John Accomando

DEATH "SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY", AND THE HEAVENS "ROLLED TOGETHER AS A SCROLL":

1 Corinthians 15:54- "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY."

Few believers know what Paul was quoting:

Isaiah 25:8- "He will SWALLOW UP DEATH IN VICTORY; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it."

When does Isaiah describe this occurring? After the "heavenly signs":

Isaiah 13:10- "For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine."

Isaiah 24:23- "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously."

When does the Lord say the heavenly signs occur? "After the tribulation of those days":

Matthew 24:29- "Immediately 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:"

And when does the "day of the Lord" occur? After the heavenly signs:

Acts 2:20- "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:"

So Paul inextricably links the resurrection/rapture to the post-trib "day of the Lord".

One resurrection. One rapture. At His second coming.

One other point, however. I've contended previously that that the 6th/7th seal, 7th trump, and 7th vial occur simultaneously at the end, and one of the reasons is because the Lord described the 6th seal "heavenly signs" happening "after the tribulation of those days" (Matthew 24:29). While that, in and of itself, doesn't definitively place the 6th/7th seal at the end, there are some other clues. What else happens at the 6th seal?

Revelation 6:13-14: "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And THE HEAVEN DEPARTED AS A SCROLL when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places."

Now look at the OT verses it's taken from:

Isaiah 34:1-5: "Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and THE HEAVENS SHALL BE ROLLED TOGETHER AS A SCROLL: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed in heaven: behold, it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my curse, to judgment."

So the "rolling together" is described, as well as the stars falling from heaven. But notice it also says that the Lord's fury is upon all their "armies", and also that His "sword shall be bathed". So while the "heavenly signs" of Isaiah 34:1-5 matches up with Revelation 6:13 and 14, we know that this can't happen at the 6th seal in a chronological framework, because the Lord's fury isn't upon their "armies" until Armageddon. The armies aren't even gathered together against Him until after the 6th vial:

Revelation 16:12-14: "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

Which, incidentally, is also when the Lord tells us to "watch" for His coming like a "thief":

Revelation 16:15- "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

There are a few sets of verses which speak of the Lord personally destroying His enemies:

Matthew 24:50-51: "The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut Him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites:there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

2 Thessalonians 1:7-8: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:"

Revelation 19:15- "And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations:and he shall rule them with a rod of iron:and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."

Revelation 19:21- "And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth:and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."

So Scripture seems to not only tie the resurrection/rapture to the "heavenly signs", but it also seems to place the heavenly signs at the very end of the week, heralding the Lord's emergence out of Heaven at His glorious appearing, for His saints (with us watching even after the 6th vial), and utter destruction for His enemies at Armageddon. This would also explain the Lord's enemies blaspheming the Lord and still unrepentant during the vials:

Revelation 16:9- "And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues:and they repented not to give him glory."

...but suddenly petrified with fear at the 6th seal (you can only conceptualize this if you unlearn what you've always been taught is true, but it should eventually make sense). Why are they petrified with fear? Because gathered together against Him at the 6th vial, they see Him emerge out of Heaven (as described in Revelation 19:14-21), and run for cover:

Revelation 6:15-17: "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?"

Do you see the points? This comes at the end; not the beginning (in my opinion). Just as a historical note, there is evidence that the early church fathers saw the judgments as nonsequential as well:

Victorinus:

"[A]lthough the same thing recurs in the phials [vials], still it is not said as if it occurred twice, but because what is decreed by the Lord to happen shall be once for all; for this cause it is said twice. What, therefore, He said too little in the trumpets, is here found in the phials [vials]. We must not regard the order of what is said, because frequently the Holy Spirit, when He has traversed even to the end of the last times, returns again to the same times, and fills up what He had before failed to say. Nor must we look for order in the Apocalypse; but we must follow the meaning of those things which are prophesied."16