Editions

Edition 316: June 15^th 2016

The Day of the Lord and more on the rapture:

The Day of the Lord and more on the rapture:

Introduction:

The Day of the Lord is a key to understanding end-time prophecy and the controversies surrounding the pre or post-tribulation rapture of the true church.

The Bible uses the terms, “day of the Lord”, “day of God”, and “day of Messiah (Christ)” They are not all synonymous. Each of them contains different applications.

There is much comfort and great blessing in knowing and seeing these wonderful truths.

What is the day of the Lord?

There are some verses that clearly refer to a 24 hour day, the last and final day of the tribulation period, which will also be the day of the Second Coming. But there are many verses referring to the day of the Lord, which is the entire seven-year tribulation period. There is even one verse implying that the “day” is the whole church era. But we won’t deal with that now.

So, we have to go by the context in the verses and surrounding verses to know and see what is being referred to.

Please read the following verses and note the distinctions between them. You will be able to clearly see if the verse is referring to the whole seven-year tribulation, or just the last day of it:

Zephaniah 1:14-18 “The great day of the Lord is near; it is near and hastens quickly. The noise of the day of the Lord is bitter. The mighty men shall cry out. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of devastation and destruction, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of trumpets and alarms against the fortified cities and against the high towers. I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; their blood shall be poured out like dust, and their flesh like refuse. Neither their silver nor gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy, for He shall make speedy riddance of all those who dwell in the land.” (Both the whole tribulation period and the last day are referred to here.)

Zephaniah 3:16-17 “In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: Do not fear Zion; let not you hands be weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, the Mighty One will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness.” (The whole tribulation period is in view here.)

Isaiah 13:6-13 “Wail for the day of the Lord is at hand! It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. Therefore all hands will be limp, everyman’s heart will melt, and they will be afraid. Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them; they will be in pain as a woman in childbirth; they will be amazed at one another; their faces will be like flames. Behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it....I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity...I will shake the heavens and the earth will move out of her place in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.” (The second half of the tribulation period is in view here.)

Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas for that day is great, so that none is like it. It is the day of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.” (The entire tribulation is in view here.)

Joel 2:1-2 “Blow the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord is coming. A day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness...the likes of which has never been, nor will there ever be.” (The entire tribulation is in view here.)

Joel 3:14 “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” (The entire tribulation is in view here.)

Malachi 4:5 “Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers.” (The entire tribulation is in view here.)

Revelation 6:17 “The great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand.” (The second half of the tribulation is in view here.)

1 Thessalonians 5:2-6 “Concerning the times and season, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, ‘peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them as labour pains and they shall not escape. But you brethren are not in darkness that this Day should overtake you as a thief...let us not sleep as other do, but watch and be sober.” (The entire tribulation is in view here.)

2 Thessalonians 2:3-8 “Let no man deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the come falling away (departure)comes first and the man of sin (antichrist) is revealed, the son of perdition...and now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way and then the lawless one will be revealed.” (The entire tribulation is in view here.)

So now, we see in the verses above that the day of the Lord is a term for the final day of the tribulation, the second half or the entire seven years. We must go by context. We can’t lump them all together into one.

Those who believe in a post-tribulation rapture, believe that the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 referring to the “last trump, on the last day”, are proofs that the rapture must occur at the end of the tribulation. They incorrectly presume that there is only one “last trump” and the day of the Lord is the end of the tribulation.

There is a last trump for the church age and a last trump for the tribulation. The “last day” does not always mean the last day of the tribulation. To try and include the rapture in the day of the Lord is to do Bible hermeneutics and interpretation a terrible injustice.”

When is the Day of the Lord?

Zechariah 14:6-7 “It shall come to pass in that day that there will be no light the lights will diminish. It shall be one day which is known to the Lord – neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen that it will be light.”

If you recall, in a previous edition I shared with you the meaning of the Hebrew idiom, “The twinkling of an eye”, as part of the Feast of Trumpets, which is used to describe the time period between sunset and before moon rise. In other words it means, early evening.

Once the seven-year day of the Lord begins, the Bible records exactly how many days it will be until mid-tribulation and until the Second Coming. The time period is recorded in years in months and in days, so all people in the tribulation need to do is tick off the days!

So, we now know that the Second Coming will occur in the evening, on a day known to the Lord and to all people.

But we don’t know when the full seven-year tribulation begins for sure. Once the tribulation starts, people will know exactly when it will end, to the evening of the day.

More rapture revelations:

 

Revelation 3:8-10 “...I have set before you and open door and no one can shut it...Because you have kept My word to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial (tribulation period) which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.”

In these incredible verses above we actually have two rapture words that are important to understand. Firstly the “open door” must be considered:

“Door” is Strong’s G2374 “Thyra”. It has a number of meanings, one being “portal entrance.”

Now isn’t that very interesting? It’s not just a normal door being spoken of but a portal into a whole new environment!

Notice that the verse says that “no one can shut this portal”.  Isn’t that comforting!

The second important rapture word is: “I will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole earth.”

The word, “from” (ek in the original,) means “to be kept clean out away from.” It carries with it the idea of a removal in space and time. It does not imply, being protected through the tribulation.

We have an open portal entrance, which no one can shut before us, and we have a great promise to be kept clean out away from the tribulation!

Those who believe in a post-tribulation rapture claim that the book of Revelation is not chronological. I agree that there are a few verses that jump around in time, but the majority do follow chronologically.

The term “after this” or “after these things” is used in numerous passages. “It is Strong’s G3326, G5023 = “Meta tauta” meaning “following after these things”. It’s so plain and simple, yet the post tribbers say the Revelation is not chronological!

Revelation 4:1 “After these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice that I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

“After this” refers obviously to the preceding events, which are the chapters describing the seven churches of the church age. Then after this we see the elders in heaven, rewarded and clothed in clean white linen with crowns of reward on their heads. Then we see the opening of the seven sealed scrolls, which is the tribulation period.

This absolutely necessitates a pre-tribulation rapture.

►BUT, did you notice it? Did you see it? I hope you did! Here it is: Look back up at that verse in Revelation 4:1. Note the phrase I’ve underlined, “a door standing open”!!!!!!  Yes, here it is again, that amazing word: Strong’s G2374 “Thyra” meaning “portal entrance”, which we saw a few verses back in Revelation 3:10.

So now, we have the promise of the open portal entrance to a new world seen in the church of Philadelphia still on earth in Revelation 3:10 and now after this, we see the open portal entrance from the heavenly perspective in Revelation 4:1. Isn’t that amazing?

2 Thessalonians 2:3-7 “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away (departure) comes first and the man of sin is revealed...only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.”

More on the “apostasy:”

The apostasy is not the “falling away” from the faith. Numerous Bible prophecies show that there will be an outpouring of the Spirit of God around the world. Yes the “love of many will grow cold” but that has been on the go for many years already and, it’s selective. It’s especially a strong falling-away among the spirit-less church.

Certain sections of the church are growing very fast and strongly. The church is growing strongly in the eastern nations of the world. So if we are going to say that “the falling away” or “apostasy” is from the faith, it doesn’t really add up with reality.

If we (rightly) say that the “falling away” is in fact the departure of the church – so many other verses then add up and fall into place like a jigsaw puzzle.

The original text has the definite article in front of the word “apostasy”. This means it is not a general falling away from the faith, but THE specific departure of the church – the rapture.

The necessity of a dispensation change:

 

2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 “Now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed...”

The restrainer must be removed before the antichrist can be revealed. The antichrist is a key central figure and participant throughout the tribulation period.

The identity of the restrainer is very important because of the timing of this event. The restrainer can only, logically, be the church indwelt by the Holy Spirit. It is the indwelling Holy Spirit that occurred at Pentecost, officially starting the church dispensation.

The central character of the church dispensation is the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Before this, the Holy Spirit operated in a different manner. Of course He was still here, as He will be in the tribulation, but His operation and dealing with man was different in the Old Covenant.

Scripture requires the closing and fulfilling of Daniel’s seventy weeks of years (Daniel 9:27). Because Daniel’s seventieth week is part of the sixty nine, it carries with it all the characteristics and similarities of the sixty nine weeks.

The full seventy weeks of Daniel are “determined” or cut out of time, for “My people” (Jews). (Daniel 9:24). The seventieth week is yet unfulfilled. So this seventieth week is in fact the closing of the Old Covenant dispensation, with exactly the same characteristics as the sixty nine.

This means that the central character of the church age, which is the Holy Spirit, indwelling and hosted in the church, must change and come to an end with the removing of the church.

You can’t have the seventieth week being the same as the church age in character. That would violate half the Bible. The seventieth week is the time of Jacob’s trouble. That is Israel’s tribulation!

 

The tribulation period is another dispensation and closes the Old Covenant. This dispensation change starts the tribulation. It was Pentecost and the indwelling Holy Spirit that signalled the start of the church dispensation. It will be the removal of the Holy Spirit in the church, which will change the dispensation, reveal the antichrist and start the tribulation.

The antichrist cannot exist in the church age.

Do you see why dispensation deniers are so wrong?

Please note that the “departure”, the removal of the restrainer, and the revealing of the antichrist are all linked together. So if the rapture occurs at the end of the tribulation period in association with the Second Coming, then the antichrist must be revealed then too, as we go into the Millennium!

A terrible, sick reality in the church:

Replacement theology is nothing new. Satan has always tried to replace God’s word and ways with his own, right from the Garden. He has always tried to undermine, or kill God’s choice of the Jews. The Catholics formed and produced the satanic theology that the church has replaced Israel and God has no future plans for Israel.

This theology led to the anti-Semitic, mass murder of untold millions of Jews by the Catholics in the Inquisitions. Replacement theology was the central doctrine of all the reformers besides one, and today has a new modern face upon it, being the central doctrine of most reformed and denominational churches.

But think about this!

In the very soon coming day of the Lord, the tribulation period, the central focus of the antichrist will be the extermination of the Jews and especially the Jews becoming believers, en masse. Many churches, and of course the Catholic church, will be blowing their trumpet of celebration as the antichrist / beast annihilates, tortures to death, beheads and slaughters the Jews (and others getting saved.)

By the way, many churches including the Catholic church will go into and through the tribulation.

Catholic and reformed-created replacement theology will be the replacement reality of the antichrist in the tribulation.

Jewish people let me warn you: Be careful of alliances, covenants, memberships and any such thing with the Catholic church and those of replacement theology. They are, knowingly or not, motivated by Satan himself for your ultimate demise and destruction.

►Jewish people, the true church of the living God, those with a Zionist and Hebraic identity are your best friends ever. You can totally trust them / us. We love you as our own and will stand with you and for you until we are removed from this earth.

***Ruth 1:16-17 “Ruth - don’t urge me to leave you, Naomi, or turn back. For wherever you go, I will go...Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I shall die...the Lord do so to me and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.”

Ruth was a Moabite and therefore a Gentile while Naomi was a Jewess. The Moabites had tried to curse Israel. In fact in today’s terms the Moabites would be the Arab Palestinians!

What a difference one individual led by God can make!

What a wonderful picture of deep, spiritual friendship between a Gentile and a Jew.

I speak for myself and The Prophetic Scroll. We put our name in here with Ruth, and with Esther below, and Isaiah!

***Esther 4:14 “For if you remain completely silent at this time; relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place...Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for a time such as this?”

***Isaiah 62:1 “For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth like brightness and her salvation as a lamp that burns.”

Finally:

We are racing ahead to the departure of the church, the removal of the restrainer, the release of the antichrist and the start of the grand, final seven year, day of the Lord.

Talk about dramatic times! It’s time to get ready, and be ready. It may be October this year during the Feast of Trumpets or next year’s Feast of Trumpets. And we’ll also keep a close eye out for a Pentecost rapture next year, although that’s more unlikely. The signs will speak!

I took this picture of a white rhino in Botswana. I used various texture filters to change it and added the picture of a single baobab tree leaf to add some interest.

 Shalom and grow in grace!