Evidence for the Pre-Trib Rapture – Part 1

Transcript

GRM 967
8/6/2006
Evidence for the Pre-Trib Rapture, Part 1
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh


These are very fascinating days to know the Lord and to know something of the revelation He has given of His purposes and plans in the scriptures. In our last study together we looked at the nation Israel, they are the focus of the news today, they were last week and in recent weeks they have especially moved to centerstage. We noted something of God’s purposes and plans for the nation Israel, we did that in the morning and evening study. And there are tapes and CDs available if you weren’t able to be here for both of those studies or either of them.

As exciting as Israel is in prophecy, I think the most important prophetic event and the most exciting thing in the Bible for you and me, apart from our salvation, is the glorious climax of our ministry on earth in the event that is known as the rapture of the church. And I want to talk about the rapture of the church and we’re going to need to do that in two parts again. We’re going to look at what the Bible says about the rapture of the church, and you and I ought to have this firmly, clearly fixed in our mind, because as we will see in the scriptures, this is the divinely appointed destiny of the church for its climax of its earthly ministry. This is the event that will usher us into the very presence of Almighty God in glory. We will be called from this earth to meet Christ in the air, then the Bible says that He will take us into the presence of His Father in heaven and present us before the throne of the glory of His Father as those who are holy, without spot, without blame, because of the work that Jesus Christ has done on the cross. There is no event in all history, in all eternity so important for us as the suffering and death of Jesus Christ on the cross to pay the penalty for sin and His resurrection as a declaration of His victory over sin. And there is no hope of a glorious future for anyone apart from a recognition of your sin and a turning from that sin and a casting of yourself on the mercy of God, placing your faith in Jesus Christ alone. There is no negotiating, there is no bargaining, there is no hoping for an alternative, there is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me. But that’s sufficient. I don’t need 10 ways of salvation, I just need one that is sure and guaranteed to work. And that’s the one that God has provided. What good would it be to have 10 ways of salvation that we could neglect or reject. God is commanding all men everywhere to repent, for He has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. And He has furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. We are invited to come to God for His salvation, that we might have a glorious destiny.

The rapture of the church, the church’s climax, if you will, of ministry, and the beginning of an eternity in the presence of God's glory. We talk about prophetic matters, we noted we interpret the Bible in a literal manner. That means historically, grammatically in its context. We recognize there are figures of speech, similes, metaphors and so on. We interpret the Bible literally. And just like we believe that Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem, suffered and died on the cross and was bodily raised from the dead, we take that as literal truth. So we believe the events that are yet to transpire, that God has unfolded in His Word will also take place literally. I was watching an interview this past week between two men, one of them was a man who believed the scriptures and what they say. The other man was saying, you don’t understand. We’re not supposed to take the book of Revelation literally. It is a figurative book. These men keep coming up in these days on TV, one who said we really don’t need to be concerned about these matters because we don’t take them literally. You’ve watched the news very much you’ve seen them interviewed there. We take the Bible literally. A literal interpretation of the Bible causes you to believe that Jesus Christ will return to earth at a future time and establish a kingdom on the earth with Israel as the central people, Jerusalem as the capital of the world, and Jesus Christ will rule and reign in righteousness. A literal interpretation of Bible prophecy causes you to believe that Christ will return to earth at the beginning of that kingdom.

So we talk about the premillennial reign of Christ. All that means is Christ will return “pre,” before the millennium. Millennium is a word that means 1000 years. Revelation 20 tells us six times that the first phase of the kingdom that Christ will establish will last 1000 years. We don’t have time now to go into the details of that, tapes are available if you want to look into that more in detail. We believe that the Bible is clear, Christ will return to earth before the earthly kingdom begins. He will come to earth in order to establish that earthly kingdom.

Secondly, we believe the Bible teaches, because of our literal interpretation, a clear distinction between Israel and the church. The church is never anywhere called Israel in the Bible. Israel is Israel. They are the physical descendants of Abraham. God chose them as we saw in our previous studies to be a nation for Himself, He has promised them an earthly kingdom. So the distinction between Israel and the church is clearly set forth in the scripture.

The Bible also indicates that there is a period of 7 years that will precede the return of Christ to earth. We’ll touch on this in a future part of our study. During that 7 years, God will be pouring out His wrath upon the earth and preparing Israel to receive Jesus Christ as their Messiah at His Second Coming to earth. It is a time of wrath, it is a time of tribulation, it is a time like no other time ever in the history of the world. Jesus said it will be the worst time there has ever been on the face of the earth. Jesus said if He did not come at the end of that 7-year period, there wouldn’t be a person left alive on the face of the earth. We call it the tribulation, or the 70th week of Daniel. It is the 7 years preceding the return of Jesus Christ to earth to set up His kingdom. In other words, if you take a literal interpretation of Bible prophecy, Jesus cannot come to earth today or tomorrow to set up His kingdom—it is at least 7 years away. Yet I believe that Jesus Christ may come for the church this afternoon, or tomorrow, or the next day. I don’t know when, but I believe He could come today, because I believe in what is known as a pretribulation rapture of the church. Remember premillennial, before the millennium, before the 1000-year kingdom. Now we have the 7-year tribulation or the 70th week of Daniel. We believe that the Lord will come pretribulation, before that 7-year period. That does not mean we believe the church won’t have tribulation. Jesus said, in the world you have tribulation. Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. But that 7-year period is a unique time, like no other time. It is a time of God’s wrath. We’ll look at that in a little more detail.

We have to do a little bit of background before we look at the reasons for a pretrib rapture. First I just want to establish the fact of the rapture of the church. Some people say the word rapture is not used in the Bible, so why would you try to convince me of something the Bible doesn’t even refer to? That is correct, the Bible does not use the word rapture. Our English Bibles don’t have the word rapture. If you have a concordance, you look up rapture, not there. Well I guess then the Bible doesn’t teach a rapture.

Well the doctrine of the rapture, the fact of the rapture is clearly established. Turn over to I Thessalonians 4. We’re just going to look at several passages and establish the fact that there is a rapture. Now, then we have to look at what is the proper view of that rapture and when does it occur. But the fact of the rapture, if you believe the Bible, you have to believe in the rapture. You may not want to use that term. In I Thessalonians 4 Paul is talking about the event we call the rapture. Look at verse 16, we’ll look at the broader context in a little bit. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord.

Now the word rapture……….. When Jerome, 200 years after Christ, translated the Bible into Latin, He translated the Greek word that we have in our English Bibles, the version I’m using, verse 17, those who are alive and remain will be caught up. He used the Latin word that we’ve carried over into English as rapture. It means to be caught up, to be carried away. We still use it in a variety of contexts. We could say of two people in love, oh they’re enraptured with one another, I mean they’re just carried away with each other. It means to be caught up, to be carried away. So while it’s true the word rapture does not occur in our English Bible, the concept does. And what happens is the Latin word rapture was used and then it got carried over into the concept that the rapture means being caught up. If you don’t like the word rapture use harpazo. We carry it over into English, that’s the Greek word here. You say oh no, you’re right, I don’t believe in the rapture of the church either, I believe in the harpazo of the church. That’s what the Bible calls it—the harpazo. That’s the Greek word. What does it mean? To be caught up, to be carried away, raptured. You don’t want to use foreign words say I believe that the church will be caught up, and that’s in our English Bible, right there, caught up. So the fact that the word is not used is a non-issue. That word has become somewhat of a technical theological word to refer to the event when believers are caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

I want to look at just a few passages with you on the Greek word harpazo, translated caught up, you’ll get a flavor of it. Go to Acts 8. Philip had shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with the Ethiopian eunuch and showed him from Isaiah 53 that the Messiah had to come to earth and suffer and die to pay the penalty for sin and be raised in victory. The Ethiopian eunuch believed that message and Philip baptizes him. Then Acts 8:39 says, when they came up out of the water the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The verb translated snatched away is the word harpazo, same word translated caught up in I Thessalonians 4. Philip is caught up, carried away. The eunuch sees him no more, he’s just gone, and then Philip found himself at Azotus. Philip was on the road to Gaza, you’re familiar with that name these days, near the Mediterranean. And now he’s carried up to a city further north on the coast of the Mediterranean, Azotus. You see what happened, he’s caught up. The Spirit of God just carries him away to another place. The idea………….

Look in II Corinthians 12. The word here is used by the Apostle Paul to refer to his own experience. In II Corinthians 12:2 Paul talks about himself, I know a man in Christ, and he’s referring to himself here, writing about his own experience becomes clear, who 14 years ago, whether in the body I do not know or out of the body I do not know, God knows. In other words Paul says I don’t know whether this actually happened to me bodily, or it happened to me in a vision or a trance. Such a man was caught up to the third heaven. There’s our verb translated caught up in I Thessalonians 4. What happened? Paul says, either in spirit or bodily I was caught up, carried away to the third heaven. The first heaven is the atmospheric heavens, the second heaven is the stellar heavens, the third heaven is the abode of God. So I was caught up into paradise. Uses it again in verse 4, this man was caught up into paradise.

One more, turn to Revelation 12, interesting reference here. We looked in this passage in our study on Israel. Look at verse 5. Remember she, the woman, here referring to the nation Israel, gave birth to a son, a male who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, referring to His coming earthly kingdom. And her child was, there’s our verb, caught up to God and to His throne. Remember in Acts 1, the ascension of Christ, and as the disciples watched, Christ was caught up from earth and carried to heaven. Similar to what’s going to happen to us in that sense, caught up.

Come back to I Thessalonians 4. I just want you all to be clear that the concept here of being caught up to meet Christ in the air is clearly set forth in this passage. While we’re in I Thessalonians 4 let me just read the broader context with you, then when I refer back to this later you will at least have seen it. Verse 13, I do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep. The word asleep refers to the physical death of believers in Jesus Christ, not soul sleep. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The body without the soul is dead, the body without the spirit is dead, James 2:26. So when the spirit leaves the body, the person leaves the body, the body is physically dead. The body of the believer is temporarily inactive, it’s asleep, not be used, not functioning. I don’t want you to be upset about loved ones who have died, so that you will not grieve as those who have no hope. You’ll note, those who are not in Christ have no hope. They live in a world of death and death is all around and they experience the death of friends, of loved ones, of family members and they are without hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again—we’re talking about those who have their faith in Jesus Christ. This is ….not whether they attend church, this church or another church, or done their best. If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. So now we have Christ coming back. Jesus will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord that those who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede, go before, those who have fallen asleep. Now we’re going to make a distinction—two kinds of people, two groups of people who have their faith in Jesus Christ. Those who have physically died, they are physically dead when Christ returns on the occasion described here. Those people who have been absent from their body have been in glory with Christ, they return with Him. Now those who are alive on earth won’t go to meet Christ before the bodies of these loved ones are raised. You have the event laid out. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. So their bodies are going to come up out of the grave, wherever they’ve died, whatever has happened, wherever their ashes have been. Doesn’t matter, God calls them back. They will move back into those bodies, remember they as persons have been with Him, they are returning with Him now. Their body comes out of the grave and they move back into that body as a glorified body, not subject to death any longer.

Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them. So the bodies will have come up out of the graves, they will move back in, and then we who are alive when He returns will be caught up, snatched away, to join them with Christ in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. Friends and loved ones who have died as believers in Jesus Christ, it’s painful to be separated from them. But that’s all right, there’s a reunion coming. That’s Paul’s message here. The rapture of the church, that time we’re going to be caught up and meet Christ in the air, all of us together. And we’ll always be with the Lord, all separation will be over for all eternity. This is the event we call the rapture, the catching up of the church. It’s referred to in a number of passages and a number of good books and booklets in our bookstore on the rapture. You can go down there and pick up those and they can give you a more complete list.

Let me just look at a few passages with you on the rapture. I Corinthians 15:50. You’ll see the similarity of the event, we’re talking about the same event, the rapture of the church. Verse 50. I thought about waiting to talk about the rapture until we get here, but then I thought the rapture may come at the rate we’re going, before we get here in Corinthians. So we’ll jump ahead and do it again when we get there, if the Lord hasn’t come. Verse 50, now I say this brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Now I want you to note something. This only applies to the church. We probably won’t get to it this morning, but the fact of the matter is, there are going to be people who go into the kingdom in their physical body, bodies subject to death and to perishing. But the church cannot go into the kingdom in physical bodies. He’s writing here to the church about the church to encourage and challenge the church. So no one who is a part of the church, and I’m talking about the true church, through faith in Jesus Christ alone as their Savior, will go into the kingdom in their normal physical body. Every church age believer is going to get a glorified body. That is very important, keep that in mind. Behold I tell you a mystery, here is something that has not been unfolded before. A mystery, remember, in the New Testament is new revelation from God. So you could read all through the Old Testament, read all through the gospels and the clarity of this truth has not been told. I tell you a mystery, we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. In other words we’re not all going to die, but we’re all going to get a transformation of our bodies. In a moment, an atom, the smallest particle of time, in the twinkling of an eye, quicker than you can bat your eye, at the last trumpet. The trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. Note the order is the same as we read in I Thessalonians 4—the dead in Christ rise first and then we who are alive will be changed. This perishable must put on the imperishable, this mortal must put on immortality. That will be the final victory over death. That is the victory that comes through our Lord Jesus Christ, according to verse 57. So the picture is the same, a time when believers in Jesus Christ, those who have died and those who are alive when this event occurs are all together transformed, glorified, their bodies are changed to suit them for the glory of heaven and eternal life.

Turn over to Philippians 3. As I mentioned there are many passages that refer to the rapture, I’ve just selected 4. Verse 20, again writing to believers in the church at Philippi. For our citizenship, Philippians 3:20, is in heaven. In other words, we as believers in Jesus Christ are citizens of heaven. That should drastically affect the way we live. If I go to visit a foreign country, I’m there for a few weeks or whatever, I’m a visitor. My citizenship is not there, I don’t spend a lot of money to buy a piece of land, because I’m leaving in two weeks. Oh that’s a good buy, I’ll buy that house, but wait I’m leaving in a couple weeks. What do I do with that? I won’t be here. Not saying you can’t buy houses or have land here, but we ought to realize this world is not our home, we’re just passing through. We live as strangers and pilgrims, Hebrews 11 says we are to live. Our citizenship is in heaven from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. You note the focal point of the church is on the coming of the Savior. Who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has to subject all things to Himself. It will take divine power to bring about the transformation that is going to change these bodies. And they’ll be brought into conformity to be like the body Jesus had after His resurrection from the dead, and incorruptible body, a body without the limitations that this body has. But the same physical body that has been glorified. So you’ll note, the transformation of this body we’re eagerly awaiting our Lord Jesus Christ. That would be His coming in the air as I Thessalonians 4 said, because that’s when He will call us to meet Him in the air and transform these bodies to conform to His glorious resurrected body.

And back to John 14. Jesus is at the last night with His disciples before the crucifixion. His public ministry is closed in John 12. Chapter 13 you have the last supper. Now you have the instructions He gives, this is to His disciples after that meal. At the end of this evening He will be betrayed in John 18, and crucified. And He says to them in John 14:1, do not let your heart be troubled, believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many dwelling places. If it were not so I would have told you, for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am there you may be also. This is new truth. The disciples have been proclaiming the kingdom, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. That was the kingdom they were looking to be established on earth. The disciples still don’t understand what He is teaching them here. When you get to Acts 1, what do the ask Christ? Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Are you going to establish the kingdom on earth now? And here Jesus tells them something now. I’m going to go to my Father in heaven. There are many dwelling places there, I’m going to prepare a special place for you. And then when that place is ready, I’m going to come and get you to take you to be with Myself, that where I am there you may be also. Note, He doesn’t promise them, I’m going to take you into the kingdom, I’m going to take you to heaven. Now people that don’t interpret the Bible literally say, well heaven is the kingdom and that’s where they’re going. All of a sudden everything that the Bible has said about the future kingdom, they just wipe it out. You can’t do that, you have to be careful with scripture and handle it properly. Something unique is going to take place that pertains to the church, and we’ll see that in a moment when we move a little further along. You’ll note the promise here, I’m preparing a place with my Father, where I’m going, for you. And when I come and get you I’ll take you to that place I have prepared for you. I take it, it will be the new Jerusalem, which is the dwelling place of glorified saints for eternity. Even in the kingdom that will be our dwelling place, He talks about that on other occasions. We see that in Revelation 21, where we see the New Jerusalem coming out of heave, adorned as a bride for her husband. That will be the dwelling place that we have in eternity and throughout the eternal kingdom.

All right, those are passages on the rapture, there are others, you can search them out. But the fact of the rapture is clearly there, coming a time when believers in Jesus Christ are going to have their dead bodies raised and glorified, and those who are alive at that event will have their living bodies transformed, glorified. And then they will be taken to heaven to the place that Christ has prepared for them.

The rapture and the Second Coming, second point I want you to note, they are different events. Some people get confused because they equate the rapture of the church with the Second Coming of Christ to earth to establish the kingdom. And we’ll give reasons why that can’t be, but I just want you to note at this point that they are separate, distinct events.

Look in Matthew 13, there are a lot of passages on the Second Coming. Matthew 24 is a major one, but we may go there for something else, another point, so we’ll leave it sit. But Matthew 13. Remember, when Christ comes for the church at the rapture, He comes in the air and calls believers to meet Him in the air. And at that time gives them a glorified body and then takes them to heaven to the place He has prepared for them. At His Second Coming to earth He destroys all unbelievers and takes the believers on earth into the kingdom on earth. Matthew 13, we’ll pick up with verse 41. We’re in the context of Jesus explaining some parables, they are parables about the kingdom. And in connection with His coming to earth in verse 41, the Son of Man will send forth His angels. They will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness, will throw them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. So you see at the Second Coming to earth all the unbelievers are destroyed and cast into the furnace of fire, and the believers on earth go into the kingdom.

Jump down to verse 47, talks about the kingdom of heaven is like…….. The kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God refer to the kingdom promised and prophesied in the Old Testament. It will take place on the earth, Jerusalem is the capital, Christ rules and reigns, and all the descriptions we’ve looked at when we’ve looked at that kingdom. So verse 49, so it will be at the end of the age, the angel will come forth and take the wicked out from among the righteous and will throw them into the furnace of fire. So what happens when Christ comes to earth is all the wicked are destroyed and then believers who are left alive can go into the kingdom. The judgments are set forth. For example, the judgment of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25, where the sheep are separated from the goats, and the goats are sentenced to hell for eternity. And then He says to the sheep, enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the earth.

Turn to Revelation 19. If you get one of the booklets or books on the rapture in our bookstore, a number of them will list for you side-by-side all the references to the rapture in the New Testament, and then all the references in the Bible to the Second Coming to earth. And they will lay out some of the differences, so we’re just giving you some highlights. Revelation 19 is the unfolding of the Second Coming of Christ to earth. And you’ll note verse 11, I saw heaven opened and behold a white horse and He who sat upon it is called faithful and true. In righteousness He judges and wages war. Verse 14, the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen white and clean are following Him. From His mouth comes a sharp sword so with it He may strike down the nations. He’ll rule them with a rod of iron, He treads the winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. He’s the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and then there is the mass great destruction of all His enemies in verses 17-19. And then the beast and the false prophet are destroyed and cast into hell in verse 20.

So at the rapture Christ returns in the air, calls believers to meet Him in the air and their bodies are glorified, and then they are taken to heaven to the place where His father dwells, where Christ has prepared a place for them. At the Second Coming Christ returns to the earth. All the unbelievers are destroyed, and all the believers are taken into the kingdom. They are two different events, and we’ll talk about, can they be blended together. I do not think they take place at the same time, I think they are separated by 7 years. So I want to just look at some of the biblical evidences that point to the fact that the rapture of the church will occur before the 7-year tribulation. So it occurs at least 7 years before the return of Christ to the earth.

I’m just going to give you some reasons that I pulled together. Every book on the rapture will give you a list of reasons. If you want the most complete list, get John Walvoord’s book, The Rapture Question. He wrote that I think originally back in about 1959 and then revised it and reprinted it in about 1979, and it still is in print, we have it in Sound Words. It’s a good book. But start in the back, where you always start, right? The end, and then you know how it ends and then you can read……….. But at the end of that book appendix, he has given 50 evidences for a pre-trib rapture. So I’m going to give you maybe 7. But if you want the list of lists, go to Walvoord, he’ll give you 50. They are of way different weightiness, but at least it gives you some idea. These 7 I do, I’m sure they are in his list as well.

1. The first reason I believe that Christ will return before the 7-year tribulation which is the 70th week of Daniel is the focus of the 70 weeks of Daniel. Turn to Daniel 9, some of you are studying or going to study the book of Daniel, I know. Let me just touch on a couple things in Daniel 9. The book of Ezekiel, then you come to the book of Daniel—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel. Daniel 9:24. The first reason why Christ will return before the 7-year tribulation, a variety of terms, you can look and see all the list of ways that that 7-year period is identified in the scripture, is Daniel 9:24. The angel Gabriel has been sent to Daniel to give him information on God’s plan for Israel. So verse 24 says, 70 weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, literally 70 sevens. The weeks here are weeks of years, not weeks of days. Seventy sevens, 70 7-year periods, a total of 490 years is what we are talking about. That’s true from the immediate context and other places in scripture as we’ve looked at on other occasions.

Now note, these 70 sevens have been decreed by God for your people. Who are Daniel’s people? Well read chapter 1, Daniel is a Jew. He wouldn’t even eat the food of the king of Babylon, because it violated Jewish law. The people of Daniel are the Jews. And your holy city. Is there anyone who doesn’t know the holy city, the Jews’ holy city? Your people, your holy city. Jerusalem wasn’t the holy city for the Babylonians, but it was for the Jews. These 490 years, 70 times 7 years are decreed for the Jews and Jerusalem. Now they are broken down into different divisions. We don’t need to know it all, but look at verse 25, you are to know and discern from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there’ll be 7 weeks and 62 weeks. That’s a total of 69. There’ll be 7 weeks and then 62 weeks. What will that bring you to? Messiah the Prince. So when you have the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, which is found in Nehemiah 2, and you can go to the encyclopedia Britannica and get the date, it’s I think 444 or 445 B.C., somewhere in there. You go from there until Messiah the Prince would be 483 years. And we have books and booklets in the bookstore on the 70 weeks of Daniel, and they’ll lay it out. You take leap years into account and everything and you come up to about the time, the day of the Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem, Palm Sunday. Shortly thereafter, that same week, He will be crucified. And what does it say? Verse 26, after the 62 weeks, which, remember, were after the 7 weeks, Messiah will be cut off. The first 7-week period which would be 49 years, 7 times 7 years, probably encompasses the time that the temple under Zerubbabel was constructed. Then you have 62 more weeks, 62 times 7, you come to a total of 483 years. Note, it says after the 62 weeks, which were after the 7, so after a total of 69 weeks Messiah will be cut off. It doesn’t say in the 70th week Messiah will be cut off, but after the conclusion. And the 69 weeks, 483 years conclude on Palm Sunday, several days later Jesus Christ is cut off, has nothing, crucified.

The people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city. Who are the people who destroyed the city, the sanctuary? Everybody knows 70 A.D., the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem and so on under Titus, Roman general. Now the people of the prince who is to come, there is someone who will come after the Romans who destroy the city and the temple. But he will be a Roman, too. So we find the European community significant in light of Daniel’s prophecy. The coming western world ruler, the man we call the antichrist, will be a Roman, because he is of the same nationality as the people who destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Nobody has any doubt, that was a Roman. So the people of the prince who is to come, the Roman people, the same people as the Roman prince who is to come.

And then you’ll note verse 27, this Roman prince will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, one 7-year period. So you have a break after the 69th week of Daniel, the first coming of Christ and His suffering and death. Now God’s program for Israel is on hold, if you will. Push the pause button. You’ll note verse 27, the antichrist will sign a covenant with the many, referring to the Jews; this is for, you remember, your people, your holy city, for one week—one 7-year period. So as is true in Old Testament prophecy, the first coming of Christ and the events surrounding the Second Coming, which includes the 7 years leading up to the return of Christ, are sandwiched together. Remember I Peter 1? Peter said the Old Testament prophets searched and studied, trying to figure out how they could prophesy about a Messiah who would rule and reign in glory and a Messiah who would suffer and die. They wrote about the same thing, the same Messiah is going to come to earth and He’s going to rule and reign in glory, and oh yes, He’s going to suffer and die. How can Isaiah write about His suffering and death in Isaiah 53 and write about His reigning in glory in so many passages? Because now we know there is a period of about 2,000 years between the first coming of Christ and the Second Coming of Christ.

So here you have between the 69th week of Daniel and the 70th week of Daniel, there is a period of about 2,000 years, that’s about the period of time we’ve had so far. We’ll resume the 70-week period of God’s program with Israel after, I take it, the rapture of the church, when the antichrist signs this. Why will it be after? Well note what’s going to happen. Why would the 70th week come after the rapture? Note what’s going to happen in that 70 weeks in verse 24. Six things are going to be accomplished—it will finish the transgression, make an end to sin, make an atonement for iniquity, bring in everlasting righteousness, seal up vision and prophecy, and anoint the most holy place. All for Israel and Jerusalem. So when you get there, you’re ready to go into the kingdom. Sin has been dealt with for the nation, righteousness is brought in and prophecy is brought to completion.

Now when did the church begin? Acts 2. When did Christ die? Well according to what we read here, after the 69th week. So the church did not begin until the 69th week is over. So God has put His program with Israel, if you will, on hold. But don’t push this terminology along, put it on pause. He will not resume that program with Israel until the antichrist signs His covenant that marks the beginning of that last 7-year period. Now this period of time in which we live, the church age, began after the 69th week. I take it, then, it is consistent, it will be removed before the beginning of the 70th week, because all 70 weeks have to do with Israel, not the church. That’s just an inference, but it builds.

Turn to Romans 11. In Romans 11 Paul is writing about God’s program for Israel, and the fact that Gentiles have been placed into the center of God’s grace and work of salvation in these days. Look at verse 25, for I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery. Here is a mystery, remember, something that’s not revealed in the Old Testament. Daniel skipped over it, Gabriel didn’t reveal this material to Daniel, this is new material. That a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in and so all Israel will be saved. The Deliverer will come from Zion and so on. So we’re told here that we live in a time of partial hardening of Israel, it’s the time of the fullness of the Gentiles.

Back again in Acts 2 Jews were initially converted, but what has happened over the 2,000 years of the church’s existence? It’s primarily a time of Gentile salvation. Now it’s not a complete hardening of Israel, there are Jews who have been saved. There are Jewish believers in Jesus Christ today. But by and large the church is a Gentile entity. We are representative. If I ask for a show of hands there may be relatively few Jews who are believers as part of our church, but there is a partial hardening of Israel. This is the time of the fullness of the Gentiles. When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then Israel will experience their salvation. So there is an order. During this time of the fullness of the Gentiles, God is dealing with Gentiles. When that period of time is complete, has come in, it’s done, then we complete the program with Israel. We have 7 years to go. The time of God’s wrath and judgment on the earth is also the time of God’s bringing the nation Israel to its knees. During that 7-year period, two-thirds of the Jews are going to die, but one-third………. Now think about the numbers, think about what’s going on, think about the vast numbers. I hear them saying 40-some Jews have died in the present conflict. I don’t have the number for the millions of Jews today, but two-thirds are going to die. One-third will come through, Zechariah says, and be saved. So then all the surviving Jews there, all Israel will be saved.

So consistent, the church fits between the 69th and 70th week. It’s not part of the first 69 weeks, it’s not part of the last week—that all has to do with Jews. You can’t put them together, you don’t want to put them together. When God is dealing with the nation Israel as the focus of His salvation work on earth, then He is dealing with Jews. When He’s dealing with the church, then the Jews aren’t the focal point. So again, this is consistent with that pattern. You leave the church in the 70th week of Daniel, what are they doing there? They’re not the ones God is dealing with, He’s dealing with the nation Israel now. So consistent at least, it fits the pattern. It’s not the only reason, but it is consistent. So I think the whole focus of the 70 weeks of Daniel, you put that together as a unit as Daniel does, you understand the church is not part of the 70 weeks of Daniel. It starts after the 69th week, and it will be removed before the last 7 years come about.

2. Let me mention one more point, then we’ll stop here. The second reason for a pre-trib rapture is the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the church. Come back to John 14. We read the first 3 verses that have to do with the rapture of the church, because that’s when Christ will come and bring believers to meet Him, and He’ll take them to the Father’s house where He has prepared a place for them, not into the kingdom on earth. And John 14-16, Jesus gives new information regarding the Holy Spirit in His ministry in their lives. Look in John 14:16, I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper that He may be with you forever, that is the Spirit of truth. Now Jesus is going to speak of the giving of the Holy Spirit as though He hadn’t been here, but He has been here. Because the end of verse 17 says, you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. So when He says, I’m going to give you the Holy Spirit, or I’m going to send the Holy Spirit, I’m going to send Him to have a unique and special ministry in and through you that He has not had before. But it doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit hasn’t been present on earth. He has been, He’s been with you, but He will be in you. I’ll give you this other comforter from the Father.

Jump down to John 15:26, when the Helper comes, the paraclete, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me and you testify also. So you see, I’ll send the Spirit. Well the Spirit has been present with you, what do you mean you’ll send Him? The Spirit ahs been present on earth from the beginning, go back to Genesis 1—in the beginning God created ….but He’s going to be sent from heaven with a unique and special ministry in and through the followers of Christ as a result of His work on the cross and subsequent resurrection.

Look down in John 16:7, but I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away the Helper will not come to you. But if I go I will send Him to you, and He, when He comes………. Now note, I will send Him to you who are believers in Me, represented here by these initial disciples. But then we see what happens in the unfolding of the book of Acts and so on, the Holy Spirit comes to take up residence. Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 8 and says if the Spirit of Christ doesn’t dwell in you, you don’t belong to Him. So He is descending here, it’s not going to just be for these initial disciples, but then for all who will believe in Him. So I will send Him to you, and He, when He comes, will convict the world. How is He going to convict the world? Through you. Remember Corinthians? Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. What’s He doing there? Molding and shaping our lives and then through us bearing testimony, convicting the world concerning sin, righteousness and judgment. Now this special, unique ministry of the Holy Spirit does not begin until Acts 2, the establishing of the church. In Acts 1 Jesus told His followers to remain in Jerusalem and you’ll receive power, after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you, in fulfillment of what He told them in these verses.

Now turn over to II Thessalonians 2, and Paul here is talking about the day of the Lord, we’ll get into this passage tonight in more detail. He’s talking about the day of the Lord at the end of verse 2, this coming 70th week of Daniel, the coming time when the man of lawlessness, the antichrist, the little horn, various titles for him, will rule. And down in verse 6, and you know what restrains him now so that in his time he will be revealed. These are things Paul taught them before, verse 5 says—I taught you these things when I was with you. The one restraining the man of lawlessness, restrains him, and He will so that at the proper time he is revealed. In other words, for the last 2,000 years the Holy Spirit’s ministry through the church has been exercising a restraining influence on lawlessness and been restraining the unfolding of God’s plan so that it happens on schedule. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. Then the lawless one will be revealed. I take it the one restraining evil in the world, the one restraining satan, who is the power behind this lawless one, has to be the Holy Spirit. And this is consistent with what Jesus said—He would send the Holy Spirit to have a unique ministry in and through believers in the world. I’ll send Him to you and He will convict the world, it says in John 16. And part of that work in His convicting the world is to be restraining evil and holding it back. Why didn’t Israel move back into the land in 1610, and events unfold? ??????????? wasn’t God’s time to unveil this man. Everything happens on God’s time schedule.

We say, what it going on? Why don’t they resolve something? Why don’t they do something? Everything down to the last second is on God’s schedule, God’s timetable. And the Holy Spirit is here restraining. But when He is taken out of the way then, and we’ll look into this tonight, there is the unfolding the man of lawlessness. He can step up and sign the covenant with Israel and it will mark the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel. He can be revealed. Verse 8, then the lawless one will be revealed. The lawless one is the prince that will come in Daniel 9. He will sign the covenant with the many for one week. And we have unfolded here the things that Jesus said will happen in the 7-year tribulation in Matthew 24. They’re unfolded in the book of Revelation.

That would indicate, then, with the removal of the church at the rapture, you have the removal of the Holy Spirit in that special restraining ministry. And what? Putting God’s program with Israel on pause, if you will. Holding back the devil and his hatred of the nation for that time so that these 7 years occur at the time appointed by God so that Israel will be ready to receive her Messiah at the end of that 7-year period. And the kingdom can be established. It would seem to me that that connection with the coming of the Spirit and the departing of the Spirit in II Thessalonians 2 requires a pre-tribulation rapture. And we’re going to look more into II Thessalonians this evening.

We have to stop here. I find it hard to stop in the middle of something, but I trust that you consider carefully and seriously this whole matter of the rapture of the church. This is the most important event in all of prophecy for us as the church. This affects us, where we’re going. Only believers in Jesus Christ will go at the rapture, we’ll look at that tonight. It could happen at any moment. I believe the rapture of the church could occur today, I believe in the imminent return of Christ. And in light of world events I’m surprised it hasn’t happened already. I don’t know whether it will happen today, I don’t know that it will happen very soon. But I don’t want to be blind to what is going on and I want to have my attention focused on the fact He’s coming. Now understand when He comes He’ll only be taking those who have believed in Jesus Christ and those who do not go then will be left and go into the judgment to experience the wrath of God an ultimately experience the judgement of hell.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, that the one who came to this earth 2,000 years ago to suffer and die was your Son. He is the Savior of the world. In Him and in Him alone there is salvation for each one and everyone who will place their faith in Him. Lord, we’re excited about the possibility of the rapture. We are in awe to consider that Jesus Christ might come this afternoon, that He might catch us away to meet Him in the air, to experience the miracle of glorification, then usher us into the presence of your glory, to take us to the place that He has prepared for us. How tragic that we should live our lives absorbed with this world. How tragic that we should be caught up in the things that will not matter tomorrow if Jesus comes today. Lord, sharpen our focus, tighten our excitement. May we eagerly look for the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the one in whose name we pray. Amen.