Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Nail #9

Evidence and proof negating the Pre-tribulation Rapture

Another proof text I have for Daniel’s 70th week NOT being 7 years of God’s wrath, Isaiah 2:11 and 2:17 (below) both say that the Lord alone will be exalted in that day (Day of the Lord). This means that the antichrist can not come to power, raise himself up, set himself up in the temple as God and stop the sacrifice DURING the Day of the Lord.

Please consider this! During the Day of the Lord, i.e. the time in History when the wrath of God will be poured out on the earth, God alone will be exalted.  Now if the entire 7 years was the wrath of God (Day of the Lord), then the Antichrist could not come into power, and exalt himself, and cause all men to worship him.

Again, Christ said in Matthew 24, that there will be: 1) a Beginning of Sorrows, 2) a Great Tribulation, and then He doesn’t even mention the Wrath of God.  AFTER the Great Tribulation you see the SIGN of His appearing (Matthew 24:29-30).  But Christ tells John in Revelation that there will be the 7 seals (the first 3 seals are the Beginning of Sorrows; the 4th and 5th seals are the Great Tribulation; and Matthew 24:29-30 speaks of the 6th seal), 7 Trumpets, and 7 Vials - which the Trumpets and Vials are God’s wrath.  Revelation 15:1 says with the Vials, God’s wrath is completed, filled up, finished (depending on what version you have.  Looking at the KJV, in today’s English, it’s hard to understand that “filled up” means completed or finished).

Isaiah 2:6-22
6  Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children of strangers.
7  Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:
8  Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made:
9  And the mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself: therefore forgive them not.
10  Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty.
11  The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. (What Day?  The Day of the Lord)
12  For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low:
13  And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan,
14  And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up,
15  And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall,
16  And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures.
17  And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. (What Day?  The Day of the Lord)
18  And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
19  And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
20  In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
21  To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.
22  Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of ?

Please notice something else - verses 19 and 21... it actually looks like Isaiah and John discussed with each other a few things, look at Revelation 6:12, specifically the great earthquake compared with Isaiah 2:19 & 21 above

12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

And with the same two verses above (19 & 21), please compare with Revelation 6:15, specifically the part about hiding:

15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

Bottom Line for Nail #9 -  Since God alone will be exalted during the Day of the Lord, the Antichrist can NOT come into power and set himself up as God in the temple, and stop the sacrifice. Daniel’s 70th week is NOT 7 years of God’s wrath.  God’s wrath is comprised of a time period only at the end of the 7 years.

And to reinforce Nail #6, Jesus said His return (parousia) will be like it was in the days of Noah and Lot - the DAY they were “rescued” was the same DAY God poured out His wrath - the day the church is rescued (raptured) will be the same day God will pour out His wrath.  It sure doesn’t sound like the Pre-trib rapture theory, does it?

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Nail #8

Evidence and proof negating the Pre-tribulation Rapture

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve heard Christians tell me, “No one knows the day or the hour” but no one has ever been able to tell me the verse, or the chapter that it was said - a few have guessed the correct Gospel (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32). While that is true, they all believe that statement generally, not literally. Jesus spoke those words in context of the Olivet Discourse and He intended that to be understood literally, the day or the hour. We CAN know when His return (and the rapture) is near.  How can I say that with confidence?  Back up a few verses and look at 32 and 33

Matthew 24:32-33
32  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33  So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

Jesus said we would KNOW that it is near. The word know is ginosko, the same word used many other times in the context of learning to know, acquiring knowledge, to understand. We will KNOW when His return is near - and He is not referring to hinting, suggesting, or guessing. We will KNOW when His return is near based on facts, not feelings. We will KNOW when His return is near based on biblical events that we will witness, not speculative synopses of biblical scholars.

Now remember, Jesus is talking to the apostles, the church fathers. He is teaching them, and later he said to teach the believers everything that He commanded them. So in effect, Jesus’s Words are recorded here for our, you and me, OUR instruction and edification. So when Jesus said “when ye shall see all these things,” what are “all these things” to which He was referring? EVERYTHING that He spoke of in Matthew 24:4-31! So, when WE Christians see “all these things” (all the events in the preceding verses) WE Christians are to KNOW (ginosko) that IT is near, even at the doors.

Now, what is the “IT” to which Jesus is referring?

Well, Jesus just spoke ALL of the preceding after being asked three questions by the apostles. Look at Matthew 24:3 -
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

The apostles asked, “When shall these things be...” - which Jesus ignored in Matthew's Gospel, “...what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” First you have to realize that the apostles knew that His coming and the end of the world would happen at the same “event” - at His return (parousia - noun). The IT in verse 33 is the sign of His coming (v 30) and what is one of the first things He does at the sign of His coming (parousia)? Answer - The rapture of the church (v 31)!!!

Matthew 24:30-31
30  And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Bottom Line - Even though we don’t know, nor will we ever know, the day or the hour, we will see “all these things” and in doing so, we will know His return is near, even at the doors as Jesus said in verse 33.


Saturday, February 2, 2013

Nail #7


Evidence and proof negating the Pre-tribulation Rapture

Does the Bible ever describe the Church’s arrival in Heaven at the Rapture?

Look at Revelation 7:9 - After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

The Pre-tribulation rapturist will ask, “How do you get the idea that this great multitude is the raptured church?”

To that I say keep reading. To be more specific, read Revelation 7:13-14 - (13) Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes - who are they, and where did they come from?” (14) I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

THESE ARE THEY WHO HAVE COME OUT OF THE GREAT TRIBULATION!!! These were not martyred saints, those believers are under the altar when the 5th seal is opened in Revelation 6:9 and they were even told to wait a little longer until more are added to their number. But this great multitude, which has not been arriving one at a time or in groups. This great multitude all of a sudden materializes; this great multitude which no man could number... No man can number??? Huh? Just a couple of chapters earlier John looked at a group of angels and said there were 100,000,000 of them (Revelation 5:11). ONE HUNDRED MILLION. But this great multitude John was looking at was clearly many, MANY, more than even that. My friend, THAT’S the raptured church - which came OUT of the Great Tribulation.

SO, if that great multitude is NOT the raptured church, who do YOU say it is, and by what means did they arrive in Heaven??

Another thing you’ll see from me is that the 7-year period a lot of people refer as the “Tribulation” period is not in Scripture. About the only thing in the Bible that refers to that entire period is Daniel’s 70th Week. A prophetic week has been determined to be a 7-year period. This is derived from the prophesy in Daniel 9:24-27 where it shows 69 weeks have already taken place and one week remains.  And this final week, or 7-year period starts with the Antichrist making a treaty (covenant) with Israel for 7 years. (Daniel 9:27)