Notes of Faith September 1, 2026
The Beginning of the End
When Daniel gave us the last week, that prophetic week was made of seven lunar years. Seven lunar years are made of 84 months – that’s 84 months of 360 days because a lunar year is 360, not 365. You guys messed it up. I’m not sure why. That’s 2520 days. And so when the Bible talks about 1,260 days that Israel was in the desert, it’s fits exactly the latter part of the Tribulation. We know the number of days, the weeks, the months, the years.
Now, why is that so important? Because if you are of the persuasion of a mid-trib or a post-trib rapture, the imminency of the Lord’s appearing is removed from the picture. He is going to appear at an hour we do not expect. The Bible says in Matthew 24:42-44, “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.”
Who is the master of this world? Who is the lord of this world? Who is the god of this age? Satan. If Satan knew the day of the rapture, he would have not allowed it. He would have caused a lot of... Look what Jesus said, “For the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” He said, “Watch therefore,” in Matthew 25, “for you know neither today nor the hour in which the Son of man is coming.” Luke 12:40, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” This is exactly the point. If you are ready at all times, if you are eagerly waiting for Him to come, you don’t need to know exactly the hour. Do you? You don’t set an alarm clock. You don’t take your iPhone and type in “12:45 – Rapture.”
The fact that we don’t know the day keeps us pure, keeps us holy, keeps us waiting, keeps us holy. That’s the nature of humans. If they know an event, they just lose it before it happens. You know when you celebrate Christmas. Have you seen yourself in the two weeks before Christmas? You look like you lost your mind. When we talk about these things, we must always understand to not take things out of context.
Let’s try to understand for whom this whole last trumpet is all about. Look what Paul basically said. He said, “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with a voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” Dead in Christ means believers. “Then we who are alive and remain,” we, the living believers, “shall be caught up together with Him in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” It’s all about us – those who passed away and those who are still alive. This is not for the world. It is for the church
Can We Know When the Rapture Will Happen?
It is a strange reality of these last days that so many Christians do not believe in the Rapture of the church, while others see it taking place after the Tribulation begins. One of the problems with rapture denial, or mid- or pre-wrath rapture, is that it puts the church inside the 70th week of Daniel.
Daniel 9:24
“Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city.”
The Hebrew word translated “determined” means “to be marked out or to divide.” In other words, the 70 weeks of Daniel are specific to Daniel’s people, the Jews, and to the holy city, Jerusalem. All of them are marked out for God’s interaction with the Jews and the land of Israel.
Zechariah 12:8-9
In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the LORD before them. It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Zechariah 12-14 is a prophecy related to the 70th week of Daniel. There is no mention of the church or of God defending the Bride of Christ. It is only the Jews.
Revelation 13:7
It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation.
The “him” in this verse is the first beast, commonly referred to as the antichrist. How can this be the church when Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against His church? Satan cannot overcome the church because greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world! (1 John 4:4)
Philippians 3:20-21
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
If there is no rapture, then this verse means we should eagerly await the second coming. If the antichrist will make war with the saints and kill millions of them, then why is the church told we should eagerly wait for the Savior when most of the church will be dead?
The saints in Revelation are tribulation saints not the church. They are those who missed the rapture only to come to faith after it. They will enter into the 70th week of Daniel and many will be overcome by the antichrist and beheaded. I don’t know of anyone who is eagerly awaiting such a time.
The church is not appointed to the time of God’s global wrath. We will be with Jesus in the Father’s house at the marriage supper of the Lamb. That is something to eagerly await.
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus,
There is much to “argue” about in understanding God’s Word. End Times discussions would be high on this list. But I cannot see a view other than a pre-tribulation rapture of the church in Scripture.
Nothing needs to take place before the Lord Jesus returns for His bride, to take her to be with Him, the church, believers that are waiting for His appearing. This is promised in John 14 before Jesus’ crucifixion, death and resurrection. He will come back to take us to be with Him forever!
Rom 11:25-27
25 For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery — so that you will not be wise in your own estimation — that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written,
"THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION,
HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."
27 "THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM,
WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."
When the bride of Christ, the church, is taken out of this world, the focus will be on the nation and people of Israel. During the seven years of judgment by God on an unbelieving world, many Jews will believe in their Lord and Savior the Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus! Two thirds of the Jewish people alive at that time will not believe in Him and will perish in judgment, not just death, but for all eternity in hell and the Lake of Fire. But the believing remnant will inherit the promises of God given to the Jews in the book of Genesis, to inherit the Land, to live in peace with Jesus ruling on the throne of David in Jerusalem for a thousand years. Many promises will be fulfilled at this time that are prophecies waiting for thousands of years to come to fruition. We see the world turning on the Jewish people more and more today. All countries, including the United States of America will turn against Israel and its people. But God will keep them, provide for them, and save them from their enemies. He has performed many miracles for and through them since 1948 when they became a nation of people again. We are seeing the “end times” take shape before our very eyes. The world is ripe for the ascension of the anti-christ to appear. We may be with the Lord, but he will rise to world leadership and domination. No matter the concerns, struggles, and hardships we may experience today, things will be much worse soon as the prophecies of God play out. Come to Jesus in believing faith today and bypass the world’s worst days. He loves you and wants you to part of His forever family. Come, Lord Jesus. We are ready and waiting!
Pastor Dale