Red Moon Rising—The Rapture and the Timeline of the Apocalypse

 

 

Appendix II:
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A Critique of Popular Prophetic Models

 

        Among the many different views out there regarding the proper way to interpret the end-times prophecies of the Bible there are only a few that allow for the development of a systematic chronology of events. Such chronologies are usually based upon two premises: the distinction between the Church and Israel, and the future fulfillment of the Seventieth Week of Daniel 9:27. These two premises are largely accepted throughout the evangelical Church, especially in the United States, and the general foundation that is established by these premises allows for the placement of the specific events predicted in the book of Revelation and throughout the Bible.

Over the years many scholars have developed prophetic “scenarios” or “models” detailing how and when these specific events will be fulfilled chronologically. Today there are at least two major prophetic models that enjoy widespread acceptance throughout the evangelical Church, at least in the United States. They are the “Pre-Tribulation Rapture” model and the “Pre-Wrath Rapture” model. The chronological scenario introduced in this book can be referred to as the “Red Moon Rapture” model to distinguish it from the Pre-Trib and Pre-Wrath models.

The timing of the Rapture in relation to the seventieth week is the crucial issue when it comes to these two models. What sets them apart is the fact that the Pre-Trib model places the Rapture of the Church prior to the “seven-year Tribulation” (which is simply used as another term for the seventieth week), whereas the Pre-Wrath model places the Rapture at a point far into the second half of the seven-year tribulation. The differences in the various interpretations that are offered to support each model have led to serious and heated debate that has taken place between Bible scholars, within Churches and families, and also throughout the internet in the many prophecy discussion groups that have emerged over the years.

As a student of Bible prophecy I believe that one of the main reasons for the continued debate between the Pre-Trib and Pre-Wrath camps is the fact that each of these models is based from the beginning on a fundamental chronological error. That error is the placement of the beginning of the seventieth week at the opening of the first Seal of Revelation. The Red Moon Rapture model, as put forth in chapter six, attempts to remedy this error by placing the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel at a point after the Magog invasion of Israel, sometime after the first Trumpet judgment of Revelation. From this starting point the obvious errors which fuel the never-ending debates between the Pre-Trib and Pre-Wrath camps can be avoided.

The erroneous placement of the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel at the opening of the first Seal seems to have been made largely out of convenience, rather than for any solid or conclusive Biblical reasons. The first Seal appears to mark the beginning of the end-times events in Revelation, and the seventieth week is the seven-year timeline that culminates with the Second Coming, so equating the first Seal with the start of the seventieth week may have seemed like a natural thing for prophecy scholars to do.

However, just because it seems natural does not make it Biblical. If all of the prophetic sources are examined and compared, including Daniel, Jesus, Paul and the book of Revelation, then we find that there are three starting points that need to be accounted for in any prophetic chronology. These are the beginning of birth pangs, the beginning of the Day of the Lord, and the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel.

The birth pangs are mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 24:7-8, and they begin with a great war involving many nations and kingdoms. According to Jesus, after the great war the birth pangs continue with a gradual increase of famines, plagues and earthquakes in various places.

On the other hand, the Day of the Lord is predicted by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 to come like a “thief in the night” with “sudden destruction.” It does not begin gradually or with a buildup of intensity, but with a sudden and catastrophic demonstration of the wrath of God. Jesus, like Paul, compares the onset of the Day of the Lord with the coming of a “thief in the night” (Matthew 24:43) and Jesus compares its intensity to the Flood of Noah (Matthew 24:37). Both Jesus and Paul describe the Rapture as a rescue and an escape from the destruction that the Day of the Lord will bring (Luke 21:36, 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and 1:10).

The beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel is harder to characterize. The Bible does not equate it with the beginning of the birth pangs, or with the beginning of the Day of the Lord. All we are told is that it will involve a covenant made between Israel and an authority based in Rome.

The Pre-Trib model begins its chronology of events with the opening of the first Seal, which is said to also mark both the beginning of the Day of the Lord and the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel. The birth pangs and the Rapture are then both placed at a point prior to the first Seal within the Pre-Trib chronology.

The Pre-Wrath model also begins its chronology with the opening of the first Seal. Like the Pre-Trib model the Pre-Wrath model concludes that the first Seal marks the starting point of the seventieth week. The Pre-Wrath model equates the first four Seals with the birth pangs described by Jesus in Matthew 24:5-8 and concludes that these events take place within the first half of the seventieth week. However, the Pre-Wrath model places both the Rapture and the beginning of the Day of the Lord at a point far into the second half of the seventieth week.

The Red Moon Rapture chronology developed in this book takes into account the beginning of birth pangs, the beginning of the Day of the Lord, and the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel. These three events are all understood as having separate starting points on the timeline of the Apocalypse, as the chart below illustrates.

 

 

Jesus clearly stated (Matthew 24:7-8) that the first visible birth pang that would indicate the approach of the end-times would be a great war. That war is understood as World War II and is equated with the second Seal.

The first Seal is understood to represents the brief career of the seventh Satanic king (Revelation 17:10), which was Adolf Hitler. The rise of Hitler was not mentioned by Jesus as the first visible birth pang simply because Hitler’s influence from Satanic and occult sources did not become known until after World War II began and after Hitler’s genocidal plan to exterminate the Jews became operative. In fact, the established Christian Church in Germany supported Hitler and Christian opponents of Hitler were suppressed, such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who became a martyr for his beliefs when he was executed in the final months of the war.

In heaven the birth pangs of the Apocalypse began with the opening of the first Seal (representing Hitler who, from the beginning of his career, set out “as a conqueror bent on conquest”), but on earth the birth pangs became observable only with the opening of the second Seal that symbolized the beginning of World War II.

The birth pangs are represented in the book of Revelation by the Four Horsemen of the first four Seals and the Red Moon Rapture chronology places their fulfillment prior to the beginning of the Day of the Lord, prior to the seventieth week, and prior to the Rapture.

The Day of the Lord begins at a point in Revelation that is much easier to identify. According to Joel it is preceded by a darkened sun and a blood red moon (Joel 2:31), according to Paul it begins with “sudden destruction” (1 Thessalonians 5:3), and according to Isaiah it will involve a massive shaking of the entire earth (Isaiah 2:10-21). These characteristics all find their fulfillment with the events associated with the sixth Seal of Revelation, after which the unbelievers on the earth cry out that the Day of the Lord has begun (Revelation 6:17).

The Rapture is predicted to precede the Day of the Lord, and the Red Moon Rapture model places it at the same time as, or a little bit before, the initial signs of the sixth Seal, one of which is the sign of the blood red moon. The outcome of the Rapture is described in Revelation 7:9-17 when the great multitude of believers are shown in heaven standing before Jesus and before the throne of God.

Within the Red Moon Rapture chronology the beginning of the Day of the Lord is equated with the events surrounding the invasion of Israel described in Ezekiel 38-39. This is one of the strong points of the Red Moon Rapture model, because a reason is clearly given for God’s wrathful intervention into human affairs:
 

The catastrophic end-time events of the Apocalypse begin when God is forced to act to save His people and His nation from imminent extinction at the hands of an overwhelming invading force.
 

Both the Pre-Trib and Pre-Wrath models lack such a clear explanation for God’s long-delayed but decisive intervention into the affairs of humankind.

After God intervenes to save Israel, then Israel will make its covenant with the Roman authority, which will mark the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel. However, instead of placing this event at the opening of the first Seal, the Bible offers a great deal of evidence and support for placing it at a point after the birth pangs, after the Rapture, and after the beginning of the Day of the Lord. That point would have to fall after the destruction of the Magog invasion which comes through the judgment of the first Trumpet, and it corresponds with the seven years that follow the Magog invasion mentioned in Ezekiel 39:9.

This has been a basic overview of the Red Moon Rapture model as it compares with the Pre-Trib and Pre-Wrath models commonly accepted today. The rest of this appendix will now focus on a more in-depth critique of these two popular prophetic scenarios.

 

The Pre-Tribulation Rapture

The most important conclusion put forth by the Pre-Trib Rapture position is that the Church will be gathered up and taken to heaven prior to the end-times Tribulation and prior to the beginning of the seventieth week of Daniel. The Red Moon Rapture model developed in this book agrees with this most important conclusion, and therefore in actuality the Red Moon model can also be called a “Pre-Trib” model.

The most important differences, however, have to do with the placement of the Rapture, the Day of the Lord, and the seventieth week of Daniel within the sequence of Seals, Trumpets and Bowls given in Revelation. A chart of the most commonly accepted Pre-Tribulation Rapture chronology is shown below.
 

 

The Twenty-Four Elders

The foundational Pre-Trib position has always been that the twenty-four elders who are shown in heaven prior to the opening of the first Seal represent the entire body of believers known as the Church. It is argued that if there are twenty-four saved members of humanity alive and in heaven prior to the opening of the first Seal, then the entire Church must also be present with them in heaven as well. The Pre-Trib view states that the Rapture and Resurrection will take place prior to the opening of the first Seal, either prior to, or at the same time as, the moment when John’s vision of heaven begins in Revelation chapter four.

There are several Biblical texts that create problems for this view. First, there is the promise that Jesus gave concerning the rapture,

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:34-36)

Jesus clearly states that those who are raptured, who escape the Day of the Lord, will then stand before Jesus. Compare that promise to the description of the twenty-four elders as John first sees them,

“Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.” (Revelation 4:4)

Those raptured will be standing, but the twenty-four elders are sitting. Some may dismiss this point as overly technical and irrelevant, but there is more to the promise Jesus made than merely the posture of the saints. Jesus also said that those rescued at the rapture would immediately find themselves in the presence of the Son of Man. The Apostle Paul gives this promise as well,

“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. 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. 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. Therefore encourage each other with these words.”  (1 Thessalonians 4:15-18)

When Paul speaks of “the Lord,” he is referring to Jesus. Jesus will come down from heaven, enter the earth’s atmosphere, and take up all of the living believers into the clouds. Paul then says that after this occurs believers will be “with the Lord forever.” Raptured believers will first be with Jesus in the clouds, then they will be with Jesus in heaven, standing “before the Son of Man,” then believers will live with Jesus on the earth for the millennium of peace after the Tribulation, and finally believers will be with Jesus throughout the eternal age that is described in Revelation 21. The Church will never be apart from Jesus after the Rapture.

The twenty-four elders cannot be representatives of the Church because they are shown in heaven throughout Revelation chapter four during a time when Jesus is not present. Chapter five then begins when God the Father is shown with the seven-sealed scroll. An angel asks the question, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” The immediate answer is that nobody is found worthy to take the scroll and open it. No one in heaven, no one on earth, and no one in hell under the earth. Jesus is nowhere to be found. Finally, after John weeps and weeps for some time at this hopeless situation, he is roused from his mourning and told that Jesus has triumphed. Jesus is then shown in heaven for the very first time, as a Lamb that had been slain. The twenty-four elders then proclaim,

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”  (Revelation 5:9)

So why was no one found worthy to open the scroll, throughout all creation, when the scroll was first shown in the hand of God the Father? There is only one explanation that even attempts to answer this question. We know that John went forward in time and saw the events that will take place at the end of the age, so the only reasonable answer is that John also went back in time, to a time prior to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

It was the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ that purchased men for God and made Jesus Christ worthy to take the scroll. If John’s vision began at any time after the crucifixion then a worthy Jesus would have been immediately found. After the crucifixion Jesus descended to hell and set the captives free from Sheol, then he was resurrected and reappeared on the earth, and then after that he ascended to heaven. Yet the angel who speaks out at the beginning of Revelation 5 says that a search was made in heaven, on earth and in hell, and no one was found who was worthy. John must have first journeyed back to a time prior to the crucifixion because only then would no one have been found worthy in heaven, hell, or on the earth.

If John first traveled back in time, to a time prior to the crucifixion, then the twenty-four elders could not be the Church. But then who could they be? The Bible tells us that God has intervened to save and glorify several of His faithful servants throughout history. We know that Enoch, Elijah and Moses are all alive and in heaven and that God chose them to be at His side throughout history. The Bible does not mention any other specific saints who are in heaven, but this does not mean that He has not chosen others in addition to Enoch, Elijah and Moses. The twenty-four elders who are shown in heaven prior to the appearance of Jesus and prior to the opening of the first seal, may indeed be a unique group of saints from ages past, who, though unnamed, now live with God and serve Him in heaven, watching over bowls of sweet incense which are the prayers of believers today.

The theory that John first went back in time is the best possible explanation for the fact that John was there at a time when no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll. However, this idea can be rejected based on the invitation that John hears prior to his entrance to heaven. John hears, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” On the basis of this text it is argued that what John sees can only be future events, and travel back in time is ruled out. If this argument is valid, then we are left without a good possible answer as to why no one was found worthy to open the scroll at a time after the crucifixion. If this argument is in fact correct, and John witnesses only future events, then there still exists another plausible alternative for who the twenty-four elders might represent:

Matthew recorded what happened at the moment of the death of Jesus Christ while he was nailed to the cross,

“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” (Matthew 27:51-53)

The twenty-four heavenly elders might also be the select group of Old Testament saints who were resurrected from their graves at the moment Christ triumphed through his death.

The point that must be understood is that there are several conceivable possibilities for the identity of Revelation’s twenty-four elders. Identifying them as the Church is not a good option and neither is it the only option.

 

The Martyrs of the Fifth Seal and the Great Multitude

Within the Pre-Trib chronology of events the first four Seals are understood to represent events that will take place during the first half of the seventieth week, beginning with the rise of the Antichrist, the eighth king of Revelation 17:11, who is associated with the first Seal.

Continuing in this method of interpretation the fifth Seal is then viewed as a description of a specific campaign of persecution against Christian believers. After the sixth Seal is opened then Revelation gives a description of a great multitude in heaven, and the Pre-Trib position is that this great multitude of saints are believers who have perished from the persecution that began with the fifth Seal during this early period of the Tribulation.

The Pre-Trib interpretations of the meaning of the fifth Seal and the identity of the great multitude are both suspect for a number of reasons:

1. The fifth Seal does not describe a specific campaign of global persecution against believers. It merely reveals the fact that throughout history many believers have died in the past for their faith, while at the same time it predicts a further persecution of believers. This prediction of a global persecution of believers is also made by Jesus who says it will occur after the birth pangs at the beginning of the Tribulation itself in Matthew 24:9. These predictions are fulfilled not by the great multitude of Revelation 7, but instead in the words of Revelation 14:12-13 and by the description of the pre-millennial resurrection in Revelation 20:4: “And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God... They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”

2. The great multitude of Revelation 7 cannot be the same group of alleged “Tribulation martyrs” that are shown in the fifth Seal, because the fifth Seal martyrs are first shown without white robes, while the great multitude wears white robes. Furthermore, the martyrs are shown existing under the altar, while the great multitude stands before God’s throne and serves Him day and night. The change that occurs to believers in heaven, from being deceased souls under the altar without white robes, to being pictured as alive in front of the throne wearing white robes and serving God, can only be explained by means of the Rapture and Resurrection occurring sometime between Revelation 6:11 and 7:9.

3. John had no problem identifying the martyrs of the fifth seal as deceased “souls.” If the great multitude are members of the exact same group of deceased martyrs then why does John decline to guess who they are in Revelation 7:14? John's ignorance as to their identity may be a mystery, but if it tells us anything it tells us that the great multitude cannot be members of the same group that he easily identified beforehand.

4. According to the Pre-Trib chronology the Rapture of the Church occurs prior to the opening of the first Seal of Revelation. Imagine for a moment how the raptured and resurrected Church would appear in heaven and how it could be described:

It would appear as a great multitude from every nation, race and language; it would be standing before Jesus in fulfillment of Luke 21:36; it would be described as having been taken away from the Day of the Lord or from the Great Tribulation; and it would be described in terms fulfilling Jesus’ prediction of John 14:1-3 that he would one day return to take believers with him to heaven, to live at his Father’s house for a period of time. The obvious question for the persistent advocate of the Pre-Trib Rapture scenario is why then is this exact description given after the sixth Seal of Revelation, rather than prior to the first Seal?

 

The Day of the Lord

According to the Pre-Trib prophetic model the Day of the Lord begins with the opening of the first Seal, which is viewed as the appearance of the Antichrist on the global stage and the beginning of his rise to assert total global power. The next event is the second Seal which is viewed as a major war near the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation.

The problem with the Pre-Trib view is that neither of these events fulfill what Jesus and Paul predicted about the way in which the Day of the Lord would begin. Where is the wrath of God? Where is the sudden destruction? Furthermore, if Isaiah and Joel are taken into account, where is the shaking of the earth and where is the darkening of the sun and the blood red moon? There is absolutely no Biblical evidence whatsoever that supports the contention that the Day of the Lord begins with the opening of the first Seal. All of this evidence is concentrated instead around the sixth Seal, as the Red Moon Rapture model maintains.

The Pre-Trib explanation for the fact that mankind clearly cries out in Revelation 6:17 that the Day of the Lord has just begun, is that while mankind may realize at this point that the Day of the Lord is upon them, this does not rule out the possibility that it could have initially begun earlier with the opening of the first Seal. This creates the idea that the Day of the Lord begins secretly and is at first unrecognized by humanity for what it truly is.

The Red Moon Rapture model is much more specific when it comes to the events surrounding the beginning of the Day of the Lord. It will not begin gradually, and there is not a period of God’s secret wrath. The earth will not have time to react to the Rapture that will cause millions of believers to vanish, because other events will quickly take precedence. The Day of the Lord will begin with the catastrophic shaking of the planet earth, but is immediately preceded by the Rapture. There will not be an undefined time period between the Rapture and the Day of the Lord, to allow those left behind to quietly ponder what has happened. The Rapture is a rescue, and those taken make an escape. Those left behind will be immediately plunged into chaos when the wrath of God is poured out with the onset of the Day of the Lord.

 

Imminence

The doctrine of “Imminence” is a Pre-Trib teaching that concerns the Rapture of the Church. It is taught that the Rapture is “imminent” and could occur at any moment; that the Bible gives no explicit sign or signs that must precede the Rapture; and that therefore believers must be ready for it to occur at any moment, perhaps even right now!

While it is true that there are no signs that are explicitly predicted to precede the Rapture, there are a number of signs that are predicted to precede the Day of the Lord. These include the sign of the darkened sun and blood red moon (Joel 2:31), the sign of the appearance of Elijah (Malachi 4:5), and the sign of the revealing of the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

Because of this fact the Pre-Trib strategy has been to distance the Rapture from the Day of the Lord, and create an undefined period of time between the two events. In this way Pre-Trib advocates can maintain the doctrine of “Imminence” by saying that the signs that precede the Day of the Lord may or may not be seen before the Rapture, and that the Rapture could still occur at any moment.

The Red Moon Rapture model, while accepting the conclusion that the Rapture will occur prior to the end-times Tribulation (Pre-Trib), is not dependent or even necessarily supportive of the doctrine of “Imminence” regarding the Rapture of the Church.

The Pre-Trib position that the Rapture is unconnected with the beginning of the Day of the Lord appears to be contradicted by the words of Jesus and of Paul. Here is what Paul has to say,

“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. 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. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

    Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 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.

    But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.

    For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:9)

Paul begins by talking specifically about the Rapture when living believers will be taken bodily up into heaven, and then he directly connects this event with the Day of the Lord. In this passage Paul echoes a number of themes that Jesus taught directly to his disciples about both the Rapture and the coming of the Day of the Lord in his Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21:5-36.

In Matthew 24:36 Jesus said, concerning the “coming of the Son of Man,” that “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,  but only the Father.” Paul echoes this by stating that concerning the Day of the Lord, “about times and dates we do not need to write to you...”

In Matthew 24:43-44 Jesus said,

“But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

Paul echoes this statement of Jesus that concerns the “coming” of the Son of Man by connecting it with the Day of the Lord saying that “you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

In Matthew 24:38 Jesus explained that prior to his return for the Church life on earth will be like it was prior to the Flood of Noah. In Luke 21:34 Jesus continued with this theme by explaining that prior to his return the primary temptations that believers will face will be the temptations of “dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life.” Paul echoes this by saying that prior to the Day of the Lord people will be saying “peace and safety,” and he also points out while those in darkness will be getting drunk, those in Christ will remain “alert and self-controlled.”

Jesus described the events that would lead up to the Day of the Lord as “birthpangs” in Matthew 24:8, while Paul spoke of the onset of the Day of the Lord “as labor pains on a pregnant woman.”

Jesus said that the Day of the Lord would come “unexpectedly like a trap” and that believers should watch and pray so that they might escape it, while Paul says that the Day of the Lord will come “suddenly” and that unbelievers “will not escape.”

With all of these similarities between the words of Jesus and the words of Paul, and Paul’s connection of the “coming of the Son of Man” with the beginning of the Day of the Lord, it becomes clear that the distinction and/or separation made within the Pre-Tribulation model between the Rapture and the Day of the Lord is almost entirely artificial.

The very purpose of the Rapture is to protect believers from the Day of the Lord’s wrath, just as Paul said that “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Once the Rapture occurs and God’s children are protected then there will be no reason for God to delay with the outpouring of His wrath upon a world left only with unbelievers.

Within the Red Moon Rapture chronology the beginning of the Day of the Lord is connected with the shaking of the earth of Revelation 6:14 after the opening of the sixth Seal. The sixth Seal events that precede the shaking of the earth include the sign of the darkened sun and blood red moon that was predicted in Joel 2:31 to precede the Day of the Lord. Within this chronology the Rapture is viewed as taking place after the opening of the sixth Seal, but before the shaking of the earth. This would place the Rapture at the same time as, or immediately before, the sign of the blood red moon. It is conceivable that the other two signs that must precede the Day of the Lord (the revealing of the Antichrist and the appearance of Elijah), might also occur at this time, either after, before, or at the same time as the Rapture. In this case, the explicit signs that must precede the Day of the Lord continue to have an undefined relationship with the moment of the Rapture.

There may be no signs given in the Bible that are explicitly stated to precede the Rapture, but perhaps there are some signs that may be deduced implicitly that must precede the Rapture. If any such signs exist then they almost certainly have to do with the nation of Israel, and with Israel’s situation in the years leading up to the Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38-39, which brings forth God’s intervention in human affairs and the Day of the Lord’s wrath. One of these preliminary signs may be the destruction of Damascus according to Isaiah 17, but even this cannot be stated for certain.

For a final conclusion regarding the Pre-Trib doctrine of “Imminence,” I must say that I remain unconvinced either for or against it. Whatever the case may be Jesus himself gives specific instruction about what believers are to prepare for, and how they are to prepare. In Luke 21:36 He said simply to watch and pray:

“Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

 

 

The Pre-Wrath Rapture

The development of the Pre-Wrath Rapture prophetic model can only be viewed as a positive development in the history of prophetic scholarship. Its basic premise is that the Church will be raptured prior to the Day of the Lord’s wrath, and with this premise the Red Moon Rapture is in agreement and can also be viewed as basically a “Pre-wrath” model.

Additionally, the Pre-Wrath scenario looks to the sixth Seal for evidence of the Day of the Lord, and views the great multitude of Revelation 7 that is pictured after the sixth Seal as the raptured Church in heaven. With these points the Red Moon Rapture model is also in agreement.

The problems arise, however, with the Pre-Wrath placement of the midpoint of the seventieth week of Daniel within Revelation’s sequence of the Seals, Trumpets and Bowls, and in the Pre-Wrath’s placement of the sixth Seal within the timeline of the seventieth week of Daniel. The midpoint of the seventieth week is placed either between the third and fourth Seals, or between the fourth and fifth Seals, and the sixth Seal is placed at a point far into the second half of the seventieth week. In the next few pages we will examine and refute these major errors that exist within the Pre-Wrath chronology, illustrated on the chart below.
 

 

The Signs

One of the first problems found within the Pre-Wrath chronology stems from equating the cosmic signs mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 24:29 with the cosmic signs that take place after the opening of the sixth Seal of Revelation. They are certainly similar, but this does not mean that they are necessarily the same:

Matthew 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.’”

Revelation 6:12-14 – “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, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.”

The fact that is not considered within the Pre-Wrath model is that there are actually two cosmic disturbances within the timeline of the Apocalypse. The sixth Seal describes the first, whereas the second cosmic disturbance is associated with the fifth and seventh Bowl judgments at the very end of Revelation:

“The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness… The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air… Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since man has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake… Every island fled away and the mountains could not be found. From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible.”  (Revelation 16:10-21)

This final disturbance is also similar to the one mentioned by Jesus in Matthew 24:29. The disturbance described by Jesus is to come after the most terrible time of the tribulation the world has ever seen, and it makes sense that it would then come at the end of the Seals, Trumpets and Bowls, rather than at the beginning when mankind cries out that the Day of the Lord has just begun.

The idea that Matthew 24:29 describes the last cosmic disturbance of Revelation, rather than the first is supported by the fact that Matthew 24:30 goes on to describe the visible appearance of Jesus Christ returning on the clouds of heaven. Jesus makes no such appearance in connection with the sixth Seal, but he certainly does after the seventh Bowl, an appearance described in Revelation 19:11-16.

Matthew 24:29 is better equated with the final cosmic disturbance of the Apocalypse, whereas the sixth Seal is better equated with the disturbance that comes as a result of the Magog invasion of Israel, which itself precedes a specific seven-year period that the Red Moon Rapture model equates with the seventieth week of Daniel. Here is Ezekiel’s disturbance, which remains unaccounted for in the Pre-Wrath chronology:

“This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every wall will fall to the ground.” (Ezekiel 38:18-20)

Another point that separates the post-tribulation cosmic disturbance of Matthew 24:29 from the sixth Seal disturbance is the fact that Jesus describes a complete darkness, including the darkening of the moon, whereas the sixth Seal describes a moon that appears red like blood.

Throughout Bible prophecy all of the predictions of a completely darkened moon (Isaiah 13:10, Joel 2:10, Joel 3:15, Matthew 24:29, and Revelation 16:10) place it within or at the very end of the Day of the Lord. On the other hand, only the blood red moon is specifically predicted to come before the Day of the Lord (Joel 2:31).

It makes little sense to equate the darkened moon mentioned by Jesus that occurs “after the distress of those days” with the blood red moon of the sixth Seal that involves the beginning of the Day of the Lord (“For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” – Revelation 6:17).

 

The Day of the Lord

Perhaps the main reason for equating the disturbance of Matthew 24:29 with the sixth Seal is that the primary Pre-Wrath goal is to promote a chronology that has the Church enduring the majority of the seven-year Tribulation on earth before being raptured to heaven.

By equating Matthew 24:29 with the sixth Seal the Pre-Wrath model can go a step further and equate the post-tribulation “gathering of the elect” of Matthew 24:31 with the Rapture of the Church and the appearance of the great multitude in heaven after the sixth Seal.

Within the Red Moon Rapture model the Rapture is placed at the beginning of the sixth Seal events, and the Day of the Lord is viewed as beginning with the fifth of the sixth Seal’s five events, which is the shaking of the earth described in 6:14. After the earth is shaken then mankind reacts by running to the hills and caves and crying out in fright that the Day of the Lord has begun.

The Pre-Wrath view, by erroneously equating the events during and after the sixth Seal with Matthew 24:29-31, is forced to change this clear sequence of events from “Rapture-Cosmic Signs-Day of the Lord” to “Cosmic Signs-Rapture-Day of the Lord.” This change is necessary because Matthew 24:29-31 clearly places the cosmic signs before the “gathering of the elect.” The end result is that according to the Pre-Wrath view the Day of the Lord cannot begin within the sixth Seal, but must instead begin with the opening of the seventh Seal after the raptured Church is shown in heaven in Revelation 7.

The problem that arises with this interpretation stems from the Pre-Wrath explanation for the words and actions of mankind after the 6:14 event. If the Day of the Lord does not begin until the seventh Seal of 8:1 then why do the unbelievers react with such fear and terror and cry out that the Day of the Lord has begun after the 6:14 event? The Pre-Wrath explanation is that the words “has come” or “is come” in 6:17, which is the Greek verb elthen, a derivative of the word erchomai, can be translated as “is about to come” or “is soon to come” because elthen appears in the Greek aorist tense. In other words, Pre-Wrath advocates interpret Revelation 6:17 as “For the great day of their wrath is about to come, and who can stand?”

The above interpretation is certainly a grammatical possibility, but what about context, and what about the usage of the very same word, in the very same tense, throughout the rest of the book of Revelation? The fact is that the same word is used in the exact same way eleven other times in the book of Revelation, and all of them, without exception, are translated either in the past or present tense and never in the future tense (5:7, 7:13, 8:3, 11:18, 14:7, 14:15, 17:1,  17:10, 18:10, 19:7, 21:9).

This argument could degenerate into a tedious debate between opposing camps of Greek language experts, but thankfully that is not necessary. Jesus and the Apostle Paul actually solve the dispute for us. According to the Pre-Wrath view the unbelievers on the earth cry out and react after the cosmic signs of the sixth Seal in anticipation of the Day of the Lord that is said to begin with the seventh Seal. This simply cannot be the case. Only believers will be prepared for the Day of the Lord, and only believers will be able to anticipate it. For unbelievers the Day of the Lord will be completely unexpected and they will be caught by surprise when it comes. They will not have a chance to anticipate it.

Jesus said that the Day of the Lord would come “unexpectedly like a trap” (Luke 21:34), and that it would come like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:43). Paul reiterates the very same thing saying that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night,” that “destruction will come on them suddenly,” but that for believers—for those not in darkness—only for them will the Day of the Lord not surprise them like a thief (1 Thessalonians 5:2-4). If this is the case, then the Pre-Wrath position that unbelievers will cry out and flee to the caves in anticipation of the Day of the Lord becomes impossible.

The bottom line is that when the unbelievers cry out and run away to the hills and caves after the earth-shaking events of the sixth Seal, they are doing so because of what has just happened, or in response to what is still happening. In either case, the Day of the Lord can only be seen as beginning with Revelation 6:14, and not with the seventh Seal of Revelation 8:1 as maintained by the Pre-Wrath view.

Furthermore, if this is the case, then it becomes impossible to equate Matthew 24:29-31 with the events before, during and after the sixth Seal of Revelation. If the Day of the Lord begins with 6:14 then the Rapture must occur before that time. The sequence of the sixth Seal then becomes “Rapture—Cosmic Signs—Day of the Lord.” The sixth Seal then cannot be the same as the Pre-Wrath view of the sequence of Matthew 24:29-42 which is “Cosmic Signs—Rapture—Day of the Lord.”

 

The Gathering of the Elect

This brings us to the Pre-Wrath premise that Matthew 24:31 is a description of the Rapture of the Church: “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.”

The Pre-Wrath position is that at this point the Day of the Lord is still in the future. However, this position becomes virtually impossible to maintain if Matthew 24:30 is addressed: “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.”

If this Pre-Wrath premise is correct then it means that Jesus physically appears in the clouds of the sky prior to the Rapture and prior to the Day of the Lord. Yet Jesus said that these events, the cosmic signs, his glorious appearance, and the gathering of the elect, all come “after the distress of those days” (Matthew 24:29), which will be the most terrible time of distress the world has ever or will ever experience.

The only remedy for this confusion is to understand that Jesus was not speaking about events prior to the Day of the Lord in Matthew 24:29-31, but rather of events surrounding his Second Coming at the very end of the Day of the Lord.

The first event is the cosmic sign of Matthew 24:29 which is also shown in Revelation with the blackout and cosmic disturbances of the fifth and seventh Bowls.

The second event (v.30) is the glorious appearance of Jesus Christ in the clouds of the sky, which is shown in Revelation 1:7, Revelation 19:11-16, as well as Zechariah 12:10.

The third event (v.31) is the final gathering of Israel’s elect that occurs after the Second Coming and after the end of the seventieth week of Daniel. Keep in mind that the prophet Zechariah predicted that at the time of the end the people of Israel would be scattered “to the four winds of heaven” (2:6), and then compare the following descriptions of this final gathering of Israel’s elect:

Isaiah 11:11-12 – “In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.”

 

Isaiah 27:12-13 – “In that day the LORD will thresh from the flowing Euphrates  to the Wadi of Egypt, and you, O Israelites, will be gathered up one by one. And in that day a great trumpet will sound. Those who were perishing in Assyria and those who were exiled in Egypt will come and worship the LORD on the holy mountain in Jerusalem.”

 

Matthew 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.”

 

The Midpoint of the Seventieth Week of Daniel

One of the strongest points of the Red Moon Rapture chronology is its definitive placement of the midpoint of the seventieth week of Daniel between the sixth and seventh Trumpet judgments. The midpoint occurs on the day when the Two Witnesses are killed by the Antichrist (11:7) after their 1260-day ministry has expired (11:3), which is also the moment when the Antichrist’s forty-two month period of authority over the saints and over the entire world begins (13:5).

 Within the Pre-Wrath chronology, however, the midpoint of the seventieth week is placed prior to the fifth Seal of Revelation. This is necessary to support the Pre-Wrath notion that the sixth Seal falls within the second half of the seventieth week, and that these events equate with the second-half events of Matthew 24:29-31. To uphold this chronology the Pre-Wrath view is forced to the conclusion that the 1260-day ministry of the Two Witnesses occurs entirely within the second half of the seventieth week as well.

This means that in the Pre-Wrath chronology the Two Witnesses and the Antichrist exercise their conflicting powers of authority during the exact same period of time. It also means that the Antichrist kills the Two Witnesses only after his forty-two months of power has expired, and it also places the three and a half days during which the bodies of the Two Witnesses lie in the streets of Jerusalem beyond the end of the seventieth week of Daniel.

Prophecy scholars who believe in a future fulfillment of the seventieth week of Daniel are virtually unanimous that the Second Coming and the return of Jesus Christ to Jerusalem comes at the precise end of the seventieth week, and that this also marks the precise end of the Antichrist’s career. Holding to what is by far a minority opinion Pre-Wrath scholars dispute this and lengthen the Day of the Lord by thirty days.

This lengthening is necessary because the effects of the sixth Trumpet end only after the resurrection of the Two Witnesses (11:14), and without a further period of time there would be no place on the Pre-Wrath chronology for the fulfillment of the seventh Trumpet and the seven Bowl judgments of Revelation. The basis of this thirty day lengthening is given as Daniel 12:11,

“From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.”

What Daniel tells us in this verse is that the abomination of desolation will remain in place for 1290 days, during which time there will be no daily sacrifices offered in the Temple. Each half of the seventieth week lasts for exactly 1260 days, or forty-two months. The seventieth week itself expires 1260 days after its midpoint, so Daniel 12:11 simply explains that the abomination will remain in place throughout the second half of the seventieth week and for thirty days beyond it. However, this does not become a valid basis for placing the return of Jesus thirty days after the end of the seventieth week, as the Pre-Wrath view tries to maintain.

Jesus Christ has to return at the end of the seventieth week, because only he can provide the necessary conditions for it to end. Recall that there are six things that are completed with the end of the entire prophecy of the seventy weeks, according to Daniel 9:24:

“…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.”

These things could not be completed with the Antichrist’s kingdom still present on the earth, or with Jesus Christ still in heaven. The Antichrist’s kingdom ends with the end of the seventieth week. He is given power only for forty-two months, not for forty-three. By the same token, Jesus Christ must be in control of Jerusalem and the Temple for the entire seventy week prophecy to be complete. There can be no lengthening of the Day of the Lord for thirty days after the end of the seventieth week.

Daniel says that the abomination remains in place for thirty days after the end of the seventieth week, yet Daniel 9:24 says that at the end of the seventieth week the “most holy” will be anointed. This refers to the Most Holy Place of the Temple. It is the room in which the Ark of the Covenant was kept, and the room that was entered only once a year by the Jewish High Priest on the Day of Atonement. Jesus Christ will cleanse and anoint this room when he returns at the precise end of the seventieth week.

But what about the abomination? Why does it remain in place for thirty more days? According to Jesus in Matthew 24:15 the abomination will be set up in the “Holy Place” of the Temple, which is the outer room of the Temple. The Antichrist’s image will be set up in the Holy Place, but no one will dare enter the inner room, the Most Holy Place of the Temple.

A possible explanation for allowing the abomination to remain in the outer room of the Temple for thirty days, even after the sacred inner room is cleansed and anointed by Jesus Christ our High Priest, is that it will remain as a symbol that will face the survivors of the Day of the Lord who will be gathered from the entire world outside of Jerusalem to be judged after the Second Coming. This judgment is described in two texts, one from the New Testament and one from the Old:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

    Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

    Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

    The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

    They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

 

“In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land.” (Joel 3:1-2)
 

This judgment of every individual on the face of the earth will begin thirty days after the Second Coming, at which point the abomination will be removed from the Temple, and the judgment will last for forty-five days. The prophet Daniel implied a thirty-day period after the Second Coming in 12:11 when he mentioned the “1290 days,” and in 12:12 he reveals a further period lasting an additional forty-five days that will involve the judgment of the nations:

“Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.”

When Daniel says that those who reach the end are “blessed” he was referring to those who are judged worthy to enter the kingdom after the judgment of the “sheep and goats” has ended. Jesus said of these righteous survivors, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”

A period of judgment that begins a short time after the Second Coming is also implied in two other Old Testament texts:

“In that day the LORD will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the earth below. They will be herded together like prisoners bound in a dungeon; they will be shut up in prison and be punished after many days.” (Isaiah 24:21-22)

 

 “The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.” (Daniel 7:12)

After the judgment is finished and the wicked have been separated from the righteous then mankind will enjoy a great feast. Preparation for the feast is noted in Revelation 19:9 but the best description is given by the prophet Isaiah (25:6-8):

 

On this mountain the LORD Almighty

will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples,

a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines.

On this mountain he will destroy the shroud

that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations;

he will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces;

he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.

The LORD has spoken.

 

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