Edition 314: June 1^st 2016

Attacks on the rapture:

Attacks on the rapture:

Introduction:

The devil always attacks things or doctrines that are damaging to him. He is an expert at spreading confusion around so many things that are essential for our growth and stability. Satan is the god of confusion. Our God is not a God of confusion. (1 Corinthians 14:33)

Now that prophetic time is marching on so fast, the devil’s time is almost up and he is launching attacks as best he can.

There are many believers who don’t know much about end-times, the rapture, the Second Coming and such things. Getting things wrong out of ignorance, as long as the ignorance is not endemic, is okay, but there are many who are making deliberate, informed attacks on end time teaching and teachers, the rapture in particular.

I have recently read and watched some of the worst examples of exposition attacking the pre-tribulation rapture and promoting the post-tribulation rapture I have ever seen! Some of it is such garbage it’s scary. But the real scary thing is that these people have followers!

I have also seen many post-trib arguments and cases very well done.

Beware the thieves in the pulpit:

Beware lest anyone try to steal your reward! If the Bible warns against this, it’s a very real possibility, and we need to be vigilant in this regard!

Revelation 3:11 “Behold I come quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”

2 John 1:8 “Look to yourselves that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.”

Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest anyone cheat you though philosophy and empty deceit according to the traditions of men...”

The three verses above say it all don’t they! And there are more just like it. The point is that if we are not aware, and not using our God-given weapons of spiritual warfare, we are in danger of falling victim to the growing number of wolves in the pulpit.

These days, this pulpit includes many YouTube ministries and other internet based ministries.

Today there are an ever increasing number of wolves presenting pure hogwash in the name of the Lord. Many of them claim; “God told me”!

2 Timothy 4:8 “Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not only me but also all who loved His appearing.”

The verse above shows that there are rewards prepared specifically for those who love eschatology and the coming of the Lord. Don’t let this area fall under the attack of the wolves of confusion.

Why would Satan attack something like the pre-tribulation rapture if it were not true? He does not attack the post-trib rapture with the same ferocity at all! His big thing is to sow confusion and doubt. The rapture is our “blessed hope” – not if Satan can get his way!

Coming destruction:

We must understand that God operates within frameworks of His own choosing. One important principle is that God does not destroy the righteous with the wicked. He separates them.

Genesis 18:23 “Abraham came near and said (to the Lord); ‘Would you destroy the righteous with the wicked?”

Genesis 19:22 “Hurry, escape there; (Out of Sodom and Gomorrah), for I cannot do anything until you arrive there...”

So, what about the tribulation saints, who will be martyred, beheaded and slaughtered? The answer lies in the various wraths. The wrath of man, the wrath of Satan and of nature gone mad, will be responsible for these martyrs. The wrath of God will not be upon them.

Also bear in mind that the tribulation period is unique in many respects.

●Rapture type 1

Some say that the flood and Ark of Noah proves a post- tribulation rapture, in that Noah and his family were protected through the judgement and not removed from it.

Never take an analogy too far! The other way of looking at it is: Noah and his family were lifted up, which would be a rapture type to heaven, above the judgement on the earth.

But here’s the real deal: Noah and his entourage, at God’s command, went into the Ark seven days before the rain, and God closed the door. (Genesis 7:1)That is the real type of the pre-tribulation rapture before the seven-year tribulation.

If you study this, you will see something odd. God invites Noah into the ark with the words, “come in”. This was not the usual “go into”. This implies that God was already in the Ark, which is a type of God in heaven receiving those at the rapture. This parallels with the implied rapture verse in Revelation 4:1 “Come up here.”

Note that it was God who shut the door of the Ark, which parallels with God setting an open door before true believers in Revelation 3:7-10, and shutting the door to the five foolish virgins.

●Rapture type 2

Genesis 19:23 “The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. THEN the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah, brimstone and fire...”

The name “Zoar” (Strongs’ G6820) means “insignificant.”

The world thinks this whole rapture story is insignificant and small in their eyes. They don’t even care. Yet this “insignificance” to the world is our blessed hope!

Lot was removed supernaturally by God from Sodom before it was destroyed by judgement. Lot and his family were escorted out of Sodom by angels.

This is a very powerful undeniable type of the pre-tribulation rapture.

●Rapture type 3

The Gentile prostitute, Rahab and her family were removed from Jericho before the judgement of God destroyed the city. (Joshua 6:22-24)

The two Israeli spies called down judgement upon themselves if anything harmful at all, “even a hand” touched Rahab and her family during her removal from Jericho. (Joshua 2:19-21)

The walls of Jericho only fell after seven days of trumpet blowing, and marching around the city and a final march around the city seven times on the last day, before the judgement fell.

Many post tribbers say that Jericho fell when the seventh trumpet on the seventh day was sounded, pointing to the seven-year tribulation period. They say that because Rahab was removed at this point, the rapture will be at the end of the tribulation.

The most important part of this story is that Rahab was removed before the judgement fell and she was totally unharmed in any way.

Rahab and her family were removed to a place “outside the camp of Israel and then they burned the city with fire and all within it, and Rahab dwelt in Israel to this day...” (Joshua 6:23-24) “

Why was Rahab and family removed to a place “outside the camp of Israel”? It was so that they could be purified and made clean.

Bear in mind that our Lord Himself was crucified “outside the camp”.

Hebrews 13:13-14 “Let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach, for here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.”

The terms “the camp” and “outside the camp,” were frequently used in Old Testament ritual cleansing practises. Those outside were ritually unclean. The animal sacrifices had to be prepared “outside the camp.” Our Lord was crucified “outside the gate”, where He became sin for us.

The symbolism here is that Rahab, had to be taken to this place of ritual cleansing, “outside the camp” to be made pure. The Bible says that she then settled inside Israel.

So, we see in this dramatic typology, the story of the purification of believers through the cross, being raptured, made clean and white and pure and taken to heaven, rewarded – (well outside the camp of the world), while the tribulation is on the go.

It is very important to see and understand that Rahab betrayed her city Jericho to destruction. She was not like Lot’s wife, looking back to her home in the world. The message is simple. You MUST betray the world – leave it to its destruction. Rescue people out of it, but don’t try to save it. You are wasting your time if you do. This is the only time betrayal is right and good with God.

Your future and mine, my friends, is “outside the camp” of the world-system – you must prepare now to go there soon. After being prepared, rewarded and dined for seven years, we will be forever ready for eternity.

►There are dozens of rapture types in the Bible. They must all agree. They do all agree.

Post tribulation rapture impossibilities:

●If the church were in the tribulation, the church would have authority over the antichrist. (That is the section of the church which believes in and uses the gifts of the Spirit). So why then do the tribulation saints not have this same authority over Satan? It’s simply because they are part of a dispensation in which the gifts of the Spirit are not at work in the same way as in the church era.

●If the rapture occurs at the end of the tribulation, this means that the famous rapture verses of 1 Corinthians 15 and 2 Thessalonians occur right at the end of the tribulation – obviously.  That means that the antichrist is revealed at the end of the tribulation, just as we go into the Millennium. It also means that the restrainer of evil will be removed right at the end of the tribulation as we go into the Millennium. Do you see the problem?

●Revelation 3:10 “We will be kept from the hour of trail...” This “hour of trial” (the tribulation) is a term relating to time and space. We are kept out of the time period of the tribulation. The use of these words absolutely forbids the interpretation implying that we will be protected through the tribulation. The words mean that we will be removed from the whole time period and the only way that can happen is by rapture.

If the saints of the church in Philadelphia are promised to be taken from (Lit=, clean out away from) the “hour of trial”, how can they now go through the “hour of trial”? The term “hour of trial” is very important. Post tribbers, almost without exception, claim that the church needs to be tried and tested and purified by being crushed, tortured and slaughtered in tribulation.

●The believers of the church are seen during the tribulation, in heaven with crowns already awarded. So how can the church now have to go through the “hour of trial”, to be purified, to get rewards, which they have already been awarded?

Sights, sounds and spectacles: Rapture/ Second Coming differences.

The Bible reveals in numerous places that the saints come back from heaven with our Lord. Here are just four of the verses:  Jude 1:14, 1Thessalonians 3:13, Zechariah 14:5 Revelation 19:14.

The rapture of the true church focuses entirely upon our Lord, while the focus of the post-tribbers is on the antichrist, and trying to keep their heads on their shoulders, and the worst destruction and suffering the world has ever seen.

●At the rapture our Lord comes for His own, and at the Second Coming, He comes with His own. ●At the rapture He will be seen and heard only by believers. ●At the Second Coming every eye will see Him. At the rapture there are no changes to the natural earth. ●At the Second Coming, nature would have already been in its wildest rampage and warpath of destruction ever. After the Second Coming the natural world is restored to its original pre-Adamic glory.

Why is it that our Lord returns for the church saints in the air? He does not come to the ground anywhere? The rapture occurs in a “moment a twinkling of an eye” The original word is “atmo” which means an atomic instant.

We are caught up to meet Him in the air. The Second Coming occurs just as our Lord left, after the resurrection and ascension from the Mount of Olives. He returns to the Mount of Olives and His feet literally touch-down. All eyes see Him descend. Why say that His feet will touch the ground”?

It seems that the inspired word of God has laboured the differences between the rapture and the Second Coming, for a reason. This is because the two cannot be seen as the same event and are two distinctly separate events, separated by seven years.

Be careful of being influenced into the post tribulation rapture view – you just might end up staying behind with them. This appears to be the meaning of the verse: “To them who look for Him, He will appear a second time.”  (Hebrews 9:28)

The Bible shows that all the wicked are “raptured” off this earth at the Second Advent: Matthew 25:1-13, Revelation 3:8-10, Revelation 4:1 Revelation 19:21, 20:5. While all the wicked are removed from the earth, the tribulation saints stay on the earth, in bodies with longevity restored, to go into and repopulate the earth in the Millennium.

The wicked and righteous can’t be taken together or first. It must be one at a time (with seven years in between.)

A post trib rapture sees an empty earth, with no one in their natural bodies to re-populate the earth in the Millennium.

Darby / Mac Donald rapture:

A fast-spreading error is the belief that the rapture is modern doctrine invented by John Darby after Margaret Mac Donald whispered some rubbish into his ears.

These same people accredit Darby with starting the doctrine of dispensations, which is central to the pre-tribulation rapture doctrine. Well, Darby did not start it, God did!

Some claim that Mac Donald was subject to demonic voices and intentionally “infected” the church with the doctrine of the rapture.

But it was actually John Darby who is credited with and accused of “inventing” the pre-tribulation rapture. Darby claimed that he realised that there could only be a pre-tribulation rapture in light of the biblical distinction between Israel and the church. This was in 1827.

By the way, John Darby was the source of a number of major false doctrines. If you put weight on things like this, you deserve to be deceived.

●And for those who say the word “rapture” is not in the Bible:

The word “rapture” appeared in the Latin Vulgate and in numerous Bibles right through the age. You can’t say that there will be no rapture because the word is not in the Bible because some idiot said so, and the error just got handed down.

But hang on a minute, here is the word “rapture” in the Bible!

1 Thessalonians 4:17 “We who are alive and remain will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.”

The original word for “caught up” is “harpazo” which in Latin is the word “rapere or rapturo” Ah...so the word is in the Bible!

►This Latin word is the origin of our English word “raptor”, the word for eagles and similar birds. The word means to “snatch or seize by force” That’s a perfect description of an eagle, swooping down and snatching its prey, and a perfect description of the rapture.

Besides, what do you think “catching away” means (1 Thessalonians 4:17)? Because “catching away” is not spelt R-A-P-T-U-R-E, does that mean there will be no catching away? Come now, you ignorant idiots behind the pulpit, you need to step down!

If you know your Bible you are to be a Berean – searching the scriptures to see if these things be true. The Bible says that sectarian is sin, which is just what happens when we elevate the doctrine of any individual.

Rightly dividing the word (2 Timothy 2:15):

Here is just one example of many, of how the post-tribbers get it wrong:

Matthew 24:29-31 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

The above verses are often used to prove a post-tribulation rapture. Quite simply this is all referring to the events of the Second Coming. The “elect” here are the tribulation saints and the saved Jews. When you examine the details of the rapture, it simply can’t fit in here.

If you mix together the rapture and the Second Coming, the church and Israel, you will get it all wrong. The two are distinctly different events separated by seven years, each with their own totally different characteristics.

Most post-tribbers do not distinguish between the rapture and the Second Coming. They are also all dispensation deniers. Of course they must get it all wrong.

The “apostasia”:

2 Thessalonians 2:3 has traditionally been interpreted as the falling away or departure of the church from the faith, making this a problem verse. But the term “falling away” has the definite article in front of it meaning that it is THE falling away, more correctly interpreted as the departure of the church. This also fits the context.

“The departure” of verse two must relate in context to verse one, “our being gathered together to Him.”

The original word “from” is Strong’s G575 “Apo”. It means: A clear “separation” of place, or a “fleeing from”. Because the word has the idea of space associated with it, it should not be used as falling away from the faith, but departure from the earth.

We most certainly do already have an apostasy from the faith on the go. Apostasy of the church from the faith therefore, cannot be a rapture sign.

So, if we put the word rapture or catching away in place of “apostasy”, which would be perfectly legitimate and accurate, we have perhaps the most powerful pre-tribulation rapture verse in the Bible.

Let’s write it out that way:

2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no man deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the rapture comes first and the man of sin is revealed...”

Finally:

At the end of the day, the truth will endure as it only can. There will only be one truth and it will be holy and pure. None of us have all the truth. It is currently being revealed and opened up progressively as we move on.

Because this is all spiritually charged, the enemy is at work in these doctrines.

You must open your heart with a holy desire for the truth and close your heart to error and the attacks of the enemy, who wants to defeat you, render you ineffective and rob you of your eternal reward.

If you have a genuine desire for the truth, with a soft and broken heart – you will be led into all truth.

1 Thessalonians 1:10 “We must wait for His Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead, even Yeshua, who delivers us from the wrath to come.”

I took these tow pictures in the wonderful wild world of Namaqualand and the cheetah. Merging them together adds some interest.

If you would like to see some more pictures of this beautiful desert click HERE

Shalom and grow in grace!