Events of the 'Last Day'

When is the "last day"? What happens on this day? Does the Bible give us any information with regard to it? It sure does! Let us begin by first looking at several passages that speak of the "last day." Then we will move into some other information to help round out our study on the "last day."

WHEN IS THE "LAST DAY"?:
“All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him, may have eternal life; and I Myself will raise him up on the last day. … No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. … He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:37-40, 44, 54).

Whenever the “last day” is, four times in this passage Jesus states that He will raise the righteous to life on that day. Could this be the day in which the "Rapture" takes place? We will soon find out. In John 11:24, Martha acknowledges that Lazarus would be raised up on the “last day.” So we definitely know that there is a resurrection that takes place at this point in time.

John 12:44-50 says, “And Jesus cried out and said, ‘He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me. And he who beholds Me beholds the One who sent Me. I have come as light into the world, that everyone who believes in Me may not remain in darkness. And if anyone hears My sayings, and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life; therefore the things I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.’” According to this passage, judgment also takes place on the “last day.” Resurrection unto eternal life for the righteous, and condemning judgment for the wicked. The “last day” also seems to include blessings and curses. Sounds an awful lot like Matthew 25:31-46:

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ … Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.’”

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE HEAVENS:
Job 14:12 says that man will be resurrected when “the heavens be no more.” Jesus said “Heaven and earth will pass away…but of that day…no one knows…but the Father alone” (Matt. 24:25-26, emphasis supplied). In 2 Peter 3:10-12, Peter states that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up” (emphasis supplied). This is exciting, brothers and sisters. We learned above that the resurrection takes place on the “last day,” but we were not sure when that day was. Here, we are told that man will be resurrected when the heavens and Earth pass away. Further, we are told that “the day of the Lord” brings the passing of the heavens and Earth. Are you starting to see the picture clearly? I am!

CONCLUSION:
The day of the Lord is a singular event referred to as “that day” and the “last day.” The day of the Lord is that day wherein Jesus Christ returns like a thief (Matt. 24:37-44; Luke 12:36-40; 1 Thess. 5:1-4; 2 Pet. 3:10-12; Rev. 16:15), both the righteous and wicked dead are raised (Job 14:12; Dan. 12:2; John 5:28-29; 6:38-40, 44-45, 54; 11:24; Acts 24:15; 1 Cor. 15:22-24), all men and nations are judged (Matt. 25:31-46; John 12:44-50), receiving blessings (Isa. 4:2-6; 30:26; Hos. 2:18-23; Joel 3:9-21; Amos 9:11-15; Mic. 4:6-8; Zeph. 2:7; Zech. 14:6-9; 2 Tim. 1:12, 16-18; 4:7-8) or curses (Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:18-20; Zech. 1:14-15; Matt. 7:21-23; 24:35-39; Luke 10:8-12; 2 Thess. 1:9-10; John 12:44-50), and the heavens and Earth are destroyed (Job 14:12; Matt. 24:25-26; 2 Pet. 3:10-12).

Was the Kingdom Postponed?

Was Jesus a failure? According to Dispensationalists, He was. They claim that because the Jews rejected Him He had to postpone the kingdom until a later date. But is this what Scripture teaches us?

At the beginning of Jesus' ministry, He announced, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15). What time is He referring to? For the good student of the Word the answer is simple. Daniel had predicted four empires: Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Then, "in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom" (Dan. 2:44). In the days of which kings? In the days of the Roman kings. Jesus later said, "There are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of god after it has come with power" (Mark 9:1). When the Pharisees asked Jesus about this kingdom, He stated clearly to them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed" and "behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst" (Luke 17:20-21). He said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).

John MacArthur deliberately makes a big deal out of the use of the word "immediately" in Matthew 24:29, but he fails to make a big deal out of the words spoken in Mark 9:1 and Matthew 24:34 (among others). If these things are yet future, as Dispensationalists teach, then there must be a group of first century individuals still walking around today waiting for the fulfillment thereof. MacArthur makes a big deal out of the word "immediately" because it lends to his preferred beliefs. Every other passage that is clear on what it says, such as the two listed above, he will deliberately try to obscure or overlook entirely. This is poor treatment of the Scriptures, despite his claim to expositorily teach the Bible verse by verse.

Clearly, God's kingdom was set up during the first century, and it was not set up the way that Pharisees and Dispensationalists were thinking. It was a spiritual kingdom--not a physical kingdom. Daniel pretty much put the nail in the coffin on that issue when he said, "a kingdom which will never be destroyed" (Dan. 2:44). A physical kingdom can be destroyed, and that is precisely what Pre-Millennialism does by claiming a future millennium wherein those redeemed by God rebel against Him once more. Such teachings find no place in Scripture, let alone any support. Dispensationalists would do well to read and study their Bibles very carefully, rather than chewing on previously regurgitated nonsense that they've been spoon-fed to believe from their favourite ear-tickling false teachers.

If Jesus' plan was to set up an earthly kingdom like David's, He would have had armies of mighty men helping to make it a reality. But He clearly told Pilate, "If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, my kingdom is not of this realm" (John 18:36). Clearly, it was from the spiritual realm. Paul tells the Colossians that God has "transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son" (Col. 1:13). This kingdom was set up during the first century and we are part of that kingdom today.

Matthew 24

Jesus' Eschatological Warnings To His Followers

1. Jesus' description of what would happen to "these things"—the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. along with the destruction of the Jewish nation, which it implies (Matthew 24:1-2).
2. The disciples' questions to Jesus with regard to "when will these things (the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. along with the Jewish nation) happen" and "what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age" (Matthew 24:3).
3. Jesus' response to the disciples (Matthew 24:4-51), which actually continues through chapter 25 with warnings through parables of how we ought to live in light of the fact that we do not know when the "end of the age" will be.
1. Jesus' answer to their second question—"what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?"—consisting of a description of the trials, tribulations, and deceptions from the present time (the First Advent) to the "end of the age" marked by Jesus' return (the Second Advent) (Matthew 24:4-31). The trials, tribulations, and deceptions are all a sign of Jesus' eventual return, for Jesus must return to right these wrongs and injustices and to clean up what is rightfully His. In addition, they are a sign because events actually come to pass as Jesus prophesied, proving that He should be trusted when he says He will return.
1. Jesus' description of the trials, tribulations, and deceptions—along with the spread of the gospel—from the present time (the First Advent) to the end of the age (the Second Advent), and His warnings to His people in light of the dangers of false Christs and false prophets (Matthew 24:4-14).
2. Jesus' parenthetical description of the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. and the pronounced tribulations which will accompany it (Matthew 24:15-22). This would suggest that even the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. should be regarded as a sign to Jesus' people that He will eventually return and render justice, just as judgment was herein rendered upon the Jewish nation that had rejected Him. It may also serve as a pre-figurement of Satan's "last stand" around the beloved city described in Revelation 20:9.
3. Jesus' warnings resumed with regard to deceivers and false Christs and false prophets that will arise from the time of the First Advent up until the time of Jesus' Second Advent (Matthew 24:23-28). Jesus' description of His actual coming and of the end of the age (Matthew 29-31). The end of the age is marked by Jesus' literal return. The form of the disciples' question implies they understood the end to be marked by Jesus' coming, and Jesus confirms by His response that the end of the age will be marked by His coming.
2. Jesus' answer to their first question—"when will these things happen?" (the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D.) (Matthew 24:32-35). "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away." By this expression Jesus confirms the truth of what he had said, showing that the truth of what he said will not fail.
3. Jesus' clarification that we should not confound "that day" (i.e., the end of the age marked by Jesus' coming) with the "these things" referred to in verse 34 (see 2 Thess. 2:2). We can know that these things (the destruction of the Temple) shall be in the Apostle's generation, but of "that day" (the end of the age marked by Jesus' coming) no man knows when it shall be, so men must always be ready and live in preparation for it (Matthew 24:36-51). Verses 34 through 41 are clear as to what Jesus' coming will be like. It will not be like the days of Enoch or the days of Elijah, but like the days of Noah and the days of Lot (Luke 17:28-30).

Jacob's Trouble

We mentioned the fact that “the time of Jacob’s distress” (Jer. 30:7) refers to the 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Dispensationalists claim Jacob’s Trouble is the 7-year Great Tribulation. Note the vast difference here: 7 years versus 70 years. So, brothers and sisters, let us look at the evidence provided by Scripture. “‘And this whole land shall be a desolation and a horror, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. Then it will be when seventy years are completed I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the LORD, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and I will make it an everlasting desolation’” (Jer. 25:11-12, emphasis supplied). Which land is Jeremiah referring to here? That is right; Israel. “For thus says the LORD, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place’” (Jer. 29:10, emphasis supplied). Which place will they be brought back to? That is right; Israel.

“For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be long; build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their produce’” (Jer. 29:28, emphasis supplied). What is the setting of this verse? For those who are honest and do not feel a compelling need to twist the words of Scripture, the setting here has to do with the Babylonian captivity. “Send to all the exiles, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD concerning Shemaiah the Nehelamite, “Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, although I did not send him, and he has made you trust in a lie”’” (Jer. 29:31, emphasis supplied). With this verse, there is no denying that it, as well as verse 28, refers to the Babylonian captivity. Are we to believe that between this verse and the first seven verses of chapter 30 there exists a substantial gap in time? I do not be thinking so.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,” Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Write all the words which I have spoken to you in a book. For, behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will restore the [captivity] of My people Israel and Judah.’ The LORD says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers, and they shall possess it.’” Now these are the words which the LORD spoke concerning Israel and concerning Judah, “For thus says the LORD, ‘I have heard a sound of terror, of dread, and there is no peace. Ask now, and see, if a male can give birth. Why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in childbirth? And why have all faces turned pale? Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob's distress, But he will be saved from it. And it shall come about on that day,’ declares the LORD of hosts, ‘that I will break his yoke from off their neck, and will tear off their bonds; and strangers shall no longer make them their slaves. But they shall serve the LORD their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up for them’”

(Jeremiah 30:1-9, emphasis supplied.)

The word “behold” means “to pay attention.” My Dispensationalist friend, you would do well to do precisely that. Notice very carefully that verse 3 says He will restore the captivity of His people and bring them back to the land. They are in captivity. The setting has not changed. Notice verse 8. Whose yoke shall He break from off their necks? Nebuchadnezzar’s: “‘And it will be, that the nation or the kingdom which will not serve him, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, I will punish that nation with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence,’ declares the LORD, ‘until I have destroyed it by his hand’” (Jer. 27:8, emphasis supplied). Notice also what verse 10 of chapter 30 says, “‘And fear not, O Jacob My servant,’ declares the LORD, ‘And do not be dismayed, O Israel; For behold, I will save you from afar, And your offspring from the land of their captivity. And Jacob shall return, and shall be quiet and at ease, And no one shall make him afraid’” (emphasis supplied). The time of Jacob’s Trouble is the 70 years of Babylonian captivity—not this imaginary 7-year “Great Tribulation” the Dispensationalists have dreamed up. “The time of Jacob’s Trouble” is not something in the future; it is something already fulfilled. It was speaking of the Babylonian captivity.

The 'Great' Tribulation, Part 2

Continued from last...

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” … And one of the elders answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?” And I said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

(Revelation 7:9-10, 13-14, emphasis supplied)

The NASB adds “the” before “great tribulation,” which is unwarranted by a literal rendering of the text: “These are those coming out of great affliction/tribulation”. In this passage, you will notice that it is not dealing with the unbelieving Jews, but with believers “from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues” (7:9). Dispensationalists attempt to unite this passage and Matthew 24, but the two are contradictory rather than complimentary. In Matthew 24, unbelieving Jews who did not heed Jesus’ words suffered tribulation. In this passage, those who believed in Jesus Christ and had their sins cleansed in the blood of the Lamb suffer tribulation.

The question must be asked, “Which tribulation?” Dispensationalists will tell you that this is the “Great Tribulation” of Matthew 24, but this is unwarranted and without support. In order to answer our question, we need to work backwards. Since chapter 7 contains nothing in regard to tribulation, we need to go back to chapter 6 and see if we cannot find anything that indicates tribulation. Concerning the sixth seal, we can see that there is definitely some sort of tribulation taking place, but there is no indication of repentance and faith in regard to salvation. Concerning the fifth seal, we read of “those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained” (6:9), which cannot be denied as evidence in regard to tribulation. In 6:11 we are told “there was given to each of them a white robe,” which accords to what we read in 7:13-14: “These who are clothed in the white robes… are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

The classical historic interpretation saw the fulfillment of the fifth seal in the persecution of the early church by the Roman Empire, which concluded with Diocletian’s attempt to blot out Christianity between 303 and 311 A.D. Philip Schaff writes, “All former persecutions of the faith were forgotten in the horror with which men looked back upon the last and greatest [Diocletian’s] ... Christian churches were to be destroyed; all copies of the Bible were to be burned; all Christians were to be deprived of public office and civil rights; and at last all, without exception, were to sacrifice to the gods upon pain of death. ... All the pains, which iron and steel, fire and sword, rack and cross, wild beasts and beastly men could inflict, were employed.”¹ However, I see this not only as a fulfillment of the persecution and tribulation the early church received, but also that which the church in general receives during this current age until the return of our blessed Saviour. If we examine the rest of the world around us, persecution and tribulation are occurring almost as severely as back then.

These passages teach a clearly different picture of “great tribulation” from that of Matthew 24; one that is focused on the persecution of the saints rather than the destruction of Jerusalem. Whether or not you accept this as a fulfillment of this passage, the fact remains that it is contrasted against the “great tribulation” of Matthew 24. The two are completely unrelated, other than the fact they share the same terminology. Uniting them together as one in order to try and teach a doctrine is committing “collapsing context.” Context must always be our guide, brothers and sisters. Pay careful attention to what Scripture wants to reveal to you in its details.

“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this: ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. And I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds. But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them--I place no other burden on you. Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come. And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, To him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received [authority] from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

(Revelation 2:18-29, emphasis supplied)

In this third passage that speaks of “great tribulation,” you will notice that it is spoken as a warning of punishment against those who follow the woman symbolically referred to as “Jezebel” if they will not repent. We are not told whether they repented or not, and there appears to be no historical record as to whether this “great tribulation” took place or not. If it took place, it most likely occurred in the late first century or early second century, just as the fulfillment of Revelation 3:7-13 did under the rule of Trajan. It is clear by the context that it is not associated with either that “great tribulation” of Matthew 24 or that “great tribulation” of Revelation 7.

Apart from all of this, in John 16:33, Jesus said, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” In Acts 14:22, Paul said, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” In 1 Thessalonians 1:6, he tells them they had “received the word in much tribulation,” and in 1 Thessalonians 3:3-7 that they would suffer tribulation for the faith. In 2 Thessalonians 1:4-5, he writes to encourage them in the “persecutions and [tribulations]” they were suffering for the kingdom. There are several other passages that speak of the tribulation that believers should endure for the sake of Christ. There is no shortage of these persecutions and tribulations for believers; they were occurring back then and they continue to occur today. In North America, we are largely ignorant of these persecutions which are happening the world round, but ours is coming. Jesus promised us that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

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¹ Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, 2:64-68.

The 'Great' Tribulation, Part 1

As you can see from the evidence in the last post, there is no gap in Daniel’s 70 Weeks. All of them are accounted for, which means that there is no such thing as the 7 years of peril called “The Great Tribulation.” The term occurs thrice in the New Testament and not one of those times is it a proper name. Not one of those times is it preceded by “the.” It is a description. Matthew 24:21 says, “For there will be great affliction/tribulation” (Literal translation, emphasis supplied); Revelation 2:22 says, “…those committing adultery with her into great affiction/tribulation” (Literal translation, emphasis supplied); Revelation 7:14 says, “These are those coming out of great affliction/tribulation” (Literal translation, emphasis supplied). It is Dispensationalists who capitalize the description, thereby turning it into a proper name. Scripture does no such thing, and we should not either.

In speaking of the fact that “great tribulation” is mentioned thrice in the New Testament, what the believer is probably unaware of is that these are three different “great tribulations” that are in no way related to each other. With that said, let us look at each of them in turn.

“Therefore when you see the Abomination of Desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not go down to get the things out that are in his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days! But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath; for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.”

(Matthew 24:15-22, emphasis supplied)

This is without a doubt the most famous of the three passages regarding “great tribulation.” What you are probably unaware of is the truth concerning this passage. In order to get this right, we need to back up to the beginning of the chapter. In verse 1, the disciples point out the magnificent buildings of the temple. Mark 13:1 records them saying, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” Luke 21:5 says they were speaking of how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts. To this, Jesus declared to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” The disciples then asked Him, “When will these things be?” Jesus then proceeds to answer their question. Luke 21:20-22 records, “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled.” Forty years later, in 70 A.D., these words came to life with vivid accuracy.

Brothers and sisters, you cannot read Matthew 24 without reading the parallel passages in Mark 13 and Luke 17 and 21 in order to harmonize them correctly. If you try to isolate Matthew 24 from the rest of Scripture bearing on the subject, you are going to end up with deviously erroneous theology. Remember what we learned in The Rapture In the Synoptic Gospels? Within the synoptic gospels, the parallel passages will often contain more or less detail of the same account. In order to do the subject justice, we must consider it all together. When we include Luke’s account of the event, we are provided with greater detail that helps us to interpret Jesus’ explanation more accurately. The armies that would surround Jerusalem were there to bring her desolation. History bears record that this occurred in 70 A.D. under Titus (the prince of Dan. 9:26). For those who hold doubt in their heart because of what they have been raised with or taught, I will let history convince you.

In 66 A.D., under the rule of Nero, extreme violence erupted between the Romans and the Jews. So Nero dispatched Vespasian to conduct all-out war against the Jewish nation. Nero died in 68 A.D., and in 69 A.D. Vespasian was proclaimed emperor in his place. During Vespasian’s conquest, he had conquered all of Galilee and Judea, with exception of the capital. When he was proclaimed emperor, Vespasian went to Alexandria and left Titus in charge to end the Jewish rebellion and conquer Jerusalem. Prior to Titus and his armies arriving, multitudes of Jews had entered Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The irony here is that, because the Jews crucified Jesus during the Passover, God would take vengeance on the Jews during the Passover. While Titus laid siege to them from without, three rival factions fought amongst themselves within. Josephus records that two of these factions fought each other and “set on fire those houses that were full of corn, and all other provisions. ... destroying what the city had laid up against the siege ... almost all the corn was burnt, which would have been sufficient for a siege of many years (5.1.4).
“And now, as the city was engaged in a war on all sides, from these treacherous crowds of wicked men [the three factions within], the people of the city, between them, were like a great body torn in pieces. The aged men and the women were in such distress by their internal calamities, that they wished for the Romans, and earnestly hoped for an external war, in order to their delivery from their domestic miseries (5.1.5).
“Now, while these factions fought one against another, the people were their prey on both sides ... Simon held the upper city, and the great wall as far as Cedron... But John held the temple... and fought it out, and did everything that the besiegers could desire them to do; for they never suffered any thing that was worse from the Romans than they made each other suffer... those that took [Jerusalem] did it a greater kindness; for I venture to affirm, that the sedition destroyed the city, and the Romans destroyed the sedition (5.6.1).
“But the famine was too hard for all other passions... insomuch that children pulled the very morsels that their fathers were eating out of their very mouths... but the seditious every where came upon them immediately, and snatched away from them what they had gotten from others; for when they saw any house shut up, this was to them a signal that the people within had gotten some food; whereupon they broke open the doors, and ran in, and took pieces of what they were eating almost up out of their very throats, and this by force: the old men, who held their food fast, were beaten (5.10.3).
“I shall, therefore, speak my mind here at once briefly:—That neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world (5.10.5).”¹

The Romans caught 500 or more Jews a day trying to escape and crucified them before the walls of the city. They crucified 500 a day! The region outside the walls had become overflowing with crosses, so much so that “their multitude was so great that room was wanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies (5.11.1).
“The upper rooms were full of women and children that were dying by famine; and the lanes of the city were full of the dead bodies of the aged (5.12.3).
“There was found among the Syrian deserters a certain person who was caught gathering pieces of gold out of the excrements of the Jews’ bellies; for the deserters used to swallow such pieces of gold... So the multitude of the Arabians, with the Syrians, cut up those that came as supplicants, and searched their bellies (5.13.4).
“No fewer than six hundred thousand were thrown out at the gates... when they were no longer able to carry out the dead bodies of the poor, they laid their corpses on heaps in very large houses, and shut them up therein… some persons were driven to that terrible distress as to search the common sewers and old dunghills of cattle, and to eat the dung which they got there (5.13.7).
“I am going to relate a matter of fact, the like to which no history relates, either among the Greeks or Barbarians! It is horrible to speak of it, and incredible when heard. ... There was a certain woman that dwelt beyond Jordan—her name was Mary; her father was Eleazar... and it was now become impossible for her any way to find any more food... she slew her son; and then roasted him, and ate the one half of him [see Deut. 28:52-57], and kept the other half by her concealed. Upon this the seditious came in presently, and smelling the horrid scent of this food, they threatened her that they would cut her throat immediately if she did not show them what food she had gotten ready. She replied that she had saved a very fine portion of it for them; and withal uncovered what was left of her son. Hereupon they were seized with a horror... and those already dead were esteemed happy, because they had not lived long enough either to hear or to see such miseries (6.3.3-4).
“As for the rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old, he put them into bonds, and sent them to the Egyptian mines [see Deut. 28:68; Luke 21:24]. Titus also sent a great number into the provinces, as a present to them, that they might be destroyed upon their theatres, by the sword and by the wild beasts; but those that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. ... Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole war was collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of those that perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand [1,100,000], the greater part of whom were indeed of the same nation [with the citizens of Jerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself; for they were come up from all the country to the feast of unleavened bread, and were on a sudden shut up by an army... Accordingly, the multitude of those that therein perished exceed all the destructions that either men or God ever brought upon the world... And now the Romans set fire to the extreme parts of the city, and burnt them down, and entirely demolished its walls (6.9.2-4).”²

Are you convinced yet, brothers and sisters? The evidence has spoken. The great tribulation spoken of by Jesus has already taken place. It is an accomplished historical fact—not something in the future. It took place in 70 A.D. For anyone who is skeptical, go read Josephus’ The War of the Jews and compare what is written to what Jesus said in Scripture (Matt. 24:2, 21-22; Mark 13:19-20; Luke 19:43-44; 21:20-24; cf Dan. 12:1). Josephus lived during those times and accounts the calamities that came upon the city of Jerusalem and the Jews. Jesus said, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short” (Matt. 24:21-22). When the Romans invaded, they killed thousands of Jews. Many of the survivors committed suicide. If those days had not been cut short, every Jew would have died. The Holocaust was nothing compared to what took place in 70 A.D. True to Jesus’ words, those days were great tribulation such as never was and never would be again. To deny these facts is to deny the Word of God and to deny the inspiration of the Scriptures in favour of man-made myths and fairytales. Please notice carefully that the passage says nothing about a world war, but only about the destruction of a sole city—Jerusalem. This “great tribulation” had to do with the Jews because of their unbelief and rejection of the Messiah. Jesus called these days the “days of vengeance” (Luke 21:22), and said it was “in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled” (emphasis supplied). In Daniel chapter 9 verses 26 to 27 we read, “and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined” (v.26), “and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate” (v.27). So that ends our look at the first “great tribulation.”

To be continued...

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¹ Flavius Josephus, War of the Jews, 5.1.1—5.10.5.
² Ibid, 5.11.1—6.9.4.

What Comes After 69?

Chapter 9 begins with Daniel realizing that Jeremiah’s prophecy about the 70 years of Babylonian captivity (Jer. 25:11-12; 29:10), called “the time of Jacob’s distress” (Jer. 30:1-7), was coming to an end (v.2). So Daniel prays to God on behalf of his people for deliverance. During their captivity, the land enjoyed its Sabbaths (Lev. 26:34). Now they would be in the land for seven times as long as they were in captivity. In verses 24-27, God gives Daniel the time period as to the coming of David’s seed, the Messiah. Here is that vision:

“Seventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place. So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined. And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

In English, the word “weeks” is a poor translation. In the Hebrew it is שׁבוּעַ שׁבְעִים—seventy sevens. In translating verse 24’s “seventy sevens,” we come up with 490 years—a year for a day (Num. 14:34; Ezek. 4:6). Daniel is told that 490 years are decreed upon his people and the holy city to accomplish everything that is mentioned in verse 24. Every one of those items has been fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ. Ergo, the 70 weeks are finished. “The great affairs that are yet to come concerning the people of Israel, and the city of Jerusalem, will lie within the compass of these years.”¹ Dispensationalists will argue the fact, but I will prove it to you.

Dispensationalists say that the 483 years expired when Jesus died on the cross. John MacArthur believes “This was fulfilled at the triumphal entry.”² If this is so, we have a severe problem on our hands because the text literally says that “…from the going out of a word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, to Messiah the Prince, shall be 7 weeks and 62 weeks” (emphasis supplied). That is 69 weeks, which is 483 years. Many people believe that this is the birth of Christ. Maybe they are right. But I do not think so, and I will show you why. If this refers to the birth of Christ, it obviously, and logically, cannot refer to the triumphal entry or the death of Christ. Someone is not reading their Bible literally—again.

Based on the text, the 483 years cannot possibly refer to the death of Christ, or the triumphal entry, so we can scrap those concepts in the garbage. If the 483 years bring us to the birth of Christ, where do the next 30 years of Jesus’ life fall under before His public ministry? Now, the Dispensationalist might say, had he not already said that the 483 years bring us to the death of Christ, that the next 30 years, plus Jesus’ public ministry, fall into their “parenthetical gap” that they have created.

The word translated “Messiah” can also be translated as “anointed,” referring to a consecrated person. The idea that 483 years brings us to the birth of Christ presents a real problem for me. Not only is there no accounting for the first 30 years of Jesus’ life, but He also was not revealed to the world as Messiah until John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). This was when He was acknowledged as the Messiah. Now, being that the word could be translated as “anointed,” could it be possible that this is speaking of Jesus’ baptism by John? He was anointed by the Holy Spirit at this time. I believe that this is the case. I will show you yet still why I believe this to be so.

We are told by Dispensationalists that there exists a gap in Daniel’s 70 weeks, but is this true? Mr. Ryrie writes, “There is an interval of undetermined length between the first sixty-nine weeks of seven years each and the last or seventieth week of seven years.”³ Henrietta Mears agrees, “Scripture divides these seventy sevens into three divisions with a parenthetic time lapse for the present ‘Gentile rule.’”⁴ Really!? Where? Where in the text does it say there is a “parenthetic gap” or an “undetermined length” of time in the 490 years? It does not! Dispensationalists must add it. If Scripture can be understood of by even a child, then it should be easy enough to discern what is taught and what is not merely by reading the passage as it stands.

In verse 26, the phrase translated “be cut off” is the Hebrew word karath (כָּרַת), which means “to cut off, cut down; to make (a covenant, agreement); to be cut off, broken off; to be cut off, be destroyed; ‘to cut a covenant’ is ‘make a covenant,’ a figure of the act of ceremonially cutting an animal into two parts, with an implication of serious consequences for not fulfilling the covenant.”⁵ The implication is that of cutting flesh and passing between the pieces. Sound familiar? It should! Read Genesis 15. We read in verse 18, “On that day the LORD made (karath) a covenant with Abram…”

For your consideration, here are the first 17 occurrences (of 280) of the use of the word karath in the Bible:

Gen. 9:11 – “…all flesh shall never again be karath by the water of the flood…”
Gen. 15:18 – “On that day the LORD karath a covenant…”
Gen. 17:14 – “…that person shall be karath from his people…”
Gen. 21:27 – “…and the two of them karath a covenant.”
Gen. 21:32 – “So they karath a covenant at Beersheba…”
Gen. 26:28 – “…and let us karath a covenant with you.”
Gen. 31:44 – “So now come, let us karath a covenant, you and I…”
Gen. 41:36 – “…so that the land may not karath during the famine.”
Ex. 4:25 – “Then Zipporah took a flint and karath her son's foreskin…”
Ex. 8:9 – “… that the frogs be karath from you and your houses…”
Ex. 12:15 – “…that person shall be karath from Israel.”
Ex. 12:19 – “…that person shall be karath from the congregation of Israel…”
Ex. 23:32 – “You shall karath no covenant with them or with their gods.”
Ex. 24:8 – “…Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has karath with you in accordance with all these words.”
Ex. 30:33 – “…shall be karath from his people.”
Ex. 30: 38 – “…shall be karath from his people.”
Ex. 31:14 – “…that person shall be karath from among his people.”

As we noted, verse 24 informs us there will be 70 weeks (490 years). Verse 25 gives us 7 weeks (49 years) and 62 weeks (434 years), which is a total of 69 weeks (483 years). In verse 26, it states, “Then after the sixty-two weeks…” (emphasis supplied; those 62 weeks that followed the 7 weeks). After 69 comes what, brothers and sisters? 70! In the 70th week the Messiah, or Anointed One, would be “cut off but not for Himself” (Literal translation). Matthew Poole writes regarding karath, “It is used for cutting off by capital punishment, Exod. xii. 15; xxx. 33, 38; whether this be by the signal hand of God, or by the magistrate, for some heinous offence, Lev. xviii. 29; xx. 17; Psal. xxxvii. 34.”⁶

In verse 27, it states that in the midst of the week He will cause sacrifice and offerings to cease, which happened the moment Christ was crucified and the 18-inch-thick veil was torn in two. The high priest could no longer go in and sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. While some Jews apparently still kept trying to offer sacrifices, it was to no avail. Acceptable sacrifices and offerings were no longer valid. They were done. So if Jesus causes the sacrifices and offerings to cease in the midst of the 70th week when He is crucified, three and a half years earlier brings us to the start of His ministry when He was baptized by John the Baptist, which would be the end of the 69th week and the beginning of the 70th week. Thus why I believe verse 25 is speaking of Jesus’ baptism. All of what we have just looked at derived from a simple reading of the text.

Now, whether you believe Jesus’ ministry was for three years or three and a half years makes little difference. It still brings you to the midst of the week. If you try and divide it exactly, and deny that three years could not possibly be the midst of the week, all you are doing is splitting hairs. Stop it!

Charles Ryrie writes, “When this last period of seven years begins, ‘He will make a firm covenant with the many for one week’ (v.27).”⁷ Do you see what the Dispensationalist does here? He adds the word “make.” In verse 27, there is no word used for the making of a covenant. The literal translation is “He shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week” (emphasis supplied). One would think the English word “confirm” was self-evident, or the fact it says “confirm the covenant” (KJV), but apparently not. The word translated “confirm” is the Hebrew word gabar (גָּבַר), which means “to confirm, to strengthen, to cause to prevail.” So, in verse 27, a new covenant is not being made, but the text explicitly declares that He is strengthening or causing to prevail an already existing covenant. Which covenant would that be? The covenant of grace that Jeremiah and Isaiah spoke of (Jer. 31:31-34; Isa. 59:21), and Jesus Christ fulfilled. “He: this he is not Titus making truce with the Jews, which he did not, though he endeavoured to persuade them that he might spare them. I say then with Graser, Mede, and others, that this he is the Messiah, and the covenant he confirms is the new testament or covenant, called therefore the covenant of the people, Isa. xlii. 6; xlix. 9; and the Angel of the covenant, Mal. iii. 1; and the Surety of the covenant, Heb. vii. 22; and the ancient rabbins called the Messias אישניגים a middle man, or middle man between two. Quest. How did Christ confirm the covenant? Answ. 1. By testimony, (1.) Of angels, Luke ii. 10; Matt. xxviii.; (2.) John Baptist; (3.) Of the wise men; (4.) By the saints then living, Luke i. 2; (5.) Moses and Elias, Matt. xvii. 3; (6.) Pharisees, as Nicodemus, John iii. 2; (7.) The devils that confessed him. 2. By his preaching. 3. By signs and wonders. 4. By his holy life. 5. By his resurrection and ascension. 6. By his death and blood shed. Shall confirm the covenant; הגביִר he shall corroborate it, as if it began before his coming to fail and be invalid.”⁸

Mr. MacArthur states, “The leader in this covenant is the ‘little horn’ of 7:7-8, 20-21, 24-26, and the evil leader of NT prophecy.”⁹ Jesus Christ is an “evil leader”? Shame on you, Mr. MacArthur! Church history agrees that the first half of verse 27 is Jesus, which the Dispensationalists have swapped for their Antichrist. Mr. Ryrie claims this is the Antichrist because “nothing in the record of Christ’s life in any way connects Him with the making (and later breaking) of a seven-year covenant with the Jewish people.”¹⁰ This is subjective opinion, my friends. First, where does he get this concept of “breaking” a covenant? It is nowhere to be found in Scripture. It is an imaginary concept derived from a wrongly distorted reading of Scripture. Second, Mr. Ryrie is confused and thinks Daniel 9:24-27 is ultimately about Israel, rather than about Jesus, of Whom it is about. (Actually, Dispensationalists think the entire Bible is about Israel, rather than about Christ.) Third, apparently Mr. Ryrie has never read Jeremiah 31:31-34; Isaiah 59:21; or the book of Hebrews. There is much in the life of Christ that connects Him to the “making” of a covenant: only it is not “making,” it is confirming; and it is not merely with the Jewish people, it is with His people—Jew and Gentile alike. The Christian is under and partaker of the New Covenant, which is through Jesus’ blood.

To show you that Dispensationalists are wrong by interpreting the text to be “making” a covenant, I have compiled all the verses from Scripture that use the same word. For your consideration, you tell me if the verse means what they try to force it to mean:

Gen. 7:18 – “And the water  gabar…”
Gen. 7:19 – “And the water gabar…”
Gen. 7:20 – “The water gabar fifteen cubits higher…”
Gen. 7:24 – “And the water gabar…”
Ex. 17:11 – “So it came about when Moses held his hand up, Israel gabar…”
1 Sam. 2:9 – “… For not by might shall a man gabar.”
2 Sam. 1:23 – “… They were gabar than lions.”
2 Sam. 11:23 – “The men gabar against us…”
1 Chr. 5:2 – “Though Judah gabar over his brothers…”
Job 15:25 – “…and gabar himself against the Almighty.”
Job 21:7 – “Why do the wicked…gabar very powerful?”
Job 36:9 – “…and their transgressions, that they have gabar themselves.”
Ps. 12:4 – “…With our tongue we will gabar…”
Ps. 65:3 – “Iniquities gabar against me…”
Ps. 103:11 – “…So gabar is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.”
Ps. 117:2 – “For His lovingkindness is gabar toward us…”
Ecc. 10:10 – “…then he must gabar more strength…”
Is. 42:13 – “…He will gabar against His enemies.”
Jer. 9:3 – “Lies and not truth gabar in the land…”
Lam. 1:16 – “…My children are desolate because the enemy has gabar.”
Zech. 10:6 – “And I shall gabar the house of Judah…”
Zech. 10:12 – “And I shall gabar them in the LORD…”

That should be sufficient enough evidence to prove without a doubt that the making of a covenant is not in view in Daniel 9:27, nor can it be. It is the strengthening and prevailing of the New Covenant. As Hebrews tells us, a testament or will cannot be put into effect until the death of the testator (Heb. 9:16-17). With Jesus’ death, He made the first one (the Old Covenant) obsolete (Heb. 8:13) and abolished it in order to establish the second (Heb. 10:9). The New Covenant was inaugurated with and by Jesus’ blood (Heb. 9:18-22). We are under it now. Do not believe the Dispensationalist who tells you that the New Covenant is for Israel only. That is a bold-faced lie in the light of Scripture and the Christian reality.

What about the last three and a half years? Good question! After Jesus’ resurrection, His disciples preached the gospel for the next three and a half years mostly to Jews (see Acts 1-6). The 490 years officially came to an end with the Jewish leaders’ final rejection of the gospel of the Messiah by their stoning of Stephen in 37 A.D. After Stephen was martyred, the door was flung open to make way for the Gentile inclusion, just as the prophets had predicted beforehand. In Acts 10, Peter was given a vision by God revealing that it was now time to preach the gospel to the Gentiles (vv.1-28).

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¹ Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, 4:857.
² John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 1213.
³Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology, 541.
⁴ Henrietta Mears, What the Bible Is All About, 288.
⁵ James Strong, Strongest Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, 1517-1518.
⁶ Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, 2:839.
⁷ Charles Ryrie, Basic Theology, 541.
⁸ Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, 2:839.
⁹ John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 1213.
¹⁰ Ibid.

The Rapture In Revelation?

Another verse that Dispensationalists attempt to use in support of the Rapture is Revelation 3:10. “Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.” As we pointed out when we were discussing The Rapture in the Gospel of John, the word translated “keep” is the Greek tereo (τηρεω), which, again, literally means “to guard, to preserve.”

Not only does the word tereo appear twice in Revelation 3:10, but it also appears in John 17:6, 11-12, and 15. In John 17:15 we noted that Jesus prayed, “I do not ask Thee to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” If the word meant “to take away, to gather, to remove” as the Dispensationalists tell us, we have a severe problem on our hands. In other words, according to the Dispensationalist’s interpretation, Jesus said, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you take them out of the world.” After all, they tell us that this word teaches the Rapture in Revelation 3:10. John MacArthur insists “this phrase, ‘keep…from’ supports the pretribulational rapture of the church.”¹ I am sorry, but one would have to stretch and twist this verse, and particularly this word, to great extremes in order for it to mean “to take away, to gather, to remove.” In fact, the exact same word is used only mere words earlier: “Because you have kept (tereo) the word…” How should we interpret it then?

Furthermore, the phrase “keep…from” that appears in Revelation 3:10 also appears in John 17:15. If tereo means what Dispensationalists try to tell us it means, how do we explain its usage in these verses: “If you keep (tereo) My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept (tereo) My Father’s commandments, and abide in His love.” (John 15:10); “Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept (tereo) My word, they will keep (tereo) yours also.” (John 15:20)?

Mr. MacArthur also insists that this is “an event still future that for a short time severely tests the whole world.”² Although I greatly respect Mr. MacArthur, being a great man of God, he is mistaken once again because this passage was spoken to a church in history, which no longer exists, which, if we read our history, we would know has already come to pass. “This promise was literally and verbatim fulfilled. Philadelphia was the only church in the seven which escaped unscathed from the persecutions of Trajan; and the reason which philosophers assigned and historians have stated is, that Philadelphia was subject to earthquakes; and the Roman emperor, with all his sanguinary cruelty, was afraid to go there himself, or to trust his generals and his armies in a place so dangerous. No doubt this was the secondary cause, which many modern philosophers worship; but the secret of Philadelphia’s safety was the first great and glorious reason that Christians trust in – that Jesus had recorded it as his truth. ‘I will keep thee from the hour of temptation, that shall come upon all the world.’”³

“I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world; for this faithfulness God promises to keep the ministers of this church from those persecutions which raged elsewhere, and were further, in Trajan’s time, to come upon all Christians living under the Roman Empire. To try them that dwell upon the earth; to try those Christians that lived within that empire, how well they would adhere to Christ, and the profession of the gospel. This I take to be a more proper sense, than theirs who would interpret this hour of temptation of the day of judgment, which is never so called.”⁴ The historical evidence is overwhelmingly supportive of precisely what the passage says.

There is one key verse that demonstrates most powerfully the Dispensationalist’s use of hermeneutical “reaching”–Revelation 4:1. The Dispensationalist latches onto the phrase “Come up here” and says, “See! That is the rapture!” Oh, how foolish. That would be no different than latching onto the words “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life” and saying, “See! Christ was a vampire! If you drink His blood you will have everlasting life.” It is the same silly nonsense. Come on, my Dispensationalist friend, you can do better than that.

In that letter that my Theology Professor wrote in response to me, he also stated that “The church is no where mentioned again in Revelation until ch.19 when Jesus returns at His Revelation as King, with all His holy ones to begin His Millennial Kingdom.” I am sorry, but the church is nowhere mentioned in this chapter. He is assuming that the “armies of heaven” (v.14) include the saints, and that if it does, they already have their glorified bodies rather than the souls of dead saints themselves coming to be united with their bodies from the grave. Elsewhere in Scripture Jesus says He could command legions of angels to come to his aid (Matt. 26:53). Matthew 25:31 and 2 Thessalonians 1:7 inform us that Jesus will return with His angels.

The fact is, nowhere in Revelation is the “church” mentioned. The word “church” appears seven times through chapters 2 and 3, each time in regard to the specific church that John was told to write to (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). The word “churches” appears thirteen times; seven of which are in the repetitive warning “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22), four of which mention specifically the “seven churches” (1:4, 11, 20 – twice), and the last two of which are plural with no specifics (2:23; 22:16). The term “bride” is used four times (18:23; 21:2, 9; 22:17), two of which are in conjunction with the fact the New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ, the Church (21:2, 9).

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¹ John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 1946.
² Ibid.
³ John Cumming, Apocalyptic Sketches, 436-437.
⁴ Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, 3:958.

The Rapture In 2 Thessalonians?

Prior to my having attended Bible College at New Brunswick Bible Institute, I had written to the Theology Professor there in regard to the Rapture. In his letter back to me he wrote, “It may be helpful to read 2 Thess. 2 and to note the chronological order of events. Carefully explore v.3 and the Greek word which is translated ‘a falling away.’ The word literally means, ‘the departure.’ All the English translations prior to 1611 translated it as ‘the departure.’” He then referenced a book by Wayne House titled When the Trumpet Sounds, which I assume is where he received this information.

First of all, it would be helpful if he remembered that the English is a translation—so it would be wise if he did not put all his eggs in the basket of assumption based on the English word prior to 1611, and his false understanding of that word, its meaning and application.

Second of all, none of the English translations prior to 1611 translate it as “the departure,” and all of them certainly do not translate it as “a departing” (what I am sure he meant to refer to). John Wyclif (1380) translates it as “dissension” while the Douay-Rheims (1582) translates it as “a revolt.” William Tyndale (1534) was the first to use “a departing” (see also Cranmer 1539 and Geneva 1560, 1599), which clearly refers to “a departing from the faith” in the same way that “a falling away” clearly refers to “a falling away from the faith,” as supported by Scripture (1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:1-3, 4:3-4).

Third of all, the Greek word literally means “apostasy.” One needs only take a good look at the word itself and it is clear – apostasia (αποστασια). Examine Strong’s, Vine’s, Zodhiates’, or Kittel’s work. As much as I respect him, truly, this is poor scholarship on his behalf, especially considering he has apparently studied Greek. I would be embarrassed for this conclusion drawn from an assumption. He should know better.

Once again, Robert Reymond deals exceptionally well with this section. “From Paul’s declaration that ‘relief’ for the church from its troubles and persecutions will come not seven years before but ‘when the Lord Jesus is revealed [εν τη αποκαλυψει, en tē apokalypsei] from heaven with his holy angels with blazing fire’ (2 Thess. 1:7, emphasis supplied), which ‘revelation’ he describes only verses later as the ‘appearing [επιφανεια, epiphaneia] of his coming [παρουσιας, parousias]’ (2 Thess. 2:8), it becomes quite clear that Christ’s coming and the ensuing rapture spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 are neither separate events nor is the rapture a ‘secret, hidden event but a [very visible] breaking into history of the glory of God.’”¹

Paul states clearly in verse 2 that he is speaking to them about “the day of the Lord,” and then he continues by saying, “[That day] [the day of the Lord, the same one as talked about in the Old Testament] will not come unless the apostasy (apostasia, αποστασια) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed” (emphasis supplied). The Old Testament talks frequently about “the day of the Lord.” “The day of the Lord” has not changed in the New Testament. It is the same period. It is one event! The Second Advent!

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¹ Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, 1024.

The Rapture In 1 Thessalonians 5?

In my Theology Professor’s lecture notes, he stated that 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 “summarizes the Rapture.” Let us take a look at what this passage has to say:

Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him.

This passage is speaking of “the day of the Lord.” “The day of the Lord” has nothing to do with the so-called Rapture. They were not worried that they had missed the Rapture, as we are often told. Dispensationalists tend to isolate specific verses from this passage, such as verse 9, in order to try and support their concept of the Rapture. But look at what Paul tells them: “For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief” (emphasis supplied).

What did Jesus teach us in Matthew 24:36-51? “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. … Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

I do not know about you, brothers and sisters, but this is crystal clear to me.

1. “They are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly.”
2. “For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.”

Perhaps you are thinking, “Yes, I know this is speaking of His second coming, but we will already be gone because verse 9 says it is not appointed for us.” Okay then, look at this: “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you like a thief” (v.4). If they are already gone, there is no sense in even mentioning them being caught off guard. But, as Jesus said, we are to be on our guard, being ready, staying awake, and keeping vigil (Matt. 24:42, 44; Mark 13: 33, 35, 37; Luke 21:36) because we “do not know which day [our] Lord is coming.” Even Paul instructs them to “be alert and sober” (v.6). As Louis Berkhof puts it, “The Bible intimates that the measure of surprise at the second coming of Christ will be in an inverse ratio to the measure of their watchfulness.”¹

What about verse 9? I am glad you asked. Scripture repeatedly teaches us that the Day of the Lord will consist of both blessings (Isa. 4:2-6; 30:26; Hos. 2:18-23; Joel 3:9-21; Amos 9:11-15; Mic. 4:6-8; Zeph. 2:7; Zech. 14:6-9) and curses (Joel 2:1-2; Amos 5:18-20; Zech. 1:14-15). That this is so can be seen from Matthew 25:31-46. We do not need to invent a secret “Rapture” in order to face the facts and deal with the truths that Scripture presents us. It is from a wrong reading of Scripture that Dispensationalists come up with the idea that God’s wrath is going to be poured out upon everyone. But what does Scripture say? Revelation 16:2 declares that these will come “…upon the men who had the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image.” Just as Israel was not harmed when the plagues affected Egypt, so Christians will not be harmed when the wrath affects the world because “God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9). But this is speaking of His second coming, where those who have stored up wrath against themselves will finally receive it. We shall not. Why make it more difficult than it needs to be?

Paul Benware insists, “Paul emphatically assures believers that they will not experience the ‘day of the Lord.’”² John MacArthur writes, “Believers have no part in the day of the Lord, because they have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of light (Col. 1:13).”³ Then we have a severe problem on our hands, if that is the case. Scripture declares that the resurrection occurs on the day of the Lord and that we are to be transformed and receive our blessings and rewards. If we do not participate in the day of the Lord, how is any of that to take place? Contrary to what the Dispensationalists want to tell you, brothers and sisters, we will participate on that great day. Jesus Christ our Lord shall stand before us and separate us, separating the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, the good fish from the bad fish, the good soil from the bad soils, and He will say to us, “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:34). The day of the Lord has nothing to do with the “Tribulation,” as Mr. Benware tries to intimate. Lastly, our being transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light has to do with our salvation—nothing to do with the concept of the Rapture, as Mr. MacArthur erroneously implies. We are no longer in darkness, but in the light. That day shall not overtake us because we know of its coming and are warned repeatedly to watch for it (v.6; cf. Matt. 24:42, 44; Mark 13:33, 35, 37; Luke 21:36).

Dispensationalists claim that “The Day of the Lord may be defined as an extended period of time beginning with the Rapture of the church (as a thief in the night) and continuing until the Great White Throne Judgment after Christ’s millennial reign.”⁴ Since the Bible defines the day of the Lord as coming like “a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10), it is rather impossible to refer to it as an extended period of time—especially 1,007 years! The day of the Lord is the “last day;” the day when Jesus Christ returns, the dead are resurrected, death is defeated, the nations are judged, the heavens and Earth destroyed, and we, Beloved, enter the kingdom “prepared for [us] from the foundation of the world.”

Some Dispensationalists will claim that the phrase “a thief in the night” refers to the Rapture. In truth, they must and have created two “thief in the night” events in order to hold onto their system of belief. One for the Rapture, and one for the Second Coming. But Peter makes it quite clear when this period is and what takes place with it: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” (2 Pet. 3:10). If the coming as “a thief in the night” refers to the Rapture, guess what? When the Rapture takes place, the heavens and the Earth are going to be burned up. So what happens to all of their theories after this event? And these people boast “a consistent, literal, and normal system of hermeneutics”?

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¹ Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 706.
² Paul N. Benware, Survey of the New Testament, 168.
³ John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 1801.
⁴ David Doherty, Introduction to Eschatology, 10.

The Rapture In 1 Thessalonians 4?

The primary passage used as a proof text to promote the Rapture is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, specifically verses 16 and 17. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Paul Benware says, “When Paul was in Thessalonica, he had taught them that one day Jesus would return and suddenly take all believers to heaven. (This event is commonly called the ‘rapture’) He apparently taught them that the rapture could occur at any moment with no events necessarily preceding it.”¹

What Mr. Benware is doing is conjecture—a statement, opinion, or conclusion based on inconclusive or incomplete evidence and guesswork. He is not faithfully representing the text of the Bible and what it reveals. Dispensationalists have a habit of impressing their subjective opinion upon the Bible. Paul had taught them no such thing as what Mr. Benware has just suggested. It is believed that Paul was taught of the Lord Jesus Himself for three years (Gal. 1:12, 18). Many Dispensationalists try to pit Jesus and Paul against each other, several claiming that Jesus taught one gospel and Paul another; that they had different theologies. Any careful student of the Bible will see that Paul’s teachings reflect the teachings of Jesus harmoniously. Paul was not given any “new revelation” that Jesus had not already taught. Remember, Jesus and Paul used the same Scriptures—those of the Old Testament. What Dispensationalism teaches is contrary to what Jesus Christ revealed.

“The New Testament nowhere clearly says that the church will be taken out of the world before the tribulation. If this significant event were to happen, we might at least expect that explicit teaching to that effect would be found in the New Testament. Certainly Jesus tells us that he will come again and take us to be with himself (John 14:3), and Paul tells us that we shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:17), and that we shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye and receive resurrection bodies (1 Cor. 15:51-52), but each of these passages has been understood by believers throughout history as speaking not of a secret rapture of the church before the tribulation, but of a very visible public rapture (or “taking up”) of the church to be with Christ just a few moments prior to his coming to earth with them to reign during the millennial kingdom (or, on the amillennial view, during the eternal state).”²

Dispensationalists try to mangle 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 into some sort of “secret” coming and taking away of the saints, leaving the rest of the world in a chaotic mess with cars crashing into each other and planes falling out of the sky creating a phenomenal death toll. My Bible says that God is not the author of confusion. Further, as we already looked at, those taken are taken in death. Jesus’ own interpretation of His parable of the weeds informs us that this will happen at the end of this age with His second coming.

“In order to make their case for pretribulationism, dispensationalists must and do separate Paul’s ‘rapture pericope’ (1 Thess. 4:13-18) from the immediately following pericope dealing with the Christian’s behavior as ‘sons of light’ in view of the approaching ‘Day of the Lord’ (1 Thess. 5:1-11). The events of the former pericope, according to dispensationalists, occur seven years before the Day of the Lord, which comes later as a thief in the night. But such a chronological division between the pericopes finds no support in the text. The concern which prompted Paul’s ‘rapture pericope’ (1 Thess. 4:13-18) in the first place was the issue of the state of the Christian dead, a concern troubling the Thessalonian believers. He begins his pericope by stating: ‘We do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep [τωνκοιμωμενων, tōn koimōnmenōn]’ (4:13). Then he treats the Lord’s ‘appearing’ (4:15; την παρουσιαν του κυριου, tēn parousian tou kyriou), a term descriptive of Christ’s second coming (2 Thess. 2:8), stating that Christians will be alive and remain on earth ‘until’ (εις, eis) his ‘appearing,’ and assures them that Christ will raise the Christian dead at that time and that they will accompany the living (glorified) Christians into his presence. He concludes this section by urging his readers to ‘encourage each other with these words’ (4:18). Then with no discernible shift in subject matter, he immediately reminds his readers that ‘the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night’ (5:2) and urges them until that day to live alert and self-controlled lives as ‘children of light.’ He then returns to his original concern and states that Christ ‘died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep [καθευδωμεν, katheudōmen], we may live together with him’ (5:10). He then repeats his earlier admonition that his readers should ‘encourage one another and build each other up’ (5:11). The unity of this entire section (4:13-5:11) is transparent. Because of the several ideas that parallel each other in these two pericopes, there is no scriptural warrant to rend them apart and make them refer to two separate chronological events.“Finally, from Paul’s declaration that ‘relief’ for the church from its troubles and persecutions will come not seven years before but ‘when the Lord Jesus is revealed [εν τη αποκαλυψει, en tē apokalypsei] from heaven with his holy angels with blazing fire’ (2 Thess. 1:7, emphasis supplied), which ‘revelation’ he describes only verses later as the ‘appearing [επιφανεια, epiphaneia] of his coming [παρουσιας, parousias]’ (2 Thess. 2:8), it becomes quite clear that Christ’s coming and the ensuing rapture spoken of in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 are neither separate events nor is the rapture a ‘secret, hidden event but a [very visible] breaking into history of the glory of God.’ The Lord’s ‘loud command,’ the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet-blast of God – all announcing Christ’s coming – make this one of the ‘loudest’ pericopes in the Bible! I say again, Christ’s coming and our rapture to him are not separate events nor is the rapture a secret event. It is anything but secret!”³

Please note that Mr. Reymond’s use of the word “rapture” and the Dispensationalist’s use of the word “rapture” are two completely different concepts. Mr. Reymond applies the term to the phrase “caught up,” signifying nothing more than when Christ takes us to be with Him forevermore. If a believer chooses to do that with the word, that is fine, but with all the negative connotations and all the fictionalization that has been attached to it, I would prefer to avoid the word altogether so as not to confuse people into thinking I support the Dispensational nonsense behind it. As soon as we start talking “Rapture,” their minds immediately go to the Dispensational fairytale.

Brothers and sisters, I would like you to notice the parallels here, of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, to other portions of Scripture that are undoubtedly speaking of Christ’s second coming:

Clouds	Matt. 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Acts 1:9; 1 Thess. 4:17; Rev. 1:7; 14:14
Trumpet	Matt. 24:31; 1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16; Rev. 11:15
Angels	Matt. 13:39, 41, 49; 16:27; 24:31; Mark 8:28; 13:27; Luke 9:26; 1 Thess. 4:16; 2 Thess. 1:7
Loud Noise	Matt. 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16; 2 Pet. 3:10
Thief	Matt. 24:43; Luke 12:39; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10; Rev. 3:3; 16:15
Day of the Lord	Isa. 1:12; Amos 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Peter 3: 10-13
Resurrection	Job 14:12, 14; 19:25-27; Isa. 25:8; Hosea 13:14; Matt. 24:31; John 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24; 1 Cor. 15:51-52, 54-55; 1 Thess. 4:164

Dispensationalism tends to confuse Jesus’ second coming with their “Rapture.” It is Jesus’ second coming that has no signs necessarily preceding it, as supported by Scripture (Matt. 24:36-51; 25:1-13; Luke 12:35-40; 17:26-30; 1 Thess. 5:2-4; 2 Pet. 3:8-10; Rev. 16:15). The Scriptures declare that Jesus will return personally (John 14:3; 21:20-23; Acts 1:11; 3:19-21; 1 Cor. 15:23-26; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Thess. 4:15-17; Heb. 9:27-28; James 5:7-8; 2 Pet. 3:3-4; 1 John 2:28; 3:2-3), publicly, bodily and visibly (Matt. 24:30-31; Luke 21:27; Acts 1:11; 1 Thess. 4:16; Jude 14-15; Rev. 1:7), unexpectedly (Matt. 24:27, 36-51; 25:1-13; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 17:24, 26-30; 2 Pet. 3:8-10), suddenly (Matt. 24:23-28; Luke 17:22-24; 21:34-36; Acts 1:11), quickly (Matt. 24:27; Heb. 10:37; Rev. 22:7, 12, 20) with His angels (Matt. 16:27; 2 Thess. 1:5-10), in the glory of His Father (Matt. 16:27; 19:28; 25:31-46; Luke 21:27; Titus 2:13), and triumphantly (Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27).

Dispensationalists claim that it is absurd to think that, at the end of this present age, we will meet the Lord in the air and then immediately return with Him. I submit to you Genesis 29:13, where Laban “ran to meet” Jacob and then “brought him to his house”; Matthew 25:1-13, where the wise virgins went out “to meet the bridegroom” and then accompanied him back to the wedding banquet; and Acts 28:15, where the Roman Christians came “to meet [Paul and his companions]” as they approached Rome and then returned with them. It is absurd to a Dispensationalist because they do not pay attention to custom and culture. Even in our own day and age, although not as prominent any more, when someone came to visit our home, we would go outside (even to their car) and welcome them, and then accompany them back inside our house. That is precisely what will take place at Jesus’ bodily, visible, public return. It will be a glorious event! We will be caught up in the air to greet and welcome Him, and then we will accompany Him back.

To show you that I am not out of my mind by suggesting this: “When Paul says that ‘we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air’ (1 Thess. 4:17), he uses the Greek word apantēsis, for “meet,” which is used in Greek literature outside the Bible to speak of citizens going out of a city to meet an arriving magistrate, then to return to the city with him.”⁵ So, brothers and sisters, which view is truly consistent with the truths of Scripture?

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¹ Paul N. Benware, Survey of the New Testament, 168.
² Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1134.
³ Robert L. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith, 1023-1024.
⁴ John Egerdahl, The Bible Versus Dispensational Eschatology, 166.
⁵ Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 1134. Footnote 42.

The Rapture In 1 Corinthians 15?

Another verse used by Dispensationalists is 1 Corinthians 15:52. Let us look carefully at what this verse says: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” Paul N. Benware says, “Paul explains that all Christians will receive their resurrection bodies at the rapture.”¹ Where does he say this? The Dispensationalists seem to be confused. Let us try and keep this verse in its immediate and surrounding context, shall we, and interpret it correctly by what they say—not by what they do not say.

Now, if we read this verse in its context, the evidence is clear that this passage is speaking in regard to the second coming of Jesus Christ:

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His coming, then comes the end, when He delivers up the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. … Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

(1 Cor. 15:22-26, 50-54, emphasis supplied.)

Brothers and sisters, notice that it specifically states that believers will be resurrected “at His coming” and that “then comes the end” (emphasis supplied). This is not the Rapture. This is Jesus’ second coming. When the resurrection takes place, death will be defeated. This all takes place at the “end of the age,” on the “last day,” which is “the day of the Lord.” Why make the text say something that it does not? If this does not convince you, please look at Matthew 25:31-46. Who is He separating here? Sheep from goats. Who do you suppose the sheep are? “The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep” (John 10:11), “I lay down My life for the sheep” (10:15), “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand” (10:27-28). How much clearer do we need it to be?

Matthew Poole writes of verse 51, “There will be many saints alive in the world at the day when Christ shall come to judge the world, they will have natural bodies, such as they were born with, and grew up with in the world until that time. Saith the apostle, I now tell you a secret thing; for so the term mystery signifieth, Rom. xi. 25; xvi. 25, and in many other texts. We shall not all sleep any long sleep: some think all shall die, but some for a very short time, and then they shall revive. But we shall all be changed, either dying for time, or by some other work of God, their natural, corruptible bodies shall be turned into spiritual bodies, not capable of corruption.”² This is true, as many passages of Scripture suggest. As soon as Jesus returns at His second coming to judge the world, the dead will be raised incorruptible and the rest of us will be changed into our glorious bodies.

Please note the preceding verse, which Dispensationalists deliberately leave out when they quote this passage: “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (v.50, emphasis supplied). Yet this is precisely what Pre-Millennialists have occurring during the Millennial Kingdom. Miraculously, they have men in corrupted mortal bodies of flesh and blood entering into the kingdom with the saints in their glorified bodies, somehow bypassing the judgment. Regarding the fact that flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom, Jesus said, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, emphasis supplied) and “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:5, emphasis supplied).

Simon J. Kistemaker writes, “The writers of the New Testament in the Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Revelation write the expression look repeatedly as an idiom of Semitic speech. But surprisingly, in his epistles Paul only occasionally uses the word; indeed, it appears once in this epistle. He answers an anticipated question: How will the believer be changed to inherit God’s kingdom? Thus he tells his reader a mystery, which is a revelation from God through Paul about the future transformation of the believers. In a similar context about the end times, Paul alludes to this revelation as a word of the Lord (I Thess. 4:15).
“‘In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.’ The Greek term Paul uses for ‘moment’ is atomos, from which we have the derivative atom. The word refers to something so small that it cannot be divided any more. Here atomos applies to time. The phrase in the twinkling of an eye is appositional; it represents a momentary wink of the eyelid. (Our equivalent is “in a split second,” which commonly signifies the shortest possible moment.) In such a brief moment the miracle of transformation will occur both for those who rise from the dead and for those who are alive.”³

On verse 53, Matthew Henry writes, “He assigns the reason of this change (v. 53): For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. How otherwise could the man be a fit inhabitant of the incorruptible regions, or be fitted to possess the eternal inheritance? How can that which is corruptible and mortal enjoy what it incorruptible, permanent, and immortal? This corruptible body must be made incorruptible, this mortal body must be changed into immortal, that the man may be capable of enjoying the happiness designed for him. Note, It is this corruptible that must put on incorruption; the demolished fabric that must be reared again. What is sown must be quickened. Saints will come in their own bodies (v. 38), not in other bodies.
“He lets us know what will follow upon this change of the living and dead in Christ: Then shall be brought to pass that saying, Death is swallowed up in victory; or, He will swallow up death in victory. Isa. 25:8. For mortality shall be then swallowed up of life (2 Cor. 5:4), and death perfectly subdued and conquered, and saints for ever delivered from its power. Such a conquest shall be obtained over it that it shall for ever disappear in those regions to which our Lord will bear his risen saints. And therefore will the saints hereupon sing their epinikion, their song of triumph. Then, when this mortal shall have put on immortality, will death be swallowed up, for ever swallowed up, eis nikos. Christ hinders it from swallowing his saints when they die; but, when they rise again, death shall, as to them, be swallowed for ever. And upon this destruction of death will they break out into a song of triumph.”⁴

“The fact our new bodies will be ‘imperishable’ means that they will not wear out or grow old or ever be subject to any kind of sickness or disease. They will be completely healthy and strong forever. Moreover, since the gradual process of aging is part of the process by which our bodies now are subject to ‘corruption,’ it is appropriate to think that our resurrection bodies will have no sign of aging, but will have the characteristics of youthful but mature manhood or womanhood forever. There will be no evidence of disease or injury, for all will be made perfect. Our resurrection bodies will show the fulfillment of God’s perfect wisdom in creating us as human beings who are the pinnacle of his creation and the appropriate bearers of his likeness and image. In these resurrection bodies we will clearly see humanity as God intended it to be.”⁵ Amen!

“Paul draws a comparison between the body we are to have and our present body:

1. The present body is perishable, subject to disease and death; the resurrection body is incorruptible, immune to disease and decay.
2. The present body is sown in dishonor; the resurrection body will be glorious.
3. The present body is weak; the resurrection body is powerful.
4. The present body is physical (ψυχικον – psuchikon); the resurrection body will be spiritual.”⁶

As you can see, brothers and sisters, Dispensationalists must force 1 Corinthians 15:52 to support the Rapture because, otherwise, if they do not, it informs us that once we are “raptured” we will not be changed for another seven years. But the text is clear: “at the last trumpet” (emphasis supplied) – eschatos (εσχατως) “farthest, final, last, uttermost.” It is illogical to state this is the Rapture, and then seven years later there occurs yet another trumpet when our Lord comes in the clouds (Matt. 24:31). Mr. Kistemaker notes, “Paul indicates that the last trumpet will sound to announce the occurrence of the resurrection. This trumpet blast is the final one in the history of redemption.”⁷

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¹ Paul N. Benware, Survey of the New Testament, 168.
² Matthew Poole, A Commentary on the Holy Bible, 3:598.
³ Hendriksen and Kistemaker, New Testament Commentary, 7:581-582.
⁴ Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary, 6:480.
⁵ Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, 831.
⁶ Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 1012.
⁷ Hendriksen and Kistemaker, New Testament Commentary, 7:582.