It seems
like everyone has his or her thoughts on
how and when the Rapture will transpire.
I would like to share my
discernment on the topic for
what it may be worth.
Many
people believe that the Bride of Christ
is taken to heaven in chapter 4 of the
book of Revelation. But lets take a look
at the players we find in heaven that
John is viewing to see if the Raptured
saints are present there in
Rev. 4&5. We see----
1)
twenty four elders----whomever they are,
certainly not the Raptured saints
2) four
living creatures----certainly not
Raptured saints
3) Lion
of the tribe of Judah, a Lamb----Jesus
4) Him
who sat on the throne----God the Father
5)
millions and millions of angels
Nowhere
do we see millions of Raptured saints.
So we can assume that Rapture hasn't
happened yet. When we read on, we find
Jesus opening the seals one by one. The
first four seals are the seals
characterized as the "Four Horsemen of
the Apocalypse" where war, death,
famine and pestilence are allowed to
happen to one fourth of the earth. I
would be willing to state that one
fourth of our planet is currently under
those conditions and that you could
assume that those four horsemen
have already begun their rides.
Now
every time Jesus opens one of the
seals something happens.
So what happens when He opens the fifth
seal? People who have been long silent
speak or are allowed to speak. Who are
these people? They are the souls of
the dead in Christ from the
past and --- many, many who have
believed and accepted Christ over the
centuries and many, many who were
martyred for Him and also those who were
found righteous. Their souls have
been asleep over the ages and they
now are awake due to Jesus' opening
of the fifth seal. A lot of these souls
were enraged when they died and now
that they can speak again they "cry out
with a loud voice, saying,--"How long, O
Lord (Jesus), holy and true, until You
judge and avenge our blood on those who
dwell on the earth?" Jesus comforts them
by giving them a white rob and tells
them they should rest "a little
while longer" until both the
number of their fellow servants (who are
still alive) and their brethren (who are
still alive), who would be killed as
they were, was completed. Jesus is
saying to them ----wait just a little
while longer until the fullness
(correct quantity) of the
Gentile Church, My Bride has been
reached.
To
reinforce what I just said
above I'll include ---1
Thessalonians 4;13-18 where Paul
also explains what is to go on here in
the fifth seal.
"But I
do not want you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep,
lest you sorrow as others who have no
hope. For if we believe that Jesus died
and rose again, even so God will bring with
Him those who sleep in
Jesus. For this we say to you by the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive
and remain until the coming of the Lord
will by no means precede those who are asleep.
For the Lord Himself will descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trumpet of
God. And the dead in Christ will rise
first. Then we who are alive and remain
will be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And thus we shall always be with the
Lord. Therefore comfort one another with
these words."
So we
see that by Jesus opening this fifth
seal He has awoken His followers who
have been asleep, some for
centuries. And that they just have to
wait a short time until the fullness of
the His Church is complete before
they will meet with Him and
the living believers in the clouds
at the Rapture to receive their
immortal bodies and ever be with
their Lord and Savior.
Now
somewhere between the fifth and
sixth seals being opened this
short period of time (a little while
longer) and the fullness (final
number) of the Church / Christ's
Bride will have been accomplished.
Before I
go into the sixth seal I need to tell
you that throughout the Bible prior and
future Rapture / "taking
away" events were accompanied by
earthquakes. Whatever
energy process that takes
place when man is transformed from
mortal to immortal--- when we go
from this dimension to the next---
results in an earthquake. And one more
background issue, it is widely accepted
that Christ's Church, His Bride will not
be present in heaven above or earth
below at the same time Satan and
his fallen angels are. In other words
they will not occupy the same space at
the same time. So to take this reasoning
a step farther it appears that Satan and
his troops will be cast from heaven at
the same time Christ's Bride will be
going to heaven. (or that safe place
Jesus has chosen for them)
So with
all this in mind let me list the details
of---- and see what happens after
Jesus opens the sixth seal.
1) a
"great" world wide earthquake happens
where every mountain and island were
moved out of it's place--------Yes,
this is it, the time of
the Rapture of Christ's
Church. If a local earthquake
was experienced when the two
witnesses of Rev.11 were raptured one
can only imagine how great the
earthquake will be when
millions of people are Raptured at the
same time all over the planet when Jesus
comes for His Bride after opening the
sixth seal.
2) " the
sky will recede as a scroll and
literally roll up" and "the sun will be
as black as sackcloth of hair and
the moon will appear as blood."-----It
appears that the result of
the transition from moral to
immortal --- involving this many
people--- will result in such a
disturbance to our atmosphere,
and our dimension that
"the sky will recede as a scroll and
literally roll up" and the sun will
appear black and the moon red.
3) "And
the stars of heaven fell to the earth,
as a fig tree drops its late figs when
it is shaken by a mighty wind."--------I
believe you'll find other
places in Scripture where angels are
referred to as "stars". So with that in
mind we see that (in the sixth seal) at
the same time Jesus was taking His Bride
up in the Rapture, He was casting
Satan and his angels (stars) to the
earth in a rapid fashion. The jury is
still out as to how many of these angels
that God is forcing to earth will be in
UFO's. I do believe in UFO's and I
believe they are controlled or
inhabited by Satan's fallen angels.
When they come dropping out of the sky
by the thousands and thousands, the
left behind will think they
were under an over-ripe fig tree in a
heavy gale.
4) And
the kings of the earth, the great men,
the rich men, the commanders, the mighty
men, every slave and every free man, hid
themselves in the caves and in the rocks
of the mountains, and said to the
mountains and rocks, Fall on us and hide
us from the face of Him who sits on the
throne and from the wrath of the
Lamb!-----These are the alive "left
behind" people the ones who failed to
accept Jesus. They have just
witnessed the most horrific experience
of their lives. They experienced an
unbelievable earthquake. They saw the
sun turn black--- the moon turn red.
They witnessed the sky roll up like a
scroll. They saw thousands upon
thousands of objects fall from the sky.
They are missing many many friends and
loved ones. And they are so scared that
they just want to hide from whatever
caused this extreme terror. Many of the
left behind will know enough about the
bible to know exactly what just
transpired.
5) And
the last sentence of the sixth
seal---"For the great day of His wrath
has come, and who is able to stand?"
There is a lot to be understood
from this last statement. Jesus is
saying that the "great day of His wrath"
or the great tribulation starts now
at this time. Jesus promised His Church
/ Bride that they would escape the
horrible things that would accompany
"the great day of His
wrath". So with this Jesus
kept His promise, they are no
longer on earth---they were "just" taken
away. And then He challenges those who
were left behind by saying "who is able
to stand? He has just announced that the
great tribulation starts now
and------ how many of you that are left
behind will accept Me during
this period of My great
wrath and be found worthy to
"stand" in My presence during--- or
at the end of it? Millions will
accept His challenge and be saved during
the tribulation as we
read later in the Book of
Revelation.
6) And
the best part----as the result of Jesus'
opening of the sixth seal we
the dead and living Raptured saints
show up in heaven. Still in the sixth
seal we read in Rev.7: 9-17 that
we indeed show up in heaven a few verses
later.
9 After this
I beheld, and, lo, a great
multitude, which no man could
number, of all nations, and
kindreds, and people, and tongues,
stood before the throne, and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes,
and palms in their hands;
10 And cried
with a loud voice, saying, Salvation
to our God which sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the
angels stood round about the throne,
and [about] the elders and the four
beasts, and fell before the throne
on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying,
Amen: Blessing, and glory, and
wisdom, and thanksgiving, and
honour, and power, and might, [be]
unto our God for ever and ever.
Amen.
13 And one of
the elders answered, saying unto me,
What are these which are arrayed in
white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said
unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he
said to me, These are they which
came out of great tribulation, and
have washed their robes, and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore
are they before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his
temple: and he that sitteth on the
throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall
hunger no more, neither thirst any
more; neither shall the sun light on
them, nor any heat.
17 For the
Lamb which is in the midst of the
throne shall feed them, and shall
lead them unto living fountains of
waters: and God shall wipe away all
tears from their eyes.