Shalom, Lively Stone.
I disagree with that timing, for I believe that the Church will be with Jesus at His second coming.
And so do I. However, I believe that there are STAGES to the Second Coming!
1. Yeshua` and His messengers arrive within the atmosphere of the earth.
2. Yeshua` sends out His messengers to gather all of His saints from around the globe.
3. The Resurrection (Greek:
Anastasis) happens first - wherever saints are dead and buried, for those who were dead in the Messiah, whatever (if anything) is left of their mortal bodies is raised to life with God's Creative power to make new immortal bodies.
4. The Transformation (Greek:
Enduoo Athanasia) happens second - the mortal bodies of those who were alive in the Messiah are changed into immortal bodies.
5. The Rapture (Greek:
Harpazoo) happens third - we all are transported into the air (Greek: ouranos, often translated as "heaven").
6. We are then transported (right turn, Clyde!) not
up to "Heaven," but
THROUGH the "heaven," the "air," parallel to the earth's surface,
to ISRA'EL!
7. We then
meet up with the Master Yeshua` haMashiach (
the Lord Jesus the Christ)
in the air above haErets Yisra'el (the Land of Isra'el).
8. We then descend with Him to rescue national Isra'el, as the prophecies predict.
Thus, when He arrives in Isra'el in step 8, He comes with His "church!"
All of this TAKES TIME! It's not a "zoom-boom-done" kind of thing! True, the TRANSFORMATION is done in the "twinkling of an eye," but we're not told that's true about ANY of the rest of it! The "instantaneous" stuff that is taught in some churches is just WAY out of line! They've strayed from the Scriptures and there's no proof for any of the teaching that is imagined once past the Scriptures!
I believe that it takes the time from the Seventh Shofar (Trumpet), through the seven Bowl Judgments (which happen in rapid fire succession) and until He descends in Isra’el as portrayed in Rev. 19.
We will experience the Wedding between us, the Church and Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom. The main reason why we are taken to heaven for this event is because God has still seven years left on the clock for His dealing with the Jew. With the Church removed, the age of the Gentile completed, He will revert back to the pre-Messiah, pre-cross time and focus on Israel once again. They will hear the message of the Messiah from the two witnesses and out of them will come 144,000 who will stand. The remaining world will also hear again of the Messiah who once came and will come again soon to reap the earth, but they will continue to reject Him and will continue to curse God and suffer great ills and death in the Tribulation.
Have you ever investigated a Jewish wedding? As can be seen in the importance that Miryam (Mary, Jesus’ mother) put on the wine served at the wedding at Cana in the Galiyl (Galilee), wine was very important at Jewish weddings (and it still is). (This is found in John 2:1-11.)
Next, one must understand when the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven begins. Yeshua` (Jesus) said,
Matthew 25:31-32
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
KJV
Luke 19:12-15
12 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
13 And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come.
14 But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
15 And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading.
KJV
Furthermore, the messenger Gavri’el (Gabriel) said,
Luke 1:30-33
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
KJV
The Messiah’s Kingdom begins when He is sitting on the throne of His ancestor Daviyd the King AFTER HE HAS RETURNED in what is called the MILLENNIUM.
Now, consider what Yeshua` said to His disciples at His final Passover Seder (the Last Supper):
Matthew 26:27-29
27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;
28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.
KJV
Mark 14:23-25
23 And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.
24 And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.
25 Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.
KJV
Luke 22:17-18
17 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:
18 For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.
KJV
One should come to the conclusion, then, that Yeshua` won’t be drinking of the fruit of the vine (the wine), until HE COMES BACK and is REIGNING IN JERUSALEM! That’s AFTER His Second Coming and AFTER THE MILLENNIUM HAS BEGUN!
One may then conclude that Yeshua`s wedding and the marriage supper associated with it won’t happen until He has returned, happening at the beginning of the Millennium, not in some seven-year period before!
The other reason why the Church is removed is to avoid the Tribulation that is coming upon the whole world. We are not of the world.
That’s really a minor argument. We don’t truly need to “avoid” the Tribulation for a couple of reasons.
First, God can take care of us THROUGH the pressure as easily as taking us OFF-WORLD! Just as He protected the children of Isra’el while they were slaves in Egypt THROUGH the plagues, He can protect believers in the “tribulation” (Greek:
thlipsis = “pressure”) without removing them from the earth in a Rapture.
Second, we should not fear to follow in the Messiah’s footsteps. If they persecuted our Master, shouldn’t they likewise persecute us His slaves? We can be PROUD if he calls us to suffer for Him!
Third, IMO, we’re already IN the “
thlipsis” of Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It’s a pressure primarily on the Jews for rejecting the Messiah. It started in the first century A.D. and will continue until the Messiah returns!
Then, I had asked, “Would you agree, for instance, that it is the "Judgment Seat (Bema) of Christ" and the "Marriage Supper of the Lamb?" to which you simply responded,
So, having already talked about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, let’s direct our attention to the “Judgment Seat (
Beema) of Christ.”
As I’ve already tried to convey, the title “Christ” is the same thing as the title “Messiah.” “Messiah” is one English transliteration for the title spelled “mem, shin, yod, chet.” Another is one that sounds closer to how the word is actually pronounced, “
Mashiach,” such that the “
ch” (the “chet”) is like the “ch” in the Scottish word “loch,” as in “Loch Ness.”
The Hebrew word was translated into Greek using the word “
Christos,” pronounced “CHREES-tos,” such that the “
ch” again is like the “ch” in “loch” but transliterates the “chi” letter in Greek. This Greek word was shortened to “Christ.” Thus, the two words mean EXACTLY THE SAME THING! So, substitute the word “Messiah” for “Christ” in the term:
It’s the “Judgment Seat (Beema) of the Messiah!” Now, what do the words “Messiah” and “Christ” mean? Simply put, they mean “Anointed (One),” and “to anoint” means “to rub or paint someone (as with the Holy Anointing Oil of Exodus 30:22-33).”
Now, a person was so anointed for one of three (and four) occupations: priest, prophet, or king (and since the role of an Isra’elite king was to act as a supreme court for the kingdom, he would also be a judge).
Generally, Yeshua` was anointed for all three, but specifically when it comes to prophecies, He was anointed to be the
Melekh or King of Isra’el.
So, follow the logic closely: Since Yeshua` was anointed to be King and He takes His Kingdom at the beginning of the Millennium, then Yeshua` also becomes JUDGE at the beginning of the Millennium, and that means that His task as Judge will be THROUGHOUT THE MILLENNIUM, and indeed it starts with a general Judgment (the separation of the sheep and the goats) and it ends with a general Judgment (the Great White Throne)!
Furthermore, the character of the Kingdom is one of judgment throughout as He subdues His enemies (Psalm 2:1-12; 1 Cor. 15:22-28)!
Consider this, too: Didn’t Paul say this?
2 Cor. 5:10
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat (Greek: beematos or “Beema”) of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
KJV
That does not mean “so that each one receives [recompense] for the things” he HAD “done in his body” while alive, “whether good or bad”; it means “so that each one receives through his body [recompense] for the things He had done, whether good or bad” (Greek: “
hina komiseetai hekastos ta dia tou soomatos pros ha epraxen, eite agathos eite faulon”)!
Therefore, how could this occur BEFORE the Resurrection? Unless of course, a pretribulational rapturist teaches that there is more than one Resurrection of the Just associated with the Second Coming! And, many do.
No, it makes better sense that the judgment of each one of us will happen before the throne of Daviyd when Yeshua` sits in judgment within His Kingdom.
So, if the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is within His Kingdom in the Millennium and if the Judgment Seat of the Messiah is within His Kingdom in the Millennium, what would we be doing for seven years?
Therefore, I conclude that the Rapture is NOT seven years prior to the Second Coming.