So then, it seems to me that the rapture must occur before the wrath of God is unleashed after the seventh seal of Rev 8:1 is opened.
Good day Marc,
I personally believe according to scripture that first, the announcement at the sixth seal that "the great day of their wrath has come" includes what will have previously taken place with the events of the first four seals, as well as what is yet to follow after the sixth seal. I don't believe that God's wrath is restricted only to what takes place after the sixth seal. And secondly, Jesus, as the Lamb, is the One who is opening the seals, which leads into the trumpets and bowls and therefore, since he is the One who is initiating them, then the first four seals are also included as being the wrath of God. The seals, trumpets and bowls judgments combined make up the entire wrath of God and therefore, I believe the resurrection and catching away must take place prior to the first seal being opened.
After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindred's, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
"Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and
where did they come from?”
"And he said,
“These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"
Regarding the above, these are identified as those saints who come out of the great tribulation period, who are also mentioned in Rev.20:4. If you will notice, this group is never referred to as the Ekklesia/Church but always as Hagios/Saints. In fact, we never see the word church after chapter 4 nor anywhere else in the narrative. These great tribulation saints are not the Church, but a different group that will be on earth during the time of God's wrath, who will keep the testimony of Jesus and the word of God and who will resist the beast, his image and his mark, many at the expense of being beheaded. Again, if we try to make this group the raptured church, it would mean that they would have been on earth during the last 3 1/2 years, for it is at the middle of the seven years when the beast sets himself up in the temple proclaiming to be God, which by that time would be well into God's wrath.
I believe that the sudden appearance in heaven of this great multitude from all nations is the result of the rapture.
The other reason that these great tribulation saints cannot be the Church, is because for one, they come out of the great tribulation which is surely referring to the wrath of God. And two, scripture demonstrates that these saints will have indeed been exposed to the seals, trumpets and bowl judgments (God's wrath) as can be seen below:
"Never again will they
hunger; never again will they
thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’[SUP] [/SUP]nor any
scorching heat."
Regarding the above, "never again will they hunger" would be in reference to the third seal famine and "never again will they thirst" would speak about the third trumpet where that object falls on a third of the rivers and fresh waters turning them bitter with many people dying from drinking it. It would also be in reference to when God turns the oceans and fresh water into literal blood at the second and third bowl judgments.
The reference to "the sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat" would be in reference to their exposure to the fourth bowl judgment, when the angel pours his bowl out on the sun and the sun is given power to scorch the inhabitants of the earth with great heat, searing them.
I believe that the microchips inserted in all credit and debit cards are precursors to chips that will be implanted in people; without which people will not be able to buy or sell. I believe that these implants are in fact the mark of the beast.
I whole heartily agree with you here. That fact that we are already seeing people being implanted with the RFID chips in Sweden and elsewhere and the fact that Denmark and her sisters to follow, are going completely cashless in 2016, is a testimony to the truth and accuracy of God's word. This technology will continue to evolve until that antichrist is revealed. As for system that the mark will run on, it is already here and people use it everyday with the swiping of their cards to electronically credit and debit (buy and sell) their bank accounts. The only thing that will need to change is going from card to mark to preform these transactions.
I believe that the first five seals have already been opened and that the opening of the sixth seal is immanent.
Being that a fourth of the earth's population is killed as a result of the fourth seal, which would equal 1.7 billion and the fact that these events must take place in the last generation leading up to Christ's return, and since we have not seen such a great number of fatalities, this couldn't have possibly have yet taken place, but is still future.
To recap, since Jesus is the One who is opening the seals with a fourth of the inhabitants of the earth being killed as a result, then the seals also belong to the wrath of God. The company of white robed saints which no man can count, are identified as being the great tribulation saints and are never referred to as the Church. The fact that they are shown to be exposed to the entire wrath of God would also make them ineligible as being the raptured church, since the church is not appointed to suffer wrath.