Populating the Millennium? If the Rapture does not take place until the end of the Tribulation, then we are faced with the enormous problem of how the Millennial earth will be populated with people in natural bodies. The Scriptures teach that there will be people in the Millennial Kingdom in mortal bodies. These people will grow old, procreate, and give birth to children, many of whom will never get saved (Isaiah 65:20; Rev. 20:7-10, etc.). We know according to 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 that when the Rapture takes place, all the saved will be resurrected and will thus have resurrected, immortal bodies. We also know that when Christ comes to set up His Kingdom, He will judge all the ungodly, and all the unsaved will be taken away in judgment (Matt. 13:40-43,49-51; 25:41-46). If the Rapture takes place at the end of the Tribulation, then all the saved are in resurrection bodies and the unsaved are removed from the earth. Who then will be left to re-populate the Millennial earth? The Post-Tribulationists have no satisfactory answer to this dilemma. For the Pre-Tribulationist this poses no problem because the Church is received up into heaven seven years before Christ comes to set up His Kingdom. It is the surviving Tribulation saints, both Jews and Gentiles, who will enter the Kingdom in natural bodies. Gods Purpose for the Tribulation The purpose of the seven year Tribulation period would favor a Pre-Tribulational understanding for the timing of the Rapture. Daniels 70th week relates specifically to the nation Israel (seventy weeks are determined upon thy people--Daniel 9:24). The Lord will deal in a special way with His chosen people so that they will be ready for the coming of the Messiah (Jer. 30:4-17). There is no reason why the Church needs to be on earth during this special time in Jewish history. The Church does need to be on earth until: 1. The fullness of the Gentiles comes in (Rom. 11:25).2. God has finished calling out a people for His Name (Acts 15:14).3. Christ finishes building His Church and adding to it (1 Cor. 3:6-9; 12:18; Eph. 2:19-22; 1 Pet. 2:5).4. The last believer has been placed into the Body of Christ, the Church (1 Cor. 12:13).5. The Church is received up into Glory (1 Thess. 4:13-18 and compare 1 Tim. 3:15-16). There is no reason why all these things could not be fulfilled prior to Daniels 70th week, and thus prior to the time of the seven year Tribulation period. The Rapture is Imminent! The coming of the Lord Jesus for His Church is presented in the New Testament as an imminent hope and expectancy. That the coming of Christ is imminent simply means that our Lord may come at any time. Nothing needs to happen before He comes. No prophecy needs to be fulfilled before He comes. It may be today! Such an expectation is well supported by an abundance of Scriptural testimony: (John 14:3) And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (Rom. 13:11) And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. (1 Cor. 1:7) So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 11:26) For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lords death till He come. (1 Cor. 15:51-52) Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Cor. 16:22) If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema [.] Maranatha [Our Lord cometh!]. (Phil. 3:20) For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Phil. 4:5) Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. (Col. 3:4) When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. (1 Thess. 1:10) And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thess. 4:17) Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (Titus 2:13) Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. (Heb. 9:28) So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation. (Heb. 10:25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (James 5:8) Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. (1 John 2:28; 3:3) And now, little children, abide in Him; that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming….And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure. (Jude 21) Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. (Rev. 22:20) He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (cf. Rev. 3:11; 22:7,12). As the above passages indicate, believers are to be constantly waiting for and looking for and expecting His coming and His appearing. We are to look for and eagerly await the glorious appearing of our Great God, even our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Tit. 2:14). It is interesting that we are not told to be looking for the man of sin (the Antichrist) to be revealed. We are not told to be looking for the 144,000 Jews who will be sealed by God during the time of Daniels 70th week. We are not told to be looking for the abomination of desolation to be set up in Jerusalem. We are told to be looking for Christ Himself. None of the Tribulation events will take place prior to the removal of the Church; otherwise the Rapture would not be imminent. If the Rapture were not to take place until sometime during the last 3½ years (as the Pre-Wrath Rapture view teaches), then this would destroy the doctrine of the imminent return of Christ. We would know that before the Rapture could take place, the treaty (covenant) would need to be made with Israel at the beginning of Daniels 70th week (Dan. 9:27) and the abomination of desolation would need to be set up at the middle of Daniels 70th week (Matt. 24:15). We would look for these events to happen before we could even begin to expect Christ to come for His Church. Was Paul looking for the imminent return of Christ? Paul expected that Christ would come for him because he considered himself part of the group that would be alive on earth at the time of the Rapture. Notice that Paul includes himself by using the personal pronoun WE--WE which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them which are asleep….Then WE which are alive andremain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air… (1 Thess. 4:15,17). Of course we now know that Paul was not part of that group of believers living at the time of the Rapture. Instead he was part of the dead in Christ group mentioned in verse 16 (also described as them who are asleep--verse 15). But because of his belief in the imminent return of Christ, Paul believed he might be found among the believers living on earth at the time of the Lords coming for His Church. Notice also Pauls use of the pronoun we in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Behold, I show you a mystery; WE shall not all sleep, but WE shall all be changed, (52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and WE shall be changed. Notice that Church Age believers are divided into two groups: (1) the dead that shall be raised and (2) those alive at Christs coming who will not sleep (who will not die physically) but who will be changed. Paul believed he might be part of this second group, although we now know that Paul was actually part of the first group. Paul, living in the first century, expected that he might be among the generation of believers who would not see physical death. How much more ought we to have this blessed expectation! Looking for the Kingdom? Johns closing words in the book of Revelation were these: Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:20). Why did John close the book of Revelation with these words? John had been privileged to catch a vision of the glorious Millennial Kingdom of Christ (Rev. 20). Even during the Lords earthly ministry John was one of the select few who saw the Son of man coming in His Kingdom by means of the preview afforded by the transfiguration (Matt. 16:28-17:1-6; 2 Peter 1:16-18). Since John knew so much of the glories of the Kingdom, why did he not close his book with this prayer: THY KINGDOM COME! LET THY KINGDOM COME! (compare Matt. 6:10)? When the Lord gave the model prayer of Matthew 6:10, the Kingdom was indeed imminent (cf. Matt. 3:2; 4:17;10:7); and indeed, the prayer of the Tribulation saints will certainly include this petition: THY KINGDOM COME! But the aged Apostle John hoped that lie might be alive and remaining unto the coming of the Lord according to the Lords promise in John 21:23-24: What if he (John) tarry till I come? John was looking for Christ, not the Kingdom. Rather than look for the Kingdom, he was looking for the KING. Even so, be coming, Lord Jesus! Salvation, Not Wrath In 1 Thessalonians 5:9, Church Age believers are told that God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus as we look to the future we should expect SALVATION and not WRATH. What did Paul mean when he spoke of WRATH and what did he mean when he spoke of SALVATION? (1) WRATH. Believers are not appointed unto wrath. We have been delivered from the wrath that is coining (see 1 Thess. 1:10). Although it is true that believers are delivered from the wrath of God which the ungodly will forever face in the lake of fire, Pauls focus in 1 Thessalonians 5 is upon the day of the Lord (verse 2-3), a very specific time when Gods wrath will be poured out upon earth dwellers. This period of wrath is also described in Revelation chapters 6-19. It is also known as the greatest time of trouble or tribulation the world has ever known (Matt. 24:21). God has not appointed us to face this time of wrath. Instead we have an appointment to meet the Lord in the air prior to the unleashing of Gods fury upon the earth. (2) SALVATION. People obtain salvation the moment they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31), but the SALVATION spoken of by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 refers to the believers final salvation when Christ comes for us to complete the great salvation which He began! Thus, instead of facing Gods wrath being poured out on the earth, we will enjoy the consummation of our so-great salvation. What a comforting hope (verse 11 and compare 1 Thess. 4:18)! The Removal of the Restrainer In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 we learn that the man of sin will not be revealed until the Restrainer is taken out of the way (out of the midst). Who is this Restrainer? In verse 6 He is described in neuter terms: And now ye know what withholdeth [lit., that which restrains] that he might be revealed in his time. In verse 7 He is described in masculine terms: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [restrains] will let [restrain], until He be taken out of the way. How can the Restrainer be both neuter and masculine? This only makes good sense if the Restrainer be God the Holy Spirit. He is masculine because He is the blessed third Person of the Triune Godhead. He is neuter because the Greek word for Spirit (pneuma) is always neuter in gender. Thus the Bible sometimes describes the Holy Spirit in masculine terms (see John 16:13-14 and notice how many times the pronoun He is used) and sometimes describes the Holy Spirit in neuter terms (see Rom. 8:16, KJV, The Spirit itself...). That which is restraining evil today is the Blessed Person of the Holy Spirit who is now dwelling in a unique and special way in the Church which is Christs Body (Eph. 2:22; 1 Cor. 3:16; John 14:17). When the Church is removed by means of the Rapture, the Spirit of God will be taken out of the way. That is, He will no longer be on the earth in the sense of indwelling a body of believers. Just as He came on the day of Pentecost in a special way, so He will leave at the time of the Rapture (though obviously He will still be working in the hearts of men during the Tribulation just as He was working in the hearts of men prior to Pentecost). The Church must be removed before the man of sin is revealed. The man of sin will be revealed when he makes a treaty with Israel (Dan. 9:27), and this will mark the beginning of Daniels 70th week. Thus the Church must be removed prior to the beginning of Daniels 70th week (prior to the 7 year Tribulation). Gods Outline of the Book of Revelation
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 04:25:52 +0000
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