This study is done in a simple fasion, so that all who read it can gain understanding from it. It is simple in that when approaching this study, I decided only to use cross-referencing, which anyone that has a Bible with good cross-references would be able to examine on their own. I challenge you to do that. Now on to the study.
1 Thes 5:1-9
1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,(KJV)
What is learned from these verses?
- The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
- That day will not overtake believers as a thief.
- Believers are told to watch and be sober.
- God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.
Remember these as we continue.
2 Pet 3:10-12
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?(KJV)
From this reference it is seen that:
- The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;
- In the day of the Lord the heavens shall pass away with a great noise;
- In that day the elements shall melt with fervent heat;
- The earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up;
- Believers are to be looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God;
- In that day the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
The day of the Lord is as a thief and full of destruction. To learn more, read on.
Matt 24:35-39
35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.(KJV)
Here it is found:
- Heaven and earth shall pass away;
- Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only;
- As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
To learn more about that day and being as the days of Noah, please continue.
Luke 17:26-30
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.(KJV)
The people of the earth and of Sodom continued on in their daily activities until:
- The day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
- On the same day that Noah entered into the ark, the wrath of God was poured out:
Gen 7:11-13
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;(KJV)
- The same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
Gen 19:15-16
15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.(KJV)
Lot was told to escape to the mountains, but he pleaded with the angels and asked to go to Zoar instead. Then...
Gen 19:23-25
23 The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.
24 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven;
25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.(KJV)
In the same day that God delivered his people he poured out his wrath on the other inhabitants.
Looking back now to the day of the Lord coming as a thief in the night. Much insight is found in the next verse:
Rev 16:15
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.(KJV)
In this verse, these things are shown:
- Jesus is coming as a thief;
- Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments;
- Some shall walk naked, and their shame seen.
At the day of the Lord, Jesus will come as a thief to deliver his children and to bring his wrath upon the earth. In 1 Thessalonians 5:6, believers are commended to "watch and be sober." Here in Revelation 16:15 that, "blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments." Those that watch for Jesus return will be blessed!
God's children need to be watching for Jesus' return lest they be ashamed:
Luke 21:36
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.(KJV)
Rev 16:15
15 Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.(KJV)
I Jn 2:28
28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.(KJV)
When Jesus returns he also shall give out rewards:
Matt 16:27
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.(KJV)
2 Tim 4:8
8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.(KJV)
Rev 11:18
18 And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.(KJV)
On the day that the Lord returns he shall reward everyone, and the unwatchful will be naked and ashamed.
Look back to 2 Peter 3:10:
2 Pet 3:10-12
10.... in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?(KJV)
Here are some verses that are referenced to this awesome event:
Isa 13:10-13
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.(KJV)
Joel 2:10
10 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:(KJV)
Joel 2:31
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.(KJV)
Rev 6:12-14
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.(KJV)
Take notice of the timeline of when this will happen in the next reference:
Matt 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 power 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.(KJV)
Notice the following:
- That 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;
- And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven.... coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory;
- And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect.
So before the Lord returns the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect.
The rapture doesn't occur until after the Son of man shall appear in the heavens. For when he appears he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect:
Matt 24:31
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.(KJV)
Matt 16:27
27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.(KJV)
1Thes 4:16-17
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.(KJV)
2 Th 2:1
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.(KJV)
These all refer to the same event; the rapture of the church. And as noted, it occurs after the Son of man shall appear in the heavens.
Now we shall look into the time line of the rapture from another portion of scripture:
2 Th 2:1-5
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?(KJV)
Notice that:
- Paul talks about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him, and;
- That day (the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him), shall not come except:
- A falling away comes first;
- The man of sin be revealed.
By looking at these verses (1-5), and the two points made from them, it is clear that our gathering together unto him (the rapture), cannot happen until after the man of sin (the antichrist) is revealed. By knowing this, it makes it easier to interpret the following verses:
2 Th 2:6-8
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:(KJV
The man of sin is being held back, until he that is holding him back is taken out of the way. Then shall the man of sin be revealed. Since the man of sin must be revealed before our gathering together unto the Lord (the rapture), he that is holding back the man of sin cannot be the church, because the man of sin must be revealed first.
Conclusion:
The rapture can not happen before the sixth seal is opened, or before the man of sin is revealed, or before the sun shall 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, therefore the pre-trib doctrine certainly is not scriptural since its teachings contradict scripture.
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