The Tribulation of Matthew 24:29 and Daniel's 70th Week

[not an echo]

Hello all,

This thread will be like a companion thread to the last one that I started, titled, The Event of Christ's Sign Appearance (https://www.worthychristianforums.com/topic/278343-the-event-of-christs-sign-appearance/).  In that thread, I focused upon the appearance of "the sign of the Son of man in heaven" that Jesus spoke of in His Olivet Discourse.  Where He speaks of this appearance is in a three verse paragraph in Matthew's account, chapter 24.  As in my previous thread, to simplify things, I will refer to these three verses as "our focal passage."  Those three verses read as follows...

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:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

The focus of this thread will be the "tribulation" that Jesus spoke of in verse 29.  Also of note is the word "after" in this verse.  Notice again...

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:

When I think of prophecies of the last days being like pieces of a scenery puzzle, this verse reminds me of one of those difficult blue sky pieces.  Though I disagree with the post-trib rapture view, it is easy to see the support for it in what Jesus here says---especially on the surface.  For example, when we consider what Jesus is here saying and of what He says in verse 31 concerning the angels gathering together His elect, it is evident, if this is a rapture passage, that the rapture occurs after the tribulation, hence what many see as support for the post-trib rapture view.  By contrast, scholars who defend the common pre-trib position typically deal with this difficulty by proposing that this passage has nothing to do with the rapture in the first place, but with Christ's Second Coming, or Second Advent.  If there is such a passage as one on which a belief might turn, this would be a good candidate.

What is the truth of what Jesus is here saying?  First of all, a common denominator with the prevailing views is the belief that the tribulation Jesus here speaks of is that of Daniel's 70th Week.  With this being regarded as a given, it seems that all the notch-cutting (like on a key blank) with our focal passage has been done while looking at the question of whether it is a rapture passage or a Second Advent passage.  But, the answer to this is not our only concern.  Some notch-cutting (or work of interpretation) needs to be done while looking at whether the tribulation Jesus is here speaking of is in fact that of Daniel's 70th Week.  All tribulation is not that of Daniel's 70th Week.

Let's look at Jesus' statement again, with emphasis upon another word:  "Immediately after the tribulation of those days."  A question that this emphasis can pose is, "To what days of tribulation was Jesus here referring?"  A quite natural response would be that He was referring to all that He had warned of up to this point.  This would take in all the preceding verses of His discourse, or Matthew 24:4-28.  Yet, there are indications that what He warned of in these verses concerns two different periods of time and tribulation.  While others have also noted this, interpretations vary as to the significance.

In accord with what I have shown elsewhere, one period of time and tribulation is outlined in verses 4-14 and agrees with what Christians have observed and experienced throughout the era of the Church, even unto our day.  Among other things that resonate with us all, Jesus also spoke of a telling moral decline during this period, saying, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold" (Matt. 24:12).  This certainly is descriptive of where we are at today.

Note that in verse nine of this period Jesus said, "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted."  The word "afflicted" here is translated from the Greek word thlipsis, the same Greek word that is translated "tribulation" in our focal passage.  It will help our understanding to remember this word.  In the next couple of paragraphs, it will be used some in place of our English word to emphasize a point.

The other period of time and tribulation is outlined in verses 15-28 and agrees with what Israelites will observe and experience during the seven years of Daniel's 70th Week---things which have not been fulfilled.  It opens thus:  "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place..." (vs. 15).  In verse 21 of this period, Jesus says there shall be "great tribulation",  or great thlipsis, but even further qualifies this by saying, "such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."  While there have been other times of great thlipsis  (like Stephen referred to in Acts 7:11), none have been or will be like this time.  This will indeed be the tribulation, or thlipsis, of Daniel's 70th Week.

In light of the above, if Jesus is describing two periods of thlipsis  in His discourse, the question of what days of thlipsis  He was referring to when He said, "Immediately after the [thlipsis] of those days" becomes highly relevant.  From this angle, when the "[thlipsis] of those days" is understood to be that of the first period---which includes the thlipsis  of verse nine and what has characterized the era of the Church---there is much less difficulty reconciling the order of other events.  In other words, when the pieces of the prophetic puzzle are positioned this way, a lot of other pieces begin to fit a lot better.  Understood this way (and in English), "the tribulation of those days" is not the tribulation of Daniel's 70th Week, but the tribulation of the era of the Church, of which we are presently a part.

Not convinced?  Let me just say that this is perfectly understandable.  It appears that the tribulation Jesus is here speaking of has been taken for granted for so long to be Daniel's 70th Week that none have really looked below the surface to see if there is another possibility.  If another possibility has been considered, the evidence of this is sparse or even non-existent.  And, to be quite honest, if we only had what Jesus spoke in His Olivet Discourse, and Matthew's account of that, I may have never come to a place of considering another possibility myself.  But, there is more, and the reason there is more is that we need more.  This should not surprise any of us.  As normally the case, we must look at what God's Word reveals elsewhere.

A very important elsewhere is in The Revelation.  Consider again the seals of Revelation chapter six.  As I have shown in other threads, the first four seals reveal the satanic activity behind the tribulations Jesus warned of in the opening section of His discourse, tribulations that fit the whole of the era of the Church.  Then, the 5th Seal reveals the cry of martyrs for justice, easily the martyrs of this same era.  Next, the 6th Seal reveals the phenomena concerning the sun, the moon, and the stars, which parallels what Jesus spoke of later, in our focal passage.  Now, if the Church is raptured after the opening of the 6th Seal, this would be after the tribulation related to the prior seals and at the time of the sun, moon, and stars phenomena---a sequence that exactly harmonizes with Jesus' words in our focal passage.  This shows the sequence of what happens relating to both the seals and our focal passage to be this:  Church era tribulation, THEN, celestial phenomena at the time of the rapture.  Finally, this would have the rapture happening before the opening of the 7th Seal and well before Daniel's 70th Week (pre-trib), which, according to The Revelation and what I am pointing out, will not begin until some months after the Seven Sealed Book unfolds (Rev. 11:1-3ff).

Of course, there are other things which must be considered.  In an effort to keep my posts from being overly lengthy, I have reserved the next few posts for this purpose.

Edited February 4, 2023 by not an echo

[not an echo]

Continuing...

In addition to my opening post and what I have discussed so far concerning Matthew 24:29-31 (our focal passage), it may be wondered how to understand the phrase "those days" (vs. 29) in light of Jesus' use of this phrase three times during verses 19-22.  These three uses of "those days" in Matthew's account relate to Daniel's 70th Week and, at first glance, may seem to represent what Jesus is referring to later, in verse 29.  So, how can "those days" of this verse be understood as representing anything other than the tribulation of Daniel's 70th Week?  On my part, the only reason to even consider the possibility of another understanding is because of what Scripture reveals or indicates elsewhere and the need to come to an understanding that will align with all of Scripture.

A help to better understanding this verse lies in remembering that the final days of the era of the Church are one day going to join closely with the time just preceding Daniel's 70th Week.  Applying this understanding to the Olivet Discourse, Jesus opened His discourse by speaking to His disciples about the tribulation they and His future followers would face during the time that we now understand to be the era of the Church (vss. 4-14).  He then spoke to them about Daniel's 70th Week and the tribulation of that time (vss. 15-28).  From the common pre-trib perspective, the time of the era of the Church is one day going to converge closely with the time of Daniel's 70th Week, but be separated from it by the event of the rapture of the Church.  Interestingly, according to Scripture, the appearance of "the sign of the Son of man in heaven" (vs. 30) and the rapture will be the event between these two periods of time, which I have shown as the INTERSECTING EVENT in the illustration below.  While considering this, realize that the entire last section of Jesus' discourse (every single verse, as shown) relates to this sign appearance and the rapture, or this intersecting event:

As the above illustrates, in His Olivet Discourse, Jesus speaks concerning the the era of the Church, then of Daniel's 70th Week, then of the intersecting event of His Sign Appearance (and the rapture), which will come between.  This means that those living when the rapture takes place (which may be us!) will have been living in the days that the Church era actually converges with the time just preceding Daniel's 70th Week.  Hence, when Jesus begins to speak concerning the event of His Sign Appearance and makes the statement, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days" (Matt. 24:29), He can easily be referring to the days of the Church era and the tribulation that He had spoken of in the first section of His discourse---just a couple of minutes earlier.  In accord with what I have shown elsewhere, this would be the tribulation effected by the horsemen of the first four seals.  Note that if we actually locate the section of Jesus' discourse that I have labeled HIS SIGN APPEARANCE in accord with the above illustration, the result becomes what is shown in the illustration below and is supported by the chronology of The Revelation---exactly:

In regard to the above illustration, be careful to notice that THE CHURCH ERA corresponds to the TRIBULATION OF NOW and the opening of the first five seals (Rev. 6:1-11/Matt. 24:4-14).  Next, the appearance of "the sign of the Son of man in heaven" (Matt. 24:30), or HIS SIGN APPEARANCE, is the INTERSECTING EVENT (which includes the rapture) and corresponds to the opening of the 6th Seal (Rev. 6:12-7:17/Matt. 24:29-51).  Finally, DANIEL'S 70TH WEEK corresponds to the TRIBULATION OF THEN (Rev. 11:1-19:21/Matt. 24:15-28), which is not shown to begin until midway into The Revelation (Rev. 11:1-3ff).

Before concluding our present focus, it is also of importance to realize that the disciples and the early Church would have had no concept of the era of the Church.  But, we certainly do now, and this fully justifies our seeking of an understanding that factors this in.

A well known example of another phrase (in the same section of the Olivet Discourse) for which a different understanding was at another time justifiably sought is in the case of Jesus' words, "This generation",  found in Matthew 24:34 (see also Mk. 13:30 and Lk. 21:32).  On the surface, it certainly seems that by these words, Jesus was referring to the generation of His day.  But another (and more solid interpretation) is that He was referring to the future generation that would be living when the things of which He had just been speaking would come to pass.  Remaining mindful of such a time element is helpful in discovering other possibilities that might not have been considered otherwise.

Edited February 4, 2023 by not an echo
I had reserved this slot for the present post

[not an echo]

Continuing...

From a different angle, but closely related to the foregoing, there are only two options concerning the "tribulation" of which Jesus spoke in our focal passage (Matt. 24:29-31).  He was either speaking of the entirety of the tribulation of the era of the Church, or, He was speaking of the entirety of the tribulation of Daniel's 70th Week.  However, the latter option will not fit if the phenomena of which Jesus at this time speaks is what John sees after the opening of the 6th Seal (which it is).  Why?  Because this would mean that the entirety of Daniel's 70th Week is preceding the 6th Seal, which in turn would mean that Christ's 6th Seal appearance has to be His Second Advent---and the 7th Seal will not have even been opened yet.  Further, this would mean (again) that Christ's 6th Seal appearance has to be His Second Advent---and the first six vials of the wrath of God will have already been poured out (Rev. 16:1-16), which presents hopeless conflicts with Scripture.  Further, this would mean (again) that Christ's 6th Seal appearance has to be His Second Advent---and there is no indication that any of "the great day of His wrath is come" (Rev. 6:17) until after the people see Him, which (again) presents hopeless conflicts with Scripture.  Further, there is more---which should be becoming apparent---which I will discuss, and we can discuss, as we continue.

Edited February 4, 2023 by not an echo
I had reserved this slot for the present post

[not an echo]

Continuing...

From another angle, if in our focal passage (Matt. 24:29-31) Jesus is speaking of the tribulation of Daniel's 70th Week and His Second Advent, why for "signs" (so worded in the Lk. 21:25 parallel) in the sun, the moon, and the stars?  Any such "signs" would be completely overshadowed by His presence.  On the other hand, if He is referring to the tribulation of the era of the Church and a "sign" appearance that He is going to make, the celestial signs would be lingering testimonies to what has just happened---after He is gone with the Church.  The rapture will happen so quickly and the upheaval will be such that the only signs of any hope might be what is going on in the sky, especially in view of the parable of the fig tree He now gives.  This parable will no doubt become a mainstay of hope for the 144,000 sealed Jews and those who refuse allegiance to the Antichrist.  Notice how this parable reads, from Matthew 24:

32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:

33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see ALL THESE THINGS (which would include the appearance of "the sign of the Son of man in heaven"/vs. 30), KNOW THAT IT (Christ's Second Advent) IS NEAR, EVEN AT THE DOORS.

34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.

Edited February 4, 2023 by not an echo
I had reserved this slot for the present post

[not an echo]

I have discussed a few of the more apparent evidences supporting what I showed in my opening post.  There are many other evidences that are not so apparent, most of which are not brought to light with the other common views.  What I have shown in this thread harmonizes with Scripture and 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 (I Thess. 4:16 and I Cor. 15:52).

11.  Links the "gather together" of Matthew 24:31 to the "gathering together" of II 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 time 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 Era prophecy (Acts 2:16-21).

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 wrath as happening until after the 6th Seal is opened (Rev. 6:17).

19. Views the opening of the 7th Seal as marking the formal beginning of the Day of the Lord.

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

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.  According to what is supported by Scripture, 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 the Church, at which point the tribulation it has so long experienced---effected by Satan through 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."  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 last days' Day of the Lord judgment will have begun.  Said another way, the tribulation that the Church has so long been subjected to will one day be abruptly brought to a close, whereupon the period of the Day of the Lord will begin.  This can happen at any time, in accord with what Jesus said in His Olivet Discourse:  "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;  AND THEN SHALL THE END COME" (Matt. 24:14).  We are there.  And, just like it was on the day the flood began, the day the 6th Seal is opened, the bottom is going to drop out of things in this world.  Things will then come together (and quickly) for the fulfilling of Daniel's 70th Week and all that the end entails.

This thread is one of many that I have started that relates to A Totally Different Pre-Daniel's 70th Week Rapture Interpretation that I have put forth.  Following is a link to my master thread by this same title, where I give 36 propositions relating to this interpretation and keep a running list of the threads I have started that relate to it (https://www.worthychristianforums.com/topic/253935-a-totally-different-pre-daniels-70th-week-rapture-interpretation/).

Edited February 4, 2023 by not an echo
I had reserved this slot for the present post

[Keras]

4 hours ago, not an echo said:

The focus of this thread will be the "tribulation" that Jesus spoke of in verse 29.  Also of note is the word "after" in this verse. 

The Book of Revelation gives us the answer. 

The Great Tribulation which will be over when Jesus Returns, at Revelation 19:11, is the events of the Seven Trumpets and the Seven Bowls, culminating in the 7th Bowl, which is Armageddon. Revelation 16:17-21

THEN; Jesus sends out His angels to gather those who remain alive; Matthew 24:31, 1 Thess 4:17, and commences His Millennium reign. 

[not an echo]

On 5/27/2022 at 8:43 PM, Keras said:

On 5/27/2022 at 3:43 PM, not an echo said:

The focus of this thread will be the "tribulation" that Jesus spoke of in verse 29.  Also of note is the word "after" in this verse. 

The Book of Revelation gives us the answer. 

The Great Tribulation which will be over when Jesus Returns, at Revelation 19:11, is the events of the Seven Trumpets and the Seven Bowls, culminating in the 7th Bowl, which is Armageddon. Revelation 16:17-21

THEN; Jesus sends out His angels to gather those who remain alive; Matthew 24:31, 1 Thess 4:17, and commences His Millennium reign. 

Hello Keras,

Concerning your last sentence, where do you see this happening in The Revelation?

Edited May 30, 2022 by not an echo
I had reserved this slot

[Diaste]

I'm pretty sure the context of Matt 24 is, 

"While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?”" Matt 24

"While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, 4“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to be fulfilled?”" Mark 13

"“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”" Luke 21

And I'm convinced the answer remained in that context and not is spread over 2000 years. 

The sign of Your coming, about to take place, about to be fulfilled...Just from that it's a much, much tighter window than 2000 years. 

The disciples didn't ask what the church age was going to be like, they asked about His coming. I don't think Jesus answered off topic as I don't see any language to support the claim. 

What's missed in most any interpretation of Matt 24:5-8 ,Mark 13:5-8 and Luke 21:10-11 is the idea of 'divers places'. This isn't various or many. We think it is, but it isn't.

The word 'divers' appears 16 times in the KJVNT. Apart from Matt 24:7, Mark 13:8 and Luke 21:11 'divers' is:

'tis' as in 'a particular person or thing'; [Mark 8:3, Acts 19:9]

'poikilos' as in 'many colored,  various, of different colors, diverse, various'; [Matt 4:24, Mark 1:34, Luke 4:40, 2 Tim 3:6, Titus 3:3, Hebrews 2:4, Hebrews 13:9, James 1:2]

'diaphoros' as in 'varying, excellent differing, different; hence: excellent.' [Hebrews 9:10]

'polutropós' as in 'many ways'. [Hebrews 1:1]

In Matt 24:7, Mark 13:8 and Luke 21:11 the word translated 'divers' is 'kata'.

A Greek/English translator says 'kata' is 'against'. Not a person or thing, not multi colored, many ways or excellent.

Kata is Koine Greek so a modern translation doesn't do the idea any justice; Strong's does.

 κατά;

down, against, according to

 against, down from, throughout, by; acc: over against, among, daily, day-by-day, each day, according to, by way of. katá (a preposition, governing two grammatical cases) – properly, "down from, i.e. from a higher to a lower plane, with special reference to the terminus (end-point)" (J. Thayer).

This is rather large and pointed contrast to the language in the NT translated 'divers', as compared to the language in Matt 24:7, Mark 13:8 and Luke 21:11, also translated as 'divers'. In the Olivet Discourse Jesus isn't referring to 'many or various' He's saying this 'divers' is daily and down from above against the earth and the people.

That being the case this is a particular time when the course of the earth and the conditions therein are specifically 'from a higher plane to a lower plane on a daily basis'. This removes the possibility of a general, two millennia, 'tribulation'. Why?

Because of 'kata topos' from Matt 24:7, Mark 13:8 and Luke 21:11. We have not seen 2000 years of daily down from above, higher plane to lower plane, "nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes,"

Also, because the Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings and the Most High God is precise in conveying the concepts. If Jesus meant 'various' the word is 'poikilos', if He meant 'many' the word is 'polutropós', if He meant excellent or a specific person or thing it's either 'diaphoros' or 'tis', respectively. He said none of that. He said 'kata topos'. 

The terms are so different in spelling and definition one needn't be a Greek language scholar to see the difference immediately; and even the casual seeker will understand the concepts of the terms.

Also, because the answer Jesus gave to the disciples was a response to the query "When will these things happen and what are the signs of Your coming and the end of the age?" not, "What's going to happen to the church when You are gone?" 

Kata topos speaks to a time of divine, top down, higher to lower, daily happenings; not 2000 years of the same general conditions the earth and people experienced for 4000 years before the 1st advent. How would we know the difference in conditions if there wasn't a change in the severity or frequency of those conditions when nearing the end? 

What Jesus is speaking to in Matt 24:7, Mark 13:8 and Luke 21:11 is the conditions near the time of His return in reference to the seals and trumps. The seals speak to the general conditions and the trumps affect those conditions. The alignment and similarities between the Olivet discourse and the Seals and Trumps are too great to dismiss, in the context of the end of the age, not a made up church age. 

 

 

[Diaste]

Alright. let's look at the list.

 

On 5/27/2022 at 2:45 PM, not an echo said:

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

It does not. This is a hope and not fact. It's just dispensationalism.

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

I think this misses Paul's teaching in the NT about what the believer is. All believers are of spiritual Israel. Then there is the nation of Israel. The 'church' is spiritual Israel.

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

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

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

For 3 and 4, yes, obviously. 5 is a resounding no. "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. " Jesus coming is immediately after the signs. The signs occur, the tribes mourn based on the herald of the signs AND the see Jesus coming. No 7 year separation, Hoss.

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

Agreed. And at least one trump in there.

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

Agree.

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

I agree. Are you sure, though? Doesn't look like there's a 7 year separation between the signs and the Coming of Jesus.

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

Huh? That's literally saying the servants of God are in mourning when they see the Signs of His coming. NO!

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

No such thing as pretrib rapture. One can link anything to anything, doesn't make it accurate.

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

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

These two are interesting as the scripture records the group in Rev 7 as coming out from within GT. 

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

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

This 'escape' in Luke 21 is a personal flight, not harpazo. Notice how harpazo isn't the word used; ekpheugó
 I flee out, away, escape;  I escape something. Harpazo is a storming of the enemy camp to snatch a prize. This is a 404 Not Found error.

15. Links the 6th Seal and the rapture to the final fulfilling of Joel's Church Era prophecy (Acts 2:16-21).

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

I agree. I think...

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

Jesus comes as thief for those in darkness. Pretrib fails miserably here. " 4But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." I Thessalonians 5.

I am a brethren, I am not in darkness, that day will not overtake me as a thief. Repeat that several times.

18. Views none of God's wrath as happening until after the 6th Seal is opened (Rev. 6:17).

Agree.

19. Views the opening of the 7th Seal as marking the formal beginning of the Day of the Lord.

How? "When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour." That's it about the 7th seal. You must mean this; "The nations were enraged, and Your wrath has come." at the 7th trump. Oops, that's what the 6th seal says too,

"For the great day of Theirc wrath has come, and who is able to withstand it?”"

Clearly wrath begins at both the 6th seal and 7th trump. The 7th seal makes no mention of wrath. Not that wrath isn't a part of the final seal, it could be, it's just adding to the scripture to say so.

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

Thank you for stating a 'view'. Every time this is said we can understand what follows or precedes is speculative, not divine enlightenment

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

What chronology? Revelation isn't chronological 1-22. Can't be. 

 

[branchesofHim]

1 hour ago, Diaste said:

Alright. let's look at the list.

Read the first few chapters in Genesis. The answer is there. Shalom