Is the rapture and return of Christ imminent?
Are we about to enter into the time of Jacob’s Trouble , the great tribulation period ?
View Video #2
Civic, I think the answer to your question is no, if the "we" is defined as the church of Jesus Christ. If it is defined as the world then I say it definitely is. The problem I see with those on the video #1 is they do not honor the very important fact that the Bible is a Jewish book and is given, like all the scriptures, from a Jewish mindset. The words of the scriptures must be taken literally and when Jesus said the abomination of desolation being offered in the holy place as the beginning of the great tribulation, the final 3 1/2 years of the 7 years of Daniel, he really meant the holy place and an altar in a Jewish tabernacle or a temple in Judaea.
Mt 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Another problem with the video is they made no mention of the actual time frame of this ten nation confederacy. The book of Revelation makes it crystal clear when this coalition in it's prophetic completion will be in place. Here it is in the threefold division of the prophesy, which is the Revelation.
Re 1:19 Write the things
1) which thou hast seen, and - Past
2) the things which are, and - Present
3) the things which shall be hereafter; - Future
This is relative to John at that time.
The thing that he had seen is the vision of Jesus Christ on the isle of Patmos. Chapter 1, verses 12 through 17 are written in the past tense.
The churches in Asia were present tense when John was on the isle.
Re 1:4 John to the seven churches which
are in Asia:
Since the churches are the context in the first three chapters and they are presently in Asia, it is reasonable to understand that the future things would all happen after the church is raptured. Notice John goes up to heaven and the church is not mentioned on earth again.
Re 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
2 And
immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
1Co 15:51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:
The formation of this ten nation alliance is here after the church.
Having said all that, I do believe this group may be a prototype of that alliance and there is a real possibility of the seven years of Daniel being over in 2030 AD, which means the coming of Christ for his church may be as early as this year. The Jewish feast of trumpets is near as I type this.