Bible Question:
Why would you want to? Dear EveryHome, I am not making fun of you, or making light of your question. I simply think that examining one's motives for pursuing this is a good thing. I am not Pre-trib, Mid-trib, Post-trib, or even Rapture with a capital 'R,' so I won't be trying to convince you of any of these. I cannot see that any one of these 'theories' is carries the weight of Biblical certainty. I have studied extensively these since watching a movie that had elements of all of these, almost 20 years ago. My conclusion is that, though the topic is worthy of investigation, focusing on it is a diversion. In fact, to some it is a trap and a fixation. Why would you wan to spend a lot of time looking into something that has been expressly hidden from us? "Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is." Mark 13:33 I look at the context of this and get from it that we are not to go around looking for signs, investigating every earthquake and war. Nor are we to say, "Here is Jesus!" and everyone flocks to this place and that, seeking a 'special' blessing or understanding. No one fellow, group, or place will have a 'special' knowledge of the coming of Christ. Period. Instead, live your life for Christ, NOW! Obey His commandments where He has set you. Preach the Good News that He is Lord, and He will return, not about the return. As I look into the Bible, I can see no 'special' thing we can do to prepare for a rapture of any kind, except to live in Christ to the fullest of the faith-gift given us. All else is diversion and vanity. The phrase 'so heaven-bound that they are no earthly good' applies to many who know 'all' about the end times, but their Christian lives are in a shambles. The good books on the 'end-times' and 'rapture' will give you a overview of the scriptures, Old Testament and New Testament, but then tell you the same thing, "So...Live in Jesus!" That is the 'bottom line.' Blessings in Jesus' name! |
Bible Answer: Dear charis… there are major differences between "date setting" and attempting to understand the "timing" of Christ's return! Coming to a conclusion, through study of Scripture, about the accuracy of the Pre Wrath Rapture position is a very healthy and needed Biblical exercise. Remember, I am Arminian and believe very deeply that apostasy is possible. Let me elaborate on the impact of this. First, if the Pre Wrath Rapture is correct, the church will enter the seventieth week of Daniel to encounter the difficulties of that period and the Antichrist himself. If it does so, having been taught and convinced of an imminent pretribulation Rapture and the absence of any personal tribulation or persecution (because you are already raptured), the consequences will be calamitous. The church will enter that period unprepared, spiritually naked, vulnerable, and ripe for the Antichrist's deception. A questioning of the trustworthiness of the Word of God will naturally follow. It could be a spiritual catastrophe - a "Pearl Harbor" of incalculable proportions - a satanically planed sneak attack. I totally agree with your admonition to live a life of expectancy and to get with the program. Perhaps here is the ultimate error of pretrib rapturism. It holds out the false hope of imminent rapture, instead of the true hope of "expectant" rapture. What Scripture does teach is "expectancy" as you so often exhort charis. Any generation could be called upon to enter the seventieth week of Daniel and there, in the midst of adversity, to remain true (remember the Arminian blood). But with the certain hope that those who endure to the end will be delivered by rapture before the Day of the Lord wrath is poured out on the unregenerate world. They will not know the hour or the day, but they will know the general time period. I believe that Pre Wrath Rapture teaching becomes a supreme catalyst for holy living (2 Peter 3:11). Charis, if what the church has been taught… no persecution… no tribulation… straight to heaven on a cloud… turns out to be incorrect… then apostasy will bloom. It will become very easy to doubt the Word of God (as you were taught it) if you are a pretriber… going through the portion of the Tribulation enacted by Satan. So let me answer your gentle question about "Why would you want to?" by saying that I believe the church should be prepared for a portion of what we call the Tribulation or she will flounder under the attack of Satan and many saved souls will become apostate. The church will be unprepared to evangelize the lost world. This plus the previously mentioned belief that Pre Wrath Rapture teaching is a genuine catalyst to holy living is my response. Blessings! |