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Prophe-Zine Issue 084
PropheZine #84
September 15, 1999
Bob Lally Publisher
Mimi Nila Senior Editor
Rick Woodcock Asst. Editor
Abraham George Asst. Editor
Lori Eldridge Asst. Editor
Bob Ippolito Asst. Editor
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ARTICLES
Jack Van Impe ......The Resurrection And The Rapture Of The Church
Grant Jeffrey.......LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF THE SECOND COMING
Sid Roth................ The Second Coming Of Messiah Jesus
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Hi Everyone!
It is difficult to believe that the year 2000 is almost here. Knowing that 6,000 years is almost complete makes me more excited to know that our Lord is soon to reappear. It is for this reason that we have 2 articles conserning the second coming and a third about the rapture.
We have a number of survey's on the site so when you have a chance please take a moment to complete them. http://www.prophezine.com/survey/
We have added a lot of material (30+ articles from The Trump of Maranatha Ministries) to the Prophecy Alliance (http://www.prophezine.com/alliance/) so be sure to stop by often. All of this information is included in the search engine (http://www.prophezine.com/search/search.shtml )
I have been adding additional audio messages to the site about 30 since the past issue. We hope to have Marriage Counseling Videos on the site before the end of the year. We will keep you posted.
Our Discussion Board is very active (http://www.prophezine.com/BBS/) with many excellent ongoing end time discussions. We have moved our prayer board due to the number of prayer requests (http://www.prophezine.com/prayerboard/).
Remember, tell your friends about PropheZine! (http://www.prophezine.com/)
Bob Lally
bob@prophezine.com
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LIVING IN THE SHADOW OF THE SECOND COMING
By Grant R. Jeffrey
You and I live in the most extraordinary generation since Jesus walked in Jerusalem two thousand years ago. Since 1948 more prophecy have been fulfilled than in all the generations leading up to our lifetime. When the nation of Israel was reborn at midnight May 15, 1948 the prophetic clock began ticking inexorably in the final countdown to Armageddon.
Israel's Covenant With Death
In the last few months the leaders of Israel and its deadly enemy, the PLO, signed a peace treaty that promised an end of the deadly warfare that has characterized the Middle East for four decades. Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin took the first tentative steps towards a possible peace treaty in the Middle East. Does this mean true peace is at hand? Or, will a false peace lead inevitably to the war prophesied by the ancient prophets of Israel?
The Arab governments and the PLO now offer Israel "peace for land." But what kind of "peace" are they offering? There are two concepts of "peace" in the Arab language. One represents true peace such as we enjoy between Canada and the U.S.A. where we genuinely wish our neighbors well. The other concept of peace is more like "an armed truce." During the crusades the leader of the defeated Muslim armies, Saladin, offered the English general, Richard the LionHeart, a peace treaty. However, two years later, after rebuilding his armies, Saladin broke his agreement and defeated the English armies. In Yasser Arafat's speeches to Arab audiences, he explained that he will offer Israel "the peace of Saladin." This proves that he is offering Israel "an armed truce" rather than true peace. The PLO have not relinquished their commitment to conquer all of the land of Israel. All Palestinian groups uses emblems, flags and letterhead that contains maps showing that all of Israel and the territories must be conquered from the Jews.
The PLO have often declared that their long-term strategy is to eliminate Israel in a plan called "liberation in phases." Since 1974 Yassir Arafat decreed that during the first phase of his "Phases Plan" the PLO will establish a beachhead in Gaza and the West Bank. In the second phase their armies will take over Jerusalem. In the final phase, they will build up their strength in Gaza and the West Bank to finally conquer all of Israel. On Sept. 1, 1993 Arafat confirmed to an Arab audience that his peace accord was part of his "Phases" plan.
During interviews many Arabs declare they will never be content until they recover the entire land of Israel from the Jews. Arafat stated in 1980: "Peace for us means the destruction of Israel." The Koran teaches that, if a land was ever occupied in the past by Muslims, then it must be recovered by Jihad, or holy war. Although Yasser Arafat has pledged to eliminate references to the destruction of Israel from the Charter of the Palestine Liberation Organization, it is significant that he has refused to call for a conference to do so. Furthermore, most of his Arab allies refuse to relinquish their goals to destroy the Jewish state.
The Coming War of Gog and Magog
However, the study of Bible prophecy provides some insight into the ongoing peace negotiations. Thousands of years ago the prophet Ezekiel (Chapter 38 & 39) predicted that a huge confederacy of Arab nations under Russian leadership will join together to attack Israel after the Jewish exiles have returned to their homeland. Despite massive changes in Russia the hardliners in the KGB, the army and military-industrial complex are trying to maintain their power. The prophet declared that a future military leader of this alliance will say "I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates."
For the last forty-five years Israel did not "dwell safely." Israel has remained an armed camp for decades surrounded by two hundred million Arabs. It is forced to spend more on defense than any other country. However, this recent peace accord may create a false sense of security and safety over the next few years that will allow Israel to relax its defenses and "dwell safely." This peace agreement may set the stage for the fulfillment of the great War of Gog and Magog prophesied by the prophet Ezekiel. This battle will be won by God's spectacular intervention with supernatural earthquakes and pestilence defeating the combined Russian and Arab armies. This miraculous deliverance by the hand of God will motivate Israel to rebuild the Third Temple and resume animal sacrifices as described by Daniel 9:24-27.
These awesome prophetic events will prepare the way for the fulfillment of the prophecies of the rise of Antichrist and his signing of a seven-year treaty with Israel. This will commence a sevenyear countdown to the return of Christ and His saints at the Battle of Armageddon to establish His millennial kingdom. These exciting events in the Middle East encourage us as Christians to live in constant expectation of the glorious Rapture of the Church to meet our Lord. Jesus said, "when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28). Yet we must live in a spiritual balance in these last days. Although He may come today He may also delay His return for a generation because our Lord "is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance"(2 Peter 3:9) We must live and witness to those around us as though the Rapture will occur tomorrow. Yet we must also plan and work as though we have a hundred years. His command is that we "Occupy till 1 come"(Luke 19:13).
The Strategic Importance of Territory
Israel requires military control of the Golan Heights, Gaza and thc West Bank in order to provide the strategic depth to defend itself against the overwhelming military force of its Arab enemies. Every military study in the last twenty five years has concluded that Israel cannot be defended by conventional forces and weapons if it loses military control over these vital territories. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff 192 study confirmed Israel could not give up the Golan, Gaza or the West Bank and survive an Arab invasion. Without the West Bank Israel will be less than nine miles wide at its centre near Tel Aviv where almost eighty percent of its population lives. In a future conflict enemy armies could cut Israel in two parts by attacking from the PLO controlled high ground of Judea and Samaria (WestBank). The Jewish state could be overrun in a matter of days.
In a future war Israel will be forced to resort to nuclear weapons when it finds its small diminished territory about to be overcome by enemy armies. The Israeli army calls this "the Samson Option" because it would destroy the Middle East, just as Samson brought down the temple on his enemies. Despite this grim reality the present Israeli government has agreed to relinquish these strategic areas. For the first time since its creation in 1948 Israel's conventional army and air force will not be able to successfully defend its vital territory and population from an armed invasion.
Setting the Stage for a Treaty with Antichrist
The United Nations and the Arab states continue to call for the elimination of Israel's nuclear weapons. The introduction of Iranian nuclear weapons and the growing possibility of Libya, Syria and Iraq joining the nuclear club has altered the strategic balance. It is difficult to see how a balance of nuclear terror could continue for very long between Israel and the Islamic states dedicated to its destruction. Plans to ban nuclear weapons from the Middle East may tempt a future Israeli government to agree to relinquish its nuclear option.
Israel realizes that an unstable Arab regime might be tempted to use their atomic warheads even though it would result in mutual assured destruction. In Islamic religious philosophy they would gain paradise if they died a devastating war to cleanse the "infidels" from Jerusalem. In a few years these events will set the stage for a superpower to guarantee Israel's security and borders. Several prophecies describe the revival of the Roman Empire in the end times to dominate Europe and the world as it did thousands of years ago in the days of Christ. The rise of the European Community is creating an economic and political superpower that is increasing its involvement in the Middle East.
The prophet Daniel wrote that a future Antichrist will arise in the last days to control the revived Roman Empire. Daniel predicted that "He shall confirm a covenant with many for one week." This verse indicates that this future European dictator will confirm a treaty to defend Israel for seven years. The signing of this future treaty will start the final seven-year countdown to Armageddon, the climactic battle when Jesus Christ will defeat the armies of the world to establish His kingdom forever. This interim peace agreement between the PLO and Israel may set the stage for the fulfillment of these tremendous prophecies leading to Christ's return in our generation.
While we rejoice at the prospects of a peace agreement in the Middle East we need to recognize that the ancient prophets warned that a false peace would set the stage for the momentous events that conclude with the Battle of Armageddon. Jeremiah (6:14) warned that in the last days men would say "Peace, peace! When there is no peace." Our world will not know real peace until Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace comes. In light of these facts it will be some time before true peace will exist between Israel and the Palestinians. According to the Bible, real peace will only come to the Middle East when Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, changes the hearts of both the Arabs and the Jews. Then both peoples will dwell as brothers in true peace forever under the rule of their Messiah.
Used with permission of Grant Jeffrey. Based on his book "APOCALYPSE - The Coming Judgment of the Nations" - Frontier Research publications Inc. Box 12, Station "U" Toronto, Ontario M8Z 5M4
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THE SECOND COMING OF MESSIAH JESUS
Sid Roth
As the end of the millennium approaches, fulfillment of Bible prophecy is rushing to a climax. You are among the few generations to witness the close of a millennium. You could be the generation to witness the second coming of Messiah Jesus!
We Are Instructed To Know The Time
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* Jesus said, "See, I have told you beforehand" (Matt. 24:25, NKJV).
* " yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a
thief in the night . . . But ye, brethren are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief" (I Thess. 5:2, 4)
* "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even
at the doors" (Matt. 24:33).
* Jesus clearly said no one would know the day or the hour of His return
(Matt. 25:13), but remember that 24 hours is a small slice of time. While some
knew of and understood his first coming, Jesus rebuked those that could not
"discern the signs of the times" (Matt. 16:3).
Israel, God's Time Clock
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Jesus taught that we could know the "times" by watching the nation of Israel. He prophesied that Jerusalem would be destroyed in A.D. 70 and the Jewish people were scattered among the nations. Israel was re-established in 1948. And after the Six-Day War, Jerusalem was recaptured from the Gentiles.
In His parable of the fig tree, Jesus said that this generation (the one that sees the signs) will certainly not pass away until all these things, including the return of Messiah, have happened (v.32).
120 - Year Warning Of Noah
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"And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man" (Luke 17:26)
In 1878, Noah Troyer, an Amish minister, became ill, lapsing into repeated periods of unconsciousness. During these periods, he stood and prophesied the same basic message 19 times. His message was that just as God gave the world 120 years to repent before the flood (Gen. 6:3), He was giving America the same 120 year warning. 1878 + 120 biblical (360-day) years = 1996.
Significantly, in 1878 the first Jewish villages in Palestine were established - Petah Tikvah in Judea and Rosh Pinnah in Galilee - the beginning of modern Israel. Additionally, respected prophecy scholar Grant R. Jeffrey believes 1878 signaled the end of the Gentile age and the beginning of the 120 year countdown. 1
Sir Isaac Newton And The Prophecy Of Daniel
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Sir Isaac Newton, one of the world's greatest geniuses and the 'father of modern science" was also a devout Christian and Bible Scholar. His later life was devoted to studying and writing about the book of Daniel.
Newton, who lived 300 years ago;, believed the Messiah's second coming would occur 49 years after a friendly kingdom would again issue a "commandment to build Jerusalem" (Newton's Prophecies of Daniel, reprinted by the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, 1991). 1 This belief was based upon his interpretation of Daniel 9:25. Most modern scholars add the two numbers of weeks given by Daniel. Instead, Newton believed the two numbers separately foretell both the first and second comings of Messiah by counting each from the going forth of the command to restore. Thus Daniel's 62 weeks of years, or 434 years, foretells Messiah's first coming and the seven weeks of years, or forty-nine years, foretells His second coming.
The United Nations, a friendly kingdom, issued the commandment in November of 1947 decreeing Israel's rebirth. Using Newton's formula, 1947 plus 49 years brings us to 1995 or 1996 (depending on whether a biblical 360-day calendar is used. Also, the Jewish calendar equivalent of 1996 begins with Rosh HaShana, 1995).
Early Jewish Writings And The Sabbath Principle
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The view frequently expressed in the Talmud is that the world as we know it would last only six thousand years. Tanna debe Eliyyahu teaches "the world is to exist for 6,000 years. In the first 2,000 years was desolation (no Torah, form Adam to Abraham .. ) [for] 2,000 years the Torah flourished and the next 2,000 years is the Messianic era.. . . "2 Since a thousand years to the Lord is as a day (Ps. 90:4; 2Pet. 3:8), some ancient and modern scholars see the coming of the seventh millennium shall be the millennial years of remission, that God alone may be exalted in that day" (Rabbi Kettina Gemara). 2
Early Christian Thought
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Early Christian writers, as well as the apostles and the early church, taught that at the end of 6,000 years of human history, the Messiah would return and reign for 1,000 years (referred to as the Millennium). Many church fathers and historians paralleled the rabbinical view stated above. As late as A.D. 1650, in "The Chronology of the Old and New Testament", Bishop Latimer calculated that the Millennium would begin in A.D. 1997, based on Jesus' birth in 4 B. C.
Other Biblical Evidence
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There are many biblical signs heralding the "last days' before the soon return of the Lord. Billy Graham has said that while some signs have appeared in the past, "this is the first time in human history that all the signs are converging. "2
Paul describes increased degeneracy in the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. Matt. 24:11,12 cites false prophets and increased lawlessness. Matthew 24:37 reveals these times to be "as in the days of Noah were", which were "corrupt" and "filled with violence" (Gen. 6:11).
Jesus also said there would be famines and earthquakes (Matt. 24:7). Since the middle of this century (when other signs began) there has been an astonishing increase in the frequency of earthquakes measuring above 6.0 on the Richter scale. By decades, this is the breakdown: 1880s (1), 1890s (1), 1900s (3), 1910's (2), 1920s (2), 1930s (5), 1940s(4), 1950s (9), 1960s (13), 1970s (46), 1980s (52)! In the 1990s we have had a number of extremely deadly quakes above 7.0 Richter, and the unusual June 1994 Bolivian quake with its record setting 400-mile deep 8.2 Richter felt in the U.S. and Canada.
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then the end shall come" (Matt. 24:14). Hundreds of missions organizations are rapidly closing on the goal of evangelizing the world by the year 2000. For example, Campus Crusade for Christ plans to fulfill the great Commission by December 31st, 2000.
Angel Messages And Supernatural Encounters
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* Twice during 1993, an angel appeared to Vincent Tan and said, concerning the Lord, " He is coming very, very soon, " then mysteriously disappeared. 1
* On November 20th, 1994, Larry Taylor was awakened at 1 a.m. with thepanoramic vision of Revelation unfolding before his eyes. Then the Lord spoke to him and said, "The tribulation is at the door."1
* In August 1992, David Grant had a spectacular salvation experience, after which he asked the Lord to take him to heaven. Instead the Lord spoke to him and said, "I want you to go back and get your family ready to meet Me. And go tell the world I am coming back for my children before the year 2000."
If you are not ready for His return and would like to receive Jesus as your Messiah, pray this prayer out loud and mean it to the best of your ability:
Dear God, please forgive me for every sin I have ever committed. I am sorry and, with your help, I turn from them. I believe Jesus died in my place for my sins. And by His wounds, I am forgiven. I make Jesus my Lord And ask Him to live inside of me. In the name of Jesus, Amen."
NOTE: The information was compiled from Sid Roth's interview with Jim Bramlett And two articles written by Mr. Bramlett: 1 "Did God reveal to Sir Isaac Newton a secret prophecy for this decade that has been confirmed by other events?" And 2 "Christ's Soon Return: The Overwhelming Evidence." We are not trying to set a date for the Messiah's return, but rather are presenting signs that indicate His return will be soon. Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are form the King James Version. Si Roth's interview with Jim Bramlett (C902) is available for $5 from Messianic Vision, P.O Box 1918 Brunswick, GA 31521 (912) 265-2500.
(Permission to copy and distribute the Mishbochah File1:13 is given by Sid Roth's The Messsianic Vision.)
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The Resurrection And The Rapture Of The Church
By Dr. Jack Van Impe
"And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not
Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. - I Corinthians 15:14-19
The Apostle Paul said it as well as it can be said. One cannot overstate the profound importance of the reality of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus to our faith as Christians. If Jesus had notrisen from the dead as the Bible states, then all who had and have fallen asleep (died in Christ) are perished and our hope for eternal life is gone. If Jesus had remained in the grave so would we - but praise God He is risen.
Think about what happened when Christ rose from the grave? What was left behind? All they found in that sepulcher was our Lord's grave clothes. What's the significance of that?
In I Corinthians 15:23, it says, Christ is the "firstfruits" of the Resurrection. The first fruits. Isn't that plain? Then in the text it explains that afterwards, or later, "they that are Christ's at his coming" will follow. It's there in God's Word. What it means is that since His clothes were left behind, ours will be also. Those that belong to Christ at the time of His coming will be bodily translated into heaven just as Jesus was - leaving behind the ragsof sin for new robes of righteousness.
When Jesus Christ comes to call us home at the Rapture, He will come exactly as He left. How did He leave? He left bodily into the clouds. Acts 1:9 says, "And when he (Jesus) had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go.'"
In other words, if I can prove that He went bodily, then I don't have to go any further to prove that He's coming back bodily. Why? Because the Bible says He's coming back exactly as He left. How did He leave? After spending three days in the grave, He rose and stood on the earth in His new body. In Luke 24:39, He says to some of His followers, "Behold, my hands and my feet. It is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." In verse 41, He says, "Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them."
This is Christ in His new resurrected body - a body that could be seen, a body that could be touched, a body that could partake of food. It's a picture of what we will have at the time of the Rapture. How quickly will it happen? "Behold, I show you a mystery," the Bible tells us in I Corinthians 15:51-54. "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible (the dead) must put on incorruption, and this mortal (the living) must put on immortality."
This is going to be a glorious event. We shall be changed to be like Jesus. The Psalmist said in chapter 17, verse 15: "I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness." In Philippians 3:21, Paul says that God will change our vile bodies - not leave them behind, change them - that they may be fashioned "like unto his glorious body." In I John 3:2, it says that when we see Jesus, we shall be like Him, "for we shall see him as he is."
Did you know that Jesus wasn't the first person to be "raptured" out of this earth? In fact, when the Rapture occurs, it will be the fourth one documented in the Bible. The first was Enoch in Genesis 5:24: And Enoch walked with God; and he was not; for God took him. In Hebrews 11:5, Paul adds, that Enoch was translated by faith so that he should not see death. He was "raptured" - caught up in the twinkling of an eye, without dying. The second documented "rapture" is Elijah in II Kings 2:11. Elijah was caught up by a whirlwind into heaven. He, too, never saw death, foreshadowing what we believers will experience on the day the Lord catches us up in the clouds. Then, of course, Jesus was "raptured" away in Acts 1:9: "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight."
When Elijah was caught up, angels and chariots of fire came to get him. I personally believe that, in a similar way, angelic hosts may come after those of us who ascend in the Rapture. Why? Because every believer - not just Elijah - has his own ministering angel. They could come to whisk us home in the twinkling of an eye. Luke 16:22 provides a precedent for us: "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom."
Is all this something that should frighten us? Excited, yes. Frightened, no. So many people today are facing the approach of the millennium with dread - with fear and foreboding. There is an anticipation - even in the secular media - that we may be nearing the end of the world. There is anxiety and hopelessness everywhere. The world seems to get just a bit uglier every day as crime increases and wars break out and immorality reigns.
This is not the way believers should feel - especially in this season when we are remembering what Jesus did for us on the cross of Calvary and how He victoriously defeated the last enemy, death, I Corinthians 15:26. What could be more exciting and encouraging than the idea that some of us will never die? In Titus 2:13, Paul calls the Rapture our "blessed hope." In I
Thessalonians 4:18, he says, "Comfort one another with these words." "Comfort one another," he says, not frighten one another.
I've got news for you. The world is not - I repeat, not - coming to an end. The world is not going away in the year 2000, nor even a thousand years after that. God has shown me something in the last year to change my mind concerning this subject. It is clear from scripture that the world will not even end after Christ's 1,000-year reign on earth. The world will never end. Isaiah 45:17 is unequivocal: It's a world without end. "Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen," Paul writes in Ephesians 3:21.
Skeptics will no doubt point to Matthew 24:3 which states: "As he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Let's recall that the New Testament was written in Greek. The Greek translation of that last world is "age," not "world." Once again, the world is not coming to an end. But this epoch, this age, is closing. And, yes, the advent of the year 2000 does have some significance. Why? Because it could conceivably be the ending of the age of grace and beginning of the millennial age when the King of kings and Lord of lords returns (compare Matthew 24:3 and Matthew 25:34 for proof).
Long before Christ was born, the Jewish rabbis taught a six-day theory about the future of the world. They believed that the world would face several eras lasting a total of 6,000 years, from Adam's creation until the Messiah would come. This theory was based, in part, on Psalm 90:4: "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday." Since God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, they reasoned, the world would go on for 6,000 years followed by a 1,000-year millennial "rest" period presided over by the Lord himself.
Think about this. From the creation of Adam until the birth of Christ a period of 4,000 years - or four days passed. From Christ's time on earth until now represents approximately another 2,000 years - or two days. This total of six days is just one more reason to believe that Jesus could return very, very soon.
Six-day periods, followed by remarkable transitions, have been important throughout scripture. Look at Matthew 17:1, for example. "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And he was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light." Jesus was giving them a preview of what it would be like when He comes back as King of Kings and Lord of Lords as described in Revelation 19:16. When they came down from that mountain, He told them not to tell anyone of these things until after His Resurrection.
Not only did the ancient Jewish rabbis teach this six-day theory, but so did the church during the first 300 years of Christendom. The church leaders based their belief on II Peter 3:8: "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." St. Victorinus, the bishop of Petah, wrote a commentary on the book of Revelation in 270 AD. He said he saw another great and wonderful sign - "Seven angels having the last seven plagues, for in them is completed the indignation of God. And these shall be in the last time when the church shall have gone out of the midst." In other words, St. Victorinus was talking about the Rapture! This teaching is not a present day innovation but a doctrinal statement dating back 17 centuries to St. Victorinus and 20 centuries to Jesus and Paul.
In the 16th century there were those expressing assurance of the Rapture. Hugh Latimer, burned at the stake for his faith in 1555, said: "It may come in my days, old as I am, or in my children's days, the saints shall be taken up to meet Christ in the air and so shall come down with him again." Joseph Medde, the great 16thcentury literalist understood I Thessalonians 4:13-18 to teach the catching up of the saints and even used the word "rapture." So this is not some new idea.
However, understand this: The Rapture is not taught in Matthew, Mark and Luke. You can find it twice in the Gospel of John. Any other time you are reading about Christ's return in the gospels, it is not referring to the Rapture. Instead, these are references to the second phase of Christ's return - when He physically comes back to earth to rule over it after a seven-year Tribulation period and it's called, in theological circles, "the Revelation" or the revealing of Christ upon earth.
Where are the two Rapture texts in the Gospel of John? John 14:1-3: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." This is not His coming to the earth. This is the point at which He receives us unto Himself at the great Rapture - the snatching away - to be with Him in heaven as the seven years of torment occur on earth. The second reference is in John 11:25,26. I quoted this passage for years but didn't really understand it. Christ said: "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"
Jesus is contrasting those who experience death and live again ("for the dead in Christ rise first," I Thessalonians 4:16) with those who never experience death (because "we which are alive and remain" are caught up without dying, I Thessalonians 4:17).
It's a fact that God always spares His own from judgment. When the horrendous worldwide flood came in Noah's day, Noah told those who were prepared to COME INTO the ark, Genesis 7:7. When the judgment fell on Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19:14, the angels told Lot and his family to COME OUT of the city. Notice this trilogy: In Noah's day, it was COME IN. In Lot's day it was COME OUT. In our day, it will be COME UP, Revelation 4:1.
But, of course, as always, only a select group will be saved - rescued from the worst period in human history. During the Tribulation period that follows the Rapture, all hell is going to break loose on planet earth. It will be a furious time because the hindering power of the Holy Spirit will be temporarily removed. With all the Bible tells us about how we should live on earth, there are almost no instructions about how to prepare for this post-Rapture period. Our newest video, "Left Behind: The Final Warning!," can help. More than anything else, it can serve as a survival manual for those who fail to come to Christ before He comes for His Church and Bride. Make sure all of your loved ones - saved and unsaved, get a copy of this survival video.
How bad will things get? In Revelation 9:18, it indicates that a third of mankind will be killed by fire, smoke and brimstone. That, my friends, is nothing less than a first century way of explaining all-out thermonuclear warfare. Imagine. There are nearly 6 billion people on the earth today. If one-third are killed, that's a holocaust representing 2 billion lives. But that's just the beginning. In Revelation 6:8, the rider on the fourth horse brings with him a worldwide plague of disease that causes another fourth of humanity to perish. That's another billion. So half the human race will be annihilated in this relatively brief period. This pictures the judgment predicted by Jesus in Matthew 24:41 and 42.
As terrible as that fate sounds, there is still hope for those left behind. I used to believe and teach that if one hadn't accepted the Lord before the Rapture, all was lost. I was wrong. As long as one is alive there's hope. Joel chapter 2 and Acts chapter 2 describe the calamitous tribulation period. In the midst of all the carnage and destruction Joel 2:32 and Acts 2:21 states: "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
There's always hope in Jesus. That's what we need to reflect upon, not only during this victorious resurrection season, but all year long.
The above material is but a small sampling of the information taken from my new video,
LEFT BEHIND: THE FINAL WARNING.
For information on Jack's books and videos please write or phone
Dr. Jack Van Impe
PO Box 7004
Troy, MI 48007
313-852-2244
If and when you do call JVI Ministries, please tell them that you read about it in PropheZine.
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