Hello John and Doves,
Prophecy Watchers 06.2023 magazine
has an interesting article by Gary Stearman titled:
"The Pre-Pretribulation Rapture". prophecywatchers.com
Gary wrote, "The first sermon of
the Church Age was given by Peter on Pentecost. He
quotes Joel's prophecy about the horrendous upheavals before
the Day of the Lord. Many have wondered at Peter's
choice of Scripture. Why it is asked, would he
illustrate the birth of the church with a Tribulation
prophecy? In light of what we now know about Israel's
residence in the Land, the answer is simple. Peter
is bracketing the life of the church, from its beginning
to its end."
"Acts 2:16:20: "But this is
that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come
to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out my
Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams...And I will
shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth
beneath; blood, and fire and vapour of smoke. The sun
shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,
before that great and notable day of the Lord come."
"Using Joel's words, Peter here
utters a prophecy about the beginning and end of the Church
Age...before the Day of the Lord."
"In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus
speaks of wars, famines, diseases, and massive earthquakes
that characterize this period. He quickly adds - "but
the end is not yet." Matt 24:6
"Looking at the prophecies above,
one might respond with an obvious question: If
global horrors break out before the Tribulation, won't the
church be around to experience them? The answer
is...not necessarily!....Imagine for a moment
that a Mideast war breaks out possibly with Iran. As
tensions grow, Russia and her client states react by
escalating their positions. At some point, Damascus
and Egypt are wiped out. Prophecy is clear about
this. Then Gog, leading a vast northern alliance,
marches upon Israel. All this seems to come
just before the Tribulation."
"If the war becomes
nuclear, the atmosphere would be filled with particulate
matter, darkening the Sun and Moon...before the
Tribulation...just a Joel prophesied."
In 1 Thessalonians, Paul "lays out
a scenario that involves a future war that comes with
lightning rapidity. By definition, it must come prior
to the actions of the antichrist at the beginning of the
Tribulation."
"For when they shall say peace and
safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail
upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape." I Th.
5:3
"This is a letter to the
church. Yet Paul's warnings of war are given to Israel
and the nations, not to the church....to those "Left
Behind".......The Old Testament Prophets - Isaiah, Jeremiah,
Ezekiel, Danial and the Minor Prophets all speak of a
transitional period before God's Wrath is fully released.
They repeatedly use the words "before" or "at hand" as a way
of warning Israel to be especially watchful in the latter
days. When the signs of the end begin to
multiply ...even as they are now...look up....The wrath of
God is not our destiny. Be very
watchful. And comfort one another with the thought of
a pre-pretribulation rapture!"
So, to summarize, IF Peter is
"bracketing" the Church Age from "beginning to end" - then
It begins on that day of Pentecost with the Holy Spirit
appearing like a flame on the people and ends with God
pouring out His spirit - dreams/visions/prophecies and
blood, fire, smoke, the sun turned dark and the moon turned
red. Gary says that the Church might not "necessarily"
experience these things - war, massive earthquakes, sun
darkened/moon to blood. And the Tribulation commences
at some point after the Church is Raptured.
In previous articles Gary has
written about the timing of the Rapture in relation to the
Tribulation - he thinks it comes before the Tribulation, of
course, but may be weeks, months or even several years
before. There is nothing in scripture that tells us
how far in advance the Rapture is before the Tribulation
starts. I tend to think it will be months to
weeks/days...not years.
So many prophecy teachers have told
us that nothing else needs to happen before the
Rapture. But maybe we've been told wrong or maybe
there are some really bad things coming before the Rapture
. If this is indeed what Peter was doing in quoting
Joel 2 on Pentecost, and the Church Age does include those
things of Joel 2 that happen "before the great and dreadful
day of the Lord", the Believers could be facing some
violent/shocking times BEFORE the Tribulation. We just
don't know how many of those things or how much of those
things in the Olivet Discourse we, the Believers, will
experience - we'll certainly experience the birth pains and
the beginnings (what will this be?)....as we're told when we
see these things..."And when these things begin to come to
pass, then look up, and lift up your heads for your
redemption draweth nigh." Luke 21:28 We are not
appointed to God's wrath - that's the Tribulation.
In my Doves letter linked above, I
see Peter as giving a warning about something major
happening on a future Pentecost (like the sun darkened/the
moon turned to blood - people can easily look up Pentecost
or the 'moon to blood' in the Bible and find Acts 2) that
will bring people to look at what the Bible said about
Pentecost...and then they'll see Peter quoting Joel 2.
They'll know what's been prophesied for their world.
And they'll see this: "And everyone who calls on the
name of the Lord will be saved." Joel 2:32.
Just a couple of differing and
overlapping thoughts on Peter's quoting Joel 2 on
Pentecost....
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance