Chapter 3

Chapter 3
The Beginning of the Day of the Lord

“Gentlemen start your engines” is a sign that the Indy 500 is about to begin. Then with the waving of the green flag the race begins. Just as in many things in everyday life there is an event that starts a certain period of time so there is an event that starts the time period of the Day of the Lord. What will be the event that starts this great period of time? That is a question of utmost importance that we will address in this chapter.

Not only is it a question of great importance but it is also a very easy question to answer, especially if you keep in mind what signs must occur before this Day takes place. As we have discussed, two of the signs that will occur—which will be easily recognized—are that the moon must be turned to blood and the sun will be darkened.

When is the moon turned to blood and the sun darkened? Look at what Revelation 6:12–14 says:

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.

The passage from Revelation above tells us that the moon is turned to blood and the sun is darkened after the sixth seal is opened. Thus scripture plainly tells us that the Day of the Lord occurs after the sixth seal is opened. Notice also at this time that the stars fall as figs after being shaken of a mighty wind; and every island and mountain is moved as a result of the whole earth being shaken.

So if the sixth seal must be opened before the Day of the Lord, that means that the first five seals must also be opened before the Day of the Lord. Before we get back to our discussion of what event starts the Day of the Lord we will consider these events, which precede the Day of the Lord.

The Events Preceding the Day of the Lord
“The four horsemen of the apocalypse,” as detailed in Revelation 6, symbolically represent the first four seals. It is hard to know for certain what exactly these seals entail because their descriptions are partially in symbolic language. However, a careful examination of Revelation 6 leads to the probable scenarios listed below. I would also like to add that the scriptures indicate that the start of each seal occurs in chronological order. They may overlap in duration or effect, but they occur chronologically.

1. First seal

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. (Rev. 6:1–2)

The first seal is represented by a conquering warrior riding a white horse. Notice that the warrior has a bow, but the text does not mention that he has any arrows. This leads me to believe that possibly this conquering force will accomplish the takeover without war and will be of a political and or religious nature, and most likely involve deception. I also believe that this takeover is global, rather than regional as some have suggested, because the symbolism does not specify a place. Thus, by implication, we can assume this involves the entire world. Several commentaries agree with this analysis.

Overall, the white horse and its rider are vivid representations of a powerful, aggressive, victorious force running unrestrained over mankind. Like a knight in armor or a soldier in full dress uniform, the first horseman appears to the eye as glorious and noble, but its intent is to kill, destroy, and subdue its enemies. Its white façade is deceptive, concealing a deadly, unholy purpose.[1]

Thus, the white horse and his rider symbolize the spirit of conquest and militarism. . . . Economic power, propaganda, the use of religion, diplomacy and political shrewdness are also part of successful conquest.[2]

Scripture makes it clear that, during the end times, there will be a world religion and government. I believe this conquering warrior most likely represents the takeover of the world by these entities, undoubtedly involving deception. Look at what one “New Age” pastor said about the coming religious deceptive takeover of the world:

The twenty-first century is the final stretch of the history of mankind. Not much time remains before the Second Coming. During this short period of time, God will bring into fulfillment all of the promises that have yet to come to pass. One of the most important of these is the New World Order under the banner of righteousness.[3]

Some think the rider of the white horse is the antichrist. I disagree with this assessment, for the antichrist is only allotted 3.5 years to reign at the end of the 70th Week, not at the beginning. The antichrist will, however, eventually rule the world through the New World Order system. We will discuss this in detail later in the book. The takeover of the world religiously and or politically by the New World Order, represented by the white horse and rider of the first seal, are the antithesis of the true and righteous world religion and government that will be started after the Lord Jesus Christ rides the white horse out of heaven when He establishes the millennial kingdom.

2. Second seal

And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. (Rev. 6:3–4)

A fiery red horse represents the second seal. The rider of the red horse is given power to remove peace from the entire earth. The result is that people will kill one another on a scale never previously seen. This seal undoubtedly involves war and could be the infamous WWIII, and or it could involve total anarchy within countries where gangs, thieves and hoodlums would rule the streets. The great sword probably represents the fact that many will be killed during this time. The red color of the horse most likely represents the blood that will be spilled as a result. While it is true that we are experiencing wars and riots in various places throughout the world now, the distinguishing factor in this event is that peace will be taken from the entire world, and thus death will spread to the entire planet. In fact (as we will see in the fourth seal), up to one-quarter of the earth’s inhabitants will be killed as a result of famine, war, and disease. This has never happened before in the history of the world.

3. Third seal

And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine. (Rev. 6:5–6)

The black horse represents the third seal. The rider of this horse has a pair of balances in his hand. One of the ancient (and even modern) uses of balances is to measure out food. The phrase, “a measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny,” indicates that grains and possibly other foods will become very expensive. This could be caused by food shortages due to crop failures and/or a worldwide economic crisis. The average worker in the apostle John’s day made about a penny a day. Thus, these verses indicate that one measure of wheat will cost a whole day’s wages. Normally a penny would buy from sixteen to twenty measures of wheat. By today’s standards, figuring the average worker in the United States earns $8 per hour, a half-loaf of bread would cost $64. The second part of the phrase, “see thou hurt not the oil and the wine,” indicates that this affliction will not affect beverages made from grapes and oil, probably olive oil. Thus, if this affliction only affects some food items and not others, this would indicate that the most probable cause would be crop failures from drought, floods, and/or disease. The word used for the color black is mevla: “Of clothing used in mourning . . . as the color of evil.”[4] Here the color black speaks of death from this worldwide famine.

4. Fourth seal

And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. (Rev. 6:7–8)

A pale horse represents the fourth seal. The word translated “pale” has an explicit meaning in Greek and can be best described by the color gangrenous green—like a corpse in an advanced state of decay. This is a fitting color for the horse that depicts death. One fourth of the world’s population will suffer death by the sword, hunger, plagues, and even attacks by wild animals or diseases spread by them. This extraordinary death count may be the culmination or result of all the first four seals put together, or it may represent the number who die from this seal alone.

5. Fifth seal

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled. (Rev. 6:9–11)

The fifth seal gives a clear picture of what it entails. Those holding the testimony of Jesus during this time will be persecuted and martyred for the cause of Christ.

In summary, to the best of my knowledge, based on the language employed in the passages above, the first six seals will most likely entail the following:

First seal (white horse): Establishment of a world religion and or government through deception.

Second seal (red horse): War and/or anarchy on the earth.

Third seal (black horse): Famine due to crop failures and/or a worldwide economic collapse.

Fourth seal (pale horse): Death of one-quarter of the world’s population by various means, possibly culminating from the first four seals.

Fifth seal: Persecution and martyrdom of saints.

Sixth seal: Great earthquake, sun darkened, moon turned to blood, stars fall, heaven departs as a scroll, and every island and mountain moved.

As already stated, since the moon is turned to blood before the Day of the Lord, and the moon is turned to blood during the sixth seal event, then the events associated with the first six seals as listed above will also occur before the Day of the Lord.

Now that we have established that the Day of the Lord will occur after the sixth seal is opened, and we have examined the events and signs that will occur before the Day of the Lord, we will come back to our original question posed in the beginning of this chapter—What will be the event that starts this great period of time? It is a very important event, but I am not going to tell you what it is outright. First, I am going to see if you can discover it for yourself.

The Answer
The Day of the Lord and its alternative term, the Day of Christ, are both listed in Thessalonians and reveal to us what will occur in connection with the beginning of the Day of the Lord. Read carefully the next two passages and answer the question: What event is associated with the Day of the Lord or the Day of Christ?

For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (1 Thess. 4:15–5:2)

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. (2 Thess. 2:1–2)

What event is Paul referring to in these verses that he says will happen at the Day of the Lord—the Day of Christ? What event comes as a thief in the night? “And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not” (Lk. 12:39–40). What event were the Thessalonians afraid that they had missed because they thought they were now living in the Day of the Lord period? In both passages Paul is referring to the rapture; and it is clear from these passages that the event that is associated with the Day of the Lord is the rapture! 1 Thessalonians 4:15–5:2 describes the rapture and then goes on to make the association of the rapture with the Day of the Lord.

Let me put the two parts of 1 Thess. 4:15–5:2 together so you can see this more clearly:

Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. . . . For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

This passage indicates that the rapture occurs at the Day of the Lord event. In 2 Thessalonians, the rapture is again described, but here it is called the Day of Christ: “By the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him . . . the day of Christ.” Here, clearly the rapture is called the Day of Christ. The phrase “the Day of Christ” is synonymous with the phrase “the Day of the Lord.” Many church fathers agree.

It should be said that the formula, “The day of Christ,” occurs in our translation in 2 Thess. 2:2, but that all the church fathers who quote the text have, “day of the Lord.” The same is all but universally true of all the manuscripts. Thus the evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of the latter reading, and we may add, the internal evidence apparently requires this reading.[5]

Both of these passages in Thessalonians tell us that the rapture will occur in the time period known as the Day of the Lord. Thus, it stands to reason that since the Day of the Lord, or the Day of Christ, occurs after the opening of the sixth seal, and the rapture occurs as part of the Day of the Lord, then the rapture must also occur after the opening of the sixth seal!

Let me now present a formal proof of this fact. For purposes of our proof, we will use the following symbols and meanings.

Using those symbols, we can then create the following logic statements and proof:



This logically proves that the rapture occurs after the sixth seal is opened.
Unless you are familiar with logic proofs, you probably did not understand the statements and conclusion. So let me explain it more fully:


Statements 1, 2, and 3 are scriptural facts. In Statement 1, if you replace the D with the R, and the B with the S, which you can do by the mathematical law of substitution— because D & R and B & S happen at the same time—then you arrive at Statement 4, which says that R > S—the rapture occurs after the sixth seal is opened. Thus, the three scriptural truths (the rapture occurs during the Day of the Lord, the moon is turned to blood after the sixth seal is opened, and the Day of the Lord occurs after the moon is turned to blood) logically lead us to conclude that the rapture occurs after the moon is turned to blood. Let me put the logic into symbols.

6 - M - D

The above symbols illustrate the scriptural facts that after the sixth seal is opened, represented by the 6, the moon is turned to blood, represented by the M, and after the moon is turned to blood the Day of the Lord occurs, represented by the D. Realizing that scripture tells us that the rapture occurs at the Day of the Lord, represented by the arrow below, we can then create the following illustration;

6 - M - D - Rapture

This simple illustration puts all the facts together and clearly shows that the rapture occurs after the sixth seal is opened. Deductive reasoning has now formally proved this fact.

Deductive reasoning is an argument to establish that a statement is absolutely certain. An argument is valid if the reasoning proceeds logically from the premises to the conclusion. An argument is sound if it is valid and the premises are true. [6]

We have used deductive reasoning to prove that the statement “the rapture occurs after the sixth seal is opened” is absolutely certain. This argument is valid because it proceeds logically, as shown above, from the premises to the conclusion. The argument is sound because it is valid, and the premises (that the rapture occurs during the Day of the Lord, the moon is turned to blood after the sixth seal is opened, and the Day of the Lord occurs after the moon is turned to blood) are true. There is no way around it. The rapture occurs after the sixth seal is opened. Thus, scripture clearly tells us that the rapture will not occur before the start of the last seven years—the 70th Week—or what is commonly called “the tribulation.” The rapture will, however, occur during the 70th Week, after the sixth seal is opened and simultaneous with the beginning of Day of the Lord.[7] Let’s state it one more time:

The Day of the Lord occurs after the moon is turned to blood.
The rapture occurs during the Day of the Lord.
The moon is turned to blood after the sixth seal is opened.
Therefore the rapture occurs after the sixth seal is opened.

Some object to this reasoning, saying that the rapture does not occur after the moon is turned to blood because there are two Days of the Lord yet to come. One occurs at the rapture before the 70th Week, and one at Armageddon. They then conclude that Acts 2:20 and Joel 2:31 are in reference to the Day of the Lord that will occur at Armageddon. This reasoning is in error because, if you remember our discussion about the essence of the Day of the Lord, we established the fact that there is only one Day of the Lord yet to come: “Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven” (Heb. 12:26). The Day of the Lord is when the earth will be shaken, “And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth (Is 2:19),” and there is only one Day of the Lord yet to occur.

Still others object to this reasoning, saying that the rapture is not part of the Day of the Lord, but happens before the Day of the Lord and not during it. However that is not what scripture indicates in Thessalonians and many stanch pre-trib commentators believe that the rapture is part of the Day of the Lord:[8]

He must explain what he means by “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him” or else the solution to the problem cannot be grasped. Episynagoges (“being gathered”) defines what part of the parousias (“coming”) Paul has in mind. This is the great event he has described more fully in 1 Thessalonians 4:14–17—i.e., the gathering of those in Christ to meet him in the air enroute to the Father in heaven. This begins the day of the Lord. . . . He had told them that the coming of the Lord to gather his saints into heaven would initiate both the tribulation and the day of the Lord. They were promised immediate “rest” (1:7) and glorification with Christ (1:10), not increased persecution. . . . Despite their “persecutions and trials” (1:4) these Thessalonian Christians were not living in the day of the Lord as they had been erroneously told. A right understanding of “being gathered to him” reveals that they could not be so enmeshed, because for them Christ’s parousia will antedate the awful period to come. In fact, their “being gathered to him” will be the event that signals the day’s beginning.[9]

Also, as discussed earlier, and expounded upon by Mr. Keathley—a pre-trib author—2 Thessalonians 2:2 clearly tells us that the rapture is part of the Day of the Lord and is the event that starts it, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, “the day of Christ.” Therefore, in reference to the logic proof: If the premises are valid and the argument is sound, then the proof stands—the rapture occurs after the sixth seal is opened. In fact, many other scriptures confirm this.

But before we examine this fact, let me discuss an emotional aspect of this discussion. The realization that the rapture will not occur until after the sixth seal is opened will probably scare you; that is a natural reaction that is to be expected. Let me state, however, that it is neither God’s nor my intention to scare you. God does not want you to be afraid, and neither do I. Remember, He loves you more than you can imagine. He will take care of you better than any loving father takes care of his children. Even though these things may be scary to you, you must know the truth, for “the truth will set you free” (John 14:6). Would you rather know a hurricane was coming your way so you could prepare, or would you rather have it come upon you unawares? In the same way, God wants you to know what will transpire so you can prepare and not be caught unawares. We will devote a couple of chapters to these issues later in the book. But for now let’s continue our discussion and confirm the fact that the rapture will not occur until after the sixth seal is opened.

Confirmation
You can find confirmation of the fact that the rapture will not occur until after the sixth seal is opened in many places in scripture. Look, for example, at Rev. 6:12–17:

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. 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? [italics mine]

Take note of the italicized portion and ask yourself why the people cry, “Hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne?” Simply, the text tells us that they want to hide because they have seen the face of God. They want to hide because Jesus has come to the clouds and is visible for all to see, and the rapture has occurred; and men are scared to death because the Day of the Lord—the great day of His wrath—has come upon them.

In other words, they had an epiphany! Yes, when Christ comes to the clouds for his bride, He will be visible for all to see just as He foretold “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (Mt 26:64). And upon seeing Christ, those who are not raptured will experience an epiphany. That is, they will have “a sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something.” They will realize that Jesus is God and they have been wrong in following the antichrist. As a result, they will cry out; “hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.”

This passage confirms that Christ will come after the opening of the sixth seal and will rapture His church. Then the wrath of God will be poured out upon mankind. Remember our definition of the Day of the Lord? It is primarily a day of wrath. After the rapture, the wrath of God will begin. The use of the aorist tense in the phrase “For the great day of his wrath is come” confirms that the great Day of His wrath—the Day of the Lord—has started after the opening of this seal and the occurrence of the rapture, and also confirms that the Day of the Lord/Christ referred to by Paul was in reference to the rapture.[10]

This scenario is clearly seen in other parts of scripture, too. Another passage that clearly confirms this fact is Matthew 24:29–31:

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: 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.

The first thing I would like to bring out about this passage is that it begins by saying “after the tribulation of those days.” Thus, the events talked about in the passage all occur after the “tribulation period” during the 70th Week of Daniel. The “tribulation period” entails the first six seals, which includes the sorrows of the first four seals, plus the great tribulation, which begins at the fifth seal. It does not refer to the entire 70th Week; we will discuss this more in detail later in this book.

The passage also says that, after this time of tribulation, the sun will be darkened, the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. From our previous discussions, we know that these signs in the sun, moon, and stars occur before the Day of the Lord. We have also determined that these signs will occur after the opening of the sixth seal. The passage goes on to indicate that after these signs, “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.” This is a description of the rapture when Jesus comes through the clouds and all the Christians are gathered together and caught up with the Lord, and all the earth sees Him and mourns.

This passage again confirms and summarizes that the Day of the Lord and the rapture occur during the 70th Week of Daniel, after the tribulations of the first five seals, and after the occurrence of the signs in the sun, moon and stars, which Revelation 6 says will occur after the opening of the sixth seal.

Some erroneously believe that because this event occurs at the sound of the trumpet, this event occurs at the last of the seven trumpet judgments. That is not correct. The triple sign of sun, moon, and stars clearly places the event described in the passage—the Day of the Lord—at the sixth seal. By the way, the trumpet referred to above is most probably in reference to the trumpet blown during the feast of Rosh Hashanah, which we will discuss in more detail later.

These scripture passages clearly confirm that the beginning event of the Day of the Lord is the rapture of the church, which occurs after the opening of the sixth seal. Just in case you are not convinced, here are more scriptures that confirm this. Look at how beautifully this passage from Mark 13 mirrors the exact chronology of events that we have been talking about thus far:

And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows. But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. And the gospel must first be published among all nations . . . And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. But when ye shall see the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains . . . for in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days . . . But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. (Mark 13:5–26)

Notice in the above passage, the sequence of events aligns exactly with the prophetic timeline that has been presented thus far. In the beginning of the passage, we see wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, and troubles that align with the first four seals. Then we see the persecution that will take place during the fifth seal. After the persecution we see a description of the Abomination of Desolation and associated events. Then, in the last part of the passage we see the sixth seal events and the rapture.

Take notice that, like Matthew 24, this passage places the rapture after the Abomination of Desolation. The abomination occurs near the middle of the 70th Week. Thus, this passage firmly places the rapture as occurring after the middle of the 70th Week and after the first six seals.
We also see this timing reflected in the Old Testament in a passage in Isa. 26:19–21, which talks about the rapture:[11]

Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. [The resurrection of the dead at the rapture] Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity [The Day of the Lord]: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.

This passage places the resurrection of the dead, which occurs at the rapture before the outpouring of God’s wrath, at the Day of the Lord.

And yet another Old Testament passage brings out this timing:

And he [antichrist] shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain [performs Abomination of Desolation and rules the world from Jerusalem]; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him. 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 [the 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. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. [rapture and resurrection of the dead] (Dan. 11:45–12:2)

This passage clearly shows that the Abomination of Desolation will be followed by a period of great tribulation, then the resurrection and rapture. Taken together, these passages further substantiate that the persecution of saints by the antichrist during the great tribulation will be followed by the resurrection of the saints at the rapture when the Day of the Lord begins.

Here is another scripture passage that confirms this scenario:

And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea. Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. (Rev. 7:1–4)

In Revelation 7:1–4, notice the phrase “after these things.” This indicates that this event chronologically follows the sixth seal events in Revelation 6. In this passage, we see two groups of people. One group is the 144,000 Israelites who are sealed to be God’s ambassadors on earth after the saints have been raptured. The passage also says, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” This indicates that the 144,000 will be sealed before the wrath of God is poured out during the trumpet and bowl judgments, which will severely “hurt” the earth and those who live on it. In the second part of the chapter, we see a group of people in heaven with white robes.

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands . . . 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. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. [italics mine]

In verse 13, the elder asks John who these people are. John did not know, so the elder gives him the answer. They are those who came out of great tribulation. They are the raptured saints of God, raptured out of the great tribulation, which starts after the opening of the sixth seal.

70th Week, Three Time Periods
As already mentioned there are three distinct periods of difficulty during the 70th Week of Daniel: 1) sorrows or tribulations, 2) the great tribulation, and 3) the Day of the Lord. The first four seals constitute sorrows:

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (Matt. 24:4–8) [italics mine]

The great tribulation starts when the antichrist comes to power. It will include the fifth seal and the beginning part of the sixth seal.

When ye therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:). Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house. Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. (Matt. 24:15–22) [italics mine]

As already discussed, the rapture occurs at the beginning of the Day of the Lord. So the fact that there are saints in heaven who came out of the great tribulation, as told to us by Rev 7:13, supports the fact that the rapture occurs after the opening of the sixth seal, at the end of the great tribulation. It is comforting to note that the passage above says that the Lord will shorten the days of the great tribulation for the elect’s sake. God will cut the time of the great tribulation short for the sake of His people who are living during this terrible time. See the chart entitled “The Afflictions of the 70th Week” for a pictorial representation of these facts.

Luke 17 also brings out very clearly the timing of the rapture. It irrefutably places it after the Abomination of Desolation.

In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. (Luke 17:31–36) [italics mine]

Here we notice the phrase “in that day” and “in that night.” These phrases are referring to a period of time, namely the great tribulation. It starts with the Abomination of Desolation—at which time Israel is told to flee to the wilderness—and ends with the rapture. The Abomination of Desolation is referred to as happening in “the day,” and then the rapture “at night.” No matter how you look at it, the use of these chronological phrases, “in that day” and “in that night,” irrefutably places the rapture after the Abomination of Desolation.

The Harmony of Scripture
Look at how beautifully scripture harmonizes to show and confirm the scriptural truths we have been talking about: (Sorry these did not reproduce well here, they are better in the book.)







In Summary
In summary, scripture clearly and undeniably shows us that the Day of the Lord is a period of time in which God’s wrath is poured out upon mankind. There are several signs that precede this event to let us know that the time is approaching. Those signs, which must occur before the Day of the Lord, combined with the teaching in 1 and 2 Thessalonians, which equates the rapture with the Day of the Lord, irrefutably place the rapture as occurring after the start of the sixth seal. As we have seen there are many scriptures that confirm this chronology. Thus, scripture clearly indicates that the rapture occurs simultaneously with the beginning of the Day of the Lord after the opening of the sixth seal.

[1] http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.show/CT/PW/k/909
[2] http://www.wcg.org/lit/bible/Rev/sixseals.htm
[3]http://www.ngteam.org/TextEn.htm
[4] Danker, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 499.
[5] J. B. Smith, A Revelation of Jesus Christ (Scottdale, Penn.: Mennonite Publishing House, 1961), 321.
[6] Ron Tagliapietra and Kathy Pilger, Geometry for Christian Schools. (Greenville, S. C: BJU Press, 2000), 182–183.
[7] Many post-trib adherents agree with the logic and conclusion that the rapture occurs after the sixth seal is opened. However, they place the occurrence of the sixth seal at the end of the 70th Week by claiming that the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments overlap. This notion is easily shown to be false by realizing that scripture presents the seal, bowl, and trumpet judgments as proceeding chronologically. Also, Rev. 7:2–3: “And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads”—tells us that the earth and sea cannot be hurt (which happens in the trumpet and bowl judgments) until after the sealing of the 144,000. The sealing of the 144,000 happens after the rapture and the sixth seal. Therefore the trumpet and bowl judgments cannot occur until after the sixth seal is opened. Thus the seal, trumpet, and bowl judgments cannot overlap. There are some pre-trib adherents that also agree that the rapture occurs at the sixth seal but place the sixth seal at the start of the 70th Week. This notion is also shown to be false by realizing that one of the signs that must occur before the Day of the Lord—as previously discussed—is that the antichrist must set himself up as god, which occurs at the Abomination of Desolation, which happens near the midpoint of the 70th Week. Thus the opening of the sixth seal and the Day of the Lord must occur after the midpoint of the 70th Week. Joel 1:15,16 supports this fact and clearly shows that the Day of the Lord occurs after the sacrifices are stopped at the abomination of desolation. “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?”
[8] Many pre-trib commentators agree that the rapture is part of the Day of the Lord: Coffman, Matthew Henry, La Haye, to name a few.
[9] J. Hampton Keathley, III, Th.M., Correction Concerning the Day of the Lord, Part 1.http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1696#P336_80025
[10] http://spiritandtruth.org/teaching/Book_of_Revelation/commentary/htm/030617.htm
[11] Technically, the rapture itself is not referenced in the Old Testament. Paul clearly tells us that the rapture was a mystery only revealed to him (1 Cor. 15:51). However, we know from other passages, such as 1 Thess. 4:16–17, 5:2 and Matt. 24:30–31, that the rapture occurs at the same time as the resurrection. Therefore, because the resurrection is mentioned in the Old Testament, by inference, we can place the rapture there.

Go To Your Room

Remember back when you were a kid and your parents told you to go to your room. In my house that usually happened when I did something wrong and I was in trouble, or there was something going on that my parents did not want me present for.

Recently I have been receiving correspondence from individuals telling me that I am wrong to believe that there is a rapture. I have been asking God to show me ways that I can help these people to see that there is a rapture. Well this morning as I sat down for my morning devotions I opened the Bible randomly as I usually do to let God speak to me, and I opened the Bible to Isaiah 26. Here is what stood out to me.

20. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. 21. For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. Is 26:20,21.

I believe that in direct answer to my prayer request God says here that He will send us to our room for a little while when He pours out His wrath and punishes the world for their sin. Where is our room? Heaven of course! In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Jn 14:2.

In other words God will rapture us to heaven (our room) before the great day of His wrath comes upon the world. Thank you Jesus! BTW God's wrath starts after the sixth seal is opened. And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal...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: 17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? Rev 6:16,17. (In the near future I will post about a way to determine the correct rapture timing.)

On another day I opened my Bible randomly and the Lord showed me another passage that relates to this.

For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; (Ps 27:5)

God tells us here that in the time of trouble He will hide us in His pavillion. In other words when His wrath is poured out upon the earth He will take us to heaven i.e. the rapture.

BTW; In the beginning I stated that there is another time that parents may send their child to their room and that is when they are bad.

Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. 21And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. 22Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. 23And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. Rev 2:20-23

If you would like to be spared from the wrath to come please visit our salvation page and find out how you can be part of the rapture.

Pole Shift Rapture

Is it possible for the earth to experience a pole shift in the near future? I would like to state that the Bible records at least one pole shift in the past and that such an event is not necessarily cataclysmic. I can also tell you from scripture that there will be at least 1 and possibly 2 pole shifts in the near future and what they will entail and when they may occur.

I believe there is a clear indication of the occurrence of a pole shift when Jesus was crucified. This event is recorded in the Gospels.

And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. 45And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst. 46And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. 47Now when the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man. (Luke 23:44-47)

What happened here was that while Jesus was on the cross it became dark from noon to 3:00. There is much historical evidence to suggest that this was the result of a pole shift which caused the sun to set at noon. And then at 3:00 the sun came up again. There is also evidence that a world wide earthquake occurred at this time with heaving seas, again indicative of a pole shift. We also know from history that this was not a severe cataclysmic event. See the article entitled The Catastrophe at the Crucifixion AD 33.

As for the possibility of a future pole shift; I believe that scripture indicates that during the end times there will be at least one and possibly two pole shifts. The first will be at an event known as the rapture, when the Lord Jesus returns to earth to rescue Christians from the persecution of the antichrist. This is clearly recorded in Revelation 6.

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; 13And 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. 14And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15And 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; 16And 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: 17For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Rev 6:12-17)

I believe that the physical event that is being described here fits the description of what many conjecture will occur at a pole shift. And this seems to be a pretty severe one for it says that every mountain and island will be moved out of their places. A pole shift triggering a world wide earthquake of this magnitude is sure to do large scale damage.

It is interesting to note that a military insider said that after WWIII there will be a worldwide catastrophic geophysical event.

So we're going to head into this war, then after that... and I can't give you a timescale for when this is going to happen... there will be a geophysical event taking place on Earth which is going to affect everybody. When asked about the timing of the geophysical event he replied “Yes. I think they've got a good idea of when it's going to happen… between now and five years.[1]

I believe that the cataclysmic geophysical event will be the pole shift at the sixth seal events which will include the rapture.

The next pole shift is likely to occur at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the earth at the battle of Armageddon as described in this passage.

And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. 18And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. 19And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. 20And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great. (Rev 16:17-21)

This event describes, among other things a horrific worldwide earthquake that levels all the mountains of the world and destroys all the islands. This event is also preceded by horrific changes in the sun. That is the bad news; the good news is that one can escape both of these events by being part of the rapture.

BTW, the woo woo aliens referred to in the linked article are just demons trying to deceive people into believing the lies of the devil and the coming world ruler, the antichrist, to dam people to Hell.

[1] http://projectcamelot.org/anglo_saxon_mission_interview_transcript.html

Chapter 2

Chapter 2
The Signs of The Day of the Lord

Before the Lord does a mighty work He gives the world signs. He gave Egypt and the Israelites many signs when He delivered Israel out of bondage. “And the Lord brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders” (Deut 26:8) The Lord also gave many sign gifts to his servants to validate and show the world that Jesus was the true Messiah. “And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.” (Acts 2:43) God will also use signs in the future to let us know that the Day of the Lord is approaching. In His Word, God has revealed to us several signs that must occur before the Day of the Lord. In this chapter, we will examine the signs that signal that the Day of the Lord is almost upon us.

The Sign of the Sun and Moon
One of the most prominent signs of the Day of the Lord is listed in Joel 2:31. It states:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.

This scripture is also quoted in Acts 2:20:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.

These scriptures give us crucial information regarding the Day of the Lord. It tells us in no uncertain terms that two celestial events must occur before the Day of the Lord arrives: the moon’s light will be turned to the color of blood and the sun will become darkened. What type of event would cause such occurrences? Many have speculated as to the cause. Some have asserted such things as a pole shift[1], the passing of planet x[2], or even a super volcano. Amos 8:9 makes a strong case for the Day of the Lord entailing a pole shift, “And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day.” The phrase “that day” is in reference to the Day of the Lord and it says that the sun will go down at noon. The only way for that to happen would be for a pole shift to occur.[3] Though we can only speculate as to the exact cause, we know for certain that it will occur and will most certainly be noticed by all who dwell on the earth. Those who heed it will realize that the Day of the Lord is very near.

Great and Mighty Signs
The parallel passages in Joel and Acts also bring out other signs that will occur. Namely, God will pour out His Spirit in a great and mighty way, and great signs will be done by God’s people. “That I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions” (Acts 2:17). Thus, another sign before the Day of the Lord is that God will pour out his Spirit in a great and miraculous way, and many of the gifts that were so prolific in the first century will flourish once again.

The Falling Away
Two other events in scripture that must occur before the great Day of the Lord are found in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. God, through the apostle Paul, in referring to the Day of the Lord, says, “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.” The Thessalonians had been deceived into thinking that they missed the rapture and were in the Day of the Lord period. Paul tells them that the falling away must occur before the Day of the Lord.

The word used in the Greek for falling away is apostasia, from which we get our word “apostasy,” which basically means “backsliding.” Clarke’s commentary describes it like this: “a dereliction of the essential principles of religious truth—either a total abandonment of Christianity itself, or such a corruption of its doctrines as renders the whole system completely inefficient to salvation.”[4] The great falling away will be a time when professing Christians, in large numbers, will turn away from the faith. “The article makes it even more significant; this is not a falling away, but the falling away, the great and final rebellion.”[5]

J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. describes the coming apostasy like this: “The apostasy or rebellion clearly refers to a special departure and rebellion against the true God. This will become a worldwide movement and will provide the seed bed for the great system of revolt which will be headed up in the person of the Beast who will be the very personification of satan himself.”[6]

In order for a great falling away to take place, I believe that an alternative belief system to the true gospel will be promoted with such believability that nominal Christians (not true Christians) will reject the God of the Bible. We can only speculate as to the exact reasons for the “falling away,” but there are many plausible theories.

One such theory involves aliens. Specifically, I am talking about the theory that aliens are real space beings and are the originators of life on earth. While many believers may initially bristle at this outrageous suggestion, there is much support for this theory that “another gospel” will come at the hand of what many mistakenly believe to be alien beings. It might sound crazy at first, but it is highly likely that much of what we hear about regarding “aliens” is really demonic activity.[7]

If you have ever researched the UFO phenomena, what is compelling is that, consistently, alien theology, as recounted in many “close encounters,” parallels the plans and purposes of satan as presented in scripture. These manifestations present themselves as angels of “light and intellectual illumination,” claim to provide leadership and hope to a suffering world, provide a source of awe, wonder, and worship that is an alternative to the God of the Bible, and even claim to be the originators of life on earth. Here is an interesting quote from a website promoting this alien theory containing an actual message from on of these aliens.

In other words, they look like us, and we look like them. In fact, we were created "in their image" as explained in the Bible. He told Rael that: "We were the ones who designed all life on earth. You mistook us for gods. We were at the origin of your main religions. Now that you are mature enough to understand this, we would like to enter official contact through an embassy.”
The messages dictated to Rael explain that life on Earth is not the result of random evolution, nor the work of a supernatural 'God'. It is a deliberate creation, using DNA, by a scientifically advanced people who made human beings literally "in their image" -- what one can call "scientific creationism." …For example, in Genesis, the Biblical account of Creation, the word "Elohim" has been mistranslated as the singular word "God", but it is actually a plural word which means "those who came from the sky", and the singular is "Eloha" (also known as "Allah")…
Leaving our humanity to progress by itself, the Elohim nevertheless maintained contact with us via prophets including Buddha, Moses, Mohammed, etc., all specially chosen and educated by them. The role of the prophets was to progressively educate humanity through the Messages they taught, each adapted to the culture and level of understanding at the time. They were also to leave traces of the Elohim so that we would be able to recognize them as our Creators and fellow human beings when we had advanced enough scientifically to understand them. Jesus, whose father was an Eloha, was given the task of spreading these messages throughout the world in preparation for this crucial time in which we are now privileged to live: the predicted Age Of Revelation.[8]

If satan’s demonic hoard can mask as alien beings presenting a false gospel, and if this will cause many in the world to follow satan at just the right point in history to accomplish his goals, he will do it. For more information on this topic, visit thecomingepiphany.com[9]

By the way, NASA has recently released video clips of several “alien encounters” lending more credence to the alien theory[10] Many people in the world have already been deceived to some degree and believe that aliens are really outer space beings, and unfortunately many Christians believe the same.

Another theory as to why the great falling away may occur regards the rise of pagan religions and their elements of heresy that attack Christian doctrines. In fact there is a film entitled Zeitgeist, meaning spirit of the time, which is promoting pagan heresies and is destroying the faith of many nominal Christians.

An online movie documenting the close ties between ancient pagan religions and today's Christianity is "antichrist" in nature, destroying the faith of believers by combining some astonishing truth with plenty of error…."Millions of believers have watched 'Zeitgeist' and many are throwing away their long held faith in Jesus as a result. I am receiving calls from people concerned about family members who are doing just that."[11]

As you can see this evil movie is being used by Satan to pull people away from God. I am sure heresies like this will unfortunately cause many to fall into error.
Revealing of “the Man of Sin”

Another sign that will occur before the Day of the Lord as listed in 2 Thess. 2:3 is that the “man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” We all know that the man of sin is the antichrist. What does this revealing entail? 2 Thessalonians 2:4 gives us the answer:

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.

The scripture speaks clearly that the antichrist must be revealed and set himself up as God in the Temple before the coming of the Day of the Lord. The Greek word naos is used for temple. Thayer’s lexicon defines naos as: “Used of the temple at Jerusalem, but only of the sacred edifice (or sanctuary) itself, consisting of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies.” Thus scripture indicates that the antichrist will enter the Holy place and possibly the Holy of Holies.
In other parts of scripture, this event has been termed “the Abomination of Desolation”:

When ye therefore shall see the Abomination of Desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) (Matt. 24:15)

And they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.” (Dan. 11:31)

The most likely scenario is that the antichrist will enter the Temple—even into the Holy sanctuary—proclaim himself as god/messiah, desecrate the temple by some means, stop daily sacrifices, and possibly set up some image of himself. This is another sign that must be fulfilled before the Day of the Lord begins.

Will the Temple Be Rebuilt?
This brings us to another consideration. At present, the temple does not exist. In order for the antichrist to perform the Abomination of Desolation, there must be a temple where sacrifice rituals are performed. It is reported that the Jews are ready to build this temple. They are just waiting for the go-ahead. To perform sacrifice rituals there must also be certain items such as the table of shew bread, the golden lamp stand, and the Ark of the Covenant. The late archeologist Ron Wyatt has claimed to have found and seen all of these items and has told leading Jews where they are.[12]

Even if they do not find the originals, many dedicated Jews have already made copies to use in the new temple, which can be viewed at the Temple Institute Web site.[13]

The Mysterious Sign
There is a fifth, kind of mysterious, sign that will happen before the Day of the Lord comes. This sign was given to us in Malachi 4:5–6:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful Day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

We see here that the prophet Elijah will return to earth before the Day of the Lord occurs. It is considered by some to be mysterious because it is not clear exactly how this will transpire. Will he just appear? Or will he be born as a baby? Will he be in a physical body or a spiritual one? These are questions that the scriptures do not detail, making his appearance a bit of a mystery. We do know that one of the main things that he will accomplish is to turn the hearts of the Jewish people to the true Messiah, Jesus Christ. Many Jews are looking for Elijah’s return and believe that, because he did not die and was taken up into heaven, he will come back to earth and will signal to all that the Messianic era is about to begin. Even the Jewish Passover Seder speaks of this anticipation, for the fifth cup is left for Elijah who, according to Jewish tradition, will return on Passover.

Some Christians believe he will most likely be one of the two witnesses listed in Rev. 11:3–14:

And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

It is debated as to when the witnesses will perform their miraculous works. It is also debated as to whether or not the exact identity of these two witnesses can be known. What we do know for sure is that Elijah, whether he is one of the witnesses or not, will return before the Day of the Lord.

In SummaryIn summary, at least five events/signs must happen before the Day of the Lord comes:

1. The moon is turned to blood.
2. The sun will be darkened.
3. The great falling away will occur.
4. The antichrist will be revealed and the Abomination of Desolation will occur.
5. The prophet Elijah returns.

Just as God has shown signs in the past before He does a great and mighty work so will He give signs to let the entire world know that the Day of the Lord is close at hand.

[1] The 'pole shift theory' is the hypothesis that the axis of rotation of a planet has not always been at its present-day locations or that the axis will not persist there; in other words, that its physical poles had been or will be shifted. From Wikipedia
[2] Planet x is claimed to be an undiscovered brown dwarf star that orbits our sun and every five to ten thousand years comes close to the earth and causes cataclysmic events.
[3] This passage will most likely have a double fulfillment, the first when Jesus was crucified and the second at the Day of the Lord.
[4] Clarke’s Commentary, http://www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarke2the2.htm
[5] David Guzik, Study Guide for II Thessalonians, http://blueletterbible.org/Comm/david_guzik/sg/2Th_2.html.
[6] http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=1696
[7] http://www.ufodigest.com/news/0307/tremble.html
[8] http://rael.org/rael_content/rael_summary.php
[9]. Other excellent resources include UFOs: Friend, Foe, or Fantasy, by William R. Goetz (Camp Hill, Pennsylvania); UFOs and the Alien Agenda, by Bob Larson (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers); and Facts on UFOs and Other Supernatural Phenomena, by John Ankerberg and John Weldon (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House).
[10] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p9vrhLJfEU
[11] http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=92903
[12] For more information on this find, see the article entitled “The Ark of the Covenant Discovered?” at The Coming Epiphany Web site.
[13] http://www.templeinstitute.org/main.htm

Chapter 1

Chapter 1
The Essence of The Day of the Lord

The sun is suddenly darkened, the moon glows the color of blood, the ground shakes violently, the sky splits and rolls away like a scroll, and the stars fall. Grown men run frantically to and fro, screaming like babies, trying to find somewhere to hide, while others just faint from terror.

It is at this time that all the people of the world will have an epiphany. The epiphany will occur at the yet future event known as the Day of the Lord, which is mentioned many times in scripture. It is even the subject matter of the entire book of Joel. Many parts of scripture have whole chapters and paragraphs devoted to the topic. Understanding the Day of the Lord is foundational to a proper understanding of all biblical end-times prophecy. In this chapter, we will examine the essence, reason for, and duration of this Day.

First, we need to come to an understanding of the essential nature of what this future event entails. Renald Showers describes its essence beautifully.

The Day of the Lord refers to God’s special interventions into the course of world events to judge His enemies, accomplish His purpose for history, and thereby demonstrate who He is—the sovereign God of the universe.[1]

This time of God’s special intervention known primarily as The Day of the Lord has been referred to by other terms in scripture, such as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (Jer. 30:7); His Strange Work/Act (Isa. 28:21); the Day of Israel’s Calamity (Deut. 32:35); the Indignation (Isa. 26:20; Dan. 11:36); the Overflowing Scourge (Isa. 28:15, 18); the Day of Vengeance (Isa. 34:8; 35:4; 61:2); the Day of Wrath/Distress/Wasteness/Desolation (Zeph. 1:15); the Day of Darkness/Thick Darkness/Gloominess (Zeph. 1:15, Joel 2:2); the Day of Trumpet and Alarm (Zeph. 1:16); the hour of trial (Rev. 3:10); the Wrath to Come (1 Thess. 1:10); the Wrath (1 Thess. 5:9), and the Hour of His Judgment (Rev. 14:7). In some instances, the Day of the Lord, due to its unique nature and importance, has been referred to as simply “that day” (Isa. 2:11, 17; 2:20; 4:2; Joel 3:18; Mark 13:32; Luke 21:34; 2 Tim. 1:12, 18; 4:8).

In relation to the events of the last seven years on earth, the yet future Day of the Lord can be characterized as a time of wrath and vengeance poured out upon mankind for their wickedness. As it says in Isaiah 2:10–22:

Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low…and the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth…To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

The pouring out of God’s wrath during the end times is only part of the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord will also include the pouring out of His blessings during the millennium.

The future Day of the Lord will have at least a twofold nature. First, it will be characterized by darkness and a tremendous outpouring of divine wrath upon the world (Joel 2:1–2; Amos 5:18–20; Zeph. 1:14–15; 1 Th. 5:1–11). Amos 5:18–20 emphasizes that this will be the total nature of the Day of the Lord for God’s enemies. It will bring no divine light or blessing to them. This will be the nature of the Day of the Lord during the 70th week of Daniel. Second, the Day of the Lord will also be characterized by light, an outpouring of divine blessing, and the administration of God’s rule. The Prophet Joel, after talking about the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars and God’s Day of the Lord judgment of the armies of the nations gathered in Israel (Joel 3:9-16), foretold great divine blessing “in that day” (Joel 3:17–21).[2]

So even though the portion of the Day of the Lord that occurs before the millennium will consist of the wrath of God being poured out on a sinful world, after that aspect of the Day of the Lord is finished, then blessings will be poured out during the Millennium.

There have also been past fulfillments of the Day of the Lord:

The Bible indicates that there have been several Days of the Lord in the past in which God demonstrated His sovereign rule by raising up several nations to execute His judgement on other nations. He raised up Assyria to judge the northern kingdom of Israel during the 700s B.C. (Amos 5:18, 20), Babylon to judge the southern kingdom of Judah during the 600s and 500s B.C. (Lam. 1:12; 2:1, 21–22; Eze. 7:19; 13:5; Zep. 2:2–3), Babylon to judge Egypt and its allies during the 500s B.C. (Jer. 46:10; Eze. 30:3), and Medo-Persia to judge Babylon during the 500s B.C. (Isa. 13:6, 9).[3]

Many passages concerning the Day of the Lord speak not only of some of these past fulfillments but also a future fulfillment of a yet to come great Day of the Lord. These double reference passages[4] can be difficult to interpret. However, upon reading them, it is clearly evident that their remains a yet future great Day of the Lord. For example in Amos 5:18 it says “Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light.” This passage in Amos, as referenced above, refers to the judgment brought upon the Northern tribes during the 700’s B.C. but yet it is clear to see that the passage also makes reference to the yet future Day of the Lord in which there will be darkness over the whole earth as described in Acts 2:20.

Scripture also makes it clear that there is only one Day of the Lord that is yet to come. “For thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land” (Hag. 2:6). “Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven” (Heb. 12:26). The passage from Hebrews tells us, in reference to the Mount Sinai occurrence, that it was the voice of the Lord that shook the earth and that the shaking of the earth from the Lord’s voice will happen only once more. The Isaiah 2 passage above tells us that this will occur during the Day of the Lord, “when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” This yet future one remaining great Day of the Lord—when God will shake the heavens and the earth—is the time in which God’s wrath will be poured out upon men and they will be so afraid, as we read in the Isaiah passage, that they will try to hide themselves in the clefts of the rocks because of their fear of the Lord and the glory of His majesty. At that time, all men will be humbled and God will be exalted. Isaiah again describes it as a day of destruction, fierce anger, and wrath; and again echoes that men will be terrified during this time. They will experience extreme anguish like they have never experienced before:

Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. 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. (Isa. 13:6–13)

This last passage not only reiterates the fact that the Day of the Lord is a time when God’s wrath is poured out upon the world, but it also tells us the reason for it. Namely, it is a punishment for the sins and wickedness of the world. As it says in verse 11, “And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity.” Thus scripture tells us that the purpose for the Day of the Lord is to punish the world for its sin.

Isaiah 34:8–10 also brings this out, describing the Day of the Lord as a day of vengeance.

For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.

God is the one responsible for pouring out judgment upon mankind for their sins at this time. It is the righteous punishment for sinning against a holy God. God has a limit to the sin that He allows. Once a society or a people group reaches a certain level of sin, they are in danger of His wrath being poured out on them. This was the case in the days of Noah when the world was hit with a devastating worldwide flood. This was the case with Sodom and Gomorrah when they were obliterated with fire and brimstone. This was the case with the Egyptians who received God’s wrath through the hand of Moses. This will also be the case with our world when the Day of the Lord arrives. It will be the day when wicked unrepentant men reap the just retribution for their evil deeds.

This is again echoed in Jeremiah 46:10: “For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries.”

Consider what Zephaniah and Malachi say about this day:

The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land. (Zeph. 1:14–18)

For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. (Mal. 4:1)

Again, we see that the Day of the Lord brings great destruction upon the world because they have sinned against Him and remained unrepentant. Zephaniah sums it up, describing it as a day of wrath.

The book of Joel is an expose that exclusively refers to the Day of the Lord and contains a wealth of information about that time. Among other things, it reveals to us another purpose for the Day of the Lord: that people would be brought to repentance. This is clearly seen in Joel 2:11–14:

For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the Lord your God?

God does not take pleasure in judging people. It breaks His heart, and He earnestly desires that sinners might turn to Him and not be judged.[5] He pours out His judgment only as a last resort.

There are many reasons judgment falls. One is that He is a just judge and will righteously recompense those who have broken His holy law. He also brings judgment because He does not want cancerous sin to spread to others—such was the case with Sodom and Gomorrah. And He brings judgment or the threat of judgment because He wants people to repent and experience a wonderful relationship with Him. God is very merciful and always wants people to repent; and judgment or the threat of judgment is always the last resort.

God never springs judgment upon people unawares. He will always warn them before the final judgment comes. Sometimes, this warning comes through lesser judgments. Many times these warnings come by way of His prophets in His holy Word, who through the ages have proclaimed His warnings, even for us today. A classic example of this was with what happened to the city of Nineveh. God sent the prophet Jonah to proclaim the message that their city was to be destroyed in 40 days because of their wickedness. After this warning was issued, the people repented, and the judgment was stayed.

The Day of the Lord will be a time of severe judgment that God has been warning us about for thousands of years. Those who choose to repent before that day will escape His wrath.

Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zeph. 2:2–3)

Even during the time that His wrath is being poured out people can still repent. In fact, Joel goes on to tell us that as a result of the Day of the Lord, many in the nation of Israel will be brought to repentance. In Joel 2:15–21, it says,

Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people. Yea, the Lord will answer and say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a reproach among the heathen: But I will remove far off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things. Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice: for the Lord will do great things.

In this passage, we see that as a result of some of the events of the Day of the Lord, Israel will repent. This is evidenced by their blowing a trumpet, sanctifying a fast, and calling for a solemn assembly. Their turning to the Lord will result in the blessings of God being bestowed upon them.

Blessings in the Day of the Lord
We have established that the Day of the Lord is a day of wrath and destruction upon mankind. God brings judgment because He wants to cleanse the world of sin and because He sincerely desires for people to repent. Some will choose to repent and they will experience blessings during the Day of the Lord in the millennium:

So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord, and shall water the valley of Shittim. (Joel 3:17–18)

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: 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. And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. (Zech. 14:6–9)

So even though the Day of the Lord will primarily be a day of wrath, it will cause some to repent and will culminate in blessing. Next, we will consider the length of time that the Day of the Lord will encompass.

How Long Will the Day of the Lord Last?
How long will the Day of the Lord last? Will it be a literal 24-hour day or will it be longer? In the Bible, the word “day” can refer to part of a day, a whole day (24 hours), or a longer period of time. In Matthew 20:2, it refers to part of a day: “And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” Clearly, this refers to only the working part of a day. In Genesis 7:17, the word “day” refers to a 24-hour period: “And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.” But the word “day” can also refer to an undetermined period of time as in John 9:4, “day” refers to an undetermined period of time: “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” Clearly, “day” in this context refers to a longer period of time, namely the time that God has given to each of us for service to Him.

So when we talk about the Day of the Lord, what are we referring to? A part of a day, a whole day, or a longer period of time? I contend that the Day of the Lord is a period of time and not a single day. In Chapter 7, I will detail many of the events that will transpire in the Day of the Lord. One of those events will be demon locusts torturing people for five months (Rev. 9:1–6). Thus, it stands to reason that if it is one of the events of the Day of the Lord, then the Day of the Lord refers to a period of time longer than a day.

The pouring out of God’s wrath during the Day of the Lord—the Day of wrath—will be one of the most horrific times the earth will ever go through. It is a time in which God’s wrath is poured out upon men as just retribution for their wickedness. Hopefully, many will heed the clear call to repent and be spared from this time of great wrath. This is the essence of the Day of the Lord.
Now that we have an understanding of the essence of the Day of the Lord we will turn our attention to the signs that precede it—letting all who recognize the signs know of the imminence of that great day.

[1] Renald E. Showers, Maranatha, Our Lord Come (Bellmawr, NJ: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1995), 38.
[2] Showers, Maranatha, Our Lord Come, 32–33,39.
[3] Ibid., 30.
[4] “This law observes the fact that often a passage or a block of Scripture is speaking of two different persons or two different events which are separated by a long period of time. In the passage itself they are blended into one picture, and the time gap between the two persons or two events is not presented by the text itself. The fact that a gap of time exists is known because of other Scriptures." Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum, The Footsteps of Messiah, rev. ed. (Tustin, CA: Ariel Ministries, 2003), 4.
[5] O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Mt 23:27)