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The Angel Gabriel gave the Prophet Daniel insight and understanding into the time of Israel's trouble.
Daniel 9:24-27
Daniel saw two people standing on opposite banks of a river.
Daniel 12:6-7
Daniel heard but did not understand. He asked:
Daniel 12:8-13
We see the phrase "for a time, times and half a time" (the middle of seven, three-and-a-half years, 42 months, 1,290 days) repeated in Revelation 12:14. What follows is the rage of the "dragon" and the introduction of the rule of the "beast."
Revelation 13:2-5
This is all consistent with Daniel's prophecy; a prophecy God gave Daniel for the people of Israel about Israel and Jerusalem. What follows in Revelation is the time of tribulation for Israel and the world. It is a horrible time for Israel.
Jeremiah 30:3-7
Jesus Christ, the Messiah of Israel, revealed specifics about the Tribulation to the Apostle John. The Revelation builds on what Jesus revealed centuries earlier to Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel, Joel and other prophets of Israel. It's about Israel, not the Body of Christ. It's prophecy, not mystery. The Tribulation is Daniel's 70th week of God dealing with His Chosen Nation. God promised Israel Land and a King and that's what Israel will get one day, but they have one more "week" to go and it's going to be a rough ride (i.e. Isaiah 24).
Revelation has John the Apostle taken into Heaven "in the Spirit" (Revelation 4). John is witness to remarkable events involving the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ (Revelation 5 & 6). When John's vision changes from Heaven to Earth, he sees 144,000 people sealed "from all the tribes of Israel" (Revelation 7). John then sees the particulars of the Great Tribulation (Revelation 8 -18) as it affects Israel and all peoples of Earth. Revelation is very much a Jewish Book about Jewish Prophecy.
The most powerful defense of Pre-tribulation Rapture is the fact that the Church, the Body of Christ, is a Mystery. Christ did not reveal His Gentile/Jewish Body Church until He revealed it to the Apostle Paul. The Apostles John, Peter, James and the others did not know about it until Paul explained it to them years after Christ Died, Rose and Returned to Heaven. The Church had nothing to do with Daniel's "69 weeks" and has nothing to do with Daniel's "70th week" either.
Paul wrote that members of the Body Church would be "changed" in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye. He told them it was a "mystery," a secret. The dead in Christ will rise first and, after 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." Our future is not a nation of people on earth. Our future is with Christ in the heavenlies.
Israel's future is on Earth. From the Great Tribulation will come the Return of the Messiah to throw the beast and false prophet into the fiery lake of burning sulfur and rule Israel and the nations of the world from the Holy City of Jerusalem (Revelation 19). Christ will rule for 1,000 years: the prophesied Millenial Reign. Following the Millenium, Christ will judge Satan and His enemies on Earth, destroy the first heaven and first Earth, and introduce the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. It will be a marvelous place for the people of Israel to reign with Christ forever. Christ will make everything New! (Revelation 20 - 22)
The rapture of the Body Church occurs "before" Israel's Tribulation (time of Jacob's trouble). Paul reminded the Thessalonians that "concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him," that the "day of the Lord" had not already come as they feared.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Someone tried to mislead the Thessalonian Christians into believing they had missed being "caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." Paul comforted them by showing it could not have happened because the beast, "the man of lawlessness," had not been revealed and the "rebellion" had not occured. Paul had taught them these things when he was with them before.
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8
The Thessalonians did not have to worry that they had missed the "rapture." Some One was holding back the power of lawlessness. That One will continue to hold back the power of lawlessness "till he is taken out of the way." We believe and teach that the One Who is holding back the power of lawlessness is the Holy Spirit Who lives in every Christian. The Promised Holy Spirit "is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession" (Ephesians 1:14). The Prophetic clock doesn't move from 69 to 70 weeks until the Holy Spirit leaves Earth and takes Christians with Him. "And then the lawless one will be revealed."
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12
That's the beginning of Daniel's 70th Week. Christians are gone from Earth, the Holy Spirit with them. They are in the Presence of Christ in Heaven. Israel is about to go through seven of the most difficult years of its life as a nation. Satan, the beast and false prophet deceive the nations to obey them and attack Israel. Christ attacks them from Heaven and defeats the beast, false prophet and armies of Earth. The events of Revelation 19 and 20 are at the end of Daniel's 70th week. The Great Tribulation happens before Christ returns to defeat the beast and false prophet. Satan is cast into the Abyss for 1,000 years. Those years are a time of great peace on Earth as Christ reigns from Jerusalem. When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from the Abyss. He travels to the four corners of the Earth to deceive the nations into building a giant army that surrounds Jerusalem. "But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who decieved them, was thrown into the lake of sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (Revelation 20:10)
Concerning the issue of the first resurrection: we find the answer again in the difference between Prophecy and Mystery. Ancient Jews believed in a ressurection of the dead.
Exodus 3:5-6
Matthew 22:31-32
Job 19:25-27
Isaiah 26:19
Daniel 12:1-2
During the time when Christ was on the Earth, many Jews believed in a resurrection from the dead. One example is when Lazarus died.
John 11:21-26
The Pharisees believed in a resurrection from the dead, but the Sadducees did not.
Matthew 22:23
Acts 23:6-8
A resurrection of the dead at the end of time was not something mysterious to ancient Jews. They knew about it, taught it and debated it. The resurrection of the dead was prophecy.
The "first resurrection" of Revelation 20 is the resurrection of which Jesus spoke about in Matthew 22, Mark 12, Luke 20 and John 11. It is the resurrection of which Job, Isaiah and Daniel spoke centuries before Christ's earthly ministry. The first resurrection of Revelation is the first resurrection of "prophecy." It was declared by prophets and known by the Jewish masses. Jews believed they would rise from the dead: "some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt." Jews believed Gentiles would rise to shame and everlasting contempt.
The resurrection that Paul wrote about was a "mystery." It was hidden in God until He revealed it to the world through Paul. Paul taught that members of the Body of Christ (Jews and Gentiles) would rise from the dead and go to be with Christ. Paul gives us a chronology of the events that proves the resurrection of Christians comes before the "first resurrection" of Revelation 20.
1 Corinthians 15:22-26
Here is the time line Paul gives us from 1 Corinthians 15. It begins with the promise that "in Christ all will be made alive." This statement is about the resurrection, as we see clearly from the context of the verses. Here's how our resurrection, that of the Body of Christ, works into the "first resurrection" of Revelations.
The "resurrection" Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians occurs "before" Christ wins the Kingdom, reigns over it and destroys his enemies, including Satan and death. The "first resurrection" John wrote about in Revelation 20 occurs "after" Christ wins the Kingdom and begins the destruction of His enemies. The "first resurrection" happens at the end of the Tribulation and at the beginning of Christ's Millenial Reign over the earth.
The people raised from the dead in the "first resurrection" are the faithful from the Great Tribulation who died because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They are the believers who did not worship the beast or his image and did not receive his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They will rise from the dead and reign with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead do not come to life until the thousand years end. Christ destroys Satan and the rest of His enemies after His thousand-year reign. After all of this, John wrote about the final resurrection.
Revelation 20:11-15
The "rapture" of the Children of Grace is a mystery. It was not prophesied in the Old Testament. Christ did not teach His Kingdom disciples about it. Christ did teach Paul about it because Paul was the Apostle to the Body of Christ. The rapture of Christians was hidden in God until He revealed it to Paul. Christ comes for us, then the end comes.
Here's a "resurrection timeline" to help explain the chronology of events.
"Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgressions, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the middle of the 'seven,' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of the temple, he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
"One of them said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, 'How long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?' The man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, lifted his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by him who lives forever, saying, 'It will be for a time, times and half a time. When the power of the holy people has been finally broken, all these things will be completed.'"
"My Lord, what will the outcome of all this be?' He replied, 'Go your way, Daniel, because the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end. Many will be purified, made spotless and refined, but the wicked will continue to be wicked. None of the wicked will understand, but those who are wise will understand. From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.'"
"The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshipped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?' The beast was given a mouth to utter proud words and blasphemies and to exercise his authority for forty-two months."
"The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will bring my people Israel and Judah back from captivity and restore them to the land I gave their forefathers to possess,' says the Lord. These are the words the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah: This is what the Lord says: 'Cries of fear are heard--terror, not peace. Ask and see: Can a man bear children? Then why do I see every strong man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor, every face turned deathly pale? How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it."
"...we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come. Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God."
"And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the splendor of his coming."
"The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie, and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."
"Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.' Then he said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God."
"But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
"I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I myself will see him with my own eyes--I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"
"But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead."
"At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people--everyone whose name is found written in the book--will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake; some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt."
"Lord,' Martha said to Jesus, 'if you had been here, my brother would not hve died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.' Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.' Martha answered, 'I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.' Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.'"
"That same day the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to him with a question."
"Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, 'My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.' When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)"
"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death."
"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire."
One last comment about your question. You wrote: "I believe that the pretrib is incorrect and dangerous to new Christians because it gives them a false hope." Paul wrote the Thessalonians about Christ coming to catch them up in the clouds to meet with Him in the air. The Thessalonians were new Christians at the time Paul wrote them. He encouraged them not to grieve for dead loved ones in Christ "like the rest of men, who have no hope." Paul didn't give the new Christians "false" hope. He gave them "true" hope. He did not want Christians to be like unsaved people who had "no" hope. Paul encouraged new Christians to understand that Christ would bring believers who had died with Him when He returned in the clouds for His Children of Grace. The dead in Christ would rise first. "After 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. Therefore, encourage each other with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18) Telling new Christians about a "pre-tribulation rapture" is a marvelous encouragement. It is truly the Good News of Hope for all of us.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9
Paul accepted God's decision about the thorn in his flesh. In fact, he boasted of it.
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
If you believe your infirmities are because of a dream-vision-revelation God gave you, then do as Paul did and accept God's decision. Paul delighted in his weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties. He understood that when he was weak, that's when he was strong. God's Grace is sufficient for you.
Taking God's Grace to the World!
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"Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers."
Last Updated: 12/20/1999
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."