PREPARE FOR CHRIST'S RETURN (Part III)

PREPARE FOR CHRIST’S RETURN (Part III)

Regarding the exact timing of the Rapture, Jesus Christ stated “that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” (Matthew 24:36)  Therefore, it is impossible for any human being to predict the precise day and hour of Christ’s return.  Nevertheless, end-time signs clearly point to His imminent return.

For your information, there are three major perspectives pertaining to the general timing of the Rapture: The Pre-Tribulation Rapture, The Mid-Tribulation Rapture, The Post-Tribulation Rapture.  Each refers to the approximate timing of the Rapture as it relates to the seven-year Tribulation Period.

Mid-Tribulation proponents believe that Christ will return for His church approximately 3½ years after the signing of a major mid-east peace treaty, which the prophet Daniel portrays as the confirmation of the Abrahamic covenant.  This will likely be a global peace treaty, but it will directly involve two specific entities, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.  Those who hold this view firmly believe that the church must pass through a severe period of persecution.

The Post-Tribulation view holds that Christ will return for His church at the end of the seven-year Tribulation Period.  But this is an error based largely on the belief that the last trumpet or the trumpet of God (recorded respectively in I Thessalonians 4:16 and I Corinthians 15:52) is the same event as the angel’s trumpet (recorded in Revelation 11:15).  But these are two separate and distinct events.  The first pertains to the Rapture.  The latter pertains to the beginning of “the third woe” of God’s wrath, which is poured out on the Earth during the Tribulation.

The third view, the Pre-Tribulation Rapture, states that Christ will return for His church at or near the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation Period.  This is my personal view and also that of the majority of prophecy scholars.  Most importantly, it is clearly supported in the Word of God.  What will that historic event actually be like?  At Christ’s coming, deceased believers will be resurrected and living believers will be changed instantaneously from mortality to immortality. (I Thessalonians 4:13-18)

What’s most important is a readiness response to the warning of Jesus Christ: “Be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:40)

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!