Prophecy

I just reviewed 7 of these so-called "problems" that Alan Kurschner and Chris White have identified here:

 

 

Here is a very brief response to these "problems":

 

1. The Precursor Problem

 

It is argued that Pre-Tribulationists believe that there are no precursor signs to the "day of the Lord," whereas they mention 4. The Pre-Wrathists see the "day of Lord" as God's final great display of His wrath immediately after the resurrection and rapture, sometime after the midpoint of the last 7 years before the Second Coming of Christ. Some or most Pre-Tribbers may have this no-signs view, but I do not. As well, I would define the "day of the Lord" as the very literal day of Christ's Second Coming in the clouds, likely 1290 days (Daniel 12:11) after the Jewish Antichrist kills Moses and Elijah, stops the daily burnt offerings and takes his seat in the temple, displaying himself as God, known as the abomination of desolation. Likely, Christ will destroy His enemies in the following 45 days (Daniel 12:12).

 

Now, let's examine these 4 precursor signs to the "day of the Lord" put forward for a Pre-Wrath resurrection and rapture. The first is found in Malachi 4:

 

 

In my mind, Elijah's coming (with Moses) lends support to the resurrection and rapture happening at the beginning of the last 7 years of tribulation or "Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). Christ will descend from heaven with Moses, who was resurrected, to receive "the dead in Christ" and with Elijah, who was raptured, to receive "those who are alive and remain." Then Moses and Elijah will descend further to Jerusalem to preach Jesus for 1260 days, the first half of the last 7 years. The Jewish Antichrist will kill them and after 3 1/2 days they will be resurrected, as a sign that they will return in 3 1/2 years.

 

The second and third precursor signs to the "day of the Lord" are found in 2 Thessalonians:

 

 

The second sign is the apostasy in the visible Church, which in my view was furthered by Christ releasing from hell Satan and the demons not active in the 120 years before Noah's 600th year (they were bound in hell in 70 AD) 120 years before Moses and Elijah will appear 7 years before the 6000th year, so likely in 1903/4. So, this apostasy has certainly happened before the resurrection and rapture that I expect from Nisan 1 (March 23), 2023 to Nisan 1 (April 9), 2024.

 

The third sign is the revelation of the Jewish Antichrist. In my view, the Pre-Wrathists make the mistake of equating this revelation of the Jewish Antichrist with his sitting in the newly built temple in Jerusalem, "displaying himself as being God," what's known as the abomination of desolation, which will occur likely on the same day that he kills Moses and Elijah. Rather, I believe that he will be revealed when he assassinates Vladimir Putin, who is at the head of the 10-nation Commonwealth of Independent States. See my article on this site about that. It is likely that this will not happen until immediately after the resurrection and rapture, because the Holy Spirt in the invisible Church, "he who now restrains" Satan and lawlessness and the man of lawlessness must first be "taken out of the way" by the rapture. This parallels this verse from Genesis 6:

 

 

By the way, keep your eyes on General Valery Gerasimov, Putin's Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and First Deputy Defense Minister. He could be the Jewish Antichrist. I don't know for a fact that he is Jewish, but he may be.

 

The fourth precursor sign to the "day of the Lord" is found in Joel 2:

 

Nearly everyone misses the figuration in this verse. The "sun" is a figure for Christ and the invisible Church, His body. See Malachi 4:2. The "moon," the "lesser light" (Genesis 1:16) which reflects the light of the "sun" is the Holy Spirit and also the invisible Church, in which the Holy Spirit dwells. Thus, the verse is simply referring to the ascension and departure of Christ, leaving the lesser light of the invisible Church, many members of which have shed and will shed their blood before Christ's Second Coming. See John 9:4,5 for a parallel passage related to miracles.

 

Other passages (e.g., Daniel 8:10; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24,25) that mention stars falling are also figurative. "Stars" are a figure for Jews. "Heaven" and all its bodies (e.g., stars) and creatures (e.g., angels, birds) and "earth" and all its vegetation (e.g., trees, grass) and creatures (e.g., insects, cattle, sheep, beasts, man) are all figures for Jews and Israel. "Water" in all its forms (e.g., seas, rivers, rain, rainbow, clouds) and its creatures (e.g., fish) are all figures for Gentiles. These all flow out of the Genesis prologue. Also, see Revelation 17:15.

 

So, for example, Matthew 24 says this:

 

 

In my view, this verse (and Mark 13:24,25) are about the rapture, after which the "sun" and the "moon," both figures for the invisible Church, will not shine anymore. Immediately after the resurrection and rapture the Jewish Antichrist will come against unregenerate Israel, Egypt metaphorically (Revelation 11:8). Many "stars will fall," many Jews/Israelis will be killed (Daniel 8:10), and Jerusalem will be trampled in the second half of the last 7 years. The powers of Israel "will be shaken."

 

In summary, I see nothing in these 4 precursor signs to the "day of the Lord" that precludes the resurrection and rapture initiating the last 7 years of tribulation after the "times of the Gentiles" are fulfilled and the "fullness of the Gentiles" has come in. In some other articles on this site, I have discussed in some detail all of the signs in Matthew 24 in connection to preterism. And in another article, I have listed 10 arguments for the resurrection and rapture in 2023. I really should have written 2023/24. I hope to continue with the other 6 "problems" in future articles.