Illustration: What sounds good does not always end up being good.
By the time the Nazis came to power in January 1933, the German people were totally fed-up with the incompetence and corruption of law enforcement under the Weimar Republic. Hitler, on the other hand, posed as a champion of law and order, and he dynamically promised to bring order out of chaos. The police, and most of the people, wanted to see crime brought under control; and thus, they embraced Hitler’s promise of an empowered police force, which was supported by a strong centralized government. Hitler was true to his word; under the Nazi government, police became more professional, better coordinated, and more effective. Crime, which had been rampant under the Weimar Republic, was brought under control and eventually it was almost totally wiped out by the Nazis.
As a part of the Nazi plan for improving local law enforcement they slowly made it an arm of the central government and they shielded the police from excessive public criticism by encouraging the press to be a bit more positive. The people did not object to this; after all, we find happy news to be preferred over negative news. The Nazis also gave the people a sense of security by augmenting local police manpower with paramilitary organizations, which were much like our Department of Homeland Security. The Nazis heightened law enforcement effectiveness through government funding and through the establishment of a process of centralized control and communications. The central government also became very active in police training and even embedded government people in all local police forces, which is exactly what our federal government is doing. All of this made the police far more effective and crime went down significantly: most of the people were happy with the new law enforcement.
What Hitler promised the people sounded so good against the backdrop of crime and chaos plaguing the German public. The German people felt helpless in a world of organized crime, drugs, rape, murder, and extortion; and, when Hitler promised them total security in exchange for a minimal loss of freedoms the people welcomed him with open arms. The people greedily accepted Hitler’s promises without ever considering the consequences. Yes, Hitler’s police force did lower crime. In a short time, however, local police became an arm of the central government and they were given almost free reign in conducting arrests, incarceration, and the treatment of prisoners. In time, the wonderful sounding words of Hitler, which had made the people so happy, turned into chains that totally bound the people. In fact, the police were even given the right to take "preventive action," that is, to make arrests without the evidence required for a conviction in court; actually, court supervision became a thing of the past. Hitler’s promises sounded so good, and the initial results of having Nazi police was very positive, but in time Germany became a prison instead of a country. So you see; what sounds good is not always what is good.
The promise of a pleasant end-times
It is common for a man to desire praise, which is exactly the weakness a fast talking car salesman will use to sell a man what he does not need. It is also common for a woman to hunger for romance, which is exactly the weakness a silver tongued devil will use to seduce her. We are all vulnerable to that which sounds good; it does not matter if you are a sports fan, who wants to hear their team praised, or if you are philosopher, who wants people to recognize your wisdom. All of us are subject to being influenced by those who will tell us some version of what we want to hear. Let’s face it; a Svengali could not sell worthless snake oil if it were not for the fact that people will eagerly believe what is pleasing to their ears.
A successful silver tongued preacher will take the time to know people, and then preach exactly what it is people want to hear. In most situations hearing what we want to hear is relatively beguine, as far as our life is concerned. There are preachers who know people want a “Santa Claus god” and so they preach a fairly harmless foolish like “name it and claim it.” There are times, however, when preachers influence people to believe something that can eventually have a major impact on their relationship with God. Right now, we are living in a time when people are caught up in a relatively new doctrine, one that could dramatically impact their eternal life. The doctrine itself is not heresy, but in adopting this doctrine people are subconsciously being told to ignore other parts of scripture. That is right; preachers are telling people what they want to hear and in so doing they are ignoring instructions for us to be prepared.
For over 1,600 years the vast majority of people, who studied scripture, were convinced that Christian, during the end times, would go through the tribulation. Then, after more than sixteen hundred years of having God let us believe a very unpleasant thought about the end times, Svengalis began preaching a message that was far more pleasant to hear. This new message offered people the belief that we do not have to go through the tribulation period. Wow, what a great idea! For over sixteen hundred years people prayed and studied the bible, which resulted in the belief we would have to go through the tribulation. Now, all of a sudden, preachers are preaching a much more pleasant doctrine: a pre-tribulation-rapture doctrine: we get raptured before the tribulation. Maybe they are right; but, what if they are wrong about when we are raptured? What about all the warnings?
Now, we are not attempting to debunk pre-tribulation rapture; we are simply questioning the potential impact of offering the people a more palatable doctrine. Think about it for a moment, for over sixteen hundred years faithful servants of Jesus Christ prayed and studies scripture; yet, God gave them a lie. This is highly suspicious; especially in light of the fact that Jesus warned us people will turn away from the truth and turn to manmade myths. (Matthew 15:7-9) Even Paul warned that people would leave sound doctrine and go chasing after manmade doctrine, which was pleasant to hear. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) Again, we are not saying that pre-trib-rapture doctrine falls in the category Jesus and Paul are talking about. What we are saying, however, is that pre-trib-rapture doctrine is made questionable because it is a more warm and fuzzy doctrine than believing we will have to go through the tribulation. We are asking why pre-trib-rapture doctrine did not exist in the church for over 1,600 year; and we are asking why all the warnings about the tribulation if we are not going to be involved? Therefore, if these facts cause us to question this new warm and fuzzy rapture doctrine then should we not put some effort into examining it … it just might end up being manmade … Satan inspired.
Pre-tribulation rapture history
There is no clear starting point or original definition of pre-tribulation-rapture, but in 1590, Francisco Ribera, a Catholic Jesuit, taught that the rapture would happen 45 days before the end of a 3.5-year tribulation. By the late 1600s many people accepted the belief that the rapture would immediately precede the millennium (premillennialism). Premillennialism is the belief that Jesus will physically return to the earth before the Millennium, which is a thousand year period during which Satan is bound. One of the more prominent preachers of a pre-millennial rapture was the New England Puritan preacher Increase Mather, and eventually his son Cotton Mather. Both men, who avidly support the Salem witch trials, taught that believers would be raptured and then would come judgments on earth, followed by the millennium. The idea of a “rapture,” prior to judgment on earth and Jesus' second coming, can also be found in the works of 17th century men such as: Robert Maton, Nathaniel Homes, John Browne, Thomas Vincent, Henry Danvers, and William Sherwin. What we need to understand is that none of these teachings actually denied our going through the tribulation. The idea being promoted was the existence of a “rapture,” or the event of being caught up with Jesus in the air, occurring prior to judgment on earth. It was sometime later that we find this “rapture” teaching morphing into the idea that the rapture would precede Jesus' second coming; albeit, how far in advance was not always clear.
It wasn’t until the late 18th century that we begin to have evidence of a more clearly defined belief that the rapture, being “caught up with Jesus,” would precede the tribulation. Our present notion of a pre-tribulation rapture, however, did not coalesce until the 19th century in the work of John Darby. Leveraging off the popular view of ‘futurist premillennialism,’ Darby was very successful in selling people on the idea that we will be raptured prior to the tribulation. He was a powerful speaker and he had significant influence on the Bible Conference Movement and on authors such as William E. Blackstone in his book Jesus is Coming, and the Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909 and 1919 and revised in 1967. Although we cannot attribute the entire “rapture” doctrine to Darby we can give him credit for popularizing a “pre-tribulation” rapture doctrine. By the middle of 20th century, this wonderful sounding story of a pre-tribulation rapture was solidly entrenched in Christianity.
The word Rapture
It is important to note that we are not questioning the notion of our being ‘caught up’ with Jesus, nor are we questioning the use of the word ‘rapture.’ After all, the word ‘rapture’ is a legitimate term derived from Middle French ‘rapture’, via the Medieval Latin ‘rapture,’ which means "seizure, kidnapping", which itself is derived from the Latin ‘raptus’ or "a carrying off." The Koine Greek of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 uses the verb form ἁρπαγησόμεθα (harpagisometha), which means "we shall be caught up" or "taken away", with the connotation that this is a sudden event. Thus, the word rapture does seem to suitably convey the statement Paul made to the Thessalonians about our being “caught up with the Lord in the air.” “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.” 1Thessalonians 4:16-18
The Rapture Timing Issue
A book could be written about the end times and our being raptured … in fact, books have been written. Suffice to say, we are not going to go into a great deal of discussion regarding the rapture itself. We simply want to investigate some opinions on when it will happen.
The most widely accepted end-time time line.
If we simply go to scripture and look at what is written we can generate a straight forward chronological list of events during the end-times.
Birth Pains – things on the earth are getting worse.
First 3.5 years of tribulation – the earth suffers.
Abomination of desolation – antichrist sets himself up in the temple as God.
Last 3.5 years of tribulation – people suffer.
Fall of Babylon - the antichrist’s government fails.
Christ returns –
The Beast and False Prophet are thrown into the lake of fire.
Satan is bound for 1,000 years.
Millennium - Christ reigns on earth for a thousand years.
Satan freed for a short time.
Satan is thrown in lake of fire.
Great White Throne judgment – people stand judgment before Jesus.
Jesus creates a new heaven and new earth.
This list is based on what is written, and there is no attempt to use mental gymnastics or fancy college theology to twist scripture into fitting our peculiar picture of the end times.
Major Issue – when does Jesus show up
The classical, for over 1,600 years, view was that Jesus shows up one time: just prior to the millennium. The new pre-trib doctrine claims that Jesus shows up two times. Jesus shows up the first just before the tribulation, when He raptures Christians, and then a second time just before the millennium. According to this doctrine, 1 Thessalonians 4:15–17 is seen to be a description of the rapture event, and Matthew 24:29–31 describes the final return. In the mind of some pre-trib-raptureists the first event is the rapture, which is a semi secret affair, the next return of Christ is the "second coming," which is a public event. The real issue with Christ returning twice during the end times is that there are no scriptural references supporting this idea. In fact, almost all references about Jesus returning include clouds, trumpets, sounds, angels or witnessing of the event from a public perspective. You really have to be a master at manipulating and massaging scripture to find any support for Christ returning twice.
There is also the belief, held by a few, that the rapture will take place at the middle of the tribulation. This means that it is just before, or as, the anti-Christ comes to power that true Christians are raptured. This is the only real way to account for the fact that Paul told the Thessalonians that Jesus will not return before this happens. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17
Chronology of New Testament End Times Teaching
Most fundamentalist Christians will agree that original Bible text is the complete, final and accurate revelation of God’s will for mankind. It does not matter what man thinks nor is there much value placed in man’s interpretation of scripture. The fundamentalist Christian believes the only place we can find absolute truth is in the Word of God. Therefore, we will examine scripture from a fundamental Christian perspective; and, we will examine scripture in the chronological order it was written: to the best of our ability.
1. In the beginning people were eagerly waiting for Jesus to return.
Early Christians seem to have expected Jesus to return in their lifetime. We need to remember, they did not have the New Testament and had to rely on what they heard preachers teach. Probably, that is why Paul devoted so much of his writing toward addressing issues in the church.
For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come. 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10
2. In the beginning they expected Jesus’ return to be a dynamic public event.
In the early apostolic church people envisioned Jesus’ return in the perspective of the Old Testament. Many, if not most, in the church expected a military leader to dynamically and publically show up; and defeat the Romans.
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater; therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you among the churches of God for your perseverance and faith in the midst of all your persecutions and afflictions which you endure. This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering. For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well when the Lord Jesus will be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, dealing out retribution to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed. 2 Thessalonians 1:3-10 7
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
3. We will not be raptured until after the anti-Christ sets himself up in the temple
We have all heard and read some remarkable interpretations of this scripture, some of which were distortions beyond belief. It does not matter how skilled you are at mental gymnastics; the truth remains the truth. Jesus does not return until after the antichrist sets himself up as God; the abomination of desolation. Paul goes on to warn us that many will be fall prey to this deception of wickedness.
Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 2 Thessalonians 2:1-17
4. Jesus said that the “elect” will be in the tribulation.
Jesus clearly tells us that He is warning us in advance that people will claim He is coming or has come before He really does. And, He makes it clear that His coming will be a dynamic public event. We need to notice Jesus makes reference to the “elect” being in the tribulation. The word ‘elect’ is translated from the Greek word “eklektos,” which means "the elect" or "the chosen." In other word, all those who are born again.
“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Matthew 24:15-28
5. Jesus clearly said that He will not return until after the tribulation.
In the ‘Olivet Discourse’ Jesus goes on to say that His return will take place ‘immediately’ after the tribulation. It is extremely questionable that Jesus is talking about a 2nd ‘second coming’ or His last ‘second coming.’
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” Matthew 24:29-31
6. The resurrection … the rapture … for all … takes place at the sounding of the LAST trumpet.
One of the most difficult aspects of Jesus’ second coming to explain is the fact that almost all references to this event have it taking place when there is the sounding of the Last Trumpet. Scripture makes it clear that this sounding of the Last Trumpet is a public event … there is nothing secret about it and all the world will know when it happens.
Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. 1 Corinthians 15:50-54
Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, “We give You thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. And the nations were enraged, and Your wrath came, and the time came for the dead to be judged, and the time to reward Your bond-servants the prophets and the saints and those who fear Your name, the small and the great, and to destroy those who destroy the earth.” And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm. Revelation 11:15-19
7. Jesus said that He came the first time (was born a human) and shook things up. Now He will return one more time and shake up both heaven and the earth.
The second coming of Jesus will not be a secret event … all the world will know when it happens. So don’t believe those who say Jesus has already come.
See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:25-29
Conclusion
There can be absolutely no questioning the fact Jesus will return; and that Jesus will deliver us from this corrupt and evil world. Back in Isaiah’s time prophets taught that the Messiah, our Lord, was a "divine warrior" who will eventually come and conquer his enemies. In their eyes the enemies of the Lord were Israel's physical enemies more than spiritual enemies. Some of the Old Testament prophecies, however, seem to indicate a time when the Messiah will defeat all evil and establish the Kingdom of God here on earth. Most bible scholars believe it is these prophecies that have been expanded on and explained in the New Testament, when it talks about a day of divine, apocalyptic judgment at the end of the world. Why is this important? It is important because we have a long history of God preparing mankind for the day when He puts an end to Satan’s rule here on earth. So you see, the entire bible is really about Jesus. In the both Testaments we are told about Jesus coming to save us from sin and about Jesus coming to establish His kingdom. It is clear that Jesus came the first time as the perpetuation for our sins and that Jesus will come a second time to establish His kingdom.
The ancient Jews knew Jesus was going to come to earth but they did not know exactly when; and, this really muddled up their understanding of prophecy. Today we know that Jesus will return; but, we do not know exactly when this event will take place. For instance, in his second letter Peter writes: ‘But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.’ (2 Peter 3: 10) Jesus told the apostles: ‘There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.’ Then He told them a parable: ‘Behold the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.’ (Luke 21:25-33) So you see, we have been warned to be ready and we have been given signs to look for but scripture does not give us details. Even in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians he was evasive when he wrote: ‘Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. (1 Thessalonians 5:1-6) All we can say with certainty is that scripture makes it clear Jesus is going to return and that we should be sensitive to the signs of his imminent return. This is why it is important that we do not run off and generate complexity and confusion in our vain attempts at interpreting scripture. Claiming that Jesus will return twice when there are no clear scriptural references can really get things muddled up, which makes it easy for false preachers to deceive the people.
Is it not sufficient for us to teach that Jesus will return and that we need to be ready? Is it not enough to know that we will be caught up with Him; and that Jesus will put an end to Satan’s rule here on earth? In other words, there is absolutely no debating the fact that Jesus will return. What people love to debate, however, is the question: how many times will Jesus return when He comes back the second time? We debate this issue in spite of the fact there is nothing in scripture that gives us a reason to claim we have knowledge of details about when and how Jesus is going to return. Thus, it is foolish to get caught up in this debate. It is not only foolish it is also dangerous. Whenever we are given a doctrine, which removes warnings and instruction s for endurance, we may have been given a warm and fuzzy doctrine. And, we must remember that very few people are capable of letting go of a warm and fuzzy doctrine. Therefore, do not let yourself become so confident in escaping the tribulation that you are not prepared to endure the tribulation.
