davidbowerkingwood

Scripture is clear, I’m convinced, that the church will not be on earth during the Tribulation. I will mention two sections of Scripture which come to mind first in support of this position: the first is in Daniel 9:24-27 where Daniel is given the prophecy of the seventy weeks to be given to Israel.

That is the prophetic equivalent of 490 prophetic years which are cut short at the 483rd year by the entrance of the Lord Jesus Christ into Jerusalem. On that day Israel was set aside for an undetermined amount of time during which the mystery of the church was to be played out starting at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit took up residence in believers as described in Act 2:1-4.

It is in this hidden era of the church in which we find ourselves today; the Old Testament prophets could prophetically see two mountain top events, the First Advent, the Messiah as suffering servant, and the Second Advent, the Messiah as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

What was not revealed to them was the mystery of the church age; that long valley of time that stretched between those two mountain tops. Israel had been set aside but not abandoned by God; God, who can always be trusted to keep His word, had promised yet another seven years to Israel to complete the job assigned in Daniel 9:24.

The Tribulation is that last seven years allotted to Israel. Just as Israel was set aside before the church began, so the church will be removed before the age of Israel is resumed to complete its last seven years. God does not mix Israel and the church.

The second passage of Scripture that comes to mind is I Thessalonians 1:10 “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” It is interesting to note that Paul uses the present tense rescues, not the past tense rescued in this verse. In the Greek the present tense carries the thought of continuous action, in other words our deliverance from the wrath to come is a continuous reality right now because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross.

One more verse that comes to mind is Revelation 4:1 where John is called up to heaven. Although the church is the main topic of Revelation chapters 1-3, it is not even mentioned after 4:1. I believe the calling up is symbolic of the Rapture of the church.

It is important to remember that the Rapture of the church is not the event that triggers the Tribulation; it is the signing of the covenant between Israel and the Antichrist that starts the Tribulation period and starts Israel’s seven year countdown.

Based on the studies by Dr. Harold Hoehner, I believe the triumphal entry took place on March 30, AD 33 and Pentecost, the beginning of the church, took place on May 25, AD33, a gap of 56 days. Likewise I believe it very possible, even likely that there will be a gap between the Rapture of the church and the signing of the covenant.

If one considers the battle of Psalm 83 and the battle of Gog and Magog there is an implied amount of time that would pass in order to accomplish all that is prophesied for these events. I believe we could be looking at five years at the very least and possibly more between the Rapture and the signing of the covenant.

Israel had been given three periods of 490 years in the land. There was a gap of 161 years between the end of the second period of 490 years and the beginning of the third period of 490 years. It the last seven years of this third period which is still future and is called the Tribulation.

The nations surrounding Israel have announced their intentions of taking all of Israel for Islam; the very existence of Israel is an affront to them. This is precisely the situation described in Psalm 83:4 “They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.” I find it pretty exciting to see ancient Bible prophecies in the headlines of today’s papers.

In Part 3, I will elaborate on the battle of Psalm 83 and the one event that I think will trigger the attack. I will also cover the future of the United States as it relates to Israel and the battle of Psalm 83.