This post is not for those people. We should have one overriding desire, to know the truth. What does the Word say and what does our faith say? Two different people can read the same verse of scripture and walk away with two different meanings as we have seen over and over again with the rapture. What we believe matters.
Matt 8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that moment.
What does the Word say?
Psalm 27
1The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came on me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3Though
an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war
should rise against me, in this will I be confident.
4One
thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may
dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the
beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.
5For
in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret
of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up on a rock.
I see language like this throughout the Word of God. What is He telling us? He is a real shelter. We do not have to spritualize any language here. He said it, He meant it.
What happened with Noah? In the time of trouble was he hidden away? Yes, just like Psalm 27 says.
What else do we know about Noah? He is directly connected to the unknown day and unknown hour:
Matt 24:36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
37But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38For
as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
43But
know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the
thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered
his house to be broken up.
44Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
We should pay particular attention to this:
38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Which refers to this:
Genesis 6:11In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;
What are we being told? The very day it began to rain, Noah went into the ark. That is the way it happened back then, and that is the way it will happen again. We know with absolute certainty, not some man's opinion but God's Word tells us it will happen this way again:
38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
We are given the same angle on the Word by Luke here:
Luke 21:34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Contrasting all the protests I hear from people who cry day and night that we must take the tribulation on the chin and endure all its horrors, I see alot of escapism in the Word of God.
Pray for escape? That is precisely what our Lord told us to do.
Like who? Like Noah, Noah is the example given.
Hide? Yes, that is what the Lord told us here:
5For
in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret
of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up on a rock.
A Door:
Gen 7:16And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the LORD shut him in.
(The Lord shut the door^^)
Keys? Keys go into doors...
Rev 3:7And
to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he
that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that
openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth;
8I
know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man
can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word,
and hast not denied my name.
9Behold,
I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews,
and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship
before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
10Because
thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the
hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them
that dwell upon the earth.Noah went through an open door and the Lord shut him into the ark. As it was, so it will be again. A door will be open and no man can shut it (who shut the door of the Ark? The Lord shut it)
Rev 4:1After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter
An open door, an open door, the Lord shut Noah in...
38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
What is the bottom line?
What is coming will be like the days of Noah. It was business as usual right up to the very day that Noah entered the ark and it began to rain. We are seeing this around us today. Yes, we see the storm clouds on the horizon, they appear to be directly overhead. Does this match what the Lord said would happen according to the days of Noah? It matches exactly.
There was a door in the ark, there will be a door open in heaven. What are doors used for? People go through them. This fact alone sorely vexes the pre-wrath and post-trib rapture believers. How can they account for the doors in Rev 3 and 4? It is an undeniable fact that people move through doors that is their stated purpose and yet we read nothing from the antagonists to explain to us who is moving through these doors?
It is not enough to speculate who is moving through the doors open in heaven. The Bible has to prove it. In Rev 3 and 4 there are doors open in heaven. In Rev 5, there are "24" elders who have this testimony:
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; 10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
Can people out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation=24?
The key word there is "every."
Every kindred? Yea, thats more than 24
Every tongue? Yea, thats more than 24
Every people? Yea, thats more than 24
Every nation? Yea, thats more than 24
A door was open in heaven in Rev 3 and Rev 4, then in Rev 5 we have a group of people from every kindred, tongue, people and nation in heaven. In Rev 4 we read that these men have white rainment and crowns of gold. Crowns? Yes, that means they have been judged already.
1 Peter 5:4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive ... And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.
Revelation 3:11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so ... I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown
Again, what is the point? Someone is escaping something if there are men with crowns on their head in Rev 4, period. How did they get into heaven and judged before the entirety of the tribulation starts if we all have to suffer through the tribulation? If I can find just one example of where their theory (pre-wrath, post-trib) is wrong then it calls the entire theory into question.
The 24 elders in heaven in Rev 4-5 with crowns on their head did not and will not go through the tribulation from Rev 6 onward. Why not? How did they escape? How does this fit into the theories of no escape, no hiding, no place of refuge we hear day and night from those who preach themselves into the tribulation?
Why should we say no to debate? Because we are all about to find out who is right. Events will prove out exactly that the Lord meant every Word of what He said.
What if I have it all wrong and there is no pre-trib rapture? My faith is in Christ, I soldier on. That's it.
What if the pre-wrath and post-trib folks are wrong and there is a pre-trib rapture? They might have a real problem. If they receive according to their belief (and we know the Lord respects faith and belief) then they could end up in the tribulation when they could have escaped.
As a people we must know our God. Noah escaped the flood, Israel escaped from Egypt, Israel will escape again:
Revelation 12:6 The woman fled into the wilderness to a place ... The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
So how exactly do these ^^ people get to escape the horrors of the tribulation but all the rest of us are supposed to suck it up and take it on the chin (according to the antagonists)?
This is the difference between what God says and what men say. Is there an escape? Yes. Are we told to pray for it? Yes. Will Christians be on earth during the tribulation? Yes.
Will all Christians who ever lived be on earth during the tribulation? NO. That is a ridiculous question because Christians will die out of this world as we always have right up to the day of the tribulation beginning. There is an escape we are told to pray for. That escape is an escape from "all that is about to happen." Let your faith decide for you what "all that is about to happen" means.
There are people preaching and teaching and raging until the veins pop out in their neck that there is no escape from the tribulation.
Who are the most likely candidates for Christians populating the tribulation? These people ^^.
As it was, so it will be again. We were told to pray for escape from all that is about to happen. I propose we do exactly that:
36Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
If the Lord told us to pray for escape and there are legions of people doing the exact opposite (not praying for escape and actively teaching there is no escape), what will become of them? It is a question worth pondering.
grace and peace
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