(from Angels by Dr. Michael Heiser; end conclusion is my own)
AT THE END TIME…
1. Angels gather unbelievers for judgment.
~ Mat 13:24-30, 36-43, 49-50
2. Angels “function in the role of destroyers as part of this frightful, apocalyptic vision, assaulting the earth, and the wicked, with plagues, war, famine, disease, and cosmic upheaval…”
~ Rev 7:1-2; 8:5-13; 9:1, 13-15; 10:1, 5, 7; 15:1, 6, 7, 8; 16:1, 5; 17:1; 18:1, 21
3. Angels also gather believers—the Elect.
~ Mark 13:27
~ Matthew 24:31 adds “with a loud trumpet blast”
~ 1 Thess 4:16-18 “the Lord himself will come down…with the trumpet of God”
~ 1 Cor 15:52 adds “last” before “trumpet”
The last trumpet blast is found in Revelation 11:15.
Right before this in Rev 11:10 unbelievers were partying.
Then suddenly the Lord’s wrath and judgment comes upon them as well as reward for His servants, prophets, and saints in Rev 11:15-18. The world becomes the Lord’s.
Life as usual then sudden destruction like Jesus describes the days of Noah—Mat 24:37-39.
“people were eating & drinking, marrying…until the day Noah entered the ark…they knew nothing until the flood came & took them all away. It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man.”
It’s amazing to me that by just studying the role of angels in the NT we can arrive at the conclusion the Bible has always given to us, and rightfully so because it’s correct.
There is no return of Christ to gather believers before this.
As originally posted on X (Twitter)
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