Why God’s Holy Spirit MUST Depart Prior To the 7-Year Tribulation

Why God’s Holy Spirit MUST Depart Prior To the 7-Year Tribulation – Bill Perkins – www.compass.org Understanding the ramifications of a seemingly insignificant comment at Jesus’ last Bible study with His Apostles at the Last Supper When Jesus was just hours away from His crucifixion, He taught His last Bible study with His Apostles at what is referred to as the Last Supper. The Apostles had gathered at Jesus’ instruction in an “Upper Room” inside the southern walls of the city of Jerusalem near the Essene Gate. Jesus knew His crucifixion was destined for Him the next day—and it was a difficult death. But His focus was teaching several topics to His Apostles before allowing Himselfto be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. This Bible study must have been quite the dissertation by the Creator of the universe as He gave last instructions to the 12 men who knew Him best. Still in the dark aboutwhat was going on, the 12 settled in for the long Passover meal with Jesus as the host. Based on the content Jesus covered that night, it was probably the greatest Bible study He ever taught. Most of the doctrinal points He espoused are well-known to Believerstoday, but most Christians don’t realize all this was from His last Bible study. The following is a partial list of major Biblical topics covered by Jesus the night before His faithful execution. “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places;” John 14:2 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again”… John 14:3a …“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” John 14:6 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also;” John 14:7a “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me;…” John 14:11a “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 “…love one another, just as I have loved you.” John 15:12 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13 “You did not choose Me but I chose you,…” John 15:16a “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you.” John 15:18 “I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.” John 15:19b “…A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you;” John 15:20b “He who hates Me hates My Father also.” John 15:23 In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 “…if you ask the Father for anything in My name, He will give it to you.” John 16:23b I’m sure to the Apostles, hearing all that in one Bible study felt like they were trying to drink out of a fire hydrant! And again, that’s only a partial list of what Jesustaught that night. But there was one more statement to His disciples that night. Referring to His death, resurrection and ascension, He said: “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” John 16:7 Jesus said if He didn’t go away God’s Holy Spirit could not come to earth to indwell Believers. Jesus said He had to leave for heaven first. Only then the Holy Spirit couldcome to earth to indwell Believers. And as promised, God’s Spirit arrived 50 days after Jesus’ Resurrection at Pentecost, first falling on the 12 Apostles.(2) The time of the Holy Spirit indwelling Believers on earth is called the Church Age. When God’s Holy Spirit departs, that ends the Church Age. Now, since Jesus had to first depart before the Holy Spirit could come to earth, for Jesus to return to the earth to reign as King, God’s Holy Spirit must be removed fromearth. God says “I will never leave you” (Heb. 13:5b). That means when He goes, Believers go with Him. We call that the Rapture.(1Cor. 15:51,52; 1Thes. 4:16,17) Why? But the question arises, since Jesus doesn’t come to earth to reign as king until the end of the Tribulation, why does God’s Spirit depart prior to the 7 years? Obviously part of the answer is since Believers are not appointed to wrath, God takes us off the earth prior to His wrath, which is unleashed in horrible divine judgmenton non-Believers. Persecution happens to Christians worldwide every day. But God’s wrath is beyond anything we can imagine. Noah’s flood is an example of God’s wrath. But we also find there’s more to the answer about God’s Spirit departing in Revelation 7 and 14. In Revelation 7, we see 144,000 Jews being set apart and marked on their foreheads. It concludes with those Jews crying out: and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Rev. 7:10 These 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each of Israel’s tribes (so much for the 10 lost tribes theory) are crying out praise to the LAMB, which of course is Jesus. In Revelation 14, we get a little more clarity about what’s going on with the 144,000: Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb [Jesus] was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father writtenon their foreheads. Rev. 14:1 Here we see Jesus on the earth, post-Rapture, and during the Tribulation. For Him to be there, the Holy Spirit had to have already departed at the Rapture. In the past we've shown the identity of these 144,000 Jewish male virgins who we refer to today as Rabbinical Jews.(1) Pre-Rapture, these Rabbinical Jews are a unique group. They don’t touch a woman until marriage, wear all black, are quite zealous for God and spend their days pouring overthe Old Testament Scriptures from cover to cover. But they are spiritually blinded by God from understanding that the Jews crucified God’s Son, their Messiah, 2000 years ago. “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.” John12:40/Is.6:10 Imagine that scene on Mount Zion in Jerusalem when Jesus reveals Himself to them. They will immediately realize their forefathers had done the unthinkable and murdered theirGod-sent Messiah. Knowing well their Holy Scriptures, they will immediately understand Isaiah 53 and be cut to the bone. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.Is. 53:5 With all the Messianic Scriptures coming to life, the realization that their forefathers had killed their Messiah will cause crushing emotional pain. “…they will look on Me whom they have pierced [Hebrew means literally “pierced to death”]; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weepbitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.” Zech 12:10 Standing face to face with their risen Messiah, the coin will drop when they see the five (God's number for "grace") visible scars on the hands and feet which were piercedduring His crucifixion. When Jesus lifts the veil, these new Believers will undoubtedly begin pouring over the God-inspired New Testament accounts of Jesus and the Epistles. These 144,000 will then become even more zealous for God… because they now will have Messianic understanding. As the Scriptures roar to life, they’ll be brokenhearted and overjoyed, all at the same time. Most Bible scholars believe they will become world evangelists. They apparently will all be in Jerusalem in the middle of the Tribulation when the Abomination of Desolationtrigger-point happens (Matt. 24:15-21). Protected by God, the 144,000 will be in the group that escapes death by running to the wilderness.(2) All of this happens because the Holy Spirit was removed, along with His Believers, before the Rapture. Then and only then could Jesus come back to the earth to personallyteach them during the Tribulation. This dispensational Bible truth of Jesus being on the Mount of Olives teaching the Rabbinical Jews during the 7-year Tribulation torpedoes any notion of a mid- or post-TribulationRapture. So rest in the fact that although Believers may be persecuted on this earth, God will whisk away those who are alive before His judgmental wrath is unleashed on an unsuspectingearth. His wrath on those left behind after the Rapture will be dumbfounding and painful to endure. I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; and thestars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. Then the kings of the earth [Biden,Trudeau, Merkel, Johnson, et al.] and the great men [George Soros, Schumer, Pelosi, Clintons] and the commanders [Colin Powell, et al.] and the rich [Gates, Fauci, et al.] and the strong [Non-patriot players in the NFL, NBA, Olympics et al.] and every slaveand free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne [Jesus], and from the wrath of the Lamb [Jesus]; for thegreat day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Rev. 6:12-17 And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death flees from them. Rev. 9:6 That sounds awful! But Believers are comforted knowing that we will be raptured away PRIOR to His wrath that’s definitely coming on this wicked earth. PTL! Shalom! BP References: 1) https://compass.org/article-who-are-the-144000-in-revelation/ 2) https://compass.org/article-petra-prepared-by-god/ VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM