I do. It makes good sense because it would bring Iran back to it's former status of being allies with the West which would indicate that they would have good relations with Israel. Yohanan, Paul says the sudden destruction will not take us by surprise. Sudden destruction is the rapture. Paul must have some kind of assurance from God when he said that. He most likely received this assurance from God when he was caught up to third heaven. He didn't know what kind of event would lead to sudden destruction. But a careful examination of Zechariah 11, now we know that event is the three shepherds war. When we see this war breaks out, we know rapture is near. This is why rapture should not take us by surprise. And that is exactly what Paul meant. 2nd Coming ... many end time watchers believe that the church is not here when God pours out His wrath on the prophetic battles up ahead. The church is long gone. In Zechariah 11 the last verse talks about the AC will be wounded in battle. ”Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.” Are you saying the church is still going to be here to witness God’s wrath with the 3 Shepherd wars and see the AC get wounded before the rapture? Because it looks to be in conflict with 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10 this passage clearly says the man of sin will not be revealed “until the falling away first“ and “the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way” (at the rapture). 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Paul says sudden destruction will not take us by surprise in 1 Thes 5 because we will not be here. The Rapture will have already occurred according to 1 Thess 4:15-17 1 Thess 15By the word of the Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. 17After that, we who are alive and remain 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. Then in the next chapter, chapter 15, he declares it will overtake those who have rejected Christ. 1Now about the times and seasons, brothers, we do not need to write to you. 2For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief. 5For you are all sons of the light and sons of the day; we do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6So then, let us not sleep as the others do, but let us remain awake and sober. 7For those who sleep, sleep at night; and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and the helmet of our hope of salvation. 9For God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul never tells us we will know the day or the hour, in fact Jesus Himself tells us that even He doesn’t know: Mt 24:36 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. "The Day of the Lord" is a term used in both the Old and the New Testament, as in "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come”, which will take the non-believers like a thief in the night. It will not take believers by surprise because again, we will already be raptured into Heaven. Geri7, I have attached "The three shepherds war" for you to read. Zechariah 11 verse 15 speaks of the appearance of a foolish shepherd. His arms wither and his right eye is dried. God prophesied the fate of this foolish shepherd. He shall receive a wound from sword (Revelation 13:14) but he shall live. The end result of his wound is both arms wither and the right eye is dried.This event shall happen close to middle of tribulation. Three shepherds war in Zechariah 11 Zechariah 11:1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. 3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. Through the prophet Zechariah, God has foretold one day He shall cut off three shepherds in one month. They are Lebanon, Syria ( Bashan ), and Jordan . Through out history, we couldn’t validate that this prophecy has been fulfilled. There is no biblical and historical evidence that the ancient Moab, Edom, Ammon (Jordan) together with Damascus ( Bashan ) and Tyre (Lebanon) were cut off together in one month. This prophecy is still waiting for it’s fulfillment. It shall be fulfilled per Amos 1-2, Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17:1-2.. But my focus point is not this. Zechariah 11:10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. 11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. Immediately after the three shepherds are cut off, God shall break the covenant with all the people. There have been some major covenants God has made with people. They are Noahic covenant, Abrahamic covenant, Mosaic covenant, Davidic covenant. None of the covenant can be broken because God promised not to destroy the whole earth again per Noahic covenant. For Abrahamic covenant, God shall give the land to Abraham’s rightful descendant who is Israel. This prophecy is still waiting for it’s fulfillment. At the end of tribulation, after Jesus returns, the Jews shall inherit the promised land. Mosaic covenant [ The Mosaic covenant, found in Exodus 19–24 and the book of Deuteronomy, contains the foundations of the written Torah and the Oral Torah. In this covenant, God promises to make the Israelites his treasured possession among all people[Exo 19:5] and “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”[Exo 19:6], if they follow God’s commandments. As part of the terms of this covenant, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments. These will later be elaborated on in the rest of the Torah. ] Some bible scholars believe this is the covenant found in verse 10. Jesus has replaced this covenant. But we learn from God that the whole house of Israel shall be saved at the return of our Lord Jesus. (God only abandons them for a while, to makes His name known in the gentiles). God shall make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Since this event is still waiting for the fulfillment, it doesn’t seem like this is the covenant shall be broken in verse 10. Concerning Davidic covenant, a King and a Messiah shall come from David’s lineage. The King and the Messiah is Jesus who shall rule over all the nations, This can’t be the covenant God shall break. Since Zechariah is silent regarding which covenant shall be broken by God, back in 2009, I have interpreted this covenant to be the covenant God makes with the church. This covenant shall have a time expiry issue, that is, when God calls the church home, that will be the time God breaks the covenant with the church. And immediately after this covenant is broken, God foretells the appearance of the foolish shepherd from verse 15 to 17. Many of us agree that the foolish shepherd is Anti Christ. The sequence of the three prophesied events in Zechariah 11. 1/ Three shepherds being cut off in one month. 2/ God calls the church home by breaking the covenant with the church. 3/ Appearance of the foolish shepherd / AC.
