This last day resurrection/rapture cannot be 3 1/2 years into the tribulation as the midtribbers claim or 7 years before the last day/year as the pretribbers claim:
Job 14:12 So
man lieth down and
riseth not: till the heavens are no more, they will not awake, nor be roused out of sleep.
So the resurrection cannot happen until the last day/year after the sun is darkened and wrath of God begins to cause the heavens to pass away:
2 Pet.3:10 But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief;
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
Revelation 6:12-17 And I saw when he opened the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and
the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the whole moon became as blood; (13) and the stars of the heaven fell unto the earth, as a fig tree casteth her unripe figs when she is shaken of a great wind. (14) And
the heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. (15) And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every bondman and freeman, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains; (16) and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and
hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: (17)
for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?
The heavens could not pass away or the earth burn up at the beginning or even the middle of the seven years of tribulation or there would not be anybody here to have a tribulation! The resurrection and rapture could only be during the last year called the day of the Lord.
Paul warned us as brethren to watch and be sober so that the “day of the Lord” does not overtake us as a thief:
1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 But concerning
the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you. (2) For yourselves know perfectly that
the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (3) When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape. (4)
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief: (5) for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness; (6) so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but
let us watch and be sober.
We were given clear signs as to the timing of the 7 year tribulation and the year of wrath to follow but some will argue that Jesus said “no one knoweth”:
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour
knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only.
The tense of the verb “knoweth” is present not future! This spoke of Jesus day before the Father gave Jesus the Revelation to give to John on the island of Patmos around 96 AD:
Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John;
Combining the many clues Father gave us in His last book of Revelation with the rest of His Word proves the 7 years of tribulation is for the saints but we are not appointed unto the year of wrath that occurs afterward:
1 Thessalonians 5:9 For
God appointed us not unto wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
The tribulation is a wilderness trial for the saints who come out of the world as a type(example) of what the Jews experienced when leaving Egypt for history(His~story) must repeat:
1 Corinthians 10:11 Now these things happened unto them by way of example; and
they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages are come.
Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 That which hath been is that which shall be; and
that which hath been done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. (10) Is there a thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been long ago, in the ages which were before us.
As we have proven above the elect leave after that tribulation after the sun is darkened. As the year of vengeance commences, the elect are the first harvest to take place where the Lord Jesus Christ comes in the clouds to reap His saints:
Revelation 14:12-16
Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (13) And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; for their works follow with them. (14) And I saw, and behold,
a white cloud; and on the cloud I saw one sitting like unto a son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. (15) And another angel came out from the temple, crying with a great voice to him that sat on the cloud, Send forth thy sickle, and reap: for the hour to reap is come; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. (16) And
he that sat on the cloud cast his sickle upon the earth; and the earth was reaped.
The last feast of the Jewish year was the feast of tabernacles which is a prophesy of the harvest of the righteous where the first day is a holy convocation in the wilderness followed by the final holy convocation on the morning of the 8th day:
Leviticus 23:34-36 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is
the feast of tabernacles for seven days unto Jehovah. (35) On
the first day shall be a holy convocation: ye shall do no servile work. (36) Seven days ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah: on
the eighth day shall be a holy convocation unto you; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah: it is a solemn assembly; ye shall do no servile work.
As we come out of Egypt we are to enter into the rest in our wilderness before we enter our promised final rest on the morning of the 8th day:
Leviticus 23:39-43 Howbeit on the fifteenth day of the seventh month,
when ye have gathered in the fruits of the land, ye shall keep the feast of Jehovah seven days: on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. (40) And ye shall take you on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm-trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before Jehovah your God seven days. (41) And ye shall keep it a feast unto Jehovah seven days in the year: it is a statute for ever throughout your generations; ye shall keep it in the seventh month. (42)
Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are home-born in Israel shall dwell in booths; (43) that your generations may know that
I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Jehovah your God.
The unrighteous are then cast into the great winepress of the wrath of God:
Rev 14:17-19 Another angel came out from the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. (18) And another angel came out from the altar, he that hath power over fire; and he called with a great voice to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. (19) And the angel cast his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vintage of the earth, and
cast it into the winepress, the great winepress, of the wrath of God.
The true church is not appointed unto this year of wrath but we must endure the 7 years of tribulation as we preach the gospel in all the world BEFORE this year of wrath commences called “the end”:
Matthew 24:13-14 But
he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. (14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come.
This wrath is God’s judgment upon the wicked who He uses to tribulate the saints to drive them out of the world just as the Jews fled Egypt into their wilderness in type. Many Christians will begin to flee into their wilderness during the first half of the tribulation of 1260 days:
Revelation 12:6 And the
woman(church) fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there
they may nourish her
a thousand two hundred and threescore days.
The midst of the tribulation is marked by our witnessing the “abomination of desolation” standing in the holy place:
Matthew 24:15 When therefore
ye see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet,
standing in the holy place (let him that readeth understand),
Daniel 9:27 And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and
in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined,
shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate.
For much more on the “abomination of desolation” please see this link:
https://sumofthyword.com/2017/01/18/the-mystery-of-lawlessness/
2
2
1
(