Page 22 - Heavenly Signs II by Mel Gable

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Matthew 24:29-31 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED,
AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers
of the heavens will be shaken.”

30 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will
mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and
great glory.”
31 “And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER
His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
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In Mark 13 and Matthew 24 both scripture passages make the statement the “sun will be darkened and the moon will
not give its light.” It also says that “after the Tribulation of those days….” There must be darkness on the earth and “the
moon will not give its light.” Prior to the Rapture, we will see the moon will not give its light. Those on the earth are
in perishable bodies and those in Heaven are spiritual beings. This is followed by the gathering of believers in
Heaven to the earth. Believers in spirit from Heaven and alive on earth receive glorified bodies. Believers don’t
just vanish from this earth. This is a visible event. His Bride is symbolic of those who have been sealed with the
Holy Spirit who are both alive and dead in Christ. His Elect become His Bride once they are in glorified bodies.

Rapture – His Bride Gathered
Ephesians 4:30 “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of
redemption.”

Ephesians 1:13 “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—
having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,”
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A seal in the Roman times had two purposes: one for protection and the other for ownership by Christ. The true
believer’s mark of ownership is the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. Those who are sealed will obtain their glorified
bodies during the Rapture of His Bride in Christ. Didn’t Luke record Christ’s Olivet Discourse with a statement
relating to “like lightning” that flashes out of one part of the sky will be the Son of Man in His Day? “Like lighting”
in the skies, we can see in the next image the heavens are a golden amber glow which lights up the entire skies.

Luke 17:24 “For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part
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of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.”
In a commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments by R. Jamieson, it states:

As lightning … so … the Son of man—that is it will be as manifest. When the whole polity of the Jews, civil and
ecclesiastical alike, was broken up at once, and its continuance rendered impossible by the destruction of Jerusalem, it became as
manifest to all as the lightning of heaven that the kingdom of God had ceased to exist.
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The light cone appears in the sky after sunrise and causes the sky to glow an amber color of glory, as if lightning
flashes out of one part of the sky as described in Luke 17:24. This event is followed by darkness over the earth
again. Next, it is followed by a light tunnel which appears over the earth for a very short period of time. Jupiter,

20 New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Mt 24:29–31). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

21 New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Eph 1:13, Eph 4:30). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
22 New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Lk 17:24). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

23 Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D. (1997). A commentary, critical and explanatory, on the Old and
New Testaments (Lk 17:24). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.