Jesus catches up the church saints ("rapture") to meet the Lord in the air (I Thess. 4:17). Compare this to Rev. 4:1-2: "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne."
John the Revelator was caught up into heaven. John was to instruct the churches (Rev. 1:4). John (like Elijah) has not died yet. He was caught up bodily as Elijah was. (More on John and Elijah later if God permits).
The word "church" is not mentioned in the Bible after Rev. 3:22. From Rev. 3:22 thru the remainder of the Bible, those raptured are referred to as "saints" except where they are referred to as the "wife" of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7). After the "rapture", those left on earth (both saved and lost) are referred to as "nations" (Matt. 25:31-46).
The tribulation and the 1,000-year reign of Christ are to fulfill God's promise to Israel. God promised Israel that Jesus would come with His saints (the raptured church members) to the Mount of Olives, and He shall fight against those nations as when He fought in the day of battle (Zech. 14:3-5). "And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one" (Zech. 14:9).
"And he [Jesus] said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44).
"He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David...." (Luke 1:32-33). When did Jesus sit on David's throne? He has not - yet! "Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this" (Isa. 9:7). Jesus has not yet sat upon David's throne, so this will be in the future. (Read next week's column.)
God said to David, "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever" (II Sam. 7:12-13). Jesus has not yet built a house for God's name, but this prophecy absolutely must be fulfilled in the future (Luke 24:44).
GOD'S COVENANT WITH THE EARTH "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Gen. 8:22). GOD'S COVENANT WITH DAVID "Thus saith the LORD; If ye can break my covenant of the day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers" (Jer. 33:20-21). Each morning when we wake up (day) and each evening when we go to bed (night), we know that God's covenant with the earth still exists -- and we know just as surely that God's covenant with David (that His seed will sit upon His throne) is just as sure as God's covenant with the earth. Hallelujah! Can we be sure that Jesus will reign on earth for 1,000 years? Yes! As long as there are day and night, we have the assurance that Jesus will reign on earth. The sad thing about all of this is that many who have been told about the saving blood of Jesus Christ will reject Him until it is too late. Will YOU be one of them? Trust Jesus and be saved today!
