False eschatology
Something that just amazes me and at the same time horrifies me is the way the eschatology of the fallen churches lines up so perfectly with the crowning act of the great delusion when Satan personates the second coming of Jesus.
I just finished a book my mother sent me, What in the World Is Going On? authored by Dr. David Jeremiah. The book attempts to show how current events with the Arab nations’ desire to destroy Israel line up with Ezekiel’s ancient prophecies concerning the destruction of the surrounding nations of the Palestine of his day which had been so involved in defiling Israel’s obedience to God. Ezekiel said that all those nations would be destroyed—Gog and Magog and a host of smaller nations.
Mr. Jeremiah has basically echoed and repeated the 1970’s blockbuster, Hal Lindsay’s Late Great Planet Earth . What has really confused me is how he used 1Thess. 4:13-18 to prove a secret rapture. He glazes over the words, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” (vs. 16). They speak of an earth-shattering event; certainly not secretive or happening without, or even intending for it to be without, the world’s notice. “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. 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.” (Matt. 24:30,31). Yet, a huge radio audience is following this man and his biased Bible interpretation.
Often the author quotes from other men who believe the same falsehoods of last day events and, to embellish their believability, he calls them “Bible scholars” or appends their name with “Dr.” If you write a book geared to the popular notions of a certain religious subculture, and attend a Bible college that promotes the same material as the book you wrote, you can get your doctorate and be certified a person the world should look up to and listen to. Other “important” people who think the same way as you can refer to you in their book, while you refer to them in yours, and everyone thinks all these “important” and “smart” people have all the right answers.
But I’m glad for a little lady who wrote and wrote and wrote about the Bible and its principles, and never once tried to get a piece of paper calling her a “Dr.” or “Honorary Ph.D.” She didn’t need the title of Ph.D. because she knew all this world’s titles were contrary to the Lord’s will. They all began in pagan Babylon back in the days of Ham, Cush, and Nimrod. And they were all going to go away soon anyway.
And the Bible teaches against them and the educational system that provides them. “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?... Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1Cor. 1:20, 25-30).
Interesting it surely is, how the Bible’s own interpretation of Ezekiel, as it relates to the end of the great controversy, shows that his prophecies spoke of the final destruction at Judgment Day, after 1,000 years of saints going over the books, and wrestling and reconciling with the question why their loved ones were lost. Just go to Revelation 20 and Ezekiel’s reference is given after the 1,000 years in heaven. Yet, Dr. David Jeremiah and all his other doctor friends have the whole evangelical multitudes thinking all of that will take place before the millennium, in our generation.
Why is this so significant? Because it is leading millions to expect fine details that will never happen, while blinded to real prophetic fulfillment, confusing them and misleading them until it’s too late! And Satan will be wonderfully able to convince those people that what they are seeing is exactly what they’ve been told to expect! He can twist reality to conform to his “reality.” A little hoax, some falsified peace of mind, his appeals to the baser passions of man’s fallen nature found in modern religious music and worship, and we are quick to follow that sinister benefactor. “By peace [he] shall destroy many.” “He shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.”(Dan. 8:25;11:21).
He has led these false prophets to assist him in preparing the whole religious world for his own impersonation of Christ’s second coming. Our prophet, the true prophet, has forewarned us that Lucifer will make his appearance with his dazzling angelic brilliance after great upheavals have wreaked havoc on the earth. Dr. David Jeremiah speaks of some great battle of Armageddon between Israel and the Arab nations and Russia, which brings the whole world to bear in a World War III.
He hints that what we see in the world today is already leading up that that world-renowned battle. One of these days, a world leader who seems good and friendly, but who really is demonic, will rise to world dominion. But after 7 years of tribulation for the whole world who missed being sneaked away in the secret rapture, then “Jesus” will finally return to put an end to the trouble and tribulation, and “He” will destroy the Antichrist and his “false prophet.”
Then “Jesus” will reign on Earth establishing righteousness and bringing judgments on all the rebels of the world who wanted to destroy Israel.
One thing this scenario does is create prejudice and hatred for Islamic countries, branding them with divine disapproval. According to the doctor, those who hate Israel today will be the same nations who are judged and exterminated when Jesus finally comes.
Another thing the popular Left Behind scenario does is set up the mind of many people for the coming day when the entire world will desire to unite under the umbrella of the Church of Rome and its Sunday. At that time, the “rebels” will be those who hold the Law of God supreme, who have gained a love of truth, but who cannot submit to a law and authority of a man when it works at direct cross-purposes with God’s Law.
Listen to the words of his book, and situate yourself among the “rebels” if you know of Dr. Jeremiah’s misinterpretation of scripture and think you might be branded as a heretic by the Church of Rome.
In one short verse, Jude (verse 15) used the word ungodly four times. This repetition is not accidental. Jude was emphasizing the fact that when Christ comes the second time, His long-suffering patience will have run its course. He will come to impose judgment upon those who have defied Him, and that judgment will be massive. At this point the people on the earth will have rejected the ministry of the 144,000 preachers and the two witnesses that God sent to them for their salvation, just as the prophet Jonah was sent to the Ninevites. In His loving mercy, God endeavored to turn them away from their fatal rebellion. But unlike the Ninevites, the people in the last days will have hardened their hearts beyond repentance.
If you believe Sunday is the centralizing, unifying institution of Satan to sweep the whole world into spiritualism, and you see Satan landing with a retinue of other devils impersonating Christ and all heaven to rule the world, do you see that this period of time will bring the greatest tribulation for whose who are faithful to the Ten Commandments and who love the obedience of faith through Jesus?
The author further states,
Reclaiming the earth, however, is not merely a simple matter of Christ’s stepping in and planting His flag. Before the earth can be reclaimed, it must be cleansed. You wouldn’t move back into a house infested with rats without first exterminating and cleaning it up. That is what Christ must do before He reclaims the earth. All rebellion must be rooted out. He must avenge the damage done to His perfect creation by wiping the rebels from the face of the earth.
This sends a shiver down my spine because it speaks of the day when honest followers of Christ will be furiously hunted like wild animals. It speaks of extermination; it foretells of Inquisition and vigilante justice; and Satan supervising it all through his earthly counterpart, the Roman Papacy. It all lays so perfectly over the description written almost a century before the new rapture theme became popular, a description of the Time of Trouble, given to us in the book, The Great Controversy, pages 614-616,624-626,632,634.
When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God’s long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old.
A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and filled the land with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits. There are forces now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere.
Those who honor the law of God have been accused of bringing judgments upon the world, and they will be regarded as the cause of the fearful convulsions of nature and the strife and bloodshed among men that are filling the earth with woe. The power attending the last warning has enraged the wicked; their anger is kindled against all who have received the message, and Satan will excite to still greater intensity the spirit of hatred and persecution.
When God’s presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation, priests and people knew it not. Though under the control of Satan, and swayed by the most horrible and malignant passions, they still regarded themselves as the chosen of God. The ministration in the temple continued; sacrifices were offered upon its polluted altars, and daily the divine blessing was invoked upon a people guilty of the blood of God’s dear Son and seeking to slay His ministers and apostles. So when the irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pronounced and the destiny of the world has been forever fixed, the inhabitants of the earth will know it not. The forms of religion will be continued by a people from whom the Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn; and the satanic zeal with which the prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of his malignant designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for God.
As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. The same argument many centuries ago was brought against Christ by the “rulers of the people.” “It is expedient for us,” said the wily Caiaphas, “that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” John 11:50. This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death. Romanism in the Old World and apostate Protestantism in the New will pursue a similar course toward those who honor all the divine precept.
The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob’s trouble. “Thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. . . . All faces are turned into paleness. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:5-7.…
Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven. By these agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be Christ Himself, and claiming the title and worship which belong to the world’s Redeemer. They will perform wonderful miracles of healing and will profess to have revelations from heaven contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures.
As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1:13-15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air: “Christ has come! Christ has come!” The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give heed to these sorceries, saying: This is “the great power of God.” Acts 8:10.…
As the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom against commandment keepers shall withdraw the protection of government and abandon them to those who desire their destruction, the people of God will flee from the cities and villages and associate together in companies, dwelling in the most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge in the strongholds of the mountains. Like the Christians of the Piedmont valleys, they will make the high places of the earth their sanctuaries and will thank God for “the munitions of rocks.” Isaiah 33:16. But many of all nations and of all classes, high and low, rich and poor, black and white, will be cast into the most unjust and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days, bound in chains, shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, some apparently left to die of starvation in dark and loathsome dungeons. No human ear is open to hear their moans; no human hand is ready to lend them help.…
With earnest longing, God’s people await the tokens of their coming King. As the watchmen are accosted, “What of the night?” the answer is given unfalteringly, “‘The morning cometh, and also the night.’ Isaiah 21:11, 12. Light is gleaming upon the clouds above the mountaintops. Soon there will be a revealing of His glory. The Sun of Righteousness is about to shine forth. The morning and the night are both at hand--the opening of endless day to the righteous, the settling down of eternal night to the wicked.”
As the wrestling ones urge their petitions before God, the veil separating them from the unseen seems almost withdrawn….
Glorious will be the deliverance of those who have patiently waited for His coming and whose names are written in the book of life.
I just finished a book my mother sent me, What in the World Is Going On? authored by Dr. David Jeremiah. The book attempts to show how current events with the Arab nations’ desire to destroy Israel line up with Ezekiel’s ancient prophecies concerning the destruction of the surrounding nations of the Palestine of his day which had been so involved in defiling Israel’s obedience to God. Ezekiel said that all those nations would be destroyed—Gog and Magog and a host of smaller nations.
Mr. Jeremiah has basically echoed and repeated the 1970’s blockbuster, Hal Lindsay’s Late Great Planet Earth . What has really confused me is how he used 1Thess. 4:13-18 to prove a secret rapture. He glazes over the words, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” (vs. 16). They speak of an earth-shattering event; certainly not secretive or happening without, or even intending for it to be without, the world’s notice. “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. 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.” (Matt. 24:30,31). Yet, a huge radio audience is following this man and his biased Bible interpretation.
Often the author quotes from other men who believe the same falsehoods of last day events and, to embellish their believability, he calls them “Bible scholars” or appends their name with “Dr.” If you write a book geared to the popular notions of a certain religious subculture, and attend a Bible college that promotes the same material as the book you wrote, you can get your doctorate and be certified a person the world should look up to and listen to. Other “important” people who think the same way as you can refer to you in their book, while you refer to them in yours, and everyone thinks all these “important” and “smart” people have all the right answers.
But I’m glad for a little lady who wrote and wrote and wrote about the Bible and its principles, and never once tried to get a piece of paper calling her a “Dr.” or “Honorary Ph.D.” She didn’t need the title of Ph.D. because she knew all this world’s titles were contrary to the Lord’s will. They all began in pagan Babylon back in the days of Ham, Cush, and Nimrod. And they were all going to go away soon anyway.
And the Bible teaches against them and the educational system that provides them. “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?... Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” (1Cor. 1:20, 25-30).
Interesting it surely is, how the Bible’s own interpretation of Ezekiel, as it relates to the end of the great controversy, shows that his prophecies spoke of the final destruction at Judgment Day, after 1,000 years of saints going over the books, and wrestling and reconciling with the question why their loved ones were lost. Just go to Revelation 20 and Ezekiel’s reference is given after the 1,000 years in heaven. Yet, Dr. David Jeremiah and all his other doctor friends have the whole evangelical multitudes thinking all of that will take place before the millennium, in our generation.
Why is this so significant? Because it is leading millions to expect fine details that will never happen, while blinded to real prophetic fulfillment, confusing them and misleading them until it’s too late! And Satan will be wonderfully able to convince those people that what they are seeing is exactly what they’ve been told to expect! He can twist reality to conform to his “reality.” A little hoax, some falsified peace of mind, his appeals to the baser passions of man’s fallen nature found in modern religious music and worship, and we are quick to follow that sinister benefactor. “By peace [he] shall destroy many.” “He shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.”(Dan. 8:25;11:21).
He has led these false prophets to assist him in preparing the whole religious world for his own impersonation of Christ’s second coming. Our prophet, the true prophet, has forewarned us that Lucifer will make his appearance with his dazzling angelic brilliance after great upheavals have wreaked havoc on the earth. Dr. David Jeremiah speaks of some great battle of Armageddon between Israel and the Arab nations and Russia, which brings the whole world to bear in a World War III.
He hints that what we see in the world today is already leading up that that world-renowned battle. One of these days, a world leader who seems good and friendly, but who really is demonic, will rise to world dominion. But after 7 years of tribulation for the whole world who missed being sneaked away in the secret rapture, then “Jesus” will finally return to put an end to the trouble and tribulation, and “He” will destroy the Antichrist and his “false prophet.”
Then “Jesus” will reign on Earth establishing righteousness and bringing judgments on all the rebels of the world who wanted to destroy Israel.
One thing this scenario does is create prejudice and hatred for Islamic countries, branding them with divine disapproval. According to the doctor, those who hate Israel today will be the same nations who are judged and exterminated when Jesus finally comes.
Another thing the popular Left Behind scenario does is set up the mind of many people for the coming day when the entire world will desire to unite under the umbrella of the Church of Rome and its Sunday. At that time, the “rebels” will be those who hold the Law of God supreme, who have gained a love of truth, but who cannot submit to a law and authority of a man when it works at direct cross-purposes with God’s Law.
Listen to the words of his book, and situate yourself among the “rebels” if you know of Dr. Jeremiah’s misinterpretation of scripture and think you might be branded as a heretic by the Church of Rome.
In one short verse, Jude (verse 15) used the word ungodly four times. This repetition is not accidental. Jude was emphasizing the fact that when Christ comes the second time, His long-suffering patience will have run its course. He will come to impose judgment upon those who have defied Him, and that judgment will be massive. At this point the people on the earth will have rejected the ministry of the 144,000 preachers and the two witnesses that God sent to them for their salvation, just as the prophet Jonah was sent to the Ninevites. In His loving mercy, God endeavored to turn them away from their fatal rebellion. But unlike the Ninevites, the people in the last days will have hardened their hearts beyond repentance.
If you believe Sunday is the centralizing, unifying institution of Satan to sweep the whole world into spiritualism, and you see Satan landing with a retinue of other devils impersonating Christ and all heaven to rule the world, do you see that this period of time will bring the greatest tribulation for whose who are faithful to the Ten Commandments and who love the obedience of faith through Jesus?
The author further states,
Reclaiming the earth, however, is not merely a simple matter of Christ’s stepping in and planting His flag. Before the earth can be reclaimed, it must be cleansed. You wouldn’t move back into a house infested with rats without first exterminating and cleaning it up. That is what Christ must do before He reclaims the earth. All rebellion must be rooted out. He must avenge the damage done to His perfect creation by wiping the rebels from the face of the earth.
This sends a shiver down my spine because it speaks of the day when honest followers of Christ will be furiously hunted like wild animals. It speaks of extermination; it foretells of Inquisition and vigilante justice; and Satan supervising it all through his earthly counterpart, the Roman Papacy. It all lays so perfectly over the description written almost a century before the new rapture theme became popular, a description of the Time of Trouble, given to us in the book, The Great Controversy, pages 614-616,624-626,632,634.
When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God’s long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old.
A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and filled the land with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits. There are forces now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere.
Those who honor the law of God have been accused of bringing judgments upon the world, and they will be regarded as the cause of the fearful convulsions of nature and the strife and bloodshed among men that are filling the earth with woe. The power attending the last warning has enraged the wicked; their anger is kindled against all who have received the message, and Satan will excite to still greater intensity the spirit of hatred and persecution.
When God’s presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation, priests and people knew it not. Though under the control of Satan, and swayed by the most horrible and malignant passions, they still regarded themselves as the chosen of God. The ministration in the temple continued; sacrifices were offered upon its polluted altars, and daily the divine blessing was invoked upon a people guilty of the blood of God’s dear Son and seeking to slay His ministers and apostles. So when the irrevocable decision of the sanctuary has been pronounced and the destiny of the world has been forever fixed, the inhabitants of the earth will know it not. The forms of religion will be continued by a people from whom the Spirit of God has been finally withdrawn; and the satanic zeal with which the prince of evil will inspire them for the accomplishment of his malignant designs, will bear the semblance of zeal for God.
As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small minority to yield to the popular demand will make them objects of universal execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state ought not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. The same argument many centuries ago was brought against Christ by the “rulers of the people.” “It is expedient for us,” said the wily Caiaphas, “that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” John 11:50. This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment and giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death. Romanism in the Old World and apostate Protestantism in the New will pursue a similar course toward those who honor all the divine precept.
The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob’s trouble. “Thus saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. . . . All faces are turned into paleness. Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.” Jeremiah 30:5-7.…
Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons. The spirits of devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last struggle against the government of heaven. By these agencies, rulers and subjects will be alike deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be Christ Himself, and claiming the title and worship which belong to the world’s Redeemer. They will perform wonderful miracles of healing and will profess to have revelations from heaven contradicting the testimony of the Scriptures.
As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in the Revelation. Revelation 1:13-15. The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out upon the air: “Christ has come! Christ has come!” The people prostrate themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands and pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious, heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were deceived by Simon Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give heed to these sorceries, saying: This is “the great power of God.” Acts 8:10.…
As the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom against commandment keepers shall withdraw the protection of government and abandon them to those who desire their destruction, the people of God will flee from the cities and villages and associate together in companies, dwelling in the most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge in the strongholds of the mountains. Like the Christians of the Piedmont valleys, they will make the high places of the earth their sanctuaries and will thank God for “the munitions of rocks.” Isaiah 33:16. But many of all nations and of all classes, high and low, rich and poor, black and white, will be cast into the most unjust and cruel bondage. The beloved of God pass weary days, bound in chains, shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be slain, some apparently left to die of starvation in dark and loathsome dungeons. No human ear is open to hear their moans; no human hand is ready to lend them help.…
With earnest longing, God’s people await the tokens of their coming King. As the watchmen are accosted, “What of the night?” the answer is given unfalteringly, “‘The morning cometh, and also the night.’ Isaiah 21:11, 12. Light is gleaming upon the clouds above the mountaintops. Soon there will be a revealing of His glory. The Sun of Righteousness is about to shine forth. The morning and the night are both at hand--the opening of endless day to the righteous, the settling down of eternal night to the wicked.”
As the wrestling ones urge their petitions before God, the veil separating them from the unseen seems almost withdrawn….
Glorious will be the deliverance of those who have patiently waited for His coming and whose names are written in the book of life.
posted by David | 5:24 PM
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PRETRIB RAPTURE - HIDDEN FACTS
How can the “rapture” be “imminent”? Acts 3:21 says that Jesus “must” stay in heaven (He is now there with the Father) “until the times of restitution of all things” which includes, says Scofield, “the restoration of the theocracy under David’s Son” which obviously can’t begin before or during Antichrist’s reign. Since Jesus must personally participate in the rapture, and since He can’t even leave heaven before the tribulation ends, the rapture therefore cannot take place before the end of the trib! Paul explains the “times and the seasons” (I Thess. 5:1) of the catching up (I Thess. 4:17) as the “day of the Lord” (5:2) (which FOLLOWS the posttrib sun/moon darkening - Matt. 24:29; Acts 2:20) WHEN “sudden destruction” (5:3) of the wicked occurs! (If the wicked are destroyed before or during the trib, who would be left alive to serve the Antichrist?) Paul also ties the change-into-immortality “rapture” (I Cor. 15:52) to the posttrib end of “death” (15:54)! (Will death be ended before or during the trib?) If anyone wonders how long pretrib rapturism has been taught, he or she can Google “Pretrib Rapture Diehards.” Many are unaware that before 1830 all Christians had always viewed I Thess. 4’s “catching up” as an integral part of the final second coming to earth. In 1830 it was stretched forward and turned into a separate coming of Christ. To further strengthen their novel view, which the mass of evangelical scholars rejected throughout the 1800s, pretrib teachers in the early 1900s began to stretch forward the “day of the Lord” (what Darby and Scofield never dared to do) and hook it up with their already-stretched-forward “rapture.” Many leading evangelical scholars still weren’t convinced of pretrib, so pretrib teachers then began teaching that the “falling away” of II Thess. 2:3 is really a pretrib rapture (the same as saying that the “rapture” in 2:3 must happen before the “rapture” ["gathering"] in 2:1 can happen - the height of desperation!). Other Google articles throwing light on long-covered-up facts about the 178-year-old pretrib rapture view include “Famous Rapture Watchers,” “X-Raying Margaret,” “Revisers of Pretrib Rapture History,” “Thomas Ice (Bloopers),” “Wily Jeffrey,” “The Rapture Index (Mad Theology),” “America’s Pretrib Rapture Traffickers,” “Roots of (Warlike) Christian Zionism,” “Scholars Weigh My Research,” “Pretrib Hypocrisy,” “Pretrib Rapture Desperados” and “Deceiving and Being Deceived” - all by the author of the bestselling book “The Rapture Plot” which is available at Armageddon Books online. Just my two cents’ worth.
Todd
Thank you, Todd. What we are seeing is Paul's warning from 2 Thess. 2:9,10, "power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
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