Revelation 12:1-5
A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head.
She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth.
Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads.
Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.
She gave birth to a son, a male child, who “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne.
The woman fled into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days.
- Revelation 12:1-6 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation12:1-6&version=NIV
Anyone who has been following my Posts or the videos etc of others on the internet who are, shall we say, "rapture enthusiasts", knows about the Revelation 12 Sign of September 23, 2017. Google it if you don't.
2 years later, there is very good reason to believe that we are approaching a "high watch time" for the rapture described in Revelation 12:5.
Briefly, when the Son of God was 2 years old, Satan tried to kill Him, as referenced in Revelation 12:4. Satan failed, because Jesus had escaped to Egypt.
Revelation 12 is a complex passage because it operates on 2 levels. It refers back to the birth of Christ, but also refers to future events. I believe the reason for this is that God was leaving a clue for us in the heavens that the time has arrived for the rapture to happen.
Each of the first 5 verses of Revelation 12 holds a clue to what has been going on in the last 2 years.
Verse 1: the celestial birth sign: an actual alignment that occurred on September 23, 2017. Scott Clarke found it in 2010 by searching using a software tool called Stellarium which displays the movements of the stars and planets over the course of time.
Verse 2: the birth pangs. Jesus also used this analogy in His Olivet discourse in Matthew 24:8, as does Paul in 1 Thessalonians 5
8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. - Matthew 24:8 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew24:8&version=NIV
While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1Thessalonians5:3&version=NIV
What I take from this is that the birth is an analogy for the birth of the Millennial kingdom.
For those who are raptured, the kingdom is still 7 years away. For those left on earth, the trouble is just beginning. Those who lay down their lives during the tribulation will also inherit the kingdom. Both groups are mentioned in Revelation 20:4 - "those who had been given authority to judge" are the believers who died before the rapture along with those who are raptured, while "those who had been beheaded" are the tribulation saints.
I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation20:4&version=NIV
It's clear that while the age of grace is drawing to a close as I write this, the end times, namely the tribulation and millennial age have not yet begun. We are only seeing the birth pangs.
Verse 3: the celestial red dragon sign. There is some debate about what this is. The Draconid meteor showers that happen in October each year are a strong candidate. The 2018 showers put on a good show so I am told:
https://earthsky.org/todays-image/2018-draconid-meteor-shower-outburst-europe
Verse 4: As mentioned above, Satan tried to kill Jesus at the age of 2 years. Is Satan wanting to do the same to the body of Christ at this time?
Those who follow world events know that the Christian world order which has protected Christians up to now is on very shaky ground.
The USA, the leading Christian superpower is heavily compromised in every way: financially indebted, politically divided, morally jaded, militarily overstretched, and spiritually lukewarm. Every other Christian nation is in a similar state.
Mass shootings happen regularly even in small isolated nations like NZ and nobody seems to be able to stop it. If the governments of our nations can't protect us, we are fair game if Satan ever wanted to send his minions on a killing spree.
If those Christians in America who own guns are convinced by their government to turn them in, they would be defenceless. This is the reason for the proposed gun laws in America and other nations. Satan's plan is that the law abiding Christians will obey the unconstitutional gun confiscation laws while Satan's minions will not.
But I believe that Satan's plan will be thwarted by the rapture. The children of God will be snatched away, leaving Satan only with the tribulation saints left to martyr.
But it will take time for those people to wake up to what is going on. They will lay down their lives when they come to faith in Christ after the resurrection/rapture at the beginning of the tribulation.
Verse 5: the rapture of the male child (body of Christ) which is destined to rule and reign with Christ. This includes all Christians, those who have died and those who are still alive at the rapture. For them it will be a resurrection. For us it will be a rapture.
According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.Therefore encourage one another with these words. - 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1Thessalonians4:15-18&version=NIV
So, am I saying the rapture will happen on September 23, 2019? Far from it. The 2 year timeframe is only approximate. The rapture may happen on September 17, the date of the Israeli election. Maybe that's the correct interpretation of the 7/17 predictions that I posted about in July. After all, September was originally the 7th month.
https://steemit.com/life/@auskiwi/could-the-rapture-happen-on-july-17-2019
Then again, some are saying that September 30 is a possibility, as that is the date of the Feast of Trumpets this year.
Whatever the case, Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus!