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 judged concerning 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.

 

We can call those who did not cooperate with the Lord during the age of grace Undergoers. These are saved believers who will not be able to enter the kingdom with the Lord.

In the first instance these saved Overcomers are called the Manchild. These are the stronger part of the believers; these are some of the ones who have passed away and are resting in the pleasant place in Hades or Paradise as the Lord promised to the condemned robber who believed into Him before being crucified. Lk 23.43. These all have passed away to Paradise in Hades. Some are accounted as overcomers. They will be called up to God and to His throne in the first rapture.

12:5 And she brought forth a son, a man-child, who is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne.

The remainder who are not overcomers will be called to the Lord’s judgment seat to be judged according to what they have done during their time on earth.

 

The second group of Overcomers, mentioned in Re. 14.1-5, is also called the Firstfruits comprising the second rapture. This name signifies the first ripe portion of the harvest which the farmer takes into his home to be enjoyed prior to the harvest.

 

These Overcomers will be raptured to the Mount Zion in heaven.

 

14:1 And I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.

 

The importance of these first two raptures is that the Lord will then have a dispensational instrument to deal with His enemy and He will also have His bride.

 

 

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

21:9 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, Come here; I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.

21:10 And he carried me away in spirit onto a  and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.

 

Ge 22:18; Ga 3:16

Isaac is a type of Christ as the son of Abraham, the One who inherits the promise and blessing God gave to Abraham (Gen. 22:17-18; Gal. 3:16, 14). Isaac also, as a type of Christ, did mainly two things: he obeyed his father even unto death and was resurrected from death (Gen. 22:9-10; Heb. 11:19), and he took Rebekah, a Gentile woman, as his wife (Gen. 24:61-67). Christ, in fulfilling this type, was put to death and offered to God and was resurrected from death, and He is taking the church as His bride out of the Gentiles.

 

His disciples were the sons of the bridechamber. Later, they will become the bride (John 3:29; Rev. 19:7) 3:29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom.

22:16 I Jesus have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright morning star.

22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him who hears say, Come! And let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely.

 

 It can be seen in Revelation 12 that upon the rapture of these two groups of Overcomers a command is given to Michael the archangel to begin the war in heaven, which will cast the Devil out of heaven to the earth. The Lord always uses a human instrument to carry out His will on earth and so also in heaven.

 

War In Heaven

 

Immediately after the man-child is raptured to heaven, Michael and his angels begin to war against Satan. This indicates that the man-child, the stronger part of God's people, is always engaged in fighting God's enemy, Satan. They have been fighting Satan continually on earth. Heaven is waiting for them to arrive that a war may be waged to cast Satan out of heaven.

12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels went to war with the dragon. And the dragon warred and his angels.

12:8 And they did not prevail, neither was their place found any longer in heaven.

12:9 And the great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the Devil and Satan, he who deceives the whole inhabited earth; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.

 

When the Devil sees that he is cast down to the earth, along with his angels, he has great rage because he knows his time is short. So he then takes out his rage upon the believers, the saints, who are still on the earth. Revelation 13.7 He makes war with the saints, overcomes and kills them. These saints will have the opportunity to desperately cooperate with the Lord during this 3 ½ year time of the great tribulation. It is possible that they can be perfected to be overcomers during this time and receive the reward of joining the Lord in His kingdom and reigning and ruling with the Lord for 1000 years along with the Manchild and the Firsfruits. This primarily takes place because they will not take the mark of the beast or the number of his name and they will be martyred. All those who are martyred for the sake of the Lord are accounted worthy of the reward of the kingdom. However the vast majority of the believers will come to the judgment seat as not worthy to enter the kingdom and will be cast into the Outer Darkness. The Outer Darkness is a place where there will be severe suffering for the Undergoers such that there will be the weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

 

“To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels.”

 

“Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man”

 

“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, And mightest overcome when thou art judged.”

 

“I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.”

“I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.”

^“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

^“For everything that has been begotten of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory which has overcome the world, our faith.”

^“ Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?”

So these matters account for the first two raptures.

The third category of rapture concerns the late overcomers.

Re 15.2-4 The Late Overcomers Over the glassy sea

15:2 And I saw as it were a glassy sea mingled with fire and those who come away victorious from the beast and from his image and from the number of his name standing on the glassy sea, having harps of God.

These are the late overcomers who will pass through the great tribulation and overcome Antichrist and the worshipping of Antichrist. They will all be martyred under the persecution of Antichrist and then resurrected to reign with Christ in the millennium (20:4).

The fourth category of rapture concerns the Two Witnesses

Mal 4:5 I am about to send Elijah the prophet to you before the great and terrible day of Jehovah comes

Malachi 4:5 prophesies that Elijah will come. When John the Baptist was conceived, it was said that he would go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). Hence, in a sense, John may be considered “Elijah, who is to come” (cf. 17:10-13). However, the prophecy of Mal. 4:5 will actually be fulfilled during the great tribulation, when the real Elijah, one of the two witnesses, will come to strengthen God's people (Rev. 11:3-12).

11:3 And I will cause My two witnesses to prophesy a thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.

11:4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands which stand before the Lord of the earth.

11:5 And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone desires to harm them, thus must he be killed.

11:6 These have the authority to shut heaven that no rain may fall during the days of their prophecy; and they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they desire.

11:7 And when they have completed their testimony, the beast who comes up out of the abyss will make war with them and will overcome them and kill them.

11:8 And their corpses will be on the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified.

11:9 And those of the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations see their corpses for three and a half days, and they do not allow their corpses to be placed in a tomb.

11:10 And those who dwell on the earth rejoice over them and make merry; and they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.

11:11 And after the three and a half days, the breath of life out of God entered into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those beholding them.

11:12 And they heard a loud voice out of heaven saying to them, Come up here. And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them.

The fifth category of rapture can be said to be the general rapture of believers who will be raptured to the air. 1Thes. 4.15-17

4:15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are living, who are left remaining unto the coming of the Lord, shall by no means precede those who have fallen asleep;

4:16 Because the Lord Himself, with a shout of command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

4:17 Then we who are living, who are left remaining, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will be always with the Lord.

4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.

 

Caught Up

 

To be caught up is to be raptured. The rapture of the man-child differs from that of the majority of the believers, which is mentioned in 1 Thes. 4:17. There, the majority of the believers are raptured (1) to the air, and (2) at the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16), which is the seventh trumpet (11:15). But here, the man-child is raptured (1) to the throne of God, and (2) before the one thousand two hundred and sixty days, which is the time of the great tribulation of three and a half years (forty-two months, v. 14; 13:5; 11:2), beginning from the sixth seal, before the fifth trumpet (9:1).

 

Mat 3.12 Note: Wheat

Those typified by the wheat have life within. The Lord will baptize them in the Holy Spirit and, by rapture, gather them into His barn in the air. Those typified by the chaff, like the tares in 13:24-30, are without life. The Lord will baptize them in fire, putting them into the lake of fire. The chaff here refers to the impenitent Jews, whereas the tares in ch. 13 refer to the nominal Christians. The eternal destiny of both will be the same —perdition in the lake of fire (13:40-42).

 

 

Mat 24.3 Note: Coming

 

Mt 24:27, 37, 39 Gk. parousia, which means presence.

Christ's coming will be His presence with His people. This presence (parousia) will begin with the rapture of the man-child (Rev. 12:5) and the rapture of the firstfruits (Rev. 14:1-4) and will end with His appearing on the earth with the saints. During the period of His parousia there will be the great tribulation (v. 21; Rev. 9:1-21; 11:14; 16:1-21), which will begin with supernatural calamities (Rev. 6:12-17; 8:7-12); Christ's descending to the air (Rev. 14:14); the rapture of the majority of the believers to the air (1 Thes. 4:15-17); the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:10); and the marriage of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7-9).

 

Re 5.2 Note: Man-child

In the Bible, woman signifies the weaker one and man the stronger one (1 Pet. 3:7). Hence, the man-child here signifies the stronger part of God's people. That the man-child is to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod indicates that the man-child consists of the overcomers, as mentioned in 2:26-27.

 

Re 12.6 Note: Wilderness

After the rapture of the man-child, the woman is left on earth to suffer persecution (v. 13). During the time of the great tribulation, God will prepare a place where she can be nourished for a thousand two hundred and sixty days before He brings His people into the millennial kingdom. (This is similar to the time when Pharaoh persecuted the children of Israel and God brought His people to the wilderness, where He nourished them before bringing them into the good land.) That the woman (the remaining and living majority of the believers) will be preserved and nourished by God for a thousand two hundred and sixty days during the great tribulation is a strong proof that their rapture will take place on the last day of the three and a half years of the great tribulation, that is, the last day of the one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

 

The sixth category of rapture is concerned with what are referred to as the gleanings.
 

THE PRINCIPLE OF THE HARVEST

Many Christians consider that the rapture will occur as a kind of accident and a great surprise. Their thought is that while we are working here on the earth, suddenly the Lord will come back and snatch us away to the heavens. They would exhort people not to go to the movies lest, when the Lord Jesus comes to snatch them away, He find them there. Rather, they would encourage people to be praying and reading the Bible and worshipping the Lord. This thought neglects the subjective side of the rapture—that the Lord Jesus will come out of the spirit and the soul to swallow up the body. This is the meaning of 1 Corinthians 15:50-54, which says that death has been swallowed up unto victory. He will be glorified from within us. He will do two things at once: while He is taking us away to the air, He will come from within us to swallow up our bodies. Then we will be changed! Our bodies will be transfigured, and we will be fully and absolutely the same as He is (1 John 3:2). Inwardly and outwardly we will match Him.

 

Other Christians consider that the rapture will occur with all Christians simultaneously. They think that when the Lord Jesus comes back, all the real believers will be taken suddenly from the earth into the air at the same time. This concept fully neglects the principle of the harvest. The principle of the harvest is that fruit is harvested as it becomes ripe. Some of the crop ripens first and is reaped as the firstfruits. This is a minority. Then comes the harvest of the majority of the crop. Finally, comes the reaping of the gleanings, or the remainder. These are at least three different stages of harvest. This picture in the Bible is an exceedingly clear type. In kindergarten classes many pictures are used to teach the little ones. In the same manner the Lord uses the picture of the harvest to clearly portray the matter of the rapture. If we only pick up the clear words in the New Testament, we may not understand the rapture so well; but if we look at the pictures, it is very clear. We have a clear picture of the rapture of the believers in the type of the reaping of the harvest. This is a type in the Old Testament, and it is fulfilled in the New Testament. In Matthew 13 there is the harvest, and in Revelation 14 there are both the firstfruits and the major part of the harvest. Eventually, the major part of the crop will become mature, and the harvest time will come. Very close to this time, a few will become mature early. They will become the firstfruits. The major part will then ripen later and will be the general harvest. However, some who are at the corner or the edges of the field will still be green and need a further time to become mature. These are the gleanings or the remainder.

 

 

The seventh category of rapture is concerned with what is referred to as the great white throne judgment.

 

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.

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

 This is a most negative rapture since all those encompassed in this group are cast into the lake of fire for eternity!