Introduction
The Present Puzzle of Prophecy
There are two general attitudes regarding the study of prophecy today. Among some, there is a renewed interest in the subject. Among others, there is an indifferent outlook toward the passages of prophecy. On the one hand, some desire to know everything God wishes them to know regarding great prophetic events yet to come. On the other hand, others just shrug their shoulders and say, “The main thing is to be ready [for the coming of the Lord].”
In the arena where there is renewed desire for prophecy, there is a great controversy today. Down through the centuries, the Millennium was the big issue regarding the second coming of Jesus Christ. The argument of the past has been whether Christ would return before a literal millennium or after a figurative millennium. That does not seem to be the issue today, however. Today, the big question regarding our Lord’s second coming is that of the Great Tribulation. Will Christ come for His church before, in the middle of, or after the Great Tribulation? That is today’s great puzzle of prophecy.
In the next few posts, I will certainly reveal what I believe regarding the question of the church’s translation in regard to the Great Tribulation. However, answering that one question is not the purpose of these next few posts. There is so much more to study in prophecy than whether or not the church will go the Great Tribulation.
Before digging in to my subject, allow me to set something straight with the reader. Concerning the coming of the Lord in regard to the Great Tribulation, I can differ with a brother or sister in the Lord, retaining love for them and keeping fellowship with them, under one condition. No matter how you believe regarding when the Lord is coming in connection with the Great Tribulation, you MUST believe that God Almighty will most certainly pour out His wrath upon this wicked world, and the church of Jesus Christ just as certainly will be delivered from it. If a brother or sister does not believe this, it does not affect my love for them; but it will affect my fellowship with them. To believe that the church will be upon the earth when God’s wrath is being poured out is to do injustice to the blood of Jesus which was shed to deliver us from such wrath. Look at what the scriptures declare:
I Thessalonians 1:10 – “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
I Thessalonians 5:9 – “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We learn two great truths from these verses; first, that we are NOT APPOINTED TO WRATH; and second, that we have already been delivered from the wrath to come. I heard a preacher say once that the wrath of God is not appointed for the church, but the church may still receive some of it. NOT SO! It is true that we are not appointed to wrath, and it is just as true that we have already been delivered from the wrath of God by the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross.
Through the years, I have had many discussions with many students of scripture regarding the subject of Christ’s return in connection with the Great Tribulation. Nearly everyone with whom I deal believes in a PRE-WRATH rapture, meaning that the rapture will occur BEFORE the wrath of God is poured out, and consequently, the church will suffer none of it. These are fundamental truths regarding the second coming of Christ for His church; first, that He is coming bodily and literally to receive His church unto Himself; and second, that such a gathering will occur before the wrath of God is poured out upon this world.
What is “the Day of the Lord”?
The day of the Lord is a definite, fixed period of time that is yet in the future. No one knows when this time period will begin. There are myriads of scripture, especially in the Old Testament, that describe this awful period of time. Some of the events that comprise the day of the Lord include:
1) The Great Tribulation. This is also a definite, fixed period of time that is yet in the future. Throughout this post, I will present scriptures that describe the Great Tribulation. The Great Tribulation is not SYNONYMOUS with the day of the Lord, but the day of the Lord INCLUDES the Great Tribulation. There are other events that take place after the Great Tribulation that are included in the day of the Lord, but it is the Great Tribulation that ignites the fires of the day of the Lord. Some events that define the Great Tribulation are the rise of the man of sin with a seven-year covenant with Israel, the rise of the false prophet, the rise and fall of Babylon, the judgment of God being poured out upon the nations of the world, the refining of the nation of Israel, the siege of Jerusalem, and the captivity of the Jews into the nations of the world. All these events and more are part of the Great Tribulation, and the Great Tribulation is a part of the day of the Lord. Because there is great controversy as to whether or not the Great Tribulation is included in the day of the Lord, I will spend a good deal of time showing, by the nature of the day of the Lord as well as the events of the day of the Lord, that the Great Tribulation is indeed a part of the day of the Lord.
2) The Second Coming of Christ. Immediately after the tribulation, Jesus Christ will come to this earth again with all the saints of God. This is part of the day of the Lord. At His second coming with His saints, Christ will destroy the man of sin and the false prophet, casting them into the lake of fire. He will judge the nations with regard to their treatment of Israel during the tribulation. He will gather the Jews who were scattered during the tribulation, and set them in their own land. He will set up a literal kingdom where He, along with the church, will reign for one thousand years. Each of these events occur after the Great Tribulation, but are part of the day of the Lord.
3) Some insist that, based upon II Peter 3, the Millennium and the battle following it is part of the day of the Lord. I see where they get it, but I am not sold on that proposition.
In the Old Testament, we are repeatedly given descriptions of the nature and events of the day of the Lord. In the New Testament, Christ describes in detail the nature and events of the Great Tribulation. In Matthew 24, Christ teaches His disciples concerning the Great Tribulation and the events relating to it. This is called the Olivet Discourse, because Christ was in the Mount of Olives while teaching this. In Mark’s gospel, Christ gives His Olivet Discourse in Mark 13. In Mark 13, however, Christ does not refer to “the Great Tribulation,” but rather “great affliction.” But it is the same time period. When Luke gives His account of the Olivet Discourse in Luke 21, “great distress” and “distress of nations” is used. But it is still the same time period that Matthew records as being “the Great Tribulation.” So, we will look at the nature and events of the Great Tribulation as given in Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, comparing them to the Old Testament description of the nature and events of the day of the Lord. Any honest Bible reader will readily see that the day of the Lord includes the Great Tribulation.
TO BE CONTINUED…
