in blood" as descriptive of the cross, of the sacrifice of Jesus. I do not take it that way. I think it refers to a remarkable dialog found in the 63rd chapter of Isaiah, a dialog between the prophet and the Warrior-Messiah. As Isaiah is shown the coming of Christ, it is as though he is standing in Jerusalem looking toward the south, toward Edom, and he sees a great warrior coming with garments stained red. He asks the question:

Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson? Who is this, robed in splendor, striding forward in the greatness of his strength? {Isa 63:1a NIV}

The warrior answers, "It is I, speaking in righteousness, mighty to save." {Isa 63:1b NIB}

The prophet asks again: Why are your garments red, like those of one treading the winepress? {Isa 63:2 NIV}

The warrior replies, "I have trodden the winepress alone; from the nations no one was with me. I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redemption has come." {Isa 63:3-4 NIV}

Ray Stedman further suggests, in several of his books, that the activity of Jesus on earth during the tribulation will resemble His work during the 40 days after His resurrection and prior to His ascension from the Mount of Olives.

"During that forty-day period the disciples of Jesus were what we might call "Pre-church Christians." They believed in Jesus but they were not yet members of the church, for the church was not formed until the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out. During the close of the age, the disciples (or as Jesus calls them "the elect") will be what we might call "Post-church Christians." The church has been removed from the world, at least from any visible participation in world affairs. Since we know that Christians will be given glorified bodies like their Lord's (and Paul says that, once removed from this life, the church will be forever "with the Lord"), it seems highly likely that church Christians will join the Lord Jesus in this ministry behind the scenes during the tribulation. They will be like Moses and Elijah who appeared with the transfigured Christ on the Mount. The picture then is clear. Jesus will come for his church and take the members into a new relationship with him. Then he, with them, will remain throughout the "end of the age" period, appearing only to those whose hearts are ready to believe in him. Rumors of his presence will continually be spread abroad, so that men will be saying in that day as they said during the forty-day period, "Where is he?" Authorities will search for him and will not be able to find him, but false prophets will claim to know where he is." (http://www.pbc.org/dp/stedman/olivet/oliv07.html)

Where, exactly, are the evil angels ("the principalities and powers in the heavenly places") we are called to battle with--where do they reside? How are they deposed?

In his helpful book City of God: City of Satan, Robert C. Linthicum notes that evil is deeply embedded in the major cities of the world--and has been for centuries. The fallen angels who constitute what the Bible names as "the world rulers of this present darkness" are associated with men and human institutions here on earth. The angels are not "out there" in outer space, beyond the clouds, because as we have seen, the heavenly places actually surround us on all sides. The material world is embedded in the spiritual world. Christians who work in the inner city know that the spiritual warfare of building a church in the cities of the world invites furious, intense opposition--because the powers of darkness are localized there in the city, alongside the human counterparts who are under the control of these fallen angels.

"For though we live in the world we are not carrying on a worldly war, for the weapons of our warfare are not worldly but have divine power to destroy [Satanic] strongholds. We destroy arguments and every proud obstacle to the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete." (2 Cor. 10:3-5)

The strongholds of evil the church is supposed to be always assaulting and attacking constantly--all our lives--are in and around the cities we live in--they are not in outer space. (No wonder James says that "whoever would be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.") The church is supposed to be busy "taking territory" from the devil here and now--by prayer and intercession, by the propagation of the gospel, by the clear and loving presentation of the truth in the public square. The church is not supposed to be a passive participant in the very society Jesus is trying to reclaim and liberate for His kingdom!

But we are not attacking people in our warfare. The church is like a beachhead landing force, an advanced team of guerrilla soldiers established on the earth as an advanced arm of the main Armies of the Lord who will arrive at the parousia to finish the final take-over of the planet from its present lord, Satan the usurper.

What is the overall goal of Jesus in returning to earth and setting up His kingdom here--with Jerusalem as the capital city of a restored earth, and Israel as the head of the nations?

Notice that Hebrews 12 closes with a warning that God's next radical intervention in history will be more than the mere shaking of the earth at He did at Mt. Sinai. He will shake the heavens as well:

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. His voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. (12:25-28)

Revelation 16 describes the fall of all the major portions of earth in the last great earthquake occurring at the time Christ returns to the Mt. Of Olives. Evidently ridding the earth of the legions of evil angels who rule the world system from the heavenly places, and removing the majority of men who hate God to the death, will involve the near destruction of the whole planet,

The seventh angel poured his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, "It is done!" And there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as had never been since men were on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city [Jerusalem]was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered great Babylon, to make her drain the cup of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found; and great hailstones, heavy as a hundred-weight, dropped on men from heaven, till men cursed God for the plague of the hail, so fearful was that plague." (Revelation 16:17-21)

Isaiah spoke of this same time of great shaking when the [angelic] powers of heaven would be thrown down:

"Terror, and the pit, and the snare are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth! He who flees at the sound of the terror shall fall into the pit; and he who climbs out of the pit shall be caught in the snare. For the windows of heaven are opened, and the foundations of the earth tremble. The earth is utterly broken, the earth is rent asunder, the earth is violently shaken. The earth staggers like a drunken man, it sways like a hut; its transgression lies heavy upon it, and it falls, and will not rise again. On that day the LORD will punish the host of heaven, in heaven, and the kings of the earth, on the earth. They will be gathered together as prisoners in a pit; they will be shut up in a prison, and after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his elders he will manifest his glory." (Isaiah 24:17-23)

Remember Genesis? Why was man put on earth in the first place? To rule and to reign here as God's steward and king. That dominion was lost in the fall, and the rule of the world fell into the hands of the Adversary where it has remained ever since. Hebrews 2 develops the of the coming again of Jesus to restore man to his intended estate as ruler on this planet.

"For it was not to angels that God subjected the world [age] to come, of which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, "What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou carest for him? Thou didst make him [man] for a little while lower than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection under his feet." Now in putting everything in subjection to him [man], he left nothing outside his control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for every one. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified have all one origin. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, "I will proclaim thy name to my brethren, in the midst of the congregation I will praise thee." And again, "I will put my trust in him." And again, "Here am I, and the children God has given me." Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might destroy him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong bondage."

Clearly what Jesus has in mind is the liberation of planet earth. He is the rightful owner and heir. It is His planet, His universe--not ours. God invites the church to battle here and now as the advanced vanguard of God's approaching army of liberation:

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication."

Viewing in a vision the course of world events as they would take place after the Rapture of the church, (Revelation 4-5), the Apostle John saw God the Father hand over the title deed to the planet earth to His Son, Jesus, so that Jesus was now free to direct all the events of the end-time and His return to earth as rightful king. Jesus is also the Commander and Chief of the Armies of Lord (Yahweh Sabaoth). He will take charge of the coming invasion and skillfully plan the entire campaign of the end-time. His headquarters? On earth most likely--behind the scenes--with His church--since the Head of the church and can not be separated from the Body of Christ.

What purpose does the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, play in all this?

The grand city of New Jerusalem, a great satellite city 1500 miles on a side, is described at the very end of the Bible. I think it is already in existence right now. I suspect Jesus has built it for us (i.e., for believing Jews and Christians who will be able to go there because we will have our resurrection bodies with their new space-time travel capacities). In fact even today the Rabbis in Jerusalem believe the Temple in Jerusalem was, and will be again, a gate into other dimensions, a stair-portal to heaven.

Is New Jerusalem the prepared place Jesus has been building for us the past 2000 years? (John 14:1-4) This seems quite possible. During the tribulation period Christians and resurrected Jews (people who have their resurrection bodies) will have work on earth to do. We shall evidently also be free to explore the heavens--possibly including time and space travel to see the rest of the universe and to work for the Lord there--with wonderful permanent new living quarters in New Jerusalem.

The present world population is over 6 billion people, of whom surely no more than 5 percent are true believers in Christ. The total population of the world since the First Advent has not exceeded 10 billion people. If we assume 5% Christians over 2000 years it is conceivable that the true church of Jesus Christ might number 500 million people. Suppose the City of New Jerusalem was designed to house the entire resurrected church and also the OT saints of Israel (and any other outlying saints as well). Perhaps the City might have a population of one billion persons. It sounds crowded, but for a city 1500 miles on a side, the space allocation per person amounts to about 3 cubic miles!

Could it be that the entire church will at least watch and pray during the entire tribulation period while our Commander in Chief actively orchestrates all the events of the end time which involve the capturing of earth from Satan and His hordes? This is speculation on my part. I have no proof that this is the way it will actually be--to my mind it is simply a reasonable hypothesis for discussion purposes. The whole church, not just the present generation of the church, would, in this scenario, witness the tribulation from the ramparts of the heavenly city, from seats in the balcony, as Chuck Missler once suggested.

Meantime on earth, after Christ returns, the earth will be repopulated by believers (the sheep survivors of the sheep-and-goats judgment of Matthew 25:31ff). Their children will all be sinners in the line of the First Adam and will each have to make a decision for salvation just as we do now. Though righteous government will exist on earth, with Jesus "ruling the nations with a rod of iron," and Satan will be in chains, many will still choose the path of evil--as has happened in every generation since Adam.

The government of the twelve tribes of Israel will be given to the original disciples as Jesus promised, (Matthew 12:28). Christians will be appointed to rule the gentile nations with their Lord and work in the restoration under the direction of the King of kings, who has full authority over all human affairs from His throne in Jerusalem.

What is God's overall plan for the church in this age, apart from winning converts to Christ?

The church is here on earth to win people to Jesus Christ, and to build them up to spiritual maturity. The church is "salt" and "light" in society and the church is God's "secret government" on earth (See Ray Stedman's series on Spiritual Warfare, and don't miss Ray's classic book on the church, "Body Life" http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/bodylife/).

To whom does the planet belong? Who is the rightful owner and how will He reclaim what is His?

The entire universe was created through Jesus and for Him. He is the heir of all things. (Col. 1:16) As the Second Adam, Jesus regains the dominion over earth, over nature which the First Adam lost in the Fall.( See Matthew 21:33-43)

What does the Lord Jesus do during the tribulation period?

I am suggesting, per Ray Stedman's teaching, that all that happens during the liberation of the planet from Satan and his legions will be under the direction of an on-site military commander, with His angels and His church to assist Him:

What does the church do during the tribulation period? What (if any) is our relationship with events on earth during the tribulation period?

If nothing else, observing the Lord at work through the entire tribulation period will certainly be the most intense learning experience we will ever know. The entire church (the saints of all ages) will be "on stage" or rather "backstage" during the tribulation. I don't know the extent to which we will be merely observers, but perhaps also active participants.

What should the church be doing while we wait for the Lord's appearing from heaven?

From the beginning the Lord has intended that His church should be constantly advancing the kingdom of God on earth, and hastening the return of our King. Remember the statement of Jesus, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against my church?"

We aren't going anywhere yet, not into outer space for the present. Our work is on earth. We'll soon have our resurrection bodies so we can carry on after our Commander arrives to take charge of the final removal of evil from earth. Neither will the church succeed in taking over the planet on Christ's behalf, prior to His return, as some Postribulationists have thought.

Regarding the Judgment Seat of Christ--I think this process (the evaluation of every believer one by one) takes place right at the Rapture. It is outside of time, so can take place in an instant, or over a long period of time, whichever you prefer.

I would place the Marriage Supper of the Lamb as occurring at the beginning of the Millennium, not during the tribulation period when the Commander of the Armies of the Lord is busy with military matters. The believers of Israel will be raised from the dead just prior to the start of the Millennium, and we Christians, previously resurrected, will be joining them at this great feast with our Lord.

"...I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunderpeals, crying, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure"-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are true words of God." (from Revelation 19)

What will the Church be like at the end of the Age, just before the Rapture?

The Old Testament predicts and confirms the failure of Israel under the terms of the Old Covenant. The predicted end of the church under the better promises of the New Covenant is no better. Jesus asked, "When the Son of man comes, will he find faith on earth?" (Luke 18:8). Paul in 2 Thessalonians speaks of world-wide apostasy in the church at the end of our age. The final form of the church, symbolized by the Church of Laodicea, will be complacent, apathetic and lukewarm, polluted and diluted by the values of the world around her. (See also Ray Stedman's commentary on the Church of Laodicea, http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/revelation/4195.html and on the Parable of the Mustard Seed, http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/behind/0455.html).

"I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing; not knowing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked." (Rev. 3:15-16)

Sadly, the church will grow weaker and less effective as the age comes to a close, and there will be a concurrent rise of the false world harlot church which will dominate the early part of the tribulation period. The appeal of God in the Letters to the Seven Churches in the book of the Revelation is not to the churches as a whole, but to the righteous remnant of true believers in those churches who wish to please God in spite of the increasing compromises within the rest of their local church family members.

The Day that is dawning will be grand and glorious, dreadful and terrible, and none can avoid it.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed which no one knows but himself. He is clad in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, followed him on white horses. From his mouth issues a sharp sword with which to smite the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron; he will tread the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11-16)

Some Favorite References:

o Ray Stedman's various messages on Bible Prophecy: http://ldolphin.org/rayprophecy.html
o "Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done..." by Ron Graff and Lambert Dolphin. On line book, http://ldolphin.org/kingdom/
o Spiritual Warfare, by Ray C. Stedman, http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/warfare/ and http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/battle/
o God at War: The Bible and Spiritual Conflict, by Gregory A. Boyd, IV Press, Downers Grove, 1997.
o City of God: City of Satan, by Robert C. Linthicum, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1991.
o The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity, by Leon J. Podles, Spence Publishing, Dallas, 1999.
o The Trivialization of God: The Dangerous Illusion of a Manageable Deity, by Donald W. McCullough, NavPress, Col. Springs, 1995.
o Discipling Nations: The Power of Truth to Transform Cultures, by Darrow L. Miller, YWAM Publishing, Seattle.
o The Prince of Darkness: Radical Evil and the Power of Good in History, by Jeffrey Burton Russell, Cornell U. Press, 1988.
o Powers of Evil: A Biblical Study of Satan and Demons, by Sydney H.T. Page, Baker Books, 1995.
o A Woman Rides the Beast, by Dave Hunt, Harvest House, Eugene, OR 1994
o Every Prophecy of the Bible, by John F. Walvoord, Chariot Victor, Co. Springs, 1999.
o The Nations, Israel, and the Church in Prophecy, by John F. Walvoord, Zondervan, 1988.
o The Millennial Kingdom, by John F. Walvoord, Zondervan, 1959.

We are to shine as the sun, we are to be given the Morning Star. I think I begin to see what it means. In one way, of course, God has given us the Morning Star already. You can go and enjoy the gift on many fine mornings if you get up early enough. What more, you may ask, do we want? Ah, but we want so much more -- something the books on aesthetics take little notice of. But the poets and the mythologies know all about it. We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words -- to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. The door on which we have all been knocking all our lives will open at last. (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory)

November 16, 2004

Series home page

Lambert's Library