Rapture Part 1. Before or after Tribulation?

We update studies as the Lord Jesus leads us. You can find the latest update of this study at ChurchAges.net

Enoch was caught up before the Flood. "Tribulation" does not mean the years of "great Tribulation" at the end

First published on the 12th of May 2021 — Last updated on the 19th of July 2021

3½ years of Great Tribulation

MATTHEW 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

The word "Tribulation" does not mean the 3½ years of "great Tribulation".

"Great Tribulation" is the final event that happens at the end of the 7 church ages.

MATTHEW 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days

"The tribulation of those days" refers to the Holocaust where 6 million Jews were killed during the six years of the Second World War.

"Tribulation" is a common experience for Christians and Jews and is not to be mistaken for "great Tribulation" events at the end which destroy our human civilization.

ROMANS 5:3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

We all suffer tribulation at times but do we have to suffer during the 3½ years of great tribulation at the end?

The Bible never says "the great tribulation".

Do not attach "the" to "great tribulation". The Bible never does that.

What is written in the Bible is "great tribulation" as if those final three-and-a-half years are the far more horrible culmination of earlier tribulations that, awful as they were, did less damage but were nevertheless linked to the final worldwide destruction at the end.

We must look for two tribulations that acted as a preview for the final three-and-a-half years of great tribulation that will totally eclipse the horror of the two earlier "amateur" tribulations.

The three are linked. First was the tribulation of the awful destruction of Jerusalem city as the Jews dropped out of history as a nation in AD 70. Then the ghastly tribulation known as the Holocaust in Europe with Hitler's gas ovens where, against all odds, the Jews came back into history as a nation. And then the final apocalypse at the end called great tribulation. That is going to be unimaginably horrible as the nations of the world combine to try to eliminate Israel as a nation.

DANIEL 12:1 And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

The missing understanding as far as prophecy is concerned is that the evil that erupts, in the end, was already revealing itself in the past.

We must look for a theme of evil that runs through history in some way.

The main events of today have been developing over the last 2000 years for the Jews and the church.

The Bible also never says "the antichrist" as if the European Union is going to produce some evil political president.

I JOHN 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Many antichrist spirits were around 2000 years ago and can be traced through the 2000 years of church history during which time they have taken over the churches. The antichrist spirits of religious deception then got churches involved with political power and the demonology of Big Business money-making in the church.

The Roman Catholic church denomination is the only modern-day organization that survived the breakup of the pagan Roman Empire. So denominational church organization has a long and wicked history.

The Vatican has vast political power and paid a key role in the downfall of Communism in Poland.

Vatican City is arguably the world's wealthiest organization.

The Jews were tragically destroyed in AD 70. This was just after Jesus had started working with the Gentile church to bring them into God's Plan.

Then God started turning back to the Jews around the time of the Second World War. To stop this, Satan inspired Hitler to try to eliminate the Jews in the Holocaust. But Hitler's attempts failed and the Jews won a portion of their homeland as a nation in 1948. By rejecting William Branham's revelations of the Bible mysteries between 1947 and 1965, the churches rejected the revealed mysteries of Scripture to move away from God.

The 3½ years of great tribulation will see the church destroyed and the Jews back in God's Plan.

Before that happens, God must catch up the Bible-faithful Bride into the air as He takes them to Heaven to save them from the wrath to come.

I THESSALONIANS 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

God has a policy. He warns us and provides a way of escape before judgement hits.

All doctrines must start in Genesis

“Rapture” is a very contentious unscriptural word and an even more contentious doctrine.

Does the Rapture happen before, during, or after the events described during the 3½ years of great tribulation?

All doctrines must start as a seed in Genesis and move through Scripture like a growing plant until they burst into flower in the Book of Revelation.

The pattern is set in Genesis, the Seed Chapter.

Genesis starts with the word "Genes".

Genes carry the instructions that tell your cells to make the different proteins that your body needs.

Genesis establishes the pattern or blueprint that the rest of the Books in the Bible have to enlarge on so that the Bride, the Body of Christ, can grow according to God's Will.

In Genesis, Enoch was taken up before the Flood of Noah

Enoch was taken up (raptured) to God before the Flood of Noah. The Flood which destroyed the whole world except for 8 people was an obvious but ominous type or preview of the 3½ years allocated for the end-time ‘great Tribulation”.

GENESIS 5:24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

The life of Enoch, in Genesis, plants the seed of an idea whereby a person is being taken up to meet God before any Flood of great tribulation wipes out the rest of the world.

At the end of the Bible, in Revelation Chapter 4 John is told to “come up” which was only possible with the help of the Holy Spirit. Once he was "in the Spirit" then only was he able to see that Jesus was the only Person on the throne in Heaven.

“After this”. After seeing the 7 church ages finish.

John had to ascend up before he could see Jesus. This is very symbolic of the Rapture.

REVELATION 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

Great Tribulation events are only recorded or described when we get to Revelation Chapter 6.

So John, ascending in Chapter 4, symbolizes the Rapture happening before any great tribulation events are listed.

Thus, the catching up occurs first in Chapter 4 and is followed later by the horrors of great tribulation that starts in Chapter 6.

Consequently, the flower of the Book of Revelation also shows the Rapture or catching up happening before the years of great tribulation.

Jesus ascended up into the air in order to go to Heaven. This ascension is similar to the rapture.

ACTS 1:9 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?

We have to ascend up into the air in order to be caught up to Heaven, or raptured.

Heaven is a higher dimension that we cannot see. But we see the start of this journey as moving upward into the air before disappearing from sight into the higher dimension or spiritual realm of Heaven.

“Tribulation” is a word that is carelessly used by church people. Do you mean “tribulation” or “great tribulation” or "the tribulation of those days"? We have to be precise.

“Tribulation” means hardship, suffering, and persecution which is essential for the growth of all Christians, past and present. Christians and Jews have always suffered many tribulations in their personal lives. How else can we learn patience and wait for God to answer prayer?

ROMANS 12:12 Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

If “Trinity” is wrong because it is unscriptural, then we should not use “Rapture” either if we are to be consistent.

Let us define what the unscriptural word “Rapture” is supposed to mean.

“Be caught up to meet the Lord in the air” or “The catching up to meet the Lord in the air”.

I THESSALONIANS 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Two aspects are involved. Being taken off the earth in defiance of the laws of gravity in order to see Jesus.

To qualify, the Bride must defy all the unscriptural church beliefs by having enough oil to burn a sufficiently bright light that can enable her to see or understand the Scriptures correctly.

The darkness of unbelief is what stops people from reading and understanding Scripture.

Being strictly Scriptural means that the Bride will see Jesus as Almighty God. The true Bride has Scripture for putting all the Godhead into Jesus because there is no Scripture that puts Jesus into the Godhead as the second Person.

COLOSSIANS 2:9 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Because they cannot understand much of Scripture, the churches stop reading much of the Bible. Bible-illiteracy is growing in the churches. We have to make a big difference between the Bride that only uses Scriptures to prove their beliefs and the modern church that is a lukewarm mixture of Scripture and human quotes and opinions.

The shout and voice and trump are in the future

One month before he died, brother Branham was still looking for the "shout" or message to happen. He wanted us to prove his message (the voice of the seventh angel) from Scripture (the Voice of God).

64-0614 THE ODDBALL

That's what the Angel told me, "Get the people to believe you."

And if I tell the Word of God, it ain't "believe me," it's "believe the Word."

63-0630 THE THIRD EXODUS

for they can hear plainly the God's Voice, calling, through His Word

... Listen to the Bible, the Voice of God calling to you in this day.

1965-1127 I HAVE HEARD BUT NOW I SEE
Dear God, in this solemn moment, it's going to be a time like this when there really will be a clap of thunder someday, and the Son of God shall descend from the heavens with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and the trump of God, the dead in Christ shall rise.

This was his final comment on the topic of "the shout", the message.

The "shout" will only happen sometime in the future when you and I become Scriptural, not just believing message-people's interpretation of the quotes. That way they are forced to ignore Scriptures and other quotes that contradict their ideas. The end result is that they cannot understand much of the Bible.

I THESSALONIANS 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

There are at least three events linked to the catching up of the Bride.

“A shout” will happen when end-time believers become Scriptural in what they believe so that they can understand the Bible.

REVELATION 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished,

The Word is God. The mystery of God should be understood. That means the mystery of Scripture should be understood. This can only happen at the end.

DANIEL 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

There will be those wise virgins who have enough oil to burn and illuminate the Scriptures so that they can be read the Bible with understanding.

A woman symbolizes a church as the true church is the Bride of Christ.

MATTHEW 25:1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.

:2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.

:3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them:

:4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

There was enough oil in the lamps that could burn and produce enough light to illuminate the written Word.

Oil represents the Holy Spirit.

JOHN 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:

Only the Holy Spirit can guide us through the Scripture verses to discover the truth so that we can understand the symbols and patterns in the Bible.

The Rapture or “catching up” can only happen when there are enough Bible believers who can understand the Bible mysteries so as to produce a Scriptural “shout” that God can hear.

As the Gentile centurion once said, "Speak the Word only".

MATTHEW 8:8 ... but speak the word only,

When we only speak from Scripture, not from some man's quotes, then we impress God.
MATTHEW 8:10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

"Great faith" was a Gentile who insisted that only the Word must be spoken. Only what is written in the Bible. Because that is the absolute truth. We must believe that every verse in the King James Bible is the infallible and absolute truth.

2. Then there is the “voice” of the archangel to produce the resurrection. This happens in Revelation Chapter 10.

REVELATION 10:2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,

64-0119 SHALOM

When that Angel, of Revelation the 10th chapter, puts one foot on land and one on the sea, and a rainbow over His head, He swore, "time shall be no more." When that time comes, you'll rise up from among the dead. While the rest of them lay there, you'll go in.

The Bible was open. The living saints, at last, were able to understand its mysteries. Sea and earth are where the dead saints from the seven church ages are buried. The mighty Angel comes to claim them. Jesus comes as the archangel so that it is not a Coming of the Lord in a Body of human flesh.

REVELATION 10:3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

The roar is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus, as He raises His saints in order to triumph over Death, Hell, and the grave.

"Cried with a loud voice" and "when he had cried" are both expressions that were used at the time of a resurrection.

So, this verse puts an emphasis on the resurrection.

He “cried with a loud voice” is what Jesus did when He raised Lazarus from the dead.

JOHN 11:43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

When Jesus had cried on the cross, the Bible fast-forwards to the resurrection of the Old Testament saints. Putting the emphasis on the resurrection right after the Bible mentioned that He had cried with a loud voice.

MATTHEW 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

MATTHEW 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

The First Coming of Jesus set the pattern. First the resurrection. Then the ascension to Heaven will be repeated at the catching up of the Bride.

There were only 40 days between the resurrection and the going up.

The resurrection of the New Testament saints must happen first, caused by the voice of the archangel.

After that, the Bride is caught up to Heaven.

The Rapture or Catching up may well happen about 40 days after the resurrection of the New Testament saints.

I THESSALONIANS 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

3. The third event is the trump of God. Not the trumpets of the seven angels.

The “trumpet” of God was the voice of God that caught John up.

This is a preview of the “catching up”. John, as one person, represents the Bride.

REVELATION 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

When John was caught up, he could only see one Person, Jesus Christ. There was no Trinity.

The trumpet that summons the Bride to be caught up so that they can see Jesus, is also called the "trump" of God.

This has got nothing to do with trumpets that are blown by angels.

Thanks to President Trump, the word "Trump" has dominated headlines for years. That is a sign of the times. The time of the "trump of God" is approaching.

John is caught up in Chapter 4 but great tribulation events are only mentioned in Chapters 6 and 7.

So, the catching up happens first, before the sorrows of great tribulation occur.

The Reformation saw the Gospel travel from East to West

Revelation Chapter 2 describes the initial truth of the Bible being established by the apostles as the New Testament in the first church age. The original truth got lost as the fourth church age ended in the Dark Ages with the “dominating woman” Jezebel. She represents the Roman Catholic church that dominated Europe.

REVELATION 2:20 Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.

EVIL means moving away from the original beliefs of the apostles who wrote the New Testament.

The central candlestick represents the first church age of the apostles.

Revelation Chapter 3 describes the Reformation of great men like Martin Luther in Germany who restored salvation by faith alone in the 5th church age. The King James Bible was translated.

John Wesley in England restored Holiness and outreach which led to the “open door” of the missionary age in the 6th church age. The 7th church age Pentecostal revival started in Wales and spread to America.

What God wanted was that the 7th or last church age is meant to return to the beliefs of the first church age of the apostles.

LIVE can only occur if EVIL is turned around. LIVE means moving back towards the original beliefs of the apostles.

The Bride who are restored to the New Testament beliefs will be the wise virgins. They will have enough oil to burn a sufficiently bright light that will illuminate the Word and enable them to understand the Bible mysteries.

DANIEL 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

:10 ... and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.

Unfortunately, as the mysteries of Scripture were revealed in America, so the Gospel also became Big Business for the wealthy church of the Laodiceans. Wealth and success breed arrogance and church-going people become infatuated with their own cleverness in our modern age of self-worshiping "selfies".

Women wear makeup to illustrate the fact that the churches make-up their own unscriptural beliefs and their own drumbeat worship. Drums are never mentioned in the Bible.

So the foolish or fooled virgins (clean women representing saved church-goers) who mix Scripture with human opinions and traditions look like this:

The Bible-illiteracy of the church, the foolish virgins, who did not realize that by serving a Trinity God they never ended up knowing the name of God. They celebrate the unscriptural Christmas on the unscriptural 25 December, even though the Bible never asked us to celebrate the Lord's birth.

The last three church ages saw the Bible truth unfolding as the Gospel Light spread from Germany to England to America. After the Dark Ages, the Truth was revealed in 3 stages, from 3 different countries, as the Light of Scripture moved from East to West.

That fulfilled the Scripture:

MATTHEW 24:27 For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

Lightning is moving light.

The Light of the Gospel that saw the restoration of truth out of the darkness of the Dark Ages started with Martin Luther's Reformation in Germany. William Branham in America was able to reveal the Bible mysteries that take us back to the beliefs of the early church that the apostles established. Now we must be able to prove what we believe just by using Bible verses.

The great day of His wrath is after John is caught up

“After this”. After the 7 church ages are complete, John got caught up.

REVELATION 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither,

After John was caught up in Revelation 4, then in Revelation Chapter 6 we read the first descriptions of great Tribulation events.

REVELATION 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

The foolish virgins are the saved church who never took the revelation of Bible truth seriously enough. When they started to search the Bible, it was too late. They did not have enough time to learn what they needed to know.

MATTHEW 25: 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.

The Bride had been caught up to Heaven. The foolish or fooled church, when the door was shut, was left behind in great Tribulation.

THE LAODICEAN CHURCH AGE

“Be zealous and repent.” Now this false church has zeal; make no mistake about that. Her zeal has literally been that of the Jews, John 2:17, “The zeal of thine house hath eaten Me up.” But it is a wrong zeal. It is for the house of their own building. It is for their own creeds, dogmas, organizations, their own righteousness. They have put the Word out for their own ideas.

They deposed the Holy Ghost and made men into leaders.

They have put aside Eternal Life as a Person, and make it good works, or even church conformity rather than good works."

All these saved Christians, whose carelessness about being Scriptural, allowed themselves to be fooled into believing the unscriptural ideas and illusions preached by the reckless rhetoric of their eloquent and charismatic pastors.

AMOS 6:1 Woe to them that are at ease in Zion

That is the consequence of regarding church conformity as being the way to serve God.

They were too complacent and self-satisfied to check their theories in Scripture.

They will get such a shock when the man of sin, the final Pope, takes over that they will be jolted out of their church beliefs. But that will cost them their lives.

REVELATION 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

This verse confirms that the Bride will not be in the 3½ years of great Tribulation because all the saved souls who refuse to worship the image will be killed. None of them will be alive when Jesus returns, so He would have no living persons to change. That is why everyone mourns.

REVELATION 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Refusing to serve the Protestant church confederation which is made in the image of the Roman Catholic denominational beast church power that demands that one-man-is-the-head-of-the-church, will be their death sentence. Then they will have to stand up to the one-world-church system and die. Too late they will realize that they should have had the courage to disagree with their pastors and searched out the mysteries of Scripture for themselves while they had time. Sadly, during the 3.5 years of great Tribulation, all the previously saved people will be murdered.

Millions of today's church-goers will die.

REVELATION 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

The Holy Spirit is Life. When Life leaves as the Holy Ghost catches the Bride up to Heaven, then Death enters killing one-quarter of the earth, about 2 billion people.

Death can only enter after life has left.

Thus the Bride has to be caught up before Death can ride in and produce great tribulation.

REVELATION 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

:14 And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation,

Millions of foolish virgins who were saved before the 3½ years of great tribulation started, will perish during those awful years but enter Heaven after Judgement Day. The horrible price that they have to pay because they trusted their pastors who fooled them with man-made unscriptural doctrines.

Gentiles cannot get saved during the time of great tribulation because Jesus had to get off the mercy seat to catch up His Bride. Thus there will be no blood on the mercy seat. No salvation is available anymore for the Gentiles.

Jesus saves us from the wrath to come

REVELATION 6:12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

So, in the Book of Revelation, John got caught up before these awful events that can be described as great Tribulation.

Paul had a similar experience of being caught up to Heaven.

II CORINTHIANS 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

Paul then says that Jesus has delivered us from the wrath to come.

Whose wrath?

I THESSALONIANS 1:10 And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.

Being caught up to Heaven is the only way to escape the great day of God’s wrath.

The wrath to come is the 3½ years of great Tribulation, and Jesus came to save us from that.

Thus the Bride has to be caught up and taken away before the “great day of his wrath is come”

ISAIAH 57:1 ... none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.

The 3½ years of great Tribulation time is the Day of the Lord.

God will pour out his wrath upon the whole world. God hates sin. The world revels in sin. There is going to be a mass slaughter.

JEREMIAH 46:10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord GOD of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

Russia is king of the North.

EZEKIEL 39:17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

EZEKIEL 39:2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

Only one-sixth of the Russian horde will survive.

AMOS 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Great Tribulation is a time of darkness, not light. Not a time for getting saved because the Lord Jesus got off the mercy seat to come down and meet His Bride.

There is no blood on the mercy seat after the Bride is caught up to heaven. The Bride will have been changed into their perfect eternal bodies and will no longer need a Saviour. These perfect bodies have no blood which enables the Bride to live in Heaven for the 3½ years of the Wedding Supper.

I CORINTHIANS 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;

Jesus will have a new name when He is with His perfect Gentile Bride. That closes the door to salvation for the Gentiles.

The foolish virgins had to be saved while Jesus still used His name of Jesus, as that name alone can save us.
ACTS 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

REVELATION 19:12 ... and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.

At present, nobody knows the new name of Jesus.

It will only be revealed when the Bride are in new, immortal bodies that cannot sin. Then they will no longer need a Saviour.

Thus Gentiles cannot get saved once the time of great tribulation starts.

The foolish virgins have to be saved before the days of great tribulation start.

II PETER 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

The fury of nuclear explosions. The Day of the Lord is time for great Tribulation. Billions have to die.

The wrath of God shall be poured out during the years of great tribulation.

REVELATION 14:10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation;

The Roman Catholic beast of denominational organization

The Roman Catholic church is the only organization that survived the fall of the pagan Roman Empire. They claim Peter as their first Pope (which is a lie). But by making this claim, they say that there always was a Roman Catholic church.

Thus they are the only enemy of truth that has existed in every one of the seven church ages that stretch out over 2000 years.

Remember, the many antichrist spirits of religious deception, political power, and Big Business demonology were around in the days of the apostle John. The worst of them were the religious money-makers that Jesus whipped out of the Temple. Just look at the wealth of modern church leaders.

REVELATION 17: 8 ... when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.

This is the succession of Popes.

It looks like the trail of the serpent that is waiting for its head, the final son of perdition who usurps the position of Pope to gain the worldwide support of 1.4 billion Catholics and the unbelievable wealth of Vatican City.

"The beast that was". There always was a Pope according to them as they (falsely) claim Peter as the first Pope.

"and is not". The Pope dies.

"and yet is". A new Pope gets elected.

"Was, is not, and yet is". God only uses the present tense and the past tense. There is no future tense. So, there is no future for the Catholic church as it is to be destroyed in the years of great Tribulation after being used by Satan to gain worldwide dominion.

The final son of perdition who will be the final Pope will want to move from Rome to Jerusalem as that is God's city. When he does, the 10 military dictators who will give him their military power, will destroy the Vatican with nuclear fire. That is typical of the Devil. He uses you and then destroys you.

God uses you and then rewards you.

America is the beast from the earth

REVELATION 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.

The sea represents the masses of people in Europe in the 1600s. Land represents the few Native Americans in North America after smallpox from the Spanish conquerors of South America had killed millions of them.

The two horns were the wise decision of the American Constitution for keeping the political power of the state and the religion of the church separate. One of the evils of Catholicism was the religious power of the Pope that enabled him to exercise political power too.

American politics began with great men like Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Then the quality of leadership declined as womanizing and lying and dishonesty entered the political arena. The Pentecostal era of the power of God changed with the rise of megachurches and the spirit of money-making that employs all the modern dog-eat-dog business practices and the very artificial and superficial Hollywood skills of self-advertisement. Competitive Christianity became Big Business.

Money is the lifeblood of the organization.

In the days of great tribulation, you will either worship God in the one-world-church dominated by the final Pope, as the man of sin who, like the church leader or apostle Judas Iscariot, is called the son of perdition. Judas very significantly had his hands on the money bag. Money is an open door for Satan to enter the church.

JOHN 13:29 For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, ...

Jesus prayed:
JOHN 17:12 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

The son of perdition was Judas, a church leader or apostle.

The son of perdition is also the man of sin.

II THESSALONIANS 2:3 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;

:4 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.

The Pope sitting in the Vatican forgiving sin, which God alone can do.

The church fell away from the doctrine of the apostles in the Dark Ages. Then Martin Luther exposed the Pope as being antichrist, the man of sin. The Pope sold indulgences which he claimed would forgive people for their sins. Only God can forgive sin. Luther questioned why, if the Pope had the power to forgive sin, did the people have to pay him? Why did the Pope not forgive people's sins out of Christian charity? The Pope responded by wanting to kill Luther because that threatened his income. The Popes had built up the Sistine Chapel and the current Pope was busy building up St Peter's church in Vatican City with all the money that he collected from indulgences.

The Jews killed Jesus on the Thursday after he whipped the money-changers out of the Temple on both Palm Sunday and the following Monday. That earned His death sentence. Church leaders and money-making are a toxic combination.

The beast from the earth in Revelation 13 is the American beast. The most powerful country on earth after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. Revelation Chapter 13 describes America that initially formed a nation with thirteen states on the East coast.

The number of America is 13. The American Seal has 13 stars in the field of glory encircled by a cloud.

13 red and white stripes in the badge. 13 leaves and 13 berries in the olive branch for peace. 13 arrows for war.

The motto "E Pluribus Unum" has 13 letters. It means "Out of Many, One". Or "Unity in Diversity".

So 13 is America's number.

REVELATION 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

"Wonders". Scientific wonders. In the 1900s America rose up to become the leading scientific country.

The fire from the sky was the two atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 which exploded 600 metres above the ground and fireballs, brighter than the sun, descended to obliterate everything below it. The world marveled at how advanced American science had become during the Second World War. American military power is symbolized by the 13 arrows of war.

In 1969 they landed the first men on the moon and on their return, the fast-moving rocket slammed into the earth's atmosphere and produced a plasma fireball that flamed out behind it as it slowed down before the parachutes could open. The world marveled again. Only America had got to the moon and back in peace. Symbolized by the 13 olive leaves and 13 olive berries. Fifty-two years later in 2021 America still remains the only country to have landed a man on the moon.

6 moon landings. 12 men walked on the moon. 24 astronauts flew to the moon.

6, 12, 24 just like our time system. 24 hour day. 12 hours of day. 6 hours of morning or afternoon.

So this was a sign of the times. The time of American supremacy.

American money and power will be taken over by the Roman Catholic church in the time of great tribulation to bring all the churches into submission to the final Pope.

A Catholic president ruling America from 2021 is another scary sign of the end times.

America is the richest country. Money is the life-blood of organized churches as they gather in a confederation of non-Catholic churches called the image of the beast as they imitate the Roman Catholic church. Unscriptural Roman Catholic beliefs are: Trinity. Christmas. 25 December. Good Friday. A man is the head of each church. The King James Bible is not the infallible Word of God. (These are some of the Catholic beliefs that the non-Catholics imitate). The worldwide wealthy Roman Catholic church system rides on this religious beast or power that glorifies human leadership.

REVELATION 17:3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

The mark of the beast is an organized denominational religion, that forces us to be subject to the church leader.

During great Tribulation times, in the end, you have to obey the church organizations or die. Thus, everyone who wants to be a genuine believer during the time of great tribulation will be killed. As a result, no genuine believers will survive the years of great Tribulation. They will all be killed.

There will be no living saints to rapture or catch up after the time of great tribulation.

REVELATION 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Notice, when the Lord returns for the final battle of Armageddon, all those who are alive on earth will wail because nobody will be happy to see the Lord. They will have killed all the foolish or fooled virgins. Virgins are clean women symbolizing saved Christians. All the saved Christians who were fooled into wrong and unscriptural beliefs by today’s church pastors will be thrown into great Tribulation after the wise virgins are caught up to Heaven. The horror and terror of the years of great tribulation will open the eyes of the foolish virgins and they will then reject the mark of the beast, that is denominational church religion. They will stand up against their churches and pastors and be killed.

Therefore, at the end of the years of great Tribulation, there will be nobody left who is saved and Spirit-filled. Thus nobody can be changed. All the saved Christians have been killed.

I CORINTHIANS 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Thus, no Rapture or catching up can happen after the years of great Tribulation.

The Jews are involved 3 times in intense tribulation

MATTHEW 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Matthew 24 is not an easy Chapter to understand because Jesus speaks of the end of the Jewish Temple as well as the condition of the church at the end of the 7 church ages, as well as the time of great Tribulation where our world systems end at Armageddon.

MATTHEW 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

The Temple will be totally destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 under General Titus.

MATTHEW 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be?

Three questions.

1. When will the Temple be destroyed?

2. and what shall be the sign of thy coming?

Not, "When are you Coming?" That is top secret. Just a sign of your Coming.

This is a warning to the church of what conditions will be like in the church just before Jesus returns.

Here you have to be careful. 2000 years ago, Jesus was revealed to the Jews as a Man.

At the end of the 7 church ages Jesus appears as the revealed mysteries of the Word of God. (The shout).

After that, He will appear in a glorified Body to catch us up to Him. (The trump).

3. and of the end of the world?

These are the years of great Tribulation and Armageddon. This happens after His Coming to catch up the Bride.

(whoso readeth, let him understand:)

This means we have to think carefully.

In Matthew 24 you have to make certain that you have got the right group.

“Them which be in Judea” is obviously talking about the region of Judaea (or Judah) where the city of Jerusalem and the Temple were situated at the bottom region on the map.

:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:

The Romans marched up to the city and encircled it. The Jews had to get out fast. Jews trying to escape from the city once the Romans had encircled it were caught and crucified, sometimes up to a few hundred in one day.

:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:

Taking goods would slow you down. You needed to run fast. Time was short.

:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

If you were in the field you had a head start. Just get out fast.

:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

Today we have cars. Pregnant women and mothers with babies can easily flee. But this was Judaea 2000 years ago. You had to flee on foot in the rough countryside as the Romans blocked off the roads.

:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

This is not a warning to the church. The church is worldwide. A quarter of the world are always in winter.

Jesus is speaking of Judaea in Israel. If pregnant women and young babies have to flee for their lives on foot in rough territory after the Romans have blocked the roads, it would be a disaster if Israel was in winter with its snow and icy rain.

“Nor on Sabbath day”. Jews were only allowed to walk 1 kilometre on a Sabbath day. They could never escape from the Romans on a Saturday.

[In 63 BC the Roman general Pompey had conquered Jerusalem. One of his tricks was to attack on the Sabbath day when the Jews were uncertain about fighting back].

:21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

Now we have to understand, by thinking carefully about “great tribulation”.

This prophecy jumps from the AD 70 destruction of Jerusalem (a time of tribulation) to the end-of-the-world great tribulation that ends in Armageddon (a time of great tribulation), the destruction of our world systems. A jump of about 2000 years.

The Jews went out of history with a savage massacre in AD 70 when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed as 7000 Jews died every day for 5 months. So, the AD 70 genocide was a time of what can be called an amateur “tribulation” as it was an awful time but cannot be compared to the far more ghastly final time. The Jerusalem disaster showed that God had left the Jews. That was a very bad time but when God returns to the Jews for the 144000 Jews during the 3½ years of “great tribulation” at the end of the world, it is going to be a far worse time.

The destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 was one of the most violent, brutal, and offensive acts of atrocity in the history of the Roman Empire according to one historian.

In that time one million one hundred thousand Jews perished. Then over 90000 Jews were taken as slaves to Rome to build the Colosseum with the gold that was looted from the Temple. Christians would be fed to wild lions in the Colosseum. Pagan Roman hatred of the Jews unleashed this phenomenal demonic murderous spirit.

The Roman Catholic church caught this spirit and murdered tens of millions of opponents in the Dark Ages.

Around 1750 John Wesley preached salvation and holiness and outreach. That led to the "open door" of the golden missionary age. This was the church age of Philadelphia, brotherly love. The demonic religious killing spirit had to go underground as the people, thanks to Wesley and the preachers of that day, no longer tolerated Christians killing each other for religious differences.

Those same horrific spirits of demonology would be unleashed by Hitler, a natural political dictator on the Jews who are natural Israel, during World War 2.

In 1948 those spirits entered the World Council of Churches to kill the influence of the King James Version of the Bible.

Then they killed the interest of the churches to take no interest in the revelation of the mysteries that brother Branham preached between 1947 - 1965.

Then they corrupted the final truth by placing quotes above Scripture so that message-churches became Bible-illiterate. They ended up building their beliefs on the seven Thunders and the new name which are not written in Scripture. Then, very sadly, brother Branham got promoted to the Godhead as the Voice of God instead of being the voice of the seventh angel.

The churches ignore what is written when it does not suit them. The message-followers focus on what is not written. So, both sides are fooled.

The city of Jerusalem and the Temple were totally destroyed and ruined. This was a localized tribulation in one city, an awful preview of the final years of our present civilization described as great tribulation.

Another 580000 Jews perished in the Bar Kochba revolt that ended in AD 135.

The nation of Israel ended as the Jews were scattered in exile. Hebrew as a language died.

DANIEL 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Jesus was cut off in AD 33 at Calvary but not for Himself. He died for our sins after a 3½ year ministry that was followed by the seven church ages.

This links that tribulation of AD 70 to the final 3½ years of great tribulation. The tribulation of AD 70 saw the Romans destroying the city and the sanctuary. The Romans are thus the people of the prince that comes at the end, so he will be the head of the Roman Catholics. The man of sin who will be the final Pope.

The savage tribulation of AD 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem where 1100000 Jews died saw the Jews go out of history as a nation.

Similar casualty figures for one city were only reached 2000 years later at Stalingrad when the Russian army suffered 1100000 casualties in 1942. In addition, 40000 civilians died. The Second World War unleashed an even greater demonic outpouring of murderous spirits to kill 6 million Jews in Hitler’s awful industrialized death camps. This was the shocking “tribulation of those days” (the six war years) that the Jews endured from 1939 - 1945. That was another awful preview of the years of great tribulation that happens at the end.

The Jews came back into history as a nation during this horrifying Holocaust. The United Nations was briefly so shocked that they offered the Jews a small piece of homeland in 1947. The Jews held it against all odds in 1948 against five Arab armies.

The Holocaust against the Jews where 6 million were killed in the 6 years of World War 2 (1939-1945) was a preview to announce or signal the even more ghastly harvest of the Sixth Seal in the Book of Revelation Chapter 6. The Sixth Seal is a prophetic symbol of the 3.5 years of great Tribulation.

This is the price that the Jews paid for killing Messiah.

The Jews went out in a fiery death in AD 70 and came back as a nation in Hitler’s fiery gas ovens and crematoriums where corpses were burnt.

“Tribulation” means a lot of death and destruction. Thus, Jesus lays out Jewish history in terms of two “tribulations” as previews of the 3.5 years of “great tribulation”.

The first tribulation saw Jews murdered in the city of Jerusalem.

The second tribulation saw Jews murdered in Europe.

Against all odds, this enabled the Jews to re-enter history as a nation.

MATTHEW 24:21 For then shall be great tribulation,

Then the time of great Tribulation in the last 3½ years. Jews will be murdered worldwide.

He does not say “a great tribulation” or “the great tribulation” as if it is the only tribulation.

MATTHEW 24:29 Immediately after “the tribulation of those days”

Please note. This prophecy does not say "great tribulation".

This refers to the Holocaust. The tribulation of the Jews during the world’s greatest upheaval in World War 2. In that chaos almost nobody noticed 6 million Jews being killed.

But these were previews of the time of great tribulation, which will involve the whole world.

REVELATION 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

Around AD 303 pagan Roman emperor Diocletian organized the cruelest of the persecutions against the Christians, which lasted for 10 years.

Christians thus endured other localized tribulations like the Albigenses being wiped out in a 20-year Catholic crusade in southern France that started in 1209.

7 angels have 7 trumpets and God has trumpets

Angels have trumpets and God has trumpets. Don't confuse them

MATTHEW 24: 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:

"The tribulation of those days" refers to the Holocaust .

After Hitler’s Holocaust (the tribulation of those days) when 6 million Jews died in the horror and chaos of the Second World War which killed about 70 million people.

These events may be literal or spiritual or both for the sun and the moon. But the stars cannot literally fall from the heaven to the earth as the stars are too far away and they are much bigger than the earth. So, the stars have a spiritual meaning.

GENESIS 15:5 And he [God] brought him [Abraham] forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

Stars refer to God's people. Good preachers will be corrupted by their man-made church beliefs and fall from their heavenly positions where they were supposed to preach from the King James Version of the Bible. We must prove what we believe from Scripture. Today pastors "prove" their doctrines by interpreting human quotes.

Over 100 different versions of the English Bible were rolled out to replace the King James Version.

Quotes replaced Scripture. Then man-made interpretations of quotes took over. Man-made opinions and traditions triumphed. Preachers lost their heavenly vision as they fought in the miry clay for money and their position as head of the church in order to have power over the people. Scripture and man-made ideas got intertangled producing doctrines like cobwebs with big gaps that are unsupported by Scripture.

Try proving from Scripture what the 7 Thunders uttered. What their content is. There is nothing written. So, you are simply guessing. Foolishly, the unwritten 7 Thunders are linked to what is written in Scripture by today's so-called experts.

The sun symbolizes the King James Bible. But, sadly, "It is written..." has been replaced by "I have a quote". Churches became more Bible-illiterate and thus the light of the Bible dimmed and darkened with the church-goers' lack of interest in Scripture.

The moon has no light of its own. It can only reflect sunlight to a world that is in darkness. Thus, the moon acts just like the church should.

By ignoring Scripture and replacing the Bible with human quotes, the church lost its light.

Thus, after the Holocaust, the churches either rejected brother Branham's revelations or corrupted them by not proving them from Scripture.

Physically, in the 1950s the scientists began to explode hydrogen bombs which are 1000 times more powerful than atomic bombs. One hydrogen bomb created a mushroom cloud of dust and debris that was 100 miles in diameter. The area underneath that cloud darkened. Dust and smoke particles in the sky would also dim out the moonlight.

"Dark Sun" would be a good description of a hydrogen bomb. The light of the explosion is brigher than the sun but the enormous explosive energy boils up the dirt and dust creating a dark cloud around part of the brilliantly bright light.

The sun darkens and the moon loses its light could possibly be a prediction of that mad time after World War 2 when America and the Soviet Union exploded these colossal nuclear weapons in their mad arms race. MAD means mutually assured destruction. They could do so much damage to each other that it actually stopped them starting a nuclear war.

These conditions will repeat during the time of great tribulation when nuclear weapons are used in places.

MATTHEW 24:30 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.

These two verses do not follow each other in a sequence of time.

"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 returns for Armageddon and everybody mourns.

Nobody is happy to see Him. Why? During the years of great tribulation they murdered everybody who did not worship the image of the beast. Thus all the souls who got saved before the time of great tribulation, have been killed during that time. Nobody who wants to serve God is left.

The two prophets to Israel, Moses and Elijah, have been killed and then caught up to Heaven after they used that last 3½ years to track down and save all the members of the 144000 Jews so that they could be born again.

Jesus then comes to meet the 144000 towards the end of that 3½ years.

The 144000 then have to be killed.

REVELATION 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

These are Jews yelling for vengeance. Christians die forgiving their murderers.

A Jew who is killed just for being a Jew will go to Heaven and be given a white robe.

The Jews who were killed during the church ages have seen the Bride being caught up to Heaven and now want to go down to get revenge. But they are told to wait for a little season, the 3½ years of great tribulation.

Their fellow servants, the 144000 Jews must still be killed in that time of great tribulation.

This again shows that the church is caught up before the time of great tribulation.

: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.

Verse 31 has to happen before verse 30.

Verse 31 gathers elect believers, the 144000 Jews who are then killed.

Verse 30 sees Christ returning and everyone on earth mourning. No believers are left alive on the earth. There would be no heaven-born-again people left to collect.

So the two angels or messengers, Moses and Elijah, in verse 31 gather the born-again-from-Heaven 144000 Jews just before the Lord returns in verse 30.

Our concept of time breaks down at the resurrection

No time sequence at a resurrection. Just a permanent "now".

Resurrected people are in perfect bodies. They know no sin. They are also outside of time.

For them there is no past, present, and future. Just a permanent present tense. I am.

Can a later verse refer to an earlier event?

Look at the crucifixion.

When dealing with the resurrection God ignores time as the resurrected people are in immortal bodies that live outside of time as they never age.

MATTHEW 27:50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

But the graves of the Old Testament saints only opened three days later after His resurrection.

Here it looks like they rose from the dead when he died.

MATTHEW 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

This verse states that they arose after Jesus arose. A future event spoken of as if it was a present event when He died.

To us, their resurrection was in the future. To them, everything is just present tense as there is "time no longer". They exist without time.

Look what happens in Revelation 10 when the mighty Angel comes down to perform the resurrection.
REVELATION 10:6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:

The resurrected saints in their glorified bodies will be outside of time as they will be part of eternity.

64-0119 SHALOM

When that Angel, of Revelation the 10th chapter, puts one foot on land and one on the sea, and a rainbow over His head, He swore, "time shall be no more." When that time comes, you'll rise up from among the dead. While the rest of them lay there, you'll go in.

We cannot imagine that nor understand it because we are trapped in time.

MATTHEW 27:54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

This verse brings us back from the future resurrection into the present where Jesus still hangs on the cross.

We will never fully understand a resurrection because

When a resurrection is involved, God ignores the sequence of time.

Jesus was taken up into the air as He went to Heaven on the day of His Ascension

ACTS 1:9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

He moved up in space and then moved out of our space into a higher dimension, the spiritual realm of Heaven where we cannot see Him.

So in a resurrected body, you can move out of time and also out of space.

That means you can travel like a thought and be instantly at your destination.

The 144000 have to be killed and then resurrected up for Armageddon because they are to protect the Bride who come down with Christ.

The great city like a pyramid is the final home of the Bride.

REVELATION 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

A wall of 144 cubits surrounds it, speaking of the 144000 who protect the Bride.

REVELATION 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

REVELATION 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

:4 These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

Firstfruits speak of a resurrection.

I CORINTHIANS 15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

There are two groups of trumpets. Trumpets blown by angels (messengers) who may be supernatural or human.

John bowed down to an angel who was actually a prophet.

REVELATION 22:8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

:9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

Then there are the trumpets blown by God. The voice of God can sound like a trumpet.

REVELATION 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither,

John heard God’s voice like a trumpet calling him up.

I THESSALONIANS 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

The dead are raised up at the time of the trump of God. Not the trumpet of an angel.

I CORINTHIANS 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

When the dead rise, it is the last trump of God.

I THESSALONIANS 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

This is not one of the seven trumpet angels.

The trumpet angels cannot raise the dead. The trump of God is the voice of God that raises the dead saints from the 7 church ages.

JOHN 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

The voice of Jesus as the Archangel raises the Dead in Revelation Chapter 10.

REVELATION 8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

Then there are 7 angels with trumpets that are supernatural events in the 3½ years of great tribulation.

These 7 Trumpets are needed to drive the Jews back to Israel where they can be guided by Moses and Elijah to meet Messiah.

REVELATION 11:3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

This is the three and a half years of great tribulation when Moses and Elijah have their ministry to call out the 144000.