Please read the Introduction.
I grew up attending an evangelical church. I was taught early on that Jesus will be coming back any minute to secretly snatch all Christians from the earth to be with Him in Heaven.
While we enjoy a meal with Jesus above, the earth below will be full of terrible wars, famines, and plagues. Then at some point, we will return with Jesus on horses and triumph over the Anti-Christ and his followers.
While we enjoy a meal with Jesus above, the earth below will be full of terrible wars, famines, and plagues. Then at some point, we will return with Jesus on horses and triumph over the Anti-Christ and his followers.
Like clockwork, our church scheduled two revivals a year. I was sixteen-years-old when we had a fireball of a guest speaker for our spring services--a sweaty, finger-pointing preacher who kept you on the edge of your seat. I can still hear that Southern drawl, "Are you REALLY saved, my friend? Jesus may come any minute and it will be too late for you. Did you hear me? Too, too late!"
He'd then vividly describe the hell on earth for those left behind. He lifted both hands to Heaven and cried,"Why, Jesus may come before this service is over tonight. So, I'll only ask one more time. ARE YOU SAVED? Will you be raptured to Heavenly bliss or left behind to suffer woes unspeakable?"
I was in distress. Two weeks earlier, I had just started another one of my diet fads. When he said that Jesus could come before the service was over, the first thought that popped in my head was that I would never taste a piece of chocolate cake again. Then, I thought about missing out on getting married (honestly, it was more about sex), having kids, and the dream of going into theatre as an actress.
His booming voice shook me out of my thoughts. "Come now, " he pleaded, "Come NOW to the altar before the trumpet sounds!"
I felt like a cad. An unsaved, low-life, sinning cad. Jesus is coming back tonight and all I can think about is missing out on chocolate and sex. I must not be a real Christian.
Just to make sure, I went to the altar--every night. I realize today that all my trips to the altar back then were out of fear. But we were taught to fear everything--bar codes, microchips, and two Anti-Christ possibilities at the time: Henry Kissinger and Mikhail Gorbachev (We didn't trust that odd birthmark on his head. Surely it had a secret meaning!)
Although apocalyptic fears no longer drive my faith, I STILL don't want the Lord to come back "any minute". No, it's not so much about chocolate; and at age fifty-seven, missing out on sex is no longer a big deal. It's about loving people and reconciling them to Christ. I want to be alive and smack dab in the middle of what God's doing on earth as long as possible.
Before I go any further, let me tell you one of my favorite anecdotes:
A newlywed couple was preparing their first Thanksgiving dinner. The wife took the frozen turkey to the bathtub to thaw out. Curious, the husband wanted to know why she put the turkey in the tub. "Oh, Mother always did it that way, "she replied.
"But what is the purpose?" he asked. She thought for a few seconds and said, "I guess it thaws out quicker that way."
Later on when the in-laws arrived for dinner, the man quizzed his mother-in-law. "Why do you thaw out your turkey in the bathtub?"
"Uh, well...that's the way my Mother did it," she replied, When asked why, she was clueless. "I never asked why," she said sheepishly.
When the husband had the opportunity to meet his wife's grandmother months later, he asked why all the women in the family thaw out their turkeys in the bathtub. "What's the secret?" he asked.
The old lady laughed. "Secret! What secret? "
With a chuckle she explained, "Honey, when I first got married we lived in a tiny efficiency apartment. There wasn't enough room in my kitchen to hardly turn around. I thawed out that big 'ol Thanksgiving turkey in the bathtub. It was just a habit that stuck all these years!"
Why do we believe what we believe? Is it simply because that's what our family has always believed or our church has always taught?
In an earlier post, I mentioned that I began an independent study of church history, throwing aside all my preconceived notions of what was wrong or right. Regardless of what I found, I made a commitment to follow the truth. I had always believed in the Rapture because that's what my church and denomination taught. Thirty-five years later, I found this shocking fact.
The
two-stage return of Christ, with the first part being a secret
removal of Christians from the earth, was a "prophetic" vision given
by fifteen-year-old Margaret MacDonald in a home bible study in Fort
Glasgow, Scotland in 1830. Until then, the 1,800-year-old Church had preached the one visible, triumphant return of Christ.
All of this is documented first-hand in the book (now out of print) The Restoration of Apostles and Prophets: In the Catholic Apostolic Church by Robert M. Norton (1861).
Margaret scribbled her prophetic ramblings and sent them to Edward Irving, a disillusioned, defrocked Presbyterian minister who preached throughout Scotland and England.
John Darby, another man frustrated with the State-Church (Anglican), regularly visited the MacDonald home, where Margaret would intermingle prophesying with visions for several hours. Darby eventually became known as the Father of Dispensationalism, although some church historians accuse him of clever plagiarism.
I'm puzzled as to why Evangelical leaders give credence to the Rapture doctrine; it is an out-of-the-blue "prophecy" from an unchurched teenager--and a woman at that! Most Protestant, Evangelical churches do not believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit genuinely operate in this age, nor do they allow women to "instruct" the Church on doctrine. But then I realized that most church-goers, just like the newlyweds, thaw out turkeys in tubs without asking "why". I know I did for thirty-five years.
Here's something else I discovered: Look at other questionable belief systems that arose within a clustered period in the 1800s. I don't think this is coincidental:
All of this is documented first-hand in the book (now out of print) The Restoration of Apostles and Prophets: In the Catholic Apostolic Church by Robert M. Norton (1861).
Margaret scribbled her prophetic ramblings and sent them to Edward Irving, a disillusioned, defrocked Presbyterian minister who preached throughout Scotland and England.
John Darby, another man frustrated with the State-Church (Anglican), regularly visited the MacDonald home, where Margaret would intermingle prophesying with visions for several hours. Darby eventually became known as the Father of Dispensationalism, although some church historians accuse him of clever plagiarism.
I'm puzzled as to why Evangelical leaders give credence to the Rapture doctrine; it is an out-of-the-blue "prophecy" from an unchurched teenager--and a woman at that! Most Protestant, Evangelical churches do not believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit genuinely operate in this age, nor do they allow women to "instruct" the Church on doctrine. But then I realized that most church-goers, just like the newlyweds, thaw out turkeys in tubs without asking "why". I know I did for thirty-five years.
Here's something else I discovered: Look at other questionable belief systems that arose within a clustered period in the 1800s. I don't think this is coincidental:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (MORMONS) 1830--the same year as the Rapture Doctrine
Spiritism 1855 (communicating with the dead in order to receive guidance)
Jehovah's Witnesses 1872
The Church of Christ Scientist 1879
After my discovery, I began to ask my fellow Evangelical and Charismatic friends and pastors about the Rapture. They had never heard about Margaret MacDonald's vision--even in seminary. Their answer was usually "but it's in the Bible anyhow" and pointed me to 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 as a proof text.
"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 [harpazo] together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord".
Again, I researched church history regarding eschatology (the study of last things). Prior to the 1830s, the church-at-large had always placed these passages at the final judgment.
The word "Harpazo" does means “to grab or seize by force, with the purpose of removing and/or controlling". However, let's look at the context of what Paul is saying:
The new believers at Thessalonica were worried that their loved ones who had died would somehow miss out on the Coming of the Lord. Paul was assuring them that the dead in Christ would rise first, then we would be immediately taken up to join them.
Verse 18 is the confirmation: "Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."
So, what is the purpose for joining our loved ones in the air?
The phrase to meet the Lord is the key, and we can unlock the full meaning with a little understanding of the culture of the times, which is imperative for skillful hermeneutics (interpreting the Bible).
The late noted Bible Scholar F. F. Bruce stated in his New Bible Commentary:
"When a dignitary paid an official visit or parousia to a city in Hellenistic times, the action of the leading citizens in going out to meet him and escorting him on the final stage of his journey was called the apantesis; it is similarly used in Mt. 25:6; Acts 28:15. So the Lord is pictured as escorted to the earth by His people —those newly raised from death and those who have remained alive.
"The Greek word for “meet” (apantesis) is used this way twice in the New Testament. Luke used the word this way in Acts 28:14-16, “There we found some brethren, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and thus we came to Rome. And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet (from the word apantesis) us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.” The people went out to meet Paul only to return right back to Rome with him."
The Rapture is couched within what is known as Dispensationalism, a doctrine attributed to John Darby and codified in the United States by C.I. Scofield. The Scofield Reference Bible became so popular that people have memorized and quoted the footnotes, often putting them on the same par with Scripture. I know. For the first thirty-five years of my life, all of my Bibles were Scofields. I taught many an adult Sunday School class and Bible Study from well-marked pages.
For the purpose of this post, I'll focus on the part of Dispensationalism that teaches Israel is distinct from the Church, and God has yet to fulfill His promises to national Israel. When the Jews rejected their Messiah, God stopped the prophetic time clock, so its adherents claim, to allow a period for Gentiles to be saved (the Church). Right after the Rapture, however, the clock will start ticking again in Israel's favor. After the Great Tribulation, a remnant of Israel will be saved and Temple worship, as well as animal sacrifices, will be restored in Jerusalem under the reign of Jesus.
Dispensationalism sees the Jewish people as the true people of God, and sees the modern State of Israel as identical to the Israel of the Bible.
William E. Cox presents a clear outline of what Dispensationalists believe:
Main Points of Dispensationalist Teaching
- God has two bodies (peoples) -- Israel, and the church.
- God's promises to Israel were unconditional, and therefore are still binding.
- God's promises concerning the return to the land, rebuilding the temple, etc., were never fulfilled. They are therefore still future.
- Although Israel was a type of the church, they will always remain separate.
- Christ instituted the church as a "parenthesis."
- Christ came the first time to establish an earthly millennial kingdom with Israel.
- Israel rejected him, then God postponed this plan until the second advent.
- Christ instituted a Gentile church.
- Israel is God's earthly people; the church is God's heavenly people.
- Israel's destiny is to remain on earth forever; the destiny of the church is to spend eternity in heaven.
I believe--as most of Christendom has and still does today all over the world--that Jesus
Christ will return in one visible, glorious event to reign on earth with all believers. (But you wouldn't know it by the boisterous voices booming from TV pulpits all across America!)
The geographical, natural nation of Israel is no longer a key player in end-time events. God wisely birthed the seed message of reconciliation into the earth empirically--into a particular time, place, and people--by sending His Son, Jesus.
However, the ever-expanding spiritual cannot be contained by the natural; neither can it return to its rudimentary elements once released. When the veil of the Temple was torn in two on the day Jesus was Crucified, that wonderful message shot out of its narrowly defined walls, destroying any and all barriers on its way to human hearts everywhere--Jewish, Arab, black, white--ALL tribes and tongues!
From Scripture, I am convinced that God deals with mankind exclusively through His new, covenantal nation of priests and kings--the Church, the Body of Christ. (Rev. 5:9,10)
We shout the good news that Jesus removed every natural distinction found in earthly Adam--race, color, gender, status--in order to make reconciliation with God a matter of receiving a right heart, not having the right genealogy. (1 Peter 2:9)
To relegate God's preference and favor to the physical, national, and racial borders His Son surpassed in resurrected glory is heresy!
I believe the Jewish people can be saved through a personal confession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord--just like everybody else. God does not have one plan for the Church and another for natural Israel. His plan is Jesus--plain and simple. He recognizes only two distinctions of people in the earth: those who abide in the life of His Son and those who are without. I do not believe the Bible supports a preceding secret evacuation of the Church at the expense of the Jews!
So, why are Christian Zionists so vehemently defending the modern state of Israel? Could it be that the dispensational teaching on "end times" requires an intact, UNCONVERTED Israel to support an any-minute Rapture?
What if there were mass conversions of Israelis to Christ BEFORE the Rapture? Would it sabotage this questionable doctrine?
Absolutely...for here's the Rapture's dirty, little secret: "In order for most of today’s Christians to escape physical death, two-thirds of the Jews in Israel must perish.
In our next post in this series, we'll look more closely into the movement known as Christian Zionism, and examine if the modern state of Israel is indeed the Israel of the Bible.
The geographical, natural nation of Israel is no longer a key player in end-time events. God wisely birthed the seed message of reconciliation into the earth empirically--into a particular time, place, and people--by sending His Son, Jesus.
However, the ever-expanding spiritual cannot be contained by the natural; neither can it return to its rudimentary elements once released. When the veil of the Temple was torn in two on the day Jesus was Crucified, that wonderful message shot out of its narrowly defined walls, destroying any and all barriers on its way to human hearts everywhere--Jewish, Arab, black, white--ALL tribes and tongues!
From Scripture, I am convinced that God deals with mankind exclusively through His new, covenantal nation of priests and kings--the Church, the Body of Christ. (Rev. 5:9,10)
We shout the good news that Jesus removed every natural distinction found in earthly Adam--race, color, gender, status--in order to make reconciliation with God a matter of receiving a right heart, not having the right genealogy. (1 Peter 2:9)
To relegate God's preference and favor to the physical, national, and racial borders His Son surpassed in resurrected glory is heresy!
I believe the Jewish people can be saved through a personal confession of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord--just like everybody else. God does not have one plan for the Church and another for natural Israel. His plan is Jesus--plain and simple. He recognizes only two distinctions of people in the earth: those who abide in the life of His Son and those who are without. I do not believe the Bible supports a preceding secret evacuation of the Church at the expense of the Jews!
So, why are Christian Zionists so vehemently defending the modern state of Israel? Could it be that the dispensational teaching on "end times" requires an intact, UNCONVERTED Israel to support an any-minute Rapture?
What if there were mass conversions of Israelis to Christ BEFORE the Rapture? Would it sabotage this questionable doctrine?
Absolutely...for here's the Rapture's dirty, little secret: "In order for most of today’s Christians to escape physical death, two-thirds of the Jews in Israel must perish.
In our next post in this series, we'll look more closely into the movement known as Christian Zionism, and examine if the modern state of Israel is indeed the Israel of the Bible.