In my previous article, Enter Your
Chambers,[1]
I posted that a few Old Testament prophets prophesied about the rapture. They
prophesied that the rapture of the body of Christ would happen before Israel’s
70th week would begin. They prophesied that the rapture would be
pre-Tribulation. In that article, I wrote about Isaiah’s prophecy (Isa.
26:19-21). In this article, I will write about Daniel’s and Zephaniah’s prophecies
about the rapture of the body of Christ. Keep in mind that these men had no
idea that Gentile believers would be among Jewish believers who would either be
caught up from the earth or raised from the dead to escape the outpouring of
God’s endtimes wrath. It was not revealed to them that God would also make believing
Gentiles his people, too. It was a mystery to them (Rms. 11:25; 16:25; Eph.
3:1-10).
Before I interpret what Daniel
and Zephaniah prophesied about the rapture, I will write about a false
narrative circulating throughout the church community. I have written about this
in chapter fifteen of my manuscript, Waiting for the Day and Hour. Many
in the church do not believe in the rapture. They say you cannot find the word rapture
in the Bible. I have written why the word rapture is not in English Bibles. So,
I do not want to go over it again right now. Christians who doubt the Bible teaches
the church will be raptured also say, that Christians who believe in a
pre-Tribulation rapture are incredibly deceived and are damning (causing or
leading to condemnation or ruin[2])
those who listen to their teachings. It saddens me that the deceived are
calling others deceived. The rapture doubters base their belief on
misinformation being taught that the rapture doctrine first appeared in the writings
of John Darby (1800-1882),[3]
about 1830. John Darby taught that the church would be raptured before the
Tribulation Period begins. Before his teaching, the church suffered from a false
teaching called Amillennialism.[4]
This was the dominant belief in the church from the time of Saint Augustine
(354-430).[5] He
popularized amillennialism in the church, and many held onto that false
doctrine, making it standard theology.
Amillennialism teaches that the millennial
reign of Christ (Rev. 20:1-7) is not a physical, literal 1000-year reign on
Earth. It is only an analogy describing the church age. This false doctrine teaches
that the millennial reign of Christ began at his first coming and will continue
until his second coming. It says there will be no physical reign of Christ on
the earth, but rather, his reign is only spiritual. It teaches that the
1000-year reign of Christ in the Book of Revelation is only symbolic and
not literal. The Amillennialist believes the kingdom of God only exists in the
hearts of Christians. This teaching insists there is no rapture of the church;
it discredits the Scriptural truth about the rapture. This teaching says there
is no seven-year Tribulation. Many churches worldwide still believe and follow the
amillennial doctrine.
I also have written in chapter fifteen
of my manuscript, under the heading, Ancient Church Fathers, who came
after the Lord’s apostles, taught and wrote about the rapture of the body of
Christ, saying it will be caught up before the Tribulation begins. As I wrote under
this heading in my manuscript, I obtained this information from a book called The
Rapture: A Pretribulation Rapture of the Church Viewed from the Bible and the
Ancient Church (Second Edition), written by Ken Johnson. I have studied
this information in other books through the years, but Ken Johnson’s book makes
the information easy to understand.
Some of these ancient church
fathers were:
1) Irenaeus (AD 120/140-200/203):[6] He
was a disciple of Polycarp. Polycarp was a disciple of the apostle John.
2) Hippolytus (AD 170-235):[7] He
was a disciple of Irenaeus.
3) Victorinus (Died about AD 303):[8] Victorinus
believed in a pretribulation rapture. He wrote a commentary on the book of
Revelation. Victorinus wrote that the church is the restrainer: “But the one
now restraining will do so until he is out of the way” (2 Thess. 2:7b, CSB).
4) Cyprian (AD 200-258):[9] He
was the bishop of Carthage.[10] The
Roman government killed Cyprian around AD 258. He taught that the rapture and
the resurrection are the hope of the Christian.
5) Ephraem (AD 306-373):[11] Ephraem
was a Christian theologian and writer in the 4th century AD.
Daniel 12:1-2
“At that time Michael,
the great prince who stands watch over your people,
will rise up. There will be a time of distress such as
never has occurred since nations came into being
until that time. But at that time all your people who are found
written in the book will escape… Many who sleep
in the dust of the earth will awake, some
to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt”
(CSB).
The rapture of the church is
being revealed to Daniel in this passage, but he does not know it. He did not
know there would be a new creation. It was a mystery to him and the other Old
Testament saints; I mentioned this above. The rapture was revealed to him by the
angel dressed in linen, who talked with him on the bank of the Tigris River
(Dan. 10:4-6). Daniel would have figured that this angel was referring to the
nation of Israel exclusively, because the angel told him that his people would
escape. The angel spoke to Daniel in terminology he could understand, because
Daniel did not know what role the Gentiles would have in the endtimes. He would
not have known that his fellow Jew (the apostle Paul) would be commissioned by
his Messiah more than 500 years later to preach salvation to the Gentiles, and
that they would become the majority of God’s people.
Verse one: The angel says בעת
ההיא (ba'at hahi) “At that time” (Masoretic Text). What time was the angel
referring to? He was referring to the time right before the 70th
week of Israel begins. He declares that the archangel Michael will stand up.
Michael is a chief angel and the arch angel who watches over the nation of
Israel (Dan. 10:13, 21; Rev. 12:7). The reason he stands up is to witness the
body of Christ being raptured, having their bodies redeemed, being transformed
from their earthly bodies into heavenly bodies on the last day of the church
age. He watches as the body of Christ all receive a body similar to his, the
same kind that Jesus now lives in (Phil. 3:21).
Michael is not only standing to
witness born-again Gentiles receive heavenly bodies, but every born-again Jew
who put their faith in Jesus during the church age. He will also witness Daniel
and all the Old Testament saints receive heavenly bodies once the church is raptured,
because they had faith in their Messiah and were faithful to him before his
incarnation. Michael will stand at this glorious event, as will all the other
angels in heaven, as the Son of God receives his bride.
The angel who looked like a man,
dressed in linen, tells Daniel that there will be tribulation so bad that it
will be unequaled to any other time in history (Jer. 30:7; Matt. 24:21; Mk.
13:19). The angel promises Daniel that before the Tribulation Period begins every
Jew—"your people”—who put their faith in Jesus as Messiah, those whose
names are found in the Book of Life יִמָּלֵט (yimmalet) “will escape”
(Masoretic Text). The angel's statement reveals a pre-Tribulation rapture of
the church. The church is promised to escape God’s endtimes wrath (1 Thess.
1:10; Rev. 3:10). Again, when Daniel hears these words, he has only the nation
of Israel in mind.
Verse two: The angel prophesies
that everyone who has died will be raised to life again. The ones raised to
receive eternal life are all those who put their faith in Jesus as Lord. I must
not deceive you, because even evil spirits believe that Jesus is Lord (Mk.
1:24; Lk. 4:34, 41; Acts 19:15; Jms. 2:19; 1 Jn. 3:8). People who are born
again and faithful to God will be raised to eternal life at the rapture. Others
will be raised to life to sit before Jesus at the White Throne judgment,
because their names are not written in the Book of Life (Rev. 20:11-15).
Zephaniah 2:1-3
“Gather together, yes, gather, O
shameless nation,… before the decree takes effect [Hebrew: gives birth]—before
the day passes away like chaff—before there comes upon you the burning anger of
the LORD, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the LORD… Seek
the LORD, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; [Or who carry
out his judgment] seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on
the day of the anger of the LORD” (ESV).
In chapter eight of my manuscript,
The Evil Rulers, under the heading, Alexander the Great, I wrote,
Alexander was used by God to conquer the Philistine cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon,
Ekron, and Gaza in 332-331 BC (Zech. 9:5-7). Zechariah does not mention
Alexander by name, but he and his Macedonian army are referenced as the ones
who conquered these cities. Before he and the Macedonians destroyed the
Philistines, they destroyed: “the land of Hadrach (a district in Syria), Hamath
(a principal city in Syria), Tyre and Sidon (cities in Lebanon)—Zechariah
9:1-4. The City of Tyre seemed impossible to conquer, but Alexander conquered
it in about seven months in 332 BC” (The Evil Rulers – Alexander the
Great). When the Macedonian armed forces were on their way to conquer Egypt,
the Lord did not allow Alexander to attack Jerusalem or the temple (Zech. 9:8)—see
the story behind the Lord’s intervention in chapter eight, as recorded by Flavius
Josephus.
In the book The Rapture,
Ken Johnson points out that Zephaniah records Alexander's capture of the
Philistines in Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron (Zeph. 2:4-6)—page #84. In the
days of Joshua, there were giant warriors, the Anakim, in these areas (Josh.
11:22). Gath, another major city of the Philistines, was the home of Goliath (1
Sam. 17:4). Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron were part of the tribe of Judah’s
inheritance. But they could not retain it because the Philistines had iron
chariots (Jdg. 1:18-19). Johnson also points out, that Zephaniah 2:7 reveals
the renewed statehood of Israel, which includes Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Gaza on
the seacoast (2:7). And, Zephaniah 2:8 prophesies that the modern state of
Jordan (Moab and the Ammonites) will battle against the renewed state of Israel
(Page #85). During the Arab-Israeli War in 1948, Jordan took possession of the
West Bank,[12]
but in the Six-Day War (1967), Israel recaptured and occupied the West Bank.[13]
Concerning Zephaniah’s prophecy
above: The Lord gives warning to endtimes Israel to “gather together, yes,
gather, O shameless nation” before his wrath is released, “before the decree
takes effect.” The decree is upon the nations and kingdoms of the earth in
which he will release his burning anger (Zeph. 3:8). God will gather the
nations and lead them into war in the Valley of Jehoshaphat where he will judge
them, because they have harmed his people and divided their land (Joel 3:2, 12;
Zech. 14:2-3; Rev. 16:16). The Valley of Jehoshaphat is the Kidron Valley which
lies between Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives.[14]
The decree is fulfilled during Israel’s 70th week period (Dan.
9:24, 26a-27; Rev. 6:1-19:21). He warns Israel to gather themselves to him
before he releases that which he has decreed, his endtimes wrath. The time
leading up to it will come quickly, as swiftly as chaff blows away. And then
the day of his burning anger will take effect. The Lord repeats himself: “Before
there comes upon you the burning anger of the LORD, before there comes upon you
the day of the anger of the LORD.” God is telling them they have the
opportunity to escape his burning anger: “Perhaps you may be hidden on the day
of the anger of the LORD.” This is an allusion to the rapture of the body of
Christ. Many Jews have accepted this offer during the church age by putting their
faith in Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. God tells Israel to “seek
righteousness and seek humility.” The humble of Israel must “seek the LORD.”
Those who do as he says will escape the “anger of the LORD.” They will be
hidden in the Father’s house from the outpouring of the LORD’s wrath. This
prophecy reveals a pre-Tribulation rapture.
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