Not in Revelation .... the Church is not subject to that.
The following is a post I did for someone else ....It's long but it explains why we are not in ... or will not go through the tribulation.
Why… we are not… and will not… go through the Tribulation.
I know it’s interesting, captivating, and adventurous to sift through the prophecy and attempt to put dates on events ….and even try to parallel things going on today with the tribulation prophecy.
But for those who are trying to match current events with tribulation prophecy … it’s not going to work…. And while I understand the logic that dictates your line of thinking …..(As those prophetic events that you pursue
would have been the next events in biblical succession to have taken place) … but you have not taken into consideration this current dispensation (better translated administration) of grace, which houses the mystery of the one body ….that, in essence, nullifies the rationale of sequence.
You will not find any prophecy in the OT or in the gospels regarding the mystery …. there is no mention of this (nor could there be) as it did not exist in the senses world until it was revealed to Paul by revelation of/from Jesus Christ… as noted in these scripture → {
Rom 16:25&
26} - {
Eph 3:2-
4} - {
Col 1:25-
27 &
Col 2:2b &
3}
God tells us why He kept it a mystery (secret) in
1Co 2:6-8.
The angels and prophets of old also diligently searched, desiring to see what was in the gap between the grave and the glory….. but to no avail
1Pe 1:10-
12.
What is the mystery
What we know now…was not available to be known prior to Paul receiving the revelation, as it (the mystery) did not exist except in the mind of God.
But We know that with God inserting the mystery in this administration of Grace it did not alter or abolish prophecy of coming events it merely detained or delayed it.
The prophesied events of the Lord’s day will take place ….but not until the culmination of this administration (dispensation) of Grace, the culmination being that of
“the gathering together unto Him”, which I will get into in a subsequent thread but I want to go through a few things that delineate the grace administration with the
Day of the Lord [[that term or “
the Lords Day” is used to represent all the prophetic events throughout the book of Revelation not just the specific day that the Lord returns as King of Kings.]]
This administration of Grace embodies the mystery of the one body (the one new man) and everything implicated within the mystery → all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge
Those treasures in v3 include… salvation by grace, the new birth, incorruptible seed, God in Christ in you, redemption, sanctification, righteousness, & justification…. Essentially, everything that was made unto us through Jesus Christ. Established by Gods acceptance (on our behalf) of what Jesus Christ accomplished…. All of those grace filled blessings will terminate at the termination of the grace administration with the gathering together …..And THEN does the day of the Lord technically begin.
Here are some of the notable differences between Grace and The day of the Lord.
Starting with GRACE
Having grace (which has been present throughout the Old Testament is different than being in the administration (dispensation) of grace. (
Eph 3:2) Which encapsulates the administration of the mystery of the one body. Which, as I stated, culminates with the return of Christ
in the air for the body of Christ …ONLY. (No one prior to the day of Pentecost and no unbelievers….just those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior.)
How much grace is there in Revelation ???
It is used twice …. once in the opening salutation
Rev 1:4 and once in the closing verse
Rev 22:21.
Compare that to the 72 times grace is referred to in the seven Church epistles of
Romans through
Thessalonians…..plus 10x in
Acts ….. and 34x in
Timothy through
Jude … all of which pertain to the administration of grace…… that comes to
116 X
But all things being equal…. I would deduct the 27x from all of the epistles where grace is used as an opening and closing salutation. That would leave us with
89 total times
grace is referred to …. but if we deduct the salutations from Revelation ….there would be
~ zero ~
For reference grace is used 37 x throughout the entire OT …. and 4x in gospels.
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In Christ …..
In Christ Jesus …..
In Jesus Christ …..
In Jesus …..
In Him …..
In the Lord Jesus .….. and a few other variations which are used in reference to
“US” …. the born-again Christian….. members of the Body of Christ, the one new man…. and are used over
170 X throughout the epistles and Acts.
You will not find any of those lexica in the Gospels…. and to no surprise …. neither will you find them in Revelation …..they are totally proprietary to the believers of the administration of Grace. And as I mentioned in another recent post ….there will technically be no “Christians” (per se) in the tribulation times of the Lords day. The term Christian which derived from the above recognitions (in christ … etc) will not be applicable to the gentiles and Jews which will be the two categories of people in Revelation…..just as it was in the Old Testament and gospels prior to Pentecost.
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Here is another marker that is interesting.
The history of the temple in the OT (Old Testament) was the place of worship which among other things was designed with the holy of holies where the ark of the covenant was kept. The temple was physical place where worship took place, where God dwelt …………… until Pentecost.
The physical structure is still there…. but according to the God breathed scriptures …God now dwells within us… we are the holy
naos.
We meaning … each and every member of the body of Christ.
You may have heard people refer to their physical body being the temple using reference to one of the scripture listed below ….that is not accurate.
Of the scripture listed below depicting the body as the temple they are all plural and they reference either a group of or the entire body of Christ believers of which dwells the holy
naos.
Naos →
1Co 3:16,
1Co 3:17,
1Co 6:19,
2Co 6:16,
Eph 2:21,
Act 17:24.
And we are referenced in the scripture as Gods dwelling place up until the “
gathering together unto Him” (aka rapture)
. When you get to Revelation the temple is once again referenced as a physical structure because the body of Christ (aka Christians) are no longer present on earth.
As an aside: The "individual person" throughout the epistles is referred to as the tabernacle not the temple as seen in the following scripture.
2Co 5:1, 2Co 5:4, (skēnos)..... 2Pe 1:13, 2Pe 1:14 (skēnōma) .......Heb 8:2, Heb 9:11, (skēnē)
I’ll add a few more
*Church of God is reference 9 times in Acts and the epistles zero X in OT & Gospels… zero X in Revelation
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*One Body is referenced 14 X in the Church epistles only… zero X in Revelation.
The one body will be gone at the gathering together ………….in Revelation it will only be Jews and Gentiles.
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*The mystery in the administration of grace is “the one new man” Jews and gentiles being fellow heirs and of the same body..... this
mystery is referred in the church epistles 14 times ….
The mystery that is referred to in Revelation is ……..
Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
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The only way you can possibly make the argument that we are living in the tribulation times of Revelation or going to go through …. Is if you believe that the administration of grace which houses the mystery …Has terminated....or will terminate
