The day of the LORD, the blessed hope, and the rapture
What is the "blessed hope?" When will the rapture happen? Did Paul teach a pre-tribulation rapture in Titus 2:13?
Isaiah 28:10 "For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:"
Apostle Paul taught us by the Holy Ghost in 1 Corinthians 2:13 to compare spiritual things with spiritual, and not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches:
1 Corinthians 2:13 "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual."
Isaiah 28:10 tells us that the word of the LORD is “here a little, and there a little” and so that’s why we will find similarities between two or more passages of scriptures in the 66 books of the Holy Bible, and that’s how we dig for information, if we want to know more about what a particular verse is about. Compare the following scriptures:
Isaiah 13:6-8 "¶ Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. 7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: 8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames."
Luke 21:25-26 "¶ And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken."
Isaiah 13:6 starts with “the day of the Lord,” and in verse 7, it tells us that “every man’s heart shall melt.” The same thing is also found in Luke 21:26 where we read that men’s hearts shall fail them for fear because of “those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” That explains why Isaiah said that the day of the Lord shall come as a “destruction from the Almighty.” (Isaiah 13:6)
Isaiah 13:9-10 "Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine."
Prophet Isaiah repeats the term “the day of the LORD” in Isaiah 13:9, and he tells us that it will be a day cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate, where God shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it, like how he did to Sodom and Gomorrah. Isaiah also told us to watch out for certain things when the day of the LORD comes:
the stars of heaven and the constellations shall not give their lights.
the sun shall be darkened.
the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
In fact, we already find the words “for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” in Luke 21:26 and that was what Isaiah meant in Isaiah 13:10. In fact, Luke 21, Matthew 24 and Mark 13 are all talking about the same things, and so we will find the details of Isaiah 13:10 being reiterated the following verses:
Matthew 24:29 "¶ Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"
Mark 13:24-25 "¶ But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken."
Luke 21:25 "¶ And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;"
Therefore, we can be sure that the end time passages of Matthew 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 which references one to another are pointing us back to Isaiah 13, talking about the day of the LORD. Notice that all these will only take place "after the tribulation of those days.” (Matthew 24:29) Prophet Isaiah continues in:
Isaiah 13:19 "¶ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah."
Earlier I had talk about how the day of the LORD would be like unto how God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, and Isaiah confirms it in Isaiah 13:19. Compare this to:
Luke 17:28-30 "Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; 29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. 30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."
Jesus compares the day of the LORD to the day that Lot went out of Sodom. After Lot departed from Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Therefore, in like manner, the children of God shall also be rescued before the fierce anger of the LORD lay “Babylon” (Isaiah 13:19) desolate. Notice how the term “Babylon” was used to describe the place whereby God compares to Sodom and Gomorrah?
Revelation 18:10 "Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come."
Jesus tells us in Luke 17:30 that the day of the LORD is the day when the Son of man would be revealed, and that would also be the day when that great city Babylon shall be judged for her sins against God, and the destruction will be very sudden and unexpected. However, there is hope for every born again believer when that evil day comes, even though we will be here to witness the destruction. Prophet Jeremiah tells us in:
Jeremiah 17:17 "Be not a terror unto me: thou art my hope in the day of evil."
The words “thou art my hope” was Jeremiah saying that God was his hope in “the day of evil.” The Spirit of God reveals that in the words of Apostle Paul in:
Titus 2:13 "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;"
The day of evil is also the day of the blessed hope for every born again believer, both the dead and the living, and Jesus is that blessed hope for every born again believer in the day of evil. Solomon tells us in:
Proverbs 16:4 "The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil."
God hath made all things for himself, even the wicked, for the day of evil, which is the day of the LORD when the LORD shall come and lay Babylon desolate and destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Jeremiah 17:18 “Let them be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with double destruction.”
Notice the term “the day of evil” following the words of Jeremiah in the previous verse? The day of evil will be accompanied by “double destruction.” It will be a day of double destruction for the wicked by the LORD. However, the day of the LORD is also the day of the appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Jesus confirms in the following passages:
Matthew 24:30-31 "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
Mark 13:26-27 "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven."
Luke 21:27-28 "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
The day of the coming of the Son of man is the day of every born again believer’s blessed hope. Luke 21:28 tells us that when all these things as laid out in the following sequence come to pass, our redemption draweth nigh:
After the tribulation of those days. (Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24)
the stars of heaven and the constellations shall not give their lights. (Isaiah 13:10; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:25; Luke 21:25)
the sun shall be darkened. (Isaiah 13:10; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25)
the moon shall not cause her light to shine. (Isaiah 13:10; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24; Luke 21:25)
Upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear. (Luke 21:25-26; Isaiah 13:7-8)
Apostle John added the following detail:
Revelation 1:7 "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."
Every eye shall see him when the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. That will be the day of our blessed hope, the day of redemption for every born again believer, both the dead and the living. When the King returns, he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Morever, there will be a glorious change in the body of every born again believer. Paul tells us in:
1 Corinthians 15:51-54 "Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 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. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory."
Notice the words “at the last trump” in 1 Corinthians 15:52? This connects to “great sound of a trumpet” in Matthew 24:31, right before the rapture of the dead and the living happens. Therefore, when Jesus shall send his angels to gather his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven at the last trump, that is also the time when the body of every born again believer shall be changed: the dead shall be raised incorruptible,and the mortal must put on immortality. So then when the corruptible have put on incorruption, then shall it be brought to pass the say that is written “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
Max, I am SO Happy to hear that you understand the truth behind the terminology of the Rapture Theory which is actually a theory contrived by the 19th-Century theologian John Nelson Darby & NOT supported by the scriptures.