Why do people believe in a Rapture?
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Taking these verses then, you suggest they happened already?!
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand
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Taking these verses then, you suggest they happened already?!
13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. 15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand
This was a home Bible study on the topic.
Matthew Chapter 24:
In Matthew chapter 24, Christ gives an explanation to four of His disciples.
Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
1st Question: ________________________________________________
Christ has just told them the temple would be destroyed in the previous verse.
2nd Question: _______________________________________________
The Greek word “parousia” is used throughout the New Testament to describe His Second Coming.
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Do New Testament and historical writings show that Jesus answered the first question within the first half of Matthew, chapter 24?
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Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Act 8:9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:(Simon Magus was a deceiver. Confirmed by Jerome.)
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Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for allthese thingsmust come to pass, but the end is not yet.
During 66 AD the Roman 12th Legion under the command of Cestius Gallus surrounded the city of Jerusalem. For some unknown reason, he ordered his army to stop the seige. During the retreat the Romans were attacked by the Jews, who killed thousands of the Roman soldiers. (Josephus, War 2.19.7, 540) (Tacitus, The Histories V)
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Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
There was a devastating earthquake around 60-62 AD that destroyed much of Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. This was recorded by Tacitus in his writings as being during the 7th year of Nero.
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Mat 24:8 All thesearethe beginning of sorrows.
Mat 24:9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
The New Testament records the persecution of the early Christians, mainly by the Jews.
This is described specifically in Mark’s Gospel.
Mar 13:9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
The Apostle Paul confirms that he fulfilled this persecution.
Act 22:19 And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagoguethem that believed on thee:
Act 22:20 And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.
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Mat 24:10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Col_4:14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.
2Ti_4:10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
1Jn_4:1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
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Mat 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Was the Gospel preached into every nation in the modern world? No.
However, according to Paul it was preached into every nation of his known world.
Col 1:5 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
Col 1:6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Luk 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the worldshould be taxed.
Does this include Alaska and South America ???
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Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)
Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Mat 24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Mat 24:18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
Mat 24:19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
Mat 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
We know sometime before the final siege of 70 AD the early Christians left the city of Jerusalem. Did they heed the warning in Matthew 24?
A parallel study of the three Gospel accounts reveals the Abomination of Desolation.
During the time of Christ, the Jews celebrated Hanukka.
Joh 10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
He was well aware of the first occurrence of the Abomination of Desolation in the temple, when Antiochus Epiphanes set up a statue of Zeus (He had previously claimed he was Zeus) in the temple and had a pig slaughtered on the altar, during 167 BC.
Hanukkah celebrates the cleansing and rededication of the temple which occurred three years after the abomination of desolation by Antiochus in 167 BC.
Therefore, Christ was predicting a second occurrence of the Abomination of Desolation in the Olivet Discourse.
Several events could be a possible desecration of the temple during 70 AD. The Roman standards were posted at the temple site. Sacrifices were made to Titus at the temple site. Also, the behavior of the zealots within the temple itself during the siege is regarded by many as a desecration of the temple.
Mat 24:15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand)
Mat 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Mar 13:14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
Luk 21:20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh(near).
Luk 21:21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
Luke’s account above clearly states that the desolation would be near the time that Jerusalem was surrounded by armies. We know Luke 21:20 is related to Matthew 24:15, because the same warning to flee is found in the next verse.
We know the early Christians did flee from Jerusalem before the final siege.
While He was being taken to the Cross, Jesus warned the women who were weeping for him about what was to come. During this warning He makes a reference similar to that found in Matthew 24:19, about nursing mothers. This warning is also specifically made to these women and their children.
During the siege of 70 AD some women ate their own children, due to the lack of food during the siege.
Luk 23:28 But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.
Luk 23:29 For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessedarethe barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.
Almost all scholars agree that the following verse is a specific reference to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
Therefore, this also provides evidence that the Abomination of Desolation in the Olivet Discourse, was part of the events of 70 AD.
Luk 21:24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
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What do we find in the last half of Matthew chapter 24?
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Mat 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Mat 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Mat 24:32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summerisnigh:
Mat 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near,evenat the doors.
Mat 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Mat 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
Mat 24:37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
Mat 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Mat 24:40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
Mat 24:41 Twowomen shall begrinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
What happened to “they” in verse 24:38? ____________________
Based on the last question, what happens to “them” in verse 24:39?
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Based on the last two questions, what happens to those “taken”? _______
Mat 24:42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Mat 24:43 But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.
Mat 24:44 Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
Luk 17:35There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left."
Luk 17:37 And they said to him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather."
Where are vultures found? _______________________
Who are “taken” first in the parable of the wheat and tares? ___________
Who are “left behind” in the parable of the wheat and tares? ___________
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Did Christ give the disciples signs to look for, in His answer to the first question? _____
Explain your answer. ____________________________________________________
Did Christ give the disciples signs to look for in His answer to the second question? __________________
Explain your answer. ____________________________________________________
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Gong!
The end came already and we missed it?
The abomination of desolation was set up??
Preached in all the world is not the area of Judea!
The Antichrist came thousands of years ago!!??? So everyone had the mark of the beast?
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Are you suggesting that you believe like Old Timer ,that Paul is showing us in 1Co 15:51 a SECRET MYSTERY coming of Jesus -that no one knew about- happening BEFORE the official Second Coming -Parousia-?
In case you have missed it, see:
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/parousia/
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That's right, if by "heaven" you mean the 3rd heaven (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:2b). For note that no scripture requires believers will be raptured any higher than the clouds of the sky (the 1st heaven) to hold a meeting in the air with Jesus at his 2nd coming (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). After that meeting, in which the church will be judged by Jesus (Psalms 50:3-5, cf. Mark 13:27), and the obedient part of the church will be married to Jesus (Revelation 19:7, Matthew 25:1-13), the obedient part of the church will come back down from the sky (the 1st heaven) with Jesus (Revelation 19:15-21) to reign on the earth with him for 1,000 years (Revelation 20:4-6, Revelation 5:10, Revelation 2:26-29). After the 1,000 years and subsequent events (Revelation 20:7-15, Ezekiel chapters 38-39), the obedient part of the church will live on the new earth with God the Father and Jesus in the literal city of New Jerusalem (Revelation chapters 21-22).
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Note that Matthew 19:16-19 doesn't say that Christians after the Cross have to keep any part of the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law's ministration of death, engraven in stones (2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Romans 7:6). Also, even before the Cross, when Jesus was asked which Old Covenant commandments had to be kept for eternal life, he only said 5 of the 10 commandments had to be kept (Matthew 19:18-19a) and that one other Old Covenant commandment which wasn't one of the 10 commandments also had to be kept (Matthew 19:19b, Leviticus 19:18). And elsewhere, when Jesus lists the Old Covenant's 2 greatest commandments, neither of them are from the 10 commandments (Matthew 22:37-39, Mark 12:29-31). He answered these ways because loving others (both God and people) fulfills the spirit of every Old Covenant commandment (Romans 13:9-10, Galatians 5:14, Matthew 7:12).
Regarding Matthew 5:17-18, it means Jesus came the first time not to abolish the prophecies in the Mosaic law and the Old Testament prophets regarding the Messiah's/the Christ's first coming, but to fulfill all those prophecies (Luke 24:44-48; e.g. Acts 3:22-26, Isaiah 53). Matthew 5:17-18 can't mean Jesus came not to abolish the letter of the commandments of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, for he did come to do that, on the Cross (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17, Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Hebrews 7:18-19). Also, Matthew 5:17-18 can't mean Jesus came to fulfill the letter of all the Old Covenant Mosaic law's commandments, for he couldn't possibly have done that. For example, some of those commandments applied only to women after childbirth (Leviticus 12:4-8), or to wives suspected of adultery by their husbands (Numbers 5:19-31).
As the Christ (Matthew 5:17, Luke 24:44-46), the mediator of the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28, Hebrews 12:24, Hebrews 7:22, Hebrews 8:6-9), Jesus had the divine authority to contradict the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law's commandments and replace them with his own, even better, New Covenant commandments (Matthew 5:38-44, Matthew 19:7-9, John 8:5-7), such as those he gave in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:19 to 7:29) and in the epistles of Paul the apostle (1 Corinthians 14:37; 1 Thessalonians 4:2). And as the Christ, Jesus had the divine authority to allow his disciples to break the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law's commandments (Matthew 12:1-8).
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Regarding Matthew 5:19-20, it refers to the New Covenant/New Testament commandments/sayings (Matthew 5:19, Matthew 7:24-29) which Jesus, as the Christ (Matthew 5:17b, Luke 24:44-46), was just about to give in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:19 to 7:29), and which New Covenant commandments "exceed in righteousness" (Matthew 5:20 to 7:29) the (now) abolished letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law's commandments (Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17, Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Hebrews 7:18-19).
Jesus shows in the Sermon on the Mount how his New Covenant, Christian commandments are stricter than the letter of the commandments of the Old Covenant Mosaic law. For the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law forbade murder (Matthew 5:21, Exodus 20:13), while Jesus' New Covenant law forbids even calling people names (Matthew 5:22). And the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law forbade adultery (Matthew 5:27, Exodus 20:14), while Jesus' New Covenant law forbids even looking at another woman with lust (Matthew 5:28). And the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law permitted divorce and remarriage (Matthew 5:31, Deuteronomy 24:1-2), while Jesus' New Covenant law forbids it (Matthew 5:32, Mark 10:11-12, Luke 16:18), except for a single exemption granted only to husbands who discover their newlywed wife isn't a virgin, but had committed fornication (Matthew 19:9).
Jesus also shows in the Sermon on the Mount that while his New Covenant, Christian law is stricter than the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, at the same time it is also more merciful. For the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law required taking an eye for an eye (Matthew 5:38, Deuteronomy 19:21), while Jesus' New Covenant law requires turning the other cheek (Matthew 5:39). And the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law required hatred for one's enemies (Matthew 5:43, Deuteronomy 23:6), while Jesus' New Covenant law requires love for one's enemies (Matthew 5:44). And the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law, the ministration of death (2 Corinthians 3:7), required, for example, that adulterers be put to death (Leviticus 20:10), while Jesus showed mercy to the woman caught in adultery (John 8:4-11). And, for another example, the letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law required that anyone who does any work on the sabbath is to be put to death (Exodus 31:14, Numbers 15:32-36), while Jesus allowed his disciples to work on the sabbath and said they were guiltless (Matthew 12:1-8), just as Jesus himself worked on the sabbath (John 5:17-18).
So in obeying Jesus' New Covenant commandments (Matthew 5:19 to 7:29, John 14:15; 1 Corinthians 14:37), believers, whether Jews or Gentiles, are both more merciful and loving, and also exceed in righteousness those who try to keep the abolished letter of the Old Covenant Mosaic law (Matthew 5:20-48, Ephesians 2:15-16, Colossians 2:14-17, Romans 7:6; 2 Corinthians 3:6-18, Hebrews 7:18-19).
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Great post.
For if we don't forgive other people, God won't forgive us for our own sins (Matthew 6:15).
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Note that Paul didn't call the rapture-coming itself a mystery in 1 Corinthians 15:51, for Jesus had already taught the rapture-coming in the Gospels (John 14:3b, Matthew 24:31, Mark 13:27, cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:1). Instead, the mystery shown in 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 (cf. John 11:26) was the instantaneous changing of living believers into immortal physical bodies at the time dead believers will be resurrected into immortal physical bodies (1 Corinthians 15:51-54). It is only after this that the rapture (the catching up together/gathering together) of all believers will occur (1 Thessalonians 4:16b-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1, Matthew 24:30-31, John 14:3b).
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Note that Hebrews 10:26-29 shows that truly saved people, people who have truly been sanctified by Jesus' sacrificial blood (Hebrews 10:29), which sanctification requires faith (Acts 26:18b, cf. Romans 3:25-26), can, after they get saved, wrongly employ their free will to commit sin without repentance (Hebrews 10:26). By doing this, these saved people are unwittingly trampling on Jesus and his sacrificial blood, and doing despite to the Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:29), turning the grace of God into lasciviousness (Jude 1:4), so that their ultimate fate will be worse than if they had never been saved at all (2 Peter 2:20-22). Even though Jesus' sacrificial blood is sufficient to forgive all sins (1 John 2:2), it actually forgives only the sins of believers which are past (Romans 3:25-26), as in sins which have been repented from and confessed to God (1 John 1:9,7). Jesus' sacrificial blood doesn't remit unrepentant sin (Hebrews 10:26-29). So a saved person can in the end lose his salvation if he wrongly employs his free will to commit unrepentant sin (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46).
Some Christians think Hebrews 10:26-29 isn't for Christians. But the immediate context of Hebrews 10:26-29 is Hebrews 10:25, which is addressing "we" saved people. Hebrews 10:25-29 is the same idea as Hebrews 3:13: Saved people need to gather together and exhort each other so no saved person will fall into any unrepentant sin. For any unrepentant sin will ultimately result in the loss of salvation (Hebrews 10:26-29; 1 Corinthians 9:27, Luke 12:45-46, Matthew 7:22-23, Galatians 5:19-21; 2 Peter 2:20-22, Romans 8:13; 1 John 5:16, James 5:19-20).
One way a saved person could come to desire to commit sin without repentance would be if he finds a particular sin to be very pleasurable, so pleasurable and so fulfilling (in the short term) that he continues in it over time until his heart becomes hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13), to where his love for God grows cold because of the abundance of iniquity (Matthew 24:12), to where he quenches the Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19), to where he sears his conscience as with a hot iron (1 Timothy 4:2), to where he becomes so infatuated with his sin that he can no longer endure the sound doctrine of the Bible (such as the doctrine of Hebrews 10:26-29), but instead latches onto a mistaken, man-made teaching which contradicts the Bible (2 Timothy 4:3-4), such as the mistaken teaching which assures believers there is no way they can ever lose their salvation, even if they sin without repentance.
Hebrews 5:9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him . . .
Note that there is a condition (obedience) with regard to receiving eternal salvation.
Also, note that even eternal salvation doesn't require OSAS, just as salvation being a free gift (Romans 6:23) doesn't require OSAS. For a free gift can be taken away. For example, imagine a father gives his young son a puppy as a free gift (cf. Romans 6:23), but warns him that he has to remember to feed and water the puppy every day (cf. Luke 9:23) or it will die (cf. James 2:26). The son says no problem, and takes good care of the puppy for a couple of weeks, but then gets so distracted by playing video games that he forgets to feed or water the puppy for 3 days and it dies. The father then takes the dead puppy away from the son and buries it in the back yard (cf. John 15:2a,6). Does this mean the puppy wasn't a free gift?
Also, possessing something which is eternal in itself doesn't require that someone will eternally keep possession of it. For example, imagine that one of the eternal precious stones of the city of New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19) happened to be given to someone living now on the earth, and he kept it in his pocket. But after a few years, he got complacent about it and sold it to a jeweler for a tremendous load of cash (cf. Hebrews 12:16-17). Does this mean it wasn't eternal?
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When Jesus says "ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies" (Luke 21:20), he is referring to the first part of Daniel 11:31: "And arms shall stand on his part". And when Jesus says "the desolation" in Luke 21:20, he is referring to the "abomination of desolation" part of Daniel 11:31, just as in Matthew 24:15, he is referring to the "abomination of desolation" part of Daniel 11:31.
So Luke 21:20-23 isn't referring to 70 AD, nor (as is sometimes claimed) to the pillaging of Jerusalem which will occur at the very end of the future tribulation, right before Jesus' 2nd coming to save Jerusalem (Zechariah 14), but is referring to what will happen mid-tribulation, when the Antichrist will antitypically fulfill Daniel 11:31 at the start of his future, literal 3.5-year worldwide reign (Revelation 13:4-18), during which 3.5 years, Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles (Revelation 11:2b), which future treading down is what Luke 21:24 is referring to.
Regarding "Judaea" (Luke 21:21, Matthew 24:16), note that this doesn't have to mean 1st century AD Judaea. For there are many churches in Judaea (southern Israel) still today. They contain mostly Gentile believers, not just Jewish believers. The church began and has always been in Judaea: "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea" (Acts 9:31); "the churches of Judaea" (Galatians 1:22); "the churches... in Judaea" (1 Thessalonians 2:14). Matthew 24:16 refers to those in the church, both Gentiles and Jews, who will be living in Judaea at the future point in time when the abomination of desolation (possibly a standing, android image of the Antichrist) is set up in the holy place (the inner sanctum) of a 3rd Jewish temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15, Daniel 11:31).
The Antichrist's persecution of the church could begin in Jerusalem and Judaea right after the abomination of desolation is set up, and the Antichrist himself sits in the temple (at least one time) and proclaims himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4, Daniel 11:36). So to avoid this persecution (cf. Matthew 10:23a), those in the church living in Judaea should flee immediately after they see the abomination of desolation set up (Matthew 24:15-16), which event could occur at the midpoint of the future tribulation of Revelation chapters 6 to 18 and Matthew 24, and which event could mark the start of the Antichrist's future, literal 3.5-year worldwide reign (Revelation 13:4-18). Eventually, the Antichrist's persecution of the church will reach every nation (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4-6, Matthew 24:9-13), so that the basic principle of Matthew 24:16, of fleeing (the Antichrist's persecution), would apply to believers around the world.
Just as the woman in Revelation 12:6 represents many different people in the church around the world, so the protected wilderness place she flees to represents many different, protected wilderness places around the world. When those in the church living in Judaea see the abomination of desolation set up, they should flee into places in the wilderness east of Judaea, the mountains (Matthew 24:16) of Jordan. And those in the church who will be living in places in the world other than Judaea should flee into other wilderness places, mountainous places (Ezekiel 7:16), in the regions of the world where they live.
And they should have prepared beforehand hideouts in these wilderness/mountain places, hideouts already fully stocked with all the emergency supplies of food, water, warm clothing, etc., that they and their families and fellow Christians will need to survive (1 Timothy 5:8, Matthew 24:45-46, cf. Genesis 41:48,36, Genesis 45:7) until Jesus returns, possibly on the 1,335th day after the abomination of desolation is set up (Daniel 12:11-12, Revelation 16:15). For they shouldn't carry any supplies with them when they flee (Matthew 24:17-18). They should flee as unhindered and quickly as possible, knowing that when the abomination of desolation is set up, that could signal the beginning of the Antichrist's future, literal 3.5-year Luciferian (Satanic) worldwide reign of terror (Revelation 13:4-18, Revelation 12:9), when he will be given power to make war against all Biblical Christians that he can get his hands on, and to physically overcome them and kill them (by beheading) in every nation (Revelation 13:7-10, Revelation 14:12-13, Revelation 20:4-6, Matthew 24:9-13).
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During 66 AD the Roman Legion under Cestius Gallus surrounded the city of Jerusalem.
For some unknown reason, he decided to leave and the Jews attacked and killed thousands of the Romans during the retreat.
The early Christians heeded the words of Jesus found in the Olivet Discourse and fled from Jerusalem to Pella.
This allowed them to avoid the horrors of the siege that would occur in 70 AD.
These are historical facts ignored by many modern Christians, because it does not fit their manmade doctrine.
They know that Luke 21:24 is about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, but insist the verses just before it lie in the future.
Luk 21:20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
Luk 21:21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it,
Luk 21:22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.
Luk 21:23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.
Luk 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
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For some unknown reason, he decided to leave and the Jews attacked and killed thousands of the Romans during the retreat.
The early Christians heeded the words of Jesus found in the Olivet Discourse and fled from Jerusalem to Pella.
This allowed them to avoid the horrors of the siege that would occur in 70 AD.
These are historical facts ignored by many modern Christians, because it does not fit their manmade doctrine.
They know that Luke 21:24 is about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, but insist the verses just before it lie in the future.
Luk 21:20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
Luk 21:21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it,
Luk 21:22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.
Luk 21:23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.
Luk 21:24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
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Glad you finally "seen" what I was asking.
Yes, Paul is taking about a coming of Jesus never revealed before anywhere in the scriptures,
as a matter of a fact, neither was Jesus or church revealed anywhere in the scriptures, so how could a rapture of church that no one knew about occur???
Eph 5:32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God,
Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Everybody knows about the coming of the lord and have known for thousands of years.
De 18:15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
Zec 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives,
But Israel didn't know about this Jesus/church, especially it being "Gentiles" and having the "Children's bread" (gospel) feed (preached) to the "Dogs". (Gentiles)
Yes, this "Rapture" is a coming that no one knew about until Paul revealed it.
And it definitely is not the Second coming.
It seems this rapture is still as much a mystery to some in the church as Jesus/church still are to Jews.
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Here's the problem with your "popping up in the air and right back down",
"Everything" that occurs in scripture has a "Reason" or "Explanation" for it's occurrence.
There's no "Explanation" given as to "WHY" this popping occurs.
As I've said before, "IF" you can not give the explanation as to "WHY" it occurs, then you don't understand it.
The Rapture occurs "BEFORE" the second coming and it occurs "BECAUSE"
it's the "Fulness of the Gentiles" and the end of the "Grace period" so that the "Law" (and prophet) can return.
It's the church going to the "Son's wedding" that Israel rejected the invitation,
it's the "Many" who have the covenant "By faith"..."Confirmed" with them for One week, the trib week.
It's Jesus reaping "before" the Angels Reap.
It's the Comforter/Holy Ghost taken out of the way so the AC can be the supreme power on earth.
The problem with your theory is that it is not build on "Scripture",
the coming and especially the leaving of the church in between the 69th and 70th week of Daniel's prophecy was never a mystery,
and you have no explanation/reason given for a Rapture or a popping up in the air and right back down.
Point is, you have no explanation either way, so how can you understand it???
There are no little/big sins, one sin, any sin, makes you as guilty as if you had committed all the sins.
Have you stopped sinning, if not, you're as guilty as any adulterer, murderer.
God will either "impute sin to you" or he will not, even if you sin.
You're saying it's a "works base salvation", but works can't save.
OK, eternal does not mean "Eternal".
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
But I'd bet it would mean eternal if use in an everyday conversation.
"How strangly will the tools of a tryant pervert the plain meaning of words".
Samuel Adams 1723-1802 Letter to John Pitts Jan 21, 1776.
in this case, "tryant" = "Carnal mind".
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The "law", "old covenant" never saved people either,
Ro 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Those OT people who had died and gone to Abe bosom still had to have the gospel of Jesus preached to them the same as if they were still alive.
1Pe 3:19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
1Pe 4:6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
So why do you keep implying that going back under the law is somehow going to save people?
The Law/old covenant was a "Schoolmaster" to teach about Jesus and the plan of salvation.
So going back under the law for the first half of the trib, is nothing more than "Class" picking up where it left off to finish the "lesson" for Israel.
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Having all the info "Fresh" in your mind of everything that occurred at that particular time, also gives you an idea of the time line it occurred in Jesus ministry, those Gospels are not written in chronological order with each other as they occurred.
And the same is true for scripture "overall". People read the scriptures but don't remember everything they read, and they aren't "familiar" enough with scripture to have a "Fresh" memory of something they read before that would help them place events in their chronological order.
You can't understand the scriptures just by reading them, "here a little, there a little" is like working a puzzle,
You find a piece you don't know where it goes, and lay it aside and piece together what you can, then you find the place where that piece laid aside goes, but if you don't remember you had that piece, don't remember the scripture you read before, your puzzle is not going to be complete and have "holes" in it.
I find that you can tell folks where a piece of the puzzle goes, and rather than "keep it" until they work enough of the puzzle to see where it goes, they just toss it away as if it doesn't fit anywhere.
And some try to work the puzzle without all the pieces, and don't know they don't have "all the pieces", they're not that "Familiar" with "all the scriptures".
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I never said God is going to go back to law keeping to save people.
This is what is taught in the Scofield Reference Bible, which has been the standard for your doctrine, since it was first published. It claims that God will remove the Holy Spirit from the earth 7 years before Christ's Second Coming and that everyone saved during that time period will not be a part of the Church of the New Covenant.
You are denying that God has already made a New Covenant with Israel and that the Old Covenant is obsolete in order to make your doctrine work.
Heb 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
(The New Covenant of Christ is in effect now.)
Heb 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
(The first covenant had to be replaced by the New Covenant of Christ.)
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
(This comes from the promise of the New Covenant found in Jeremiah 31:31-34. It was first made with Israelites like the Apostle Paul and the Gentiles were grafted in later. Therefore, all of us are already under only the New Covenant.)
Heb 8:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
(The New Covenant would not be like the Old Covenant. They broke the Sinai Covenant and God no longer considers it to be in effect.)
Heb 8:10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
(This is also quoted from Jeremiah chapter 31. He puts His Holy Spirit inside of us in the New Covenant. This makes it different from the Old Covenant. It was fulfilled at the Cross.)
Heb 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.
Heb 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb 8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
(The Old Covenant is obsolete because it has been replaced with a New Covenant with Christ as the Mediator, instead of Moses.)
Christ has already made a New Covenant with Israel.
It is the only way of Salvation.
God is not going to remove the Holy Spirit from the earth. One cannot enter the New Covenant without it.
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iamlamad
Lamad
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Good point. But the truth is, Jesus became a MAN, laying aside His godly attributies. So He COULD be tempted. But at the same time, OF COURSE God the Father and God the Holy Spirit could NOT be tempted.
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You. like so many others, don't understand that you can't have a covenant with God unless you sign your name in your own blood, that is the "Life of the flesh".
Le 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
Ro 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
The trib is to bring Israel into the covenant, as of right now, they are not in a covenant with God, and won't be until the end of the trib.
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iamlamad
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How do you figure that? I believe Sir Robert Anderson. I believe Daniel was accurate to the very day with His prophecy of the COMING PRINCE. I believe we today are actually living in a (PARENTHESIS) for the church age. But at the rapture the church age will END and the Day of the Lord will begin. Shortly after that (time to seal the 144,000) and the 70th week of Daniel will begin (with the 7th seal.)
The TRUTH is, the first 5 seals have been ONGOING for centuries. Consider, for example, how well the black plague that hit Europe and killed 1/3 of the people fits Jesus' prophecy of pestilence and the 4th seal. Consider that when God limited seals 2-4 to one fourth of the earth, that one quarter must be centered on Jerusalem, so would take in all of Europe and all of Africa.
WHERE have most of the world's famines been during your lifetime. Were they not mostly in Africa, and IN that one fourth of the earth?
You see, with preconceptions off, just reading what is written without adding to or taking away and CERTAINLY NOT rearranging, This is exactly what John is telling us. It is the Author's intent. I know because HE taught me.
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iamlamad
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I will ask you a question: if God spoke to you and told you to QUIT rearranging Revelation (or if you could just imagine NOT doing it) could you make a posttrib rapture work then?
Add to that, if you took Matthew 24 out of your equation, what would you have left? (there is no real proof that the gathering in Matthew 24 is the rapture gathering. What if God chose to gather all of Jacob's descendants from heaven and from earth and bring them all back to Israel, and this gathering in Matthew 24 was this gathering of the Hebrews.)
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