Many people agree that the resurrection that is the Rapture is clearly taught in scripture:

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3).

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51-52).

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Unfortunately, the area of the Rapture where many people disagree is the timing of the blessed event. When will it occur—before, during, or after the Tribulation?

Some believe that the Rapture will occur during the middle of the Tribulation (Mid-Trib). Some people base that belief upon the resurrection of the two witnesses at the mid-point of the Tribulation:

“Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them” (Revelation 11:11-12).

The two witnesses are indeed part of the first resurrection. Although they are called up to heaven with a voice saying “come up here”—there is no mention of a trumpet. There is also no mention of anyone else ascending up to heaven along with the two witnesses—let alone the Lord Jesus coming down to receive them unto Himself.

The Rapture will not occur during the Tribulation. Further evidence—as found in the Bible—also clearly shows that the Rapture does not occur after the Tribulation either (Post-Trib).

There is no mention of a Rapture or a resurrection when the Lord descends from heaven in a very visible way in Revelation chapter 19. See for yourself:

“Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Revelation 19:11-15).

No resurrection occurs there at all. The Lord does not “receive” anyone to Himself (John 14:3) at that time either. In fact, the next time a resurrection is mentioned is not until after Satan is defeated at Armageddon and cast into hell:

“He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while” (Revelation 20:2-3).

Based on the verses above and below, the final stage of the first resurrection will happen after the Lord has already returned to the earth and defeated His enemies:

“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection” (Revelation 20:4-5).

The Tribulation saints were killed “for their witness”—and then they lived again—after the Lord’s earthly victory over His enemies. This completes the first resurrection. The first resurrection is not a single event—it is to be accomplished in several stages. These stages include:

The resurrection of Christ the first-fruits (1 Corinthians 15:23).

The resurrection of those who belong to Christ at the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

The resurrection of the two witnesses (Revelation 11:11).

And finally—The resurrection of the Tribulation saints (Revelation 20:5).

The first resurrection encompasses the resurrection of Christ and all true believers—raised at different times and in different stages.

The Bible records no specific signs that precipitate the Rapture. However—there are many signs that precipitate the Tribulation:

The formation of Israel in 1948 as prophesied in Ezekiel 39:21-29 and Luke 21:29-31. For the first time in many centuries, the Jews have a national existence in their own homeland.

The rise of numerous other nations as prophesied in Luke 21:29. Jesus predicted that not only would the fig tree shoot forth, but that all the trees would as well. The demise of historical colonial governments has given rise to many new nations within the last century.

The ecumenical movement was prophesied in Revelation 17 and 18, as “Babylon the Great.” A vast religious, political, and commercial system made up of apostate religious bodies that profess to be Christian is hastily moving toward creating a new world super-church.

The great apostasy and falling away from true fundamental biblical faith, as prophesied in 1 Timothy 4 and 2 Thessalonians 2, is taking place around the world today.

The drastic decline of moral standards as prophesied in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. The truth of this total moral depravity and breakdown cannot go unnoticed in our modern age of 24-hour social media and news.

Widespread violence and civil disobedience as prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8. This mystery of lawlessness is already working overtime through the spirit of the antichrist.

The rise of anti-Christian spiritualism that takes the form of “Christianity” was prophesied in 2 Timothy 3:5-8 and 1 John 2:18. This false Christian spirit is manifested in many false cults which profess to be Christian but deny almost every fundamental doctrine of the true Christian faith. They deceive by intimidation.

The current will of nations to align themselves together into groups that either approximate or outright fit the lineup of nations as prophesied in Psalm 83, Isaiah, Ezekiel 38-39, Daniel, etc.

The rise in frequency of earthquakes, the threat of worldwide famine and disease, and the increasing racial tensions among nations as prophesied by the Lord in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21).

The apathetic denial of the impending intervention by the Lord into the affairs of mankind by way of the Rapture, the Tribulation judgment, and the literal 1,000-year Millennial reign of Jesus Christ.

Don’t let long and complicated theses attempting to explain the interpretive flaws of others perplex you. The timing of the Rapture shouldn’t take a lot of explanation. Let the plain truth of God’s Word speak for itself.

Any day now, a multitude of people will suddenly vanish from all around the earth without a trace. We finally sense that He is very near and almost here.

“Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6).

 

You’ve seen them by now—rallies and protests breaking out at various times across the United States. One rally protests one set of grievances while another rally protests a different set of grievances. The standard practice is that for every protest—there’s a counter-protest. Each side accuses the other of hate directed at them by the opposite side.

The hypocrisy of most counter-protests borders on the absurd.

One protester holds a sign boldly proclaiming “Love not Hate”—while hate-filled words drip from their lips. The sign of another protester reads “Unify Against Hate”—while they scream hateful profanities and clench their fists in preparation for violence.

Satan is the deceiver of the whole world. All who scream and yell threats of violence at one another have been captured by Satan to do his will:

“And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12:9).

“And they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:26).

It’s not lost on any thinking and sane person that most of the hatred is being manufactured by entities who want to eradicate the unique freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution.

The sad truth is that America cannot last much longer if events and elections continue to unfold according to the socialist elite pulling the strings of hate and division.

These portentous entities that feign love are filled with murder and hate. Their sole interest is in causing as much death and division as possible on American streets.

The following exact quotes of the chants bellowed by the enemies of America as they pounded pavement, cars, and just about anything or anyone else that stood in their way in our Nation’s capital this past weekend is enough to give a sane person the chills:

“All these racist cops—we don’t need ‘em!”

“No borders—no nation—stop the deportations!”

“Free abortion on demand—can we do it? Yes we can!”

“We’re here—we’re queer—we’re socialists; don’t f___ with us!”

“Palestine will be free—from the river to the sea!”

“Abolish ICE!”

“Whose streets? Our streets!”

“How do we get out of this mess? Revolution—nothing less!”

The demonic puppeteers are reaping the desired first-fruits of their engineered chaos. The fruit they ultimately desire is the total social breakdown that will “necessitate” their long-planned elimination of the constitutional right to publicly assemble in America.

It’s no wonder that people who agree with the founding fathers’ vision of America’s unique model of freedom feel called to stand up and fight to preserve that freedom for their posterity.

For true believers in Jesus Christ, our fight is supposed to stay focused on reaping the harvest of lost sheep until our Father sends His Son to clean up this mess.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

All true believers know how we are supposed to respond to those who are in opposition against us:

“The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

However, the nature of the flesh that Satan so easily takes control of fights against the will of the Spirit:

“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Galatians 5:17).

While it may be reasonable to defend yourself and others against sudden violent physical attacks—it’s not acceptable to engage in protests that you know beforehand can turn into danger and physical violence.

Most who engage in such dangerous and violent gatherings are unknowingly pleasing the deceptive master of the ceremonies himself—the devil.

We are all susceptible to being offended and wanting to lash out when we’re accused of behavior that we’re not guilty of. However, the Lord has commanded His true children to turn away from vengeance:

“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord” (Romans 12:17-19).

I have railed against those who profess to be true believers in the blood of Christ for their salvation—yet they avoid their duties and responsibilities to their families and their country to uphold biblical morality and lead by example. Far too many have chosen to engage in the filth of worldly entertainment at the negligence of walking in the Spirit.

However, engaging in violent protests is not the will of God for His true children. If God’s true children had been engaged in standing against evil and immorality all along, there would be no need to join a violent protest just to be heard.

The “fight” we are all actively engaged in is a spiritual battle:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:12-13).

The spiritual battle is not for wimps. It takes courage and strength from our Creator through the power of His Holy Spirit. We still have the ballot box and we still have our testimony to others. But above all, we still have prayer.

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you” (Jeremiah 29:11-12).