I mentioned this idea re: Jesus coming as a thief in the night, a while back.

Secret rapture believers have the idea that Jesus meant He would come as a sneaky burglar. However, burglars don't come with a shout...(1 Th 4:16 KJV) "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:"

The thief talked about in context would likely come with a band and would have entered the victims compound shouting a screaming and terrifying the occupants, just as Jude said...(Jude 1:14 KJV) "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,"

(Jude 1:15 KJV) "To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him."

Also Jesus prayed this to His Father...(John 17:15 KJV) "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

(John 17:16 KJV) "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

(John 17:17 KJV) "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."

(Acts 23:6 KJV) "But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees, and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee: of the HOPE AND RESURRECTION of the dead I am called in question."

Besides that isn't the world already in GREAT TRIBULATION? THE WAR TO END ALL WARS began with WWI. According to Rev there are three phases to this GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY...(Rev 16:13 KJV) "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet."

(Rev 16:14 KJV) "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

So what do we have? Resurrection or Secret Rapture?

We also have to keep in mind the fact that if those days were not cut short "no flesh should be saved:"...(Mark 13:20 KJV) "And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days."

-- Anonymous, April 07, 2000

Answers

Yes, Mark we as believers are headed right into "the great falling away" described in 2 Thess. 2 and the church in Rev is "under the altar" waiting to get eyes and ears to see twice with. It's a sad joke how the hireling preachers get fat off the tithes yet fail to tithe the truth back to the fold. E-mail me as much as you like to learn exactly why I believe this. Check specifically I Cor. 15:52 then Dan.12:1-2. Same trumpet as the 7th in Rev.??? That means the church goes through 6 trumpets to get to that 7th. Even so let those who enjoy repentance say Hi to heaven and to deception and hell, no we won't go. Daniel at rem33ad777@hotmail.com

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2000

Daniel, it is interesting how we "hireling" preachers preach the truth to those who refuse to listen to the truth. The great falling way is not about to happen, it is happening! It is happening in the church pews as we write. The love of Christ has grown cold in many churches, in fact there is usually more fire in the coffee pots of most churches than in the congregation. Sure there are some "hirelings" who are white washed tombs- but it takes two to tango. I have been in many churches where the congregations are dead and the only thing they truly care about are their parking spots and their favorite spots for their blessed assurances to sit in. They rarely give any money in the offering- as if God is truly grateful for their tips. Many within the congregation, do not want the truth like, sacrifice, witnessing, martyrdom, and selflessness. People want grace and love yet they do not want the Mighty Judgment of God upon their pittiful wretched lives filled with immorality and wickedness!

-- Anonymous, April 24, 2000

TODAY'S TECHNOLOGY IN BIBLE PROPHECY

Lesson 14: A look at how and when the Revelation would be opened.

I A comparison between the physical and prophetic construction of the Book of Revelation.

1 And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?" 3 And no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look into it (Rev. 5:1-3, NASB).

A One glance at this scroll, "written inside and on the back," informed the beholder that it was loaded with prophetic information. (It was customary to write only on one side of the paper for the sake of ease in reading the scroll as it was unrolled.)

B The number of the seals, seven, implies that each was so attached that when one was broken and the portion which that was designed to fasten was unrolled, a second would be come to, and so on.

1 The outer seal would bind the whole; but breaking it would not give access to the whole contents unless each successive seal was broken.

2 Logically, the message associated with seal one would be written and then sealed with seal one, the message associated with seal two would be written next and then sealed with seal two, and so on to the main message of the document which would be sealed with seal seven.

C This proposed construction of the book agrees with the statement "Who is worthy to open the book"--the main message of the document, first--and "break its seals" successively, second.

D I can't speak for others, but I understood the seven trumpet prophecies sealed by the seventh seal first, the message sealed by the sixth seal next, and then the message sealed by the fifth seal.

E Curiously, I do not understand the meaning of the first four seals at this time.

4 And I began to weep greatly, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look into it; 5 and one of the elders said to me, "Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals" (Rev. 5:4-5, NASB).

A John was told to "stop weeping" because Jesus Christ, who was born into the tribe of Judah in the line of David, "has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals."

B Again the text states that people would understand "the book" first, and the seven seals second.

C In fact, careful reading of the text reveals that "the book," that is, the prophetic contents about the future sealed by seal seven, would be understood before any of the specific messages embedded in the introduction of seal seven and the other six seals, would be understood.

D A spontaneous question arises here: How could any information inside the book be understood without first breaking the seal, or seals, binding its contents?

1 The answer is not found in how this could be, but in how the prophetic message contained in the seventh seal portion of the Book of Revelation, actually came to be understood.

2 Note first that the main subject of the Revelation, sealed by the seventh seal, centers around the world's first atomic war and the damage the post-AWWI smoke will wreak on the planet and its inhabitants.

3 Note next that the scientists who built the atomic bomb and determined the damage that atomic war- generated smoke would cause, actually discovered the information needed to understand the main contents of the Book of Revelation.

a (The first serious study of the effects of smoke from atomic war was printed in AMBIO, June 1982 [a journal published by Sweden's Royal Academy of Sciences]).

b After the science of nuclear weapons and warfare became available to the public, the most perplexing portions of the Revelation ceased to be a mystery.

c Because "the book" portion of the Revelation contains more details about AWWI than the cryptic overview information surrounding each seal prophecy, the main Revelation message was, in fact, opened first.

II SETTING:

A The opened Book of Revelation begins with seven trumpet prophecies.

B Collectively, the seven trumpet prophecies document seven major events that will precede the Second Coming of Christ.

III Rev. 8:1-6 describes five successive events to look for in the days leading up to the first trumpet event (AWWI).

1 And whenever he opened the seventh seal, occurred a silence in heaven about a half-hour (Rev. 8:1, IGENT).

A According to Rev. 5, Jesus Christ opened the seven seals binding the Book of Revelation. Hence, the pronoun "He" refers directly to Christ.

B The word "whenever," as used here, means "at whatever time" Christ determines the right time to be, He will open the seventh seal and thus the full Revelation message for the world's inspection.

C The use of the indefinite word "whenever" (which means "come whenever you like") to announce the opening of the seventh seal events, indicates that the fulfillment of the opening of the seventh seal events will definitely not occur in order, after the sixth.

D The definite language of the first six seals indicates that they will occur in order, one after the other.

E Is it possible, since seal seven is definitely coming to pass before seal six, that the rest of the seven seals will be fulfilled in reverse order--6,5,4,3,2,1, instead of 1,2,3,4,5,6?

1 No, since the fifth seal event shows the Christians under the altar receiving white robes while the sixth seal time period shows Christians, coming out of the Great Tribulation, washing their robes "in the blood of the lamb" to make them white.

2 That is, reversing the order of the prophecy's fulfillment would require some explanation for how the sixth seal Christians, coming out of the Great Tribulation, could get their washed white robes dirty in heaven (a spiritual impossibility) to the extent that they would require new white robes in the fifth seal time period.

F In practical terms, the seventh seal prophecy teaches that the opening of the main contents of the Book of Revelation to Christians will be the first seventh seal event to look for in the days leading up to the arrival of the first trumpet event. (The fulfillment of this event is in progress.)

G According to the text, the second, seventh seal event to look for in the prophecies fulfillment, will be "silence in heaven about a half-hour."

H The reaction in heaven reflects today's Christians same emotional reaction when they learn AWWI is about to engulf "their" world.

I The period of silence will last "about half an hour" because it will take time to teach the meaning of the Revelation's end-time prophecies to Christians and it will take Christians a certain amount of time to determine what their response should be.

J What prophetic facts provide insight into what amount of time "about half an hour" will actually be, at the time of the prophecies fulfillment?

1 Rev. 13:5 states that a future world government will be given "authority to act forty-two months."

2 Rev. 17:12 states "And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour."

3 By prophetic definition one prophetic hour equals forty-two actual months.

4 If one prophetic hour equals forty-two months, then half an hour equals twenty-one months, and about half a prophetic hour would equal about twenty months, give or take a few days.

K This means that once the seventh seal is opened and the Revelation's main message becomes available to the Christian world, there will be a period of about twenty months for Christians to study the prophetic material and determine their collective appropriate response, before the next seventh seal event arrives on the scene.

2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets (Rev. 8:2).

A Seven angels were commissioned to present the seven trumpet events.

1 The angels used their trumpets to announce the seven most important milestone events leading up to the Second Coming of Christ.

2 Their introduction, immediately following the formal opening of the Book of Revelation, identifies whatever message they are about to give as the main communication of the book.

B Moreover, the actual fulfillment of their prophetic messages will come to pass soon after the seventh seal is opened.

3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne (Rev. 8:3). 4 And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand (Rev. 8:4, NASB).

A Before the seven angels could sound their trumpets, they were interrupted by the arrival of another angel.

B Since Christ opened the Book of Revelation, it follows that Christ also directed the communication of its contents.

- Hence, it was Christ Who dispatched this unnamed angel to make a timely instructive presentation before the first of the seven trumpets sounded.

C The incense symbolizes Christ's death on the cross which renders the saints' prayers acceptable to God.

- The angel does not receive the prayers of the saints unto himself, but only facilitates the delivery of their prayers to God.

D According to the text, once Christians recover from the shocking news that a nuclear war will shortly engulf "their" world, they will look to God in prayer.

1 This will be the third of the seventh seal events to look for in the prophecies fulfillment.

2 (The first wave of Christians who have come to under- stand the end-times prophecies, are already praying for God's direction and help in reaching the lost for Christ in the closing days of the age.)

5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake (Rev. 8:5, NIV).

A When the angel hurled the "fire from the altar on the earth" the sounds of war immediately broke forth on the earth.

B That is, the thunder of tank and artillery fire; the rumblings of exploding shells and small arms fire; and lightning-like flashes of exploding rockets and combat planes hit by anti-aircraft fire.

C The last entry in John's list, "an earthquake," predicts that once this future battle is fully joined, an unexpected earthquake will occur.

D The earthquake's position between this description of a conventional war and the first trumpet angel's report on a nuclear war (directly following this text), matches Ezekiel's and John's Sixth Seal account of the events leading up to the outbreak of AWWI--both list a great earthquake as the spark that will touch off AWWI.

1 "I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel" (Ezek. 38:19, NASB).

2 "I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake" (Rev. 6:12, NIV).

E Since all three passages list a great earthquake before a continent-smashing atomic war breaks forth on the earth, it follows that all three passages are describing the same atomic war.

F Does the unnamed angel's presentation teach the certainty of AWWI?

1 Yes, that is even as God accepted and acted upon the prayers of the saints delivered by the angel, so also will the same angel's symbolic casting of fire from the altar to the earth come to pass when the nations unleash AWWI.

2 A "battlefield nuclear weapon"--a short ranged weapon (under 311 miles)--may well unleash the initial atomic shot of AWWI.

3 (The nations have thousands of tactical atomic weapons and thousands of strategic warheads.)

4 Due to limited facilities to destroy nuclear weapons and high costs, the nations need decades to destroy their nuclear weapons.

5 Since the seventh seal prophecy indicates only a few years between the opening of the Revelation's message and the outbreak of AWWI, the crisis that will lead to AWWI will arrive long before the nations have time to destroy their atomic arsenals.

6 And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound (Rev. 8:6).

A The unnamed angel's presentation teaches that once the great earthquake occurs, the Christians' prayers will no longer delay the inevitable outbreak of AWWI.

B The presence of the seven angels' full report on the outbreak of AWWI and its aftermath, directly following the unnamed angel's prophetic presentation, underlines the point.

IV In summary, According to Rev. 8:1-6, the five events to look for in the days leading up to the eruption of AWWI include:

A The opening of the main message of the Book of Revelation.

B The opening of the Revelation will be followed by a twenty month period of time within which Christians will be studying the end-time prophecies, and adjusting emotionally to the grimness of what will soon come to pass in their time.

C Christians will then look to God in prayer and make a major effort to warn others of the coming danger and begin preparing for hard times.

D A conventional war will then break out in the Middle East.

E A great earthquake will occur in Palestine. (AWWI will ensue.)

'Today's Technology in Prophecy' by Charles W. Miller, Pub. 1990.

-- Anonymous, April 25, 2000