Well...if you’re a Christian you’ll be surprised then when it occurs....until then we’ll agree we don’t agree as to that event.. Therefore it appears you think we’ll be going through the Tribulation period.....which I could not imagine taking the mark of the beast with a knife held at my childrens necks or some of the other tactics which will be used to force this on mankind.
Jesus said.... “I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.”....I believe Him.
....the time of great tribulation before Christ’s second coming is a judgement on unbelievers...”to try them that dwell upon the earth—those who are of earth, earthy (Rev 8:13).
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>> “Well...if you’re a Christian you’ll be surprised then when it occurs.” <<
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Shouldn’t be!
Paul promised the Thessalonians that because they kept his appointed times, they would not be surprised.
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I’ve studied both sides of the rapture debate and therefore read verses quoted in support of it and in opposition to it.
So far I have not found an answer to the question of why God would shorten the time of tribulation if the elect had already been taken up. If only unbelievers are left to endure the tribulation, why shorten it for the sake of the elect. If they’re in heaven, they’re unaffected by earthly matters.
Matthew 24:22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
Mark 13:20 If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.