The "R" Word

The "R" word.

One quick introductory post on my rapture positon. This subject always stirs up great controversy and passion on any forum or blog it is discussed. I don't want controversy, but I do want to put out there where I stand.

I am in the "pre-trib" camp and have been since I was saved. I have seen all the arguments against it, and all I can say is, unless He convicts me differently through His word, I don't have any plans to jump ship.

That being said, I don't think any of us have every piece of the puzzle and we may all be wrong in how we think things are going to go down.  One blogtalk radio host put it this way in a recent show.

"I think the BIble is intentionally vague on the issue. When you really look at the issue each and every positon on the rapture whether it be pretrib, midtrib, posttrib or prewrath, they all can support their viewpoint from Scripture, from some example in scripture."

Minister Dante Fortson The Omega Hour: King Wells-Angelic Deception

Also from another one of my favorite sites it this short video. I really like the way he describes his thoughts on the rapture:










That is pretty much what I think.....I believe it does have a sort of "spiritual  padlock" to keep the enemy from knowing exactly what God's plan is in this regard.

And there is precedence for this.

God has in the past hid his plans for the purpose of keeping His purpose secret until the time He chose to reveal it.

For example, Paul says:

1Cor2
 7But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

 8Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The Lord had to be crucified, but they truly do not know what they were doing. The plan was kept hidden until the plan of the cross was completed. 

Additionally, in Arnold Fruchtenbaum's Jesus Was A Jew, he explains how the view of Messiah was (and probably still is for unbelieving Israel) a mystery with a sort of spiritual cloud over it:

"Anyone who sets himself to the task of seeking to know what the Old Testament has to say about the coming of the Messiah soon finds himself involved with a seeming paradox. At times one even seems to be faced with an outright contradiction.........For centuries past, during the formulation of the Talmud, our rabbis made serious studies of messianic prophecies. They came up with this conclusion: The prophets spoke of  two different Messiahs."

Jesus was a Jew p23

So, those who saw two "different " Messiahs were right, but not in the way they had imagined. We can see in hindsight that it was to be two different advents of Jesus.  I think the rapture event will be very much like that. It will be crystal clear in the rear-view mirror.

All that to say this: I will be writing about the Rapture of the Church here probably with some frequency and perhaps even posting links to date speculation theories and the like. I find it to be a good thing to be always ready and I am waiting for His return, now, today, next year or  fifty years from now. When the two witnesses show up in Jerusalem and if we're still not out of here I will be the first to admit I was wrong. When the antichrist's goons start knocking on doors, I will, if need be and with God's grace, give my life to glorify Him.   Whether pre or mid or post I don't think anyone can be absolutely sure. But for now, I will mostly be speculating on the pretribulational side of things.



MARANATHA!