The tenth phenomenon of Christology is that rapture will be
occurred when the Son of Man come again. Christ’s coming appears two ways
secretly and openly. In Rev.10:1 Christ
is still clothed with a cloud come secretly, but in Rev.14:14 and 1 Thess.4:17
unveils the Lord’s coming back is made public in the air. And majority of
Christians believe they will be raptured when the Son of Man sitting on the
white cloud in the air. (Rev.14:14). And wait patiently for Christ come again
Introduction
The tenth phenomenon of Christology
is that rapture will be occurred when the Son of Man comes again. Christ’s
coming appears two ways secretly and publicly.
In Rev.10:1 Christ is still clothed with a cloud and come secretly, but
in Rev.14:14 and 1 Thess.4:17 unveils the Lord’s coming back is made public in
the air. The majority of Christians believe that they will be raptured when the
Son of Man sitting on the white cloud in the air. (Rev.14:14). They wait
patiently for Christ come again.
Christ’s coming appears both ways
secretly and publicly.
The tenth phenomenon of Christology is that
rapture will be occurred when the Son of Man comes again, and majority of
Christians believe that Christ’s coming appears both ways secretly and publicly. Apostle John unveils his vision in Rev.10:1 says,, “ And I saw another
strong angel coming down out of heaven clothed with a
cloud and the rainbow was upon His head and His face was like the sun
and His feet like pillars of fire.” This
vision, part of the insertion between the sixth and seventh trumpets, is a hint
that before the seventh trumpet, Christ is on the way to earth. At this time He
is clothed with a cloud and is not yet sitting on the
cloud. This indicates that even after the sixth trumpet, Christ still is
coming secretly, not openly. This is Christ first coming. He manifested His
authority in acts such as His casting out of demons and His healing of
diseases, to vindicate Himself as the heavenly King.
In contrary, according
to the Rev.14:14, Matt.24:30; 26:64 and 1 Thess.4:17, Christ will come openly
and will be seen by all the tribes of the Earth. Apostle John said, “And I saw and behold there was a white cloud
and on the cloud one like the Son of Man sitting,
having a golden crown of His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.” And the
narrative in the book of Matthew it states, “And at the time the sign of the Son of Man will
appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the land will mourn, and they will see the
Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” This
is Christ second coming He will exercise His power to execute God’s
judgment, to destroy Antichrist and to bind Satan, for the establishing of His
kingdom on earth. After the great
tribulation, at His coming back to earth, the Lord will gather together to the
Holy Land the scattered Jews from all parts of the earth. This will be the
fulfillment not only of the Lord’s word but also of God’s promise in the Old
Testament. The Lord’s coming back is
made public in the air. The majority of Christians believe they will be
raptured when the Son of Man sitting on the white cloud in the air.
(Rev.14:14).
The rapture will occur in two groups and two periods of times.
In
the Rev.12:5 unveil two type of group 1) a man child, 2) the woman. The
man-child consist the overcoming saints and signifies the stronger part of
God’s people. The woman signifies the people of God other than the man-child. Those
people constitute the weaker part of the woman, some are Jews who keep the
comments of God and some are the believers who have the testimony of Jesus.
Both will pass through the great tribulation and suffer the persecution and
attack. In the Rev.12:5 says, “A man child who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod and her
child was caught up to God and to His throne.” “Ήρπάσθη’” VIAP-3S “άρπάζω”
interpreted from Greek as 1) experience catch up or away 2) snatch away 3) carry
off: caught up. In Chinese literally says, “Bai Ti”, to be caught up means “to be raptured”. The rapture of
the man-child differs from the woman, the difference as follows,
1)
The rapture of the man-child :
Man-child consists
of the overcomers will be raptured to the throne of God directly. And before
the one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is the time of the great
tribulation of three and a half years (forty-two months), begging from the
sixth seal before the fifth trumpet.
2)
The rapture of the woman:
The majority of the believers, which is mentioned in
1Thess.4:16-17, “Because the Lord Himself, with a shout of command, with
the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, will descend from
heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are living, who are left remaining, will be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus will be
always with the Lord.” the majority of the believers are raptured to the air
and at the last trumpet (1Cor.15:52; Thess4:16) which is the seventh trumpet.
What is the sign of Lord’s coming?
According to Rev.6: 12 apostle John unveils his vision, “And I saw when He opened the sixth seal, and there was a great
earthquake, and the sun became black like
sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like
blood.” The sixth seal, which
marks the beginning of supernatural calamities, is God’s answer to the cry of
the martyred saints in the fifth seal and is a warning to those who dwell on
the earth. As the Old Testament Prophet Joel foretold the signs of the Lord’s
coming during two periods of times. He said,
“And I will show wonders in the nations and in the earth blood, and
fire, and pillars of smoke. The Sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon
into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come. And it
shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
delivered, for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord
hath said and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” (Joel 2:30-31 ).
And book of Acts apostle Peter also
quoted Joel’s vision, it says,
“And it shall be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out
of My Spirit upon all flesh, and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream things in
dreams. And indeed upon My slaves, both men and
women, I will pour out of My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. And
I will show wonders in heaven above
and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord comes. And it shall be that everyone
who calls on the name of the
Lord shall be saved.” (Acts2:17-21).
This is the warming of the earth,
the great tribulation beginning. There will not be much difference in time
between the sixth seal and the first five trumpets.(Rev.9:1-11). Joel 2:30-31 first
mentions the blood of the first and second trumpets, the fire of the first,
second, and third trumpets (Rev.8:7-10), and the smoke of the fifth trumpet
(Rev.9:1-3), and then mentions the sun and moon of the sixth seal. A comparison
of Rev.9:4 and Rev. 7:3 indicates that the fifth trumpet occurs very close to
the time of the sixth seal.
There will be two calamities of the shaking
and changing of the earth and the hosts in heaven.
1) The
first will occur at the beginning of the
great tribulation (Joel2:30-31).
2)
The second will occur after the great
tribulation (Joel 3:11-16; Matt.24:29-30;
Luke21:25-26).
What is covered in the sixth seal is the first
calamity. It can be considered not only a warning but also an initiation of the
coming great tribulation. The first four trumpets are not yet direct
judgment on men. The first trumpet is a judgment on the Earth, including the
trees and all the grass, as occurred in Egypt (Exo.9:18-25); the second a
judgment on the sea, including the living creatures and ships. The third, a
judgment on the rivers and springs of waters, as occurred in Egypt
(Exo.7:17-21); the fourth a judgment on the sun, the moon and the stars that
they may be darkened, as also occurred in Egypt (Exo.10:21-23). By the
judgments of these four trumpets, the third part of the earth, the sea, the
rivers, and the hosts in the heavens are damaged and are thus caused to be no
longer good for man’s living. At the sixth seal, before the seven trumpets.
There was already a judgment on the earth and on the hosts of the heavens. The
extent of the damage caused by that judgment was not as definite as the extent
of the damage caused by the first four trumpets. The seventh trumpet, through
the seven bowls there will be further judgments on the earth, the sea, the
rivers, and the sun (Rev.16:1-21). Those will be God’s most severe judgments on
the earth and heaven.
The fifth angel trumpeted, he opened the pit
of the abyss and out of the smoke came forth locusts to the earth. The locusts
were like horses prepared for war. They have tails like scorpions, and stings
and in their tails is their power to harm men for five months. They have a king
over them the angle of the abyss his name in Hebrew is Abaddon
and in Greek he has the name Apollyon- Άπολλμων
interpretation from Greek as the evil angel who rules over the demons Apollyon.
The angel of the abyss is the beast. Antichrist, who
will come out of the pit of the abyss (Rev.11:7; 17:8). The Hebrew word
means destruction and the Greek word means destroyer. As the destroyer, Antichrist will do much
destroying. The locusts here are not
like the locusts in Exo.10:12-15, in that these have tails like scorpions, and
stings, and they harm men.(v.10). They must be demon-possessed, because they
come out of the smoke from the pit of the abyss, the dwelling place of the
demons (v.2). Those who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads will be
harmed by locusts. Only the Israelites who have the seal of God on their
foreheads will not be harmed by the demon-possessed locusts. The Rev.9:7-9 are
very similar to Joel2:4-5, 25 and 1:6, which are words spoken concerning
Israel. This, along with the fact that the Israelites need to be sealed by God
(Rev.7:3-8) in order to escape the harm of the locusts. This may indicate that
the woe of the fifth trumpet will come especially upon the Israelites. In the first woe, the woe of the fifth trumpet
Satan falls from heaven to earth and Antichrist comes up from the abyss, Satan
and Antichrist work together to torment man. Since it is at the fifth trumpet
that Satan falls from heaven to damage the earth and persecute the people of
God for three and a half years (Rev.12:10,12-17,6). And since it is at the same time (the last
three and a half years) that beast -Antichrist comes up out of the abyss to
collaborate with Satan to torment people, persecute the saints, and blaspheme
God (Rev.13:5-7;11:7) . It is in the same three and a half years that the holy
city, Jerusalem, is given over to the Gentiles for destruction (Rev.11:2), the
woe of the fifth trumpet must be the beginning of the most severe woes of the
great tabulation (Matt.24:21). The second woe, the woe of sixth trumpet, and
the third woe, the woe of the seventh trumpet, must also be two parts of the
most severe woes of the great tribulation. These three woes with the damage
from the sixth seal and the first four trumpets will be a trial upon all those
who dwell on the earth (Rev.3:10). The two woes are the sixth trumpet itself
and the woe of the seventh trumpet that is the seven bowls.
The visions
inserted between the sixth and seventh seals, there are
144000 of the twelve tribes sealed, the chosen Israelites preserved on
Earth. These are the Israelites who will keep the commandments of God during
the great tribulation (Rev.12:17;14:12). In Rev.7:10 Apostle John unveils the vision he
saw,
“There was a great multitude which
no one could number, out of every nation and all tribes and peoples and
tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes and palm branches in their hands.
And they cry with a loud voice, saying “salvation to our God who sits upon the
throne and to the Lamb.” And all the angels stood around the throne and the
elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the
throne and worshipped God. Saying,“Amen. The blessing and the glory and the
wisdom and the thanks and the honor and the power and the strength be to our
God forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev.7:10-12). “They will not hunger anymore, neither will they thirst
anymore, neither will the sun bear upon them, nor any heat. For the Lamb who is
in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and guide them to springs of
waters of life; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev.7:16-17).
The great multitude consists of the
redeemed ones from the nations, throughout all generations. These constitute
the Church (Rev.5:9; Rom.11:25; Acts15:14, 19). As Rom.11:25 indicates,
“For I do not want you, brothers, to be ignorant of this mystery
(lest you be wise in yourselves), that hardness has come upon Israel in part, until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. And
thus all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘the deliverer will come out
of Zion, He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And this is the covenant
from Me with them, when I take away their sins.’ (Rom.11:25-27).
And Acts15:14 and 17 states,
“Simeon
has related how God first looked
favorably on the Gentiles, to take from among them a people for His name...so that all
other peoples may seek the Lord even all the Gentiles over whom my name has
been called.”
The robes signify the righteousness of the
believers’ conduct. White indicates that the conduct of the believers is pure and has been approved by God through having been washed in the
blood of the Lamb (v.14). Palm branches signify
the victory of the saints over tribulation. They stand before the throne indicates that the
great multitude of the redeemed must have been raptured to the heavens, to the
presence of God. Standing …before the Lamb corresponds with stand before the
Son of Man (Luke21:36), which clearly indicates the rapture. That this is mentioned
immediately after the opening of the sixth seal implies that the rapture of the
believers must begin before the sixth seal.
Conclusion,
The tenth phenomenon of Christology is that Christians
believe rapture will be occurred when the Son of Man comes again. Ήρπάσθη’ VIAP-3S “άρπάζω” interpreted from Greek as 1) experience catch up
or away 2) snatch away 3) carry off: caught up.
In Chinese literally
says, “Bai Ti”, to be caught up means to be
raptured”. There are two groups of rapture
in the two periods of times. The first group is the man-child consist the overcomers who will be raptured to the throne of God directly. Second group is the woman constitutes the majority of believers.
They will be rapture when the Son of Man sitting on the white cloud in the air.
(Rev.14:14).
Christ’s
coming appears two ways secretly and publicly.
In Rev.10:1 Christ is still clothed with a cloud and come secretly, but
in Rev.14:14 and 1 Thess.4:17 unveils the Lord’s coming back is made public in
the air.
The
rapture in the two periods of times, First, the rapture of the
man-child will be rapture to the throne of God directly before the one thousand
two hundred and sixty days, which is the time of the great tribulation of three
and a half years (forty-two months), begging from the
sixth seal before the fifth trumpet. Second, the rapture of the woman; the majority of the
believers will be rapture to the air and at the last trumpet (1Cor.15:52; Thess4:16)
which is the seventh trumpet.
There will be two calamities of
the shaking and changing of the earth and the hosts in heaven. 1)
The first will occur at the beginning of
the great tribulation (Joel2:30-31). 2) The second will
occur after the great tribulation
(Joel 3:11-16; Matt.24:29-30; Luke21:25-26). What is covered
in the sixth seal is the first calamity. It can be considered not only a
warning but also an initiation of the coming great tribulation. The woe of the
fifth trumpet will come especially upon the Israelites. The visions inserted
between the sixth and seventh seals, there are 144000
of the twelve tribes sealed, the chosen Israelites preserved on Earth.
These are the Israelites who will keep the commandments of God during the great
tribulation (Rev.12:17; 14:12). The great multitude consists of the redeemed
ones from the nations, throughout all generations. These constitute the Church
(Rev.5:9; Rom.11:25; Acts15:14, 19).
Due to the hardness has come
upon Israel in part; God looked favorably upon the Gentiles, and take from
among them a people for His name, until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in,
so that all other peoples may seek the Lord. The believers are pure and
have been approved by God
through having been washed in the blood of the Lamb. The victory of the saints
over tribulation. They stand before the throne, indicates that the
great multitude of the redeemed must have been raptured to the heavens, to the
presence of God.
Christians’
hope of rapture and faith in Christ’s second coming has developed the tenth
phenomenon of Christology. It provides the two aspects of the coming of the
kingdom: first, the reality of the kingdom (Matt.5:33), which is in the proper
church life today. Second, the manifestation of the kingdom in the millennium
will be brought in through the overcoming believers. God’s salvation has
already been manifested to us today but it will come in full in the kingdom
age. Today we have participated in God’s power and Christ’s authority, but our
full enjoyment of them will be in the kingdom age.
Video worship song " great multitude stand before the throne and Lamb" and " On that day" composed and presented by Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce
Video worship song " great multitude stand before the throne and Lamb" and " On that day" composed and presented by Rev. Katherine Liu Bruce
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPyG7plSngk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7y1NBx0-HI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7y1NBx0-HI
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