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Many have wondered about the resurrection of the dead and the timing of the rapture of the saints, or if there is a rapture at all. The resurrection(s) of the dead and the rapture(s) of the saints will be discussed in this article.

THE STATE OF THE DEAD

All who have ever lived and died are currently in a state of unconsciousness. No one’s dead relatives are in heaven. Unlike what many have been taught to believe through traditional church teachings, no one has ascended to heaven other than Yeshua (Jesus). The dead know nothing and do not go to heaven when they die, nor do they serve God in death. The spirits of the dead rest unaware in unconsciousness, in God’s care, and will be resurrected to life on the last day.

ECCLESIASTES 9:5 (NKJV):
… the dead know nothing.

Martha knew Lazurus did not go to heaven when he died. She also believed Lazarus would live again at the “last day,” at the resurrection.

JOHN 11:20-24 (NKJV):
Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Yeshua (Jesus) was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Yeshua (Jesus), “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
Yeshua (Jesus) said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again IN THE RESURRECTION AT THE LAST DAY.”

When Yeshua (Jesus) resurrected Lazarus, He didn’t summon him down from heaven and back into his body, but from sleep (death). Yeshua (Jesus) said that no one has ascended to heaven, except Himself who had come down from heaven.

JOHN 3:13 (NKJV):
“NO ONE has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man.”

Some will cling to the idea that their deceased loved ones do go to heaven, despite what Yeshua (Jesus) clearly stated in John 3:13, citing Mark 12:25-27.

MARK 12:25-27 (NKJV):
“FOR WHEN THEY RISE FROM THE DEAD, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. BUT CONCERNING THE DEAD, that they rise, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the burning bush passage, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? HE IS NOT THE GOD OF THE DEAD, but the God of the living. You are therefore greatly mistaken.”

These verses have been misunderstood being twisted upside down and backwards. God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are dead awaiting the resurrection. God is not the God of the dead (referring to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), but the God of the living. God will resume being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob after they are resurrected to life. God does not rule over or govern the dead.

THE COMING OF YESHUA (JESUS) THE LORD

Many have wondered when Yeshua (Jesus) the Lord will be returning to Earth. The Lord is NOT returning to the Earth at first, as He will be coming to the clouds to meet His saints in the air, where the Lord and His saints will congregate and wait until the end of the great tribulation concludes and then return to Earth.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:15-17 (NKJV):
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until THE COMING OF THE LORD will by no means precede those who are asleep [DEAD]. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah (Christ) will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD AND THE RAPTURE

1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-53 (NKJV):
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – in 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-53 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [DIE*], but we shall all be changed [INTO INCORRUPT SPIRIT BEINGS] – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised [FROM THE GRAVE] incorruptible, and we [WHO ARE ALIVE AT THE TIME OF HIS RETURN] shall be changed [INTO INCORRUPTIBLE SPIRIT BEINGS]. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

*DIE. Believing saints who are alive when the rapture occurs will not die the first death, but will be instantly transported to the clouds to be with the Lord.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:15-17 (NKJV):
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those carried up who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah (Christ) will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:15-17 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep [DEAD]. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Messiah (Christ) will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up [RAPTURED] together with them [THE DEAD] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

The saints as well as all of mankind throughout history have died. The saints who are alive when Messiah (Christ) returns, will never die the first death, but will instead be instantly transported, in the twinkling of an eye, to the clouds to be forever with the Lord. Yeshua (Jesus) also spoke of the first resurrection and rapture event and summed it up in two verses…

JOHN 11:25-26 (NKJV):
Yeshua (Jesus) said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

JOHN 11:25-26 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
Yeshua (Jesus) said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die [THE FIRST DEATH], he shall live. And whoever lives [IS ALIVE WHEN I RETURN] and believes in Me shall never die [SHALL BE RAPTURED TO THE CLOUDS AND WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE DEATH].”

YESHUA (JESUS) WAS ‘CARRIED UP,’ ‘CAUGHT UP,’ ‘RECEIVED UP,’ OR IN OTHER WORDS ‘RAPTURED,’ TO HEAVEN

MARK 16:19 (NKJV):
So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was RECEIVED UP into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.

LUKE 24:51 (NKJV):
Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and CARRIED UP into heaven.

ACTS 1:2 (NKJV):
He was TAKEN UP, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen.

1 TIMOTHY 3:16 (NKJV):
God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, RECEIVED UP in glory.

REVELATION 12:5 (NKJV):
And her Child [YESHUA / JESUS] was CAUGHT UP to God and His throne.

Believers will be, in like manner, caught up (raptured) to meet Yeshua (Jesus) in the clouds, before returning with Him to Earth to establish His millennium kingdom, and we will be forever with Him.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:17 (NKJV):
Then we who are alive and remain shall be CAUGHT UP together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

Yeshua (Jesus) is a Shepherd who protects His faithful flock. He protected Noah and his family from the worldwide flood, above the floodwaters, in the ark. He will protect the first-fruit faithful saints from the Antimessiah (Antichrist) through the rapture to the clouds. The rapture is the saints’ ark.

THE RESURRECTIONS OF THE SAINTS

There have been numerous resurrections recorded in Scripture. Yeshua (Jesus) resurrected Lazarus and a little girl from the dead (Mark 5:41-42; Luke 8:54-55; John 11:43-44;). Yeshua (Jesus) Himself was resurrected and many also with Him, to bear witness of Him (Matthew 27:51-53). All who were resurrected, such as Lazarus, died again, but Yeshua (Jesus) went to heaven to sit at His Father’s right hand (Mark 16:19; Hebrews 10:12).

There are two witnesses prophesied to appear at the end times in Revelation 11:3, who may be the resurrected Elijah and Moses, as these two appeared before Yeshua (Jesus) at the transfiguration (Matthew 17:1-11). Elijah and Moses when resurrected, may be sent to Israel by God to bear witness of Yeshua (Jesus) as being the one and only Messiah during the latter half reign of the Antimessiah (Antichrist). Or two chosen witnesses of the end times, empowered by God, will appear in Israel and bear witness to the Jews of Israel of Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah.

The resurrection of the dead in Messiah (Christ) will precede the worldwide harvest (rapture) of the saints (1 Thessalonians 4:15-16).

THE LEFT BEHIND

Those who are left behind, who are not raptured in the worldwide rapture, will have to face the Antimessiah (Antichrist). They will have to either accept the mark of the beast (Revelation 13:16-18) or refuse to do so and be beheaded.

Those left behind (in the world, outside of Israel) after the rapture occurs, will not be under the protection of God, but will still have an opportunity to repent and bear witness to Yeshua (Jesus) and Scripture. The left behind who refuse the mark and become saints will be martyred (beheaded) for their testimony and will be counted worthy to be rewarded and be part of the first resurrection.

REVELATION 14:9-13 (NKJV):
Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua (Jesus).
Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘BLESSED ARE THE DEAD WHO DIE IN THE LORD FROM NOW ON.’”

How are those ‘blessed’ who die in the Lord from that point on?

REVELATION 20:4 (NKJV):
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah (Christ) for a thousand years.

The dead who are killed during the great tribulation guillotine beheadings will NOT be going to the grave, but instead will be instantly raptured to be with the Lord in the clouds and will afterward reign with Messiah (Christ) for a thousand years during His Millennium Kingdom. All who have ever lived and died previously were not so blessed, but went to the grave after death. The left behind beheaded martyred will be instantly raptured, blessed, and will reign with Messiah (Christ) for a thousand years.

As human nature would have it, the resurrected beheaded saints, dwelling in the clouds with the Lord, will begin to grow impatient for justice. . .

REVELATION 6:9-11 (NKJV):
When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were [THROUGH GUILLOTINE BEHEADING], was completed.

The raptured left behind who repent, become saints, and refuse the mark of the beast will grow impatient as to when the Lord will return to Earth to avenge their deaths. They will be given white robes, and be instructed to wait. When there are no more faithful believers left on Earth, Yeshua (Jesus) will return to save the Jews of Israel, who will call upon Him as they face annihilation (Luke 18:8; Matthew 23:37-39; Luke 13:34-35).

THE RAPTURES

The first rapture will be pre-tribulation. This will be the rapture of the American saints. The destruction of Babylon the great (America) will mark the beginning of the great tribulation (Revelation 14:8, 18). Before America is destroyed, God will rapture the American saints out from America (Isaiah 18:5-7; Jeremiah 51:45; Revelation 18:4). God provides a separate American rapture for the American saints, as to spare them from the destruction, judgment, and plagues that will come upon America.

ISAIAH 18:5-7 (NKJV):
For before the harvest [BEFORE THE WORLDWIDE HARVEST (RAPTURE) OF THE SAINTS], when the bud [TIMING] is perfect and the sour grape [THE SIN OF HOMOSEXUALITY] is ripening in the flower [AMERICA], then He will both cut off the twigs [THE UNRIGHTEOUS] with pruning hooks and cut down and take away [RAPTURE] the branches [THE RIGHTEOUS]. They [THE UNRIGHTEOUS] will be left [BEHIND] together for the mountain birds of prey [REVELATION 18:2] and for the beasts of the earth. The birds of prey [REVELATION 18:2] will summer on them, and all the beasts of the earth will winter on them [EAT THEM].
In that time [OF THE DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON (AMERICA)]
a present [THE RAPTURED AMERICAN SAINTS] will be brought to YHWH (the Lord) of hosts from a people tall and smooth-skinned [AMERICA], and from a people awesome from their beginning onward [AMERICA] – a nation powerful and trampling [AMERICA], whose land [AMERICA] the rivers divide – to the place of the name of YHWH (the Lord) of hosts, to Mount Zion [NEW JERUSALEM].

THE FIRST-FRUITS ARE OF THE FIRST RESURRECTION

REVELATION 20:4-6 (NKJV):
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Yeshua (Jesus) and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah (Christ) for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

REVELATION 20:4-6 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
And I saw thrones, and they [THE SAINTS OF THE FIRST RESURRECTION AND RAPTURE] sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded [THE LEFT BEHIND PEOPLE WHO
REPENTED AFTER THE RAPTURE] for their witness to Yeshua (Jesus) and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But THE REST OF THE DEAD DID NOT LIVE AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE FINISHED. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Messiah (Christ), and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

Upon His return to Earth, Yeshua (Jesus) will resurrect the dead righteous Jews, who have been deceived into rejecting Him as their Messiah and upon their resurrection they will know that He is the Lord (Ezekiel 37). The people of the first resurrection comprise the dead in Messiah (Christ), the raptured saints, the left-behind beheaded martyrs who refuse the mark of the beast, and the resurrected Jews and the righteous living Jews who will be saved from annihilation when Yeshua (Jesus) returns to Earth to save them. The first-fruits of the first resurrection will reign with Messiah (Christ) during His thousand- year millennium reign on Earth. All the atheists, faithless, unrepentant sinners, lawless living Christians, and others, will be raised after the one thousand years. Some will be judged to hell and others will repent of their sins and / or disbelief and will be given a chance at redemption.

RAPTURE DENIERS

There are many who do not believe in the rapture event. The first thing they will say is that ‘rapture’ is not in Scripture. While the word ‘rapture’ does not appear in Scripture, it is simply a word used to describe the ‘twinkling of an eye’ moment (1 Corinthians 15:52) in which the living saints will avoid the great tribulation and be ‘caught up’ to the clouds to meet Yeshua (Jesus) in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Many rapture deniers cite Matthew 24 and Luke 21 as Scriptural proof that the saints do not get raptured, but must endure through the great tribulation and that Messiah (Christ) will return for the saints AFTER the tribulation.

MATTHEW 24:15-22 & 29-31 (NKJV):
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.
But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 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. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”
…
“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. Then 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. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

LUKE 21:20-28 (NKJV):
“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.
For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.”
“And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

Rapture deniers err in their understanding of Matthew 24 and Luke 21. Yeshua (Jesus) was NOT addressing the entire elect of the world. Yeshua (Jesus) was specifically addressing the elect Torah-observant Judaic Jews living in Israel and Judea, who will miss the rapture due to their denial of Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah. There is no way to eternal life except through accepting Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah and Savior (John 14:6). This applies to both Jews and Gentiles. The Torah-observant, Messiah-denying Jews are still God’s elect chosen people and are the lost sheep of Israel. Yeshua (Jesus) addresses them in these Matthew 24 and Luke 21 verses. The elect saints of the rest of the world are not told where to flee. These verses indicate that the elect saints of the world are already raptured as the Torah-observant, Messiah-denying Jews flee Israel and Judea into the mountains and the wilderness.

MATTHEW 24:15-22 & 29-31 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ [THE ANTIMESSIAH / ANTICHRIST] spoken of by Daniel the prophet [DANIEL 7:24-25], standing in the holy place” [THE REBUILT TEMPLE ***IN JERUSALEM***] (whoever reads, let him understand), “then let those who are ***IN JUDEA*** flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath [MANY TALMUDIC JEWS WILL NOT USE MOTORIZED VEHICLES ON THE SABBATH]. 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. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s [JEWS’] sake those days will be shortened.”
…
“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. THEN THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN WILL APPEAR IN HEAVEN [THE TRUMPET RETURN OF MESSIAH (CHRIST)], and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn [THE UNREPENTANT SINNERS LEFT BEHIND ON EARTH], and they will see the Son of Man [YESHUA (JESUS)] coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect [THE MESSIANIC AND CHRISTIAN SAINTS] from the four winds [CLOUDS], from one end of heaven [THE SKY] to the other.”

LUKE 21:20-28 (NKJV) [WITH INTERPRETATION]:
“But when you see ***JERUSALEM*** surrounded by armies, then know that ITS DESOLATION is near. Then let those who are ***IN JUDEA*** flee to the mountains, let those who are IN THE MIDST OF HER [ISRAEL] depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her [CITIES OF ISRAEL].”
“For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And ***JERUSALEM*** will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption [REDEMPTION OF THE JEWS] draws near.”

A POST-TRIBULATION RAPTURE?

Rapture deniers make the mistake in believing that Yeshua (Jesus) will send His angels TO THE EARTH to gather His elect (Messianic and Christian saints) IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION. That is not the case at all and that is NOT what Matthew 24:29-31 nor Luke 21:28 states.

The ELECT JEWS will endure through the tribulation years. THEY will miss the rapture event due their not accepting Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah. NEAR THE END OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION, the angels will gather (organize) the already-raptured Messianic and Christian saints along with the dead in Messiah (Christ) FROM the FOUR WINDS, FROM one end of HEAVEN (the sky) to the other. The raptured saints and those who died in Messiah (Christ) will be gathered together by the angels and will join the Lord in His trumpet return to Earth! Yeshua (Jesus) will gather His saints who were raptured FROM the four winds, FROM one end of heaven (THE CLOUDS) to the other. He will NOT gather His saints TO the four winds, but FROM the four winds. The saints will be raptured TO the clouds, will await the Lord’s return to Earth, and then He will gather them FROM the clouds and return TO Earth.

REVELATION 6:9-11 (NKJV):
When He opened the fifth seal; I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony that they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed.

The saints and resurrected dead will be raptured to the clouds and wait there with Yeshua (Jesus) for the final repentance during the great tribulation. Many of the martyred saints throughout the ages will grow impatient and ask Yeshua (Jesus) to judge the Earth and avenge their deaths. Yeshua (Jesus) will give them white robes and tell them to be patient, until the great tribulation and those who are to be killed during it, is completed.

LUKE 18:7-8 (NKJV):
“And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?”

Yeshua (Jesus) will avenge His beheaded saints of the great tribulation, but when He does return to Earth post-tribulation there will be no one of faith, with the exception of righteous Jews, living on Earth for Him to rapture. There will be no one for Yeshua (Jesus) to rapture post-tribulation, because all the left behind, who repented and became saints, are to be beheaded before He returns (Revelation 6:11).

MESSIAH (CHRIST) FIRST COMES AS A THIEF TO RAPTURE HIS SAINTS AND AFTER TO RULE THE EARTH AS KING OF KINGS

1 THESSALONIANS 5:2-4 (NKJV):
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes AS A THIEF IN THE NIGHT. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you AS A THIEF.

2 PETER 3:10 (NKJV):
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night…

REVELATION 3:3 (NKJV):
“Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I WILL COME UPON YOU AS A THIEF, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.”

REVELATION 16:15 (NKJV):
“Behold, I AM COMING AS A THIEF. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”

Yeshua (Jesus) declares that He will come like a thief in the night, in an hour that is not expected (Matthew 24:36-44). A thief in the night does not sound a trumpet. This “thief in the night” return is a SEPARATE EVENT than His trumpet return, when every eye shall see Him (Revelation 1:7).

When Yeshua (Jesus) returns as a thief references the time when He comes to rapture the saints. A thief comes unannounced and unexpected, to take goods out of a house. The first part of the return of Yeshua (Jesus) will be to the clouds, where He will raise the dead in Messiah (Christ) and rapture the saints (the goods of the Earth). This first return, to the clouds, will occur in a time of relative world peace, when the world is enjoying a time of “Peace and safety!” (1 Thessalonians 5:3). Yeshua (Jesus) will come to take (raise) the saints out from the Earth just as He came in the days of Noah, to raise Noah and the ark above the floodwaters of the Earth. We do not know when Yeshua (Jesus) will come like a thief to rapture the saints, but it will be at an hour we do not expect (Matthew 24:36-44). We are warned to be ready therefore, living righteously as good servants, so when He does come as a thief He will bless us (rapture us) to His kingdom and not curse us (cut us off) from His presence and leave us to fend for ourselves during the great tribulation (Matthew 24:45-51).

Messiah’s (Christ’s) trumpet return to Earth will occur when the Antimessiah (Antichrist) enters the rebuilt Jerusalem temple and the Jews in Israel and Judea have fled to the mountainous wilderness. His trumpet return to Earth will be for the elect Jews’ sake, the lost sheep of Israel, to shorten those days lest there would be no flesh saved alive (Matthew 10:6, 15:24, 24:22; Luke 15:4-6). Messiah’s (Christ’s) trumpet return will occur when the Jews know that He is their Messiah and cry out to Him for their salvation (Ezekiel 39:27-28).

CHRONICLE OF END TIME RAPTURES AND RESURRECTIONS

PRE-TRIBULATION

1. The American saints will be raptured out of Babylon the great (America) before it is completely destroyed and be brought before the Lord as a present (Isaiah 18:5-7; Jeremiah 51:45; Revelation 18:4). Those left behind in America will be killed in its destruction and become food for scavenger birds and animals (Isaiah 18:6; Revelation 18:2).

2. The seventh and last trumpet will blow (first blast) and the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) will descend from heaven to the clouds (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

MID-TRIBULATION

3. The dead all throughout history, in Messiah (Christ), will be resurrected to meet the Lord in the clouds (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).

4. The saints who are alive at the time of Messiah’s (Christ’s) return (to the clouds) will be caught up (raptured) shortly after the resurrection of the dead saints. The saints of the worldwide rapture will meet with the Lord, the raptured American saints, and the resurrected saints in the clouds (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).

5. The people left behind on Earth who repent and become worthy saints after the worldwide rapture, who live through the great tribulation and are martyred (beheaded) for refusing to accept the mark of the beast, will be counted righteous and resurrected immediately upon their deaths (Revelation 14:13, 20:4).

6. The righteous living Jews of Israel will flee to a place of safety near the end of the great tribulation (Joel 3:17; Revelation 12:14).

POST TRIBULATION

7. The righteous Jews of Israel, the lost sheep, will call on Yeshua (Jesus) the Lord to save them as they face annihilation from the Gentile armies who will conquer and trample the land of Israel (Matthew 23:37-39; Luke 13:34-35). Yeshua (Jesus) will return to Earth, at the seventh and last trumpet – final blast, and save the Jews of Israel from annihilation (Revelation 1:7, 17:14).

8. The righteous dead Jews, who were deceived into rejecting Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah during their lifetime, will be resurrected to life and then they will know that He is their Messiah, Lord, and Savior (Ezekiel 37).

POST MILLENNIUM REIGN OF MESSIAH (CHRIST)

9. The rest of the dead will be raised in the second resurrection (Revelation 20:5). Everyone not of the first resurrection, (the faithless, unbelievers, unrepentant, and unrighteous), will die and rise in the second resurrection, after the millennium reign of Messiah (Christ).

PRAY TO ESCAPE THE GREAT TRIBULATION AND COMFORT EACH OTHER WITH THE HOPE AND PROMISE OF THE RAPTURE

LUKE 21:34-36 (NKJV):
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. WATCH THEREFORE, AND PRAY ALWAYS THAT YOU MAY BE COUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS THAT WILL COME TO PASS, AND TO STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN.”

1 THESSALONIANS 3:12-13 (NKJV):
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ) WITH ALL HIS SAINTS.

1 THESSALONIANS 4:17-18 (NKJV):
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. THEREFORE COMFORT EACH OTHER WITH THESE WORDS.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:9-11 (NKJV):
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Yeshua Messiah (Jesus Christ), who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore COMFORT EACH OTHER and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

JUDE 1:14-15 (NKJV):
“Behold, the Lord COMES WITH TEN THOUSANDS OF HIS SAINTS, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Luke 21:36 directs us to watch the end time events unfold and to pray that we may be counted worthy to ESCAPE ALL THESE THINGS THAT WILL COME TO PASS. We are to pray to escape the great tribulation through the rapture, not live through it.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 describes the rapture event pertaining to the saints who are alive and are “caught up” to the clouds, followed by verse 18 that commands believers to COMFORT EACH OTHER WITH THESE WORDS. Living and enduring through the great tribulation years is not comforting and is against what 1 Thessalonians 4:18 and 55:11 instructs.

Jude 1:14-15 proclaims that the Lord is coming with ten thousands of His saints (not angels) when He returns to Earth to execute judgment.

Believers should always strive to do the perfect will of God to be acceptable and blessed of the first resurrection (Romans 2:12; 1 Timothy 2:3). There will be greater and lesser saints in the kingdom of heaven, so desire to be great (Matthew 5:19). Blessed are they of the first resurrection who will reign with Messiah (Christ) during His Millennium Kingdom rule (Revelation 20:6).