THE TRIBULATION & THE RAPTURE – Made Easier To Understand?

~ Michael Young, Sr.

 

THE TRIBULATION AND RAPTURE MADE EASIER TO UNDERSTAND

The (Very) Condensed Version

“Yeah. Right!”, you might say. But I say that it can be understood. And it is in your best interest to understand. But, you have to get the purpose, priority and chronology right, first. And, it is helpful if not absolutely necessary to know God’s Eternal Plan as it relates to the past, present and future history of all creation – the earth, the heavens, all humankind, and all living things.

From The Creation, through the Garden of Eden, and the Fall of Man to the Great Flood, the Tower of Babel, the call of Abraham, Moses, the Exodus from Egypt, the possessing of The Promised Land, the building and the Destruction of the First Temple and the Jewish Captivity in Babylon, the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Destruction of the Second Temple, our steady march through time has been exactly as Bible prophecy has foretold.  We have entered an era leading to the destruction and, eventually, a rebirth of the heavens and the earth. Throughout these eons of time, we can see The Hand of God working in the affairs of humankind, working out His Purpose for eternity.

PERFECTION

The Purpose of God’s Eternal Plan is “Perfection”. He began with the imperfect and created the Masterpiece, first in the heavens and then on the earth. His work completed in just seven days; He would allow His Masterpiece to mature for millennia until it becomes His Perfection.

God is maturing and perfecting His people into His image, ultimately to live in perfect harmony with Him and with one another, in a New and Perfect heaven and earth.

This is a journey of discovery and revelation of God’s Grand Plan and Design, from creation through the End of the Age, then into a New Heaven and a New Earth.

“Because by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:14

Each and every chapter, verse and word in the Bible, when viewed within this context of  God’s Eternal Plan of Perfection, begins to make perfect sense. (for great detail, see the series, “The Journey to Perfection”.)

God’s plan began, is unfolding, and will conclude exactly as He has purposed. Here are a few of the major Biblical events where you can see God’s Hand moving in the affairs of humankind, leading to the End of the Age:

1. The creation of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1–31) – Before Time
2.  The first humans (Genesis 1:26–31; 2:8–25) – Before 4,000 B.C.
3.  The fall of man (Genesis 3:1–24) – Before 4,000 B.C.
4. The great flood (Genesis 6:9–9:17) – Before 2,500 B.C.
5. The  of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1–9) – Before 2,100 B.C.
6. The call of Abraham (Genesis 12:1–5) – 2,091 B.C.
7. The exodus (Exodus 12:31–42; 14:1–31) – 1,446 B.C.
8. The building of the first Temple (1 Kings 6) – 966 B.C.
9. The birth of Jesus (Matt 1:18–2:23; Luke 2:1–10) – 5 B.C.
10. The temptation of Jesus (Matthew 4:1–11; Mark 1:12–13) -27 A.D.
11. The calling of the disciples (Matthew 4:18–22; Mark 1:16–20; Luke 5:1–11) – 27 A.D.
12. The Sermon on the Mount/Plain (Matthew 5:1–7:29; Luke 6:29–40) -27 A.D.
13. Jesus’s crucifixion (Matthew 27:32–56; Mark 15:21–41; Luke 23:26–49; John 19:16–37) – 30 A.D.
14. Jesus’s resurrection (Matthew 28:1–20; Mark 16:1–20; Luke 24:1–53; John 20:1–31) – 30 A.D. – 30 .A.D.
15. The giving of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16–20) – 30 A.D.
16. The  of the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1–41) – 30 A.D.
17. The second coming of Jesus (Revelation 19:11–16) – In The Future
18. The new heaven and new earth (Revelation 21:1–5) –  In the Future

(Please remember that there are corresponding world events which reflect the prophetic events found in the Bible. For those interested, here is an important Comparative Biblical, Secular and a ‘Daniel’s 70 Weeks’ Historical chronology chart for your review.)

 FIRST – A Matter of Important Business:

Unless you have received Jesus into your heart as your Lord and Savior, you have a limited-to-no capacity to understand the spiritual significance and application of spiritual truth to your life. However, once you surrender your life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit will come to indwell you and will reveal all Truth to you and will guide you in that Truth. Receive Him, today – Now is the time.

(Please, click on each of these images for ‘how to be saved’ before proceeding)

         

SECONDLY, to have even a rudimentary understanding of the Tribulation, the rapture, and the Book of The Revelation, you should know WHY God is bringing times of ‘birth pains’, and tribulations of plagues to the earth which will escalate into what is known as “The Great Tribulation”, “the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord”, “The Wrath of the Lamb”, “The End of Days” and “The End of the Age”. (answer below).

THIRDLY, in order to understand the Book of Revelation, we also need to know WHEN these things are coming upon us. (answers below).

FOURTH, in order to understand the Book of Revelation, we need to know HOW God will bring about The End of Days in a chronological order and by visible signs. (answers below).

FIFTH, in order to understand the events of the Book of The Revelation, we need to know how this will affect you.

SHORT ANSWERS:

 THE SHORT ANSWER TO “WHY” God is bringing times of ‘birth pains’, and tribulations of plagues to the earth is that the wickedness of people will have become, and is becoming great on the earth, just like in the days of Noah, and God’s plan and purpose for His creation is perfection. Therefore, He will “Many will be purged, purified and refined”. (see Daniel 12:10).

THE SHORT ANSWER TO “WHEN” are these things are coming upon us, is that these things are already evident, are increasing in frequency and intensity throughout the earth. Read these words and testimonies by the Apostles Paul, Timothy, Peter and John which tell us that these things began in or around A.D. 1 to A.D. 95, and they have been continuously evident, overlapping and increasing in their intensity to this day.

Also, as early as A.D. 30, Jesus said these things:

  1. Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. (see Matthew 24:4-5.)
  2. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. (see Matthew 24:6-8 and Revelation 6:1-4)
  3. In various places there will be famines and earthquakes. (Matthew 24:8.  But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. Also see Revelation 6:5-6.)
  4. Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. (see Matthew 24:9-10 and Revelation 6:9-11.)
  5. At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. (see Matthew 24:10-13.)
  6. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. (see Matthew 24:14.)

THE SHORT ANSWER TO “HOW” God will bring about The End of Days in a chronological order and by visible signs, is that there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time God’s people, that is everyone who is found written in the Book of Life, will be rescued. But, there will be a shattering of the power of the holy people and a purging, a cleansing and a refining of God’s people.

THE SHORT ANSWER, “WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH ME?” is that the Bible warns that “The coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so, will the coming of the Son of Man be. Of that day, no one knows the day or the hour”, but if you did know, would you be ready?

“Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left … the Master will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut the unfaithful into pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

(What does it mean to be ready? Go here What does it mean to get ready)

I will conclude this short essay with a short outline of the Tribulation Judgment Seals which lead to the Great Tribulation, also known as the Great and Terrible Day of The Lord, The End of the Age or the Wrath of the Lamb. (Concern yourself with the first 6 Seals):

  1. 1st Tribulation Seal – International (Global) conquest and political intrigue (has already occurred and continues to occur, overlapping with seals 1 through 5, increasing in intensity).
  2. 2nd Tribulation Seal – Wars and Rumors of War (has already occurred and continues to occur, overlapping with seals 1 through 5, increasing in intensity).
  3. 3rd Tribulation Seal – Famine (has already occurred and continues to occur, overlapping with seals 1 through 5, increasing in intensity).
  4. 4th Tribulation Seal – Death (has already occurred and continues to occur, overlapping with seals 1 through 5, increasing in intensity).
  5. 5th Tribulation Seal – Martyrs, persecution, falling away – the great apostasy (has already occurred and continues to occur, overlapping with seals 1 through 5, increasing in intensity).
  6. 6th Tribulation Seal – Cosmic disturbances, blood moon, darkened sun, terror, calamity (yet to occur).
    1. Sealing of the 144,000.
    2. The Rapture.

There is also a lot of discussion and disagreement on the placement and the timing of the rapture of the saints. I find this odd since Matthew 24:29-31 gives such a compelling and plain-face-value description of the rapture of the saints of God:

Matthew 24:29-31,“But immediately after the tribulation of those days (previous days of ‘tribulation – seals 1 through 5, a.k.a., days of distress, see Daniel 9:1) the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet blast, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” (Matthew 24:29-31.)

There are those who will say that this is not the 2nd Coming of Jesus because He only appears in the sky and does not come down to the earth. They will say the 2nd coming of Jesus occurs later, as found in Revelation 19:7-16.

Revelation 19:11, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. Verse 12, His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. Verse 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. Verse 14, And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses.” (Revelation 19:11-16)

Please notice that in Matthew 24, ‘all the tribes of the earth will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds‘.

 

 

Then in Revelation 19:11, only John the Revelator, who is speaking and according to the text, sees Jesus: “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war.” And nowhere in the text of Revelation 19, does it say that Jesus actually comes to the earth – it is a weak assumption that Jesus could only defeat the forces of if He physically came down to the earth. The text does not say.

A simple explanation is that the sign of the Son of Man (Jesus) HAS APPEARED in the sky, in Matthew 24, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.  In other words, Jesus has appeared and will continue to appear – according to the text, STILL IN THE HEAVENS – just at another time.

Why is this important. It is important because it pinpoints the timing of the rapture! Immediately following the breaking of the first six tribulation seals (Revelation chapter 6), scriptures in Revelation chapter 7:9-14,which correspond to Matthew 24:29-31, we see “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

This is another clear, and what should be indisputable, description of all of the raptured saints, from all the ages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

And, Why does it matter when the tribulation starts or when Christians are to be raptured into heaven?

  • It matters because being ready for His Return is proof of True Christianity, and only a True Believer in Christ will be guaranteed to join Christ at the sound of His Great Trumpet call and escape the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.
  • It matters because being ready requires believing and doing what He has instructed us to do in preparation for His return.
  • It matters because He has warned that “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
  • It matters because many Christians are sitting idly waiting for an event that has already begun, and they are not DOING what He told them to do and therefore are in grave danger.
  • It matters because some of our family, friends and neighbors are completely unaware or just don’t believe that Christ will return and God’s final judgments will sentence them to outer darkness.
  • It matters because, as Christians, our faith, our convictions and our behavior are speaking louder than our words.

This has become to be known as the Pretribulation Pre-Wrath, Rapture; and whether you believe it this way or whether you hold a differing view, the important thing is that you and I are doing what Jesus has instructed, thereby being ready for His return.

Your Brother and Friend,

Mike Young

Published by Michael Young, Sr.

I am a practicing Christian, a disciple of Jesus, a husband of over 50 years, a father and a grandfather, a business man, a veteran and a friend to all who will have me. I have served or am serving, at various times, as an Evangelist, a Pulpit fill pastor, an Associate Pastor of Evangelism and as Senior Pastor of a church plant. My passion is for practicing and teaching the Bible, building small groups, reaching the lost with the message of the Gospel of Jesus, recovering the straying Sheep of God and the gathering together the Called of God, in neighborhoods, business settings and in churches by equipping other Christians. I have authored a few small books and I have a background in professional business management, finance and investments. I am glad to meet you, even if it is virtually. Write me at any time and let's become friends.

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