Jesus Loving You

THE RAPTURE
THE FACT - THE FICTION

It is the nature of mankind to 'want to know the future'. God in His infinite Wisdom knew that, and that is only one of the reasons He saw fit to include prophecy in His Word. It is unfortunate however, that for the most part, men have chosen to attempt to rewrite God's Word, especially the parts pertaining to future events.

As to why there are so many different versions of what God teaches on any given subject, the answer is quite simple. There are many today who are so flesh led and flesh minded that they are never content to learn 'what God said'. They will search until they find some way of making God's Word appear to say what their flesh wants it to say. Should you think that this came as any surprise to God, guess again.

2nd Timothy 4: 3-4 – please read these two verses for yourself. In short, God has said that in the last days the time would come when men would turn away from 'THE TRUTH' ( what He said ) and choose rather to believe in fables ( fairy tales ) as invented by men. This also explains today's MEGA churches. Most people operate on the fallacy that great multitudes believing 'anything' can't be wrong. This is exactly the opposite of what is taught in God's Word. Jesus said that in the last days the love of 'MANY' will wax (grow) cold. The 'ear-ticklers' hold up their massive memberships as proof of doing God's perfect will. The reality is that this is only the fulfillment of 2nd Tim. 4: 3-4 – Masses of people flocking to those who are nothing more than the ear-ticklers God warned of. Most of what we now call the church, prefer 'buying lies' that please their flesh, rather than receiving and believing THE TRUTH as written by God.

On no other subject is this more in evidence than the event now called by men 'THE RAPTURE'.

Before we can have any hope of learning 'when' this event will occur ,we need to first decide with absolute certainty, whether or not this is a real event, prophesied by God. The short answer is YES. This word RAPTURE however, is only a word chosen by men, to describe a very real event that will, Will, WILL take place. Even though this word RAPTURE is not found in God's Word, the event is very real and it will happen, because God said 'it will'.

The first 'fact' one needs to understand is exactly what THE RAPTURE is. The answer is found in 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17 – Read and study these two verses for yourself, but here we will include only the parts necessary for this study. The dead in Christ will rise (FIRST) &

then, and Then, AND THEN, we which are (still) alive and remain shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. God's order is spelled out very clearly here. The 'dead in Christ' speaks of 'THE RESURRECTION' and those who will be 'caught up' describe what men have now chosen to call 'THE RAPTURE'. As it turns out, the RAPTURE is ONLY the second half of THE RESURECTION. This can be likened to a one/two punch in boxing. One half of this event will NOT happen & then after some extended period of time, part two takes place. The only difference between the RESURRECTION and the RAPTURE involves 'TO WHOM this happens'. Group ONE has fallen asleep in Jesus and group TWO has not. It always proves helpful to look for motives when trying to understand why men go to such great lengths to turn God's TRUTH into fables. Christians today can read about the millions of martyrs who have given their lives rather than to betray their faith and love for God. These are undeniable facts and how one gets from there to believing themselves to be so much MORE special to God than those who actually loved God more than their own lives, I do not know. The TRUTH twisters refuse to believe this kind of sacrifice could ever be necessary for THEM, so they simply pull a verse out of context like “God has not appointed us to wrath” (partial). Question. Did God appoint Paul, Peter,John,James, etc. to wrath, to name only a few? I can NOT help but wonder if these Word twisters 'really believe' themselves to be so much better than those mentioned above. It seems however that they do. I have a strong suspicion that they spend so many hours meditating about the many wonderful things 'THEY'VE' done for God that they can't help but end up with an exaggerated opinion of themselves. Jesus himself said that MANY will stand before him on 'that day' and tell Him all the wonderful works they've done for him. You can hear them rehearsing now. Just turn on your TV. Hiring someone else to do your boasting for you (so as not to appear a braggart) makes no difference. Unfortunately, that wonderful announcer they use to avoid the appearance of vanity today, will NOT be standing alongside these proud vipers when they look into Jesus' face. God's reward for the We-did-ers is already written. All who judge themselves 'so special' today will learn too late, that God doesn't see them that way at all. God has already declared in His Word that it's the 'meek' who will inherit the earth, NOT THE PROUD.

From God's own mouth we can see 'His order' in which ALL PROPHECY will occur. Men are determined to change God's order into a more flesh pleasing version, and now teach that the RAPTURE will take place 7 years or more before the RESURRECTION occurs. One would suppose that this is their way of denying any possibility that they might ever be required to suffer any persecution.

Back to the subject at hand. Does it not seem strange that the second half of 'anything' could take place BEFORE the FIRST half of the same event? It would be like saying “I'm going to rake the cuttings and 'then' mow the grass.” Or like you saying, I'm going to buy groceries and 'then go to the store'. Ridiculous examples to be sure, but not nearly so as the theories hatched in the minds of these Truth-twisters. Paul also wrote in very plain and simple words in verse 15 of Thess. 4 that those in group 2, the (RAPTURE) “will not, Not, NOT 'precede' them which are asleep.” Read this carefully. What the deceivers teach today is the exact opposite. Their deception says that 'those who are alive' will, Will, WILL 'precede' those who have already died. And by at least 7 years. When you hear any man contradicting God, how hard is it to choose who you will believe? This should make it obvious that the deceivers have a 'fly in their soup'.

Now, let's look at another verse (witness) describing the very same event.

1st Cor. 51-52 Again, I will include only the parts pertinent to our study. Verse 51 – “We shall not all sleep” (God's way of describing the (death) of his saints. Verse 52 - “The dead shall be raised incorruptible, and (then) we which are (still) alive shall be changed.” (RAPTURED) Please study these two verses at length for yourself. In both Thess. And Cor. You find perfect agreement as to God's order. NOT only is God NOT, NOT, NOT, 'the author of confusion', but this should make it easy for you to figure out, just who is. The only choices remaining are, (Satan) 'who thought he could become God', and 'Men' who now seek to change THE TRUTH into a LIE. Save yourself some time here and realize that the original 'TRUTH TWISTER' & 'WORD CHANGER', is none other than 'the father of ALL lies' .He teaches his lies to men as TRUTH, and then deceives these same men into doing likewise. The buyers of his lies, as it turns out, are none other than those who prefer to believe only those things which their flesh 'wants to hear' , rather than, what God actually said. Summary so far – God's Word teaches very plainly that the 'RAPTURE' is but the second-half of THE RESURRECTION. Is it any wonder then that there is so much confusion concerning the period of time described by God and called 'THE GREAT TRIBULATION'. This is the main problem for those seeking to change God's Word. One good lie (if there were such a thing and there is not ) requires another, and then another, and so on and so on. There is a very appropriate old saying that fits here very well. “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” When men, or Satan himself for that matter, set about to prove their conclusions which were arrived at by using faulty input, the only possible outcome, is ERROR. Liken it to a problem in math. This should be easy for you to picture. Take 1 plus 3 plus 5 and you can arrive at the right and correct answer. That answer will be 9 every time. Suppose that you used 4 where 3 should have been used. Would you ever find the correct answer? I'm absolutely sure you will NOT. This is exactly what WORD CHANGERS do, only they do it with scriptures, instead of numbers. Insert one wrong verse into their equation and guess what? Wrong answer every time. Anyone's reason for doing this is simple. Rather than starting out by looking for God's answer, they start out with 'the answer their flesh wants to hear, and then insert whatever verses necessary to arrive at their desired conclusion and wallah, you have the appearance of being 100% Word based.

They want the answer to be 10, not 9. They want to believe that they're 'too special' to God to ever suffer any persecution for God or for the gospel's sake. How sad it is that any man or woman would ever esteem themselves so much higher than Peter, Paul, John, James, etc. and the multitudes who will suffer martyrdom during THE GREAT TRIBULATION. It's even sadder that their opinion of themselves is SO HIGH, that they even believe they'll be partying hard in Heaven while millions will be suffering persecution and even death here on earth. In any case, you should be able to see just how SPECIAL someone must think themselves to be, to re-write God's Word to their own liking and then believe that their doing so is fine with God. No!!! God has special promises for those who believe 'Word Changers' are highly esteemed by God. Perhaps you should read Rev. 22: 18-19 to see God's real opinion of those who do this very thing. Moving onward . Now, we come to the part concerning the period of time described as THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Probably at least 99.9% of those who teach on this subject today, will tell you that THE GREAT TRIBULATION will last for a period of 7 years. Sorry to burst their bubble (not really). This 7 year tribulation period is NOT found in God's Word but is once again, a case of finding ONLY THE ANSWERS you want to find. There are two main scripture references on which their THEORY is based. Keep in mind that's just what this is. Only a theory and a man made theory at that. Our first reference is found in Daniel 9: 24-27 . Again too lengthy to include all scriptures here but I encourage you to study this for yourself. Verse 24 gives a prophecy from God concerning a time limit 'set by God', for the nation of Israel to repent and receive Jesus as their Messiah. There are other things involved but receiving Jesus as Messiah is the main one. This time limit is described as 70 weeks. When studied carefully, this turns out to mean 70 sets of 7 or in short, 490 years. This 490 years began at a certain occurrence in history now past, the exact date of which even today's PHD (post-hole-diggers) cannot agree on. No matter, for it does not matter when (what exact year it began) because the next verse brings us to a certain point in that 490 year period and we can go forward from there. In verse 25 – Study the phrase “until the Messiah the Prince shall come,” I would hope that all serious students of bible prophecy would know that this reference is to Jesus only and to no other. If you add together all the periods of 'weeks' mentioned in this verse, you will find it to add up to 483 years of the original 490. The next thing you need to see, is that this phrase 'Messiah the Prince' means THE ANOINTED one. Keep in mind that we are at the 483 year point when this 'promised Messiah' comes. At that point in time there would have been only 7 years remaining of Israel's alloted 490 years and should you take this as meaning 'when Jesus was born' , then Israel's remaining 7 years would have expired when Jesus reached 7 years of age. If that were true, then Israel's time limit 'set by God'

would have run out 'long before' Jesus ever preached one word to that nation. We both know that 'cannot' be true. You can learn exactly what God meant when He said 'when Messiah the Prince shall come' by going to Luke 3: 21-23 – Study this for yourself and you should come up with, not only the question, but the answer to same. If Jesus was 'MESSIAH the Prince' , meaning 'the ANOINTED ONE' on the day he was born, why then was it necessary for God to anoint Jesus again?On the day Jesus was baptized ,first in water by John and then by God with the Holy Spirit, is the very self-same day when 'THE ANOINTED ONE' came. On that very day Israel's last 7 year countdown began. Hopefully you will know as well, that Jesus preached the 'good news' to that nation and was then crucified after 3 and 1\2 years. Daniel 9: 26 – This verse speaks of the Messiah being cut off. Jesus was rejected by Israel and killed after 3 and ½ years of the remaining 7 years God had alloted to Israel. I am no math genius but 7 minus 3 and ½ leaves 3 and ½ , not 7. This also marked the beginning of the 'TIMES OF THE GENTILES'. At this same time Israel's countdown was 'suspended' with only 3 and ½ years remaining. Hopefully you will remember that often Jesus said he was sent only to the 'lost sheep of the house of Israel'. He also commanded his disciples to do the same. It was only 'after' His resurrection, that he told his disciples to then take the gospel into 'all the world' (the gentiles).

Back now to our search before we forget our main subject at hand. When today's bible experts and prophecy teachers try to prove their 7 year tribulation theory, they use Daniel 9: 27 - This verse speaks of the man know as 'THE ANTICHRIST' , the man who will come and make a 7 year peace treaty between Israel and her enemies. The first half of this 7 year period will be 'the farthest thing' from tribulation, that this tiny nation of Israel has ever known.

If this were intended to be a book rather than a short article we could list references speaking of a time when Israel dwells in peace and safety without bars or gates and at that time sudden destruction comes on them. This is NOT intended to be a book however. Books are written to be sold and profited from, by the writers of same. While we're on that subject, I can't help but say that I have very, Very, VERY serious doubts that God ever instructed any man to write anything given by Him for gain or profit. I find no example of that in God's Word and until I do, I will Never believe that God would 'give anything to a man ( or woman ) and then tell them to turn it into merchandise. His house was never intended to be a house of merchandise and today 'we' (THE CHURCH) are His house. My belief is very simply stated, 'If' it's from God, it 'ain't' for sale, and 'if it's for sale, it 'ain't' from God. It's like those who do this are saying, “God taught me these things and then told me, to sell it to you for money. This and my other articles may not be as good or as well written as those written by gifted word-smiths, but they do have two things going for them. One is, they are based on God's Word and not some man's assumptions, and they are FREE and will never be used for the purpose of turning into merchandise. Anything which was given 'FREELY BY GOD' was never intended to be made into a product, something to be bought or sold. Sorry for the digression from our topic.

   Let's see if Jesus himself    had any thing to say about this period of time known as the GREAT TRIBULATION. Keep in mind as you read this, what we just learned about the 7 year period of the anti-Christ . In Rev. 13: 4-7, the anti-Christ is only given the power to make war with the saints for 3 and ½ years. This 'last 7 year period' is divided into two parts. 3 and ½ years of peace and 3 and ½ years of war. In Matt. 24: 15- 21 - In verse 15 Jesus is describing the anti-Christ standing in the holy place, (partial). This is an exact description of what happens when the anti-Christ breaks his 7 year covenant with Israel. This is at exactly the mid-way point of the last 7 years, and if you go to verse 21 and read, you will hear Jesus saying, “For then,Then, THEN, shall be great tribulation,” The word 'then' tells you the 'when'. Jesus is saying very clearly that in the middle of the LAST 7 years that THE GREAT TRIBULATION will begin. On the exact same day 'the anti-Christ declares himself to be God, Israel's countdown resumes, THE GREAT TRIBULATION BEGINS and there are 'only 3 and ½ years remaining'. Simple math. There you have the simple, clear, and plainly understood TRUTH. The period known as THE GREAT TRIBULATION can only last for 3 and ½ years because that's ALL the time that remains for Israel to receive Jesus as their Messiah. Seeking to fit the events described in the book of Revelations into a 7 year time-frame, when it all must occur in only 3 and ½ years, can only end up with endless contradictions. Satan has been trying to change God's Word from the beginning so is it any wonder that he uses those who are his own, to do the same thing today. Bad news for those who do these things. We can call them Word-changers, Truth-twisters, and Fable-fabricators but regardless of how hard they work at it, it cannot be done. Anyone can tell you a LIE and just because you choose to believe it does NOT make it 'THE TRUTH. Why would I say these 'truth twisters' can NOT accomplish their goal? Because God's Word is forever settled in Heaven. It can not be changed. Many have tried and that includes Satan. All have failed and all will fail. Every prophecy of God will take place, and exactly when and how God has already said. All who desire to know ONLY THE TRUTH, will find God's Truth. Let that be your prayer as it is mine. God bless ALL who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. “Let 'whosoever' hath an ear to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.