Are the Seals PRE-Tribulation?
After learning about the Revelation 12 Sign back in 2017, I
was diligently seeking the Lord to understand His Timeline for the Last Days.
“Father,” I prayed, “I cannot reconcile the ‘sudden
destruction’ of 1 Thessalonians 5 we are to escape from with a Pre-Seal
Rapture. You tell us we have not because we ask not, so please show me where my
understanding is off.”
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. - 1 Thessalonians 5:3 KJV
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief.
For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain
salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, - 1 Thessalonians 5:4 and 9 KJV
Later the same day I spoke that prayer, I came across Steve
Cioccolanti’s video The
Most Logical Timeline of Revelation. Whether this Brother’s teaching is
correct or not, let me share what he said. Most Christians categorize the Seven
Seals as occurring within The Tribulation period. Steve
proposes that the Seven Seals are NOT part of the seven-year Tribulation but
that they match the Pre-Tribulation Signs Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 and Luke
21. (Jesus was addressing the Jewish remnant, of course, in these passages; but
He did share Pre-Tribulation signs and events as well as things that would
happen during Jacob’s Trouble.)
Rider on the White Horse
“What about the Antichrist being revealed with the First
Seal?” I asked out loud to the TV screen as I watched Steve’s video.
And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on
him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering,
and to conquer. - Revelation 6:2 KJV
But at about the 15-minute mark he asked whether it is
possible that the Rider on the White Horse of Revelation 6 is NOT the
Antichrist but someone who is portrayed as a peacemaker but is actually a man
of war? He then submitted that the rider on the white horse could be the False
Prophet because the Antichrist doesn’t come on the scene until Revelation
Chapter 13.
“And a crown was given unto him”—The papal tiara is a crown that was worn by popes of the Catholic Church from as early as the 8th century to the mid-20th. [wikipedia.org]
Most people do not realize that the office of the Pope is a
very powerful and political one (“he went forth conquering and to conquer”).
Pope Francis appears to be the Destroyer prophesied to come
by St. Francis of Assisi when he said, “Our Lord Jesus Christ will send them
not a true Pastor, but a destroyer.” Tom Horn and Cris Putnam, authors of Petrus
Romanus, verify Vatican insider Malachi Martin’s worst suspicions in their
book The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic Antichrist, and the Vatican's
Last Crusade.
Suddenly it became inarguable that
now, during this papacy, the Roman Catholic organization carried a permanent
presence of clerics who worshipped Satan…bishops and priests who sodomized boys
and each other; of nuns who performed the “Black Rites” of Wicca, and …every
day…acts of heresy and blasphemy…were committed and permitted at holy Altars by
men who had been called to be priests. [The Final Roman Emperor, the Islamic
Antichrist, and the Vatican’s Last Crusade pp. 145-146]
At 17:40 minutes in the video Steve speculates that there is great commotion in Heaven and at the 6th Seal the great excitement culminates in the Rapture and that the “silence in Heaven” that occurs at the opening of the 7th Seal of Revelation 8:1 is due to the somber realization of Heaven’s citizens that the Tribulation is beginning.
Judgment does NOT always = Wrath
IF the Seals are opened Pre-Tribulation (Pre-Wrath of the
Lamb) and IF the Rapture occurs at the 6th Seal, it would make sense
as to why the Lord has shown me and others specific judgments to occur prior to
the Rapture.
The word 'wrath' is first mentioned in the Book of
Revelation in Chapter 6 and is associated with the Lamb of God opening the
Seals. When the Lamb opens the Seals in Revelation 6, He first releases
the Four Horsemen. HORSES ARE SYMBOLS OF JUDGMENT (Horses
in Scripture).
My studies of the Word of God and the research of many
others (as I shared in 7
Churches 7 Seals--Is the Church Present at the Opening of the Seals?) led me
to believe that the Church Bride will be present in Heaven at the opening of
the Seals.
HOWEVER, is it possible that the opening of the first 4 Seals is Jesus releasing
and thereby giving permission to the Riders to begin JUDGMENT but NOT WRATH? Remember
that judgment does NOT always equal wrath:
So it would seem that the word
“judgment” can be used as decisions that come down from God no matter what
dispensation or age. It can be a decision or judgment that leads to
a reward, such as 2
Corinthians 5:10; or it can be a judgment that leads to a negative
consequence. Source: Judgment Does Not Always = Wrath section of "New
York, Chicago, L.A."
Derek and Sharon Gilbert in Unraveling Revelation: Chaos and the Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse believe the Riders of Revelation are agents of
the entity Chaos which at this point is restrained but not destroyed. The world
elite motto of “Order out of chaos” directly ties to this, of course.
Derek and Sharon Gilbert of
SkyWatch TV do an excellent series on the Book of Revelation called Unraveling
Revelation wherein they explain why they believe the Four Horsemen of
Revelation are spiritual entities who presented themselves as gods in ancient
times. The Gilberts, who believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, also believe
these entities began their ride back in the 1st Century after
the resurrected Jesus entered Heaven’s Throne Room. Thus, they conjecture Seals
1 through 5 have already been opened and we are awaiting Seal 6 when the
Resurrection/Rapture occurs. Source: 7
Churches 7 Seals--Is the Church Present at the Opening of the Seals?
Great Convergence
Starting in 2017
I believed that soon after the Revelation 12 Sign of the Woman occurred on
September 23 we on Earth would see a Great Convergence of Events just before or
simultaneously with the Rapture:
Since then the Lord has revealed that the awaiting Bride of
Christ WILL see a large earthquake in America accompanied by darkness
(SEE Prophesied
Events Before the Rapture). Whether this is part of the Revelation 6 Great Earthquake
resulting in the Resurrection of The Dead in Christ, I am uncertain. Some
believe God has shown them that Those in Christ and Living at the time of this
quake will be Raptured during the Days of Darkness (or shortly after the Days
of Darkness) after a brief time of ministering to the unsaved.
This would align with what the Lord showed me as far as an
apparent natural disaster occurring leading to a brief revival and then the
Rapture (see The
dropping of HIS shoe). “An awakening can happen in an hour,” as Youtube pastor
Tim Henderson is known for saying.
If the list of converging events I keep referring to DOES
OCCUR, it would line up with the description of the Sixth Seal. The Great
Convergence could also be the “sudden destruction” referred to in 1
Thessalonians 5:3—
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. - 1 Thessalonians 5:3 KJV
BUT What About the 4th Seal?
What keeps me from being fully persuaded that the Seals are
Pre-Tribulation is the 4th Seal:
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice
of the fourth beast say, Come and see. - Revelation 6:7 KJV
And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that
sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them
over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and
with death, and with the beasts of the earth. - Revelation 6:8 KJV
The Rider on the Pale Horse is given the power to kill a
fourth of the population of earth. Today that means the death of 2 Billion
people!
This 4th Rider is given the power to kill a
fourth of the earth’s inhabitants, but does that mean 2 billion people will die
before the Tribulation begins or that war, hunger, and plagues only begin
to wipe out the population? The answer to that will give me the information I
need to decide whether the Seals of Revelation are Pre-Tribulation or part of
the wrath of the Lamb.
Is 5783 THE Year?
Whether the Seals are Pre-Trib or not, more and more
evidence gives us great expectation for the Rapture to occur in the Hebrew Year
5783. In THE
CROWNING & THE FINAL SIGN FOR A 5783 RAPTURE I list three compelling
reasons why 5783 could be when the Overcoming Church is Raptured.
To add to those is an article shared in the Comments section
at Unsealed
(thank you Sherrill)--THE
PROPHETIC EVENTS OF ABRAHAM'S LIFE. One look at the chart from this article
shows the parallel of Abraham’s life to a potential 2023 Rapture:
T. W. Tramm recently posted this significant observation
regarding where we are in this critical Sabbath Cycle in his article The
Prophetic Year 2022: Looking Back, Looking Forward, and Looking Up:
SABBATICAL CONTROVERSY
Concerning the Sabbatical calendar,
there are two widely recognized chronologies, which differ by a single year.
The first chronology was published around 1856 by Benedict Zuckermann, an
orthodox Jewish scientist. Zuckermann’s chronology represents what is
considered the standard position, and is the Sabbatical calendar used in Israel
today. According to this reckoning, the last Sabbatical year ended at Tishrei
2022, placing us currently in the first year of a new cycle.
The second chronology, which
proposes Sabbatical dates one year later than Zuckermann’s, was published by
Ben Zion Wacholder, a Christian Jewish scholar, in 1973. While Wacholder was
not the first to advocate such dates, his name is commonly associated with this
position.
. . . As the saying goes, “there
are two sides to every story, but the truth usually lies somewhere in the
middle.” According to Zuckermann, the pivotal first year of the Sabbatical
cycle (potential Jubilee) began at Tishrei 2022. According to Wacholder, it
begins at Tishrei 2023. Reckoning Wacholder’s chronology from Nisan, however,
the pivotal first year lands directly in the middle of the two Jewish
reckonings, beginning at Nisan 2023.
What is interesting is that,
whether one observes the standard fall reckoning of Zuckermann,
or Wacholder’s version reckoned from Nisan, the pertinent harvest season
is the same: spring–summer 2023. . .
That spring begins the year is
especially important in the year following a Sabbatical, a potential Jubilee. There
is a reason the Jubilee is declared in the fall, six months ahead of its
arrival in spring: to allow time to prepare for the redemption of servants and
property that occurs at the 50th year.
Using the traditional Zuckermann method, many, including myself, believed Jacob’s Trouble was to begin at Rosh Hashanah 2022:
If Daniel’s 70th week
encompasses a 7-year Sabbatical Cycle, which I and many others believe it will,
it is highly probable The Tribulation could begin in the Autumn of 2022 when
the current Sabbatical Cycle or Shemitah ends and the 11th Shemitah
(11= disorder; chaos) begins. Source: September
2022 and the Year of the Bride
In Genesis 1 the Creator had to bring ORDER to the earth out
of the CHAOS caused by the fall of Lucifer and the third of the angels:
This globe, at some undescribed
period, having been convulsed and broken up, was a dark and watery waste for ages
perhaps, till out of this chaotic state, the present fabric of the world was
made to arise. Source: Commentary
on Genesis 1:2 by ROBERT JAMIESON
In Revelation 12 we see that once again Lucifer and his minions
are cast down but this time from the second heaven. Their mission is to once again cause havoc—terrifying chaos--BUT the Man Child/Bride is born into God’s throne room in Heaven before the destructive chaos begins (Revelation
12:4-5 and 7-9). How exciting it is then that by using Wacholder’s method, the
11th Shemitah of Chaos will start in the Spring of 2023 when a
potential Jubilee
could begin—when SERVANTS RECEIVE REDEMPTION AND MAY RETURN HOME!
HAPPY (potential) RAPTURE YEAR, DEAR FAMILY!
3 comments:
Nice article! Very well done! Ultimately, despite so much study on the subject that many Christians have done, we don't officially know if the seals are open or not. Nor who exactly are the 24 elders seated on thrones. Yet God is not a God of confusion. I think some knowledge will only be revealed in the Lord's time, in His time. In recent years we understand so many prophecies and Bible truths, but not all of them, maybe because it is not necessary to understand it now? I do not know. We go forward by faith, knowing that Jesus is coming soon to take us with him, and I think we will have many surprises of all kinds up there and clarity in all of this. Thank you while waiting to leave, to encourage the brothers and sisters in Christ. You have such a beautiful gift from God, the talent to write!
THANK YOU, CAROLE/Maranatha321! YES, we go forward by FAITH as you wrote. May we understand our Heavenly Father's Plan as He reveals it to us as we stand on "G" waiting for "O"-- to GO! Thank you for your kind affirmation for it is my heart to encourage the Brethren as we see the Day approaching. Great big hug🤗
One of the Brothers over at Unsealed has been ruminating on the potential 6th Seal Rapture idea. Here are his comments and my reply:
Pastor Rich 1/02/2023 12:42 PM
Hi Lyn,
The sixth seal is something I've been looking at closely lately as well. A while back I started exploring the harpazo being after the horsemen and the sixth seal may provide a fit. (Not a mid-trib harpazo). The stumbling block is then the details of the elders and how/who we understand them to be at the time of the opening of the first seals. This is what I'm digging on now...
Continuing to read your post with great interest!
Pastor Rich 1/02/2023 1:27 PM
Quoting you, Lyn,
"What is interesting is that, whether one observes the standard fall reckoning of Zuckermann, or Wacholder’s version reckoned from Nisan, the pertinent harvest season is the same: spring–summer 2023. . ."
This is also very interesting as it includes Shavuot, 2023 on the Essene calendar which is one year after the New Year's Day/Bethlehem Star/Shavuot 37-day (888-hour) cycle found in 2022 of the same calendar.
Essene New Year's Day 2022 + 888-hours = Bethlehem Star + 888-hours = Essene Shavuot 2022
Add to that the timing provided by (Genesis 18:10) and the story of Isaac; Adam and your comment above provide a consistent fit with my current study model. All different perspectives looking at the same subject and fitting like a glove.
Worthy of more digging...
Lyn Melvin 1/03/2023 9:07 AM
Thank you so much for your input, dear Brother! Yes, the 24 Elders is a definite stumbling block in a 6th Seal Rapture scenario. Some teach that these elders come from the First Fruit Resurrection of the saints after Christ's death and resurrection:
The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. (Matt. 27:52–53)
Your Essene-related calculations are interesting and I had forgotten about Genesis 18:10.
Hmmmmmm. I am looking forward to what more you dig up! ✨⛏️
(To follow additional posts from Pastor Rich on this subject, go to Unsealed)
Post a Comment