Pre-tribulation position:
Jesus will rapture the church before the seven-year tribulation period. After the tribulation Jesus will return to the earth.
Post-tribulation position: Jesus will rapture the church after the seven-year tribulation period as he is descending to the earth.
Mid-tribulation position: Jesus will rapture the church at the 3 ½ year midpoint of the tribulation. Jesus will return after the tribulation.
Pre-wrath position: Jesus will rapture the church just before God pours out his wrath upon the earth near the end of the tribulation.
Sincere and intelligent Christians disagree on which of the above positions best represents the Biblical evidence. The outline below reflects my belief.
Why I believe in the pre-tribulation position that the church will not go through the tribulation:
I. The Evidence From the Book of Revelation
A. In Rev.3:10 Jesus gives a direct statement that the church of Philadelphia will be kept from the time period of the tribulation.
If you study the rewards of the other churches of Revelation and compare them with other Scriptures you will see that they apply to all saved churches.
In Rev.3:10 Jesus says, “…I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live upon the earth.”
The church of Philadelphia was a church that was patiently enduring persecution as all churches of Jesus Christ should and Jesus says that they will (v.10) be kept from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth.
The Greek words “keep from” mean “protection from.” It can mean protection from by either taking one out of a particular situation (pre-trib.) or protecting one through it (post-trib.)
But Jesus says here that He will keep them from the “hour of trial,” a period of time of testing that is about to come upon the earth. The only way someone can be “kept from” or protected from a time period rather than a condition or circumstance is to be kept from going through that time period. This fits a pre-tribulation rapture position that holds that the church will be kept from the whole time period of the tribulation by being raptured just before it. A post-tribulational position would propose the church would be protected from the condition or circumstance of the tribulation, but not the time period itself.
B. The 24 elders who are in the throne room of God during the tribulation must be identified with the church and shows the church believers are raptured and in heaven during the tribulation.
The 24 elders are not specifically identified, but there are three key descriptions given of them. Using the process of elimination we can narrow their identity down to one group, which represents the church of Jesus Christ.
1. They are elders.
This is a term that is used often in the Bible and always refers to a group of older individuals that represent a larger group of people.
In the OT, it is used of the elders of Israel, the elders of a specific tribe in Israel, the elders of a city, and the like. Most of the time “elders” is used of the elders of Israel, older men who were leaders of the various tribes of Israel. (Exod.3:16; 19:7, Num.11:16)
In the NT it is used three ways. It is used either of the Jewish elders in Jerusalem, or of OT elders in the past, and most prominently to the elders of local churches. (Mat.16: 21, Heb.11: 2, Acts 14: 23, 15: 22)
Nowhere in Scripture is the term elder used of angels. This means that these elders are human beings representing a larger group of human beings. By the way, the four living creatures in Revelation are easy to identify because they are mentioned in Ezekiel and are identified as cherubim – angels.
2. They are dressed in white.
This means that they are righteous and pure either because they are angels, or saved and forgiven human beings. Angels are also dressed in white, but we have already eliminated angels, so they must be saved human beings.
Note: Rev.19:8 says that the bridal garment of the bride is white
3. They are on thrones surrounding the Father’s thrones.
Sitting on thrones means that they are reigning or prepared to reign with God. In other NT writings, it is the apostles (Mat.19:28) or the church (2 Tim.2: 12) that will reign.
Later, in Revelation, it says the tribulation saints will reign with Christ, but these can’t be the tribulation saints, for they have not entered heaven when ch.4 and 5 occur.
4. They are wearing crowns
The “crown” each is wearing is “stephanos” in the Greek, which was actually a wreath a victor wore after winning an event. They are wearing victory crowns. In many places in the NT outside of Revelation, the church is said to wear victory crowns 1 Cor.9:25, Phil.4:1, 1 Thess.2:19, 2 Tim.4:8, Jas.1:12, 1 Pet.5:4) No other saints in the NT (OT, tribulation, or millennial saints) are shown to wear victory crowns except the church. In Revelation “stephanos/crown” is used twice of church believers (Rev.2:10 and Rev.3:11).
It is used twice of the 24 elders in Rev.4:4 and 4:10.
Who are these individuals? Most likely they are either
a. the 12 apostles (representing church believers who are Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel) and 12 representatives of the church at large (representing Gentile church believers)
b. Or they are 24 representing the whole church (12 for Jewish believers and 12 for Gentile believers) all united as one body.
Could they be OT believers? They could not be the OT believers because they are not resurrected until after the tribulation (Dan. 12:1-2, 9-13)
C. The complete absence of any mention of the term “church” and the identity of the believers on the earth during the tribulation in Rev.6-18 is consistent with a pretribulational rapture of the church.
1. In Rev.1-3 the church is prominent on the earth. When the tribulation begins in Rev.6 the term “church” is not used again of any inhabitants on the earth (or of anyone else) until the end of the book. Although this is an argument from silence, this is exactly what one would expect if the rapture was pre-tribulational.
2. The primacy of 144,000 Jewish (from the twelve tribes of Israel) believers in spreading the gospel in Rev. 7:4 shows that God has reintroduced the role of Israelites into his plan. During the tribulation, the Jewish believers take the primary place in evangelizing the world.
Rev.7:3 shows them sealed as servants. That means they are being sealed for a special service to God during the tribulation. In Rev.14:1-5, they are specific individuals who have set aside the normal human activities of marriage and the like to serve the Lord during the tribulation. They have been set aside as first fruits of the rest of the harvest.
These individuals are most likely real Jewish believers sealed for God to serve Him representing the harvest God is going to bring in the nation of Israel as he opens up the heart of many Jews to accept Christ as messiah and many Gentiles as well. Although, it does not say how they actually serve the Lord, I think that on earth during the tribulation there is only one way to serve the Lord - preach the gospel.
This shows two things in regard to a pretribulational and premillenial view. The first is that during the tribulation, God has brought Israel back into prominence in doing what she was originally called to do as a nation – preach the truth about God to the whole world. When God shows the twelve tribes of Israel here he makes it clear that He is dealing with the literal nation of Israel. It is a clue that the church is gone – their ministry of being the primary fulfillers of the Great Commission has been taken over by these Jewish Christians.
3. The believers who are clearly identified as being on earth during the tribulation in Rev.6-18 are killed for their faith. They are mentioned in 6:9 and 7:14.
These believers are identified as those who have died for Christ and thus come out of the Great tribulation by death. Thus these saints are not the church. They are not those who accepted Christ before the tribulation began, but after. Notice, they are wearing palm branches (triumphal entry – celebration and joy), but not crowns, victory wreaths. The 24 elders who represent the church have those. Rev.3:10 says that the church will be kept from the hour of tribulation.
If the rapture occurs after the Great Tribulation, and the church goes through the tribulation and are protected from it, they will be watching on earth while brothers and sisters in Christ die over and over again. What is the point of making the church watch all that and then be raptured? What is the point of preserving the church in the tribulation and not rapturing them?
II. The Evidence From The Thessalonian Epistles
A. 1 Thess. 5:4 and 9 support a pre-tribulation rapture.
Paul says that the day of the Lord will not surprise believers like a thief because they are not in darkness spiritually asleep (symbolizing sin and spiritual blindness).
The Greek word for “surprise” means “overtake, strongly seize, or come upon.”
The day of the Lord will come suddenly and unexpectedly upon the unbeliever who is totally unprepared because he is spiritually blind and thus asleep. It will strongly seize him for destruction - as a thief suddenly and unexpectedly seizes the owner of a house when he is sleeping.
Christians are “in the day.” We are awake and alert spiritually so that the thief cannot overtake us at all.
The comparison here is not between the thief coming and seizing the owner of the house by surprise in one instance and in the other instance, the owner of the house is seized but not by surprise. The comparison is between the owner being seized by a thief who comes in the night when the owner is asleep and one who is not seized at all by a thief because he is in the day and is therefore awake. The only way an owner could be seized at all is if the thief comes and surprises him when he is asleep.
This is the key – the only way the owner could be seized is suddenly by surprise in the night when he is asleep. Otherwise he would not be seized by the thief at all because he is in the day and is awake.
This means that believers will not be overtaken by the day of the Lord at all! It will not happen to us.
Then v. 9 says “For God has not destined us for wrath.” The wrath here is the wrath of the day of the Lord, the tribulation. The idea Paul is bringing across here is that the Thessalonian believers will not face the fate of the unbeliever. They will not be violently seized by destruction suddenly and unexpectedly, as the unbeliever will be in the tribulation period.
B. The fear of the Thessalonian believers whom Paul exhorts in 2 Thess.2: 1-4 shows that they believed in a pre-tribulation rapture.
The Thessalonians thought that the tribulation had come and were fearful and worried. In v.2 Paul says “not to become easily unsettled or alarmed…that the day of the Lord [i.e. tribulation and second coming judgments ] has already come.”
If they had been post-tribulational, they would have expected the day of the Lord and not been alarmed. They would have asked Paul what to do and Paul would have told them to persevere. If the tribulation were to begin right now, the post-tribulationalists would be saying I told you so and the pre-tribulationalists would be panicking. This is what you find in the Thessalonian church because they were pre-tribulational.
III. There are stark differences between the rapture passages and the second coming passages.
A. In the rapture passages of Jn.14:1-3, 1 Thess.4:13-18, and 1 Cor.15:51-55, there is an emphasis on looking forward to the hope and blessing of the rapture.
B. In the primary second coming passages Matt.24, Zech.14:3-4, 2 Thess.1, and Rev.19 there is an emphasis on judgment.
C. The day of Christ and the day of the Lord are not the same.
1.The day of Christ refers to the rapture and the bema seat reward
Day of Jesus Christ, the day of the Lord Jesus, and the day of the Lord Jesus Christ bring salvation, blessing, and rejoicing
1 Cor.1: 8, 5:5, 2 Cor.1:14, Phil.1:6, 10: 2:16
2. The day of the Lord refers to the tribulation and second coming of Christ in judgment
1 Thess.5: 1-4 and 2 Thess.2: 2-4 brings judgment.
But Noah found grace in the eyes of the
LORD. ( Genesis 6:8 )
My Dear in Him,
Please follow me to study this words of hope from
the beginning to the end of the messages so you can found grace in the eyes of
The Almighty Father in obedience to The Divine direction to His prophet.
The word “grace” appears for the first time in the Bible in this verse. Noah
lived in the midst of the most heinously evil society the world had known, but
because he had found grace, God favored him with personal instruction about the
coming catastrophic judgment and the details for a new beginning on earth.The language of Genesis 6:8 gives us insight into Noah’s character. “Found” is a simple active perfect verb, not a passive one. Thus, Noah found favor—grace—in God’s eyes because he was actively looking for it. Likewise, Adam found no helpmate from among the animals that was suitable for him (Genesis 2:20), and Noah’s dove did not find rest for the sole of her foot (Genesis 8:9). Laban did not find his household images that Rachel had stolen and hidden (Genesis 31:35), and Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses
(2 Chronicles 34:14-15). God could have used a passive verb in reference to Noah, but He did not.
What can we learn from the life of this great man?
Evidently, God intended for us to know this key factor: Noah’s life was righteous—in spite of the horrible condition of the world of his day. He was looking for God’s direction and for the answers to his heart’s cry. Noah wasn’t merely hanging around waiting for the inevitable destruction that he sensed must come as a result of the awful rebellion that surrounded him. Noah was anticipating a response from God—and when God finally did give him instruction, Noah “found” the favor that he sought!
Captain of Industry
Many centuries later, God warned Ezekiel of future judgment that would happen to the land of Israel because of its wickedness. God identified three men—Noah, Daniel, and Job—as examples of the best “righteous” men in history (Ezekiel 14:14, 20). If that comparison has any meaning, Noah was much more than a mere chance recipient of God’s grace.
Job was “the greatest of all the men of the east” (Job 1:3). His livestock resources (mainly those for caravan duty) were enormous. That certainly meant that he was a successful trade broker and possibly a source for prized stock. He had multiple houses and land—so much so that “bands” from nearby nations were necessary to destroy his wealth.
God had labeled Job “my servant...there is none like him in the earth, a perfect [blameless] and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth [shuns] evil” (Job 1:8). Job was much more than a “nice guy.” He was probably the wealthiest man of his day, and yet he was of such godly character that God used him to teach Satan a lesson!
Daniel was one of the king’s descendants and nobles from Judah taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 1:3). The account of Daniel and his three godly friends is well known among Christians, but the young adult experiences of Daniel often overshadow the long life that he led as the leader of the “scientists” (learned men) of that day. He was commissioned as a “great man” by Nebuchadnezzar and “sat in the gate of the king” (Daniel 2:48-49). Daniel served in some form of senior political and advisory position for six kings over some 70 years. Not bad for a captive!
God identified Daniel as a “man greatly beloved” (Daniel 10:11). He was privileged to have unusual spiritual insight, which he could have used to his personal advantage. But he always made it clear that he was gifted by God’s grace—to whom he always gave credit. Furthermore, God used Daniel to record several of the most remarkable prophecies in all of Scripture. Scholars are still discussing the book of Daniel. He was a significant person indeed!
If the comparisons of the righteous men listed in Ezekiel 14 are to be genuine comparisons, Noah must have been a person of significance in his region—if not well known throughout the world of his day. He clearly possessed or had access to the resources and skills needed to accomplish the monumental task that was assigned to him. Since God’s instructions to build the Ark are somewhat general, it is not beyond reason to assume that Noah ran an architectural and contracting business of some kind.
The pre-Flood civilization would certainly have been advanced enough for such an enterprise. The evolutionary cloud has mesmerized most of the world into relegating the “ancient” world into some sort of pre-human existence—living in caves and grass huts with animal skins for clothing. The Bible paints a much different picture! There were cities during Noah’s day, as well as developed technology that included metallurgy and the skills to build and market musical instruments (Genesis 4:17-22). Somebody had to construct the habitations for the growing population, and someone had to coordinate the distribution and development of those manufacturing places that produced the products needed by that society.
The world of Noah was very wicked, but it functioned with much the same needs as our current world. When the Lord Jesus wanted to emphasize the suddenness of the destruction in the coming end-times judgment, He did it by drawing a comparison with the “ordinary” life of the populations around Noah.
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be
also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married
wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the
ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:26-27)
Noah was an important man in his day. Whether he was a general contractor,
an architect, or a business baron is pretty much an educated guess. But the
fact that he found grace is important. Noah was fully dedicated to the
work of God during his life.Walked with God
The Bible says that Noah was one of only two men in all of history who “walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). The other is Enoch, who may be more well known since he was taken up into God’s presence without dying (Genesis 5:24). Efforts by some to portray Noah as a bumbling, drunken hypocrite are simply not true. God’s commentary is that Noah was “just” and “perfect” (upright, without blemish). The Creator entrusted him with a monumental task that is unique in all of history.
Noah was “just.” That simply means that he was known for his equitable dealings with others. Even in the wicked world that disgusted the Creator, Noah was “justified” in his dealings. He charged reasonable prices for his work. He gave a good product (whatever it was) to those who employed his services. His honest dealings gave rise to his influence in the community. He was proven to be a man of integrity (Genesis 7:1).
Noah was “perfect.” That precious reputation, at least from God’s perspective, means that he was a man without condemnation. His “just” dealings resulted in a “blameless” record. Whatever the wicked people of his day may have said behind his back, they knew that Noah was above reproach. Just as folks today often resort to rumor-mongering and distortion of facts to cover their own guilt, those around Noah no doubt employed some of the same practices to discredit righteous Noah. He may well have had that kind of treatment, but God saw that he was “perfect.”
Preacher of Righteousness
Peter called Noah a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Think of what that means in the context of Genesis 6! The whole earth was “filled with violence” and “every heart” only thought of evil. The social milieu must have been a real mess. Yet Noah had the guts to stand up publically for the righteous behavior that just about everyone else openly and loudly rejected.
Perhaps his extended family members, and even some or most of his employees, were under his influence. But by the time the judgment of God fell, only Noah, his wife, and three of their sons and their wives were willing to follow his leadership into the Ark. Many would consider a ministry with such results a failure today, and yet God insisted that Noah’s faith not only “saved” his family but the future world from extinction (Hebrews 11:7)!
We are not told in Scripture what Noah preached about. Enoch (the other man who walked with God) preached about the return of the Lord in judgment (Jude 1:14-15). Noah may well have preached about the coming judgment of the Flood and the desperate need of the world’s people to turn back to their Creator for salvation. Whatever he may have preached and however he implemented his heart’s desire, Noah was labeled a “preacher of righteousness” by the only Judge that ultimately counts.
God’s grace is always available. It is not hidden from anyone. But it must be “found” by God’s servants as we “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
My Most Beloved,
If you look for God with your whole heart you will find Him and He
will remove that affliction out of your life, family, marriage and business.
God is great and also the wisest personage in the
universe. Your decision to look for Him today as the solution to the problems
that have weighed you down in this life is the only key to the problem.
You might be among those who are searching for God but
not with your whole heart. You might also be searching for God and at the same
time going to the places you know from your heart that is not pleasing to God
Almighty.
God is everywhere you go though not accessible from all
places you have fixed your heart for the solution to your needs.
So many people have looked for this God through many
gods of various religions and yet they are still confused of life and why they
even came into existence.
Others have believed that joining different kinds of
Self Realization organizations is the key to actualize and realize what they
are looking for.
I have seen others who are tired of other gods of other
people but now they have decided to create their own gods to worship. Can a man
create God?
Yet many men have created gods and deceived you to
worship them.
Many are calling upon the names of other gods they do
not know about simply because they want to try a certain kind of worship and see
how it can be with them. Some others are
busy looking for a place to discover another strange god which is not yet
discovered by any other man. If we move
a little into the Bible book we will discover the exact message of God
concerning searching and developing gods in any other scientific method which
the Bible rightly stipulated, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve
them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that
hate me;
And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me,
and keep my commandments.” – EXODUS 20: 3-6.
God is warning you from this portion of the scripture
to stop developing any form of worship that will
entice you to worship other gods.
God is also warning you in particular to remove and
throw away those gods you kept in secret places which men do not know you are
worshipping.
Stars and other things in the skies are not made to be
worshipped by The Almighty Father and the Creator of universe. God commanded
you also never to worship gods of woods, silvers, gold and iron.
God
spoke to us through Moses and said. “And
the LORD commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye
might do them in the land whither ye go over to possess it.
Take
ye therefore good heed unto yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on
the day that the LORD spake unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire:
Lest
ye corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven image, the similitude of any
figure, the likeness of male or female,
The
likeness of any beast that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged fowl
that flieth in the air,
The
likeness of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likeness of any fish
that is in the waters beneath the earth:
And lest
thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon,
and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship
them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations
under the whole heaven. - Deuteronomy 4:14-19
God is angry with you as you are bowing down to them
and this is the source of those problems that refuses to go out of your life.
The Almighty Father does not want you to worship the gods of your land.
Some people do carry the gods of their lands in wooden
form to another country for worshipping purposes but The Almighty Father cannot
be carried in a wooden form because He is accessible from any place and any
condition you can call Him in truth and in Spirit wholeheartedly.
There is no good gods in seas and oceans. There is no
marine good gods that is capable to do what Almighty God cannot do for you.
He warned you never to bow down to any of them. Your
destiny is purely in the hand of The Almighty Father. None of your blessings
comes as a result of worshipping idols.
God is jealous and will not be happy if you are giving
the glories that are due to His Most Holy Name, Jehovah to other gods of
nations and other gods who have ears but cannot hear.
If you believe me today, and decide to drop those gods
you are serving and to come to The Almighty Jehovah through His Son, Jesus
Christ.
The
Bible warned, “As
many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold,
I stand at the door, and knock:
if any man hear my voice, and open the door,
I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
To
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also
overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches. The Revelation of Saint John 3:19-22.
Why not decide right now as you are reading this
message and give your entire life to your Creator so it shall be well with you,
your family and all your businesses?
Will you continue to serve the gods that demands for
the blood of your children for ritual purposes and sacrifices so as to bless
and protect you?
Will you serve the gods that takes away your fertility
in other to give you unrealistic financial blessings and fame?
Reason well before you go.
God is telling me that some group of people is trying
to initiate you into a cult, an occult group, a satanic system of worship.
Please beware and run away for your dear life so you
will not regret the final outcome of it.
There is nothing absolutely good in Satan. He is a liar
and father of all liars.
If you believe this message is for you in particular
and you wants to be saved before it is too late. Why not call my attention for
my direction to establish your faith in Jesus Christ?
Accept and Confess the name of Jesus Christ so He shall
come into your life and be your God as you have totally dropped all form of
other gods with sincere heart.
Jesus
saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.- JOHN 14:6-7
Am available to assist you to develop your faith in God
and also to pray with you for instant divine solution to those problems that
has taken you far and wide without hope for solution.
“And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy
father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the
LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the
thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him,
he will cast thee off for ever. - I CHRONICLES 28:9.
God bless you for giving a listening ear to this
message of God that is specially made for you today for your upliftment.
If you are moved by the Spirit of God to
support this work. Please don’t hesitate to tell us of how you are led by God
to assist. Or you can send us your Check to our office below for our mission to
Africa and building of schools for Orphans and Orphanage .
We need an offering and a monetary donation
motivated by the Spirit of God for the poor and less privileged because God
loves a cheerful giver.
Please
kindly send us Check of the amount placed in your heart by the Spirit of Most High
GOD JEHOVAH to- Bishop Uchenna Celestine Okonkwor
472 Amherst St
Suite 732225
Nashua, NH 03063
U.S.A.
Tel:
781-569-0201.
Alternatively, I will also suggest that you
forward your donation to us for the poor through Our Payoneer Bank Account
details below to make the deposit…
Bank Account Holder: Uchenna
Celestine Okonkwor
Bank Name: Bank Of America
Account #: 00003503352939167
ABA (Bank Routing) #: 061000052
Account Type: CHECKING.
Bank Name: Bank Of America
Account #: 00003503352939167
ABA (Bank Routing) #: 061000052
Account Type: CHECKING.
You may as well send your financial
donation in support of this missionary work through our paypal account at
zionagency@yahoo.com.
You can visit our outreach and ministerial sites below
for perusal to enable you understand our mission practically well. We need up to $2,ooo,000 to facilitate the
schools building project for the poor and less privileged. This will have
primary, secondary and University educational system. We are pleading that you
give us your financial contribution and support as you are capable and also led
by The Spirit of The Almighty God.
God bless you.
Bishop Uchenna C. Okonkwor
472 Amherst St
Suite 732225
Nashua, NH 03063
Suite 732225
Nashua, NH 03063
781-569-0201.
U.S.A.
JESUS CHRIST IS THE LORD.
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