📢 Forum Update - Hello everyone! I've made an improvement to the forum that should make following active discussions much easier. Beginning today, forum topics will display the most recent replies first (while keeping the original topic post at the top), so you no longer have to navigate through multiple pages to find the latest conversation. This change also helps improve the browsing experience in long-running discussions with many pages of replies. If you notice anything that doesn't seem to be working correctly or have any feedback, please let me know. — Richard G. Hi 2ndcoming, You wrote: "God has a covenant with the church. When her time is up, God shall call her home by breaking the covenant with all the people." I'm not following you here. When God calls His church home, He is fulfilling the covenant, not breaking it. To break it would be to cut off the church. In Zech chapter 11, Zechariah breaks the staff, Beauty, nullifying the covenant that restrained the Gentiles from oppressing God's people. The connotation is not good. His covenant with the church is with His believers, not the unbelievers. The door is opened to all, but the covenant is for those who have accepted His Son’s sacrifice. Please understand, I am not saying you are wrong, I’m just not following you here. To your main point, "the church shall witness a war breaks out between Israel and the three shepherds", you could very well be correct. Yes, I believe the church will get a prior heads up warning ... Noah had heads up warning. Both Abraham and Lot had heads up warning before the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. I’m leaning it might be angels that tell us since they are administering spirits. Just not sure if its a 3, 5, 7 or 8 day heads up notice for the church. The number 3 means completeness, though to a lesser degree than 7. The 3 righteous patriarchs before the flood were Abel, Enoch and Noah. After the deluge there was the righteous "fathers" Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (later renamed Israel). The number 5 symbolizes God's grace, goodness and favor towards man. “Age of Grace” comes to a close at the time of the rapture. The number 7 means completeness and perfection (both physical and spiritual). The number 8 represents a new beginning, meaning a new order or creation, and man's true 'born again' event when he is resurrected from the dead into eternal life. I still have not heard any reason or presentation of any evidence that God will not give us prior notice before the Rapture event. As far as the "twinkling of an eye" phrase, it is referring to the changing of our bodies from corruptible to incorruptible and not the length of time it takes to meet our Bridegroom in the air. :rose: I think another clue that the flying away process might be slower and not the “twinkling of an eye” when our bodies are changed, is this passage below. It has me also wondering ... if the unsaved will witness us flying away into the clouds? Acts 1:8-11 8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Tom, this thread has comforted me a lot. Thank you so much.
