"And as it was in the days of (Noah), so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that (Noah) entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all."
Noah, his wife, his tree sons and their wives, were told to enter the Ark because a flood was coming, and was lifted up above the destruction below. The Word says, "And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth." (Gen. 7:17)!
Likewise, when God was about to destroy the cities of the plains, He sent two angels to escort Lot and his family up above His judgment below. The Scriptures says: "And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters" (Gen. 19:29-30)!
In addition, both Enoch and Elijah were removed by the Lord before they could taste death (Gen. 5:24; 2 Kgs. 2:1-12). As an aside, because the Word says that "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Heb. 9:27), I believe Enoch and Elijah are the "two witnesses" of Revelation 11:1-12). And speaking of "being appointed," the Church will be removed before the Tribulation, as it is repeatedly described in the Book of Revelation as being "the wrath of God." Paul encouraged believers concerning this: "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Th. 5:9)! Since ththe Church is not mentioned in Revelation 6 - 19, which describe the events of the Tribulation, and since members of the Church are present in heaven during the period known as "The Time of Jacob's Trouble," and "Daniel's Seventieth Week" (Jer. 30:7; Dan. 9:24-27), the Rapture is obviously Pre-Tribulation! John 14:1-3; 1 Cor. 15:50-54; 1 Th. 4:16-17; and Rev. 4:1, are all viewed as Pre-Tribulation passages.
Wouldn't it be awful if God "raptured" believers when they said it would occur?
No comments:
Post a Comment