The
Apostle John in Revelation chapter 7 has a vision of a great multitude.
It is a specific group of people, for they are said to come out of "the
great tribulation." If they came out of the great tribulation,
that means they went into it and through it. There is nothing said of this
multitude having died, nor is there a promise made that they will die no
more. There is no reason to believe that they are those who died during the great tribulation.
“9
After these things I looked, and behold,
a
great multitude which no one could number, of all nations,
tribes, peoples, and tongues,
standing
before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm
branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice,
saying, "Salvation [belongs] to our God who sits on the throne, and to the
Lamb!"…
“13
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me,
"Who
are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?"
14
And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me,
"These
are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15
Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His
temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
16
They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike
them, nor any heat;
17
"for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and
lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes."
The
Coming of Christ and the Day of the Lord are revealed in Second Peter chapter
three as the same event. The Day of the Lord is the coming of the
Lord in judgment and wrath on the earth.
2 Peter
3:
“3
knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according
to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where
is the promise of His coming?" …9
The Lord is not slack concerning [His] promise, as some
count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should
perish but that all should come to repentance. 10 But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night, in
which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt
with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned
up.”
The
coming of the Lord is the Day of the Lord, and our gathering to Him is part of
that coming.
The Day of the Lord will be preceded by two things.
2
Thessalonians 2:
1 Concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask
you, brothers, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some
prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying
that the day of the Lord has already come. 3
Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that
day will not come until the
rebellion [falling away] occurs and the man of lawlessness revealed, the
man doomed to destruction [son of
perdition]. 4 He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything
that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple,
proclaiming himself to be God.”
The Day
of the Lord is preceded by the rebellion / falling away and the revealing of
the lawless one.
The revealing of the lawless one is described in 2 Thessalonians 2 as the same thing that was spoken by Daniel and Christ as the “abomination of desolation,” Matthew 24:15; Daniel 9:27, 12:11. This revealing is not at the beginning of the 70th Week of Daniel (typically called the "Tribulation" period); this revealing is in the middle of the 70th Week involving the Jewish Temple. The Coming of Christ / the Day of the Lord can not happen until the revealing.
The
rapture is part of the coming of Christ, and the coming of Christ is the Day of
the Lord. The Day of the Lord is preceded by the things Paul identified,
and therefore, can not be any-moment.
I want to add here that 2 Thessalonians 2:1 parallels with Mathew 24:29-31. Both speak of the coming of Christ and the gathering together to him. Matthew 24:29-31 says that coming and gathering happens after the tribulation of those days; that tribulation in the context of Matthew 24 is the "great tribulation." Compare the Scriptures...
1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him. 2 Thessalonians 2:1
Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear 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. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:29-31
I want to also add here that the Matthew text speaks of angels being sent with the sound of a trumpet, and that parallels with 1 Thessalonians 4:16: the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. The Apostle Paul says that I tell 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 trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
Paul,
in First Thessalonians 5:1-4, said that the Day of the Lord will come as a thief in
the night, but that day will not overtake believers. Prior to this, Paul
speaks of the rapture in connection with the coming of Christ ("rapture" is the Latin translation of the words "caught up"):
1
Thessalonians 4:
15
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 will by no means precede
those who are asleep.
16
For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise
first.
17
Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up [rapture]
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall
always be with the Lord.
The
coming of Christ, involving the rapture, is also called the “Day of the Lord,”
and both the “Coming” and the “Day of the Lord” are said to be coming “as a
thief.”
It is
not coming as a thief on believers.
1
Thessalonians 5:
“1
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I
should write to you.
2
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a
thief in the night.
3
For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes
upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not
escape. 4 But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that
this Day should overtake you as a thief.“
The coming as a thief does indicate surprise or unexpectedness, and it may be as such for the unsaved, but it also speaks of destruction. The Day of the Lord and the Coming of the Lord will be destruction for the unsaved: Jesus said, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. John 10:10
When
Jesus spoke concerning his coming again, he said it would be like the days of
Noah: there would be a separation, and it would be like a thief.
37
"But as the days of Noah [were], so also will the coming of the Son of Man
be.
38 "For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the
ark, 39 "and did not know until the flood came and took them all
away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
40
"Then two [men] will be in the field: one will be taken and the
other left. 41 "Two [women] [will] [be] grinding at the
mill: one will be taken and the other left.
42
"Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is
coming. "But know this, that if the master of the house had
known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched
and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 "Therefore you
also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
"
The
"one will be taken and the other left" reference corresponds to the
gathering together of believers at the coming of Christ and the separation that will take place. The one taken corresponds to what Jesus said in John 14.3.
John
14: 2 "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. 3 "And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that
where I am, [there] you may be also.”
I think most would agree that John 14:3 speaks of the rapture. Not everyone agrees that the one taken is about the rapture. However, the
word "receive" in John 14.3 is the Greek word
“paralambano” translated as "taken" in Matthew 24.40-41:
"Then two [men] will be in the field: one will be taken and
the other left." I believe both texts speak of the rapture, being the receiving in the one and the being taken in the other. When Jesus comes again, believers will be
separated from non-believers, being received, taken to him.
The Day
of the Lord Coming of Christ is at the end of Great Tribulation. The coming of Christ in Matthew chapter 24 is Posttrib.
29
" Immediately after the tribulation of those days
the
sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30
"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear 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.
31
"And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet,
and
they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from
one end of heaven to the other.”
The
cosmic disturbances associated with His coming, are PostTrib, and they compare to the
opening of the Sixth Seal of Revelation 6, which anticipates the coming of
Christ and his wrath:
“12
I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake;
and the
sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
13
And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its
late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
14
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and
island was moved out of its place. 15 And the kings of the earth,
the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and
every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains,
16 and said to the mountains and rocks,
"Fall
on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the
wrath of the Lamb! 17 "For the great day of His wrath has
come, and who is able to stand?"
A Post
Trib Coming and rapture denies an any moment coming of Christ, since obviously
the Great Tribulation transpires first.
However,
there were other things that had to happen before Christ could come again and
the rapture occur.
The
prophecy concerning Peter's future is revealed in John 21:18-19.
“Most
assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked
where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and
another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He
spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God.”
Several
things concerning the Apostle Paul's ministry to the Gentiles had to transpire
before the coming of Christ for the church, such as seen in the words by the
Lord to Ananias.
"But
the Lord said to him, 'Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My
name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him
how many things he must suffer for My name's sake.” Acts 9:15-16
Jesus
prophesied concerning a future destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem and
scattering of Israel among the world, which didn't happen until AD70.
20“But
when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is
near...
22
"For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may
be fulfilled.
23
"But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in
those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this
people.
24
"And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into
all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the
Gentiles are fulfilled.” Luke 21:20-24
Tribulation
is not necessarily the wrath of God, if one wants to argue that we can't be here on earth during the wrath of God, because we are not appointed to wrath, see 1 Thessalonians 5:9. But tribulation is our appointment.
that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this. For, in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation, just as it happened, and you know. 1
Thessalonians 3:3-4
“We
must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22
Persecution
by the “beast” on the people of God is not the wrath of God. The beast will be
given authority over the saints for 42 months. I believe the references to 42 months, 1260 days, and the words "time, times, half a time" all refer to that specific period understood to be the period called “great tribulation,” and it is the second half of the 7 year period called "the 70th week of Daniel."
“Who is
like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” … he was given authority to
continue for forty-two months. … It was granted to him to make war with
the saints and to overcome them.” Revelation
13
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 12:17
“He ...
Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, ...
Then
the saints shall be given into his hand
For a
time and times and half a time.” Daniel
7:25
Christians
are appointed to tribulation, and the affliction of "great
tribulation" will only be great in its extent.
There
are only so many ways to kill people, and Christians have been killed since the
beginning in horrible ways.
in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure,
5 [which] [is] manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; 6 since [it] [is] a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to [give] you who are troubled rest with us
when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.”
Notice in the text above that rest from tribulation for believers does not come until Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. Tribulation and "trouble" are the same thing, and rest from it will not come until Jesus is revealed from heaven with his angels.
The
beast will persecute the saints of God during great tribulation, and Scripture makes that very
clear in Revelation 13.7 and Daniel 7.25.
“For
God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus
Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:9
The
people of God are not appointed to God's eternal wrath in the Lake of Fire. That is for certain.
But concerning God's temporal wrath on earth, such as maybe in the Trumpets and Bowls of the book of Revelation, God can deliver in a number of
ways.
The
wrath of God can be discriminatory, that is, it only falls on those who have the mark of the beast, those who do not have the seal of God. It can be like what happened during the first Passover in Egypt.
“Then
out of the smoke locusts came upon the earth. And to them was given power, as
the scorpions of the earth have power. They were commanded not to harm the
grass of the earth, or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men
who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.” Revelation 9:3-4
“Then I
heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out
the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth.”
First
Bowl: Loathsome Sores
So the
first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth, and a foul and
loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who
worshiped his image.” Revelation
16.1-2.
“Then
the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his
kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because
of the pain.” Revelation 16:10
“Come,
my people, enter your chambers,
And
shut your doors behind you;
Hide
yourself, as it were, for a little moment,
Until
the indignation is past.
For
behold, the Lord comes out of His place
To
punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The
earth will also disclose her blood,
And
will no more cover her slain.” Isaiah
26:20-21
And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues." Revelation 18:4
The
great tribulation will be when the saints of God are persecuted by the one
called the “beast.” And when Divine judgments and wrath come, believers in
Christ can be kept from them.
The rapture of believers at the coming of Christ
will begin a transition to a new purpose of God on earth, commonly called “the
Millennial Reign of Christ.”
But with a
PostTrib rapture, who will be left to enter the Millennium?
After
Jesus returns to earth and defeats the beast and his kingdom and the other
nations gathered for battle, there will be a time of regathering Israel from
all the nations.
A great
number of Jews will believe on Christ at His coming (when they will "look
on Me whom they pierced," Zechariah 12.10), just after the rapture. (The
144,000 Jews of Revelation 7 and 14 represent many of these Jews saved
following the rapture of the Church.) Those Gentiles who didn't take the mark
and follow the beast will have time to respond to the preaching of the Jewish
remnant (144 thousand) who are sent out to the nations.
Isaiah
66.19-21:
"I
will set a sign among them; and those among them who escape I will send
to the nations: [to] Tarshish and Pul and Lud, who draw the bow, and Tubal
and Javan,
[to]
the coastlands afar off who have not heard My fame nor seen My glory .
they
shall declare My glory among the Gentiles.
Then
they shall bring all your brethren for an offering to the Lord out of all
nations, on horses and in chariots and in litters, on mules and on camels,
to
My holy mountain Jerusalem, says the
Lord,
as
the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of
the Lord. And I will also take some of them for priests [and] Levites, says the
Lord."
The Jews who survived, escaped and returned to the land of Israel at the Coming of Christ will be sent out to the nations to declare the kingdom of Christ has come. It will be as it was when Jesus sent out the seventy, and to receive the messenger is to
receive the message, as Jesus said: "He
who hears you hears Me. He who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me
rejects Him who sent Me." Luke
10.16
