As I proved with 2 Thess 1
The Bible teaches that the church will be present on earth at the return IN GLORY of our Lord. Until his second coming.
You've just ignored that.
I haven't ignored it. I've made long posts in the past covering this very thing, and of late am endeavoring to make short posts, coz ppl tend to only skim over longer ones, and I end up having to repeat myself anyway. But on to this post...
2 Thess 1 (NASB)
3 We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; 4 therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. 5 This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. 6 For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, 7 and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, 8 dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.
I've mentioned in past posts, that Paul, in these two chpts (1&2), is covering what consists of the entire spans of the tribulation period [all 7 yrs] rather than merely one point in time. So in my last post (about it) just took enough time to point out that verse 7 says, "ye who are troubled rest/repose with us IN THE REVELATION OF the Lord Jesus from heaven..." and pointed out the word "inflicting VENGEANCE on..." (where I related that to the "time period" issues).
In past post, I've pointed out how that wherever the phrases "the Day of the Lord" and "IN THAT DAY" are used in the same contexts [i.e. within close proximity of each other], they are referring to the SAME TIME PERIOD, and such is the case here in chpts 1 & 2, where Paul also uses both phrases (both referring to the SAME [future] TIME PERIOD), as Paul is contrasting the two opposite "beliefs" ppl who find themselves IN the trib will come to embrace: 2Th2:10-12 or 2Th1:10b (both of these, at the opposite ends of the bracketed section, refer to what ppl will come to believe IN/DURING the future trib yrs FOLLOWING "our Rapture" [when they are IN "the DOTL" / "IN THAT DAY"--the trib yrs aspect of it]). I'm not sure if this is technically called an
inclusio, or other such technical term... whatever...
but Paul is covering
the entire 7-yrs of the trib (and our rapture that will
precede it) in these chpts. Not merely the END of the 7-yr period (Christ's "RETURN"). For another example, in this same vein, I've pointed out that the "who, who, who" of 2Th2 IS the "he, he, he" of Daniel 9:27
a/
b/
c[
26b] "
FOR ONE WEEK [7 yrs]" (that is, each passage refers to the BEGINNING, the MIDDLE, *AND* the END of those 7 yrs, not merely the END, and not merely the MID-to-END of it [3.5yrs], but the ENTIRE 7-yrs of it [besides what happens immediately preceding its commencement]):
--"
whose COMING [/arrival/advent/presence/
parousia]" (of the man of sin) - 2Th2:
9a BEGINNING Dan9:27
a[
26b];
--"
who opposeth... exalteth... sitteth... - 2Th2:
4 MIDDLE Dan9:27
b
--"
whom the Lord shall consume... destroy...- 2Th2:
8b END Dan9:27
c
...all seven yrs (the DOTL "DARK" / "IN THE NIGHT" portion OF the very long
earthly-located time-period known as "the DOTL" which Paul was telling them [starting in v.2 (v.15 on the other end)] not to be persuaded by anyone trying to convince them that "the DOTL *IS PRESENT*"... it wasn't [tho certainly EASY and REASONABLE for them to be convinced was true, because of their PRESENT and ONGOING 'tribulations and persecutions' [1:4] they were ONGOINGLY ENDURING], and Paul tells WHY that is SO [that it isn't "PRESENT"]... ONE THING must happen FIRST, in order for it to "[BE] PRESENT" [tho two things would be in evidence, once it IS PRESENT]. I went into that in other posts, so won't go into it here).
The ARRIVAL of "the DOTL" time period, Paul says is like the INITIAL "birth PANG [
SINGULAR; 1Th5:
2-3 (Matt24:
4/Mk13:
5 "G5100 -
tis - 'A CERTAIN ONE' ['a certain one'
bringing deception]" that Jesus spoke of in His Olivet Discourse--SAME "birth PANG" word used, but in the PLURAL when Jesus spoke of it, in the SINGULAR [coz it's the INITIAL one at the ARRIVAL of the DOTL time period] when Paul points it out)], and "the beginning of birth PANGS [plural]" are parallel to the SEALS of Revelation 6, at the START of the future trib yrs, so that we now have more than THREE connecting passages telling of its ARRIVAL point in time (aka the START of the "7 yrs"), in Dan9:27a and in 2Th2:9a/8a, in Matt24:4/Mk13:5 and in 1Th5:2-3, and in Rev6:2 (one can make out the 7-yrs, from Rev5-6 to Rev19, but I'm not going to go into that in this post); and where each of these sections of Scripture (as I've laid out in past posts) has the BEGINNING, the MIDDLE, *AND the END of those same [future] seven yrs.
Rev 6
9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.
THey are told to rest for a while longer. They won't be resurrected in body until AFTER the GT when the rest of the saints can join them. The rest of the saints are ON THE EARTH.
1 Peter 4:12 (NASB)
12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
"The Church
which is His body" has experienced "tribulations and persecutions" [2Th1:4]
throughout its entire existence on the earth [see Eph1:20-23
WHEN (as to its existence)], it is
not waiting for the future "7-yr period" to arrive in order to experience it.
Daniel 7:21
21 “I was watching; and the same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came, and a judgement was made in favour of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the kingdom.
There will indeed be "saints" IN/WITHIN the tribulation years (those who will have come to faith IN/DURING the trib yrs,
FOLLOWING "our Rapture"/"THE Departure" of us in the Rapture), and I've pointed out
about 8-10 "BLESSED" passages that speak of "
STILL-LIVING" persons ['saints'] who will ENTER the
earthly MK age in their mortal bodies, upon His "RETURN"
there, [who "SHALL NEVER DIE"--recall, Jesus will be present and reigning and He is powerful enough to sustain LIFE throughout the MK age
("death" will be much more rare, and reserved only for the rebellious--their children/grandchildren will not be "BORN
automatically RIGHTEOUS," for example)];
...so a couple of passages that parallel this Dan7 passage [see vv.25 for TIMING and v.27 "the greatness of the kingdom
UNDER the whole heaven" (so,
on the earth!)] are the TWO
"RETURN" passages:
Luke 12:36-37,38,40,42-44 "when he will
RETURN FROM the wedding..."
THEN the meal; and
Luke 19:12,15,17,19 "RETURN" when He will deal out responsibilities having to do with "have thou authority over 10 cities" and to another likewise "be thou also over 5 cities" (cities are on the earth; and these are not "resurrected" ppl... but like the one/ones in
Daniel 12:12 STILL-LIVING at that point-in-time, and
"BLESSED" to ENTER the
earthly MK age [Rev19:9 (distinct from v.7!) "BLESSED," and Rev16:15-16 "BLESSED," and Matt24:44-46 "BLESSED," and a number of others speaking to this same point in the chronology [not to mention, their parallels]).
There's much more I could say (and have said in past posts) but again, no one reads the long posts and only SKIMS them without examining the passages even supplied... so it's pretty much a waste of time to try to type out much of it here (this post is already beyond hope, for length, LOL)
