Multiple Raptures? (Part 4 of 4)

4. The Rapture is secret and instant (1 Co 15:50-54); the Second Coming is seen by all (Mt 24:29-30, Rev 1:7). I won’t repeat 1 Co 15:51-52 nor Mt 24:29-30, but the other verses are:

• 1 Co 15:50, 53-54 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. … For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
• Rev 1:7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

The Rapture is certainly instant – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Co 15:52), but how can it be in secret when it is preceded by a shout and the trumpet of God (1 Thes 4:16)? The transformation from perishable to imperishable, mortal to immortal is not in secret either, but public. Every eye will see the Lord coming, but they will see the sign of the Son of Man too – the resurrection and rapture! Hence this assertion is simply not valid.

5. The Rapture is imminent, likely to happen at any moment (1 Co 15: 50-54, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Titus 2:13); the Second Coming will not happen until certain events take place (Mt 24:15-30, 2 Thes 2:4, Rev 6-18).

• 1 Co 15:50-54, 1 Thes 4:13-17, Mt 24:29-30 see above.
• 1 Thes 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
• Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
• Mt 24:15-28 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
• 2 Thes 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
• Rev 6-18 Please refer to the Bible.

For sure, certain events must precede Christ’s return, including:

• The abomination of desolation (Antichrist) standing in the holy place (the temple of God), displaying himself as God;
• Great tribulation;
• False Christs and false prophets;
• Deception to mislead the elect (believers), plus others.

But these signs do not nullify the Lord’s plain statement:

• Mt 24:24, 42 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
• Mt 25:13 Be on the alert, then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
• Mk 13:32-33 But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed, keep on the alert, for you do not know when the appointed time will come.
• Mk 13:35 Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—

The whole point is to “be on the alert,” even though we do not know the exact day and hour. Take heed.

And since the Rapture and the Second Coming are concurrent, being ready for the Lord’s return is being prepared for the Rapture. How else are we to look for “the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” when there are no signs as the separate incidents schools suggested?

Now, let me return to your original question, “Is the Second Coming a single event or a series of events, and can we have multi-raptures?” My answer is the Second Coming is a single event, and we do not need multiple raptures. Let me borrow from Dan 9:24. The purpose of the Second Coming is:

• to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.

The Rapture brings all of God’s children home. Christ’s Return brings justice to punish all evil. Both purposes are accomplished in a single event at the consummation of the age. I believe the various schools are arguing over superficial differences. Feel free to disagree and show me what I overlooked. Blessings!

Days of Noah

Q. Is the Great Tribulation prophesied to be the same as the time before Noah’s flood?

A. No, the great tribulation is unique and unlike anything before or after, including Noah’s flood:

• Mt 24:21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.

However, the days of Noah are like the coming of the Son of Man:

• Mt 24:37-39 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. ³⁸ 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, ³⁹ and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
• Lk 17:26-27 And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: ²⁷ they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

Like in what sense? In the sense that people are not aware of the coming disaster that will soon overtake them. Until the flood came, people were eating and drinking, and marrying. In other words, business as usual. The flood caught them off-guard. Similarly, the coming of the Son of Man will catch people by surprise.

How does the great tribulation fit into the coming of the Son of Man?

• The days of the Son of Man will start with the signs of His coming – the beginning of birth pangs – described in Mt 24:4-8.
• This will be followed by tribulation (v 9), which is not yet the great tribulation),
• Apostasy (v 10-12), and
• The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to the whole world (v 13). All these will happen before the end comes (v 14).
• The abomination of desolation (v 15) marks the beginning of the great tribulation (v 21).
• Mt 24:29-30 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days 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. ³⁰ 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.

So the great tribulation is immediately before the return of Christ. In other words, His Second Coming will be post-tribulation. The days of Noah before he entered the ark is like only the early days of the Son of Man, before tribulation arrives. So be on the alert, don’t be misled.

Answering Unbeliever’s Questions

As a Testimony Against Them

Q.   An apostate Christian asked me why is an omnipotent god so silent?  He has asked for a sign and has not received an answer.  He has read the Bible and does not believe what it says and tells me that I should not use the Bible to prove the Bible.  He does not want to listen to me when I use secular history to prove the reality of Jesus and all the prophecies in the Bible.   He is too stubborn and lazy to do research on them.  I want to tell him not to challenge God’s power.  People have seen God’s signs only when they have life threatening dangers.  It is God’s grace that nothing has happened to him yet. He denies that his unbelief is from a tragedy in his life.  He is disenchanted by the Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh day Adventist and Muslims.  He is too lazy to find out the differences between these religions and real Christianity.  He does not want to listen to me. What should I do?

1. Let me give you some principles to guide your action. First, the responsibility of a watchman in the OT:

• Ezk 3:17-19  “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. ¹⁸ When I say to the wicked, ‘You will surely die,’ and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹ Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself.

God’s instructions to Ezekiel are repeated in Ezk 33:1-9 to “the sons of your people” (33:2) i.e. Israelites in general, not just Ezekiel in particular. The responsibility of the watchman is to warn the wicked. They are not responsible for the result, whether the wicked listens and repents, or refuses to listen and keeps on sinning. The same applies to Christian witnesses.

Second, the responsibility of disciples in the NT:

• Mt 10:14-15 Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. See also Mk 6:11; Lk 9:5.

The disciples’ responsibility is to preach the kingdom of heaven. They are not responsible for the reaction of the people, whether they receive them and heed their words, or reject them and their warnings. Again, this applies to Christian witnesses through the ages, not just first century.

Now, some specific comments about your friend.

• Lk 23:8-9 Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. ⁹ And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing.

God is not obligated to answer those who ask with sinful intent.

Your friend asks you not to use the Bible to prove the Bible. Presumably he assumes that to be circular logic. Wrong! The Bible is not one book written by one author, but 66 books written by over 40 authors over a span of 1,600 years. So, to use one section of the Bible to prove another section is NOT circular logic. Do lawyers use one section of the law code to argue for another section? Of course they do!

Your friend does not want to listen to proofs from secular history either. Well, if he won’t accept sacred or secular evidence, there is not a third option. Science is no use here as history is beyond the realm of science. Science depends on experiments, observation, and deduction. But you can’t conduct experiments on things in the past, so science is useless here. He has closed his mind to any evidence, and therefore foolish.

He is stubborn and lazy. Unless he changes his attitude, I see no point in trying to convince him with truth and logic. It’s not that there is insufficient evidence. There is a preponderance of evidence, but his mind is blinded:

• 2 Co 4:3-4  And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, ⁴ in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

My suggestion is to pray that his eyes might be opened:

• Acts 26:18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’

Until he humbles himself and asks in sincerity, he won’t be convinced by sheer eloquence. So, don’t waste your time:

• Mt 7:6 Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

Bid your time. I assume you’ve tried many times already. Move on to somebody else. There are plenty of people who are willing to listen. Return to share with him only when he is ready. He is responsible for his own soul, you’re not. I care about the eternal destiny of sinners, but I refuse to let them waste the limited time available to share with the willing.

When will the Antichrist Come?

One thing remains, the Antichrist’s timing. We don’t know the specific time he will be revealed, but since the Lord Jesus will overthrow and destroy him by His coming, we can know the approximate time frame from the signs of Jesus’ Second Coming. These are given in Mt 24:4-14.

1. Deception. Jesus answered: “Watch out no one deceives you.
2. Many false Christs. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
3. Wars. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
4. Famines.
5. Earthquakes. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
6. Persecution of Christians. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
7. Apostasy. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other,
8. Many false prophets. And many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.
9. Back-sliding. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
10. World Evangelization. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

As you can see, 1-9 have all increased in intensity and frequency over the last few decades. Only 10 has yet to be fulfilled, but the end is in sight. That’s why I believe both the Antichrist and the Lord will come soon. Watch and pray.