Regarding "The Rapture"

This Bible study was done in response to a sermon I recently heard on television. This teaching is gaining many adherents and that is what concerns me. I once shared this belief until I was led to study the Word of God for what it actually says and not what I have been told to believe. It is my prayer that God will open the readers' mind and heart and that the reader will follow along in their own Bible! Just keep asking, "Why do I believe what I believe?"

I happened upon your sermon on TV July 18, '99 and the topic concerned the rapture of the church to heaven soon. I realize that this doctrine is vital to your evangelistic programs and it is not my intent to run you down for believing it. I am just a fellow servant of Jesus Christ and I humbly ask for a few moments of your attention.

I have no "badge" of theology to pull out for you to prove my qualifications because seminaries tend to teach that which will agree with the particular denomination you're affiliated with. I was raised in a Baptist background and am familiar with every doctrine of your church. I left the Protestant faith because of the many non-Biblical teachings and practices that they adhere to. (Some of which are specifically forbidden by the Word of God) My studies have been largely on my own and my search has been for the truth of God as revealed in His inspired Word. The only qualification that is required is to be willing to follow God's instructions and repent of false teaching. I hope to show you why the rapture doctrine is very erroneous and the explicit danger of teaching it in this time of the end.

The scriptures commonly used to support the belief that Jesus is going to come secretly in the clouds and whisk the church away before the time of the Great Tribulation make sense. 1Cor. 15:51-55; 1Thes. 4:16-17; do indeed say that the dead in Christ, and the ones alive at the time of His return who have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them, will be caught up in the air to meet Him. But these scriptures alone do not give the whole picture of the events just ahead of us. There are many more which give the time sequence and circumstances, plus they nullify other long held beliefs of mainstream Christianity. This may explain why these passages are never dealt with, because they expose a plethora of other non-Biblical tenets. I won't go into them in depth right now but it will become very self revealing as I cover this subject . I only pray that pride will not defeat what I am going to share with you, mine or yours!

I am not certain where the idea that the church would be spared any suffering at the end time originated. I suspect that it has to do with blending what is called the Tribulation with the wrath of God. Although they do overlap one another, these are completely different events in their focus. The tribulation deals with catastrophic events on geopolitical, religious and meteorological scenes. On the other hand, from the spiritual perspective, few will realize that in fact it is Satan who will be behind it all having been thrown out of heaven . I sometimes wonder if this has just happened or is about to occur!

The tribulation is also called the time of "Jacob's Trouble" in Jeremiah 30:7. This is the time of national punishment on Israel (ALL TWELVE TRIBES) not just the tribe of Judah which currently occupies a piece of Palestine under the name of Israel. You would be astounded to find out who the other tribes are nationally today and I wish there was time to go into it! You can bet that they will know who they are very soon when calamity after terrible calamity befall them and they start to seek God wholeheartedly for the answer! This particular period of time was spoken of in Daniel 12:1, Matthew 24:21-22, Mark 13:19-20. Jesus said that it would be the most horrific time since ever there was a nation. Notice that He said that His servants would be delivered up to persecution at that time (Matthew 24:9, Mark 13:9-13, and Luke 21:12-19) As a matter of fact, He told His disciples in John 15:20 that if the world persecuted Him, they would definitely persecute His followers!

I've heard many prophecy teachers claim that the church is not mentioned after the third chapter of the book of Revelation until much later when supposedly the church is in heaven. I have yet to find any reference to the saints being in heaven at all. Rev. 5:10 shows the saints praising the Lamb of God for their redemption and for making them kings and priests to reign ON THE EARTH. The fifth seal in Rev. 6 tells us that all of those martyred down through the ages are told to rest (in the grave) until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would BE KILLED AS THEY WERE, was completed. Those souls under the altar are not alive, but actually much like Abel's blood metaphorically calling out from the ground to God. (Gen 4:10) The fifth seal is the tribulation. Incidentally, Jesus' Olivet prophecy is a step by step parallel to Rev 6!

John then sees the innumerable multitude standing before the throne of God in Rev 7:9-17, having come out of THE GREAT TRIBULATION. There is no mention of where this throne is

located at this point in the time frame portrayed in this chapter. The book of Revelation does not follow a 1,2,3 pattern as many of the "scholars" claim. There are many inset chapters that carry John and the reader back and forth across the span of human history all the way to the time after the second resurrection at the end of the millennium. Rev. chapter seven is one of those chapters dealing with the time of the events shown in chapter 21 when God the Father brings the New Jerusalem down out of heaven to the earth , His throne being here!

Another mention of the church is Rev 12:17 where Satan, having been thrown out of heaven, goes to make war with those who, "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." The woman portrayed in chapter twelve is a type of the church in the wilderness (ancient Israel) all the way down to the church of God at the end time. A woman in prophecy always symbolizes a church, whether it is the true church or a false one.

The beast is seen making war with the saints and overcoming them in the physical sense, in chapter 13 verse 7. Chapter 14 gives us another glimpse of the true saints in verse twelve, " Here is the patience of the saints, here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

The part of all the terrible events that the saints (Christians) will be protected from is the wrath of God also known specifically as the "Day of the Lord" in at least thirty prophecies. This day is going to last a year from the time of the blowing of the seventh trumpet to the time that Christ's feet set down on the Mount of Olives! see Isaiah 34:8 & Isaiah 63:4. According to Jesus' time line in the Olivet prophecy, the tribulation is followed by the heavenly signs and then the sign of the Son of Man seen by the entire planet, and then??? Let's let Him tell it!

Matt. 24: 29 "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.

30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the 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.

31 "And 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." (See also Mark 13: 24-27, Luke 21:25-28)

You can begin to see that it will be no secret when Christ returns!

Revelation 1:7 "Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen."

Now to place the "rapture" references into their proper context. Jesus told His disciples, that He was going to prepare a place for them in John 14:2-3. The term "mansions" is a KJV rendering of the word dwellings. The Father's house is the temple that will proceed out of heaven in the New Jerusalem. Those dwellings are the positions that Christ grants to His elect in the Kingdom of God. Recall that the saints are to be "kings and priests" who will reign on the earth Rev. 5:10 and Peter gives reference to this in 1Peter 2:9.

Our Savior and High Priest went to the heavens of God's throne to prepare those places for all who would be called but He also said that He would come again and receive us unto Himself, so that where He is, we would be also. The question would be, where is He going to be? By overwhelming scriptural evidence we see that He is coming in the clouds with power and great glory. But, where is He going from there? Back to heaven? Logic dictates that if His goal was to transport the church to the third heaven that He would not have to descend into the earth's atmosphere, He could just speak the command and we would be there! No, that won't work. When Jesus preached the gospel, it was the good news of the coming of the Kingdom of God to this earth!!!

Look at the prophecies of Isaiah and Daniel for instance. There are so many passages that deal with the kingdom coming here that I will just give a few.

Isaiah 2:2-4 "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the LORD'S house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it.

3 Many people shall come and say, "Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

4 He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore."

Isaiah 9:6-7 " For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this."

Daniel 2:44 "and in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever."

Daniel 7:13-14 " I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.

14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed"

Paul's references to this event should begin to come into focus. What he is speaking of is the first resurrection at the return of Christ in 1Corinthians 15. He says plainly that it will occur at the LAST TRUMP! Where in scripture can one find a succession of trumpets being blown? Go back to the book of Revelation and notice the events that occur at the blowing of the seventh trumpet in chapter 11:15-18.

Revelation 11:15-18 15"Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"

16 And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God,

17 saying: "We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned.

18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your

name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth."

Now look at Rev 20:4-6:

Rev 20:4-6 "And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

5 (But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection.

6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years."

The same event is in 1Thessalonians 4:14-17

1Thessalonians 4: 14-17 14"For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.

15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. (DEAD)

16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord."

Yes we will be with the Lord, but where will we be? In the air, or is there a destination? Most definitely! Go to Zechariah 14 for the answer!

Zechariah 14:1-5 & 9.

Zechariah 14: 1-5 & 9 1 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your midst.

2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from

the city.

3 Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle.

4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south.

5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley, For the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You.

9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be"The LORD is one," And His name one.

Isn't that fantastic? We who are alive at the return of our King, who have God's Holy Spirit dwelling within us, will be changed instantly to immortal spirit and meet Him in the air to descend with Him to the Mount of Olives, along with the dead in Christ, to begin our reign under Him on this earth for a thousand years!!!

I realize that this raises questions concerning the Protestant and Catholic teachings about the state of the dead, because of the fact that if we go to heaven when we die, why would there be a first and second resurrection of the dead ? Let's just say that I won't open that can of worms here, but I have done a thorough study on what the Bible truly says about death, heaven/hell and immortality and I would be happy to share it with you if you are interested. There are no outside sources used other than the Word of God , just as in this paper.

In conclusion, I hope you can begin to see the danger of teaching the rapture, (a word not even in the Bible) because when the time of trouble strikes and we're still here, people will tend to blame God for "forsaking" them! It has been with prayer and genuine love that this has been sent to you and I hope to hear from you soon!

In Christ,

Marty McDonald