We just save everyone we can…It’s about hope…my favorite show when I was a kid was Dr. Who…the old one…the doctor didn’t have super powers, or weapons, or anything like that…he always just tried to do the right thing, no matter what. That struck me when I was a kid. That no matter how cold and callous the world seemed, there was somebody who just wanted to make life better. Not better for worlds, or countries in some vague way, just better for people trying to live their lives…I want to give them hope.
Quoting George Bailey, in EXHeroes by Peter Clines, a novel realistically describing the lives of the few survivors of a post-apocalyptic world. Christians putting their hope in escaping from death instead of sharing their hope of eternal life with people dying all around them are put to shame by fiction writers modeling their heroes after Nietzsche’s Superman.
Dispensationalists claim that a rapture prior to tribulation is the only interpretation that provides hope for a discomforted people. Talk about taking a verse totally out of context. Read the surrounding passage in which Paul comforts the Thessalonians.
“we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels…When he shall come to be glorified in his saints…Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ…he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work..” (II Thessalonians 1-2)
Paul never spoke of a Rapture.
Many Christians believe in a future End Times event when all true believers still alive before the end of the world will be taken from the earth by God into heaven. The term describing this event is the Rapture.
The Word ‘Rapture’ Is Not in the Bible
The English word ‘rapture’ derives from the Latin verb ‘Rapere,’ meaning ‘to carry off,’ or ‘to catch up…’
The term ‘Rapture’ first became popular in the United States toward the end of the 19th century through teachings on…dispensationalism by John Nelson Darby, an Irish evangelist. The rapture theory continued to grow in popularity among evangelicals largely due to a preacher named William Eugene Blackstone (1841-1935). His book, Jesus is Coming, sold more than one million copies…
The Rapture theory gained even greater interest during this time due to the books of Hal Lindsey. In The Late Great Planet Earth Lindsey predicted an imminent Rapture based on global conditions at the time…
the popular Christian book series based on the events surrounding the Rapture is the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins…
What Paul discussed was not “rapture” as a group event but “change” as an individual transformation, from corruptible to incorruptible. This concept is so clearly expressed in “the change” as euphemism for menopause, when women stop experiencing the monthly corruption of potential new life, that it is hard to comprehend how this got so distorted into “I’ll Fly Away.” Other than loving the lie that Jesus’ followers don’t need to follow Jesus into battle against evil.
“that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed…the invisible things of him from the creation of the world…even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:…they…changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man.” (Romans 1:19-23)
“Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remaineth…and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail…Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 1:10-12, 12:26-27)
As detailed in Everything New is Old Again, Paul drew every bit of his teaching from the Old Testament. When we don’t add the word “rapture” up into heaven to scripture, but stick with “change” from mortal to immortal, we understand that this was a known phenomenon just as clearly described in the Old Testament as every other aspect of salvation.
We have Enoch in the world that then was, before Noah’s Flood wiped it out, and Elijah in the post-Flood our post-flood age.
“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24)
Enoch was a prophet/priest/king who walked through the valley of the shadow of death preaching of coming judgment to the most wicked population ever to walk the face of the earth.
Enoch’s transformation from mortal to immortal without going through physical death occurred after his endured great tribulation.
1 These are the words of the blessing of Enoch; according to which he blessed the chosen and righteous who must be present on the day of distress, which is appointed, for the removal of all the wicked and impious.
(Zephaniah 1:14-18), (Matthew 24:21-22), (Matthew 13:30), (Revelation 7:14)2 And Enoch began his story and said: –
There was a righteous man whose eyes were opened by the Lord, and he saw a Holy vision in the Heavens, which the Angels showed to me. And I heard everything from them, and I understood what I saw…for a distant generation that will come.
To be “distant” or “far off” references multiple aspects of being oriented to person, place and time, a standard measure of a person’s mental stability. With respect to Enoch’s statement, this can mean any, but most likely all, of being
- far off in the future – hundreds of years to Shem’s generation, repeating thousands of years into our era,
- far off in place from where he was speaking at the time – falling upon the whole earth,
- far off / remote from relationship to God and his spokespersons.
3 Concerning the Chosen I spoke; and I uttered a parable concerning them: The Holy and Great One will come out of his dwelling.
(Isaiah 35:4), (Ezekiel 34:11-12)4 And the Eternal God will tread from there upon Mount Sinai, and he will appear with his Host, and will appear in the strength of his power from Heaven.
(Mount Sinai: relationship with Moses and Jerusalem)
(Galatians 4:24-26)5. And all will be afraid, and the Watchers will shake, and fear and great trembling will seize them, up to the ends of the earth.
(James 2:19), (Isaiah 24:21-22)6 And the high mountains will be shaken; and the high hills will be laid low and will melt like wax in a flame.
(Jeremiah 4:24), (Micah 1:4)7 And the earth will sink, and everything that is on the earth will be destroyed, and there will be judgment upon all, and upon all the righteous.
(Zephaniah 1:2-3, 6,18), (Zephaniah 3:8), (2 Peter 3:7,10-12), (Isaiah 13:9), (Isaiah 24:1-23), (Isaiah 28:22)
There is no question that Enoch’s prophecy of destruction of the whole pre-flood earth is repeated in our post-flood era.
- “there are certain men crept in unawares [to the body of believers], who were before of old ordained to this condemnation,
- ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
- and denying the only Lord God / YHVH / Creator,
- and our Lord Jesus Christ [as the Seed of the Woman, human savior, changing him into the god Mithras / Apollo of the Luciferian trinity]…
- Raging waves of the sea [of outer space, chaos] foaming out their own shame; wandering stars / fallen angels, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
- And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
- To execute judgment upon all,
- and to convince all that are ungodly among them
- of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed,
- and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” (Jude 1:13-14)
Elijah is likewise an exceptional prophet who established his credentials during a time of vicious persecution of God’s people.
His transformation, like Enoch’s, can be seen as a reward for an exceptional life’s service under fire, not an escape from it.
The timing of Enoch’s and Elijah’s transformation signals – not the beginning – but the end, of the enemy’s reign of terror.
“Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of [my prophets slain by you] by to morrow about this time. And…he arose, and went for his life…into the wilderness, and…he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life…the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
And in response the LORD said unto him, in effect, “The fight is not over yet, and it’s only going to get worse. I needed that handful of people who repented of their paganism and turned back to submission / AKA Islam to the One True God YHVH AKA Creator to throw the balance of evil to good. Now, lets get on with it ’cause you’d understand I’d like this to be over even more than you if you saw the view from where I’m sitting.”
- Go…anoint [the warlord] Hazael to be king over [Israel’s brutal enemy] Syria:
- And Jehu the [general over Israel’s army] shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel:
- and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
- And it shall come to pass, that
- him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay:
- and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. (I Kings 19:9-17)
“And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven…Elijah went up by a whirlwind / tornado into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.” (II Kings 2:1-12)
“a great voice from heaven saying unto them / the two prophets, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud and their enemies beheld them…” (Revelation 11:12)
Consistency with the motifs of any piece of literature requires us to recognize that
- this second action of ascending to heaven in a cloud
- remains consistent with the cloud being a whirlwind
- here and in the 3rd occasion where the metaphor of reaping describes
- and total collection of material in the path of the reaper or whirlwind tornado
- and speed – “in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye” (I Corinthians 15:52)
“another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice…the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” (Revelation 14:14-16)
Since this instant change from corrupt to incorrupt is documented in the Old Testament, why don’t dispensationalists base their teaching of the future recurrence of this phenomenon on them? Their silence has thundering implications. They don’t want to admit the evidence for believers experiencing tribulation prior to the change.
So instead of referencing Enoch’s change experience, they wrest scripture to reference Noah’s experience.
The miraculous removal of millions of people from the earth !
Look at what Jesus says:
Matthew 24:37 “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be…
This disappearance spoken of by Jesus…is called the “Rapture” by those who know about it.
It is simply a “taking out” or “taking away” of Believers in Jesus Christ from the earth.
Uh, no.
Enoch was taken out of the earth while Noah and his family remained on the earth.
Or we wouldn’t be here. You may recall that they repopulated the earth.
The days of Noah are referenced by Jesus because they are famous for unimaginable wickedness, giants, and the corruption of all human and animals flesh, i.e. hybridization. See the posts Seed of the Serpent and Mark of the Beast for details. For now, just note that diverting attention from the true examples of the “change” by Enoch and Elijah and the true reason Jesus references the “days of Noah”, the false prophets of Dispensationalism have left their followers in the dark about the worst era of history coming upon mankind.
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
This explains prophecy teachers’ obsession with monitoring wars and disasters. According to them, Christians can feel a great sense of relief when things really get bad, because they’re expecting an airlift out.
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their’s also was.
But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. [But not by some imaginary rapture!] Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them…the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” (II Timothy 3)
“He who is taken away” is most assuredly the Holy Spirit, but not in the form of the Church being raptured up to God. According to Daniel and Jesus, it is in the form of the God’s people falling away to the enemy, led by corrupt leaders who ally with the enemy. We like to blame all persecution on the villainous Roman emperors and communist governments, but poseurs in our midst who out for personal gain do a whopping amount of damage to us.
- And now ye know what withholdeth / katechó: to hold fast, hold back that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only
- he who now letteth will let /the same word katechó: to hold fast, hold back until he be taken out of the way.
- And then shall that Wicked be revealed…[for who he really is] after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
- And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
- And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.“ (II Thessalonians 2:2-12)
Is there any among us who picks up a mystery story and reads just a couple of chapters in the middle? So why accept teachers who limit eschatology just to Daniel?
Anyone who had to take the dread course Statistics in college understands that the only way to understand the complex code at the end of the course is to begin at the beginning, learn each of the simple segments of the equation, and fit them in the right order.
And the only way to get the right answer is to get every single element of the code correct. That’s why this blog book began at the beginning and ground its way through the entire Bible before tackling the end.
We can’t move the players around to fit our script. Just like
- Jeremiah’s prophecy of 70 years came to pass then was expanded to Daniel’s prophecy of 70 weeks of years,
- so too Daniel’s 70 weeks, although fulfilled in part by Messiah, had to be expanded by Messiah to ensure the cooperation of the other signatories to the covenant.
And we have to maintain the players and the order of events as Jesus gave them to us in the final version of the script given to John.
These passages make it crystal clear that God’s people are not airlifted out of the war zone until the last trumpet sounds, at which point in time we are instantly transformed into hyper dimensional beings who join our Leader in battle.
In the meantime, we are here on earth.
The huge problem with American Christianity is the lack of willingness to fight and suffer for what is right, the conviction that heaven begins with earthly prosperity and superiority, and the cowardly conviction that believers escape the earth at the first sign of trouble rather than remaining to rescue so much as their own loved ones. There is no historical precedent of this whatsoever in the entire Bible. God’s people don’t retreat. We face the enemy, fearlessly!
Elijah’s immense status in history can be measured by his return in the future when the LORD of hosts sends his most experienced general into battle again a reign of terror and mass slaughter of God’s people.
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD…” I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children / followers to their fathers / godly religious leaders, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” (Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6)
“Zacharias…thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John…he shall be… filled with the Holy Ghost…in the spirit and power of Elias…to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” (Luke 1:13-17)
“And the Word [Force / c2 that converts Energy to Mass in E=Mc2] was made flesh [once again as with the first Adam], and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him [the human Lord of the earth designated by the Singularity Creator], and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me…that prophet.” (John 1)
“Moses spake unto all Israel on this side Jordan…the LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken…And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him.” (Deuteronomy 34)
“Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John…this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee…And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force…this is Elias, which was for to come.” (Matthew 11:7-14)
“And when he was come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I in like wise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? from heaven, or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say, Of men; we fear the people; for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus, and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things [because it only prolongs an irrational argument].” (Matthew 21:23-27)
Working in what is now called a mental hospital but what used to be called an insane asylum, I totally get Jesus’ dialogue. I frequently have to walk away from a patient I have the means and desire to rescue from their self-destruction, but who are too irrational to even give me a chance while insisting on arguing with me that they are “right[eous]”.
And so, in 70 AD, precisely when Yeshua spoke it into being on “this generation”, more than 2 million Jews who reignored Yeshua’s warning to flee, and instead had remained in Jerusalem to seize power for themselves, died from disease, starvation or were murdered when the Roman armies entered the city. More than 1 million Jews were forced into exile in Rome, which led to today’s Diaspora.
During the past 2,000 years, European…Jews have been attacked, banished, and forced to choose between death and converting to the prevailing religion…Jewish people have moved away from hostile situations, sometimes voluntarily but very often by force, in search of more tolerant communities…
Significantly, validating and providing a basis of for our own trust in God’s word, the isolating and scattering effect of the Jewish Diaspora resulted not in the destruction, but in the survival, of the Jewish people.
- “he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
- So that we may [also] boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)
“when Joshua / Yeshua / YHVH’s Savior was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand…as captain of the host / army of the LORD am I now come…So the LORD was with Joshua; and his fame was noised throughout all the country.” (Joshua 5:13-14, 6:27)
And sometime in our distant generations – more likely referring to relationally than time, there will be a repeat of two witnesses screaming at the top of their lungs to the religious leaders to call on YHVH as LORD.
- a man in the spirit of Elijah –
- and a man in the spirit of Moses / Joshua / Yeshua / Paul
Paul?! Where are you getting that?
“for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel…how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.” (Acts 8:15-16)
in the ultimate end-game – when the latest iteration of the last, the Roman, Empire enters into a treaty with the ungodly Jews to protect them in their land, only to turn on them as did the original Romans.
Kingdom Come 