I'll tell you who came up with this seven year theory in my next article, but first, as I stated in part I, I am not an "End Times" scholar, however, I am a teacher of the gospel and have been for many years. During this time, I have noticed and discovered many things, one of which is that, what the majority of believers have been taught and believe about many of the "End Times" prophecies is in many ways different from what the Bible actually says. If religious leaders of Jesus' day misunderstood the Old Testament prophecies predicting His arrival, couldn't religious leaders today do the same?
Take for example that for the last three centuries, believers and non-believers alike, have been taught that true believers will be raptured up before a seven-year tribulation, and true believers will escape the "tribulation." Really...?
Some say that God loves us too much to allow true believers to go through the tribulation. "Does He love us any more than He would believers after-the-rapture?" Steve Wohlberg.
Throughout history, God's people have always gone through periods of suffering.
- Jesus Himself suffered on the cross for you and me.
- All the disciples of Jesus suffered much.
- Thousands of early Christians were burned to death, torn to shreds by wild dogs and tortured. That's just for starters, See "Foxe's Christian Martyrs of the world".
- How about the Christians today living in China and the Middle East, whose places of worship have been burned to the ground and where believes are imprisoned and put to death.
Yet there are those who say that God wouldn't allow believers to go through the tribulation. Some still say that this is not "The Tribulation". The problem with this, is that there is no special tribulation that God has set aside for a certain group of people. Once again, what the majority of believers have been taught and believe about many of the "End
Times" prophecies is in many ways different from what the Bible actually
says.
The question now becomes, what does the Bible actually say about tribulation, and what does it mean?
If you referenced tribulation in the Strong's Concordance, it simply describes what believers suffer during our walk with The Lord.
Examples:
Examples:
- John 16:33, In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
- Acts 14:22, we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
- 2 Thessalonian 1:4, So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure.
- Jesus told His church in Smyrna, " I know thy works, and tribulation...", Revelation 2:9
This is just a small example. Since a large number of scriptures in the Bible deal with tribulation, and refer to what you and I go through as believers today, why would the word of God shift to teaching that "the tribulation" is something that believers will not go through? What I'm saying is, christians have endured tribulation since Jesus left this earth.
In my book , Clever Lies and Assumptions, I stated that one thing the Lord promised us under this new covenant of grace, is tribulation. In other words, distress, afflictions, suffering, oppression, persecution, trials, life's issues. Welcome to "The Tribulation."
In my book , Clever Lies and Assumptions, I stated that one thing the Lord promised us under this new covenant of grace, is tribulation. In other words, distress, afflictions, suffering, oppression, persecution, trials, life's issues. Welcome to "The Tribulation."
So, there you have it. The "seven year tribulation" is just a theory, a speculative interpretation of two little words found in Daniel 9:27. Those two words are "one week".
In
the mid 1800's, there was a man, a pastor, evangelist, lawyer and
theologian who was so influential in the Christian Church that by the early 1900's, his ideas
about the chronological order of the rapture, changed the truth about the rapture. Much of what we
have been taught about the “rapture” is based on an idea of this one man,
many years ago. This man was so influential that his theory, which has
now become the dominate thinking of many Christian denominations today, was and has been
adopted by many of today's well known "End Time" preachers. It was the basis of the book series and movie, "Left Behind", and injected
into Cyrus Scofield’s legendary Scofield Reference Bible.
This one man single handedly changed the chronological order of events concerning the rapture.
Who was this man, and why would he do such a thing? Better yet, why have many in the "Church" gone along with it?
Up Next: End Time Schemes, Part III: The Source of the End Time Schemes
See also: End Time Schemes Part I: The Rapture
No comments:
Post a Comment