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Regretfully, a great majority of those under the banner of Jesus Name are blinded to the reality that hundreds of thousands of Christians worldwide are being tortured, beheaded, their homes and churches are being torn down to the ground, they are being burned alive, their daughters are being raped and sold to the highest bidders for sex slavery and forced into child marriages? It’s in our everyday news - and yet they refuse to see that genocide is going on with Christian men women and children - some burned alive, some being put into vats of acid, some crucified, and they are being hunted down like wild animals and slaughtered. Where is the outcry? Where are the men of God - chosen to speak out about the atrocities and terrors perpetrated against those who live under the banner of Yeshua’s Name? How many preachers have you heard have given sermons concerning the severe tribulation our Brothers and sisters are encountering? How many men of God, have petitioned for their churches to be praying for the persecuted families in Jesus across this globe? Why do you find most churches strangely silent about Christian tribulation - as if it isn’t happening? I am totally convinced that many preachers are bound up and say nothing - because it would bring apparent contradiction to what they have been teaching in their eschatological constructs. Namely - a doctrine called “the Rapture”. As we will discover in this study, there will be a separation and gathering of - both the followers of Jesus, and for those who have chosen other paths for their lives. One will be taken – the other left. According to Yeshua’s own words, it is very clear that indeed - this will surely happen. Friends – the Bible gives us a hope that someday in our future, a kingdom will come that is ruled in righteousness. One day - Yeshua will come back and we - along with those who had died - those believers in Him – will meet the Savior of the world in the air and together - will be ushered into this new heaven and new earth where love and righteousness are the supreme rule. Until then, things are going to worsen for believers. It’s high time that we recognize this. I’m saying this up front - I believe the Pre-Trib Rapture teaching to be one of the greatest insults to those precious souls dying on a daily basis for their faithfulness to Jesus. I will show you why I believe this to be true. It is my prayer that you will take an honest look with me at the evidence - that speaks volumes against this twisted eschatological fantasy. So now let’s check it out: The paradigm of rapture - is the coming of Yeshua will take place in two separate stages. The first will be a secret rapture—or a carrying away of the saved to heaven—at the beginning - or middle of a seven-year period of tribulation, during which the antichrist will appear. The second phase of Yeshua’s Coming occurs at the close of tribulation - when Jesus will return to Earth in triumph and glory. As Jesus comes to swoop the believer away from suffering and great trouble - the believer disappears. For all the world knows - the only trace evidence of this secret rapture - is found in the clothing left behind as they are whisked away - with the majority unaware of what had just happened. Many out doing their daily routines and all of a sudden - poof – the believer darts into heaven - and the rest of the world are left behind to experience what they think is God’s Wrath. This is the scenario taught among a wide base of Pastors, preachers and theologians. Some of the scenarios believers have concocted up would be funny - if it weren’t for the very serious nature and consequences in believing in this maligned doctrine. Oh - by the way, it is a doctrine that you can trace back to the last couple of hundred years. The proponents of this teaching try to say the disciples and early church fathers believed in this sort of odd two phase coming of Jesus. However - Those willing to take a careful look at the Bible will see that the rapture theory doesn’t stand up to the scrutiny of God’s Word. In recent times, the rapture was popularized in the 1970s by “prophecy expert” Hal Lindsey. Hal wrote “The Late Great Planet Earth”- a book that outsold the Bible in the 1970s. Two other books – “the Rapture”- and “Vanished into Thin Air” - surfaced to promote and deepen his theological convictions. Oh - by the way, he postulated that Jesus would come back no later than 1988. Another date setter - inspired by Hal Lindsey’s assumptions - who jumped on the rapture bandwagon - was someone by the name of Edgar Wisenhut. He wrote the book “88 reasons why the rapture will be in 1988.” 300,000 copies of “88 Reasons” were mailed free of charge to ministers across America, and 4.5 million copies were sold in bookstores and elsewhere. Wisenhut was quoted as saying : "Only if the Bible is in error am I wrong; and I say that to every preacher in town - If there were a king in this country, and I could gamble with my life, I would stake my life on Rosh Hashana 1988. When his prediction failed - He wrote the book” The Final Shout: Rapture Report 1989” which explained why the original dating of the rapture to 1988 - was a year off! From there others jumped on board. Jerry Jenkins and Tim Lahaye really popularized the rapture theory in their book “Left Behind”. “Left Behind” tells the story of the end times - in which true believers in Jesus have been "raptured", or (taken instantly to heaven) leaving the world shattered and chaotic. Lahaye also became the founder and president of Tim LaHaye Ministries and founder of the Pre-Trib Research Center, selling multiple millions of copies with Jenkins - and yes - millionaires they were. According to the late Jerry Falwell, “In terms of its impact on Christianity, (Left Behind) - it’s probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside the Bible,” In my estimation – I believe it was this series of popular books that solidified the modern rapture teaching - making it very popular one with most evangelical churches. |