A little over a year ago I began studying the different "Rapture" positions that are known to help me to understand scripture better.
I chose to embark on a journey that most shrink away from because of difficulty, or fear. Many times others inside, as well as outside of the church see those who study Eschatology as being "weird."
My own personal concern had to do with tackling an issue of study which has interested me since I was about twelve. (The death of my grandfather compelled me to search for some answers about life and following a reading of Revelation I both terrified and also intrigued about the events purported about the future within the pages of scripture.
Personally I had been in the "Pre-Trib" camp since I was about fourteen years old. It was what the pastors in the churches I attended taught, and I have never been exposed to any other teachings regarding the timing of the event known as the "rapture." One of the main verses used in regards to Pre-Trib teaching is the following verse from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
"For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words."
When the "Left Behind Series" written by Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye came out I devoured the books in just a few days as each one hit the shelves at Barnes and Noble. (My mother who adopted me was a librarian. One of the things that rubbed off on me was a love of books and reading). B.J. if you are reading this...thank you.I decided that I wanted to take Timothy 2:15 to heart. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." This means that I have to dig into God's word deeply. As the Bible says to "rightly divide" there is a right way to use scripture and there is a wrong way as well.
This was a study that I didn't take lightly; however, I was not prepared for the conclusions I came to.
Around the same time I had a run in with a Palestinian student on Campus where I go to college. They had a display called the "Apartheid wall" which was largely Anti-Semitic. For some reason it was allowed on campus. Any individual who had a serious familiarity with the Bible itself, or the real roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would have picked up on the very Pro-Palestinian anti Israel overtones of the display.
Having learned to face conflict head on when I was in the Marine Corps I didn't tread as lightly as I probably should have and found myself in a heated debate, surrounded by other students, some who agreed with me and many who did not. Someone took my photo without my permission and I found myself in the school paper soon after. Luckily I didn't reveal my name because of the large crowd of Muslim students; some of them are here on international visa's to study. Let's just say I knew enough about Islam at that moment to know I should be very uncomfortable.
This event challenged me to dig into Islam and be better able to reason with others of this religion should I find myself in a similar debate in the future. As I dug, the Holy Spirit moved me to dig deeper, and deeper, and deeper.
All of a sudden two seemingly separate topics were converging in an area of study that pertained to eschatology. Initially I was shocked and dismayed at what I had discovered.
In Daniel Chapter 8:27 we are told that Daniel was so appalled at the vision concerning the end times, that it exhausted him and made him ill for several days. Again in Daniel Chapter 10:16a we are told that he was "overcome with anguish, because of the vision." When I made the connection which I hope you are able to as well, I anguished over it for months.
On one hand I preferred the sterile doctrine I had been taught in the past to the truth I was faced with. On the other hand I am more interested in truth than my own comfort. The conclusion was one I had to spend a lot of time praying to deal with. Right now I have a certain measure of peace about it. I'm not nervous, or anxious, but I know that I have a job to do. That job includes beginning to share with you, so I hope you will take the time to go through the books, video, audio teachings and power-points presentations I have gathered in the last 12 months. (Not all at once obviously).
Some of the authors I reference may need to give permission before I reproduce graphics or charts used in their works, so please be patient. I also plan on publishing several papers I have written in regards to these two areas of study; Christian Eschatology (the study of end times events) in comparison with Islamic Eschatology, and the Rapture positions (the timing) of the “harpazo” also known as the “rapture” or the second coming of Christ.
When these two seemingly separate topics intersected during my study I knew I needed to speak up. At the time I didn't know what it would look like, or where it would take me. In light of my own discovery that has been confirmed by many others on the same path, this newsletter will be devoted to these two topics and others as they become pertinent.
I realize that many who read this blog may not agree; yet, I urge you to search the Bible yourself with the evidence we provide. Consider the questions that are asked and do not just “take it on faith” because someone told you so. Be like a Berean and search God’s word for yourself. He was warned us that these last days would be filled with deceit and false teachers. It is our duty as faithful believers in Jesus Christ to head his warning.
In II Thessalonians 2:1-3 the writer pens the following verses as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit
“Now, brethren, concerning the [coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [and] our gathering together to Him], we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as thought the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for [that Day will not come] unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.”
Please God, pour me out completely and fill me up with your holy spirit. Use this broken vessel for your glory and open the eyes and the ears of the men and women of this generation...the time is short and the workers are few.
