How many tribes of Israel are there actually, and are ten of them lost? And why is Dan not in the 144,000?

 

It recently came to my attention that people are confused about how many tribes of Israel there really are, and who constitutes them. And are ten of them really lost? Most people would automatically say that there are twelve tribes, for do we not always hear about the twelve sons of Jacob aka Israel? Others say there are thirteen, due to Jacob adopting and blessing both of Joseph's sons. And yet there are some that say there are fourteen tribes, adding Joseph's two sons, to the original twelve. So which is correct? Well, one might say technically all of them are, but the list may change depending on the context of to what is being referred.

Jacob/Israel did have twelve sons, by four women. Wife Leah gave birth to six of them – Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun, wife Rachel to two, - Joseph and Benjamin, Rachel's handmaiden, Bilhah to two – Dan and Naphtali, and Leah's handmaiden, Zilpah to two, Gad and Asher. It was the custom of the day that sons of full wives outranked sons of concubines. Reuben, being the firstborn of a full wife, was the one who would inherit, by common law, the birthright which entitled him to a double portion of the inheritance, as well as the pre-eminence of being the next patriarchal leader of the clan. As firstborns outranked second, third, etc. born sons, Joseph, as the firstborn of a second full wife would be second in line after Reuben to get the birthright, even though he was the 11^th son born, if for some reason Reuben could not inherit. Along with the birthright usually came the spiritual blessing of being in the line that led to the Messiah, however the two did not always go together as we will see.

Going back to Abraham, his firstborn was Ishmael. However, Ishmael was the son of a concubine. Nor was he the son of the promise. He could not inherit the birthright unless Abraham had no other children. Isaac was not only the first son of a full wife, but he was also the son of promise for a line leading to the Messiah, even though Abraham had more sons by his second wife, Keturah. So, Isaac received both the birthright and the blessing or promise. Isaac had Esau and Jacob – twins. Esau was the first twin born, but God said that he would serve the younger son. Why does it say in Romans that Jacob God loved, but Esau He hated? “Hate” not being the same meaning as how we use the word “hate.” It can also mean “love less.” Why would God love Esau less? And how could He say that about them before the twins were old enough to do anything wrong? The answer is foreknowledge. Esau despised his birthright. He sold it to Jacob for a bowl of pottage when he was hungry. He did not value what it stood for. He did not love or have faith in God. A double portion of inheritance was the material value it held and being the leader of the family was a prestigious rank, but Esau showed his contempt for it by giving it away for nothing. This also could have included the promise, had he valued it, but he did not. So God, knowing in advance by His foreknowledge of this, prophesied that Jacob would be the chosen one. In time Jacob also deceived his father into giving him the blessing which ratified both the birthright and the promise. The line would go through Jacob. So here we see that sin prevented the firstborn from both the birthright and the promise or blessing. But we also see that deceit and manipulation was the way that both were obtained, which did cause problems for Jacob later on. What goes around, comes around.

Now, as Jacob had to run for his life after stealing the blessing, it is doubtful he ever received the double portion birthright from Isaac, however he did become the patriarch of the family line through which the promise would come. Esau on the other hand became a patriarch of another clan. One which would ultimately become the enemy of Jacob's descendants, the Edomites, later known as the Idumeans.

Now w come back to Jacob's twelve sons. During the course of life, Reuben sinned against his father by sleeping with his father's concubine (a serious sin), forfeiting the birthright and the blessing. This is why when Jacob sees Joseph's sons, he blesses them making them in essence his adopted sons. He is giving Joseph the double portion of birthright that is his by right, being the firstborn of the second wife, but gives it directly to his grandsons by essentially adopting them. While it would seem that he is dividing it equally, he is not, for he deliberately puts the younger son over the older one, just as God did with Jacob and Esau. The younger would be the more important. So the double portion is not given to Joseph to divide as he would do by custom to his sons, giving the eldest his birthright. That ability is removed from him, as it is passed directly to his sons, reversing what Joseph probably would have done by the usual custom. This was God's directive again based on foreknowledge. So Joseph is no longer a single tribe of Israel, but two tribes – Manasseh and Ephraim. This is why Joseph's name is rarely used when listing the tribes after this point. He is represented by the double portion of his two sons. So now we have thirteen tribes.

But then how do we get back to the twelve. Well, originally God intended for the firstborn son of every family to be given to Him to be a priest for the nation. When sin enters in, as it seems so often to do, God decides, based upon the circumstances of events, to replace the firstborns with the entire tribe of Levi. It was not quite a perfect exchange numerically, but very close. As a result, the tribe of Levi is separated from the other twelve tribes in many ways. They do not inherit and own land the way the others do. They are God's inheritors and their inheritance is the temple and what is connected to it in the way of rituals, sacrifices, and all that pertains to its upkeep. During the time of the wanderings, they are the ones who camp around the tabernacle keeping the other tribes at a distance. They are spread out in towns and cities through every tribe when Israel finally reaches the promised land and start dividing the land according to the tribes. They are the priests and teachers of the Law. They do not go to war as soldiers. They must abide by more special and restrictive rules and laws. So, because they are so different and are dispersed throughout all of Israel, they are not thought of as one of the regular twelve tribes. They are the priestly tribe, a special tribe. This is mimicked when Christ, the priest, has twelve disciples. Making a count of thirteen.

So now, back to the promise. While Joseph received the birthright and the double portion, and he did rule as the patriarch while he lived, after the Exodus the tribe of Judah took precedence of leadership. This was due to the fact that Judah became the one through whom the blessing and promise of a Messiah would come. How did that come about when Judah was the fourth born of the first wife? Well, the promise did not always have to go through the firstborn. Leah had not only had six sons, she had also had a daughter, Dinah. Dinah was raped by a neighboring prince and while he came and asked for her hand in marriage afterwards, her brothers Simeon (second born) and Levi (third born) were angry and wanted revenge rather than allowing the situation to be made right. They killed off all the men of the rapist's tribe, after tricking them into getting circumcised for the sake of being able to marry their sister. For this sin of revenge and hatred, God bypassed them as being in line for the Messiah and instead of going to Joseph's line, chose to give the blessing to Judah's line.

The reason for choosing Judah was not due to any righteousness on Judah's part, but again of foreknowledge by God of the descendants of this tribe. While Joseph himself was righteous, his descendants were not. Judah would remain the most faithful of the tribes. Foreknowledge of choices and events is also why Levi's tribe is chosen to be the priests, even though Levi himself sinned and was cut off from having the promise. Judah's unrighteousness was manifest when his oldest son was slain by God due to his evil ways, before having offspring. It was the custom to have the next son in line marry the widow so that she could have a son to raise up as an heir to the dead son. Today this is called a Levitical marriage. So Judah insists that his second son do the right thing. But this son deliberately scuttles any attempt to get Tamar pregnant and so God kills him. (Both being unworthy to be in the line of Christ). Judah now blames her for the death of his two sons and does not want his third son to die, so he tells her to go back to her father and when his young son is old enough then she can marry him. But time passes and this does not happen. Judah's wife dies and he goes off on a trip. Tamar hears about it, so dresses as a prostitute and seduces Judah into impregnating her to fulfill the promise given to her, since he will not give her his youngest son.

Judah in seeking Tamar's services as a supposed prostitute, promises her a kid from his flock, but as he has none with him, she asks for a pledge, to which he gives her some personal items. In the morning, she disappears before he wakes up and goes back to being the widow again. Judah tries to have her found to give her the kid and get his personal things back. But she cannot be found, as she was not a normal harlot plying her trade. Three months down the road, word comes to Judah that she is pregnant by playing the harlot. Judah insists she be brought to him to be put to death. She sends Judah's personal items to him and tells him that she is pregnant by the man who owns these things. Judah immediately realizes that he is the father, and acknowledges his guilt in the matter of not giving her a husband as promised. So Tamar is allowed to live, although Judah does not take her to wife. He does apparently keep her around, as his sons (his third by his first wife as well as Tamar's sons) migrate with him into Egypt along with his grandsons by Pharez, his son by Tamar. Tamar is pregnant with twins, and in the course of the birth one child, Zarah, begins to come out first, so the midwife ties a red cord to his hand so that they can know which is the firstborn after both are born. But he is pulled back into the womb and the other child, Pharez, comes out first. Again, God picks the child, Pharez, who should have been the younger to end up being the one through whom the line comes, for it is Pharez who is in the line of Christ. As Shelah is the only legitimate son left from a legal wife, he would inheirt the birthright, but God gives the blessing of the promise to the son who is not the son of a full and legal wife. Nor is he considered the firstborn of the twins, even though he was fully born before his brother fully came out.

So now we see how there are twelve and yet also thirteen tribes, and why Joseph is not really mentioned as a tribe, having been replaced by his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Considering Joseph a fourteenth tribe is not really a legitimate claim, as he is represented by his sons' two tribes. When Joseph's name is used, it can be in place of the two tribes, or as in Revelation in place of one tribe.

That now brings us to the question of why the names of the tribes in Revelation are being listed as they are, and why in the order given, as it is the only place where they are listed in this order, and where Manasseh, the younger less important tribe is listed while Ephraim, which was the bigger more important tribe, is replaced by Joseph. And Dan is left completely off the list. There are several possibilities for this. First, we will deal with the names listed, then address the lack of Dan's name.

Sometimes we miss much by not having the original languages, but only translations and sometimes bad ones at that. This would appear to be the case here, for the list of names, and the order in which they are given are a hidden message. Each of the names has a meaning, and when those meanings are known and assembled in the order given, they give us a message about the destiny of these 144,000 Israelites that are sealed for the end times. The names and general meanings are given below, as is the final resulting message.

Judah – I will praise Jehovah

Reuben –He has seen my affliction

Gad – a troop is coming

Asher – Happy or blessed am I

Naphtali – my struggle

Manasseh –He has made me forget my pain

Simeon – God hears me

Levi- He has joined himself to me

Issachar – He has rewarded me

Zebulon – He has exalted me

Joseph – He will add to me

Benjamin – Son of the right hand

When you string the meaning of the names together it basically says "I will praise Jehovah because He has seen my affliction. A troop comes (antichrist's troops) but blessed and happy am I. In my struggle, He has made me forget my pain. God hears me and has joined Himself to me. He has rewarded me and exalted me, adding to me the Son of His right hand."

This is a prophecy of the spiritual journey and experience of the 144,000 during the great tribulation through to the Lord's return. Ephraim's name is left out. There may be several reasons for this. First, Ephraim means fruitful and that would not fit in the message God intended to impart, so He uses Joseph's name instead. And Joseph, being Ephraim's father, this would mean Ephraim's tribe, as Manasseh is listed separately. The second reason for this may be that Ephraim was the site of the second pagan worship center in the norther tribes of Israel, alongside Dan. It was the southernmost site being on the southern border while Dan was the northernmost site, being at the northern border. Thus giving the people of northern Israel two places to worship from which they could choose, rather than having to go to Jerusalem. These two reasons may explain the order of the list and the replacement of Ephraim by Joseph.

As to the lack of Dan's name being there, much controversy by scholars surrounds this omission, but I think the prophesy of Dan given by Jacob, plus some knowledge of the tribe of Dan's activities explains why he is missing. First of all, the name Dan means judge. There is room in that message in the names to have included the word judge in some way, for the end times is all about God's judgment, however God deliberately leaves it out. So let us look to see why this might be.

First of all, let us look at the prophecy of Jacob. Genesis 49:16-18 “Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.” It tells us first that Dan shall judge his people AS one of the tribes of Israel. Why on earth would Jacob say “as one of the tribes” as if Dan were not one of the tribes? The answer may come in what is not only mentioned in the Bible but what is not mentioned in the Bible. The history of Dan in the Bible tells us a few things about this tribe. None of it very good. And secular information tells us a great deal more.

First of all, we can see that when the family entered into Egypt, Dan, unlike the others, only had one son. And later when the census is taken when they leave Egypt, Dan appears to still have had only one son. Yet when they left Egypt, Dan had the second largest number of descendants by many tens of thousands. That in itself is a little strange. When they get to the promised land, in spite of the tribe of Dan having been so large, they are given a small piece of land compared to others. Again, very strange. We will see that there may be a reason for that. As to Dan judging the people, we know that Samson was one of God's chosen judges. And unlike the others, Samson was given a miraculous gift of incredible, almost mythological strength. Then the phrase “as one of the tribes of Israel” is very peculiar, for they are a tribe of Israel.

If one delves into the history outside of the Bible, the archaeological and documentary evidence seems to show that the tribe of Dan became what is known as a sea-faring people. When this began is hard to determine, but it may have started even before Dan entered into Egypt, which may explain why when the list of the family is given when they entered, it mentions Dan's sons, as in plural, but then only lists one son's name as actually entering Egypt with him. Did Dan, who was probably in his late forties at least, at that time, have other sons who did not enter Egypt with him, but had already taken to the sea? That might explain why it says sons, but only lists one son, and why when they leave Egypt, the tribe of Dan is so enormous. There is every probability that before they were made slaves, that Dan's tribe had many who took to the sea and came back and forth to Goshen carrying trade goods to their extended family and when the Exodus occurred, they came to help their family in the wilderness, as the tribe was historically also known to be good warriors, as well as sea-farers. Also no doubt, these offspring had married many women from other places they had met on their journeys and brought them back with them, enlarging the tribe by going outside of the family of Israel.

When entering the land, since they were a sea-faring tribe they were given a plot of land on the coast, which makes sense, and it wasn't as large, again this makes sense, as they were sailing all over the place and some were settling elsewhere also. We see them referred to as a people who live on their ships in the song of Deborah in Judges, when she is relating the story of the battle just fought and mentions that Dan was not there, because they were hiding in their ships. There is much archaeological and documentary evidence that they not only settled in Greece and Anatolia, but migrated via the many rivers of Europe into its interior as well as reaching the British Isles, in particular, Ireland. Later on when those who remained on land were captured by the Assyrians, they were sent far away to the northern Balkan regions, due to Assyria's worry that as a rebellious tribe they would cause problems, where they then migrated throughout Europe and into the Scandinavian countries. All of this seems to be documented via archeology and ancient documents, but that lengthy story is for another article.

So this information helps us to understand why Jacob would say “as one of the tribes, “ since they did not seem to incorporate themselves into the nation of Israel, but struck out on their own as a sea-faring people, putting down roots all throughout Europe. Nor do they seem to partake of the religious part of Israel, as will be seen. That takes care of the first part of the prophecy, but what about the next?

Jacob says that Dan will be a serpent in the way, an adder in the path that bites the horse's heels so that the rider falls backward. Beginning at the end and working backwards, to bite a horse's heels is to attack from behind. To ambush someone to make the horse rear up and throw off the rider injuring and possibly killing him. And in this case, one would assume that the rider is innocent and that the attacker is unprovoked and does this out of malice and evil.

In the Scriptures, whenever it speaks of the serpent, with the exception of when it is talking about an actual snake, such as when Paul was bitten by one, the serpent is generally referring to Satan. Since that is the common usage when used metaphorically, it would seem logical to assume that this is the way it is meant here also. Someone from Dan's tribe will be a serpent, or agent of Satan, who will attack the innocent and cause them to probably die. We know that the tribe of Dan did do several things that showed them to be purveyors of evil. When the tribe of Dan could not hold onto the land given on the coast, due to the Philistines being stronger (their lack of faith to conquer them was the problem), they desired to look for easier land to conquer. They sent out spies to go north beyond the tribes that were already claiming their land to find other land. In so doing their first mistake was to take themselves outside of the boundaries of the land God was giving to Israel. In so doing, they were putting themselves outside of God's jurisdiction into the hands of a foreign god, for when the nations were divided at the Tower of Babel into seventy nations, God assigned a Son of God (fallen ones to the other nations, Michael to oversee Israel) to oversee and rule over each nation. We see this in the book of Daniel when the angel has to fight with the angelic prince of Persia to come see Daniel and then must fight the angelic prince of Greece when he leaves. This is why each nation always had their own god with his own name that they worshiped.

So when the tribe of Dan goes looking for land, they find a place that is very well situated and verdant for growing things. Unfortunately it is already settled by a peaceful people who have built a city. That city is far from any government oversight and help, so the tribe decides to pack up and go up there and kill them off and take the land, which they do. This is their first major sin in this move. On the way, they kidnap (willingly on his part) an apostate Levite, who has left God's temple to be a personal priest for a family man who had built his own mini temple supplied with a replica ephod, idols, and such and take him to be the tribe's Levitical priest. They set up the idol of abomination and create the first rival pagan temple to God's temple in Israel. So Dan is ultimately responsible for giving Israel what would eventually be the northern tribes' first pagan temple (albeit they mixed Judaism with paganism) to take the people away from the true God and His temple worship, and Law. This is their second major sin with this move.

There is more to the story of Dan's move north. In Deuteronomy, Moses prophesies about the tribes again. In 33:22 it says, “And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.” One might ask what the significance of that is. While Christ is the Lion of Judah, Satan is also referred to as a type of lion. In his case a roaring lion who seeks to devour us, and his offspring would be a lion's whelp or young lion. So that tells us what Dan's spiritual nature is. As for Bashan, that land and the city of Dan both were at the foot of Mt. Hermon, with Dan being on the south and Bashan being on the southeast or just east of Dan. Mt. Hermon was known traditionally as the place where the Sons of God who mated with humans were said to come down when they left their abode in heaven. Mt. Hermon was always considered a point of spiritual rebellion against God from the time well before the Flood. It was the area of Bashan, on the southeast side of Mt. Hermon that the Rephaim lived. The Rephaim were a giant tribe who were descendants of the Nephilim, the offspring of the Sons of God with human wives. King Og is the largest giant mentioned by name in the Bible and was the king of Bashan. While Og and the Rephaim had been defeated by Israel, the evil spiritual attachments and history of the land near Mt. Hermon were strong. And again, the land Dan took was outside of God's boundaries and therefore was under the spiritual oversight of the fallen angel who governed it. This placed them outside of the protection of Michael the archangel who was Israel's protector and questionably outside of God's protection.

The Phoenicians had believed Mt. Hermon, which they called Baal-Hermon, to be the mountain of Baal. As Dan would have probably been involved quite intimately with the Phoenicians, given that both were a sea-faring people, this may explain why Dan took up Baal worship and brought it into Israel when they settled at the base of Mt. Hermon.

While Dan had set up a mixture of Baal and Yahweh worship rivaling God's temple in Jerusalem with the calf and idols they had confiscated on their trip north, much later, when Israel was under Greek dominion, the Ptolemies, after the death of Alexander the Great, established Paneus, the site of the original shrine to Pan at Mt. Hermon over in Bashan. This was four miles east of Dan, so it can be seen how Dan is associated with Bashan in the verse in Deuteronomy. They are close neighbors and their religious practices are similar.

The shrine was located in a cave that had an underground stream that was so deep, it was considered the gateway to Hades, the underworld, or as it came to be called, the Gates of Hell. The stream was considered the point of connection between the dead and our world, with Pan living in the underworld during the winter months.

Later during in the Roman era, during Herod the Great's reign, he built a temple dedicated to Caesar Augustus to cement his relationship with Rome. After Herod's death, his son Philip expanded the area into a city which he named Caesarea Philippi in honor of the Caesar and himself. It is here at this place of the grotto that Peter declared Christ the Son of the living God and Jesus said he would build His church (on the confession of His being the Messiah, not on Peter) and that the Gates of Hell (note the use of the name in a dual spiritual way) would not prevail against it. It was a statement in the face of one of the most demonic places in the world that Satan would not triumph over Christ and His plan of salvation.

In an ancient Semitic language called Ugaritic, Bashan means “serpent”, which as Bashan was not a Hebrew land, it would have gotten its name from another Semitic language of the area. This place was known for its connection to spiritual rebellion against God, so the name goes along with the idea that Satan is called the serpent throughout Scripture. And Dan is also referred to as a serpent in Genesis, showing the source of his behavior and beliefs. It can be seen why Satan would lead Dan to a land that is dedicated to the worship of Satan and his realm and agents.

This is the part we know from the Bible history that tells us how the serpent worked through Dan's line to destroy God's people, biting them from behind to destroy them both spiritually and eventually physically when God punishes them. And Dan's connection to Satan the serpent. But does this hold more prophetic significance than just the events listed above? I believe so. After Jacob makes his prophecies, he cries out, “I have waited for thy salvation O Lord.” What does Jacob see in the future that is so bad that He cries out to God for salvation to come? It must have been something really bad to elicit that response. But again, we miss something in the translation, for if we go to the Hebrew it actually says, “I have waited for Yeshua, O Yahweh.” Is this prophetic about the coming of the Messiah? And is it just the first coming, or second that is in mind here? Is there some descendant of Dan that will be a very bad agent of the serpent? Is that why he is left out of Revelation?

In Isaiah 14:29, we find one of those well-known passages that we know is about Satan. It also speaks about Babylon's demise, the final one from which she does not rise again. This is followed by a passage about the Assyrian in God's country. The Assyrian is a name which is given to the antichrist in a number or prophetic passages about the end times. So, we know from all this that the context of the next few verses is end time prophecies as well. It says in verses 29-30, “Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent. And the firstborn of the poor shall feed, and the needy shall lie down in safety: and I will kill thy root with famine, and he shall slay thy remnant.”

This passage is telling us of a part of the war between God and Satan. That out of the serpent's root, Satan's spawn, whether human or otherwise, shall come forth a cockatrice or fiery flying serpent. A cockatrice is a very poisonous snake, but this is not speaking of a real snake. This is either speaking of a single spiritual entity who is evil, or maybe two persons, a cockatrice - a human who belongs to Satan and the fiery serpent or in Hebrew - seraph (a serpentine flaming angel which in this case would be evil or a reptilian-like hybrid) who controls or possesses the human. It could possibly be Satan's actual child (angels did reproduce with humans before the Flood) who is a seraph or serpent-like creature like its father, or another fallen angel, or demonic spirit - a dead hybrid Nephilim that is a seraph or seraph-like creature. There are several possibilities how this will play out.

Satan had his beautiful wings removed at Eden, and was cursed to crawl on the ground. Satan is called a cherub in one passage, but being called a serpent all the time lends itself to him being a seraph or serpent-like angel as well. Maybe he is one of a kind, a combination, as many angels look different from each other and many take on animal-like characteristics. When the term fiery flying serpent is used, it is the word seraph and each time that word is used, it seems to be in reference to a particular type of angel. So, the offspring of Satan, the cockatrice or fiery flying serpent that comes from Satan's root is the same kind of creature. Like father, like son. It would appear that the antichrist or beast (this tells us he is not human looking in his original form) as he is called in Revelation, is this type of creature. He presently resides in the abyss and will makes his appearance once more, as he has done seven times before in the previous empires, when the beast comes on the scene at the end. The last time the beast was here, he inhabited or possessed Hitler, who could very well have been a descendant of Dan (Hitler was said to have some Jewish blood, and he came from Germany which is filled with evidence of the tribe of Dan's presence), so it is possible that a descendant of Dan will be the beast's host for the end times. Again this is speculation. This may be another reason for Dan being kept out of the 144,000.

Another passage which refers to the fiery flying serpent is found in Isaiah 30:6 “The burden of the beasts of the south: into the land of trouble and anguish, from whence come the young and old lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they will carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels, to a people that shall not profit them.” This is referring to when Israel was going to Egypt to try to get them to be an ally. For all the riches that they brought down to Egypt, it would profit Israel nothing, for Egypt would not help them when the time came, It refers to Egypt as a land of trouble and anguish (it certainly was for Israel when they were slaves). It also refers to the fact that the old and young lion, and the viper and fiery flying serpent come from there. It is tying the words lion to serpent. Satan is referred to as a roaring lion seeking to devour us. He is the old lion, the beast or antichrist is the young lion. Satan is the viper or serpent who can no longer fly, and the antichrist is the fiery flying serpent who apparently does have wings. And as we have seen, Dan is called both a serpent and a lion's whelp. Both these terms connect Dan directly to Satan and the beast.

This saga of Satan and the beast (along with Babylon, the female of the unholy trinity) began with their establishing their dominion in Egypt. While it goes back further than that to Nimrod at the Tower of Babel, the mixing of languages brought that to a halt. The beast's and Babylon's co-regency really started with Egypt and Pharaoh, as told to us in Daniel's vision, and we see the various nations that they controlled down through the ages through the prophecies and visions in Daniel and Revelation. So we have two passages which seem to point a direct connection between Dan and Satan with the terms serpent and lion.

The last thing that needs to be mentioned is that many say that the twelve tribes mentioned in Revelation are all consolidated in the Jewish people of Israel today. That there are no “lost” tribes. While it is true that most likely the remnant believers in each tribe migrated down to Jerusalem to be near the temple when other nations invaded and took prisoners, and they came back as part of the Jewish nation when released from captivity, all of these people would have long ago been assimilated into the tribe of Judah and no longer had their own identity of the other tribes. They would all simply be Jewish now. The rest of the ten tribes which were driven into the heathen nations still exist there. We have verification from Scripture as to this, when at the end Christ gathers the Israelites from the nations for the millennium. He will find and bring forth the lost tribes of northern Israel out of the heathen nations where they have been hidden to join them back to Judah (the Jews of today) so that they are no longer two separate nations, but one nation under Christ. The ten lost tribes are not considered entirely to be part of the present Jewish nation of Israel by God. Ezekiel 37:15-28 confirms this for us.

“The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these? Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. And say unto them,

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.”

This explicitly tells us that Israel has to come out of the heathen nations where they were assimilated to be joined to present day Israel, the Jews, for the millennium. There is no mistaking what it says.

Hopefully all of this explains the ten lost tribes of Israel as they are called and what their future holds for both the 144,000 and their reuniting with Judah or present day Israel, as well as how many tribes there actually are and why the list of tribes varies from Scripture to Scripture.

Daniel 9's Treaty. Whose Is It Really?

 Most Christians who believe in a pre-millennial coming of the Lord, believe in the seven-year period of the 70^th week of Daniel's prophecy. Most of these also believe in a pre-tribulation rapture, but even those who don't believe pre-trib, do believe that what kicks off this seven-year period is a treaty that is signed between the antichrist and the people/countries he represents, and Israel. It is expected that part of this treaty will be the allowing of a temple to be erected on the temple mount. Pre-tribbers believe either that this will immediately be followed by the rapture, or that the rapture will immediately precede it.

But what if it does not happen like that? Will people then not believe that they are in Daniel's 70^th week? I can hear someone saying, how else could it possibly happen? There has to be a seven-year treaty. If there isn't, then the tribulation has not begun.

The one thing about prophecy is that it is often somewhat lacking in specific details or is a little vague, giving room for multiple scenarios. I believe it is important to consider all possibilities, so as to recognize the truth and not be deceived when it occurs, and with that in mind, I want to present an alternative theory. To do that, one must go to the chapter that gives us this information. Daniel 9:24-27 tells us the following:

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.”

God has determined. What does that mean? It means that God has irrevocably promised, covenanted, or decreed something. He has covenanted with Himself that something He has stated will happen and nothing will prevent it from happening. So, what has God determined? He has promised or covenanted to give Israel seventy “weeks.” The word “shabua” means a period of seven of either days or years. In this case, Daniel had been praying to the Lord asking what would happen next to God's people, as he had read Jeremiah which had said that God was going to take back all the seventh year Sabbath years that Israel had neglected, which amounted to seventy years, as they had ignored the Sabbath year for apparently four hundred ninety years, as God was taking back seventy of them. That is determined by simple math since the Sabbath year occurs once every seven years. Seventy times seven is four hundred and ninety. So, they had not kept God's Word in this particular matter for four hundred and ninety years. And now those seventy years of punishment were about to end, and Daniel was wondering what was next for them.

Now interestingly, God tells Daniel that He has determined or is covenanting with Himself to give them seventy weeks or four hundred ninety more years in which He will deal with them as a nation to finish up what He has begun - to redeem them in such a way that they never stray again, to fulfill the prophecies, and to bring in everlasting righteousness which will commence with the millennial reign of Christ. Oddly enough, it is the same number of years that they were guilty of not keeping Sabbath years. If there is a reason for this number being the same, I have not discovered what it might be. For the sake of this article though, it is not necessary that we know. We know that the seven “weeks” refers to a week of years and not days, as 1) this was the context of the prayer and 2) God gives parameters that can only be fulfilled by these weeks being weeks of years. He begins these four hundred and ninety years at the giving of the decree for Israel to go back and rebuild Jerusalem. There are several theories as to which particular decree this refers, but again, that is not the subject of this article, so I will not spend time going over that. They are not that many years apart. What is important is that from this decree until the Messiah comes and is cut off or killed, there are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks, or sixty-nine weeks altogether. This is four hundred and eighty-three years of those promised four hundred and ninety years. So that leaves seven years left to be fulfilled. Then we are told that the temple will be destroyed (which happened in AD 70) by the people of the prince who will come, (in this case it was the Romans) and there will continue to be wars and desolations until the end of the war. As to which war He refers, since all of this ends at the Lord's Second Coming, one could say it is the war between God and Satan.

The next thing we are told is that “he” will confirm (or strengthen) the covenant with many for one week. So, this week is still future, as it has not occurred yet. The normal interpretation of this is that the word “he” refers to a future prince of the Romans, (as they destroyed the temple) which people assume to be the antichrist, but does it? Or was it merely identifying that the people who would destroy the temple would be working on behalf of the antichrist, who has had numerous incarnations as leaders of the heads of the beast which were Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia (during Daniel's time when this was given to him), Greece (whose beast incarnation yet to come was Antiochus Epiphanes who did desecrate the temple and stop the sacrifices), Rome, (whose people did destroy the temple) and last but not least, the seventh whom most believe to have been Hitler. The last incarnation of the beast, who presently resides in the abyss, will be the one we know as the antichrist.

The topic of this chapter has been God's relationship with Israel, His punishment of them, and His covenant with them at Daniel's time. This is the only covenant mentioned in this chapter before this last verse. Would not a reference to a covenant be a reference to a covenant mentioned in the text, keeping all this in context, and not a reference to something which has not been mentioned before in the text? To strengthen or confirm a covenant implies that a covenant is already in place. There is nothing in the text that indicates that a covenant with the antichrist already exists. That interpretation comes from speculation that there must be one. And why the specificity of seven years? Why would antichrist care about a treaty being made for seven years? On the other hand, God's covenant is not speculation. It is decreed right there in the text. And it specifically has exactly seven years left on it, hence the need for a seven-year confirmation since it already exists.

Let's say for a minute that the “he” is God and see if it fits. God does have a covenant with Israel that is mentioned in this text. And it has seven years left on it, which is precisely the amount of time for which this covenant is confirmed or strengthened. God would have to confirm, re-enact, or strengthen the existing covenant He has already made with Israel to put it into action or start it up again. While I have to assume something that is not in the text to believe that antichrist has already had some sort of treaty in place to make him the “he” that confirms a covenant, I only have to accept what Scripture tells me to see that God and the covenant He made with Israel fits this perfectly.

Does that mean I am saying that there will be no treaty? No, that is not what I am saying at all. It would seem almost essential that there be some sort of agreement, considering the hostilities between Israel and the Muslim nations, for a temple to go up on the temple mount. But here is where I think Satan could use deception to keep people from realizing that they are in the 70^th week. (Given that Scripture does not teach a pre-trib rapture, they will still be here – see my blogs on that). If there is a treaty (and God may use something other than a treaty to erect the temple), it is not necessarily required by Scripture that it be seven years long, given that this verse most likely refers to God's covenant, not a covenant with the antichrist. So, this could be a time of great deception for Christians who have believed they will not be here.

An argument against this being God's covenant is that it says that “he” will confirm the covenant with “many”. Some take this to mean many nations, but the Hebrew word simply indicates a great number of people. God is not making this covenant with just Judah or modern Israel. He is making this covenant with what we know as the lost tribes of Israel as well, as God has promised that during this time, He will bring back Israel which has gone into and is living within the heathen nations and reunite it with the nation of Judah. (Ez. 37) This is clearly talking about those from the nation of Northern Israel who were lost to the heathen nations during the Assyrian captivity. So, this is a great multitude of people, as it goes far beyond those we call Jews today, who are numerous enough.

Another argument that someone might make is that this person who confirms the covenant is also the one who causes the sacrifices and oblations to cease midway through the seven years. Again, this is thought to be the antichrist, but this says it is the person who causes them to cease. What is the real cause behind that action that antichrist takes? His action is a reaction which has had a cause. So, what is the cause? We are told the answer in Revelation 12:7-17.

“And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time. And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

What happens when Michael throws Satan out of heaven for good? He comes down with great wrath to go after Israel, but Israel is delivered by God (this is also said in Daniel 12:1. “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, (great tribulation) such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” So, Israel (at least those in the Book of Life) is protected from antichrist's holocaust and the rest of what occurs in the 1260 days after the great tribulation is cut short.

If all of those of Israel whose names are written in the Book of Life are delivered out of the Satan's hands, who does Satan go after, to kill by his puppet the antichrist? To those who have the testimony of Jesus, or in other words, Christians. Christians who overcome him by the blood of the Lamb and loving not their lives unto death. And how does he do that? First by declaring himself God. 2 Thess. 2:3-4 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” It is at this time that the sacrifices and oblations will also cease, and the false prophet insist that everyone get a mark and worship the beast. Then there will be a time of trouble such as the world has never seen before. Wholesale slaughter of Christians and anyone who refuses the mark. 

While here at these last verses, it is important to note the first two verses that precede them. “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” People were afraid that they had missed the Second Coming somehow and were now in the Day of the Lord, which they knew came after the Lord's return. Persecution and martyrdom were common in that age, and it was so bad they thought they must be at the end of time. They are told that the Second coming when He gathers us to Himself and starts pouring out God's wrath will not happen until the other things that Paul has told them will happen first, occur. Specifically, Paul has told them that 1) there will be an apostasy or falling away from the truth first, and 2) the man of sin is revealed. How is he revealed? When he sits in the rebuilt temple declaring that he is God. We know this occurs midway through the seven years, so clearly our being gathered cannot happen before then, if that is a sign that we are to see before the Lord returns and gathers us.

So now, back to who is the cause of all this? Well, ultimately God is, because He has Michael throw Satan out of heaven. All that happens after that is a direct result of that action. There is cause and effect. Satan's revenge, the setting up of the antichrist, and the wholesale slaughter of Christians, is the result of the cause, God having Satan thrown out of heaven. So still, there is no reason to think that the “he” does not refer to God, as He fits the criteria very nicely. Better than the antichrist, in fact.

So again, why is this relevant or important? Because as I told a dear friend who is a pre-tribber, if she is wrong in her belief, and that there is no pre-trib rapture or seven-year treaty by antichrist, then will she understand that she is in the 70^th week, or will she be deceived right until someone comes to drag her away to be killed during the great tribulation. Or worse, would she take the mark, thinking that it could not possible be THE mark, as she was supposed to be out of here, and there was no seven-year treaty. I did hear an evangelist preach to people that since they would be out of here before the mark of the beast came into being, that they need not worry that they could accidentally take it and were free to take anything that they were told to take. Bad advice. 

Another sign which people do not understand is the sacrifices. If I am correct in believing that there is no seven-year treaty with the antichrist necessary, but still something allows the sacrifices to begin, people could be deceived and accept that the temple could go up and the sacrifices begin before the 70^th week actually begins, and therefore with no pre-trib rapture, the abomination would come on them completely unawares.

God did give us some insight into timing regarding the sacrifices. It has to do with the 2300 days in Daniel 8. That is in another article I've written. For the sake of information and warning, though, when the sacrifices begin, you will already be in the 70^th week, so start preparing for persecution and martyrdom.

Parents, Go to Church. NOT!

 I'm not writing as much on my blog the past few years, as I am teaching a number of Bible studies weekly, which keeps me busy and takes away from my writing time, but a local pastor just posted the following (credit is given to the author) and I just have to respond, because the premise of the article is so skewed to what should be, that I couldn't just not say anything. I am going to put my comments, as you read through the article, in italics.

Parents, Just Go to Church

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022 CAMERON COLE

At a Fortune 500 corporation, many interests and demands consume the company’s time and resources. How does an executive choose what opportunities to prioritize? The same is true for Christian parents. Tremendous resources exist for discipling kids: devotionals, catechisms, and guides for family worship. Parents are paralyzed when confronted with all the good options. Where do we start?

Why should parents be paralyzed? Where do you start? Seriously? EVERY Christian should know that there are certain things that a Christian should be doing for their own walk with the Lord, and they should, by Scriptural mandate, be doing these things WITH their children as well. It doesn't require “resources” other than what you should have at hand. Prayer does not need anything other than just talking to the Lord. You don't need written prayers or a prayer book. God doesn't want recitations, He wants you to talk to Him personally. Do it for yourself, do it with your children, and teach them to do it for themselves.

Get a Bible. Preferably the KJV is the most accurate word for word translation. Most of the others, while more modern in language, are really nothing more than paraphrases of what are the minority manuscripts, which have major issues in the original manuscripts. (I have an article on that in my blog archives.) Reading and studying the Scripture is a must, as well as prayer. How can you know God if you don't read what He wrote to tell you about Himself? How can you grow in knowledge and grace? We need to know God's Word, and by that I don't mean racing through it to read (or more accurately skim) it in a year. Take as long as it requires to go through it carefully verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, meditating on what it says, looking up background info on the circumstances and history of the passage or book you are reading, and learn about God through that. Most everyone has a computer and historical, archaeological, geographical, etc. info can be looked up online with a simple search. Don't worry that you “can't understand everything at the beginning.” Just start doing it. God promised that the Holy Spirit would teach us and He is the best teacher you can have. It might take time, but the more you do it, the more you will find it easier to understand. Do it for yourself alone, and do it with your children, teaching them to do the same.

Praise and worship can be accomplished through the two previous disciplines, as well as singing praises unto the Lord. Get some hymnals. Get some CD's. Sing the songs when alone, teach them to and sing them with your children in family worship. Do all these things daily as much as possible.

None of these disciplines require a plethora of resources. What they do require is your time and commitment. And that seems to be the problem with most people. What ARE your priorities? To turn them over to someone else? The church? The church has been failing for years as people are walking away in droves. Do not trust your children's salvation to the church. God gave them to YOU. YOU and you alone are the one who will stand before God as responsible for what that child was taught. The church corporation will not stand before God and be held responsible for them. YOU will.

Hear me when I say this: start by going to church. Yes, I encourage you to pray with your kids. Read the Bible as a family. Attempt to have family worship. Use a catechism. These are all excellent disciplines. But if you can only choose one discipline, go to church. Make attending corporate top priority for your family. There’s nothing more positive you can do for your children than to attend corporate worship at your church every week.

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. This is not the top priority and discipline. To think that you can toss aside the very mandate that God gave parents (Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul...... And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. Deut. 11:18a,19) is foolishness. WE are the ones responsible for bringing up our children in the Lord, NOT the corporate church. God has nowhere dictated that we have to attend a weekly service in a church building. Nowhere in the Bible will you find that mandate. To set aside the Sabbath as holy (which the Sabbath is Saturday, by the way, not Sunday), yes, that is a commandment (the commandments show us our sin) that the church has been ignoring for almost 2,000 years, as it substituted a day, chosen by man, to live more agreeably with the laws of the Emperor Constantine when he outlawed Sabbath worship. The Bible says to keep it holy, not run to a bunch of services on a day that was not mandated by God to fulfill an obligation. To substitute services that may or may not be totally apostate in nature, as a replacement for raising our children in the admonition of the Lord is not going to do anything for anyone.

To not forsake the interactions of other Christians whether in fellowship or worship is given as an instruction in Hebrews, but fellowship and worship are not solely defined by being in a designated church building on a Sunday morning. They are, these days with the great apostasy going on, more often found in truth and spirit in private settings of Bible studies or house churches and definitely should be daily ongoing in the household of a Christian. If going to church weekly is your ONLY religious action in your life and toward your children, I can pretty much guarantee that your children will walk away from the Lord. Not to mention that your own spiritual life will not be in very good shape.

Corporate Worship Sets the Tone for Life

A parent in our church once made a statement that caught me off guard: “Corporate worship is crucial to my family. It’s the center of our family’s life.” I know this family. They do family worship as well, and they read devotions, but this father said corporate worship is the single biggest priority in his family’s life. Why?

Yes, I must ask why also. Should not setting an example of godly Christian living during the rest of the week be the first priority? Children DO learn by example, and if you are living like a devil six days and 23 hours of the week, but make it a priority to go to church on Sunday morning for an hour, what exactly ARE you teaching the children? Hypocrisy? If church is merely an addition to a daily lifestyle of teaching the children the disciplines of a Christian faith, then it adds to and complements the example, but it should not be the ONLY example and only priority.

This dad’s mentality is consistent with how Scripture prioritizes corporate worship. God is the center of our lives. In corporate worship, we make this clear. We receive God’s grace through Word, sacrament, and prayer. We respond to God’s grace with praise, thanksgiving, and love. We fellowship with him under his Word and by his grace. We serve, worship, and flourish out of that communion. In these ways, corporate worship is the whole Christian life in distilled and concentrated form.

I must be reading different Scriptures, because in my Bible, it is our personal relationship that is the priority. Without that, the rest, the corporate gatherings are no more than show for public display. The early churches had major issues with sin, false teachers, and heresies. The apostles were constantly warning and chastising the church, which was failing in many aspects, and was addressing that every individual in that church needed to get on the right track. The church boils down to the individuals in it. As a corporation, it is as much a failure as Israel as a nation was. The Church (as opposed to the church) is comprised not of corporate bodies but of individuals in and outside of those bodies who are walking with the Lord. Read the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. Be an overcomer in the midst of the apostate church. Don't look to it to save your children.

God commands his people to meet for worship weekly (Deut. 5:12; Heb. 10:25). It’s not optional or a matter of preference, and this is God’s mercy toward us. God knows how badly we need the benefits of meeting together. God doesn’t need our worship. We, on the other hand, desperately need corporate worship to center and order our lives around the Lord.

The content of those two verses were already addressed. Keeping the Sabbath holy means that you don't work or do things that are not God oriented on Saturday (if you want to be accurate). Family time is considered a part of that, as you are to teach your children at all times. Rest is a part of that, as the whole idea was to have a rest from working for physical and mentals health's sake as well as your spiritual sake. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Meeting with others to fellowship and worship is beneficial when done in keeping with God's standards, but it does not have to be on a Sunday (although as long as you are keeping the Sabbath as well, instead of replacing the Sabbath, there is nothing wrong with it) nor does it require being in a building designated as a church. Where two or more are gathered together, Christ is in the midst of them.

As for Hebrews, the book of Hebrews was written as a response to the straying into Gnosticism. Many of the people were beginning to go out to the desert to become hermits (maybe thinking they were emulating John the Baptist?) and separating themselves from the rest of the flock. They were told to “not forsake the assembling of themselves together as was the manner of some.” Yes, those who were totally cutting themselves off from the Christian community altogether to live as hermits needed to stop doing it and and go back to gathering with others of the faith in whatever manner that was available. It doesn't mention going to a service at a designated building on a Sunday as a mandate. Do not add to God's Word what He has not said. Bible studies, social fellowship times, and etc., all qualify as not forsaking getting together with other Christians. This is taking a verse totally out of context of what was intended to the original audience to create a man-made legalistic mandate. Gathering with like-minded Christians is good and essential for us, but God never delineated what that gathering constituted. Historically it has been a church building for a very long time, but it is not the only way.

It’s Hard to Get to Church. That’s the Point.

Nothing can prepare you for the labor that is getting small children out the door to church on a Sunday morning. I don’t know if it’s spiritual warfare or whiplash from the weekend, but dressing small kids and loading them into the car is a grind. Even when your kids are teenagers, there are days they seem to resist just about anything you suggest. Getting to church is hard. But that’s part of the value of attending church every Sunday. It sets the tone for the Christian’s daily struggle to live in personal relationship with Christ.

Daily fellowship with and service to the Lord involve a purposeful, deliberate approach. Getting up in the morning to pray and read Scripture isn’t easy. Praising God in times of pain and sorrow can be a struggle. Entering conflict, repenting, and engaging in reconciliation requires effort, purpose, and patience. But however difficult these endeavors are, we find life and peace as a result. The intentional effort we make to attend corporate worship each week reinforces for our kids the patterns of intentionality and endurance necessary for a fulfilling and fruitful Christian life.

Yes, daily fellowship and service to the Lord does involve a purposeful deliberate approach. Which most people are too lazy to do, because that is exactly what is needed to bring your children up in the Lord. Those who make a priority of going through the hassle of getting the children dressed and ready for church to make the obligatory appearance (is it any worse than getting them ready for school which is generally even earlier than church?) feel vindicated of their responsibility to give their children a Christian education at home themeselves, but it does not vindicate them of that responsibility. Spending time every day, as the Scripture says, when going here, going there, doing this, doing that) is much harder than taking them to (or dropping them off at) church on Sunday. If that is the best a Christian parent can do, then shame on them. These are eternal lives with which God has entrusted you.

Model Unflinching Commitment to Sunday Worship

When I was a kid, we went to church every single week, even on vacation. I often complained about it (though I liked the donuts they served at Sunday school). I asked my father, “Why can’t we take a week off?” My old-school Dad would always reply in the same gruff Southern drawl, “Son, God gives us seven days a week. We can sacrifice one morning for him.” The only other “religious thing” we did in our household was pray at meals. Still, my Dad’s maxim and our consistent church attendance made a major impression.

So the ONLY things of a religious nature that this person experienced growing up was making it a priority to go to church on Sunday (as if that is what saves you) and saying grace at the meals. How much did he actually learn at church in the way of knowledge of God is my question. Most children I know who have attended church only know a few Bible stories, and even those they don't usually have accurate. Several adults (one in her 80's) who had attended church ALL THEIR LIFE, were surprised when they learned that the David who slew Goliath was also the King David of Israel. They had no idea he was the same person. How do you go to church all your life, and not know this simple fact? What were they teaching there? But the people were sure they were saved, merely by attending church regularly on Sunday. Church attendance is not a panacea for our sins. It is not a replacement for an ongoing relationship with the Lord.

When I left for college, this pattern was deeply embedded in my life. I was usually the only person on my hall who attended church on Sunday, but I’d get up and go. When I traveled and missed Sunday morning church, I’d go to a campus service that night.

So what was ingrained in this person's mind? A deep love for God and a desire to study His Word and worship Him in prayer and praise. No. It was a pattern. A ritual that was embedded in his life. One that he apparently feels will ensure that he makes it to heaven? Oh, that it were that easy.

My family’s commitment to Sunday worship communicated major truths to me: God is the center of life. God is worthy of praise and worship. The Christian life requires sacrifice and discipline. My father rarely talked to me about spiritual matters; I don’t think he had a vast vocabulary for such conversations. Still, he modeled the Christian life well, largely through his unflinching commitment to go to church every Sunday.

Does attending church ritually really communicate the idea that God is the center of life, or does it communicate that the ritual is essential to make sure you are good with God? Which is it really? How can God be the center of your life if He is only invited in one hour a week? He admits that even talking about spiritual matters was non-existent in his childhood. How do you learn if it is not taught? And is ritualistically attending a weekly service an actual model for Christian life? The Muslims do it unflinchingly committed, the Orthodox Jews do it unflinchingly committed, the Mormons do it unflinchingly committed, the Catholics do it unflinchingly committed and many Protestants do it unflinchingly committed. And how many of them are actually saved? Commitment to a ritual does not translate into a relationship with God.

If you feel inadequate to lead your kids spiritually, just go to church. If strategizing about your Christian parenting feels overly complicated, just go to church. If you’ve been taking a few too many Sundays off, just go to church. If all of this seems overwhelmingly difficult, ask God to give you the grace to have this consistent discipline in your family’s life. Faithful church attendance can have an eternal influence on your kids.

If you feel inadequate to lead your kids spiritually, the for heaven's sake, get into your Bible and get on your knees, because if you have been a Christian for any length of time, SHAME ON YOU!!! There is no excuse. Do not count on the church to teach you God's Word. God said “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” You need to ask for the Holy Spirit to help you learn and diligently be studying daily. And share it with your children, even if you are just a student yourself. God supplies our needs when we act in faith, believing. Don't just go to church. It isn't wrong to go to church. It can be a beneficial thing, IF you are attending a church that 1) preaches the Word undiluted and truthfully, and teaches it in depth, not with a superficial touch on it, but don't go into it attitude, 2) has the music of the church, not the music of the world, and isn't geared toward entertainment or showcasing people who desire to be “stars” (I have an article about that in my blog archives also) 3) treats prayer as a real necessity and seriously, not as a means of getting people to share things for the sake of gossip, 4) treats children as beings who are capable of learning God's Word, not beings who are incapable of understanding and thus need to be entertained with games, crafts, snacks, and with a simple Bible story thrown in for good measure, 5) follows the rules of good worship according to the Scriptures, not follows the “outpouring of the spirit” chaos which sometimes is NOT the Holy Spirit at all or treats the service as a nightclub venue and 6) has real fellowship, not the kind with cliques or gossip circles. (good luck with that last one.)

If you are doing the disciplines you should be doing for your own growth, and teaching them daily to your children, then if you find a church which does the above, even though it might be on the wrong day of the week as far as being the Sabbath is concerned, by all means, go. Make it priority, but not the FIRST priority. It comes after your personal and your family's relationship with the Lord.

The apostate church today is a part of Babylon. We are called to come out of Babylon. So if it means that to follow the Lord in truth and spirit, you have to come out of the apostate churches and worship in a house church or other type of non-building oriented group, then by all means, do that. But never, ever think that church is a substitute for your daily walk with God in the disciplines, or teaching your children those disciplines on a daily basis. That comes before attending a service in a designated building, which is not Scripturally required by God.

The Pre-wrath Rapture Has Major Problems

 

People who are waking up to the fact that the Bible does not teach a pre-trib rapture, but who find that mid-trib and post-trib do not seem to line up with Scripture are turning to the more recent (it’s been around for a few decades) theory of the pre-wrath rapture. I myself made that change to pre-wrath from pre-trib on my journey to the truth, but what I find interesting is that the very same fault that pre-wrath points out about pre-trib, they themselves have. They fail to see in the flaws in their own theories. And that flaw is that Scripture does not support it. That they have to ignore certain Scriptures and reinterpret others to make their theory work.

There are a number of problems with the pre-wrath theory that need to be addressed. In the process of addressing them, hopefully the reader will see where the rapture truly is found. That is, where Scripture points as you put all the Scriptures together. If you are expecting pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib, you will be disappointed. Rather than coming at the Bible with a theory in hand, looking to defend it, the Scriptures can speak for themselves, if you are willing to listen. As we go through the problems with pre-wrath, it will be seen what Scripture has to say.

Pre-wrath has many things right. I think all of the theories have some things right. In fact, it is those things which helped lead me further on to the truth. First, the things they have right.

1) The seven years is not God’s wrath. Applying wrong terminology leads to wrong conclusions.

They prove this by showing that the Day of the Lord, another name for God’s wrath, cannot begin before the great tribulation and is not the seven year week. How is this accomplished? Easily. In the Old Testament there are dozens of verses which describe the Day of the Lord, but the ones that really show with total certainty that it cannot happen before the great tribulation are the following:

Joel 2:30-31 “And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.”

Acts 2:19-20 “And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, BEFORE that great and notable day of the Lord come:”

These verses clearly and unmistakably state that BEFORE the Day of the Lord comes, BEFORE God’s wrath, these celestial events must occur. Now while some ministries are making money off books saying that the four blood moons were the fulfillment of this prophecy, it doesn’t say that there will be four blood moons. It says that the sun will go dark and the moon turned to blood (go dark red) which indicates that these things will be occurring simultaneously, for solar and lunar eclipses have been happening for centuries, but they never happen simultaneously. This is a once in a world’s lifetime type of event. Not only the eclipses, but there will be earthquakes and stars falling and the sky rolling up like a scroll. That has not occurred with blood moons. It is a catastrophic event which literally shakes the earth, not merely a visual phenomena. Other verses in Isaiah and other prophets also foretell this devastating event.

When we get to the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24, we find Christ talking about this event. “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.” Matt. 2:29. This is the same event spoken of in Joel and Acts and where does Christ put it? He puts it AFTER the great tribulation is cut short. Pre-wrath has this teaching very correct in saying that the Day of the Lord, or God’s wrath does not begin until some time after the signs that precede it occur. It cannot come before those signs or God is a liar. As Paul says in Romans 3:4 “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.” If man does not listen to God’s truth, it is he who is the liar. So the Day of the Lord, God’s wrath, cannot come before the great tribulation. By Christ’s words it has to come after. We are not appointed to God’s wrath, but God’s wrath does not come before the great tribulation. So there is no need to remove people before it.

Pre-wrath then correctly goes to the sixth seal of Revelation and shows that these very signs are again mentioned. Rev. 6:12-15 “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;” So God’s wrath cannot come before the sixth seal.

So pre-wrath rightly concludes that the seven years are not God’s wrath and that God’s wrath cannot possibly begin until after the great tribulation is cut short, and these signs have occurred. That also puts it some time after the sixth seal.

2) Pre-wrath correctly states that the great tribulation is Satan’s wrath. Rev. 12:12 “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” The great tribulation or “thlipsis” in Greek, means persecution. Not wrath, which is “orge” or “thumos” when speaking of God’s wrath. Satan’s wrath is always persecution of the saints, “thlipsis.” And that is what the great tribulation is. God states both in the Old and New Testament that He will hand over the saints (we are the saints) to the antichrist. Daniel 7:25 “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Rev. 13:7 “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.”

The great tribulation is Satan’s wrath, not God’s. We are not exempt from Satan’s wrath or persecution and martyrdom.

3) Pre-wrath says that the word “coming” when used in connection with Christ’s second coming is the word “parousia” which means to come and remain as a presence, not coming and leaving. They are absolutely correct on this. That is exactly what it means and that is the word used every time when speaking of Christ’s coming. When Christ comes, He is not leaving. He will remain while God’s wrath is poured out.

Christ cannot come and leave, for that is not the word used to describe His coming. It is always a parousia. He will remain because He will be pouring out God’s wrath from the heavens while He rewards the saints and prepares for the Marriage of the Lamb.

4) Pre-wrath teaches that when Christ comes at the Second Coming, He will resurrect the dead and rapture those who are alive and remain or in other words, gather the elect. This is also correct according to Scripture. Matt.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. 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.” Rev. 14:14-16 “And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and UPON THE CLOUD ONE SAT LIKE UNTO THE SON OF MAN, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; AND THE EARTH WAS REAPED.” 1 Cor 15:22-23 “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward THEY THAT ARE CHRIST’S AT HIS COMING.” 2 Thess. 2:1-2 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, and by OUR GATHERING TOGETHER unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the DAY OF CHRIST is at hand.”

Christ gathers the elect, who are the saints or us, when He comes at His one and only coming. And that coming is associated with the Day of Christ aka the Day of the Lord.

Now for some problems with the pre-wrath position.

1) The first mistake, which leads to every other mistake is similar to how pre-trib makes a mistake. For instance, pre-trib assumes that tribulation and wrath are the same thing, and since we aren’t appointed to wrath, we must not be appointed to tribulation. Nothing could be further from the truth. By mislabeling something or misunderstanding the context of something and making an assumption, and ignoring the other verses that would negate that assumption, it lays a faulty foundation upon which the rest of the things that are built, will also be false. Two assumptions that pre-wrath make are a) God’s wrath follows immediately upon the heels of the celestial signs, so the trumpets are God’s wrath and b) when people react to those signs it is the same as God making a pronouncement. Neither of those is true.

a) The mistake of the first assumption is understandable, because Christ left out a whole lot of information at the Olivet Discourse, which He then provided to John for Revelation. However that is not an excuse to get it wrong. It was up to us to analyze the further provided information and create the correct outline of events. Absence of information in one place, does not mean there is nothing there, when in another place that information is provided. The linking word between the celestial signs in Matthew and His Coming is the word “then,” not “immediately.” “Then” is a chronological word, meaning that something is after something else, but timing is not given. It does not necessarily mean immediacy. For instance, as a teacher, if I were asked what I was doing after school was out, I could say “Immediately after final exams, there will be a graduation ceremony, then I will leave on vacation to go to Italy.” If immediacy was implied by the word “then,” one would assume that the day after graduation I would be leaving to go to Italy, but the truth is, I might go shopping for necessities for the trip, I might have to put my animals in a kennel, check on my elderly parents to see they have all they need while I am gone, go to a doctor’s appointment, and do a number of sundry other things before I actually leave. These other things are not what my colleagues were wanting to know. They weren’t interested in the details, they were interested in the big plan for the summer. What was I going to do after school got out. There are things that must and will take place before I leave, but they aren’t the important thing. They aren’t the information for what my colleagues were asking me. The big event is my trip, so that is all I mention. That is all any of my colleagues need to know at that point. That was all the disciples needed to know at that moment. The main signposts of Christ’s coming, not all the details.

If one studies the sixth seal of Revelation and the trumpet judgments that follow, it is clear that they are a continuation of whatever catastrophic event happened in the sixth seal (at least up to the demonic hordes). They are the result of that catastrophe, and should not be separated from it. They must be fitted in that period of “then” between the signs and Christ’s coming in the Olivet Discourse. They are the details. Jesus’ disciples were not ready to hear all of what John is told. It was neither the time nor the place for that information to be given. It is up to us to study all of Scripture and line things up correctly in their proper place. In listening to a popular Youtube teacher who teaches pre-wrath, she said, “When Jesus wipes away every one of those seals when that scroll is unrolled, it is going to be the wrath of God…….. the seals are the wrath of Satan, not God.” She also says, and I agree, that the trumpets are the seventh seal. However she was not adjusting her belief to fit what her words said, for by her own words, the trumpets are the seventh seal (and part of Satan’s wrath) and those seals have to be wiped away before God’s wrath can come. Which means that the trumpets must be wiped away also.

The sealed scroll is the mortgage on planet earth. In the Law, God gave instructions for redeeming property. Not only did Christ need to redeem us, which He did on the cross, He needs to take back the earth from the prince and power of the air, who is in control of earth, Satan. The cross was only the first part of the plan. It was the redemption price for us, but now come the conditions for the rest of the redemption of the property. We know the world is Satan’s, because he offered it to Christ during the time of Christ’s temptation. It was his to offer. Christ will be taking it back, but to do that He has to also redeem it, as He redeemed us. There is a mortgage and that mortgage has conditions. It was the custom to write the conditions on the scroll (in this case front and back) and to write them on the seals themselves that sealed the scroll, as one could not read the scroll until it was opened, so to know the conditions, they had to be put on in a manner where they could be easily read. One seal at a time was opened and fulfilled before the next seal could be broken. When the last seal was broken, the property reverted in ownership legally, as the intention of fulfillment for the last seal was about to occur, but taking possession could not actually occur until that last seal’s conditions had been finished. Only a kinsman redeemer could open the scroll, if the original owner could not meet the conditions. Adam lost the earth for us, and he could not redeem either himself or the planet. He could not pay the price. Only Christ has been able to do that. So only Christ can open the scroll.

As this lady teacher says, the seals are the wrath of Satan, not God. All seven of them. For the mortgage to revert to the owner, the last condition on the last seal must be completed. That is why it is at the end of the sixth trumpet that the angel puts a foot on land and sea and says time will be no longer and it is done. The sixth trumpet is the last condition. This lady also says that Jesus must wipe away ever one of those seals and when He does, then the wrath of God can come. Yes, that is so. But what she misses, is that she is not including the seventh seal, which she states is the trumpets, as a part of that wiping away of the seals before the wrath of God can come. The conditions of the scroll are not met until the six trumpets, which are the seventh seal are complete. The last trumpet is the trumpet of God, announcing that is it over, it is not a condition of the seventh seal. Pre-wrath starts God’s wrath at the seventh seal not at the seventh trumpet. It cannot be both ways. Either the trumpets are part of God’s wrath, or they are part of Satan’s. So which is it? Scripture would seem to indicate that they are part of the conditions of redeeming the mortgage, not God’s wrath. That will be shown to be Scriptural further on.

b) The factor that makes pre-wrath assume that the trumpets are God’s wrath, is what the people say during the sixth seal. The world reacts to the cataclysm by yelling that God’s wrath has come. Rev. 6:15-17 “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” They take this as a pronouncement that God’s wrath has come, but is that how it should be taken? People will always say that God’s wrath has come when something cataclysmic happens. They make television shows about catastrophes titled, “God’s Wrath.” And the fact that these signs are to precede the Day of the Lord does make it seem that God’s wrath must immediately follow, so one can see why they might assume that. The problem is, that is not where heaven announces God’s wrath. A further study of Scripture shows that this assumption is wrong. This is how God’s wrath is announced. Heaven announces the following:

Rev. 11:18 “And the nations were angry, and THY WRATH IS COME, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest DESTROY THEM WHICH DESTROY THE EARTH.”

Rev. 14:19-20 “And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of THE WRATH OF GOD. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs.”

Rev. 15:1 “And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having THE SEVEN LAST PLAGUES; FOR IN THEM IS FILLED UP THE WRATH OF GOD.”

Rev. 15:6-8 “And the seven angels came out of the temple, havingTHE SEVEN PLAGUES, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full OF THE WRATH OF GOD, who liveth for ever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.”

Rev. 16:1 “And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of THE WRATH OF GOD upon the earth.”

Rev. 16:5 “And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because THOU HAS JUDGED thus.”

Rev. 16:7 “And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are THY JUDGMENTS.”

Rev. 16:13-14 “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that GREAT DAY OF GOD ALMIGHTY.”

When God’s wrath comes, it is announced over and over. It is specified that the plagues are the wrath of God. Nowhere are the seals or trumpets announced as being the wrath of God. The only reference to God’s wrath up until the point it begins is when people are reacting to the celestial events in the sixth seal and yelling in fear that it must be the wrath of God. That is not the same as heaven announcing it. There is a place where heaven starts to announce it. And from that point on it is announced numerous times as can be seen above.

2) The next problem which is another assumption, is that the great multitude that appears on the sea of glass must be the raptured Christians. For of course they are said to come out of the great tribulation, and the signs that precede the Day of the Lord have occurred, so what else could they possibly be, right?

By assuming that the Day of the Lord has begun, one can only come to that conclusion based on that assumption. But several things are being ignored. One is that God’s wrath is not announced by heaven until later, which has already been shown. Another is that the great tribulation is the greatest holocaust in the history of the world. More people will be killed in this persecution than ever before. And who are the people being killed? We are told who they are. Satan comes down having great wrath and goes after God’s people. First he goes after the Jews. Rev. 12:15-16 “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.” During the great tribulation, Satan will come after the Jews, the woman, first, but God will not allow him to hurt those whose names are in the Book of Life, and who are destined to be spared to go into the millennium. First the 144,000 are protected in the wilderness. Rev. 12:14 “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” Other Jews are protected as well. Daniel 12:1 “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

It can be seen from these verses that Satan cannot get at the chosen of Israel, so then what does he do? He goes after Christians. Rev. 12:17 “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Daniel 7:25 “And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Rev. 13:7 “And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” The saints are handed over to the antichrist. And he kills them. We know that multitudes will be killed, because that is what makes it the worst holocaust. And it is those who will not take the mark and worship the beast who get killed. Rev. 13:15 “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.” Those who take the mark will not be hurt. They will be the majority of people on earth who will continue life as usual. The people suffering during the great tribulation, the people dying during the great tribulation are those who refuse to worship him. Christians.

Now when we look at the fifth seal, and we see the martyrs under the altar, what is said makes much more sense when we get to the sea of glass. The fifth seal martyrs are asking when God will start pouring out His vengeance or wrath. God responds that they must wait for His vengeance, for “it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be KILLED AS THEY WERE, should be fulfilled.” Rev. 6:11. There are a multitude of Christians who must be killed, that these martyrs must wait for, before God pours out His wrath. And then in the next seal, the great tribulation is cut short, as we see the signs that follow the great tribulation occurring. Thus the great tribulation is over and has claimed its last victim. They are all now in heaven. We then see a great multitude that cannot be numbered standing on the sea of glass waving palms.. Rev. 7:13-14 “And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

The expectation that a great multitude will be raptured AFTER the great tribulation has occurred is simply wishful thinking. God has said that He is turning the saints over to the beast for him to persecute them. He will not be intervening to protect them. Why? The answer to that comes in the letters to the churches. Five of the churches are condemned for various sins. Two churches do not receive condemnation. Of those two, one is still told that they must suffer martyrdom. The other is the ONLY church that is promised, to those who have kept His word, have not denied His name, and kept the word of His patience, that they will be kept from the hour of temptation (or in Greek it means putting to the proof or testing) that will come upon the whole world. Of all the rest, only those who have an ear to hear and overcome will stand in heaven. Each is promised a reward in heaven IF they overcome. So what is an overcomer? We are told that in Rev. 12:11 “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” An overcomer is one who maintains their testimony and loves not their lives, but will die to overcome Satan and the antichrist. Those on the sea of glass are those who have overcome and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Why would they have to do that? We are told what will happen to the church during the time preceding the great tribulation. 2 Thess. 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” There will be a falling away. A great apostasy which has already begun and has almost destroyed Christianity, especially in the western world. Just as Israel was punished to be purged and made right with God, so do Christians need this.

Now, once you remove the assumption that the sixth seal begins the Day of the Lord, you can see that it makes far more sense that the people on the sea of glass coming out of the great tribulation are martyrs. That is what fits with Scripture, not a tremendous multitude being raptured. How does Paul speak of those who are raptured. “Then those who are alive and remain” is the phrase he uses. Alive? Remain? Remain alive from what? If there was a great multitude being raptured, why would Paul refer to those being raptured in such a way? It is because they are the remnant of what is left over after the great holocaust. Those who are still alive and remain after so many have been martyred.

3) The pre-wrath rapture teaches that the rapture occurs at some unknown point in the middle of the second half of Daniel’s 70^th week. That is because they believe the trumpets are part of God’s wrath, and since the fifth trumpet is five months long, the great tribulation must be cut short by at least that much, so therefore the rapture must occur somewhere in the midst of that half of the week. Is that true? Can Christ come in the middle of the second half of the week? What does Scripture tell us? Acts 2:34-35 “For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool.” and Acts 3:20-21 “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” These verses tell us that the heavens must receive Christ and He must sit at the right hand of God until His foes are made His footstool and the restitution of all things occurs.

So what would make Satan, the beast, and the false prophet his footstool? When they are defeated and done ruling. That only happens when Christ defeats the antichrist by destroying him, and the world reverts to Christ’s ownership. When does that happen? In 2 Thess. 2:8 we are told what causes his destruction. “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:” It is Christ’s coming, His Second Coming that destroys the beast and ends his reign. So what is the problem? Why can’t that happen partway through the second half of the week? We know that the antichrist is given forty-two months or 3 ½ years to reign. Daniel 7:25 (see above) and Rev. 13:5 both tell us this. “And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” So he has a full 3 ½ years to reign, which brings him to the end of the 70^th week. That would mean that Christ cannot come until those 3 ½ years or forty-two months are over, or his reign would not be forty-two months. Again, God is not a liar. He would not tell us something that is not true. Nor should we ignore that information or twist it to fit our needs.

When does the restitution of all things come? That comes when Christ is able to take possession of the world and becomes the King of this world. When does that happen? When the conditions of the trumpets are over. When the angel stands on the sea and land and declares (after the sixth trumpet) that it is over. Rev. 10:7. And that occurs at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. Revelation 11:15 “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” The restitution occurs when the kingdoms of the world become Christ’s and that occurs as the verse says, at the seventh trumpet when the seventh angel sounds or blows the trumpet.

So pre-wrath has a serious problem with putting Christ’s return before the end of the 70^th week. It cannot come before, by Scripture’s clear teachings. The antichrist has forty-two months to reign. He is destroyed by Christ’s coming, so Christ’s coming must come forty-two months after his reign begins at the abomination of desolation. There is no getting around it. Only then do Christ’s foes become His footstool and do things revert back to His ownership. Only then does His reign begin. And it begins when that seventh trumpet is blown. So the seventh trumpet is blown at the end of the 70^th week.

4) At least one well-known pre-wrath teacher says that as Israel is promised one more week out of the seventy weeks God promised, to bring in all of the things mentioned in Daniel 9: 24 [“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.”], Israel cannot be saved until the very end of that week. Their blindness will not be lifted until that week is complete and then their transgressions will be forgiven and reconciliation will be made and the prophecies will be sealed up. I agree with that, however he does not recognize that in saying that, he is creating a dilemma for himself, for that blindness is lifted when Christ returns. There are verses that tell what happens when Israel gets saved.

Romans 11:25-26 “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:”

This verse tells us two things. First, Israel will be blind until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. What exactly does that mean - the fullness of the Gentiles? It means that the age of the Gentiles being God’s priests, the Church age, has come to and end. So Israel will be blinded to their Messiah until the Church age is complete and the last person to be a part of the Bride has been saved. When the Church age is completed, the Church is raptured. From that point on, the mantle of priesthood is handed off to Israel for the millennium. The second thing it tells us is that the One who comes out of Zion, the Deliverer, Christ, will turn away their sin. So since Christ turns away their sin, He must return to do so. That is exactly what was said in Daniel 9:24, that God would bring an end to their sins and transgressions and bring in everlasting righteousness. But when does that happen? When the Deliverer comes. The Second Coming.

That is again shown to be the case in Revelation 1:7. It is when they see Christ at His Second Coming that they understand who He is and mourn for their rejection of Him. “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.” And in Zechariah 12:10 “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.”

So these verses all tell us that Israel will not have their blindness lifted and accept their Savior until they see Him at the Second Coming. They will see Him when the Church age is over and He returns and raptures what is left of the Church. Now that is a problem for pre-wrath, for as this prophecy teacher says, they do not accept Him until that 70^th week is finished. As pre-wrath has Christ returning long before the 70^th week is over, and have Israel’s blindness lifted at the end of the week, but the reason Israel accepts Him is because they see Him returning. there is a dilemma for pre-wrath. How can their blindness be lifted months or more before the end when they see Him, if their blindness is supposed to be lifted at the end? The only way it works is for His return to be at the end, so they see Him at the proper time. It is impossible to be any other way, if we hold to the truth of Scripture.

How do we know that their blindness must be lifted at the end and not simply when Christ returns? Maybe pre-wrath is wrong about that. The key seems to be, when does the fullness of the Gentiles that Paul mentions being when their blindness is lifted, come in? If that can be pinpointed, then we know when the Church age is over. If we look at Rev. 11:1-2, we find the following: “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” John is told to not measure the courtyard of the temple, for it and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles for a period of forty-two months. So why is that important? Because if we look to Luke and his version of the Olivet Discourse, we find that he tells us when the Gentiles start to trample it, therefore we can know when the forty-two months are over. Why that is important will become obvious when we look at what he says. Luke 21:21-24 “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 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. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”

Luke’s version parallels Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse. He starts with the desolation or the abomination of desolation. We know from Daniel that this is at the mid-point of Daniel’s 70^th week. Luke then mentions the great tribulation, which he calls the time of great distress. He also says it is a day of vengeance and wrath, but we already know that it is not God’s vengeance and wrath, but Satan’s. Then Luke says that Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles (from the time of abomination) until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled. This is another way of saying the fullness of the Gentiles, which we know is the end of the Church age when Israel’s blindness is lifted. And when we put that together with Rev. 11:1-2, we know that it is a period of forty-two months. So the courtyard and city will be trodden by the Gentiles, beginning at the abomination of desolation and going until the fullness of the Gentiles comes and Israel’s blindness is lifted forty-two months later. That brings us to the end of Daniel’s 70^th week, which is exactly where Israel is supposed to be saved. And now we know that the Church age (fullness of the Gentiles) ends there too. Are there any other verses that might indicate that the Church age ends there? Yes, there is.

We are told in Rev. 10:7 “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”. The mystery of God is the Church and the gospel - Eph. 6:19, Col 1:26-27. Christ’s relationship to the Church - Eph. 5:32, and the rapture of the Church - 1 Cor. 15:51. The mystery of God is finished when? When the seventh angel begins to sound. And what angel is the seventh angel? It is the angel that blows the seventh and last trumpet of God. Pre-trib insists that the last trumpet is not the seventh trumpet, but there is no valid defense for that statement. Clearly it is. And pre-wrath must also believe that they are not the same trumpet, for the last trumpet does not get sounded in the middle of the second half of Daniel’s 70^th week. It gets sounded at the end of it. How can we be sure of that? We’ve already covered some proof texts, but there are more.

We know that the abomination starts the second half of the 70^th week. We know that the great tribulation follows that, and that the sixth seal and seven trumpets must come in the second half. So why would the seventh trumpet in particular coincide with the end of the 70^th week, or rather the end of the forty-two months or 1260 days. We already know that the time of the Gentiles ends forty-two months after the abomination. And if the seventh angel blows his trumpet when the mystery of God, the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled, that makes it at the end of forty-two months. We are also told some other things. Among them, we are told that the two witnesses prophesy for 1260 days. Rev. 11:3 “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” When does this occur? It seems to be connected to the previous two verses which talk about the temple courtyards and Jerusalem being trodden underfoot. But more importantly at the end of their 1260 days, the beast kills them. And it occurs right at the time the seventh trumpet is blown. If their witness is during the second half and starts at the time of the abomination, (it can only be the first half or second half of the 70^th week as it is a 3 ½ year period) it takes us to the end of the 70^th week. And since they die at that time, and the seventh trumpet is blown at that time, then the seventh trumpet is at the end of the week. This is just one more proof in an already growing list of proofs.

5) Finally we have the huge neon sign that Paul so graciously gave us, that we have all completely ignored. 1 Cor. 15:51-52 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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.” The argument is that Paul could not know what John would write, therefore it isn’t the same thing. Paul did not have to know what John would write. He was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and prophesied the truth, whether he had the knowledge that John was given or not. Paul pointed us, through prophesying it, that the rapture would occur at the last trumpet. The last trumpet is the seventh trumpet. And what do we find when we go there?

Rev. 11:15-18 “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.”

Let’s examine this passage. “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” The seventh angel blows the seventh and last trumpet and when he does, the kingdoms of the world revert back to Christ’s ownership and He takes the kingship away from Satan. The world no longer is Satan’s. Christ is now King, and His reign will last forever. “And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.” Again, it is repeated that now God is magnified, God is taking the reins and will reign. Satan is now done until he is loosed at the end of the millennium. Christ does not begin His reign, until He returns. And this is where His reign begins. So this is where He returns.

“And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come,” God’s wrath is announced as having finally come. It would not be announced as coming now, if it has come several years earlier. God’s wrath, the Day of the Lord starts after Christ returns and resurrects/raptures the saints. So Christ is returning now and God’s wrath is beginning now.

“and the time of the dead” Resurrected saints are no longer considered the dead. But these saints at this moment when the seventh trumpet sounds are still considered dead. It is not speaking of their spiritual lives, so it must be speaking of their corporeal lives. The resurrection is about to occur when Christ comes, and now is that time.

“that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great;” This rewarding is known as the Bema Seat, when the rewards are given out to the saints for their works. This occurs when they are resurrected/raptured, when the Lord returns. It does not occur seven years after a rapture (pre-trib), it does not occur three and a half years after a rapture, (mid-trib) It does not occur several years or even a half year after the rapture (pre-wrath) and it cannot occur before a rapture (post -trib which puts the rapture at the end of the bowls). It can only happen at the time of the Second Coming, so if the Bema Seat is at the seventh trumpet, so is the Second Coming and rapture.

“and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Again, this is speaking of God’s wrath. He will destroy those who have destroyed the earth in His wrath. It begins now at the seventh and last trumpet.

6) All of these things, and even more which are not listed here, point to the Second Coming and rapture occurring at the seventh and last trumpet, which is 3 ½ years after the abomination. But what about the day and hour problem? Not knowing the hour is obviously an easy thing. Who could possibly pinpoint the hour of the Lord’s return. And with twenty-four time zones, it would not be the same for everyone anyhow. No problem there. What about the day? Well, that partially has the same problem, for not all of the world is in the same day at the same time. But apart from that, there are some things that will make knowing what day it is difficult. First of all, Daniel 7:25 says that the antichrist will change the times and the laws, which means the calendar we know will no longer be in use. Then we find out that these catastrophic events in the trumpets have the effect of moving the earth out of her orbit into another orbit. Is. 13:13 “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” Is. 24:20a “The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage;” With the earth’s orbit changed, the length of a day can change and the length of the year will change. Then with all the “nuclear fallout” as it were, from the trumpet judgments, the ability to know day from night might be hard to determine, especially if the length of a day has changed. In Zech. 14:7 we are told what it will be like. “But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.” Things will be so mixed up and bizarre, we will not know day from night.

Further, the phrase “not know the day nor hour” has an idiomatic meaning. When a couple got betrothed, the groom would go home to his father’s house and build a room onto the house (or if he could manage it, he would build a house of his own) for his bride. When it was finished, he had to have his father’s approval and permission to then go and get his bride. Even if he knew it was finished, it took the father’s permission for him to leave, so technically even though he knew when that would occur and be given, until it was given, he could not state that he knew. Thus even Christ could not say that He knew, even though being God Himself, He has to know. He still will need the Father’s permission.

It would seem that pre-wrath has as many problems as pre-trib, yet they do not see them. Many are already too invested in that theory to let it go. Many just want to have it both ways, that we would endure the tribulation, but not be killed during it. The truth is, Satan does not want people understanding the truth of God’s Word. So he blinds people. I know it took me ten years to work my way out of the pre-wrath rapture theory, and I saw problems with it right from the beginning. Satan will always blind you to the truth unless you sincerely pray to God asking for it REGARDLESS OF THE COST. That is how much you must desire the truth for God to open it up to you. And He is gracious not to overwhelm you, leading you at a pace you can handle to get to that truth. Truth is a very hard pill to swallow and some simply can’t swallow it at all. I’ve always preferred a hard truth to a comfortable lie and yet I apparently could not handle all of the truth at once. God had to bring me to it slowly, as I had no guide but His own teachings. This truth is not a common one. I have run across a very few others who believe it is at the last trumpet, but in many cases they have conflated the trumpets and bowls having the bowls end at the last trumpet too. These are post-trib people. There are many problems which they ignore to do that, but this is not the article to go into that.

As an added piece of information, the spring feasts of God were given to signify the first coming of the Lord. The fall feasts were given to signify the Second Coming of the Lord. These feasts do not seem to be known or understood by Christians, and Jews do not entirely understand them in light of the coming of the Messiah. I offer an explanation here. The feast of trumpets is the first feast. There is absolutely no explanation given by God to explain why He wants them to blow trumpets on the first day of the seventh month. From the perspective of eschatology, it appears that they signify the trumpet judgments which will precede His coming. There are seven trumpets. The Feast is on the first day of the seventh month. There is a definite correlation between the trumpets in Revelation and those given by God in the Law. That key helps us to then understand the next Feast. The Day of Atonement, known as Yom Kippur.

On the Day of Atonement God had the high priest enter the Holy of Holies and offer a sacrifice of the blood of a lamb on the mercy seat. It was the day for which Israel’s sins were atoned. Their sins were placed on the head of the scapegoat and it was sent into the desert. It is the day that the Jews expect the Messiah to return and resurrect the dead. And that is exactly when Christ will return. On the Day of Atonement for Israel, when they look upon Him whom they have pierced and cry for Him. But then won’t we know the day? No. Again, the calendar will be changed, the earth will have been moved out of its orbit, the moon may not be seen at all, and by God’s calendar reckoning, the first day of the month is not declared until someone has seen a new moon, and that will be impossible during this time due to the problems stated above about night and day being indistinguishable (probably due to nuclear fallout). If one doesn’t know the first day of the month, one cannot figure out which day is the tenth (Yom Kippur).

Another arrow pointing to the Day of Atonement is that on the year of Jubilee, the last trumpet of the year is blown not at the start of the month, but on the Day of Atonement, announcing the start of the Jubilee year. When Christ first started His ministry and He entered the synagogue, He quoted a Scripture. “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD (the Jubilee year).” Isaiah 61:1-2a. This Scripture speaks of the Jubilee year when the Messiah will come and set the captives free. Had Israel accepted Christ, the Lord’s reign would have begun after His resurrection, but they didn’t accept Him. He deliberately left off finishing the verse, because He knew they would reject Him. The rest of the verse is “and the day of vengeance of our God (Day of the Lord) ; to comfort all that mourn;” This clearly speaks of the Day of the Lord, which begins with His Second Coming. He didn’t finish it, because the real year of Jubilee and the Day of the Lord will be when He returns. And that will start when the Jubilee year begins, at the Day of Atonement, when the last trumpet for the year and for the Church age is blown.

Then comes the Feast of Tabernacles, a week long feast. Pre-trib makes the case for a Jewish wedding customarily being celebrated over a week’s time, so therefore they will be in heaven for seven years. The pre-wrath teacher (the man, not the lady) scoffed at the idea of a week long celebration saying it was ridiculous, because a couple wouldn’t stay in a room for a week. That’s not what they did. There was a week of celebrating, not hibernating. Both their spring feast and fall feast last for a week. This is the way God ordered it to be. And so weddings also do this. With the resurrection/rapture on Yom Kippur, the tenth, and the Feast of Tabernacles, also known as the Feast of Ingathering, beginning on the fifteenth, it leaves five days for a Bema Seat judgment (heaven’s time is not our time so five days is probably more than sufficient) to be followed by a week long wedding celebration. This week long celebration already is built into the Jewish calendar. Interestingly, the Jews have a story attached to the celebration of this ingathering of the harvest of grapes (does ingathering of a harvest make you think of anything? Do grapes make you think of anything? Read the end of Rev. 14.). This story has to do with a wedding celebration. The Jews don’t understand why or how this story attached itself to the feast or why it is there, but Christians can easily see why it is there. And in Zechariah 14 we are told that this celebration (not the Passover, but THIS celebration) is so important, that if people don’t come to Jerusalem for it, the entire country they live in will be punished. Why would this week which to the Jews is just a reminiscence of the forty year wanderings in the desert or a celebration of the grape harvest be so important? Possibly because it is the anniversary of the marriage of the Lamb and His Bride. It is the only feast that God insists on during the millennium. Does that not seem pertinent?

Everything in Scripture points to a last trumpet Second Coming/resurrection/rapture. And it should occur on the Day of Atonement at the end of the 70^th week. But nobody will know the exact day or hour.