Romans 5:9 "Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, WE SHALL BE SAVED FROM THE WRATH OF GOD THROUGH HIM."
1 Thessalonians 1:10 ".....and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, WHO DELIVERS US FROM THE WRATH TO COME."
1 Thessalonians 5:9 "FOR GOD HAS NOT DESTINED US FOR WRATH, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ....."
Sometimes I get questions from Christians and pastors about the possibility of the Rapture being either in the middle of the 7 year Tribulation Period or at the end of the Tribulation at the time of the Second Coming. So, I will address this question here. Notice in the three Scripture verses above that believing Christians will not be subjected to God's wrath, either past, present, or future. So, we need to ask the question, what is God's wrath? Were World War I and World War II God's wrath? In the First World War around 10 million people perished, and in the Second World War around 50 million people perished. God's wrath? Nope! These were the "folly of men" and absolutely not God's wrath! So then what are the examples of God's wrath? The flood for one! Noah and his family were lifted above the flood waters in the Ark, for as believers they were not meant for God's wrath. The destruction of Sodom is another example! Lot and his family were rescued by angels from Sodom before God destroyed Sodom. Again as believers they were not meant for God's wrath.
How about our time period in history? Have we ever seen God's wrath to this point in time? No. Is God's wrath coming eventually in these End Times (from the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948)? Yes. When? God's wrath will begin with the arrival of the antichrist on the global stage (Revelation 6:2). This is the first "seal judgment" of God. God's wrath will be encompassed through all the seal judgments, trumpet judgments, and bowl or vial judgments, and they will conclude right before the Second Coming of Christ. The antichrist's arrival and false Middle East peace covenant (Daniel 9:27) will begin the 7 year Tribulation Period. So, the entire 7 year Tribulation Period is God's wrath upon the earth? Is this correct? Yes.
So, when is the Rapture? Well, believing Christians (and I separate them from people who go to church but have never received Jesus as their Lord and Savior) are not meant for God's wrath! From the three verses of Scripture above that is most certainly correct! So again, what does all this mean concerning the timing of the Rapture?
IT IS A 100% CERTAINTY THAT THE RAPTURE WILL HAPPEN BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE ANTICHRIST AND THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD! Now there are many other ways also to prove that the Rapture is before the 7 year Tribulation Period, but it is not my intent to show that here lest this e-mail become enormous in size.
What does this mean for us folks living late in these End Times right now? OK, back in November of 1977, then President Anwar Sadat of Egypt flew to Israel and he spoke at the Israeli Knesset. He stated that a "comprehensive Middle East peace" must be achieved. Being Muslim, he did not know that he was indeed speaking the truth. But before TRUE Middle East peace arrives with the Second Coming of Israel's long rejected Messiah (Jesus), the antichrist will show up on the scene with a FALSE peace. Anyone alive now who is around 50 years old or younger has heard for virtually their entire life about "the need for Middle East peace". This coming fall (2020) the Middle East "peace process" will be 43 years in the making. A number of American Presidents have tried to find a solution to this very sticky dilemma, but all have failed. Why? Because the job of providing the initial FALSE Middle East peace is given to the antichrist, and he will show up right after the Rapture. It is very important to understand that the antichrist will come with great satanic power, and he will be able to cement the deal, which will hold for the first half of the 7 year Tribulation Period, but then everything will fall apart as war ravages the world during the Great Tribulation, the last three and one half years of the Tribulation.
So, as believing Christians, what exactly should we be watching for in the world? Keep a very close eye on the Middle East "peace negotiations"! That is our key! Here I will give you my opinion as a teacher of end time Bible prophecy for nearly 40 years (next month---June of 2020---I will be celebrating 40 years of teaching this topic on a continuous basis). Again this is just my opinion, and I could back it up with a lot of Scripture, but again not here. In my opinion the Rapture will occur from anytime between now and the late 2030's. If the Lord was to ask me (which He won't----LOL!), I would vote for the Rapture this year! It would appear that everything is truly ready for the Rapture this year, but we do not know! From Scripture we cannot know the day, hour, month, nor year. It is simply up to God the Father, and when He is ready he will tell Jesus to "blow that trumpet" and go get us out of this world! There is one interesting thing about the late 2030's (SIGH). If the Rapture was then, the Great Tribulation would fall in the early 2040's, precisely 100 years after World War II. Is that important? I do not know.
As a Messianic Jew (or Jewish Christian), the greatest event in my entire life by far was receiving Israel's Messiah as my Lord and Savior back in October of 1979! Absolutely nothing is more important in this life! If you are Jewish and you are reading this, ask yourself the following question. Does God lie? I am serious! Does God lie? Now that you have dealt with that question, pull out an Old Testament (the Tanakh) and go read Micah 5:2, Psalm 22:14-18, and all of the 53rd chapter of Isaiah. In those passages you will find the identity of our Jewish Messiah! These passages of Scripture were written between 700 and 1000 BC. So again I ask you, does God lie?
Neil
NOW TAKE A VERY CLOSE LOOK AT THIS P.S. BELOW!
P.S. Would you like perhaps to hear a great possible time for the Rapture? Again I said POSSIBLE. Well, did you notice above that I mentioned that the 43rd anniversary of the Middle East peace process is this coming fall? And the Tribulation Period is 7 years long. Did you notice that? Well, what is 43 + 7? Humm. 50. What is the significance of the number 50 in Scripture? Go look up Leviticus 25:8-13 !!! Jubilee (50) is a happy time of celebration and returning to one's family and property! So, could it be that from the start of the Middle East peace process (fall of 1977) to the Second Coming of Israel's Messiah it would be 50 years? Maybe. Right now we do not know. If this was true, then when would the Rapture happen? By sometime this fall! In my opinion (and I am entitled to that) this coronavirus, being a global problem, will demand a global solution, and as such will be utilized politically to start bringing about a one world government (the famous "New World Order" you have been hearing about for many years). Again, humm. And who is coming right after the Rapture to be the head of this one world government? Awh, take a guess! I have already told you above.
P.P.S. And how will the Rapture be explained away by those left on the earth? Remember, they will not accept what is in the Bible, although over time a greater and greater number will come to the Lord during the Tribulation (and many will be martyred by the antichrist). The only other "logical explanation" will be that UFO's had arrived at earth and removed some of the people from the earth. And those left on the earth will want to find out who is still on the earth and who disappeared, so therefore a "marking system" will need to be implemented. And therein we find the "mark of the beast" in Revelation 13:16-18. It will be used both for identification and for buying and selling. Way, way too much to go into here, but have any of you taken a close look at the UNIVERSAL Product Code (UPC)? In it is encoded the "666" in the barcode. And our society has already developed "chipping technologies" to place the mark either IN the right hand or IN the forehead (King James Bible Revelation 13:16).