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“And you shall know the Truth” (John 8:32) This may be the greatest adventure a person could take, walking down the road of end times, veiwing the scriptures for the Truth leading to the final gathering or harvest of Yahweh’s Children. For quite sometime now, many great scholars and ministers of the Word have been preaching on a Pre-Rapture hypothesis, which is gaining intense momentum as we approach the turn of this century. To prove that this is true, all one needs to do, is take a look into the book stores, watch the ads on TV, listen to the radio, and read the magazines and newspapers, advertizing tapes, videos, and books on the End Times, on a Pre-Rapture. Maybe we could call it a Pre-Rupture! Yet, they all have one thing in common, the so called church, which consists of the saints or the elect, are going to be taken out of this world before the final tribulation. While they are reaping huge monetary profits, all at the expense of people looking for a sense of security or escapism from the coming wrath upon the earth; you nevertheless are being led into a Great Deception not based on Bible Doctrine. All they are doing is taking scripture out of context, leaving you with a false sense of security. There is absolutely No Pre-Rapture recorded in the Bible whatsoever. Yes, there is mention of a gathering or the repeaping a harvest of saints, but not until nearing the end of the tribulation. You will see this, as we veiw the Scriptures. Before we begin, I want to say this. There was a time that I also believed in this pre-rapture theory. Until I read the scriptures for myself, and learned differently. As we take this journey together, remember, we are not coming against the people who preach this theory but against the false message being preached. However, I perceive it as a moral obligation to warn people about this false message, so that they will not be caught up in the great falling away that will take place in end times as written in the Bible. What you do with this warning is up to you. It is by growing in faith that we all can endure. We all know from the written Word that Yahshua will return in the same manner as He left this world, by coming once again in the clouds as recorded in Matthew 24:30, “They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Yet, all these people teaching a pre-rapture theory skip over or leave out many verses of scripture as to the time of all this taking place. If we look once again at Matthew chapter 24, verse 29, which comes before verse 30, it gives us this clear picture as to just when the gathering takes place. Verse 29 reads as follows, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Notice closely to what we have just read, “Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days.” It didn’t say “before, or in the middle of tribulation,” it said “immediately after the tribulation of those days.” This is the seven year period when the false prophet, or the Anti-Messiah comes on the scene. This doesn’t refer to anything else, but to the last days, and to giving us a warning to be ready. Let us now read three verses together, and pay attention to the words that are underlined words. Matthew 24:29-31: Vs.29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.” Vs.30 “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Vs.31 “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Now we put the underlined words together “after the tribulation of those days, then shall appear the sign of the Son of man, he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, they shall gather together his elect.” To break this down further, we come up with five main concepts of thought being conveyed here. First, the word - Tribulation: What is Yahshua referring to when He speaks about “after the tribulation?” He’s saying just what He means. Not to what man’s interpretation may be. He’s referring to End Times. The Final Days of this world as we now know it. The Seven Year period - which will be the end of, the Age of Ages. To be more precise, this is speaking about the last three and some half years of the Seven Years, when and after the False Prophet, the Anti-Messiah is revealed. Taking control over the world through - lying wonders, signs, and miracles. For cross references, see Acts 8:9, 2 Corinthians 11:3,14, Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22, Exodus 7:22. Apostle Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9, backs up what Matthew has already said concerning the Future Advent or Second Coming of Yahshua: “And then shall the wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” In order for one to make a pre-rapture theory work, one would have to disclaim what both Apostles wrote. Even though their phraseology differs slightly, they are both claiming the same message. The words - Those Days, are merely clarifying the time period to when tribulation is going to take place, by saying ”after the tribulation of those days.” Again, referring to the last seven year period. Then, He - Shall Appear. We now come to - Sound of a Trumpet. This becomes a little more involved to explain, because we now need to learn and understand all the facts surrounding the sound of the trumpet. We can only check this out by going to the scriptures. The book of Revelation is the best place to start for this answer. John describes the vision of the trumpets in chapters, 8, 9, and 11. There are seven of them in all. You can read for yourself as to what takes’ place after each trumpet is sounded. Make sure that you read this. It is very crucial for you to understand what is taking place. Right now, we are only interested in the seventh trumpet, because this is the important key to our topic of the Second Coming. Revelation 11:15. “And the seventh angel sounded (trumpet); and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Father, and of His Son; and He shall regin for ever and ever.” We see here, that the seventh trumpet is sounded, and the time has come for Yahshua to regin. Now, we go to 1 Corinthians 15:52, “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the LAST TRUMP: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (the living).” This verse is very clear as to when the dead, and we who are living, are going to be caught up with Yahshua Messiah. Clearly it states, at the LAST TRUMP. Unless, the meaning of LAST has changed, it still means - what it means: LAST. Anyone with an eye that sees, an ear to hear, has to be a fool as not to see this. Yet, this is exactly what the pre-rapture people have done. They skip right over these verses in Matthew, 1 Corinthians, Revelation, and many others, which set the time of His Coming. No! We do not know the day or hour of His return (Matthew 25:13), but we are told that we would know the season as written in Matthew chapter 24, Luke chapter 1, and Mark chapter 13. The Pre-Tribber’s, in order to disclaim these findings, they come back with “For God (Yahweh) hath not appointed us to wrath,” 1 Thessalonians 5:9. This is true. But they seem to not understand the difference between the Wrath of Yahweh, and the Wrath of Satan. This is where they have become deceived in their thinking, for whatever reasons, and likewise deceiving others into a false sense of security; by letting all the saints believe that they are taken out before the times of tribulation. The difference between the Wrath of Yahweh and Satan is this. Yahweh’s Wrath is the total annihilation of all evil and evil ones upon the face of the earth; Whereas, Satan’s Wrath is to draw people unto himself, and unto the following of him instead of Yahweh, through the intimidation of death. This is the difference between the two. Just as all the Prophets of the OT, and the Disciples in the NT, had to die for their faithfulness, we must do the same. It is said “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10:28). Sorry to pop anyone’s balloon, or break anyone’s bubble, but we’re going through the tribulation! Just as the Bible says, and not to what a few may believe. He - Shall Appear! On that Great and Glorious Day, “He shall appear in the clouds coming down from heaven to receive those whom the Father has given unto Him.” As you can see, we have used very few scriptures to point out the true time toward the gathering of the saints. However, there are many verses of scriptures leading up to this Great Event. Therefore, read your Bible and learn of these things for yourself. “May Yahweh Bless You”
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