Over the past few months I’ve been studying the work of Protestant prophecy scholars.
The doctrine of the rapture has been a controversial topic. Not whether or not it will occur– like Mormons argue– but whether or not it happens before or after the Tribulation.
Both sides of this argument bring valid reasoning for their stance.
The amazing thing I discovered is that Mormons have the answers. The D&C provides the clues to bring the discussion to an end. We can know of a certainty WHEN the rapture will take place.
The Book of Revelation is vague and unclear, but with modern prophecy as an aid, things become clear…
Of course, we do not know the date or time, but we CAN find out when the gathering and the rapture will occur between all the prophetic events of the future.
What’s so ironic about Mormons is the fact that although they may have the answers to the dillemas of Protestants, they remain blissfully unaware of this. For 180 years, only a rare some individuals seem to have studied the Mormon-exclusive scriptures seriously enough to find out the amazing things they shine light on.
Mormons, in fact, usually reject the concept of the rapture– *facepalm*– even though the scriptures are clear on this. [To be fair, some Christians also reject the rapture.]
As fun as it would be, I am NOT going to explain the ENTIRE Book of Revelation. I am going to look at chapters 5-7, in regards to the seven seals.
Between the gospels, the Book of Revelation, and the D&C I have ascertained when the gathering and rapture will take place during which seal. If I am correct in my interpretations, this is my most important post.
My contention is that those that have a pre-Tribulation rapture stance, are confusing that idea with a mid-Tribulation GATHERING; and that those that believe in a post-Tribulation rapture are, in some regards, correct.
The rapture happens after the Tribulation indeed– before the day of the Lord, when the wrath of God comes down in the seventh seal.
Those that believe in the correct post-Tribulation rapture, however, are missing the fact that there is a mid-Tribulation gathering!
Similar to the faith vs. works argument– both sides are correct, and both sides are wrong.
I am going to provide the bigger picture in regards to the gathering and rapture.
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The place to start is this:
Realize that we are in the fifth seal. Not the sixth, and sure as heck not the seventh.
I will prove this in a moment, but first consider the state of what is said to occur during the fifth seal.
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
Many people are not aware of this, but right now the most persecuted group in the entire world is Christians. They are being slaughtered by the millions in the Middle East.
See this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytdMUddGe-U
The media is not reporting this, obviously. The media is pro-Islam, which is to be expected. They believe Muslims are fighting for justice, that they have been wronged by the Jews and European colonization. This narrative is a lie. The Muslims simply want to kill Jews and Christians because their false god tells them to in the Quran.
This website provides 100 references to violence in the Islamic religious text: http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/quran/violence.aspx
While the Saints on this side of the globe may be in the midst of a spiritual warfare– a battle for their faith– the Christians (and Jews) on the other side of the globe are fighting for their lives.
Mormons are currently not the main characters in God’s story right now.
The fifth seal contains the tribulation.
The tribulation is the war against Christians and Jews, as well as the culminating event of the abomination of desolation.
[BTW there is a difference between the ‘abomination of desolation’ and the ‘desolation of abomination’, but figure that one out on your own 🙂 ]
God’s people do not escape the Tribulation; they escape God’s wrath during the “day of the Lord.”
This is why there is a divide between those that study the Bible. There seems to be references to escaping the end-time-evil’s, but there are references to having go through it– like the martyrs who die for their testimonies.
I am positive that the celestial souls do not escape the Tribulation. In fact, I believe the celestial souls are the TARGET of the Tribulation.
Only until the seventh seal will God’s wrath be poured down on the earth. THAT is what the Saints will of course be protected from.
However, God’s wrath does BEGIN in the sixth seal– but the angels tell God to wait long enough to seal the 144,000. I’ll return to this in a moment.
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Here is the evidence that we are in the fifth seal….
When the sixth seal is opened, there is a great earthquake, the sun becomes black, and the moon gives no light/turns to blood. (Rev 6:12)
I do not believe this has occurred.
Certain things must come to pass BEFORE this happens.
Look at Mathew 24:
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
29 ¶Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
There is a gathering that occurs before/during the Tribulation!
Early in the D&C we read that the first elders of the church are called to bring to pass the gathering of the elect– that, “they shall be gathered unto ONE place upon the face of the land,” when tribulation is sent forth. (D&C 29:7-8)
Look at what the JST of Mathew even says:
27 And now I show unto you a parable. Behold, wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together; so likewise shall mine elect be gathered from the four quarters of the earth.
28 And they shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars.
29 Behold I speak for mine elect’s sake; for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
30 And again, because iniquity shall abound, the love of men shall wax cold; but he that shall not be overcome, the same shall be saved.
31 And again, this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked;
32 And again shall the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, be fulfilled.
33 And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
There is going to be a gathering.
Then the Gospel is preached unto the whole world…
the abomination of desolation occurs…
and THEN the sixth seal opens – the sun is darkened and the moon gives no light.
Let’s get further clarity from Luke before we turn to the D&C.
Luke 21:
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
25 ¶And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
The times of the Gentiles are fulfilled before the sixth seal.
The JST, again, makes it even more clear:
25 And he answered them, and said, In the generation in which the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, like the sea and the waves roaring. The earth also shall be troubled, and the waters of the great deep;
Something else that most are not aware of, is that the times of the Gentiles is yet to come in.
According to the D&C, the times of the Gentiles needs to come in one last time. (D&C 45:28) This is when the Gospel of the Kingdom is preached as a witness unto the whole world, as recorded by Mathew.
Mathew 24:
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
After the final witness to the nations, the abomination of desolation occurs. We are told that when we see this, we must go the holy place. (Zion!)
We are also told that when this happens we should, “pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day.” (Matt 24:20)
The meaning of Christ’ words here is that we need to pray that we are not fleeing from Babylon during the seventh seal (sabbath day/seventh day). We want to be fleeing during either the fifth or the sixth seal– not the seventh, because that is when the wrath of God is being poured out on the nations.
We want to leave in the summer, not the winter.
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There is two passages of scripture I want to compare:
- And now I show unto you a parable. Behold, wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together; so likewise shall mine elect be gathered from the four quarters of the earth. (JST Mathew-1:27, Mathew 24:28)
- Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. And they answered unto, Where Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, hither will the eagles be gathered together. (Luke 17:37)
Notice that Luke uses the word body, not carcass.
The reason for this is because Luke is referring to the body of Christ, which is already gathered. Luke is speaking of the rapture, not the gathering.
JST—as always—clarifies even more:
37 And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is gathered; or, in other words, whithersoever the saints are gathered, thither will the eagles be gathered together; or, thither will the remainder be gathered together.
38 This he spake, signifying the gathering of his saints; and of angels descending and gathering the remainder unto them; the one from the bed, the other from the grinding, and the other from the field, whithersoever he listeth.
This is included in the JST-Mathew. Verse 27 spoke of a gathering to the carcass, to make up the body, but then it speaks of the rapture once the Gospel of the Kingdom is preached and the abomination of desolation occurs.
37 And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived, for the Son of Man shall come, and he shall send his angels before him with the great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together the remainder of his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
The gathering occurs from the four quarters of the earth, while the rapture occurs from the four winds.
The rapture also occurs at the sound of a trumpet– just like Paul said in 1 Thessalalonians 4:
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The elect whom are gathered at Zion, will be lifted up, and the remainder of the elect will be gathered by angels from the four winds.
This happens at the sound of a trumpet. This is the first trumpet which occurs in the seventh seal. So the rapture occurs during the seventh seal.
Those that are not elect, who are neither gathered nor caught up, will have to make the journey to Zion on foot, during the seventh seal.
That’s why Jesus said to pray your journey would not be on the sabbath day. If you’re travelling on the sabbath day, you missed the rapture.
My next topic, ‘Mysteries of the Kingdom pt.4’ will be about the seven trumpets.
For now I want to return back to the fifth seal:
This is when the Tribulation is occuring.
This is when the times of the Gentiles comes in for one final generation.
Doctrine and Covenants Section 88 tells us EVERYTHING we need to know as we anticipate the soon-to-be gathering.
Before we look at Section 88, let’s cover something from Section 1:
37 Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.
Denver Snuffer believes that because the Saints failed, God must use another people. He does not take modern revelation seriously. In this, he is not alone. Nobody studies the D&C seriously.
Until someone takes 1:37 seriously, they will fall victim to false prophets.
The voice of warning will be from the disciples that Christ has already chosen! The disciples that he chose were the ones that published the Book of Commandments in 1833. (D&C 1:4-6)
Speaking to the disciples who were chosen to give the voice of warning, Section 88 tells them this:
84 Therefore, tarry ye, and labor diligently, that you may be perfected in your ministry to go forth among the Gentiles for the last time, as many as the mouth of the Lord shall name, to bind up the law and seal up the testimony, and to prepare the saints for the hour of judgment which is to come;
85 That their souls may escape the wrath of God, the desolation of abomination which awaits the wicked, both in this world and in the world to come…
The first elders of the church will go forth amongst the Gentiles to BIND up the law (of consecration) among the Saints and seal them up to eternal life, which is the power they have been given. (see Section 68:12)
Meanwhile, the Lord tells us:
85 … Verily, I say unto you, let those who are not the first elders continue in the vineyard until the mouth of the Lord shall call them, for their time is not yet come; their garments are not clean from the blood of this generation.
This is the LDS church. They have kept the mandate to continue in the vineyard with their limited priesthood and spiritual gifts. This is their priesthood calling, until the mouth of the Lord calls for the first elders to return and prepare the Saints.
Section 133 calls for the followers of Christ to flee to Zion– all except those that have been told to TARRY.
Those that were told to TARRY were the first elders. The first elders don’t go to Zion like the rest of the Saints; they go into the world to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom!
The abomination of desolation will be seen at around this time; and thus the world will be given a chance to accept Jesus Christ or not– by heeding the warning of the first elders, which is, “Repent, and be baptized, and flee to Zion.”
Once the first elders are called forth and complete their mission:
87 .. not many days hence and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro as a drunken man; and the sun shall hide his face, and shall refuse to give light; and the moon shall be bathed in blood; and the stars shall become exceedingly angry, and shall cast themselves down as a fig that falleth from off a fig tree.
88 And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.
89 For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand.
90 And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.
After the first elders complete their mission throughout the sixth seal, sealing up the 144,000, the seventh seal is opened as recorded in Revelation 8.
The wording in that chapter relects D&C 88:90 – during the seventh seal there are many VOICES.
Voices of thunderings, voices of lightnings, voices of earthquakes.
Revelation 8:
5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire on the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there VOICES, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.
Those are the voices after the first elders complete their mission and give their testimonies!
The first elders must return before the seventh seal is opened.
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So the test is this:
Do you believe in the Doctrine and Covenants?
Either it is a book of failed prophecies– which makes it a lie– or it will come to pass exactly as it is written.
For me, I know the D&C is true. The revelations therein are incredible. I trust it. I know that it’s God’s word.
Section 88 continues on to expound on the trumpets that are blown during the seventh seal, which I will document in the next part of this series.
How Section 88 perfectly fills in the gaps of Revelation, without ever contradicting it, is beyond belief. No mortal man could have come up with this stuff. Joseph Smith is not the author of the D&C.
The only logical explanation for the Book of Mormon and the D&C is that they came from God. When you take them seriously, it becomes obvious.
When you take God’s word seriously… many things, in fact, become obvious.
-G.azelem