The End Times - How Close Are We?

by Dave Hunt - Source Link - thebereancall.org

                Anti is a Greek prefix which not only means “opposed to” but “in the place of.” Antichrist will indeed oppose Christ, but in the most diabolically clever way possible: by pretending to be Christ. For the world to follow and worship him, a false antichrist “Christianity” must become the world religion—a “Christianity” that all religions can accept and which embraces all religions into “one faith.” Hence the necessity for today’s growing apostasy: to create an apostate church to be the Antichrist’s earthly bride, just as the true church is Christ’s heavenly bride. Such is the important role of the New Age movement and the many accelerating delusions and seductions in these “last days.”

                Through a false gospel, false prophets, occultic religious practices and lying “signs and wonders,” today’s churches are being filled with millions who call themselves Christians, but who are not. Left behind at the Rapture, and happy that the “negative” influence of the vanished troublemakers has been removed, they will worship and follow the Antichrist, thinking he is the true Christ and that they have “never had it so good.” An ecumenized “Christianity,” in partnership with all religions, will carry on and prosper even more after the Rapture than before. The unifying factor will be concern for Mother Earth. Working for peace and ecological wholeness will have replaced truth as the basis of Christianity, as the World Council of Churches has already decreed.

The Necessity for a Pretribulation Rapture

                Far from being a cop-out invented by those who desire to escape persecution (which could become very severe in America before the Rapture), a pretribulation Rapture is essential for a number of reasons: first of all, to remove true Christians from earth. If they were present when Antichrist was revealed, they would oppose and expose him. Such opposition must be removed in order to give Satan and man, under Antichrist’s leadership, full freedom to prove that this earth can be turned back into a garden paradise without God. The Holy Spirit, who is omnipresent, will still convict and draw many to Christ during the Great Tribulation. The restraining influence, however, which He has wielded in this world through the millions of true Christians, will have suddenly been removed, leaving a moral and spiritual vacuum in homes, neighborhoods, businesses, and schools such as we cannot even imagine.

                A pretrib Rapture is also necessary because the Antichrist will be given authority by God “to make war with the saints, and to overcome them” (Rv 13:7). Such a fate could not befall the church, for Christ said that the “gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Mt 16:18). Moreover, true Christians have authority and power to “resist the devil” and “he will flee” (Jas 4:7), for “greater is he that is in [us], than he that is in the world” (1 Jn 4:4). So the fact that Antichrist is given power by God “to make war with the saints and to overcome [i.e., kill] them” is proof that the true church is no longer present.

                The “saints” mentioned are those who have not heard and rejected the gospel prior to the Rapture and who believe in Christ during the Great Tribulation. They will pay for their faith with their lives. Those who take the mark of the beast suffer the wrath of the Lamb, while those who don’t are slain by Antichrist. Thus a post-trib rapture would be a classic nonevent, for there would be very few if any surviving believers to be raptured at that time. And surely those Christians who were left alive, seeing the judgment of God poured out upon mankind and earth’s armies gathered for the battle of Armageddon in an attempt to destroy Israel, would know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Second Coming was about to occur—and would be watching for their Lord to appear. Yet Christ declared that He would return at a time of such ease that even the “five wise virgins” would “slumber and sleep.” He warned, “[F]or in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Mt 24:44). Hardly likely in the midst of the greatest tribulation and destruction the world has ever seen or ever will see!

The Stage is Being Set

                To understand how the stage is being set for the final conflict between Christ and Antichrist, it is helpful to consider some comparisons and contrasts between these two antagonists. First of all, the procession of events is in God’s hands. While we cannot know the day or hour of our Lord’s return, the Bible does give us many clues as to the general timing of this great occurrence.

                There is a precise time for Christ’s second coming just as there was for the first: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son...” (Gal 4:4). The same is true of the Antichrist. Though already present in the world and waiting in the wings, this “man of sin” known as “that Wicked [one]” (2 Thes 2:3,8) can only take power when it is God’s time: “And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time” (2:6).

Timing and Rome

                Interestingly, the Roman Empire plays an integral part in the timing for the revelation both of God’s Messiah and Satan’s. Ancient Rome set the stage for Christ’s birth: “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed” (Lk 2:1). It was this decree that caused Joseph and Mary to be in Bethlehem so that Christ would be born there in fulfillment of Micah 5:2. And of course He also had to be executed during the time of the Roman Empire, which introduced crucifixion, in order to fulfill Psalm 22.

                For Christ to return, the Roman Empire must be revived. This is clear from Daniel’s interpretation that the distinct parts of the image seen by Nebuchadnezzar “...head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron” (Dn 2:32-33) represented four world kingdoms: the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman. That the “feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron” (2:41) represent the fourth world kingdom revived in the last days is clear from the statement, “And in the days of these kings [i.e., represented by the ten toes] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed...[and] it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (2:44).

                 Christ did not establish His kingdom the first time He came, so He must come again to do so. When? “In the days of those kings”—i.e., when the Roman Empire has been revived, out of which the Antichrist will arise. No longer “as a lamb to the slaughter” (Is 53:7), but now returning in power and glory to execute judgment upon those who crucified Him, Christ will destroy this evil empire in its revived form at His second coming. So although the date is not given, the timing of Christ’s return is clearly indicated.

                It is also essential for the Roman Empire to be revived in order for the Antichrist to appear. Daniel prophesied that “the people of the prince that shall come [i.e., Antichrist] shall destroy the city and the sanctuary...” (Dn 9:26). The Roman armies under the command of Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in a.d.70. It is therefore from these people that the Antichrist must arise. That doesn’t necessarily mean that he has to be Roman, since her legions came from many parts of the Empire. It does mean, however, that he must come from that world kingdom—and for that to happen the Roman Empire must be revived. We are seeing the fulfillment of this most remarkable prophecy in our day.

                Calling Antichrist “the prince that shall come” indicates that he, like the ancient Caesars, will rule the Empire when it is revived. Moreover, the ancient Roman Empire was not only a political, economic and military entity, but also a religious one with the god-emperor the head of the pagan priesthood. So in conjunction with a world government, a world religion headed by the new Caesar, the Antichrist, must be established in the last days exactly as Revelation 13 indicates.

                During the periodic waves of Roman persecution which the early Christians endured, all citizens of the Empire were required to bow down to an image of the current Caesar and worship him as god. Those who did not were killed. Such will also be the case under Antichrist in the revived Roman Empire: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life...[and] as many as would not worship the image of the beast [Antichrist] should be killed” (Rv 13:8,15).

Christ and Antichrist

                The contrasts between Christ and Antichrist are also instructive. Our Lord was despised and rejected by Israel and by the world: the Antichrist will be hailed and embraced. Christ was mocked and jeered: the Antichrist will be praised. The cry of those who rejected Christ was, “We’ll not have this man to reign over us!” It is awesome to realize that in contrast the Antichrist will be accepted not only by the world but by Israel as well. Jesus told the Jewish leaders in His day, “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive” (Jn 5:43).

                Christ’s kingdom of light and truth is heavenly (“My kingdom is not of this world”- Jn 18:36); Antichrist’s kingdom of darkness is built upon a lie and is totally of this world. It is sad to see so many evangelical Christians becoming increasingly entangled in this world, joining with Catholics, Mormons and other cultists and occultists to pursue its political and social agendas—and in the process losing their hope of heaven. It was characteristic of the early church that they knew they were the ekklesia, the called-out ones who were no longer of this world (Jn 17:6,14,16) but were eagerly waiting (1 Thes 1:10) and watching for Christ to return to take them to heaven (Heb 9:28; Jn 14:2-3). That hope must be awakened!

                Mystery surrounds both Christ and Antichrist. Of Christ, Paul wrote, “great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh...” (1 Tm 3:16). And of Antichrist he wrote, “[T]he mystery of iniquity doth already work” (2 Thes 2:7). Each has a mysterious bride, one a virgin, the other a harlot. The mystery of godliness, which will be revealed in Christ’s bride, the church, has been “kept secret since the world began” (Rom 16:25) and is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27). It can only be fully revealed at the last time (1 Pt 1:5).The mystery of iniquity, which could conversely be called “Satan in you, the hope of damnation,” will also be revealed through a bride, the Antichrist’s. She is called “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Rv 17:5). As Christ loves and preserves His bride, so Satan will “hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire” (Rv 17:16).

The Second Coming

                That the second coming of Christ in power and glory to rescue Israel, destroy the armies that are about to destroy her, and to set up His kingdom upon the throne of His father David is a separate event from the rapture of His bride, the church, is very clear. Some try to make them one event by suggesting that we will be “caught up to meet the Lord in the air” on His way to earth and will immediately turn around and accompany Him to the Mount of Olives and His intervention at Armageddon. However, Revelation 19:7-14 tells of Christ’s marriage to His bride in heaven before He comes to earth to execute judgment and set up His kingdom.

                A major purpose of the Second Coming is to destroy Antichrist: “whom the Lord shall...destroy with the brightness of his coming (2 Thes 2:8). Thus it is clear that the Second Coming cannot take place until the Antichrist has been revealed and has established his kingdom upon earth. If the Rapture were not a separate event from the Second Coming before the Antichrist is revealed, then Christians would not be watching, waiting and looking for Christ, but for the Antichrist, which is unthinkable!

                One of the growing delusions today is the belief that the church is not to be raptured at all, but that when we have taken over the world (and not until then) Christ will return to reign over the kingdom we have established for Him. Yet Christ promised, “And if I go and prepare a place for you [in heaven], I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (Jn 14:3). Paul wrote that “the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air [obviously to be taken home to His Father’s house of many mansions]: and so shall we ever be with the Lord [in heaven, where He has gone to prepare a place for us]” (1 Thes 4:16-17).

                Instead, many who claim to be Christians are looking forward to meeting a “Christ” with their feet planted firmly on planet earth—a “Christ” who has not arrived to take them to heaven but to reign over the kingdom they have established for him. What a delusion! Such have not been working for the true Christ, but for the counterfeit, the Antichrist. They have not been “lay[ing] up...treasures in heaven” (Mt 6:20), but have been building an earthly kingdom. May our Bridegroom reawaken our love for Him, and may our hearts, as it should be with a bride, long to see and be with Him!

—Dave Hunt

1990

Reprint July 2002

Eschatology 102: why I believe in the rapture

by Jesse Johnson - Article Link

October 2, 2013

I was going to write today about why I believe in the pre-tribulational rapture, but as I began that, it occurred to me that something more basic often needs to be proved. I have talked to many amillennialists that find the way premillennialists describe the rapture to be unconvincing. So before getting to why I believe in the pre-trib rapture, I wanted to explain why I believe in a rapture at all.

Scripture describes the rapture as the physical removal of believers from the earth, where we are caught up into the air to meet the Lord, and then we will be with the Lord forever.The word rapture is a biblical word, the Latin translation of harpazo in 1 Thess 4:17, which in English gets translated as “caught up” or “suddenly caught up” (NET).

Some think this sounds fantastical, or that it is too extreme to be plausible. I remember reading a Nathan Wilson book that mocked the idea of a rapture (he joked that people must by necessity leave their clothes and appendixes behind, both being useless in our new bodies). But the fact is the Bible does describe this event in at least three places.

In John 14:3, Jesus tells the discouraged disciples that he is going to leave them and return to his father. But he tells them that when arrives in glory he is not going to be idle. Instead, he is going to be busy preparing a place for believers to dwell. He says, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am.” In this passage, Jesus describes an act of removing Christians from the earth, and taking them to heaven—or wherever it is that he is preparing a place for us.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, Paul uses very similar language. He explains that when the Lord comes in the air with the souls of those who have already died, he will raise their bodies from the earth.  And: “Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.” Both Paul and Jesus describe a physical removal of believers from the earth. And notably both say that their new home will be with the Lord, in glory, forever.
First Corinthians 15:51-54 is the most detailed account of this rapture. Here, Paul describes it as happening in an instant, “in the twinkling of an eye” (v. 52). He says that the trumpet will sound (cf. 1 Thess 4:16), our physical bodies will be “raised” and “changed” (v. 52), and our mortal flesh will put on “immortality” (v. 54).

Other passages hint at the reality of the rapture. The day of the Lord is described as both a time of judgement on the earth and a time of rescue for believers. Revelation 3:10 pledges that believers who endure the trials of this age will be kept from the time of tribulation to come. First Thessalonians 5:9 says that despite the coming judgment in the Day of the Lord, that believers will be spared that wrath. Those verses all paint this picture of escape from judgment, but don’t exactly describe how.

But John 14:3, 1 Thessalonians 4:17, and 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 make clear that there is coming a time when believers will be physically removed from the planet, meet the Lord Jesus in the air, and be with him forever.

[empty suit]

Maybe not, but Jesus did leave his grave clothes behind.

Will this be like the Left Behind books? Will planes with Christian pilots crash into the ocean, and cars veer into ravines? That is more the stuff of fiction than scripture. Scripture does not detail the how—and it definitely doesn’t tell the when!—but it does give us enough to say that those of us who are alive when the Lord returns will by physically caught up into the air, where we will meet Jesus.

The Old Testament describes this happening twice before. Enoch did not die, but rather “God took him” and he was no more (Gen 5:24). Elijah likewise escaped death, and instead of the grave, Yahweh “took Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind” (2 Kings 2:1, and again in v. 11).

Will the rapture of believers be anything like that? Scripture doesn’t say, but it does make clear that while we will not all sleep, we will all be changed.

Mysterious Mecca

by Dave Hunt - Source Link - thebereancall.org

Much attention has been given to the Iron and Bamboo Curtains of communism. Recent events are causing the world to take notice at last of the even worse Islamic Curtain. Behind that wall any religion but Islam is forbidden. Freedoms Muslims enjoy in the West are denied in Muslim countries. Converts to Christianity have been imprisoned and killed in large numbers in Islamic countries, often by their own family members. Freedom of the press, of speech and of assembly, along with freedom of religion and the import of Bibles and Christian literature, have been denied behind the Islamic Curtain even more strictly than behind the Iron Curtain.

Mecca, Rome, and Israel

Like Marxism, Islam has failed to produce the ideal society it promised.  Many Arab countries, in spite of billions in annual revenues from oil, remain among the most primitive nations in the world, outside of their few large modernized cities. Islam has perpetuated an autocratic feudalism and cruelly held back basic human rights in the name of Allah.

While tolerating a great deal of homosexuality, Islam, to its credit, has kept out much of the Western world’s wickedness so rampant in nominally “Christian” countries such as the United States. The immorality in the West, however, is contrary to the teachings of the Bible and is done in defiance of Christ— whereas in Islamic countries much evil is due to the Qur’an itself and is practiced in the name of Allah in obedience to his prophet Muhammad.

No one now calls for a Holy War in the name of Christ, as is done in the name of Allah. Terrorism and the taking of hostages is not done in the name of Christ but is carried out in good conscience in the name of Allah. Christ taught us to love our enemies, to turn the other cheek. He seeks to win men’s hearts with His love. In contrast, Muhammad taught that Islam should be spread by the sword. That satanic doctrine has been applied everywhere, beginning with Muhammad’s own Quraish tribe in Saudi Arabia. Islam’s teaching that those who die fighting in its defense go immediately to Paradise made the Arab armies almost invincible. After Muhammad’s death they conquered Persia, Turkey, all of North Africa, crossed the Mediterranean to conquer Spain, and were well on their way to taking all of Europe when they were defeated in A.D.732 at the Battle of Tours in France.

Thus was the “faith” of Islam taken to the world. It was either submit to Allah and to the teachings of his prophet, Muhammad, or die. It is still quite in keeping with their religion for Muslims to consider it their honorable duty to kill Christians and Jews today.

Yes, there were the Crusaders, who struck back against the Arab invaders, but they acted contrary to the Bible. Inspired by Pope Urban II, the members of the First Crusade went to recover “for the Church” the land that rightfully belonged to Israel. Plundering, raping and murdering along the way, they slaughtered all the Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem when they took that “holy city” for the Roman Catholic Church. They were acting in direct violation of the teachings of Jesus whose cross they claimed to be carrying. Not to be outdone by Islam’s promise of instant Paradise for those who died in  jihad,  the Pope offered a “plenary indulgence remitting all punishments due to sin...to those who should fall in the war.” The call by various popes for Holy Wars ranks among the worst violations of true Christianity from the Dark Ages and would never be repeated today. The shrill cry of jihad, however, is still heard and heeded. It is in perfect harmony with Islam and with the deeds of its prophet, Muhammad.

The Qur’an

It is impossible to understand the current situation in the Middle East, much less anticipate probable future developments there, except in the context of the religion which grips and motivates the Arab world. Today’s fastest growing religion, Islam means “surrender to Allah,” the “God” whose revelations (the Qur’an) were allegedly dictated to the prophet Muhammad. Here we encounter the first of many contradictions. In its early chapters the Qur’an endorses the Old Testament and Gospels of the New as inspired by God, appeals to their authority to authenticate Muhammad’s revelations, and urges obedience to their precepts. Yet the Qur’an goes on to contradict the Bible by declaring that Jesus did not die upon the cross for our sins or rise from the dead, and that salvation is by one’s own good works rather than by grace through what God has done for us, etc. To “explain” the flagrant contradictions between the Qur’an and the Bible, which it affirms, Muslims insist that the Bible has been corrupted since the days of Muhammad. That this is a blatantly false charge is proved by the many manuscripts in existence from the time of Muhammad and before, which are identical to the Bible as we have it today. The Bible must be discredited to maintain the claim that the Arabs, as descendants of Ishmael, are the true heirs of God’s promises to Abraham. The Qur’an declares that it was Ishmael, not Isaac, whom Abraham was told to offer to God and to whose descendants the land of Canaan was given.

Ongoing History

In 1948, both Jews and Arabs were living in Palestine. Jews had been trying to return to the land of their ancestors for decades, but most were denied entrance by Britain. Horrified by the murder of 6 million Jews in Nazi extermination camps, the UN voted to partition Palestine (18 percent to the Jews) in order to create a small Jewish state as a place for resettlement of the survivors of Hitler’s holocaust. The Palestinian Arabs were given 82 percent of Palestine as a state of their own. Insisting that Allah had promised it all to them, and unwilling to allow a Jewish state to exist, six Arab nations attacked, confident of driving the Jews into the Mediterranean.

Thus began the war of 1948. The Jews were forced to fight for survival against a force far superior in numbers and equipment. Having been allotted such a narrow strip of land along the sea that it was indefensible, tiny Israel, as part of her victory, pushed her boundaries outward to a more defensible position. Jordan subsequently annexed the remainder of Palestine that had been partitioned to the Palestinian Arabs. Since that time, the countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria have refused to integrate these Palestinian Arabs into society, confining them to refugee camps. Most remain there today, to keep the “Palestinian problem” alive.

Since 1948 the relentless cry of the Arabs has been to liquidate Israel, which they have attempted to do in several wars. Israelis live under the constant threat of all-out destruction by the surrounding Arab nations, which outnumber them nearly 50 to 1. Had Israel been left in peace she would never have enlarged her borders.

The Arabs have reaped the results of their own greed and hatred, which frustrates and angers them all the more. The extension of Israel’s boundaries has only taken place as a result of wars she has been forced to fight in order to defend her very existence against an enemy sworn to exterminate her.

The Golan Heights, for example, were long used by the Syrians for sniper and rocket attacks upon the Israeli farm settlements below. In the Yom Kippur war of 1973, while the Egyptians simultaneously attacked across the Sinai, the Syrians poured over the Golan and down into Israel with thousands of tanks. The Israelis, caught by surprise and with only a fraction of Syria’s tanks and men, drove the Syrians (at great cost of life) back over the top of the Golan and the Egyptians back to the Suez Canal. Israel has since relinquished the territory it took from Egypt under a peace treaty with that country. On the other hand, in view of the continued threats of extermination from Syria, which like other Islamic nations refuses even to acknowledge its existence, Israel prudently retains the Golan Heights in order to prevent its use once again as a point of harassment and attack.

When Iraq’s forces overwhelmed tiny and defenseless but oil-rich Kuwait it was only the swift action of the United States  responding to Saudi Arabia’s urgent appeal for help that prevented Saddam Hussein from taking over that country as well. This brought about something that previously had been unthinkable: “infidels” upon the soil of Islam’s holiest nation defending Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two most sacred shrines, from Muslim enemies!

For the first time in its history, the United Nations responded quickly and almost unanimously to oppose with practical and severe steps an aggressor nation, raising hopes of a truly effective “new world order.” Equally amazing, the majority of the Arab states sided with the UN against a fellow Islamic country.

One of Hussein’s demands, however, appealed to most Arabs: that any withdrawal of his forces from Kuwait should be linked to a similar withdrawal of Israel from “occupied” Palestine. In their joint press conference in Helsinki, Bush and Gorbachev disagreed on this point. Bush correctly “saw no link between the Arab-Israeli dispute and the Gulf crisis.” Hussein’s takeover of Kuwait was an act of unprovoked aggression, whereas Israel occupies territory which it was forced to take in self-defense.

Questions that Must be Faced

All Arabs are now faced with some serious questions. Why did mobs of Arabs give credence to the call for Holy War from Saddam Hussein, a Muslim who was ruthlessly trampling other Islamic nations? Why are fanatical Muslims responsible for most of the terrorism and hostage-taking in today’s world and seem to outdo infidels in the commission of atrocities? And if Allah is all-powerful, why do infidels have to defend Mecca—and against Muslims? The Emir of Kuwait’s appearance at the UN presented an embarrassing spectacle. An Islamic nation was appealing to a world of “infidels” to help rescue it from another Islamic nation, which was at that moment plundering it and raping and torturing its citizens. Moreover, the Emir of Kuwait was a feudal monarch who, prior to Iraq’s invasion, had muzzled the press and jailed human-rights activists. In exchange for UN liberation of Kuwait, the Emir was forced to yield to pressures for democratic rule. Change must come to the Arab world.

The West has suddenly awakened to the fact that six Arab families ruling from feudal thrones control 44 percent of the world’s oil reserves. The pressure of world opinion and growing grass-roots movements in those countries will eventually force new freedom and rights for citizens. Democracy must come to the Arab world as it is painfully coming to the communist world. That will weaken Islam’s fanatical hold so that Muslims, too, can become part of Antichrist’s empire and religion.

Opportunity for the Gospel

As the collapse of communism is providing great opportunity for the gospel to be made known and received by many in Eastern Europe, so the coming upheavals in the Arab world will bring similar opportunities. After centuries of almost no response to the gospel, Muslims are now coming to Christ as a result of facing some of the serious shortcomings and contradictions in Islam. It promises heaven, but offers little assurance of getting there, including death in Holy War (Surah 3:160; 47:5; 70:25). As in Catholicism, where nothing is ever enough to keep one out of purgatory, so in Islam one never knows whether enough prayers have been said, enough alms given and enough good deeds done to bring one to Paradise.

Confronted at last by some of the embarrassing questions about Islam, the faith of many Muslims is being shaken. Why did Muhammad with his “new revelation” give his God the same name (Allah) as the chief idol in the kaaba, the ancient pagan temple at Mecca? Why, although he destroyed the idols which it housed, did Muhammad retain the  kaaba itself as a sacred shrine? Why did he keep and continue to revere the Black Stone that had long been worshiped along with the idols in the ancient religious ceremonies of Mecca? And why do Muslims consider the kaaba holy and kiss its Black Stone as an important part of their pilgrimage to Mecca?

Muslims everywhere can no longer deny that Islam has perpetuated a barbaric medieval mentality. Surely they recognize that the continued taking of hostages, murder and terrorism, and the frequent spectacle on television of crazed mobs screaming “Jihad! Jihad! Jihad!” and “Death to the United Sates  does not encourage Western viewers to put much confidence in a “peaceful Arab solution” to problems in the Middle East. And when a Salman Rushdie, because he writes something offensive to Muslims, has a price put on his head by Islam’s foremost leader and must go into hiding to save his life from Muslim assassins, are Arabs proud of such barbarism, and do they feel that it commends Islam to the world? And to be able to beat one’s four wives and unlimited concubines and to divorce merely by pronouncing it done, and to cut off hands and feet for petty thievery, as the Qur’an decrees? Such practices should, in the minds of all reasonable persons, mark Islam as a holdover from barbaric practices of apast age. Surely the time for change has come.

—Dave Hunt

1990

Reprint July 2002

Old Testament Allusions to the Rapture

by Eternal Productions - Source Link 

Perhaps some of the strongest arguments in favor of a Pre-Tribulation, Pre-Seventieth Week of Daniel Rapture are found in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we see “a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things” (Hebrews 10:1). The Holy Spirit explains that these Old Testament types are preserved for our learning: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope” (Romans 15:4). “Now all these things happened to them (Old Testament characters) as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).  Bible students are well aware that there are numerous Old Testament types that foreshadow a New Testament fulfillment. A classic example is when Abraham took his son, his only son Isaac, whom he greatly loved, to the land of Moriah to offer him there as a sacrifice – concluding that God was able to raise him from the dead (Genesis 22; Hebrews 11:17-19). Abraham is a beautiful type of our heavenly Father, and Isaac, his beloved son, is a striking picture of Jesus, who willingly laid down His life on Mount Moriah 2,000 years later. Though the Rapture was hidden in part from Old Testament believers, the types found throughout foreshadow a future Rapture when God removes His people prior to pouring out His wrath on a Christ-rejecting world. Let’s now review some of these beautiful types that foreshadow the Rapture:

1)      In Noah’s day there were those who passed through the flood (Noah and his family in the ark); there were those who perished in the flood (the unbelieving world); and there was Enoch who was “translated” or “caught up” before the judgment of God was poured out. Enoch walked with God (Genesis 5:24) and pleased Him (Hebrews 11:5), just as Christians who abide in Christ please God (1 John 3:22). Interestingly, from the time God told Noah to enter the ark, until the time when the waters of the flood were on the earth, God granted seven more days for the world to repent (Gen. 7:1-10). Perhaps this is a foreshadow of the final seven-year period culminating in the final judgment (Rev. 19:11-21).

2)      In Lot’s day, Lot and his family were “removed” before God rained down His judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). God did not just “preserve” them through His wrath, He removed them prior to judgment. Jesus said that just before His return it would be like the days of Noah (Luke 17:26) and like the days of Lot (Luke 17:28). Judgment in Sodom COULD NOT occur until Lot was removed (Genesis 19:22)!  Remarkably, “while [Lot] lingered, the [angels] took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city…Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there (v. 16, 22). In other words, they were forcibly removed prior to judgment and judgment could not commence until they safely arrived in the new city!

3)      Joseph (a type of Christ in many ways) takes a gentile bride before the 7-year famine begins (Genesis 41:45). Notice in the account of Joseph that after he received his gentile bride, his brethren (the Israelites) and the entire world suffered a SEVEN YEAR FAMINE (Genesis 41:54-57). During this time of famine many came to Joseph for food. Similarly, after Jesus receives His Bride, his brethren the Jews (and many in the world), will turn to the Lord Jesus for relief (Rev. 7). How fitting that the Great Tribulation is called the time of “the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it” (Jeremiah 30:7). It is also referred to as “the time of the Gentiles” (Ezekiel 30:3) and many gentiles will also be saved out of it (Rev. 7). The famine is a type of the Tribulation (Amos 8:11), and Egypt is a picture of the world. This account strongly suggests that Jesus will get His bride before the 70th Week of Daniel – before the famine that will come upon the entire world.

4)      In Joshua chapter 2, Rahab trusts the Lord and befriends the Jewish spies. By faith Rahab puts a scarlet thread in her window (a symbol of Christ’s blood) and she and her family are “brought out” of Jericho before the city is burned with fire (Joshua 6). Rahab is a prostitute (Heb. 11:31) and a Gentile woman (Joshua 2), yet she is found in the Messianic line (Matt. 1:5). Rahab is therefore a beautiful picture of the church (the bride of Christ). Though formerly a prostitute, Rahab, by faith, was made clean and delivered from God’s wrath. Amazingly, in this account, we again see seven days of warning preceding judgment (God’s gracious delay to encourage repentance). The armies of God marched around the city six days, and on the seventh day they marched around the city seven times, and then the city was finally destroyed (Joshua 6).

5)      In 1 Samuel 25:39-42 Abigail is informed that King David (foreshadowing King Jesus) wants to take her as his bride. She immediately responds and “rose is haste” with five of her damsels to “depart” and go to David for the marriage. Compare this with Matthew 25:1-13 where five wise virgins who truly had oil went forth to meet the Bridegroom (Jesus) away from their dwelling place (earth). Interestingly, the name Abigail means the Father’s joy!

6)      The Song of Solomon is an amazing picture of Christ and His church (Ephesians 5:29-32). In the Song of Solomon 2:8-13, the Bride (the church) hears the voice of her Beloved (Jesus) coming for her, then in verse 10 and 13, the Bridegroom speaks and calls His bride to “Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” This is a beautiful foreshadow of our marriage and honeymoon in heaven!

7)      Isaiah 26:20-21 also gives us a possible picture of the Rapture preceding the Tribulation: “Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors behind you; hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation is past. For behold, the LORD comes out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth will also disclose her blood, and will no more cover her slain.” Apparently, believers are tucked away in heaven before the Tribulation falls on the earth. This may also apply to the Jews who hide away in Petra during the Tribulation?

8)      In Daniel chapter 3, King Nebuchadnezzar (a type of the Antichrist, cf. Rev. 13) demands that the entire population bow down to his image. Daniel’s three friends (Jews) are preserved through the fiery tribulation, but Daniel is nowhere to be found. Daniel was “ruler over the whole province of Babylon, and chief administrator over all the wise men of Babylon” (Dan. 2:48), yet he is missing from the account. Why? Daniel was apparently away. Might he be a type of the Church?!

9)      In Zephaniah 2:2-3 we read: “Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you. Seek the LORD, all you meek of the earth, who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden in the day of the LORD'S anger.” Believers will be hidden in the day of the Lord’s anger (cf. Isaiah 26:20-21). See also: Zephaniah 1:7.

10)    Malachi chapter 3 deals with the Day of the Lord. Interestingly, Malachi 3:18 implies two comings: “Then shall ye (believers) return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.” It becomes clear when we read the entire context of Malachi 3 that believers shall return to the earth.  In order to return and discern, believers must have first been caught away to heaven. Issac and Rebekah, as well as Ruth and Boaz, also provide beautiful pictures of Christ taking a Gentile bride – one who counts the cost and leaves their own family – but is not required to suffer through great tribulation or famine. Other examples could be expounded on, but these should be sufficient to show that Christians will be removed before God’s wrath is poured out and likely before the 70th Week of Daniel.

This Generation

by Henry Morris - icr.org

“Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” (Matthew 24:34)

        This exciting prediction by Christ climaxes His great prophetic discourse on the Mount of Olives.  He had given His disciples the signs they had requested, then discussed the coming great tribulation and finally His glorious return in the clouds of heaven.  And “all these things” were to be fulfilled before “this generation” would pass away.

        And what generation would that be?  Many commentators have taken it as the Jewish “race,” but that would be redundant, since many other passages had already promised that the nation of Israel would never pass away (Jeremiah 31:37-40; etc.).  Furthermore, the Greek word for “generation” (genea) is never used elsewhere for any meaning but that of a particular age generation.  A similar word genos sometimes means “stock” or “kind,” but never genea.

        Thus, the generation which Christ was predicting probably meant the generation that would see the events He had prophesied.  “When ye shall see all these things,” He said, “know that it is near, even at the doors” (Matthew 24:33).

        And what are some of “these things”?  World wars, accompanied and followed by “earthquakes in divers places,” as well as “famines, and pestilences” (v. 7), worldwide spread of the gospel witness (v. 14), many false Christs and false prophets (v. 24), widespread wickedness and spiritual indifference as in the days of Noah (vv. 37-39), and the budding of the fig tree, Israel (v.32).

        The word for “this” in verse 34 is the demonstrative adjective, so Christ seems to be referring to “that” generation which sees “these things begin to come to pass.”  That generation will see all these things fulfilled!  To that generation He says: “Lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28).

Henry Morris

icr.org

Do All Roads Lead To God & Are There Moral Absolutes?

by: Shannon R. Haas 

srh4christ.blogspot.com

        It is quite popular within our culture today (especially among the West & portions of Europe) to believe that all paths of faith lead to God.  “Like spokes on a wagon wheel,” they say, “all lead to the central hub of God.” Oprah Winfrey once gave her analogy as describing a mountain we are all climbing, but taking different paths to the top (which lead to heaven).  Also, I’ve heard from many that, “truth is relative”, and that “truth is ultimately found within ourselves”. Is this true though?  Are we all ultimately on the right path that leads to God regardless of what we believe or how we live our lives?  Is there an absolute moral set of standards given to us from some superior or sovereign God, or are we all here to evolve our morals on our own through time?  It is getting more common when asking just about anyone these days in that they will tell you, “right and wrong are a matter of human opinion.”  “There are no absolutes,” they say, and therefore, “my view or belief is as good as yours or that of the next person.”  Well if this is so, I say, “Then how can we be absolutely sure that there are no absolutes”?  Some would also be tempted to twist a few verses from the Bible out of context and say that mankind needs to just live by “the golden rule”, in that we are all to “love others as we would want to be loved.”  Again, another would say, “let’s just all get along in the name of peace.” “You be you, and I’ll be me.”  That’s a noble idea; however, under whose definition of love and peace do we go by?? Well, let’s take a look and examine these popular cultural ideas from a rational, reasonable, and logical perspective.

        Just taking a brief look at these claims should immediately throw up some red flags to the average thinking person.  If one were to plan a trip (to let’s say my house), it would be illogical for me to tell that individual that they could “just jump on any road, and take any direction, and it will lead to my house”.  That would obviously not fly and would likely lead to the questioning of my sanity.  Take a pilot for instance.  If a pilot were to board his plane and say, “well there are no set of standards or laws concerning thermodynamics, so therefore I will be flying this plane today in the manner as I see fit”, that pilot would not be keeping his job very long, and would quickly clear his plane of passengers from fear.  However, I have found recently that when it comes to those who would take the stand of a conservative, biblical approach of an absolute, “thus says the Lord”, they are usually immediately ridiculed and scorned as: intolerant, extreme, radical, fundamental, dogmatic, judgmental, prudes, (and a variety of other titles are given to them from our current culture).  I have even recently read the word “hater” given to those who would dare to proclaim a moral absolute.  Some argue that, “it’s unfair to be comparing the natural realm with the spiritual realm!” But I say, that if one believes in God we ought to know from a common reasonable sense that the spiritual realm governs the natural in everything we see around us.  The Bible declares this in Romans 1:19-20 “….what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Also, in Hebrews 11:3 we read, “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”  The ultimate problem is we “suppress the truth in unrighteousness” because our “deeds are evil” Romans 1:18 & John 3:19.  When we look at a building we cannot deny that there was a builder, when looking at a painting we know there must be a painter, and when looking at a watch there are no other options but to say there was indeed a watchmaker.  Although we may not see the watchmaker abroad in Japan (or wherever), we cannot deny that he exists from the evidence we have before our eyes.  The same conclusion is true concerning God.        

        I believe that much of today’s problems (especially in America), that have blinded our minds is not only the clinging to our own selfish sinful lifestyles, but is due to our recent materialistic and post-modern ideas that have actually developed over many decades.  What is post-modernism (PM)?  Well, PM takes on many forms today such as: political correctness, pluralism, moral relativism, deconstructionism, and by a variety of other titles.  From the mid-1960s through the 1980s, the term was used with increasing frequency to describe a way of thinking about truth and interpreting language.  It ties in directly to the cultural ideas mentioned above and is well-suited to a society where what we feel is far more important than facts or what we think.  PM also arrogantly props up evolution as a means of our existence, instead of special creation that the Bible so clearly declares in Genesis.  It has become an integral part of our education system, political structure, and is pumped aggressively through all our media.  It binds us in ignorance, and substitutes our own warped reason in place of the Scriptural standard.  It is appealing and like a disease because PM is a way out for living and believing as we wish, without moral accountability to an absolute, sovereign, righteous, holy, loving, and just God. The total collapse of morality we see today, and the implementation of PM should be a stern reminder to us of Proverbs 14:12…”There is a way that seems right to a man, but it’s end is the way of death.”

        During my upbringing, this idea of ever changing views that evolve through time really bothered me.  I was raised believing there was a God, but didn’t understand all the confusion of different religions, denominations, etc., and which was to be trusted as the truth?  My family attended a Catholic Church where (like many liberal Protestant denominations) its leaders and doctrines continually morph with the culture as the hierarchy change positions.  To me, a life and world with no set of moral absolutes seemed to have little purpose and meaning.

        To make a long story short, my frustration grew intensely as I entered my late teen years, which lead to a life of alcohol and rebellion.  At the infamous high point of it all I ended up committing an armed robbery of a convenience store at age 21.  This eventually landed me in prison, but ended up being the means and avenue God used in assisting me to find the truth.  Still lost and confused, one day as I attended a jail Bible study I was struck by a message the pastor gave concerning Bible prophecy and the astronomical odds of all these prophecies being fulfilled to the very letter (At this time I was dabbling with a variety of different religious beliefs: scientology, yoga, etc., and of course reading the Bible some, but never had any concrete reasons for believing any of these to be true). Upon hearing the Bible regarding the fulfillment of prophecy it really drew me to investigate the Bible further. To my amazement, after continued study and reading of the Gospels I found that the Bible was indeed trustworthy through what I call; ‘a sure word of prophecy’. In addition to prophecy, I also found encouragement in the volumes of Bible apologetics concerning creation, archeology, and history that confirm the Bible as the unchanging, absolute, exclusive, infallible, and authoritative Word of God.  It is indeed true that the Bible is sufficient for all matters of life as stated in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

        All of this knowledge ultimately led me to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior through faith and repentance (Ephesians 2:8-10).  I saw myself as a wretched sinner heaped in pride and selfishness and in need of God’s forgiveness.  My point in briefly sharing this tidbit of testimony is to explain that for the first time in my life I found a source of absolute truth, a solid rock and foundation that I could place my trust in.  In fact, the Bible declares that the Lord is the “rock” and “foundation” for those who place their trust in Him. I now have true peace and no longer have to be under the world’s post-modern system of an insecure and unstable, ever-changing culture.  In fact, Malachi 3:6 declares: “For I am the Lord, I do not change”, and in Hebrews 13:8 we see that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”   

        In conclusion, I have become convinced that the premise behind post-modernism—that everyone has a right to his own beliefs, and that they all lead to the same place—led to nowhere. Had I continued on Oprah’s proverbial path up the mountain, God would never have been waiting at the top for me. Jesus said, “I am the Way the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” John 14:6 & Acts 4:12.

        In today’s society, the lack of absolutes defines our culture. “Whatever you believe is right for you” is the mantra. Why is this so? Is it because we are now so afraid of offending anyone? For taking any stand that is unpopular? In my opinion, having NO absolutes is much more dangerous and frightening. No absolutes mean no rules, no discipline, and everyone pursuing what is right in his own eyes. It is the recipe for disaster and the rampant immorality that we now see throughout our World.  It’s like a father who is unwilling to discipline and set rules for the well-being of his child. The child grows up rebellious and headstrong towards the path of his own destruction; we are doing the same as long as we believe there are no absolutes!

Shannon R. Haas - srh4christ.blogspot.com

06/11/11