One of the greatest hindrances to my understanding of the Bible was the false doctrine of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture. This teaching is a latter day doctrine of devils.
Okay, I know that's a very harsh statement, but trust me on this. Charles Spurgeon spoke against it when it first came on the scene. So did George Mueller of Bristol. I don't have time to go into all of it right now, but I wanted to get this down in writing for Aidan, Evan and Meagan.
Kids, one of the worst mistakes that you can make is believing all the pretty pictures in Clarence Larkin's book, Dispensational Truth.
When I was first saved, I read your grandfather's copy of this book. After he and mom divorced, Dad had left behind a box with a bunch of books in it, and this was one of them. I was newly saved and believed every word of it, especially since the same Pre-Trib heresy was taught in every other book as well.
It wasn't until many years later, when your mom was pregnant with Evan, that I found the truth. I prayed that the Lord would reveal to me any false doctrines that I might be holding to, and He did. (I highly recommend this prayer every decade or so in your life, but watch out, the Lord will answer it!!)
First, He brought to mind that the New Jerusalem has foundation stones named after NT apostles, and gates named after OT tribes of Israel. That was the key. It opened everything. I began to investigate this seemingly minor point. I found out that John Bunyan who wrote Pilgrim's Progress was a firm believer that the OT saints and the NT saints all belonged to the SAME church. Then I found out that Charles Spurgeon and many of the older saints believed the same thing.
Then, I realized that this was why Abraham could be saved by faith just like me (Romans 4). Spurgeon's comment sticks with me, "Jesus is the Saviour of the body besides which I know not that he is the saviour of any other." In other words, according to Ephesians, Jesus is the Saviour of the body, and if he is the Saviour of the body, then the OT saints must be members of his body, too!!
This led me to discover 'New Covenant Theology.' (If you can find it, read Mark Webb's Parable of the Two Trains; it is the best thing out there on this topic.) There are two historically accepted views of how to understand the Bible. One is called Dispensationalism, and one is called Covenant Theology. I'll let you research those on your own, but what nobody ever told me was that there was a third option. This is called New Covenant Theology.
New Covenant Theology basically teaches that the OT saints were saved, but they lacked the Holy Ghost inside. When they died, they were placed into a holding area to await the Cross. After the Cross, when the Spirit was now available, these were released from Abraham's Bosom when Christ "led captivity captive," i.e. when he took these perfected OT saints up to heaven with him. He couldn't take them up to heaven before this, because they had not yet been perfected.
I just mentioned some really cool stuff there. Hebrews 11 is called the Hall of Faith. It lists the OT saints who showed great faith. It ends with a verse that says, 'That they without us should not be made perfect.' They had to wait for us. They were perfected with us. When did this perfection occur? At the Cross and the giving of the Spirit. The Spirit is Jesus. When He comes inside of us, we get eternal life, righteousness, etc. We are all sealed and baptized into the Church which is his body.
The Spirit allowed those OT saints to finally be perfected, and was also the source of the gifts given to men. That is why the phrase "led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men" is important. It shows that this is about the Spirit being given. The captivity is the OT saints. The men are the NT saints who are still alive.
Well, this whole thing showed your Daddy that there is NO CHURCH AGE as typically taught. The elect of the OT are no different that the elect of the NT. The Church Age is not a parenthetical time where God deals with the Gentiles, blah blah blah.
When you believe in a so-called Church Age that delineates a period of time, you have to find out what the bookends are at the front and back of the thing. So somebody called Pentecost the birth of the church, and then somebody else came along and called the Rapture the removal of the church, and everybody swallowed it. But what the Scriptures teach is that the church, the saints of God, have always been here. Pentecost was an empowering, and an enlivening of the church, for sure, but the people of God have always been here.
Let me back this up real quick for you. Jesus said that he was the Good Shepherd. He said this, "And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." He talks about the OT sheep, and then talks about other sheep. These new sheep will be added to the first sheep (not be separate from them!), and there will be ONE flock. That is, one body. He spoke this prior to the Cross, and prior to Pentecost. He did not say that he was going to desert the sheep that he then had, and trade them in on a new flock. No, the post-Cross flock will be joined with the pre-Cross flock.
Again, in Romans, the unbelieving branches of the nation of Israel are broken off, and new believing Gentile branches are grafted in. But the Vine and the believing branches are left alone. The NT branches are grafted in to the SAME Vine that is already a source of life for the believing OT branches! Same Root, kids.
That's why the names of the apostles and the names of the tribes of Israel appear on the same New Jerusalem.
With the beginning of the Church Age being suspect, I then looked at the end of the Church Age. I found that the Pre-Trib Rapture is a new contrivance being only a few hundred years old. One of the main biblical supports in my mind for a Pre-Trib Rapture had always been the concept of Daniel’s Seventieth Week, also known as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Somebody said that this was time of trouble for Israel, and that the Church must have been removed beforehand.
This it turns out is wrong on so many levels. Not the least is that it creates a fourth category of people called the tribulation saints, where Paul only lists the Jew, the Gentile, and the Church. I won't go into it all now, but it's out there if you want to do some research.
Anyway, I have to go back to sleep. It’s 4:30 in the morning. But listen to your Dad. The Rapture occurs at the Revelation, just moments before. There is a Greek word apentesis which is translated to meet. It means to go out to meet somebody who is arriving and then escort them the rest of the way. It is used in Matthew 25:1 and 25:6, Romans 28:15, and 1 Thess 4:17.
Stop right now, and read those verses. When the Lord returns, He comes to the clouds. He stops. He is in front of the armies of heaven. He shouts, and the last trump is blown. Joel 3:16 says that He "roars" and it is referring to this 'military shout.' The angels of God gather together the saints up to meet him in the air (with the intent of escorting him the rest of the way to the earth!). Matthew 24:31 talks about this, too. As you can see from Matthew 24, this rapture is AT the Revelation.
The Church will see the Antichrist FIRST (read 2 Thess 2). The Antichrist will persecute the Church, but mainly he will focus on the nation of Israel. The first 3 ½ years of the Daniel’s 70th Week will be business as usual. At the end of that time, midway through the seven years, a great world leader will die on earth. At the same time, war will be fought in heaven. Michael will cast out Satan who will enter the dead body of the world leader, and a false resurrection of a false messiah will occur. And all the earth will wonder at this event. It will be very publicized. This man will then enter the holy temple area (the Greek word in 2 Thess 2 suggests that the Temple proper is not rebuilt, but rather that the sacrifices are held in the open area of the Temple mount). There will be 3 ½ years of crazy stuff that happens on the earth.
Keep in mind, as a key to the book, that the Book of Revelation is only covering a period of 3 ½ years. To best understand this book, look for the ‘great earthquake’ as you read. This is a marker to help your understanding. Every time this book mentions the ‘great earthquake’ or ‘there was a great earthquake’, realize that it is talking about the same one!
In this way, you will see how the book repeats itself, showing things from different viewpoints (the Gospels are repetitious too, aren’t they?). If you keep in mind the earthquake, and that the book is only covering 3 ½ years, you’ll see that the two prophets show up right as the Antichrist does. After they are killed, there is a great earthquake, they come back to life, and they are called up to the Lord. That is the Rapture, and it occurs at the Revelation of the Lord.
A side note. There are two methods of interpretation that are commonly used. One is to take things literally as written, giving heed to the the historical and grammatical context. The other is to take things out of context, and read 'hidden' meanings into the passage. ALL the Pre-Trib Rapture teachers use this second method of interpretation. For example, Revelation 4:1-7 can't be used to teach a Pre-Trib Rapture IF you approach the text honestly.
I have this all written out in detail for you guys. I really have to go to sleep.
I just wanted to say one more thing: DON’T believe Clarence Larkin!
p.s. Oh by the way, if there is no front bookend to this so-called Church Age (and there isn't), then there is no division between the Gospels and the Book of Acts. The Gospels flow into the Book of Acts, and there is no nasty stagger-step in the early history of the Church. What Jesus began to do and teach in the Gospels, He continued to do and teach in Acts. And there is no reason why He can't continue to do and teach today. (And there went Dispensationalism, out the window!)
8 comments:
[I agree with your super great blog. Recently I saw the following web item and am sharing it. It is in line with your Biblical view. Andrew]
The Rapture Index (Mad Theology)
by Dave MacPherson
The "Index" (as in Todd Strandberg's "Rapture Index") lists 45 "precursors" which are earthly events reportedly acting as signposts pointing to the rapture and showing how close it is.
Here's the mad theology: the Rapture Index's pre-rapture "precursors" include even "The Antichrist" and "The Mark of the Beast" which, in Todd's view, occur AFTER the rapture! What's more, all of his "precursors" are on earth AFTER the point in time for a "pretribulation" rapture, are actually fulfilled DURING Todd's seven-year tribulation period, and in fact point to ONLY the (posttribulation) Second Coming to earth and not to any sort of "pretribulation" coming of Christ - a concept that NO organized church and NO official theology ever taught before 1830!
Todd even believes in pretribulationism's "signless" rapture - which adjective is believable if Tricky Todd can convince us that "precursors" can never be "signs"!
See Google and type in "Deceiving and Being Deceived" (one of my earliest internet articles) to see why the claims for Pseudo-Ephraem and Morgan Edwards (as "pre-1830 pretrib teachers") are totally groundless.
Also Google "Open Letter to Todd Strandberg," "Famous Rapture Watchers," "Thomas Ice (Bloopers)," "Walvoord Melts Ice," "Edward Irving is Unnerving," "Pretrib Rapture Diehards," "Wily Jeffrey," "Pretrib Rapture - Hidden Facts," "Pretrib Rapture Secrecy," "Pretrib Hypocrisy," "Appendix F: Thou Shalt Not Steal," "Thieves' Marketing," "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty" and "Scholars Weigh My Research."
Be sure to obtain my bestselling nonfiction book "The Rapture Plot" (available at Armageddon Books online) if you would like to see 300 pages of the most detailed and most accurate history of the 180-year-old pretrib rapture view.
(To see a great blog by Gen. James Green, Google "Battle Cry Sounding to Christians: Pretrib Hypocrisy.")
If you would like to know more about true New Covenant Theology, you could go to:
http://newcovenanttheology.org (best collection of NCT blogs and sites on the web)
http://bit.ly/NCT_Intro (series of links to different NCT subjects, etc)
Thanks for the comments, guys. Yes, there are many sites that are proponents of the post-trib rapture (and many that are proponents of the pre-trib rapture). I am very thankful for the godly men and women on both sides of the discussion. I am also thankful for the Holy Spirit guiding me into the truth of the rapture at the revelation which has made the Bible such a simple book to understand prophetically speaking.
[Just ran into this web bit. Also Google "Pretrib Rapture Pride."]
The Real Morgan Edwards
by George Wilson
In 1995, in a 24-page booklet on 18th century pastor Morgan Edwards, evangelist John Bray claimed that Edwards taught a pretrib rapture in his 1788 book titled "Two Academical Exercises...."
Those echoing Bray include Thomas Ice who wrote "Morgan Edwards: Another Pre-Darby Rapturist." Edwards' 1788 work can be found on the internet.
In order to claim that Edwards held to pretrib, candidates for the I-can-find-pretrib-earlier-in-church-history-than-you-can medal - including Bray, Ice, LaHaye, Frank Marotta etc. - have intentionally covered up Edwards' "historicism," his belief that the tribulation had already been going on for hundreds of years. (How can anyone in the tribulation go back in time and look for a pretrib rapture?)
Here's proof of Edwards' historicism and its companion "day-year" theory which can view the 1260 tribulation "days" as "years."
On p. 14 Edwards described the Ottoman Empire (which was then already 400 years old) as the Rev. 13:11 "beast." On p. 20 he defined "Antichrist" as the already 1000-year-old "popery" and the "succession of persons" known as "Popes" - his other Rev. 13 "beast." He necessarily viewed Rev. 13's 1260-day period as 1260 literal years in order to provide enough time for his two "beasts."
On p. 19, while discussing "the ministry of the witnesses" of Rev. 11, he allotted "about 204 years" for their "years to perform" - years impossible to fit into a 3.5-year period!
What about Edwards' rapture? On pp. 21-23 he wrote about "the appearing of the son of man in the clouds, coming to raise the dead saints and change the living, and to catch them up to himself....The signs of Christ's appearing in the clouds will be extraordinary 'wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines,' &. (Matth. xxiv. 6-8.)....The signs of his coming, in the heavens will be 'the trump of God [I Thess. 4:16], vapor and smoke, which will darken the sun and moon [Matt. 24:29],'...and also cause those meteors called 'falling stars'....
Right after his combined rapture/advent (!), Edwards said: "And therefore, now, Antichrist...will...counterfeit the preceding wonders in heaven...causing 'fire to come down from heaven'....And that godhead he will now assume, after killing the two witnesses....Now the great persecution of the Jews will begin...for time, times, and half a time...."
Thomas Ice's article on Edwards (see first par. above) quoted only the first 27 words in the above quotation, ending with "to himself." This sort of unethical revisionism is constantly employed by many pretrib defenders.
Not only had most of Edwards' historicist tribulation occurred before his combined rapture/advent, but his Antichrist kept raging for 3.5 years even after the Matt. 24 signs! No wonder his tutor advised him to correct his thesis!
To read Edwards' complete work, Google "[PDF] Two Academical Exercises...www.breadoflifebiblestudy.com."
For more info on Edwards, Google "McPherson Page" (click on a reproduction of "Cover-Ups"). Also Google "Deceiving and Being Deceived" by historian Dave MacPherson.
I believe this is a week argument. I don't plan to check this but I would say we must consider who is Christ Bride and who is his faithful servant. Yes the Bride is submissive, but she is one with the Lord. She does her works because of love for her Lord. There is only one Bride or Church. And if you read Larkin's book closely you will see that the pretribulation saints are not at the marriage fest. God is completely just but he does have some that He "knows" more deeply. God will honor the gentiles that care for His brethen the Jews in the tribulation and they will be allowed into the kingdom of heaven when the Lord Jesus returns.
pray concerning this verse and also consider what true marriage means.
Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
(john 14:23) This is referring to the relationship with have with God's Holy Spirit "indwelling" us. There are many that accept the "truth" about Jesus Christ but have not allowed Him to make His home with them. They have locked the door and He continues to knock.
'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
(revelation 3:20)
the "professing church" which Larkin's speaks about is the church that Jesus is referring to.
thoses saved before the rapture are saved by grace and their "belief". No man can truly tell what a man/woman believes in their heart. Only God. God knows who His bride is and the bride will see the Kingdom of God. Do not rely on your church membership to save you. Invite the Holy Spirit in. He doesn't come without an invitation. Simplying acknowledging truth is only the beginning of His work "outside" of you.
a marriage is a relationship. and those that are raptures are going because they have a relationship with the Lord. They are married to Him. I agree it is prideful to go around as a human and decide which man/woman is Christ bride. Larkin's does jump on the Catholic church. I don't believe he was saying that if you are catholic your going to hell. He was saying if you truly "believe" the doctrines that catholics hold and think that works and traditions leads to salvation in this age you are missing the point. I believe Christ will rapture some who attend catholic churches, not because of their standing at a church clergy but because of their hearts.
But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."
( 1 samuel 16:7). If you are offended by Larkin's and many other scholars teachings you should ask yourself why. Suffering does not equal sanctification. Yes as Christians we will suffer but suffering doesn't always produce a sanctified believer. God's purpose if you to be regenerated and renewed. Only the Holy Spirit does this work and I believe their is nothing we can do to really speed up this process. Your desire to get in scripture more and fellowship more comes from the Spirit so we can't take credit.God will finish His work in His church and they don't have to be tempted to accept the mark of the beast to do it. Yes the church will see the beast when he comes into power and some true believers will be matryred but this is not the tribulation. The tribulation is the period where the beast will turn on the false church and the Jews and force them into exile. An angel will tell them not to accept the mark of the beast and to fear God (Revelation 14). This is a trial for the the Jews and gentiles not the church. The Church will have already proven her love. So just know the facts. Larkins did not say the church will not see the beast come into power. And he did not say tribulation saints are the Church.
I have never seen so much ignorance in this the last days. All one has to do is study the 11th chapter of Romans and the last 4 chapters of Zechariah. If you can’t understand that leave the KJV Bible to someone else. By the way, can any of you explain the doctrine of election?
Dispen-satan-alism and the Pre-trib rapture are all new age teachings, and are a set up to accept the Anti-christ....The Anti-Christ comes first, Churches are teaching Jesus comes first....Jesus warned like 9x in Matt 24, not to believe anyone that says they are Him before the Tribulation, and Luke 21:8 tells us to avoid the people who say his coming is imminent!