Revelation Examined

Copyright © 2021 Melissa Pehle.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-3752-0 (sc)

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2021912250

WestBow Press rev. date: 06/15/2021

CONTENTS

Foreword

Where Theologians Agree

Pre-Tribulation

Mid-Tribulation

Pre-Wrath Tribulation

Post-Tribulation

Partial Rapture Tribulation

My Rapture Theory

Partial Revelation Breakdown

Author’s Note

Endnotes

FOREWORD

I know this book is likely to upset a lot of people though it is one I felt led to write. When I first got the feeling God wanted me to write this book; like Moses, thoughts of how I’m not qualified came to mind, after all I’m not trained in theology. I am a writer though and I am a devoted follower of Jesus Christ. I love God with all that I am. So, here I am doing what God is leading me to do, writing a book about the differences and similarities between God’s word and man’s doctrine regarding the Rapture, or catching up, of the Christians.

I feel that maybe God wanted me to do it because I wasn’t trained in theology. I had no preconceived opinions on the subject though I had heard both the pre-tribulation and mid-tribulation theories at the time but I truly had no real opinions of my own at that time. So I decided to read about it and try to figure it out. What I quickly learned was that there were many different opinions. One would say one time, another a different time, and then I read a book on post-tribulation theory, and that opened with saying the others were completely wrong. All the different perspectives were confusing but I was determined to find the truth. So I compared the theories, read the Bible, compared them to the Bible, and spent five years absorbing as much on this particular topic as I could. And, in the beginning, when I was reading the first post-tribulation book, God began leading me to write this book. So here we are.

I could throw around big words/phrases like Olivet discourse, eschatology, exegesis, replacement theology, dispensationalism, etc, but I won’t, unless it is in a quote and then I will endeavor to explain. I’m not writing this only for those who already know God and attend a church. I’m writing this book for everyone, whether they know Christ now or are meeting Him for the first time within this book. I pray everyone gains something from reading these words, if it is nothing more than a desire to look further in order to prove me nuts. I invite you to do that actually, as to prove me wrong you have to read the Bible to prove there is no scriptural basis for what I say here. Man’s doctrine isn’t the point here. I’m sure many men of God from many denominations would disagree with me. Invite them to show you the biblical foundation of their views, without twisting God’s words to make their point, or leaving out and ignoring other parts. This book should help with that as I will endeavor to show you most, if not all, of the Scriptures obviously about the Rapture.

Remember, God’s Word is not only for scholars, it is for everyone. Christ loves the educated and the uneducated, the rich and the poor, the just and the unjust, the criminal and the victim, the Christian and the Jew, the Hindu and the Buddhist, the Atheist, the agnostic, the Muslim and the Agnostic. In other words, He loves everyone, no matter who you are or what you’ve done. He wants no one to be lost but all to be saved. Remember, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; ut that the the world through him might be saved. (St. John 3:16-17) It is a gift from God you can accept or deny, the choice is yours. But to be saved you must accept the gift of salvation by believing in Jesus Christ for it is written Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (St. John 14:6)

No matter what anyone tells you, Jesus is the only way to salvation and Heaven. There is no other. And remember, Jesus died for you as a sacrifice for your sins. That shows a deep and abiding love, an unconditional love that is incomparable to anything on this earth. A sacrifice no one else has ever made for you. Jesus did that to wash you clean of your sins to make you acceptable to the Father. There is no other way.

Now I ask you to keep one verse of Scripture in mind as you read this. It is the same one I feel God is wanting more people to remember daily as they go through life. It answers the question of why we see God’s work as mysterious when He works in our lives. We always say, God works in mysterious ways when what we should always remember is Isaiah 55:9 where God told us, For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. So, His ways are only mysterious because we don’t understand how He thinks therefore we see mystery. Or we don’t understand why God answers some prayers with a no or in some way we don’t expect. What we must remember is that God knows what we need, and what is good for us, and He in His wisdom does what is best for us though it may not necessarily be what we wanted or what we thought we needed. However, God always acts in our best interests if we just listen and follow Him.

With that thought in mind, I hope you will, like me, try to remember that God is limitless, all powerful, full of grace, mercy, and love for all His children, hoping that none should perish, but rather accept the gift of salvation and eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ. And also remember that there are a few things we know with certainty about God—He is without sin and can’t abide it, and He will always keep His promises for only truth is found in Him. And the prophecies in Revelation are promises, and warnings, of what the future holds.

I’m not trying to say I’m right and everyone else is wrong nor am I trying to say one pastor is right and others are wrong. My only intent is to remind everyone, pastors and laypeople alike, that God is limitless and we, as people, don’t truly understand that. Naturally, when we read the Bible we don’t necessarily see that one unchangeable fact—God is capable of absolutely anything that brings Him glory especially through showing His love for His people. We see Him act for Israel, and her people, through great and wonderful miracles, and we think how long ago that was and wonder why God doesn’t do things like that now. The thing is, He is still active in this world. He cures cancer and heart disease, brings people back from the dead (see 90 Minutes in Heaven for one example), and He still has more in store for us. I sincerely believe that soon we will see the mighty hand of God at work on a much grander scale. And I pray we will all be ready when He does return. Now on to the topic at hand.

Have you heard of the Rapture? Have you heard someone tell you when it falls in the timeline of the end times? Have you heard someone scoff and say that there is no assurance of any such thing? Have you found yourself uplifted by the possibility after listening to one preacher and then have your hopes dashed by another? Have they quoted Scripture to justify their position? Or have they simply said they thought it was all hype? I will attempt to show, through this book, any and all Biblical justification for the varied opinions on when the Rapture might happen, or if it even will.

Remember throughout the one thing I mentioned earlier—His ways and thoughts are higher than ours—and as I feel He has led me to write this book, I believe He wants the whole issue seen from the perspective most, if not all, don’t—that He is capable of much more than most people ever realize. He is capable of more than our human minds can even comprehend. And in everything His love for His children shines through, all His children. And, unlike mankind, there is no limit to His forgiveness or how many chances He might be willing to give us. God gives us more than a second chance or a third, though eventually He will turn away, but only because you have turned from Him over and over and over again, and stand against Him not just apart from Him. Even then, though, true forgiveness could likely still be found.

Now there are those who believe in the Rapture happening pre-Tribulation, mid-Tribulation, post-Tribulation, pre-Wrath Tribulation and partial-Rapture Tribulation. And there are those who don’t believe in the Rapture at all. This is not an attempt to date set, as Jesus told us, "But of that day and