Row is over everyone look here now
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I have heard him on the radio a lot over the years and I don't have any reason to doubt his faith but Jesus is clear about the order of things. I think it is useful to listen to teachers but we also have to ourselves read the actual scripture to see if what they say is true. In this passage Jesus clearly outlines what must happen first, and I believe the rapture is described in v31.
Matthew 24 24 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
It’s hard to know 100%. There are certainly many differing opinions on the rapture. And Scripture isn’t clear without question as to how events will all unfold. I do agree with you that we can’t just depend on others and their interpretations. We need to be in the Word and study it for ourselves.
Dr David Jeremiah distinguishes between the rapture (1 Thes 4:17, 1 Cor 15:52) and the second coming of Christ. See the link that I posted above. I think he makes a compelling argument.
On the flip side. another person I’ve been following quite a bit is Mark Fairley of the Fuel Project. His series, “Know Your Enemy” is insightful, thought provoking and very well researched. He has multiple series that are just excellent. He has more than one series on end times and clearly holds a post-tribulation rapture view. I don’t agree with everything that he says, but he shows another side to the argument and has compelling insights as well.
While I cannot say with 100% certainty how events will unfold, I do lean towards a pre-tribulation view. If I’m wrong, it isn’t the basis of my salvation. I trust in Jesus as my Lord and Savior no matter how events unfold and I choose not to get too caught up in theological views that aren’t perfectly clear and often divide believers. I want to be ready no matter how things unfold and to follow Christ unswervingly. I certainly hope and pray that believers do not have to endure the tribulation period, but I trust Him either way to be my strength and salvation in these and the coming dark times ahead in this fallen world.
I certainly agree on distinguishing between the rapture and second coming. I don't think that has to imply time between however.
Right now I lean most towards pre-wrath rapture (gathering of the believers) as described in Revelation 14:14 - 20 where we see two different kinds of reaping and this happens before the final outpouring of wrath upon the Earth.
Regardless of which one happens, my thought is Christians should not live a life of counting on being rescued from harsh persecution. Many Christians who came before, particularly in Europe, Russia, and China suffered extreme persecution without it being The Great Tribulation. We have to serve God in the here and now while there is still time.
Stand strong and be encouraged to persevere until the end. We have been reading through Jeremiah preparing the people to go into captivity in Babylon + the Psalms as a way to prepare our hearts for a similar possibility. God bless.