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Thoughts on the Rapture with Pastor Bill Walden

This Live Q&A was guest hosted by Pastor Bill Walden.

Does Daniel 12:1 support the idea of a mid-Tribulation Rapture?

In your commentary from Revelation 12:7-8, you talk about the good and bad angels having a battle in heaven. And you said that this happens mid-point of the seven-year period [the Great Tribulation period]. Then you refer to Daniel 12:1, where Michael stands up, and there will be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation and at that time, your people shall be delivered. My question: is this a mid-tribulation deliverance (Rapture) of Christians?

Thank you for your ministry.

Revelation 12:7-8 – And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.

Daniel 12:1 – At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.

Good question. I’ll explain how I approach prophecy; I think it’s a fair way to approach it. To me, prophecy is kind of like a mosaic. The Bible speaks of prophecy from Genesis to Revelation, and we assemble the pieces of prophecy together to come up with an idea or a theology or a viewpoint.

I remember when I was a child, I go to the dentist’s office or to the doctor’s office. And they had those little “Highlights” books to keep us busy. With “connect the dots” puzzles, you’d look at the page and it didn’t seem like it was anything. But as you connected the dots, things started coming into shape. And you begin to realize, “Oh, I didn’t I didn’t know what that was. I thought it was this, but it’s actually that.”

Prophecy is like connecting the dots. Prophecy is not an easy thing to study. When I teach and Bible colleges, I always tell my students, “The challenging thing about prophecy is that it hasn’t happened yet.” So we study the Bible, like Paul told Timothy, “Study to show yourself approved, a workman unto God, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (See 2 Timothy 2:15)

Prophecy really requires a lot of extra work; we assemble the pieces and then we put it together and determine, “This is what we believe about the future according to the Bible. It’s based on this and this and this.” We can’t just say we have an eschatological or prophetic viewpoint based upon emotions or what feels good or seems good to us.

I’ll tell you a short story because I want to be honest with you about this. I’ve been pastoring since 1989. About 10 years ago, I had a little bit of a crisis, not of faith, but of prophetic understanding. As part of the Calvary Chapel movement, I believe in the pre-tribulation Rapture of the Church. And yet, I was having a little bit of a challenge with that. I told my staff, “Hey, listen, I’m not sure I believe in this anymore. And if I don’t, just in the integrity of my heart, I may have to step away from the Calvary Chapel movement.” It produced a desire in me to do a deep dive into the study of the Rapture of the Church and to read broadly about all the viewpoints. Coming out of that investigation, I had a firmer belief in the Rapture of the Church. So, it’s taken me a while to come to the place where I am now, and I’m still growing, not only as a Christian, but as a pastor as well.

Prophecy is a challenging study. I don’t say that as a way of excusing myself or excusing any one of us. It’s just a challenging study. There’s no reason for disagreement that leads to contention or anger or name calling. Some people have accused me of offering escapism, and not preparing Christians to go through the Great Tribulation period, and they assign a negative intention on my part, and that kind of thing. I’m not saying that for the purposes of saying, “Poor me,” I’m just saying that sometimes we get contentious with one another as believers over prophecy.

We must keep in mind that prophecy is a difficult thing to assemble, and it hasn’t happened yet. We can agree to disagree agreeably, and give one another grace, but also not be lazy in our attitudes about prophecy. We need to really study and show ourselves approved. If you have a viewpoint, you need to be able to defend it, while all the while accepting the fact that there are other good Christians out there who have a different viewpoint. So that’s a little bit of a disclaimer, but I hope it doesn’t sound like an excuse.

The first part of our question was this: “Regarding Revelation 12:7-8, you talked about the good and bad angels having a battle in heaven. You said that this happens mid-point of the seven-year period.”

Let’s take a look at Revelation 12. I’m going to give a quick overview on this. We don’t have time for a deep dive today. My take on this passage is that it happens at the mid-point of the of the Great Tribulation period.

Revelation 12:1-2 – Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

Now we remember that the apostle John is on the Island of Patmos, and he’s receiving visions. These things are illustrations. These visions he’s having are pointing him towards something. They are not the actual thing, but they are suggesting something. So, we have to connect the dots once again. In prophecy, we need to connect the dots. Is there anywhere else in the Bible that we see anything about a woman clothed with the sun?

Well, in the book of Genesis, we read about Joseph having a similar version but not the exact version of this vision. He was surrounded by his family, his brothers and his parents, and they were bowing down to him. He actually had two versions of that vision, and one included the sun, moon, and stars bowing down to him.

This woman in Revelation 12 was clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and had on her head a garland of 12 stars. It says then, in verse 2, “Being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain, to give birth.” We believe that this woman is not Mary, the mother of Jesus. Rather, this is a description of the nation of Israel giving birth to her Messiah. I’m going to build the case, so let me go on.

Revelation 12:3 – And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads.

We believe that this is the Antichrist. Once again, there are a lot of dots to connect, so we’re not going to be able to do that on the program today. Now, I do want to point out the fiery red dragon. We read in other places in the book of the Revelation that this is pointing to Satan and to Satan’s man. Concerning seven heads and ten horns, the heads refer our heads of government, and the horns represent power. We believe that there will be a confederation of ten nations or something like that. The Antichrist will come onto the scene, dethrone three of them, but he’ll have the power of those three, so there will only be seven nations or entities remaining, but with all of that power.

The great fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his head: we believe that this is an image or an illustration of the Antichrist, midway through the Great Tribulation Period. I’m going to be giving you a lot of information, then let’s connect the dots.

Revelation 12:4 – His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born.

At this point I would refer you to Pastor David’s commentary Luke 4. There we see Jesus going into the synagogue in Nazareth, reading out of Isaiah from a scroll, and saying, “Today this has been fulfilled in your midst.” If you read the passage in Isaiah He’s quoting, you will see that Jesus left off one portion of a verse. So Jesus is basically saying, “That prophecy has been fulfilled in your midst, but I’m not going to read all of it, because there’s still part of what Isaiah is saying that hasn’t happened yet.”

Here’s why I mention that story from Luke 4. In prophecy, there is oftentimes a near fulfilment and a far fulfillment, and they can be divided. Revelation 12:4 seems to be saying at some point in the distant past, Satan, the fiery red dragon, his tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. The word “stars” is often translated as “messengers.” We believe this speaks of the fallen angels. Satan is a created being; he’s a created angel. Demons are created angels, but they had it in their hearts to rebel against God. We see this in the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. When Satan tried to get Jesus to worship Him, Satan always desires to take the place of God.

The dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth and to devour her child as soon as it was born. This we believe speaks of the time of Jesus’ physical birth. When Herod received news from the wise men that the king was born, he said, “Go find this king, that I may go to worship him.” Actually, Herod feared another king. We know that eventually he sent out and had all baby boys under two years of age massacred. Satan has always been against the Jewish people. We see that happening here, and this seems to be talking about that. This part of John’s vision speaks of what had happened previously. That was the past fulfillment. In Revelation 12:5-6 we see the future fulfillment. The same spirit of persecution which Satan had at the birth of Jesus is now manifested in the person of the Antichrist when he marches into the temple of God and demands to be worshipped as God. That same persecution of the Jewish people now takes place in the far future, midway through the Tribulation period.

Revelation 12:5-6 – She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne. Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.

The woman fled into the wilderness, the woman being Israel. There’s a time in the future when Israel will flee into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there 1260 days, which is three and a half years.

Verse 7 speaks of a spiritual battle in heaven. This is an amazing thing to think about. As Christians, we often say, “We don’t battle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers,” and so on. We battle in prayer; we battle for truth; those kinds of things are all true. But it seems that there’s going to be an actual physical battle between Satan with his fallen angels, and Michael with the angels of God. And Michael and the angels of God will prevail.

This will be the final expulsion of Satan to the earth. He will no longer have access to the throne of God. We see Satan having access to the throne of God in the book of Job. He still has access to the throne of God, even in these days in which we live. He is called “the accuser of the brethren,” and he accuses us before the throne of God. In the future, when this happens, when Satan finally is no longer allowed to have access to the throne of God in heaven, it seems that he intensifies his efforts against the people of God, the nation of Israel.

Now, this isn’t the Church. We believe that the church is gone by this point. I’ll speak about that in a moment. But these are the nationalistic Jews and I think, in particular, the Jews who have come to faith in Jesus Christ. Remember in the Olivet Discourse, when Jesus says, “When you see the abomination of desolation, pray that it doesn’t happen in winter and pray that it doesn’t happen on a Sabbath,” and how difficult it will be for nursing mothers when you see the abomination of desolation and flee into the wilderness.

I’ve been to Israel only two times. But interestingly enough, my wife and I were there one time when it snowed in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is not built for snowy conditions. There were traffic jams everywhere. It’s interesting that Jesus would say, “Pray that it’s not a Sabbath.” Why? When the Antichrist reveals himself and declares that he should be worshipped as God, Jesus is saying, “Listen, you need to get out of town, you need to flee,” but there’s going to be a hesitation on their part if it’s on the Sabbath day because they don’t want to travel on the Sabbath day. These are some of the reasons I believe that this is mid-way through the Great Tribulation period. I believe that Jesus was specifically speaking to the Jews, and now John is specifically being taught that this event will happen to the Jewish people.

So, the angels of God and Michael fight against Satan and his fallen angels. Satan loses and he is incensed about it.

Revelation 12:9 – So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Okay, so that’s the background. Next we’ll look at Daniel 12.

First, it says that Michael shall stand up. We just saw Michael standing up against Satan and his angels in Revelation 12. He is called the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people. Michael has been given the unique responsibility of being the guardian of the nation of Israel.

Daniel goes on to say, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered. That’s what we saw in Revelation 12, that the faithful Jewish people who flee Jerusalem into the wilderness to a place prepared for them will be taken care of there.

Daniel 12:2 – And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt.

I believe this verse happens later on at the Great White Throne Judgment.

I believe that Daniel and John were speaking specifically to the faithful Jews who believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. They are the faithful remnant who will be saved. I believe that the Rapture of the Church happens back in Revelation 4. I would refer you to Pastor David’s commentary on that. He does a fantastic job. Once again, it’s a deep subject.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the Apostle Paul is talking to some of the Corinthians who aren’t sure about the resurrection of the dead. They want to know: How is it going to happen? What’s it going to look like? When is it going to happen? Paul says to the Corinthian church, “Don’t you know that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God? For in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead in Christ will rise, and then we shall be changed.” The apostle Paul says the same thing at 1 Thessalonians 4, “The dead in Christ will rise first. And we who are alive and remain shall be changed and taken to heaven with them.”

To give a humorous example, if I wanted to step outside a space capsule, I couldn’t do it with my Vans tennis shoes, a t-shirt, and a pair of 501 Levi jeans. I need to be retrofitted for heaven. In the same way, the glorified body of the resurrected and/or raptured believer is that retrofitting. It’s that re-suiting of us to be able to exist in the presence of a most holy God.

So I believe there will be a Rapture. The question is when and who. And that’s really so I just want to encourage all the listeners out there, there will be one generation that doesn’t die but will be changed. The big argument or debate is whether that happens before the Great Tribulation, in the middle, or at the end?

Does God hate (Proverbs 6:16)?

Proverbs 6:16 begins a list of things that God hates. Many people think God doesn’t hate. But I believe that hate is part of love. Your thoughts?

Proverbs 6:16 – These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him…

God is infinitely more holy than we are. A parallel verse comes to mind, which gives us an illustration or a comparison:

Isaiah 55:9 – “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

There’s no end to the omniscience or the wisdom or the knowledge of God. There’s nothing that God doesn’t know or hasn’t ever known. There’s no hint of unholiness in God; He’s not just a lot better than the best of us. James tells us that in God there is no shadow of turning, there’s no darkness, there’s no shadow of turning. There’s no dark corner. If you had a football stadium full of light, and you search for one dark corner and found a dark corner, you’d say, “Well, that’s not totally light.” In God, there are no dark corners; there’s no darkness at all.

God’s view of sin is infinitely greater and deeper than ours. And I would say that He is extremely offended at any kind of sin or wickedness or evil. The Bible does use the word “hate.” The Bible tells us as Christians, “Be angry, but don’t sin.” Many times, when we think of the word “hate,” it can have petty connotations like, “I’m tired of you,” or “I’m impatient with you,” or “I don’t like you,” or something like that. I think it’s Martyn Lloyd Jones who said that as Christians, we ought to be angry at things; we ought to be angry at wickedness and evil. God is very angry at wickedness and evil. And yet, what delays His judgment is His desire is that none should perish, and that all should be saved.

Proverbs 6:16-19 has a list of things that God hates. Many people think God doesn’t hate, but I believe hate is part of love. I think God loves us so much that he hates when we do destructive things against ourselves, and when we sin against one another. If we use it in that context, I would be very comfortable with it. But once again, if we are comfortable using the “hate,” it has to be used in its highest form, in its most holy form.

How can someone break the bad habit of spending too much time on social media?

Well, if God is convincing or convicting you that you’re on social media too much, then you need to obey Him. Social media can be a blessing. I’ve watched some really illuminating videos lately about church business online, and I’ve listened to some good podcasts. On the other hand, there’s a lot of junk out there, too.

I think God gives us the responsibility within ourselves to take care of these things. If He’s convincing you or convicting you that you should get off of social media, then a simple or sarcastic answer might be, “Just get off social media.” In high school, I asked the wrestling coach, “Hey, what’s a good way to lose weight?” And he just said, “Quit eating.” That struck me as almost being sarcastic and kind of blunt. But that’s the truth of it.

If you want to get off social media, get off social media. Pray about it. Maybe hand over all your devices to somebody for a month and just say, “Hey, don’t let me have it.” Maybe buy a cheap flip phone for a while that has no internet access, and give your smartphone to somebody and say, “I’m taking a month off. I just want to see what God wants to do in my life.”

Of course, we want to be reachable. We want people to be able to get ahold of us. But just take the steps to do it. Separate yourself from the devices. If that’s a desire, fantastic. If that’s what God is doing in your life, that’s fantastic.

I would also say to you, don’t just get off social media, but get more into God’s word. Read it and get some good Christian books and immerse yourself in them. If that’s what God’s doing in your life, that’s fantastic. But to break the habit, you have to take the steps. Jesus taught us, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” Obviously, He’s not saying to actually do that. But He means, “Separate yourself from the thing that is causing your problem.” I would just recommend taking those steps. May the Lord bless you as you pursue that.

What is meant by the “Word of God” in John 1?

I was wondering if you could explain what is meant by the “Word of God” in John 1. Some people are referring to it in a literal sense as the Bible, but others such as myself believe it’s a poem referring to Jesus as the Son of God. How can I go about explaining this?

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

So, in the beginning, when time started, when the clock started ticking, whatever the Word was, it preexisted time. So that means the Word is eternal. “And the Word was God.” We are told right away, when the clock started ticking, the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:2-3 – He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

So the Word is a “Him,” and the Word has all power.

John 1:4-5 – In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

The darkness did not overpower it.

John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The Word put on flesh, so the Word existed at one time without flesh, but the Word put on flesh, and came in human form. And dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

We believe that the Word in John 1 is Jesus Christ, who pre-existed before the clock started ticking. He is the second Person of the triune Godhead. He didn’t have flesh, but then He put on flesh, dwelt among us, pitched His tent, and tabernacled among us.

And John says, “We saw Him, and we saw the grace and the truth of His life.” Such grace and truth could only come from the Father.

I don’t think John is talking about the Bible when He says “the Word of God” here. Obviously, the Bible is the Word of God. But here we see Jesus being called the Word.

Concerning the suggestion that “the Word of God” is a poem referring to Jesus as the Son of God, I don’t think it’s a poem. I think it’s better called a description. It doesn’t seem to have a poetic nature to it. I understand that it was written in Greek, so maybe the Greek has more rhythm and rhyme to it. And that might be the case but I don’t know Greek. I’ve never studied Greek, only a few words here and there. But it doesn’t seem to be a poem. So that’s my best take on that.

Does baptism play a part in salvation?

How do we reconcile the concept that all of the church fathers teach that baptism plays a part in salvation?

Well, I haven’t read all the church fathers, so I can’t comment on what they say. I think baptism is obviously very important. My understanding of baptism is that it’s an outward sign, a declaration of an inward work. We know that the thief on the cross told Jesus, “Remember me when You come into Your kingdom,” and Jesus said, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” Obviously, there was no time for that thief to be baptized. So, I don’t think God would exclude somebody from heaven, because they had a deathbed conversion, a confession of faith in a hospital on their last breath and didn’t have enough strength to get baptized.

I don’t know what all the church fathers teach. It’s a bit of a packed question. I’m not judging your intentions at all, but in saying “all the church fathers,” who does that number include? Whoever is saying, “All of the church fathers,” how many of the church fathers did they actually read? Even if they’ve read 50 of the church fathers and 48 of them say one thing, then we could deal with it a little more directly.

Baptism is incredibly important. If a Christian is able to get baptized, they should. Jesus says that we should. But we are not saved through baptism. We are saved through Jesus Christ and faith in what He did for us.

What is your take on The Virgin of Guadalupe?

Since you are bilingual, you are probably familiar with the story or legend of the Virgin of Guadalupe. What is your take on that?

I did grow up as a Catholic, but I grew up at as an American Catholic, not as a Mexican Catholic. So, I’m not that familiar with the Virgin of Guadalupe. I’m presuming that this was a vision of the Virgin Mary. Whenever somebody has a vision of something, you can’t dispute that somebody saw something. But what is the message? What is the message that has been communicated?

We cannot discern truth simply by an experience. The Bible, the Word of God, is our ultimate authority. It has the final say in our lives. We know in the last day that the Antichrist is going to come and do false signs and wonders. He’s going to have some limited, miraculous power. We remember when Moses went before Pharaoh and said, “Let my people go.” And Pharaoh said, “Who is your God?” Moses threw down his staff and it became a serpent. Likewise, the magicians of the Egyptian court threw down their staffs, and they became serpents as well. Then Moses’ serpent devoured the serpents of Pharaoh’s magicians.

My point is that Satan has some power to alter nature, it appears very clearly. In the Book of Job, Satan appeared before God, and was asking God about Job. He said, “Let me get to him, and he’ll curse You.” And God said, “You can’t touch him. But everything that he has, you can get to.” Satan went out and had Job’s children killed. How did he do it? With a storm. It’s very interesting that Satan was able to somehow manage the weather to accomplish evil ends.

Your question was about the vision of the Virgin of Guadalupe. When we see or experience something that is obviously not of this world, how do we know where it’s from? By the message that it brings. I wouldn’t trust a vision or an appearance or anything like that just because I have a sensation or an experience. I always have to ask, “What is the message this experience is bringing?” And that’s how I will judge it.

Since we will be with Jesus forever, will we share His omnipresence?

If we’re forever going to be with Jesus, and if He’s everywhere at once (omnipresent), does that mean we’ll be everywhere at once with Him as well? What will we be like?

No, He’s omnipresent, but we’re not. An argument might be made from Revelation 4-5. After His Ascension, John sees Jesus as the Lamb that has been slain at the throne of God. Apparently, he sees Jesus with the marks of crucifixion, and the scourging upon His body.

So, just because we’re going to be with Jesus in glory doesn’t mean that we will be omnipresent. Even though He’s everywhere at once, it doesn’t mean we’ll be everywhere at once. Because we are not divine, we could never be omnipresent. In the Millennial Kingdom we will serve as kings and priests with Jesus, and we’ll be with Him in the New Jerusalem, but we won’t be omnipresent.

Does Satan want to replace God or work as His equal?

Absolutely. Isaiah 14, Ezekiel 28, Jesus in the wilderness – Satan is always saying, “I will exalt myself above The Most High. I will be like God.” When the Antichrist steps into the Temple, and demands himself to be worshipped as God, that’s the very heart of Satan.

In the wilderness temptation when Jesus was fasting, Satan said to Him, “If You’ll just bow down and worship me, I’ll give You all the kingdoms of the world.” Satan is always desiring to be seen as God.

The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians that Satan is an imposter, and his ministers come as angels of light. They are deceivers and imposters. One of the names of Satan is “deceiver.” He pretends to be something that he is not.

So yes, absolutely, Satan does want to replace God. And he doesn’t want to work as an equal, he wants God to be gone. That is made manifestly clear through the statements of the Antichrist. When the Antichrist demands to be worshipped as God, he’s not going to only be against Christians, he’s going to be against Jews, Mormons, Hindus, Buddhists, Baha’i faith, everybody. In his mind, only Antichrist worship is going to be permitted. That has always been Satan’s desire.

Should we support Israel on a political level, or is a spiritual support enough?

A friend asked me if we as believers have to support Israel on a political level, or if spiritual support is enough. Can I separate the two approaches?

Great question. I would say, absolutely support Israel on a spiritual level. I don’t think we are called to support them on a political level. That’s just my opinion. I don’t know of any way that I can back that up. The Bible does say regarding Jerusalem, “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” I certainly want to stand spiritually with the nation of Israel. I don’t feel compelled to support every political move that they make. So, I don’t think that’s a requirement for Christians in 2022. There probably are some church movements that will say that you should. I wouldn’t be in that camp. Very good question.

When Jesus returns, will He be like His first coming in the flesh, fully God & fully man?

No, because when He was raised from the tomb, He was raised with a glorified body. He went into the tomb one way and came out of the tomb another way.

So, will He be fully God and fully man? Yes, He will be fully God and fully man. He will forever be a Man as I understand it, which was something brand new in His incarnation.

When time started, Jesus, God the Son, was with God the Father, but not in flesh. And then the time finally came, in God’s providential plan for salvation and the rescue of humanity and the rescue of all things, for Jesus to put on flesh. Then He went into the tomb with that beaten flesh and came out of the tomb with glorified flesh. To my understanding, He ought always to remain that way.

In Revelation 4-5, John’s first view of heaven is to see as a Lamb that had been slain. He saw the lion of the tribe of Judah, and who appeared as a Lamb that had been slain. So, that speaks of the physicality of the risen Lord.

Who will we “rule and reign” over during the Millennium?

During the Great Tribulation period, many people will come to Jesus Christ and be saved. Many of them will lose their lives. But at the end of the Great Tribulation period, there will be just “plain old humans” that survive those seven years. And those “plain old humans” will enter into the millennial reign of Christ, and they will get married and have babies.

My understanding is that there will be kind of two classes of people there in the Millennial reign. There will be the Church and the saved of God. We will be in our glorified bodies, having been changed. And then there will be just normal humans who will, as I said, get married, have children, work their jobs, and populate the earth.

Jesus will be ruling from Jerusalem. And we who are in our glorified bodies will be assigned areas to oversee, just like there is national government, like we have in Washington DC, and then there are governors in the state, and mayors and councilmen and assemblymen. Just think about how the levels of politics are arranged, and how people have their different responsibilities. That’s going to be us in the Millennial Reign. We will be ruling over an earth that is being repopulated by the people who survived the Great Tribulation period. And the world will get to see what it’s like to have Jesus as King. No corrupt leadership, won’t that be great?