What's Your Flight Schedule?

Republished from omegaletter.com
Prophecy - Signs
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Wendy Wippel 

The most divisive argument, arguably, among evangelical Christians today is the ongoing debate about when Jesus will return for His bride: before, during, or after the tribulation.  Proponents of each theory have lists of supporting verses, many from the Old Testament.   But actually, you can settle the argument with just the first chapter of Revelation.
The key is (shocker) to really read what it says, and we’ll take it slow: Verse 1:

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John."  (Revelation 1:1 NKJV)

We get two things out of that verse. First, it tells us that the purpose of the Book of Revelation is to let us know what is going to happen from the time that John received the revelation until the end of time.

Secondly, it tells us that God is going to convey that information in a not-so-straightforward way. God is going to “signify” it. The meaning of that, however, is unfortunately not necessarily clear to a modern reader. What it means is that God “sign-ified” it. He put it into signs, meaning symbols. Hosea (whose whole book was a giant metaphor of what was to come) tells us that as well:

“I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.” (Hosea 12:10)

God, through John, begins at the time that John is living on Patmos and relays what will happen for the whole rest of human history, in metaphor.
God starts His narrative like this:

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,”
“What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

These were real churches, mostly now excavated. But remember God “sign-ified” what was to come, so they are also metaphors. But we’ll get back to that in a minute.
John visions begin with the current conditions, the starting point for “what is to come”.

“I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man…He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.  I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. (Revelation 1: 12-20)

The man that John saw, obviously, was Jesus, who asks John to record for future generations of believers what he is shown (again, defined as a record of “what is to come”).
Then Jesus defines a couple of the symbols for us. The seven stars that Jesus holds are the angels of the churches, and the seven golden lampstands are the seven churches that Jesus is about to address letters to.

Then come the letters, again, a record of “what is to come”. Letters addressed, specifically, to (in order) Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatyra, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. And as it turns out, the descriptions and names of the churches make it pretty clear how they represent “what is to come”.  Because, in the order presented, the descriptions of the successive churches are a spot-on narrative of church history.

The church began at Pentecost (about 33 AD), and the description of that church in Acts is of fervent faith and faithful love among the brethren. The increasing numbers of completed Jews within the synagogues however, bred tension, as some “saved” Jews demanded that others still keep the Law. The tension eventually led to the council at Jerusalem about 50AD, at which (after Peter’s dream) it was ruled that the law did not need to be kept.  Ephesus means “desired”, God praised their perseverance and love, and His only admonition was to not lose their first love. 

By about 45 AD, however, the growing church was also on the radar of the Roman rulers, and the emperors themselves began persecution of the monotheistic Christians who refused to worship those who ruled them. Nearly all of the apostles were executed by Roman rulers, and many thousands of their brethren. “Smyrna” is related to the word myrrh, an embalming fluid. Jesus’ message to that church is to be faithful until death, and they will never die again.

Next in line is Pergamum. Pergamum means “mixed marriage”, and in 315 persecution stopped because Constantine, the current emperor, made Christianity an acceptable state religion. That was the good news. The bad news is that his decision really honked off the existing system of pagan priests, so Constantine then merged the pagan church with the Christians, producing one mongrel religious system riddled with pockets of heresy. God’s message to the church at Pergamum is that they now dwell where Satan’s throne is, and that have to show the heresy creeping in no tolerance.

It got worse. The next church, Thyatira, is told that, though there works are admirable, they have let heresy take over, and:

“Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come. (Revelation 2:24-25)

Thyatira means perpetual sacrifice, which should give you a clue where we are in church history. The Roman Empire had collapsed by about 476 AD, but the church by then had spread throughout the Roman Empire. The Roman church, which had completely internalized many of the pagan practices introduced by the pagan Roman priests (transubstantiation, for example) rule the thrones of most Roman nations throughout the Middle Ages.

The next church, Sardis, which means “those who escape”, had a fairly definite starting point: October 31, 1517. Martin Luther nails his 95 theses to the door of a church in Wittenburg, Germany, contending that salvation is attained not through works, but through faith alone, which marked the beginning of the reformation and the founding of the protestant movement. New believers spread across Europe, and then across the world.  But not all is well.  God tells Sardis that He has,

"not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent."

Their works weren’t complete. What does that mean? If you’ve ever read anything besides Luther’s 95 theses, you probably suspect Luther was one of the most viciously anti-Semitic clerics that ever lived. So the church still needed to realize that God’s plans for rest of world history would center not on the church, but on Israel. (which makes it interesting that in Verse 3 God told them to “remember how you have received and heard”  And that the Bible wasn’t actually, all about personal perfection.,. So His message to Sardis was,

"Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die”.

The sixth church is the church in Philadelphia, which most of us know means “City of Brotherly Love. Luther posted his 95 theses in 1517; by about 1570, Bibles were being printed in English. With Bibles in their own language in their own hands, new believers rapidly realized that the Bible had lots more in it than rules. They rediscovered prophecy (part of the reason you tend here that the rapture was invented about this time) and the importance of Israel in God’s world plan. The Philadelphia church is commended for their works, including suffering under persecution and preserving the Word. They had a fire to see the whole world hear the wonderful truths they had discovered in their Bibles, and they went all over the world (including the Pilgrims, to the United States, to share God’s love). They are also told that God loves them, and because they have kept His commands to persevere, He will keep them from the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole world.

Finally, Laodicea.  We all know that God had nothing but condemnation for this church, even saying that they Laodicea made Him want to vomit. But the real depth of their heresy often escapes us: Jesus tells this church,

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

Jesus is outside of this church. Completely.  And that tells us something too.
But we’ll get back to that in just a minute.  First, let’s make sure we are on the same page.
Revelation 1 first tells us that it is a record of what’s to come, in metaphors. Then it sets the scene at the starting point. (Chapter 1)  Then the letters to the seven churches (as metaphors), lay down all of world history, through the lens of the church, from the Roman Empire until the founding of the United States (Philadelphia) and beyond, with the rise of apostasy within the church, which we see accelerating in our own day. (Chapters 2 and 3)

So were are ready for chapter 4:

"After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne."

John watches events on Earth until at least our time, then a door opens in heaven, then he hears a voice saying, “come up here”. Then he’s in heaven, and he watches the last seven years from there. 

This should be starting to seem familiar.

If you missed it, God makes sure we don’t:

"And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God." 

Do you remember what the lampstands were in Chapter 1? The churches. Why would this verse say lamps instead of lampstands?

You are the light of the world.  Lamps are not put under a basket, but on a stand, “and it gives light to all who are in the house”.  (Matthew 5:15)

The lamps needed stands on earth, to be a light to the world. After the churches “come up here” and are in heaven, they do not. They are the seven spirits of God. 

And why are all seven of the churches there? I Thessalonians 4: 16: 'the dead in Christ will rise first".  All the past church saints precede us.  We will all go together when we go.

Bottom line? God snatches us out “after these things” - the seven church ages—and before the Tribulation. If not, since the rest of Revelation 1 describes events is strict chronological sequence, surely John would have watched tribulation events described in Revelation from Earth as well.

Furthermore, since God is completely outside of the church at Laodicea, that has to mean that, the Philadelphia church is gone.  That they have been airlifted ahead of Tribulation (as promised in Revelation 3:10) in the Rapture.

That’s only one of many, many passages that make pre-trib rapture a certainty, but I’m sure that some of my readers will still have their list of post-trib rapture proof texts to show me. To them, I’ll just borrow a line from a good friend of mine.

Never mind.

We’ll explain it on the way up.
About Wendy Wippel

Have The Seal Judgments Begun?

Reblogged from gracethrufaith.com/ikvot-hamashiach This Week’s Feature Article by Jack Kelley

Judging from some of the questions I’ve received lately, people are really getting impatient for the end times to begin in earnest. For years fringe groups have been claiming that the seal judgments have already begun, but it looks to me like this opinion is suddenly becoming more popular.


The Seal judgments are now being compared to the “birth pangs” of Matt. 24:4-8 by people who say the real end times judgments won’t begin until after the great multitude of Rev. 7:9 arrives in Heaven. They say these saints are the church, and claim that we’ll be raptured between the seal judgments and the trumpet judgments that begin in Rev. 8:6. 

There are several reasons why this cannot be correct, but perhaps the most obvious is that the destiny of these believers is not the same as that of the Church. According to Rev. 7:15 they will serve God day and night in His temple, but there is no Temple in the New Jerusalem where the Church will be (Rev. 21:22) and the Rev. 7 multitude is neither called kings nor priests.

What’s The Big Hurry?

Some of this impatience is undoubtedly prompted by the dissatisfaction people feel about the current condition of our world. In the US, a recent poll shows that only 32% of the population thinks our leaders are taking us in the right direction. People are beginning to realize that the lowest unemployment rate in 5 years doesn’t mean that more people are finding jobs. They know that the labor force participation rate, having been at or above 66% for most of the time between 2003-2008 has been dropping since 2009 and is now at 63.3%. Where is the rest of the workforce? Most have either accepted low paying and/or part time work or have simply given up on trying to find a job. Either way they’re no longer looking for work, so the government doesn’t consider them to be unemployed.

People also understand from their own experience that the middle class is steadily losing economic ground, and that the dollars we have don’t buy as much as they used to.
And just this week one of our most highly respected prophecy scholars disclosed his belief that the time for praying the US out of our problems has ended. In effect, He said God gave us fair warning and we didn’t pay attention. He identified the recent presidential election as our response to God’s warning, and said it marked the point of no return for us. Citing passages from Jeremiah and Ezekiel where God told the prophets to stop praying for Israel because He had stopped listening, this scholar stated his belief that our judgment has also been irrevocably determined and prayer will no longer help. Based on these and other circumstances it’s no wonder that many people who read about the Seal judgments in Revelation 6 see indications that they’re already here.

Long time readers of my articles know that I don’t believe the United States can be prayed out of our situation either. For me it’s a matter of there being no place for a strong US in end times prophecy. I’ve said before that I believe people who are praying for America’s recovery are unknowingly praying against God’s plan for the end of the age. He never gave the Church a homeland on Earth and He never promised to save the USA, which He considers to be just another gentile nation.

But neither my esteemed colleague nor I believe we’re already in the Seal judgments. The circumstances we’re currently experiencing are certainly similar to the Seal judgments, although much milder, but certain specific conditions have not been met for them to have actually begun.

Now if you don’t believe that the Bible teaches a pre-tribulation rapture, and if you don’t believe that Israel and the Church have separate destinies, you may not see some of this the way I do. But based on my understanding of Bible prophecy, the events of the Book of Revelation will begin unfolding this way.

Have You Read The Book?

In Rev. 1:19 the Lord gave John instructions on writing the Bible’s most comprehensive prophecy of the End of the Age. He said, “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now, and what will take place later.” Many scholars believe these instructions effectively divide the book into three parts. The things John had seen are contained in chapter 1. The things that were in John’s present are described in chapters 2-3 and the things that will take place later begin in chapter 4 and fill the rest of the book.

Strictly speaking the seven churches of Rev. 2-3 were the only addressees of the book of Revelation (Rev. 1:11). Each one was an actual congregation that deserved both the commendations and the criticisms Jesus gave them. If you’ve visited the sites of these seven churches, as I have, you know that all them disappeared long ago. Why did Jesus choose them as opposed to other churches of the day?

Many scholars who have studied Rev. 2-3 see that with their particular challenges and viewed in the order in which they’re mentioned, these seven are not just a handful of long gone 1st century churches but are representative of the entire Church Age. They say the reason the Lord chose them was to provide this concise look at the Church’s past, present and future.

Accepting this view makes Rev. 2-3 instructive to the entire Church age, because the problems He identified there are still with us. It’s also consistent with the structure of the book, which is to render things in signs. In the Greek language of Rev. 1:1 John used the word “semaino”, which means “to give a sign, or signify”, to describe how he was commanded to write. It means that through out the book certain words and phrases are meant to signify something else. The dragon, the beast, and the woman who rides the beast are three obvious examples.

In his gospel, John used this same word on three occasions to explain that a particular phrase was intended to refer to something else. In John 12:33 Jesus used the phrase “lifted up” to signify his crucifixion. John 18:32 explains that one of the reasons the Jewish leaders took Jesus to Pilate is so he would be crucified, to fulfill the words He had spoken, signifying the kind of death He would die. (The Jewish method of execution was stoning.) And in John 21:19 Jesus told Peter he would stretch out his hands and someone would lead him where he did not want to go. According to John this was meant to signify Peter’s crucifixion.

Therefore seeing Rev. 2-3 as signifying the entire Church Age is a reasonable interpretation. That being the case, then the phrase “the things that will take place later” (literally, after these things) from Rev. 1:19 means that everything from Rev. 4 to the end of the book will come after the Church Age has ended.

After These Things

Rev. 4-5 contain a number of indications that these two chapters describe events that take place right after the rapture of the Church. First, the 24 elders of Rev. 4:4 don’t appear in any earlier description of the throne of God, so they’re new arrivals. In addition they’re sitting on thrones (meaning they’re rulers) wearing white (meaning they’re righteous) with crowns of gold on their heads. The word for crown John used is stephanos. It refers to a victory crown and is the crown of an overcomer.

In Rev. 3:11 Jesus cautioned us to hold on so that no one will take our crown, and in Rev. 3:21 He said, “To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with me on my throne just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.” Crowns and thrones.
Singing to God in Rev. 5:9-10 (NKJV) they declare, “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.”
This is a song only the church can sing.

I agree it would be a bit of a stretch to base our pre-trib conviction on such circumstantial evidence alone, but by putting other clear verses like Isaiah 26:19-20, 1 Thes. 1:10, and Rev. 3:10 with it, the evidence becomes much more concrete, and makes the pre-trib position more consistent with a literal interpretation of Scripture than any other rapture view.

Also, in Romans 11:25-26 Paul made it clear that Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in. Once that happens, Israel will have one final chance to receive the Lord’s salvation. We can also see this in Acts 15:13-18, where James explained that Israel was being set aside while the Lord took from the Gentiles a people for himself. After this He will turn His attention toward Israel again, their Temple will be rebuilt, and they’ll have a final chance to seek the Lord.

This final opportunity is known to us from Daniel 9:24-27 as Daniel’s 70th Week, the last half of which is called the Great Tribulation. Both Romans 11:25-26 and Acts 15:13-18 indicate that Daniel’s 70th Week will take place after the Lord has completed His plan to take for Himself a people from the Gentiles. There will be a certain number of Gentiles taken and when that number has been met we will be carried away to our ultimate destiny in the Lord’s house (John 14:2-3) After that, Daniel’s 70th week will begin. I believe Rev. 6-18 is a description of the events that take place during Daniel’s 70th Week.

So the first thing we see is that the rapture of the Church has to precede the Seal judgments. Since the Church is still here, the Seal judgments can’t have begun yet.

But Wait, There’s More

Rev. 6:1 tells us a rider on a white horse will appear after the events of Rev. 4-5 (the rapture). This rider is thought by most to be an early appearance of the anti-Christ. The world won’t recognize him as such, but will think of him as a great peacemaker. Daniel 8:25 says he will deceive many this way, and in 1 Thes. 5:3 Paul said the world will believe peace has arrived, but then destruction will come upon them suddenly. So at the beginning of the Seal judgments, there will be a short period of peace that the whole world will notice. That is not the case today and it hasn’t been the case for a number of years. I believe this peace will come right after Ezekiel 38-39, a war that God will use to draw Israel back into their covenant with Him. If so, then the Seal judgments can’t begin until after Ezekiel 38-39.

Suddenly peace will be taken from the world again, as Paul indicated, and people will be dying in large numbers (Rev. 6:4). Inflation and food shortages will become so acute that it will take everything an average person can earn in a day to buy one day’s worth of food (Rev. 6:6). One fourth of the world’s populated areas will suffer the effects of war, famine, and pestilence. Even wild animals will take part in the carnage (Rev. 6:8).

People will die for the Christian faith in large numbers. Their spirits will cry out to the Lord for vengeance but the death and destruction will get much worse before it’s over (Rev. 6:9). Finally there will be a great earthquake that sends the people of Earth running for cover. The Sun will turn black and the Moon will turn dark red (Rev. 6:12-14). Everyone from the world’s leaders to the humblest of men will look for a place to hide from God’s judgment (Rev. 6:15-17).

Please note that this doesn’t mean the coming wrath will begin at the end of the Seal judgments. The Greek words of Rev. 6:17 describe continuous and ongoing action. It means the post-rapture world will finally realize that what has been happening through out the seal judgments is that the great day of God’s wrath has already begun.

In Conclusion

So, while many of the conditions affecting the world today appear quite similar to those described in the Seal judgments of Rev. 6, they are in fact much milder previews of what lies ahead. The full impact of this first cycle of judgments won’t be felt until after the Lord has made good on His promise to rescue us from the time and place of their occurrence, and Israel has returned from their long estrangement from God to once again be a covenant keeping nation.

But take heart, you who grow impatient, because if you listen carefully you can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah. 05-04-13