As you can see I copied this from a facebook page. It is so worth seeing. It will be a very HOLY DAY when our Lord Jesus Christ comes to claim his 'BRIDE'. We should all be ready, so that none are 'LEFT BEHIND'

Holy, Holy, Holy, God Almighty!!!

Posted by God's Spoken WORD Ministries on Sunday, September 27, 2015

Putting the Past Behind You So New Hope Can Grow

by Joyce Meyer

Ephesians 4:22-23 is a very encouraging passage of scripture. It says, “Strip yourselves of your former nature.… And be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude]” (AMP).

In other words, you can overcome any negative situation or pain from your past if you will just get with God and say, “Yes, this happened in my life. But You are on my side and I know You have a good plan for me.”

In fact, with God’s help, you can do anything within His will for you. For example, God wants you to be healthy. So if you need to lose weight and you decide to go on a diet, when the hunger pains start coming, no matter how much your flesh is screaming, you can set your mind to not give in. And you will see results! Well, that truth applies to every other area of your life.

I think a lot of us try to do things in our own strength without God. But in order to have the godly determination we need to get results, we need to come under the leadership of the Holy Spirit―and we need to have a vision.

You’ve Got to Have a Vision

The Israelites stayed in the wilderness forty years because they couldn’t see God’s vision for their life. They thought of everything in terms of their past. In fact, they complained to Moses that they wanted to go back to Egypt and return to a life of slavery because that’s what they knew. But God wanted them to get a new vision―a land flowing with milk and honey.

If you want to see change happen in your life, you’ve got to get a vision that goes beyond what you’ve already seen and experienced. And a good place to start is the promises in God’s Word. There are thousands of them, and you can claim each one of them for yourself.

We need to learn how to encourage ourselves in the Word. That’s what David did in Psalm 27:13-14. Even in the midst of his troubles he said, “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord” (NIV).

Stop Staring at Your Past

Our hope should never be based on what we can see or what’s in our past. Our hope should be based on the Word of God and His promises for our life.

Isaiah 43:18-19 says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (NIV).

God is always doing something new. We need to use our gift of spiritual discernment to follow His plan and stop following our own thoughts and feelings. Glance at your circumstance and stare at Jesus. He’s the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Your Circumstances Cannot Keep You Down

Abraham had a choice to make in Genesis 13. You see, he and Lot had grown so wealthy that, between the two of them, they had too many cattle to feed on the land. So Abraham said to Lot, “Let’s split up. I’ll give you first pick of the land.” Well, Lot chose the best part of the Jordan valley for himself. Abraham could have gotten pretty angry about that, but he knew that if he kept a good attitude, God would bless him. Let’s see what happened.

Verses 14-15: “The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, ‘Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever’” (NIV).

Talk about a vision!

Do you know what? God will give you anything you can see as long as it’s biblical. If you will just stop thinking about everything you’ve lost, everything you’re not, everything you’ve given up, the way you’ve been treated in the past, and set your mind on His vision for your future, God will bring you to your Promised Land. But first, you have to let go of what lies behind.

---

This article is taken from Joyce's four-CD series, Overcoming Wrong Mindsets.

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

John Accomando

"AND EXCEPT THOSE DAYS SHOULD BE SHORTENED..."

Daniel 7:25 and Rev. 13:5-7 (as well as Daniel 12) are clear that the saints will be persecuted for 42 months. Prophecy never changes.

"Prewrath", however, argues that Matthew 24:22 means we'll leave before the 42 months are completed:

Matthew 24:22- "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."

Again, prophecy doesn't change. What happens at the 4th trumpet? The days are indeed shortened:

Revelation 8:12- "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise."

This means that a 24-hour day will become a 16-hour day. Likely because the Earth will be spinning faster (perhaps because of "Wormwood" falling onto Earth at the 3rd trumpet).

Therefore, what would normally take 42 months in our current calendar, would only be a total of 28 months if the days are only 16 hours long. Actually, that's only true if the 5th trumpet blows exactly at mid-week. Regardless, even if it blows later, the total cumulative amount of time will be shortened, although we will still be here for 1,260 days (which will then feel like only 840 days). I believe this will increase our chances for survival.

I didn't come up with this concept. I first read it in Steven Straub's book "Changed", and it's beginning to make more and more sense.


Ken Kovach 
I think there are about 5 events in Rev. were the sun is darkened? I'll have to look it up. The fifth vial: dense darkness upon Antichrist's kingdom (16:10-11) Revelation 8:12- "And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise."

But being Darkened doesn't mean the planets stop rotating does it. Hugh earth Quakes could knock earth a bit out of orbit? And maybe cause that. I don't know?

Joshua 10:12-14 (KJV) 12 Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. 14 And there was no day like that before it or after it, that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.


Cptn Sparkeigh 
I am curious as to the part of the verse that says "there should not flesh be saved". How does reducing the hours in the day save Jews and believers from Satan's wrath or God's Wrath, which ever you give credit to?

See, I don't quite understand how you get all of that out of a 'face value' interpretation. The text indicates that 'those days should be shortened' in order to save individuals from the tribulation which would otherwise take their lives. 'Those days' is referring to the Great Tribulation which Jesus just described to the disciples. PreWrath holds that our Lord Jesus Christ brings a stop to Satan's wrath (Revelation 12:12) in order to prevent the entire destruction of Jews and believers. This does not end the 70th week, just the "great tribulation, such as has not occurred . . ." Satan simply will not be permitted to create anymore martyrs under the alter.

Following the Great Tribulation (Those Days) being cut short, the 144,000 are sealed for protection from God's wrath, the believers that remain will be caught up and the trumpet judgments begin. It is with the trumpet judgments, followed by the Bowls, that God dispenses His Wrath.



John Accomando Cptn Sparkeigh,
Matt. 24:22 doesn't say that the prophesied 42 months of persecution gets cut short. Anyone honestly reading that verse will admit that it's the "days" which are shortened. Lo and behold, the 4th trumpet describes precisely that. It's not our job to speculate just how that will increase our chances of surviving the GT. Our job is to know how long Scripture says we're going to be here for, and according to Daniel 7:25 and Rev. 13:5-7, we're going to be persecuted for the full 42 months, so yes, that does bring us to the end of the 70th week.

I've stressed this over and over and over again in most every eschatologic discussion I've been involved with. The Lord NEVER described returning from Heaven with ANYONE other than His angels at His second coming. Neither did Paul describe it in 2 Thess 1:7, which is the ONLY verse in which Paul SPECIFIES who returns with the Lord from Heaven, and Paul is indeed describing Armageddon in 2 Thess 1:6-10. Paul was clear that we "meet the Lord in the air" AFTER He emerges out of Heaven (1 Thess 4:14-17), and Paul never said that the Lord whisks us away to Heaven afterwards.

So we meet Him in the air in our resurrected bodies, and JOIN the armies who have just emerged out of Heaven with the Lord.

Remember, the Lord compared His second coming to the days of Noah and Lot. Neither Noah nor Lot were raptured away to Heaven. Noah was safely above the flood waters, and descended when the waters abated.

Peter was clear that the Lord will remain in Heaven until the "restitution of all things":

Acts 3:20-21: "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

When is that? What did the prophets speak of?

Daniel 9:24- "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

Only after the 70 weeks are complete will the Lord emerge out of Heaven. Not before those weeks are fulfilled.

Which is why the Lord is still telling us to "watch" for His coming like a "thief" even after the 6th vial:

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."

That obviously parallels Matt. 24:42-44 and 1 Thess 5:2 ("thief" reference), yet here is the Lord telling us to "watch" for His coming just before the 70th week is complete. It's also the same vial in which the armies are gathering against Him at Armageddon:

Revelation 16:14- "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."

So how can the Lord be telling us it will be at an unknown day/hour? Because the unknown day/hour is Jewish idiom for the Feast of Trumpets, because it takes two watchmen on the wall looking for the new moon. It can only be narrowed to two days on any given year. Guess what the next feast day is on the prophetic calendar? The Feast of Trumpets.

There isn't a single OT description of the DoTL as being a time when the Lord only comes to the sky, fetches believers, and leaves again only to come back several months later. EVERY description is of Him coming definitively, conquering His enemies, and staying.

The rapture DOES happen after the 6th seal, but the 6th/7th seal happen almost simutaneously. The judgments cannot be sequential, for SEVERAL reasons. The 6th/7th seal, 7th trump, and 7th vials occur SIMULTANEOUSLY, and the Lord emerges out of Heaven the second the week is complete. Not once are the trumps called "wrath". Only the vials are the "wrath of God", and I would argue strongly that the "wrath of the Lamb" is referring to the post-70th week DoTL.

John Accomando
Who are the "hagios" who the Lord said that He returns from Heaven with?

The reason I bring it up is because the popular teaching is that we come back with the Lord at His "parousia" (second coming), based on the following two verses:

1 Thessalonians 3:13- "To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints."

Jude 1:14- "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,"

It's natural to deduce that we come back with Him based on these verses, but is that what is really being said? What are those words in Greek?

1 Thessalonians 3:13- "εις το στηριξαι υμων τας καρδιας αμεμπτους εναγιωσυνη εμπροσθεν του θεου και πατρος ημων εν τη παρουσιατου κυριου ημων ιησου χριστου μετα παντων των αγιων αυτου"

'In stirixai YOU hearts blameless enagiosyni front of God and our Father in the parousiatou our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of his saints'

Jude 1:14- "προεφητευσεν δε και τουτοις εβδομος απο αδαμ ενωχλεγων ιδου ηλθεν κυριος εν αγιαις μυριασιν αυτου."

'Prophesied it and though weeks ADAM enochlegon behold came LORD agiais myriasin him.'

Notice "αγιων" at the end of 1 Thess 3:13, and "αγιαις" near the end of Jude 14. These are both the word "hagios". These are "holy ones", or "set-apart ones". In the NT, it can refer to believers, but more often than not, it actually refers to anything holy OTHER than believers. Where else do we see it? When the Lord describes who He comes back with at His second coming:

Matthew 25:31- "οταν δε ελθη ο υιος του ανθρωπου εν τη δοξη αυτουκαι παντες οι αγιοι αγγελοι μετ αυτου τοτε καθισει επι θρονουδοξης αυτου"

'When the Son of man in his glory aftoukai all ye the holy angels after this then the seat for his thronoudoxis'

There are two key words there: "αγιοι" ("hagios"), and "aγγελοι" ("aggelos"). Let's look in the English:

Matthew 25:31- "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:"

So the Lord only described coming back with His "holy angels". He describes them as being "hagios" ("set-apart" or "holy ones"). So the "hagios" who the Lord said that He comes back with are His angels. Nowhere did the Lord describe coming back from Heaven with the elect/body/bride/church.

Paul reiterated what the Lord said:

2 Thessalonians 1:7-10: "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his MIGHTY ANGELS, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day."

This is clearly a picture of the Lord's second coming. In fact, the word "revealed" there is the Greek "apokalyptos". That's "apocalypse". Yet where does Paul have us right up until the Lord's second coming? Here ("rest with us..."). And who does Paul say that the Lord comes back with? His angels.

Notice also that Paul says that He "shall come to be glorified in His saints...in that day". In the "day" when He returns to exact vengeance upon His enemies, He shall come to be glorified in His saints. Now let me show you something that Peter said:

1 Peter 1:7- "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"

Notice the word "appearing". That's the same Greek "apokalyptos" which I just showed Paul using in 2 Thess 1:7 to describe the Lord's literal second coming. So when does Peter pray that the trial of our faith us found "unto praise and honour and glory"? At the Lord's "apokalyptos" (not seven years prior).

The point of all this is to show Scripturally that the Lord only described coming back from Heaven at His second coming with His "holy angels" ("hagios aggelos"). Therefore, when we see "hagios" in 1 Thess 3:13 and Jude 14, it would incorrect to say "Aha! I KNEW that we come back with Him!" Why would it be incorrect? Because the Lord already TOLD us who the "hagios" are who come back with Him: His "hagios aggelos" (holy angels).

There is yet another way to know that we aren't the "hagios" who return with Him. Look at 1 Thess 3:13 again:

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13: "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 13 To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints."

Again, in the Greek, that last word is "hagios", and it's the very same word that the Lord uses in Matthew 25:31 to describe the angels who come back with Him. But look what Paul is praying here. He's praying for our hearts to be made "unblameable" at the Lord's second coming with His "hagios". If we're the "hagios" who come back with the Lord at His second coming, why would He be praying for our hearts to be made "unblameable" at that time? Weren't they made "unblameable" seven years prior (at a "pretrib rapture")?

Some like to quote Zechariah 14 as proof that we cone back with Him from Heaven. What does it say?

Zechariah 14:5- "And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee."

In Hebrew, the word which the KJV renders "saints" is actually the Hebrew "qaydowsh". It means the same thing in the OT that "hagios" means in the NT. That is, "holy", "holy ones" or "set apart". In fact, in the Septuagint (the first Greek translation of the OT, which was completed before the Lord's incarnation), it renders "qaydowsh" as "hagios". So everything is in agreement with what the Lord said.

What about the "armies" in Revelation 19:14?

Revelation 19:14- "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean."

For some reason, people like to assume that "church saints" are the armies, DESPITE what the Lord clearly told us in Matthew 25:31. They reason that the bride is described in earlier verses (that she has "made herself ready"), so we must already be in Heaven. But that's circular reasoning. Scripture never says that we're already in Heaven. Only that the bride has "made herself ready". If we're here on Earth, we've also made ourselves ready for His return. If you really read those verses in Revelation 19, verses 6-10 are the wedding announcement, and verses 11-21 are a vivid description of the Lord's second coming. Not even a single verse describes a wedding actually taking place in Heaven. Not one. But why should there be any if the Lord is coming FOR His bride?

But what about the "armies" dressed in white. That MUST be us, right? No. Angels clearly also are arrayed in white linen:

Revelation 15:6- "And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in PURE AND WHITE LINEN, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles."

Who did the LORD say that He comes back from Heaven with? His "holy angels". Not once did He even hint that the church comes back with Him from Heaven. What is the main point of this? If we don't come back with Him from Heaven, then we never went up 7 years prior to His second coming. That stands to reason, as He never described any gathering together of believers prior to the tribulation.

John Accomando
NEW AND IMPROVED! MORE POPULAR QUOTES!

The "Day of the Lord"

Many modern, popular, eschatology teachers assert that the "day of the Lord" (DoTL) includes the 70th "week" of Daniel 9:27, and that we are therefore raptured prior to the start of that same span of time, which is widely referred to as "the tribulation", in futurist vernacular. Most of these same teachers would acknowledge that "The Great Tribulation" only encompasses the 42 months which follow the mid-week "abomination of desolation" (Matthew 24:15).

Here are some excerpts from their writings on the topic:

Dwight Pentecost ("Things to Come- A Study in Biblical Eschatology")- "The term the Day of the Lord, or that day, is not a term which applies to a twenty-four hour period, but rather the whole program of events, including the tribulation period..."

John Walvoord ("The Rapture Question")- "The Day of the Lord as presented in the Old and New Testament includes rather than follows the tremendous events of the tribulation period. In a word, the Day of the Lord begins before the Great Tribulation."

Hal Lindsey- "Those who are left behind will be the ones who experience the 'Day of the Lord', which begins with the great Tribulation."

John Hagee- "This time [The Day of the Lord] begins at the exact moment the Lord appears in the clouds to gather the believing church unto him and 'that Wicked' is revealed...The rapture is therefore the sign that the tribulation has begun."

Perry Stone- "Based on the 2500 year old prophecy of Joel, there will be much activity with 'pillars of smoke' prior to the day of the Lord (the tribulation)."

Tim LaHaye ("Charting The End Times")- "Zephaniah 1:14-18 provides one of the most colorful descriptions of the 'great day of the Lord', which we commonly call the Tribulation period."

Thomas Ice- "I am driven to the inescapable conclusion that the [apostasia] refers to the Rapture of the Church which precedes the Day of the Lord, and holds back the revelation of the Man of Sin who ushers in the world-aspect of that period.....If this is true, (Dr. Tim LaHaye and I believe that it is), then it means that a clear prophetic sequence is laid out by Paul early in his Apostolic ministry. Paul teaches in 2 Thessalonians 2 that the rapture will occur first, before the Day of the Lord commences."

Ron Rhodes ("The End Times in Chronological Order")- "Because the antichrist's signing of the covenant with Israel begins the tribulation period, we can also say that this signing of the covenant begins the eschatological day of the Lord. Thankfully, Christians will escape this day because of the rapture."

Paul Enns ("The Moody Handbook of Theology")- "Thus the Day of the Lord is that extended period of time beginning with God's dealing with Israel after the rapture at the beginning of the tribulation period and extending through the second advent..."

John MacArthur ("Grace To You" sermon)- "Now as we approach the passage [1 Thess 5] you will remember that Paul has just completed explaining the Rapture of the church...Paul now turns to the horrible event that follows it, the destruction of the wicked. All those who are on Earth who reject Christ and reject God will feel the fury of God in the day of the Lord."

David Jeremiah ("How Should We Then Live?")- "The Rapture of the Church is the next event to happen on God's prophetic timetable---it could happen today!---and the Day of the Lord begins when the Rapture takes place."

Chuck Missler ("Koinonia House")- "This [the 70th week] is called the Day of the Lord. It's also the outpouring of God's wrath. Not Satan's wrath. God's wrath...the rapture, the 'harpazo', happens sometime prior to the beginning of that week."

Jack Van Impe- "Paul's argument in II Thessalonians can be summed up as follows. [1] The day of the Lord will not begin until the antichrist is revealed. [2] The antichrist cannot begin to act until the restrainer, the Church or believers, are removed. [3] Since the restrainer has not been removed, the Day of the Lord cannot have begun."

This is widely considered to be a "Who's who" of popular 20th and 21st century eschatology teachers, most of whom have either published books or produced videos on the subject of eschatology. Many are also constantly in-demand for speaking engagements, whether at a local megachurch or a major eschatology conference.

Popularity aside, however, Do their teachings about the DoTL actually align with Scripture?

Assuredly, the apostle Paul tells us that we're "not appointed to wrath":

1 Thessalonians 5:9- "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,"

What is the "wrath" which we're not appointed to? The DoTL. He tells us as much in verse 2, as that's the theme of 1 Thess 5:

1 Thessalonians 5:2- "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night."

A careful examination of Scripture reveals that it does indeed give us a timetable for the start of the DoTL:

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:"

Here, The Lord tells us that the heavenly signs follow the tribulation. Then Peter (in quoting Joel 2:31), tells us that the DoTL follows 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:"

It should also be noted that Joel uses the "dark" moon and the "blood" moon descriptions synonymously:

Joel 2:10-11: "The Earth shall quake before them; the heaven shall tremble: the sun and the MOON shall be DARK, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: 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 2:31- "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the MOON into BLOOD, before the great and the terrible DAY OF THE LORD come."

Joel 3:14-16: "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the DAY OF THE LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the MOON shall be DARKENED, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel."

So the sequence of events is:

Trib-->heavenly signs-->DoTL

Therefore, according to Scripture, the "wrath" which we're "not appointed to" is the post-trib, post-70th week DoTL. This is verified elsewhere:

Acts 3:20-21: "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

When is the "restitution of all things"? Surely, one wouldn't argue that it's before the final week. What does Scripture say? What did the prophets write?

Daniel 9:24- "Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

Again, Scripture verifies that the DoTL follows the trib, as the Lord doesn't leave Heaven until the 70 weeks are complete.

Other verification? Paul places the resurrection squarely after the tribulation, in a verse which escapes many:

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.

What verse was Paul referring to? What was "written"?

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 is death "swallowed up", according to the Book of Isaiah? 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."

As shown above, the heavenly signs FOLLOW the tribulation.

Furthermore, the Lord is still telling us to "watch" for His coming like a "thief" even after the 6th vial:

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."

One should note that this is also the same vial in which the armies of the Earth are gathering together:

Revelation 16:14- "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."

Therefore, at the same vial in which the armies are gathering, the Lord is telling us to "watch" for His coming, in a verse which parallels His earlier words:

Matthew 24:42-43: "WATCH therefore:for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the THIEF would come, he would have WATCHED, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up."

Matthew 24:37-39: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall ALSO the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, UNTIL THE DAY THAT NOE ENTERED THE ARK, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

The Lord distinctly compares His second coming to the days of Noah, but many readers don't see where the Lord says: "until the day that Noah entered the ark". Noah wasn't caught like a "thief". He was warned about when the wrath would begin:

Genesis 7:1- "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."

Genesis 7:5-7: "And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him. And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons 'wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood."

It was the WICKED who were caught unaware, because they weren't looking. Those are precisely the ones Paul said will be caught like a "thief" on the DoTL:

1 Thessalonians 5:2-4: "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. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake YOU as a thief."

Some might also ask: "How can the wicked be saying 'peace and safety' while getting pummeled with the seals, trumpets, and vials?"

I've long-contended Scripturally that the judgments aren't chronological. The 6th/7th seal, 7th trump, and 7th vial seem to occur simultaneously. In any case, what happens just before the 7th trump (the last trump, by the way)? The wicked are rejoicing. Why? Because the beast killed the two witnesses, who were calling down plagues:

Revelation 11:10- "And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth."

One can see that there is certainly a false sense of security. They're making merry, and sending gifts to one another. These are the ones to whom the DoTL will come upon like a "thief".

Lastly, How else can we know that the DoTL follows the tribulation? What else did Isaiah say about the DoTL?

Isaiah 2:17- "And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord ALONE shall be exalted in that day."

Yet who is the world exalting during the trib? The beast. Not only are the wicked NOT exalting the "Lord alone", but they're unrepentant, and even blaspheming Him:

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."

Revelation 16:11- "And BLASPHEMED the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented NOT of their deeds."

That all changes when they see the cosmic lights go out at the 6th seal heavenly signs, and also experience the worst earthquake ever experienced, immediately before the Lord emerges out of Heaven:

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?"

So these men who were deceived by the unholy triad are now petrified with fear at the reality of who they are going to be up against at Armageddon. And what "wrath" is it? What follows the 6th seal heavenly signs? Again, the posttrib, post-70th week DoTL.

Therefore, according to Scripture, the DoTL follows the tribulation. So while those men I initially quoted frequently and confidently make themselves out to be the authoritative voices of eschatological doctrine, they are found to be squarely at odds with the Word of God.

As such is that case, Why are they praised by millions upon millions of believers, rather than sternly denounced as false teachers?

2 Timothy 4:3-4: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."

God's got a plan. 

Type AMEN if you'll trust Him today!