Doves,
Have you ever felt as Christians that we have been figuratively chasing our tails when it comes to the issue of the rapture?
I have been a member of this 5Doves forum for over twenty years and have watched myself and the other Doves “yearly” chase their figurative rapture tails from one religious holiday to the next to the next to the next. Or, from one celestial event to the next and the next on a yearly circular cycle........and yes, it's like a cat chasing it's tail.
Extensive research by so many who have built what always appears to be solid cases as to the rapture indeed happening on this holiday or this date because....because.....because.
All that changed for me about 6 months ago when I stumbled across (certainly was led to) multiple scripture verses portraying a completely different rapture scenario. Oh, it's exactly as portrayed in scripture but completely different than modern day teachings. The rapture happening is right there for all to see and is embedded into what Jesus himself told us was to happen in the end times.
The “basic overview” for all of this is expressed in Matthew 24 by Jesus himself but the story line which appears there is also re-enforced with many specifics throughout multiple other verses of scripture both in the old and new testaments. And forget the bs of Matthew 24 being just about Jews......Jesus is most certainly addressing all of God's elect in this chapter. Not apples and oranges but “the elect” which includes both Jew and Gentile.
Jesus was specifically asked in Matthew 24 …....what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? And as people have referenced endless times, Jesus said that there would be wars and rumors of wars.......nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilences and earthquakes in various places. There will be great persecution for anyone who embraces Jesus and His gospel message. Many will be offended, will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise to “stir the pot” and deceive many. Lawlessness will abound and the general principle of love itself will grow dim and grow cold.
I don't believe that many would argue that the words Jesus expressed above describe exactly where we find ourselves today on the world stage.
So we are here, just as Jesus said we would be surrounded by worldwide evil and (as per Romans 1) also surrounded by people with debased, depraved, corrupt and perverted minds.
With all of this in mind......our present world condition....which is exactly where we find ourselves......then what is the next thing Jesus told us to look for that would happen?
The gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations.......and then the end of this age would come about / wind down.
Jesus wasn't talking in this verse about the x, y or z church denomination preaching the gospel to the world through their outreach gospel ministries. He was referring there in Matthew 24:14 to the two end time witnesses sent by God Himself to relay the gospel of the kingdom to the whole world without missing a single person. All living souls will be given the same opportunity (even if they already have) to accept or reject the gospel of the kingdom. This includes all we Christians that thought we were just going to bypass this process and this time period.
So the next event on the biblical time line (as per Jesus) is the arrival of the two end time witnesses to the world stage. Verse 14 states that it's not until the end of this ministry when the end time workings will be wrapped up. And that includes the rapture which I will explain in great detail later in this message..... as to where that glorious event fits into the process.....as per scripture.
So with the ministry of the two witnesses to be the next event appearing on the present biblical time line what do we know about their ministry?
Revelation 11 states it lasts 1260 days or roughly 3.5 years.
Zechariah 11 indicates that these two witnesses seemingly show up on the world stage concurrently with God's dismissal of 3 shepherds. “I (God) dismissed the three shepherds in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.”
We see these three shepherds portrayed as 3 popes in Revelation 17 and are also mentioned in Daniel 7. And yes we have 3 popes on the world stage today. Francis and Benedict alive and John Paul II whose body is being kept preserved and viable in a cryogenic chamber in the bowels of the Vatican.
So how does God dismiss these 3 popes as He said he would and signal the arrival of the two witnesses?
I believe Revelation 18 speaks to this with great detail. It appears that God causes a volcano to literally erase Rome and the Vatican from the surface of the earth....portrayed in exacting detail in Revelation 18.
When the dust settles from this horrific incident that is depicted in Revelation 18 a foolish shepherd then also appears to join the two witnesses on the world stage to start his own ministry of sorts.....an evil one.
God portrays this foolish evil shepherd in many areas of scripture using many different names and titles. To follow the particular story line I am portraying check out Zechariah 11:15-17 Daniel 11:36-39 these are just two of these areas shedding light on this entity.
I say entity because scripture seems to indicate that this foolish shepherd takes the preserved body of John Paul II and combines it with an evil spirit from the bottomless pit (Revelation 17:8) to form what Daniel calls a king that is “different”....I'd say very different. This foolish shepherd is obviously the first beast of Revelation 13, 17 who mankind has referenced as the antichrist.
So, as per Zechariah 11 we will then have two witnesses preaching the gospel of the kingdom to both Jew and Gentile. One of the end time witnesses who God calls Beauty will minister to the Gentiles and the other Bonds will minister to the Jews but neither will minister to what is left of the Roman church ruled over by the three shepherds who were dismissed..... that being the RCC. God says....”I will not feed you. Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish.”
Neither will the new foolish shepherd have anything to do with his prior church / religion. Zechariah 11 says that he will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those who are broken, nor feed those who still stand and will even become their adversary.
Daniel 11 says that this foolish shepherd will exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall blaspheme against the God of gods and shall prosper until the wrath has been accomplished. This new foolish shepherd shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor the regard of any god. He will exalt himself above all gods. He will also form a compact, a confederacy with a god (a power) of fortresses. A god (a power structure) that prior to then was unknown to his fathers (the world). With this new power base he will act against and defeat the strongest fortresses.....world powers / armies. Along with this foreign god that he shall acknowledge and advance in glory he shall cause them (he and this confederacy) to rule over many, and divide the land for gain.
Obviously Daniel in this passage is speaking of a compact, an agreement, a co mingling between this foolish shepherd (the antichrist) and some unknown military power entity.
We as a society have been programmed for this to happen for many decades now. It's obvious that this foolish shepherd will align himself with Satan's fallen angels and all of their advanced technology. All of earth's collective military power will be no match for these UFO's controlled by demonic / Satanic beings.
I don't believe that God allows the antichrist and his UFO forces to run roughshod over the earth until after the 3.5 year ministry of the two witnesses is completed. Or until about half way through the 7 year period. It's at this point where God allows the antichrist to kill the two witnesses in Jerusalem. This is a huge pivotal point. This greatly emboldens the AC. We learn in Revelation 13:5 that the AC then after these first 42 months have passed opens his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle and those who dwell in heaven.
The AC then erects a talking statue of himself in Jerusalem at the Dome of the rock. This statue is to be worshiped by all under the penalty of death.
Now lets go back again to Jesus's time line from Matthew 24......
All of the above text that I discussed reaches only to verse 15 in Jesus's prophetic time line that He gave us in Matthew 24.
Now after approximately 3.5 years into the 7 years we see in verse 15 that the AC has set up the statue..... the abomination of desolation.....spoken of by Daniel in Daniel 12:11.
We learn there in verse 11 that the end of the era will be complete (will end) 1290 days after the statue, (the abomination of desolation) is set up in Jerusalem.
Now back to Matthew 24:15......Jesus warns anyone in Judah who will listen or read to flee to the mountains when they see the statue erected in Jerusalem.
Why just Judah and why direct them to the mountains? Because Jesus knows that God the Father has had enough and is now going to act and react in specific and major ways.
Let me just stop right here and inject a very very important fact into this discussion which most Christians have absolutely no comprehension of or have they been instructed about.
That being, that at this point, midway through the 7 year tribulation period, after a statue (abomination of desolation) has been erected in Jerusalem God the Father declares a period called “The Day of the Lord” where many unbelievable things happen. Unaware to many He closes His kingdom in heaven and moves it lock, stock and barrel (so to speak) to a newly renovated area on earth. Jesus prophesied the Father doing this in Matthew 6:9 when He recited the Lords Prayer.
Our Father in Heaven
Hallowed be Your name
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors
And do not lead us into temptation
But deliver us from the evil one
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen
This land renovation is all detailed in Zechariah 14 where we see God the Father
create a whole new valley which extends hundreds of miles to the east from Jerusalem to beyond the Euphrates River. The Mount of Olives will be split in two half of the mountain moving many miles north and half of the mountain moving many miles south.
Anything or anybody exposed in this huge area during the transition will be killed. That's why Jesus in Matthew 24:15 hearkened any and all from Judah to flee north to the mountains so they would not be harmed when the sudden renovation takes place.
Isaiah 25 references this renovation of land, this new valley and also what happens to the Dome of the Rock on the western end of this “Fatherly urban renewal project” where the stature of the AC, the abomination that leads to what?.....desolation..... has been erected. The Father lays desolate hundreds of square miles of real estate and also it's inhabitants including the Dome of the Rock where the abomination of desolation statue resides.
Checkout the wording in Isaiah 25 starting in verse 10 -- 12.
For on this mountain the hand of the Lord will rest,
And Moab (Jordan) will be trampled down under Him,
As straw is trampled down for the refuge heap.
And He will spread out His hands in their midst
As a swimmer reaches out to swim,
And He will bring down their pride
Together with the trickery of their hands.
The fortress of the high fort of your walls (Dome of the Rock complex)
He will bring down, lay low,
And bring to the ground, down to the dust.
This new valley is now not just a renovated parcel of land but an extreme security zone probably guarded by legions of angels with some sort of cover over it like the firmament. No bad guys will be allowed inside this new security zone from any approach or angle. Locked down sealed and secured but for whom is this security provided? Who besides God the Father will occupy this security zone / huge new valley and why?
Again we have to go back to Jesus's time line in Matthew 24. What does He say happens next after the statue is set up? There will be great tribulation there in Israel. It appears that Israel is attacked by the AC and his UFO forces and as per Zechariah only a remnant survive.
As part of the many and assorted “Day of the Lord” activities as per Zechariah 14:6-7 and Matthew 24:36 a very special day is created by God the Father and known only by Him. This day will be a day without light neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen....that it will be light.
It appears that during this extremely cloudy and dismal day the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall to earth like over ripe figs and the sky as we see it will role up like a scroll.....as per Matthew 24 and Revelation 6.
The time duration of this event this special day is unknown but long enough to transition God the Father's kingdom from heaven to earth and also gather His elect from Satan's grasp.
And at some point the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky above and all the tribes of earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with power and great glory.
What is He coming for?
Matthew 24:31 says He comes to gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Just as in the days of Noah (Matthew 24:37) there is a huge gathering. Some a taken and some are left.
Where are all these ones to be gathered taken? In Noah's day it was the ark. This time it will also be an ark of sorts. The new enclosed security valley that God the Father just established for His earthly kingdom.
And who are “the elect” who will be taken to this new security compound by the angels after they have been gathered from here there and everywhere?
The dead and the alive in Christ and the Jewish remnant will be the only ones allowed into this new valley, new security zone, this new ark of sorts.
There is one other huge component to the population of this valley / ark like compound and that is those who compile “the whole house of Jacob”. The whole house of Jacob is described in detail in Ezekiel 37 as all of the descendants of Jacob who have ever lived.....hundreds of millions of them. God the Father resurrects all of them bodily without the breath of life being restored to them and parks them (so to speak) on the extreme east end of this new ark like compound at the Euphrates River. When He finally blows the breath of life back into them He uses them as His army..... all 200 million of them. Joel 2:11 Revelation 9:16
And oh by the way scripture also tells us that God the Father will be headquartered not in Jerusalem but at the other end, extreme eastern end of this compound with His resurrected Jewish army.
Gino... if you are reading this you had a question a couple of weeks ago that I should of but didn't answer concerning this very topic and scripture verse.
You wanted to know about Jeremiah 49:38 which says....
And I (God the Father) will set up my throne in Elam,
And will destroy from thence (there) the king and the princes,
saith the Lord.
Elam is this land mass near or surrounding the Euphrates River. So God the Father is saying that He will establish His throne there in Elam on the eastern end of His kingdom surrounded by His resurrected Jewish army in which He has blown His own Spirit into Ezekiel 37:14. He will send out and destroy from there the kings and princes of this world using His resurrected army. Revelation 9 says that He will destroy one third of earths population with this resurrected army being dispatched from the Euphrates River area. There are many verses in several areas of scripture describing the ride of this army riding on fire breathing horses and the extreme horror of it all. The noise of this army can be heard coming for hundreds of miles. People dying of fright before it even gets to them.
Yes I know I haven't gotten to the rapture yet......I will, I promise.....patience is a virtue.
So just like in the days of Noah when the elect were taken inside the ark it will happen again only this time they are taken within an earthly ark of sorts. Everything outside of this new valley compound, outside of the security ark is controlled by Satan and his forces.
Please remember that for 3.5 years of the ministry of the two witnesses all of alive mankind was given the opportunity to choose Jesus. Those who did including we the Christian Church are those that are to be gathered on the special unique day and taken to this compound.
Why are we the Church gathered and taken to this new valley compound as opposed to be taken directly to heaven?
There is war going on in heaven and it is not safe for us there at that time. That's why when God the Father left heaven to re-establish His kingdom here on earth He brought the dead in Christ with Him. Read 1 Thessalonians 4:14
And the second huge reason why we the Church dead and alive have to be brought to this new valley / ark like compound is to be born again. Yes, you heard me.....born again.
Jesus twice said in John 3 that........most assuredly unless one is born again of water and Spirit that they cannot see or enter the kingdom of God.
Paul tells us that when we accept Jesus as our savior that we receive an “adoption quantity” of Spirit. Enough to insure us as a member of the family so to speak but not enough to enter the kingdom. And the special water is a separate issue.
So this special water and Spirit that Jesus speaks in John 3........where and how do we get it?
Back to Zechariah 14......there we learn in verse 8 that when God the Father renovated Jerusalem along with the new valley that He also created a new river. A river that contains living waters. Isaiah 12 says these waters are from the wells of salvation.
Why are these new living waters there in Jerusalem so important especially to Christians for there salvation?
Please remember that it was there in Jerusalem where Jesus gave His life for us. He not only shed water and blood there on the ground for us but also His Spirit.
John 19:30 says it this way......So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And bowing His head, He gave up His Spirit.
A short time later one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
So the ground there in Jerusalem at Jesus's death was permeated with the essence of Jesus, the essence of God that flowed into the ground there.
Fast forward two thousand years and God the Father establishes a river flowing from Jerusalem containing living waters and wells of salvation.
I believe what Jesus is telling us in John 3 is that we must bath , submerge ourselves in this water which contains literally the essence of God. Once we have bathed in this water which contains the blood, water and Spirit of Jesus / God we will be changed from mortal to immortal......it's as simple as that. Then at the sound of the trumpet we Christians will rise to meet Jesus in the air above Jerusalem to then be with our Lord always.
That's why we Christians dead and alive have to be taken temporarily to this new ark like compound........we have to be born again in this river as Jesus instructed before we can see or enter the kingdom of God.
That just leaves one more group of people in this valley compound that we haven't addressed and that is the living Jewish remnant. They are part of “the elect” that were found worthy and gathered from all over the earth by the angels and also taken to this valley.
These people because they rejected Jesus will have to re-establish the original blood covenant with God the Father within this valley for the remaining 3.5years.
Many scripture verses depict this re-establishment happening in the end times.
Isaiah 12 speaks to the relationship between these people and God the Father during this period acknowledging that God the Father will indeed be in their midst.
This chapter of Isaiah is just one of many areas of scripture referencing this new relationship between the remnant Jews and God the Father when He returns to set up His kingdom here on earth.
So Doves.....search the scriptures to see if what God has told me is correct / rings true. If so, please get off and depart from the rapture train. Quit chasing your tail from holiday to holiday to holiday from celestial event to celestial event in a manic effort to determine the rapture event.
Instead, wait till you see the two witnesses arrive on the world stage and then do the math. When you do that you will know when our gathering takes place and we are taken to the ark compound / God the Father's new valley.
If you want a day by day schedule for the rapture read the book of Joshua. A mirror image of what is to happen in the new valley appears there. I wrote a couple of posts early in the year on the biblical parallel / shadow between what happened to Joshua after e crossed the Jordan River and what will happen there on the same ground in the future.
And like I said....quit trying to balance on the very edge of the rapture chair.....quit kicking that can down the road over and over year to year. Scripture indicates exactly when and how the rapture will happen and it won't happen until the whole world is on a level playing field where they either accept or reject the gospel of the kingdom at the conclusion of the ministry of the two witnesses. Then we are gathered and taken to God the Father's new ark.....so to speak.....where we are born again in the essence (blood, water, Spirit) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Once one secures this biblical reality a great pressure is taken from us and we can mentally relax. But if you still insist on being burdened with trying to pound square pegs in round holes then by all means proceed.......whatever floats your boat but that’s not what scripture promotes.
Blessings......John B