THE SIMULTANEOUS RAPTURE AND SUDDEN DESTRUCTION
In many of my recent posts, I have put the the words SUDDEN DESTRUCTION/RAPTURE together, because I believe they will take place simultaneously. I believe Scripture supports this premise, and I am about to show you why.
Back around 1977, I attended a series of Bible Prophecy meetings put on by Hilton Sutton. Brother Hilton is still teaching on Bible Prophecy, at age 84, as I have seen him on TV recently. I bought every tape he had made at that time, which really triggered my interest in Bible Prophecy. In one of his sermons, I remember quite vividly, he proclaimed that as the nuclear bombs were DESCENDING, the saints would be ASCENDING in the Rapture, at the exact same time. It made a lot of sense to me at the time, and even makes more sense to me now, because my study of the Scripture shows me the same thing.
If we read I Thessalonians 4:16 through 5:9, we learn all about the RAPTURE and some of the details, and we also find the words SUDDEN DESTRUCTION. These verses are all talking about the same subject--the Rapture and Sudden Destruction. Men made the Chapter separations. God did not. It is all one topic discussed here. After Paul gives us the details of the Rapture in I Thess. 4:16-18, he continues on in Chapter 5 on the same subject matter.
We can know this because the very first word in Chapter 5 is "BUT", a conjuction, or a CONNECTING WORD, which connects the last portion of Chapter 4 with Chapter 5. So, the last three very familar verses of Chapter 4 and the 1st 2 verses of Chapter 5 are talking about the Rapture. The first word of the very next verse, verse 3, starts with the word FOR, another connecting word, connecting verse 3 with verse 2, so it is easy to conclude that verse 3 is also referring to the Rapture. Verse 3 says, "...then SUDDEN DESTRUCTION cometh upon THEM...and THEY SHALL NOT ESCAPE."
The next few verses go on to tell us that the children of light, those who are not spiritually asleep, those who are WATCHING, will ESCAPE THE SUDDEN DESTRUCTION. These verses tell us emphatically that THE RAPTURE IS AN ESCAPE FROM THE SUDDEN DESTRUCTION!!! The two main themes of these verses, THE RAPTURE AND SUDDEN DESTRUCTION ARE INSEPARABLE. They are woven together. They are one and the same event.
Luke 21: 34-35 says, "...and so THAT DAY come upon you unawares. For AS A SNARE, shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of THE WHOLE EARTH." A SNARE is a TRAP. There is no ESCAPING (outside of the Rapture), the TRAP that is being set for the WHOLE EARTH. Nuclear warfare, and the aftermath, will have devastating effects on the WHOLE EARTH. Most of the judgments in the Book of Revelation can be directly attributed to the effects of nuclear war, and the aftermath.
But the GREAT NEWS is that there IS A WAY OF ESCAPE!!! THE RAPTURE IS OUR ESCAPE!!! The very next verse in Luke 21:36 says, "WATCH ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man (Jesus)." Do not let anyone rob you of your blessed hope. I have received some emails recently, trying to rob me of my blessed hope, the Rapture. This verse says TO ESCAPE ALL, not some.
Now that we have entered the 70th Week of Daniel, the Tribulation judgments have to begin SOON. But, as of yet, they have not started. I am convinced that they will start with the SUDDEN DESTRUCTION/RAPTURE!!! As I am writing this, it looks like the beginning of WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST! When the first nuclear bombs hit, I believe we will be experiencing our SIMULTANEOUS ESCAPE, IN THE RAPTURE, JUST LIKE THESE SCRIPTURES PROMISE US!!! ARE YOU READY TO STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN (JESUS)???
In Luke 17:26-27 and Matthew 24:37-39, in the days of Noah, it was business as usual until, "the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man (Jesus)." Noah is being referenced in these verses as a type of the Rapture, our ESCAPE FROM THE SUDDEN DESTRUCTION.
The next 3 verses, in Luke 17:28-30, it says, "Likewise, also, as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But THE SAME DAY that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and DESTROYED them all. Even thus shall it be in THE DAY when the Son of man (Jesus) is revealed." How much clearer can our Lord make it for us? THE RAPTURE AND SUDDEN DESTRUCTION WILL BE THE SAME DAY!!!
This is why I take my calling as a watchman so seriously. We can rejoice in escaping in the Rapture, but millions upon millions will not have a 2nd chance. They will be destroyed in the Sudden Destruction. We must warn people now that this Sudden Destruction may very well be upon us in the VERY NEAR future. I consider most everyone who reads Five Doves on a regular or semi-regular basis to be a WATCHMAN.
Ezekiel 33:2-6 says, "When I bring a sword upon a land, if the people...set him for their WATCHMAN...If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the WATCHMAN SEE THE SWORD COME, AND BLOW NOT THE TRUMPET, AND THE PEOPLE BE NOT WARNED; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the WATCHMAN'S hand."
The current events of the Middle East could quite rapidly escalate into a MAJOR WAR. Pakistan and India, two nuclear powers, even today as I am writing this, haved moved closer to WAR. North Korea and China remain prominent countries with nuclear weapons. Russia's expansionist views are escalating rapidly. Nuclear suitcase bombs likely have been planted in several major U.S. cities, ready to be ignited at the proper signal by Al Quieda. Will our enemies try to simultaneously take out our country and Israel at the same time? Will the Israel--Iran nuclear crisis be the impetus for World War III and the Sudden Destruction/Rapture?
Whatever the SUDDEN DESTRUCTION of the Bible is, it cannot be far away. It will be devastating! It will be horrendous! It will be cataclysmic! Praise God that He has provided a way of escape thru the Rapture of the Church! But how concerned are YOU about your unsaved relatives, friends, and co-workers? How concerned are YOU about your lukewarm, backslidden, compromising, and worldly Christians relatives, friends, and co-workers? I pray that the Lord would give us ALL a burden for people everywhere.
Ron Reese
[email protected]
Back around 1977, I attended a series of Bible Prophecy meetings put on by Hilton Sutton. Brother Hilton is still teaching on Bible Prophecy, at age 84, as I have seen him on TV recently. I bought every tape he had made at that time, which really triggered my interest in Bible Prophecy. In one of his sermons, I remember quite vividly, he proclaimed that as the nuclear bombs were DESCENDING, the saints would be ASCENDING in the Rapture, at the exact same time. It made a lot of sense to me at the time, and even makes more sense to me now, because my study of the Scripture shows me the same thing.
If we read I Thessalonians 4:16 through 5:9, we learn all about the RAPTURE and some of the details, and we also find the words SUDDEN DESTRUCTION. These verses are all talking about the same subject--the Rapture and Sudden Destruction. Men made the Chapter separations. God did not. It is all one topic discussed here. After Paul gives us the details of the Rapture in I Thess. 4:16-18, he continues on in Chapter 5 on the same subject matter.
We can know this because the very first word in Chapter 5 is "BUT", a conjuction, or a CONNECTING WORD, which connects the last portion of Chapter 4 with Chapter 5. So, the last three very familar verses of Chapter 4 and the 1st 2 verses of Chapter 5 are talking about the Rapture. The first word of the very next verse, verse 3, starts with the word FOR, another connecting word, connecting verse 3 with verse 2, so it is easy to conclude that verse 3 is also referring to the Rapture. Verse 3 says, "...then SUDDEN DESTRUCTION cometh upon THEM...and THEY SHALL NOT ESCAPE."
The next few verses go on to tell us that the children of light, those who are not spiritually asleep, those who are WATCHING, will ESCAPE THE SUDDEN DESTRUCTION. These verses tell us emphatically that THE RAPTURE IS AN ESCAPE FROM THE SUDDEN DESTRUCTION!!! The two main themes of these verses, THE RAPTURE AND SUDDEN DESTRUCTION ARE INSEPARABLE. They are woven together. They are one and the same event.
Luke 21: 34-35 says, "...and so THAT DAY come upon you unawares. For AS A SNARE, shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of THE WHOLE EARTH." A SNARE is a TRAP. There is no ESCAPING (outside of the Rapture), the TRAP that is being set for the WHOLE EARTH. Nuclear warfare, and the aftermath, will have devastating effects on the WHOLE EARTH. Most of the judgments in the Book of Revelation can be directly attributed to the effects of nuclear war, and the aftermath.
But the GREAT NEWS is that there IS A WAY OF ESCAPE!!! THE RAPTURE IS OUR ESCAPE!!! The very next verse in Luke 21:36 says, "WATCH ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be ACCOUNTED WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man (Jesus)." Do not let anyone rob you of your blessed hope. I have received some emails recently, trying to rob me of my blessed hope, the Rapture. This verse says TO ESCAPE ALL, not some.
Now that we have entered the 70th Week of Daniel, the Tribulation judgments have to begin SOON. But, as of yet, they have not started. I am convinced that they will start with the SUDDEN DESTRUCTION/RAPTURE!!! As I am writing this, it looks like the beginning of WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST! When the first nuclear bombs hit, I believe we will be experiencing our SIMULTANEOUS ESCAPE, IN THE RAPTURE, JUST LIKE THESE SCRIPTURES PROMISE US!!! ARE YOU READY TO STAND BEFORE THE SON OF MAN (JESUS)???
In Luke 17:26-27 and Matthew 24:37-39, in the days of Noah, it was business as usual until, "the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all." "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man (Jesus)." Noah is being referenced in these verses as a type of the Rapture, our ESCAPE FROM THE SUDDEN DESTRUCTION.
The next 3 verses, in Luke 17:28-30, it says, "Likewise, also, as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But THE SAME DAY that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and DESTROYED them all. Even thus shall it be in THE DAY when the Son of man (Jesus) is revealed." How much clearer can our Lord make it for us? THE RAPTURE AND SUDDEN DESTRUCTION WILL BE THE SAME DAY!!!
This is why I take my calling as a watchman so seriously. We can rejoice in escaping in the Rapture, but millions upon millions will not have a 2nd chance. They will be destroyed in the Sudden Destruction. We must warn people now that this Sudden Destruction may very well be upon us in the VERY NEAR future. I consider most everyone who reads Five Doves on a regular or semi-regular basis to be a WATCHMAN.
Ezekiel 33:2-6 says, "When I bring a sword upon a land, if the people...set him for their WATCHMAN...If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the WATCHMAN SEE THE SWORD COME, AND BLOW NOT THE TRUMPET, AND THE PEOPLE BE NOT WARNED; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the WATCHMAN'S hand."
The current events of the Middle East could quite rapidly escalate into a MAJOR WAR. Pakistan and India, two nuclear powers, even today as I am writing this, haved moved closer to WAR. North Korea and China remain prominent countries with nuclear weapons. Russia's expansionist views are escalating rapidly. Nuclear suitcase bombs likely have been planted in several major U.S. cities, ready to be ignited at the proper signal by Al Quieda. Will our enemies try to simultaneously take out our country and Israel at the same time? Will the Israel--Iran nuclear crisis be the impetus for World War III and the Sudden Destruction/Rapture?
Whatever the SUDDEN DESTRUCTION of the Bible is, it cannot be far away. It will be devastating! It will be horrendous! It will be cataclysmic! Praise God that He has provided a way of escape thru the Rapture of the Church! But how concerned are YOU about your unsaved relatives, friends, and co-workers? How concerned are YOU about your lukewarm, backslidden, compromising, and worldly Christians relatives, friends, and co-workers? I pray that the Lord would give us ALL a burden for people everywhere.
Ron Reese
[email protected]
