RAPTURE – Part IX
The Heavens Pregnant With Revelation
Dear Reader, please think back to Part IV, Where is the Church in Revelation? We found two Scriptures where the Church of Jesus Christ is mentioned during the Tribulation. Scripture 1: Revelation 20:4-6 and Scripture 2: Revelation 6:9-11. Today we’ll briefly look at Scripture # 3: Revelation 12, verse 17, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman [Israel], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of Yahweh [Jews] and have the testimony of Yeshua Messiah [duh, Christians!!].”
This Scripture is apparently too scary for pre-tribulation rapturists to look at, but let’s be brave and get the whole context of Revelation 12 first. Revelation 12, “Now a great sign appeared in heaven [It’s my understanding this physical astronomical sign may actually occur at the end of Sukkot, 2012 CE!!]: a woman [Israel] clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 2Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.
3And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman [Israel] who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child [Yeshua] as soon as it was born. 5She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to Yahweh and His throne [See our previous studies on Acts 1:9 and Hebrews 10:12-13. Rev. 12:5 is the THIRD Scripture where we see Yeshua in the throne room of heaven after His ascension!!]. 6Then the woman [Israel] fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by Yahweh, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days [a clear reference to the Tribulation days].
7And war broke out in heaven: Michael [possibly a reference to Yeshua Himself] and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. [Satan himself on earth during the Tribulation]
10Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our Mighty One, and the power of His Messiah have come, for the accuser of our brethren [Christians, Yahweh’s family], who accused them before our Mighty One day and night, has been cast down. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. 12Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” [Satan himself on earth during the Tribulation]
13Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman [Israel] who gave birth to the male Child [Yeshua]. 14But the woman [Israel] was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time [3 ½ years], from the presence of the serpent. 15So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman [Israel], that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16But the earth helped the woman [Israel], and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was enraged with the woman [Israel], and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring [DURING THE TRIBULATION!!], who keep the commandments of Yahweh and have the testimony of Yeshua Messiah.”
First, get the concept of the modern humanistic secular State of Israel out of your mind, we’re talking here in Revelation 12 about the spiritual house of Israel, who gave birth to Yeshua and Christianity. Second, step back and take a look at the SIGN in heaven: it’s the picture of a mother giving birth to a Son. It’s the picture of Yahweh’s Family. And what does that mean to us? It means the continual propagation of the generations of flesh and faith! First the natural, then the spiritual. This whole chapter is about the family of Satan beating up on the Family of Yahweh, but for the last 2,000 years, Yahweh’s family has continued to produce physical and spiritual children. It implies the continual flow of disciples making disciples, generation after generation, and we see NO indication in Revelation 12 that this will ever be interrupted!! There is no indication in Revelation 12 of a Rapture, other than Yeshua’s ascension in verse 5, to the Throne of Heaven, where He remains to this day, and according to Scripture, will remain until His enemies are made His footstool!!
A friend of mine had me watch 2 ½ hours of Chuck Missler teaching on the Rapture theory. He mentioned Revelation 12:5, Yeshua’s ascension, as a possible picture of the Rapture, but he did not mention verse 17 as a picture of the saints on earth getting beat up by the Devil during the Tribulation!! WHY NOT, CHUCK? Too big a pebble in your rapture pond? Again, there is NO INDICATION in Revelation 12 as to when these persecuted Christians got saved, but I assure you that AT LEAST ONE OF THEM got saved BEFORE THE TRIBULATION BEGINS.
The 3 ½ years mentioned in Revelation 12 is probably the first 3 ½ years of the Tribulation, since it is the wrath of Satan against Jews and Christians. The second 3 ½ years is the wrath of Yahweh against the remaining sinners on earth. Be sure to notice that even during Satan’s 3 ½ years of wrath, the woman, spiritual Israel, is protected from him by Yahweh. But look at verse 17, it specifically shows the persecution of Jews and Christians during tribulation years, and they are BOTH the offspring of spiritual Israel!! We see a picture of perpetual childbearing, spiritual offspring, from ancient times, right on into the Tribulation years. The Holy Spirit and the disciples of Yeshua never stop making disciples!! Yahweh specifically chose to use the SIGN of the Royal Family as a SIGN of the end times. How much more clear could He have said it?
Why do rapture theory teachers and preachers pick and choose only a few Scriptures that seem to imply a rapture, and not look at the whole of Scripture? I don’t know, you’ll have to ask them. We’ve now seen THREE Scriptures in Revelation that show the Church of Jesus Christ alive and well on planet earth, during the Tribulation. And no matter whether they are in the first 3 ½ years or the last 3 ½ years of the Tribulation, the Revelation 12:17 Church is HERE ON EARTH AFTER THE START OF THE TRIBULATION!! And if the Holy Spirit is taken back to Heaven in a pre-trib rapture, how could anyone possibly get saved DURING the Tribulation? And Rapture teachers are so proud about stating that the Church is NOT seen in the Book of Revelation AFTER chapter 4 until chapter 19. Hello! This is chapter 12 and here’s the CHURCH, on earth, getting persecuted!!
I look forward to being raptured/resurrected as much as the next believer, but I look forward to it biblically. Get ready for 3 ½ years of fun with the Devil!!
Gene Benjamin II
October 3, 2012 CE