Nail #5

Evidence and proof negating the Pre-tribulation Rapture
(building on Nail #4)

Compared to the average Christian, I’m well-studied on the subject of Eschatology and if Jesus returned for His church as you’re reading this (or as I’m writing) I would be stunned because Paul wrote we are NOT to be surprised. WHY won’t His return surprise us? Because we will have seen all the signs of His soon return. What Signs? When Jesus returns we will have lived through the “Beginning of Sorrows” (Matthew 24:1-8), (i.e., the horsemen of the first 3 seals in Revelation 6).

We will have also seen the “Revealing” of the “Man of Lawlessness” (2 Thessalonians 2:3), and those Christians still alive will have survived the Great Tribulation (i.e., what takes place after the 4th seal is opened - Revelation 6:8). Then look at the 6th seal (Revelation 6:12)!! There is no way you can mistake the events associated with the 6th seal with anything that has ever happened on earth.

All that was the introduction for this Nail... NOW, the important part:

Please consider how closely Matthew 24:29-30 correlates with the 6th seal (Revelation 6:12-17):

Matthew 24
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:
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.

Revelation 6
12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens 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 that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Let me compare them for you, I’ll keep the colors as they are above so it will be easier to differentiate between Jesus’ words in Matthew 24 and John’s writing in Revelation 6:

shall the sun be darkened - the sun became black as sackcloth of hair

the moon shall not give her light - the moon became as blood;

the powers of the heavens shall be shaken - the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together;

then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens 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 that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: (17) For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

These are all reasons why we will not be surprised! We will experience the great earthquake, we will see the sun stop shining, we will see the moon turn blood red, we will see (and probably hear as well) the powers of the heavens shaken. There was only one other time in human history where it is recorded in the Bible that the sun became black. Do you remember when that was? Probably the most educated of the Gospel writers, the Physician, Luke recorded when Christ gave up His Spirit while on the cross, the sun was darkened for three hours (Luke 23:44-45), literally, the sun stopped shining.  I believe one of the reasons the sun will stop shining and the stars in heaven will fall is so that the ONLY light in the skies will be the glorious appearing of our Savior.

Then what is the very next thing that Jesus says in Matthew 24? Look at verse 31.
Wait for it, ...
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.

Gather together His Elect? Who are His Elect? Everyplace I’ve read in the Bible, His Elect is the Church! That, combined with the great sound of a trumpet? Then the angels “gathering” His Elect... sounds like “gathered” in 2 Thessalonians 2:1. And not only does it sound like it, it IS the same Greek word in verb form.   :)

My Friend, that is the rapture! If that is NOT the rapture, please tell me what it is.

I’ve heard scholars and theologians like John Phillips say that the Gospel of Matthew is written to the Jews and not the church. Oh Really? So we’re not to pay attention to Matthew 28:19-20 which is, as you know, the Great Commission? The passage where Jesus tells us to go and teach all those whom God saves. Well my friend, that is weird because Matthew is the only Gospel writer who EVER uses the word “church” in the Gospels. Three times to be more precise. I just thought I’d mention that since I’ve heard that explanation “Matthew was written to the Jews” before.  :)

And if you’re adamant on the fact that we can’t use Matthew, well, we don’t have to go to Matthew do we? How about Luke 21:25-28?

25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26  Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Well, Matthew says the Lord will send his angels to gather His Elect, here in Luke all He says is when these things begin to come to pass, then [you] look up, and [you] lift up your heads, because your redemption draws nigh.  Well since the Elect are already redeemed, He is obviously not referring to spiritual deliverance, but physical deliverance. [pssst, the rapture]

And please consider one more, how about Mark 13:19-20?
19  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. [Great Tribulation]
20  And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

...but for who’s sake?  The Elect’s sake!  Well how are the days shortened?  The days are shortened by the rapture!  But because of the Elect whom HE has chosen (chosen? that’s another subject for another time), He has shortened those days.  And in this context, shortened is not referring to the number of hours in the day but the quantity of days for the saints in the Great Tribulation.