FEEDBACK: WILL THE RAPTURE BE ON OCTOBER 21, 2011?
PART #6
3/30/10
We
appreciate feedback on the studies posted on this website. It helps us to see
if there is anything on this website that does not agree with the Bible.
Below IS A QUESTION about REVELATION 9 AND WHEN IS
THE RAPTURE?
THE READER’S QUESTION IS IN ITALICS. OUR
RESPONSE FOLLOWS.
You stated in your last response that it was easy for me to
only bring up verses that agree with my position that Judgment Day starts on
May 21, 2011. I raised the issue of Isaiah 13:10 because you had said that
"there is nothing about the day of judgment in Mark 13:24." However;
after we took a look at Isaiah 13:10, we found out that your statement was
entirely false. The language of Mark 13:24 has everything to do with the Day of
Judgment!
You told me in a previous email that I needed to get back to basics and prove
that Revelation 9 was referring to the Day of Judgment. Upon reflection of your
suggestion, I have concluded that you are the one who needs to get back to
basics and realize that Revelation 9 is obviously referring to the Day of
Judgment. In fact, it is inconceivable to me how any Bible student, regardless
of their eschatology, could do a study of Revelation 9:1-11, and conclude that
it does not refer to the Day of Judgment.
The issue is not whether or not Revelation 9 refers to the Day of Judgment. The
issue is whether or not the Biblical Calendar of History has been accurately
established. In order for you to prove that May 21, 2011 is not the first day
of the Day of Judgment, you must first prove that the Biblical Calendar is in
error.
Unless you can prove that the Biblical Calendar is in error, May 21, 2011
stands as the first day of the Day of Judgment. This will be the day when God
begins to execute his full wrath upon the world.
Once you prove that the Biblical Calendar is in error, then maybe we can take a
look at your study "When Is The Rapture."
You
made reference to Mark 13:24 and Isaiah 13:10 in your email.
We
read in those passages:
Mark
13:24-26:
24 ¶ 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.
26 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.
Isaiah
13:9-11:
9 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.
11 And I will punish the
world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will
cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of
the terrible.
It
is easy to read about the sun and the moon being darkened in Mark 13:24 and
Isaiah 13:10 and conclude the Rapture and the Day of Judgment, in which God
will execute His full wrath upon the unsaved, will be immediately after the
Great Tribulation.
This
conclusion is reached because it is assumed that Isaiah 13:10 is teaching that
the Day of Judgment is the first point in time when the sun and moon are
darkened. However, Isaiah 31:10 does not say that.
Isaiah
13:10 only says that at the time of the Rapture and the Day of Judgment, the
time when God will execute his full wrath upon the unsaved, at that time there
will be no light of the Gospel. There will be no salvation. The sun and moon
will be darkened.
Isaiah
13:10 does not tell us that the sun and moon were not previously darkened. That
is, if the possibility of salvation came to an end at some earlier time, before
the Rapture and the Day of Judgment when God will execute His full wrath upon
the unsaved. Isaiah 13:10 does not tell us if that is so or not.
Also,
sometimes God talks about events that occur at different times within the same
context or passage. This can give the impression that the events are all
happening simultaneously even though they do not.
For
example, we read in Luke 21:20-22:
20 ¶ And when ye shall see
21 Then let them which are
in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it
depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
22 For these be the days of
vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
The
language of Luke 21:20-21 refers to the end of the church age which occurred in
1988. However, verse 22 is fulfilled in the Day of Judgment which points to
2011. Verse 22 talks about “all things which are
written may be fulfilled”. That includes the Day of Judgment in
2011.
The
fulfillment of verse 22 occurs 23 years after verses 20-21. However, they are
all discussed in one context.
Here
is another example. We read two passages:
Joel
2:28-32:
28 ¶ And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour
out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the
servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.
30 And I will shew wonders
in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned
into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day
of the LORD come.
32 And it shall come to
pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be
delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD
hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.
Acts
2:17-21:
17 And it shall come to
pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and
on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall
prophesy:
19 And I will shew wonders
in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of
smoke:
20 The sun shall be turned
into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of
the Lord come:
21 And it shall come to
pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts
2:17-18, in the first instance, is talking about Pentecost in 33AD. Then in
verse 20, in that same context, God makes a statement similar to what we read
in Isaiah 13:10, “The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood”.
Then,
God goes back to a statement that applies to 33AD in verse 21.
We
might think that since Acts 2:17-21, as well as Joel 2:28-32, is one context,
that all of the events discussed in those passages must all occur at the same
time. However, we know that some of the events in those passages are separated
by almost 2,000 years.
Likewise,
we read a similar statement, “For the stars of
heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light”,
in Isaiah 13:10 and may conclude that this phrase must apply only to the
Rapture and the Day of Judgment in which God will execute His full wrath upon
the unsaved because it is part of that context. However, Acts 2:17-21 and Joel
2:28-32 show that this reasoning is not Biblical.
Just
as God described events separated by some time in Acts 2:17-21 and Joel
2:28-32, God can describe events separated by time in Isaiah 13:9-11.
In
fact, God tells us that the sun and the moon will be darkened before the
Rapture and the Day of Judgment in which God will execute His full wrath upon
the unsaved.
We
read about that in these two verses:
Joel
2:31 The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the
LORD come.
Acts
2:20 The sun shall be turned into
darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the
Lord come:
Both
of these verses tell us that the sun and moon will be darkened, before
the Rapture and the Day of Judgment when God will execute his full wrath upon
the unsaved. Other passages tell us that the sun and moon will be darkened 5
months before the Day of Judgment and the Rapture.
You
said “In fact, it is
inconceivable to me how any Bible student, regardless of their eschatology,
could do a study of Revelation 9:1-11, and conclude that it does not refer to
the Day of Judgment.”
I
find this to be a very interesting statement since you make it so emphatically
and yet you provide no Biblical support for it.
Sincerely.