In the Levitt Letter No. 11, Oct. 2000, p. 11, there is the response by Dr.
Charles Dyer to a question from the Levitt Letter as to the stand of the Moody Bible
Institute in regards to their fundamental Dispensational distinctives. The following
quotes are some of the answer that he replied with:
(1.) Pretribulational Rapture: "Christ will return
preceding the Great Tribulation at which time He will receive into heaven dead and living
believers who constitute His Church."
(2.) Literal second Coming and Millennium: "The
pre-millennial return of Christ at which time He will set up his thousand-year
reign."
(3.) Distinction between Israel and the Church:
"The Church of Jesus Christ is a distinct entity from Israel in the program of God.
We further believe that the Universal Church consists of all who possess saving
faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ from Pentecost to the Rapture
of the Church and who will represent every
language, tribe and nation."
"Moody Bible Institute requires all faculty members to
agree with, personally adhere to, and support the school's doctrinal distinctives,
including those listed above. These are not negotiable." (Dr. Dyer)
The thrust of this booklet will be to point out the Scriptures that might question
whether the distinctives in item No. 1 above are so. This is no small task as there
is much material available to help us to make this decision and an impossibility to cover
it adequately in the confines of this size booklet.
In Item No. 2 I find myself in perfect agreement, with my only comment being --
amen. In Item No. 3 I find again the need to consider Scripture to see if these
things be so. That is something that will have to be left for another day.
First of all, let us see the big picture as we set the stage for what is
prophesied to take place at the beginning of the Great Tribulation: This picture
describes the events that occur during the 42 months allotted to Satan's reign which he
does through the efforts of his personal representative -- the Antichrist.
He is claiming to be God and performing mighty miracles to prove his point.
He demands complete obedience to himself, and dissenters at first are refused
privileges to buy or sell if non-compliant. Later he increases the penalty to death
for non-compliance. (Dan.12:11).
On the other hand, the 144,000 whom God will select to represent Him, immediately prior
to the onset of this Tribulation; these are filled with the Holy Spirit as servant
prophets of God in order to preach and promote the everlasting gospel to every nation,
kindred, tongue and people during the time of the Antichrist's reign.
Thus we have the time approaching when there will be the opportunity to witness for the
Lord the gospel of Christ. That He is the only God who is able to save them.
Why would God remove the great bulk of the dedicated and well trained born again
Christians, and take them to heaven, when in all their previous existence they have never
had such an opportunity to witness for such a glorious cause? It doesn't make any
sense, does it?
Now let us note the events that are instrumental in setting this Great Tribulation into
reality. The date for this time is nowhere given or possible to derive by the
prophetic writings of the prophets, because it is a time that only God the Father knows by
His own authority. It's a period of 1335 days that in the prophetic books is listed
as the coming Day of the Lord. It lasts from the onset of the rule of Satan for the
first 1260 days, and this to be followed by the beginning of Christ's reign, during which
time the seven last plagues are poured out on the unsaved of the earth. Christ comes
during the 7th plague to destroy the Antichrist and his multinational army, and to set
free His remnant survivors of literal Israelites.
Remember that in all this book of Revelation it is depicting the activities that are to
take place during this 1335 day time frame of the Day of the Lord. It's given as a
revelation of Jesus Christ, which God (the Father) gave Him (Christ) to show his servants
(the 144,000) what must soon take place. All these events are described for His
servants to know, because their job description is to reveal Christ to every inhabitant of
the earth.
Rev. 1:1 -- The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to
show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel
to his servant John.
With those in readiness to initiate the beginning of this Great Tribulation and before
those angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea were released, there
was an angel with an urgent message to hold everything until a very important function can
take place first:
Rev. 7:1-4 -- After this I saw four angels standing at the
four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind
from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. Then I saw another angel
coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud
voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea: Do
not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the
servants of our God." Then I heard the number of those who were sealed:
144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
Now that the 144,000 servant prophets have been selected and sealed, all is in
readiness to raise the curtain on this catastrophic drama. We have now another angel
who we might consider as analogous to the sports official who fires the pistol to signal
the time for the sprinters at a track meet to begin the race.
Rev. 8:3 -- Another angel, who had a golden censer, came
and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, and the prayers of all
the saints, on the golden altar before the throne... Then the angel took the censer,
filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of
thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.
These are global signs that we should be able to recognize when they happen. This
is representing the official turning over this censer to the Antichrist which is symbolic
of giving him his authority from heaven for his equal time to manage the earth and get his
message "vindicated." He is restricted by God to the extent that he can
carry out his plans.
This censer being cast down represents symbolically the evening and morning sacrifices
in the earthly sanctuary to the reality of the heavenly service which restrained
Satan in his activities on earth. It was called the daily or in some translations,
the continual.
Some are certain that these 144,000 who are to be the representatives of the 12 tribes
of Israel must be literal Israelites -- descendants of Jacob. It's easy to
see how one could draw this conclusion, but I would like to
point out why this is extremely unlikely. One of the very first things that God
presents in His book to show His servants what must shortly come to pass is to
reveal to them how and where they were selected. Were they selected from a selection
of Israelite synagogues? We have John telling us how these were selected while he
was in vision on the Lord's Day -- this 1335 day time-frame, and apparently at
its inception:
Rev. 1:10 -- On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I
heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet which said: "Write on a scroll what you
see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum,
Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
[These are all Christian converts from the pagan Gentile cities of Asia Minor.
These churches could in no way be showing the servants of our God what would soon
take place other than showing them that these churches were symbolic of Christian churches
during the Day of the Lord at the time of the end, and from which they would be selected.]
Continuing Vss. 12,13 --
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I
saw seven golden lampstands. And among the lampstands was someone "like a son
of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet with a golden sash around his
chest...
Vs. 16 -- "In his right
hand he held seven stars, (footnoted-NIH -- or messengers) and out of his mouth
came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in its
brilliance...
Vss. 19,20 -- "Write
therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The
mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden
lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels (messengers) of the seven churches, and
the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The seven lampstands represent the seven churches. How can the golden lampstands
represent these seven churches since all through the Bible the golden lampstands in the
temple represent the Word of God -- Christ himself? It has to be to tell
them that they were selected from Christ centered churches at the time of the end.
Zech. 4:1,2 -- Then the angel who talked with me returned
and wakened me, as a man is wakened from his sleep.
Vs. 2 -- He asked me, "What do you
see?" I answered, "I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven
lights on it, with seven channels to the lights...
Vs. 10 -- "These seven are the eyes of the
Lord, which range throughout the earth."
Rev. 5:6 -- Then I saw a Lamb looking like as if it had
been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures
and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God
sent out into all the earth.
These seven lampstands represent a perfect number to encompass all the Christ promoting
assemblies, denominations or groups which are active at this end time of selection.
There are several hundred which would be represented with millions of possible
candidates. In Christ's hand will only be 144,000 which represents the messengers
that John found Him having harvested as He walked among the golden lampstands.
Literal Israelites may be found to be in that number, but if so they will be selected
from the Christ centered groups that they are associated with. The Israelites as a
nation will still be in a state of rebellion, in accepting Christ as God and their only
Savior. They are not scheduled to change this spiritual orientation until the last
Gentile has been called in. This can't happen until the 144,000 have finished their
testimony, that follows their 1260 days of prophsying.
Rom. 11:25-27 -- I do not want you to be ignorant of this
mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a
hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel
will be saved, as it is written:
"The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn
godlessness away from Jacob, and this is my covenant with them when I take away their
sins."
Vs. 28 -- As far as the gospel is
concerned, they are enemies on your account.
There is no doubt that they are enemies of the gospel as a nation. God's back is
still turned on them until the last Gentile is called in. Then this condition will
come to an end and they will become converted, born again Christians. This is
because God will take away the hardening of their hearts toward Him. He opens their
eyes and they realize their lost condition and their need of a Savior.
This is the time of fulfillment of the 70th week of Daniel 9, when He takes away all
their sins. This happens during the last week of the reign of the Antichrist.
The 144,000 are selected and sealed apparently a week before the censer is cast
down and Satan's reign begins. This must be so because their prophesying continues
for 1260 days and ends during the last week of his reign; which also is to last for 42
months. (Rev.13:5)
At the time this group of remnant survivors of the Israelites living in the land of
Israel are brought into a saving relationship to Christ they will have been prisoners in
Jerusalem undergoing trampling and
brutalizing by the Antichrist and his supporters for over three years.
Fifty percent of the surviving remnant have been exiled into these hostile nations that
constitute the multinational force of the anti-christ. These exiled ones are
undergoing the same oppressive abuse as their fellow Israelites incarcerated in Jerusalem.
Can you see how impossible it is that from these two groups the 144,000 could have
been selected three plus years earlier, to preach the everlasting gospel to the world.
It would be tantamount to selecting them from their Arab neighbors who share
Israel's contempt for the gospel of
Christ.
Note the biblical account of these events. You will soon see that this account is
the one that Jesus was pointing forward to in Luke 21:20-24. In studying this
prophecy in Zech. 13 which begins in verse 8, ignore the chapter 14 heading as it comes in
the middle of the prophecy.
Zech. 13:8-14: to the end of the chapter. -- "In the
whole land, (of Israel) "declares the Lord, "two-thirds will be struck down and
perish; yet one-third will be left in it.
Vs. 9 -- This third I will bring
into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. [all
impurities removed] They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say,
"They are my people," and they will say, "The Lord is our God."
[This is the first time since the cross that the Israelites as a nation have
accepted Christ as God. Now notice how this refining process comes about.]
Zech. 14:1 -- A day of the Lord is coming when your plunder
will be divided among you. [NRSV -- when your plunder taken from you
will be divided in your midst.]
Vs. 2 -- I will gather all the
nations to Jerusalem to fight against it; the city will be captured, the houses ransacked,
and the women raped. Half of the city will go into exile, but the rest of the people
will not be taken from the city.
[This desolation of the Israelites by the Armies of the Antichrist begins the
punishment of the Israelites in fulfillment of all that has been written -- as
stated by Jesus in Luke 21:22. Fifty percent of the surviving one third are sent as
exiles to all these hostile nations and the remaining 50% stay in Jerusalem and undergo
raping, brutalizing andunspeakable abuse for 1260 days. This is all brought to an
end at Christ's second coming when these trampled groups are reunited in Jerusalem.]
Vs. 5 -- You will flee by
my mountain valley...You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah
king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
[These are the 144,000 -- firstfruits of this earth's harvest.]
Vs. 9 -- The Lord will be king
over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only
name.
This should convince anyone that Jesus was speaking of this event during the final day
of the Lord and not of the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and his army in A.D 70.
Luke 21:20-28 -- "When you see Jerusalem being
surrounded by armies, [The multinational armies of the Antichrist-not the Roman army
of Titus.] you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are
in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out and let those in the country
not enter the city.
Vs. 22 -- For this is the time
of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written...
Vss. 23,24 -- There will be
great distress in the land and wrath against this people [This will be during the
height of the Great Tribulation] They will fall by the sword [2/3 of them ] and will
be taken as prisoners to all the nations. [50% of the surviving third]
Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are
fulfilled. [The remaining 50% of the surviving remnant third. -- Time,
times and half a time -- 3 1/2 years -- 42 months -- 1260
days.]
Now I would like to present another account of this battle. This account only
mentions the battle but shows the important things to happen or be fulfilled at this
crucial time.
Micah 5:1-5 -- Marshal your troops, O city of troops, for a
siege is laid against us.
[You will soon see that this is speaking of this same
time when Jerusalem is surrounded by the Armies of the Antichrist] They will strike
Israel's ruler on the cheek with a rod. [This is to answer any question of the
Israelites as to: "Why is this happening to us?]
See Matt. 27:28-30 -- They stripped him and put a scarlet
robe on him, and then wove a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in
his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him, "Hail, King of the
Jews!" they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the
head again and again.
Micah 5:2 (continuing) -- But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Israel, out of you will come for me one who will
be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. [This is to
identify which of Israel's rulers verse one is speaking of.]
Vs. 3 -- Therefore Israel will
be abandoned ["therefore" for this reason -- for the unspeakable crime
of the crucifixion] -- until the time when she who is in labor gives birth and
the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
This is another strong clue to let us know when God will no longer turn His back on the
nation of Israel as His special people. Paul states, as we have noted, that this
condition continues until the last Gentile is called in. This text states that it
persists until she who is in labor gives birth -- meaning the Christian churches
at the end time, immediately before the Great Tribulation, give birth to the 144,000; and
the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites.
These servants, messengers or prophets, finish their testimony at the end of their 1260
days of prophesying. Note the account:
Rev. 11:6-18 -- These men have power to shut up the sky so
that it will not rain during the time they are prophesying; and they have power to turn
the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they
want.
Vs. 7 -- Now when they have
finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the Abyss will attack them, and
overpower and kill them...
Vs. 9 -- For three and a half
days men from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and
refuse them burial...
Vs. 11 -- But after the three
and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and
terror struck those who saw them.
Vs. 12 -- Then they heard a loud
voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they went up to
heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
Vs. 13 -- At that very hour
there was a severe earthquake...
This is the signal that closes the 70th week of .Daniel 9:27. This is when the
captured, trampled and exiled Israelites respond to God opening their eyes and their
turning to Him in confessing their sins and committing their lives to Him. God has
taken the 144,000 to heaven -- the real rapture -- and turns His
attention to the battered survivors of the Israelite nation.
The last Gentile has been called in because the last one has been given an opportunity
to make his decision to serve Christ, and the Holy Spirit working through these
prophets has come to a close. This is the situation the Lord is describing in Amos'
prophetic book:
Amos 8:11,12 -- "The days are coming," declares
the Sovereign Lord, "When I will send a famine through the land -- Not a
famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.
Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the
word of the Lord, but they will not find it.
[The words of Christ had been conveyed by the Holy
Spirit to these 144,000 servants. They in turn had been revealing this to the
inhabitants of the earth, prior to their martyrdom. This has now been silenced.]
After the 144,000 hour," we have the following:
Rev. 11:14 -- " The second woe has passed; the third
woe is coming soon." [The second woe occurs during the time of the sixth
trumpet; this to be followed immediately by the third woe or the seventh trumpet.]
Vs. 15 -- The seventh angel
sounded his trumpet and there were loud voices in heaven which said: "The kingdom of
the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever
and ever."
Vss. 16,17 -- And the 24 elders,
who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God,
saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the one who is and was, because
you have taken your great power and have begun to reign."
At the sounding of the seventh trumpet it announces the reign of Christ to begin which
would automatically indicate the reign of the Antichrist to end. When Christ came to
this earth in human form as Jesus, He was allotted 3 1/2 years to preach His everlasting
gospel to the Israelites. Following this 3 1/2 years He was crucified and after 3
days was raised from the dead and soon taken to heaven.
In the Day of the Lord, the Antichrist will be allowed 3 1/2 years to present his
message, following which his reign will end and Christ's reign will begin. The
Antichrist will continue on until Christ comes approximately 75 days later to destroy the
Antichrist and his armies and to set free His reclaimed Israelites as His special nation.
The 144,000 represent Christ's interest during this period of the Great Tribulation and
they too are allotted 3 1/2 years of prophesying, following which they are martyred and
after 3 1/2 days they are resurrected and raptured to heaven.
I know that I will have to challenge the apparent meaning of a very plainly written
verse in the prophecy concerning the ancestry of the 144,000. This I feel I need to
do because there is so much evidence that
God gives us in His Book that shows the apparent meaning of this text is not what most
will conclude it means. I need to make this clear so that it clears up the confusion
of Christ coming pretribulation to take the saved; both dead and alive to heaven at that
time.
Rev. 7:4 -- Then I heard the number of those who were
sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.
Remember the prayer of Daniel in his petition to God to restore the nation and the holy
city of the Israelites.
Daniel 9:19 -- O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O
Lord, hear and act ! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and
your people bear your name."
[His people were the Israelites which bore the name
of Jacob their founder, who had his name changed by God to Israel after he wrestled with
God.]
Isaiah 44:1,2 -- "But now listen, O Jacob, my servant,
Israel, whom I have chosen... Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom
I have chosen.
[Israel -- His name that His people are
called by-Israelites. Jeshurun -- His name that His city is called by --
Jerusalem.]
Hosea 11:1 -- "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out
of Egypt I called my son."
[Jacob can not be the Israel that Hosea is speaking
of because he was never in Egypt as a child. He went there as an old man and died
there. But in case there is any lingering doubt, note the following:]
Matt. 2:14,15 -- So he got up, took the child (Jesus) and
his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod.
And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of
Egypt I called my son."
Now let us return to the prophecy in Isaiah 44. In this coming passage God tells us the
three different backgrounds of the redeemed in the Millennial Kingdom.
Vss. 3-5 -- For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and
streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on
your descendants. They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by
flowing streams.
Vs. 5 -- One will say, 'I belong
to the Lord'; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on
his hand, 'The Lord's,' and will take the name Israel.
(1) One will say, 'I belong to the Lord.'
[Ever since God called Jacob and his descendants as his chosen nation there have been
only two groups. The Israelites and the Gentiles. If a group is not specified
as Israelites then it has to be Gentiles. This group has to be the largest group in
this kingdom by far.]
(2) "Another will call himself by the name of Jacob."
[He also belongs to the Lord but he represents one of the descendants of Jacob, renamed
Israelites by God after Jacob's wrestling with God.]
(3) "Still another will write on his hand, 'the Lord's,' and will take the
name Israel."
[This must be a representative of the 144,000. He takes the name Israel. This
means he is not a literal descendent of Jacob as he would already be an Israelite.
He is selected by God as His personal property -- the firstfruits of
earth's harvest and given to Christ who is the antitypical high priest of the heavenly
temple service. He is given Christ's name which is placed on his forehead. A
brand if you will, and the name that John notes there when he visits the group in heaven.
We know Christ's name that he is given is Israel, because it says he takes the name
Israel. He is not a child or descendent of Jacob, but an original child of the
heavenly Israel. Original as in the sense that Jacob was the original progenitor of
the nation that bore God's name. You might consider that the 144,000 are bearers of
that name as well as their descendants of whom we are told that they will increase in
numbers like the grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. Jacob, in
type, in receiving God's name in place of his original name, meets its end time
fulfillment in the antitype -- the 144,000 who are given Christ's name and
branded with it on their foreheads to emphasize that they are His personal property.]
We know the 144,000 will be raptured to heaven three and a half days following their
martyrdom. We have numerous sightings of them by John while in vision. The
picture of them in Revelation 14 is beyond question as they are plainly so identified.
Note some of the helpful facts recorded about them there:
Rev. 14:1-5 -- Then I looked, and there before me was the
Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and His Father's name
on their foreheads...
Vs. 3b -- No one could learn the
song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth...
Vs. 4b -- They follow the Lamb
wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and
to the Lamb. [These have Christ's name and His Father's name on their
foreheads. The other point to be stressed is that they represent the
firstfruits of earth's harvest. Note the place of the firstfruits in the symbol as
in the instructions God gave to the Israelites following Sinai.]
Lev. 23:9 -- The Lord said to Moses, "Speak to the
Israelites and say to them: 'When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap
its harvest, bring the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to
wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf.
[Now note the Lord speaking to Aaron the high priest.]
Num. 18:12,13 -- "I give you all the finest olive oil
and all the finest new wine and grain they give the Lord as the firstfruits of their
harvest. All the land's firstfriits that they bring to the Lord will be yours.
Everyone in your household who is ceremonially clean may eat it.
Aaron as high priest and the high priests that followed him were a type of Christ.
The firstfruits were waved before God the Father to receive His acceptance before
giving them to the high priest -- Christ in the antitype.
Now I would like to point out other descriptions of this same group in heaven as seen
by John in vision, to better enable us to see the big picture in better focus. Note
his description of the Great Multitude in white robes.
Rev. 7:9 -- After this I looked and there before me was a
great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,
standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and
holding palm branches in their hands...
Vs. 13 -- Then one of the elders
asked me, "These in white robes -- who are they, and where did they
come from?"
Vs. 14 -- I answered, "Sir,
you know." And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great
tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb."
These can't be the righteous dead that are raised from the dead before the Great
Tribulation. The only thing they could have known about the Great Tribulation would
be what they had read in the Bible or heard in sermons. But these have been through
the Great Tribulation and have come out of it at its end stage.
This can only be speaking of the 144,000. Some will say, but it is a number so
great that one cannot count it. Have you ever tried to count a large crowd of
144,000. Even a hundred would cause you to back up occasionally to recount again as
it is difficult at times to remember if one has already been counted.
Another reason is the Bible often uses hyperbole when describing things which it wants
to stress but not to be taken literally. There are numerous examples of this
in the Bible but note this one as an example:
1Sam. 13:5 -- The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with
three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand of
the seashore.
I believe it would be questionable that the number of soldiers in their army would
exceed 144,000. That would be a huge army in those days, but a handful of sand would
contain more grains than all the Philistines, probably, that ever lived.
And now I want to point out another very important description of this very similar
group.
Rev. 20:4,5 -- I saw thrones on which were seated those who
had been given authority to judge.
[These are the 24 elders who have their thrones
before the throne of God. This is given to establish that this scene is taken in a
heavenly setting.]
And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded
because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.
[Remember that the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit
of prophesy. Rev. 19:10. These martyrs had been revealing Christ during the
1260 days of their prophesying by preaching the word of God in written form --
the Bible, and in day to day instructions from Christ transmitted to them via the Holy
Spirit.]
Vs. 4b -- They had not
worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on
their hands. [These had gone through the Great Tribulation and were martyred
(beheaded) prior to the group meeting with John.] They came to life and reigned with
Christ a thousand years.
Vs. 5 -- The rest of the dead
did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first
resurrection.
Vs. 6 -- Blessed and holy are
those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over
them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand
years.
Is this difficult to see that these can only be speaking of the 144,000 who had been
raptured to heaven as the Great Tribulation closes, and I believe we have proof that they
return with Christ at His second coming:
Rev. 17:12-14 -- The ten horns you saw are ten kings who
have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings
along with the beast. They have one purpose [exterminating the Israelites] and will
give their power and authority to the beast. They will make war against the Lamb,
but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings --
and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.
[Remember they are called and chosen when they are
selected, when they are sealed with the Holy Spirit to begin their 1260 days of
prophesying, and that they follow the Lamb wherever he goes. How could you make a
better description of them in so few words.]
And now I would like to bring out the harmony with Paul's prophecy of the rapture of
the righteous dead as compared with the description of John in Rev. 11.
1Thess. 4:14 -- We believe that Jesus died and rose again
and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
[We would have to admit that the 144,000 martyrs
would qualify as those who had fallen asleep in him. He doesn't say all who have
fallen asleep in Him. I doubt that Paul knew more than his simple statement says
because it probably hadn't been revealed to him. He obviously thought he would be in
the group alive at His coming when this statement was made.]
Vs. 15 -- According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we
who are alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede
those who are fallen asleep.
[This means that those who are raised at this
resurrection will precede those living saints who will be gathered later. How much
later is not specified. The firstfruits are always gathered first.]
Vs. 16 -- For the Lord himself
will come down from heaven, with a loud command, and with the voice of the Archangel
and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
[Would that loud voice from heaven saying to them,
"Come up here," qualify as consistent with the Lord coming down from heaven with
a loud command? Those dead in Christ in both cases responded to the loud command.]
These passages would indicate that Christ makes a special trip to this earth to
resurrect and rapture the firstfruits of His harvest of the earth. Then the events
in 1Thess. 4:17 follow at a later date.
1Thess. 4:17 -- After that, we who are still alive and are
left will be caught up together with them [the 144,000] in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air.
[This reunion occurs when Christ comes in all His
glory at the end of the 1335 days to free the imprisoned Israelites in Jerusalem; then
collects His living saints from all over the earth, including the recently exiled literal
Israelites who have been undergoing abusive treatment in all those hostile nations under
the control of the Antichrist for the preceding 42 months.]
At this stage I would recommend you download and read my two booklets #34 "The
Heavenly Pregnancy"; and # 35 "The Two Witnesses," which cover some of
these points in more detail and additional Scriptural verification.
I believe we now have sufficient information to better consider the Pretribulational
Rapture: "Christ will return preceding the Great Tribulation at which time He will
receive into heaven dead and living believers who constitute His church."
We know for sure from what we have just learned from Paul that the dead will be
resurrected first so let us deal with that first. We know the 144,000 preach the
gospel of Christ to every inhabitant on the planet during the time of the Great
Tribulation, following which they are martyred and after 3 1/2 days are resurrected and
called up to heaven in a cloud. John in Rev. 20:4,5, describes them as the 144,000
and that all of them had been martyred (beheaded). He identifies them as being
redeemed from the earth and the firstfruits to God and the Lamb. (Rev. 14.)
He further notes that this group of firstfruits constitute the first resurrection of
earth's harvest. Wouldn't the dead believers prior to the Great Trribulation, if
resurrected at that time, constitute the first resurrection? Shouldn't they have
been designated as the firstfruits of earth's harvest? And how did they get the
experience of battling and overcoming the Antichrist when they were resurrected before he
was scheduled to surface?
In addition to all this very positive Scripture to the otherwise, this concept of the
first resurrection at the pretrib time frame is built entirely on reading between the
lines. This is a dangerous process, especially when it flies in the face of hard
evidence to the contrary.
In John's prophecy he also states that the rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were ended -- at the termination of the Millennial Kingdom with
Christ ruling from Jerusalem. If this is the case, then it is impossible to have a
general resurrection any time before this resurrection or anytime after this resurrection
until the end of the Millennial Kingdom a thousand years later. If there is such a
resurrection it would have to be as plainly stated as this one that says it can't be so.