I personally don't think there will just be 144,000 saved total. As far as I'm concerned, only Jehovahs Witnesses believe in that. I believe the rapture will happen before the tribulation starts for many reasons one of them being that Jesus appears in the sky once, the time he takes his place as king is when his feet touches the ground (which is during the 1,000 years- a separate event). It wouldn't make sense for us to be called up in the air and then make a 180 degree turn a second later to come back down.
Thank-you and understood. I'm not a "Jehovah's Witness" though, only a Bible believer. And the Bible specifically tells us that there will only be 144,000 redeemed from the Earth. (
Rev. 7:4-9,
Rev. 14:1-3). However, it doesn't mention any rapture occurring before Judgment Day, does it?
When the Bible explains the rapture, it's only noted the dead and alive in Christ will meet Christ in the air, and in that specific scripture, his feet do NOT touch the ground, and after they all meet, they will have a feast in Gods kingdom. Meanwhile, the martyrs on earth begin knowing the Lord and eventually die for their faith. As soon as they die, they're brought to Gods kingdom I'm sure because when John had the Revelation vision, he says he saw them at the alter asking God when they will be avenged.
It specifically states that when the world sees Christ coming in the "Clouds" that every kindred and tribe on Earth will mourn and wail (
Matt. 24:30,
Rev. 1:7), does it not?
Once the 1,000 years happen, the scripture says Jesus will come back AS A KING. There is a difference because the first time, Jesus only came back for his people not to actually take his place on earth, however coming back as king, that's when his feet obviously touches the ground. He comes back on a horse with his people behind him which are the raptured, and the martyrs. The 144,000 were a separate group, they remain on the earth because they get sealed protected from Gods wrath upon the earth, so they just travel to Jerusalem waiting there as far as I'm concerned while the rest of us and Christ comes back. Notice when Christ comes back, only 4 things happen: 1. We slay the wicked because Jesus will pour out his anger on us. 2. satan is thrown into the abyss. 3. Jesus takes his place as king. 4. We live in the Holy City 'till the 1,000 years have expired. So all of this provides no rapture at the end of the tribulation whatsoever because WE ARE COMING BACK anyways, NOT being called up. We are ALREADY on horses ready to begin the 1,000 years, so there is no time for the rapture to happen at the end of the tribulation.
Where does it say that the 144,000 are a separate group please? And where does the reaping figure into your sequence of events?
Also, important note about reincarnation: Reincarnation suggests when a person dies, they come back to life as another person, or even an animal.
Why would you assume that reincarnation involves being placed inside an animal other than a human?
This does NOT compare with how Jesus brought back people to life, because those people didn't change into another being.
Who said they did? We
ARE the Being, temporarily incarnated inside of a human body. When Jesus raised someone from the dead, Father (God) healed that human body and then placed the spirit-Being back inside of it.
Reincarnation is example, I die, and I come back as a pig remembering my PAST LIFE. That's basically you coming back to life with a new life as another being.
Again, where did you get the idea that someone would come back as a pig or that everyone would remember their past life or lives (some do)?
When the body one is using dies, the spirit-Being/Soul within (which is the
real you) is liberated from that body and taken to "paradise" to receive its life review. All of the sin/evil that was done during their lifetime is erased leaving only the good they have accumulated throughout all of their previous lifetimes. That way everyone is in the exact place they've
EARNED a right to be in
ETERNAL time. Perfect Divine Justice.
That spirit-Being (Soul) would then be placed into a new
HUMAN body in living conditions based upon the cumulative good that they've done, with no memory of any of their past lives, for good reason. People are so selfish that if they knew who they were in a previous lifetime, they would go and try to claim the material things they
THINK belong to them, and in the process disrupt and make a mess of the lives of those they knew before, wouldn't they?
As the goal of human life here on Earth is to learn to destroy
ALL selfishness, that would defeat the purpose.
You cannot compare this with how Jesus brought people back to life, because reincarnation suggests you do not go to the spiritual realm until Judgment has happened- instead you black out and come back as another,
If by "spiritual realm" you mean heaven, according to Christ, nobody has ever gone to heaven except for Him.
John 3:13
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of Man which is from heaven.
That really only leaves one option: we come back here, to hell, aka planet Earth until we either get it right or run out of time. And judging by the state of the world (as is being discussed in this thread), we are rapidly running out of time.
so reincarnation is something AGAINST God. Be careful.
Thank-you, but how could something spoken about throughout God's Word, and taught by Christ to His Disciples, be against God? We should all be very careful.
