Job, chapter 14, verse 1, the Bible reads, man that is born of a woman is a few days
and full of trouble.
He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down.
He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not and doth thou open thine eyes upon such
in one and bringest me into judgment with thee.
Now in the first few verses here, Job brings up a subject that is really going to characterize
this entire chapter.
He talks a lot about the fact that life is short and how we're all eventually going to
die one day and he talks about the question of whether death is the end and he talks about
a resurrection of the dead and he actually goes into some things that are very prophetic
of future events about the second coming of Christ and so forth.
But he says that man is a few days and of course in the New Testament the Bible tells
us what is your life.
It is even a vapor that appearth for a little time and then vanish it away.
The Bible says that we live a very short life in the scheme of things.
God dwells in eternity.
Earth's been here for thousands of years, not millions by the way, but the world's been
here for thousands and thousands of years and we are but of yesterday in a sense because
we are young and before we know it our life is going to be over.
And so the Bible is kind of pointing that out here.
If you would flip over to James chapter 1.
James is where that quote comes from about our life being a vapor that appears for a
little time and then vanishes away.
But look at James chapter 1 where he elaborates on that same point.
James chapter 1 verse 9 says this,
Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted, but the rich in that he is
made low, because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.
For the sun is no sooner risen with the burning heat but it withereth the grass, and the flower
thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth.
So also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.
And so the Bible is telling us here that those that are rich should not be too prideful and
arrogant and boast in their great riches and the great accomplishments that they have in
their life because in the scheme of things their life is short, their life is going to
be over, it's not going to be something that matters a hundred years from now.
And the Bible tells us that soon enough those that had a lot of possessions are going to
be just like those who didn't have any possessions.
Those that are married are going to be just like the unmarried.
We're all going to go through life and our life is going to end before we know it and
the Bible says that it's just a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes
away.
So in Psalm 14, jump forward if you would to verse number 3.
And it says, And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one and bringest me into judgment
with thee?
Verse 4, Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?
Not one.
Verse 5, Seeing his days are determined, talking about man's days are determined, the number
of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass.
And there are a lot of people today that are very wealthy people and they're very prideful,
boastful people and they seek immortality through science.
You know, you hear about this and they want to find ways to, you know, turn off that aging
gene or somehow use machines and computers and science to live forever.
But the Bible is clear that they're never going to achieve that goal.
God has set a certain boundary, God has set a certain limit to how long man can live and
it doesn't matter, you know, how good a food you eat or the exercise that you do, that
might prolong your life by a few years but at some point you're going to die.
You know, whether it's 80, 90, 100, you're not going to go much further than that.
You're going to die.
And all the wealth that you accumulate, all the accolades you get in this life are going
to be meaningless.
Only what the Bible says, not the Bible says, but there's a good saying that says, Only
one life so soon has passed, only what's done for Christ will last.
And isn't that the truth?
At the end of the day, the Bible says that the flower faded, the grass withered, but
the word of our God shall abide forever.
The Bible also says, He that doeth the will of the Lord shall abide forever.
Things in this life that are temporal, money, houses, fame, those are not the things that
we should be living for.
We need to be living for the things that are not seen, the things that are eternal
because our life is very short.
It's going to be over before we know it but eternity is long and the rewards that we earn
in this life are going to be something that we have in heaven for all of eternity.
Now look at verse 6 of Job 14, it says, Turn from him that he may rest till he shall accomplish
as in hireling his day.
For there is hope of a tree if it be cut down that it will sprout again and that the tender
branch thereof will not cease.
Though the root thereof wax old in the earth and the stalk thereof die in the ground, yet
through the scent of water it will bud and bring forth boughs like a plant.
Yet man dieth and wasteth away, yea man giveth up the ghost and where is he?
Now this is a really interesting illustration that Job uses and it has a lot of parallels
in the New Testament.
Keep your finger in Job 14 and flip over to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Today with one finger in Job 14, go to 1 Corinthians 15, and what Job basically said
there in a nutshell is that when a tree dies, there's hope that another tree will spring
up in its place.
He said if it's cut down it will sprout again, though the root thereof wax old in the earth
and the stalk thereof die in the ground, yet through the scent of water it will bud and
bring forth boughs like a plant.
He's saying man on the other hand just dies and he's gone.
You cannot bring a man back to life, he says, and he's speaking about natural means.
But when we think of trees, I have a palm tree in my backyard and we had somebody come
out and cut the palm tree to trim it and it was a really good deal, but you get what you
pay for and they killed the tree because they cut it wrong and so they gouged into it wrong
and the thing died.
We kind of liked our palm tree in our backyard, but there was hope because another palm tree
after it died, another palm tree grew up next to it, the thing had reproduced.
And so that's kind of what Job is talking about here.
Now that is an illustration that God uses of the resurrection, of a seed being sown
and the death of one plant producing life in another plant.
It says in 1 Corinthians 15 42, so also is the resurrection of the dead, we're in verse
42, it is sown in corruption.
Now sowing is when you plant a seed.
It says it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body, there is a natural body and
there is a spiritual body.
So the Bible likens the resurrection unto a plant that is sown in the earth and then
it grows up.
Jesus said, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone, but
if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Now this is why we don't cremate people as Christians and why cremation is not a Christian
practice.
Historically, Christians have always buried their dead.
All throughout the Bible we see God's people burying their dead and what that represents
is that when we plant that body, that physical, earthly, natural body into the ground, it's
like we're planting a seed and it's symbolic of the fact that we believe that that person
will one day rise again.
We're planting that seed in the earth, we're putting that natural body in the earth.
The Bible says it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
You know, cremation I guess seems like it would symbolize going to hell or something.
I mean if it's just burned up.
Now obviously if a person is saved, they're going to go to heaven no matter if they're
cremated or buried and if a person is not saved, they're going to go to hell whether
they're buried or cremated, but still we as God's people should follow Christian practice
of burying the dead as the Bible teaches and not the heathen practice of burning people's
dead bodies and so cremation is cheaper and that's why people go with it.
But I do not want to be cremated.
I told my wife, I said look, don't put me in some fancy gold plated casket with diamonds
and rubies all over it.
I said just give me the cheapest casket but make sure it's a pine box and make sure that
it's buried in the ground.
Do not cremate me because I at least want that.
But the problem is it's so expensive and you know why it's so expensive to bury people
too?
All these government fees and taxes and it's really sad because when people lose a loved
one they're going through enough.
Someone that they love has died and then they have to go through this expensive nightmare
of trying to bury that person spending six, seven thousand dollars just to bury somebody.
Now back in the old days you buy a pine box, it's not that expensive and then everybody
from the church grabs a shovel and you dig a hole and bury the person six feet under
and those were the good old days and you know I hope that someday our church could have
a place where members could just be buried for free.
Be nice someday to have a piece of land like that somewhere and just have a place where
we could just dig the hole ourselves and bury people and not have to go through all this
hassle of dealing with these overpriced city type funeral homes and everything like that.
It's really a tragedy that that's the way it is these days and that's what turns people
toward cremation because they just don't have the money or they just can't afford it
and I'm not attacking people who've gone that route but I'm just saying that personally
I will not do that to any of my loved ones and I don't want it to be done unto me.
I'd rather stick with the biblical pattern and I think it's significant about the resurrection.
It's a great symbol there.
It's a great lesson and I spoke at a graveside of a funeral one time and that's what I talked
about.
I just talked about the fact of the resurrection and how he was saved and how he's going to
rise again someday and so forth according to 1 Corinthians 15.
Go back to Job 14 but while you're turning there I'll say this.
Romans 6, 5 says this, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death
we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.
And so again, planting something in the earth is a picture of the resurrection.
Now Job brings this up about trees dying and then coming back.
And at first in verse 10 it almost seems like he's just predicting that when you die that's
it, it's over, right?
In verse 10, but man dieth and wasteth away, yea man giveth up the ghost and where is he?
He's questioning, he doesn't know.
But look at the next few verses because Job gets real clear in the next few verses about
what he believes.
He says, as the waters fail from the sea and the flood decayeth and drieth up, so man
lieth down and riseth not, but look at the next word, till the heavens be no more.
They shall not awake nor be raised out of their sleep.
So he's not saying that they're never going to rise again.
He says that when man is buried he will not rise again until the heavens be no more.
Let's keep reading.
O that thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me secret until thy
wrath be past, that thou wouldst appoint me a set time and remember me.
If a man die, shall he live again?
All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.
So notice the answer to the question, if a man die, shall he live again?
Here's the answer, all the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.
Now there are a few words in that answer that should jump out at you.
One of them is from 1 Corinthians 15, again I should add, you keep your finger there,
but keep your finger in Job 14, go back to 1 Corinthians 15.
Hopefully your Bible has a little memory to it of the fact that you were just there, it
might just flip right open to it.
But in 1 Corinthians 15, 51, here's a famous passage about the rapture, which is when the
dead in Christ will rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
Here's the famous rapture passage, behold I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep,
but we shall all be changed.
Now isn't that what Job said?
He said if a man die, shall he live again?
And then he said, all the days of my appointed time, talking about the appointed time of
his life, will I wait till my change come?
So what is he saying?
He's saying if a man die, will he live again?
And then he says eventually that change will come, meaning that he will eventually rise
again.
Now flip over to Job 19, because I just want to prove to you that Job really believed that
he was going to be resurrected in a bodily resurrection.
He said I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in
a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet shall sound and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.
See how being changed is the resurrection of the dead?
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, this mortal must put on immortality.
Look at Job 19 verse 23, oh that my words were now written, oh that they were printed
in a book, that they were graven with an iron pin and led in the rock forever, for I know
that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and
though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall
see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another though my reigns be consumed
within me.
So here we see Job talking about his redeemer, who is Jesus Christ, standing in the last
day upon the earth, that Jesus Christ will one day return to this earth, and he also
says in that same passage that after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God.
Now that proves a bodily resurrection of the saved, because he's talking about the fact
that his current body is going to be buried in the earth, and therefore when his body
is buried in the earth, it's going to be destroyed by worms.
I mean worms live in the earth, and worms are going to consume his flesh, but he says
yet in my flesh shall I see God.
Now think about how long ago Job's body was buried.
Job's body was buried thousands of years ago, we don't know exactly when he lived, but we
know that it was thousands of years ago, probably something like 3500 years ago, or just somewhere
in that neighborhood.
I mean Job has long ago decayed.
Do you think there's any flesh left on the bone of Job's body?
I mean the flesh is gone.
Those worms finished that dinner a long time ago, and there's nothing but dry bones if
that.
I mean he's gone, but yet he said in the latter day, in his flesh, he would see God.
Now Job has already gone to heaven.
His soul is in heaven, but not in the flesh.
That's not coming until the bodily resurrection when the heavens be no more.
That's not coming until the rapture, the second coming of Christ, the trumpet sound, etc.
Now a lot of people will try to say that, well Job's body has already been resurrected.
The Bible talks about false prophets who would teach that the resurrection has passed already
and overthrow the faith of some.
But the proof that that's not true, because there are people out there who teach that.
They teach that when Jesus resurrected, all the Old Testament saints got bodily resurrected
with him.
My friend, that is not true.
The Bible says every man in his due order, Christ the first fruits, afterward they that
are Christ's at his coming will be resurrected.
Just to prove it to you, in Acts chapter 2, when Peter's preaching, he says that David
died and was buried and his sepulcher is with us unto this day, and he saw corruption.
That proves that when Peter was preaching, long after the resurrection of Christ, weeks
later David's body was still in that tomb.
And David's body is still in the earth today.
It will not be resurrected until the rapture.
No one has been part of that first resurrection yet, of the bodily, final resurrection of
the saints that's still coming in the future.
And so he says, after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God
whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold not another.
Now here's why this is so interesting, because if we go back to Job 14, we can get the timing
of the rapture from Job 14, and the timing of the rapture in Job 14 is consistent with
the timing of the rapture in the New Testament and everywhere else in the Bible.
And Job is such an old book, such an ancient book, and yet the timing of the second coming
of Christ, the bodily resurrection, the trumpet sounding, the rapture, is all the same as
it is in the New Testament.
Because what is the key event in verse 12 of chapter 14?
So man lieth down and riseth not, till the heavens be no more they shall not awake, nor
be raised out of their sleep.
So that's the event we should be looking for to understand when Job will be resurrected,
when the heavens are no more.
Now before we look at that, let's just look at a few other things in this passage here.
Now first of all let me point out something about verse 13.
It says, oh that thou wouldst hide me in the grave, that thou wouldst keep me secret until
thy wrath be past, that thou wouldst appoint a set time and remember me.
Now in verse 13 he's not talking about the wrath that's going to be poured out on the
unsaved in the book of Revelation.
What he's referring to is the fact that he believes that God is angry with him because
of all the bad things that are happening.
That's what his friends are telling him, he doesn't understand why, he knows he hasn't
done anything wrong, but for some reason he believes that God is angry at him and he's
just saying I wish I could die.
I mean Job has wished to die in almost every chapter that he's spoken.
He's going through horrible times, he's going through a terrible suffering all throughout
the book of Job and so almost every chapter he makes some mention of the fact, I wish
I were dead, I wish I'd never been born, I wish I would just die.
Why do I have to live?
God's so angry, if I'm just going to suffer, if I'm just going to be miserable, why don't
I just die today?
Why am I even still alive?
I mean he says that kind of stuff all the time and that's what he's saying here.
He's saying I wish I could just go to the grave until God cools down about whatever
it is that's making him so mad, his wrath toward me, and that he would appoint a set
time and remember me.
And then it says if a man die, because he just talked about him dying in the verse before,
if a man die shall he live again.
All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.
So he says look I wish he would just appoint a time and remember me and then he says all
the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.
What's the change?
We saw it in 1 Corinthians 15.
We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed.
Moment a twinkling of an eye, the trumpet sounds and we shall be changed, talking about
the fact that we'll be resurrected.
But another word I want to point out in verse 14 is the word wait because he says all the
days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come.
And the word waiting is a word that is also associated with the rapture or the second
coming or the bodily resurrection of the saved.
For example, you don't have to turn there but in Romans 8.23 it says that not only they
but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body.
So according to Romans 8.23, what are we waiting for?
The redemption of our body.
Our body to be changed, our body to be resurrected or saved.
The redemption of the body is what we're waiting for.
And it says in Daniel chapter 12 verse 12, you don't have to turn there, blessed is he
that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days but go thou
thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
So he tells Daniel, wait, blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred
and five and thirty days but go thou thy way till the end be for thou shalt rest and stand
in thy lot at the end of the days.
Now he says at the end of the days, he's referring to the thousand three hundred and thirty five
days that he just mentioned, he's saying at the end of those days Daniel's going to be
resurrected.
He said blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to those days.
So again in Daniel 12, 12 and 13 we have waiting for the resurrection.
In Romans 8 we have waiting for the redemption of our body, waiting for that event to take
place and Job says that he will wait until his change come.
Now let's look in the Bible and see if we can figure out when the heavens are no more.
Go to Revelation chapter 6 because remember Job said that if a man dies shall he live
again?
And he said that they would not live again till the heavens be no more.
He said man lieth down and riseth not till the heavens be no more.
Now a lot of people would just laugh at this and say oh Pastor Anderson, are you joking?
Are you actually getting your timing from the rapture, from Job 14?
I mean do you really think that Job is going to give us the timing of the rapture?
All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.
We should not discount the words of Job that Job somehow is not an authority on the second
coming of Christ.
He's speaking by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.
The Bible says holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
It's not the words of Job, it's God's word.
And he's prophetically telling us about Bible prophecy, but yet people just want to throw
this out.
Those who have a correct belief of the rapture, this fits their belief perfectly.
It's only the pre-tribulation rapture crowd that would have a problem with this verse.
Because you know what they would have to do with Job 14 and 12 is just throw it out.
And just say well come on, it's just a poem.
Job's just a poem and Psalms is a poem and they just want to throw it out.
And you show them stuff from Psalms, oh that's just David talking.
And then you show them stuff from Job and it's just Job talking.
What does he know?
Well you know I guess the whole New Testament is just Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John talking,
right?
What do they know?
No, it's God's word.
These men spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost and everything in Job should be
consistent with the rest of the Bible.
And if Job's going to start talking about the second coming of Christ, it better line
up with the rest of the Bible.
Otherwise Job's a false prophet.
But we know that Job is a true prophet of God and that his words will line up with what
the rest of the Bible teaches.
Look at Revelation 6 and I'm going to show you where the heavens are no more.
Revelation 6 verse 12, And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo there was
a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became
as blood, and the stars of heaven fell into the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
The heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island
were moved out of their places.
Now pay special attention to verse 14.
The heaven departed.
Now did he not say that the resurrection would take place when the heavens are no more?
And here we are, we're reading along through Revelation, chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and
all of a sudden we get to this and there it is.
The heaven departed.
Now in case there's any doubt about this, keep your finger there in Revelation 6 and
flip back to Isaiah 34.
Isaiah 34 is one of those classic Day of the Lord passages, there are a lot of passages
in the Old Testament that describe an event called the Day of the Lord.
And the main thing that the Day of the Lord is always associated with is the sun and moon
being darkened.
And over and over again when we talk about the Day of the Lord we see the sun and moon
being darkened, whether it's in the book of Joel, whether it's in the book of Isaiah,
whether it's in the book of Acts, over and over again as it says in Joel, the sun shall
be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before the great and terrible day of
the Lord come.
And over and over again, the Day of the Lord, if you just look up those words, Day of the
Lord, sun and moon darkened, over and over again, always sun and moon darkened.
And what did we see in Revelation 6?
Sun and moon darkened, and we saw that the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled
together.
Now let's look at Isaiah 34, and of course the pre-Tribbers right now, they don't know
what to do.
So they're saying, oh well, you know, Job said heavens and Revelation says heaven.
Okay, they're trying to figure something out, because they're in trouble.
Job is rebuking their doctrine.
But look at Isaiah 34 verse 4, and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved.
By the way, compare that dissolved with 2 Peter 3 on the Day of the Lord.
Talks about the Day of the Lord, talks about that dissolving that's going to take place.
Just a side note, I don't have time to go there.
But it says, and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled
together as a scroll.
So what did Revelation say?
The heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.
What does Isaiah 34 say?
The heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.
You think we're talking about the same event?
Okay, notice in Isaiah 34 verse 4, is it heaven singular or heavens plural?
It's both.
Because look, it says heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.
In Revelation 6 it said, and the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.
So that's not relevant.
Often the sky is either referred to as the heaven or the heavens, simply because there
are really three heavens.
There's the sky, and then there is basically outer space, that's also called heaven in
the Bible, and then there's the place where God lives, that's called heaven.
So a lot of times the sky is called heaven, like in Genesis chapter 1, not verse 1.
Verse 1 is talking about the place where God lives, but later when he creates the firmament
and calls it heaven, that's referring to the sky as heaven.
And then a lot of times you look up and look at the heavens because you're seeing two.
You're seeing the sky and you're also seeing outer space, that's why it's in plural there.
That's why the place where God lives in 2 Corinthians 12 is called the third heaven.
Because the two heavens are natural, you know, the sky, or really the atmosphere we could
call it, right?
Maybe a better word.
The atmosphere and then outer space are the heavens.
So here it says that the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll and their host
shall fall down as the leaf falleth off from the vine and as a falling fig from the fig
tree.
Look at verse 8, for it is the day of the Lord's vengeance and the year of recompense
is for the controversy of Zion.
So in chapter 34 verse 4, we see that the heaven is dissolved.
We see that the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll.
We see all their hosts falling down like figs from a fig tree.
Go back to Revelation 6.
We see the heaven departed as a scroll when it's rolled together and right before that
in verse 13 it says, and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth even as a fig tree cast
of their untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Can there really be any doubt that these are the same event?
Absolutely not.
Chapter 34 and Revelation 6 are both clearly describing the day of the Lord, a time when
the sun and moon are darkened, the stars fall from the sky, and the heaven departs.
Now that is consistent with what Job said that we would rise again when the heavens
be no more or when the heavens depart.
Now go to Matthew 24 because in Matthew 24 we find a passage that is parallel with Revelation
6 about the sun and moon being darkened about the day of the Lord.
And while you're turning there, let me just point out the song It Is Well With My Soul
is very doctrinally correct when it comes to the rapture, or the second coming of Christ.
Because the last verse of the song, It Is Well With My Soul, and obviously I'm not going
to base my doctrine on a song, but I'm glad to sing a song that's doctrinally correct.
You know I always skip those songs in the hymnal that are called coming today, it might
be today, you know we skipped that section in the hymnal.
But the song It Is Well With My Soul, the last verse, and Lord haste the day when the
fates shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll, the trump shall resound,
and the Lord shall descend even so.
And where's the even so coming from?
Revelation 1.7.
And that is another verse.
Every eye shall see him, he comes in the clouds.
Whoever wrote that song understood that Jesus Christ is coming in the clouds when the heavens
depart as a scroll, and that every eye shall see him.
It's not a secret rapture, it's not people disappearing, it's not left behind, it's Christ
coming in the clouds, the trumpet sounds, then we're caught up with him, and that song
is dead on with its doctrine.
But look at Matthew 24 verse 29, it says immediately after the tribulation of those days shall
the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light.
Now look, anybody who's reading Matthew 24 who's read the Old Testament even once would
know that that's the day of the Lord.
Just because over and over again he talks about the day of the Lord, the day of the
Lord, the day of the Lord, sun and moon darkened, sun and moon darkened, sun and moon darkened.
So when we look at this we say, okay, it's the day of the Lord.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens
shall be shaken, and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and he shall send his angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds from
one end of heaven to the other.
So here it's crystal clear that Christ comes in the clouds, the trumpet sounds, and the
elect are gathered after the tribulation, after the tribulation, and that is when the
sun, moon, or darken, and the heavens are rolled away.
Now those who teach a pre-trib rapture believe that the rapture is going to happen before
the tribulation and that it could therefore happen at any moment.
Is that what Job taught?
Because what they're saying is, they're saying, well, pre-trib is going to be the rapture,
then the tribulation, and then after the tribulation when the sun and moon are darkened, that's
when the heaven departs.
But wait a minute, Job said, no, no, the dead, the saved dead, the dead in Christ, the asleep
in Jesus, will not live again until the heavens be no more.
And don't forget what the Bible said, the dead in Christ shall rise first.
So there cannot be a rapture before the dead in Christ rise.
So if the dead in Christ are rising after the tribulation, if the dead in Christ, and
people always say, well show me the resurrection of the dead in Matthew 24.
Well Job showed it to you, because the man will rise when the heavens depart, and that's
when the sun and moon are darkened, and that's after the tribulation.
Of course the most confusion on this subject, go to Mark 13, the most confusion on this
subject comes from the fact that people think that the tribulation is God's wrath.
And they think that the tribulation is a time when God's going to be pouring out His wrath
on this earth.
But if you remember in Revelation 6, the sun and moon are darkened, and they say the great
day of His wrath has come, like it just got there.
So God's wrath doesn't start until the sun and moon are darkened.
And according to Matthew 24, the sun and moon aren't darkened until after the tribulation.
So how can those two things be the same thing?
They can't.
You have tribulation, then the sun and moon are darkened, then you have God pouring out
His wrath.
When are the heavens departing?
At the same time as the rapture, at the same time the dead in Christ rise.
So what Job taught is exactly what the Bible teaches in the New Testament.
Verse 24 of chapter 13, but in those days after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall and the powers
that are in heaven shall be shaken.
And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory,
and then shall He send His angels and shall gather together His elect from the four winds
from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
And so there we see the exact same thing again.
One more place, go to Luke 21.
Luke 21 is another place that deals with this.
We saw Matthew 24, because a lot of people will say, well Matthew's written to the Jews.
Well what about Mark?
How about Luke?
How about 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5?
How about 1 Corinthians 15?
How about 2 Thessalonians chapter 2?
Because any of these passages you look at, none of them will teach a pre-tribulation rapture
or even come close to it, or even begin to teach it.
The Bible is consistent, even Job is consistent.
Thirty thousand some odd years ago, and he's consistent with it.
But look at Luke 21, another great passage on the same subject of Christ coming in the
clouds, and it's parallel with Matthew 24 and Mark 13.
It says in verse 25, and there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars.
Sound familiar?
And upon the earth the stress of nations with perplexity, the sea and waves roaring, men's
hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the
earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Now that's the exact same statement from Matthew 24, 29, where it said, the powers of the heavens
shall be shaken and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and they
come in the clouds, trumpet, all that.
Look at Luke 21 again, it says, the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, verse 27,
and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory and
when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption
draweth nigh.
What redemption is he talking about there?
Because he's saying, look, when you see the sun and moon darken, when you see Christ come
in the clouds, then he says, look up and know that your redemption draweth nigh.
Now what does it mean to be redeemed?
First of all, there's the redemption of our soul.
When did the redemption of our soul take place?
When we got saved.
I mean, when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, your soul is redeemed.
Your spirit is quickened.
Your spirit is resurrected from the dead, but is your body resurrected the moment you
believe on Christ?
No, you still have the same old body, the same old flesh.
That's why in Romans 8 he said, we are waiting for the redemption of our body.
That's the redemption we're waiting for.
Now are you still waiting for your soul to be redeemed?
Are you waiting for the redemption of the soul?
No.
Your soul's already redeemed.
Your spirit's already redeemed, but we're waiting for the redemption of our body because
right now we're dwelling in this sinful flesh, but someday this mortal shall put on immortality
and the Bible says that he shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto
his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things
unto himself.
We as God's people are already saved, but our body's not saved.
Our body is not yet redeemed.
We're still waiting for the adoption to be complete for the redemption of our body because
our spirit and soul is a child of God, but our body is still the same sinful flesh.
Our body has not yet been born of God.
It hasn't been redeemed.
It hasn't been saved.
Your body didn't change when you got saved.
That's why your flesh is still a sinful flesh and it's still imperfect.
You get sick.
You go through weaknesses and things that we won't go through when it's raised as a
spiritual body.
When Jesus says, look up, when you see Christ come in the clouds, look up for your redemption
draweth nigh, what redemption is he talking about?
Same redemption from Romans 8.
I mean, what in the world else can you get out of this path?
But if you just want to believe lies, you're going to find some way to, well, this is talking
to the Jews and they're waiting for their way.
So you here is only talking to the Jews.
He's not talking to the Jews.
He's talking to yous.
He's talking to you.
And I'm so sick of this.
Every time you point to the Bible, it's like talking to the Jews, talking to the Jews,
talking to the Jews, talking to the Jews.
And then they're like, only the epistles that Paul wrote is the only thing that's written
to you.
That's ridiculous.
I mean, good night.
What is all this if it's not for me?
Well, it's all written for you, but it's not all written to you.
Well let me ask you this.
Is the book of Philemon written to me?
Because my name ain't Philemon.
Stop quoting to me from Timothy.
I'm not Timothy.
Tell that to Timothy.
See how silly that is to say, oh, well, it's written to Timothy, so it's only for Timothy.
It's written to Philemon, so it's only for Philemon, you know.
And then they'll say, well, it's the epistles that Paul wrote, and you're like, okay, what
about Hebrews?
Well, to the Jews.
I mean, that's the one that I'll agree, okay, it's written to the Jews, alright.
But guess what?
It's all applicable to us as well because there is no difference between the Jew and
the Greek.
Because we are all one in Christ Jesus, and He is broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, and there is one fold and one shepherd.
And we are all a part of that one flock.
We are a part of that holy nation, that peculiar people, that holy priesthood, because we believe
on Jesus Christ.
So to sit there and say, well, this is talking to the Jews, He's only writing this for Jews
living during this tribulation, so they can know that their redemption draweth nigh.
And you're like, whoa, what's their redemption?
Well, you know, they're going to go back to the Holy Land with John Hagee and everybody
and put on a prayer shawl at the Wailing Wall, and they're going to, you know, have a ball.
I don't know, I'm just trying to make a rhyme, I couldn't think of another one.
But anyway, they're all going to go and be gathered to the Holy Land and have a big shalom,
hachflem thing, you know.
Look, it's not what the Bible's about, my friend.
The New Testament is not about the physical nation of Israel and bar mitzvahs and candelabras
and all this stuff.
Look, it's about people that are saved because they believe on Jesus Christ.
And Jesus Christ came unto His own and His own received Him not, but as many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believed on His
name, which were born not of blood.
Not because they're a blood relative, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man, but of God.
And the Bible teaches that the people that go to heaven are going to be the ones that
God says go to heaven.
It's not man's will that determines who goes.
Just because you want all the Jews to go to heaven doesn't mean they're going to get there.
And by the way, I want as many Jews as possible to get saved.
I hope that I can win as many Jews to the Lord in my life.
I hope that when I go soul winning in Tempe, I will knock on the door of Jewish people
and win them to Christ.
Right?
Don't we want Jews to get saved?
But guess what?
We just want all nationalities to get saved and I would not be any more excited about
a Jew getting saved than about an Arab getting saved.
Because they're both equal in God's eyes.
Now you say, oh, but they're the chosen people.
They were the chosen people.
But when they rejected Christ, Christ rejected them.
He said they continued not in my covenant and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
What covenant?
The Old Covenant, the Old Testament, they didn't abide in it.
It had all these conditions.
He said, you know, if you do this, you'll be my people.
They didn't do it.
They failed.
So he said the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth
the fruits thereof.
You say, well what nation is that?
Is it America?
No.
That nation is a nation that was in time past not known as a nation.
Because it's not a physical group of people that are born of blood or the will of the
flesh or the will of man.
No, it's all those that are born of God that make up that holy nation, that peculiar people.
And so, look, Luke 21, when it says look up when Christ comes in the clouds, your redemption
draweth nigh, that's the rapture.
That's the redemption of our body.
That's when the heavens are no more.
That's when Job said it would happen thousands of years ago.
Before anyone was ever called a Jew.
Before there even existed a group of people known as the Jews.
Job said that the rapture would take place when the heavens be no more.
And that takes place after the tribulation when the sun and moon are darkened at the
day of the Lord right before God pours out His wrath on this earth.
Right when He comes to pour out His wrath, we are resurrected just in time.
We escape the outpouring of God's wrath.
But we will be here during the tribulation which is not God's wrath.
The tribulation is a time of trouble.
It is a time of famines, pestilence, warfare, and persecution of God's people.
Those are the things that characterize the tribulation.
Not an outpouring of God's supernatural wrath.
His wrath will be poured out after the tribulation, after we're gone.
And so I just love the way the Bible is so consistent.
I love how we can go back to a really obscure passage like Job 14.
This isn't one that people are constantly turning to when it comes to Bible prophecy.
Now Job 19 is pretty popular.
In fact, if you've ever listened to Handel's Messiah, they sing through those passages
in Job 19 about how he's going to be resurrected and see God from Job 19.
Job 14 not so much, but Job 14 is just as right on as Job 19.
And you can't get around it, folks.
It tells you when the rapture is and when the dead in Christ shall rise.
Go back to Job 14, we'll quickly finish up here.
It says in verse 15, thou shalt call and I will answer thee.
Thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.
Now verse 15 is again a reference to that resurrection because Jesus talks about those
that are in the grave hearing the voice of the Son of Man when they're resurrected.
Look at verse 16, for now thou number'st my steps.
Dost thou not watch over my sin?
My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sowest up mine iniquity.
And surely the mountains falling cometh to naught, and the rock is removed out of his
place.
The waters wear the stones.
Thou washest away the things which grow out of the dust of the earth, and thou destroyest
the hope of man.
Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passeth.
Thou changest his countenance and sendest him away.
His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not.
And they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.
For his flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.
And again, this is very poetic language.
The book of Job is a poem, but it's still a true poem.
It's still God's word.
It still is teaching us timeless truths.
But in this passage here, he's just continuing and elaborating on the fact that we're going
to die someday, and that after we die, a lot of the things that we've done in this life
just aren't going to matter.
And Solomon talked about this in Ecclesiastes at great length.
It's about how no matter how much he accomplished, no matter how many things he built, or how
much wisdom he had, or how many children he had, or how many buildings he built, that
someday it would all be taken away from him.
Because naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither.
We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out.
Having food and raiment, let us be there with content.
We need to keep that in perspective.
I went off on a big long thing about the rapture and the tribulation, simply because it's an
important subject.
And we need all the ammunition we can get in the fight today against this pre-tribulation
rapture lie.
99% of independent Baptist churches have been affected with it.
We need to change that.
You say, well we can't change that.
One person can't change that.
One church can't change that.
But you know what?
The truth's powerful.
The truth will spread, and we need to fight this battle, we need to preach the truth on
this doctrine, and in order for us to be able to speak this doctrine unto others, we need
to know what we're talking about.
And a lot of Christians today, they don't know this subject because they think, oh man,
it's just too complicated.
It's just too hard, I'll just leave that to Pastor Anderson, I'll leave that to the theologians,
I'll leave that to the experts, but really God wants us all to understand this subject.
You ought to get a grasp on the book of Revelation, even if it's not your favorite thing, it matters.
We need to learn it, we need to study it, and so familiarize yourself with Revelation
6, Matthew 24, at least get the basics, and add Job 14.12 into your arsenal of powerful
Scriptures that prove that the rapture comes after the tribulation, so that you can stand
up for the truth today, and this might even become more relevant because Hollywood is
putting out their new Left Behind movie with Nicolas Cage, ooh.
So therefore, this could come up at work, I mean think about it, this could come up
at school, this could come up at work, you might just run into this more, hey Bible guy,
Christian guy at work, what do you think about this new Left Behind movie, what do you think
about it, and it could give you a chance to show them or at least quote to them what you
think about it, and then you could even segue into the Gospel and get somebody saved.
Tie in the fact of what it even means to be saved, and it could be relevant for you, but
you know what, it might even happen in our lifetime, we better be prepared as far as
we better know what to expect, it's going to be tribulation unlike the world has ever
seen, persecution, trouble, affliction unlike the world has ever seen, it matters.
But that's why I went off on that for a while, I wanted to really drive that in tonight because
I haven't really preached in a while because I preached all those Revelation sermons and
never felt like preaching on that subject ever again, because I preached on it so many
times, but anyway, we still got to refresh it every once in a while, but the main takeaway
from this chapter, from the beginning to the end, is the point that Job's making is that
we have an appointed time, we're all going to die one day, it might even be tomorrow.
You may die this week, you may die one year from now, you may live to be a hundred, but
you may only live to be forty, you don't know how long you have.
And what the Bible teaches us over and over again is that only what we do for Jesus Christ
is of eternal value, everything that we see is temporal.
The things that are not seen are eternal.
Let's lay up treasures in heaven, not treasures on the earth, and let's keep eternity's values
in view and stay focused on the finish line and not get too caught up in the cares of
this world.
Yes, we have to work our job, yes we have to eat and drink and live our lives and do
the things that are needful for the flesh, but what are you doing for eternity?
I mean, what did you do this week that has eternal value?
What are you doing next week that has eternal value?
Have you given the Gospel to someone?
Have you preached the Word of God?
Have you taught your children the Word of God so that when you're dead and gone and
in the grave, they will not rise up as a generation that knows not the Lord?
Because you did not take the time to read to them from the Scripture or to teach them
the Bible.
We need to keep that in perspective and keep eternity's values in view.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your Word and we thank you for a book like Job that
can teach us so many deep truths, even where we don't expect to find them.
We expect to find end times Bible prophecy in Revelation, but it's right there in Job.
So Lord, help us to study this book and to respect it as an important part of your Word,
just as important as anything else, it's there, it's profitable for doctrine.
And Lord, help us to apply it and understand it and help us to make sure that what we believe
about the end times and the rapture and the tribulation help us to make sure that it lines
up with all Scripture.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.