12. Jesus speaks of the general harvest or ingathering of His people at the close of the great tribulation (Matt. 24:29-31).
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
The end of the tribulation and subsequent events, including the darkening of the sun and the moon, are also clearly seen in Rev. 6:12-17. In the next chapter immediately following, there appears a company no man can number (Rev. 7:9, 14). They are from every tribe and nation and stand before the throne of God having come out of the great tribulation. This is definitely the general harvest rapture and resurrection, or the post-tribulation rapture.
That is the reason believers continue to debate and/or deny the pre-trib rapture. It’s both.
13. The Manchild company.
Beginning with Rev. 12, we see the unfolding of the second chronological panorama of the events at the end of the age. The Manchild company is caught up to heaven before the great tribulation that begins in Rev. 13. The Manchild company “is to rule over the nations with a rod of iron” (Rev. 12:5). The rest of the seed of the woman is not caught up to heaven at this time, but goes through the great tribulation. These are the ones of which Rev. 13 speaks of that they shall come under the persecution of the Antichrist.
“It was given unto him (the Antichrist) to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.” (Rev. 13:7)
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:17)
14. The 144,000 First-fruits of Rev. 14.
As we have already shown, these are not the trihulation saints, for they appear on the heavenly Mt. Zion, while the trihulation is still going on, and while people on the earth are receiving the mark of the Beast (Rev. 14: 9-10). We are told, indeed, that they are of the First-fruit rapture, for they are redeemed saints and First-fruits unto God. They have the name of God written upon them, as promised to the Philadelphia church (Rev. 3:12). They sing a new song before the throne, and they are without fault before the throne of God; and they follow the Lamb wherever He goes. This is a definite reference to Brideship. Let the earnest reader consider.
15. The harvest of the tribulation resurrection and rapture.
(Resurrection rather than rapture is emphasized in the tribulation harvest, because so many are slain for their faith.) The tribulation harvest or post-trib rapture is clearly seen in vs. 14-16, in the same chapter of which the 144,000 First-fruits are spoken of.
“Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the time has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.” (Rev. 14:14-16)
Notice martyrdom is spoken of just before the reaping of the harvest saints. “Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.”
But now Christ comes as the Son of Man on a cloud, and with a golden crown on His head, and He reaps the harvest of the earth, for it is ripe. The tribulation fires have ripened the harvest.
16. The multitude standing on the sea of glass have gotten victory over the Beast (Rev. 15:2-4).
This is the company which Christ reaped when He came on the cloud, and are the same “multitude that no man could number”, of Rev. 7:14, who stood before the throne of God. The sea of glass is before the throne (Rev. 4:6). Unlike the First-fruits or Manchild company, who sing a new song that no man knew, these tribulation saints sing the song of Moses and worship God. They are the tribulation harvest now in heaven.
Revelation 14 and 15 clearly distinguish in words which there is no mystery, that there is a First-fruit company of saints, and there is a tribulation harvest of saints. The first company is raptured and resurrected before the trihulation, and are the First-fruits unto God. The second company are reaped after the trihulation, and are called “the harvest of the earth”.
This wealth of evidence I’ve given you over the last 4 posts surely establishes that there is indeed a pre-trib and a post-trib rapture, a First-fruits before the tribulation and a general harvest after the tribulation. This also establishes the fact that the Lord’s coming is in two phases, at the rapture and what is called the second advent. This short study should cause all debates and arguments to cease, concerning the rapture that so many believers are now even denying. It’s a trick of the devil to steal the hope and joy of every believer. The 1831 theory started by some lady named Margaret McDonald and some man named Darby is defunct. Stick with the Scriptures.
Comments