Luke 17:26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
Today, even with the economy stuggling people continue to eat and drink, marry and give in marriage, buy and sell, plant and build just as they always have. There is coming a day when these business as usual activities will take a non-business as usual twist. Why? Destruction is coming that will impact all of those activities.
We know that destruction is coming but what I want to point your attention to is the precursor event that occurs on the very day that the destruction falls. That is: The righteous depart.
The very day that Noah entered the ark, the destruction began. The very day that Lot left Sodom, the destruction fell. On the day of the rapture, the righteous will be taken first and the wicked will be destroyed. At the end of the tribulation the wicked will be taken to destruction, and the righteous will enter the millennium. You see, the righteous entering the millennium is a gaping hole in the post-trib rapture doctrine. If the righteous are all raptured at the end, and the wicked are all taken to destruction at the end, then who enters the millennium? I think its safe to say the post-trib doctrine has been debunked.
The pre-wrath doctrine is the easiest to debunk since according to their theory Jesus works for Satan by opening the Seals in Rev 6. The 'pre-wrath' believers call the Seals in Rev 6 'Satan's wrath.' Blasphemy anyone? Jesus alone was found worthy to open those seals and the Bible goes to great lengths to convince you of that.
That leaves us with the only true option for the timing of the rapture, that is pre-tribulation rapture. We are the bride of Christ. We are looking, watching for the return of our Bridegroom for heaven. When are we watching? Now....Why are we watching now? Because we were commanded to.
When the righteous depart, then destruction falls. Does that jive with the stories of Noah and Lot. Yes, it fits exactly with no twisting or 'spiritualizing' of scripture needed. When the righteous depart, the tribulation begins.
There is an escape from all coming (Luke 21:36). We are to be 'kept' from the trial coming on the entire earth (Rev 3:10). Noah escaped all of the flood of his day by being lifted up high above the earth (Gen 7:17). Destruction could not fall on Sodom until Lot was physically removed from the city (Gen 19:22). Could the Lord be any more clear than He has been?
When the righteous are physically removed from the destruction (and the destruction will be global this time), THEN destruction falls. Fits like a glove, perfectly.
Be encouraged then, at the Word of the Lord. Do the stories of Noah and Lot fit with the promises in Luke 21:36 and Rev 3:10? Yes they do. On the word of 2-3 witnesses we accept our truths right?
2 Corinthians 13:1 This will be my third visit to you. "Every ...
| ... "Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." We have 4 witnesses here. A 5th witness is the Holy Ghost, a 6th is the Lord Jesus who is the Word, a 7th witness is Luke through whom the gospel of Luke was written, and 8th witness is Matthew who relates the same story in Matt 24 as Luke does in Luke 17. And the list goes on.... This fall, it appears that multiple vectors of destruction are coming to bear. Could the Lord come back for us just before the destruction falls? Its possible, or He could come back for us tonight. Our job is to watch and be ready for whenever He comes back for us. Maybe nothing happens this fall. Maybe we are still around for 5 more years or 10, does it really matter? We watch and wait and remain ready for however long it takes for our Lord to show up. This readiness is a dividing line between us and the "other tribbers." The "other tribbers" mock us for our watching and readiness today. They tell us that there are all kinds of things that must happen first before the Lord can come back for us. This writer is convinced that they are wrong. This writer is convinced that the Lord can come back for us today. The Bridegroom coming back for the bride is a suprise. The bride must be ready for any day that the Bridegroom shows up. That day could be very soon. How should we be living when we can see destruction coming and we know the coming of our Lord is imminent? The answer to that I leave to your discretion. Keep the faith, be strong, be patient. Encourage all the brothers. Be watching. Be ready. grace and peace |
