In Matthew 24, Jesus is asked about coming events; let us read this tremendous portion of prophetic truth carefully, noting the sequence of events:
- 15 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:)
- 16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
- 17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
- 18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
- 19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days !
- 20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
- 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
- 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
- 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
- 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
- 25 Behold, I have told you before.
- 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.
- 27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
- 28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
- 29 Immediately after the persecution 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;
- 30 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.
- 31 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.
- (Matthew 24:15-31)
The sequence of events begins with the TimePost of the abomination (the time post we identified in an earlier section). It is, once again, a bone fide TimePost, for Jesus says "When ye shall see...". This event is unmistakable for those who are watching. When we studied that TimePost in an earlier section, we found a three-event sequence in this order:
- (a) The Spirit terminates his "restraining",which allows the antichrist (who is already in power) to proceed with a part of his program he has not been able to accomplish up to this point.
- (b) The raising up in the temple of the "abomination that causes desolation" -- an event that will be widely publicized and will be well understood by believers who know their Bibles.
- (c) The rapture, our "gathering unto Him".
As we said earlier, this is an ORDER of events; other events may come between these events, but will not change the order. Jesus fills in some more events in the sequence of both Thessalonians and Revelation, and in so doing connects the two lists. We mentally put a star at the second event, the abomination, which is where Jesus begins his list.
Connected IMMEDIATELY to that event (the abomination) is a time of great danger -- so immediate that people in Judea should not return home to collect their belongings, but flee immediately to the mountains. Jesus warns the people in Judea to flee to the mountains because there will be great persecution unequalled from the beginning of the world, never to be equalled again (directed against those who resist the power of the antichrist, both Jew and Christian).
THIS is the great persecution spoken of in Revelation 7. Since there is no greater persecution in history or prophecy, we believe this MUST be "the great" persecution. Therefore we believe that Matthew 24:21 is a MATCH with Revelation 7:14.
We will soon be able to bring the Revelation list into the Thessalonians list...merging the two references to the abomination together, and the two references to the great persecution (Revelation and Matthew). If Matthew men
tions the rapture, we will be able to merge all three lists at that event (at least in the events that lead up to the rapture).
Jesus goes on to speak of false Christs and false prophets, performing signs and miracles and wonders. It is important that we not run after them, for when HE comes, He will be clearly seen even as lightning in the east is seen in the
west -- an obvious reference to His appearing in the clouds at the time of the rapture. Everyone will see Him...as taught in Revelation 1:7, Revelation 6:16, Acts 1:11, etc.
Please note that this verse does not teach that the appearing of the Lord in the skies occurs at this point in the narrative; rather, it is a warning not to follow false Messiahs, for they will not have made such an appearance in the skies.
The next item in the sequence as taught by Jesus is the signs in the sun and moon (v. 29), which corresponds with Revelation 6:12, Joel 2:31 and Acts 2:20. Now we can merge the three lists up to the TimePost of the signs in the sun and moon:
- (a) The Spirit terminates his "restraining", which allows the antichrist (who is already in power) to proceed with a part of his program he has not been able to accomplish up to this point.
- (b) The raising up in the temple of the "abomination that causes desolation" -- an event widely publicized and well understood.
- (c) The great persecution.
- (d) False Messiahs.
- (e) The signs in the sun and moon.
Now, if Revelation, Thessalonians, Acts and Joel are all describing the same sequence of events, and if Jesus is also, then the remainder of Matthew 24 will reinforce the sequence in the remainder of our list, perhaps adding some extra events between the ones we have listed...but NOT changing the sequence ! The remainder of our list is:
- (f) The appearing of Jesus in the clouds (skies), visible to all on earth.
- (g) Sealing of the 144,000.
- (h) The raptured church is safe with Jesus.
- (I) The wrath of God begins (the 7th seal).
So, let us continue to study Matthew 24 to discover the events Jesus predicts. The next item in the sequence that Jesus describes is the appearing (epiphany) of Jesus in the clouds of the skies when all shall see Him and mourn -- verse 30 -- again identical to the verses we have just studied from Revelation 1 & 6. So Jesus places these twin TimePosts (signs in the sun and moon and the appearance of Jesus in the skies) close together and in the same order as the other portions we have studied.
The next event described by Jesus is the rapture in verse 31 -- the gathering of the elect from all corners of the earth...this "gathering" we call the rapture. Remember, this raptured church has just gone through a time of great persecution according to both Revelation and Matthew, and in both places this persecution PRECEDES the rapture.
Also remember that this "post-persecution" rapture is NOT the same as the "post-trib rapture" referred to by other prophecy teachers, who call the entire seven years "the tribulation" (when Scripture never does).
We have also just read Jesus' teaching that the duration of the great persecution was shortened "for the elect's sake"; this persecution occurs between the "abomination TimePost" and the rapture; while its length of time is not long, its intensity is greater than ever there was in any persecution of the past. Notice also that the elect ARE present during this persecution, for it is for their sake that the days are shortened !
There is another argument here that we should not fail to mention. IF this persecution is identical to the seven year tribulation (or the last 3½ years), it CANNOT be shortened for the elect's sake without causing Scripture to contradict itself.
There is significance in the mention of the trumpet in Matthew 24:31, for it "connects" other verses and reinforces the harmony in the Scripture with the sequence of events we are discovering. Let's first read the verse again:
- 31 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.
- (Matthew 24:31)
The Scriptures help us to confirm the exact timing of the rapture (the return of Christ as far as the skies -- not to the earth itself), differentiating it from the return of Christ to the earth, by the repeated reference to the trumpet in connection with the rapture. Follow with me the sound of the trumpet and the rapture in Scripture (noting that the sound of a trumpet is not mentioned in those portions that describe the return of Christ to the surface of the earth with the armies of heaven).
- In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
- (1 Corinthians 15:52)
- 15 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.
- 16 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:
- (1 Thessalonians 4:15-16)
* NIV = "according to the Lord's own words"
Note that Paul uses the phrase "according to the Lord's own words" (NIV) and "by the word of the Lord" (KJV); this must refer to Matthew 24 where Jesus Himself refers to the trumpet sound.
(For the description of Jesus' return to the earth with the saints and the armies of heaven -- a later event -- see Zechariah 14:4, Revelation 19:11-21. At this time His feet touch the Mount of Olives, the mountain divides, the battle of Armageddon concludes, etc. You will note that there is no reference to a trumpet sound during this event, and no reference to "every eye seeing Him".)
Let us review the full and obvious sequence of the events of this time period:
- (a) The Spirit terminates his "restraining", which allows the antichrist (who is already in power) to proceed with a part of his program he has not been able to accomplish up to this point.
- (b) The false prophets deceive many.
- (c) The antichrist is "revealed" by the setting up of the abomination that causes desolation" in the temple.
- (d) The great persecution of those who resist the antichrist's rule.
- (e) False messiahs try to get the loyalty of Christians away from the Lord Jesus Christ.
- (f) Earthquake, Signs in the sun and moon.
- (g) The appearing of Jesus in the clouds (skies).
- (h) People of earth hide in fear; every eye sees Him.
- (i) The rapture of the church.
- (j) The sealing of the 144,000.
- (k) The raptured church is secure, gathered around the throne.
- (l) The wrath of God begins.
By knowing what events precede the rapture, and by knowing the event that follows the rapture, we have pinpointed the exact placing of the rapture in the sequence of events.
Next, we want to firmly establish the "PRE-WRATH" rapture, which contradicts the teaching that the rapture occurs at the end of the seven years (which is called "post-trib"). This "post-trib" teaching would place the rapture at the END of the series of 21 events in Revelation (after the 7 seals, 7 trumpets and 7 vials).
