Reasons for no rapture
before the 2nd coming!
Many scholars are no longer convinced...
The rapture is not
clearly taught in the Bible and because of this, it's easy to jump to
a mistaken conclusion.
For example, Christ says that "when He comes and knocks," we should "open
to Him immediately." Luke 12:36. If you have been taught to believe in a
rapture, it may be easy to think that's what Christ means here. But several
points don't fit rapture teaching. Why would Christ say, "Have your loins
girded, have your lights burning" if He were going to rapture us, even from
sleep? We don't need to sleep with our clothes or lights on. This is about
something else.
1.
When Christ said, “One shall be taken, and the other left”
(Matthew 24:39-40), He wasn't talking about a rapture. Luke gives more details.
The disciples asked, "Where, Lord? And He said unto them, Wheresoever the body
is, there will the eagles be gathered.” (Luke 17:37). With this additional
information, it suggests that those who are
taken
are not raptured to heaven; they become the dinner for vultures.
"One shall be taken and the other left" should not be understood as a rapture.
2.
A pre-tribulation rapture is contrary to God’s way of dealing
throughout history. History supports that “we must through much tribulation
enter into the kingdom.” Acts 14:22. Our belief that it won’t happen to us is
based on a few texts that can be explained to mean something else. Everyone in
history lived through trouble and died, except for Enoch and Elijah
(discussed below).
3.
Christ said, “As it was in the days of Noah” (Luke 17:26). Noah
wasn’t raptured; he came through the storm.
Enoch was raptured before Noah was even born, so his being taken to heaven had
nothing to do with avoiding the Flood or tribulation.
4.
Elijah was raptured, but Christ never said the end would be like
Elijah for us. Elijah was raptured only after he confronted false
worship of Baal. Our confrontation will be with Antichrist
when the United Nations mandates everyone to be marked or implanted for identity
purposes, but this will be contrary to the Bible, Revelation 13:16,17; 14:9,10.
5.
“As it was in the days of Lot,” Luke 17:28. Lot wasn’t
raptured, he was told to flee, and Christ told us to flee because there would be
great tribulation, Matthew 24:15-21; Mark 13:14-20.
6. Everyone else in history has faced trouble and death. “Now
all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written
for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come,” 1Corinthians
10:11.
7.
When asked about the end of the world, Christ said to understand Daniel.
The book of Daniel shows no rapture. Daniel and his friends were
tested by a series of life and death situations. "Daniel" means God is my Judge
and we may only be judged when we face death and do right. Otherwise we may be
"fair-weather" Christians.
8.
Christ was in the furnace with the three Hebrews. “Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though
some strange thing happened unto you,” 1 Peter 4:12. God will be with us through
the trials.
9.
“Broad is the way, that leads to destruction.” Matthew
7:13. Millions of rapture books sold like “Left Behind” suggest a broad following that does not fit well with
the Bible’s teaching that “we must through much tribulation enter into the
kingdom of God,” Acts 14:22.
10.
“By their fruits ye shall know them.” The fruit of rapture
teaching is a lack of Bible study in Revelation, thinking “we won’t be around.”
But Revelation is the only book that Christ promises a blessing for reading and
"keeping those things that are written therein." Revelation 1:3. Revelation uses
symbols and imagery that we can decode from other parts of Scripture if we study
and become familiar with the Bible.
11. We would feel
like second class citizens in heaven if we were raptured from trouble and
lukewarm materialism (Revelation 3:17) if we did not have the opportunity to
face trouble manfully as did Daniel, Peter or Paul.
12. Rather than rapturing
"lukewarm...miserable" Christians
(Rev 3:17), we should expect
"the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple...But who may abide
the day of his coming...for he is like a refiner's fire," Malachi 3:1,2. If we
are faithful through this refining process (trumpet plagues of Revelation 8,9,
the mark of the New World Order (Revelation 13:16,17) and the 7 vials that fall
on those who receive that mark (Revelation 14:9,10; Rev 16) we will be ready to
meet Christ when He comes visibly ("every eye shall see Him, Rev 1:7, Revelation
19:11).
Please share
your thoughts about this on my blog
at
http://TheBridegroomComes.wordpress.com
Dr. Richard Ruhling is an
author and speaker
Current Events & Bible Prophecy. If you would like to contact him for
scheduling an event, ), please email him at
Ruhling7@juno.com
and visit his webpage
at
http://TheBridegroomComes.com
or leave a comment on his blog at
http://TheBridegroomComes.wordpress.com
Thank you for visiting...please tell your friends, the wise in Matthew 25 and
Luke 12:35 have lights to show the way and invite others to the wedding in Matt
22:2,3
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A Tribute to Camping's Thousands
Summary: May 21, 2011 won’t be the end of the world, but since
God reads the heart and discerns the motives of those who love and serve Him,
many of Camping’s followers may be blessed in a déjà vu of the “Great
Disappointment” in 1844 by an understanding of this information.
Christ is coming
for all "who love His appearing," so let's not be so eager
to forget Camping's follower's sincere effort to share what they believed. Below
is a life-time medical missionary's input half way down, "Incredible data..."
but first--
Camping took texts out of
context to compose his May 21 date, and
he used a chronology that was thousands of years in excess of Ussher and Sir
Isaac Newton.
His use of the 2300 days
taken from Daniel 8:14 and pasted into the last 23 years (??) before May 21,
2011 date has the flimsiest excuse to make things look exact.
It's impressive for him to say, "We
learned that..." but when he is unwilling to unlearn anything and it's
impossible to communicate with him, it's shameful for him to be so positive and
he was probably insincere because he did not accept an offer of
$100,000 for his radio stations by Doug Batchelor of Amazing Facts
telecast.
The “rapture” is not found
in most translations of the Bible, but that doesn’t disprove the concept. But a
sudden snatch of believers to heaven could be wrong because some of the texts
used to support it are about a marriage and the Bible gives us an example...
We forget the Old Testament
model when God took Israel from calamity
in Egypt to a covenant relationship at Sinai and later said, “I am married to
you,” Jeremiah 3:14.
The Bible’s best theologian
(Paul) includes the Exodus when he wrote,
“All those things happened unto them for [types] and they are written for our
admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1Corinthians 10:1,11.
We are living amid
unprecedented calamities. Calamities are a time of crisis. The Chinese
characters for crisis are two: danger + opportunity. The Greek word, krisis, is
translated “judgment” in Revelation 14:7.
A time of judgment is
impending and what we do in a crisis can
determine our destiny. It did for Israel as they left Egypt and bondage for the
land that God promised to give Abraham and his seed.
When He got ready to do so,
God attacked the gods of Egypt. They worshiped the Nile; it
turned to blood. They worshiped cattle; they got disease. Money is our god—“in
this god we trust,” and it’s going! We’ve kicked God out of courtrooms and
classrooms; can we blame Him for withdrawing His blessing?
Camping rightly uses "a thousand years are as a day,"
(2Peter 3:8) but he dates the Flood at 4990 BC, a thousand years off
4004 BC which millions of King James Bibles have for the creation, based
on Ussher’s Chronology and approximated by Sir Isaac Newton.
Astronomy confirms Newton: “May 5, 2000: The date that Mercury, Venus,
Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will line up with the sun and moon, the first
time in 6000 years.”
TIME Magazine, Jan 17, 2000.
That
supports Genesis 1:14 when God put “lights in the sky for signs and seasons” as
being 6,000 years ago (and creation as 4000 BC). But Camping’s error in
calculation is offset by his choice to use 7,000 years versus the Bible’s giving
man six days (Exodus 20:9) and 6,000 years. Speaking
of the day of judgment, “one
day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one
day,” 2 Peter 3:8.
The Bible has a
solar system alignment in which the sun,
moon and stars “made obeisance” to Joseph who was sold as a slave to Egypt, but
after seven good years, his brothers bowed to him like the stars in his dream
during seven bad years that followed.
Since 2000, we had seven good years, but in 2008, troubles came and we could be
flirting with the beginning of the bad years.
A huge earthquake
would mean it's Christ’s “knock”
in Luke 12:36. This is a wedding parable and we
must “open unto Him immediately” by a readiness considering information
necessary for us to make a covenant (marriage) with Christ. To
understand this better, or for more information, please visit
www.TheBridegroomComes.com
May God help us to be ready to respond to Him when
He comes to “knock.” This is not a visible coming, but a coming in
Judgment as God said in Egypt, “I will execute judgment,” Exodus 12:12.
Leave a comment at
http://TheBridegroomComes.wordpress.com
Thank you for visiting...please tell your friends, the wise in Matthew
25 and Luke 12:35 have lights to show the way and invite others to the
wedding in Matt 22:2,3
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