The
Rapture: How Close Are We?
“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” ~Hebrews 10:25
day approaching.” ” (Mark 13:32) and say there’s no way to tell when the Rapture of the church will happen. That may be true for the unbeliever, but Hebrews 10:25 clearly says that the believer will see the “ hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.thatBut of that day and ch” is a long way off and we’ve got plenty of time. I’d like to change your mind on this matter. There are those who would teach that there is no way we can tell when that day will occur. They will quote “ost folks think that the “Rapture of the ChurM
I’m not going to give you an exact date as to when this glorious event will occur. Msrk 13:32 clearly tells us that anyone who tries to set a date is just blowing hot air. We simply “can’t be knowing”, as my brother would say. But that doesn’t mean we can’t recognize the signs, as the day approaches. The Son, Jesus, doesn’t even know the exact day that the Father has reserved for Himself. Apparently, it’s not important to know the exact day, only to be able to see and understand the indicators as that day nears.
The true Church will recognize the approaching day of the Rapture, and will prepare for it. We should be preparing for the catching away. Instead we’ve been languishing in an attitude of longevity thinking that there are years before we see Him in the clouds.
New scientific evidence indicates that we may already be well into the “Seal Openings” in Revelation Chapter 6. It has been taught that the Rapture takes place at the beginning of the fourth chapter of this amazing prophetic book. It seems now, that the fourth and fifth chapters are preludes to the sixth chapter. This opening of the Seals, in chapter six, is a releasing of the judgments contained within. These 7 seals are not judgments, but rather indicators that the Rapture is about to happen, and that the tribulation is very near. Rather than argue our particular Rapture view, we should be preparing ourselves for His return and doing all we can to take someone with us.
Church folk seem to have developed very thin skins. We seem to be easily offended at those who are placed with us to work in the Kingdom. The amazing thing is that if we can’t get along here, we’ll never make it in the Millennial Kingdom. We must stop being easily offended and try to “follow peace with all men” (Hebrews 12:14). Jesus is coming for “a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:27). He’s looking for a church devoid of spots and blemishes, not huge wounds and gross imperfections. It seems, if we’re not stealing or committing adultery or murder, we think everything’s OK. What about the simple things, those “the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” (Song of Solomon 2:15)
These aggressive attitudes may be the result of our atmosphere being polluted with Vasopressin like chemicals that stimulates aggressive behavior in humans and animals. We’ll discuss this in more detail later.
Right now, let’s get to the signs that the Rapture is near:
THE OPENING OF THE FIRST SEAL
“1And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.” (Rev. 6:1, 2 KJV)
Increasing wars and rumors of war, earthquakes and famine (see Matt. 24:6; Mark 13:7,8) It must be remembered that these prophetic statements were made in response to a specific question posed by the disciples:
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (Matthew 24:3)
In answering this question, which was put to Him in three parts, Jesus begins to teach, responding to the question as a Rabbi would; the last part first, then the middle part and the first part of the question came last. The disciples understood this style of teaching. He begins to list a string of events that He calls signs or indicators of His return. Here’s the list:
FALSE CHRISTS
4And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
WARS, RUMORS OF WAR, EARTHQUAKES, FAMINES, ANIMAL BORN SICKNESS, GLOBAL AGRESSION
6And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. 8All these are the beginning of sorrows.
PERSECUTION OF BELIEVERS
9Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
PERSONAL AGRESSION, AN INCREASE IN SINFUL ACTS
10And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
GLOBAL EVANGELISM
14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
TEMPLE DESECRATION
15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
GREAT TRIBULATION
21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
FALSE CHRISTS
23Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25Behold, I have told you before. 26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 27For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 28For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
TURMOIL IN THE SKIES
29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
THE GENERATION THAT SEES THESE THING COME TO PASS SHALL SEE HIS RETURN
32Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
LIFE SHALL BE SIMILAR TO WHAT IT WAS IN NOAH’S DAY
37But as the days of Noe (Noah) were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
MEN WERE GLUTTONS
38For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking,
PEOPLE WERE MARRYING AND GIVING THEMSELVES OR LIVING AS IF THEY WERE MARRIED. Luke 17:28 indicates an escalation of perverse sexual activity.
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
WERE OBLIVIOUS TO THE PERIL THAT WAS COMING UNTIL IT HAPPENED
39And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
THESE INDICATORS POINT TO THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH
40Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.”
Therefore, based on Rabbinical logic, the first prophetic happening that points to the Rapture of the Church shall be the decline of society, gluttony, and the onset of marital infidelity. These other signs shall happen in rapid succession, almost at the same time, in many cases. Thus, we can take these occurrences as precursors to the catching away of the bride.
So, as Christ opens the first Seal, we see wars and rumors of wars, famine, sickness, animal born disease, global aggression.
Mark 13:8 “For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.”
Here’s the facts: The 20th Century had more wars than all other centuries since recorded history. There have been more wars and earthquakes since 1940 than any other time in history. The white Horseman represents false christs. Consider:
“Joseph Smith, Charles Taze Russell, Father Divine, Sun Yung Moon, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Jim Jones, David Koresh and Marshall H. Applewhite (Heavens Gate), Lord Maitreya (Benjamin Crème’s new Christ) Sergei Torop (Vissarion “Jesus on horseback” in Siberia), Joseph Kibwetere, and Cledonia Mwerind… the Uganda Cult (the Movement for the Restoration of the Ten Commandments of God… 1000 murdered cult members), Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda (Puerto Rico… Jesus Christ Man)…with more to come.” (excerpted from “The Millennial Prophecy” by Gilbert Eriksen). It is apparent that the first Seal has been opened for a long time.
THE OPENING OF THE SECOND SEAL
REV 6:3: “When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come.”
REV 6:4: “And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.”
“A worldwide increase in capital murder, personal anger, ethnic rivalry, personal and community unrest.
“Back in 1994 when the violence broke out between the Tutsi and Hutu people of Burundi and Rwanda it looked to me like the 2nd Seal had been broken. By the time the ethnic unrest played out there were about 800,000 dead people from the two tribes. Then years later came the college and high school campus shootings here in the United States. Then there were more wars, rivalries and homicides in East Timor, Indonesia. Then came more ethnic unrest and rebellion in Africa, Chechnya and the Philippines. This kind of thing seems to go on forever. In my opinion this Seal has been broken and is now playing out on the world scene.” ~Gilbert Eriksen
THE OPENING OF THE THIRD SEAL
REV 6:5: “When He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
REV 6:6: And I heard something like a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”
Famine and weather patterns have created a worldwide recession. New interest in corn for the making of ethanol has further added to the increase in grain prices. Our current assessment of the economic situation is that mismanagement of funds have brought about the recession. The fact is, that is only partial truth, the shift in weather patterns have brought about the destruction of major crops in this country alone. With such strange weather shifts globally, crops are failing worldwide. The loss of crops have driven the cost of food and other man-made commodities way up. A loaf of bread that once cost 50¢ is now nearly $4 or $5! It appears that inflationary pricing will continue to rise. Imagine the day when bread will cost $10 a loaf!
THE OPENING OF THE FOURTH SEAL
REV 6:7: “When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, “Come.”
REV 6:8: I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
“4th Seal: (2007/2008) A combination of war, famine, disease and the animal kingdom out of control and directly attacking and killing people in an area defined somehow as “a fourth of the earth”.
The human (war/sword) and animal aggression may be driven by the dusting of Earth’s atmosphere with Vasopressin type chemicals (enhances aggression in humans and mammals) from the approaching brown dwarf star, Wormwood. Wormwood will also disrupt Earth’s normal weather patterns causing serious crop failures as it approaches.” ~Gilbert Eriksen
We have discussed these situations earlier. Suffice it to say, the opening of the fourth Seal augments these occurrences. Gilbert Eriksen believes that this occurred in 2007/2008.
If our atmosphere has been polluted with Vasopressin type chemicals; this would explain the aggression I alluded to earlier, and much more.
Although we can’t discount the wicked influence of Satanic activity, these destructive chemicals can attribute in part to the school shootings, suicide/murder of families, general aggression toward one another.
We will discuss Wormwood in a moment.
THE OPENING OF THE FIFTH SEAL
REV 6:9: “When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;”
REV 6:10: “and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’”
REV 6:11: “And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be completed also.”
In 2007 the Lord gave me a prophecy to the church that He was going to bless His people. These blessings would cause secular jealousy and begin severe persecution of Christian believers. This has already begun to happen! We have seen people in our own congregation lose their jobs and be mistreated because they are believers. We can expect this type of behavior to increase. Anger and jealousy because one person chooses to serve God whole-heartedly where another may be passive or flippant about their service will (and has) caused abuse to the former believer.
“With the breaking of the 5th Seal, Jesus points to the persecution of the Christian Church as a pre-tribulation event marker. More Christians died as martyrs in just the twentieth century than in the previous nineteen centuries combined. At the turn of the millennium, about 150,000 believers die every year because of their faith and their choice not to renounce their relationship with God even when they know it will cost them their biological lives. If Jesus is pointing to the persecution of the Church as an event marker, then it is possible that the level of persecution activity is going to rise dramatically above where it already is, or will appear, in sectors/sections of the world where it was not normally a problem.” ~Gilbert Eriksen