The Rapture Force

Let’s first take a look at the verses we are going to be speaking about here. I pray that someone somewhere will get the message the Lord intended here. Especially one or many who believe in a pre tribulation rapture. This is a story of endurance and patience. Not one of Christians and non Christians as some suggest. These are all Christians being spoken of here. But five are the foolish ones, who did not endure till the end. They did not get filled up with knowledge and wisdom,they had some, but stopped short of the full preparation. When a Bride get’s ready for her groom she sometimes takes years, or a year most often to plan her wedding. There is nothing that is left out of the plans The Bride does not stop when half way finished with her plans. No she works her tail off, weeks and months on end to make all things right and have it all exactly perfect.

It is no different for us Christians. We are to go till the end. Until our Groom meets us. If we give up half way to the finish line then we have done it all for nothing. It would be as though we never began the race in the first place. We are told hundreds of times,throughout the word, he who endures till the end, shall be saved. How can one expect to be saved unless they run the full race? We are to give it every ounce of what we have daily, nightly, weekly,monthly, and yearly Until He comes. We are to occupy,meaning we are to be about the kings business, so when He comes He sees that we have indeed been made ready, that we have been doing our part of the deal so to speak.Salvation is not a one way thing. We have a huge part in our own walk with the Lord. If we stop walking with Him then we have been lost and it was all for nothing. There are many verses that explain this straight forward.If you are half way in the Lord and half way in the world, then you are none of His. He is all about My way or the highway honey!

Ok here are the verses the only place that tells the parable of the Virgins,Matthew 25:

1 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. Preparation,stamina,perseverance. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. they took knowledge, wisdom and were prepared. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, (No pre tribulation rapture,He tarries that all who are coming to the Lord, will come) and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out. (Help us we do not know what to do,we were unprepared for the wait, the darkness got to us and we lost our way.) 9“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.(we cannot help you to see wisdom and truth and have knowledge)’10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil,(on their way to learning what they needed to be ready and to have stamina) the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

( I thought I knew you, but my sheep know my voice and they listen to me John 10:27,this is stated three times in John 10. The reason He would not know you, is because you did not listen to His words that were speaking truth to you,and preparing you, in the word, Instead you listened to strangers,and in those verses in John 10 it says ( my own would never follow a stranger! )

Those who believe it a pre tribulation rapture are not mentally spiritually or otherwise preparing for the darkness to come. They are not putting extra oil aside for the times coming because they believe they will not be here to endure it so therefore they are the picture of the foolish virgins.When the time is here and they are facing the terrors and the horrors they believed themselves to not be present for,their going to experience burn out rather quickly. They will have no ability to keep running the race, they will be unable to see their way clearly through the darkness, because they will be unprepared to withstand all the fiery darts hurled at them. And there will be darts flying at them from every angle. They will be shocked into immobility! With their understanding being why be worried? We are not to be here,the groom will not tarry He is coming any second.

when I read these verses, I get this same feeling from the Holy Spirit every time. That this is the preparation for the tribulation,the wise having prepared for it in advance, and the foolish not having prepared one drop,and their love waxing cold,towards the Lord,and their fellow brothers and sister. I believe some will actually accuse the Lord of lying to them and therefore will accept the mark, and will be the very apostates spoken of by Paul in the letters to the Thessalonians. I believe the oil outside of ourselves is actually the Holy Spirit He replenishes us as we go through tumultuous situations. He sustains us and whispers the word to our hearts that we already know such as say 1 Peter 4:1,2 1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. 2 As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.

And 1 Pet 4: 12-19 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?19 So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

I take a lot of flack from some family and some friends, for my outlook on the end times. I do not rightly care! Seriously I look towards that Hope the Blessed hope, with every ounce of me. Filled with joy at the prospect of it. That is not doom and gloom friends it is the fulfillment of all we have been walking with the Lord for. It is that everlasting glorious appearing of our savior that we might be made into perfect beings immortal and Christ like. Never to ever worry about sinning again. What is gloom and doom about that I ask? We are told through out the NT that we keep going until the end, time and again we are told we must keep going even though we will experience fiery trials. Even though we will go through some times where we say Lord help me I cannot do this one more minute. Then we are reminded I can do all things let me type that again, I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me. We in ourselves could never withstand all that is coming. So that is why we need that extra oil. The Lord has provided the truth to us and those who wish to adhere to the whole truth, and not hear what their itching ears wish to hear only. We are prepared at all times through His word for every single thing to come upon us.

We need to be ready in season and out of season,and filled with knowledge wisdom and strength that only comes from the Lord (The Word). Jesus suffered and each and every one of His apostles suffered. They were all of them persecuted,and all but one was killed for their witness of Christ! But Though John was not killed by anyone and died of old age, he was persecuted. We cannot think it a strange thing to think of the chances of us being persecuted to death. We are told through out the scriptures it is going to happen. There will be no excuse for those who are unprepared! And mere humans cannot give you that extra oomf your going to need, our words will sound hollow and meaningless to one who is suffering immeasurably. I don’t even care if you have decided I am nut’s for telling you this. My only hope is that some of you will retain this warning in your memory, so that when you are going through the hellish ordeals promised us, you will think back and maybe, just maybe, not become the apostate that is fully expected of believers in that time. Unbelievers cannot become apostate! Get that out of your head right away.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Time and time again we are told we will be persecuted. How does one come up with your getting away scott free?. How does one for one moment believe themselves better than the apostles? Each and every apostle as I said earlier was persecuted severely! Are you considering yourself better than the apostles,to not have to withstand,to not have to persevere? He who perseveres to the end he shall be saved.

Matt 24:13 The funny thing is Jesus through out the testimony of the end times,tells us we will be persecuted, we will be killed, we will be turned over by those we love. And no one denies Jesus is speaking of the tribulation here,yet they destroy, (to rip apart, to make useless.) the whole thing by insisting He is not speaking to everyone. That He is only speaking to the Jews. I have to point out one more time here God makes no distinction between the Jews and the gentiles. Galatians 3:28 says it all when it comes to that. We when we get saved as just like Jews. We get grafted into the olive tree. So if the branches of the olive tree can be ripped off how much worse for we who have been grafted in if we make a fool of the Lord,and His ultimate sacrifice? Let me show you the verse I speak of here.

Romans 11:16 For if the first fruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.

19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?

25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:

The fullness of the Gentiles dear brothers and sisters, is not until the very last person who is not a Jew has been saved. Jesus would never go and celebrate while a part of His bride, His promised one, or ones are still being persecuted and ripped apart. Does it make sense that the party starts with out the full body being there? The wedding feast does not begin until the bride in full regalia walks in. The bride being every Christian who ever lived and every Jew who walked in the will of the Lord, since time began,made pure by her fiery trials. Made white by her acceptance of Her Lord,and washed clean by His very blood. We must be as pure and chaste as is possible to receive the prize,our Lord and Savior Our Groom!

The Lord our God would not give His son a less than pure bride. If a girl was not pure when she came to the marriage bed that marriage was annulled. Made void and her embarrassment was complete, because everyone would then know she was impure. She would be made ashamed! In the middle ages they would actually display the maidens bloody sheets out the window to show she had been pure. We cannot expect that the Lord would ever consider giving His son a bride, who still had hang ups and could not love even her enemies. We cannot expect our perfect Lord to wish any other than the purest most devoted to His ways,bride. The tribulation is to test and separate the goats from the sheep,the thorns from the wheat. Let us not forget that the Lord told us in Matthew 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

That sounds exactly like at the end. There is no two harvests there is but one,and that is the last day. Revelation chapter 14 verses 12 through 18 show us the harvesting,with the Lord our Savior our King of Kings,sitting on the clouds that He just rode up on,where the whole world is seeing Him and the trumpet has already sounded and here is the shout of the arch angel shouting reap for the harvest is ripe for reaping. Which says God looked upon the earth and sees His own reflection looking back at Him from His children’s faces. They have been purified through the fiery trials,the dross has been drawn off, they now reflect their Lord,and it is good.

God Bless you all,Love in Christ Jesus,Tammy

I just want to say it is of huge importance to recognize when the coming of the Lord is. Not because if you believe it a post tribulation rapture and it is a pre tribulation rapture you will miss it. I know without a single doubt not one little piece of a doubt that it is a post tribulation rapture, but pre tribulation people are always saying that we will not be accounted worthy to be a part of the rapture if we are not thinking it is imminent. It is not imminent. There is much that must occur before the day of the Lord,and being blind to the truth is very dangerous indeed in so many ways for those who just refuse to listen to the truth of the matter. What friends will you do when you find out that you have been blinded by satan and have allowed this blinding to go on? What will you do when the Lord tarries,and does not come when you believe He is supposed to? I pray that you will be prepared and strong because you are going to need it.

Now on to the last of the verses.

Isaiah 27:1 In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword, his fierce, great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the sea.

Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand.

Joel 2:11 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it?

Zephaniah 1:15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.

Zechariah 14:6-9 On that day there will be no light, no cold or frost. 7 It will be a unique day, without daytime or nighttime–a day known to the LORD. When evening comes, there will be light. 8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter. 9 The LORD will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one LORD, and his name the only name.

Malachi 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.

1 Corinthians 1:8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 5:5 hand this man over to Satan, so that the sinful nature may be destroyed and his spirit saved on the day of the Lord.

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

Philippians 2:16 as you hold out the word of life–in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

1 Thessalonians 5:2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

2 Thessalonians 1:10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you, because you believed our testimony to you. This is clearly saying YOU!!!. I do not see how people so easily ignore the word of God in it’s entirety. I cannot understand any longer how this occurs. It personally made me ask a huge amount of questions,that no one could answer,when I was a pre tribulationist.

2 Thessalonians 2:2 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.

2 Timothy 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day–and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. A one time awarding of crowns, on THAT DAY!!! The Last day,the only return of Christ.

2 Peter 3:12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.

1 John 4:17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.

Lamentations 2:22 “You have called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD’S anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up has my enemy consumed.”

Isaiah 13:9 “Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.”

Isaiah 34:8 “For it is the day of the LORD’S vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.”

Joel 3:14 “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.”

Joel 3:12 “Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I it to judge all the heathen round about.”

Zachariah 12:11 “In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon.”

Malachi 4:5 “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD”
Acts 2:20 “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come”

Isaiah 13:13 “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.”
Proverbs 6:34 “For jealousy is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.”

Isaiah 61:2 “To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn”
Isaiah 63:4 “For the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.”

Job 21:30 “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? They shall be brought forth to the day of wrath.”
Proverbs 11:4 “Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivers from death.”

Romans 2:5 “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God”.

For now dear sisters and brothers this is it. I will as the weeks and months go along refer back to certain of these scriptures and possibly even all of them at one time or another,and will even put different ones down,as I explain this all out. I am sorry if I repeated any verses.

We can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that we are not due God’s wrath or anger. We are though going to go through severe trials and persecution. Christ tells us we will suffer persecution and our families will turn us over to persecution in the end times,but there is one church of the seven churches that is promised protection through it. That church is the church of Philadelphia the church of love,who believes in the power of the Holy Spirit. But that is for another lesson.

May God Bless you and hold you in His hands at all times. We must endure and keep on loving and yes even praising Him as we go through trials,we do not want our running this race to have been for nothing when He comes.

One last remark I must make. People do not study the book of Revelation for many reasons,all of them are a cop out. It is just not smart to ignore the fulfillment of the word of the Lord,the ending. Also it is the only book of the bible that tells us we will be blessed for reading it. Revelation 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

So in closing,I just want to say,what is the day of the Lord? It is the fulfillment of every promise,every prophecy. It is God’s wrath on a sinful world,and on evil. This day and it is a one day event,has been stored up within God for centuries,for thousands of years. No one will stand against the Lord in that great and terrible day. The day of the Lord is His vengeance being wreaked on the whole of evil men and fallen angels.

Love in Christ Jesus,Tammy

I will now post as many of the verses as I know of, that pertain to the day of the Lord. I know there are many more too, but for times sake, I cannot post every one of them or at this moment find them all. This would take me at least a year. The day of the Lord is also called,that day,the day of judgment,the day of His wrath, the great day. The day of reckoning, day of salvation, day of battle, the day of trouble, day of the Lord Jesus, and finally the day of God. This way no one can say oh this does not say the day of the Lord.

Now there is no particular order to my account of the verses that pertain to the day of the Lord, so please bear with me.
Rev 6:14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
Rev 16:20 And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found.
Isaiah 34:4 All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.

2Peter 3:10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Psalm 102:26 They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away. Isaiah 2:16-17 against all the lofty mountains, and against all the uplifted hills; against every high tower, and against every fortified wall; against all the ships of Tarshish, and against all the beautiful craft. And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

Jer 4:23-26 I looked on the earth, and behold, it was without form and void; and to the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, and all the hills moved to and fro. I looked, and behold, there was no man, and all the birds of the air had fled. I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its cities were laid in ruins before the Lord, before his fierce anger.
Jer 51:45“Go out of the midst of her, my people! Let every one save his life from the fierce anger of the LORD!

Ezek 38:19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
Isaiah 54:17 But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD; their vindication will come from me. I, the LORD, have spoken!

Hab 3:12-14 12 In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations. 13 You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot. 14 With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us, gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.

Notice verse 13,came out to save your anointed ones? Hmmmm if all the anointed ones have been take away from the earth already, then whom is this speaking of? No dear brothers and sisters I am sorry to say, but the Lord Jesus comes to bring wrath,the day of the Lord is only minutes after the rapture. Let’s look at the meaning of the word anointed.

Anointed = to consecrate or make sacred. Jesus Christ makes us sacred and we are consecrated through Him. What is consecrated? Consecrated = to make or declare sacred; set apart or dedicate to the service of a deity: Also sacred = entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with divinity or divine things; holy. We are set apart to be Holy,as the Lord is holy. We are striving more and more daily to be holy like the Lord.

We are perfected through trials and tribulations, In I Pet 1:7 we read that the trial of our faith, which is much more precious than gold, is for praise and glory to our Lord Jesus Christ. Gold in its original state has many impurities. Gold has to go through a period of purification by melting it in a furnace at a very high temperature. After this process of purification, the impure gold becomes perfect. This is the same way we are perfected through fiery trials,we are purified.

James 1:4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. I love this. I don’t know about most people, but I am looking forward to being purified. I know that may seem strange, but think about it this way. We are going to see ourselves perfected. We will through Christ be able to withstand anything and everything. Now back to verses about the day of the Lord.

Obadiah 1:15 “The day of the LORD is near for all nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your deeds will return upon your own head.
Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.
Isaiah 13:6 Wail, for the Lord’s day of judgment is near; it comes with all the destructive power of the sovereign judge.

Zeph 1:14 The Lord’s great day of judgment is almost here; it is approaching very rapidly! There will be a bitter sound on the Lord’s day of judgment; at that time warriors will cry out in battle.
Ezek30:3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of storm clouds, it will be a time of judgment for the nations.
Joel 1:15 How awful that day will be! For the day of the Lord is near; it will come as destruction from the Divine Destroyer.

Ezek 7:7 Doom is coming upon you who live in the land! The time is coming, the day is near. There are sounds of tumult, not shouts of joy, on the mountains.
Jer 46:10 But that day belongs to the Lord God who rules over all. It is the day when he will pay back his enemies. His sword will devour them until its appetite is satisfied! It will drink their blood until it is full! For the Lord God who rules over all will offer them up as a sacrifice in the land of the north by the Euphrates River.

Amos 5:20 Don’t you realize the Lord’s day of judgment will bring darkness, not light – gloomy blackness, not bright light?
Zeph 1:7 Be silent before the Lord God, for the Lord’s day of judgment is almost here. The Lord has prepared a sacrificial meal; he has ritually purified his guests. Do you see here? He has ritually purified His guests! that is HUGE,and so important to understand.

Ezek 13:5 You have not gone up in the breaks in the wall, nor repaired a wall for the house of Israel that it would stand strong in the battle on the day of the Lord.
Ezek 30:3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord is near; it will be a day of storm clouds, it will be a time of judgment for the nations.
Mal 4:1 “For indeed the day is coming, burning like a furnace, and all the arrogant evildoers will be chaff. The coming day will burn them up,” says the Lord who rules over all. “It will not leave even a root or branch.

Zeph 1:18 Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s angry judgment. The whole earth will be consumed by his fiery wrath. Indeed, he will bring terrifying destruction on all who live on the earth.
Isaiah 2:12 Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has planned a day of judgment, for all the high and mighty, for all who are proud – they will be humiliated;
Isaiah 2:19 They will go into caves in the rocky cliffs and into holes in the ground, trying to escape the dreadful judgment of the Lord and his royal splendor, when he rises up to terrify the earth.

The rest of the verses I will put up in another post. God Bless and watch over you all always.
Love in Christ Jesus,Tammy

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