How is it possible that all Israel will be saved and yet people will be going into the millennial reign of Christ without being transformed and having new bodies? Will all Israel that’s a part of the church be transformed into heavenly bodies? How will there be people going into […]
Paul’s Mystery of the Rapture
Where in the OT is Paul getting his “last trump” and “twinkling of an eye”?
Paul knew the trumpet of Isa 27:12-13 (also Ps 47:5; Joel 2:1; Zeph 1:16-18) sounds at the same time the nation is being born “at once” / in “one day” in Isa 66:8 (with Ps 102:13; Eze 39:22; Zech 3:9; 12:10; 14:7). That is the same moment the AC is being destroyed in “one day” (Is 9:14; 10:17; 47:9) by the breath of the Messiah’s mouth / voice (Isa 11:4; 30:27-33; 31:8-9; 42:11-14; 66:6-8; Joel 3:16; Zeph 1:7, 14-18; Zech 9:14).
As Paul’s manifest use of the Septuagint’s translation of Isa 11:4 in 2Thes 2:8 makes clear, the AC is destroyed at the instant of the Lord’s return to judge the wicked, raise the dead, and assert His rod iron rule over the nations the “last trump” (1Cor 15:52; Rev 10:7; 11:15). It all lines up with the moment (“twinkling of an eye”) of His return like the lightning flashing across the sky (Mt 24:27, 29-31; Rev 1:7).
Obviously, the NT writers believe their OT, literally! They put the pieces together by the help and leading of the Holy Spirit. They are not advancing ‘new truth’ but unraveling the mystery of what stood written in the OT prophetic scriptures (Acts 26:22-23; Ro 11:25-29; 16:25-26; 1Pet 1:11). That’s the glory and compelling proof of the gospel, that it was all foretold!
Who is the “profane wicked prince of Israel”?
Who is the wicked prince of Israel in Eze 21:25?
How about “the prince of the covenant” of Dan 11:22?
Commentaries will say the wicked prince of Eze 21:25 is Zedekiah, as you can check on Bible Hub in their collection of commentaries. Just type in the verse.
But then, as you know, there is almost always a near and far fulfillment, the past being very often the pattern of last things. So my best guess would be that the “wicked prince” is also the “foolish / idol shepherd” of Zech 11:15, 17.
Is the Day of the LORD a Single Day?
Does our view see the Day of the Lord as one specific, single day occurring at the end of the tribulation when Christ returns to destroy the AC and raise the righteous dead? I’ve heard we need to include the broad concept of the day of the Lord, meaning, that the Day of the LORD (DOL) begins with the abomination and continues for three and one half years.
Is this legitimate and correct?, or should the DOL be confined to one single extraordinary day occurring at the end of the tribulation thereby ushering in the first day of the millennial age? For example, is Ezekiel 39:8 a single day or a period of time in duration?
“Doc”
I believe it is the latter choice. It is a very specific day (“one day”; Isa 66:9; Zech 3:9; 14:7), around which is clustered an intensive convergence of many events, leading to, and issuing from, that are certainly not confined to one day. It is the day and hour, even instant (1Cor 15:52) that constitutes the great transition between this age and the age to come.
To answer your last question first, most definitely and assuredly Eze 39:8 is the “great day of God Almighty“ referred to in Rev 16:12-17. This is seen very clearly by observing that the same, very precise language of Eze 39:8 is applied to the “great day of God Almighty” in Rev 16:17.
Significantly, this day is shown to come in conjunction with the 7th bowl, which significantly follows Jesus’ announcement that His now truly imminent coming will be “like a thief” (Rev 16:15). This announcement is significantly interjected between the 6th and 7th bowls. So the time in view here is very precisely the very end of the tribulation.
Note too that in all of scripture, the only two places that the precise term, “day of God” is found is in 2Pet 3:12 and Rev 16:14. In second Peter, the “day of God” is a synonym for the thief-like day of the Lord (2Pet 3:10, 12). These are important markers, since in both 2Pet 3:10-12 and Rev 16:12-17, the “day of God” comes as a thief on the unsuspecting world of unbelievers at the very end of the tribulation.
From this you can see that the DOL and the great day of God Almighty are the same day, and the latter is clearly at the 7th bowl. The DOL doesn’t get any narrower than that, and this is the usual meaning throughout the prophets.
Ye MUST Be Born Again
One thing I would say without looking at the whole superstructure, which time simply does not permit, is the really foreign thought that God is fishing for DNA in order to mediate His salvation. That someone named Kelly, for example, is saved, not strictly because of the drawing power of the Holy Spirit, and response of faith to God’s great, “whosoever will” extended to all nations without discrimination, but because my physical lineage has some surviving genetic element that can be traced back (or that can only be assumed on the basis of what I believe) to one of the supposedly lost ten tribes of Israel (see David Baron’s excellent little pamphlet by that title). That just doesn’t square with the mystery that Christ is revealed ‘in’ gentiles, without discrimination, and that gentiles of “every” tribe, tongue, and nation are equally made Abraham’s seed through faith alone. Such a thesis is suspicious from the start!
Yes, I believe and affirm that God preserves an ethnic distinction from among the natural branches precisely in order to demonstrate and set on public display His covenant word to Israel for the vindication of His sovereignty in divine election, and for the instruction of the nations and the fallen order of principalities and powers through what He has purposed to show through them. A preserved remnant from among the natural branches will indeed be born in a day (Isa 66:8; Zech 3:9) and gathered from all nations, never to be invaded again. That is sure and certain! Until then, they are made sufficiently distinguishable as a distinct ethnic race precisely in order to show in them the discipline of the covenant and to test the hearts of all nations concerning this blinded people who, though momentarily enemies of the gospel, are NONETHELESS BELOVED, and are to be so regarded, to the chagrin of those nations who have laid malicious, unfeeling hands on God’s afflicted in their pitiable ghetto condition, a presumption that will be much required in that day.
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