RAPTURE – PART XI
THE SIGN OF THE RAPTURE
Pre-tribulation rapturists, those who believe Christians are going to fly away BEFORE the Tribulation ever begins, say that there are NO SIGNS preceding the Rapture, it is imminent, it will happen at any moment, with NO PROPHETIC REQUIREMENTS before we are caught up. Is that so? Really, NO signs at all? Just boom, and we’re gone at any moment? That has been a little chicken bone stuck in my craw for many years. Why do I say that? Well, for one thing, Yahweh stated, promised even, to NOT DO ANYTHING, without first telling His prophets, that’s why. Amos 3:7, “Surely Sovereign Yahweh does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” Are you rapturists calling Yahweh a liar? I hope not. I propose to you, dear reader, that Yahweh has given the exact same sign to His Prophet Yeshua, His prophet the Apostle Paul, and His prophet, John the Revelator.
We will look at just a few verses today to reveal the sign of the Rapture that all believers should be waiting for. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. So now, let’s look at a couple of the great Rapture Scriptures. First up is 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18, “For if we believe that Yeshua died and rose again, even so Yahweh will bring with Him those who sleep in Yeshua. [Rapture folks like to make a big deal about the direction the saints go in the rapture, here we see resurrected saints COMING BACK DOWN WITH YESHUA, NOT GOING UP TO YESHUA. Folks, this is second coming and rapture language!!]
15For this we say to you by the word of the Master, that we who are alive and remain until the [second] coming of the Master will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16For the Master Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of Yahweh. And the dead in Messiah will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Master in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Master. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words.” Notice that right here we have TWO SIGNS OF THE RAPTURE, Yeshua will rapture the saints with a LOUD SHOUT, the VOICE OF AN ARCHANGEL, and with the TRUMPET of Yahweh. Saints, you need to be LISTENING for the Rapture!! For now, we want to focus on the TRUMPET of Yahweh. In the Greek, that word for trumpet is a singular, feminine noun, in the dative case. The dative case means that the word is giving us a location in time. It’s a timing trumpet, but at what time?
That’s where Paul’s other great Rapture Scripture comes in to help us understand WHEN the Rapture occurs. 1 Corinthians 15:51-57, “Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—52in 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. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to Yahweh, who gives us the victory through our Master Yeshua Messiah.” Wow, is that plain enough? The Rapture occurs AT THE LAST TRUMPET!! Look at verse 52, that trumpet is ALSO IN THE DATIVE CASE, meaning it is giving us a location in time, IT’S AT THE END, IT’S THE LAST TRUMPET BLOWN!! Paul double emphasizes the finality with the word last, which in the Greek is the word eschate, from eschatos, where we get eschatology, our study of end-time events!! And the word LAST is also in the dative case, triple signifying also a location in time!! Paul quadruple emphasizes the fact with the indicative statement that the TRUMPET WILL SOUND at a specific time in the future!! Good grief, could he have stated it any more emphatically? In order for us to have a last trumpet, we ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE A SERIES OF TRUMPET BLASTS OCCURRING. Now where do we find a series of trumpet blasts? I am so glad you asked. Let’s now look at the Book of Revelation, for John gives us this series of trumpet blasts!!
Turn in your Scriptures to Revelation 10:7, “but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of Yahweh would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.” This is a pretty important verse in the Bible, it states that the mystery of Yahweh Himself will be finished with the sounding of the SEVENTH TRUMPET of John’s revelation of Yeshua. Since the mystery of Yahweh will be finished, this language is speaking about the END OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Revelation 11:15, “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Master and of His Messiah, and He shall reign forever and ever!”” Again, this is talking about the END OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION, when the kingdoms of the world will be handed over to Yeshua.
I hope by now you understand that in the Book of Revelation, there are 21 events that signal where we are in the seven year Tribulation/Great Tribulation. Seven seals, of which the seventh is seven trumpets, Revelation 8:1-2, “When He opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2And I saw the seven angels who stand before Yahweh, and to them were given seven trumpets.” Then we learn that the seventh trumpet is the final seven bowls of Yahweh’s wrath. Revelation 15:1, “Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of Yahweh is complete.” And Revelation 16:1, “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of Yahweh on the earth.”” In Revelation 16:17, we see the end of Yahweh’s wrath, “Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, “It is done!””
Please make a mental note of the TRUMPETS of Yahweh, and LISTEN FOR THEM. That’s your cue to the great Rapture of the Church!! Study Revelation 16, it is AWESOME! Yeshua makes His lone present tense statement in verse 15 that HE IS COMING, right after the SIXTH bowl of wrath in verse 12, at the moment when John is about to write about the SEVENTH bowl of wrath in verse 17!! And all of that occurs DURING THE SEVENTH TRUMPET!! Yeshua’s second coming and the rapture are 7th trumpet events!!
Let’s wrap this up with a word from the Greatest Prophet of all time, Yeshua HaMashiach, our Master and Savior. And where would we find an appropriate word about the LAST TRUMPET OF YAHWEH? Well, in Matthew 24 of course! This chapter is where Yeshua Himself lays out the plan of the seven year Tribulation/Great Tribulation, the Rapture, and His Second Coming. Look at verses 29-31, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect [HELLO!! Here’s your Rapture!!] from the four winds [ALL SAINTS FROM on earth], from one end of heaven to the other [ALL SAINTS FROM in heaven].” But wait, is that word for TRUMPET here in the dative case, indicating a location in time? NO! It’s a singular feminine noun in the GENATIVE CASE! And what does that mean to us? It means Yeshua identified a particular trumpet, not just any old trumpet sound. He specifies one particular trumpet, BLOWN MEGA LOUD! So, which trumpet is that? THE LAST TRUMPET that Paul revealed to us in 1 Corinthians 15!! Could the prophets have stated this any plainer? Yeshua had already give the time frame with His AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS comment, because we had already read about the first 3 ½ year tribulation in verse 9, “Then they will deliver you [speaking to DISCIPLES!! Hello, wake up saints!!] up to tribulation and kill you [DISCIPLES, wake up saints!!], and you [DISCIPLES, wake up saints!!] will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.” Then later Yeshua identifies the last 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation in verses 21-22, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s [DISCIPLES, ELECT, SAINTS, CHRISTIANS, CHOSEN, YOU, wake up saints!!] sake those days will be shortened.” Yeshua didn’t have to identify this trumpet with the dative case, because He had already identified the time line. He just had to identify which particular trumpet here, THE MEGA LOUD ONE, which will wake the dead, Paul’s and John’s LAST TRUMPET!! Saints, I hope you’re getting this into your spirit.
May I throw in another little tasty treat before we go? Look at Matthew 24:15, “Therefore when you [DISCIPLES, you, wake up saints!] see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand),” We, the last generation are going to get to see the Antichrist standing in the next Temple in Jerusalem, showing off, trying to convince himself that he is Yahweh!! Do you know any megalomaniacs alive today who would like to do this? I could name one or two. Oh, and by the way, if all the saints are raptured before the tribulation, who would the antichrist be anti against?
We have previously established that there are ONLY TWO COMINGS, OR ADVENTS, of Messiah Yeshua. The first one was about 2,000 years ago. The Second Coming and Rapture will happen soon, but first we’ll have to go through some stuff. Tribulation simply means pressure, so get ready for life in the pressure cooker! And you thought your life was tough today. Wake up, prepare for some pressurized times, and look up, for your redemption draws nigh! Yahweh is going to compress a lot of events into a relatively short period of time, so get ready saints!
Rapture folks can try to separate the rapture from the second coming of Messiah, but the Scriptures simply do not allow it. Look at it this way, if Yeshua raptured this apostate, backslidden, self-centered, spoiled, prosperity gospel greedy, Laodicean Church today before the tribulation, He would have to humbly apologize to all the persecuted and martyred saints from the last 2,000 years! I just don’t see that happening. Don’t worry about the tribulation, you’ll be protected from His wrath! 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, “For Yahweh did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Master Yeshua Messiah, 10who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” The rapture will happen, just not when most folks want to believe it will happen. You don’t have to believe it will happen at the seventh LOUD trumpet, but you will be calling Yahweh and Yeshua liars. Not recommended.
Gene Benjamin II
October 6, 2012 CE