Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD, USA
www.mycrossway.org
View this and other messages at: https://mycrossway.churchcenter.com
Introduction
Revelation’s introduction and outline
Write down:
The things that you have seen (Revelation 1)
The things which are (Revelation 2, 3)
The things which are to come (Revelation 4-22)
Illustration: Herbert Washington, whom co-workers at Significant Plastics Inc. say was unduly concerned with the rapture and the second coming of Christ, suffered a serious heart attack when co-workers pretended they’d been caught away without him. "We didn’t mean to scare him to death," said one woman. "He’s just always talking about it, so today we decided to turn the tables on him." Washington underwent bypass surgery and is recovering well and "digging into the Bible like never before," says his wife.
Biblical prophesy more than a series of predictive events through Scripture. Hebrew prophecy always uses patterns to establish what is happening. Why we must study and study to understand. Revelation is heavily connected to the Old Testament, especially the Book of Daniel.
The Mount Olive Discourse
Luke 21
Speaking to a Gentile Audience
These things must take place before
Describing the fall of Jerusalem
False Christs, Wars, Famines, Death, Martyrs Global Chaos
Man’s Wrath to God
Matthew 24
Speaking to a Jewish Audience
These things take place after
Abomination of desolation
The Time of Jacob’s Trouble (The Great Tribulation)
False Christs, Wars, Famines, Death, Martyrs Global Chaos
God’s wrath being poured out on man
The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple took place in 70AD
The Book of Revelation was written around 96 AD
John’s Rapture
This is a significant transition in the Book of Revelation
No mention of the church “after this”
Showing John the things that are going to take place after the rapture of the church
1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” (Revelation 4:1 ESV)
70 times, John writes “I looked and behold...”
This time there is an open door into Heaven and a voice says, “Come up here...” (Rev 4:1) This is a clear transition from the things which are (the 7 Churches) to the things which “must take place after this” (Rev 4:1).
“A door was opened...”
The transition from one place to the next
A mental event happens when you walk through a door
Heaven is a real place
God opens doors for us
The Thessalonian Church
Concerned
What about those who died?
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:13–17 ESV)
50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Corinthians 15:50 ESV)
Rapture vs. Second Coming
Jesus returns for his church (1 Cor 15:51-52) vs. Returns with the Church (Rev 19:11-16)
Jesus comes in the clouds (1 Thess 4:16-17, Rev 1:7) vs. Jesus comes on a horse (Rev 19:11-16)
Translation of Believers (1 Thess 4:16-17) vs. No Translation (Rev 19:14)
Saints go to Heaven vs. Saints Return to Earth
Jesus Appears in the Air vs. Jesus Physical Return
Saints are Delivered (1 Thess 4:13-17) vs. Earth is Judged (1 Thess 5:9)
Imminent (Titus 2:13, 1 Thess 4:14-18) vs. at a designated time (2 Thess 2:4, Matt 24:15-30)
Believers Only (1 Cor 15:50) vs. for All People (Matt 24:29-30, Rev 1:7)
Before God’s Wrath (1 Thes 5:9) vs. the Conclusion of God’s Wrath (Rev 3:10)
Referred to the Day of Christ (1 Cor 1:8, 2 Cor 1:14, Phil 1:6,10) vs. Referred to the Day of the Lord (Joel 1:15; 2:1-2, 2:11,30-31; Zech 14:1-5; Isa 13:6,9; Ezek 30:2-3; Amos 5:18,20; Obad 15; Zeph 1:14-15; Acts 2:19 -20)
Do Not Be Troubled - Believe in God!
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:1–3 ESV)
18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:18 ESV)
Encourage with what?
These things that are about to take place....
Believe in God
I go and prepare a place
Come and receive you...
The Church is Appointed Deliverence
If the Tribulation, even the first half, preceded the Rapture, we would be under the wrath of God
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV)
The church is promised to escape WRATH (Rom 5:9; 1 Thess 1:9-10; 5:9)
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:9 ESV)
9 For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9–10 ESV)
We cannot enter the TRIBULATION which is "the great day of His wrath" (Rev 6:16-17; 11:18; 14:10,19; 15:1,7;16:1,19; 19:15).
Old Testament Warning for Preparation of Escape
3 Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands; seek righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord. (Zephaniah 2:3 (ESV)
5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. (Psalm 27:5 (ESV)
20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by. 21 For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it, and will no more cover its slain. (Isaiah 26:20–21 (ESV)
Old Testament Examples & Typologies
God’s warning and preparation to the righteous.
Their trust and faith in God
The world’s unbelieving response (and even mocking)
The Sheltering from
The restoration and elevation
Noah & the Flood (Genesis 6:9-22, Matt 24:37-39)
“16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.” (Gen 7:16)
“7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.” (Rev 3:7)
Joseph in Egypt (Genesis 41-50)
“25 Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do.” 36 “36 That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”” (Genesis 41:25, 36:)
Lot Escapes Sodom (Gen 19:1-29)
“15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.”” (Genesis 19:15)
“29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.” (Genesis 19:29)
“28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” (Luke 17:28-30)
“6 if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,” (2 Peter 2:6-9)
The Passover
“22 Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.” (Exodus 12:22-23)
Rahab & the Spies
“22 But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.” 23 So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel. 24 And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.” (Joshua 6:22-24)
Imagery of Jewish Wedding Customs (primarily Galilean)
According to Jewish wedding customs at the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the bridge-groom cast at a day and hour that was not known to the bride
There would be shout from the groomsmen, “Behold the bridgegroom comes!” and a shofar was blown
Matthew 25:1-3 “1 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,”
The Bride would then be snached away and taken to the wedding chamber that was prepared for by the bride-groom
The Shiddukhin
was the first step in the process and refers to the arrangements that were made prior to the legal betrothal
Often the couple did not know each other
arranged between the fathers
In some cases they would not have even seen each other before the betrothal.
“16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (John 15:16)
The Ketubah (AKA Betrothal)
Established a legal and binding covenant between the Bride-groom and the Bride
the groom initiated the transaction and “purchased” the bride for his wife
He redeemed her and guaranteed his care and blessing
They are legally married as husband and wife at this point but they will not see each other during a period of separation, typically a year
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9 ESV)
Drinking from the Cup
After the contract is sealed. The Bride and the Groom drink from a cup of wine together to signify they are bound together in marriage and prepare for their wedding day. The will not see each other again until their wedding day.
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. (Luke 22:20 ESV)
This ketubah has 2 parts involving a shared cup of wine, with one at the initiation of the agreement and the other at the consummation. The first part happens at the initial acceptance of the agreement with the sharing of the first cup of wine. The second part happens when the wedding actually happens with the sharing of the second cup of wine
“20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20)
“24 And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”” (Mark 14:24-25 )
Is it any wonder the institution of marriage is so guarded as holy before God!!!
When we take the Communion Cup, we are remembering Him, the price He paid with His body and His blood; this is symbolic of the first cup of the ketubah. We should also rejoice in that: The next time the Lord takes the cup of wine again, it will be with us, His bride.
We should take Communion in honor of Him as He has asked, but also with the intent of sharing the wedding cup with Him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
“25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”” (1 Cor 11:25)
The Bride Price/The Mohar
It was considered that the husband and his family were gaining an asset and the bride's family were losing one. And so the Groom’s father was to provide a “mohar” for the covenant of marriage.
“19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
“18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19)
The Departure & Preparation
The Bride-Groom then goes away and leaves his bride
This is is a period of separation where some important preparatory events take place for the groom and the bride
The Betrothal gave a bride a high degree of certainty about her husband’s loyalty and reliability. That certainty made her joyfully confident about him returning to take her to their new home, even though she had no knowledge of the day and hour of his “second advent.” It was an exciting time! But not only was the bride unaware of the specific time he would arrive, the groom also did not know when his journey would begin; only his father knew. The reason is the new house and all other preparations for the wedding had to meet the father’s approval, so the husband customarily waited father’s consent before leaving to go to his wife’s home.
“13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matt 25:13)
“7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” (Acts 1:7)
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Matthew 9:15 ESV)
The Bridge-Groom has a vital job - prepare a Wedding Chamber (room) at his father’s house
2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2 ESV)
The Bride-Groom is to prepare his home and life perfectly for his bride so that everything is ready for her to come and live with him for the rest of their lives.
Awaiting his father’s command to go get his bride
If asked when the wedding will take place, he responds, “Only my father knows...”
In the meantime, the Bride is also to be preparing herself the wedding
Proving herself to faithful
Adorning herself as beautiful and radiant
She will not travel far from home
She will wear a veil wherever she goes
She is to consecrate herself - bring her life in order - to live with her husband
She is prepare her wedding garments
She is to faithfully and expectantly wait for her husband
2 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 14:2 ESV)
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1–3 ESV)
The Mikvah
When they felt they were getting close, the bride would go through the ritual of immersion, called a mikvah. It signified the passing of the old and the forthcoming of the new. The person has to be strictly clean and be completely immersed. Mikvah is the same word as baptism
The Coming of the Bride-Groom & Carrying Away of the Bride
The Bride and her wedding party eagerly await the coming of the groom to carry her away.
“20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Phil 3:20)
“13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,” (Titus 2:13)
The Day and hour is a surprise, determined by and only known by the father of the groom
He will (usually around midnight) tell his son to go get his bride
“36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matt 24:36 )
“10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Pet 3:10)
(see also Rev 3:3 and Mark 13:32)
The Groomsmen will depart and parade through the town blowing a shofar
“16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thess 4:16-17)
The Carrying Away of the Bride to the Chambers
When the arrive at the Bridge house she will be in her wedding clothes and they will put her in a chair and snatch her away to his father’s house
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:3 ESV)
The Wedding Feast
At the Father’s house there is a 7 day wedding feast
the groom and bride go into the wedding chambers where their marriage is consummated for 7 days
After 7 days they emerge together to be seen by all the wedding guests and the bride’s veil is removed.
From this day on they are together for the rest of their lives as husband and wife.
Harpazo - “Caught up”
Use of the Word HARPAZO “take suddenly and vehemently, or take away in the sense of; to remove with force; of rescuing from sudden danger”
Latin Vulgate translates this word “Rapturo”
2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. (2 Corinthians 12:2 (ESV)
His Imminent Return
The idea of sudden and snatching away of the word Harpazo underscores the doctrine of imminence
The perpetual expectancy of Christ’s return at any moment
"Watch... Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh." (The Didache)
We are commanded to be:
Waiting for Jesus.
7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, (1 Corinthians 1:7 ESV)
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10 ESV)
Watching for Jesus
Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. (Matthew 24:42 ESV)
So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:6 ESV)
Ready for Jesus
Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matthew 24:44 ESV)
35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:35–40 ESV)
Looking for Jesus
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, (Philippians 3:20 ESV)
13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (Titus 2:13 ESV)
28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:28 ESV)
No one expectantly WAITS, WATCHES, or LOOKS for someone they know when they are coming
Seven Raptures in the Bible
Enoch (Genesis 5:42; Hebrews 11:5)
Elijah (2 Kings 2:1, 11)
Jesus (Mark 16:19, Acts 1:9-11, Rev 12:5)
Philip (Acts 8:39)
Paul (2 Corinthians 12:2-4)
Believers in Christ (1 Thess 4:17)
Apostle John (Rev 4:1)
Why Pre-Tribulation?
It is the only understanding and interpretation of the Rapture that is Scriptural
Some people completely deny any rapture, leaving the Bible to allegory and spiritualized interpretation. Other Views of the Rapture
Mid-Tribulation Rapture
the Rapture takes place at the mid point of the Tribulation, usually seen as corresponding with the 7th trumpet and catching up of the 2 witnesses in Revelation 11..
Denies the doctrine of imminence of Christ’s return
Creates a date for the rapture
based on a flawed understanding of the Seal and Trumpet Judgments as not being God's Wrath.
Post Tribulation Rapture
The Rapture does not take place until the end of the Tribulation.
denies the doctrine of imminence
denies the distinction between the second coming and rapture
This view denies the LITERAL method of interpreting the Bible, spiritualizing away most of the prophecies concerning the Tribulation and the passages supporting pretribulationalism.
Conclusion
In Revelation 4:1 John was called up to heaven by a voice that sounds like a trumpet, just as the church will be as described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
From this point on in Revelation we have no further reference to the church
John is going to be in Heaven, looking down on the earth and describing what is happening in heaven and on earth during the Great Tribulation. This will be a time of unprecedented events as God’s judgement is poured out on an unbelieving and rebellious people on earth who are following after the Anti-Christ.
The events of the world today are leading us to that time
Thanks be to God, the Church, Jesus’ Bride will be in Heaven during this 7 year time.
You can be too. Are you ready?
Admit You’re a Sinner
Believe Upon the Lord Jesus Christ
Confess Jesus as Your Lord
