absolutely!
and the verses about the entire world being covered, impossible until modern times. Israel being remade - miraculously in a single day, false Prophet and “another religion” becoming the largest (Islam), and much more!
...but respectfully, i think ALL of what you say is absolutely correct. I read your posts avidly!
...except i don’t understand how the Christians will suffer great persecution, if they are taken away before the chaff.
(which Jesus said would be collected and burned BEFORE the good wheat was collected.)
Matthew 24 has persecution coming early:
8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
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21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
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if the Church will be raptured back at earlier verses,
then why is SO much of the Bible, in Matthew, Revelation, Daniel, etc.,
concerned about minute details during the 7 years of Tribulation, like the Temple sacrifices in 3 1/2 years, etc.?
Why would so much of the Bible discuss details that would be utterly irrelevant to a raptured Church ?
(sure, Tribulation could be mentioned, as a message of what to avoid. but even the fires of Hell itself, only require a few words in scripture.
and the 2nd coming itself, the rapture in the clouds,
which should be the greatest event in the NT (if true), receives only one single verse, and not even from the lips of Jesus or an Apostle?
and again, huge sections OT and NT, concerned with details of events years AFTER the church is raptured?)
Because there are two separate groups of people who are associated with Jesus Christ. The first, those who have accepted Christ as Savior during this present Church Age, are the people who are described as the "bride" of Christ, and they are the people who will be removed from the earth before Jesus judges the earth.
There is a second group, those who were not saved at the time of the Rapture, who will be left behind to go through the Tribulation. This group of people will come to Christ during the Tribulation, and it is they and the Jews who will be the target of the persecution of the Antichrist.
The Church, aka the bride and the body of Christ, will be taken out before the Tribulation begins. The Tribulation saints, those who come to Christ during the Tribulation, will suffer persecution and most of them will be killed by the Antichrist during that time.
Matthew 24 has persecution coming early: 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. 9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.
Matthew 24 is directed at the Jews, not the Church. The Church had not yet been established at the time of Matthew 24. This passage of Scripture is Jesus talking to a Jewish audience about what the Jewish people will go through during the Tribulation. It does not refer to the Church.
if the Church will be raptured back at earlier verses, then why is SO much of the Bible, in Matthew, Revelation, Daniel, etc., concerned about minute details during the 7 years of Tribulation, like the Temple sacrifices in 3 1/2 years, etc.? Why would so much of the Bible discuss details that would be utterly irrelevant to a raptured Church ?
Because, as the article states, the Tribulation is not about the Church and does not involve the Church. The Tribulation is about God turning His attention back to Israel and purifying her, and preparing her to recognize her Messiah at the end of the seven years, and to accept Him as their Messiah, and to go into the Millennial Kingdom and be able to carry out her assigned roles during that thousand year reign.
The Tribulation is also Jesus Christ judging this fallen, evil, Christ-rejecting earth, but it is the final week of Daniel's prophecy and is about Israel, not the Church.
(sure, Tribulation could be mentioned, as a message of what to avoid. but even the fires of Hell itself, only require a few words in scripture. and the 2nd coming itself, the rapture in the clouds, which should be the greatest event in the NT (if true), receives only one single verse, and not even from the lips of Jesus or an Apostle? and again, huge sections OT and NT, concerned with details of events years AFTER the church is raptured?)
Well, first of all, every bit of prophecy came from God, not man:
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, 21for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. (2 Peter 1:20, 21)
So all Scripture is God-breathed, including prophecy, so the passages regarding the Rapture were not dreamed up by man, but were given to man by God.
Second, the Rapture is simply God fulfilling His promise to His bride to get us off the scene before He judges this world. It is an event which will take place in less than a second. I guess that some people would be of the opinion that the Rapture would be the greatest event of the New Testament, and others would think that the literal, physical return of Christ to this earth would be the greatest event of the New Testament, then others would think that the birth and death of Christ would be the greatest event.
The bottom line is, all the questions you ask have a simple answer: the Church is important in the economy of God, and we have a role to play, but we are not the only players in the game. You must be willing to accept the fact that God is not finished with Israel, and you must be willing to accept that the vast majority of Scripture which refers to Israel and God's future plans for her, are true. Without that acceptance, you can never understand prophecy, or the Bible, and you will constantly be at war with the facts as God gave them to us.
It's not all about the Church, and God has told us how everything works out and how everything ends. You just have to be willing to believe it.
And yet when the most terrible of persecutions are visited on believers,when satan himself is thrown down from heaven to visit his vengance on those who call upon Jesus name,when the whole world wonders after the beast,when the very earth itself reels to and fro like a drunkard,there's not one single reference to the church.No..."fear not" no "be not afraid" nothing.
Instead,the language turns to...Lion of the tribe of Judah,lampstands,candelsticks,temple sacrifices,abominations in the temple,terms that any beleiving Jew would fully understand.I think that may be because the Revelation of Jesus is written primarily for Jews,in a type of OT sybolic language they would understand.The church is no longer here.Now there are two witnesses on the temple mount,an angel proclaiming the gospel etc.
God bless.
I believe the answer is that we believers will be raptured, but Bibles won't be. It will be the survival guide to those left that must endure to the end to be saved. Hebrews through Revelation, I believe, were written specifically to these people going through the Tribulation.