During the current age Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God in heaven and will remain there until his enemies have been made a footstool at his feet.
Acts 1:9-12
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city.
Luke 19:11-26
11 While they were listening to this, he went on to tell them a parable, because he was near Jerusalem and the people thought that the kingdom of God was going to appear at once. 12 He said: "A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,' he said, ‘until I come back.'
14 "But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don't want this man to be our king.'
15 "He was made king, however, and returned home. Then he sent for the servants to whom he had given the money, in order to find out what they had gained with it.
16 "The first one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned ten more.'
17 "‘Well done, my good servant!' his master replied. ‘Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.'
18 "The second came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has earned five more.'
19 "His master answered, ‘You take charge of five cities.'
20 "Then another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your mina; I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.'
22 "His master replied, ‘I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'
24 "Then he said to those standing by, ‘Take his mina away from him and give it to the one who has ten minas.'
25 "‘Sir,' they said, ‘he already has ten!'
26 "He replied, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what he has will be taken away. (NIV)
Notice that his Scripture says in verse 11 that he told this parable because the people thought that the kingdom was going to appear at once, but Jesus wanted to show them that it would come, but later.
In this parable Jesus shows us how he would go back to heaven, (after having instructed his subjects), to be made king and that at a later time he would return and settle accounts with his people and then kill those that refused to accept him as king.
Revelation 11:15
The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever." (NIV)
The first thing that the Lord will do when he returns is to gather his subjects--the church. He will settle accounts with his servants and praise and bless or criticize and rebuke at that time. Consider that once the church is gathered up, it is in heaven, or eternity, and so everything that happens to the church takes no time on earth.
The Lord then descends to the Mount of Olives and delivers the 144,000 Israelites from the hand of the Beast/Satan. Then as King he begins to reign as king and fulfill this Scripture:
Psalm 2:9
You will rule them with an iron scepter;
you will dash them to pieces like pottery." (NIV)
Revelation 11:18
The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great— and for destroying those who destroy the earth." (NIV)
When the Lord returns and gathers his body the church, Israel will once again be his primary people on earth. He will supernaturally protect the blameless in Israel, while at the same time destroy any and all that raises itself up against him. The children of Israel that have nee of purification will be subject to the trials and temptations brought about by the Beast and his kingdom.
God will use this time as a form of refining for his chosen people. When the trials and persecutions have run their and Israel had fully repented of all their past rebellion, the Lord will bind Satan in Hell for a thousand years and take the Beast and his false prophet and throw them alive into the burning lake of fire.
The children of Israel will then be gathered from across the whole world and brought back to Israel and reestablished in the land.
The seventh trumpet announces the start of all this. And that is why the scroll from chapter 10 tastes sweet in the mouth but is bitter in the stomach.
Revelation 10:1-11
Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven. He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars. 2 He was holding a little scroll, which lay open in his hand. He planted his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, 3 and he gave a loud shout like the roar of a lion. When he shouted, the voices of the seven thunders spoke. 4 And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven say, "Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down."
5 Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. 6 And he swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets."
8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me once more: "Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land."
9 So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, "Take it and eat it. It will turn your stomach sour, but in your mouth it will be as sweet as honey." 10 I took the little scroll from the angel's hand and ate it. It tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach turned sour. 11 Then I was told, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages and kings." (NIV)
The scroll that the angel holds announces the return of the Lord. Sweetness at the beginning for those who are ready, but bitter pain, fear, and fire for those who are not.
Of those who are fleeing at that time Jesus said:
Matthew 24:19-22
How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. (NIV)
Bitterness indeed.
People today envision that when the Lord come to catch the church up, that he takes us to heaven for three and a half years while the Beast does his thing, but this is not what the Scriptures say. Heaven is not a place that you go to, like Atlanta, GA, but it is a spiritual dimension that exists. When we go to heaven we will be there instantly and eternally. Time has no meaning. We will be in haven and with the Lord hear on earth, at the same time, but not on the earth as we know it now. We will be on the earth like the angels that come now; here, but of the spirit.
