The firstfruit will be raptured to mount Zion in the heavens before the great tribulation. The Zion in Revelation 14:1 is not the earthly one but the one in the heavens (Heb. 12:22). The events recorded in Revelation 14:6-13, all of which will take place during the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), indicate clearly and prove strongly that the first overcomers as the firstfruit will be raptured before the great tribulation and that the harvest in Revelation 14:14-16, which includes the majority of believers, will be raptured toward the end of the great tribulation.
Revelation 3:10 also refers to this rapture. “Because you have kept the word of My endurance, I also will keep you out of the hour of trial which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth.” “Trial” in this verse undoubtedly denotes the great tribulation. The Lord promises the overcoming believers that He will keep them “out of the hour of trial” (not just out of the trial but out of the hour of trial) because they have kept the word of His endurance, the word of His suffering. This promise of the Lord indicates that the believers who have kept the word of the Lord’s endurance will be raptured before the great tribulation. This implies that those who have not kept the word of His endurance will be left in the tribulation.
Luke 21:36 says that some believers will “prevail to escape all these things which are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” “All these things” are the things of the great tribulation. The word “escape” signifies being taken, raptured, before the great tribulation. Here the Lord promises that if we are watchful and beseeching so that we may overcome to escape (or, are counted worthy to escape) the coming tribulation, we shall be raptured to, will be placed in, His presence. This is what it means “to stand before the Son of Man.” This verse is a further indication that the living overcomers will be raptured before the great tribulation.
The firstfruit of God’s crop will be raptured to mount Zion in the heavens for God and Christ’s satisfaction. Here we see the difference between the man-child in Revelation 12 and the firstfruit in Revelation 14. The man-child is for fighting and for defeating Satan. The firstfruit is not for fighting but for the satisfaction of God and Christ. God and Christ need enjoyment. The living overcomers will be the firstfruit to satisfy this need for enjoyment. The enemy, the Devil, in heaven must be cast down by the man-child, who will execute the Lord’s judgment over him. But there is another need in the heavens-God and Christ must be satisfied through having fresh enjoyment. God and Christ are hungry and thirsty, desiring some firstfruit to taste for Their satisfaction. If we realize this, we shall desire to ripen earlier for the satisfaction of God and Christ. The earliest ones, the firstfruit, of God’s crop to mature are for the enjoyment of God and Christ.
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