Earlier today, we continued our look at whether or not the Bible gives us a clear indication of not only the sequence of events as they'll unfold in the fulfillment of end times prophecy, but whether or not it also gives us a clear indication of the actual timing for those prophesied events to occur.
I think it's safe to say that we're all on the same page in the sense that something is happening right now with God's church of true believers as He is pouring the revelation of these truths upon us as part of the "unsealing" spoken of in Daniel 12:4. Our job is to prayerfully discern the truth and try to always separate the fact from the fiction.
The last few columns focused on the Gog-Magog War and the potential for the Great Deception and gave some us strong evidence to indicate one or both may be imminent. But there's another event in prophecy that is typically viewed as being "imminent" and that's the Rapture of the church.
I've said many times before that I believe the Rapture is an actual, physical event, and also one that would happen just prior to the beginning of the Tribulation (the start of Daniel's 70th Week or the final 7 years). However, I should point out that I'm beginning to prepare myself for the very real and distinct possibility that it may not happen until the midway point of the Tribulation (3.5 years into the final 7 years), or right before the start of the Great Tribulation (the final 3.5 years of the last 7 years).
Some visitors and community members have suggested that I give "equal time" to all views here in this forum. While that sounds like a great idea on the surface (and please know that I really don't mean any disrespect by this remark) I think that's exactly what the Comments Section is reserved for. These articles that get published represent not only my views, but the things I feel moved to write about. I am always open to new interpretations and understandings as the left hand sidebar of this page will attest to ("iron sharpens iron), but to implement some kind of "Fairness Doctrine" here at Look Up Fellowship is inappropriate.
Besides, I simply report my findings and opinions on the subject matter and encourage you all to examine the evidence on your own and for yourselves. Plus, I will NEVER censor any comments that are submitted so, again, the Comments Section is the only place where you'll find the "Fairness Doctrine" in action here. Of course, once you reach your own conclusions I insist that you also take them under prayerful consideration to our Lord. Now that we've addressed that let's continue with this study.
In the verses we looked at recently we came across a phrase that might give some people pause: "The Day of the Lord." So, I thought it might be a good time to take a closer look at what this actually means.
The phrase “day of the Lord” usually identifies events that take place at the end of history (Isaiah 7:18-25), and is often closely associated with the phrase “that day.” One key to understanding these phrases is to note that they always identify a span of time during which God personally intervenes in history, directly or indirectly, to accomplish some specific aspect His plan.
Most people associate “the day of the Lord” with a period of time or a special day that will occur at the end of time when God’s will and purpose for His world and for mankind will be fulfilled. Some scholars believe that “the day of the Lord” will be a longer period of time, rather than a single day - - a period of time when Christ will reign throughout the world before He cleanses Heaven and Earth in preparation for the eternal state of all mankind. Yet, other scholars believe the Day of the Lord will be an instantaneous event when Christ returns to earth to redeem His faithful believers and send unbelievers to eternal damnation.
The phrase “the day of the Lord” is used 19 times in the Old Testament (Isaiah 2:12; 13:6, 9; Ezekiel 13:5, 30:3; Joel 1:15, 2:1,11,31;3:14; Amos 5:18,20; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1:7,14; Zechariah 14:1;Malachi. 4:5) and 4 times in the New Testament (Acts 2:20; 2 Thessalonians 2:2; 2 Peter 3:10). It is also alluded to in other passages (Revelation 6:17; 16:14).
The Old Testament passages dealing with the day of the Lord often convey a sense of imminence, nearness, and expectation: “Wail, for the day of the Lord is near!” (Isaiah 13:6); “For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near” (Ezekiel 30:3); “For the day of the Lord is near” (Joel 1:15); “Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near” (Joel 2:1); “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:14); “For the day of the Lord draws near on all the nations” (Obadiah 15); “Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near” (Zephaniah 1:7); “Near is the great day of the Lord, near and coming very quickly” (Zephaniah1:14). This is because the Old Testament “day of the Lord” passages often speak of both a near and a far fulfillment, as does much of Old Testament prophecy. There are times in the Old Testament that “the day of the Lord” is used to describe historical judgments that have already been fulfilled in at least some sense (Isaiah 13:6-22; Ezekiel 30:2-19; Joel 1:15; 3:14; Amos 5:18-20; Zephaniah 1:14-18), while at other times it refers to divine judgments that will take place towards the end of the age (Joel 2:30-32; Zechariah 14:1; Malachi 4:1, 5).
The New Testament calls it a day of “wrath,” a day of “visitation,” and the “great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14) and refers to a still-future fulfillment when God’s wrath is poured out on unbelieving Israel (Isaiah 22; Jeremiah 30:1-17; Joel 1-2; Amos 5; Zephaniah 1) and on the unbelieving world (Ezekiel 38–39; Zechariah 14). The Scriptures indicate that “the day of the Lord” will come quickly, like a thief in the night (Zephaniah 1:14-15; 2 Thessalonians 2:2), and therefore we as Christians must be watchful and ready for the coming of Christ at any moment.
Besides being a time of judgment, it will also be a time of salvation as God will deliver the remnant of Israel, fulfilling His promise that “all of Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26), forgiving their sins and restoring His chosen people to the land He promised to Abraham (Isaiah 10:27; Jeremiah 30:19-31, 40; Micah 4; Zechariah 13). The final outcome of the day of the Lord will be that “the arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 2:17).
The ultimate or final fulfillment of the prophecies concerning “the day of the Lord” will come at the end of history when with wondrous power God will punish evil and fulfill all His promises.
RECOMMENDED READING:
In Depth Study Of "The Day Of The Lord"
What We're Praying/Talking About
March 13, 2009
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12 Comments:
Please notice that a very important time marker is made in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4.
Paul directly ties "The day of the Lord" (which does not come until near the end of the Tribulation) directly to "our being gathered unto Him" (or rapture if you will.)
We will be gathered to the Lord and meet Him in the air just prior to the Lord descending with His saints and mighty angels to overthrow the wicked of the earth.
Strong argument against a pre-trib rapture. Read that chapter carefully and in context...
I am an idependent christian, except for a few teachers that christ lead me to I am self taught. when i excepeted christ and read the entire bible my eyes were opened. information began to flow to me in great abundance. so much that i was often over come!
but i must warn you the rature is falce doctrine!!!!! please go to
christian media network.com and research the rapture with this great teacher james loyd thank you for your time and GOD BLESS
john
Excellent comments by Unworthy1... To take it a step further, Joel 2:30-32 clearly articulates the SIGNS of the Day of the Lord (and His Salvation!!). Interestingly, those are the same signs listed by Jesus (Matth. 24:29-30) as a sign of his coming and the signs listed in the 6th seal of Rev. 6... Those verses all converge on the same event that Paul talks about in I Thes. 4:13-5:9 (The Greek does not have the artificial chapter break...) and II Thes. 2:1-12. The Coming of our King and The Day of the Lord occur after the revealing of the A/C, probably late in the Great Tribulation... That explains the 'cutting short of those days'.
Exciting study! Thanks.
Peace,
Pete
Anonymous could you explain this part of Thesselonians to me.
16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18Therefore encourage each other with these words.
Thanks
Seeker
In revelation 7:14
14 I answered, "Sir, you know."
And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Notice the citation and then when it occurs in revelation.. After the seals and after the slain complain (seal 5). Those slain in tribulation are different than those who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. The Lords prayer says Our Father....and deliver us from evil. Our father is a merciful God. He will not allow the righteous to suffer with the wicked.
Jodi
I was raised to believe the rapture would happen before. Went to a church in my adult life where they said it would be 3.5 years in.
I sought the Lord on this. All I know is that He wants me to be ready with oil in my lamp and be His bride. Keep strong in the word... don't be distracted by things of this world. Stay strong. Be ready to die for Him if necessary. Pre/Post trib? Doesn't matter to me anymore.
Oh - and if someone tried to implement the "fairness doctrine" on MY blog I'd tell them to take a hike.
For a thorough discussion of 2 Thes 2, here's a study by Feinberg:
2 Thessalonians 2 and the Rapture
SHOULD A PRETRIBULATIONAL RAPTURE BE CONSIDERED A FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE
THE DAY OF THE LORD AND CERTAIN SO-CALLED “PRECURSORS”
I doubt the day of the Lord is a technical term. Rather, it is a non-technical term applied to events within a period wherein the Lord acts directly in the world for His sovereign purpose. Renald Showers argues in his book “Maranatha” that it has a broad and narrow aspect. If you take a narrow only view of the DotL then you have problems with verses like 1 Thes 5:2-3. If the DotL only occurs at the end of the 70th week when armies are gathering, how can they be saying peace and safety? In fact, unless you minimize the gravity of the seals, trumpets and bowls, or have them only occur in one region rather than globally, you don’t have peace and safety from the get go. The same applies to those who say the DotL occurs soon after the 6th seal – there’s no prior feeling of peace and safety. Furthermore, if the unbelievers of the 6th seal are saying that the wrath of God is still future rather than past or present then that seems to contradict 1Th 5:4. The question needs to asked, if unbelievers are in darkness and the wrath of God hasn’t arrived yet, then how do they prophesy it?
The Day of the Lord
I don’t see how the great tribulation is cut shorter than it was prophesied to be. Daniel 7:25 tells us that it is three and a half years. In Rev 20:4 we see that those who have been martyred by the beast are resurrected after the Lord has returned. How can that be if the church has been raptured earlier and after the GT if it was cut short? Rev 13:5 also tells us that the beast has authority to act for 42 months.
I used to be up in the air (pun intended) about whether the rapture was pre-trib, mid-trib and post-trib, but am now convinced it's pre-trib. Aside from the better known arguments in favor of the pre-trib rapture doctrine by Dr. Ice and others is the Dr. Renald Showers videos on youtube. I also posted a piece on this blog earlier on the barley, wheat and grape harvests that I thought were a perfect model for the pre-trib rapture. Then of course there's the Jewish wedding model that can't be ignored. There's also a difference between wrath inflicted directly by God and wrath inflicted by man. Post-tribbers often cite tribulation against Christians by the wrath of man as a precedent, but that's not the same as God's wrath that the bible says man is not appointed to.
I don't think it matters enough to debate it. Some are concerned that if we find ourselves well into what we recognize as the tribulation, many will lose faith because of those preaching a pre-trib rapture doctrine. I know this sounds a little harsh, but if that's the case, their faith is based more on the timing of the rapture and not God's word, and that could be a sign of faith that's just not worthy anyway.
Just to be clear, I'm not saying believing in anything other than a pre-trib rapture says one's faith is weak. I'm saying that if one allows their faith to be weakened because the rapture didn't happen when they believed it should, then that qualifies in my opinion, as weak faith.
Regarding the rapture, check out
http://www.mt.net/~watcher/taber.html
Dear Friends,
How important is the question about
the length of the Day of Wrath or
Day of the Lord...since the signs for that day are the same with the
addition only of the earthquake?
If it is a single 12-hour day, which is my premise at website www.lastday.net, I see that fact as the only basis for unity among all believers.
How can any suggested period of time be given for the Day of Wrath after Jesus stated that its signs will occur on "one of the days" AFTER great tribulation? And Rev.
10:6-7 reveals the 7th Trumpet sounds "God's wrath has come" in
the days after "chronos-time ends"?
Mel Miller
I have been very confused about all of this. I believe we are in end times as many of the signs we are to watch for are being fulfilled but as to how long the church will be here I confess I am all at sea. I did try being an ostrich and buring my head in the sand, trying to deny the obvious but the signs are simply too compelling. Alas I am here to witness the end of all ages of mankind here on earth.
Lately I have been reading alot of information from all camps (pre-trib, post-trib, amillenial, pre-wrath etc) regarding end times and I find that many of the same bible verses are used to express different viewpoints. So I got my bible out and read it for myself and was not enlightened. I find it too obscure.
My conclusion is that I need to move closer to God. Have faith and take my fears about this time to Him. If I have a close relationship with God I can trust Him to deliver me from the coming trouble. Now that may be the rapture or it may be His special provision for us to get through these times.
On another note. You have every right to eschew a "fairness doctrine" on this blog. As you rightly put it - this is your blog and a forum for you to express your thoughts and ideas. Thanks for having comments open as it is good to be able to put one's 10 cents worth in sometimes.
Warmly, Mrs M.
FOR PRETRIB RAPTURE REPEATERS
Congratulations! You are now fulfilling the Bible which says "Come now, and let us repeat together."
Be sure to repeat what Walvoord, Lindsey, LaHaye, Ice etc. repeat what their own teachers repeat what their own teachers repeat etc. etc. etc.!
Repeat that Christ's return is imminent because we're told to "watch" (Matt. 24, 25) for it. So is the "day of God" (II Pet. 3:12) - which you admit is at least 1000 years ahead - also imminent because we're told to be "looking for" it?
Also repeat the pretrib myths about the "Jewish wedding stages" and "Jewish feasts" (where's your "church/Israel dichotomy" now?) even though Christ and Paul knew nothing about a "pretrib stage" and neither did any official theological creed or organized church before 1830!
You should read "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty" on the "Powered by Christ Ministries" site to find out why you shouldn't repeat everything your pretrib teachers repeat.
Do I have to repeat this?
(above is on the web. shocked? B.N.)
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