Do you not know ?

The Jewish elders in Jerusalem sent a brief letter to the Gentile believers abroad urging them to keep their bodies pure and to abstain from sexual immorality.

^{Ac 15:28} It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:
^{Ac 15:29} You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

The command is simple to understand and basic.   Here is the definition of immorality:

The Apostle Paul also reaffirmed this basic Christian principle in his teaching.

^{1Co 6:18} Flee from sexual immorality.  All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.
^{1Co 6:19} Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
^{1Co 6:20} you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body

Notice that Paul describes the kind of immorality as being sexual in nature.  The Christian requirement is lifelong abstinence of all sexual encounters outside of marriage.  We live in a culture that inundates us daily with sexual images presented in all manner of media.  For the Christian we need to avoid compromising our bodies which incredibly also serves as the temple of the Holy Spirit.  We cannot with the Spirit of the living God dwelling within our bodies follow after the ways of this world by participating in the manifest promiscuity that the world offers.  The Apostolic command is simple:  flee from sexual immorality.

Obviously this means staying away from any situation where one might get intoxicated, losing normal willpower and restraint, increasing the chances to compromise long held values, yielding to the temptation, and in the end causing one to sin against their own bodies.  Christian standards are higher than the worlds standards because God has made our bodies holy so as to serve Him on a daily basis for a higher purpose.

Pop radio stations play the daily music idolizing all manner of immoral behavior leaving little left to imagine.  But think of where this lifestyle leads a person: ashamed, sad, broken, miserable, and lonely.  An immoral lifestyle promises freedom but also leads to Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD’s).

Here are the statistics for STD’s in the United States -

“One in five people in the United States have an STD.  Two-thirds of all STDs occur in people 25 years of age or younger.  One in four new STD infections occurs in teenagers.  One in five Americans have genital herpes, yet 90 percent of those with herpes are unaware they have it.  At least one in four Americans will contract an STD at some point in their lives.”  http://www.ashastd.org/std-sti-works/std-statistics.html

Abstinence until marriage is the Christian way.   As a young man I prayed all through high school and college for a pure Christian spouse and the Lord answered my prayers after seven or eight years.  I have been married for seventeen years now and I can say it was worth the wait.  As a young man I never worried about contracting some unknown disease or getting a young woman pregnant.  I urge young people to flee from sexual immorality so that they can enjoy marriage at some later date. They can live a joyful Christian life now with freedom from guilt and worry.   But first they need to flee from immorality and rid themselves of it for good.

Christians also need to remain faithful in marriage and to guard their hearts and minds at all times.  We need to be vigilant to avoid dark allies on the Internet because the Spirit of the living God dwells within us and we do not wish to grieve the Lord or to harm our souls.

Were you aware that most large corporations can fire an employee for downloading inappropriate sexual material?  This puts the company at risk both to  lawsuits and the risk of defamation of corporate image, prestige, and revenue.  The safest thing for a corporation to do is to fire the bad employee.   If companies are willing to go to great measures to protect their image and reputation how much more then should Christian’s who carry within their bodies the Spirit of the living God be constantly vigilant to flee from sexual immorality.

Rev-1-5 Bible Study.pdf

The Bible was completed 4200 years after God created the earth.  Here is the detailed study (4106 BCE ).

Genesis 1:26-27 describes that on the sixth day God produced man and woman in his own image. This Word is in stark contrast to the word of an evolutionist who claims that man somehow evolved from a primate or other lower life forms over a timespan of millions of years.

For any species to reproduce it first needs to be appropriately suited both male an female according to it’s kind. The ability to reproduce is innate among all species but the mystery of reproduction is infinitely complex. Species are always reproduced according to their own kind such as cat, dog, monkey, ape, and man. God in his wisdom established genetic barriers to prevent species from cross propagating among different kinds. Man has always been man and not something else. The New Testament written less than 2000 years ago in Greek confirms that the first man was Adam (Luke 3:38, Romans 5:14, 1 Corinithians 15:55, 1 Timithy 2:13, Jude 1:14).

Years from Adam to Noah’s flood
Genesis 5:1-32 chronicles the family line of ten generation from Adam to Noah. It is presented as an interlinking chain of the birth of the son followed by the lifespan of the father. One can quickly arrive at a determination of 1656 years from the sixth day of creation until the flood when Noah was 600 years old. This genealogy recorded in Genesis indicates that the earth is not billions or even millions of years but rather on the order of thousands of years old.

The lifespan of man was exceeding long for these first ten generations from Adam till Noah: Adam 930 years, Seth 912 years, Enosh 905 years, Kenan 910 years, Mahalalel 895 years, Jared 962 years, Enoc 365, Methuseal 969 years, Lamech 777 years, and Noah 950 years. Because men no longer live out such long years many suppose that the story is a myth. However when a believer understands that God originally created a perfect world in six days then it is no more difficult to understand that the human body was also created by God, in the image of God, and that it was created genetically perfect. Also when the world was created by God in six days it was pristine and did not originally contain life ending diseases. Apparently God began to restrict man’s lifespan sometime after the flood because of man’s tendency for wicked behavior and sinful opposition to God’s purpose for man.

The unbeliever also quickly dismisses the flood as a local event or a myth. However there are evidences as far as the eye can see that the flood did indeed happen: there are sea fossils on mountain tops throughout the world; there are vast pools of oil found throughout the earth; there are also vast coal deposits just under the surface of the ground, tar pits, and oil sands found on the surface in many places; there is also the Grand Canyon in Arizona that was carved by a vast body of water in a short period of time.

These scars on the earth are a visible testimony to the flood of Noah when every living thing on the earth perished except for Noah, his family, and those living creatures aboard the Ark. Here the believer has a perfectly sane explanation from the Bible as to why someone can randomly dig up a fossil of a dinosaur in the middle of Montana. These fossils were once living animals that were suddenly overcome by the flood and subsequently buried with mud and and then compressed by massive water pressure which preserved their skeletal structures. The flood provided the optimal conditions to produce these fossils throughout the earth and this is our record today of creatures that once lived and breathed during the time of Noah.

Genesis 9:12-16 says that the rainbow is the sign of God’s covenant with the earth and every living creature upon it that he would never again destroy all life by water.

Years from Noah’s flood to Abraham
Genesis 11:10-26 provides the record of 10 generations from Shem to Abraham adding up to 292 years. Shem was Noah’s son and he was one of the eight confined aboard the Ark for a period of 1 year and 10 days.

Years from Abraham to Jacob
The time from when Abraham was born until Jacob entered Egypt with his entire household adds up to 290 years. We know this because Abraham was 100 years old when Issac was born (Genesis 17:17), and Issac was 60 years old when Jacob was born (Genesis 25:26), and Jacob was 130 years old when he entered into Egypt with his entire household and was welcomed by the Pharaoh of Egypt (Genesis 47:9).

Years from Jacob to the Exodus
From the time Jacob entered Egypt until Israel came out with Moses adds up to 430 years. That’s what the Bible records in Exodus 12:40-41.

Years from Exodus to the foundation of Solomon’s Temple
From the time Israel came out of Egypt until the foundation of Solomon’s temple was established transpired 480 years. That’s what King Solomon recorded in 1 Kings 3:12.

Years from the foundation of Solomon’s Temple to CE 1
The site of the first temple that King Solomon constructed is in the same location as the second temple that Herod renovated in 19 BCE. The historical evidence suggests the first temple was founded around 957 BCE. This was first corroborated by the Tyrians who provided wood for Solomon’s temple and also kept detailed records of the event that correlated the construction of Solomon’s temple to the founding of the city of Carthage. The Jewish historian Josephus recorded these facts around 94 CE.

The genealogy portion of this study uses details recorded in Genesis about the lives of the 22 patriarchs from Adam to Jacob. I find it interesting that the lampstand that God instructed the Israelites to construct in the wilderness also contained 22 cups shaped like almond flowers with buds and blossoms (see Exodus 25:31-40). I consider this detail in the lampstand to be a reminder of the sequence of patriarchs from Adam all the way to Jacob. A depiction of this Lampstand was carved in the Arch of Titus by emporer Domitian in 82 CE to commemorate the Roman Triumph over Jerusalem.

Transition from BCE to CE
There was no zero year in the transition from BCE to CE so a convenient way to account for this transition is to subtract 1 before adding the current year.

Years from creation to 2012
Adding this all up one can reasonably conclude that the earth is 6116 years old as of this year 2011. Here is the basic math for determining the age of the earth based on the Bible record: 1656+1+292+290+430+480+957-1+2012 = 6117.

430 years

Ezekiel foretold a siege against Jerusalem because the house of Israel and the house of Judah committed idolatry the entire time Solomon’s temple stood.  This was portrayed when Ezekiel had to lie on one side for 390 days for Israel and on his other side facing Jerusalem for 40 days.  This totaled 430 days with each day representing 1 year (Eze 4:1-9).

^{Eze 4:1} “Now, son of man, take a clay tablet, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.
^{Eze 4:2} Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.
^{Eze 4:3} Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
^{Eze 4:4} “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side.
^{Eze 4:5} I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel.
^{Eze 4:6} “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.
^{Eze 4:7} Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her.
^{Eze 4:8} I will tie you up with ropes so that you cannot turn from one side to the other until you have finished the days of your siege.
^{Eze 4:9} “Take wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt; put them in a storage jar and use them to make bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the 390 days you lie on your side.

Kings 1, Kings 2, and the prophets testify by their words that the Solomon’s temple stood for 430 years until it was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar.  The following table records all the Kings of Israel and Judah that reigned in Jerusalem while Solomon’s temple stood (Ezekiel-430-years.pdf).

70 years

Jeremiah the prophet testified that Jerusalem, Judah, and the surrounding nations would be desolate for 70 years.

^{Jer 25:11} This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

Chronicles records a desolation period of 70 years for the land.

^{2Ch 36:21} The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah.

Daniel the prophet confirmed that Jerusalem required 70 years of desolation.

^{Da 9:1} In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom—
^{Da 9:2} in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years.

483 years

Daniel prays with urgency because he has seen that the 70 years of desolation has already been fulfilled (Dan 9:1-19).  The response is immediate with a vision:

^{Da 9:24} “Seventy ‘sevens’ are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy.
^{Da 9:25} “Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.
^{Da 9:26} After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed.
^{Da 9:27} He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing  of the temple  he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.’”

Decree (Da 9:25):  This would be the decree of Cyrus as recorded in Ez 5:13,17 which was issued the first year of Darius and the same year of the vision above.  It was because of this decree that enabled the Israelites to go back immediately and settle in Judah and Jerusalem.  Darius also enabled them to begin construction on the Second Temple.  This was completed in the fourth year of Darius and is recorded in Ezra, Haggai, and Zechariah (Zech 7:1-5).   So the starting point of the decree immediately follows the 70 years of desolation.  The time between decree and the Anointed One is provided as 7 sevens and 62 sevens (7×7 + 62×7 = 483 years).

We as Christians understand that Anointed One is in reference to Jesus.  However there has been much discussion as to whether this meant his birth, baptism, or crucifiction.  I would not argue against any reasonable explanation that can tie all Biblical prophecies together.  However I would like to demonstrate that the Anointed One, Jesus, was baptized by the last Old Testament prophet John the Baptist and this Anointing also came from heaven when Jesus was baptized by John (Mt 3:13-17, Jn 1:35-42).

983 years

This is the number of years beginning with the foundation of Solomon’s temple until the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist.  It is the summation of the prior 3 sets of consecutive years (430+70+483=983). This is a block of years and should not be rationalized any other way.  The endpoint is Jesus and we know approximately his time on this earth.  To set a starting point I decided to use the dating of Solomon’s temple by the first century Jewish historian Josephus.  This is from a prior study I developed to demonstrate the year of creation being 4106 BCE (www.4106bce.info).  In that study I learned that Solomon’s temple was founded in 957 BC based on the account of Josephus.

This study now gets very interesting indeed.  Starting at 957 BCE and adding 983 years yields and end date of AD 27 (983=957-1+27).  That would place the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist to AD 27.  Since 27 was the year Jesus began his ministry that would mean he was crucified in AD 30.  So if Jesus was born in BCE 4 and his ministry started in AD 27 that would mean he was about 30 years old when he began his ministry.  This is consistent with the gospel of Luke (Lk 3:23).  If Jesus was crucified in AD 30; that would be 40 years prior to the desolation of Jerusalem a second time in AD 70, this time by the Romans.  This is another reminder of Ezekiel lying on his side for 40 days for the sins of Judah.  However the sins of Judah this time was for its rejection of the Anointed One, Jesus the King of the Jews from the royal line of David, their Savior and Messiah.

In summary the placement of all Biblical history can be hinged upon the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year AD 70.  There is alignment with the prophets including Daniel, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel.

Here is an estimate of Biblical events based on this information:

AD 70 – Destruction of Second Jewish Temple

AD 30 – Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, was crucified

AD 27 – Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist

4 BCE – Birth of Jesus by the Virgin Mary

527 BCE – Desolation of Jerusalem and destruction of Solomon’s temple by King Nebuchadnezzar

957 BCE – Foundation of First Jewish Temple by King Solomon

1397 BCE – Israel enters Promised Land after 40 years in the wilderness

2450 BCE – Flood of Noah

4106 BCE – Creation of Adam and Eve

Seven years prior to the the fall of Jerusalem, the Lord instructed Ezekiel to lie on his left side for 390 days with his back away from the representation of Jerusalem he had constructed while in exile. This portrayed the sin of the 10 tribes of Israel who  had long abandoned Jerusalem and the LORD and instead held fast to the idolatry established under Jeroboam for 390 years.  Next Ezekiel was instructed to lie on his right side for 40 days but this time facing the representation of Jerusalem he had constructed.  This symbolized the sins of Judah for 40 years.  In all this represented 430 consecutive years of idolatry and sin that the 12 tribes of Israel did in turning away from the LORD.  The culmination was that the glory of the Lord finally departed from the temple in Jerusalem which Ezekiel saw by vision.   Within five years Jerusalem fell and the Temple was burned and completely destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar.

Eze 4:1 “Now, son of man, take a clay tablet, put it in front of you and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.
Eze 4:2 Then lay siege to it: Erect siege works against it, build a ramp up to it, set up camps against it and put battering rams around it.
Eze 4:3 Then take an iron pan, place it as an iron wall between you and the city and turn your face toward it. It will be under siege, and you shall besiege it. This will be a sign to the house of Israel.
Eze 4:4 “Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side.
Eze 4:5 I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel.
Eze 4:6 “After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year.
Eze 4:7 Turn your face toward the siege of Jerusalem and with bared arm prophesy against her.

The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem happened exactly 430 years after the temple foundation was laid by King Solomon.  Throughout the whole period that the first temple stood and where the glory of God rested, Israel, pursued idolatry, and so in the end both the house of Israel and the house of Judah were judged according to Ezekiel chapters 5-11.

The following table  confirms that the first temple stood for a total of 430 years, while a representative King reigned in Jerusalem, based on the accounts provided from 1 Kings, 2 Kings and Ezekiel (Ezekiel-430-years.pdf).

Sixth Seal Rapture

Comparing Matthew and Revelation clarifies the timing of the rapture to happen during the great tribulation and after the sixth seal has been opened.  Please note that all the verses in Matthew (Mt 24:21-31) are in sequence.  The verses from Revelation are taken from the fifth seal (Rev 6:9-11), from the sixth seal (Rev 6:12-7:17), and a concise description of the beast and the false prophet (Rev 13:11-18, 19:19-20).

THE GREAT TRIBULATION

^{Mt 24:21} For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
^{Mt 24:22} If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.

^{Rev 6:9} When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
^{Rev 6:10} They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
^{Rev 6:11} Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed.

ANTICHRIST AND THE FALSE PROPHET

^{Mt 24:23} At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 
^{Mt 24:24} For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 
^{Mt 24:25} See, I have told you ahead of time.
^{Mt 24:26} “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

^{Rev 13:11} Then I saw another beast, coming out of the earth. He had two horns like a lamb, but he spoke like a dragon.
^{Rev 13:12} He exercised all the authority of the first beast on his behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed.
^{Rev 13:13} And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.
^{Rev 13:14} Because of the signs he was given power to do on behalf of the first beast, he deceived the inhabitants of the earth. He ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.
^{Rev 13:15} He was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed.
^{Rev 13:16} He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead,
^{Rev 13:17} so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.
^{Rev 13:18} This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number. His number is 666.

^{Rev 19:19} Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army.
^{Rev 19:20} But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

^{Mt 24:27} For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 
^{Mt 24:28} Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

The appearance of the true messiah will come suddenly like lightning from above.  Vultures on the other hand circle slowly around a dead body (or a false prophet) found upon the earth.

SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS (after the tribulation)

^{Mt 24:29} “Immediately after the distress of those days “ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

^{Rev 6:12} I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,
^{Rev 6:13} and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.

SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF JESUS CHRIST TO THE WHOLE WORLD

^{Mt 24:30} “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.

^{Rev 6:14} The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
^{Rev 6:15} Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
^{Rev 6:16} They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
^{Rev 6:17} For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

THE SIMULTANEOUS RAPTURE OF ALL CHRISTIANS

^{Mt 24:31} And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

^{Rev 7:9} After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
^{Rev 7:10} And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God,who sits on the throne,and to the Lamb.”
^{Rev 7:11} All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
^{Rev 7:12} saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”
^{Rev 7:13} Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
^{Rev 7:14} I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

CONCLUSION

Mercifully Christians will never have to endure the 7 trumpets and the 7 bowls of God’s wrath.  However It is clear that after the rapture there will be a select group of Jewish male Christians (the 144,000) who will remain on earth during the 7 trumpets and that God will also provide them supernatural protection during this awful time of judgment.

It would be tragic for an unbeliever to wake up one day and look up just after the heavens have disappeared with a roar and seeing only Jesus sitting on his throne and then hearing the trumpets of God sounding forth one by one while the wrath of God is poured out upon the earth with the knowledge that the opportunity for true repentance has just expired.  Christians need to have zeal in carrying the Gospel to the end of the earth and loving one another until Jesus returns.

The second great lie commonly taught today is that people can be saved after the rapture.  This is plainly false.  The purpose of the 7 trumpets is for God to judge the dominion of Satan.  And the purpose of the 7 bowls of God’s wrath is to judge those who have allowed themselves to be branded with the mark of the beast.

After Jesus appears and becomes visible to all those who dwell upon the earth they will instantly also lose the opportunity to have faith in Him.  The only thing that remains for these unbelievers is face the terrible wrath of God.

That is why today is the day of salvation.

^{Ro 1:16} I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
^{Ro 1:17} For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

 ^{Heb 3:7} So, as the Holy Spirit says:“Today, if you hear his voice,
^{Heb 3:8} do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,
^{Heb 3:9} where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.
^{Heb 3:10} That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’
^{Heb 3:11} So I declared on oath in my anger,‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”
^{Heb 3:12} See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
^{Heb 3:13} But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
^{Heb 3:14} We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.
^{Heb 3:15} As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”
^{Heb 3:16} Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
^{Heb 3:17} And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the desert?
^{Heb 3:18} And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed ?
^{Heb 3:19} So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

The purpose of this post is to dispel the notion of a hidden rapture occurring  before the visible appearance of Jesus Christ.  This is  a predominant evangelical teaching today.  Evangelicals almost always acknowledge a second tribulation rapture which they have convinced themselves that they are not worthy to participate.  However  Scripture clearly indicates that there is only going to be one rapture and that it will happen during the great tribulation described in Revelation.

Apostle Paul’s Prophecy

Anti-Christ will precede the Day of the Lord

Paul followed up to the Thessalonian church with a second letter to clarify  that Jesus will not come until after anti-Christ is revealed. 

^{2Th 2:1} Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers,
^{2Th 2:2} not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.
^{2Th 2:3} Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for  that day will not come  until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.
^{2Th 2:4} He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

 Second Coming of Jesus

 ^{1Th 4:14} We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
^{1Th 4:15} According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
^{1Th 4:16} For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
^{1Th 4:17} After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

Unbelievers respond by hiding in fear

^{Rev 6:14} The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
^{Rev 6:15} Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
^{Rev 6:16} They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!

Great tribulation believers rejoice after the rapture

^{Rev 7:9} After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
^{Rev 7:10} And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God,who sits on the throne,and to the Lamb.”
^{Rev 7:13} Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”
^{Rev 7:14} I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

Apostle Peter’s Prophecy

Day of the Lord

The day of the Lord will be like in the days of Noah.  There were no survivors in Noah’s day except those who were aboard the Ark. 

^{2Pe 3:5} But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.
^{2Pe 3:6} By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
^{2Pe 3:7} By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men
^{2Pe 3:8} But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
^{2Pe 3:9} The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
^{2Pe 3:10} But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
^{2Pe 3:11} Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives
^{2Pe 3:12} as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
^{2Pe 3:13} But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness

^{Ac 2:16} No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
^{Ac 2:17} “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.Your sons and daughters will prophesy,your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
^{Ac 2:18} Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
^{Ac 2:19} I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below,blood and fire and billows of smoke.
^{Ac 2:20} The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
^{Ac 2:21} And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

Wrath of God immediately following the rapture

^{Rev 6:12} I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,
^{Rev 6:13} and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.
^{Rev 6:14} The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
^{Rev 6:15} Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
^{Rev 6:16} They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
^{Rev 6:17}For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?”

Sound the trumpets

FIRE AND BLOOD

^{Rev 8:7} The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.
^{Rev 8:8} The second angel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, ^{Rev 8:9} a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.
^{Rev 8:10} The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water—^{Rev 8:11} the name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people died from the waters that had become bitter.

DARKNESS

^{Rev 8:12} The fourth angel sounded his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night.^{Rev 8:13} As I watched, I heard an eagle that was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels!”
^{Rev 9:1} The fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth. The star was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.^{Rev 9:2} When he opened the Abyss, smoke rose from it like the smoke from a gigantic furnace. The sun and sky were darkened by the smoke from the Abyss.

THREE PLAGUES

^{Rev 9:13} The sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice coming from the horns of the golden altar that is before God.

^{Rev 9:18} A third of mankind was killed by the three plagues of fire, smoke and sulfur that came out of their mouths.

SEVEN LAST PLAGUES

^{Rev 11:15} The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,and he will reign for ever and ever.”

^{Rev 15:1} I saw in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues—last, because with them God’s wrath is completed.

^{Rev 16:1} Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, “Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.”

^{Rev 16:2} The first angel went and poured out his bowl on the land, and ugly and painful sores broke out on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image.
^{Rev 16:3} The second angel poured out his bowl on the sea, and it turned into blood like that of a dead man, and every living thing in the sea died.
^{Rev 16:4} The third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water, and they became blood.
^{Rev 16:8} The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. ^{Rev 16:9} They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.
^{Rev 16:10} The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony^{Rev 16:11} and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.
^{Rev 16:12} The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East.^{Rev 16:14} They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. 

Please review the 7^th trumpet (Rev 11:5) to see that Jesus is now ready to enter Jerusalem the Second Time. 
  ^{Rev 16:15} “Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
The Great Tribulation saints wearing white robes are already worshiping with Palm branches before His throne (Rev 7:9).

^{Rev 16:17} The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and out of the temple came a loud voice from the throne, saying, “It is done!”

SONG OF MOSES

Remember how God delivered the Hebrews through the Red Sea and how Pharaoh’s army perished while trying to kill them.  The last 10 plagues in Revelation bring to mind the song of Moses and deliverance by rapture for the people of God.

^{Rev 15:2} And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God
^{Rev 15:3} and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb:“Great and marvelous are your deeds,Lord God Almighty.Just and true are your ways,King of the ages.
^{Rev 15:4} Who will not fear you, O Lord,and bring glory to your name?For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you,for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

However I am a Christian having been made a new creature in Christ and also a partaker of the Holy Spirit.

In order to provide a good approximation as to when the Apocalypse might occur one must first know accurately the Year of Creation.   Secondly one must assume that GOD also allowed an understandable and discernable pattern to be conveyed in HIS WORD otherwise all projections in predicting the Apocalypse are futile until the actual event itself unfolds.

^{Mt 24:42} “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.

YEAR OF CREATION 4106 BC
I started this project in 2007 because I wanted to independently confirm what others have written concerning the year of creation.  I desired to find a concise approximation for the Year of Creation using  the most obvious interpretation of the Bible that God created the heavens and the earth in six literal 24 hour days.   I’ve written about this in more detail on a site dedicated to the year of creation www.4106bce.info.  As a point of interest my finding about the Year of Creation is 102 years older than James Ussher’s Chronology which was written in 1654.

BIBLE COMPLETED 95 AD
What I found in my Year of Creation study startled me.  There were exactly 4200 years (7 x 600) between the first week of Creation and the year book of Revelation was written.   I discovered that there was an internal ruler in God’s Word, a span of 600 years, that allowed me to see this clearly.  This is illustrated by a simple chart http://www.4106bce.info/uploads/timeline-4200e-4106.pdf.

APOCALPYSE ERA 2088-2095 AD
The Bible indicates there will be seven years allotted for the rise of anti-Christ, final persecution of Israel, tribulation of saints, wrath of God, followed by the physical return of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem.  This is recorded in startling detail in the book of Revelation.  The Apocalypse Era occurs just prior to the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ.

Some of my fellow Christians are kind to remind me that Jesus said.

^{Mt 24:36} “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father

I agree and I don’t find any fault with the words of my Lord and Savior Jesus who is the Christ.  First century persecuted Christians had an expectancy of the soon return of Jesus and this is no different for Christians in the 21^st century.  I am convinced this wonderful event will happen beyond the end of my lifespan but not very far over the horizon either.  However it will happen during a time of unprecedented persecution of Christians who will become hated outcasts of this world just as Jesus predicted.  The reason it will be impossible for Christians to know the day or hour of Jesus return is that it will happen during the sixth seal of Revelation  after the 1260 day countdown of anti-christ has started but some indeterminate day before the 1260 day rule of anti-christ ends.   All persecuted or martyred Christians will be in heaven prior to the seventh seal.

^{1Th 5:1} Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you,
^{1Th 5:2} for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
^{1Th 5:3} While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
^{1Th 5:4} But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief.

MILLENNIAL REIGN OF JESUS CHRIST 2095-3095 AD
Jesus Christ reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords from Jerusalem Israel for 1000 years as promised in both the Old and New Testament (Rev 20:1-6).

NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH 3095 AD
The complete and final destruction of this old earth will occur just after the Millennial Reign of Jesus Christ (Rev 21:1).  The year 3095 is a projection I have made based on a 7200 year (12 x 600) timeline  for Planet Earth.  This is illustrated by a simple chart http://www.4106bce.info/uploads/timeline-7200.pdf.

I’ve enjoyed explaining my rational as to why the Apocalypse is not currently at hand but it’s also not very far away either.

There is still opportunity for millions of Christians to earnestly carry the Word of God to the nations proclaiming that Jesus is Lord until he comes again.

^{Mt 28:18} Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
^{Mt 28:19} Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
^{Mt 28:20} and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”