|
For supplemental reading, see also 'What Rapture?'
I don't know about you, but when I read the
Bible, it raises more than a few 'rapture problems.' For
instance...
If all the good people are whisked off the
earth years before the tribulation, how is it that the gospel is
preached to the whole word at the end of the earth?
Matthew 24:32 And again, this gospel
of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness
unto all nations, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of
the wicked.
Some Evangelicals have been taught to believe
Jesus is talking about gathering them when he said he was talking
about the Jews in Matthew 24.
Matthew 24:18 For then, in
those days, shall be great tribulations on the Jews, and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem; such as was not before sent upon
Israel, of God, since the beginning of their kingdom until this
time; no, nor ever shall be sent again upon Israel.
Matthew 24:21 Behold these
things I have spoken unto you concerning the Jews.
Some Evangelicals have been taught to believe Daniel's writings were talking about modern Christian churches during tribulation, but God told Daniel he was showing him what evil
would befall the Jews in the last days.
Daniel 2:28 But there is a God
in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king
Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream,
and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these;
Daniel 10:14 Now I am come to
make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter
days; for yet the vision is for many days.
How can believing Christians still be
mortals on the earth when Jesus comes in his Glory if they've all
been whisked away years before (according to the rapture)?
Why are at least 144,000 mortals with Jesus
in Zion according to Rev 14:3, and then in verse 13, it is
stated that 'those who die in the Lord from henceforth....shall die
unto the Lord?" (If all the good people were supposedly raptured
away?)
God teaches that Zion will be
established in the last days and the nations shall flow unto it to
learn of Him. Good people remain on the earth because His kingdom is coming to earth.
Isaiah 2:2 And it shall come
to pass in the last days when the mountain of the Lord's house shall
be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it;
Micah 4:1 But in the last
days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of
the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it
shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.
Hosea 3:5 Afterward shall the
children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David
their king; and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter
days.
If Christian evangelists teach that God
doesn't use angels, why is it that an angel
brings the gospel to the earth in the last days for it to be
preached to every living person??
Revelation 14:6 And I saw
another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the
earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Some Christian evangelists teach that teach that the world
ends in wickedness but the Bible teaches that
peace comes when Jesus returns….
Micah 4:3 And he shall judge
among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they
shall beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into
pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.
….all nations will come to Zion (where
God is) to learn of her ways?
Isaiah 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye,
and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the
God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in
his paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of
the Lord from Jerusalem;
God made covenants with the forefathers that have yet to be fulfilled. God's words do not return
unto Him void.
Jeremiah 31:10
Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the
isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather
him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.
Jeremiah 32:37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I
have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great
wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will
cause them to dwell safely;
Genesis 3:30 For, as I, the Lord God, liveth, even so my words cannot return
void, for, as they go forth out of my mouth, they must be
fulfilled.
Some Christian evangelists seem to assume we (gentiles) are the
at the 'center of the spiritual universe' when God warns that we
were just a graft onto the original tree, and that he will remember
the original house of Israel. These people return to Jesus before the end comes.
Romans 11:16-26
(understand in the following passage that the
Gentile Christians are being compared to a branch from a wild olive
tree that has been grafted on to a tame tree, the House of Israel).
16
For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the
root is holy, so are the branches.
17 And if some of the
branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree,
wast grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root
and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the
branches, for thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 For if thou boast, thou
wilt say, The branches were broken off, that we might be grafted in.
20 Well; because of unbelief
they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded,
but fear;
21 For if God spared not the natural
branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
22 Behold therefore the
goodness and severity of God; on them which fell, severity; but
toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness; otherwise
thou also shalt be cut off.
23 And they also, if they
abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in; for God
is able to graft them in again.
24 For it thou wast
cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wast grafted
contrary to nature into a good olive tree; how much more shall
these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own
olive tree?
25 For I would not,
brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should
be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And then all Israel shall
be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the
Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
Why are there tears on the faces of God's
people when he comes, to be wiped away by Him himself, if we were
spared all the tribulation of the earth, according to the pre-tribulationists?
And Jesus is there. This must take place on earth...
Revelation 21:4 And God shall
wipe
away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain; for the former things are passed away.
Some Christian evangelists teach that teach that God takes His
people away forever but the Bible says that God comes to inhabit
the earth with His people,
Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb
which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead
them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes.
We need understanding....
Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...
2 Timothy 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of
the truth.
Jeremiah 23:26-7
How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets
that prophesy lies? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their
own heart;
Which think to cause my people to forget my name by
their dreams,
The Rapture is not a part of the bible.
|