Some of us have been taught that the Church will go through the first half of the Tribulation. This belief is necessary to foster the concept of the church being the conduit to salvation, solidifying the foundation of a billion dollar empire. However, according to the Scriptures, the true church will not go through any part of the Tribulation. I make this statement because:
1. In the first three chapters of Revelation, the word church or churches occur about twenty times. However, beginning with chapter four, up to the seventeenth verse of chapter twenty-two, the Church is not mentioned one time. The Church has no part in the prophetic visions given to John after chapter three. Therefore, if we compare spiritual things with spiritual, and if we “come now and reason together,” we must conclude that the Church is not on earth from chapter four through chapter twenty-two, verse five. The Church is in the air with Jesus, looking down upon the horrible judgments here on earth.
2. The second reason I emphatically state that the Church will not be here during any part of the Tribulation period is the statement in Revelation 1:19 - the key that unlocks the book. John was commanded to write: First, “The things which thou hast seen”; secondly, “The things which are”; and third, “The things which shall be after these things.” These three divisions do not run concurrently. They do not occur at the same time. John saw the vision of the glorified Lord, and that was the end of it. Then he saw the churches in Asia Minor, he wrote the messages delivered to the churches, and that ends that division.
“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. John was, "Caught up". Therefore we conclude, according to the Word of God - comparing spiritual things with spiritual, Scripture with Scripture - that chapter four and the following chapters record the things after the Church is raptured or "caught up" and seated around the throne.
3. The whole picture changes after chapter three. We do not see the Lord in the midst of the candlesticks (churches) anymore. We do not see the Lord or the Holy Spirit on earth anymore; but we see a throne set in Heaven, (Visualize a King's throne room or the President's office, now explain what you see) and there is an indescribable person sitting upon a throne. There is a rainbow round about the throne, and we see the (cabinet) the four and twenty elders in Heaven, where they remain until chapter nineteen, at which time they come with the Lord out of Heaven, riding on white horses in judgment against this earth. When you forget your religious ideas, what you have heard, what you have been taught by preachers, religions, and denominations - and let the Word of God speak; when you look and listen instead of interpreting, you will have no trouble understanding Revelation.
The best way to understand Revelation is to let it speaks, while you keep silent and let the Spirit teach you, because this book contains the deep things of God and there is a special promise to those who read it and hear it - not to those who read and interpret it, nor to those who read it and say what they think about it. If you read the book, hear what the book has to say, and keep the things written therein, you are blessed, but whosoever adds to or takes from this book has the curse of God upon him.
4. According to Revelation 3:10, the Church will not enter nor go through any part of the Great Tribulation period: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” This verse could have been in the message to Ephesus. It could have been in the message to Pergamos. It could have been in the message to Sardis . . . but it is not. It is in the message to the church at Philadelphia - the church of brotherly love . . . the True Church. The Bride of Christ is not to be tried upon the earth. The Bride of Christ will not be tried! We will be rewarded for our stewardship, and we will either gain or lose, as far as rewards are concerned. However, the Church, the Bride, will not be tried upon the earth nor any place else. The great “hour of temptation” that is coming upon the earth to try them, that dwell upon the earth is the Great Tribulation, the “time of Jacob’s trouble.” That is the time when the Antichrist will reign and this earth will be hell on earth. The Church will not be here, oh yes, there will be people saved during the tribulation, but the organized church the Laodiceans will have lost its saving power. The church will have already been judged and is in Heaven looking down, preparing to come back with Christ as Holy Angels and judge the world.
5. According to the testimony of the Apostle Paul (who wrote inspired of God), the Church will not enter nor go through any part of the Great Tribulation: “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (1st Thessalonians 5:9). According to this Scripture, the Church is not appointed to wrath, the Church is not appointed to judgment. The Church will not face either the wrath of God or the judgment of God but will be caught up, only the save will meet Jesus in the clouds in the air. Then the judgment of Almighty God will fall upon this earth as described in Revelation 6 and follow. The stage is set in Revelation 4 and 5, and the judgments break out at the beginning of Chapter 6.
If the Tribulation is upon us, then we must prepare ourselves to be a part of that great number John saw. Revelation 7:9-14 After these things I saw, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands; and they cry with a great voice, saying, Salvation unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb. And all the angels were standing round about the throne, and about the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God, saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen. And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, These that are arrayed in white robes, who are they, and whence came they? And I say unto him, My lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they that come of the great tribulation, and they washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
THE THRONE OF JESUS IN HEAVEN
Revelation 4:1-3:
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.
2. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was Set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
3. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
The visions open (Re 4:1-11) with a Theophany, or a representation of God. John is permitted to look into heaven and to have a view of the throne of God, and of the worship celebrated there. A door (qura or opening is made into heaven, so that he, as it were, looks through the concave above, and sees what is beyond, He sees the throne of God and him who sits on the throne. For clarification, we must state that there are numerous thrones mention in the Holy Scripture, this is the throne of God. Around the throne John sees the worshippers there; he sees the lightning play around the throne, and hears the thunder's roar; he sees the rainbow that encompasses the throne, and hears the songs of the worshippers. The worshiper at this moment is the heavenly host, not those who are to come out of the great tribulation.
to be continued
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