I have listened to and read a great many teachings concerning end times, the rapture and the return of Jesus. In that process, I have noticed that so many teachers use the same terminology but with different meanings. This makes it difficult to compare apples to apples so to speak when seeking the truth. I am no scholar, but I do believe that prayerful study has given me an understanding to this point that makes the prophetic puzzle pieces fit without trying to force them. The purpose of this blog is to share with you accordingly. I continue to seek God’s truth and will not hesitate to change my view if presented with biblical evidence that refutes and corrects it.
I think there are many that are close-minded to considering the possibility that they may be wrong in any of the conclusions they have made in this area of study. I think much of this resistance is a result of pride. I pray I never fall into that trap. My goal is to understand the truth of God’s word to the best of my ability as a Berean, those who searched the word daily seeking the truth.
Acts 17:10–11 “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
This blog is not meant to be a comprehensive study; verse-by-verse book studies can be found at my website. I will just be addressing those issues that resulted in changes in my understanding of this area of study.
Following is clarification of the terminology I will use:
- 70th week of Daniel = 7-year tribulation; “tribulation” for short
- Great tribulation = last 3.5 years of 7-year tribulation
- The tribulation is directed toward the Jewish people.
- The “day of the Lord” (aka the wrath of God) is directed toward the enemies of God throughout the world, toward unbelievers.
- The “tribulation” and the “day of the Lord” are not interchangeable terms.
- The “tribulation” and the “day of the Lord” are largely concurrent.
- The “rapture” is when Jesus takes believers (both dead and alive) home to heaven to dwell with Him before God’s wrath.
The rapture is clearly identified in the following scriptures:
- John 14:2–3 “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
- ”1 Corinthians 15:51–53 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Following are some verses that clarify that believers are not appointed to suffer God’s wrath; it is directed toward unbelievers.
- 1 Thessalonians 1:10 “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
- 1 Thessalonians 5:9–10 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.”
- Revelation 3:10 “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”
Regarding the book of Revelation, I believe that the book flows in a natural chronological order while including some explanatory sections that are necessary to understanding what follows.
One of the first problems I encountered when first going through Revelation verse-by-verse on my own was chapter 4, the first explanatory section (including chapter 5) that sets the stage for the opening of the 7-sealed scroll. I had always been taught that when John is caught up to heaven at the beginning of that chapter, it represented the rapture of believers. The first thing that stood out to me was that Jesus was not present. John 14 specifically tells us that when Jesus comes to receive us to Himself, we will be with Him. Paul confirms that truth in his first letter to the Thessalonians (as shown above). Other verses are very specific in stating that Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father; He was not there.
Jesus appears in chapter 5 as the Lamb that was victorious over sin and the grave. It is then that He is privileged to take the 7-sealed scroll from God the Father.
We must keep in mind that heaven’s perspective of time is very different from earth’s perspective. 2 Peter 3:8 “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”
The signs that Jesus identifies as birth pains in Matthew 24 mirror the first five seals of Revelation 6, and I think their connection is too strong to be ignored. These signs are not part of the tribulation period; they precede the tribulation as previously defined. I believe Jesus has opened these seals as evidenced in history since His return to heaven. I do not claim to know the earthly timeframe of the opening of each seal, but their impact is evident and ongoing in our world today. Just as birth pains increase in frequency and intensity before a woman gives birth, the signs that are evident today are increasing in frequency and intensity throughout the world today.
Regarding the martyrs that are referenced in the opening of the fifth seal, it makes sense (to me) that this is a reference to all the martyrs of the church age, an age that will end with the rapture.
Christians are promised deliverance from God’s wrath. This does not negated the fact that Christians have and will suffer tribulation and persecution as declared by Jesus and recorded by John until Jesus comes to take them home in the event called the rapture.
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (The Greek for the word “tribulation” includes persecution.)
It is the opening of the sixth seal that identifies the beginning of God’s wrath (called “the wrath of the Lamb” in obvious reference to Jesus who is God in flesh).
Revelation 6:16–17 “And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
It is at this point that we can say with certainty that the rapture has previously occurred or is occurring in conjunction with the opening of the sixth seal.
The LORD never leaves Himself without a witness on earth, so it is natural that the 144,000 witnesses are sealed at the beginning of chapter 7. Note that since the 70th week is directed toward the Jewish people, these witnesses are from twelve tribes of Israel. It also explains the reference to the great multitude of believers before the throne of God “which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues”—an obvious (to me) definition of the body of believers that have been raptured and delivered from God’s wrath.
I believe this sets the stage for the emergence and identity of the Antichrist through the signing of the 7-year covenant with Israel.
I believe Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians is clear in stating that the Antichrist will not be revealed until the Holy Spirit is “taken out of the way” and is no longer serving as a restraining power of evil. The Holy Spirit cannot be taken out of the way without taking believers out of the way since He indwells every believer.
2 Thessalonians 2:7–8 “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And THEN shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:” The word “letteth” is a reference to “holding down, retaining, withholding.”
My conclusion, based on the above, is that the time of God’s wrath begins before the start of the tribulation which begins when the Antichrist signs the 7-year covenant with Israel. This is as foretold by Daniel.
Daniel 9:26–27 “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”
It is detailed in Revelation 11 that the two witnesses (I believe to be Elijah and Moses) will be on the scene for 1260 days before “the beast” is allowed to kill them. I believe this indicates that they will be serving during the first half of the seven years before Satan indwells the Antichrist and is given full reign for the last 3.5 years. However, we know that the world will witness their resurrection 3.5 days later.
Revelation 11:8–12 “And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.”
Satan, identified as the Dragon, is thrown out of heaven in chapter 12 and emerges on the scene in chapter 13 as the power behind the beast that rises from the sea, the Antichrist. As stated above, he will rule without restraint for 3.5 years, the time known as “the great tribulation.”
Revelation 13:5 “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.”
Matthew 24:15–21 “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) ….then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
It is during this last 3.5 years that the Antichrist will desecrate the temple by going there to declare himself to be God (as referenced in the above scripture) and will implement the mark of the beast that will be required for anyone to buy or sell.
2 Thessalonians 2:3–4 “…and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
Revelation 13:16–17 “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
I will have to admit that I did not expect to witness the foreshadowing of the mark of the beast before the rapture. However, my expectations have no bearing on the truth. Wrong expectations can lead to all kinds of problems if we allow them to. I am not sitting around worrying about what is going to happen next. I know that my LORD is in control and that everything is going to unfold according to His plan. Maybe the Holy Spirit will reveal yet more to give me better understanding if I keep an open heart to listen as I continue to study God’s word…and maybe not. I just KNOW that the signs around me are shouting that Jesus is returning very soon—and I can’t wait!
I pray that you have accepted the gift of salvation that the LORD so freely offers and are ready for His return.
Come, LORD Jesus!
