DISCLAIMER: As of 2023, I no longer hold to a Dispensational or Premillennial eschatology. Perhaps in the future I will write more about what I do believe, but for now I will just say that I lean toward Amillennialism with a partial preterist understanding of the end times prophecy found in scripture. I’m leaving this blog post up as a reference to my past understanding of eschatology.
This post is going to be a bit different from those I’ve done in the past because it’s going to primarily be a study and recap of scripture and then an overarching recap of the timeline of events at the end. It might seem a little raw or unfinished, as I’m personally in the midst of learning this as I write. However, this post doesn’t need to be polished. It’s a revelation of scripture. The constant theme that seems to go along with these chunks of scripture is to encourage, or exhort, or to call to attention these things amongst the saints (the Church body), so that we’re not caught off guard by these events. I’m learning this all through someone else’s study on the same verses, but the paraphrases of each piece of scripture are mine. Here goes…
15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 ESV
Paraphrase:
Paul is describing the second coming of Christ, the first resurrection, and the remaining church being caught up (raptured). He makes it clear that at the second coming, the resurrection will happen first, and then those who have remained alive will be caught up together with the Lord, and the resurrected, in the clouds.
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection.
Revelation 20:4-5 ESV
Paraphrase:
John is describing that during the thousand years of peace with Christ, those who were martyred for not receiving the mark of the beast or worshipping the beast during the tribulation are the ones who will reign with Christ. The rest of the (unrighteous) dead will remain asleep until after the thousand years.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.
Revelation 6:9-11 ESV
Paraphrase:
John sees the souls of those who are martyred for their faith when the fifth seal on the scroll is opened. (Read Revelation 5 for an overview of the scroll.) They are given white robes and told God won’t avenge their blood until the remaining brothers and sisters in Christ have been martyred.
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Revelation 7:13-14 ESV
Paraphrase:
One of the elders confirms to John that those wearing the robes have been martyred in the tribulation.
12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. 14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”
Revelation 6:12-17 ESV
Paraphrase:
Jesus opens the sixth seal and the sun goes dark, the moon turns red like blood, the stars fall out of the sky, and the mountains and islands are removed. The sinners and those who are part of the antichrist system hide and beg for death.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matthew 24:29-31 ESV
Paraphrase:
This is the same as the event in Revelation 6:12-17 above. After the tribulation, the sun and moon are darkened, the stars fall, and Jesus will come again at that point and will gather His elect (the Church body) via the first resurrection and the rapture.
1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-4 ESV
Paraphrase:
Paul writes to the Thessalonian Church encouraging them that the rapture and second coming cannot happen until:
1. The great apostasy (falling away) happens.
2. The man of lawlessness (the antichrist) reveals himself and exalts himself as God. (This is the tribulation.)
Timeline Overview:
First, there will be a great apostasy where many will fall away from Christ. Then the antichrist will reveal himself and exalt himself. This is when the tribulation begins, and the mark of the beast will be given. During the tribulation, the saints (Christians) will be persecuted and martyred. Immediately after the tribulation, a trumpet will sound, and the destruction of the sun, moon, stars, sky and earth will occur as a sign of the second coming of Christ. Then Jesus will appear, and the first resurrection will occur and then those who have survived the tribulation will be raptured up with Jesus and the resurrected. At this time the sinners and antichrist system will mourn and hide. Finally, there will be a thousand years of peace when those resurrected in Christ and those raptured will reign with Christ.
To sum up, what this study of scripture says is that there will not be a pre- or mid-tribulation rapture. The Bible only tells of a post-tribulation rapture. Keep in mind that in Revelation, there are two wraths that take place: the wrath of Satan (the tribulation), and the wrath of God. We (Christians) will not experience the wrath of God, which takes place after the great tribulation, but scripture is clear that we will experience persecution and martyrdom during the tribulation and the process of the mark of the beast.
Please go and read and pray through these scriptures for yourself. The western church has been deceived and we need to encourage one another in what the Word of God actually says. There isn’t much room for misinterpretation in these scriptures when we look at them and compare them. This post is not to bring fear or confusion, but to bring forward the truth straight from the Bible, and for believers to prepare themselves to stand firm in their faith. Especially those believers in the western, modernized, free world. Take time to strengthen your faith now. Teach yourselves and your families Truth right from God’s Word, and take heart that we will not perish in a second death. We will live and reign with Jesus! I hope that this is as refreshing for your soul as it was for mine. The Word of God is alive and active!
Blessings,
Robin
TransformerGirl Blog 