In the Bible, a ‘sign’ is an outward, sensory event or object—natural or miraculous—that serves as evidence of God’s presence, power, covenant, or message. A ‘miracle‘ is an extraordinary event that manifests divine intervention in human affairs.

Jesus performed many miracles during his ministry. They included healings of all sorts, raising the dead, casting out demons from demon-possessed individuals, and power over nature (feeding the multitudes, walking on water, rebuking the storm, the miraculous catch of fish, etc.). Jesus’ miracles should have been a sign to the Jews that Jesus was who he said He was, “the Son of God” and their Messiah.

Paul said, “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom” (1 Corinthians 1:22). Early in Jesus’ ministry, the people wanted to see a sign from heaven, as in Moses’ time. The people said, “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat (they quoted Moses as recorded in Exodus 16:15).

Jesus said unto them, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:32-33). Jesus then said, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

Even after Jesus performed countless miracles, the Jews still wanted a new, more miraculous sign from him to prove he was sent from God. In Matthew 12 (and again in Matthew 16), the ruling religious elites of Israel asked Jesus for a sign from heaven.

Jesus told them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:39-40). Here, Jesus prophesied His death, and said the only sign he would give them would be His resurrection after three days and three nights in a tomb.

THE SON OF GOD

After Jesus walked on water and then calmed the storm, the disciples “came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth, thou art the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33). When Jesus asked Peter, who he thought Jesus was, Peter said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). This truth that Peter spoke is the ‘rock’ (the foundation stone) that the Church is built upon (Matthew 16:18).

Even “unclean spirits” called Jesus “the Son of God” (Mark 3:11 and Luke 4:41), as did a demon-possessed man (Luke 8:28). Jesus himself said he was the Son of the heavenly Father in Luke 10:21-22, Matthew 11:25-27, John 5:17-47, John 6:37-40, John 10:25-38, and John 17. John the Baptist declared Jesus as the Son of God in John 3:22-36.

However, the religious elites and most of the Jews did not believe Jesus was their Messiah (John 12:37-41). Most of those who did believe in him did not confess him. “But because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42-43).

THE MESSIAH (CHRIST) AND THE SON OF MAN

Jesus told the Jews several times who He was. In John 4:25-26, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman and those around them that he was the Messiah. “The woman said to Him, I know that the Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He.” Peter also told Jesus, “Thou art the Christ” in Mark 8:29.

When Jesus was on trial before his crucifixion, the high priest, Caiaphas, asked him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed (God)? Jesus said, I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (Mark 14:61-62). Jesus was quoting from Daniel 7:13-14.

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

Jesus also spoke of “the Son of man” as mentioned in Daniel’s prophecy in his Olivet Discourse. “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, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:30-31). Jesus called himself the “Son of man” 87 times in the New Testament.

MIRACLES AND SIGNS

In the Textus Receptus version of the New Testament, the words ‘miracles’ and ‘signs’ are both used as translations of the Greek word (transliteration) ‘sēmeion’ (Strong’s G4592), which is mentioned 77 times. The KJV translates Strong’s G4592 in the following manner: sign (50x), miracle (23x), wonder (3x), token (1x). John has the most mentions of ‘semeion,’ with 17 (14 ‘miracles’ and 3 ‘signs’ in the KJV).

A ‘miracle’ and a ‘sign’ describe the same events from different angles. A miracle points to the power, an act that the created world cannot produce on its own. A sign points to the meaning behind the designated event.

John stresses the deity of Christ. As the Son of God, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus performed many miracles. John gives us seven miracles that serve as signs that Jesus is the miracle-working Messiah. In the Bible, seven is the number for spiritual perfection and completion. It is God’s perfect number.

1. Turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana (John 2:1-11)

2. Healing an official’s son at Capernaum (John 4:46-54)

3. Healing a man at Bethesda (John 5:1-15)

4. Feeding 5,000 plus women and children with five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-15)

5. Walking on water (John 6:16-21)

6. Healing a man born blind (John 9:1-41)

7. Raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44)

Here is a good article that explains the meaning behind these seven recorded miracles in John. The Seven Miracles In John :: By Jack Kelley - Rapture Ready. Near the end of his gospel account, John explained, “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).

John presents Jesus as the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. John’s record is amazing in revealing Jesus’ divinity and in recording the pre-incarnate life of Jesus as the Word and his role in creation as described in Genesis 1.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:1-5). John then tells how the Word became flesh in human form and that His name is Jesus.

John records seven statements from Jesus that begin with “I am,” one of the Hebrew names for God. The Hebrew word (in Exodus 3:14) is ‘אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה’ (the transliteration is eh-yeh). The standard gematria of these four letters is 21 (3 × 7). The ordinal gematria (the order of letters) is 21 as well. In the Bible, 3 is the number of divine perfection (the Trinity), and 7 is the number of spiritual perfection (the sevenfold Holy Spirit). There are 21 chapters in John.

1. “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

2. “I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

3. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7).

4. “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

5. “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live” (John 11:25).

6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).

7. “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman” (John 15:1).

THE LAST TRUMPET ON THE LAST DAY

Paul explains the Rapture in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, in which he mentions “the last trumpet.” “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed” (ESV - 1 Corinthians 15:52).

I believe the main reason the trumpet that is sounded at the Rapture is called the last trumpet is that it occurs on the last day of the Church. The Church began on the day of Pentecost (known as Shavuot to the Jews) and will end on the day of the Rapture. It will be the last day for Christians on the earth in our earthly bodies and the last day for Christians in heaven without a body. It will be such a magnificent and joyous event that even Jesus and the archangel will give a great shout of victory.

“The last day” (not “last days”) is mentioned seven times in the New Testament, all of them in John. I believe John is referring to the Rapture in several of these verses. John wrote the book of John in approximately 95 AD. He was familiar with Paul’s teachings and writings, including 1 Corinthians, which was written in 56 AD, so he would also have been familiar with the concept of the Rapture.

The seven references to “the last day” are found in John 6, 7, 11, and 12:

1. “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day” (John 6:39).

2. “And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which sees the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:40).

3. “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:44).

4. “Whomsoever eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:54).

5. “In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink” (John 7:37).

6. “Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:24).

7. “He that rejects me, and receives not my words, hath one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

There are two main Scriptures in John that record Jesus’ words regarding the resurrection and the rapture (”raising up”), which Jesus hinted at but didn’t teach extensively. The first is a conversation between Martha and Jesus before Lazarus’ resurrection. “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25-26).

Compare John 11:25-26 (and John 14:1-3) to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, “the dead in Christ shall rise first: 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 second Scripture in which Jesus mentions the Rapture is found in the 14th chapter of John. “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3).

During Jesus’ ministry, he raised three people back to life. In Luke 7:11-17, Jesus raised a widow’s son from the dead. In Mark 5:21-43, Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. The third resurrection was when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He had been dead and in a tomb for four days.

“Each of these was a real death and a real return. But none of them were permanent. The widow’s son, Jairus’ daughter, and Lazarus all died again eventually, as everyone does. That is the quiet point the gospels make about this group. These three raisings were signs, not the main event. They were rehearsals, pointing ahead to the one resurrection that would not be undone, when Jesus himself walked out of his own tomb never to die again. The three he raised reclaimed their lives for a while. He gave his away and took it up for good.” {1} The Miracles of Jesus: A Complete List by Type · The Bible Well

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

Jesus predicted his death to his disciples at least four times in the Gospels. The first time Jesus predicted his death is detailed in Matthew 16:21–23, Mark 8:31–32, and Luke 9:21–22. Jesus predicted his death a second time in Matthew 17:22–23, Mark 9:30–32, and Luke 9:43–45. In all of these verses, Jesus told his disciples he would be killed and be raised on the third day.

The third time Jesus predicted His death was in Matthew 20:17–19, Mark 10:32–34, and Luke 18:31–34. This occurred on the road to Jerusalem, where Jesus and the disciples were traveling for Passover (Jesus’s last Passover). This time Jesus gives the most detailed prediction of how he would be killed. Jesus told them, “The Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again” (Matthew 20:18-19).

In the Book of John, Jesus alludes to the crucifixion as the means of his death by saying he would be “lifted up“ (John 3:14, John 8:28, and John 12:32-33). He also alludes to being killed and raised on the third day by saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19).

“And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life”(John 3:13-15). In these verses, Jesus compares his being lifted up on a cross to Moses lifting up the bronze serpent, as described in Numbers 21:4-9.

In Moses’ case, whoever was bitten by a snake and looked upon the serpent of brass lived (v. 9). Likewise, whoever looks upon the cross and believes on Jesus as their savior will live eternally. We may be bitten by sin, but there is a remedy: by believing on the one the Father sent (John 6:29), Jesus Christ, who was lifted up on a cross so we could be saved.

Jesus then reveals His divinity and the purpose of His life and death. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:16-19).

I believe Jesus’ greatest miracle was raising Lazarus from the dead after four days in a tomb. Earlier, upon hearing that Lazarus was sick, Jesus deliberately did not go to Lazarus to heal him. Instead, he waited a few days until Lazarus had died before going to him. Jesus chose not to heal Lazarus, as he had something far greater in mind. He wanted to demonstrate once and for all who He really was and what He was sent to do.

When Jesus arrived at the home of Martha and Mary, Martha told Jesus, “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:21-24).

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26). Jesus is basically telling Martha that there is no need to look forward to the last day; He is (not ‘will be’) the Resurrection and the Life. Jesus has power over life and death. He who is life can surely restore life.

Martha replied, “Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world” (John 11:27). When Mary came, she repeated what Martha had told Jesus: that if he had come earlier, he could have saved Lazarus. When Jesus saw her weeping along with the Jews there, his spirit groaned with sadness. John 11:35, the shortest verse in the bible, simply says, “Jesus wept.” Here, Jesus shows his humanity.

Lazarus’ body had been prepared and placed in a cave for burial, with a huge stone placed at the entrance. Jesus told the men to take away the stone. Martha told Jesus that Lazarus would stink as he had been dead for four days. Jesus replied, “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40).

Jesus then cried with a loud voice and said, “Lazarus, come forth!” And Lazarus came forth bound in his grave clothes. Jesus told them to remove his wraps and let him go. This miracle, more than any other, shows Jesus’ Godhood. Jesus said, in John 5:21, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.”

After this miracle, some of the Jews went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. The Pharisees and the religious elites convened a meeting and said amongst themselves, “What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation” (John 11:47-48).

Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, “Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not” (John 11:49-50). From that day forward, the Jews plotted to kill Jesus. Caiaphas had unintentionally prophesied about Jesus’ sacrificial death. God used him to explain Jesus’ death, even though Caiaphas didn’t realize the true reason.

Yes, one man, Jesus, died not only for the Jewish nation, but for the whole world, and not for the self-righteous reason Caiaphas imagined. Jesus once said, “Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17-18).

Lazarus is mentioned again in John 12. Six days before Jesus’ last Passover, he stopped at the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha, and ate supper with them. Many Jews knew that Jesus was there, and they went to Jerusalem not only for Jesus’ sake, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead (John 12:9). “Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus” (John 12:10).

The raising of Lazarus publicly reveals Jesus’ sovereignty over death, confirming His central claim to be “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). This miracle confirms Jesus’s teaching that He and the Father are one. “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30). Lazarus’ resurrection prefigures the ultimate victory Jesus will display in His own death and resurrection a short while later.

CHRIST, THE FIRSTFRUITS OF THE DEAD

Jesus’ death was accompanied by at least four miraculous events: a supernatural darkness over the land for three hours (Matthew 27:45), the splitting of the curtain in the Temple (Matthew 27:51), an earthquake where the rocks were rent and the graves were opened (Matthew 27:52), and “many bodies of the saints arose, and came out of the graves after Jesus’ resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many” (Matthew 27:52-53).

Paul said that “Christ is the firstfruits of them that slept“ (1 Corinthians 15:20). Have you ever wondered why Jesus and Paul referred to death as sleeping? It’s because death is but a brief loss of consciousness (like sleep), followed by an awakening to life. Our souls and spirits do not die and stay dead.

“Firstfruits were the first part of the harvest that faithful Jews brought to the Temple as an offering. Although Christ was not the first to rise from the dead (he raised Lazarus and others), he was the first to never die again (with the possible exception of Enoch and Elijah). He is the forerunner for us, the proof of our eventual resurrection to eternal life.” {2} Life Application Study Bible (KJV). Pg. 2295.

Paul then says, “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 firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming“ (1 Corinthians 15:21-23).

Christ is the firstfruits of the righteous to be resurrected into eternal life with God. I believe Christ’s ‘coming’ in verse 23 refers to both the Rapture and the Second Coming. The next ‘firstfruits’ to be raised up will be the Church at the Rapture. The last ‘firstfruits’ (that the Bible mentions) will be the Old Testament saints and Tribulation saints after the Second Coming.

Just as Lazarus’ resurrection was the forerunner of Jesus’ resurrection, so will the Rapture be the forerunner of the Second Coming.

Sometime in the very near future, there will be a great ‘sign‘ to the Jews that their long-awaited Messiah (whom they missed the first time) is coming. It is a sign that will take place in the heavens and is commonly referred to as the Rapture. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 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” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

This heavenly sign will precede Jesus’ return to the earth by at least seven years (the long-delayed 70th week of Daniel 9:24, 27). So, to all you Jews and those who require a sign, when you see the heavenly sign (and miracle) of the Rapture, you know your Messiah is near; “so look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28).

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Randy Nettles

rgeanie55@gmail.com

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(Zombie Definition: “Re-animated Corpse”…)

He feasts on the human spirit. He delights in the deeds of darkness! He dwells in the deserts of the damned and wanders from place to place seeking contentment and a sense of peace and purpose and some form of fulfillment that never comes. His thirst is never quenched. His belly is never filled, no matter how much he consumes. He is the living corpse called fleshly man, and he has been sentenced to everlasting destruction because of his rebellion against His Holy Creator. The eternal spirit contained inside the corpse may or may not get redeemed, but the corpse will never find redemption. And so he treads onward, consuming things of the flesh and building his resume for destruction. And the greatest enemy and targeted victim who this Zombie hopes to destroy before its inglorious ending finally comes… is the Christian it is attached to!

(Note: Yes, God will use the dust of our old being to recreate a whole new body someday… but the condemned sinful nature of our fleshly man will die as the due penalty for Adam’s sin that is inherent in our flesh)

Oh, Wretched Man…

Paul spoke of this Zombie in one of the greatest passages in all of Scripture. A passage that shows the true plight of man and the war that rages inside the redeemed believer. There is no such war inside the lost. They are perfectly content in letting the Zombie lead them anywhere and everywhere, delighting in the works unto death that he leads them into. No… it is the Believer who is at constant war with the Zombie because the things he desires are the things the redeemed spirit knows are wrong. And the things the saved spirit ultimately longs for are out of reach while this corpse is still attached to their being. It’s a battle till the death … and one that is more heartbreaking and difficult than many realize. But Paul saw it clearly:

“We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” Romans 7:14-24

Wow! How clear can Paul be? He lays out our plight perfectly. So perfectly in fact that some theologians over the eons have argued Paul is talking about himself before he became a believer. But that is a false assumption. The unredeemed man does not see the depths of wretchedness inside himself. Even Paul, who was a high-ranking Pharisee and thought he was righteous with an earned righteousness he had acquired through strict adherence to the Law of God before his conversion, didn’t see his true condition until Jesus struck him blind on the road to Damascus.

The more we understand that all of our righteousness is a gifted righteousness from Jesus and not something we take part in through our own goodness and deeds, the sooner we will understand the albatross still hovering over us even after our redemption, which is the carnal zombie of our flesh.

“I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”- Isaiah 61:10

See, this is what we get when we become believers in Jesus… “A robe of righteousness”. This robe is the perfect righteousness of Jesus and the sinless life He lived that is imputed to us at the moment of salvation. Conversely, Jesus took to the Cross our imperfection and the sinful life we lived, and He was punished for it on our behalf. We are so unworthy in our natural state that even the good we believe we do is not good. This is what we ourselves bring to the table in our flesh:

“All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” Isaiah 64:6

Yet somehow, most of the world prefers to stay in their fallen state, choosing to rest on their own goodness rather than count on the righteous gift of Jesus’ goodness for their eternal hope. They try to enhance their own goodness through some religious practices or some acts of philanthropy, but all to no avail. The wretched Zombie that they are in their flesh has already been condemned. They need a total spiritual rebirth to separate themselves from the walking dead being that their flesh truly is. And even if that rebirth comes, the Zombie still hinders them til the grave to one extent or another.

“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“…Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit”

-John 3:3,5-6

Paul’s question “Who will save me from this body of death?” Didn’t get left hanging in the air. He answered it himself in the same passage:

“Who will save me from this body of death?

Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” (Romans 7:24-25)

The zombie is that slave to the law of sin. And his continual impact even after salvation for a believer is still powerful … and deadly!

The Zombie’s Impact…

What keeps people lost in their sin and unwilling to come to Christ? The Zombie!

What spoils the joy of the believer by drawing them back into sins they have already repented of and been forgiven of but still feel the imaginary chains of? The Zombie!

What causes the Christian’s fruit yield to be sparse and their daily walk to resemble the life of a lost person rather than that of a spirit-filled saint zealous for Christ? The Zombie!

The impact of this flesh all humanity deals with is lethal and deadlier than almost anyone realizes. An example of its effect on its carrier was given by the Great John MacArthur years ago.

MacArthur told of one particular ancient culture that would issue a bizarre penalty to anyone convicted of murder. The corpse of their victim would be chained to the murderer back to back so the living culprit would be constantly attached to the rotting body until he too would die of infection and disease from being attached to the dead man. The mental anguish and horror and shame of it may have been even worse for the convict than the physical attachment to the deceased cadaver, and in many cases a believer can have similar feelings about our connection with the fallen flesh still attached to us.

The lost person who is literally a dead spiritual being walking in the flesh sees only what the world sees as attractive, and the Zombie they walk around in chases sin and excess like a kid in a candy store. Some disregard their spiritual longing completely and live as wildly and wickedly as possible, as if they have no limitations except getting caught by the wrong person. Others choose to pacify the spiritual hole inside themselves with some worldly defined goodness like having a balanced life of fitness, career success, a solid relationship with someone, and maybe some sort of spiritual wellness. Basically considering themselves a human success and seeking the good life here on earth. The Zombie is free to feed on whatever he desires as long as the person considers it acceptable in their worldview.

The believer, however, has a redeemed spirit and is alive in Christ yet still attached to this dead person. The Zombie wrestles for control, but so does the renewed spirit. Which one has the greater impact on the overall character of the being? It depends.

It has been said that the two natures of a Christian are like having two dogs. A good one and a bad one who are always at battle to be the Alpha! Who is stronger? Whoever you feed most. Is the believer practicing self denial seeking to restrict the Zombie’s desires? Is he feeding the Spirit a steady diet of great sermons and God’s Word rightly divided, and is his prayer life strong and his fellowship with strong believers his main peer group? Or is he drifting back to old tendencies and living more like the world and consorting mostly with unredeemed people? The answers to these questions will show which dog is getting the nourishment they seek.

So while the internal battle rages on inside the Christian trying to control the monster at their hip while seeking the Holy Spirit’s guidance and strength to be sanctified and molded into a Christ-like image, the world grows more and more monstrous, inventing new ways to sin and devour more and more wickedness while plunging the world into a pre-flood state of Godlessness and uncontrolled wickedness. The stage is practically set just as the script said it would be thousands of years ago!

Our Glorification…

For the believer in Christ, there is an expiration date stamped on the zombie that is similar to the Lord’s boundaries He put on the roaring Ocean as described in Job:

“Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,

when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,

when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,

when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?”

(Job 38:8-11)

Similarly, the Lord put limits on the flesh. It is sentenced to a certain number of days and then will die and release its incarcerated prisoner… either to life for the Christian… or damnation for the unredeemed. But it will die for its rebellion and no longer hold any prisoners.

Think of a small worm crawling along and building its death chamber. It will form its cocoon and be covered with its death shroud, but inside… as its old self is dying, a beautiful butterfly is being armed with new wings and ready to be set free at the right moment. Out of that cocoon comes a new glorious creature while the old shell of the worm is dried and dead on the ground. For the Christian, the new butterfly comes at our glorification. The worm

Dies and frees the beautiful new creature attached. But for the unredeemed person, the butterfly is dead on arrival. No glory. Only death and destruction.

Spiritual warfare in the last days…

The last thing our condemned flesh needs to add gasoline to the fire of sinful cravings is spiritual warfare to come against the Christian inside the flesh and further hinder its battle for control. But as the final moments of human history descend upon us and the voice of the Christian to proclaim the Gospel of Christ from the rooftops is so desperately needed, sadly the majority of voices are being silenced by the distractions of the powers of the air.

True believers everywhere are being hounded by the world’s plethora of sin options. With technology running amok, we now have just about every imagination of our fleshly

Hearts available at our fingertips. If the demonic realm can lure us into our sinful desires by consorting with the Zombie, even Christians can become disengaged from their calling and distracted from bearing fruit for the Lord. And if the Devil can’t knock us off track with temptation. he will attempt to throw some other monkey wrench into our life to preoccupy us from our final warnings to the lost world.

AI is starting to not only make possible the Lord’s warning at Babel in Genesis 11:6, but it is also allowing conditions of our day to be matched only by the pre-flood conditions in Genesis 6:5.

Genesis 11:6 “The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. “

Genesis 6:5 “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.”

We as believers should be strong and able to trust the Holy Spirit’s strength to keep us on track and fruitful even in this dreadful hour that approaches. But … the Zombie keeps things in constant disarray and can sabotage even the most faithful believers when his options for destruction are so plentiful.

Remember Jesus’ warnings in Gethsemane. He told them :

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” - Matthew 26:41

And remember how Peter swore He would stay with the Lord even unto his own death that night, to which the Lord responded :

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

-Matthew 26:34

That wasn’t Peter’s spiritual wish. He wanted to be strong for his Lord. But the Zombie had other plans!

The Coming Frankenstein….

Perhaps the greatest Hollywood example of a zombie-type creature was the Frankenstein Monster. A creature put together with the parts of numerous cadavers and then animated by electrical current in a ghastly science lab experiment owned by Baron Von Frankenstein.

Will Satan play the part of the mad scientist and piece together the man of sin with AI technology merged with a human corpse who is fatally wounded?

“One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.” -Rev 13:3

Something transforms a world leader, perhaps one of the regional governors of a coming 10-king confederacy, into a satanic monster for the ages. The Antichrist will be the most charismatic, powerful, evil, and destructive being the world has ever seen, and he will ascend to the throne of world government and rule the planet for the final 3.5 years of the coming tribulation period. Will he be a reanimated corpse that AI and Satan indwell to energize this long-awaited Frankenstein? This ultimate zombie will promote all things of the flesh and entrap the whole world in his system of slavery to Satanism?

The answer appears to be “yes,” as we know he will be indestructible by human means and will only be vanquished when the Lord Jesus returns to conquer him and cast him into Hell. A machine doesn’t go to Hell. A Zombie can! And while the world will think it is AI that gives him his newfound, post-resurrection brilliance, it will actually be Satan behind the mask!

It makes sense that this man who previously

Had been just a regional leader, will suddenly be hailed by the citizens of the world as a savior so brilliant that they will entrust him with the whole planet when he suddenly becomes a walking AI human that knows everything and has every answer embedded inside him. Of course Satan will also be indwelling him, and while the world is enthralled with man’s own brilliance in fulfilling the lie in Eden about us becoming like God, Satan will actually be the great brain and power inside this final man of sin. Yet the world will beam with pride at the ultimate triumph of humanism and put all trust in this man implanted with what they believe is our own brilliantly contrived technology.

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” -Gen 3:4-5

CONCLUSION…

The Antichrist is coming. The penultimate Zombie who will die yet be alive to rule the world. The ultimate display of walking blasphemy. A man who will be called out of death into life by Satan himself, although it’s truly only possible for Jesus to call the dead to life. But AI and the devil will be allowed by God to reanimate this zombie for the purpose of fulfilling history exactly as God foretold all those millennia ago.

As we await this creature with a hellish soul, our own world of zombies descends lower and lower into a sinful dark place matched only by the antediluvian world just before God’s previous global judgment was poured down on the world. This time the judgment will come

By different means, yet somehow will be even worse according to our Lord.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21)

The nature of sin is to creep and grow like a mildew that covers and rots everything. Even though sin has been condemned by God and will end when the Lord says “Enough!” still it grows worse and worse in this tiny speck of eternity known as time. To rid the world of it requires it to be hacked to pieces just as Samuel hacked Agag to pieces in one of the most startling Old Testament descriptions.

“Samuel declared: As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women. Then he hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.”- 1 Sam 15:33

Agag, king of the Amalekites, represented the wickedness that shunned and killed Israel with a hatred we now see from radical Islam. A hatred that promoted the horrific October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. It also showed a symbol of how severely deadly sin can be and how it needs to be destroyed completely and not just contained. Ultimately, the only one that can vanquish sin is Jesus Christ. He will finish the job of eliminating sin during the final Millennium. He has freed us from the consequences of sin when He bore our sin on the Cross and was butchered Himself as God poured His wrath on His own Son as a substitute to pay for our sin. But our flesh still remains until the time of its final destruction, and the Zombie continues to corrupt and plunge the world into the Hell that soon will be called “The Great Tribulation!”

“The night of the Walking Dead” is almost upon us. Spiritual battles rage across the globe as deception grows. Yet we still have a calling to preach the “Good News” of Jesus Christ until the final curtain on this age is drawn! Watch and pray that the Church can finish the job and not be lured in by the temptation that still attracts our inner Zombies and will continue to do so until its last dying breath!

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” - Romans 8:1-4

In my previous article, Is the Pre-Trib Rapture in the Olivet Discourse?, I gave multiple reasons why I thought the pre-tribulation Rapture is included in the Olivet Discourse as recorded in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21 (and partly in chapter 17). I believe it begins with the “peri de” (”now concerning”) verse in Matthew 24:36 (and Mark 13:32). “Now concerning that day and hour no man knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36).

The peri de grammatical construction in Greek is a contrastive introduction of a new subject. It is well established that when peri de stands at the very beginning of a sentence, it marks a new subject or section of thought that often refers back to previous material that has been discussed. “The preposition ‘perí’ (G4012) weaves through every genre of the Greek New Testament—Gospel narrative, apostolic history, epistle, prophecy—occurring 333 times.” {1}

In Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus has been discussing the Second Coming until verse 36. However, the peri de means that a new subject has been introduced, and that is the pre-tribulation Rapture. As to when the Rapture will occur, the answer is simple: no one knows. “One should note that up to this point in the discourse, only the phrase “those days” (plural) has been used. At verse 36, Jesus changes to “that day” (singular). This helps support the idea that verse 36 is transitional.” {2}

In Matthew 24:37-39, Jesus gives the analogy or comparison between the flood of Noah’s day and the “Day of the Lord” (the Tribulation). I believe the flood represents the Tribulation, and Noah’s ark represents the pre-tribulation rapture that saves believers from “the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).

37 But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

The “coming of the Son of man” in verses 37 & 39 refers to the pre-tribulation rapture, as verse 38 refers to “the days that were before the flood.“ While both generations will experience great apostasy and sin, the emphasis is on the indifference and ignorance of the times (”and they knew not”) that occur before each generation’s great tribulation. The emphasis of the analogy is not on who will be taken away, as that comes with the second analogy.

THE DAYS BEFORE THE FLOOD AND THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN

Let’s look at the time immediately before the flood. Noah and his family entered the ark seven days before the flood, according to Genesis 7:7-10. “And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth” (Genesis 7:7, 10).

However, Genesis 7:11-16 says they entered the ark on the same day that the rains came. So, is this a contradiction in Scripture? No, it’s not. “It’s important to note that Genesis 7 is not written in a purely chronological fashion. Moses doubles back in a circular manner typical of an Eastern, Hebraic style of writing as he tells the story of the flood. If we reorder the text of Genesis 7 slightly, we can create a chronological progression in the narrative, which allows us to understand the narrative more clearly.

Genesis 7:6: And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

Genesis 7:7: And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

Genesis 7:8: Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,

Genesis 7:9: There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.

Genesis 7:13: In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark.

Genesis 7:14: They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.

Genesis 7:15: And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life.

Genesis 7:16: And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.

Genesis 7:17: And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth.

Genesis 7:10: And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.

Genesis 7:11: In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

Genesis 7:12: And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

Reordering the text in this way produces a chronological sequence, and in that sequence, we can clearly see that the phrase “on the very same day” in v. 13 refers to the day Noah and the animals entered the ark, not the day the flood came. The family entered on one day, and then seven days later the flood came.

Therefore, the imagery of the Rapture is not disturbed, and in fact, this reinforces the picture, because it confirms that all believers in the Church will be removed from the earth in the same moment, ‘on the very same day,’ so to speak.” {3}

As I mentioned before, I believe that the flood of Noah’s day is symbolic of the Tribulation, and that Noah’s ark is symbolic of the pre-tribulation Rapture. I also believe that the seven days before the flood are symbolic of the gap of time between the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation. Once Noah and his family (and the animals) entered the ark (seven days before the flood), “the LORD shut him in” (v.16), and they were safe from the imminent tribulation of the flood waters to come.

As soon as the ark was shut up, nobody else could enter it. This was the supernatural intervention of God that occurred seven days before the great flood. The supernatural intervention of God concerning the Rapture will occur seven years (minimum) before the Second Coming. The Day of the Lord begins with the Rapture and ends with the Second Coming.

Nobody knows how much time will transpire between the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation. Perhaps it will be simultaneous. Perhaps it will be seven days (like the days before the flood), or even seven months. Or, since the Tribulation will be approximately seven times longer than the flood’s duration, perhaps it will be for 49 (7x7) days. The number 49 is significant in Scripture, as it represents seven weeks or seven cycles of completeness, as in the Feast of Weeks and the Jubilee cycle.

This is pure speculation, of course. Just as nobody knows the day or the hour of the Rapture, nobody knows the duration of the gap of time between the Rapture and the start of the Tribulation (if there is one).

This generation before the Rapture and the subsequent Tribulation will ignore scriptural prophecy and the warnings of the “watchmen on the wall” (for the most part), and continue to live as if nothing is ever going to change. They, like the antediluvians, will be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, and will not know any better until the chaos of the Rapture and the destruction of the Tribulation occurs.

The Greek word (transliteration) for “took away” in Matthew 24:39 is ‘eren‘ (a form of G142 ‘airo’), which means to lift, to take up, to raise, to remove, to carry away. The antediluvian unrighteous were “took away” in judgment and death. Of course, the inhabitants of the ark were left to repopulate the planet, although this is not mentioned in the verse.

PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE OR SECOND COMING JUDGEMENT?

I believe Matthew 24:40-42 continues with the time before the flood-like Tribulation.

Jesus then told them, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Matthew 24:40-41). The Greek word for ‘taken’ in these two verses is different than the one used in verse 39 (eren or airo). It is ‘paralambanetai‘ (a form of paralambano), which is derived from two words.

The two Greek words are G3844 (pará), a preposition which usually adds the overtone, “from, close beside“ (alongside), and G2983 (lambánō), which means “to take to or with (oneself) or to receive. “The thought is always one of accompaniment, and almost always in a positive sense, i.e., for close fellowship. The word is overwhelmingly used in a positive sense.” {4}

A form of paralambano is also used in Luke’s version of the O.D. (Luke 17:34-36) as well. It’s interesting that the one taken in the second parable is next to or beside the one that is left, so this is a perfect Greek word for what transpires.

In this illustration of a pre-tribulation rapture of two in the field, etc., the person ‘taken’ is a righteous believer, and the one left is an unrighteous unbeliever who is abandoned to his fate in the judgments of the Tribulation. In the illustration of Noah’s flood, it is the opposite. The ones who are taken are the unrighteous. The difference is the two Greek words with different meanings, but they are translated as the same English word (took or taken).

On the night before the crucifixion, and two days after the Olivet Discourse, Jesus spoke again to his disciples regarding the taking (or receiving) of believers to Him so they could be where He is.

“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3). Jesus used the same Greek word, ‘paralambano‘ (but in a different grammatical form), to depict the taking (or receiving) of believers in a pre-tribulation rapture.

The Greek word for ‘left’ (aphiemi) in Matthew 24:40-41 and Luke 17:34-36 takes on the meaning of ‘abandoned’ or ‘forsaken‘ when its object is a person. Those abandoned (left) in the Matthew and Luke accounts are the unrighteous unbelievers. The judgments that accompany the Day of the Lord will come on them, and they will not escape.

Luke’s account of the Noah and Lot illustrations (Lk. 17:28-30) makes this quite clear. “They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26-27).

Also, as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:28-30). Notice that Lot was taken out of harm’s way, and the unrighteous were left behind and were destroyed.

There are no New Testament scriptures in the Gospels that more clearly indicate a pre-tribulation rapture (catching up) than these verses, in which some people are taken to be saved from the wrath to come, while others are left behind to face God’s judgment upon the earth. Jesus, the greatest prophet of them all, was the first to unveil the concept of the pre-tribulation rapture. However, if someone didn’t know about Paul’s teaching on this subject, you would not recognize it in the O.D. or possibly even in John 14:1-3.

Most pre-tribulation commentators who recognize only the Second Coming in Matthew 24:40-41 (and Luke 17:34-36) believe those ‘taken’ are the righteous believers who enter the Millennial Kingdom, and those ‘left’ are the unrighteous who are excluded from the Kingdom and are destroyed.

These commentators believe these verses describe the sheep and goat judgment of Matthew 25:31-36, which takes place after the Second Coming and therefore does not involve the Church in a pre-tribulation rapture scenario. The sheep are joined to the Lord in the Millennial Kingdom on Earth, and the goats are sent away into the eternal fire (Matt. 25:41). These particular pretribulationists want to avoid any reference to the Church in the O.D. lest it lead to a belief in posttribulationism (Second Coming rapture).

Jesus then exhorts his followers to be watchful for His return. “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (Matthew 24:42). I find it interesting that Matthew records Jesus’ use of the (translated) word ‘hour’ instead of ‘day,’ ‘time,’ or ‘season.’ It’s almost like Jesus is pointing towards a specific time within the “day of the Lord” (like an hour within a day).

THE PARABLE OF THE THIEF

Jesus then gives the parable of a thief who breaks into a home, symbolizing the unexpected arrival of the Son of Man, which will come at an hour no one can predict. “But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up” (Matthew 24:43). The “watch the thief would come“ refers to a particular hour within a day.

Jesus is the thief in this parable. In the book of Revelation, Jesus told the church in Sardis, “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee” (Revelation 3:3). The hour He is referring to is the same hour as in Matthew 24:36, 42, 44, and 50 - the pre-tribulation Rapture. I particularly like the description given in Matthew 24:50. “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.”

Mark gives more detail regarding the parable of the thief coming in an unexpected ‘hour.’ “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning“ (Mark 13:35). Luke also mentions a ‘watch,’ or a particular time of the day. “And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants“ (Luke 12:38).

After giving the first detailed teaching on the pre-tribulation Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17, Paul immediately (in the following verses) describes what comes after the great “catching up” (harpazo) - the Day of the Lord. Let’s look at the chronology of these end-time events.

“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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18).

“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2-4).

Whereas Matthew (& Mark), quoting Jesus, used the term “day and hour” to describe the specific time of the pre-tribulation Rapture, Paul used the term “times and seasons” to refer to the general time of the Day of the Lord (the seven-year Tribulation). The Rapture will occur in one day and hour within the times and seasons of the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, as a thief, because the Rapture is the start of the Day of the Lord.

“Revelation 3:3 and 16:15 suggest that Christ Himself comes as a thief, while 1 Thessalonians 5:4 makes it clear the day of the Lord comes as a thief. Therefore, the two events are simultaneous.” {5}

Paul uses the same parable that Jesus used in the Olivet Discourse regarding comparing the Day of the Lord to a thief. John and Peter also use the same “thief imagery.”All three apostles borrowed from Jesus’ thief imagery in the Olivet Discourse.

This “coming of a thief” can’t be referring to the Second Coming, in which there are multiple specific signs that will precede it, such as the confirming of a seven-year covenant with the many, the abomination of desolation in a rebuilt Jewish temple, and the signs in the heavens before the Second Coming.

SECOND COMING OF PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE

So, which phase of the coming (parousia) of the Son of man is Jesus referring to? I believe the coming of the Son of man in Matthew 24:30 refers to the Second Coming, and verses 37 & 39 refer to the pre-tribulation Rapture. Verses 38-39 indicate that life on earth is pretty normal at this time, as it was before the days of Noah’s flood. People will be going about their daily routines and tasks unhindered by calamity.

However, life will be anything but normal in the days before the Second Coming. People will just be trying to survive. “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.” (Matthew 24:21-22).

Daniel 12:1 describes it in the same manner: “and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” Jeremiah calls it “Jacob’s trouble.” “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jeremiah 30:7).

Scriptures in the O.T. and in the Book of Revelation regarding the day of the Lord reveal how horrific life will be at this time. After the second and third vial judgments (Rev. 17:3-4), the seas, rivers, and fountains of waters will turn to blood. How can people be eating and drinking and carrying on like everything is normal at this time?

At the end of the Tribulation, are people going to be contentedly eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, buying and selling, planting, and building? If they are buying, they will have the mark of the beast (666), for that is the only way one will be able to purchase anything after the mid-point of the Tribulation.

If they are drinking, it will probably be bloody water. If they do not have the mark of the beast, all they will be doing is running and hiding (and dying). “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man“ (Luke 21:36).

If there is to be total darkness before the Lord Jesus’ Second Coming (per Matthew 24:39 & Joel 2:31), how could a person watch for His return (you can’t see in the dark)? How could He return in a particular hour (dusk, midnight, second or third watch) when there is no visible sun to tell time?

Are people living at this time not going to be aware that the Lord is coming? Even back at the time of the sixth seal, people will be hiding in caves and will be saying, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6:16-17).

THE TWO PHASES OF THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN

Yes, in the Olivet Discourse, Jesus answered the disciples’ question as to His coming again. He gave them more information than they could have possibly understood at that time, especially that His Second Coming would be in two phases. However, they did understand the Day of the Lord (the Tribulation) as spoken of by the prophets in the Tanakh, which is basically what Jesus is describing in Matthew 24:4-29.

Compare Matthew 24:29 to Joel 2:31.

“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” (Matthew 24:29).

“And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come” (Joel 2:30-31). After the crucifixion, on the day of Pentecost, Peter gave a speech/sermon in which he quoted Joel 2:28-32, as recorded in Acts 2:17-21. The disciples were well aware of the day of the LORD.

The disciples also understood the “Son of man” would come at the end of the age to set up an everlasting kingdom, per Daniel 7:13-14. When Jesus asked his disciples, “Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?” Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God“ (Matthew 16:15-16). Jesus is also called “Messiah the Prince” in Daniel 9:25, and the Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9:6. Jesus referred to Himself as the “Son of man” numerous times in the New Testament.

Daniel wrote, “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).

The term “Son of man” (capitalized ‘Son’ in the KJV, as in deity) is mentioned 87 times in the New Testament by Jesus, referring to Himself. Jesus mentioned the “Son of man” five times in the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24. “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” (Matthew 24:30).

The disciples even understood that the Son of man, Jesus Christ, would set up His Kingdom when he returned. Forty days after His resurrection and ten days before His ascension to heaven, the disciples asked Jesus, “Wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel again?” Jesus merely replied, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”

What the disciples could not possibly understand at this time was the initial phase of Jesus’ second coming, the pre-tribulation “catching up” of His saints (His bride), as described in Matthew 24:36-44. The Church hadn’t even been formed because the Holy Spirit hadn’t been given yet. The timing was not right for a full teaching on the pre-tribulation Rapture at this juncture. Yet, Jesus still mentioned it and would do so once again before His death.

On the day of the crucifixion, Jesus elaborated further on the initial phase of the “coming of the Son of man.” “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also“ (John 14:1-3).

This ‘receiving’ of the righteous believers (the pre-tribulation Rapture) is portrayed in Matthew 24:40-41 and Luke 17:34-36. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken [received], and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be left in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left“ (Luke 17:34-36).

Jesus never fully explained the Rapture to his disciples while he was on the earth. Jesus’ main teaching was on the Kingdom of God and how to obtain eternal salvation. However, Jesus did not leave them in the dark about the rapture of the Church. He introduced it in its “seed form,” as recorded in the O.D. and John 14:1-3. It would be left up to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, to take this doctrine from its seed form to full maturity.

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works“ (Titus 2:13-14).

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Randy Nettles

rgeanie55@gmail.com

You searched for randy nettles – Rapture Ready – archived articles

Endnotes:

{1} Strong’s Greek: 4012. περί (peri) -- about, concerning, around, on account of

{2} Evidence for the Rapture - A Biblical Case for Pretribulationism by John F. Hart - pg. 55.

{3} Did Noah enter the ark one week prior to the flood? | Verse By Verse Ministry International

{4} Ibid., p. 62

{5} Ibid., p. 64

Did Jesus mention the rapture with his disciples in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21? Not the post-tribulation rapture that many Christian sects, such as Roman Catholicism and the Eastern Orthodox Church, believe in, but a pre-tribulation rapture.

Most Bible scholars and theologians believe that only the Second Coming of Jesus is in view within the context of the Olivet Discourse. However, many other learned men and women believe the pre-tribulation rapture is included in the text of these passages of Scripture, even though the Greek word for “catching up” (harpazo) is not mentioned. They believe Jesus, in his Olivet Discourse, introduced the pre-tribulation rapture in its “seed form,” as I wrote about in my last article, Pre-Pauline Scriptural References to the Rapture.

The Olivet Discourse (O.D.) occurred a few days before Jesus’ last Passover. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus had told his disciples three times, before the Olivet Discourse, that he would be crucified and killed, but would be resurrected on the third day. Immediately before the O.D., Jesus grieved over the coming destruction of Jerusalem and its people, and gave a prophecy regarding his coming again to establish the Kingdom of God.

“For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23:39). Until the Jewish people recognize Jesus as their Messiah King, and call out to him to return to establish His Kingdom, He will not return to them. This prophecy is given in the last verse of Matthew 23. The story continues into chapter 24.

Matthew 24 begins with Jesus and his disciples leaving the temple and going to the Mount of Olives, where they spoke to Jesus about how marvelous the remodeled temple was, as it was adorned with beautiful stones and consecrated gifts (Luke 21:5). “And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2).

This prophecy was fulfilled 37 years later in 70 AD, when the Romans, under General Titus, demolished Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple. Daniel also prophesied about the destruction of the city and the Temple in Daniel 9:26b.

The disciples then asked Jesus, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3). Some Bible scholars see three questions in this verse, while others see only two, with “what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the age” as one question. I now believe it is just two questions, as Jesus’ Second Coming will bring about the end of this current age and the start of the Millennial Kingdom.

The disciples evidently believed that the destruction of the Temple, the coming ‘again’ of Christ, and the end of the age would occur contemporaneously. This is confirmed by the question they asked on the Mount of Olives after Jesus’ resurrection. “Lord, are you now going to restore the Kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).

In Matthew’s account of the Olivet discourse, Jesus didn’t answer the first question regarding the destruction of the Temple (”when shall these things be?”), although he did in Luke’s account (Luke 21:12-24). However, the wording of “these things“ is plural, so their question is about more than the destruction of the Temple.

“These things” also refers to Jesus’ prophecy in the preceding verse regarding His coming to establish His Kingdom. So, basically, in Matthew’s account of the Olivet Discourse, Jesus is revealing the ‘what’ and ‘when’ of the time of the end of the age and His return, albeit the ‘when’ is somewhat cryptic.

The Greek word translated ‘coming’ (parousia) means “presence, coming, advent, arrival.” In the Gospels, parousia is only used in the 24th chapter of Matthew (Matthew 24:3, 27, 37, 39). This word refers to the future visible return of Jesus from heaven to raise the O.T. saints, initiate the “sheep and goat judgments,” and gloriously set up the kingdom of God. This word also refers to Jesus’ coming at the Rapture, as in 1 Thessalonians 4:15.

The parousia and the consummation (end) of the age are a reference to the same event and are identified by one sign (sēmeion). The disciples were asking for a single sign that would identify Jesus‘ future appearance and the end of the age, as we know it. Jesus identifies this single sign as the Tribulation, also known in the Old Testament as the Day of the Lord, Daniel’s 70^th week, or Jacob’s Trouble. Of course, there are individual signs within the universal sign of the Tribulation that point to the end of the age and Jesus’ Second Coming.

Matthew 24:4-14 describes the conditions on earth before the Second Coming. It is a summary of events that will occur during the seven-year Tribulation (Daniel’s 70th week). Verse 8 says that the events of verses 3-7 are the beginning of sorrows (or birth pangs). In 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3, Paul used the same Greek word (ōdin, ―birth pangs) to describe the future day of the Lord. The second, third, and fourth seal judgments (peace taken from the earth, famine, and massive deaths) parallel Matthew 24:5-8.

Verse 14 mentions the end of the age, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news that the kingdom of God is near. So, here we see a beginning and an end of the seven-year Tribulation. This brief summary of the Tribulation will be characterized by: false Christs, war, famines, pestilences, earthquakes, persecution, and the worldwide preaching of the gospel.

THE GREAT TRIBULATION

The last 3.5 years of the Tribulation are called the “Great Tribulation.” It is described in Matthew 24:15-28. So, the entire seven-year Tribulation begins in Matthew 24:4 and ends in verse 28. Verses 29-31 describe the events “after the tribulation of those days.” The Tribulation is another name for the Day of the LORD, as mentioned by various Old Testament prophets. The Day of the LORD (Yahweh) is mentioned 20 times in the Old Testament.

The Great Tribulation begins with the event described by Jesus in Matthew 24:15-16: “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whosoever reads, let him understand), then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.” The abomination of desolation refers to the future desecration of the rebuilt Jerusalem temple by the first ‘Beast’ of Revelation 13. Paul also mentions this desecration in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4.

The A.O.D. is the major sign within the Tribulation that the end of the age and the coming of the Son of Man is near. Jesus is referring to Daniel’s prophecy about the abomination of desolation, as mentioned in Daniel 9:27 & Daniel 12:11. Daniel 9:27 stipulates that there will be a “confirming of a covenant with the many (Israel and other nations)” for a period of seven years, and in the middle of the seven years (3.5 years) is when the A.O.D. occurs and the Jews flee from the Antichrist.

The Jews will flee into the mountains as Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:16, “Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.” For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matthew 24:21).

Daniel 12:1-2 records an unprecedented “time of trouble“ at the end of the age. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands 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.

Daniel 12:7 even gives the duration of the great tribulation after the Jews have fled Israel (per Matthew 24:16). It shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished. “Time, times, and a half” is 3.5 years or 1260 days.

Daniel 12:2a and 10 record the resurrection of the Old Testament saints at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ. 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. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly.” Daniel 12:11 gives the duration between the middle of the Tribulation and this resurrection. “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.

So, from these two witnesses (Jesus and Daniel), we know the abomination of desolation is an undeniable sign that the Son of Man is coming soon and the end of the age is nearly consummated. As a matter of fact, they are somewhere in the range of 1260 to 1290 days from this end-time sign.

Jesus returns to the Earth after the Great Tribulation. His visible return is described in Matthew 24:27-28. “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. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” Jesus will return to the earth (Second Coming) in the same manner as when he ascended back to heaven after his crucifixion.

Approximately 45 days after Jesus gave his Olivet discourse, he ascended into heaven in plain sight of the disciples (Acts 1:9). While they were watching him go up, two ‘men’ (angels) in white apparel stood by them and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven“ (Acts 1:11).

Jesus describes these last 3.5 years in Matthew 24:21-22: “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.”

THE SIGN OF THE SECOND COMING

“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” (Matthew 24:29-30).

At the time immediately before the Second Coming, there will be signs among the heavenly bodies, including the sun, the moon, and the stars. Isaiah spoke of this in Isaiah 13:10 & 34:4, “For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine” (Isaiah 13:10).

There will be total darkness for an indeterminate duration between the end of the Tribulation and the Second Coming. The darkness will be dispelled by a glorious, brilliant light which is the Shekinah glory of the Lord. The light will be followed by the Son of Man, the Messiah Jesus Christ. “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” (Revelation 1:7). This is the final sign of the coming of the Son of Man and the end of the age.

The most significant sign for the Jews that the Tribulation has started is the confirming of the covenant, as mentioned in Daniel 9:27. The major sign for the middle of the Tribulation is the A.O.D., as mentioned by Daniel and Jesus, and the end sign is the total darkness of the heavens. Of course, I believe the number one sign that indicates “He is near” is the pre-tribulation Rapture. The unbelieving Jews would be wise to consider this after it occurs. Jesus said, “He that has ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 11:15).

The end of the Second Coming and the start of the Millennium Kingdom is pictured in Matthew 24:31. “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” (Matthew 24:31). Mark described the same event as the gathering of the elect from both earth and heaven (Mark 13:27). Some will need to be resurrected, such as the O.T. saints and Tribulation saints.

THE FIG TREE GENERATION

Jesus then tells his disciples, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, at the very gates” (Matthew 24:32-33). Some translations say “you know that He is near.”

Luke also mentions the fig tree (and all the trees) parable. Luke settles the question of what (or who) is near. It is the kingdom of God. “And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand“ (Luke 21:29-31).

The fig tree blooms in spring and produces fruit in the summer. When you see the blossoms on the tree, you know summer is near. It is a clear sign. In the same way, when the end-time events (signs) Jesus spoke about occur, you can know that His return is near and that the kingdom of God is at hand.

Then Jesus says, Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth” (Luke 21:32-35).

It is the generation that experiences these end-time signs/events that will not pass away until everything Jesus prophesied about takes place. Even the heavens and earth will pass away eventually, but not God’s word. These signs and the return of Christ will both be within a single generation. The initial impression from these verses is that once the Tribulation signs begin, the Second Coming is near.

The last two verses are talking about the days before the Tribulation, whereas if someone is unaware and only concerned with the cares of this life and not paying attention to the signs of the time, that day will catch them like a snare catches an animal.

Matthew 24:34-35 records near-identical words to Luke 21:32-33. “Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

What comes after these verses in Matthew and Luke is very interesting when you compare them. Let’s look at Luke first. (Luke 21:36).

THE ESCAPE FROM THE TRIBULATION BY WAY OF THE RAPTURE

Luke 21:36: “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

Now compare Luke 21:36 to Matthew 24:36.

Matthew 24:36: “Now concerning that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Is this verse comparable to Luke’s in that they are both referring to the pre-tribulation Rapture?

Luke 21:36 is definitely referring to the pre-tribulation rapture (harpazo- catching up) as described by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. “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.” Luke 21:36, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, and Rev. 3:10 are the three N.T. scriptures that convey the doctrine of believers escaping from God’s wrath by way of a pre-tribulation rapture.

Likewise, I believe Matthew 24:36-44 (and Mark 13:32) refers to the pre-tribulation rapture as well, in its “seed form.” Jesus gives a little more detail about it in John 14:2-3, one day before his crucifixion. Jesus never fully taught on the rapture, as the disciples were not ready to hear about this phase of His coming again, as the Church hadn’t even been formed yet, nor the Holy Spirit given yet. However, Jesus did fully answer the disciples’ questions regarding His coming again.

It would be left up to Paul to give a detailed teaching on the pre-tribulation Rapture, nearly two decades after the crucifixion.

THE DAY AND HOUR OF CHRIST’S RETURN

Mark’s version of “that day” says, “Now concerning that day and the hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is” (Mark 13:32-33). The day and hour mentioned in these verses refer to a particular date that nobody knows except the Father.

The hour is only mentioned because it determines the date, as there are multiple time zones throughout the world. Mark 13:35 says, “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning.” If you don’t know the hour of Jesus’ coming, you won’t know the exact day/date either.

Another example of the words ‘day’ and ‘hour’ referring to a date is found in Revelation 9:15, where the sixth trumpet judgment is to commence on a designated date (unknown as well). “And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.” Since a ‘month’ and a ‘year’ are not mentioned in Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32, does that mean we can know the month or year of Jesus’ coming?

The question remains, “The day and hour of what?” Most Bible teachers believe Jesus is referring to the Second Coming at the end of the Tribulation; after all, that is what He has been speaking about in the preceding verses. They believe Jesus is saying the approximate time of His coming can be known ( Matthew 24:33) because of the signs that precede it, but the precise day or date cannot be known in advance (only God, the Father, knows).

The other major interpretation of Matthew 24:36, and the one I subscribe to, is that this verse refers to the beginning of the “Day of the Lord.“ The day of the Lord is mentioned 20 times in the Old Testament. It can refer to the actual 24-hour-long day of the Second Coming or the entire seven years of the Tribulation, otherwise known as Daniel’s 70th Week.

Many traditionalist scholars believe the “day of the Lord“ refers only to Daniel’s 70^th week (the Tribulation), which ends with the Second Coming (the word “tribulation“ is mentioned in Matthew 24:29, and the words “great tribulation“ are mentioned in verse 21). However, many other Bible scholars believe the day of the Lord is longer than seven years. I agree with the latter view, although how much longer is unknown.

The day of the Lord begins when God intervenes supernaturally in the affairs of mankind. It begins with the resurrection/rapture of the Church. The day of the Lord consists of the pre-tribulation Rapture, the gap of time between the Rapture and the Tribulation (the duration is unknown), the seven-year Tribulation, and the Second Coming. So, the day of the Lord begins with the Rapture and ends with the Second Coming.

THE DAY AND HOUR OF THE SON OF MAN’S COMING

When referring to the end time judgments of the Tribulation, the “day of the Lord“ is mentioned three times in the New Testament (1 Thessalonians 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10; and 2 Thessalonians 2:2). The last one is in the ESV but not in the KJV. 1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10 associate the “day of the Lord“ with a “thief in the night.“

An ‘hour‘ is also used (in the KJV) in Revelation 3:10 for the Tribulation. “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of trial, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

1 Thessalonians 5:2 says, “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a ‘thief in the night.’“ Verse 4 compares “that day” to a ‘thief.’ Revelation 3:3 and 16:15 compare Jesus Christ to a thief, in that He will come upon the unsuspecting world in an unknown time.

These scriptures match Matthew 24:43-44, which says, “But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

Jesus had this to say about that ‘hour‘: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice“ (John 5:25,28). This verse describes the time of the resurrection of the dead in Christ at the Rapture as described in 1 Thessalonians 15.

When referring to ‘day’ as the Rapture, the term “day of Christ“ is mentioned two times in the New Testament (Philippians 1:10, 2:16), the “day of Jesus Christ“ is mentioned once in Philippians 1:6, the “day of our Lord Jesus Christ” is mentioned once in 1 Corinthians 1:8, and the “day of the Lord Jesus“ is mentioned twice (1 Corinthians 5:5; 2 Corinthians 1:14). The use of this praseology is unique to Paul’s writings.

I believe the “day and hour” of Matthew 24:36 refers to the beginning of the Day of the LORD (Yahweh). This is not to be confused with the start of Daniel’s 70th week, as that begins with the confirming of the covenant with the many, per Daniel 9:27. The beginning of the Day of Yahweh (and the hour of trial) begins with the Day of Christ.

THE BIG PERI DE

When Jesus said that no one knows that day and hour except the Father alone, Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32 record the introduction of the statement with peri de (”now concerning”). The peri de grammatical construction in Greek is a contrastive introduction of a new subject. It is well established that when peri de stands at the very beginning of a sentence, it marks a new subject or section of thought that often refers back to previous material that has been discussed.

Here are a few scriptures that contain the peri de construct: I Cor. 7:1; 8:1; 12:1; 16:1; I Thes. 5:1; Matt 22:31; Mark 12:26, 13:32; Acts 21:25.

So, yes, Jesus has been discussing the Second Coming until this point. However, the peri de means that a new subject has been introduced, and that is the pre-tribulation Rapture. As to when the Rapture will occur, the answer is simple: no one knows. The pre-tribulation Rapture is imminent in that no signs have to precede it, unlike the Second Coming.

A classic example of “peri de” (”now concerning”), and one that ties in with Matthew 24:36, is 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 and its preceding verses. In 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18, Paul is teaching on the pretribulational rapture of the Church. “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: 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 peri de scripture comes next. “Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need that I write unto you. For you yourselves fully know that the day of the Lord comes in this manner— like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2). As you can see, Paul changed topics from the pre-tribulation Rapture (in 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18) to the Day of the Lord, and yet, in a way he didn’t, as Paul is simply explaining the chronological order of the Day of the Lord...first the Rapture and then the Tribulation.

Notice how Paul uses two different Greek words for time standards, as Matthew did when he was recording Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:36. In 1 Thessalonians 5:1, Paul uses the Greek words ‘chronos‘ and ‘kairos,’ which are translated as ‘times‘ and seasons’ in the KJV of this verse. In Matthew 24:36, Matthew (quoting Jesus) uses the Greek words ‘hemera’ and ‘hora,‘ which are translated as ‘day’ and ‘hour’ in the KJV of this verse.

Oftentimes, these words are interchangeable in their translations. Hemera is also translated as ‘time‘ fifteen times in the KJV. Hora is also translated as ‘time’ eleven times and as ‘season’ three times in the KJV. Chronos is also translated as ‘season‘ four times in the KJV. Kairos is also translated as ‘time‘ sixty-four times in the KJV (more than it is translated as ‘season’).

The time standards Jesus uses in these O.D. verses (in Matthew) are singular, while those Paul uses (in 1 Thessalonians) are plural. This is because Jesus is referring to a particular day and hour within the Tribulation (Day of the Lord), which is its very beginning, the Rapture. The time standards Paul uses are plural because he is referring to the seven-year Tribulation. However, he also mentions the “thief” analogy in reference to the pre-tribulation rapture (that day). If the Rapture comes as a thief, then so does the Day of the Lord.

Let’s compare Jesus’ words in Matthew 24:36, 43-44 to Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2,4,6. Note the ‘peri di’ (now concerning) usage.

“Now concerning that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:36, 43-44).

“Now concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:1-2, 4, 6). Nobody can know the exact time of the beginning of the day of the Lord (the Rapture), as it is like a thief who comes when you least expect it. This is the exact opposite of the Second Coming.

“In the prophecies of 1 Thessalonians 4-5, Paul was influenced to use peri de as a transition marker in 5:1 by the Lord’s similar use of the phrase in the Olivet Discourse. In Matthew 24, Jesus transitions from what the disciples can know (24:4-35) to what they cannot know (24:36-44) about the day of the Lord/pre-tribulation rapture. In 1 Thessalonians 4-5, Paul does the reverse. He transitions with peri de from what the Thessalonians do not know to what they do know about the pre-tribulation rapture/day of the Lord.

The transition sets apart the content of verses 36-44 from the context of the preceding verses, and carries the reader back to the first of the two questions of the disciples, ‘When shall these things take place?’” {1} Evidence for the Rapture - A Biblical Case for Pretribulationism by John F. Hart - pg. 55.

Some scholars, such as John Nolland, believe verse 36 in Mathew goes thematically better with the following verses than with the preceding ones, “forming a well-knit unit.” {2} The Gospel of Matthew: A commentary on the Greek Text, by John Nolland

So, it would look something like this: “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark.”

We will examine the typology of Noah’s flood with the Tribulation next time.

Randy Nettles

rgeanie55@gmail.com

You searched for randy nettles – Rapture Ready – archived articles

From the fourth century onward, the dominant eschatological view within Christendom had been built upon Augustine’s teachings that the Kingdom was a spiritual one which was already in effect. By the time Augustine had come to some renown, Israel had not existed as a nation for the better part of 300 years. Much of Augustine’s teachings were used as the foundation stones for the budding amalgamation between pagan Rome and Roman Christianity…which later came to be formally known as the Roman Catholic Church (RCC).

With the decline of the Roman Empire, the RCC became the prevailing force dominating Europe and parts of the Middle East for the next thousand years. It wouldn’t be until the 14^th century that an awakening began to take hold for those who wanted out from underneath the oppressive Roman Catholic regime. Men like Jan Hus, Peter Waldo, John Wycliffe, and later Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli did much to course-correct Roman Catholicism’s abusive and errant stray from true, biblical Christianity.

But one of the leftover doctrines that did not get reformed was that of Christian Eschatology. The Reformers all but kept the same teachings that were first propagated by Augustine that the Kingdom was now. Unfortunately, Augustine’s influence continued to have a significant impact on Martin Luther and John Calvin, who were the fathers of the newly flourishing Protestant movement.

The only major difference between the Reformers and the RCC Papists was who actually was running ‘the Kingdom’. Obviously, the RCC thought they were since the Pope himself was supposed to be the ‘Vicar of Christ’ on earth. The Reformers later began to view that, if anything, the Pope was not the ‘Vicar of Christ’, but rather the ‘Antichrist’. What they did agree on was that the Kingdom was already in effect, the Jewish people were no longer God’s chosen, and that most of prophecy had already been fulfilled.

Given their time-frame (circa 14^th-17^th centuries), who could blame them?

Christendom had just emerged out of the Dark Ages. Israel hadn’t existed as a nation for over 1,000 years. Life moved at the speed of horse. Technological advancements had just given the world the printing press. The Ottoman Turks were the rising power in the Middle East. Roman Catholic domination over the politics in Europe was fracturing, and a whole new world was being discovered and exploited.

The early Protestant Reformers may have had cause to think the way they did eschatologically speaking…but what excuse do the R.C. Sproul types have today?

The world went through two great wars and a Nazi Holocaust, causing six million Jewish deaths. Israel became a nation again miraculously after almost 1,900 years. The world has progressed faster technologically and educationally speaking than the previous twenty centuries combined. Pestilences, earthquakes, wars, national and ethnic strife, violence, and starvation are increasingly amplifying. The world population has reached over eight billion, while at the same time the world is teetering on economic collapse…but somehow the first century was worse than the twentieth? (Matt. 24:21-22)

Assessment

Christian theology is chock full of doctrines, teachings, insights, and various other topics that have seemingly become more and more controversial over the past two millennia. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about spiritual gifts, eternal security, the Trinity, Sabbath day worship, baptism, Communion, tithing, etc...If there is a topic, Christians of every stripe and flavor have found a way to argue and divide over it. But perhaps none have been as controversial as the doctrine of the Rapture of the Church.

The Apostle Paul didn’t invent the doctrine (Gal. 1:11-12); rather, he simply expounded upon what the Lord had already said concerning it. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep (1 Thess. 4:15). So regardless of denominational history, church dogma, creeds, early church father views, etc.… Jesus has a theological position on both the Rapture and the Second Coming, and I promise you it’s not Augustinian.

The Rapture of the Church vs. the Second Coming

The first thing we have to realize is that Christ’s Second Coming is broken up into two parts…the Rapture (Harpazo-catching up) of His bride the Church (1 Thess. 1:10; 4:13-18, 1 Cor. 15:51-56)…and His return to earth with His bride the Church…at the Triumphal Return as chronicled in Zech. 14:3-5, Matt. 24:29-31; 26:64, Jude 1:14-15, Rev. 1:7; 19:11-14. These cannot be the same event because of the numerous and glaring distinctions juxtaposed against each other.

Critics of my aforementioned statement (Second Coming in two parts) fail to recognize that the Jews of Jesus’s day had that exact same problem concerning Christ’s First Coming as these critics now have with His Second Coming. They (first-century Jews) thought the Messiah would come, kick the Romans out, and usher in the Kingdom right then and there. What they failed to see in the Old Testament (but what we Christians now clearly see with Scriptural hindsight) is the two separate comings of the Messiah…first as the sacrificial Lamb who takes away the sins of the world, and later as the conquering King. (Isaiah 53, Dan. 9:24-26, John 1:29, Psalm 2, Zech. 10, 14) Critics of the Pre-Tribulation view fail to see that Christ’s Second Coming is also in two parts.

We (proponents of the Pre-Tribulation view) recognize that Jesus does talk extensively about the events leading up to and including His Triumphal Return, but that does not diminish nor deny that He also talks about His return for the Church first.

Days of Noah vs. the Olivet Discourse

The first mention of the concept of the Rapture in the Gospels is found in Luke 17:26-30. In it, Jesus likened the time of His return to that of the days of Noah and Lot-a world which was largely carrying on as if it didn’t have a care in the world. In fact, He went out of His way to emphasize the sense of normalcy surrounding these events despite their OT pinings. Were they in massive tribulation before the flood, or before Sodom and Gomorrah’s fiery hailstorm? No…life was normal. Incessantly wicked and violent, yes, but normal in the sense that a frog cooking in a pot doesn’t realize the water it’s in is being boiled until it’s too late. (Gen 6, 19)

People were going about their normal lives…and then calamity struck. Jesus could not possibly be referring to the events inside the 70^th Week of Daniel primarily because after 21 divine judgments are unleashed, the world is forever changed. Those judgments cause half the world’s population to die, large percentages of the ocean and fresh water to turn to blood, the sun has a ‘nova’-like event, then goes dark, people are struck with sores, and the Two Witnesses perform unbelievable signs and wonders, etc., so there leaves little possibility for ‘normal’ inside the seven-year Tribulation.

The Olivet Discourse, on the other hand, is what most people automatically default to when they want to get Jesus’s view on the last days. The Synoptic Gospels-Matthew, Mark, and Luke all carry a variant of the Olivet Discourse. What often gets overlooked is that each of the Gospels provides a different perspective on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus because they were geared toward different audiences.

• Matthew: portrays Christ as the rightful Heir of ‘David’s Throne’ and has very Jewish overtones throughout the book…and it contains the Olivet Discourse. (Written circa 55AD)

• Mark: portrays the servanthood of Christ and is written with a Gentile audience in mind…and has the Olivet Discourse. (Circa 45AD)

• Luke: portrays the humanity of Christ and is written with a Greek audience in mind…has the Olivet Discourse. (Circa 60AD)

• John: portrays the deity of Christ…is the last gospel written well into the Church era and does not have any version of the Olivet Discourse. (Circa 85AD)

Wait…did John forget to put his version of the Olivet Discourse in there? He was one of the attendees after all (Mark 13:3). Maybe he knew he was going to write the book of Revelation later in life (95AD) and decided to save it till then…oh wait…he didn’t know that either. (Did he know he was going to get banished to the Isle of Patmos under Domitian?) Hmmm…I wonder why John didn’t record a variant of the Olivet Discourse?

Why would John leave out one of his Lord’s longest and most prolific discussions? Perhaps it is because the Holy Spirit instructed him not to. Instead, he records the Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16)…which was taught exclusively to the eleven disciples the night before His crucifixion. Instead of recording wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, pestilences, etc.… John records the comforting words that Christians of every generation could take solace in.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. John 14:1-3

Jesus (being God in the Flesh) knew before He ever came the first time that His second coming would not be a singular event. Rather, it would be two events, both of which bestow a special place of honor for His bride, the Church. It is not that we, the Church, are deserving of any such honor, but only because Christ shed His own divine blood for us and that we are the Church He built (Matt. 16:18-19). We are the pearl of great price in the parable in which the merchant sold all He had to purchase it (Matt. 13:45-46).

Conclusion

Now R.C. Sproul and many other subscribers to the Amillennial, Post-Tribulation Rapture, and Preterist views consider the Olivet Discourse to be the be-all, end-all description of the last days, but they do so neglecting many other passages that fill in the gaps of Jesus’s macro-view of the last days. While they might disagree on when those last days actually occur (Post-Trib sees future while Amillennialist and Preterist look to past fulfillment circa 70AD), what they miss are the clear distinctions between the two future comings.

The conundrum is this: if it’s already all happened, why the instruction to watch and be ready? Or, if I’m destined to go into the worst period of human history and I can’t change anything about it…why am I to take comfort in that? Some reason that we need purification…so why aren’t they missionaries in North Korea at this very moment boldly proclaiming the Gospel? My response is that there is plenty of purification going on there these days...so why wait?

Watching and waiting in and of itself has a very purifying effect not only on our lives, but on our theology as well. It keeps us grounded by not becoming so focused on building our own little kingdoms in the here and now. Being earth-focused is what led us to the Dark Ages in the first place. If Christ didn’t want us to understand and learn Bible prophecy, He wouldn’t have given John the Revelation to give to us. Furthermore, when Jesus revealed Himself glorified to John on Patmos, He had some choice words to say for the early church…and by extension us-he who has an ear, let him hear.

Speaking to the Church with her Vicar, her political machinations, and her “Kingdom,” He says-

And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. Rev. 2:21-22

Speaking to the Christian Church who does not watch and understand prophecy-

Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. Rev. 3:3

Speaking to the Christian Church who does-

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. Rev. 3:10-11

But it’s in our nature to want to know when the Lord will return. Perhaps the increased frequency of trying to figure out when the Rapture will happen (or anything peripheral to it), is in itself a sign of the end. Let me add that while I don’t diminish anyone’s earnest desires to look into these things, we must always exercise caution as to being dogmatic about a specific day or date because Jesus Himself said that its specificity (i.e., the day or hour) cannot be known (Matt. 24:36).

Now, I’ve never held to the idea of “strict imminence,” i.e., that a) we cannot know anything about His return (we can), nor b) to the idea that Christ could have returned a hundred, five hundred, or a thousand years ago which doesn’t seem to fit with the prophetic model He’s laid out for us in Revelation 2-3. Imminence, in my definition, simply means we can’t know when exactly/precisely/definitively. However, imminence should not mean arbitrary or random. And apologies for the length of this article, but this is why I’m publishing it on a Friday so you have all weekend to ponder the things discussed here.

Furthermore, I personally have never been one to link the Rapture of the Church to any of the seven Feasts of the Lord either. To me, those were always prophetically significant to Israel, and not the Church. However, the ONLY one I’ve ever even really considered as a possibility (if the Rapture were to fall on a feast date), has been Pentecost (Shavuot). The only reason I think that is, since the Church was conceived at Pentecost, it makes some degree of sense that it will be born (Raptured) on Pentecost. I mean, if the Church Age does exist in the ‘pause’ between the 69th and 70th Week of Daniel, starting and stopping on the same feast makes sense.

If Israel’s rebirth is the super sign of Bible prophecy, and Israel/Jerusalem/Temple are the timepieces to which God’s prophetic timeline is synced, and the Rapture is not synced to her, then what does that leave us with? Randomness? Arbitrary dates? The last Gentile convert?

I don’t know.

Both Jesus and Paul alluded to the idea that although we can’t know the specific date, we would know the season, and I’ve considered some past seasons/years more prophetically interesting than others. Nevertheless, I’ve had a good track record thus far of being pretty even-keeled when it comes to this sort of thing.

That said, I’m not opposed to people presenting well-thought-through theories either.

Take, for example, a recent article that a reader from here (h/t Dan H) informed me of by Greg Lauer. As Greg would note in his article, this idea wasn’t even original to him, but it was presented to him by someone else to “do something with it,” to which he does a fantastic job. However, before you continue here, please go to his link (already hyperlinked below) to see why I am very intrigued with this idea of the Rapture’s connection with the Jewish holy day of Tisha B’Av because, frankly, it makes a lot of sense. In fact, I’ve never seen a theory presented before that makes as much sense as this one does. And before anyone rolls their eyes and thinks, oh brother, here we go again, I can promise you four things.

1. This is not linked in any way to any astrological or cosmological signs

2. It’s not linking the Rapture to any of the seven Feasts of the Lord

3. It’s not setting a specific date (as in a specific day/month/year)

4. It’s not dogmatic either. Greg honestly admits this is just a theory

With that said, please do not proceed any further until reading the linked article.

Ok, I’m moving forward assuming you’ve read the article by now, hopefully, because if not, you’re going to get confused and I’m not really wanting to answer a thousand questions about it. Go back and read the article! Ok, I think I’ve beaten this dead horse enough; let’s get on with the review.

Review

So the article itself is a little long for my taste, but I understand why he does go to the lengths he does. It’s a theory that needs to be placed in its proper context, and to do that requires a certain degree of historical and prophetic perspective. I can respect that. But for this article’s sake, I’m going to tie in his comments on the ‘Song of Moses’ and get down to his summary at the bottom.

And He said: ‘I will hide My face from them,

I will see what their end will be,

For they are a perverse generation,

Children in whom is no faith.

They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God;

They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols.

But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation;

I will move them to anger by a foolish nation.

Deuteronomy 32:20-21 (my emphasis)

Start Quote

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Let’s review this round by round and see if we can spot it:

ROUND ONE

1. The Jews’ great sin is rampant idolatry, plus failing to trust in God for their protection and instead making a foolish deal with their enemies.

2. The First Temple is destroyed.

3. A major round of judgment falls upon Israel via the Babylonians.

ROUND TWO

1. The Jews’ great sin is turning God’s Word into legalism, and rejecting their promised Messiah and having Him crucified like a common criminal.

2. The Second Temple is destroyed.

3. A major round of judgment falls upon Israel via the Romans.

ROUND THREE

1. The Jews’ great sin is dismissing with anger and jealousy the salvation Christ offered them as they watched it go out to the Gentiles. They should have understood Moses’ prophecy and repented, but they refused to do so. Not only that, but they will divide God’s land.

2. ? ? ? ? ?

3. A major round of judgment falls upon Israel via the Antichrist.

Not to be overly dramatic or anything, but I think you can see the problem. There is a hole in the pattern this third time around, and that’s where God destroys or removes the physical, visible representation of His presence on earth, following a great sin of Israel and prior to His unleashing of a round of judgment on them.

• Round One: In 586 BC, it was the destruction of the First Temple.

• Round Two: In AD 70, it was the destruction of the Second Temple.

And that begs the question:

Is there something that fills this hole
in the pattern the third time around?

I believe there is:

19What? know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19 AKJV / emphasis added)

As I’ve already mentioned, born-again believers may be the body of Christ, but we are also the temple of the Holy Spirit—the physical, visible representation of the presence of God the Holy Spirit on earth, starting on the day of Pentecost two thousand years ago and ending the moment we are caught up to be with the Lord in the translation of the Church.

As a result, I believe it is the Rapture—the removal of the physical, visible representation of God the Holy Spirit’s presence on earth—that fills that hole and completes the final round of this pattern. And although I believe the Rapture fills that hole regardless of what day it actually occurs...

IF the Rapture were to occur on Tisha B’Av, just like the destruction of the First and Second Temples, it would dot the last “i” and cross the last “t” of a pattern established by a God who doesn’t do random.

KA-BOOM!

If the Rapture were
to occur on Tisha B’Av,
it would shake Israel
to its spiritual core.

Generally speaking, we as believers have utterly failed to grasp something of critical importance, and that is the simple fact that the Rapture has tremendous significance for Israel—almost as much as it does for the Church itself (some might even say more). The Rapture represents the point in time when God no longer has to focus His attention on His Church on earth and will turn His attention back to dealing with His Chosen People. And it grieves me to say it, but it won’t take long for His dealings with His Chosen People to involve purging them in this final round of judgment at the hands of the Antichrist—a round of judgment that is going to make the Holocaust pale in comparison.

The Rapture is going to be an earth-shattering, supernatural event that will shake the world to its core, and make no mistake:

If the Rapture were to occur on Tisha B’Av,
it would shake Israel to its spiritual core.

It would certainly set them thinking about what it all meant; and as they attempted to put the pieces together, I believe it would play right into what God is going to do to re-establish His relationship with His people.

Incidentally, one other rather striking parallel is the following:

• The First Temple was intimately connected with God the Father—the only form of God the Jews understood.

• The Second Temple was intimately connected with God the Son, who presented Himself as the Jews’ promised Messiah in the midst of that temple. Not only that, but its veil that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was torn from top to bottom at the moment He was crucified.

• The Church is intimately connected with God the Holy Spirit since we are His temple on earth for the duration of the Church Age.

The bottom line is that, given everything we have discussed, it is virtually impossible to ignore the compelling connection between the Rapture, the destruction of the First and Second Temples, and Tisha B’Av—the day they were both destroyed. It all fits.

Connecting dots

Of course, I don’t have to remind you that there have been numerous people with really swell theories about the Rapture where everything fit together s-o-o perfectly, and they were all dead wrong as those dates came and went, ruining some really cool charts.

Just so you know, like many Jewish feasts and celebrations, Tisha B’Av occurs over the course of two days and occurs every year sometime in the mid-July to mid-August time frame. This year, it falls on August 6–7. In 2023, it falls on July 26–27, and in 2024 it falls on August 12–13.

So...could the Rapture occur this year on August 6 or 7? Sure. How about next year on July 26–27? You betcha. August 12–13, 2024? In a heartbeat.

And it could happen today—I’m ready and waiting.

End Quote

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So my takeaway from all of that was not that he was saying it will happen this coming August or next July, but how it makes a lot of sense that it could happen on Tish B’Av, primarily because of a) historical precedent, b) theological connection, and c) it would be the divine motivation to begin waking up the unbelieving Jewish people. Now, I drafted my own visual presentation of Greg’s article simply to help me make sense of it.

For One Hundred Years, the sign could be seen. Its construction could be heard day and night. Its hulking figure rising on the ancient Mesopotamian landscape higher and higher, day after day…generation after generation! Still the scoffers just glanced at it and walked on by, pretending to either not notice or laugh instead at the absurdity of its purpose. They ridiculed its builder and doubted the Divine architect who gave the specific instructions to the carpenter working on the project. But then … one day… the sounds of the building project stopped, and the only noise that could be heard in the area was the trampling of thousands of animals bizarrely herding into the structure two by two. Hour by hour… day by day…And then … only silence!

The whole laughable situation had suddenly become disturbingly eerie as the onlookers watched the door miraculously close with no human hand guiding it, and the laughs turned to puzzled looks as the citizens who prided themselves on living the good life and partying at will began to wonder exactly what they were witnessing. After an entire century of the people, their children, and their children’s children seeing the ongoing farcical project growing in the desert, they had all grown accustomed to the crazy old man with the saw and hammer. But now…he was finished and had moved not only his family but also an outlandish number of animals inside the structure with him… and closed himself inside!

What in the world was going on? What on earth was happening here? The onlookers stared at the structure… looked into the sky …and suddenly…a horrifying panic overtook them as raindrops began to fall rapidly and with increasing intensity! Finally…it all made sense!

It had started!

AUGUST 29, 1897…Stadtcasino…Basil Switzerland…

A Hungarian Jewish journalist named Theodor Herzl has gathered a group together to form an organization dedicated to the re-creation of a Jewish state in the territory of Palestine controlled at the time by the Ottoman Empire. His goal is to create a movement that will encourage immigration of European Jews back to their ancient homeland and a Jewish nation to be recognized by the world after nearly 2000 years of the Diaspora.

The group is called the “First Zionist Congress,” and the movement is labeled the “Zionist Organization”. It is the beginning of a project that will prove to be a prophetic benchmark signaling that the Fullfillment of an ancient prophecy in the book of Ezekiel is about to unfold. And when the dust eventually settles, the world will be astounded to see the Star of David flying once again over a nation with a seemingly obsolete and chilling name from the annals of antiquity… ISRAEL!

EZEKIEL’S PROPHECY…

“The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath[a] enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’” -Ezek 37:1-14

For the next half century after Herzl’s movement began, the dream continued of a Jewish state. Dreaming of a time when the Jews and their extinct historic nation would be brought back, bone by bone, and put back together, re-forming the nation that Moses once called the “Apple of God’s Eye”. (Deut 32:10). And even two world wars and the demonic Holocaust could not quench the dream. Finally … on May 14, 1948.. the dream became reality.

The Nation of Israel was reborn!

The Beginning Of The Signs…

Like the cutting down of the trees and the gathering of the lumber and tools by Noah were a sign of the Ark project’s beginning and the countdown to global judgment, so too was the gathering of the Jews and the rebirth of Israel a sign by God that the second global judgment is fast approaching.

Once the ark was complete, the gathering of the creatures to be saved was the next order of business. And since 1948, the regathering of Jews to the reborn Nation of Israel and its constant battle for survival have been front page headlines all across the world.

At the same time as Israel’s reemergence on the world stage, the globalist movement to create an all-powerful world government and bring peace and security to an ever more dangerous world has been in full swing as well. The sign of Israel’s re-creation was the first of one Biblical sign after another pointing to the return of Jesus Christ. Now the signs appear to be all here and ready at the exact same moment in history.

The Signs…

Israel’s presence once again on the world’s stage was the bright flashing sign to the world that Jesus will soon be coming, just as the great star in the sky over Bethlehem was the world’s bright indicator of His first coming. But there are more signs. Many more! And they are multiplying daily in this fast-changing world.

Temple Mount Controversy-

Israel has become more and more emboldened in recent years to rebuild its Temple on the Mount where it previously stood. The Dome of the Rock has been the big obstacle, but as the Jews are growing more and more restless with the dictates of foreign interference in their affairs and as their Muslim neighbors have continued with increasing hostilities in the last few years, it seems Israel’s patience is wearing thin and so has their concern about public opinion. They know they are in survival mode, and when the right opportunity arises, they will be all prepared to begin the project that has been well planned for years.

It is prophetically important that the temple go up before the mid-point of the Tribulation period because the Antichrist will defile it at the 3.5 year mark of the Trib. With all the signs so present signaling the nearness of the final 7 years of “Jacob’s Trouble,” it means the Temple Mount controversy will be front page news very soon.

Globalist Movement-

The election of Nationalist Donald J. Trump seemed to indicate difficult days ahead for the elites and their globalist movement to form a world government by 2030, but it now seems like Trump may have been what the globalists needed to finish up the prophetic signs and prepare the way for their diabolical plan.

Trump’s Foreign affairs moves this term have been far more aggressive than his first term as President, where he seemed more focused on America’s economic building. But this time he is far more intent on stabilizing future Middle East trade and eradicating the obstacles to Middle East Peace. He seems to be underestimating the deep, uncompromising hatred of Israel by these radical regimes and that peace cannot and will not come by his hand but only will happen when Jesus returns. He is, however paving the way for a false peace agreement to emerge which will be signed by some future European leader who, unbeknownst to the world, will be the Antichrist.

As we get closer to 2030, watch for a 10-region global government plan to come to the forefront that may be part of a new global digital currency implementation. The 10 regions must come first as a stepping stone from self-ruling nation states to regional blocks being overseen by ten separate regional governors… then to full-blown global government headed by one all-powerful President at the apex of the movement.

Israel isolated -

Trump has turned chilly with Netanyahu as he eventually does with just about everyone who doesn’t agree with him on all issues. Israel’s hands are being held to the fire by the American administration as the US President tries to negotiate with Iran and doesn’t want Israel’s insistence on self-protection and continued fighting with Iran’s Proxies to derail his negotiating abilities. But Trump is fighting an unwinnable war. Iran will never honor any agreement or repent of their desire to annihilate Israel, and all Trump is accomplishing is drawing Turkey into closer alliance with Iran and distancing America from Israel, leaving the tiny Jewish nation basically alone in a world of hatred and hostility toward her.

We have seen a huge shift even in America over the last couple of years in Israeli support as antisemitism is growing exponentially and sympathy even for the victims of the October 7th attacks has all but disappeared. The MAGA movement has been divided, and conservative Republicans have turned in droves against Israel. The Churches who mostly have embraced Replacement Theology and lost their perspective on Israel’s role in God’s Eschatology plan have helped lead the way in the movement against Israel with their Woke sermons and Kingdom now expectations. All this is coming about in the free nation that has long been the best friend and earthly caretaker of the Jewish nation, so without America’s strong support, Israel will truly be an island alone in the sea of hostile nations at the end, just as God told us.

Mark of the Beast Technology emerging-

A Digital ID will be implemented soon across the globe. This is already being rolled out in increments throughout Europe and will soon be a requirement for everyone on the planet. The rapid expansion of AI and its unlimited uses will make authenticity and trusted online credentials an absolute necessity, and anonymity online will be a thing of the past. That time is approaching quickly. At some point in the near future, everyone on earth will be required to be Marked in order to belong to the Antichrist’s global system, and the phasing in of his future Mark’s identification system is on the horizon right now in the form of a Digital ID!

A Digital ID will be a prerequisite to transitioning from a physical currency to a Digital Currency. With all the potential for online scams and deception, it will be important that all accounts that each individual maintains online will be secured with the same user authentication, so one Digital ID for linking all accounts and activity will be mandatory. It is starting to happen even now. It is not the Mark of the Beast, but it is eventually going to help birth that Demonic identifier.

Digital Currency-

It’s on the horizon and likely following in the footsteps of the Digital ID system.

All countries are moving to perfect it and implement it in their banking systems, and we can see cash being further demonized and eliminated as a payment method by vendors daily. The penny minting has been ended in America after 250 years. Many vendors won’t take cash or won’t take large bills. Apple Pay and Venmo and debit and credit cards are accepted, but cash is being alienated in usage … especially in big venues like sports arenas and concert events where cash is not accepted.

Soon, the acceptance of digital currency and the elimination of cash will not be a mountain range for the global elites to climb in changing the world. The people are becoming so conditioned to going cashless that now the transition to digital currency will be more like hopping over a mud puddle.

A.I. -

This new technology has exploded on the scene and will grow enormous in the coming months. It will be the master of all other technologies and will quickly engulf the mechanisms that run every area of our lives and become the controlling agent of every other technology and system it swallows up. It will soon become the humanist’s god!

Its ability to seemingly create anything the minds of human beings can dream up and its supposedly all-knowing brilliance make it a solution for any problem. However, this will cause many to turn to it as the world’s deity and put all their trust in it for guidance. When it comes under the control of the Antichrist, he will use it to enslave the planet in a web of technological tyranny and will use it to monitor everyone’s allegiance to him through the Mark of the Beast, which will somehow tie everyone into the Beast’s AI system.

It’s all coming to pass at lightning speed!

Gog-Magog-

This could happen before the rapture or after, but Iran will continue to survive until their date with destiny in the mountains of Israel foretold by Ezekiel. In the Gog-Magog Prophesy, Ezekiel says Israel will be a people regathered from the nations, which has been ongoing since their national rebirth in 1948. He says Israel will be a nation of unwalled villages. He says Iran (Persia), Gog (Russia), and Turkey will lead a coalition to attack Israel, but God will destroy them on the mountains of Israel. The current war with Iran is helping pave the way for this battle.

The week after July 4th, President Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, strongly requesting him to pull troops out of Syria and Lebanon as Trump tries to negotiate more Middle East deals and feels Israel’s military presence in these regions is hurting his peace efforts. In addition, Turkey has become even more outspoken in their bashing of Israel and condemning the legitimacy of their presence in the Middle East altogether.

On July 2, 2026, Turkey’s Foreign Minister said:

Israel is not only Turkey’s problem, and it is not only Turkey’s President Erdogan’s problem but they are a problem for the whole world.

“These people have become a burden that humanity can no longer bear,” He added

“The human conscience cannot bear it, political systems cannot sustain it, and economic systems cannot sustain it either.”

Two days later, President Erdogan said that the current government of Israel “must not be allowed to spread the smell of gunpowder and blood in our region again.”

Iran made it clear following the first Israeli/American attack, which derailed Iran’s nuclear capabilities, that they would turn to Russia in the future for their help. Turkey is making it clear that Iran is not alone in wanting to obliterate Israel. Turkey would like to end Israel’s existence as well, and Russia will be drawn in to seek the vast spoils of war that defeating Israel would bring them. Of course, what it will really bring them is God’s wrath, but they will have to see it to believe it. It’s falling in place perfectly, so we may be on the verge of seeing it soon!

The Blessed Few…

With everything lining up so perfectly just as God said it would, why is the church remaining so silent, and why are so few watching and realizing what we are witnessing here? Why are so few paying attention?

The Church’s job is to warn the dying world, but we have let complacency and comfort and being non-offensive become our main attributes rather than speaking truth and believing the literal interpretation of Holy Scripture. We have followed a false replacement theology teaching and lost our ability as a church to rightly separate Scripture and understand the nature of God’s unfolding plan. But some within the Church are still watching. A small but steadfast group.

Those who are watching and waiting are like Noah believing the promise of what was to come, and he took refuge in being safely tucked away in the ark. He was dead to the dying world around him, just as we who believe in Christ and God’s promises are tucked away and hidden in Christ. We see what’s coming because we believe God just as Noah did. But the dying world around us doesn’t believe or see the disaster approaching. And even the visible Church is asleep and unprepared for what’s coming. Sadly, the world will be overtaken by the flood of judgment that falls upon humanity during the Tribulation just as those who perished in the flood were. Except for the faithful few…

CONCLUSION…

When the rain began to fall… harder and harder…the world of people who were still standing under any available form of shelter and looking out at the Ark in the distance must have remembered all the times they had passed by the giant boat and laughed at its absurdity. But now it was the only thing in the world that made sense. All of their sinful desires and sensual lasciviousness, their drunken festivities and their demonic interactions, now just seemed pointless and foolish as they saw the falling of God’s judgment upon them in the form of buckets of water… second by second.

For a short while, the hopeless and doomed earthly population had time to just think and reflect. A few moments to understand and comprehend what was happening and perhaps wish they had changed before it was too late. But then … the earth began to split open, and water gushed up like tidal waves in the desert. Seconds later …it was over! The entire world was drowned. Everything and everyone… all dead! And only the rising ark in a raging sea of water remained!

The signs around us are just as obvious that something big is about to happen. Israel’s rebirth as a nation is as big a sign as the Ark was to those ancient people. And whether one believes the Bible or not, even the worldly onlookers are admitting that the rapid changes in technology and the global financial issues and interconnectedness of the world’s economies, along with the wars and growing tensions between nations, will make the world a completely different place in five years. So different it will be unrecognizable. How will humanity adjust and conform to whatever is next? The Elites believe they have the plan, and they are getting it ready to go as soon as the right crisis is upon us, and amazingly, the plan they are preparing looks exactly like the blueprint laid out in Scripture written thousands of years ago! And the Rapture will be the exact crisis they need to implement it!

The signs are coming at us so rapidly it’s like

watching the animals trampling two by two in front of us on their way into the Ark . When that happened, the world should have known the water was only days away from falling. We too should know that the Rapture and the judgment of God is coming quickly by the evidence of these signs. Yet the world and even most of the Church ignore the obvious. And most will likely continue to ignore the signs until it’s too late. Most that is except …the blessed few!

“The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits. Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind. Everything on dry land that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.”

-Gen 7:20-23

The belief in the resurrection of the dead is well chronicled in the Tanakh. There are many passages in the Old Testament that mention an afterlife, although the English word ‘resurrection’ is not used in most translations. The oldest mention of life after death is found in the ancient Book of Job. Job was not an Israelite but was from the land of Uz (probably modern-day Saudi Arabia).

OLD TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO THE RESURRECTION OF BELIEVERS

Job was a believer in Yahweh as the one true God. In the Book of Job, he asks the question, “If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. You shall call, and I will answer: You will have a desire to the work of Your hands” (Job 14:14-15).

In chapter 19, Job answers his own question in more detail. “I know that my redeemer lives. In the end he will stand on the earth. Though my skin will be destroyed, in my body I’ll see God. I myself will see him with my own eyes. I’ll see him, and he won’t be a stranger to me. How my heart longs for that day!” (Job 19:25-27 - NIRV).

Job was perhaps the first prophet of God mentioned in the Bible, as his knowledge of an “end-time redeemer who will stand upon the earth” can only come from God. Job believed he would see his redeemer after his own death. He said, “In my body I shall see God.” Job believed he would have a resurrected body after his earthly body was destroyed in the grave.

Hebrews 12:17-19 mentions Abraham’s faith and belief in a resurrection. “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, ‘In Isaac your seed shall be called,’ concluding that God was able to raise him, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.”

David was not only the king of Israel but also a prophet. He prophesied and wrote about the Messiah and the resurrection of the dead. “Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:9-11). The “Holy One” in verse 10 refers to the Messiah, the anointed one, who would come one day. David was prophesying not only about his own death and resurrection but also about the Messiah’s.

Daniel also prophesied and wrote about the resurrection of the dead that will occur after “Jacob’s Trouble” (as he mentioned in Daniel 12:1). “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. 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” (Daniel 12:2-3).

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO THE RESURRECTION OF BELIEVERS

In John 3:16, Jesus told Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 is the most quoted Bible verse in the world. It is recognized as the cornerstone of Christian faith. This verse does not mean that a believer in Christ will not see death, but that they will be resurrected into everlasting life with God.

This great truth is expounded upon in John 11, which tells the story of Jesus visiting Mary and Martha after Lazarus’ death. He had been in the grave for four days. Upon his arrival, Jesus told Martha that Lazarus would live! Martha replied, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:24). The Jews in Jesus’ time were well aware of the concept of a resurrection from their Tanakh scriptures and teachers.

Jesus, replying to Martha, proclaimed one of the most profound truths in all the Bible: “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26 - KJV).

The Greek version of John 11:26 contains three words that are omitted from most English translations. The three Greek words are “εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.” εἰς is a preposition, τὸν is an article, and αἰῶνα is a noun. Some versions translate it as “to the age.” Basically, the meaning is “forever” or “eternal.” I think a good translation might be “into the eternal.”

So, that being the case, Jesus was telling Martha that “whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die for all eternity.” In other words, as in John 3:16, after death (a mere passing away), the believer will be resurrected to eternal life. They will never die again.

This is not the case for the unbeliever, who will undergo the second death, as mentioned in Revelation 20:14 and 21:8. The second death is forever and ever.

“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“ (Revelation 20:10).

“And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:14-15).

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Of course, we know the end of the story in John 11. Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, proving that He was who He said He was: “the resurrection and the life.” Jesus, the Son of God, has power over life and death. Lazarus was the exception to the rule, in that he would die again before being resurrected to eternal life. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).

Of course, those living believers who are raptured (caught up and translated) are also exceptions to this rule (as were Enoch and Elijah), in that they will never experience death.

THE RESURRECTION AND TRANSLATION OF BELIEVERS AT THE RAPTURE

The details of the Rapture, regarding the resurrection of all the dead believers in Jesus Christ (since the Church was formed on Shavuot/Pentecost in 33 AD), as well as the “catching up” and translation of living saints, were first revealed by Paul to the Church in Thessalonica in about 51 AD.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep [dead], that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep [die] in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep.

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: 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” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

The Greek word for “caught up” is ‘harpazō’ and means “to seize, or carry off by force” or “to snatch away.” Harpazo , in Latin, is ‘rapio,’ from which we get the English word ‘rapture.‘

In 56 AD, Paul expounded upon the details of the rapture (catching up) to the Church of Corinth. “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

The ‘mystery’ Paul is writing about in 1 Corinthians 15:51 is not that the dead (in Christ) will be resurrected, but that there will be a generation of believers who will enter into eternity without first physically dying. The living believers will be translated with immortal spiritual bodies. However, they will not precede the dead in Christ, whom God will bring with Him. These souls will be joined with their newly remade immortal bodies.

Both the dead and the living believers in Christ will then be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. The “bridegroom,” Jesus, will then escort “His bride,” the Church, to their new home in heaven. This is what Jesus was referring to in John 14:2-3.

Many Christian eschatologists see the ancient Hebrew wedding as a prophetic typology for the events leading up to the pre-tribulation rapture. The sequence of customs mirrors the transcendental journey of the Church and the timing of Christ’s return at the Rapture. See Prophetic Mysteries of the Ancient Hebrew Wedding at Hebrew Wedding.

THE RAPTURE DOCTRINE IN ITS SEED FORM (BEFORE PAUL)

Jesus never fully explained the Rapture to his disciples while he was on the earth. Jesus’ main teaching was on the Kingdom of God and salvation. It would be left up to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, to inform the newly formed Holy Spirit-indwelt Church about this mystery. However, I believe Jesus did not leave them in the dark about the Rapture. He introduced it in its “seed form,” as recorded in various passages of Scripture. It was Paul who took this doctrine from its seed form to full maturity.

Some Bible teachers believe John 11:25-26 refers to the Rapture, in which some believers will never experience physical death at all. They believe Jesus’ statement that “everyone who lives and believes in me will never die forever“ aligns with Paul’s declaration in 1 Corinthians 15:51: “But listen, I tell you this secret: We will not all die, but we will all be changed.”

In John 14:6, Jesus told his disciples, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” He had told them earlier that he had to go away, but he would return and take them to the Father. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also“ (John 14:1-3).

These verses sound remarkably similar to Paul’s account of the rapture of living believers in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. “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: 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 “catching up” of living believers in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 is the same event as the “receive you unto myself” of John 14:3.

The disciples had no idea what Jesus was talking about, and Jesus deemed it unnecessary to explain it to them at this time. Perhaps after Paul’s doctrine of the Rapture, the other apostles might have reflected on the words Jesus told them in John 14:1-3, and made the connection to Paul’s teaching, although none of them ever wrote about it.

Although less obvious, many Bible teachers believe the pre-tribulation Rapture is in view in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 and elsewhere. They believe Jesus is answering the disciples’ questions regarding his “coming again” at the end of the age. Of course, no one at that time knew Jesus was coming back in two parts: first, at the Rapture, then, seven-plus years later, at the Second Coming. However, Jesus answered their questions without differentiating between the two separate events.

Just as Jesus answered the disciples’ questions out of order, so did he describe His two end-time comings out of chronological order. The Second Coming verses are found in Matthew 24:27-31, and the Rapture verses are found in Matthew 24:36-51. For more on this view, see The Day of the Lord and Hour of the Rapture :: By Randy Nettles - Rapture Ready.

MORE WITNESSES TO THE RAPTURE DOCTRINE (BEFORE PAUL)

Amos said, “Certainly, Adonay Yahweh (Lord God) doesn’t do anything unless he first reveals his secret counsel to his servants the prophets.”

Moses said in Deuteronomy 19:15, “that at the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established.” Jesus reiterated this concept in Matthew 18:16, “But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” Paul also taught on this biblical truth in 2 Corinthians 13:1 and 1 Timothy 5:19.

Besides Jesus, I believe there were other “witnesses” who prophesied about the rapture in its “seed form.” I believe Psalm 47 could be one such witness. It is believed the sons of Korah (Temple assistants) wrote this psalm.

“God is gone up with a shout, the LORD with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen: God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. The nobles of the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of Abraham: for the shields of the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted” (Psalm 47:5-9).

I believe the clearest example of the rapture in its seed form appears in Isaiah 26:19-20. I believe Paul was referring to these verses when he said, “According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thess. 4:15).

When Paul said, “According to the Lord’s own word” (as he introduced the details of the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:15), it had to be from the Old Testament; that is, if he was referring to Scripture. In my opinion, Isaiah 26:19-21 is the passage of Scripture that Paul was referring to. However, Paul might have received additional information about the Rapture from the Lord Himself when he was “caught up” (harpazo) to the third heaven, per 2 Cor. 12:2-4.

Let’s compare these two “witnesses” of Scripture (one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament). In Isaiah 26:19, the Lord tells Isaiah, “Your dead shall live, (with) my dead body they shall rise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” This verse refers to a resurrection. The timing is not given. You have to remember, it is the Lord who is speaking, not Isaiah. He is telling Isaiah that there will be a future resurrection in which the dead shall rise from the earth, including the Lord’s own resurrected body (perhaps at different times).

In 1 Thessalonians 15:15-16, Paul expounds upon the Isaiah prophecy (IMO), “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep. 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.”

Also, in 1 Corinthians 15, before the Rapture passage, Paul said the following about the resurrection of the dead in Christ. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits 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 firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23). In 1 Corinthians 15:23 and Isaiah 26:19, we see the first two stages of the “first resurrection,” Christ’s resurrection and the resurrection of those who are dead in Christ at the Rapture.

The next verse in the Isaiah rapture prophecy says, “Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by” (Isaiah 26:20). Compare the first part of this verse to 1 Thessalonians 4:17: “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.

You could also compare the first part of Isaiah 26:20 to John 14:2-3. “In my Father’s house are many rooms: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3).

The second part of Isaiah 26:20 says, “hide yourselves for a little while until (His) wrath has passed by.” This indicates that the Lord’s people will be hidden away in ‘our’ rooms when the Lord comes to punish the people of earth for ‘their’ sins.

Another O.T. reference to this “hiding away” is found in Psalm 27:4-5. “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock” (Psalm 27:4-5).

Isaiah 26:21 says, “For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.” This is an obvious reference to the end-times judgments (the Day of the Lord or Jacob’s Trouble).

Isaiah 26:19-21 gives the order of the pre-tribulation Rapture. “In Isaiah 26:19-20 we have a description of the rapture/resurrection almost identical to Paul’s in 1 Thes. 4:16-17. First, the dead in Christ will rise, and then the living will go to their rooms (John 14:2-3) until the Lord’s wrath has elapsed. Then, in Isaiah 26:21, we’re told that the purpose of His wrath is to punish the people of the Earth for their sins. This is an obvious reference to the end-times judgments, and the preceding verses indicate that the Lord’s people will be hidden away in ‘our’ rooms when the Lord comes to punish the people of the earth for ‘their’ sins.

Note how He switches from the second person (you, your, yourselves) to the third person (their) in verse 21. His people are not the people of earth. Paul said, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20). For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Thes. 5:9).” {1}

Just like you see hints of the Rapture in the book of John, you’ll find hints of it even in the Old Testament. I believe Isaiah 26:19-21 is an end-time prophecy that promises a resurrection of the dead and hiding of God’s people while God’s wrath is unleashed on the people of Earth for their sins. Does this sound familiar? I think it sounds remarkably like Paul’s rapture passages in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4. The old adage, “The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed; the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed,” is certainly true in this instance. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honor” (John 12:24-26).

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Randy Nettles

rgeanie55@gmail.com

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Endnotes:

{1} The Pre-Trib Rapture In Isaiah – Grace thru faith

Behind the flurry of national celebrations, behind the fireworks, the flags and patriotic symbolism filling every square inch of marketing space, one unrelenting truth remains unchanged…

…America’s days are numbered.

It is hard to imagine that level of Babylonian vulnerability (think Daniel 5), especially when social media is filled with the surprised reactions of European visitors rediscovering America’s greatness during the World Cup. It is hard not to feel a measure of pride in what our nation has accomplished over the past 250 years, or in the political course corrections unfolding at breakneck speed under the Trump administration. While there are many, many injustices that are flooding our newsfeeds and causing us to lose faith in humanity, it’s also an extraordinary time to be alive, as a wave of new technologies promises to transform life on earth in ways once thought impossible. For many, it is hard not to be optimistic.

But we should resist that impulse. It is a trap.

My intent here is not simply to present the view of a stick-in-the-mud doom-and-gloomer. It is simply the result of taking the Bible for what it says, and for what it does not say.

To me, that is realism.

From a biblical perspective, there are only two possible outcomes. The United States either disappears from the world stage at the Rapture of the Church, or it ultimately becomes the great geopolitical mystery known as Babylon the Great. Given the extraordinary military power, financial dominance, geopolitical influence, and natural advantages America possesses, including two vast oceans protecting its borders, there simply is not enough time left in human history for the nation to evolve into something entirely different. It will either no longer exist in its present form, or it will become something altogether unprecedented.

“And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”

1 John 2:17 (NKJV)

As the old ‘Spider-Man’ saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. Undisputedly, the United States of America is the greatest national power the world has ever seen. However, when that great responsibility becomes neglected, great power turns into an even greater liability. After decades of moral and spiritual neglect, those liabilities have now become eventualities.

Truth be told, the only way to address the systemic corruption and mounting existential challenges facing our nation on every front and at every level is through a complete overhaul.

That is where I believe we are headed.

The United States is simply too large, too interconnected, and too burdened by unraveling systems to continue indefinitely as the constitutional republic and capitalist economy we have known.

As historian Will Durant observed:

“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of Rome’s decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.”

Caesar and Christ (1944), Epilogue, p. 665

Some will object to this notion. They will say that America has survived a revolution, a Civil War, the Great Depression, two world wars, the Cold War, countless natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and deeply divisive politics, and she still stands.

That is true.

However, today we face new realities humanity has never encountered before.

• The internet, providing global access to information.

• Social media, delivering worldwide news instantly.

• Artificial intelligence, enabling exponential information processing.

I believe the prophet Daniel may have been shown something regarding this time in which we live.

“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

Daniel 12:4 (NKJV)

In 1900, the global population was around two billion people. By 2022, the global population had crested eight billion. The Wright Brothers mastered manned flight in 1903. By 1969, we were launching men into space. In 1914, men rode into battle in World War 1 on horses, and came out the other side (1918) in tanks and planes. A single computer once required the space of an entire room in the 1940s; now, a computer 1000X more powerful fits into your front pants pocket.

Inarguably, across nearly every sector, category, spectrum, and level, man has advanced more in the 20th-21st centuries than in all the previous centuries combined. I say "nearly" because the sectors in which mankind has not progressed but, in fact, has regressed are the spiritual, moral, and ethical.

Indeed, mankind is more powerful than he has ever been, yet is at his most morally compromised. This is the world we inhabit today…and the world faces unprecedented systemic challenges:

• Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS)

• Global surveillance networks

• Rising demand for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)

• Ever-expanding wireless infrastructure

• Satellite megaclusters

• Genetic manipulation

• Abortion on demand

• Normalizing Euthanasia

• Increasing cosmic anomalies

• Global jihadism

• Radical ideological movements

• Right-to-repair conflicts

• Massive data center expansion

• $40 trillion in national debt

• Unsustainable immigration

• Weaponized migration

• Declining birth rates

• Multicultural fragmentation (tribalism)

• Aging infrastructure

• Countless vulnerable points within critical systems

• Expanding corporate power

• Deepening political division

Even many of the strengths that once helped make America exceptional may become our greatest liabilities during a national crisis. The prophetic warning by the second President John Adams in 1798 was that the Constitution was "made only for a moral and religious people" and is "wholly inadequate to the government of any other." In the best of times, these below were designed as a safeguard against government tyranny. In the rest of times, these same safeguards would work against the people because of political corruption.

• The Bill of Rights functions best within a morally grounded society. It’s abused in any other.

• Separation of powers was designed as a system of checks and balances. In our day, it causes systemic governmental paralysis.

• Religious liberty also permits competing worldviews that often reject biblical truth.

This is where we find ourselves.

The most powerful nation in human history stands on the edge of profound transformation, perhaps even collapse. We know it. Our adversaries know it.

Ultimately, however, the deepest problem mankind faces is neither technological nor political.

It is sin.

Humanity remains in a fallen condition. Left to itself, mankind cannot permanently solve its own problems because every heart is bent toward self-interest. As Scripture teaches, we naturally seek our own welfare before God’s. It’s our default setting, and unless we are reprogrammed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which only happens when we place our faith and trust in the shed blood of Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross, we cannot be changed from death unto life.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

Conclusion

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Philippians 3:20-21

As I said, I’m not a doom and gloomer. The great news is that a Golden Age is in fact coming. It simply will not arrive through American greatness. As Chuck Colson once famously observed, “Our salvation is not returning on Air Force One.”

As believers in Christ, we are no longer citizens of terra firma. We are sojourners and ambassadors behind enemy lines whose true citizenship is in heaven. In other words, we are strangers in a strange land. We are former citizens of the physical world, but once we are born again, our eyes are opened, and we are awakened to the spiritual and eternal nature of the spiritual realm.

“...’cause there ain’t no future in living in the past.”

BlackHawk, “Like There Ain’t No Yesterday,” (1995)

We should not spend our days looking back and longing for the days of yesteryear. What lies ahead is of far greater consequence and peace than whatever lay behind us. We cannot unscramble the eggs of man’s present station concerning technology, geopolitics, and our millennia-long moral failings. As Christ followers, we should be looking ahead to what (or rather Who) is coming.

The redemption of mankind, first for the Church, then for Israel, will finally restore the earth to its Edenic-like reality, and restore those of us saved believers to our final, uncorruptible and immortal positions, not so that we can be exalted, but so that we can finally dwell with our Creator God forever in perfect joy, happiness, peace, and purpose.

I love America, and you may love the country you are from, but our true citizenship is not this nation or world. Our kingdom is coming, and soon!

During the Exodus from Egypt, God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and many statutes and ordinances. One such rule (actually a command) was the Sabbath of the seventh year, otherwise known as the Shemitah or Shmita year. “When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a sabbath to the LORD. Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; but in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard” (Leviticus 25:1-4).

If the people did not obey God’s commandments (including observing the Sabbath year), God would scatter them among the nations, and their land would become desolate. God had warned them several times about the consequences of disobeying Him, including Leviticus 26. I wrote about this in my last article, (100) The Antichrist and the Seven-Year Anniversary of October 7, 2023.

God explained the Jubilee year to Moses in Leviticus 25. “When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto the Lord. Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruit thereof; But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard (Leviticus 25:2-4).

“And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you” (Leviticus 25:9-10).

After seven Shemitah cycles (49 years), in the 50^th year, starting on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the Israelites were commanded to observe a year of Jubilee, which included the forgiveness of debts, the restoration of lands, and the release of slaves. After the seventh Sabbath year had been completed, the Jubilee year (the 50^th year) would commence. It was also reckoned as the first year of the next Shemitah cycle (or week).

THE 70 WEEKS (OR SEVENS) OF DANIEL 9:24-27

Daniel’s prayer for Jerusalem and his people in Daniel 9 takes place several years before Jeremiah’s prophecy of 70 years of ‘desolations’ for the Jews was to expire. The same year Daniel made his prayer of supplication to the LORD in 539 BC, Cyrus II of Persia conquered Babylon. In 537 BC, more than 40,000 Jewish exiles returned to their homeland. The next year, 536 BC, reconstruction of the Temple began. It was finally finished in 516 BC.

Daniel 9:2 and 9:24 are prophetically connected. Daniel 9:2 references Jeremiah’s prophecy of 70 years of desolations brought about by Israel’s failure to observe the Sabbath (or Shemitah) year, as commanded by God in Leviticus 25:4. The Israelites had evidently failed to keep 70 Sabbath years, out of 490 years, since entering the Promised Land.

2 Chronicles 36:20-21 confirms the primary reason for Israel’s exile. “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon, where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years.“The ‘sabbath’ in verse 21 is the seventh year of a designated seven-year cycle (or week). Israel would be kept out of the land of Israel for 70 years (for each missed Sabbath year) until “the land had enjoyed her sabbaths.”

In Daniel 9:24-27, the angel Gabriel gave Daniel a prophetic word from the LORD regarding the future of Jerusalem and the Jewish people. This prophecy outlined a timeline, based not on years but on heptads of years (the Shemitah cycles and years), of when the kingdom of God would begin. This ‘kingdom’ is evidenced by the wording of Daniel 9:24: “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”

These six objectives for the Jewish people will only be fulfilled in the Millennium Kingdom, when God will make a new covenant with His people and fill them with His Holy Spirit. “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people” (Jeremiah 31:33).

The timeline for Daniel 9:24 is for 70 ‘sevens’ or ‘weeks.’ Most scholars believe the sevens (or weeks) refer to Shemitah cycles of seven years, totaling 490 years (70 x 7). However, I have a different take on this, which we will examine below.

The event that marks the beginning of the 70 sevens is recorded in Daniel 9:25. “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.” (NIV)

Daniel 9:25 explains that there would be 69 weeks between the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem and the coming of the Jewish Messiah. That would be 483 years (69 x 7) between these two events, according to traditional scholarly reckoning.

To Daniel’s amazement, Gabriel then informs him that sometime after the Messiah comes to his people, he will be killed and Jerusalem and the Second Temple will be destroyed. “After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed”(Daniel 9:26 - NIV). These catastrophic events will take place sometime between the 69^th and 70^th ‘seven.’

The Second Temple hadn’t even been built yet when Daniel was praying and petitioning the LORD, and now Gabriel is informing him that it will be destroyed, as the First Temple had been. Also, their long-awaited Messiah would be killed! What a shocker!

The 70^th ‘week’ is described in Daniel 9:27. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the seven he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolater” (KJV). The “he” in verse 27 refers to a future ruler (like the one who destroys the Second Temple), who when he comes, will stop the daily sacrifices and desecrate yet another temple that will be built.

Paul confirms the existence of a future Third Temple in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4. “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”

The prince or ruler of Daniel 9:26-27 is the same as “the man of sin” (and the son of perdition) in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. He will confirm a seven-year covenant with Israel and other nations at the beginning of Daniel’s 70^th week. This 70^th week is also known as “the Day of the LORD,” “Jacob’s Trouble,” or “the Tribulation.”

What no one understood at the time of Daniel’s writing, and beyond, was that there would be a large gap of time between the 69^th and 70^th seven. That is why Gabriel told Daniel, “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end” (Daniel 12:9).

The Kingdom of God (the Millennium), in which the six conditions or objectives of Daniel 9:24 are outlined, will begin after Daniel’s 70^th week is fulfilled.

THE TIMELINE OF DANIEL 9:25

I believe the most likely timeline for the 69 sevens (or weeks) of Daniel 9:25 was from 444 BC to 33 AD, as the Bible scholar Harold Hoehner argued, rather than 445 BC to 32 AD, as Sir Robert Anderson argued. The starting point was the year 444 BC, when King Artaxerxes Longimanus of Persia issued a decree allowing the Jews to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.

The end point of the 69 sevens was when Jesus Christ entered Jerusalem on Nisan 10, 33 AD, as the King of the Jews, but was rejected as such. Four days later, on Nisan 14, Jesus was crucified on the Passover. The Julian date was Thursday, April 2, 33 AD (IMO).

There are two interpretations regarding the wording of Daniel 9:25. One interpretation says there are 69 ‘weeks‘ (paraphrasing) between the two events, and the other interpretation says there are 69 ‘sevens.’ I believe this distinction is very important in determining the exact duration of this timeline, as I believe weeks refer to Shemitah cycles and sevens refer to Shemitah years.

Most scholars accept the interpretation of weeks as representing Shemitah cycles. This would amount to 483 years. However, there are only 476 calendar years (either Julian, Gregorian, or Jewish) between 444 BC and 33 AD.

The only calendar that can accommodate 483 years (69 x 7) between these dates is the one Sir Robert Anderson developed (or made popular), called the “360-day prophetic calendar.” I explained the details of this calendar in In The Midst of Daniel’s Seventy Weeks Prophecy :: By Randy Nettles - Rapture Ready.

The only problem with Anderson’s prophetic calendar is that the Hebrews never used a 360-day calendar, especially one without an intercalary month added periodically. They used (and still do) a lunar calendar (353-355 days) for their harvest seasons and religious convocations, with an extra month of 30 days added every two to three years to keep it aligned with the solar calendar (365/366 days). It is considered a lunisolar calendar.

If the Jews ever used a 360-day calendar to keep abreast of certain prophecies, it would have to be in addition to their lunisolar calendar, as that was the calendar they used for their yearly Feast of the Lord observances. The Jews already had a mechanism in place for keeping up with large swaths of time - the Jubilee calendar of 49 years (+ 1). With a 360-day calendar, the Jews would have had to count days for 483 years (approximately 173,880 days). It is incompatible with a lunar or solar calendar.

Upon Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem on Nisan 10, 33 AD (Palm Sunday), he told the religious leaders of Jerusalem, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes” (Luke 19:42). This appears to me like they should have known when their Messiah would come, possibly by reckoning the timeline of the prophecy of Daniel 9:25. There is no way they could have done this using a 360-day calendar that didn’t align with their harvest times and Feasts of the Lord convocations.

The starting year of Daniel 9:25 was 444 BC. It was the first seven or Shemitah year of Daniel’s prophecy. 33 AD was the 69^th seven. Daniel was not counting years (483 years), days (173,880 days), or even weeks or cycles (69 cycles), but only the Shemitah years.

However, if one were to count the years between the two events in Daniel 9:25, the total is 477 years (inclusive reckoning). Daniel 9:25 never mentions 483 years, only 69 sevens. By wording the prophecy this way, Gabriel (actually God) left a clear clue that the start and end dates were Shemitah years.

SEVENS OR WEEKS?

The following is from an article I wrote last year, The 70 Sevens of Daniel 9:24 - Pete’s Rev310 Substack, regarding which English translation is better for the Hebrew words in Daniel 9:24-27 referencing sevens or weeks. The first two Hebrew words in Daniel 9:24 are שבעים שבעים. They have the exact same spelling. This Hebrew word is most often translated as seventy (or a compound number of seventy) or as threescore and ten.

Even though these two words have the same spelling, they are translated into English as two different words. As I said, most of the time this Hebrew word is translated as seventy; however, there are seven instances in the O.T. where שבעים is translated as weeks in most versions. I think it’s fairly obvious that Daniel was not referring to “seventy seventy.”

Most English translations of the Hebrew Tanakh render the second Hebrew word שבעים in Daniel 9:24 (and three times in verses 25-26) as weeks. However, several others translate it as sevens. This could make a difference, as I believe weeks could refer to Shemitah cycles, and sevens could refer to Shemitah years (the seventh year of a Shemitah cycle). I believe sevens is the better translation.

The Hebrew word for ‘week‘ (singular) is’שָׁבוּעַ and the plural word, ‘weeks,‘ is שבעת (or שָׁבוּעוֹת). If Daniel had wanted to write “seventy weeks,” he could have written it as “שבעת שבעים.” Instead, he wrote it as “שבעים שבעים.” When you add the suffix ים to שבע (the Hebrew word for seven), the word שבעים (sevens) is formed. This is why sevens should be the correct translation for this Hebrew word in Daniel 9:24-26, not weeks or seventy.

I believe 444 BC was the last year of a Shemitah cycle, so if one were counting cycles (weeks), then you would not count that cycle, as it was not a complete seven-year cycle. The same thing goes if 33 AD was not the last year of a Shemitah cycle. Daniel was counting Sabbath years. There were 69 of them, including 444 BC and 33 AD. If you were to count the total years between them, and including them, there are 477 years.

However, when you get to Daniel 9:27, the Hebrew word שבוע is used. “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

The correct translation for שבוע is week (singular). In this verse, Daniel refers to a Shemitah cycle (or week) of seven years, which corresponds to the seven-year Tribulation. Of course, the last year within this seven-year cycle is the 70^th ‘seven‘ (Shemitah year) of Daniel’s prophecy.

70 JUBILEES

One of the most important factors in understanding the 69 sevens of Daniel’s prophecy (in Daniel 9:25-26) is determining when the first Shemitah cycle (week) for Israel began. There are many different opinions on this subject. Did the first Shemitah cycle start in 1406 BC when the children of Israel first entered the Promised Land? Many Jewish and Christian scholars from different eras believe the first Shemitah cycle didn’t begin until five or seven years later, when the land rested from war for a brief period (as mentioned in Joshua 11:23), and the Israelites had planted their own crops.

Others believe it didn’t start until even later, when Joshua divided some of the lands to nine tribes (and the half-tribe of Manasseh) of Israel, as mentioned in Joshua 13:8-14. I’ve even seen some reckonings from 15 years after Israel entered the Promised Land to the beginning of the first Shemitah cycle.

Another point of contention is whether the Shemitah cycles stopped when the Jews were deported from the land and then resumed once they were back in the land, or if the cycles were continuous regardless of whether the Jews were in the land or not. I believe in the latter reckoning, according to my understanding of Leviticus 26:34-35 and other scriptures. Once the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, the Sabbath of the seventh year was set in stone, so to speak (no pun intended). The land would have its Sabbath rest, regardless.

I believe the answer to when the first Shemitah cycle (and thus the first Shemitah year) occurred is found in a little-known passage in Leviticus 19. “When you come into the land and have planted all kinds of trees for food, then you shall count their fruit as uncircumcised. For three years, it shall be as uncircumcised to you. It shall not be eaten. But in the fourth year, all its fruit shall be holy, a praise to the Lord. And in the fifth year, you may eat its fruit, that it may yield to you its increase: I am the LORD your God” (Leviticus 19:23-25).

In the fourth year, all crops were considered “circumcised,” which was a sign of the covenant between the LORD and Israel. Thus, the first Shemitah seven-year cycle began in the fourth year after entering the Promised Land (IMO).

The children of Israel crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land on Nisan 10 (according to Joshua 4:19) in the year 1406 BC. I believe the first year of the first Shemitah cycle began in the fourth full year of Israel’s entrance to the land of Canaan. The first three-and-a-half years of Nisan 1406-Tishri 1406 BC, Tishri 1406-Tishri 1405 BC, Tishri 1405-Tishri 1404 BC, and Tishri 1404-Tishri 1403 BC were spent fighting the inhabitants of Canaan, so there wasn’t any sowing and reaping of the Israelites’ own crops. They confiscated the enemies’ crops.

These three-and-a-half years are not included in the first Shemitah and Jubilee cycles. The fourth (full) year would have been 1403-1402 BC. That, in my opinion, is the first year of the first Shemitah cycle. In my 2023 article, Sevens :: By Randy Nettles - Rapture Ready, I showcased a chart of the Shemitah/Sabbath cycles and ‘sevens’ from 1403-1402 BC to 2041-2042 AD.

In this chart, 445-444 BC is reckoned as Israel’s 137^th Sabbath year. Ironically or not, the English word ‘sabbath‘ appears 137 times in the KJV. This is a very interesting number, as I wrote about in 137 - The Number of God in Scripture and Science (a three-part article). As mentioned earlier, 445-444 BC is the first seven in the 69 sevens of Daniel 9:25. 32-33 AD is reckoned as Israel’s 205^th Sabbath year and is the 69^th seven in Daniel’s prophecy.

With this reckoning, Israel’s 490^th Shemitah year is 2027-2028. That would make Tishri 2028-Tishri 2029 Israel’s 70^th Jubilee. It could also mean 2028-2035 is Daniel’s long-delayed 70^th week, otherwise known as the seven-year Tribulation.

A POTENTIAL TIMELINE FOR DANIEL’S 70TH WEEK

Could Daniel’s 70th week (aka the Tribulation) begin in 2028? If so, 2030 (the 1960th year from 70 AD) could see either the start or the finish of the construction of the Third Temple in Jerusalem.

Let’s examine 2028-2035 as a potential timeline for the Tribulation. We will use the criteria found in Reckoning Daniel’s 70th Week From the Gregorian Calendar to reckon the start, middle, and end dates of the seven-year Tribulation.

In this article, I wrote, “The Antichrist will not confirm or strengthen a seven-year covenant with Israel and the ‘many’ reckoned from the Jewish calendar or a hypothetical 360-day ‘prophetic’ calendar, but will do so based on the Gregorian calendar, either 2556 or 2557 days (depending on how many leap days are added in those seven years). So, whatever Gregorian calendar day the Tribulation begins on, it will ‘officially’ end seven years later on the same monthly date (either 2556 or 2557 days later).

This is not to say the Jewish lunisolar calendar isn’t in play, because it is the flip side of the Gregorian calendar. Whatever Gregorian day the beginning, middle, and end of the Tribulation fall on (or whatever event transpires on a particular day), there will be a corresponding Jewish calendar day, which holds the greater prophetic significance, as some of these timeframes mentioned in Daniel and Revelation (1260, 1290, and 1335 days) will land on important Jewish days or religious Feasts of the Lord (as described in Leviticus 23).”

Note: This is the third seven-year cycle I have researched as a possible candidate for Daniel’s 70^th week, aka the Tribulation. The other two, 2026-2033 and 2030-2037, can be found in my previous articles. These are all speculative examples of how the timing of the Tribulation could unfold in the coming years and heptads. We know it’s getting close; we just don’t know how close.

2028-2035 (2556 Gregorian calendar days - 2540 Jewish calendar days)

Start: Sept. 29, 2028 (Tishri 10 - Yom Kippur)

1260 Days From the Start: March 12, 2032 (Nisan 1)

Middle (1278.5 Days From the Start): March 30, 2032 (Nisan 19 - 5th day of Unleavened Bread)

1251 Days From the Middle: Sept. 2, 2035 (Tishri 1 - Rosh Hashanah)

1260 Days From the Middle: Sept. 11, 2035 (Tishri 10 - Yom Kippur)

End (1278.5 Days From the Middle and 2557 Days From the Start): Sept. 29, 2035 (Tishri 27)

Post Trib. (1290 Days From the Middle): Oct. 11, 2035 (Heshvan 10)

Post Trib. (1335 Days From the Middle): Nov. 25, 2035 (Kislev 25 - 1st day of Hanukkah)

Note: 2035 is one of those years that is not reckoned correctly by the fixed, mathematically determined Jewish calendar in use today. It is a month off due to the addition of an intercalary year when one was not needed.

Will the Antichrist confirm a seven-year covenant with “the many” on the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), on Tishri 10, 2028; and is this the Jewish date for the start of Israel’s 70^th Jubilee? That would be crazy! Time will tell, and there’s not much of it left.

See Sevens :: By Randy Nettles - Rapture Ready for Shemitah cycles chart.

Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Randy Nettles

rgeanie55@gmail.com

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Paul-Henri Spaak (1899–1972), a Belgian statesman who served as the first president of the UN General Assembly, the first president of the European Parliament, and a former Secretary General of NATO, made this infamous quote some seventy years ago: “We do not want another committee. We have too many already. What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people, and to lift us out of the economic morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, and be he God or devil, we will receive him.“

This quote might be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the Bible speaks of a time when Spaak and others like him will get their wish. This should be a lesson to all. You should be very careful what you ask for. We know by Scripture that this man will not be God (unlike Jesus); he will be more like a devil. However, he will try to convince people that he is God.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there comes a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thess. 2:3-4).

Before this man of sin (aka the Antichrist) appears, a new world order will be established by the globalist elites, who will implement a totalitarian world government. These powerful elite groups with a globalist agenda are conspiring to eventually rule the world through an authoritarian one-world government, which will replace sovereign nation-states.

Recently in the news: “Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, while speaking before the start of the G7 summit, implied that no one country or institution could be left out of or defy a new world order. ‘What one can’t do at this point in a rapidly shifting world order is to rely on one set of institutions, one grouping, one country to provide the answers,’ Carney said to reporters on June 14, while in County Mayo, Ireland, on his way to the G7 summit in France, which is taking place from June 15 to 17 (2026).

While in Dublin, a day before his County Mayo remarks, Carney said that the G7 is where the New World Order begins. He said, ‘The new world order will be built starting with Europe.’” {1} Canada’s PM Carney says ‘new world order’ is coming, will start with Europe - LifeSite

The global elites who are determined to bring in a New World Order seem fixated on the year 2030. The United Nations has set a deadline to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Agenda 2030 for S.D. has 17 goals for curing all of the world’s problems under the leadership of the unelected officials of the United Nations.

All nations are required to follow their guidelines to bring about this new utopia on Earth. They are to relinquish their national sovereignty and become a member of the New World Order. All members will be required to submit to the authority of the United Nations’ one-world government. The United Nations initiated the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development in 2015. They had a fifteen-year plan and are now four years away from their deadline.

2030 is also the year that many so-called experts predict that the world will reach a “tipping point” or a point of no return regarding solving or reversing climate change. More than 100 countries pledged to reverse deforestation by 2030. The EU’s 2030 Climate Target Plan aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Other “experts” predict that by 2030, we will see significant technological achievements, such as artificial intelligence and automation. Five developers of quantum systems have announced plans to have fault-tolerant quantum computing hardware by 2030.

The World Health Organization and UNICEF have set a goal for universal access to basic sanitation by 2030. The World Bank has called for all countries to implement universal health care by 2030. Here is a pie-in-the-sky article by the WEF titled “30 Visions for a Better World in 2030.” 30 visions for a better world in 2030 | World Economic Forum (weforum.org).

In other words, 2030 seems to be the predicted year for significant global change. Global entities, such as the UN, WHO, WEF, IMF, WTO, and others, say this change will be for the good of all humanity, but those who read and study the Bible know it will not be. It will only lead to the worst time in history, known as the Tribulation, Day of the Lord, or Jacob’s Trouble.

“For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened” (Matthew 24:21-22).

“And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which stands 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 (Daniel 12:1).

Jeremiah the prophet is the one who gave this time of great tribulation the name “Jacob’s Trouble.” “Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it” (Jeremiah 30:7). The “he” in this verse is referring to Israel.

Because of the global elites’ plans to establish a world governance system by 2030, many students and teachers of biblical eschatology think the Antichrist could confirm the seven-year covenant of Daniel 9:27 with “the many” in this year (2030).

Daniel prophesies about these last seven years in Daniel 9:27, “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” The ‘he’ in this verse is the Antichrist. The “one week” is for seven years in duration and is called Daniel’s 70th Week.

It’s rather obvious to me that the year 2030 will be somewhere within the seven-year timeline of Daniel’s 70th week. Some believe it could mark the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week (2030-2037), while others think it could be the middle (2026-2033), although time is running out for this option, as the Antichrist would have to confirm the covenant by the fall of 2026 (I haven’t given up on this option). Of course, 2030 is also within the first half of 2027-2034, 2028-2035, and 2029-2036.

THE CURSES OF LEVITICUS 26 AND DEUTERONOMY 28

The seventy years of desolation is a prophetic declaration in the Old Testament that describes a period of exile and judgment for Judah and Jerusalem, followed by restoration. It is most clearly set out in Jeremiah 29:10-11, where Jeremiah proclaims God’s word: “For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

In 539 BC, several years before the 70-year exile of Judah was to expire, Daniel was reading Jeremiah’s prophecy. He understood that the exile was nearing its end (per Daniel 9:2). He began to pray, asking God’s forgiveness for the sins of his people and pleading for the restoration of his people and Jerusalem. Daniel realized that Judah’s desolation was due to its apostasy (including idol worship) and unwillingness to obey God’s word.

Daniel prayed, “Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him” (Daniel 9:11).

The curse/s Daniel referred to are found in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. God had given the people of Israel a choice: Obey me and be blessed, or disobey me and face curses. There are 10 blessings and 40 curses found in Deuteronomy 28. The number 40 generally symbolizes a period of testing, trial, or probation. The 40 curses in Chapter 28 symbolize the trials that God would place upon the children of Israel if they did not obey Him. See Deuteronomy 28:15-68: Lessons Regarding the 40 Curses that Come From Disobedience to God | Inspired Scripture.

One (of several) curses Israel experienced at the hands of the Babylonians was prophesied hundreds of years earlier (during the exodus from Egypt), as recorded in Deuteronomy 28:49-50. “The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor shew favor to the young.”

Jeremiah confirmed this prophecy in Jeremiah 5:15. “Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understands what they say.”

SEVENTY AND SEVENTY SEVENS

Daniel only used the Hebrew word ‘שבעים’ (šiḇʿîm) twice in reference to the number ‘seventy,‘ both in Daniel 9. The first time was in Daniel 9:2. “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.”

One of the reasons for the seventy years of desolation was that the Jews had not obeyed the law of Leviticus 25:4: “But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the Lord: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.” The Israelites had failed to keep 70 Sabbath years (within a 490-year timeframe), regarding the land of Israel, since entering the Promised Land.

2 Chronicles 36:21 explicitly gave this as the reason for the 70-year exile: “And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia: To fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed her sabbaths: for as long as she lay desolate she kept sabbath, to fulfill threescore and ten years.”

The ‘sabbath’ in these verses is the seventh year of a seven-year cycle (or heptad week). Israel would be kept out of the Promised Land for 70 years (a year for each missed ‘sabbath’) until “the land had enjoyed her sabbaths.”

The next time Daniel used the word ‘seventy’ is in Daniel 9:24. “Seventy sevens are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Daniel 9:2 and 9:24 are prophetically connected. Daniel 9:2 is for a duration of seventy years, and Daniel 9:24 is for a timeline of seventy ‘sevens’ (of years). Most current prophecy teachers believe these “seventy sevens” represent 490 years (with an indeterminate gap of time between the 483rd and 490th years). I have a different interpretation of the “seventy sevens.” See Counting Sabbath Years in Daniel 9:24-27 :: By Randy Nettles - Rapture Ready. In Daniel 9, the number 70 appears to be the common denominator for the fulfillment of God’s judgments against Israel.

The number 70 has a sacred meaning in Scripture, composed of the factors of two perfect numbers, 7 (representing spiritual perfection and completeness) and 10 (representing ordinal perfection). As such, it symbolizes perfect spiritual order carried out with all power. It can also represent a period of judgment.“

Daniel 9:25 prophesies about the coming Jewish Messiah after 69 ‘weeks’ (or ‘sevens’) from the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. Daniel 9:26 prophesies about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple after the Messiah is killed. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”

Note: Some partial preterists believe that the “seventy weeks” in Daniel 9:24-27 were fulfilled during Jesus’ first advent. They believe the 70 weeks, or 490 years, were from 458 BC to 33 AD. In this interpretation, the 490 years began with Ezra’s return to Jerusalem in 458 BC to “teach statutes and ordinances in Israel” regarding the Law of Moses (Mosaic covenant) and to install magistrates and judges. The end date, resurrection day in 33 AD, was when the “new covenant” was confirmed after the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, shedding His holy blood on the cross.

Of course, I disagree with this (starting) timeline and the notion that the 70 weeks were fulfilled during Jesus’ first advent. I believe the timeline was from 444 BC to 33 AD. I also believe the last three verses in Daniel 9 are a “dual reference prophecy” (See Daniel’s Dual Reference Prophecy (Daniel 9:24-27) :: By Randy Nettles - Rapture Ready). Verses 25-26a are fulfilled during the first coming of Jesus, whereas verse 27 will be fulfilled during the seven years before Jesus’ second coming.

Jesus was crucified in 33 AD, and the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple 37 years later. Is it any wonder that Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in 70 AD? The Second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, so the question is, when will the Third Temple be built? We will speculate on the timing of this prophetic event later in the article.

SEVEN TIMES MORE CURSES

As I mentioned before, there are two places in the Torah where “blessings and curses” are discussed in the context of Israel’s conditional covenant regarding the Law. Leviticus 26 differs from Deuteronomy 28 in that the former concludes with a promise of restoration upon repentance, highlighting God’s willingness to forgive and restore Israel after punishment.

“Leviticus 26 is often seen as a reaffirmation of the covenant made at Sinai, emphasizing the relationship between obedience and the land’s fertility. It stresses the importance of the sabbatical year and the land’s rest, which is not as prominently featured in Deuteronomy 28.” {2} Comparing Curses - TheTorah.com

“And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths, as long as it lieth desolate, and ye be in your enemies’ land; even then shall the land rest, and enjoy her sabbaths. As long as it lieth desolate it shall rest; because it did not rest in your sabbaths, when ye dwelt upon it” (Leviticus 26:33-35).

Leviticus 26:14-39 describes what God would do to Israel if they refused to obey Him. Verse 18 says that after these curses, if the people still did not hearken to God, He would punish them seven more times for their sins. Verses 19-20 describe these curses. Verse 21 repeats the retribution of verse 18 and promises them “seven times more plagues upon you according to your sins.” Verse 22 describes these plagues.

Verses 23-24 say if the people still did not obey God, He would “punish you yet seven times for your sins.” Verses 25-26 describe the next curses God would send for their disobedience. Verses 27-28 say once again that God would “chastise you seven times for your sins.” Verses 29-33 describe these chastisements. That’s a total of 28 (7 + 7 + 7 + 7) times more for their sins and unbelief. The number 28 appears to represent “above and beyond” the norm.

Leviticus 26:31-33 describes the last three curses that God inflicted upon the children of Israel for their repeated wickedness. “And I will make your cities waste, and bring your sanctuaries unto desolation, and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors. And I will bring the land into desolation: and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you: and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste.”

These three verses describe the diaspora and what happened to the people and land of Israel after 70-135 AD and throughout the centuries. God’s initial judgment on Judea in the 6th century BC lasted 70 years, so this appears to be the normal duration of Israel’s judgment for disobeying God.

The Jewish diaspora began in 70 AD. It’s obvious the Jews were still not obeying God in 70 AD, so the Lord caused their judgment to be extended by seven times (according to Leviticus 26:18), which is 70 x 7 or 490 years. The end of these 490 years of the diaspora would have been in 560 AD. While some Jews were living in Israel (now called Palestine), most of them were scattered throughout Mesopotamia (Iraq) and elsewhere.

During this time, the Jews in Judea focused their efforts on writing the Palestinian Talmud (or Talmud of the Land of Israel), and later the Jews in Babylonia on writing the Babylonian Talmud. These are commentaries on the Mishnah and the Gemara, the oral laws of Judaism that were added to those of Scripture.

Following the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 AD, the Pharisees began to put their oral laws in writing. The Palestinian Talmud was completed in 380 AD, and the Babylonian Talmud was completed in 500 AD. The Jews were concentrating on the rabbi’s interpretation of the Law (and making new laws up) instead of their Messiah, so of course, the Messiah couldn’t return yet. They were subject to yet another “seven times more” (according to Leviticus 26:21) punishment period of 490 years (70 x 7), during which they would be further scattered among the nations.

The end of this 490-year diaspora period was 1050 AD. During the 11th century AD, many massacres of Jews occurred, such as in Morocco and Granada. Many Jews lived in Baghdad until Iraq lost its leadership role in the Islamic Empire. In 1066 AD, Jews began moving into Western Europe, including England. The First Crusade began in 1095 AD, and many Jews were killed across Europe on the Crusaders’ way to the Holy Land. Of course, the Jews still rejected their Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, so they were punished yet another “seven times more” (according to Leviticus 26:24) or 490 years.

The next 490-year tribulation period ended in 1540 AD. The Portuguese Inquisition began in 1531 AD, thirty-nine years after the Jews’ expulsion from Spain in 1492. During this time, the Ottoman Empire controlled Jerusalem and the Holy Land, and the Jews and Christians living there were treated relatively well.

In 1494, Suleiman the Magnificent ascended to the throne of the empire in Constantinople. From 1537 to 1542, Suleiman laid out the Temple area as it is today and rebuilt the walls and gates of Jerusalem, which had been without a wall since 1219 AD. The Damascus Gate was the last to be finished in 1542 AD. The walls still stand today. Many Jews left Spain and resettled in Brazil in 1548. The Jews still did not accept Jesus as their Messiah, so they were subject to another “seven times more” judgment (according to Leviticus 26:28).

The next judgment phase of 490 years (70 x 7) will end in 2030 AD. It will have been 1,960 years (twenty-eight 70-year time periods) since the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 AD, as mentioned in Daniel 9:26b, “And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” These 1,960 years are described in Daniel 9:26c: “And the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.”

1960 is an interesting number. Some of its factor pairs include 28 x 70, 4 x 490, and 40 x 49. I have mentioned that chapter 28 is one of the “blessings and curses“ chapters in Deuteronomy, and that 70 represents finality or judgment. There are four “seven times more” (70 x 7) curses in Leviticus 26, so 490 x 4 = 1960 years. 40 is the number for trials or testing, and 49 represents the Sabbath year, so 40 x 49 = 1960.

Even though Israel became a nation again in 1948 and reclaimed Jerusalem in 1967, the nation of Israel is largely a secular country and still does not acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah and the anointed Son of God. They are still under the last of God’s curses upon them for their unbelief in Jesus Christ.

THE LAST SEVEN?

When the last 490-year judgment phase is over in 2030, and Israel still has not accepted Jesus as the Christ, they still have to undergo the last and greatest of God’s judgments against them. This one will last only 7 years, but it will be the most severe judgment since Sodom and Gomorrah.

Daniel 12:1 describes it as, “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation.” In Matthew 24:21-22, Jesus describes the last half of the seven-year Tribulation, “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.”

Could Daniel’s 70th week begin in 2030? Or perhaps 2030 will be the year that sees the completion of the third Temple’s construction in Jerusalem, after 1960 (or 28 x 70) years since the destruction of the second Temple. If it is the latter, that would probably place the seven-year Tribulation between 2028 and 2035.

Since the global elites like 2030 so well, let’s examine the years 2030-2037 as a potential timeline for the Tribulation. We will use the criteria found in Reckoning Daniel’s 70th Week From the Gregorian Calendar to reckon the start, middle, and end dates of the seven-year Tribulation.

In this article, I wrote, “The Antichrist will not confirm or strengthen a seven-year covenant with Israel and the ‘many’ reckoned from the Jewish calendar or a hypothetical 360-day ‘prophetic’ calendar, but will do so based on the Gregorian calendar, either 2556 or 2557 days (depending on how many leap days are added in those seven years). So, whatever Gregorian calendar day the Tribulation begins on, it will ‘officially’ end seven years later on the same monthly date (either 2556 or 2557 days later).

This is not to say the Jewish lunisolar calendar isn’t in play, because it is the flip side of the Gregorian calendar. Whatever Gregorian day the beginning, middle, and end of the Tribulation fall on (or whatever event transpires on a particular day), there will be a corresponding Jewish calendar day, which holds the greater prophetic significance, as some of these timeframes mentioned in Daniel and Revelation (1260, 1290, and 1335 days) will land on important Jewish days or religious Feasts of the Lord (as described in Leviticus 23).”

2030-2037 (2557 Gregorian calendar days - 2540 Jewish calendar days)

Start: Oct. 7, 2030 (Tishri 10 - Yom Kippur)

1260 Days From the Start: March 20, 2034 (Nisan 1)

Middle (1278.5 Days From the Start): April 8, 2034 (Nisan 19 - 5th day of Unleavened Bread)

1251 Days From the Middle: Sept. 10, 2037 (Tishri 1 - Rosh Hashana)

1260 Days From the Middle: Sept. 19, 2037 (Tishri 10 - Yom Kippur)

End (1278.5 Days From the Middle and 2557 Days From the Start): Oct. 7, 2037 (Tishri 27)

Post Trib. (1290 Days From the Middle): Oct. 19, 2037 (Heshvan 10)

Post Trib. (1335 Days From the Middle): Dec. 3, 2037 (Kislev 25 - 1st day of Hannukkah)

Will the Antichrist confirm a seven-year (reckoned from the Gregorian calendar) covenant with “the many” on the seven-year anniversary of the October 7, 2023, barbaric Hamas attacks against Israel? In this potential scenario, the Tribulation would begin and end on this Gregorian date. The official start of the Tribulation would begin on the holiest day of the year for Jews, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), which falls on 7/10 on the Jewish calendar and 10/7 on the Gregorian calendar.

If you deduct 70 (7 x 10) years from 2030, the difference is 1960 (there is that number again!). 1960 is 7 years from 1967, which is the year of the Six-Day War between Israel and several Arab nations. There are 70 (10 x 7) years from 1967 to 2037.

CONCLUSION (by Pete Garcia)

While it is impossible to know with absolute certainty whether the year 2030 will factor into God’s prophetic calendar or not, that’s not to say we can’t know anything. Two verses come to mind.

First, the Apostle John writes in 1 John 5:19 that “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”

Second, the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

If Satan truly governs the present world system, and if global leaders remain fixated on the year 2030, then the principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, and spiritual forces of wickedness described in Scripture are not merely symbolic. They are real entities actively influencing human affairs in these last days. Just as holy angels have appeared in human form, it is reasonable to conclude that fallen angels may possess the same ability, enabling them to advance deception and wage spiritual warfare against humanity.

Furthermore, these fallen hosts were present at Christ’s crucifixion. They know precisely when it occurred and are not burdened by modern debates over whether it was A.D. 30, 31, or 33. If these spiritual powers exert influence over earthly rulers, and if those rulers are singularly focused on a particular year, then perhaps the fixation does not originate with men at all, but with the unseen forces directing them.

Unlike modern Western cultures, which usually only apply significance to particular dates due to any secular holiday attached to them, Near Eastern cultures’ calendars (such as Israel’s) are riddled with religious holy days. Not only religious holidays, but historical dates (e.g., 9th of Av, Hannukkah, etc.), are canonized into their cultural memory, given the respective events associated with that date.

As such, these times of significance to our enemy should not only be understood and acknowledged, but also investigated to see the why of their significance. Although we can’t know exactly just yet what role the year 2030 will play, we can be certain that it will, given the world’s present obsession with it.

Moreover, know that each day moving forward will press this generation increasingly deeper into the prophetic stage setting. How far further the Lord allows us to go is unknown, but with eyes to see and ears to hear, all of which the prophetic scripture shows us, we know it won’t be long.

It’s very easy to be labeled a ‘doom and gloomer’ these days for simply reporting the facts. “But facts are a stubborn thing”, John Adams once said.

Seemingly simple problems for nations to solve often come with extremely complex strings attached. The United States is addicted to spending money. What does one do if they are neck deep in debt? Well, for starters, you stop spending so much money. The muddy waters part is where to stop spending, and which programs you’re going to cut to actually make a difference.

The United States purse strings are ultimately being pulled in two different directions between the far left and the far right. Each side has their sacred cows they refuse to touch, and will only do so at an excruciatingly high cost to the other side. I realize I’m staying pretty vague here, but my intent is to show you the forest and the trees, seeing the picture as a whole, rather than just individual issues.

Our system has three legs of power that constitute the operational managers of a system of systems. The controlling authority being an architectural contract created by the founding fathers of this nation 236 years ago. The basic premise is that man does not guarantee our rights; God does. The three branches of government act to serve as a check and balance against themselves, to prevent any one from becoming too powerful. So let us do a quick review over how that is going thus far.

The Trees

One branch has the responsibility to execute the duties of leadership and enact the laws and powers granted to it by a bicameral congressional legislative body. It has worked around the legislative body by creating a small army of un-elected techno/bureau-crats. It has ignored or bypassed the legislation to initiate warfare, emplace unconstitutional bureaucratic legislation (mandatory healthcare), and refused to enforce the laws that are already in place.

The other branch entrusted with creating the laws and controlling spending can’t because it remains too entrenched in the pockets of special interest groups. The handful of actual, honest, and trustworthy ones have a difficult time getting anything passed either by committee or through house votes due to the divisiveness of the interests represented there. Both houses recognize the dire dilemma we are in financially, but can’t even agree on meaningful steps toward achieving that goal.

The last branch acts as the legal authority that enforces the laws of the land as an ultimate last resort of legal interpretation of the architecture otherwise known as the Constitution. The problem with this branch is that lifetime appointments that were meant as a safeguard against knee-jerk movements of the political climate of any given decade also mean that they become defenders of their interpretation, which we have to live with for most of our lives. Appointments, whether right or left, have long-term ramifications.

And to think we have the best system on earth? The problem with our system is that man is running it. Man is flawed and sinful, therefore, unable by default to ever have a system that actually functions as it should for any longer than a brief period of time.

The Forest

Geo-political strategists often use terms like ‘red line’ or ‘point of no return’ to signal events that, once they happen, can’t be undone. Like the proverbial bell that cannot be ‘unrung’, so too are the ‘red-lines’ that once crossed, forever change the geo-political landscape. We (U.S.) have crossed that economic ‘red line’ some time ago. We have put ourselves in such a financially distressing position that most politicians and talking head pundits would rather discuss things from a hole in the sand than deal with them honestly. Those who are honest are labeled ‘alarmists’. Is it alarmist to yell ‘fire’ in a theater if it is actually on fire?

We have crossed that economic ‘red line’ and have no other recourse than to radically and fundamentally change the way we function as an economy. It has to change, because there simply is no other way around the magnitude of unsustainable debt we’ve accumulated. There are not enough years left on the planet to pay off what we owe, and by the way, we are not alone.

Budget cuts and austere fiscal measures are about as popular here as they are in places like Greece, London, and Spain. The choice will become, do we as a society agree to reduce the quality of life here in the good ol’ US of A, or do we keep things as they are, and go to a new system? I think overwhelmingly, most people will willingly authorize the use of another currency or system to keep welfare, Medicare, Medicaid, and subsidies rather than lose all of them. Why? Because people still need to eat, see the doctor, and help pay the bills. People still need paychecks to own cars, put roofs over their heads, and put their kids through school.

So we are at loggerheads as a nation in that we have reached that point of both having unsustainable debt and an unwillingness to change our ways. Something will have to give, and I’m willing to bet that tweaking the Constitution is going to be sold as the least painful option. And once we go to a global currency (whatever that looks like), we will no longer control our nation. Don’t believe me that we are that close to doing it? Look at the chaos the world is currently enduring: a promising nuclear and genocidal Iran, a hermit nuclear nation run by a 29-year-old, a burgeoning Russia and China, suicidal and maniacal jihadists, and 35 other armed conflicts currently ongoing in the world today, and we want to SHRINK our military? We want to reduce the means by which we have to defend ourselves. Things must be a lot worse than anyone can imagine.

The big picture is that America is at that point where it is now willing to trade autonomy for security. Soon, we will be no different than Greece or Italy. We just have the best military right now, which is why no one is forcing our hand at the moment. But there is coming a day when all of our military might will not be able to stop the forces seeking to force us to become subservient in our role as the big stick in someone else’s hand. The wealth, power, and might of the US will come to naught pretty soon, and everything people have worked and slaved away for all their lives will seem rather irrelevant in the months and years to come.

Silver Lining

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Where is your treasure laid up? Is it in the next Ronald Reagan? Gold and silver? A 401K with stock options? This age is coming rapidly to a close. Our current system is unraveling faster and faster, and if you’ve placed your faith and trust in your own ability to provide a long, comfortable life, you’re going to be disappointed.

Satan can see the storm clouds gathering, so he’s instituting his plans with greater swiftness and ferocity. The fact that we are becoming irrelevant is only relevant as it pertains to how close we are to the end of this dispensation. It is becoming more and more apparent that the US will not have some kind of massive revival and repent as a nation again.

There is a reason why the Bible makes no mention of a great nation in the West in the last days. Regardless of how it happens, something does. We are, as a nation, buckling under our own weight. At this point, super-committees and last-minute budget deals are as meaningful as rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

The silver lining is that salvation is yours for the asking. You need only place your faith in Jesus Christ to change your life and your eternal destiny forever. Oh, and some sound spiritual advice is, you shouldn’t wait too long either. Because His return is a lot sooner than you think.