From: Marilyn Agee
To Ed, "Re: Marylin Agee on RAPTURE and TRIBULATION."
 
Hi:
 
If you want to call the two Raptures Jesus' COMING IN THE AIR, and the two Advents Jesus'  COMING TO EARTH, that's ok. Just make a clear distinction between the two Raptures and the two Advents. The two Raptures are sandwiched between the two Advents.
 
(1)  First Advent, Jesus' coming to Earth,, seen by many on Earth
(2)  First Rapture, Jesus' coming in the air, seen only by the Bride saints
(3)  Second Rapture, Jesus' coming in the air, the Sign of the Son of Man seen by many
(4)  Second Advent, Jesus' coming to Earth, every eye will see him
 
Rev 1:7 says, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him."
 
> > what about the parable of 10 virgins? In that parable aren't the virgins waiting for Jesus to come and take them away?
 
Yes. The wise virgins are the Bride of Christ. We will go with the Bridegroom when He comes at the Pre-Trib Rapture.
 
The foolish virgins are among the "great multitude" that come "out of great tribulation (at the Pre-Wrath Rapture), and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb: (Rev. 7:9).
 
Between the Pre-Wrath Rapture, before noon on the Day of God's Wrath, and the Second Advent are 7 months.
 
God's wrath is seen in Eze. 38:18-20. The dead lay around the world. Afterward, Eze 39:12,13 says, "SEVEN MONTHS shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified (at the Second Advent), saith the Lord GOD."
 
> > In the Olivet Discours, the teaching of Jesus on the Rapture, Jesus says he will return on the cloud to gather us after the Tribulation.
 
You might misunderstand the meaning of Mt. 24:30,31. It says, "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."
 
That is not the first Rapture. It happened before the Tribulation started. That is why these saints are gathered from one end of HEAVEN to the other. They are already in Heaven. They have to be gathered to the General Assembly in Heaven (Heb. 12:23), because this is the Day of the Lord. In Heaven, it is the day of the Coronation of Christ, the Marriage of the Lamb, and the Judgment Seat of Christ. On Earth, it is the Day of Destruction, the Day of God's Wrath.
 
Since "God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thess 5:9), we won't be on Earth that day. Instead, we will be in Heaven taking part in the Marriage of the Lamb.
 
Mark 13:27 also speaks of that time, but with a difference. It says, "then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the EARTH to the uttermost part of HEAVEN." At the same time that the Bride saints are being gathered in Heaven, the Pre-Wrath Rapture takes place. The Tribulation saints are to be gathered to the General Assembly in Heaven, because they too are to receive their rewards while the unbelievers left on Earth receive the Wrath of God.
 
Rev. 11:17,18 says, "We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art (on the Day of the Lord), and wast (at the First Advent), and art to come (7 months in the future, at the Second Advent on Nisan 1 in a Jewish Leap Year); because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned (on the Feast of Trumpets, as the 7 months started). And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged (at the Judgment Seat of Christ), and that thou shouldest GIVE REWARD UNTO THY SERVANTS THE PROPHETS, AND TO THE SAINTS (all of them, including the saints of both Raptures), AND THEM THAT FEAR THY NAME, SMALL AND GREAT; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth."
 
> > He will not rapture his saints before the reign and persecution by the Beast.
 
Then why does Rev. 13:6 say of the Beast, "he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and THEM THAT DWELL IN HEAVEN"?
 
The Pre-Trib Rapture has just happened. The Beast was left behind. That is why he blasphemes both God and the Bride saints that are in Heaven. How would you feel if you were thought to be a great spiritual leader and got left behind? Isn't that the ultimate snub?
 
Agape, Marilyn Agee
mjagee1@earthlink.net
http://prophecycorner.com/agee/
http://home.earthlink.net/~mjagee1