Theological Notes
Theological Notes
Note 1: The Rapture and the Beginning of the End of the Age are Simultaneous
Prewrath posits that the Rapture and the beginning of the End of the Age (AKA "Day of the Lord, the "Last Days", etc.) happen on the same day. This would invalidate the pre-trib position that the Rapture occurs before the beginning of Daniel's 70th week, well before the 70th week concludes (the Day of the Lord is towards the very end of the 70th week). If the prewrath position is correct, there should be some biblical support of this tie between these two "events". There are many such proofs. Among them:
The above references talk about raising up "at the last day". Whether talking about the resurrection of the dead or the "catching up" of the living is immaterial for this discussion, as those two things happen at virtually the same time:
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Thess 4:16-17 (NASB)
Looking at Strong's Greek dictionary to determine the meaning of the words "last" and "day" in the context of the John passages, we find the following:
"Last": Strong's Greek Number 2078
Greek word: eschatos es'-khat-os
2) the last
2a) last, referring to time
2b) of space, the uttermost part, the end, of the earth
2c) of rank, grade of worth, last i.e. lowest
"Day": Strong's Greek Number 2250
Greek word: hemera hay-mer'-ah
3) of the last day of this present age, the day Christ will return from heaven, raise the dead, hold the final judgment, and perfect his kingdom
The Harvest & The Reapers
Consistently throughout the New Testament, the End of the Age is referred to as a "harvest". See, for example,
In Matthew 24:31, Jesus says he will "send forth his angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. " In another parable, Jesus (using the harvest analogy) indicates that angels will be the reapers of the harvest (Matt 13:37-39). Therefore, the gathering of the saints by the angels is part of the harvest, which is the End of the Age. The gathering of the saints, the elect, and the harvest (the End of the Age) are simultaneous!!
Note 2: Directional Gathering Precedes the "Feast"
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say this-- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3 those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. Psalms 107:2-3 (NIV)
Note that the gathering is from all 4 points of the compass (note also the parallel to the reaping angels here who gather from "the four winds" in Matt 24:31). Note also that they are delivered from the hand of the foe. What foe? The Antichrist!!
Compare this to the following verse from Luke:
29 "And they will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God." Luke 13:29 (NASB)
So the 4-directional gathering precedes some sort of feast in the kingdom of God. What feast? How about the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. Who attends? The multitude who were gathered. Here are the passages from Revelation that show the gathering of the multitude, and their subsequent attendance of the Wedding supper:
9 After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. Rev 7:9 (NIV)
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. 7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Rev 19:6-7 (NIV)
Note 3: No "Deathbed Confessions"
There is a biblical requirement that the Gospel must be preached to all the world prior to "The End":
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come. (Matt 24:14)
Many believe that this requires missionaries of some sort to reach all the world's people as a prerequisite to the end times. But this is impossible, and cannot be done by mere humans. On the other hand, there will come a time when the Gospel is, in fact, heard by all -- even those who have not been reached by missionaries:
Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth--to every nation, tribe, language and people. (Rev 14:6)
This "Gospel Angel" will satisfy the requirement. You'd think that witnessing the Gospel Angel would be enough to convert anyone!! However, at some point after the Antichrist is revealed, perhaps even as soon as that happens, it will become impossible for any who do not already believe in Christ to believe and therefore receive salvation:
It is not entirely clear (to me) whether this delusion will take place before or after the Gospel Angel, but why take the chance? There may be many out there who plan to go on living their sinful, unbelieving lives and thinking "Once I see positive proof, then I'll convert and save myself". There will come a time when it becomes impossible to believe. No "deathbed confessions", as it were.
Believe now, before it's too late!!
Note 4: The Meaning of "A Thief in the Night"
Many Christians are unfamiliar with where the phrase "thief in the night" originates. It comes from the Mosaic temple service. During the night, when the high priest would leave, one priest would be left at the temple to see that the altar fire would continually burn. Early in the morning, it was said that the high priest would sneak into the temple "like a thief" to see if the priest watching the fire fell asleep, and if he was, the high priest would relight the altar fire, and then seek out the sleeping priest. Once the priest was found, the high priest would take some of the new fire and light the sleeping priest’s garments aflame, and the priest would be forced to return home naked. This is consistent with Yeshua’s affirmation to us in Revelation that He comes "like a thief" and that we need to be on guard. Yeshua is our high priest and He is coming "like a thief" to those who are spiritually asleep.
Rev 16:15 ("Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame.")