Tag: holy spirit

Three Bankable Scriptural Truths that Guarantee the Church Will Be Raptured Before the Tribulation

You-Can-Take-It-to-the-Bank

1. 1 Thessalonians 1:10 – “…and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

Really, this verse is all I need to be confident that the Church will be raptured prior to the tribulation.  The word ‘delivers’ in this verse is ‘ruomai’ in Greek which means “to draw to oneself as if dragging or pulling to rescue from danger”.  The word ‘from’ in the Greek is ‘ek’ which means ‘out of’.  A better translation of this passage would then actually be “…Jesus, who will pull us to himself to rescue us out the way of the wrath that is coming”.

This passage gives a much different picture than the picture put forth by those who advocate for a mid or post-tribulation rapture.  Their belief is that God will give the grace necessary to face all of the horror and suffering that will take place during the 70th week of Daniel. 

I don’t know about you but that doesn’t sound like being dragged out of the way of the wrath.  And it certainly doesn’t give me much comfort or peace of mind.  It’s no wonder why there is such a profitable business out there keeping the fear going by many preachers in the various media.   Apocalypse survival books make money!

This verse indicates a much more drastic action than just giving grace or strength.  It is saying that Jesus is going to pull us up to Himself and out of the world before the wrath of God is poured out on creation during the tribulation. 

2. Paul said that the rapture will precede the ‘Day of the Lord’ and the revealing of the antichrist.

“Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a  letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.  Let no one in any way deceive you, for IT WILL NOT COME UNLESS THE DEPARTURE COMES FIRST, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction”.  2Thessalonians 2:1-3

I go into greater detail in my post “The Great Falling Away of the Church”, but this verse is not saying the ‘Day of the Lord’ will come after the ‘falling away from the faith’, which is how most interpret it.  Most translations say “apostasy’ where I have ‘departure’. 

The Greek word ‘apostasia’ means departure or leaving.  There is no quantifying noun.  That is to say the word faith or truth is not there.  By itself, ‘apostasia’ simply means departure, leaving, or moving away from. 

In this context Paul is saying that the rapture or departure will come before the ‘Day of the Lord’.  ‘Day of the Lord’ is a Hebrew idiom for the 7 year period of judgment or tribulation before the return of the King of Kings. 

The Thessalonians thought they had been left behind and the day of the Lord had come.  Paul is clearly talking about the rapture when he says “with regard to the coming of our Lord…and our gathering together to Him”, and he uses the word ‘apostasia’ as another way of describing it. 

Paul says the order of events is 1) the departure will happen and then 2) the man of lawlessness will be revealed before the ‘Day of the Lord’.  The antichrist will not be revealed until the Church departs.  Which brings us to the the 3rd truth that guarantees the Church will be raptured before the tribulation begins…

3.  The ‘Restrainer’ is the Holy Spirit, and when He is removed the antichrist will be revealed.

“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way”.  2 Thessalonians 2:7

I won’t go into all of the detail here about why the Restrainer is the Holy Spirit.  You can read all about it in my posts “Michael the Restrainer?” and “Who or What is the Restrainer?”.

The Holy Spirit clearly is the Restrainer.  Paul is reiterating something he has undoubtedly gone over with them thoroughly in the past; namely, that the antichrist will not be revealed until the Holy Spirit removes Himself from the world.  Ergo, when the Holy Spirit is removed, the Church is removed because the Holy Spirit resides in the Body of Christ!  This is exactly what Paul said in 2Thess 2:3 – the departure comes first (Holy Spirit is removed) and then antichrist is revealed. 

Paul’s comforting message is NOT that the Church will be given grace to endure the tribulation, it is that the Church will not go through the tribulation!

The Thessalonians were obviously disturbed and shaken by the thought that the ‘Day of the Lord’ had come and that they were going to go through the tribulation.  If Paul had taught the Church would go through the tribulation, then why wasn’t Paul reminding them that God would give them strength and grace to endure the unprecedented sufferings, horrors, and tortures that will come during that time?  Instead, he reminds them of the sequence of events leading up to the tribulation. 

Think about that for a minute!

Christians are not supposed to prepare for the tribulation.

The bottom line is that we, the Body of Christ, should not be worried about the tribulation.  Not because somehow we will be able to endure it by faith, but because we’re not going to be here when the antichrist is revealed and the tribulation begins!

That really is the message in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.  Paul was trying to get them to quit worrying about it and focus on the real mission.  Our mission is NOT to get ready to go through the tribulation.

One last thought.  Peter said that judgment begins now with the household of God (1Peter 4:17).  As Christians, if we are trying to live by faith in the flesh in this corrupt world, then we all will suffer in varying degrees, but suffer nonetheless. 

This life is OUR tribulation and judgment, our trial and testing – we will not be here for the world’s. 

Now that is real comfort! 

Dan Baker

 

Who or What is the Restrainer?

Holding back

In my previous post I dispensed of the notion that the restrainer (2 Thess. 2:6-7) is the archangel Michael, as many incorrectly believe.  Daniel 12:1 is the only Scripture reference that I know of that is used to support that contention. 

So, who or what is it?  

Of all the other possibilities the only one that makes sense, considering all the requirements of restraining the evil one, is the Holy Spirit.  Here are the ways the Holy Spirit fulfills the role:

  • The Holy Spirit is God, and is therefore stronger than Satan
  • The Holy Spirit operates in the spiritual realm as does Satan.
  • The Holy Spirit dwells in His Church, which is His body. The Church is the salt of the earth, or preservative.
  • The whole world lies under the power of the evil one (1 John 5:19), yet the gates of Hades will not prevail against the Church (Matt. 16:18).
  • 2 Thess 2:6-7 Paul uses the word what and he to describe the Restrainer, which rules out Rome or government. The what is the power of the Holy Spirit and the He is the person of the Holy Spirit. 

Again, Michael has been ruled out – it is not that person.  Nor is it Caesar, or any other political figure or earthly government, because they can not transcend the centuries nor do they have worldwide power.

No other possibility makes as much sense.  That being the case, the only way the Restrainer can be removed is if the Church is removed.  This supports a pre-tribulation rapture.  Why?

The tribulation, otherwise known as the 70th week of Daniel, begins when a covenant or treaty is forged with Israel facilitated by the antichrist (Daniel 9:27).  Therefore, the antichrist is revealed at minimum at the time of the treaty/covenant.  Which means he is revealed at the beginning of the tribulation, not in the middle. 

Since the antichrist is revealed at that time, that means the Church has been evacuated prior to the 7-year tribulation.  The antichrist is not revealed until the Restrainer is taken out of the way.

When the Church is removed the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way and the antichrist will be revealed.  The Church will thus be raptured prior to the 7-year tribulation.

 

What’s in the Water?

    oRDER MY NEW BOOK HERE

Water

1 John 5:6-8  “6. This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ: not in water only, but in the water and in the blood.  7. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is the truth.  8. For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.”

Before I get into this, I want to state that I quoted the New American Standard that has ‘in’ in the margin as the literal translation for the 2nd and 3rd segment of verse 6 (“not IN water only” as opposed to “not BY water only”).

This is a fascinating passage and the commentaries are varied in their interpretations.  So hang in there and do your best to follow me as I put forth some things to consider that I have not found to be suggested as yet.

Most commentaries say that the water is referring to Christ’s baptism.  One commentary by someone named Wetstein said it is referring to Christ’s manhood meaning that he “he had all the properties of a human being–a spirit or soul, blood, and the watery humours of the body”.  I strongly believe it goes far deeper than baptism or the human body.

What is curious about this is that John says that Jesus did not come in water ONLY.  I wonder why he said it that way.  In other words, it seems John recognizes that someone would easily accept that the Messiah Son of God might come in water only.  John is emphatic that he came in water AND blood.  I think Wetstein is getting warm.  But why water only?

Here’s what I’m thinking about…

First, let’s look at where Yahweh lives and where Yeshuah came from.  Gen. 1:6 says “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 

Psalm 104:3 says that He “lays the beams of His chambers in the waters”.  In the same psalm it says in verse 13, “He waters the mountains from His chambers”.

Psalm 148:4 says, ‘Praise Him, heaven of heavens and the waters that are above the heavens”.

Amos 9:6 says “The One who builds His upper chambers in the heavens, and has founded His vaulted dome over the earth, He who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth, the Lord is His name.” 

God dwells above the firmament above the earth in waters.  That seems clear from Scripture.  I realize that Amos is not describing the waters above the firmament, I included it because it goes along with the verse that says His chambers are there.  And God is spirit (John 4:24). 

Ok, He’s spirit, what’s that got to do with it?  Well, maybe everything.  Again, I’m just exploring this, I haven’t formed any conclusions.   Let’s bring in another verse to consider.  Stay with me.

Luke 11:24 says, “When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’”

What this verse seems to indicate is that these spirits (granted they are unclean or demons) must find habitation made up of water.  Remember when Jesus exorcised a man of the demon Legion (Luke 8:27-33)?  That demon begged to be sent into a herd of pigs rather than the abyss. 

The abyss is the lowest part of the earth where evil spirits are imprisoned and there is no water (1 Peter 3:18, Jude 6).  It wanted to be in a living creature.  All life is water based.  We are 70% water.

Now, these were unclean spirits but spirits nonetheless.   See where I’m going?

Now I want to bring in the Book of Enoch.  This book is credible reliable spiritual history.  The reason I can say that is because the Bible quotes it.  That means God affirms it.  I’m not saying it’s Scripture, but I believe at minimum it is as close as you can get.

In Enoch 22: 9-13 it says this: “9. At that time therefore I inquired respecting him, and respecting the general judgment, saying, Why is one separated from another? He answered, Three separations have been made between the spirits of the dead, and thus have the spirits of the righteous been separated. 10. Namely, by a chasm, by water, and by light above it.  11. And in the same way likewise are sinners separated when they die, and are buried in the earth; judgment not overtaking them in their lifetime.  12. Here their souls are separated. Moreover, abundant is their suffering until the time of the great judgment, the castigation, and the torment of those who eternally execrate, whose souls are punished and bound there for ever.  13. And thus has it been from the beginning of the world. Thus has there existed a separation between the souls of those who utter complaints, and of those who watch for their destruction, to slaughter them in the day of sinners.”

What Enoch is saying is there are 3 things that separate the unsaved from the saved who are dead (that was pre-cross; now the saved go straight to heaven).  There is a chasm, water and light above the water.  (As an aside, Enoch also affirms the destruction of the lost) 

Remember the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-26)?  It says the rich man asked if Lazarus could dip his finger in the water and put it on the rich man’s tongue.   Abraham said there was a chasm that may not be crossed.  Both passages describe the chasm and water.  Jesus is actually affirming Enoch in his telling of this story.

Getting back to Jesus and 1 John 5:6, what I’m wondering is if John understood that God’s dwelling is in the waters as Spirit.  Please do not understand me to be saying that God MUST reside in water, it may just be that He chooses to.  We too are spirit and reside in water, just as the unclean spirits seek watery residence.  They have no rest without water.  It seems that our spirit must, as well.

Was John saying that Jesus did not come in just water – as he understood God to reside in – but he also came in blood as a man?  I think it could very well be the case.

To be continued…

Dan Baker