The Rapture Force

So many people find themselves believing that the day of the Lord is different from the day of the rapture. But they are one and the same. There is biblically only one return of Jesus, one second coming. One plus one do not make three, and nowhere in the word do we find this secret coming of the Lord for His bride. When the bride groom comes for his bride, it is always with much fanfare. There will be no difference when Christ comes for His bride. It will be preceded by a Trumpet blast and a loud shout from the archangel.

I know what your thinking you who find it hard to understand that God would have you go through trials and tribulations. The verse your thinking of is the one about the thief in the knight. 1Thess 5:2 and also 2Peter 3:10 both state the day of the Lord comes like a thief in the night. So now let us examine that. We know the day of the Lord is also called the last day. How do people equate this verse with a pre tribulation rapture?

There are 35 books of the bible that speak of this day, the day of the Lord. It is the most important topic of prophecies. It is the most talked about of all prophecies through the prophets. The day of the Lords revenge. Yet our churches barely ever, if ever touch on this subject. The reason being that people only ever want to hear the good stuff. They do not want to hear that there is punishment, and pastors of this day and age are only too willing to comply.

Now the next and probably bigger reason why the Day of the Lord is not preached is because it conflicts with the pre- and mid-tribulation rapture views.  That is because the Rapture happens after the great tribulation and on the Last Day of this Age…which is the Day of the Lord!  Jesus, our Lord and Savior, says this in His conversation of the end-times in Matthew 24…that He will come after the tribulation and on the Last Day of this Age.   He says in verses 21- 31: “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Then if any man shall say to you, ‘Look, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.  For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  Behold, I have told you before.   Therefore if they shall say to you, ‘Look, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.  For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even to the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  For wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”

Read very carefully as Jesus continues, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet [same trumpet of 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16,17 and Rev. 11:15-18 where the seventh angel sounded the seventh and last trumpet], and they shall gather together his elect [the Rapture] from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”  Here is the order of events from Jesus in Mt. 24 -  greatest tribulation ever , then the heavenly signs of Joel and Peter (and the rest of the prophets), then His coming in the clouds, then the last trumpet, then the Rapture on the Last Day which is the Day of the Lord.

I want to give you a better understanding of this, so let’s go into another explanation and this is the first resurrection. Compared to the last. This is a much longer part. The whole reason I have to break this down is because it is going to be a huge article, and I do not want to bore you or lose you. So after this section I will end this one, and post it and go on to the next part.The next part will list all the verses or as many as I can possibly find that speak of the day of the Lord. Also above I did not mention Revelation chapter 14 but it is a huge huge part, of understanding the rapture is a last day rapture. We see the rapture in chapter 14.

Daniel realized in his vision in Daniel 12:2 that “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”, only he did not receive details on it.  Paul told us in Acts 24:15 “that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust”, only he didn’t know it was two different resurrections.  Jesus talked about two resurrections in John 5:28-29 when he said, “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his [i.e. the Son of Man] voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation”, only He did not tell us that there was a time span between the two and how long it was.

But thank God for John’s revelation by vision where he is told definitely that there are two resurrections separated by 1000 years in Rev. 20:1- “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: 4 and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.  5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.  This is the first resurrection.  6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.   7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.”

Some people believe the “second death” is an allusion to annihilation, but this is not the case as we shall see.  Even though the phrase “second resurrection” does not appear in this passage, it is obvious that if there is a first resurrection, there must be at least one other resurrection, or “first”, misleads us to a wrong conclusion.  The second resurrection is rather referred to as the “second death” instead to reflect its nature as being unto death rather than to life.  If it were only eternal unconsciousness or annihilation, there would be no need to have a resurrection of the body just to destroy it totally and instantaneously, and there would be no such thing as a first resurrection!

Furthermore, in Rev.19:20, 20:7, 10 we read, “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet who performed miracles before him, with which he deceived them who had received the mark of the beast, and those who worshiped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone…And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison…And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”  We discover, that after 1000 years of being tormented in the lake of fire, the beast and false prophet are still being “tormented day and night for ever and ever”!  So much for any annihilation views!

Rev. 20:11-15 goes on to say that at the conclusion of the thousand years those not in the Book of Life were cast into the lake of fire which is the “second death”.  No wonder that “blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection” in verse 6!The Word of God makes it clear that the Rapture can not be a pre-trib event.  Here’s how it does.  Pre-trib Christians will say that there is a resurrection of the saved at the start of the 7 years and a resurrection of those saved during the 7 years at the end of the 7 years, but the Word says there is only ONE First Resurrection unto eternal life, for if there were more than one resurrection unto eternal life , then the Second Resurrection would not be unto eternal death!

And if there is only ONE First Resurrection, 1 Thes. 4:16 tells us when it will be: “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.  17 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.”"The dead in Christ shall rise first” is the First Resurrection, and “then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up” is the Rapture.  Do you see it?  The dead rise; then the living are caught up.  First is Resurrection, then is the Rapture.

Now Rev. 20:4 says, “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”Those who were killed through the Tribulation were raised in the First Resurrection to reign a thousand years.  So they had to be raised after the last Tribulation saints were murdered.  Now if the Rapture, according to 1Thes. 4:16,17, follows the Resurrection, then we have undeniable proof that the Rapture necessarily has to follow the First Resurrection after the death of the last Tribulation martyr has been murdered!  What could be simpler.

Just as no one knew that almost 5 centuries of time came between Daniel’s 1st and 69th weeks (of years) in Dan. 9:24-27 and maybe some 20 centuries between the 69th and 70th, so no one knew before John’s vision that one thousand years would come between the First Resurrection (of the “just” and “good”) and the Second Resurrection (of the “unjust” and “evil”).

The serious end-time student should be able to read between the lines when the point is made here.  Look at I Cor. 15:20-28 – “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept.  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. [1000 thousand year break here] Then comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.   For he has put all things under his feet. But when he says all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.   And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.”

Some confusion has come into the minds of some people because they didn’t see a break in time between verses 23 and 24 where the two sections necessarily deal with events on both sides of a period of reign…and Rev. 20 tells us that Christ and the redeemed reign for 1000 years, rebellion is done away at the end of the 1000 years, death is done away with, and gives the details of this period of reign and who will reign with Him and the duration of that reign!

2 Peter 3:7-13 – “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  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.  [could this preceding verse be alluding twice to the thousand years and it connecting with one day - the Day of the Lord?]

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night [1000 year break] in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God [1000 year break repeated again in this summary], wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?  Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.”   Again, note that according to Rev. 20:7-11, fire coming down upon the earth from heaven, the old earth fleeing away happen after the 1000 years are over.

Hopefully, enough has been said to show that the Day of the Lord occurs at the end of the Age. It is a time to judge the world, for God to contend with the nations and for the Lord Jesus Christ to come, take up His rule along with the saints of God. For the Millennial earth to glorify God in the way He intended it back in the beginning before sin came into the world, through Adam and Eve. Part two follows this one. God Bless and watch over you all  in all ways. In Christ Jesus, Tammy

I know no one knows the day nor the hour the Rapture is coming but , what Jesus tells us is that every eye will see every nation and every people of every tongue shall see Jesus in the clouds. How does that sound like it is going to happen secretly? Also Jesus tells us every one will mourn horribly in Matthew 24: Also we are told the angels gather his elect at that time. If this is fact, and well we know Jesus did not lie to us, and prepared us for all things to come, then we have to know! If the rapture has already occurred by this time the time of every eye seeing Jesus coming on the clouds with great glory, then the question remains who are those elect the angels are gathering? There is not two raptures.

So let’s take a look then at how specific Jesus is about the rapture, or the Harpazzo,the taking away of his elect. Matthew 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. This to me is no secret. It says to me every eye will see and know. Those who were once believers in Christ will see it and then we have verse 29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: I think the whole world will notice the heavens shaken and the stars falling out of the sky. Then verse 30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Why is everyone mourning? Because they knew at one time or have been told and did not believe, that Jesus is truly the messiah. But there will be many who have given up the hope. Why would believers give up their hope, you might ask? Because so many people think, we are to suffer nothing, (it is estimated 40% of Christians believe we are to suffer nothing and that Jesus will come and take us away from any tribulation.) Because of this, many will have turned away. Thus making it possible for the abomination of desolation possible. The very antichrist setting himself up as god in the temple. For the antichrist to be revealed. If Christians have believed a lie for much of their Christian life, that being that they will be taken out of tribulation before it begins. Say they face serious persecution, don’t you agree they will turn away thinking they have been duped by God? By the very word of God? But it is not God who is deceiving, God will just have allowed their itching ears to be tickled by what they want to hear. Really who wants to hear they will suffer sorrow unmatched, pain undreamed of ? I know I personally for a little while, did not want to believe I would go through very tough times indeed. But do not give up hope, God is our protection. He will protect us, pour the words forth from our mouths when the time comes. Those days are going to be miraculous days for us who will not give up believing and holding on to our Lords promises.

Let’s go on though. We know that this is the rapture because it is also written in 1Corinthians 15:52, 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. See the same thing as Matt 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. “The last trumpet”. 1st Thess 4:16 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:
17 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. This is no secret happening. Also Rev 14:12-16. Too much to write in this paragraph but 12 says here is the patience of the saints here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And He reaps. If saints are already in heaven, then who prey tell are these saints who were patient?  Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. What is being endured if not tribulation?

In Daniel Chptr 12 Let’s look at the whole of it,1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. This is speaking of the not so secret rapture:
2 And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. That brightness is us having our incorruption put on as well as our immortality.

4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
5 Then I Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side of the bank of the river.
6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?
7 And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.
8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?
9And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; WAIT!! tried? We are to be tried, we are his who are purified right? If we are purified how does one get purified? Just like silver or Gold they go through a refinery, they are tried again and again until they are pure silver or pure gold.   But the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
11 And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.

12 Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days. Again your attention to the previous verse, “this struck me between the eyes” this is good stuff and gives us an idea of just how long after abomination of desolation we will have to wait till the Lord comes for us. 45 days more than the three and a half years.
13 But go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.

At that time there will have been many Christians who have turned away saying thats it, he is never coming. Those who have believed for all their Christian lives that the rapture would take place before the tribulation will have believed themselves fools for thinking Jesus was ever coming back for us. Matt 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. These verses make one understand that the great apostasy will have occurred. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Revelation 1:7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.”There is no  scripture that says the second coming of Christ to gather His saints will be a secret. All these verses show it will be a very loud and very visible event that every eye shall see. There is nothing secret about any part of His coming. The world will know exactly what has happened. The antichrist will not be able to convince a world who has just witnessed such a thing as millions upon millions of graves having been opened and bodies removed. As well as millions upon millions of alive people being bodily removed will not be a secret. Some even proclaim the anitchrist will make the world believe it was UFO’s that have done this. How can people be totally deceived as to have witnessed this occurrence, and then believe such a huge lie as it was aliens from another planet. He is powerful no doubt, is satan. But he cannot make us do or believe anything. He can cajole and talk us into things. But he cannot for one minute MAKE US do anything.

I do not personally believe there is any such thing as UFO’s I do believe it is government’s of the world doing secret stuff we have no clue about. We surely have some much higher technology in this world than the average lay person knows about. The devil is crafty and smart there is no doubt about that. He has weapons and plans of which we have no clue about. The devil has been busy for almost 6000 years. He is a very tough adversary. He is and has been busy even at the time of the apostles preachings and teachings Look at what Paul said in 2 Thessalonian’s  2:6-12 7For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. Yes it says he who letteth will let until he be taken, moved out of the way. Being moved out of the way does not describe removing, it means, if a tree falls in the road you what? Move it out of the way. Push it aside. I believe the great delusion is already being spread far and wide, and that being the deception that Christians will not go through tribulation.

Because we know not the hour which Jesus will return. He will come unexpectedly when you least expect it, as does a thief. It would be no good for the thief if you knew when he was coming as you would be ready for him and he could not rob you. In the same way we need to be ready and living a righteous life now and not just when we think Jesus is coming or we will be “caught naked and our shame seen.” Those who love and obey Jesus will be ready for His return. This is the meaning of the phrase “to come as a thief” that is used several times in the Bible to warn us so we will not be left behind.

In Closing let me just say Coming as a thief is unexpected, NOT a secret! Be ready. Pray and ask God to never let you turn away. Ask your Father in heaven to make you aware of what His word says. To give you His knowledge, His understanding of what His word means. I know there are many many thelogians, pastors, and preachers, in this day and age that believe it is a pretribulation rapture. I hope they are very strong even unto the end of the tribulation. Until the time of God’s wrath to be poured out on the earth. God’s wrath is not Tribulation. There is a clear distinction. Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Not secret and definitely not pretribulation rapture. I just want anyone,everyone, who reads this to be ready for all eventualities. Things are moving along rather quickly now a days, and just going to speed up as we go along. Don’t give up your hope nor faith, no matter what you may go through.

Love to all in Jesus name,Tammy