James R,

 

I went to the site you referred to but didn't see the post about a possible gap between the rapture and the start of the tribulation.  On April 4th I posted my own thoughts about that very subject.  I copied and pasted them below.

 

Bruce Baber

 

 

I hesitate before posing the question, but I want some thoughtful, carefully, prayerfully considered answers.

Psalm 90 vs. 10: Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. NIV

I have worried a little about the extra ten years that bring the span of a generation up to eighty years. With all the signs, it doesn't seem possible. I don't want to face the fact that the end-time generation could linger on for those extra ten years. Yet, maybe Moses included those words for a reason. He even added that those additional ten years would be full of trouble and sorrow.

Then the thought occurred to me. What if there is a delay between the rapture and the beginning of the tribulation. That could explain why we haven't seen the destruction of Damascus yet. That could explain why the Jews will have seven years to burn the weapons from the Gog Magog war. I've stated before that the burning of weapons for seven years would be a difficult feat in view of the antichrist's invasion of Israel. (See my earlier posts on the subject).

If the rapture is followed immediately by the tribulation there is no allowing for the destruction of Damascus and the war of Gog and Magog with the resulting burning of the weapons of war for seven years. If there is a delay of the tribulation, everything still fits...I think.

I am not advocating this postion. I am just pondering it in light of the yet unfulfilled prophecies in the scriptures and trying to see all of the puzzle pieces fit. I don't easily accept ideas that that I haven't tested for myself. Just because a Bible scholar says something, I don't necessarily go blindly along with it. So if someone says the the tribulation has to immediately follow the rapture because someone else said so, that may not be a good enough reason. I would appreciate some well thought out feedback. Please don't attack me for asking.

We aren't at the end of seventy years from 1948. We are just at 63 years. We round it up to 70 by adding the 7 years of the tribulation. How does this all fit if 10 years are added to the lifespan of a generation? Could the rapture still be this spring? Or, do we have to wait several more years? You know from my earlier posts that I strongly advocated a spring rapture this year. I am still looking for it. Would the destruction of Damascus followed by the war of Gog and Magog in the interval between the rapture and the start of the seven years of tribulation fit with Psalm 90 and bring into line all of the other remaining prophecies? (I also wonder if Rabbi Kaduri's prediction about the death of Ariel Sharon before the Messiah's return could happen in the interval).

I apologize for asking these questions and for adding to the confusion. That isn't my intention at all.

Bruce Baber