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The Daily Word of Righteousness
Out of the World of Out of the Evil?, #16
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. (Matthew 13:30)
The resurrection and ascension of I Thessalonians, Chapter Four is the second coming of the Lord. It is not a special secret coming that will occur seven years before Christ destroys Antichrist. This can be seen clearly in the parable of the wheat and tares. Both the wheat and the tares grow side by side to the time of harvest. Then the tares are burned in the fire.
The same pattern can be seen in verses two and three of Chapter Five of First Thessalonians.
Still speaking of the coming of Christ and our ascension to meet Him in the air, Paul states:
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. (I Thessalonians 5:2,3)
The reign of Antichrist will achieve a seeming peace and safety throughout the world. Then the Lord Jesus will appear. The trumpet of God will sound. The dead in Christ will be resurrected. The saints of all ages will ascend together from the surface of the earth to meet the Lord in the air. Immediately the wrath of God will fall on Antichrist and his followers.
The day that Lot goes out of Sodom, on that day the wrath will fall!
This order of events can be further established by referring to Paul's follow-up letter to the Thessalonians (II Thessalonians).
There is no need for resurrected saints in glorified bodies to be protected from Antichrist or from any other spiritual or physical harm or danger.
As soon as the trumpet blows and the saints are raised from the dead, and then ascend to meet the Lord in the air, the wrath of God will fall on the earth. The judgment will be executed under the administration of the saints and will come to a climax in the Battle of Armageddon.
The Battle of Armageddon is not a third or fourth world war. The Battle of Armageddon is the coming of Christ and His saints to execute judgment on the ungodly.
Paul links the "sudden destruction" that will come on the world with the resurrection and ascension of the saints (I Thessalonians 5:2,3; compare Revelation 11:12,13). It is not that the saints are raised and caught up so they may escape trouble. Rather, it is the saints who will bring the trouble: first, in the form of the two witnesses, and later as Joel's army, the army of Christ.
And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it? (Joel 2:11)
To be continued.