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Randy,
I wrote to you a few days ago but I have another question:
In your scenario of the final days of planet Earth, you say the following:

"...The beast assembles all of his commanders and they swarm their armies upon Israel from all parts of his kingdom. The sun goes dark, the moon blood red and the heavenly bodies are shaken. As the beast arrives with his staff, he gives orders to annihilate the city. Suddenly the LORD Jesus Christ appears in the sky and as He descends He is met by ascending believers in their new bodies as the world watches"...

If the antichrist sets himself up as God in the temple on such and such a date, then we KNOW that 3.5 years later, virtually to the day, the Lord will return at His Second Coming. If there is no pre- or mid-tribulation rapture, this would seem to contradict Matt. 24:44 where Jesus says, "For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will."
And again in Matt 24:42, He says, "...be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming."
And again in I Thess. 5:2 Paul says "... the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night."
These verses would seem to support a sudden and UNEXPECTED appearance of the Lord sometime before or during the tribulation/desolation period. Can you see what I'm saying? Since we KNOW the Lord will come back 3 and a half years after the desolation is set up in the temple, then His appearance on the Last Day will be expected, not unexpected.
Another passage describes the conditions on the Earth during the "days of the Son of Man":
Luke 17:26-30 says things will be pretty much as they were just before Noah boarded the ark, people were eating, drinking, buying and selling, marrying and building, much as is going on today. This doesn't sound much like a
world war is going on. Then suddenly the Lord appears and takes some but leaves others. This sounds like a pre- or at least mid-tribulation "snatching away" of believers. Again, I emphasize that we know virtually to the day when the Lord will appear at His Second Coming because it will be 3.5 years after the abomination is set up in the temple. This will not be a surprise to those who believe and read their Bibles. The picture painted by the verses cited above seem to be talking about an UNEXPECTED appearance of the Lord. This would go along with the rapture of the Church concept.
I know I've repeated myself a couple of times and I hope this is making sense. It's just that it seems to glare right out at me that we'll know when the Lord's Second Coming will be by counting forward 3.5 years from the ceasing of temple sacrifices. But the Lord tells His disciples in the above verses that He will come for them at a time that they do not expect. These seem like two different events to me. What do you think?

Sincerely, in Christ,
---D.

PS If the rapture in fact does not occur, I'm open to that. When I see the antichrist set himself up as God in the temple, I'll be saying, "Well, Father, I guess the rapture was a myth afterall." I don't foresee myself being extra vulnerable to deception. I'm sure when we all get to see Him face to face there will be lots of things that we'll be saying, "oh, now I see what you meant by that!" about.

 My answer:

Hi D.,
It is a pleasure to hear from you again.

You wrote: If the antichrist sets himself up as God in the temple on such and such a date, then we KNOW that 3.5 years later, virtually to the day, the Lord will return at His Second Coming. If there is no pre- or mid-tribulation rapture, this would seem to contradict Matt. 24:44 where Jesus says, "For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will."
And again in Matt 24:42, He says, "...be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming."
And again in I Thess. 5:2 Paul says "... the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night."
These verses would seem to support a sudden and UNEXPECTED appearance of the Lord sometime before or during the tribulation/desolation period. Can you see what I'm saying? Since we KNOW the Lord will come back 3 and a half years after the desolation is set up in the temple, then His appearance on the Last Day will be expected, not unexpected.

My response: There is some key scripture knowledge that needs to be inserted into this scenario for you to understand more fully. Let's start with 1 Thessalonians 5:4-9. This is the continuing context of the verses you quoted above, it says:

But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled . . . For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our LORD Jesus Christ.

In other words, this is the equivalent of "he who has eyes to see let him see." For the world, who neither knows him nor cares to know him is blind to these things. Many people who will become apostates will do so because they can't see. They neither search the scriptures nor understand God's power, they are easily deceived because they do not understand the hope of the resurrection which "rescues us from the coming wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10)."

Not knowing the day or hour is obvious conclusion for the unbeliever and those who do not search the scriptures, but we are given signs that will mark the path for those who, indwelt by the Spirit, can understand the signs because they seek understanding from God's Word. Another 'key' verse is in the context of Matthew 24:42-44:

"If the owner (Satan) of the house (kingdom of earth) had known what time of night the thief (Jesus Christ) was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into." Then Jesus gets more specific: "So you must be ready; because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

The implication is that we are given signs, illuminated by the Holy Spirit, to show us when to look up. Until then we do not know the hour, but when the hour comes we will know to look up, consider the following verses:

"There will be signs . . . On earth nations will be in anguish . . . Men will faint from terror . . . the heavenly bodies will be shaken. at that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." Luke 21:25-28

We don't know the day or hour yet, but we will as it nears - at least those with eyes to see. Satan has great knowledge, but without the Holy Spirit to guide him he lacks understanding, just like many who read these scriptures but can't see what they are saying. To be sure, when Satan is caste down to earth, after his failed war in heaven, he will be in a great rage because he then will know that his time is short (Revelation 12:7-12). He will lead masses of armies against what he then will realize is going to happen, in an attempt to stop the thief from breaking in and stealing his kingdom.

You wrote: Another passage describes the conditions on the Earth during the "days of the Son of Man":
Luke 17:26-30 says things will be pretty much as they were just before Noah boarded the ark, people were eating, drinking, buying and selling, marrying and building, much as is going on today. This doesn't sound much like a
world war is going on.

My response: There will be wars and rumors of wars, but it is man who has taught that this will be a world war. Yes, war will be rampant at first, but towards the end of the desolation the antichrist will have defeated most of his foes, including Egypt and Libya. The people on the winning side have no problems eating and drinking, buying and selling, marrying and building. Life goes on. It will not be a world full of refugees as some doomsday prophets would have us believe. Remember that the world will believe that brighter days are ahead. The so-called 'indomitable human spirit' will cleave onto the antichrist as a savior. Although things will be in turmoil they will put their hope in him, his economic system and the power and might of his armies and the deception of his counterfeit miracles.

You wrote: Then suddenly the Lord appears and takes some but leaves others. This sounds like a pre- or at least mid-tribulation "snatching away" of believers. Again, I emphasize that we know virtually to the day when the Lord will appear at His Second Coming because it will be 3.5 years after the abomination is set up in the temple. This will not be a surprise to those who believe and read their Bibles. The picture painted by the verses cited above seem to be talking about an UNEXPECTED appearance of the Lord. This would go along with the rapture of the Church concept.

My response: The key verses here are Luke 17:29-30 & 35-37. Let's take a look:

"But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed." Here we have a last day resurrection picture, Jesus says so, on the same day Lot is told to get out of Sodom it is destroyed by fire and sulfur. Jesus then tells us the same will happen at His second coming. True believers leave and then fire and sulfur consume the enemies of God.

"Two women will be grinding together; one will be taken and the other left."
"Where LORD?" they asked.
He replied, "Where there is a dead body, there the vultures will gather."
We see two women and then one is taken while the other left. This puzzles the disciples so they naturally ask 'where?' The Jesus takes from Ezekiel's prophecies about the last day when Jesus destroys the armies of the beast and leaves the bodies on the battlefield for the birds and animals. In Ezekiel 38:19-39:8 & 17-20 we see the chain of events, the the fire and sulfur and the flesh as food for the birds and animals.

You wrote: I know I've repeated myself a couple of times and I hope this is making sense. It's just that it seems to glare right out at me that we'll know when the Lord's Second Coming will be by counting forward 3.5 years from the ceasing of temple sacrifices. But the Lord tells His disciples in the above verses that He will come for them at a time that they do not expect. These seem like two different events to me. What do you think?

My response: I know what you are trying to say, no problem. I hope I alleviated the problem up above. Your eyes see what is obvious to one who searches, your only confusion is in the idea of knowing the exact time and yet not knowing when, right? It appears to be contradicting, but let me ask you this question:

You know when Jesus is coming to the day based on 3 1/2 years from the abomination, but do you know from looking at this what day and hour he is coming? Of course not, because the signs have not been fulfilled that narrow down the time period yet. See what I'm saying? We can not possibly know until key signs are in place. If people don't know what those signs are and/or are not watching for them they will be oblivious until the very day it happens.

You wrote: If the rapture in fact does not occur, I'm open to that. When I see the antichrist set himself up as God in the temple, I'll be saying, "Well, Father, I guess the rapture was a myth afterall." I don't foresee myself being extra vulnerable to deception. I'm sure when we all get to see Him face to face there will be lots of things that we'll be saying, "oh, now I see what you meant by that!" about.

My response: I don't see you being very open to deception either. You are openly seeking the truth and not quick to defend things that need a closer look, in this you are obedient. Because you are becoming aware of the signs and their purposes, these same events will show themselves apparent to you if you continue to seek, I have no doubt you will my brother.

In the service of the LORD Jesus,

Randy