Subject: RAPTURE: PRE-TRIBULATION OR NOT? |
Bible Note: Kalos, help me get this straight, please. It seems that you ARE claiming, as I pointed out in my previous post to REX, that Jesus’ explanations to His disciples concerning the “resurrection” in Matt 13 and Matt 24 are INCORRECT? How can you change what Jesus taught about the tares (children of the wicked one) being removed FIRST, before the wheat (the children of the kingdom)? He explained His angels will FIRST REMOVE the tare FROM the wheat. Just like He said in Matthew 24:38-41 “….BEFORE the flood THEY were eating and drinking … and knew not until the flood came and took THEM all away” “They” and “them”, who WERE TAKEN do not refer to Noah and family. They are the “children of the wicked one”, according to the parallel of Matthew 13. Jesus continued by stating … “there shall be two in the field; the one will be removed, and the other left.” WHO WILL BE “REMOVED”, according to what Jesus declared in Matt 13? Concerning the flood, WHO didn’t know about the flood until it came and TOOK THEM away? One answer fits all questions. The wicked. Did David lie, or was he deceived when he wrote in Psalm 37:35-36? “I have seen brutal people abuse others … suddenly THEY disappeared! I looked, but THEY were gone and no longer there.” Vs 38- “But not a trace will be left of the wicked or their families.” John 17:15 is where Jesus specifically prayed that God WOULDN’T do what you claim God will do. I love what it says, and what those words mean. Checking out some of Greek in this verse actually cancels the “rapture THEORY. “Father, I don’t ask you to TAKE them OUT of the world, but KEEP them safe from the evil one.” “Take” (airo) is defined as “to take UP”; “to LIFT”. “Keep” (tereo) is defined as “to guard from loss or injury by keeping your eye upon them. It implies a fortress or full military line of apparatus.” Ask anybody "the reason for a rapture", and the answer screams out “To save us from the tribulation.” 2 Tim 3:5 fits too many “Christians” in this land of ours. “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof …” Trembling they whine, “Surely God doesn’t expect us to suffer at the hands of the antichrist. He knows how BAD it will get.” Since Abel, men, women and children have suffered at the hands of the children of the wicked one. All of a sudden, God is going to yank up into the clouds all who have placed their trust in Him. Talk about “trust”. Scriptures PROMISES in John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you SHALL HAVE tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” Your comment – “in the clouds at His second coming (parousia") raised a question NO rapture follower has provided a REAL answer concerning what Rev 2:4-6 expresses compared to 1 Thess 4:15-17. You claim that “The DEAD shall rise, and we which are alive shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” happens BEFORE the end of the tribulation. What about those who are supposedly martyred AFTER the “rapture”. Those who were killed for not worshiping the beast, nor taking his mark, are said to be resurrected AFTER Satan is bound for 1,000 years. Please carefully read, Rev. 20:5 “This is the FIRST resurrection.” FIRST? What “number” do you give the resurrection BEFORE the “FIRST resurrection”, the one that supposedly took place at the “rapture”? Tom |