Hello John and Doves,

 

Just received my 12.2021 The Prophecy Watcher magazine.  The website is: www.prophecywatchers.com

 

In this issue, Mondo Gonzales has an article titled, "Is the Rapture Really In The Olivet Discourse?"

 

A very good article with lots of interesting information.  But what I wanted to pass on to Doves is:

 

He compared "the days of Noah", "the days of Lot", and "the days of the Son of Man".

 

And shows a pattern - in the scriptures we are given a description of daily life  - eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling - normal activities for the days of Noah and Lot.  There is a description of rescue - enter the ark, escape judgment and leave Sodom, escape judgment.  And for "the days of the Son of Man" the "patterns shows us that there should also be a group to be rescued and escape coming judgment - Rapture, escape the judgment.

 

In 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5, Paul has told the Thessalonians that "the day of the Lord's judgment (7 year tribulation) will come upon an unsuspecting world like a thief in the night.  This can only refer to the timing of a pretribulation rapture event.  The world is living the normal life of peace and safety (similar to Luke 17 and the days of Noah, Lot and the Son of Man) when sudden destruction comes."

 

In Revelation 6 - 18, we read of "massive inflation, a fourth of the world killed by the sword, hunger, disease, martyrdom, great earthquakes, cosmic astronomical disturbances.  One-third of the earth burned up, sea turned to blood,..."  We are familiar with the extensive list of horrors that come upon the earth during that time period.

 

And the Olivet Discourse is about birth pains coming with increasing frequency and intensity, great signs from heaven, earthquakes, famines, wars,...again we know the list.

 

In the days BEFORE the flood...before judgment - people were eating, drinking marrying, buying, selling, building, etc.  Life was pretty normal for them.  The same for Sodom.  The people were expecting nothing but life to go on as 'normal'.

 

And the same should be for us then, before the Rapture.

 

Life is not 'normal' during the Tribulation.  People are well aware of impending disasters/judgment.  They know it's God's wrath.  Before this time, people are unaware of impending judgment...just like the people in Sodom and in Noah's day.

 

All of this just reenforces the belief that things will be pretty normal for the world when the Rapture happens....I suspect it will be much like it is now.  We aren't being rounded up and hauled off.  We are not being pulled out of our homes.  We are not in the middle of a super inflation where a day's wages is needed to buy bread, we are not in a huge financial collapse, we are not in a world war...people are doing 'normal' things - eating, drinking, marrying, giving in marriage, buying, selling, building, etc. 

 

And many churches are not preaching End Times...the congregations are expecting life to go on pretty much like 'normal'.  Maybe a 'few bumps' in the road...but nothing big.  They aren't expecting God's judgment any time soon...they are expecting, maybe a revival, with more chances for people to 'come to Jesus'...They are not expecting God's judgment to start any time soon - maybe not in their life time.  So, the day WILL take them 'like a thief in the night'.  Just like Jesus predicted would happen.

 

So this would point to a time like NOW when the Rapture happens. Before people start waking up...before most suspect something bad is coming...

 

We are very much aware of coming impending world/life changes - things we are threatened with almost daily.  Financial collapse, food shortages, super inflation, WWIII with China/Russia, NK, Iran. And with Covid there is always the mandates, the vaccine becoming forced on people, rounding up people who don't comply, extensive lockdowns again...we are seeing this beginning in Australia, Germany, Austria, etc...  More draconian, controlling measures are being used on the people - vaccinated and unvaccinated!  And now THEY have Omicron to threaten even more restrictions - travel, school, Christmas gatherings, etc.  But most people believe this is just another bump in the road...if they don't like the way things are going, they'll just vote to put in new leadership, new laws will fix things, new vaccines will get us 'back to normal', banks are too big to fail, we'll all be bailed out....

 

If we are to follow the pattern shown in 'the days of Noah' and 'the days of Lot', then the Rapture is before financial collapse, before food shortages, before super inflation, before WWIII, before the major roundups, before the bit of 'normal' we have is gone and we can't build or buy or marry or .....

 

Each day we come closer to these world/life changes.  The Rapture must be VERY close, indeed! 

 

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

 

Maranatha!

 

Chance