The Seventh Trumpet

Have you ever wondered when the Rapture of the Church would take place? I have, even though Christ told His Disciples that no man can know the day or the hour of the LORD’S return, but we can discern the seasons. Christ instructs us to watch and pray. Even though the time of the Second coming is secret with God the Father, Christ divulged the seasons with them and gave many clues as to what would be happening when the clouds rolled back and revealed Christ in all His glory. This is where we have to use our heads and think like a detective and sniff out the clues for ourselves. As we read the passages, we can determine what has already happened, what is happening, and what is yet to take place. Be sure to read over this very carefully as to not miss any clue. Christ and the Apostle Paul explicitly warn us to not let any man deceive us but to look to the Scripture for ourselves for the truth of matters.

“And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying; tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diver’s places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand :) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” Matthew 24:3-22

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Church of Thessalonica and comforted the Saints with this letter because someone had started a rumor that Christ had already come back and they had missed the Rapture of the Church. Paul told them it was not so because there were certain events that had to take place first.

“Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?” 2Thessolonians 2:1-5

So Paul gives us three clues on top of what Christ gave His early Disciples. First, there will be a falling away. But just what does Paul mean with this statement? As Christ described the coming events to His Disciples He told them that they would be hated and sought after like criminals, even though they had done nothing wrong. This persecution will make many decide if they really want to follow after somebody that will get them and their family killed. In the last days, when the Beast of Revelation appears, and we will see him and know him, Christians will be hunted down and killed just because of their belief and faith in Christ Jesus. Men and women will turn against us, even our neighbors will tell the authorities where you and I are hiding. This sounds a little like the Holocaust of WWII doesn’t it? According to Christ, there has never been a time like this and will never be again once it has passed.

“And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.” Revelation 13:6-10

So we can read for ourselves that the Beast will appear right on time according to God’s time table and make war with the Saint’s that are still living at the time. Not only will the Beast make war against all Christianity but everyone will be forced to take the mark, possibly a tattoo of some sort again like the ones issued to the Jews of the Holocaust.

“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Revelation 13:16-18

You might be saying at this point and time, but to be sure the Rapture of the Church has taken place by now! Nope, not right yet. That is right; the Rapture of the Church is not in the beginning of the Great Tribulation as many preachers, evangelists’ and Sunday school teachers have been teaching for many years now. They are probably unaware that they are teaching false doctrine or at the very least, error. You might ask, but why won’t they tell the truth and warn us? To be honest and tell it like it really is, most of the preachers, teachers, and evangelists, have gone the way of Balaam, you know, the prophet for hire? That’s right, they have been bought off by the masses with the money to tickle their ears and have forbid them to teach anything that will send the sheeple (the flock of God) into disarray of the establishment. Didn’t Christ and the Apostle Paul warn us of false teachers and those that would deceive us? Well, for the most part, we have been deceived all these years and this is the reason I am warning you now!

No, there will be no Rapture of the Church before the Beast of Revelation appears and yes, we will be persecuted like the Apostles and Saint’s before us were during the reign of the ten wicked Emperors of Rome. You might be asking at this time, but who will make it through this horror? My answer is the Elect of God. God know His own and will protect them no matter come what may, just as He protected so many during the Blitz of England in WWII, and all the bombings of Nazi Germany. Not everyone was a Nazi despite what we have been told. And God protected so many in all of Europe during both WWI and WWII that proclaimed Christ as their Saviour. Why cannot God protect you and me when the Beast comes on the scene? And just what if God wants us to die for Him, would you count that an honor?

“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me; Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” Revelation 14:12-13

It could be the will of God for us to give our life for Him as to prove our loyalty to our LORD and Saviour just as it was required of the Saint’s that was put to death in the Roman coliseums as sport for the masses. We have to remember, God is no respecter of persons and what was required of those Saint’s in the past is no different for us who are alive today. God treats all His children the same and we can rest assured, He has reasons for what He allows, whether or not we as human beings understand.

You might be asking, but where does the Rapture of the Church take place? Well, we have some very good clues as to where it might take place. As Christ has told us before, no man knows exactly when and where it will happen. Let’s look to the Scriptures for the clues.

The Apostle Paul gives a clue when he described the process in which we will be raptured (caught away) at Christ’s appearing.

“Behold, I shew 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 trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1Corinthians 15:51-52

Do you see what I see? Paul says “at the last trump.” The last trumpet sounding is the clue we need to determine the time of the Rapture. But just how many trumps are there? Well according to the Revelation, there are seven.

“And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.” Revelation 8:6

But, we need to keep in mind that the sounding of the trumpet is just not a single event. Do you remember the story in the Old Testament about how the children of Israel marched around the walls of Jericho for seven days blowing the trumpet once every time thay circled the city walls? Well, this blowing of the seventh trumpet is somewhat like that performed at Jericho.

“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” Revelation 10:7

Do you see what I see? “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel”, is what the Apostle John says. So, we can see that this sounding is over a period of time. The time it takes for Christ to gather His own, the Bride, in Rapture, to be with him forever and right in the middle of the Great Tribulation.

This will take place where the two prophets of God are killed by the Beast and where God brings them back to life. This is the Rapture of the Church according to John.

“And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them. And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.” Revelation 11:11-13

This is where the Seventh Angel sounds the trumpet for days to come and we who are born-again Christians will see Christ Jesus and receive our glorified body.

“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 11:15

When the world finds out what is happened, it is really going to get bad. But we as God’s Elect will be with Him and protected from any more harm from the world.

“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Revelation 11:18

You might be asking, but just who of us came out of the Great Tribulation? The Scripture is very clear on this matter.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead (unsaved) lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

Do you see what I see? Yes, the Scripture says there is only one resurrection for the Righteous Saints. “This is the first resurrection.” I cannot understand why so many people will not accept this Scripture. I have heard many different versions of the proceedings of the resurrection and Rapture all my life. But when I read this for myself, it was settled that God knows what is best for His Church and what happens is just what happens. Either way, we are all winners who take a stand for God and His Son, Christ Jesus. Come what may, we are the over comers who side with the King of Glory.