The other day I was thinking about the relationship between Passover and Easter—that Jesus’ blood applied to our hearts saves us, just as the Passover lamb’s blood saved the Jews in Egypt.

In Exodus 12:13 the Lord was speaking to Moses and Aaron in Egypt when He said: “ ‘The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.’ ”

In I Peter 1:18-20 Peter wrote: “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.”

As I thought about how Passover illustrates what Jesus’ death on the cross has saved believers from, an old hymn came to mind. I hadn’t thought of it for a long time. In the late 1800s a man named John G. Foote, who evangelized the Chicago area with his brother, penned four verses of a song and set it to music. Interestingly, he didn’t copyright it because he was opposed to copyrights.

For the first verse he wrote these words:

“Christ our Redeemer died on the cross,
Died for the sinner, paid all his due;
Sprinkle your soul with the blood of the Lamb,
‘And I will pass, will pass over you.’ ”

The third verse that John Foote penned goes like this:

“Judgment is coming, all will be there,
Each one receiving justly his due;
Hide in the saving, sin-cleansing blood,
‘And I will pass, will pass over you.’ ”

(By the way, I noticed something I had never noticed before. I wonder if you caught it. The writer probably should have said “Christ YOUR Redeemer” in the first verse, since it is the Lord saying “And I will pass, will pass over you.” Some singers apparently noticed the discrepancy and changed the last line to “And HE will pass, will pass over you.” Then the chorus is sung as written, with the Lord speaking directly, saying, “When I see the blood I will pass, I will pass over you.”)

What a great reason for celebration at Easter! Because of Jesus’ blood being shed for us, we can escape God’s wrath and the punishment of Hell, if we believe in Him and follow His ways. In I Thessalonians 5:9 Paul said, “For God did not appoint us [believers] to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” With all that is happening in the world today, it can certainly cause us to desire the joyful atmosphere of Heaven. The verse mentioned above in I Thessalonians 5 follows verses concerning the end times.

Prophecy Update

I recently listened to a “Prophecy Update” by Pastor Brett Meador of Athey Creek Christian Fellowship. Pastor Meador believes that God “has not appointed us [believers] to suffer wrath” in the events of the Tribulation. In this article I will be referring now and then to some points presented in that Prophecy Update, which I hope I have conveyed accurately.

Because of Christ’s sacrifice for us that we celebrate at Easter, we are not appointed to receive God’s wrath. But believers have always suffered persecution, which is not the result of God’s wrath. Even before Christ, Old Testament prophets who boldly spoke messages from God were sometimes severely persecuted. In Matthew 5:10-12 Jesus said, “ ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’ ” But when Jesus spoke of the second half of the Tribulation in Matthew 24:21, He said, “ ‘For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.’ ” The combined distresses of that time will cause much greater suffering than ever before.

Christians Will Escape the Tribulation, Some Leaders Say

Pastor Meador believes that Christians will escape the entire seven years of the Tribulation, or at the very least the last three-and-a-half years of the Tribulation, called the Great Tribulation. He feels that believers will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, by means of the “Rapture,” either just before the Tribulation or at least sometime before the Great Tribulation. He strongly favors the view that the Rapture will occur before the entire seven-year period of the Tribulation. I recall a couple of the main reasons.

• One reason is that he feels the sequence of events in the book of Revelation makes more sense when you use that view.
• Another main reason is that traditional Jewish weddings had seven days of feasts prior to the wedding. Revelation 19:7 says, “For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.” (The Church is sometimes called “the bride of Christ” in the Bible.) The seven years of the Tribulation could symbolize the seven days of feasting, meaning that the Church could be in Heaven feasting during the seven years of the Tribulation. Revelation 19:9 says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
• Pastor Meador also mentioned that believing that Christians are raptured just before the return of Christ at the very end of the seven years of the Tribulation would make the marriage supper of the Lamb sort of a “bungee cord” event for Jesus. He would come down from Heaven to meet believers in the air, go back to Heaven for the marriage supper, then back down to the earth for the Second Coming.
• In addition, having the Rapture at the end of the seven years of the Tribulation would not fit with the fact that the Bible says we will not know the day or hour. The end of the seven-year Tribulation will be exactly three-and-a-half years after the “abomination of desolation,” when the Anti-Christ is worshipped in the temple.

Study the Scripture

It’s always wise for us to study the Bible for ourselves in deciding our views on any principles that are taught, as the Bereans did. Acts 17:11 says this: “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

I’m not absolutely certain that believers will be raptured before the Tribulation, rather than before the Great Tribulation.

• Revelation 16:1 says, “Then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels, ‘Go, pour out the seven bowls of God’s wrath on the earth.’ ” This indicates that this may be the beginning of the pouring out of God’s wrath.
• Revelation 12:12 says, “But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Some feel that this indicates that the first part of the Tribulation is Satan’s wrath and that God’s wrath is in the second part. That does seem to make sense. But it’s also quite possible believers will escape Satan’s wrath, too. The argument for a pre-Tribulation Rapture seems very strong.
• I thought of another reason that believing that Christians are raptured just before Christ sets foot on the earth at the very end of the Tribulation is not logical. Since believers are beheaded for their refusal to worship the Anti-Christ (Revelation 20:4), then who would be left to be caught up at the Rapture? It makes much more sense that only those who turn to Christ during the Great Tribulation are the ones who are beheaded and that the other believers have already been taken up.

Many of us wonder just how close we are to the Rapture and the Second Coming of Jesus, as spoken of in I Thessalonians 4:16-17. Some believe we are “right at the door,” judging from Matthew 24:6&7, which says, “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” Verse 8 of Matthew 24 says, “All these are the beginnings of birth pains.” Some believe we still have some time and that there will be a “Great Awakening” (a great revival) before the end. Matthew 24:14 says that the Gospel will be preached to the whole world before the end. In his vision, the apostle John foresees the spreading of the Gospel by an angel after the Tribulation has already begun in Revelation 14:6. It says, “Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language and people.”

End-Times Symbolic References

Pastor Meador explained that before Israel became a nation again in 1948, many churches believed the end times prophecies pointing to Israel were symbolic of the Church. They couldn’t imagine the Jews regathering in Israel. Scattered countries don’t regather. Now that the regathering of Israel has actually happened, against all odds, many have realized that the prophecies that appeared to refer to Israel really do. There have been times in recent history when Christians have thought we were surely at the door of the Rapture and Second Coming. The raging, widespread battles of World War I and World War II and the tyrants who had traits of the Anti-Christ caused many to believe we were at the door.

But something significant has happened since then—the regathering of the Jews in Israel. That makes the scenario fit the circumstances of Christ’s return all the more.

In Matthew 24:34 Jesus said, “this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” This is puzzling for scholars. At first glance, it sounds like Jesus was saying that those who were listening to Him at that time would not pass away until all the end times prophecies He had mentioned had been fulfilled. Since that didn’t happen, we have to look for other options. One theory is that the generation Jesus was speaking to at the time would not pass away until the complete destruction of the temple that He was referring to in the first verse of Chapter 24. That was fulfilled in 70 A.D. Another theory is that the generation that sees the beginning of “birth pains” indicated by increasing wars and famines will not pass away before Christ returns. I lean toward the second option, since His words about the generation not passing away didn’t directly follow His reference to the destruction of the temple.

Length of God’s Timing

That begs the question of how many years constitute a generation in God’s eyes. Psalm 20:10 says, “The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty, if we have the strength.” In Genesis 6:3 God said, “ ‘My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.’ ” Some say that 120 years was the new limit God was placing on lifespan, while others believe that was the amount of time God was going to allow before sending the Great Flood of Noah’s day. In my opinion it is more likely God was referring to lifespan. If these words directly from God did refer to lifespan, it would be logical to use 120 years in relation to the generation that will not pass away until all is fulfilled. But then we have to try to establish when we began to see the fulfillments of the prophecies. The organization called the “World Economic Forum” that is working toward one-world government, which is predicted in Revelation, has had a goal of taking over control of the world by 2030. Of course we know that neither Satan nor man cannot override God’s schedule.

Luke 21 gives a similar account to that found in Matthew 24. Luke 21:8-9 records Jesus having said, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.” There are lots of opinions regarding exactly when Christians still living on earth at that time will be raptured and just how soon the Tribulation is coming. But we can remember the words of Jesus recorded in Luke 21:28—“ ‘When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’ ” When we receive Christ by faith, we immediately receive some of the benefits of redemption that Christ paid for on the cross—freedom from the bondage to our sinful nature and from spiritual separation from God. When believers die or are raptured, the remaining benefits of redemption are received—a brand new immortal body and entrance into the gates of Heaven. We can be so grateful that because of what we celebrate at Easter we can escape God’s wrath and spend eternity in Heaven if only we apply Christ’s blood to our hearts by faith.

Below is a video presentation of John Foote’s hymn, “When I See the Blood.” I hope the words and visual images will make a lasting impression on your heart.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM Used by permissionof Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc. TM

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