Hello John and Doves,

 

In Galatians 4:4 we are told about a very important momentous timeline:  "But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law."

 

This tells us that God had a timeline and at the end of it, "when the fulness of time was come", God sent His son to Earth.

 

There is another timeline:  This is referred to as 'the time of the Gentiles'.  In Luke 21:24 "And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations:  and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."  

 

Something momentous will happen at the end of this timeline also:  some believe this will be the Rapture.

 

There are several 'timelines' for the Rapture:  pre-Tribulation; mid-Tribulation, post-Tribulation and pre-Wrath.  Pre-wrath has to do with the Rapture happening a set number of months before "The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord".  They believe that Believers will live through most of the Tribulation period - the 70th Week of Daniel.

 

So who is the Tribulation period for?  Who is the '70th Week of Daniel' for?  Daniel 9:24 tells us:  "Seventy weeks are determined upon they people and upon thy holy city...."  The Angel Gabriel told Daniel exactly who the 70 weeks are for.  The Tribulation period is contained in the 70th week time period.  The Jewish people and Jerusalem are the subjects of the 70th week and the Tribulation period.

 

Some people try to make this time period all about Christians.  For me, Daniel 9:24 clears this up - that time period is for the Jews and Jerusalem.  It is not for the Believers, the Church or the Gentiles.  Christians are not left to minister and be missionaries during the Tribulation.

 

And when some people call 'pre-Trib' people 'escapists' they are ignoring the very passage that prophecies the Tribulation period.

 

So the 'times of the Gentiles' is fulfilled before the Tribulation period begins.  And the momentous event that marks the end of this timeline is the Rapture.

 

After the Believers are removed, a new 'era' or timeline begins:  "the time of the Jewish people and Jerusalem."  Something huge happens between these two timelines - the Rapture.

 

And the two witnesses are Jewish prophets - prophets the Jews will recognize.  They return to help the Jewish people and open their eyes.

 

In Revelation 17:14 "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them:  for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings, and they that are with him are 'called' (the Gentiles), and chosen (the Jews), and faithful (those who go into the Tribulation and don't take the mark or accept the AC and wash their robes in their blood - die during the Tribulation).

 

The Believers are removed before the Tribulation period begins.  As the "70 Week" is decreed for the Jewish people and Jerusalem.

 

Just some thoughts for now.

 

 

Maranatha~

 

Chance