There is some misinformation about the end times because of Bible scholars like Tim Lehaye, and John Nelson Darby. Many of their teachings not only are keeping brothers and sisters in Christ from seeing the signs of the times, it is keeping making them ill equipped to meet what is coming in near future, and even is happening now before our very eyes. The first point I want to address is The Rapture, this event where supposably Christians are caught away from a turbulent world to be in paradise with Christ before Christ comes on the clouds (Matthew 24:30, Revelation 1:7), and rest of the world goes through The Great Tribulation. I am going to debunk this misinformation and other erroneous teachings with the The Word (Jesus Christ) own Scriptures.
Caught Up, The Rapture, and The Tribulation
The Rapture is supported by misunderstanding of the verses about "one being taken, and one being left behind." In fact, an entire book series by Time Lehaye called "Left Behind" is based on this, but its taken out of context, the full passage on caught up and left behind is this, " they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will be the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come." (Matthew 24:39-42). The emphasis in this entire passage is the "coming of the Lord," which is Second Coming of Jesus, which is when He comes on the clouds, "Look, he is coming with the clouds, every eye will see him, even those who pierced him"; and all peoples on earth "will mourn because of him." So shall it be! Amen," (Revelation 1:7), and "Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory," (Matthew 24:30). That is coming the Bible speaks of, it is when Jesus Comes on Clouds to fight, "Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God (John 1:1-17). The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords," (Revelation 19:11-16). Rapturists think being changed and caught up is prior to Jesus' Coming, but here is the facts, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord," (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17), this is the being changed, "in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed," (1 Corinthians 15:52). The Caught Up and Being Changed into our New Bodies is when Jesus Christ descends on the Clouds, it is not some event called the Rapture where millions of people disappear leaving their clothes around and the rest of the world goes through Tribulation and then Jesus Comes on Clouds later. It is clear from Scripture that the Caught Up and Changed in Blink of An Eye is when Christ Comes on Clouds, called the Second Coming not some event prior to Jesus Christ's Return on the clouds (Revelation 19:11-16).
Now Rapturists will say that we are caught up prior to Christ coming on clouds to avoid the Tribulation, but Jesus and His Apostles say the opposite in their prophecies, "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 the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken, Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." (Matthew 24:29-30), "And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die," (Revelation 13:7-8, 15), "Then I saw in heaven another marvelous event of great significance. Seven angels were holding the seven last plagues, which would bring God’s wrath to completion. I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them. And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb," (Revelation 15:1-3), "10And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, he who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die," (Revelation 12:10-11), "Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name, This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus," (Revelation 14: 8-12), "And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," (Revelation 7:14), and "I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!," (John 16:33, NASB, ESV, KJV, BB, BLB, and NASB 1977). According to the Scriptures, tribulation is a fact of the Christian walk, and for those in the end times it is clear there are Christians who will go through tribulation as stated in Revelation, and why else would we be encouraged to "endure persecution patiently, keep god's commands, and keep faith in Jesus," (Revelation 14:12) if all Christians were raptured from tribulation? According to Tim Lehaye and other Rapturists, the Man of Sin rises after the Rapture, but according to Scripture, the Antichrist rises, and the Christians aren't raptured but must resist him and be persecuted (Revelation 13:7, Revelation 13:10 Revelation 14:12).
There is a logical argument for going through the Tribulation-Great Tribulation. The argument is this, why did Jesus Christ tell us what will happen in Tribulation in detail If we are just going to get wisked away and not experience any of its hardships? [Why did He have John write it all down in the Revelation, and why did apostles contain the Tribulation details in their Gospels if they didn't by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit decide to share it to help believers in the end times?] Why tell us if we are going to be raptured away from the worst of it? We won't need to know signs if we just get caught away, but if we are to go through Tribulation as the Scriptures I laid out say we will, then knowing the signs step by step would bolister and build our faith, so that when we are being crushed by malice of Antichrist (Revelation 13:7) we are able ot point ot Scriptures, and stand firm in faith (Matthew 24:13).
There is also historical precedence for us Christians having to endure the Great Tribulation. The Early Church suffered the Great Persecution from 100-313 A.D., where the Church was fed to lions, imprisoned, burned at stake, skinned alive, and nearly annihilated. If the Church was being persecuted and going through tribulation then, why not at the end of days? Secondly, did not Jesus say and the Elder say, "You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved," (Matthew 10:22), "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me, At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people," (Matthew 24:9-11), "Then each of them was given a white robe and told to rest a little while longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers, were killed, just as they had been killed," (Revelation 6:11), and, "He 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." (Revelation 7:14). The LORD did not promise us a bed of rose peddles, He told us suffering was going to be part of the package. I do not believe Jesus delights in us enduring Tribulation, rather it is we are Ambassadors for Him (2 Corinthians 5:20) in the last days and we should have attitude, "I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body." (Philippians 1:23-24).
Wrath of God
Rapturists who believe no Christian will go through the Great Tribulation base their claims on that Christians aren't subjected to God's Wrath, "Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!," (Romans 5:9). However, the problem is that the Tribulation is not God's Wrath, it is the wrath of Satan and antichrist against the Church: The Saints, God's People, "And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people (the Saints) and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. He was then permitted to give life to this statue so that it could speak. Then the statue of the beast commanded that anyone refusing to worship it must die," (Revelation 13:7-8, 15), "Let this encourage God’s people to endure patiently every trial and persecution, for they are his saints who remain firm to the end in obedience to his commands and trust in Jesus," (Revelation 14:12), "Then I saw in heaven another marvelous event of great significance. Seven angels were holding the seven last plagues, which would bring God’s wrath to completion. I saw before me what seemed to be a glass sea mixed with fire. And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. They were all holding harps that God had given them. And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb," (Revelation 15:1-3). The Wrath of God happens when Jesus Returns on the clouds with an army to pour out God's wrath on the nations, "Then I saw heaven opened and a white horse standing there; and the one sitting on the horse was named Faithful and True—the one who justly punishes and makes war. His eyes were like flames, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on his forehead, and only he knew its meaning. He was clothed with garments dipped in blood, and his title was “The Word of God.” The armies of heaven, dressed in finest linen, white and clean, followed him on white horses. In his mouth he held a sharp sword to strike down the nations; he ruled them with an iron grip; and he trod the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. On his robe and thigh was written this title: “King of Kings and Lord of Lords." (Revelation 19:11-16). This event of Jesus coming on clouds to trod the winepress of God's Wrath is right when we are caught up with Him in air, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord," (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). So Of course we aren't subjected to the Winepress of the Wrath of God, that's when Jesus Comes on Clouds and we Caught up With Him. But we do go through severe and terrible persecution and tribulation of the Antichrist that will crush us (Revelation 13:7), and we must stand firm (Matthew 24:10-13, Revelation 13:10, Revelation 14:12). We don't experience God's wrath, but we do experience the Antichrist's Wrath which can mean death (Revelation 13), decapitation (Revelation 21:4-7), imprisoned (Revelation 13:10), and being tortured (Matthew 24:9). The point is we must suffer immensely through Tribulation of the Man of Sin [being hated, mistreated, and even slaughtered by the Antichrist and his forces], but we shall be spared the Wrath of God on the nations (Revelation 16, 17, Revelation 19-11-16) and we are spared the Second Death which is the lake of fire and eternal torment (Revelation 20:10, 15, Revelation 21:8) because of our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord, God and Savior (Romans 10:9-10, John 6:40).
So yes, we are spared God's Wrath, but not the Antichrist's Wrath (Satan's Wrath).
God's Holy People: Who Are They?
Dispensationalists like Tim Lehaye, John Nelson Darby, and other scholars believe that God's holy People are still the Jewish People who haven't become believers in Jesus Christ, and that the Tribulation is to drive them to believing in Jesus Christ. While the last point of Tribulation being a tool to make the Jews believe in Jesus is interesting, the truth is Christians (both Jew and Gentile who trust and believe in Jesus Christ as LORD) are God's People, "For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus," (Galatians 3:26), "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory," (Romans 8:17), and there is no distinction between Jew or Gentile anymore, "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise./And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God's promise to Abraham belongs to you," (Galatians 3:28-29), "For the promise that Abraham would be heir of the world was not made to him and his descendants through the Law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith," (Romans 4:13), "He redeemed us so that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit," (Galatians 3:14), "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus," (Galatian 3:26), "Is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too," (Romans 3:29), "For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given one Spirit to drink," (1 Corinthians 12:13), "Peter stood and addressed them as follows: “Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe.God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus." (Acts 15:7-11).When the end tiems prophecies mention God's people, its not the Jews, as Dispensationlaists claim, they wanting to avoid Christians in tribulation, but the truth is God's People is us Christians, "And the beast was allowed to wage war against God's holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation./Then the beast was permitted to wage war against the saints and conquer them, and it was given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation," (Revelation 13:7), "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed." This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God's people (The Saints)," (Revelation 13:10), and "This means that God's holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus/ Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus." (Revelation 14:12).
It is evident that God's People are those who keep faith in Jesus, and it is those people in next chapter of Revelation who are celebrated for getting through Tribulation, "And on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name" (Revelation 15:2). Following the Law and being Son of Abraham does not save you, "know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified/Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law," (Galatians 2:16), "do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die," (Galatians 2:21), "Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith, Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian." (Galatians 3:24-25), "For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ," (John 1:17), "Christ is the end of the Law, in order to bring righteousness to everyone who believes," (Romans 10:4, cross ref John 6:40), "Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all, Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole Law," (Galatians 5:2-3, see Acts 15:5 for context), "For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love," (Galatians 5:6), and "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace." (Galatians 5:4). Now this does not mean we should mistreat the Jews, we are warned by the Apostle Paul to remember their part, and hope for the day they shall be grafted back in through faith in Christ (Romans 11:11-31), "We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at the end of what was fading away. But the people's minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses' writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord [Romans 10:9-10, John 6:40], the veil is taken away." (2 Corinthians 3:13-16).
Then there is Jesus Christ's own discourse with His fellow Jews about being sons of Abraham, "Our father is Abraham,” they declared. No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example.Instead, you are trying to kill me because I told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham never did such a thing. 41 No, you are imitating your real father.” They replied, “We aren’t illegitimate children! God himself is our true Father.” Jesus told them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. 43 Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It’s because you can’t even hear me! For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! Which of you can truthfully accuse me of sin? And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone who belongs to God listens gladly to the words of God. But you don’t listen because you don’t belong to God.” Jesus answered, “If I want glory for myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father who will glorify me. You say, ‘He is our God,’but you don’t even know him. I know him. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But I do know him and obey him. Your father Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad.” The people said, “You aren’t even fifty years old. How can you say you have seen Abraham?” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I am!” At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple." (John 8:39-47, 55-59).
I have endeavored to clear up the End Times misunderstandings, particularly regarding the One Thousand Year Reign of Christ (see my post The Kingdom of God: The One Thousand Year Reign of Christ) and the Rapture. What astounds me is how Biblical scholars fail to connect the pieces of Scriptures that clearly contradict their Rapture teachings, and Dispensational leanings. My aim is not to malign these men, but to share the Truth contained in the Scriptures. As always, I encourage you my readers to read the Holy Bible, New Testament yourself. Do not trust a teacher's word for it. It is imperative in these day and age to know and even memorize the Scriptures. I was able with simple cross references and word search debunk the Rapture and Dispensationalism. I am concerned for those who believe in the Rapture (being caught up before The Second Coming on Clouds of Jesus, and before Tribulation) will not be prepared for the persecution that is certain to come (Revelation 13:7, Revelation 14:12). We need to be prepared for Christ's Second Coming and not be idle. We do not want to be caught naked when He comes on the clouds, "Behold, I am coming like a thief.Blessed is he who stays awake and who keeps his clothes [that is, stays spiritually ready for the Lord’s return], so that he will not be naked—spiritually unprepared—and men will not see his shame." (Revelation 16:15, Jesus Christ, AMP).
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