Birth Pangs and Fig Trees, Part 25

The birth pangs are over, and the baby has been born. The fig blossoms have become fruit. Sorrow and great tribulation have become joy and peace. That is if you have trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior. At this point it is important that we distinguish between certain groups of people. We can begin with those who have trusted Christ (the saved) and those who have rejected Christ (the lost). Within each of those two groups are those who have already died at the time of the Rapture (followed by the Day of the Lord) and those who are still alive at that time. When the signs described by the following Scriptures appear, Jesus will return. Those who have died believing in Him will be resurrected and will be given new, incorruptible resurrection bodies. Immediately after that, those who are alive and are trusting in Him will have their old bodies changed in "the twinkling of an eye" into those same incorruptible resurrection bodies.

"For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. Immediately after the distress of those days, 'the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.' [Joel 2:10, 31] At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. And He will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, [1 Thessalonians 4:16] and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matthew 24:27-31) Notice how this compares with the revelation given to John. "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black, like sack-cloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain was removed from its place.....For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" (Revelation 6:12-14, 17)

So the day of the wrath of God and of the Lamb, a/k/a "The Day of the Lord" has come, ushered in by the Rapture. Some well respected scholars mistakenly label the entire 70th Week of Daniel as "The Day of the Lord." The Day of the Lord is confined to a relatively short portion of the latter part of the seven year period. Since no man knows the day or the hour of Christ's return, no man knows the day or the hour that "The Day of the Lord" begins or exactly how long it will last. For those who have to endure it (those who have rejected Christ and who are alive at the time of his return) every hour will be filled with agony and terror. We do know that this period will not commence until some time into the last 3-1/2 years of Daniel's 70th week. We know that the Rapture does not happen until after the Antichrist is revealed. There has to be a period of time when believers are tested by the Antichrist and his policies (see Revelation 13:7-10, 15). We also know that "The Day of the Lord" has to last a minimum of five months, because that is the length of the fifth trumpet judgment (Revelation 9:10).

Now the stage is set for us to view from the vantage point of heaven what is taking place on the earth during "The Day of the Lord." Revelation 8 begins with the opening of the seventh seal, followed by thirty minutes of silence, because what is about to happen on the earth is so momentous. The seventh seal contains all of the trumpet judgments, and the seventh trumpet judgment contains all of the bowl judgments. So this is it; with the opening of the seventh seal there is no turning back. The wrath of god is about to be unleashed on planet earth. The events will unfold in trip-hammer fashion. Those who have been removed from earth will truly be grateful for this promise: "For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11).

Birth Pangs and Fig Trees, Part 24

The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, continued

To understand better the details of the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, it is important to see how Jesus' discourse on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24) parallels the vision which He gave to John, as recorded in Revelation 6. Because this has been touched on previously, I will present only a brief outline here. Matthew 24:5 compares to Revelation 6:1-2; Matthew 24:6-7a compares to Revelation 6:3-4; Matthew 24:7b compares to Revelation 6:5-6; Mathew 24:7c-8 compares to Revelation 6:7-8; Matthew 24:9 compares to Revelation 6:9-11; Matthew 24:29 compares to Revelation 6:12-13; Matthew 24:30-31 compares to Revelation 6:15-17. To compliment this, may I remind you that Jesus, quoting the prophet Daniel (Matthew 24:15-16), places the event called "the abomination which causes desolation" BEFORE the sign of the Lord's coming and the Rapture. Daniel places this event squarely in the middle of his 70th week (Daniel 9:27). Paul, states clearly: "Concerning the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to Him........Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion (apostasy) occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed...." (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3). Then in verse 4 Paul describes how he is revealed - by committing "the abomination which causes desolation" which he describes.

As Revelation 6 closes, we are on the brink of the Coming of Christ and the Rapture (which includes the resurrection of the saints), and the unleashing of God's wrath on the planet. Before that happens, one other event must take place - the sealing of 144,000 Jews who will be left on earth during that time. You see, the closing verse in Revelation 6 is a rhetorical question. "....who can stand?" The answer is, "No one!" Without God's intervention, no one will be able to successfully stand against the wrath to come. For the Christians of all ages, He intervenes with the Rapture; for these faithful Jews, He intervenes with this seal of protection (Revelation 7:1-8)

Revelation gives no details about the Rapture. For that one must look to Matthew 24:26-44 and 1 Thessalonian 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 for those details. We know that the rapture has taken place in Revelation someplace between 6:17 and 7:8 because of what we see in 7:9 and following. Here we see a great multitude out of "every nation, tribe, people and nation.....wearing white robes.....crying out in a loud voice: salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." (v. 9-10) The description is that of humans and may I remind you that only humans, created in the image of God are the recipients of salvation. Also those in white robes are identified as "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation..." (v. 14) If you will remember, the first 3-1/2 years of Daniel's 70th week are correctly identified as "the beginning of sorrows (or birth pangs). From the mid-point on is called "The Great Tribulation" which is cut short (amputated) for the elect's sake. The Great Tribulation is cut short by the Rapture. So, here we are, ready to look at the rest of Revelation from heaven's vantage point, except for a parenthetical insertion or two which goes back to a time when the saints are still on the earth.

This is where we will begin next time. Until then, be encouraged by this Word of the Lord: "Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." (Revelation 7:15-17). It will be worth it all my friends, so remain strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.