Category: pre-tribulation rapture

Posted in egypt, end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-tribulation rapture

America’s sad decline, prophecy’s joyous rise

Posted on by elizabethprata

America’s trajectory is downward. It took a long time, but our decline is speeding up like a snowball down the Alps. Recent examples of the United States’ declining influence are many.

Remember the contretemps between North Korea and South Korea? The US attempted to mediate with them and with China but we got nowhere. North Korea is in our face with declarations of having nukes and we wring our hands. They never would have said that if they knew we would do something about it. China launches a missile barely thirty miles from our mainland and we do nothing. In a response that wasn’t supposed to be a response, we hold military exercises but our missile launch utterly fails. The Army misplaces a highly deadly nerve gas, and there are rumors the biological agent rinderpest has gone missing from Ft. Detrick. And all that was just the last 4 months. We’re done, militarily.

Our economic influence is not faring any better. The G8 and the G20 showed us that. China, the BRIC nations, they pay no attention to us. They murmur about the falling dollar. China does more than murmur. They are a restless landlord grumbling about raising the rent, or worse, calling in their security deposit. Iran starts its own oil bourse. Latin America laughs. Hell, we’re falling apart economically so fast that Cuba may actually outlast us.

America’s diplomatic influence is declining rapidly too. Wikileaks showed the world not only our diplomatic failures, but the way we acted prior to the Wikileaks’ release was far worse. We looked like buffoons. We failed so utterly in the Israeli peace talks everyone acknowledges they are effectively dead. Our response to Egypt tonight with the Obama speech was also a non-event.

This month two pro-American governments were toppled (Tunisia & Lebanon), four pro-American regimes are under siege (Egypt, Jordan, Yemen and Algeria). The end of Hosni Mubarak’s regime in Egypt portends fundamental change throughout the Middle East and the end of the American era in the region.

I’m not down on America. I think our nation is magnificent. It IS a city on a hill. But our atheism, child murder, immorality and worship of pagan gods has chipped away at our core until now, there is barely anything left to stand us up on that hill. We are rolling down it. I believe it must be so. God raised us up and for a long time our influence was so strong in the world. We had the moral clout to speak because we believed in God. He gave us the strength to put moral actions to those words. No? Don’t think so? I have one word for you: D-Day. A generation of brave men got off a boat and waded to shore amid artillery fire to save Europe and the Jews from annihilation. Nowadays men would just twitter about it, then go have a latte.

We stopped believing in God and we no longer have the moral clout to speak. Our influence must be removed. We do not find our nation mentioned in the bible in the end times at all. And why should we be? We were great, but only for a short time, and then we squandered it. Here are some people who are far more eloquent than I who say the same:

Why Washington can’t stop the revolution in Egypt

Five questions about Egypt

Here is a great essay on the Egypt situation from Joel Rosenberg:
Where do we go from here?

and also this one from Joel:

Inside the Egyptian revolution: violence is rising because the Muslim Brotherhood is co-opting the movement: An analysis of the rapidly changing dynamic

Rapture Ready founder and editor Todd Strandberg wrote this week in his weekly opinion essay: “One thing I’ve noticed about Bible prophecy is that end-time progression tends move like earthquake fault lines. Following years of inactivity, everything suddenly moves all at once. Since we have never had such a high level of civil unrest in the Arab world, it’s important for us to remain watchful.”

I’ve noticed that about prophecy too. Although I certainly have not been writing about biblical and prophetic events as long as Mr Strandberg has (20 years) not as long as Hal Linsdey and John Hagee, (50 years), I believe that anyone who reads the bible on a constant basis notices the pattern. Prophecy is given long in advance. Events always move inexorably toward their inevitable conclusion, but as the time nears, the events speed up, and then suddenly they are fulfilled. All I can say is, keep looking up!
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Posted in end time, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

My left-behind "Rapture Sheet"

Posted on by elizabethprata

Hello all,

I finished a project I’ve been working on all day. Like all Christians, we feel a burden for the lost. That is why we bring up Jesus to people even though we know some people will get aggravated or even reject us. Well, a few months ago the Holy Spirit gave me a burden for doing a certain project. You see, we will be raptured soon. I don’t know exactly when, no one does. (Matthew 24:36 says “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”) But Paul said we who believe and are watching will not be surprised, “But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-6). Both Paul and Matthew were speaking of the last moments of the Tribulation but the time period is the same, the rapture will come as the punctuation of the end of the Church age and as the opening bell for the Tribulation. “The Day” is the 7 year period of judgment on the world.

In finishing John MacArthur’s book “Because the End is Near: An explanation of the Book of Revelation” the judgments on the unbelieving world were brought graphically home to me. You do not want your worst enemy to go through that. The rapture will happen at some point and since most people are at work 8 hours/day or longer, there is a one-in-three chance it will occur while we are at work. Imagine your colleagues’ confusion, fear, grief. Some who know about Jesus but never repented will know what happened. Others will have no clue. They are the children of darkness Paul mentioned, who are asleep. How will they know what had happened? How will they know what to do?

You know those axes stationed on the wall at intervals in a case that says “In case of fire, break glass”?

I am following the burden from the Spirit to make a “Rapture Sheet”. It is a one-page explanation of what happened, why it happened, and what the left behind people should do. It is one page, front and back. I am putting it inside a new bible, placing post-it notes on the salient bible verses, and wrapping in saran wrap with the title that says, “In case of rapture, open here”. What more important fire extinguisher is there than the bible? The altered photo below is only a pun, of course I am not making glass cases. I plan to put several wrapped bibles at work, places where people sit at a common desk and use the phone. Maybe you have a break room or a lunch room or a common area to just quietly place a bible with its explanatory sheet inside, where it will be seen and the existence of it will sink in over the next months. When the moment comes maybe someone will say, “Hey! I saw a bible over there once, let’s go get it!”

I understand that it’s likely that when we all disappear, that people’s first reaction will likely be to run for their car and go home, or to the day care to check on their kids. I know that. I also know that in many work places there are not even any Christians employed there, or so few that no one will miss us at first. But that doesn’t matter. For a few dollars of new bibles and a few hours of prayer to let the right Spirit-led verses come to mind, and a few hours of writing, I can put bibles with rapture explanation in a place where it might help someone at the most critical moment in all of human history. Here is the “Rapture Sheet” below. Tell me what you think. Is it clear? Uncomplicated enough, but direct? If you like it, please feel free to copy it for yourself. Or, pray to the Spirit who will lead you to verses He knows people in your place of employment need.
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Where did they go?

If you are reading this, then it means that the rapture occurred. The rapture is a term for the moment Jesus calls to His believers, resurrecting the dead in Christ and bringing the already living believers up to heaven to be with Him. Here it is in scripture:

1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
“For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-52
“Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.”

Why did it happen?

We were living in what was called the Church Age, AKA the New Testament times. In Old Testament times the people lived under the Law (The Ten Commandments.) The Old Testament folks had faith, but the faith was that their Messiah would come. Jesus the Messiah had not come yet. But in order to demonstrate that faith in the future promise of Messiah’s coming, and to be cleansed from their sins, they had to kill an animal twice a day and sacrifice it. Why? The blood is the life. (Deuteronomy 12:23). “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.” (Leviticus 17:11). Then Jesus came, but the Jews didn’t recognize Him as Messiah, or those that did, rejected Him. When Jesus died, was resurrected and ascended into heaven, everything changed. Believers no longer needed to sacrifice because Jesus was the sacrifice. He shed His OWN blood for us! As a result of the Jews’ rejection of Him, Jesus has spent the last 2000 years building His church from Gentile peoples (Romans 11:25, Acts 15:14-17). Now the Church Age is over, He is returning His attention to the Jews, and now it is Judgment time for all of those left behind.
Why weren’t we taken?

You might wonder about people whom you thought were Christians who are still here. Not everyone who professed Jesus was truly saved. We cannot tell who is saved and who is not, but Jesus knows who is who. He took the true believers. Intellectual assent is not saving faith. Tradition is not saving faith. Church-going habit is not saving faith. Only true believers were taken. A true believer is described in John 6:29: “Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”God sent Jesus to die for your sins, as the eternal sacrifice to satisfy His justice. Sin must be punished, because it is a crime. Jesus took the punishment and paid the debt for all sins forever. As a result, you would have been pardoned- IF you had believed! But you chose to reject Jesus’ pardon, during the now concluded Church Age, or you added to belief in Him with a man-made rules or tradition. So, you are here now. John 11:25 “Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” I hope the rapture convinced you to believe it!

What will happen next?

Unfortunately, you are in for the roughest time that there ever was and ever will be. Jesus said “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. (Matthew 24: 21-22). He is saying that if the Tribulation went on longer than 7 years surely EVERY person would die! The Tribulation is when Jesus will pour out His anger against sin and sinners. Christians do not have to endure it because we took the pardon and believed in Him before the rapture, or before they died. So Jesus removed us from this terrible time. Jesus will send increasingly terrible judgments on the earth to punish sinners. Starting now, ¼ of earth’s population will die in war and famines and diseases. Then another 1/3 will die, equaling half the globe’s population before the Tribulation is even half over! Your life is at extreme risk. If you die before asking Jesus forgiveness of your sins and becoming a believer in Him, you will go to hell forever. Sin is real. God’s judgment of sin is real. Satan is real. Hell is real. The coming Antichrist is real. Everything in the bible is real. Not any other book. Not the Mormon bible. Not the Catholic bible. Only the Christian BIBLE is truth!

What must I do to be saved?
You must repent. The jailer at Philippi saw the marvelous joy in Paul and Silas, even while they were chained in the lowest jail, and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you & your household.” (Acts 16:30-31). You have to believe that your sins prevented you from being raptured and will prevent you from going to heaven when you die. Sins are your wrong thoughts, words, and deeds against God. Everyone has wrong thoughts, words, deeds, so that means everyone sins! You need to be sorry for them, and have faith in Jesus. King David was sorry, in Psalm 38:4 he said: “My guilt has overwhelmed me like a burden too heavy to bear.” Do you feel guilty for your sins? You should. They are crimes against a Holy God. Do as David did: “I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.” (Psalm 38:18). In so doing you acknowledge that Jesus is the only person who CAN forgive them, having lived a sinless life and shedding His blood as the pure sacrifice for YOU. Once you do this, He will forgive you and then He will send the Holy Spirit to you to help you understand the bible. If you do not confess and come to faith in Jesus, the Bible will never make sense. And worse, you will be at risk from the lying delusion coming upon the whole earth.
What if I wait and see how things go before I confess and repent?

Don’t do it! A great delusion will come over the whole world and those who are not saved in faith by Jesus’ blood will believe the delusion. The bible says, “The coming of the lawless one (ANTICHRIST) is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12)The Good News is, Jesus still loves you and wants you! If you repent and ask Him to forgive, He will. You’ll still go through the horrendous times, but when you die you will go to heaven and live forever with Jesus. Your first step is to repent & believe, and you will be saved from hell. Also, you will then understand the bible. The bible tells you what to do and what will happen next. The most important thing to remember is, JESUS LOVES YOU! Don’t mess it up again. Repent now!!!!!!!

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Posted in end of days. prophecy, end time, lying signs and wonders, pre-tribulation rapture, ufo jerusalem

UFO hovers over Temple Mount in Jerusalem: UPDATED

Posted on by elizabethprata

UPDATE: A third video has been posted, from tourists who were MUCH closer to the Temple Mount. They are American and you can hear their comments in English. Go here to view this 47 second video
 ———————————
Well, this is something. On January 28 2011, a video of an unidentified flying object was posted on youtube. The object was seen by two young men at the promenade of Armon Hantziv in Jerusalem, overlooking the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. In the beginning of the video, the men notice a large and bright light hovering low in the sky. An added caption with arrow points to where the Temple Mount is on the night cityscape. The object is obviously pulsing and rotating, so it is immediately identifiable as NOT a planet.

23 seconds into the video, the object plunges straight down at an enormously fast rate, coming to a halt just above the lights of the city. There, it hovers for 20 seconds. At second 52, a white light flashes out of the object like a magnesium flare (remember those from science lab?) and the men exclaim loudly. The object immediately shoots straight back into the air and disappears. In its place, however, are twinkling red lights, about half a dozen. The camera focuses in on those and then the video ends. Watch below:

A day later, a second video appeared. This video is a closer view, though still panoramic, but shakier. In it, you can clearly see though, that as the object descends over the Temple Mount, it is rotating. As the object flashes its light, it is less bright than in video #1 but it is shown to be faster as it hurtles upward. The red twinkling lights are the same.

Let’s think about this logically. First, there is always the distinct possibility that it is a hoax. There’s always that. The world is full of liars who do this kind of thing for kicks. If it is not a hoax, then I have to believe that the Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock are inside the most protected air space on the planet. Further, I do not believe that if it was a human aircraft, it would not have been allowed to hover for the length of time that it did. I also do not believe that we have manufactured air craft that can hover, dive straight down, and dive upward in straight trajectories at the speeds this object evidenced.

Setting aside that it may be a hoax, and taking out of the discussion that it was a human aircraft allowed to hover and dive unhindered over the most contested piece of real estate on the planet, then what was it?

I’ve long contended that UFO’s when unexplained (ergo, not a weather balloon, swamp gas, light pillar etc) are demonic angels. The tribulation is a time of lying wonders. The antichrist will be inhabited by satan (who is an angel, remember) and seemingly resurrect the antichrist from his fatal head wound. Now that’s a lying wonder. If angels can do that, what else can they do? Appearing for a few seconds as a diving light would be child’s play.

Angels are powerful. They exist outside our dimension. They enter and leave our dimension at will. They sometimes look like humans, and sometimes they look like angels. In Revelation angels are mighty workers for God and against God. In one example, Rev 19:17 shows us an angel standing in the sun, speaking in a voice that can be heard on earth. In another example, Revelation 10:11 depicts an angel descending from heaven, the Mighty Angel, who stands with one foot on the sea and one foot on the land. Revelation 7:1 describes 4 angels standing at the 4 compass points of the earth, holding back the wind so that it did not blow on the earth. Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light so it is no surprise that his servants masquerade thus, also. (2 Corinthians 11:14-15). Finally, we are told that “The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders,” (2 Thessalonians 2:9)

I believe that these lights are those prophesied lying signs and wonders perpetrated by satan’s servants, the demonic angels. If this particular UFO turns out to be a hoax, it does not alter the fact that by the time of the tribulation, there will be lying signs and wonders so powerful that almost the whole world will be astonished and follow the beast. (Rev 13:3)
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Posted in end of days. prophecy, pre-tribulation rapture

More on the rapture will be pre-tribulation, from John MacArthur

Posted on by elizabethprata

I am reading a wonderful book by bible teacher and pastor John MacArthur. MacArthur is a strict bible preacher, preaching the Word verse by verse. He has been a pastor for 50 years, and has preached from the pulpit at Grace Community Church for 40 years. He is the only preacher I can find who has preached the entire New Testament verse by verse. He is just concluding that wonderful work now.

MacArthur has also written many books and commentaries. The book of his that I’m finishing is called “Because the time is near: John MacArthur explains the Book of Revelation.” It is understandable to the mind and uplifting to the spirit. As we near the chapter of Revelation that depicts the second coming, MacArthur takes a moment to explain why the rapture is different from the second coming, and why it will happen prior to the Tribulation:

“The second coming must be distinguished from the rapture of the church prior to the seven-year tribulation. At the rapture, Christ comes for His saints (John 14:3; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). At the second coming, He comes with them. At the rapture, Christ meets His saints in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17) to take them to heaven (John 14:2-3). At the second coming, He descends with them from heaven to the earth. (Zechariah 14:4).”

“Some attempt to harmonize those two distinctions by arguing that believers meet Christ in the air, then descend to earth to with Him. By so doing, they essentially make the rapture and the second coming the same event. But that view trivializes the rapture. There is not a hint of judgment in passages describing the rapture (John 14:1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, but judgment plays a prominent role in the second coming (Revelation 19:11; Revelation 15, Revelation 17-21.) The dramatic signs accompanying the second coming, such as the darkening of the sun and the moon, and the disruption of the “powers of the heavens” (Matthew 24: 29-30), are not mentioned in the passages describing the rapture. In its description of the second coming, Revelation 19 does not mention a rapture of living believers (1 Corinthians 15:51-52), or a resurrection of dead believers (1 Thessalonians 4:16).”

I hope this educates you, and encourages you.
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Posted in end time, gog magog, hezbollah, lebanon, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

Lebanon falling into the abyss

Posted on by elizabethprata

Washington Post reports today:
“BEIRUT – The Shiite armed movement Hezbollah cobbled together enough support Monday to appoint Lebanon’s next prime minister, effectively ending nearly six years of rule by Western-backed leaders and prompting the United States to warn it could cut off aid to this key Arab nation. The apparent strength of Hezbollah marked an important political achievement for the group. It also signaled what appeared to be a significant shift for the country, away from alliances with the United States and Saudi Arabia, and toward Iran and Syria, which support Hezbollah.”

The result of this is that Lebanon is suffering a “Day of Rage” as supporters of deposed Prime Minister Hariri protest. According to Lebanon’s Naharnet News:
“Protests turned violent on Tuesday in Lebanon’s Sunni bastion of Tripoli as frenzied demonstrators wrecked an Al-Jazeera van while protesting the likely appointment of Hizbullah-backed premier. Angry demonstrators set upon the vehicle, smashing the windshield and tearing down the satellite dish before setting it on fire, AFP reporters witnessed. Demonstrators also torched the mopeds of other media outlets considered close to the Iranian-backed Shiite group Hizbullah. Local television reported similar incidents in the capital Beirut but security officials could not confirm the reports. The incidents came as Sunni supporters of outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri held a “day of rage” to protest the likely appointment of Hizbullah-backed Sunni tycoon Najib Mikati to head the next government.”

Hezbollah is a terrorist group. It is backed by terrorist nations Syria and Iran. Both Syria and Iran, as well as Lebanon figure into the end times. Psalm 83 predicts an alliance of nations abutting Israel to attack. Sometime in the last days also, Damascus is destroyed completely (Isaiah 17:1.) Damascus is Syria’s capital. And in Ezekiel 38-39, Iran leads a confederation of nations to attack Israel. This second attack includes nations of Turkey, Russia, Armenia, the northern tier of African nations, probably Comoros Islands. It does not include the nations of Psalm 83, so it is interpreted that Psalm 83 happens first and Israel decimates them enough so that they cannot participate in the Gog Magog battle of Ez 38-39. We may be looking at the run-up to Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17:1 now.

Analysis by knowledgeable parties covering the Lebanon situation say Israel’s response has been to monitor closely and send a recon team of Israeli commandos into Lebanon for a brief period last night. It is not known if or when Israel will respond, because they are staying totally tight lipped on military intentions. There was an emergency security meeting last Sunday from which no details were leaked or discussed.

Gunfire has been reported from Kola, Lebanon, and Al-arabiya reports: heavy clashed between protesters and Army in central Beirut. The vote has been completed and the pro-Hezbollah candidate wins for Prime Minister, ensuring a Hezbollah led pro-Syria, Iran-proxy government. This is basically the worst case scenario for Israel and by extension Lebanon since they will be the literal battleground.  It looks like the pro western Mar14 now have no role in government unless there is a sudden deal. As of this moment,  there has been a massive upsurge of violence and protest once the result of the vote became known.

With the collapse of Western-led peace talks with Israel and the “Palestinians”, with the collapse of Western influenced peace talks with Iran over their nuclear program, and with the collapse of the tenuous Western-supported government in Lebanon, the tide is turning heavily against Israel and tensions are giving sway to violence and military conflicts. A UK official speaking anonymously said this morning that he thinks Lebanon is falling into the abyss. Pray!
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Posted in end of days, end time, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy, yellowstone

Yellowstone Has Bulged as Magma Pocket Swells

Posted on by elizabethprata

Good morning all! I have to run, headed to work, but I saw this and wanted to get it out there ASAP. Yellowstone is the site of a super-volcano. I wrote about a link between prophecy, volcanic activity, and scripture here. My, oh, my it seeks the birth pangs are increasing up to warp speed. Please, PLEASE get right with Jesus!

January 19, 2011:
Yellowstone Has Bulged as Magma Pocket Swells
Yellowstone National Park’s supervolcano just took a deep “breath,” causing miles of ground to rise dramatically, scientists report. The simmering volcano has produced major eruptions—each a thousand times more powerful than Mount St. Helens’s 1980 eruption—three times in the past 2.1 million years. Yellowstone’s caldera, which covers a 25- by 37-mile (40- by 60-kilometer) swath of Wyoming, is an ancient crater formed after the last big blast, some 640,000 years ago. Since then, about 30 smaller eruptions—including one as recent as 70,000 years ago—have filled the caldera with lava and ash, producing the relatively flat landscape we see today. But beginning in 2004, scientists saw the ground above the caldera rise upward at rates as high as 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) a year. (Related: “Yellowstone Is Rising on Swollen ‘Supervolcano.'”) The rate slowed between 2007 and 2010 to a centimeter a year or less. Still, since the start of the swelling, ground levels over the volcano have been raised by as much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) in places. “It’s an extraordinary uplift, because it covers such a large area and the rates are so high,” said the University of Utah’s Bob Smith, a longtime expert in Yellowstone’s volcanism.”

The article goes on to say that experts don’t think there is any cause for alarm. They also say that such dramatic uplifts do not presage an eruption, and also that it is a natural part of Yellowstone’s cycle. You can decide…there’s more at link from NatGeo.

I wrote about Yellowstone as a volcano here, “Yellowstone shown to have plume on the rise“
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Posted in end of days, end time, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy

More on why the rapture will happen pre-tribulation

Posted on by elizabethprata

Christians are being ‘turned’ by the promotion of the false doctrine that believers will go through all or part of the tribulation break my heart, because their angst is so unnecessary. Here is a short biblical response to that insidious, joy-stealing stance.

Now, some people say that the rapture itself is a made-up doctrine. I deleted a comment yesterday that was dismissive of the rapture, the commenter said “rapture isn’t even in the bible.” Well, bible isn’t in the bible either. And the bible isn’t a figment of my imagination, is it? Neither is the rapture. The word comes from the clearest explanation of this soon-event, 1 Corinthians 15:52, and in 1 Thess 4:14-17. The popular English word for the catching-up event is “rapture”, a word derived, as are so many English words, from the Latin language. In fact, when St. Jerome, who lived from approximately 347 to 419 AD, penned the Latin Vulgate translation of scripture, he used the verb rapiemur in I Thessalonians 4:17 as follows: “Deinde nos qui vivimus qui relinquimur simul rapiemur [suddenly caught up] cum illis in nubibus obviam Domino in aera et sic semper cum Domino erimus. I The 4:17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be suddenly caught up [rapiemur].”

“In the Greek translations of the bible, the verb harpazo is used a total of 17 times in the New Testament in a variety of ways, with several referring to the sudden nonconsensual seizure of human beings. The purpose of the above presentation of both the Greek and Latin translation of this verse is to stress that language should not be a barrier to understanding any concept that is established in scripture. Whether a particular English word is or is not found in the bible is not important. What is important is whether the concept is found. The original language in which the text was written reveals that the concept of the sudden catching up is valid.” source

That taken care of, we can move to the bible and ask the people who claim the rapture won’t happen before the tribulation several questions. As with any position taken of a biblical doctrine, it is important to ask the person to show scriptures that support their stance. In other words, make them prove it.

The pre-tribulation rapture is the only stance that is consistent with scripture. Believing anything else raises more questions than they answer. Like these:

1. Since the Tribulation is to punish sin (Dan 9:24), but God said that our sins are wiped clean (Acts 3:19), not remembered (Heb 8:12), and we are free from accusation (Col 1:22) why, then are we being punished?

2. The tribulation is a time of His wrath (Rev 6:17), so how do you reconcile that He said the church will not be enduring His wrath? (1 Thess 5:9)

3. If our salvation can be lost in the Tribulation, and it can, (Matt. 24:13 / Rev 14:12) how do you reconcile that God said not even the devil can snatch Church-age believers out of His hand? (John 10:29).

4. In post-rapture time, believers must offer sacrifices to demonstrate their faith, follow His commands, and attend the Feast of Tabernacles. (Rev. 14:12; Ez 40-46; and Zechariah 14:16-19). Since God is not the author of confusion (Jer 29:11; 1 Corinthians 14:33) then do post-rapture believers follow the Old Covenant or the New? Do they sacrifice or do they not sacrifice?

5. If as when the wrath begins with the opening of the seals, and at the 6th seal it’s asked “For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” (Rev 6:16) then why are believers told that”Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”?

No, the only answer is that the Church age is a unique time in history. The Old Covenant was paused at the ascension of Jesus, not done away with. It was paused with 7 years to go. During that time, God has been building His church, “Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name.” (Acts 15:17). And “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.” When that full number is reached and we are out of the way, “just as it is written: ‘After this I will return And will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; “(Acts 15:16). After what? After taking a people for himself. He will return His attention to Israel, their hardening removed and the punishment to begin, then the rebuilding of David

Take comfort in all these things, brethren. It seems with the news of each passing day that we are closer to hearing the trumpet, and soon we will gather at His feet.
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Posted in end of days, end time, pre-tribulation rapture, prophecy, tares

Mystery of dying wheat in Oregon

Posted on by elizabethprata

There is an interesting story out of Oregon today:
Investigators baffled as wheat fields wither
Mysterious yellowing affects 40,000 acres of Eastern Oregon; new problem feared

“The Oregon Department of Agriculture and Oregon State University are investigating the yellowing of upward of 40,000 acres of wheat in Umatilla and Morrow counties. So far, the cause is a mystery, and researchers do not know if the problems in the two counties are related. In early November, Umatilla County growers noticed wheat fields turning yellow and dying, OSU Extension soil scientist Don Wysocki said. Sixteen fields from three to 10 miles northwest of Pendleton were affected, Wysocki said. They are “more or less but not completely contiguous,” he said. Not every field in the area was affected. The area was predominately planted to soft white Clearfield variety ORCF-102, but other varieties were also affected, Wysocki said. “There’s probably more than one thing going on in these particular fields, like in any field,” he said.”

“OSU Morrow County Extension associate professor Larry Lutcher said 30,000 to 40,000 acres of wheat in his county have plants with yellow or purple tips. The discoloration spreads inward and downward on the leaf. In some cases, plants are completely desiccated and will not recover. The symptoms have been observed in many fields in the county, Lutcher said, but do not appear tied to any particular location. “Most of the symptoms in Morrow County are unlike anything I have ever seen,” Lutcher said.” [emphasis mine. more at link above]

It is interesting in light of what is going on with wheat around the world. It is interesting in light of what prophecy says about wheat. Finally, it is interesting in terms of the allegory and symbolism of harvest used so often in the bible. First, here is what is happening with wheat around the world.

1. Ug99 is a wheat rust disease that was discovered in Uganda (Ug) in 1999. The stem, black or cereal rusts are caused by the fungus Puccinia graminis and are a significant disease affecting cereal crops. An epidemic of stem rust on wheat caused by race Ug99 is currently spreading across Africa, Asia and most recently into Middle East and is causing major concern due to the large numbers of people dependent on wheat for sustenance. The strain was named after the country where it was identified (Uganda) and the year of its discovery (1999). It spread to Kenya, then Ethiopia, Sudan and Yemen, and is becoming more virulent as it spreads. Scientists are working on breeding strains of wheat that are resistant to UG99. It is virulent to the great majority of wheat varieties. Unlike other rusts, which only partially affect crop yields, UG99 can bring 100% crop loss. Up to 80% yield losses were recently recorded in Kenya.

However, that genetic work seems to be failing. “Four new mutations of  Ug99, a strain of a deadly wheat pathogen known as stem rust, have overcome existing sources of genetic resistance developed to safeguard the world’s wheat crop. Leading wheat experts from Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, who are in St. Petersburg, Russia for a global wheat event organized by the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, said the evolving pathogen may pose an even greater threat to global wheat production than the original Ug99.” That was from Science Daily, May 2010. So the wheat is being killed all over the world and there is nothing we have yet been able to do about it.

2. The Oregon wheat failure is interesting in light of prophecy. Wheat figures into end time prophecy quite starkly. In the Seal Third Judgment (Black Horse) it is said, “When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”Wheat will be in such short supply, a person will have to spend his entire day’s wages just to get enough to feed him, never mind the family. Barely will also be in short supply. The Black Horse is famine, which will affect all the people on the earth, except the very rich.

3. The Oregon wheat failure is interesting in light of the bible’s use of harvest and reaping. One example of the judgment God brings is the following from Joel 1:10-11- “The fields are ruined, the ground is dried up; the grain is destroyed, the new wine is dried up, the oil fails. Despair, you farmers, wail, you vine growers; grieve for the wheat and the barley, because the harvest of the field is destroyed…” Matthew Henry says about that verse, “Let the husbandmen and vine-dressers lament, v. 11. Let them be ashamed of the care and pains they have taken about their vineyards, for it will be all labour lost, and they shall gain no advantage by it; they shall see the fruit of their labour eaten up before their eyes, and shall not be able to save any of it. Note, Those who labour only for the meat that perishes will, sooner or later, be ashamed of their labour. The vine-dressers will then express their extreme grief by howling, when they see their vineyards stripped of leaves and fruit, and the vines withered, so that nothing is to be had or hoped for from them, wherewith they might pay their rent and maintain their families. The destruction is particularly described here: The field is laid waste (v. 10); all is consumed that is produced; the land mourns; the ground has a melancholy aspect, and looks ruefully; all the inhabitants of the land are in tears for what they have lost…”

A less direct and a more symbolic use of wheat and harvest in the bible is in Matthew 13:30 parable of the wheat and the tares. Read it in its entirely in Matthew 13:24-30. “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” (v. 30; KJV) This parable represents the present and future state of the church of Christ’s gospel; His care of it, the devil’s hatred against it, the mixture there is in it of good and bad, and the separation between them in the other world.

The LORD looks at the saved sheep as wheat, at the lost sheep as tares, and judgment as harvest time. (Rev 14:14). I think that it is very interesting that the wheat died in Oregon. It is dying elsewhere due to Ug99, it is dying in OR due to who knows why, and it is dying in places like Australia and Russia because of ‘natural’ disasters like floods and heat, respectively. The wheat is dying. It is dying in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. It is dying in Australia, Russia, and America. The wheat is dying, and soon and very soon, it will cost you everything to even obtain a fistful. Hunger is coming, and then the harvest. Are you ready?

I’m ready, because I know I will escape all these things. I will be raptured to Jesus when He calls us (read here) and I will be dining with Him at a wedding banquet while those who refused His offer of salvation by His grace will perish from famine on earth. If you ask Jesus to forgive your sins, and make Him LORD of your life, worthy to be obeyed and followed, you, too, will dine with the King. Or, you can choose to be harvested like chaff on the last day. As always, it is up to you.
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Posted in economic shock, end of days. prophecy, end time, pre-tribulation rapture

World ‘unable to handle any future shocks’

Posted on by elizabethprata

If as the Davos Summit people say, the world is ‘unable to handle any future shocks‘ then they are in for another huge shock: things will get worse. A lot worse. The world will be buffeted so heavily in every realm (economic, financial, production, emotional, spiritual, governmental) that the world itself will crack apart in the end. (Isaiah 24:20). But before all that, let’s see what the Davos/World Economic Summit people actually said:

“The ability of governments to respond to future shocks is at “critically low levels” after the battering of the credit crisis, according to a report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), the organiser of the Davos summit of political and business leaders. Its annual risk assessment gives warning that the unprecedented peacetime debts racked up by governments as they fought to restore growth have left the global economy in a precarious position. … Economists say there are many pressing issues to discuss, and highlighted long-term fiscal problems in the developed world as chief among them. “Current fiscal policies are unsustainable in most industrialised economies,” said Daniel Hofmann, chief economist at Zurich Financial Services. “In the absence of far-reaching structural corrections, there will be a high risk of sovereign defaults.”

‘Sovereign defaults’ is another name for ‘nations going belly-up.’ So it seems that the Economic Summit people are saying we can no longer absorb economic shocks.

Source

We know that by the time the middle of the tribulation rolls around the world is economically struggling. The economy is not only impacted when housing and credit goes bust, like it did in 2008, but also when natural disasters happen. The cost is huge for municipalities and nations struggling to recover when floods wipe away whole communities, earthquakes flatten whole sections of the earth, snow covers deeply, infrastructure is broken. Trying to re-build all of that while the events are still ongoing means that many towns, cities, and countries will go broke. They already are. See here, here, here, here…

So by the point mentioned in the Revelation chapter, the antichrist and the false prophet have come up with an idea to rectify the situation by taking control of the world and the economy, since the whole world follows him anyway (Rev 13:3). He institutes a mark, upon which the false prophet causes all, great and small, to take, otherwise they may not buy nor sell. In other words, to accept this mark is to accept that the antichrist is your god, and because of your assent, he will allow you to participate in the global economy.

In order for the global economy to be co-opted by one man, it must have somehow become broken. That break-up is happening now and began in October of 2008 with the first ‘too big to fail’ crashes. Many will argue that the crash began in the late 90’s at the credit and housing bubble, still others argue it began at 1913 when the bankers slyly created the Federal Reserve, but suffice to say, it really ramped up and manifested in September-October 2008.

The Davos people focus on the economy being impacted by “the possibility of water, energy and food shortages, and the rise of the “illegal economy”. It estimated trade in illicit goods, including drugs and guns, was worth $1.3 trillion in 2009, and said organised crime and official corruption kept countries trapped in poverty” and also currency issues. The hidden costs to the economy of continual natural disasters should also be counted. Let’s start in Australia, where biblical level flooding is taking its toll on, well, just about everything.

Source: crops inundated in Rockhampton Australia.

Way back on January 3, the Queensland State Treasurer said then that the cost to infrastructure in that state alone would be 1 billion dollars. The flooding has continued. It has affected mining in a big way. Coking coal costs, a kind of coal used in making steel and which Australia exports 14 million tonnes annually, will be removed from the market completely. Steelmakers will be severely affected, with steel prices potentially surging 30-40%. The floods in Australia have also affected farming. Millions of acres of farmland are destroyed. The farming disaster zone is the size of  Egypt. Just this week, it is reported that food prices are surging. Tomato prices alone rose 20% in one week, and are predicted to go higher next week. Queensland is simply “stunned” as this AP video reports. The Global Post calls Brisbane a “war zone” with destroyed infrastructure on a mass scale. How will they pay for rebuilding all that? The Davos Economic people said we can’t absorb any more economic shock, and I believe that, yet more shocks to the economic system continue.

Australia certainly isn’t the only nation to be staggering under economic woes, unable to absorb more shocks to their system. Brazil is enduring terrible flooding today. The successive blizzards in the entire half of the US have a cost, too. Overtime for plowers. Lost revenue from shut businesses. Losses in the airline industry. In Massachusetts, the snow cleanup costs “won’t be pretty” said the Governor.

Source

Constant disasters have a cost not only emotionally but also economically. We are constantly wiped out and are constantly spending money to get back to the level we were before. At some point the money will run out. That is what the Davos people were saying. There is only so much employment to go around though, given our population, at least in the US. At an Economic Forum in Washington, DC this week, president and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce Thomas J. Donohue said “we must create 1.2 million jobs a year just to absorb the new entrants into our workforce.” It’s not going to happen. And with successive disasters that hinder any and all growth, it becomes apparent that attempting to do so is a Sisyphean enterprise. Sisyphus was the guy in ancient times according to myth who was condemned by the ‘gods’ to eternally push a rock up a hill, only to have it roll down just as he got to the top.

The only activity that makes sense and has an ultimate fruitful purpose is to accept that you are a sinner, repent and claim Jesus’ forgiveness of them, and become one of His children. Everything you do after that will have an eternal goodness, purpose, and point to it. You can choose to be stuck on earth and continually dig out like Sisyphus,

only to have more snow immediately drop on you. Or more floods. Or another earthquake. If you feel like you can’t take any more shocks, then turn to Jesus and let HIM absorb the shocks for you!
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Posted in bird die off, end time. prophecy, pole shift, pre-tribulation rapture

British Geo Survey says southern pole shift is happening; more birds die-off

Posted on by elizabethprata

The British Geological Survey is establishing a station in South Georgia (Antarctic). Why is BGS re-establishing a magnetic observatory on South Georgia? “The South Georgia observatory will plug a significant gap in the global network of magnetic observatories. In particular South Georgia observatory will allow better monitoring of the South Atlantic Anomaly and of changes occurring deep within the Earth.”

South Atlantic Anomaly? What is the South Atlantic Anomaly? “The Earth’s magnetic field, generated deep within the planet, is a shield against particle radiation from space. In the South Atlantic this shield is much weaker than elsewhere across the globe and radiation from space therefore penetrates deeper into the atmosphere. This region is known as the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) and the radiation in the SAA is a known hazard to satellites, spacecraft and high-altitude aircraft.”

Why do we care about the SAA? “The South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) is known to be growing in extent and spreading westwards from South Africa, as the Earth’s internal magnetic field rapidly weakens in this region.”

So what does that have to do with anything?

“This may be early evidence of a forthcoming reversal in the direction of the Earth’s internal magnetic field.”

POLE SHIFT. British Geo Survey believes pole shift is happening NOW.

“We do not know in detail precisely what occurs during such reversals, including the changes observed in the magnetic field and the time a reversal takes to complete. However these factors are important in knowing where the radiation risk may be increased and how the atmosphere might respond. Earth’s magnetic field has had many highs, lows and reversals in its past. The last reversal was around 800,000 years ago. So the Earth is known to be able to re-generate its field and has done so during human pre-history.”

I will show you one possible vivid example of what happens to the earth during a pole shift. Read Revelation 6:12-14 below. To continue:

 In a post I published on January 5, I noted that the North Magnetic Pole is shifting position quite rapidly. A recent Scientific American article asked “Why is the North magnetic pole racing toward Siberia?” with the following excerpt:

“The North Magnetic Pole (NMP) drifts from year to year as geophysical processes within Earth change. For more than 150 years after Ross’s measurement its movement was gradual, generally less than 15 kilometers per year. But then, in the 1990s, it picked up speed in a big way, bolting north–northwest into the Arctic Ocean at more than 55 kilometers per year. If it keeps going it could pass the geographic north pole in a decade or so and carry on toward Siberia. But why?”‘

The shift is so rapid and dramatic I noted in that previous post, that the Tampa International Airport shut down its main runway so they could re-paint the degree numbers for landing airplane pilots to follow. They were off by several degrees and causing problems. Now the  British Geological Survey says that the south magnetic pole is also shifting at a rapid pace. A magnetic reversal in progress? is the title of their article about it.

I also posed the question in that essay that the recent bird die-offs may have something to do with pole shift because birds use the magnetic field to orient and navigate. Links are in that article.

Today, another large and unexplained bird die-off occurred in Sonoma County, southern California–
Mystery Bird Die-Off In Sonoma County
“Days after massive bird die-offs in the south, Sonoma County officials Tuesday had a mystery of their own as more than 100 bird carcasses were discovered near Geyserville.  California Highway Patrol Officer Jon Sloat said the birds were discovered on to Independence Lane at about 2:30 p.m. Saturday.  The California Department of Fish and Game was notified and a local warden responded. He took several of the birds away to be identified and tested by a biologist, Sloat told the San Rosa Press Democrat.  The birds all appeared to be the same species – small in size with brown and black feathers.”

Also today, from CBS Chicago, a Major, Bizarre Fish Die-Off Along Lakefront
“A bizarre scene is evolving on the Chicago lakefront, with Canada geese and mallard ducks gulping down dead or dying gizzard shad.  A major die-off of what appears to be the 2010 class is happening in Chicago harbors. Thousands, perhaps far more than that, of dead gizzard shad in the 3- to 5-inch range are frozen in the ice of Chicago harbors or floating around in open patches of water.”

In Revelation, massive earth-changes occur, and quickly. “I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.” (Rev 6:12-14).

The verse in Revelation sounds like a 10-magnitude mega-quake. Although the USGS assures us that while magnitude 10 quakes can theoretically can happen, they won’t. I find it amusing that on the one hand the USGS says that quakes are something that are outside of the realm of humans to stop or make happen, on the other hand they say with all confidence that a 10-quake won’t occur.

The day after Christmas 2004, an earthquake and tsunami ripped through the Indonesian ocean and lands. With a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3, it is the third largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph. That earthquake caused islands to appear. “Five years ago this past December 26 one of the largest earthquakes on record ripped through the eastern Indian Ocean. The tsunami that followed caused epic devastation and human suffering, but the quake’s influence on the landscape was even more profound. Islands rose from the sea after the megaquake

And Revelation promises that there will be a quake so large is affects the sky, land, seas, and mountains. Islands disappear. And the verse is within just the first set of judgments- the Seals. Trumpets and Bowls come after that. It gets WORSE. Do you really want to be here?

The birth pangs now are so frequent and intense I am shocked at just today’s headlines: Today Krakatau volcano started erupting, causing tens of thousands to run for their lives, a tsunami wall of water 26′ high inundated Australia’s third largest city (Brisbane) and killing hundreds, a crippling snowstorm pounded the entire southern USA and is on its way up north to do the same, a bomb was discovered at a Florida Walgreens, a missile launcher was found in an Escondido (CA) dumpster… I could go on here, but the situation in the world economically, politically, naturally, and militarily is precarious. The warnings are about to come to an end. His rapture is soon to occur and then the judgment. Come with us!

Repent of your sins and ask Jesus to forgive them. Make Him your Lord and Savior. Live for HIM, and not yourself, and you will be granted entry into His eternal kingdom. It will be a time of rejoicing, love, and pure worship that is so sweet you wonder how you ever got along without Him. Refusing to do so puts you at extreme risk. And the final alternative is too awful to contemplate.

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