I Missed the Rapture...Now What?
The world we live in has changed. Civility in communication seems to be a thing of the past. There was a time, not too long ago, when people could discuss any topic and agree to disagree over a cup of coffee or a meal without arguing or feeling threatened by the other interlocutor. Those days are gone! Additionally, there are topics that always seem to be more controversial than others. One such topic is the Rapture of the Believers by Yeshua. Some people believe that there is no such thing as a Rapture, while others firmly believe in the event but are arguing about the timing of such an event and if it will be before or during the Tribulation.
In other words...there are more views about the rapture than we can shake a stick at. I don't intend to write another article defending the pre-tribulation and pre-millennial Rapture, but I will state my position from the start and assert that the Rapture will occur before the Time of Jacob's Trouble (the Great Tribulation) begins. Taking a pre-tribulational and pre-millennial position, when we read 1 Corinthians 15:52, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed," we are told of a "last trumpet".
Many have argued that this is a reference to the last trumpet in God's prophetic program, as in Revelation 11:15. In 1 Corinthians 15:52, the subject is the Church being caught up in the sky to be with Yeshua. The trumpet of God's grace sounds to announce that event. It also connects to the Tekiah Gedolah, or the last trumpet of the Feast of Rosh Hashanah (this doesn't necessitate for the Rapture to happen on Rosh Hashanah. It could, but it doesn't have to, and if it does, it will not be because it was Rosh Hashanah since no one knows the exact date and time of the Rapture). On the other hand, the trumpet in Revelation 11:15 is within a different context. It relates to a fallen, rebellious world and the judgment of sinners and is part of a progressive series of judgments during the Great Tribulation. We are looking at two very different trumpets.
Based on the biblical premise that the Rapture is an event that will only include those (Jews and Gentiles) who have placed their trust in the death and resurrection of Yeshua for their sins, only Believers will be taken up at that time. Many will be left behind, and whoever is left behind will have to deal with the consequences triggered by the Great Tribulation one way or another. The Great Tribulation, also known as the Time of Jacob's Trouble (Jeremiah 30:7), will last seven years (Daniel 9:26-27).
In the beginning, things might appear to be under control on planet Earth. It is very likely that News and government agencies will hide the sudden disappearance of millions of people behind the cloak of alien abduction. Keep in mind that anyone who is a believer will disappear at the moment of the Rapture, a moment that nobody can schedule ahead of time. What happens when an airline pilot or train conductor disappears without any warning? What about the myriads of motorists that will also vanish at the same time? Whatever the reason people left behind will be given, they will still be in the midst of much chaos. A man will rise for the occasion and keep things under control, giving people much hope. In the Bible, this man is known as the Antichrist (Revelation 13). This charismatic, likable and convincing man will inspire people to follow and trust him until he demands to be worshipped as God Himself at the mid-point of the Tribulation.
During this time, people will have a choice to make that will have eternal consequences. If you are left behind, will you take the Mark of the Beast or will you decline to accept it? The Beast's deputy, known is the Bible as the False Prophet, will run a propaganda campaign to entice people to take the Mark (Revelation 13:11-18). People who didn't take the Mark will have severe limitations to their existence and survival. Nobody will be allowed to buy or sell without the Mark (Revelation 13:17). Eventually, those who decide not to take the Mark will be executed (Revelation 20:4). It will not be too late to refuse the Mark of the Beast and not worship the Antichrist, but that will result in suffering great harm and dying as Tribulation martyrs. It could all have been avoided if they had been Raptured.
Today, many people make fun of the Rapture and the Tribulation, mentioning that these are just superstitious beliefs with no foundation or that the Bible is a crutch used by people to go through life. I don't expect everyone reading this article to agree with my views or even to believe that the Rapture is a literal future event that will take place right before the Great Tribulation. But if you find yourself on the other side of an event where millions of people have disappeared all over the planet at the exact same moment, don't believe for a moment that aliens got them. If you find yourself "left behind", you will have the most important choice of your life to make. Will you succumb under the pressure of the Antichrist, or will you reject his lies, effectively signing your death warrant from the world's perspective but signing a new lease on eternal life in God's presence from the Word's perspective?
What is the best thing to do? Accept Yeshua today. Right now. If you die without Him now or without him during the Tribulation, you will still be separated from God and eternity with him. If you accept Him TODAY, you will spend eternity with Him AND be spared from the Tribulation. The Lake of Fire was always reserved for the devil and his angels, not for human beings. Truly, the best thing for you now is to accept Yeshua TODAY.
Really: Let Scripture stay in its context. they are perfectly ,more then the word perfect can explain, in alignment with one another.
This is the CALL towards Pre rapture secret get away doctrine of men:
Do not re-order the word as if mentioned Scriptures about the same need to be rearranged in different timelines. Cause this is the prophetic discernment.
Alongside that, I also noticed that that is where all kinds of other theories, doctrines are suddenly stepping in as well , even like this for that type of group of people in that moment and so on. What?!!
Let the timeline be the timeline.
Last but not least: YESHUA (Christ) never taught us a 3rd coming of Himself (never ever in His Word) . Therefore already every theory (declaring pre-rapture) automatically is nullified. He comes back once. (no 2nd coming back either).
Be very careful dear ones. Cause when a testimony is prerapture you would declare actually that there is a 2nd coming back. Never ever did Yeshua say anything about a 2nd return.
How do you square what you are saying with Matthew 24:29-31? If Christ Jesus came to Earth in His first coming as a baby then assended into Heaven at His Resurrection, then what would you call Matthew 24:29-31??
Looks like His second coming to me!!
It gets so wearying to hear the frankly lazy, sloppy "scriptural arguments" against a pre-trib rapture. (So often it includes flat out wrong misinterpretations of Matt 24.) Study people, STUDY to show yourself approved as a workman properly handling the Word of God. Here is a video with 7 scriptural arguments that support the truth of a pre-trib rapture. If you can find a way to ignore and deny all 7 of these, then imho you are NOT a truth-seeker. https://www.youtube.com/live/wxgOjNVGM4k?feature=share
Absolutely Sir! I’m reading these and just shaking my head at the simple ignorance that seems to abound.
Took me a long time to come to grips with the rapture, and even longer to realize the pre-trib truth.
But that’s what study, prayer, and being a good student will do.
Me too! At first it did seem too good to be true. That careful study and lots of prayer asking God to make sense of it, it finally stood out as clear as daylight. My fear was reading into it the first time. That and incorrect context. Once I started asking the questions and begging just to see the truth, everything cleared up. No question that it’s pre-TRIB, no question there is a second physical return, and the so-called rapture is not a return to the ‘earth’ of Christ but a return in ‘the air’. A careful study of every little word brings the truth.
I Thessalonians 4:16-18 (NIV)
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. This speaks of the rapture, we meet Jesus in the air, in a flash we and those who died in Christ get our incorruptible bodies made for heaven. Then after 7 years of Tribulation (AntiChrist will rule, but Jesus and will return and set foot on the Mount of Olives. He will reign for one thousand years, then great white throne judgement, then Eternity. Gotquestions.org. or read your bible and find a bible believing preach church. Pastors Jack Hibbs, Pastor Andy Woods, just to name a few on youtube. Only God in heaven knows the day and hour the rapture or harpazo or catching will happen.
Appearing in the clouds to gather His Bride is entirely different from the Second Coming as King and Judge at the end of the Tribulation. The time-line is consistent. The Church age ends at the Harpazo, the Time of Jacob's Trouble, the Tribulation, is for Israel.
So....4000 years of history, Israel and the Promise of the Messiah, then Christ is born, lives a perfect life as the God/Man, dies on the cross as our Passover Lamb, was resurrected. He returned to Heaven to prepare a place for His Bride the Church. He baptized and sealed all believers with the Holy Spirit for 2000 years. At the end of these 2000 years is the time of Jacob's Trouble, to deal with Israel's unbelief. The Judgement and reign of Christ for the Millenial 1000 years begins directly after! 7000 years, God's perfect plan.
Amen!!
YES...very well said!
He ‘appears’ IN THE CLOUDS at the Rapture and removes His Bride, The Church and takes them to be where He is, in Heaven…..for 7 years, while the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Israel) takes place on Earth….then exactly 7 yrs from the very day the antiChrist signs the Peace Treaty guaranteeing Israel’s Safety….Jesus returns TO the Earth….WITH his Saints, the Church…..at which time the Final Battle against the Lord takes place and He destroys the ungodly…and then sets up the 1000 yr’s of His reign on earth…
That is just a short version…..
The rapture DOES NOT teach christ returning a third time. When the Rapture occurs Christ will meet his followers in the air. The first coming was when he was crucified. The 2nd coming is when he returns at the end of the Tribulation which happens at Armageddon. At no time does the Bible or ANY of the theories teach a third return. Jesus comes to earth twice.
There’s a multitude of difference between the Rapture event and the second coming.
They are not similar enough to be confused as the same event. If you do a study on a side-by-side comparison of the two, you will see how divergent they truly truly are.
Read Isaiah 63, oh I beg to differ that there is no Second Coming.
Meeting the Lord in the air is NOT the same thing as His feet touching down on the mount where He left...which is the 2nd coming. Take a deep breath, sister, and then take in the whole counsel of God. 1) The Galileean wedding ceremony is the rapture's pattern and Jesus took time to emphasize it's significance, both in the sudden appearance of the bridegroom and of the feast that follows right afterwards.
2) These wedding guests who are changed, transformed, to become like Jesus, can THEN accompany His ride out of heaven into battle during His second coming. Trying to fit all these events after the Lord's arrival on earth isn't what the scriptures teach. Blessings, John
great article i’m in things are so whacked how could you not believe these things are biblical i can’t believe we’re still here if i ran my house like these governments are run i wouldn’t have made it out of my 20’s if you would’ve told me in the 1970’s that i would live to see the things that are going on now i would have had you locked up Wow what a time jesus is coming
I agree plus this is the first generation where all the prophecies can be fulfilled. One world government; countries are marking their citizens which appears to be a forerunner for the MOB. The Ukraine war. China and Russia war gaming. Middle Eastern states signing peace treaties mentioned in the Bible as being in step with the AC
Religions making peace with each other. The euphrates river is drying up. Damascus is close to being a ruinous heap. Reading the description it describes a nuclear holocaust. I have been studying the end times since 1978 and the things happening!!!!! We are going home sooner rather than later. We appear to be the terminal generation. Amazon prime has a Christian film called Conversion. The prophecies Christ mentioned are all coming together.
As for the mark of the beast, I sure hope that people, particularly the Jewish people, do not mistake the beast's mark for the mark from Ezekiel 9. The prophet has a vision:
"He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
"And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
"And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
"And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
"And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:..."
It does not sound good. People need to repent of sin.
Now the aforementioned mark is not the one of Revelation 13, which is a counterfeit of the devil designed to fool and trick people to worship the beast:
" And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
"And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
But, no, you did not miss the rapture, Mr. Oliver. It's going to happen.
Olivier Melnick explains the pre-tribulation position perfectly. Unfortunately, many mainline denominations don’t teach Bible prophecy. It’s also important to study and understand the dispensations, all part of God’s plan.