The Second Rapture Dream

Last night, I had an amazing experience. It was a dream, or rather a dream vision because it was very

detailed and felt more real than reality to me. It was a vision of the rapture of the saints, the second one I ever had in my life.

The first one I had while still an unbeliever who did not know the Bible very well and had no idea what it was. The account of the first dream that I had about 20 years ago can be found here : The Rapture Dream, so you can see that I do not have this type of dream visions often. Anyways, back then I had no idea why I was going up, it happened very fast and I wondered who or what am I going to see when I go through the clouds. This time, I knew, but I received much more detail about it. it happened as if in slow motion, so that I could absorb all the details.

I was in a some sort of a large building. I went to the bathroom. There was a window there. Suddenly I was aware of someone's very tangible presence, but I could not see anybody. Then, I began to feel something in the atmosphere rapidly changing. It became more and more electric. I looked at the power lines outside the window. They were shaking and then they became white. First I thought that it might be some sort of atmospheric discharge, a solar flare or magnetic storm. Then I began to feel it in my body too, like the power was going through me and I realised that it was the very presence and the power of God. I had felt it before during strong worship at times, but never that strong. My body began to slowly rise. By then I knew it was the rapture and I got excited.

"O my Lord, I thought. It is really happening. I am going to meet the Lord in the clouds! I am going to finally see Him face to face! But what about my family? Are they going too?" I decided that I should not worry about that though, but trust the Lord that they were in His hands Like I was. I looked around there were other people rising too, then I looked down. Huge crowds of people were gathering, watching us go. I looked up again and was filled with joy in the anticipation of the greatest family reunion the world has ever seen.

"Oh, Lord. is this really happening?" I asked and I began to wake up. It was four in the morning. The experience was so real that I still felt the wind blowing in my face and the Lord's power inside my body. I began to cry and pray, "Lord, may I be found worthy when that they comes. I want to be there more than anything in the world." Then I thought about the crowds of people who were looking at us go and I realized that those were going to be left behind. I felt grief for them. I thought about my family members, especially those who do not walk with the Lord and friends. I felt a strong desire to have them with me on that day realizing that the only thing that will matter then is who is going to go with me, nothing else.

Now, as I wrote before in my other posts, I don't know exactly when this will happen. The Bible does not give us the day, hour or year, but it does give us a season. Apostle Paul mentioned that it was shown to him that it will take place at the sound of the last trumpet. Paul was a Hebrew, he knew the feasts of the Lord, and he was talking about the feast of Trumpets (Roshashana), which is going to begin this year on September 21 and last until September 23rd. On September 21 st there is going to be a UN declared International Peace Day and the theme will be : "Together for Peace, Respect, Safety and Dignity for All."

Notice those two words and compare it to the following verse from 1 Thessalonians 5:3, "While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape." It is a very interesting coincidence, especially because on September 23 rd there will be what many call a Revelation 12 sign in heavens as well.

I am not saying that the Rapture for sure will happen this year, but it will happen at this time one of these years. It might be this year, next year or 50 years from now, but it is coming and we need to be ready for it. I am also not sure why the Lord gave me this dream precisely now, but I decided to be obedient and share it immediately anyway, just in case.

While I was deeply saddened for the people left behind, the following verse resounded loudly within my spirit : "For many are called, but few chosen.” ( Mat. 22:14) I understood it more deeply than ever before this morning, and later I did a word study on this. it is from Jesus' parable of the wedding feast. remember that the Rapture is also called a "marriage supper of the Lamb," in the Bible. Many are called. This means a great multitude had been invited. The call from God has been going out to nearly everyone over millennia now. All are invited, all are called to be there, but very few by comparison chose to accept an invitation. The choosing is not done by God. He does not pick just select few. The way it is written in Greek makes it clear that it is the ones who are invited who do the choosing. Please choose to be there. Choose today to accept Jesus' sacrifice of the cross, choose to follow Him, to walk the narrow path. Remain faithful to Him and His Word. Do not bow to the pressure from the world to deny Him by forsaking His commandments and by not standing up for what is right. It is not easy, I know. People make fun of those who walk this path. It is easier to walk the wide road, but it leads only to destruction. Now, I also understand what Jesus meant by  the outer darkness. It will become very dark in this world after the Church is gone. Life will be very hard, especially for those who will reject the mark of the Beast. They will pay with their lives for their faith. Don't wait until then. Accept God's invitation now, so that He may keep you from the hour of testing that will come upon the whole world. ( Revelation 3:10)

Study: What Is The Great Tribulation?

The Great Tribulation is mentioned four times in the New Testament. One of these mentions

is by Jesus Himself found  in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 24 in which He linked this period to the time of  "trouble" such as never happened  since there was a nation prophesied of by Daniel ( Daniel 12:1). Both Hebrew and Greek words used in these passages for "trouble" and "tribulation" mean adversity, suffering, and persecution.

There were of course many times in history, including, even now when God's people were being persecuted and suffered greatly because of it, but it is evident from Scripture that during the time of Great Tribulation it will be worse than ever before, and that there will not be another time like this after.

Jesus placed this period after the "abomination of desolation" is set up in the Holy place. Many Bible scholars concluded that this event will be the Antichrist proclaiming himself God in the rebuilt Third Temple in Jerusalem, which is very plausible since the description of his global reign in the Book of Revelation 13:7-10 includes great persecution against both Israel and the gentile believers in Jesus:

"And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear:

If anyone is to be taken captive,
to captivity he goes;
if anyone is to be slain with the sword,
with the sword must he be slain.

Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints."

 

The reason why Bible scholars think  that the reign of the Beast ( Antichrist) and the Great Tribulation are one and the same is that both last for 42 months, but the good news is that this period will be shortened by God Himself when He returns to Judge the earth and throw the Beast and his false prophet into the lake of fire before His 1000 year reign.

 

It is not clear from the Scripture exactly when in this chain of events the Rapture of The Saints will take place, whether before the Great Tribulation, during, or after it, but nowhere it these passages do we see Great Tribulation described as the wrath of God. Furthermore, Jesus told us Himself that in this world we will have tribulation, so I think it is wise that we prepare ourselves spiritually and physically for it just in case.

 

There is also a description of the great assembly of the saints who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb who according to Scripture " came out of the Great Tribulation." It is found in the Book of Revelation chapter 7:9-17:

 

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them,
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

 

So, we know for sure that there will be believers in Jesus living during this terrible time. though we don't know whether it will be the Church or the people who will come to faith in Jesus after the Rapture, one thing is certain, God will deliver them out of it in one way or another, and those who die during Great Tribulation for their faith will share  the victory of Christ over the Beast:

 

"And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!”

Great Tribulation therefore is the reign of the Beast ( Antichrist) and a short lived wrath of the devil, and not of God.

Author's Note: Image courtesy of pintrest.com

The Rapture Dream

 Before I ever read about the rapture of the saints in the Bible, I had the following dream that ultimately led me to faith in Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour.

Growing up a Roman Catholic, I had never even heard of the idea or the term "rapture of the saints." I never read about it in the Bible either because I did not own one until  receiving a New Testament as a gift from a young priest that used to teach us both religion and martial arts, but even then I read only the gospels and the Book of Revelation.

So, one night back in 1997 or 1998, I had a following dream. I was walking outside when suddenly my body became light and I began to rapidly rise to the sky. I felt the air blowing on me, as I rose and saw the earth getting smaller, then I began approaching the clouds. I felt a tremendous sense of excitement while wondering what or who am I going to see there and  wondered where was I going. Then as I passed through he clouds, I saw a very bright light and woke up.

It was a very realistic type of dream, more like dream vision really, and I never knew what it meant until a couple of years later when reading a passage from apostle Paul describing pretty much the same thing I experienced in my dream with an explanation of what it meant.

"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words."( 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

When I read that, I understood that God was showing to me the same future event that both Jesus and Paul the apostle talked about. I also understood that He wanted me to be in the words of Jesus among those "counted worthy to escape the things which are coming upon the earth." It also proved to me that it was really God personally reaching out to me through dreams and visions and showing me things I could not have otherwise known.  It also proved to me that the Bible is indeed inspired by Him and not made up by people alone.

Now, I don't know whether I will in fact be physically alive during the time of rapture, but from this biblical passage, I do know that even if I physically die before it happens, I will still be part of it as one of those whom God will raise from the dead and take to Him on that day, and if you trust your life to Jesus and faithfully follow Him for the rest of your life, then you can be sure that you will be there as well. What a glorious Day it will be!

Also read: The Second Rapture Dream