Text: Revelation 7:13-17
13 And one of the elders answered, saying
unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest.
And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have
washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of
God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the
throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst
any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is
in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living
fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
Introduction
When
it comes to the time of rapture relative to the great tribulation, there are 3
major schools of thought among Christians. They are listed below. But before I
mention them, let me also state that the two words ‘Tribulations’ and ‘Great Tribulations
are used inter-changeably by some Christians for the purpose of preaching.
This
teaching is meant to explore from the bible, the correct time-relativeness of
the great tribulation to the rapture or vice-versa.
It
is almost impossible to teach or preach about rapture without making reference
to the great tribulation.
Propositions
for the Great Tribulation Relative to The Time of Rapture.
-1.
Pre-Great-Tribulation Rapture:
This school of thought believes that the bride of
Christ will not witness the great tribulation. It believes that the great
tribulation will begin after the rapture of the saints. Such school also
believes that during this period of seven years, the antichrist, also, will
rule the world.
For this school of thought, the great tribulation and
the rule of the antichrist begins simultaneously after the rapture. For them,
the bride of Christ will not witness any of the great tribulation and the rule
of the antichrist.
-2.
Mid-Great-Tribulation Rapture:
This
school of thought believes that the bride of Christ would witness a half of the
seven year period of the rule of the antichrist before she is raptured. Since
the rule of the antichrist is a seven year period, the school thus believes
that the bride of Christ will witness half of antichrist’s reign before she is
delivered.
-3. Pre-Wrath-Of-God
Rapture:
This
school of thought believes that the church would witness the early part of the
great tribulation but would be raptured out of it before God begins to pour out
His fierce wrath and anger upon those that miss the rapture.
For this
school of thought, the great tribulation will have begun, then the rapture
takes place, and then the seven year rule of the antichrist begins.
This invariably
means that the great tribulation may last a little longer than the seven year
rule of the antichrist. It even means further that the bride of Christ will
witness a part of the great tribulation but will not witness the rule of the
seven year rule of antichrist.
For me, I
stand with this school of thought for obvious biblical reasons which I will
mention after I have first Critiqued the first two schools of thoughts.
Critiquing
the Pre-Great-Tribulation Rapture and The Mid-Great-Tribulation Rapture
-1.
There may be no tangible bible scriptures that back up the
pre-great-tribulation rapture. It is just generally believe that the bride of
Christ should not witness the great tribulation.
-2.
The believe for the
mid-great-tribulation rapture is based on two lengths of time mentioned
revelation 11:2-3; forty two months mentioned in verse 2, and a thousand two
hundred and three score days mentioned in verse 3.
Although,
each of these two periods is equal to three and a half year or half of a seven
year period of the rule of the antichrist, there is nothing to suggest that the
rapture will take place at the end of those times. Also there may be no
scriptural backings for such positions.
Why
I support the Pre-Wrath-of-God Rapture
As
a sequence of the pre-wrath-of-God rapture, we have the following.
-1.
Tribulation begins.
-2.
The tribulation intensifies and becomes the great tribulation.
-3.
Rapture takes place.
-4.
God starts pouring His wrath upon the earth and those who miss the rapture.
Having mentioned the sequence above, now,
let me mention the reasons why I stand with the pre-wrath rapture. This view
states that the great tribulation will have begun before rapture takes place
but not before God starts pouring out his wrath upon the earth.
The followings are the reasons.
-1.
The Lord Jesus Christ said it was after tribulation that the rapture will take.
Mathew 24:29-31
29 Immediately
after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the
powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then
shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with and great glory.
31 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.
The disciples asked the Lord, Jesus Christ,
the signs of His coming in verse 3 of the book of Mathew, chapter24. By verse
7, He started mentioning the events that will signify His coming, which include
earthquakes, wars, pestilences, hatred and others.
The summary of all these
events is tribulation. Whether this
tribulation mentioned in verse 29 is the great tribulation or not, does not
matter much. What matters is that the Lord Jesus said it was after the
tribulation the bride of Christ will be rapture. And this invariably means that
the bride of Christ will witness some sort of tribulation before the rapture.
These scriptures agree with points 1 and 3
of our sequence above.
-2. The Lord, Jesus Christ, inferred that
the elects (the bride of Christ) will see part of the great tribulation. Mathew
24: 20-22,
20 But pray
ye that your flight (rapture) be not in the winter, neither on the
sabbath day:
21 For then
shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the
world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And
except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for
the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
From Mathew 24: 20-22, the Lord, Jesus Christ, inferred that the bride of
Christ will see the great tribulation as depicted below.
-1. The
Lord, Jesus Christ said there shall be great tribulation such as was not before
and after it, verse 21.
This
means that the tribulation which the earthquakes, wars, pestilences and the
likes that he mentioned in Mathew 24:7 refer to will intensify to a higher
degree and become the great tribulation.
-2.
Perhaps because of the severity of the great tribulation, the Lord, Jesus
Christ said if the days were not shortened no flesh (including the bride of
Christ) shall be saved, verse 22a.
-3. The
Lord, Jesus Christ then said because of the elects, the days shall be
shortened, verse 22b.
The question we should ask is
this. Why should the days be shortened because of the elects if they will not
witness the days? And the answer is simple; the days were shortened as a form
of protection for the elects to be able to withstand those few days of the
great tribulation they will witness before the rapture.
While the days are shortened
for the protection of the elects, the Lord asked them to pray for their flight
(their rapture) because the shortening of days of the great tribulation that
the elects will witness is just a temporary protection for them to cope with
the great tribulation before they are eventually raptured. The rapture is their
permanent escape from the great tribulation. These explanations agree with points 1, 2
and 3 of our sequence above.
-3. Apostle Paul mentioned that the elects
will enter the kingdom of God through much tribulation, Acts 14:22c
22 c. and that we must through much (great)
tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
The adjective, much, can be replaced with
another adjective, great. Both of them show or represent a higher intensity or higher
degree of tribulation, and that is the great tribulation.
-4. The elects that Apostle John saw in
heaven were raptured out of great tribulation, Revelation 7:9-14
9 After this I beheld,
and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations,
and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the
Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
………….
…………..
13 And one of the elders
answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white
robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him,
Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great
tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb.
-5. Apostle Paul mentioned
that the bride of Christ will not see the wrath of God.
1
Thessalonians 5:9
9 For
God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord
Jesus Christ,
Apostle Paul,
while writing to us about rapture in 1 Thessalonians, chapter four, told us
that the Lord we descend with a shout and the dead in Christ shall rise, first,
and we that are alive shall be caught up with them.
He continued
in chapter five by charging us to watch and be sober so that they can make the
rapture because God had not appointed us unto wrath. It can thus be inferred
that making the rapture is the way God has provided for us to escape the wrath
of God coming upon the earth.
-6.
Other scriptures tell us that the wrath of God is meant for the wicked, not the
bride of Christ.
Example
of such scriptures is Nahum 1:2 which states that God has reserved His wrath
for his enemies. His enemies are those which have not repented from sins, not
the bride of Christ. The bride of Christ is not appointed to wrath.
Nahum 1:2
2 God is jealous,
and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious;
the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for
his enemies.
-7.
Wrath of God was not poured on Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot and his family left
the city.
There
was already much tribulation in Sodom and Gomorrah. There was homosexuality,
reveling, street robbery, rape, sex orgy and violence in Sodom. However, the
wrath of God was not poured on Sodom and Gomorrah until Lot left the city,
genesis 19:22,24-25.
The
Lord, Jesus Christ told us in Luke 17:28-30 that as it was in the days of Noah
shall it be when he shall come. By this it can be inferred that the bride of
Christ, like Lot, will witness tribulation but not the wrath of God.
-8. If all the
terrorism, church bombings, kidnappings, earthquakes, flooding, mass shooting,
Ebola, HIV, economic recessions, rape, suicides, sexual perversion and the rest
we are witnessing do not qualify to be great tribulation, I wonder what else
will qualify.
Summary
Through
this teaching, it has been scripturally pointed out that the bride of Christ
will witness the beginning of the great tribulation but will be raptured out of
it. Then after the rapture, the great tribulation will enter into the phase of
the seven year antichrist rule and the outpouring of the wrath of God upon the
earth.
For
the sake of the bride of Christ, the length of the days of the great
tribulation that the bride of Christ will experience will be shortened for
their protection and sustenance.
This
is called the pre-wrath-of-God rapture and is the only stand-point-of-view of
the great tribulation relative to the time of rapture that can be scripturally
explained
Conclusion
It
is possible to escape the wrath of God and the rule of terror of the antichrist
through rapture by becoming the bride of Christ. This can be achieved by giving
your life to Jesus Christ and preparing for his coming in absolute repentance
and holiness. You can see the steps mentioned under the ‘to make the rapture’
below. You can also write for clarification of any of the steps.
Actions
Are
you an elect of Christ? Are you truly saved? Are you on the narrow road? Do you
want to make the rapture/heaven? If your answers are yes, then,
• Make all efforts to heed the warnings of Jesus Christ.
• Make all efforts to heed the warnings of Jesus Christ.
•
Be watchful. Pay attention to what is happening around the World and see whether
they match what the scriptures say.
•
Be filled with the Holy Spirit and be in the Spirit all the time.
•
Fast, consecrate yourself, run away from sin and worldliness.
If your answers are NO, then you can repent
today. Accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Kindly sincerely and
faithfully pray the prayer of repentance below and make a determination never
to commit sin again.
Prayer Of Repentance
Lord, Jesus Christ, I am sorry
for all my sins. I confess them with my mouth and I ask for mercy. Please
forgive me and wash me in your blood. I accept you as my personal Lord and
Saviour. Write my name in the book of life. Give me power over sins and fill me
with your Spirit and Joy of Salvation. When rapture trumpet sounds, let me make
it. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, I pray.
Begin to read bible. Begin with the book of
John. Pray always. Fast regularly (you can begin with once in a week). Look for
a bible believing church where they teach repentance, holiness, salvation and
fellowship with them. Pray before you go. Always run away from SINS.
Need More Information?
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Shalom.
To Make Rapture:
Confess your sins to JESUS CHRIST and ask Him
to save you.
Repent of your sins constantly on daily basis
and run away from sins.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit
Live in Holiness and Righteousness
Do all Restitutions
Be filled with the Holy Spirit
Live in Holiness and Righteousness
Do all Restitutions
Cut off all worldliness.
Forgive all people.
Pray and fast.
Consecrate and study the bible.
Watch.
