even so come Lord Jesus

Rapture before Mark of the Beast? Rapture before Mark of the Beast? By: Pastor Adrian Question: I am seeing articles and videos on YouTube of people getting the new microchip in their hands/heads. I (I think others as well) believe this is the 'mark of the beast'. Does anyone know if the Rapture will take place before the government enforces the microchip insertion? I mean, how is it perceived in the bible on how this unfolds? Answer: Mysti, the Bible is very clear on this topic: the Rapture takes place before the Mark of the Beast is introduced since the Rapture precedes the Great Tribulation. I will not take the time here to point to the validity of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture position. That is excellently explained in a number of articles on the Rapture Forums site. (I highly recommend Dr. Thomas Ice's Why I Believe The Bible Teaches Rapture Before Tribulation.) Therefore, since the Church is removed from earth prior to the start of the Great Tribulation, it is impossible that no Christian, no blood-bought member of Christ's Church, can ever take the Mark of the Beast. Let's take a quick look at the timing of events. We can easily see that the Mark of the Beast does not occur until after the seventh of the Seven Trumpets has sounded. And that takes place in Revelation 11: 14 The second woe is past; behold, the third woe is coming quickly. 15 Then the seventh angel sounded (his trumpet); and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever." 16 And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying, "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. 18 "And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth." 19 And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. (Revelation 11:14-19) But it is not until Revelation 13 that we read about the Mark of the Beast being forced on people: 11 Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. 12 He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. 13 He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. 14 And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed. 16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. (Revelation 13:11-18) That this occurs during the final 3 and a half years of the Tribulation is shown by Revelation 13:5: "There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him." The context makes it clear that this 42 months (3-1/2 years) is the final half of the seven year Great Tribulation. Thus the Mark of the Beast-which, incidentally, I agree will undoubtedly done by government-mandated chip insertion-will not occur until half-way through the Great Tribulation ... at the very least three and a half years after the Church has been raptured. (Likely more since there is no evidence that the Great Tribulation will necessarily begin the moment the Church is Raptured. I pray this puts your mind at ease.