Why I Believe In Pre-Trib Rapture
by Peggy McIlveene (2/26/08)
Below is an email I received from a sister in Yahshua. My
response to her follows.
Hi Peggy, I wanted to share scripture with you concerning the so called rapture of the church.
There is ONLY two comings of Jesus. The second coming is found in Matt 24:
29 and 30. Read all Matt 24 to keep it in context.
The rapture teaches THREE comings of Jesus. NO where is all the bible (KJV) is there a secret coming of Jesus.
Please read the scripture from cover to cover to get the full gospel of Jesus.
I searched for years to find the rapture in the bible and after going through the bible almost 98 times now it still is not there. IF confusion comes in remember that confusion IS NOT from God but it comes from Satan.
Please do not listen to ANY human as we all err. BUT if you will trust God and His Word you will see truth as God wants you to see it.
Just wanted to share a thought with you about the rapture.
Another scripture that you must read is 2 Thess 2: 3. This MUST happen BEFORE Jesus comes back. Now if the rapture teaches that Jesus CAN come back at any time then this scripture should be tore out of the bible. Not that tearing the verse out of the bible will change what God says, again I am trying to get your attention concerning the truth of what God says verses what man says will happen.
Pretty gutsy that we would think we are better than the Believers who were persecuted and killed for their belief in Christ Jesus.
Just happened to get your e mail hope you do not mind me
sharing some truth with you.
Secure in Christ,
____________
Hi, ____________!
I’ve no problem with you sharing your beliefs with me in
the least, and hope you don’t mind me giving you mine.
Below are verses I firmly believe in my heart are verses
which discuss the Great Hope of the Christian... the pre-Trib Rapture of the
Church. No, you won’t actually find the word “Rapture” in the bible.
The term comes from the Latin verb raptare, and the Greek word harpazo,
both meaning "to be caught up" or "to be snatched up."
You also won’t find the word “Bible” in the Bible, but that
doesn’t mean the Bible isn’t the Truth.
I pray these Scriptures speak to your heart as they always have to mine!
And it won’t be a “secret” to those of us who are watching… watching for
what? The Antichrist? Not me, I’m watching for my Savior! Incidentally, for
those who claim that the idea of the Rapture began with Margaret McDonald in the
1800's, the Old Testament Zechariah and Isaiah verses below discuss the Rapture
of true believers, when the Church was still a "mystery"!
Your dead will live; their
corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, for
your dew is as the dew of the dawn, and the earth will give birth to the
departed spirits. Come, my people, enter into your rooms and close your
doors behind you; hide for a little while until indignation runs its course.
For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place to
punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth
will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer cover her slain. (Isaiah 26:19-21) [Compare
this verse to: Therefore there is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… (Romans 8:1)]
The righteous man perishes,
and no man takes it to heart; and devout men are taken away, while no one understands for the
righteous man is taken away from evil, he enters into peace; they rest in
their beds, each one who walked in his upright way. Isaiah 57:1-2 [Taken away WHERE?]
Seek the Lord, all you
humble of the earth who have carried out His ordinances; seek righteousness,
seek humility. Perhaps
you will be hidden in the day of the Lord's anger. (Zephaniah 2:3)
"Be on guard, so that
your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the
worries of life, and that
day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those
who dwell on the face of all the earth. "But keep on the alert
at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that
are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke
21:34-36) [If we’re in the middle of
the Tribulation, and asteroids are hitting the earth, Magnitude 10 earthquakes,
100 lb. hailstones are falling on us, etc., how is “that day” going to come
on us like a trap???]
Much more then, having now
been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (Romans 5:9) [Notice
that the above Scripture is referring to God’s wrath.
However, He tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:9 that: "For
God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through
our Lord Jesus Christ.”]
...and to wait for His Son
from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who
rescues us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:10) [It
doesn’t get much clearer than that.]
For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.
(1 Thessalonians 4:14) [Are we going to
meet Him hurriedly in the air, tell Him hello, jump on our white horses, and
come back to the earth with Him, all of us landing with Him on the Mount of
Olives when His feet touch there??? And his feet
shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on
the east… (Zech. 14:4)]
'Because you have kept the
word of My perseverance, I
also will keep you from the hour of
testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those
who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:10) [Notice Luke 21:34-36 that I addressed above about “for
it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth”.
Pre-Trib Rapture suggests a "known
time" and an "unknown time", in that we are told we cannot know
the day and the hour of Christ's Second Coming. However, the Bible gives
us clear indications that there are two separate phases of His "Second
Coming", due to the fact that His "physical" Second Coming will
occur exactly so many days, so many months, so many years, after a certain
event(s), as shown in the Scriptures below.
·
Revelation 11:3 (1,260 days)
·
Revelation 12:6 (1,260 days)
·
Daniel 12:11 (1,290 days)
·
Revelation 11:2 (42 months)
·
Revelation 13:5 (42 months)
·
Revelation 12:14 (3½ years –
time, times, and half a time)
·
Daniel 7:25 (3½ years – time,
times, and half a time)
·
Daniel 9:27 (One week – of 7
years… Daniel’s 70th Week)
As far as it goes, the Church has ALWAYS
had “tribulation” and “persecution”.
But why do you think Yahshua would choose this particular generation to
go through the absolute horrors of “the Tribulation”? How lucky would those
who have already died in Christ be to be able to “escape” the Great
Tribulation… God’s wrath on an unbelieving world, of which we are NOT a part
of. There have also always been those who escaped His wrath throughout time.
Look at Enoch and Elijah… they were taken from this world without
seeing death BEFORE the great flood. He
put Noah and his family on the ark to keep them safe during His judgment because
His anger wasn’t directed toward Noah, whom He considered just and righteous
(though he was only a sinful human like we are). His purpose for the flood was
to punish unrighteousness. It was
the same reason He judged Sodom & Gomorrah, but removed Lot and his family
first. In fact, the angel told Lot he had to come with him right
then, because he (the angel) couldn’t exact God’s judgment on S&G until
Lot was taken to safety.
As for 2 Thessalonians 2:3, I DO believe
that right before the Church departs, the AC will be revealed… he will be the
one who signs the “peace” covenant with Israel. And as for the “falling
away”, it’s definitely occurred, and is getting worse by the day.
The “falling away” being the falling away from basic truths.
Anyway, GF, if you are right, I’ll be
with Him soon enough, and if I am right, I’ll be with Him 7 years sooner!
J
Thanks for telling me what you believe to be the truth… I appreciate
your concern.
Secure
in Christ,
Peggy