The focus of our attention in this proposition stems from the words in bold in the following verse from Matthew 24:

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 29  Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

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     When I think of prophecies of the last days being like pieces of a puzzle, the prophecy of this verse reminds me of one of those pieces that doesn't actually fit the way it may at first seem.  Though I disagree with the post-trib rapture view, it is easy to see the seeming support for it in what Jesus here says.  Remember that this verse is part of the three-verse paragraph I have been referring to as our focal passage (vss. 29-31).  When we consider what Jesus is saying, especially concerning the angels gathering together His elect (vs. 31), it would appear evident that the rapture will occur after the tribulation.  In contrast, scholars in defense of the common pre-trib view argue that verse 31 has nothing to do with the rapture in the first place, but with another event, like Israel's future regathering to their homeland (see NOTE #1 below).  If there were such a passage as one on which a belief might turn, this would be a good candidate.

     Back when I first became unsettled over some elements of the pre-trib view I grew up believing, Matthew 24:29 was one of the most difficult of the related references for me to reconcile.  Of course, this difficulty revolved mostly around the word "after," but also what the "tribulation of those days" really related to.  The position of each of the popular views is that this tribulation relates partially or wholly to the time of Daniel's 70th Week.  Further, the position of the common pre-trib view is that all of this seven year period is synonymous with the time of God's coming judgment.

     While the view of my upbringing was that the tribulation Jesus spoke of concerned both Daniel's 70th Week and God's judgment, as I began to study things out for myself, I could not help but see evidences that suggested otherwise.

     Consider, for example, Noah's day.  If Jesus had been teaching something about that time, He could have said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days 'were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.  And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights'" (Gen. 7:11-12).  More concisely, He could have said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days THE TIME OF GOD'S JUDGMENT CAME."  By this wording, would we think of the tribulation He was speaking of as being a part of God's judgment?  Not at all.  Because of our understanding of Noah's day, it is quite natural for us to differentiate between the flood and whatever kind of tribulation may have characterized the days preceding it.

     Applying this example to our verse in question, consider if we highlight what Jesus actually said thus:  "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."  More concisely, and in keeping with our example, He could have said, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days SHALL THE TIME OF GOD'S JUDGMENT COME."  By this wording, would we think of the tribulation He was speaking of as being a part of God's judgment?

     What is my point?  If the example of Noah's day holds relevance for us on our verse in question, how could the tribulation Jesus spoke of relate to Daniel's 70th Week?  How could that seven year period of God's judgment be over before anything else even begins?  This would be tantamount to the flood being over before Noah and his family even got on the ark, which is nonsensical.  Is the way things were before God's judgment came in Noah's day a good example of the way things are going to be before His judgment comes in these last days?  I'm reminded of Jesus' words that are so often preached:  "And as it was in the days of Noah..." (Lk. 17:26/Matt. 24:37).

     There are many prophetic puzzle pieces in the Bible that relate to Jesus' words and give us a fuller picture of what He was in truth saying.  On the Day of Pentecost we find a couple of those pieces.  On that day, Peter quoted the following from a prophecy of Joel's:  "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable Day of the Lord come" (Acts 2:20/Joel 2:31).  By the interlock of this prophecy with what Jesus said in Matthew 24:29, we have a connection made for us of the celestial phenomena He spoke of and God's coming time of judgment (NOTE #2).

     In his second epistle, Peter spoke further concerning this time of God's judgment and how that it will come "as a thief in the night" (2 Pet. 3:7-12, esp. vs. 10).  Paul used the same words and added, "For when they shall say, "Peace and safety;  then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child;  and they shall not escape" (1 Thess. 5:2-3).

     If the tribulation Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24:29 relates to Daniel's 70th Week and the time of God's judgment, how can this be made to harmonize with what we find in God's Word elsewhere?  How could the time of God's judgment come on people "as a thief in the night" if they have already been in the thick of it?  How could people experience any of the seven year period of Daniel's 70th Week—much less all of it—and regard it has having been a time of "Peace and safety"?  Something with the way others have been trying to assemble the prophetic puzzle pieces doesn't quite fit.

     The last place we find other puzzle pieces like we have been looking at is in The Revelation.  As evidenced throughout this site, this is where it is revealed for us concerning when these things will be fulfilled.  If it wasn't for what we find in The Revelation, I would no doubt still be unsettled.  Now I see what is revealed here as holding the keys that we need to unlock Jesus' Olivet Discourse and vice-versa.  It almost goes without saying that The Revelation was given to us because we need it.

     In John's account of what he saw with the opening of the 6th Seal, what we have been looking at all comes together (Rev. 6:12-17).​  In the opening verse he writes, "and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood."  If we were working with literal puzzle pieces, even a child would be quick to make the connection of these with those of Joel's prophecy (Joel 2:31; Acts 2:20).

     Continuing, John writes, "And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth" (vs. 13), and "every mountain and island were moved out of their places" (vs. 14).  "And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us..."(vss. 15-16).  Consider how the combination of Joel, Peter, Paul, and John's words interlock with Luke's parallel account of Jesus' words from our verse of focus:  "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars;  and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;  the sea and the waves roaring;  Men's hearts failing for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth..." (21:25-26).  This reads like a paraphrase of what happens when the 6th Seal is opened! 

     Because of the magnitude of what will happen at this time, the unsaved will not be bewildered over what it all means, as reflected in their cry:  "For the great day of His wrath is come;  and who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. 6:17).  They will have never experienced anything like this—NOT EVEN CLOSE.  They will suddenly and unexpectedly be facing "the great and the terrible Day of the LORD" that has so long been prophesied.  They will know straight-up that this is the time of God's judgment.  Just like in Noah's day, when the flood began, they hadn't ever seen anything like that—NOT EVEN CLOSE.  Whatever the nature of the tribulation may have been prior, God's time of judgment was in a whole other category.

     Perhaps the most far reaching support for my PROPOSITION V is something that The Revelation helps us to see relating to the chronological order of Jesus' discourse.  While His discourse is much shorter than The Revelation, the basic order is the same.  For a detailed look at this, here is a link to my page titled, THE OLIVET DISCOURSE AND REVELATION CHRONOLOGY.  For now, let's look more to how this supports my present proposition.  While all three accounts of Jesus' discourse (Matt. 24;  Mk. 13;  Lk. 21) are consistent relating to this order, we will keep to the Matthew 24 account for simplicity.

     To begin, Jesus' discourse can be divided into three sections, as I showed in my PROPOSITION K).  The opening section includes verses 4-14, the central section verses 15-28, and the closing section verses 29-51.  As we will see, the first two sections are chronological in nature, and the closing section is supplemental in nature.  Note that the closing section begins with verse 29, which has been our primary verse of focus on this page.  Remain mindful of how all the prophetic puzzle pieces we have been looking at interlock with this verse and the 6th Seal (see also NOTE #3).

     The closing section is supplemental in that it connects with this that Jesus said back at verse 14b:  "and then shall the end come."  Borrowing again from the example of Noah's day, the end at that time was the day that the flood began—the day that God's judgment began.  But here (vs. 14b), Jesus is speaking of the time that God's last days' judgment will begin.  His whole focus in the closing section relates to the SINGULAR DAY that this will begin.  Bringing things full circle, this singular day is also the day that the 6th Seal will be opened.

     How does all of this support my PROPOSITION V ?  If what Jesus speaks of in His closing section was meant by Him to correspond with what He said in verse 14b, then the "tribulation of those days" that He spoke of in verse 29 would correspond with what He spoke of in verses 4-14a.  Contrary to what is often put forth by scholars, what Jesus spoke of in these verses does not pertain to Daniel's 70th Week or the time of God's coming judgment at all, but to the nature of the tribulations that His followers would face during the Church Age—of which we are presently a part.  For more concerning "those days" of verse 29 see APPENDIX 7.

     Back to The Revelation, what about the seals that precede the 6th Seal?  As we have seen, neither do these relate to Daniel's 70th Week or the time of God's judgment.  While the parallels between these and the things Jesus warned of in the opening of His discourse are often pointed out, and rightly so, all of this relates to the time of the Church Age.  The first four seals concern the post-Apostolic liberties Satan has been granted to continue the plying his craft from that time even until now.  Remember—he would have no liberties otherwise.  These seals give us a behind the scenes look at the activity responsible for the things Jesus warned of in the opening of His discourse.  All of this was a major part of our focus beginning back at PROPOSITION L.​​​​

     When the harmony of The Revelation with Jesus' discourse is discovered, we can more easily differentiate between the time of God's coming judgment and the days of tribulation that will precede it.  Speaking of these days from a first century perspective, Jesus said, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold" (vs. 12).  We are there.  Borrowing once again from the days of Noah, it is easy to envision things being much the same back then, when "the wickedness of man was great in the earth" and "the earth was filled with violence" (Gen. 6:5, 11).

​​     By the foregoing understanding of Jesus' discourse, we can see the following chronological order:

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The tribulation of the Church Age

(vss. 4-14a)

The day God's judgment will begin

(vs. 14b plus vss. 29-51)

The fulfilling of Daniel's 70th Week

(vss. 15-28)

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     By the above and below illustrations, it can be seen that the order of Jesus' discourse corresponds with that of The Revelation.  The blue part below concerns the first months of God's judgment.  During this short time, everything will be readied for the fulfilling of Daniel's 70th Week.  Jesus did not speak about anything relating to these these two chapters. 

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The tribulation of the Church Age

(Rev. 6:1-11)

The day God's judgment will begin

(Rev. 6:12-8:1)

Preparation for Daniel's 70th Week

(Rev. 8:2-9:21)

The fulfilling of Daniel's 70th Week

(Rev. 10:1-19:21)

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     In consideration of the above, this might be a good place to reinforce that in Matthew 24:26-28, Jesus spoke about THE CAPSTONE of Daniel's 70th Week, which will be HIS SECOND ADVENT.  The connection of what Jesus said in these three verses with Christ's Second Advent (Rev. 19:11-21) is not disputed by anyone.  However, EVERYONE defending the popular views has missed that this is NOT what He was speaking about in verse 30, which will be the appearance of "THE SIGN of the Son of man in heaven."

     Concisely, in His Olivet Discourse, Jesus spoke about things relating to the Church Age (vss. 4-14), things relating to God's coming time of judgment (vss. 15-28), and then, the event that would come between (vss. 29-51).  This event will be HIS SIGN APPEARANCE for the gathering of His Church and everything thereto related.  From a first century perspective, "those days" of verse 29 are these days in which we are living.  Moreover, this very day may be THE DAY that what He spoke of will be fulfilled.  In harmony with everything we find in Scripture, He may be readying Himself to open the 6th Seal even now.  "Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:20).

​​     Not convinced?  As much study as it has taken me to come to these conclusions, I can easily understand.  In retrospect, I attribute much of my inability to see these things to long-accepted errors, through which Satan cleverly hoodwinked my mind.  In my thinking, by this same scheme, he has effectively robbed Christ's Church of one of the most blessed and pivotal rapture passages found in Scripture, spoken by Jesus Himself.  In turn, this has resulted in such a quagmire of errors that the truth of the matter has nearly been lost in all the back and forth.  Thankfully, it is still preserved in Scripture, and remarkably, when the truth is discovered, it remains the truth from any angle it is observed.​​​​​​​​​​​

     We have considered many angles and evidences that support my present proposition, and there are more to come that will tie in in various ways.  To summarize what I have presented so far in this site, my present proposition harmonizes with an understanding that:

1. Is supported by 2000 years of Church history that aligns with the opening of Jesus' Olivet Discourse.

2. Has Jesus' Olivet Discourse pertaining some to the Church, some to Israelites, and some to both.

3. Recognizes Christ's Sign Appearance as distinct from His Second Advent in the Olivet Discourse.

4. Recognizes Christ's Sign Appearance as distinct from His Second Advent in The Revelation.

5. Recognizes Christ's Sign Appearance as preceding His Second Advent by at least seven years.

6. Links the first section of Jesus' Olivet Discourse to the first five seals and the activity of the four horsemen.

7. Links the time of Christ's Sign Appearance to after the opening of the 6th Seal (Rev. 6:15-17).

8. Links both the Mark 13:24-27 and Luke 21:25-27 parallels of Matthew 24:29-31 to the 6th Seal.

9. Links "all the tribes" in Matthew 24:30 to "all the tribes" of Revelation 7:2-8 (note vs. 4).

10. Links the trumpet of Matthew 24:31 to the rapture trumpet (1 Thess. 4:16 and 1 Cor. 15:52).

11. Links the "gather together" of Matthew 24:31 to the "gathering together" of 2 Thessalonians 2:1.

12. Links the gathered elect of Matthew 24:31 to the gathered multitude of Revelation 7:9-17.

13. Links "the one shall be taken, and the other left" of Matthew 24:40-41 to the event of the rapture.

14. Links the escape of which Jesus speaks in Luke 21:36 to the Church and the time of the rapture.

15. Links the 6th Seal and the rapture to the final fulfilling of Joel's Church Age prophecy (Acts 2:19-21).

16. Links Christ's Sign Appearance to His parable of the fig tree, in accord with the parable's context.

17. Links Christ's return as a "thief" to the time of the rapture and the beginning of the Day of the Lord.

18. Views none of God's judgment as beginning until the day that the 6th Seal is opened (Rev. 6:17).

19. Views the opening of the 7th Seal as taking place the same day that the 6th Seal is opened.

20. Views the day that the 6th and 7th seals are opened as marking the beginning of the Day of the Lord.

21. Makes possible a truly consistent and chronological interpretation of The Revelation.

     I suppose that for every belief, a measure of faith is also required, and it is no different for my own.  But, as can be seen, it is not faith without foundation.  At this point, if Jesus had of declared outright, "Immediately after the tribulation of  the Church Age,"  everything that I have put forth in support of this belief would fit that declaration.  For me, this wheel of interpretation rolls truer than any other that I have found, and I am yet captivated by what it does for our understanding going forward.

     Finally, from the perspective of these understandings, there is coming a time when God will determine that it has been enough.  At that time, Christ will open the 6th Seal and return for His Bride, at which point Her tribulation, so long brought on by the activity of the four horsemen, will be forever over.  This event will include signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and the appearance of "THE SIGN of the Son of man in heaven."  The phenomena relating to the sun and the moon will undoubtedly linger well after the Son of man and His saved are long gone.  According to the evidence of Scripture, on this same day, Christ will also open the seventh or last seal—meaning He will then open the Seven Sealed Book—meaning the time of God's last days' Day of the Lord judgment will have begun.  Things will then come together (and quickly) for the fulfilling of Daniel's 70th Week.​​

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NOTES:

1. Concerning the pre-trib belief of some that this relates to the regathering of the Israelites to their homeland, see my comments on Matthew 24:31 in PROPOSITION K.  For any pre-trib belief that has a sounding of a trumpet at Christ's Second Advent, see FURTHER EVIDENCE ITEM #2.

2. Relating to Jesus' choice of words that the moon will not give "her  light," if the moon suddenly becomes blood red, it will certainly not be giving its normal  light.

3. In verse 29 with verses 30-31 (our focal passage), there are at least seven parallels (in sequence) between what Jesus spoke of and what John saw with the opening of the 6th Seal.  When Mark and Luke's accounts of Jesus' words are included, there are at least 10 parallels (see THE CLOSING SECTION).  To deny that what John saw will be the fulfilling of what Jesus spoke would be to accept astronomical odds.  This would also be the disallowing of Scripture to interpret Scripture.

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