The other incorrect rapture views destroy the doctrine of the imminent coming of Jesus. Jesus is coming at an unknown time and believers are constantly being told to watch and be ready in Scriptures. All the other incorrect rapture views deny the imminent coming of Jesus.
These verses must be ignored - or destroyed by the other views. Notice that the command is to watch because the time of the coming of Christ cannot be known! That is called imminence!...as it could happen TODAY!
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37 But as the days of Noe [were], so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41 Two [women shall be] grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42 WATCH THEREFORE: FOR YE KNOW NOT WHAT HOUR YOUR LORD DOTH COME.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: FOR IN SUCH AN HOUR AS YE THINK NOT THE SON OF MAN COMETH." (Matthew 24:36-44)
42 WATCH THEREFORE: FOR YE KNOW NOT WHAT HOUR YOUR LORD DOTH COME.
43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
44 Therefore be ye also ready: FOR IN SUCH AN HOUR AS YE THINK NOT THE SON OF MAN COMETH. (Matthew 24:42-44)
"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh." (Matthew 25:13)
31 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
32 But of THAT DAY AND [that] HOUR KNOWETH NO MAN, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
33 Take ye heed, WATCH AND PRAY: for YE KNOW NOT WHEN THE TIME IS.
34 [For the Son of man is] as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore: for YE KNOW NOT WHEN the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, WATCH. (Mark 13:31-37)
36 And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
37 Blessed [are] those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them.
38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find [them] so, blessed are those servants.
39 And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
40 BE YE THEREFORE READY ALSO: FOR THE SON OF MAN COMETH AT AN HOUR WHEN YE THINK NOT. (Luke 12:36-40)
1. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.
6. Therefore let us not sleep, as [do] others; but let us WATCH AND BE SOBER. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:1)
"BUT THE END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND: be ye therefore sober, and WATCH UNTO PRAYER." (1 Peter 4:7)
Now as you have read the above verses...let me ask you a question. Can the time of the Second coming be known? Can we know the exact day? ...... According to these verses the answer is NO! We cannot know the exact day of the return of Christ. Jesus is coming at an UNKNOWN time!
The UNKNOWN DAY of Jesus' return:....is the rapture: We will not know when the rapture will occur. It is an imminent event ... which means it could happen at any time. No prophecy needs to be fulfilled before it happens. It could happen today!
In light of the UNKNOWN day there is also a KNOWN DAY of Jesus' return. Did you know that after certain prophetic events the exact day of Jesus's return can be marked on a calendar. Did you also know that you cannot have a KNOWN day of Jesus's coming and an UNKNOWN day of His coming...on the same day? The UNKNOWN and KNOWN day of the return of the Lord are two separate days. The UNKNOWN day is the rapture and the KNOWN day will occur at the end of the 70th week where Jesus will setup His kingdom on earth. Read on for more information about the KNOWN day.
"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for ONE WEEK: and in the MIDST OF THE WEEK he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make [it] desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." (Daniel 9:27)
- ONE DAY = 1 year (or 360 days in a Biblical prophetic year)
- ONE WEEK = 7 YEARS
- MIDST OF WEEK = 7 years divided by 2 = 3 1/2 years
"And I heard the man clothed in linen, which [was] upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that [it shall be] for a TIME, TIMES, AND A HALF; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these [things] shall be finished." (Daniel 12:7)
- TIMES, TIMES, AND A HALF = 3 1/2 YEARS
"And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred [and] threescore days." (Revelation 12:6)
- 1260 days AGAIN 3 1/2 YEARS (1 year is 360 days)
"And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." ( Revelation 12:14)
- AGAIN 3 1/2 YEARS
"And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty [and] two months." ( Revelation 13:5)
- AGAIN 3 1/2 YEARS
To summarize:
- The 70th week is 7 years with each year being 360 days.
- The 70th week begins when the anti-Christ confirms the covenant with Israel for 7 years... so we know that after 7 years the Lord Jesus will return.
- In the midst of the week or after 3 1/2 years, the anti-Christ will commit the abomination of desolation. He ends the temple sacrifice in Israel and sits in the temple claiming to be God.
- After the abomination of desolation Daniel 12:6,7 says there will be 3 1/2 years,... Revelation 13:5 says there will be 42 months, and Revelation 13:6 says there will be 1260 days.
All this information reveals the KNOWN day of the return of Jesus: Once the 70th week of Daniel, or the time of Jacobs trouble begins we can easily tell the exact day when Jesus will return. Once the anti-Christ and Israel sign the covenant we know that in exactly 7 years the Lord Jesus Christ will return. In the midst of the week (3 1/2 years) the anti-Christ commits the abomination of desolation. From that point in time we know there is: 3 1/2 years left, or 42 months left, or 1260 days left. At this point the coming of Christ is KNOWN. So what do we do with all the verses that say His coming is UNKNOWN? Throw them out? Of course not!
NOW in light of all this information about the KNOWN day and the UNKNOWN DAY we can think this through. Since the incorrect rapture views put the rapture sometime after the 70th week begins, they have lost the unknown day. All the verses that say that the coming of Christ will occur at an unknown time must be thrown out. If I am here when the anti-Christ signs the covenant with Israel then I know that in exactly 7 years Jesus will return. You can be assured that I will mark my calendar!...and count the days!
If by chance I miss the beginning of the 70th week, I won't miss the abomination of desolation in the middle of the 70th week. At that point I know that in exactly 1260 days, or 42 months, or 3 1/2 years Jesus will return.
If a person does not believe in the pre-tribulation rapture then they have lost the unknown day of the return of Jesus. We have clearly shown that there is an unknown day and there is a known day. After the anti-Christ comes to power then we can know the day... so what has happened to the unknown day????
If a person rejects the pre-tribulation rapture then all the verses the UNKNOWN day can be thrown out. They cannot come to pass.
On the other hand, there is no problem with the pre-tribulation view on the rapture. The rapture will occur at an unknown time sometime before Daniels 70th week begins. At that point the Church is taken to heaven and with the restrainer removed the anti-Christ may come to power. There an UNKNOWN day and a KNOWN day at the end of the 70th week. We have perfect harmonizing of Scripture with the Pre-tribulation rapture....the correct view. With the all the other incorrect rapture views we have to throw out the Scriptures related to the UNKNOWN day.
To repeat:
Since the false rapture views believes the rapture will occur sometime after the 70th week then why the command to WATCH and be READY? In the verses above the exhortation is to WATCH, WATCH, WATCH, and be ready! Why WATCH if the rapture will not occur until the end of the 70th week...or after the 70th week begins? Why bother watching for the coming of Jesus? Why not wait until you are in the 70th week to begin the watch. Human nature being what it is, that is what most people will do. So not only does the incorrect rapture views rob the Christian of the Blessed Hope of Christ coming to take him from the world before God judges it....he has no purifying incentive in lifestyle. Jesus cannot come today so why live in Holy expectation of His coming? However the pre-tribulation view has a great BLESSED HOPE looking for the coming of Jesus at an UNKNOWN time....that time could be today!!!!! Since the time is unknown and it COULD be today this is a purifying hope also....and encourages Holy living.
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;" (Titus 2:13)
The post/mid/pre-wrath robs the believer of both the blessed imminent expectation of the believer and the purifying hope of Christ's return which could happen today! These views are a robber and a thief. Another way these incorrect rapture views robs from the blessed hope is... if the Church has to go through the 70th week it doesn't have much to look forward to. There will be 7 seal judgments, 7 trumpet judgments, and 7 bowl judgments. During that time all the vegation will be burned up, all the water will be polluted and turned to blood, the sun will scorch men, there will be massive earthquakes that shake every city in the world, and 100 pound hailstones will fall upon earth. Now for the average person I would say that is nothing to look forward to. It certainly is NOT a 'blessed hope'!!! In fact that is NOT a hope but rather a dread and something to be feared. Then as a result of God judging the world there will be massive death and not many men will make it to the end...maybe only several million as opposed to 6+ billion currently living. What a 'hope' these views offers...almost certain death as God judges the world with His bride in it.
Then the believers of the false rapture views have the nerve to call those who believe in the Pre-tribulation rapture as an 'escape' theology. God has promised an escape from His Wrath and Judgment for His people and these false views make a mockery of that promise. This does not make sense to me!!...or to the intelligent person who thinks it through.
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