A.  First let me say it’s quite possible that the Bema Seat judgment, which appears to be more like an awards ceremony,  is unique to the church. There’s no mention of anything similar for Old Testament saints. Nor does the Bible describe such a thing for Tribulation and Millennial saints.

But there is a hint that the Great White Throne judgment will involve more than just the unsaved dead. Speaking of that judgment Rev. 20:15 says, “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

By definition the names of the unsaved dead would not be written in the book of life.  Why would the Lord have John even mention it unless there will also be some there whose names are written in the book?  These could be tribulation and millennial believers.

The fact that the Bible leaves much unsaid about life in the millennium leads me to speculate that a third testament will be given to millennial believers, just like a second testament was given to Church age believers. And like the New Testament has done for us, this third testament would guide believers in understanding and living their faith during the millennium. I think it would likely include the requirements for eternal life as well as describing their translation from mortal to immortal in preparation for eternity.

A.  Scholars are divided as to whether the birth pangs begin before Daniel’s 70th week or whether they’re meant to represent the seal judgments. I think this is due to the fact that the first specific sign of the end times the Lord gave us is the abomination that causes desolation (Matt. 24:15)nwhich won’t appear until the middle of the 70th Week.

Personally I think the birth pangs were intended to begin before the 70th Week because in Matt. 24: 6 Jesus said not to be alarmed by the news of wars and rumors of war because the end is still to come. Then He added the rise of nation against nation, famines and earthquakes in various places saying these are the beginning of birth pangs (Matt. 24:8).

Since both the Lord and Paul compared the end times signs to a woman’s labor, let me continue in that vein by comparing the three stages of labor to the end times signs.

The first stage is called early labor.  It’s the longest and least intense of the three stages. This is when a woman first concludes her time of labor is beginning.  In my opinion this is what Jesus was describing as wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, etc. I think this is where the world is now.

In the second stage, called active labor, things become more serious. A woman’s contractions become much stronger and more frequent.  I believe this stage will begin after the Church is gone, with the introduction of the anti-Christ as the rider on the white horse (Rev. 6:2) followed by the seal and trumpet judgments. This is the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week, the beginning of the time of God’s wrath.

The third stage is called transitional labor. It’s the last, shortest, and most intensive part of a woman’s labor. I believe transitional labor can be compared to the Great Tribulation where the world will experience the bowl judgments which will bring the time of God’s wrath to a conclusion (Rev. 15:1) and set the stage for the Second Coming.

A.  There are several reasons why the martyrs of Rev. 7:9-17 can’t be the Church.  Since they will arrive in Heaven so soon after the rapture they are most likely the spirits of people who will become believers after seeing their Christian friends and family disappear.  They will remember that they were told the rapture would happen and why, and will become believers because of it.

They can’t be part of the church because of their destiny.  The Church is described as kings and priests, but although John said these martyrs will serve God day and night in His Temple (Rev. 7:15) they are never called priests.  Also there is no temple in the New Jerusalem where the Church will be (Rev. 21:22).

And finally, John said the martyrs who will be resurrected in Rev. 20:4  are those who will have been beheaded for refusing to take the mark of the beast.  This doesn’t become a requirement until the Great Tribulation begins in Rev.13.  The martyrs of Rev. 7 will be gone before then.

A.  The Lord’s elect can be found in heaven and on Earth at the same time because the word “elect” doesn’t only apply to the Church.  The word elect means chosen and is used 4 times in the Old Testament in reference to Israel. Israel is well known as God’s chosen people (His elect).

The Olivet Discourse is about Israel during Daniel’s 70th Week and neither Matt. 24 nor Mark 13 mention the Church at all.  Therefore, in the strictest sense I think the elect in heaven are Jews who died in faith and are awaiting their resurrection, which will happen at the time of the 2nd Coming (Daniel 12:2-3).  The elect on Earth are believing Jews who will survive the Great Tribulation and will still be alive when the Lord returns.

So if we look at the two absolutes of eternal salvation through grace and eternal damnation by taking the mark of the beast, there surely needs to be a physical break between these two requirements to ensure that they can both be met without contradiction.  And by my understanding, that break must be the Rapture. Does this make sense, and can this be used as proof that the Rapture needs to occur before the Tribulation?

A.  Yes, this is one of a long list of things we can use in support of a pre-tribulation rapture.  If you read further, in Rev. 14:12 John said the dilemma facing believers when the requirement to take the mark appears must be met with “patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus.”

This proves that believers who will be subjected to the mark are not part of the church.  We are saved by grace alone and our salvation is guaranteed from the moment we believe (Ephesians 1:13-14, 2:8-9).  Tribulation believers will have to obey the commandments and remain faithful to Jesus in order to keep their salvation.  Rev. 14:13 says they must do this even to the point of death. This implies that if they don’t sacrifice their lives rather than take the mark, they’ll be lost forever.  Their salvation is not guaranteed like ours is.

A.  Israel’s journey back to God comes in two phases. Following the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 they will return to their Old Covenant relationship with Him.  They’ll build a Temple, install priests, and resume animal sacrifices, but will not yet recognize Jesus as their Messiah.

This will mark the beginning of the missing 70th Week of Daniel.  3 1/2 years later the anti-Christ will render the Temple unfit for use and the Great Tribulation will begin.  Sometime after that the Lord will pour out His spirit of grace and supplication upon Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and their eyes will be opened to the fact that Jesus is their Messiah as revealed in Zechariah 12:10.

A. It’s important to remember that only believing Jews will reject the anti-Christ, and they won’t do this until he claims to be God, at the beginning of the Great Tribulation.  Prior to that time, the anti-Christ will appear to fulfill all of Israel’s desires. Chief among these will be giving them the go-ahead for their Temple.  And in their history, another foreign king, Cyrus of Persia, was called a messiah (anointed one) by God in Isaiah 45:1.  He also helped the Jews rebuild their Temple.  So there is precedent for a non-Jewish King to be thought of as a messiah.

Also in Ezekiel 44:7-8 there’s a prophecy that upon His return, the Lord will accuse Israel of putting foreigners, uncircumcised in heart or flesh, in charge of His sanctuary during the Great Tribulation.  I see this as a reference to the anti-Christ and the false prophet. Therefore I don’t think it will be necessary for the anti-Christ to be Jewish

A.  You answered your own question.  If only the Church can be called saints then there cannot be a pre-trib rapture, because the anti-Christ’s war against the saints takes place at the outset of the Great Tribulation (Rev. 13:7). This verse says the anti-Christ will have the power to overcome them , but in Matt. 16:18 Jesus said the gates of Hell could not overcome the church.  Therefore other groups beside the Church must be called saints.

A saint is a holy one, one set apart for the Lord.  A search for the word saint in the Bible shows Aaron, the brother of Moses, was called a saint in Psalm 106:16.  In Daniel 8:13 the two angels are called saints in the KJV translation,  and those who are martyred during Daniel’s 70th Week are often called tribulation saints.

From this we know that whether in the Old Testament or the New, those who are set apart for the Lord can be called saints.  The term is not exclusive to the church.

A. The only major difference I’m aware of is that after the rapture the Holy Spirit won’t be sealed within believers as He is in the Church.  But that doesn’t mean He’ll be absent, any more than He was absent during Old Testament times.  Just as there were gifted teachers in the Old Testament,  there will also be gifted teachers in the Tribulation, and they will draw believers to them.

A.  According to some scholars, the 360 day calendar you refer to is really God’s calendar. They claim it’s the creation’s original calendar.  Several major prophetic passages can only be reconciled by using this calendar.  For example the duration of the Great Tribulation is variously given as 3 1/2 years (Rev. 12:14), or 42 months (Rev. 11:2) or 1260 days (Rev. 12:6).  These three measurements are only the same on a 360 day calendar.  I think adhering to the 360 day calendar is God’s way of keeping prophecies clear and specific no matter what mankind has done to the world’s various calendars.

The current Jewish calendar is based on lunar cycles making it about 11 days shorter than our solar based calendar (354 days vs. 365 days).  To maintain a general alignment between the two, the Jewish people periodically add a 13th month to their calendar.  This happens 7 times every 19 years, and keeps the Jewish festivals in the same general seasons relative to ours. Even so, the dates of their festivals can vary on our calendar by as much as a month or so from year to year.