When the Archangel Speaks

“Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand.

He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.’

Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, ‘There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.’

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: ‘Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.’

So, I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, ‘Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but “in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey.’” I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. Then I was told, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings.’” (Revelation 10: 1-11)

The confusion within the current generation dwarfs any comparison to prior generations. We have so much information being presented to us that we cannot process it quickly enough to fully understand what is being said. This confusion cannot be worse then within the Christian community in respect to the unfolding prophetic word. So many prophets, teachers, pastors are proclaiming that they know the truth and that we must follow their teachings, otherwise we will live eternity in hell.

Not only are people becoming scared about what is unfolding on our earth, but they are also unwilling to challenge their faith and what they believe. So many are holding to “truths” that they were taught in church, even when evidence is presented that disputes their understanding. Instead of realizing the extend of delusion present within our world and church, they would rather fight, proclaiming their truth is correct, no matter what information is presented to the contrary.

Most of the prophetic teaching that is going on within our world has prescribed to the teaching that once you receive salvation from Jesus, that you no longer must worry about anything. You will always be saved, and you will not have to endure any tribulation, as all Christians will be raptured prior to the tribulation. It makes absolute sense for anyone to want to believe these teaching, as they tickle the ear and are exactly what everyone wants to hear. The only problem is that it does not matter what we want to hear. It only matters what the Word of God tells us.

There are two verses that every pre-tribulation rapture believer reference to proclaim their evidence of a pre-tribulation rapture. Those verses are as follows:

“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly no precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18)

And:

“I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’” (1 Corinthians 15: 50-54)

When looking at these verses we can see there are some clues as to the timing of the “rapture”.

We know that it is a mystery, that occurs at the voice of the archangel, with the sound of the last trumpet, and the dead will rise first. With understanding these markers, we can see that the book of Revelation depicts exactly this within Chapter 10. The archangel comes down, speaks, the 7 thunders speak, and the mystery of God is accomplished.

Seeing how these verses work directly together we can understand that the “rapture” verses are talking about the event that occurs within Revelation 10. There is no denying this fact. Considering this information, it would be very hard to justify belief in a pre-tribulation rapture, considering the “rapture” events occur after the completion of the seven seals, and seven trumpets. There is no way to justify a pre-tribulation rapture stance after understanding that the “rapture” occurs at the midway point of the tribulation.

The other complication is the fact that the dead rise first. The assumption is that the dead rise and then immediately afterward the living are changed and brought into the clouds. This too is a misunderstanding as the Book of Revelation provides insight into who are the first ones raised at the sound of the last trumpet:

“I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) this is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” (Revelation 20: 4-6)

Its difficult to grasp that the first resurrection is for those who died during the tribulation and did not relinquish their faith during their trial. We have been taught that all the dead will rise at the same time and that the living will rise at that time as well. Unfortunately, this is not what the Word of God states. The word of God is very clear: God’s mystery will be completed at the sounding of the last trumpet, when the archangel speaks, and the Tribulation Saints will be the ones raised from the dead, so that they can reign alongside Christ during the Millennial Reign.

Modern man wants to proclaim the good news and teach humanity about the loving grace of Christ. We have done this to our detriment, have forgotten that we are guilty of sin, and the judgement against our transgressions is death. We all will die. Those who do remain alive and endure until the end will witness events that mankind cannot even dream of!

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24: 9-14)

 

 

Clinton Kowach

02/17/2020