*Pastor’s Note: We will continue, in no particular order questions posed from the excellent book by Mark Hitchcock entitled, The Complete Book of Bible Prophecy. My hope and prayer is that it will give some insight into much of the end-times prophecy the Bible speaks of and hopefully alleviates some of the fears and confusion people have about studying prophecy. The following is the next in a line of questions I present to you from his book:
Are There Any More Prophecies That Must Be Fulfilled Before The Rapture Can Occur?
When someone speaks about Bible prophecy, it is common to hear him or her say, “There are no more prophecies that must be fulfilled for the Rapture to occur.” While this statement is true, it is also misleading because it implies that there were or are some signs that must be fulfilled before the Rapture can take place. The Bible teaches that there are no signs that must take place before the Rapture. The Rapture is a sign-less, imminent, any-moment event from the human point of view. None of the key Rapture passages in the New Testament mention any signs that must occur for this event to happen. All the signs listed in Scripture—Daniel, Matthew 24–25 (the Olivet discourse), and Revelation—relate to the second coming of Christ to earth, not the Rapture. This is a very important distinction to understand.
As we see the signs in Scripture occurring in our world, we must remember that these are the signs of the approaching Tribulation and second coming of Christ to establish his kingdom. However, the fact that we already see the signs of these events obviously indicates that the Rapture is probably not far away.
Mr. Hitchcock’s teachings are informative and enlightening as well as inspirational and any book you can get for yourself from his writings will most definitely be well-worth it. I hope you are blessed AND informed and some of these questions and answers will give you a greater strength to walk in confidence and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Bible prophecy ALWAYS points to God and His plans for this world that He created through Christ Jesus. Therefore, for true Christians, it is meant to be a comfort that God continues as always to have everything under control despite what it might appear to the average person.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD 