1 Thessalonians 4:16-18

¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Please allow me to break it down the above passages from the Book of 1st Thessalonians chapter four verses sixteen through eighteen. Many Christians have different view points of what they believe when it comes to believing when the rapture will occur. Many of them base their conclusion on the timing of the tribulation. When it starts and when it ends. The Bible is clear as to when the tribulation begins. Lord Jesus Christ mentions this in the Gospel of Matthew chapter twenty four and verse eight.

Matthew 24 vs 8:

⁸ All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Birth pains are a sign when a woman completes her gestational period of approximately 280 days and awaits for the baby to come out of the mother’s womb. During that time the pregnant mother experiences great discomfort and pain. Especially when the contractions start to begin at longer intervals first and then become shorter and shorter. The expecting mother goes through a lot of pain before delivering the child. Once the child is born the birth pains that the mother went through she will no longer remember and is filled with great joy to see the baby that she was carrying for nine months.

Such is the case with the beginning of the tribulation period. The birth pains of the pregnant mother could last for a day or two but the tribulation period that our Lord Jesus was talking about lasts for seven years. The first half of the tribulation is called plainly the tribulation and the second half of the three and half years is called the Great Tribulation. Now what must happen before the onset of tribulation? Jesus mentioned about few things that will happen.

Matthew 24 verses 4 through 7:

⁴ And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 

It seems like we are living in a time like Jesus Christ has mentioned. Currently there are so many influential people in the world today that claim to have the power of Christ. That is to say that they are the direct representatives of Apostle Peter who was Christ’s disciple. If anyone does a Google search at least eight names pop up that have claimed to be Jesus. This is just in the last ten years or so. Every century has people claiming to be Christ only to be arrested later on for deceiving people. What about hearing of wars and rumors of wars? The war between Russia and Ukraine started over a year ago. So many lives have been lost and so much of destruction, displacement and so on. And then we see threats from the world powers like China, North Korea and Iran that want to strike their neighbors. All of the above are rumors of war. The most important war we see almost every day is between Israel and West Bank, Israel and Hamas that has not seen any end as of yet. Israel is surrounded by powerful nations like Iran, Egypt, Jordan and other Middle Eastern nations. This is a nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Now Israel is mentioned in the Bible as a nation and as a kingdom.

Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes will occur in various parts of the earth. Even today world leaders are alarmed by the specter of famine due to the population explosion. So, the above things that Jesus mentioned are about to pass. These events are like the beginning of the birth pains of a pregnant woman. What does that tell us those who believe in the rapture of the body of believers? It tells us that the rapture is imminent meaning there is no future event(s) that is holding the arrival of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It can happen anytime. The time is running out.

More tomorrow.

May we all give thanks to God the Father through Jesus Christ for removing us from the hour of trial which is going to come upon this world. That time is called the tribulation. For the wrath of God will be poured like never before during that time.

In Jesus mighty name. Amen.

Maranatha!

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