When Q said it was going to be Biblical, I don’t think of that primarily in terms of scale. I think of it in terms of prophecy being fulfilled. It leads me to believe we are living in time when that is happening, and that prophecies are right now being fulfilled in ways that are quite different from what people have been taught to believe about them. For example, no one could have reconciled the many prophecies about the Messiah until they looked back at them in hindsight, even though they thought they had it pretty well worked out at the time. The prophets said the Messiah would come from Egypt, from Nazareth, and from Bethlehem, and only after His advent did people understand how those three things fit together without creating a paradox. The powers that did be at the time completely rejected Him because He didn’t fit into the box they made from their interpretations of prophecy (the conquering hero), even though He was fulfilling prophecy by doing unprecedented miracles right in front of their eyes. The same sort of interpretive box-making is still going on today, in precious doctrines of men people think are the doctrines of God, and neither will they see it when prophecy begins to unfold all around them.
In light of all that, I think it would be good to consider how the following prophecies might relate to current events:
(Psalm 2: 1-6, NKJV) Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break their bonds in pieces And cast away their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”
(Isaiah 24:21-22, NKJV) It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord will punish on high the host of exalted ones, And on the earth the kings of the earth. They will be gathered together, As prisoners are gathered in the pit, And will be shut up in the prison; After many days they will be punished.
(Revelation 18:1-3) After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.”
(Revelation 18:7-8, NKJV) In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
I realize am presenting these scriptures out of context, to which some might rightly object; but even though I am a great fan of context, there is much that can be inferred in these sections of texts. I only present them here for consideration in light of world events and in light of what we know has been happening behind what we can see. We know what Babylon is. We know that God is taking it down. We know that the great ones of the earth have conspired to drive God out of the consciousness of mankind. We know they are facing punishment for their crimes. And, we know that God has already won the war before they ever picked up a sword.
Free note: In Psalm 2, “Yet I have set My King on my holy hill of Zion.” “My King,” is Jesus. Zion is the hill of King David’s city where the king’s palace was and where the Temple of God would be erected by his son. This is a metaphor declaring that God has complete and utter control in spite of whatever his enemies might plot against Him.
The "rapture" is heretical nonsense. Nowhere in the bible does it say anything about the rapture. It says the evil ones will be taken first and cast into eternal fire and damnation... The movie Taken and the novels about the rapture are heresy... Orthodox Christian Teaching on the Rapture: Is the Rapture in the Bible? Question: A friend of mine has been reading the Left Behind books that have all of this stuff about the “Rapture” in them. Is there really going to be a “Rapture” like these books talk about?
Answer: No. The “Rapture” refers to a passage in First Thessalonians 4, where Christians are “caught up” in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” Many Christians believe, and the Left Behind books promote, that this being “caught up” to meet the Lord will occur before the Great Tribulation sometime in the near future. Christians will simply vanish, meet Jesus somewhere in the air, and then return with Him to Heaven to await the end of time.
But notice, in verse 15, Paul says that “…we who are alive, who are left,” shall be caught up. This is a very important point to stress to rapture enthusiasts. Those who are “left” get caught up to meet the Lord. Keep that in mind as we look at these next couple of Scripture passages.
The Left Behind books get their name from a passage in Luke 17, and a similar passage in Matthew 24, which compares the coming of the Lord to the days of Noah and the days of Lot. Matthew 24 puts it this way: “As were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of man…[they ate, they drank, they married] and they did not know until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of man. Then two men will be in the field, one is taken and one is left. Two women grinding at the mill, one is taken one is left.”
“One is taken, one is left” — the Rapture right? Jesus takes the Christians and leaves behind non-Christians!
That’s how rapture enthusiasts interpret these passages. Well, you need to say to them: “Not so fast, folks.” Two problems with the Protestant “Left Behind” interpretation: First, in the passages from Luke 17 and Matthew 24, Jesus’ coming is compared to the days of Noah and the days of Lot. Let’s think about that for a moment. After the flood, who was left? Noah and his family — the good guys. The bad guys were taken and the good guys were left behind! After Sodom and Gomorrah went up in smoke, who was left? Lot and his daughters — the good guys. The bad guys were taken and the good guys were left behind!
The second problem with the “Left Behind” interpretation, has to do with what I mentioned above: 1 Thessalonians 4 says that those who are “left” get to meet Jesus in the air. You want to be left behind. Why? Because those who are left behind get to meet Jesus on His return to earth. Again, when you put 1 Thessalonians 4 together with Matthew 24 and Luke 17, it becomes quite apparent that the good guys are the ones left behind to meet Jesus.
And, if you need further proof of that, there’s a passage in Matthew 13 that pretty much seals the deal. Matthew 13:39-43, “…and the enemy who sowed them [the bad seed] is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
So when Scripture says that “one is taken and one is left,” as it does in Luke 17 and Matthew 24, it is not talking about the Rapture, it is talking about the harvest at the close of the age. The ones who are taken, as it says in Matthew 13, are the evildoers. The angels have taken them and tossed them into the furnace of fire. So, the Left Behind books got it exactly 180 degrees wrong. The ones taken are not the good guys, they are the evildoers. The ones who are left behind are the ones who get to be caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus in the air at His Second Coming, when He will bring all of the angels and saints with Him and there will be a new Heaven and a new earth.
In other words, there will be no Rapture like the one the Left Behind books talk about. The Left Behind books teach the opposite of what Scripture actually says.
Additional comments: The real issue (not often clear in people’s minds) is not the idea of a rapture (Christians being taken up or ‘translated’ to be with the Lord) but rather the timing of the rapture in relation to the Lord’s second coming. The controversial (and quite obviously erroneous) idea is what is called the pre- or mid- tribulation rapture. The effect of this non-biblical idea is that at some point before “the end of the age” (before the Lord’s second coming), Christians would disappear from the world, leaving behind a lot of people who would then face the awful years of the tribulation. This is well expressed in the bumper sticker:
This idea, however, is neither biblical nor credible. The idea that not just many cars but also jetliners would be left without drivers and pilots is simply beyond credibility, and by no means called for by a sound reading of the Bible.
Perhaps the most compelling argument against the pre/mid tribulation rapture theory is that no Christian believed it or even knew about it for the first 1800 years of Christianity. When it comes to Christianity, the “faith once delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3), there is simple rule: “if its new, it just can’t be true!”
Many thanks for this.
Matthew 13:39-43, “…and the enemy who sowed them [the bad seed] is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send His angels and they will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”
If you swap angels for vaccines (they are treated as angels of perfect good) you get an interesting reading.
Interesting thought...
I appreciate your theory and the context to support! The Left Behind movie and books definitely implanted some false ideas in people’s heads. I remember seeing the movie when I was young, being blown away. And my family has always talked about Jesus’s second coming, but also mention the rapture. I’ll do some deeper reading and have a great discussion with my family. Thanks anon!
It's my pleasure... I only want to enlighten people to the truth about our Lord and Savior... I can't take credit for this because it was my brother that pointed it out to me... God Bless you and your family and all Anons... 🙏🙏🙏
Admit: I've never seen the movie or read the books.
That said, the RAPTURE is actually a very dangerous lie. It implies (in most but not all cases) that those who are "left behind" can possibly live through the "time of trouble" and come out the other side with ANOTHER CHANCE at Salvation.
This is a Satanic lie meant to keep believers living in sin with the idea that they will get another chance to be saved. Quite sinister if you ask me.
I agree. There is no such thing as a rapture. The story how and why most evangelical Christians believe in the rapture is very well explained here:
https://www.trunews.com/stream/rapture-quiz-how-many-times-does-jesus-return-in-the-second-coming
A loving God will accept ALL genuinely repentant souls, no matter the time or place... being "caught up" to me means true freedom of the soul with no worries or fear..
So do you believe in an everlasting burning hell???
I'll wait.
Or the delusion is the Rapture. Just sayin' fren.
I see it the opposite. Not believing in a pre tribulation rapture prevents Christians from sharing about their blessed hope and keeps them sinning longer vs looking up for their redemption and spreading the Gospel. People can still be saved during tribulation but it becomes a works gospel similar to Adam and Eve whose work was to not eat the fruit. During tribulation new believers (saints) will have to not take the mark. I believe in pre tribulation and it sounds like most here don’t. Don’t take either our words for it and watch some debates, some good Bible prophecy teachers, and make your own decision. Just an FYI Jesus doesn’t return to the earth and only to the clouds so yes there is still only one second coming.
Agree to disagree. I believe scriptures support my viewpoint religious traditions not withstandind.
The meek shall inherit the earth ...
Amen...
I saved your analysis in one of my folders. Interesting and plausible perspective.
Thank you, I believe it's pretty accurate when you actually think about it... Peace Fren... 🙏🙏🙏
Nice cut and paste job, at least it comes from more than 1 site.
What do YOU think though? In your own words please
I believe the bible... The Eastern Orthodox bible which is where these scriptures are written... How can anyone not believe the words of the prophets and Christ's disciples??? God's blessings to you Fren... 🙏🙏🙏