A Question About Rev. 6
I have been reading your excellent work on the Revelation. You made one statement that bothers me. “Just as the church has a fixed number to achieve before its time on Earth is fulfilled so it is for believers who’re martyred for their faith following the Church’s disappearance.”
Q. I have read almost every thing that I can find that you have written and I consider you to be one of, if not the, best writers on the end times. I guess that the reason that I feel that you are so smart is that for the greatest part you agree with me. That makes us both smart.
I have been reading your excellent work on the Revelation. You did a great piece of work, but you made one statement that bothers me in your comments on Rev. 6:11.
“Just as the church has a fixed number to achieve before its time on Earth is fulfilled (Romans 11:25) so it is for believers who’re martyred for their faith following the Church’s disappearance.”
I know what Romans 11:25 says, but it seems that you’re saying that there is a fixed number that the Church must meet in people saved. This creates goal that must take place before Christ can return for His Church.
As I understand scripture there is no such limit and Christ can return at any moment and we do not have to wait for anything to be fulfilled. Am I misunderstanding what you are saying or what you are meaning?
A. I read Romans 11:25 to say that there’s a specific number of believers in the Church and that when that number is reached we’ll go to be with the Lord. I think that’s the main reason why no man can know the day or hour of the Rapture.
I believe that the Doctrine of Imminency is a principle, not a rule, and applies to the order of end times signs. Although I wonder whether the Lord could have come for the Church before Israel was re-born as a nation,there is no longer any End Times sign that that must precede the Rapture.
But our God is a God of order and I don’t think there’s anything arbitrary or subjective about the timing of the Rapture. If it’s not date specific, then there has to be something else, and I think Romans 11:25 says it’s reaching a certain number.
