Bible Question:
Sorry, I meant, given 1 Thess 1:10; 5:9; and Romans 5:9, does "that site" (www.signministries.org") place the rapture before or after Rev. 6:16-17? In Him, Benjamite |
Bible Answer: Hi Benjamite, I don't know about that site. Without much reading I would not be able to answer that. From my studies, the Church will not go through the Tribulation. The word "Church"(which is the body of Christ) is not used after Rev. 3:22 until 22:16. The start of Rev 4 really signifies the rapture....In verse 1 John heard a "voice as it were a trumpet....which said, Come up hither". This corresponds with 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: 17) Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord". This is not the "coming in power and great glory" that will happen after the 7 year Tribulation. Verse 2, "and immediately I was in the Spirit". This is what will happen when the Lord comes back as a thief in the night. He will come back for us the same way he left. Very quietly with only believers knowing. Notice in Acts 1:10 "And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel" 11)"Which also 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" That is how I see the rapture. The Rapture cannot be Post Trib. "No man knoweth the hour". Our Lord can come at any time, at any second so to say that the rapture is after the Tribulation is saying that Jesus cannot come back today which is also saying that you know about when the Lord is coming back. With this thought, when the antichrist rises during the 7-year trib, a person can say, well a few more years before the Lord comes. Rev. 16:15 "Behold, I come as a thief". This shows that the Church (we Christians) will not on the earth at that time because the Thessalonian Christians were assured that that day would not overtake them as a thief as stated in 1Thes 5:4. Christians (the Church) are not in the darkness but in the light. We know that Jesus is coming back, it is our hope, and so we're always on the "lookout" if you will. Rev 16:15 is a final warning to those Tribulation Saints to stay vigilant, stay awake, do not be swayed, stay away from Satan-inspired activities of those last days. God Bless Barry |