Rapture and End Times

The purpose of this blog is to discuss current events and how they relate to Biblical prophecy. We explore some critical signs that are pointing to the imminent Rapture of the Church. We use a process called “prophetic analysis.”

Prophecy is the divinely inspired foretelling of what is to come, declared by a prophet through the Holy Spirit.

Analysis is the systematic examination and evaluation of information, by breaking it into its component parts, to uncover and understand cause-effect relationships, thus providing a basis for problem solving and decision making.

Prophetic analysis is important, because there are 1,817 prophecies in the Old and New Testament, and about 27% of the Bible’s volume is prophetic.

Some examples of prophecies about the first coming of Jesus that were fulfilled include:

The Messiah would be announced to his people 483 years, to the exact day, after the decree to rebuild the city of Jerusalem.

Prophecy

Know and understand this:
From the issuing of the decree
to restore and rebuild Jerusalem
until Messiah the Prince
will be seven weeks and 62 weeks.
It will be rebuilt with a plaza and a moat,
but in difficult times.

(Daniel 9:25)

Fulfillment

The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they took palm branches and went out to meet Him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One—the King of Israel!”

(John 12:12-13)

The Messiah would be rejected.

Prophecy

He was despised and rejected by mankind,
    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

(Isaiah 53:3)

Fulfillment

 “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.

“Barabbas,” they answered.

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?”Pilate asked.

They all answered, “Crucify him!”

“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.

But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

(Matthew 27:21-23)

The Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

Prophecy

Bethlehem Ephrathah,
you are small among the clans of Judah;
One will come from you
to be ruler over Israel for Me.
His origin is from antiquity,
from eternity.

(Micah 5:2)

Fulfillment

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod, wise men from the east arrived unexpectedly in Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him.”

(Matthew 2:1-2)

There were over 300 prophecies that were fulfilled by Jesus Christ at His first coming. But more Old Testament passages are devoted to Christ’s second coming than to His first. And in the New Testament, the Lord mentions His return more frequently than He speaks of His death:

While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what is the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”

Then Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of birth pains.

(Matthew 24:3-8)

The Rapture and the End Time prophecies are what we analyze now, using the Bible, prayer, and the Holy Spirit as our guide. Some of the critical signs are pointing to the imminent Rapture of the Church include the fall of the global economy, leading to a one world government, the “Ezekiel Invasion”, an invasion of Russian and Arab forces into Israel, the environmental “birth-pains” increase, as foretold by Jesus, and a comprehensive peace plan that allows the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple.

The systematic examination and evaluation of the Rapture and the End Time prophecies is Bible-based, and does NOT include following Internet fads and memes, or fake news and false rabbit trails. We avoid playing with numbers to fit “a square peg in a round hole.” More than anything, prophetic analysis is evidence-based, and is not conspiracy theory, guessing or wishful thinking. We recognize that many prophecies are dual, with a historic fulfillment and a future fulfillment.

The basic premise is that there is going to be a second coming of Jesus Christ at the end of a 7 year period called the Tribulation. We believe that, before this 7 year Tribulation, there will be a Rapture of all Christians. We work on the assumption that the Lord operates according to a precise timeline, that nothing in His plan for humanity is random.

Biblical prophetic analysis requires a thorough understanding  of the Old and New Testament, Jewish customs, history, economics, geopolitics, and semiotics. A correct understanding of the sequence and timing of key End Time events is necessary. We monitor current events world-wide, using multiple sources. We track patterns and upticks of End Times categories, comparing them to specific prophecies.

The Bible has a great deal to say about many current events, including the “Abraham Accords” peace plan, the rise of the Beast (Erdogan of Turkey), the rise of the False Prophet (Pope Francis), the revival of the Roman Empire (the Federal Union of European States), and the Sanhedrin call for the Third Temple.

Based upon our prophetic analysis, there is a very high probability that the 7 year Tribulation starts soon. The only reason to not suggest 100% certainty is that the Lord is sovereign, which means that He has the power, wisdom, and authority to do anything He chooses within His creation. In Jonah’s time, He was going to destroy Nineveh, but the people repented, and the Lord changed His plan.

Let’s investigate the potential sequence of events from a Biblical perspective, using the Book of Revelation:

RAPTURE TO SECOND COMING

Revelation 4 – Rapture

The Throne Room of Heaven – The Throne of God appears, surrounded by twenty four thrones with Twenty-four elders seated in them. (4:1-5). The Four Living Creatures are introduced. (4:6-11). The main Rapture happens at this time.

Revelation 5

The Lamb Takes the Scroll – A scroll, with seven seals, is presented and it is declared that the Lion of the tribe of Judah, from the “Root of David”, is the only one worthy to open this scroll. (5:1-5)

Worthy Is the Lamb – When the “Lamb having seven horns and seven eyes” took the scroll, the creatures of heaven fell down before the Lamb to give him praise, joined by myriads of angels and the creatures of the earth. (5:6-14)

Revelation 6 

First Seal: The Conqueror – A white horse appears, whose crowned rider has a bow in which to conquer. (6:1-2)

Second Seal: Conflict on Earth – A red horse appears, whose rider is granted a “great sword” to take peace from the earth. (6:3-4)

Third Seal: Scarcity on Earth – A black horse appears, whose rider has “a pair of balances in his hand”, where a voice then says, “A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and [see] thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” (6:5-6)

Fourth Seal: Widespread Death on Earth – A pale horse appears, whose rider is Death, and Hades follows him. Death was granted a fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and with the beasts of the earth. (6:7-8)

Fifth Seal: The Cry of the Martyrs – “Under the altar”, appeared the souls of martyrs for the “word of God”, who cry out for vengeance. They are given white robes and told to rest until the martyrdom of their brothers is completed. (6:9-11)

Sixth Seal: Cosmic Disturbances – There occurs a great earthquake where “the sun becomes black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon like blood” (6:12). The stars of heaven fall to the earth and the sky recedes like a scroll being rolled up (6:13-14). Every mountain and island is moved out of place (6:14). The people of earth retreat to caves in the mountains (6:15). The survivors call upon the mountains and the rocks to fall on them, so as to hide them from the “wrath of the Lamb” (6:16).

Revelation 7 

The Sealed of Israel – 144,000, from the twelve “tribes of Israel”, are sealed as servants of God on their foreheads. (7:1-8)

A Multitude from the Great Tribulation – A great multitude stand before the Throne of God, who come out of the Great Tribulation, clothed with robes made “white in the blood of the Lamb” and having palm branches in their hands. This is the second harvest, or Rapture. (7:9-17)

Revelation 8 

Seventh Seal: Prelude to the Seven Trumpets – “Silence in heaven for about half an hour” (8:1). Seven angels are each given trumpets (8:2). An eighth angel takes a “golden censer”, filled with fire from the heavenly altar, and throws it to the earth (8:3-5). What follows are “peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake” (8:5). After the eighth angel has devastated the earth, the seven angels introduced in verse 2 prepare to sound their trumpets (8:6).

First Trumpet: Vegetation Struck – Hail and fire, mingled with blood, are thrown to the earth burning up a third of the trees and green grass. (8:6-7)

Second Trumpet: The Seas Struck – Something that resembles a great mountain, burning with fire, falls from the sky and lands in the ocean. It kills a third of the sea creatures and destroys a third of the ships at sea. (8:8-9)

Third Trumpet: The Waters Struck – A great star, named Wormwood, falls from heaven and poisons a third of the rivers and springs of water. (8:10-11)

Fourth Trumpet: The Heavens Struck – A third of the sun, the moon, and the stars are darkened creating complete darkness for a third of the day and the night. (8:12-13)

Revelation 9 

Fifth Trumpet: The Locusts from the Bottomless Pit – The First Woe (9:1-12). A “star” falls from the sky (9:1). This “star” is given “the key to the bottomless pit” (9:1). The “star” then opens the bottomless pit. When this happens, “smoke [rises] from [the Abyss] like smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky [are] darkened by the smoke form the Abyss” (9:2). From out of the smoke, locusts who are “given power like that of scorpions of the earth” (9:3), who are commanded not to harm anyone or anything except for people who were not given the seal on their foreheads (from chapter 7) (9:4). The “locusts” are described as having a human appearance (faces and hair) but with lion’s teeth, and wearing “breastplates of iron”; the sound of their wings resembles “the thundering’s of many horses and chariots rushing into battle” (9:7-9).

Sixth Trumpet: The Angels from the Euphrates – The Second Woe (9:13-21). The four angels bound to the great river Euphrates are released to prepare two hundred million horsemen. These armies kill a third of mankind by use of three plagues: fire, smoke, and brimstone.

Revelation 10

The Mighty Angel with the Little Book – An angel appears, with one foot on the sea and one foot on the land, having an opened little book in his hand. Upon the cry of the angel, seven thunders utter mysteries and secrets that are not to be written down by John.

John Eats the Little Book – John is instructed to eat the little book that happens to be sweet in his mouth, but bitter in his stomach, and to prophesy.

Revelation 11 – Last 3 1/2 years

The Two Witnesses – John is given a measuring rod to measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. Outside the temple, at the court of the holy city, it is treaded by the nations for forty-two months.

Two witnesses prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. (11:1-14)

The Witnesses Killed (11:7-10)

The Witnesses Resurrected (11:11-14)

Seventh Trumpet: The Kingdom Proclaimed – The Third Woe that leads into the Seven bowls (11:15-19). The temple of God opens in heaven, where the ark of His covenant can be seen. There are lightnings, noises, thundering, an earthquake, and great hail.

Revelation 12 – Last 3 1/2 years 

The Woman, the Child, and the Dragon – A woman “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars” is in labor with a male child. (12:1-2). A great, fiery red, seven-headed dragon drags a third of the stars of heaven with his tail, and throws them to the earth. (12:3-4). The dragon waits for the birth of the child. However, when born, it is caught up to God’s throne while the woman flees into the wilderness for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. (12:5-6)

Satan Thrown Out of Heaven – War breaks out in heaven between Michael and the Dragon, identified as the Devil, Satan.(12:9) After a great fight, the Dragon and his angels are cast out of heaven for good, followed by praises of victory for God’s kingdom. (12:7-12)

The Woman Persecuted – The Dragon engages to persecute the Woman, but she is given aid to evade him. Her evasiveness enrages the Dragon, prompting him to wage war against the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (12:13-17)

Revelation 13

The Beast from the Sea – A seven-headed leopard-like beast emerges from the sea, having one mortally wounded head that is then healed. By the Dragon, he is granted power and authority for forty-two months. (13:1-5). The Beast of the sea blasphemes God’s name, wages war against the Saints, and overcomes them. (13:6-10)

The Beast from the Earth – Another beast appears, but from the earth, having two horns like a lamb and speaking like a dragon. He directs people to make an image of the beast, breathing life into it, and enforcing all people to bare “the mark of the Beast”. (13:11-18)

Revelation 14

The Lamb and the 144,000 – The Lamb stands on Mount Zion with the 144,000 “firstfruits” who are redeemed from earth. (14:1-5)

The Proclamations of Three Angels (14:6-13)

Reaping the Earth’s Harvest – One like the Son of Man reaps the earth. This is the third harvest or Rapture. (14:14-16)

Reaping the Grapes of Wrath – A second angel reaps “the vine of the earth” and throws it into “the great winepress of the wrath of God… and blood came out of the winepress… up to one thousand six hundred furlongs.” (14:17-20)

Revelation 15

Prelude to the Bowl Judgments – The temple of the tabernacle, in heaven, is opened. (15:1-5). Seven angels are given a golden bowl, from the Four Living Creatures, that contains the wrath of God. (15:6-8)

Revelation 16 

First Bowl: Loathsome Sores – A “foul and loathsome sore” afflicts the followers of the beast. (16:1-2)

Second Bowl: The Sea Turns to Blood – The sea turns to blood and everything within it dies. (16:3)

Third Bowl: The Waters Turn to Blood – All fresh water turns to blood. (16:4-7)

Fourth Bowl: Men Are Scorched – The sun scorches the Earth with intense heat. (16:8-9)

Fifth Bowl: Darkness and Pain – There is total darkness and great pain in the Beast’s kingdom. (16:10-11)

Sixth Bowl: Euphrates Dried Up – Preparations are made for the final battle between the forces of good and evil. (16:12-16)

Seventh Bowl: The Earth Utterly Shaken – A great earthquake: “every island fled away and the mountains were not found.” (16:17-21)

Revelation 17

The Scarlet Woman and the Scarlet Beast – The great harlot who sits on many waters: Babylon the Great. (17:1-6)

The Meaning of the Woman and the Beast (17:7-18)

Revelation 18 

The Fall of Babylon the Great (18:1-8)

The World Mourns Babylon’s Fall (18:9-19)

Finality of Babylon’s Fall (18:20-24)

Revelation 19 

Heaven Exults over Babylon (19:1-10)

Christ on a White Horse (19:9-16)

The Beast and His Armies Defeated – The beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire. (19:17-21)

Very soon, the Rapture will rescue all the Christians, just like Noah and his family were rescued, just like Lot and his family were rescued!

The end is coming – sooner than we think!

If you are not sure that you are saved, you can accept Christ into your life right now, by praying:

“Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.  Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life.  I ask you in to my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior.”

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