7. The Rapture and Beyond

Photo by Smitha Basil George: ‘Riverside captures — God’s art’

Authored by Smitha Basil George under the complete direction and guidance of God, the Holy Spirit, dated September 4, 2023.

Scriptural and extra-Biblical references are provided throughout the article and in the ‘References’ section at the end.

Abstract

After analyzing the step by step progress of human beings since creation, to the present age, we understand that mankind is at the verge of a very huge transition point. Mankind has almost completed 6000 years (6 days in God’s pattern of sevens) since creation, and is anticipating the start of the 7th Millennium, which will be a Sabbath Millennium under a King, who rules with complete righteousness and justice. Also, 2000 years (2 days in God’s pattern of threes) after the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ are getting completed in the window of 2030–2033 AD with the Third Day of revival (next 1000 years) coming due, which again will coincide with the Sabbath Millennium of King Jesus. Before the Sabbath Millennium starts, God’s wrath upon unrepented sinfulness of mankind will be poured out on earth during a period of 7 years, known as the Time of Jacob’s (Israel’s) Trouble or the 70th week of Daniel or the Tribulation. Before the Tribulation starts, the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ, will come in mid-air to catch her up (rapture her) to the bridal chambers that He had been preparing for her in His Father’s House in heaven. The birth pains for the restoration of earth, to establish the Sabbath Millennium of King Jesus has already started in full force, indicating that the Tribulation looms around the corner, thus making the Rapture of the Church more imminent than ever before.

Scripture references [1]:

1. The Rapture: Genesis 6–8, 18: 16–33, 19: 1–29; Leviticus 18: 22, 20: 13; Isaiah 26: 19–20; John 14: 1–3; 1 Corinthians 15: 51–58; 1 Thessalonians 4: 13–5: 11; 2 Thessalonians 2: 1–11; Titus: 2: 11–13; Revelation: 3: 10
2. The Tribulation: Isaiah 13: 6, 9, 63: 1- 6; Jeremiah 46: 10; Ezekiel 13: 5, 30: 3; Daniel 2: 41–43, 7: 7–12, 19–25, 9: 26–27, 12: 1; Joel 1: 15, 2, 3: 14; Amos 5: 18–24; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1: 7, 14; Zechariah 14; Malachi 4: 1–5; Matthew 24: 9–31; Mark 13: 9–27; Luke 21: 20–28; 2 Thessalonians 1: 7–10; 2 Peter 3: 3–17; Revelation 6–18
3. The Kingdom of Lord Jesus Christ: Isaiah 27: 1–7, 65: 17–22, 66: 7–24; Daniel 2: 44–45, 7: 13–14, 26–27, 12: 2–3; Joel 3: 17–21; Amos 9: 11–15; Zephaniah 3; 1 Corinthians 2: 9; Revelation 19–22

Extra-Biblical Helpful Reads: [2] Got Questions.org, [3] Worldwide Flood, Worldwide Evidence, [4] The Shiloh Excavations, [5] Perfect Ending

The Rapture — An Introduction

We discussed in the previous article about the onset and progression of birth pains, for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, which are already very prevalent, happening at high intensity all across the world. We also discussed the originating point, and the events progressing through, until the present age, with respect to mankind, and God’s plan of salvation for them through the atoning sacrifice done by Jesus Christ on the cross. We understood from God’s pattern of Sevens (almost completion of 6000 years) and God’s pattern of threes (completion of 2000 years of Church age in 2030–2033 AD), that the gestation timeline for the birth of the Sabbath Millennium of Jesus Christ is coming due to get over, with the 7 years of Tribulation (70th Week of Daniel), which would have to be completed within the seven day and two day patterns themselves. The Antichrist who would be confirming a 7 year covenant with many at the start of the Tribulation, setting new laws for peace and security for all nations, with many of those laws in defiance of God’s existing laws, can only be revealed when the restrainer who is holding him off is taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2: 6–7). This restrainer, the Holy Spirit indwelling in the Church (the Bride of Jesus Christ), will be removed from earth in an event known as the ‘Catching Up’ or the ‘Rapture’ of the Church to the heavenly home that the Bridegroom, Lord Jesus Christ has prepared for her, until the Tribulation period is over.

The Rapture — Foreshadows & Prophecies

Scriptures for this section [1]:

1. Genesis 6–8, 18: 16–33, 19: 1–29
2. Leviticus 18: 22, 20: 13
3. Isaiah 26: 19–21
4. John 14: 1–3
5. 1 Corinthians 15: 51–58
6. 1 Thessalonians 4: 13–5: 11
7. 2 Thessalonians 2: 1–11
8. Titus: 2: 11–13
9. Revelation: 3: 10

Extra-Biblical references:

1. [2] Got Questions.org
2. [3] Worldwide Flood, Worldwide Evidence
3. [4] The Shiloh Excavations

From the beginning, God had intervened multiple times in human history, when human beings deviated too much away from the rightful path needed for healthy sustenance. Out of the many, two incidents, where God executed judgements against the rampant sinfulness, but rescued those who were following Him and His laws before sending the judgment, will be covered in this section. These are the foreshadows in human history for the rapture of Christ’s Bride.

Rescue of Noah and family

First incident is described in Genesis chapters 6–8. Genesis 6: 1–7 describes that mankind came to the most depraved nature of the time, when the fallen angels had relations with human females, corrupting human seed and resulting in giants called Nephilims. Following this, God saw the extent of human wickedness on earth — “He saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil”. He noticed that most on earth were corrupt and had filled the earth with violence. Human beings proved that, in their augmented sinful nature, if bestowed with abilities more than what God had intended, they used those abilities for mutual destruction rather than mutual benefits. He found the saturation of sin so much that He had to reset the human race to give a fresh start to mankind from that point. To this purpose, God decided to put an end to all living things on earth till that point through a global flood, and to start again with a selected set of creations.

This resulted in Him separating out Noah — the only righteous and blameless man who lived on the earth at that time, who walked in close fellowship with God. He instructed Noah to build an ark to carry him, his wife, his 3 sons and their wives, 7 male — female pairs of all clean creatures (good for food and sacrifice), 1 male — female pair of all unclean creatures and enough food for all of them. Once the ark was built, the creatures in designated pairs came and entered the ark. Once all the creatures, the food and Noah’s entire family got inside the ark, God shut the door of the ark. After 7 days, the flood waters came in the form of rain and open springs from earth. The rain continued for 40 days and 40 nights, and the flood waters covered the earth for 150 days, destroying every living being on earth. It is mentioned in Genesis 7: 22 that everything that breathed and lived on dry land died. Different studies show conflicting observations as to what happened to the water creatures. Some suggest that the catastrophic nature of the flood could have well destroyed the habitats and living conditions of water creatures as well, but some suggest otherwise ([3] Worldwide Flood, Worldwide Evidence). However, the main idea is that God rescued a righteous person, his family and creatures needed to continue life on earth, when He intervened to punish the rampant sin on earth.

Rescue of Lot and family

Another similar incident is described in Genesis 19: 1–29, in the story of Lot’s and his family’s rescue by the angels, before the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was done. Before the story unravels, in chapter 18: 16–33, God revealed to Abraham His intentions about Sodom and Gomorrah, as He had decided to destroy the cities due to their flagrant sin. But Abraham interceded earnestly for the cities that God agreed not to destroy, if He could find at least 10 righteous persons in the cities. The two angels that God sent to the cities were met by Abraham’s nephew Lot at the city gate. He took them to his home, where Lot’s family provided them with dinner. However, before they retired at night, it is mentioned that all the men of Sodom, both young and old, came from all over the city, surrounded the house of Lot and demanded that the visiting men (angels) be brought out so that they could defile them sexually. They threatened the same thing against Lot when he tried to plead with them. They persisted even when the angels struck them with blindness. The extent of homosexuality, sensuality and inhospitality pervading the population of Sodom was evident from this incident.

God, from the beginning has strictly forbidden the act of homosexuality (Leviticus 18: 22, 20: 13) since it goes contrary to the union between a male and a female, which is needed for the sustenance of ongoing life, as architected by God in the creation of an offspring. He created every living thing as male and female, and every other living creature in this world strictly obeys this without rebellion. For human beings, it is even more important because, a male and female in marriage are ordained to supplement each other to make the whole oneness. (Genesis 1, 2). A person of the same gender cannot do this for another, but doubles upon each other’s weaknesses. Moreover, the chance of the creation of a new life springing forth from a married male and female union would be obliterated with this scenario. God’s universe’s harmonious sustenance depends on the entities obeying all natural laws set by God. Disobedience or breaking of a natural law will ensue chaos, diseases and degradation of the system, if the disruption is not addressed.

Hence, God intervened to put an end to these large-scale abominations which pervaded the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He remembered the prayers of Abraham, and for his sake, decided to rescue Lot and his family. The angels compelled Lot to go to any of his relatives in the city to urge them to get out while they could, before the Lord poured out His punishment over the cities. Even though Lot tried to warn the fiances of his two daughters, they dismissed his warnings. At dawn, the angels took Lot, his wife and two daughters by hand and rushed them to safety outside the city and gave them time till they could reach the little village of Zoar, before the Lord raining down fire and sulfur from the sky to utterly destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (Lot’s wife didn’t reach Zoar because she looked back on the way and was made into a pillar of salt, since the angels had specifically instructed them not to look back).

Jesus mentioned in Matthew 24: 37–39 that it would be like Noah’s day when the Son of Man returns. We can clearly see the increased amount of nuclear arsenal and other advanced weaponry in all nations’ hands in the present age. With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced semiconductor technologies, it is very well now possible, and being actively experimented to augment human capabilities with the implantation of AI powered silicate glass microchips / similar devices inside human bodies. Noah’s days’ main trait was corrupted and augmented humans filling the earth with violence, which God had to override. In the same way, in Luke 17: 26–30, Jesus mentioned that it will be like in the days of Noah and like in the days of Lot when the Son of Man returns. Like in Lot’s day, we see the widespread practices of homosexuality and transgenderism pervading our societies these days, and are getting legalized as something to not only be tolerated, but also be exalted by most of the world nations. Also Jesus highlighted another characteristics of both these time periods — people were eating, drinking, marrying, and given in marriage — engaged in regular life activities on earth, even when Noah was warning them of the upcoming flood during his time, and when Lot was trying to warn his future sons — in — law about the upcoming destruction of the cities. This shows the complacency that sinful mankind can get into, even when all the warning signs go off, which is another characteristic of the present age. Being ready for Jesus does not mean stopping life activities altogether, but to pause, reflect, repent and give the sins over to Jesus, that we will be found blameless when He comes to redeem His Church in rapture, and before the Tribulation period starts. This is why there are many admonishments from Jesus, Paul, Peter (2 Peter 3:10) and John (Revelation 16: 15) at different times to remain ready, for the Son of Man would come at an hour that we do not expect, as a thief in the night.

Prophecies for the coming Rapture of the Church

In addition to these foreshadowing events in the history of mankind, we saw the intensifying high frequency signs for the incoming God’s wrath over the unrepented sinfulness of the world (the Tribulation) and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, that our current world is witnessing, in the previous article titled the ‘Birth Pains’. Just like how Noah’s and Lot’s families were rescued before the punishment of God falling upon the systems that they lived in, the Bride of Christ (who is washed pure by the blood of Jesus Christ, who sacrificed Himself on her behalf, destroying her sins), is promised rescue from the wrath of God upon the unrepentant world. Below given are some of the many prominent prophecies indicating the catching away and hiding of His Bride before His punishment of sin on earth.

1. This is prophesied by Isaiah in 26: 19–21, where it is mentioned that those who die in the LORD would rise again, and His people would be locked behind their doors and hidden in their home until the LORD’s anger had passed, when He would come from heaven to punish the people of earth for their sins.
2. Jesus mentioned in John 14: 1–3 that He was going to prepare a place for His Church in His Father’s House, and that He would come and get us when everything was ready, that we would always be with Him, where He be.
3. In 1 Corinthians 15: 51–58, Apostle Paul mentions a wonderful secret. He talks about us who are alive being transformed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye to receive our heavenly bodies, at the last trumpet of God. When the trumpet is blown, those who are dead in Christ will be raised to live forever, and then our mortal bodies will be transformed to immortal bodies, and the sin that causes death loses its power on us forever.
4. In 1 Thessalonians 4: 16–18, Paul again mentions that the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet call of God. When this happens, those who are dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive will be caught up (raptured) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
5. 1 Thessalonians 5: 9 — “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” God already showed the wrath upon Jesus, while He died as an atonement for all the sins that those who repented and gave their sins over to Jesus have ever committed.
6. Revelation 3: 10 — “Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

The Tribulation, and His Kingdom Forever!

Scriptures for this section [1]:

1. The Tribulation: Isaiah 13: 6, 9, 63: 1- 6; Jeremiah 46: 10; Ezekiel 13: 5, 30: 3; Daniel 2: 41–43, 7: 7–12, 19–25, 9: 26–27, 12: 1; Joel 1: 15, 2, 3: 14; Amos 5: 18–24; Obadiah 15; Zephaniah 1: 7, 14; Zechariah 14; Malachi 4: 1–5; Matthew 24: 9–31; Mark 13: 9–27; Luke 21: 20–28; 2 Thessalonians 1: 6–10, 2: 6–12; 2 Peter 3: 3–17; Revelation 6–18
2. The Kingdom of Lord Jesus Christ: Isaiah 27: 1–7, 65: 17–22, 66: 7–24; Daniel 2: 44–45, 7: 13–14, 26–27, 12: 2–3; Joel 3: 17–21; Amos 9: 11–15; Zephaniah 3; 1 Corinthians 2: 9; Revelation 19–22

Extra-Biblical helpful reads:

1. [5] Perfect Ending

The Tribulation

The Tribulation is what will succeed the Rapture of the Church as the next step in mankind’s future. This is the time when the LORD, the Most High God will eventually intervene to punish the rampant sin that humanity will indulge in, and will exalt, as how it already is being done. This is the 7 year period under the system of the Antichrist on earth, which is known by different names: The Time of Jacob’s Trouble, and The 70th Week of Daniel, the details of which were covered in detail in the previous two articles — ‘The Seventy Weeks of Daniel’ and ‘Birth Pains’. The abundance of scriptural prophecies given above corroborates the facts and views that we discussed in those articles. The heavy progression of signs we are witnessing currently points towards the revealing of the Antichrist system into the arena very soon. Once the Church gets raptured, the Holy Spirit will stop restraining him (2 Thessalonians 2: 6–8), and he will be entering freely into the world systems and will be signing a covenant of 7 years with many, starting the period of the Tribulation.

The Kingdom of Lord Jesus Christ

At the end of the Tribulation, there will be a great rejoicing in heaven for the completion of God’s righteous judgment upon the sinfulness of the unrepentant dwellers of the earth. In Revelation 19: 7–8, Apostle John, saw in his vision, that a great multitude in heaven gave glory to God and announced that the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife (His Church — those who had been dead in Christ, who were raised and those who were transformed during the rapture) has made herself ready in fine linen, clean and bright. Fine linen is mentioned here as symbolic to the righteous acts of the saints. Ephesians 5: 25–27 mentions that Christ gave Himself for His Church, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water, that is, His Word, that He might present her to Himself as a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, but being holy and without blemish. Then, in Revelation 19: 11–16, John saw heavens open and a white horse with One who sat on him called Faithful and True rode down from the heavens. He came as the Judge for the whole world, with eyes like flame of fire and wearing many crowns on His head. His robe was dipped in blood and on His robe and His thigh, His name was written: “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS”. He was the Word of God Himself, the glorified Lord Jesus Christ, from whose mouth, the sharp double edged sword (the Word of God through which everything in this universe is created) went to strike all the nations. In verse 14, the Church appears again as the armies of heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, following King Jesus on white horses.

On the appearance of Jesus in this manner, Apostle John in chapters 19 and 20 goes on to say that the Antichrist, the kings of the earth and their armies gather together to make their war against King Jesus and His army. The Antichrist and his false prophet will be captured and cast into the lake of fire, the eternal hell, immediately. The rest of the army of rebellious human beings will be killed with His sword. Then an angel comes down from heaven, gets hold of Satan — the indwelling power of Antichrist, binds and seals him in the bottomless pit for a period of 1000 years, which marks the beginning of the Sabbath Millennium of Christ. During this time, the saints (the Church who came with Christ — 1 Corinthians 6: 2–3, 2 Timothy 2: 12, Revelation 19: 14, the resurrected Old Testament saints — Daniel 12: 1–2 and the Tribulation saints — Revelation 20: 4–6) will assist King Jesus in ruling over the Kingdom that Jesus would be establishing on earth for these 1000 years. The ones who enter into the Millennial Kingdom in still mortal and untransformed bodies — those who didn’t die during the Tribulation and who didn’t pledge allegiance to the Antichrist — will enjoy long life and will be able to multiply over the earth.

The justice, peace and righteousness enjoyed by the citizens of the Millennial Kingdom under the Kingship of Jesus Christ is elaborated so beautifully in all the passages listed under Scriptures for this section [1]: The Kingdom of Lord Jesus Christ. Truly, it will be a time of rest for the people who underwent the devastating effects of sin and evil over the previous 6 millennia of mankind, living up to the standard of a pure Sabbatical rest in the presence of our Lord, Savior and God Jesus Christ. At the end of the Millennial Kingdom, Satan will be loosened for a little while, so that he can deceive and gather those who have a chance to rebel against Jesus — part of those who are still in mortal bodies, who could be influenced through his deceitfulness. Fire of God will come down from heaven and devour all of the rebels. Satan will then be cast into the lake of fire, the eternal hell. This will be followed by the Great White Throne Judgement, where all the non-resurrected humans, who died at different points, and who never accepted God’s plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, and whose names are thus not present in God’s Book of Life, will be resurrected and judged according to their actions, resulting in them being cast out to hell for eternity.

Following this, John saw that God would renew all the heavens and the earth in preparation for eternity, to which everyone whose names are found in God’s Book of Life would enter. Then God the Father and His Lamb - God the Son, King Jesus will reign from the glorified city of New Jerusalem which comes out of the New Heaven, possibly onto the New Earth. In this city, there is no need for a lamp or the sun, because Lord God will be radiating all the light needed, and there will be no night. Those who enter there will live with God, bearing His name and seeing His face forever and ever. There will be a pure river having the water of life proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. On either side of the river, there will be the tree of life (probably like a clonal colony of trees, part of the same underground root system), bearing twelve fruits, each tree bearing its fruit every month, and leaves of the trees will be for healing, thus sustaining the inhabitants’ immortal bodies as needed. These are all descriptions of the eternal Kingdom of Jesus Christ, that John tried to capture in words available to human beings. The real experience which is awaiting us could only be fully fathomed when we will be there in our glorified transformed bodies.

As Apostle Paul rightfully captured in 1 Corinthians 2: 9:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

“Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” — Revelation 22: 20b

References

1. The Holy Bible, https://www.biblegateway.com/, New King James Version.
2. Got Questions.org, Who / What is the restrainer in 2 Thessalonians 2:6? As retrieved on 09/03/2023 from https://www.gotquestions.org/restrainer.html
3. Answers in Genesis, Worldwide Flood, Worldwide Evidence, 2023, as retrieved on 09/04/2023 from https://answersingenesis.org/the-flood/global/worldwide-flood-evidence/
4. Biblearchaeology.org, The Shiloh Excavations, 01/01/2021, as retrieved on 09/04/2023 from https://biblearchaeology.org/research/patriarchal-era/2364-the-discovery-of-the-sin-cities-of-sodom-and-gomorrah

Extra — Biblical Helpful Reads

5. Robert Jeffress, Perfect Ending, 2014

Articles in this series

1. The Ministry of John the Baptist
2. Jesus the Christ — Atonement for Human Sin
3. God’s pattern of sevens
4. The Third Day
5. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel
6. Birth Pains
7. Rapture and Beyond