By Jerry Opusunju
Many have assumed that the soon coming rapture (snatching away) of the church from the earth, will happen suddenly without any sign, definitely not. Like the labour pains of a pregnant woman, the scriptures contain numerous signs (events or prophecies) that will immediately precede the rapture, during the rapture and immediately after the rapture. Knowing these signs will enable believers to be watchful and alert, so that the rapture would not be like a thief in the night to us; interestingly, these signs are contained both in the old and in the new testaments of the scriptures; which will be discussed in three parts.
OLD TESTAMENT’S PROPHECIES:
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions… “And I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the LORD has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the LORD calls. Joel 2:28, 30-32 ESV.
In the above prophecy, Prophet Joel clearly foretold the events leading to the birth of the church (the outpouring of the Spirit of God), commencing the dispensation of grace; as well as the events leading to the rapture of the church (the great and awesome day of the Lord ), which will end the dispensation of grace; Apostles Peter and Paul confirmed these prophecies (Acts 2:14-21; 1Thessalonians 4:13-5:3). In this prophecy, he told a brief story of the church from its beginning to the end.
Therefore, according to Prophet Joel, the rapture (the great and awesome day of the Lord) will be preceded by the following: wonders in heaven and earth (blood, fire and columns of smoke); and a global solar eclipse (the Sun turns dark and the moon turns blood red), that will last for days as was the case preceding Israel’s departure from Egypt (Exodus 10:21-26).
Prophet Ezekiel also prophesied of the rapture (the great and awesome day of the Lord) as well as the events leading to it: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him…. You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes… On that day (the great and awesome day of the Lord), there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence. And the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground”. Ezekiel 38:2, 16, 18-20 ESV. (parentheses is mine).
According to Prophet Ezekiel, that great and awesome day of the Lord will be preceded by the invasion of Israel by an allied force led by Gog, from the far north of Israel. This will be followed by: a great earthquake in Israel, then the awesome glory of the presence of the Lord will fill the entire earth causing every living thing (including every human) to tremble in his presence, mountains and hills will explode in Canon like explosions. As a result of the resurrection of the dead believers, in this great and awesome day of the Lord, every wall built on their graves all over the earth will tumble to the ground.
It’s after this awesome events of that day of the Lord, that the wrath (fierce anger) of the Lord will be unleashed on the invading Gog lead soldiers, wiping out everyone of them: ” I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD” (Ezekiel 38:21-23 ESV).
Following the dreadful wiping out of these soldiers, Ezekiel said: “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD… On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land” (Ezekiel 39:9-12 ESV).
So, for the entire 7 years period of the tribulation (the time of Jacob’s trouble), the nation of Israel will be using the weapons of these soldiers as fuel for fire.
…To be continued
