The Dangerous Rapture Myth.
The rapture doctrine is relatively new; it dates to the mid19th century, from the fevered nightmares of a sick young Scottish girl, Margaret McDonald. No writings detailing a "secret removal of the Church" prior to this period are found in Christian history.
In every age Christians have been expecting the return of Our Lord. Twice in the last chapter of Revelation He tells us, "I am coming quickly." (Revelation 22:7, 12, 20) The first chapter and the last chapter - as well as ALL the inspired writers affirmed that
Jesus was to return very, very soon from their perspective. A key question is never, ever
asked by rapture adherents: Did Jesus fail to return, as he and His desciples claimed He would?
And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward [is] with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. (Rev 22:12)
Today, millions - even billions - believe they have the key to understanding
that escapes the very elect: Jesus is coming back to finish what He came to do. How do we harmonize the "small is the gate, and narrow is the path,
and few will find it" teaching of Jesus with the idea that a huge number of mainstream mega-churches
will be the remnant? It never seems to occur to them the arrogance and inconsistencies of their false futurist doctrine.
The underpinnings of the rapture doctrine require the belief of numerous unbiblical concepts. Worse, it denies the completed work of Christ, which resulted in
"finishing the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy" (Daniel 9:24.) If these things have not been done, then we have no Salvation or Redemption. We are still dependant on the blood of bulls and goats! Why? Jesus said:
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)
Either all these prophecies have been fulfilled, and the Mosaic Law Covenant done away, or we are still in the Old Covenant!
 Were the Inspired Writers Confused or Misinformed?
Paul referred to this ever-present possibility of Christ's return as 'the blessed hope.' (Titus 2:13) He said he preached nothing but the "Hope of Israel." In Acts 27 and Acts 23 Paul tied
this hope to the Resurrection, and throughout his epistles claimed Jesus' coming would be very soon.
Was Paul misinformed? Was he in error? How can Paul be inspired to write his epistles while erroneously laboring under a belief that the hope of Israel was at hand - when, in fact, it was at least two millenia in the future? Why would our God chose to obfuscate the timing of the arrival of the "last days" events?
You may respond with: "Nobody knows the day or the hour. Jesus Himself did not know the day or the hour." Let's look at the words of the prophet Isalah:
Like as a woman with child, [that] draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, [and] crieth out in her pangs ; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. (Isaiah 26:17)
Although Matthew 24:4-8 is often quoted as the source of this "birth pangs" parallet, it is Isaiah, a prophet to the House of Judah, who drew a parallel between the birth pangs of a pregnant woman with the event. See also Jeremiah 30:4-8.
Here is the problem: although a pregnant woman does not know the day or the hour of birth, does she not know it will happen within a nine month period? It cannot happen in one year, or ten years, from the beginning of her pregnancy!
What about the primary passage of appeal in Thessalonians?
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
This passage has to do with the resurrection promises to Israel; it has nothing to do with a removal of the Church 2000 years later. If not, what kind of comfort was Paul providing the Thessalonians, who were asking Paul if the saints who had passed on before, and were in sheol (the grave) awaiting their resurrection, would see their reward before those who were alive.
The Imminent Return of Christ
In mainstream Judeo-Christianity, we often hear that we are to be on the alert for His Coming, which can occur at "any moment." The imminence of His glorious Return is tied to the language like "thief in the night" and the avoidance of a literal interpretation of the Greek words used by the Inspired writers of the New Testament in the many time statements found within. Such selective use of passages that infer a quiet Coming appear to offset verses that proclaim his coming will be a noisy affair, where all eyes shall see him! Certainly, a thief does not come in flaming fire, with a trump, and an army of Saints.
How then are we to get around this problem of imminence and apparent conflict of passages?
The typical answer is that we create a third Coming: a second, quiet one to gather the saints in a "secret" removal of the Church, and a final one for the final judgement (a return with the saints.) This is the bizarre, complex rapture doctrine borne of nightmares, which is constantly being revised, set into place to facilitate our modern inclusion into the horrible bloodshed of the End of the Universe.
The Bible actually does not speak of a "Second Coming." The Greek word parousia is singular, and simply means presence. Jesus was to be present in "power and great glory" like His Father before him.
A People, a Time and a Place
The actual answer is that the horrific events described by the prophet of the last days were specific to the House of Judah, who had played the harlot. Only a righteous remnant of Israel was to come out of Judah and her gathered kinsman - purified and prepared for her Husband. The "last days" were the last days of the Old Covenant system, with its temple system, priesthood and bloody sacrifices. We find no where in the Bible where these events were applicable to the entire planet earth and to all peoples!
The common picture of a "rapture" to most Judeo-Christians are the righteous (them - those who have "accepted Jesus into their heart") as being snatched up into the sky. It is a miraculous event where their bodies would change into "glorified bodies." If we don't believe this, we are deceived. Behind the deception is a mythical man "antichrist" which also does not appear in the Bible.
The Bible never speaks concerning a removal of the Church, directly or indirectly. In fact, the righteous remnant were to remain until the end (Revelation 15:8). The "wheat" (righteous) and the "tares" (wicked) were to grow together to the end (Matthew 13:24-30.) Amazingly, though the passage clearly says the tares were to be removed first, we are told by the futurists that the righteous are to be removed first!
Who are the Real "Haters?"
At this point, it must be said that there there will be no End of the Universe. The Bible does not speak of an "end of the world" or the "end of time." Yet, predispensational rapture adherents are actually faciliting a "return" of today's Jews to occupied Palestine, where 2/3 of of them will die horrible deaths according to their eschatology. Not only are today's Judeo-Christians the real haters, they are actually bent on funding and facilitating an "end of time" scenario that may require the blood of our sons and daughters!
Here is a typical quote:
This final restoration of the Jews to their homeland is a demonstration of the truthfulness of the Bible and the faithfulness of God. (Christian Action for Israel - http://christianactionforisrael.org/)
The true God of Israel, Yahweh, is indeed faithful. Jesus said He would return in His Generation before his last desciple died. That means He did what He came to do, and there is no prophetic significance to the establishment of "Israel" in 1948 by U.N. decree.
It's way past time for Christian leaders to answer for this eshatological apartheid.
Using Some Common Sense
Here is some common-sense things for you to consider:
1. Where, in the Bible, do we find that all the 144,000 were Jews? Revelation 7:4 describes them as being "all the tribes of the children of Israel." The vast majority of the children of Israel were not called "Jews" (residents of the region of Judea) but "Israelites" (descendants of Jacob/Israel). This confusion is born from the erroneous belief that Gentiles (ethnos/goyim) means "non-Jews" or "non-Israelites."
2. If Israel are the Jews, and the judgment/restoration of the Jews has not yet taken place, then where is our salvation? Rom 1:16 states that salvation is to the Jew first - then
the Gentile!
3. How is it that Jesus rules the entire universe, but does not reign on earth? Where, in the Bible, do we find that SATAN rules the entire planet earth now? Is not the earth part of the Universe? The Greek word
oikoumeneas it appears, for instance in Revelation 2:9, is often translated as "world." However, it normally means the inhabited (Roman) world (see Strongs 3625.) Similarly, the Greek word
diabolos simply means "adversary"; the word "Satan" is an unfortunate translation.
4. If the seed of the Serpent has not yet been defeated, where is our victory over death NOW?
5. There is no period comprised of seven consequtive years called "the Great Tribulation." In the first century, believers were being heavily persecuted, martyred and driven underground. Anti-
Christ was active according to John. In fact - it was the Jews doing the persecuting of the
Saints - not a "consortium of nations from the north" descending upon the Jews! Where, in the Bible, do we find that the man of sin is "the AntiChrist?" Why (and how) are we
to believe that "He who restrains" is someone other than a figure in power in the first century?
6. Since the world is doomed to physical destruction,
are these people (and all people who are in sin) going to be destroyed - then recreated in their sinful state -
in order to facilitate the judgment concurrent with a THIRD return? This is precisely what the premillienalists believe!
7. The Bible never speaks of a Battle of Armageddon. It only speaks of a place where armies gathered prior to a battle (Rev 16:16).
8. Nearly all scholars and thinking believers agree that the events of Daniel 9 are parallels to the book of the Revelation, and that these events were confined to the "70 weeks." Has the last
week - between the 69th and 70th week - been going on for 2000 years? Are we still waiting for the "putting away of sin," and the destruction of the Holy City?
9. The "Second Coming" is a Day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is His vengence and wrath upon those who persecuted the saint and the martyrs. The Word of God
says that it is NOT something the children of God "strain forward with eager anticipation" (Amos 5:18-20) The Holy City (Jerusalem) was to be destroyed (Daniel 9:24) - not saved - never to rise again (Amos 5:2). Jerusalem was destroyed at the hands of Titus' armies in 70AD in fulfillment of prophecy.
10. The Bible never provides for the return of the Covenant People to their land in unbelief. In fact, the opposite is true - Yahweh always required obediance and righteousness as a condition of a return to the land! Todays Jews compositely reject the Christ, and have not practiced the blood sacrifices for many centuries (if at all!)
Some Great News!
Today, Judeo-Christian leaders are preaching the "good news" that the world will come to an end, that horrible, global bloodshed will result from a soon-to-come nuclear nightmare. The good news is this: it's all false! The world will not come to an end. We can still roll up our sleeves and be salt and light; it's not hopeless!
Conclusion
1. Our God, Yahweh, has only one bride: a remnant of His Covenant People (Israel.)
2. If the marriage feast is yet to occur, then the wedding to the 144,00 has not taken place.
3. If the wedding has not taken place, then there has been no restoration of Israel.
4. If there has been no restoration of the tribes of Israel, then there is no consumaton.
5. If there has been no consumation, then there has been no redemption!
The rapture doctrine is dangerous and unbiblical, because it seeks to change the timing and nature of the eschaton of Israel. In doing so, the fundamental New Covenant promises of Salvation, Redemption and the restoration of Israel are denied.
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