Howdy RnMomof7
I hope this helps some, and I'm also apologizing in advance for it being so long.
And everyone is free to believe what they want, but since I was a "religious" virgin and this is what The Holy Spirit showed me...it's what I believe.
"The Church's" purpose right now is witnessing to the lost, but then we'll be given another job. Maybe think of it as a job promotion.
Anyways in explaining my view RnMomof7....after we're "caught up" (Raptured) Gone...out of here...we get our brand new resurrected "Flesh & Bone" body just like Jesus has, before the antichrist makes his appearance and before the 7 years of tribulation starts.
You asked for the 1...2...3..steps the other day.
Here's mine:
#1. The Rapture...
1 Cor 15:50 I tell you this, my brothers: an earthly body made of flesh and blood cannot get into God's Kingdom. These perishable bodies of ours are not the right kind to live forever.
1 Cor 15:51 But I am telling you this strange and wonderful secret: we shall not all die, but we shall all be given new bodies!
1 Cor 15:52 It will all happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For there will be a trumpet blast from the sky, and all the Christians who have died will suddenly become alive, with new bodies that will never, never die; and then we who are still alive shall suddenly have new bodies too.
1 Cor 15:53 For our earthly bodies, the ones we have now that can die, must be transformed into heavenly bodies that cannot perish but will live forever.
1 Th 4:13 And now, dear brothers, I want you to know what happens to a Christian when he dies so that when it happens, you will not be full of sorrow, as those are who have no hope.
1 Th 4:14 For since we believe that Jesus died and then came back to life again, we can also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him all the Christians who have died.
1 Th 4:15 I can tell you this directly from the Lord: that we who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves.
1 Th 4:16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a mighty shout and with the soul-stirring cry of the archangel and the great trumpet-call of God. And the believers who are dead will be the first to rise to meet the Lord.
1 Th 4:17 Then we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever.
1 Th 4:18 So comfort and encourage each other with this news.
#2. The antichrist makes his appearence...
Dan 9:26 "After this period of 434 years, the Anointed One will be killed, his kingdom still unrealized. . . and a king will arise whose armies will destroy the city and the Temple. They will be overwhelmed as with a flood, and war and its miseries are decreed from that time to the very end.
#3. The 7 year tribulation period starts (the first 3 1/2 years are fairly peaceful...he lets the Jewish folks rebuild their temple & start the daily sacrifices...
Dan 9:27 This king (the antichrist) will make a seven-year treaty with the people, but after half that time, he will break his pledge and stop the Jews from all their sacrifices and their offerings; then, as a climax to all his terrible deeds, the Enemy shall utterly defile the sanctuary of God. But in God's time and plan, his judgment will be poured out upon this Evil One."
This is from a news article...so you can see how close we are:
NEWS BRIEF: "Laying and Anointing A Cornerstone For The Third Temple: Feast of Tabernacles, Monday, 16th October, 2000, 0900 AM", email announcement from Temple Mount Faithful, October 11, 2000. [NOTE: Confirmed by a Christian pastor in Jerusalem, October 12, 2000]
"You are invited to march with The Temple Mount and Land of Israel Faithful Movement to the Temple Mount and to participate in the ceremony of the anointing of the cornerstone for the Third Temple. We shall march from the Temple Mount to the City of King David where the ceremony of the anointing will take place. Then we shall march to the Pool of Siloam for the ceremony of the Pouring of the Water will take place as it was done in the Biblical times. The marble corner-stone, untouched by iron, weighing four and a half tonne, will be carried on a flat-bed truck, covered with Israeli flags together with the reconstructed vessels for the Third Temple, a priest in the original garments, and Levites who will play music."
"This historical event will take place on Monday 16th October 2000, the third day of Sukkoth, at 09:00 AM. We shall meet at the Western Wall plaza close to the western (Mugrabi) gate of the Temple Mount. The event has the approval of the Israeli authorities and will be protected by the Israeli security forces."
#4. Jesus second coming...His feet touch the ground and every eye shall see Him!
Zec 14:1 See, a day is coming for the LORD, when the plunder taken from you will be divided in your midst.
Zec 14:2 For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses looted and the women raped; half the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zec 14:3 Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.
Zec 14:4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward.
Zec 14:5 And you shall flee by the valley of the Lord's mountain, for the valley between the mountains shall reach to Azal; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
#5. 1,000 years of peace...
#6. Present world destroyed by fire...
#7. New Heavens and New Earth.
All the folks left behind after the Rapture will remember what we said but...
Amos 8:11 "The time is surely coming," says the Lord God, "when I will send a famine on the land--not a famine of bread or water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
Amos 8:12 Men will wander everywhere from sea to sea, seeking the word of the Lord, searching, running here and going there, but will not find it.
Amos 8:13 Beautiful girls and fine young men alike will grow faint and weary, thirsting for the word of God.
Now you know if "The Church" were still here we'd be telling them. LOL...would we ever be "telling them". :)
Micah 7:1 Woe is me! It is as hard to find an honest man as grapes and figs when harvest days are over. Not a cluster to eat, not a single early fig, however much I long for it!
Micah 7:2 The good men have disappeared from the earth; not one fair-minded man is left. They are all murderers, turning against even their own brothers.
Micah 7:3 They go at their evil deeds with both hands, and how skilled they are in using them! The governor and judge alike demand bribes. The rich man pays them off and tells them whom to ruin. Justice is twisted between them.
Micah 7:4 Even the best of them are prickly as briars; the straightest is more crooked than a hedge of thorns. But your judgment day is coming swiftly now; your time of punishment is almost here; confusion, destruction, and terror will be yours.
Micah 7:5 Don't trust anyone, not your best friend--not even your wife!
Micah 7:6 For the son despises his father; the daughter defies her mother; the bride curses her mother-in-law. Yes, a man's enemies will be found in his own home.
Sorry once again RnMomof7 I didn't mean to make this so long, but I just wanted to show you why I believe the 24 Elders are represented by 12 OT Saints and 12 of "The Church" = 24.
Continuing on:
what He said to the OT Saints about judging.
Exo 18:19 Now listen, and let me give you a word of advice, and God will bless you: Be these people's lawyer--their representative before God--bringing him their questions to decide;
Exo 18:20 you will tell them his decisions, teaching them God's laws, and showing them the principles of godly living.
Exo 18:21 "Find some capable, godly, honest men who hate bribes, and appoint them as judges, one judge for each 1,000 people; he in turn will have ten judges under him, each in charge of a hundred; and under each of them will be two judges, each responsible for the affairs of fifty people; and each of these will have five judges beneath him, each counseling ten persons.
Exo 18:22 Let these men be responsible to serve the people with justice at all times. Anything that is too important or complicated can be brought to you. But the smaller matters they can take care of themselves. That way it will be easier for you because you will share the burden with them.
Deu 17:8 "If a case arises that is too hard for you to decide--for instance, whether someone is guilty of murder when there is insufficient evidence, or whether someone's rights have been violated--you shall take the case to the sanctuary of the Lord your God,
Deu 17:9 to the priests and Levites, and the chief judge on duty at the time will make the decision.
Deu 17:10 His decision is without appeal and is to be followed to the letter.
Deu 17:11 The sentence he imposes is to be fully executed.
Deu 17:12 If the defendant refuses to accept the decision of the priest or judge appointed by God for this purpose, the penalty is death. Such sinners must be purged from Israel.
Deu 17:13 Then everyone will hear about what happened to the man who refused God's verdict, and they will be afraid to defy a court's judgment.
***Now what He said to"The Church" about judging.
1 Cor 6:2 Don't you know that someday we Christians are going to judge and govern the world? So why can't you decide even these little things among yourselves?
1 Cor 6:3 Don't you realize that we Christians will judge and reward the very angels in heaven? So you should be able to decide your problems down here on earth easily enough.
Rom 5:9 And since by his blood he did all this for us as sinners, how much more will he do for us now that he has declared us not guilty? Now he will save us from all of God's wrath to come.
Now lets see what all Christians will be wearing:
2 Tim 4:8 In heaven a crown is waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of his return. And not just to me but to all those whose lives show that they are eagerly looking forward to his coming back again.
So Christians will be wearing crowns...there are other types of crowns too.
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ who faithfully reveals all truth to us. He was the first to rise from death, to die no more. He is far greater than any king in all the earth. All praise to him who always loves us and who set us free from our sins by pouring out his lifeblood for us.
Rev 1:6 He has gathered us into his Kingdom and made us priests of God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever! Amen!
Rev 3:5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
Rev 3:6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Rev 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
Rev 4:4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
Rev 5:7 He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting upon the throne.
Rev 5:8 And as he took the scroll, the twenty-four Elders fell down before the Lamb, each with a harp and golden vials filled with incense--the prayers of God's people!
Rev 5:9 They were singing him a new song with these words: "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it; for you were slain, and your blood has bought people from every nation as gifts for God.
Rev 5:10 And you have gathered them into a kingdom and made them priests of our God; they shall reign upon the earth."
Rev 7:13 Then one of the twenty-four Elders asked me, "Do you know who these are, who are clothed in white, and where they come from?"
Rev 7:14 "No, sir," I replied. "Please tell me." "These are the ones coming out of the Great Tribulation," he said; "they washed their robes and whitened them by the blood of the Lamb.
Now we'll have a purpose in Heaven too and that will be judging all those who accepted Jesus during the Tribulation Period. Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those who had been given the right to judge.
And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus, for proclaiming the Word of God, and who had not worshiped the Creature or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their foreheads or their hands. They had come to life again and now they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Where the OT saints were saved by "faith" and "The Church" was saved by "Grace"...the ones who accept Jesus during the Trib had to give up thier heads to be saved. They are the ones standing in front of the thrones...beheaded. They've died a martyrs death.
Rev 20:5 This is the First Resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) ***This is where the Tribulation saints get their "flesh & bone" bodies.
Rev 20:6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the First Resurrection. For them the Second Death holds no terrors, for they will be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Since we are going to have a body just like Jesus' we’ll be able to do the same thing in ours as He does in His. Time and distance were no barrier to Him.
Acts 1:3 During the forty days after his crucifixion he appeared to the apostles from time to time, actually alive, and proved to them in many ways that it was really he himself they were seeing. And on these occasions he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.
Acts 1:6 And another time when he appeared to them, they asked him, "Lord, are you going to free Israel (from Rome) now and restore us as an independent nation?"
Acts 1:7 "The Father sets those dates," he replied, "and they are not for you to know.
Acts 1:8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect, to the people in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, about my death and resurrection."
Acts 1:9 It was not long afterwards that he rose into the sky and disappeared into a cloud, leaving them staring after him.
Acts 1:10 As they were straining their eyes for another glimpse, suddenly two white-robed men were standing there among them,
Acts 1:11 and said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has gone away to heaven, and some day, just as he went, he will return!"