The 7 Raptures: Which one is for you?

There are five categories of people who will be affected by the end times according to God’s word. At present there are the descendants of Abraham, collectively called Israelites or Jews. These persons will be dealt with in a particular way by the Lord based upon the promises given to the patriarchs. This is one category.

Then there are the believers who comprise two categories; those who are faithful to the Lord, and those who do not cooperate with the Lord during their time as believers on earth. The first group is called Overcomers. They are those who were called out by the Lord in each of the successive stages of the church as seen in the naming of the seven Churches set forth in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 and the calling for overcomers.

The third category is the saved Israelites.

The fourth category is referred to as the sheep or the nations who ministered to His people during the great tribulation or did not.

25:32 And all the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

25:33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand and the goats on the left.

25:34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

25:35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me a drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in,

25:36 Naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.

25:37 Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when have we seen You hungry and have fed You, or thirsty and have given You a drink?

25:38 And when have we seen You a stranger and have taken You in, or naked and have clothed You?

25:39 And when have we seen You sick or in prison and have come to You?

25:40 And the King will answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you have done it to one of these, the least of My brothers, you have done it to Me.

The fifth category would then be those unrighteous ones condemned as a result of their actions during the great tribulation, particularly concerning the believers.

25:41 Then He will say also to those on the left, Go away from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

25:42 For I was hungry and you did not give Me anything to eat; I was thirsty and you did not give Me a drink;

25:43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; naked and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison, and you did not visit Me.

25:44 Then they also will answer, saying, Lord, when have we seen You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to You?

25:45 Then He will answer them, saying, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, neither have you done it to Me.

25:46 And these shall go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

This category also includes all the unbelievers whose names are not written in the book of life.

20:11 And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose face earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them.

20:12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened; and another scroll was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by the things which were written in the scrolls, according to their works.

20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, each of them, according to their works.

20:14 And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

20:15 And if anyone was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire.

These categories establish the destinies of the persons in each category.

To be continued...