Month: April 2020

The Olivet Discourse (Part eleven)

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The Second coming of Christ
Matthew 24:26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
Now there are those that see the events in verse 31 as the Rapture. However this is not the case.
Revelation 3: 10 “Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world. 11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. 12 All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never have to leave it. And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.
It is this promise that shows that the Rapture and the events that occur at the return of Christ at the end of the Tribulation are two separate events.
As we look at verse 31 from Matthew in the KJV:
“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.”
We see that the term chosen ones goes to elect
Elect – eklektos – chosen out, elect, choice, select: of those chosen out by God for the rendering of special service to Him (of the Hebrew race, particular Hebrews, the Messiah, and the Christians)
In this case though since the Christians are removed before the Tribulation as is promised in Revelation 3:10. Also that they are removed before the antichrist can be fully revealed in 2 Thessalonians 2:5-8 this must mean the Hebrews or Jewish people.
So this is the third Rapture and is of the Jewish people. The First Rapture takes place before the Tribulation begins and is as shown above for those Christians that have been loyal unto to God through His Son Jesus Christ and so will be very small. The Second Rapture occurs at the midpoint of the Tribulation at which time the third temple is desecrated. It is here that those that are martyred in the name of Christ will be called up before the Throne of God. It is also at this time that 144,000 will receive the mark of God and will bear witness through the last half of the tribulation. Since it is clearly shown that the 144,000, who are the elect, are all Jewish adds more evidence that the third Rapture which happens as Christ returns is solely for the Jewish people. The chosen and promised nation of God unto Abraham.
The Second coming will be an event that will be witnessed by the entire globe and will take at least a full day to accomplish as Christ appears at a fixed point in the sky above and the earth will rotate below Him and all will see that Christ is real and He has returned. None will be able to question this.

The Olivet Discourse (Part ten)

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Signs of the Great Tribulation
As Jesus spoke to His apostles on the Mount of Olives. To answer the two questions they had posed to Him. He began by describing the signs of the world and human behavior before the coming judgment. These signs were addressed in the previous parts of this series. Now Jesus tells His disciples of the tribulation itself.
Now it must be noted that he mentions the defilement of the holy area in a temple. At this time there is no Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The fact that there will be is another sign that the coming tribulation is near. It must also be noted that within the last few years several events have occurred in Israel to cause the last temple to be contruted.

Matthew 24: 15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 16 “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. 22 In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones. 23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. 25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.
When this third temple is defiled those within Israel are told to flee from there immediately not even bothering to gather anything. For that moment to hesitate will be enough to mean their death. He says that this time will far more arduous than at any other time in recorded history, and the only thing that will save the human race itself will be that God puts an end to it.
Then he shows that the antichrist, the false messiah well have powers and abilities, as will his prophet that will cause even those true to God to have cause to wonder and ponder. However they will see the truth and overcome, for they will know the teachings of the Bible and know that these humans are liars and are of the devil.
It is also important to note that at this point this is all He says about the tribulation period. He instead goes right to the point of answering the question probed by the twelve. His return, which will be in the next part of this series.