By Mike Shoesmith
This view wrongly presupposes that it is God who is literally doing every bad thing written in the Book of Revelation, calling the seventh seal trumpets the "trumpet judgments of God" when in fact the prophecies lay out the events as shown to John in futuristic visions as they will happen however it doesn't say it is God who is actually doing it.
John was shown these future events after being taken up into the spirit realm through a door. Notice it simply says:
Many people make this erroneous connection: "things which must be hereafter" = God does it. This is a common non-sequiter people fall for when studying scriptures and it is not limited to prophecy. I like to remind people that the Bible is the WORD of God not the WORDS of God. Simply showing someone what is coming doesn't mean God is doing it. It simply means God knows it's coming.Revelation 4:1 ¶After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
So when advanced students of the Word point out the obvious connections to people, places, and names mentioned in Revelation eight and nine they are merely suggesting that perhaps people need to begin seriously considering the possibility that the 'end time" prophesied by Daniel may no longer be coming... it may already be here. They are in no way suggesting that God will pour out His wrath on the world with His bride as part of that judgment "wrath." The scriptures clearly point out that God's people are not appointed to wrath and we will be "caught up" or "raptured" in the Latin translation of 1 Thess 4:17 before the wrath is poured out from what the Bible refers to as "bowls."
Everything that happens prior to this wrath event is not God's doing. In most cases it is simply fallen men doing what fallen men do. The Bible even gives us exact names of men who will or as some argue have done trumpets-related deeds.
If it's true then that we are currently in the Trumpet days of Revelation as the evidence suggests, then the wrath of God hasn't begun. God has not appointed his people to wrath. We will be caught up "raptured" out into the clouds (1 Thess 4:17) to be with the Lord. We will rule and reign with Him on earth (and wherever else in the universe He has plans). He will not beat up His bride before the wedding day.
The Bible teaches a clear pre-wrath message, NOT a pre-tribulation one. Jesus Himself makes this bold statement:
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.John 16:33
God's people all over the world are experiencing horrific tribulation - beheading, rape, torture, and so on. Is God beating up His bride? No. This is tribulation. Even in the formerly Christian West the church is being marginalized, mocked, belittled, imprisoned and the like. World leaders (Barack Hussein Obama et al) are literally wearing out the Saints with a never before heard of push to redefine the basic elements of Christian living and forcing these Antichrist philosophical worldviews on the world.
Forcefully teaching children they are animals and that same-sex relationships are "normal" is rapidly gaining ground. The pale/green horse of Islam has reached one fourth of the world's population. The Bear, Leopard and Lion are forming alliances with the Dragon as the Eagle fades into irrelevance and possibly destruction. Any of this sound familiar?
For the world: it only gets worse from here on. For the bride of Christ: keep looking up, your redemption draws near.
No comments:
Post a Comment