Friday, January 22, 2016

What about saints being preserved through the Great Tribulation period 519-1 - 9 - 2

Isaiah 24:13-15 doesn’t really suggest to me that the Saints (Gentiles) are being preserved through the great tribulation. However, a remnant of the inhabitants of the earth (perhaps believing Israel) are singing praises for the majesty of God. Perhaps this suggests that they’re spared throughout a time of abject terror.
From a pre-tribulation rapture perspective those referred to as saints present on the earth during the tribulation would have had to come to faith post rapture.
Who are the saints who come to faith during the tribulation? One point of view is that the tribulation is a period of time to bring a remnant of Israel to finally realize that Jesus is their long sought Messiah. Unfortunately, Gentiles who were left behind will be so deluded by the antichrist that most will not be able to come to faith. Most of those gentiles who do come to faith during the tribulation will likely lose their life thus becoming tribulation saints.
In my opinion, passages such as Isaiah 26:20 deal with Israel, "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast."
Revelation 12:1-9 begins with a description of a woman clothed with the sun and having the moon under her feet. She is wearing a crown of twelve stars and is about to give birth to a man child. A great red dragon/ Satan is set to devour her child as soon as it is born, however, before Satan is able to, the man child is caught up into heaven and the woman is given “two wings of a great eagle” and flees into the wilderness where God has prepared a place to feed her for three and a half years. This time period is described in Daniel 12 as a time of trouble that has never been seen before and is often referred to as “The Time of Jacob’s Trouble.”
Who is the woman of Revelation 12? There is a minority who believe the woman is the Church which is hidden during the second half of the tribulation. This view repudiates the Rapture. Most Bible commentaries, however, identify the woman as Israel and she gives birth to the man-child, the Messiah, who is caught up to Heaven.
The dream of Joseph in Genesis regarding the 12 stars is key to the identity of this woman as Israel. Deliverance of Israeli on eagle wings is confirmed in the Old Testament in Exodus 19:4 and Isaiah 40:31. Throughout the Old Testament Israel is protected by God; again in. Isaiah 26:20, God’s people were told to enter into a place of safety and to hide until the “indignation” be completed.
Pray fully the Gentiles who are left behind and come to faith during the tribulation will also be provided "A place of safety and to hide until the 'indignation' be completed."
As an aside, does Revelation 12 suggests a mid-tribulation rapture? The woman gives birth her child, Revelation 12:5 and her child was caught up unto God. As the Church do we represent the body of Christ and are we being raptured at this time? In verse 6 the woman flees into the wilderness where she will be protected during the second half of the tribulation, the period of time known as Jacob’s trouble. This would place the Rapture of the Church at the middle of the seven year Tribulation.

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