It is unsurprisingly unfortunate that yet another church fails to understand or even acknowledge the distiiction between the two distinct events of: 1) Christ's appearing (Matt 24:30) which includes the first resurrection and rapture, occurring upon the sounding of the 7th trumpet (Rev 11:18), and 2) Christ's return as King of kings which includes the armageddon battle, capture and judgement of the beast and false prophet, and the capture and imprisonment of Satan. This occurs after the 7th bowl is outpoured! These 2 seperate and distinct events are seperated in time, the period while the bowl judgements are outpoured during which, in heaven upon the sea of glass, occurs the marriage of the Lamb. Rev 19:7 *Notice that the angel speaking with John in verse 9 is that same angel of Rev 17:1; one of the 7 angels having the (not yet outpoured) 7 bowls. Thus proving that the marriage of the Lamb occurs before the completion of the bowl judgements.
My dear friend, the two events you refer to occur one after the other, we rise up to meet the Lord in the air [1Thess.4] and return with him not long after [Rev.19] The time between the two events is uncertain, but both occur on the Day of the Lord [as do a few other things too!] so the time difference should not be too long, perhaps as little as a few hours. The first event is in 1Thess 4, the second in 2Thessalonians.
@garrymacshane9881 I have a thorough scripture study guide of some roughly 2000 words which clarifies this and many other end time events. It is available to upon request. If you are absolutely confident in the validity of your doctrine on this then what possible threat would it be for you to thoroughly investigate scripture as a Berean or every true Christian does. Or perhaps you simply favor the traditions which you were taught by men? But just a couple quick points here, in considering the bowl judgements which we agree occur between these 2 distinct events, seperated in time by some unknown duration, you suggest may be but few hours. Let's look at the 6th bowl of Rev 16:12-16. Notice that at this time the Euphrates River is dried up to make way for the kings of the east. That these kings with their massive armies travel equipped for war from the Euphrates River to the valley of Har Meggido just outside of Jerusalem. Now disregarding the other 5 previous bowls timeline completely, you are suggesting that an approaching massive army can travel from the Euphrates River to Jerusalem in just a few hours; its a 10 hr drive by road. A massive army cannot arrive at once but nust travel that distance in some convoy, presumably of some great size. This implies fhat even as the lead of it arrives at Har Meggido, following members might even still be crossing the Euphrates riverbed, it's simply logistics. That timeline is an implication of your statement, would you care to reconsider it? Not to mention that such an approaching army would most likely experience resistance from the IDF were it to remain intact in any way to this point, having already faced the various battles waging through the land of Canaan by the king of the North and the king of the South prior to the armageddon assault. You can read about this in Daniel 11. Notice that it is only after long years of this that troubling news from the east comes, see v44. Ezekiel 39 describes the people of Israel in their territory clearing from these battles the bodies of the dead for 7 months, and utilizing the destroyed equipment for a fuel source for 7 years before comes the armageddon battle and return of Christ Jesus. All this is going on leading into the beginning of sorrows with the great tribulation commencing with the abomination of desolation which is also described in Dan 11:36-37, That army from the east not even having begun to muster yet. And don't confuse this army with the demonic hoard of 200 million of the sixth trumpet in Rev 9:16 which proceeds it. How thorough is you scriptural study anyway? You mentioned the 'Day of the Lord' and I'm unsure just exactly what you mean by that, as many confuse the Day of Christ (His appearing) and the 'Day of the LORD' the outpouring of the Father's wrath in the 7 bowls. It is spoken of widely throughout the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Zechariah just to name a few. I recommend that you conduct a study of just what the 'Day of the LORD' is! I've been searching for a Verde in Isaiah which sugges5s that this 'Day of the LORD' lasts one year, but alas, it's late and I have other work to do before morning, and so I'm leaving off this search at chpt 30 and will resume it tomorrow afternoon. This is all for now.
Thank you for sharing your interpretation. While your distinction between Christ's appearing and His return as King of kings is a thoughtful perspective, it’s important to approach these eschatological details with humility. Many scholars and faithful believers hold differing views on the sequence and nature of these events, such as the timing of the rapture, the seventh trumpet, and the marriage of the Lamb. As these matters are not essential to salvation, we should handle them in a way that fosters unity rather than division within the church. Let us continue to study Scripture deeply, discuss these topics respectfully, and keep our focus on Christ’s ultimate victory and our call to be prepared for His return.
It is unsurprisingly unfortunate that yet another church fails to understand or even acknowledge the distiiction between the two distinct events of:
1) Christ's appearing (Matt 24:30) which includes the first resurrection and rapture, occurring upon the sounding of the 7th trumpet (Rev 11:18), and
2) Christ's return as King of kings which includes the armageddon battle, capture and judgement of the beast and false prophet, and the capture and imprisonment of Satan. This occurs after the 7th bowl is outpoured!
These 2 seperate and distinct events are seperated in time, the period while the bowl judgements are outpoured during which, in heaven upon the sea of glass, occurs the marriage of the Lamb. Rev 19:7
*Notice that the angel speaking with John in verse 9 is that same angel of Rev 17:1; one of the 7 angels having the (not yet outpoured) 7 bowls. Thus proving that the marriage of the Lamb occurs before the completion of the bowl judgements.
My dear friend, the two events you refer to occur one after the other, we rise up to meet the Lord in the air [1Thess.4] and return with him not long after [Rev.19] The time between the two events is uncertain, but both occur on the Day of the Lord [as do a few other things too!] so the time difference should not be too long, perhaps as little as a few hours. The first event is in 1Thess 4, the second in 2Thessalonians.
@garrymacshane9881 I have a thorough scripture study guide of some roughly 2000 words which clarifies this and many other end time events. It is available to upon request. If you are absolutely confident in the validity of your doctrine on this then what possible threat would it be for you to thoroughly investigate scripture as a Berean or every true Christian does. Or perhaps you simply favor the traditions which you were taught by men?
But just a couple quick points here, in considering the bowl judgements which we agree occur between these 2 distinct events, seperated in time by some unknown duration, you suggest may be but few hours. Let's look at the 6th bowl of Rev 16:12-16. Notice that at this time the Euphrates River is dried up to make way for the kings of the east. That these kings with their massive armies travel equipped for war from the Euphrates River to the valley of Har Meggido just outside of Jerusalem. Now disregarding the other 5 previous bowls timeline completely, you are suggesting that an approaching massive army can travel from the Euphrates River to Jerusalem in just a few hours; its a 10 hr drive by road. A massive army cannot arrive at once but nust travel that distance in some convoy, presumably of some great size. This implies fhat even as the lead of it arrives at Har Meggido, following members might even still be crossing the Euphrates riverbed, it's simply logistics. That timeline is an implication of your statement, would you care to reconsider it? Not to mention that such an approaching army would most likely experience resistance from the IDF were it to remain intact in any way to this point, having already faced the various battles waging through the land of Canaan by the king of the North and the king of the South prior to the armageddon assault. You can read about this in Daniel 11. Notice that it is only after long years of this that troubling news from the east comes, see v44. Ezekiel 39 describes the people of Israel in their territory clearing from these battles the bodies of the dead for 7 months, and utilizing the destroyed equipment for a fuel source for 7 years before comes the armageddon battle and return of Christ Jesus. All this is going on leading into the beginning of sorrows with the great tribulation commencing with the abomination of desolation which is also described in Dan 11:36-37, That army from the east not even having begun to muster yet. And don't confuse this army with the demonic hoard of 200 million of the sixth trumpet in Rev 9:16 which proceeds it. How thorough is you scriptural study anyway?
You mentioned the 'Day of the Lord' and I'm unsure just exactly what you mean by that, as many confuse the Day of Christ (His appearing) and the 'Day of the LORD' the outpouring of the Father's wrath in the 7 bowls. It is spoken of widely throughout the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Zechariah just to name a few. I recommend that you conduct a study of just what the 'Day of the LORD' is! I've been searching for a Verde in Isaiah which sugges5s that this 'Day of the LORD' lasts one year, but alas, it's late and I have other work to do before morning, and so I'm leaving off this search at chpt 30 and will resume it tomorrow afternoon. This is all for now.
Thank you for sharing your interpretation. While your distinction between Christ's appearing and His return as King of kings is a thoughtful perspective, it’s important to approach these eschatological details with humility. Many scholars and faithful believers hold differing views on the sequence and nature of these events, such as the timing of the rapture, the seventh trumpet, and the marriage of the Lamb.
As these matters are not essential to salvation, we should handle them in a way that fosters unity rather than division within the church. Let us continue to study Scripture deeply, discuss these topics respectfully, and keep our focus on Christ’s ultimate victory and our call to be prepared for His return.