Biblical Audio Commentary – Which Is It, Lord?

Biblical Audio Commentary – Which Is It, Lord?

Transcript:

A couple months ago, two prominent pastors effectively presented two different scenarios regarding how the pre-Tribulation Rapture of the church might proceed.  I follow both of them closely and respect them immensely.  Yet the message that came forth from these astute men of God couldn’t differ more as to when the Rapture might happen.

I’m speaking of Pastor JD Farag, who is widely known for his regular Bible Prophecy Updates that he’s been doing for many years.  I’m also referring to Pastor Dana Coverstone, who began having prophetic dreams in 2020 which I, and many others, believe are truly from the Lord.

Now, I understand there are those who take issue with the dream visions that Pastor Dana has had.  They say that certain events in the dreams haven’t come to pass; thus, he’s a false prophet.  The problem with this is that he’s never said he’s a prophet – that he has dreams he believes are from the Lord – take them or leave them.  Also, the dreams are highly symbolic and do require interpretation.  If the interpretation is erroneous in some respect, then it may appear that the prophesied event isn’t a true one.  Regarding the negative thinking that some have about all this, I can only say that what the dreams depict resonates in my spirit, and we’ll have to agree to disagree.

What is it that Pastor JD said versus what Pastor Dana conveyed from his latest dream that provides this schism that is the theme of this Commentary?

Pastor JD has been very faithful in bringing the prophetic Word of the Lord to his worldwide audience.  Several years ago, he participated in the documentary movie titled Before the Wrath.  A major theme of the movie was discussion of a Galilean wedding.  A key aspect of this is how it proceeds and how analogous it is to the pre-Tribulation Rapture.  Once the son has proposed and the bride accepts, he returns to his father’s house to prepare a place for his beloved.  It is then the father who determines the new residence is ready, and it is he who directs the son to go get his bride.  The timing is completely up to the father and no one knows when it is except him.  His command to his son is an imminent event since it can occur at any time.

Pastor JD was instrumental in the discussion of how all this works and it obviously is patterned after John 14:1-3 where Jesus says to His disciples:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

One of the aspects of the Galilean wedding that I loved in watching the movie was what happens at the point the bridegroom comes for his bride.  He and his retinue bring a litter, i.e. a couch of sorts with shafts that is used to carry a single passenger.  You see these used by royalty where servants or slaves carry a king or queen.  In this case, the bride enters the litter and bridegroom’s men lift her up to take her to the father’s house where the wedding will consummate.  Notice: the bride is lifted up, removed from her old home, and taken to her new home – that which is in the bridegroom’s father’s house.  This is astounding symbolism that completely reflects John 14:1-3.  The Bride of Christ – His true church – is lifted up and taken to His Father’s house when Jesus, the Bridegroom, comes for us at that unexpected time.  What a perfect picture of the pre-Tribulation Rapture!

I say all this to reinforce that Pastor JD has traditionally adhered to this model of Rapture timing, i.e. it is unknown and unconnected to any other event.  The strange thing is that of late, in some sense, he associated the Rapture with the Feast of Trumpets.  True, there are several days within this Feast that technically could make the Rapture within it an unknown time, but that has never sat well with me.  I think it goes against the idea of this glorious event being solely at the Father’s discretion and not tied to anything earthly.

This association with the Trumpet Feast that JD – at the least – hinted at, is contrary to his prior stance.  I absolutely understand the desire for the Rapture right now.  I also absolutely understand the convergence of all the signs of the Tribulation which indicate the Rapture must be very near.  But, as I’ve stated a number of times, I continue to think that God has to do something more with His church.

Just in the last couple weeks, JD has commented on the COP28 climate conference with its various references of seven years until 2030 to make all the fantastic globalist dreams happen – thus they have to double down on their efforts.  Again, I’ve noticed JD veering off script a little by seeming to equate this next seven years of global sustainable beatdown against the world as potentially being the Tribulation itself.  Has anyone else sensed that?

If I’m interpreting JD correctly in what he’s implying, that makes no sense to me.  How can the world go right into the Tribulation even if the Rapture were to happen today?  I keep saying it, but things in this world take time to develop.  It’s just the way it works.  Where’s Antichrist?  Where is the man of perdition who needs to gain the trust of Israel before he can broker the seven-year peace covenant?  Then there’s the covenant itself.  Yes, Israel is intensively involved in the climate discussions of COP28, but would an agreement along those lines be the covenant of death that Daniel 9:27 and then Isaiah 28:14-19 outlines?  I simply don’t see how this lines up.

Regarding this with JD, I want to make it clear that I’m not criticizing – I’m simply commenting on what I’ve observed.

We know there’s a lot of apostasy.  That’s a given.  However, there are many lukewarm believers.  And that’s a problem when we consider that Christ died to purify and refine the church as His beloved Bride.  Lukewarm does not translate into pure and refined.  Why?  Because far too many Christians – truly saved – are lackadaisical about their faith, and many are deliberately and repeatedly sinning in disobedience to the Lord.

Add to this the revelation that many in the church have taken an anti-Israel stance in the context of Israel-Hamas war.  I’ve discussed it at length elsewhere, and think it’s a major problem in the heart of believers.

Could this be the reason God has refrained from bringing us home?  Does He want to accomplish something necessary in the hearts of these who call themselves His, but don’t act like it?

That’s where Pastor Dana’s dream called The Yellow Horse Dream comes in.  This is a complex vision full of symbolism.  You can watch it at the link I provide in the transcript if interested.  The bottom line is the interpretation that – because the church has become wild and unruly – it may be that God needs to allow persecution to occur to set the hearts of His people right, and to be for Him.  For the record, there have been other dreams by Dana emphasizing that persecution of the church is coming.

I completely agree.  This is something I’ve literally been saying for years myself.  Frankly, as I’ve stated in the past, I seriously question if God will bring those Christians home in the Rapture who are not pure and refined, i.e. they are disobedient in the fact they are deliberately and repeatedly choosing to sin.  How far, i.e. to what extent, does God’s grace permit these people to act against the commands of God and suffer no adverse consequences?  When does grace become hyper-grace?  Does persistent disobedience have a cost?  If not, why don’t we all just do what we want?  Or, as Aleister Crowley, the noted satanist said: “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.”  Isn’t that the definition of rebellion in disobedience to the Lord?

The antisemitism in the hearts of believers against Israel may even be a worse sin.  How can a Christ-follower hate what God loves?  How can Christians read the Old Testament or the book or Romans in the New Testament and come away thinking that we should have nothing to do with Israel because God has discarded them?

People get upset with me when I state that I think not all Christians will necessarily be Raptured because of these very issues.  Yet, is it not better to warn people that they could be skating on very thin ice rather than re-assure them that their lifestyle or the condition of their heart toward Israel don’t matter?  That because of God’s love and grace He’ll bring them home despite their rebellion?  Which – by the way – the Bible likens to witchcraft.

I can only say that we’ll see how all this plays out in the time ahead prior to the Rapture.  Will there be fairly serious persecution of the church in America?  If so, what will those persecuted do?  Will they turn to God for relief, or away from Him and to the world?

The one thing I do know is that in these perilous times we’d better dig deep into the Word of the Lord and pray without ceasing.  There’s an awful lot of deception and very strong forces acting against us.

I pray the Rapture is sooner rather than later, but I also strongly believe God still has some work to do – not in the world, per se, but in the church.

It’s my fervent belief that the Rapture will occur within the next year and a half or so.  Assuming that sense is correct, it means there are still a number of months of this alien world we have to traverse.  It also means that God will need to do that mighty work in the hearts of these wayward believers in pretty short order.

One thing is certainly clear in the way things are going.  This next year of 2024 is probably going to be a doozy.