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A Secret Rapture?

Part IV

War with the Saints

Filling the Cup


compiled by Rachel Cory-Kuehl, 2012

Most recent edit: June 17, 2022

Scripture is from the NKJV unless otherwise noted.

 

I have explained why I do not agree with Darby, that “the church” will be raptured to Heaven, seven years before the glorious return of Jesus Christ. Now let’s look more closely at the final “time, times, and a part.”


The last period of persecution before Christ returns.

 

Daniel 7:25-27 “He [the Little Horn] shall speak pompous words against the Most High, shall persecute the saints of the Most High, and shall intend to change time law. Then the saints will be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time.

But the court will be seated, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it forever.

Then the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”

 

“The saints” are given into the hand of the Beast, with its Little Horn, for three and a half years. At the END of this time period (1260 days, 42 months, time-times-and a part), the kingdom is “given to the saints of the Most High” by the Heavenly Court.


            The prophecy of Revelation sounds very similar.





 

Revelation 13:4-5 [The deadly wound was healed and after that] “So they worshiped the dragon [Satan] who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’ And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he [the Beast] was given authority to continue for forty-two months (v. 7-8).

“And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names are NOT written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”


         NOTE: The word translated here as “worship,” can also mean “serve.”

 

Obviously the rule of “the Beast” power, will extend far beyond Jews. The Beast will rule the entire planet - “every tribe, tongue and nation.” The testing time “will come upon the whole world.”

 

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.

 

Those persons whose names are written in the Book of Life of the Lamb, will NOT worship (or serve) this Beast, or it’s Little Horn leader. Is this because they will NOT BE PRESENT on the earth? No!



THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE

 

Jeremiah 30:7 “Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, But he shall be saved out of it.”

 

Darby said this “time of Jacob’s trouble,” will effect only Jews. I disagree.

 

Jacob’s name was changed to “Israel.” The “time of Jacob’s trouble, is the time of Israel’s trouble. According to Paul, those who believe in Jesus as Redeemer and Son of God, are “grafted in” TO Israel (Romans Chapter Eleven). Unbelieving Hebrews are “broken off” FROM Israel. See our study: Who are Israel?






 

Matthew 24:21-22 [Jesus quotes Daniel] “For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now-- and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened” (NIV).

 

The “distress” for God’s people, will be greater than at any time past, because the campaign to silence them will be worldwide and coordinated by the Beast power through its Little Horn enforcer. Prior persecutions were confined to geographic areas. This one will be universal. There will be nowhere to flee.

 

The “distress” for the world will be greater, because the Trumpet judgments will be unleashed. The LORD will plague those who are persecuting His people, just as He plagued the Ancient Egyptians. In response to the first plagues, Pharaoh (a TYPE of the final Antichrist) ramped up the workload for the enslaved Israelites. The Beast power of the final days, will ramp up the persecution of God’s people.

 

At the First Trumpet, a third of the earth will be burned. A third of all the trees on earth, and all the green grass, will be burned up” (Rev 8:7).

 

At the Second Trumpet, one third of all life in the sea will die, and one third of all ships will be destroyed (Rev 8:8-9).

 

At the Third Trumpet, one third of the rivers and springs of water were made bitter and undrinkable (Rev 8:10-11).

 

When the Fourth Trumpet sounds, there will be no light from sun or moon for one third of each 24 hour period (Rev 8:12).

 

When the Fifth Trumpet sounds, “locusts” (demons) will be released from bottomless pit, by an angel fallen from Heaven (Satan). They will torment only those without the seal of God for 5 months. Their king is Destroyer - “the angel of the bottomless pit.”

      Men will long for death (Rev 9:1-11).

 

Darby said those with “the seal of God” will be obedient Jews (keeping the Law), who were “left behind” at the Rapture. I disagree. The seal of God is the Holy Spirit. Believers receive the Spirit when they are baptized into Christ, and baptized BY Christ (Matthew 3:11). The Apostle Paul was adamant that no one receives the Spirit “by the works of the Law.” In fact, he said, “for as many as are of the works of the law, are under the curse” (Galatians 3:1-14).


            When the Sixth Trumpet sounds, forces are released which will kill one third of mankind       (Rev 9:13-19).



 

When the Seventh Trumpet sounds, the people of God will be removed from the earth and the seven wrath plagues will be unleashed. This is the Glorious Return!

 

The days of persecution are “cut short” for Jacob (for Israel - the redeemed people of God). How? They will be “saved out of it.” They will be removed from this earth when Christ returns in glory!

 

They will go with Jesus to “the place prepared” - in the“Father’s House.” That “place will be the New Jerusalem.” See our study: “Millennium.



A Time of Anguish

 

Daniel 12:1 “At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book” (NRS).


            The Book of Life contains the names of all believers, not just those of believing Jews.

      See our study “The Book of Life.”

 

The people of God will be removed from this earth “at the last Trumpet,” just as the final plagues are unleashed (2Thess 4:16-17).

 

This time will bring the greatest anguish since nations came into existence, because the seven bowl plagues will be unleashed on this day. The devastation will be worldwide.

 

In the final bowl plagues “the wrath of God is complete” (Rev 15:1). These plagues will destroy all life on planet earth. Everything in “the sea” will die. That’s 75% of our oxygen, (made by algae), and the base of the food chain. All vegetation will be “burned up.” That’s the other 25% of our oxygen. See our study: “Trumpets and Bowls.”

 

Reading the next two verses of Daniel Chapter 12, we see that both righteous and wicked will be resurrected on this day - the righteous to everlasting life, and the wicked to everlasting contempt.

 

Daniel 12:2 “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” (NIV)

          See our studies: “Where are the Dead? and “Hell - What It’s Not.”


 

Nations first came into existence when the LORD created different languages at the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9). Diverse languages forced the builders to separate. Today we see the world coming together. A “universal language” - the binary “language” of the internet, is used to communicate worldwide, linking peoples and cultures around the world, setting the stage for one world domination, by the Beast power. 5G and 6G networks will provide the speed for mass gathering of information, for blocking of financial transactions, and for monitoring of individuals.

 

The Beast power will unite “the nations” under a One World Government. This will allow the persecution of the last days. The “Little Horn” will be the controlling visible head of the Beast empire (Dan 7:7-8).



THE LITTLE HORN

                and the Mark of the Beast

 

The Little Horn will set up “the image of the Beast” in the Temple at Jerusalem. He will demand that all worship/serve this image. The image will then “speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed” (Rev 13:15). The required “mark” will be a sign of obedience to, and cooperation with, the Beast system.

 

Imagine a new advanced system of instant worldwide communication and monitoring, with the nexus of control set up at Jerusalem. Messiah was prophesied to rule the world. The Little Horn will do just that! Every human being will have a “code,” either carried “in the hand” (held like a credit card, or an app on a phone), or on the forehead. This “mark” (code) has six digits, six digits, six digits (666). The “mark” is “the number of a man” - a personal identifier. Without the code, one cannot buy or sell. All financial transactions are digital. Individuals cannot turn the device OFF. It continuously monitors their movements, and also hears what they are saying - 24 hours a day. The world is fast approaching the point when such will be possible.

 


THE TIME PERIODS

 

forty-two months (Rev. 11:2, Rev. 13:5) ----------------- 3 and a half years.

1260 days (Rev. 11:3, Rev. 12:6) ----------------------- 3 and a half years.

half a “seven” (Dan. 9:27 ) --------------------------- 3 and a half years.

      time, times, and a part (Dan 7:25, Dan. 12:7, Rev. 12:14) ----- 3 and a part years


            All the above, are describing the same period of time.




 

2300 evening/morning (Daniel 8:14) ------------- one morning + one evening sacrifice, daily for a period of 1150 days, would constitute 2300 sacrifices. This period of 3 years, 2 months and 10 days, fits into the “time, times and a part” ascribed to the rule of the Beast.


      1290 days (Dan. 12:11) ------------------------- would still fall within 3 and a part years

      1335 days (Dan. 12:12) ------------------------ would still fall within 3 and a part years

To understand the final time periods, we should look to the prophetic Feasts of the Sanctuary. Beginning at Rosh Hashana, a period of 1335 days ends at the Second Passover.

 

Daniel 12:11, adds 30 days to the 1260. This could be a reference to the “second Passover.” The Law provided that one could observe the Passover “in the second month,” if one was not able to keep the Passover at it’s appointed time, in the first month (Numbers 9:10, 2Chron 30:2). A person might be “on a journey” or might be ceremonially “unclean” if he “had touched a dead body.”

 

Persecution by the Little Horn power will make it impossible to celebrate the Passover. Jesus said that He would “keep it” again, when it is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God” (Lk 22:15). The 1290 days may reach to our Passover appointment with Christ, in the New Jerusalem.

 

The added 30 days could also possibly be the 30 days between Purim and Passover. Purim was the day that Israel was going to be exterminated but was instead victorious, in the story of Queen Esther.



SANCTUARY TIME

 

All prophecy is given in Sanctuary time units. Months were 30 days. Years are 360 days, not 365 as in our present calendar.

 

If you do some research, you will find that calendars world-wide, were changed about the year 800BC, to accommodate 5.25 additional days. This was the time of King Hezekiah, who saw the sundial move backwards (2Kings 20:11, Isa. 38:8).

 

I believe that a “near earth” fly by, a great volcanic eruption or an asteroid hit, will push the earth back to an orbit of 360 days. This will reset the calender, and allow for the fulfillment of the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. “Signs in the heavens” and great “earthquakes” will precede the return of our Savior (Matt. Cpt 24). When the 7th Seal on the Scroll is broken by Christ, the greatest earthquake of all time will shake mountains and islands worldwide (Rev 6:12-13). The earth is said to be “moved out of its place” (Isaiah 13:13).

 




THE SAINTS - DURING THE TRUMPETS


Revelation 7:1-8 tells of the judgments held back until the servants of God are sealed.

 

Revelation 9:4 [During the 5th Trumpet judgment] “They (the demons) were commanded not to harm the grass of the earth or any green thing, or any tree, but only those men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.”

 

The fact that the demons are commanded not to harm anyone with this seal, implies the presence of such persons on the earth during the Trumpet judgments.


            Darby said these people - with the seal of God - will be obedient Jews. I disagree.

      I believe “the remnant” of Israel, will be the last generation of Christ’s faithful people.

 

When the seventh Trumpet sounds, “the kingdoms of this world, have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ” (Rev. 11:15). I believe Christ will return for His people ON THIS DAY.

 

Paul wrote that the redeemed would be changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.” The living are “changed” and the righteous dead are “raised incorruptible” at the Glorious Return of Christ (1Cor 15:52).

 

The Two Witnesses of Revelation are called to life by a “voice” from Heaven, and ascend in a cloud just as the “last Trumpet” sounds (Rev 11:13).


            The “last” Trumpet is the 7th Trumpet.



SPARED - THE WRATH TO COME

 

The persecution and killing of God’s people by the Little Horn leader of the One World (Beast) Government, will finally “fill the cup” of wickedness. This will allow the LORD to “cut it short in righteousness” (Romans 9:28).

 

The “bowl” (or “vial”) plagues of Revelation Chapter 16, are “poured out without mercy.” They are “the great winepress of the wrath of God (Rev 14:20). “In them, the wrath of God is complete (Rev 15:1).

 

There is no mention of any servant of God on this earth during the wrath plagues. In fact, just before these plagues are poured out, John the Revelator sees “those who have gotten the victory over the Beast and over his image” standing on the sea of glass, which is before the thrown of God in Heaven (Rev. 15:2, Rev. 4:6).


 

1 Thessalonians 1:10 “... wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

 

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus.”

 

There is a DIFFERENCE between the final time of testing, and the time of wrath.

 

The testing time is 42 months - “time, times, and a part” - 1260 days. It is the final call to repentance given under severe persecution, and despite great disasters - both natural and man-made (fomented by Satan).

 

The “time of His wrath” - FOLLOWS this final testing time.

The time of wrath BEGINS at the 7th Trumpet.

 

Darby taught that thevialsof wrath, will be poured out DURING the last 3.5 years.

 

I believe the vials of wrath will be unleashed AT THE END of the 3.5 years.

 

The Two Witnesses of Revelation Cpt Eleven, testify for 42 months (Rev Chapt 11). The Beast will finally kill them. Three and a half days later, they will be raised to life and called up to heaven by the voice of God’s Son. Immediately the 7th Trumpet sounds.

      This is the Glorious Return!

 

            The 42 months END at the Glorious Return.

 

The fireballs did not fall upon Sodom and Gomorrah until the angels had rescued Lot (a man in covenant with God).

 

The rain did not fall until Noah and his family were safe inside the ark.

 

The destroying angel did not pass through Egypt until God’s children were safe behind the doors painted with the blood of the Lamb.

 

The stubble of last year’s fields is not burned until the harvest has been safely gathered into the barn.

 

God cannot completely withdraw His spirit from this world, so long as His servants are here. He cannot then pour out His final wrath, until those servants are safe with Him. The Church is to expect trial, but not “the wrath of God unmixed with mercy.”




Our God is Able

 

To be sure, it will be an awful time. Do we then give up?

 

On the very border of Canaan, the Children of Israel were afraid of the “giants in the land.” They were afraid to cross over the Jordan, because of the obstacles they would face. They had a crisis of faith. They did not believe the LORD would give them the victory, and so they died in the wilderness. We must not repeat their failure. We must believe that Jesus will give us strength to endure and to overcome. He will give us the victory.

 

Just before the first Trumpet, the saints will be “sealed.” They will receive a great baptism of the Holy Spirit. This will strengthen them to endure the persecution of the last days. It will empower them to give the final call to repentance.

 

When I think of the final testing time, I think of the pioneers. They knew they had to cross the desert, to reach California. They knew it would be awful. They left behind, everything that would weigh them down. We must do the same, in a spiritual sense.

 

Our deliverance will come at the 7th Trumpet. The saints will be translated (caught up to Christ), and THEN the bowls of wrath will be poured out.



IN ONE DAY

 

Revelation 18:8 [Speaking of the Great Harlot who rides the Beast] “Therefore her plagues will come in one day-- death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.”

 

The final wrath plagues of Revelation Cpt 16, will be unleashed on the day that Christ returns in glory, just as soon as He has removed His own from this planet.

 

I believe this earth will be completely decimated to the point of lifelessness, by the final wrath plagues. Only by the miracle of divine creative power could this earth be restored, to become the home of the redeemed.


            Our study “Cursed“ reinforces my understanding of the complete destruction.








 

In Part Five - “The Seventy Weeks - What is Finished?” we will consider the things to be finished or accomplished, by THE END of Daniel’s “seventy weeks.”

             


We pray this study will prove a blessing.

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