19 Reasons The Rapture Could Be In 2017

Unsealed World News ^ | 6/5/2017 | Gary

[amessenger4god]

Remember Edgar Whisenant's 88 reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988?  Whenever a Christian starts talking about signs and evidence for the nearness of the rapture you can be sure there is someone just aching to bring up this book as the be-all and end-all of the conversation.  "People have always tried to predict when Jesus will come back and every time they were wrong."  They have a good point and it would be foolish not to address it.  You would think that if Whisenant found 88 reasons for the rapture to occur in September 1988, and his prediction failed, then for anyone in any subsequent year to attempt to do the same would be utter foolishness.  Predictions for Y2K, 2012, and the Shemitah were coupled with far fewer than 88 reasons.

I finally decided to read Whisenant's book for myself, rather than rush to judgment and what I found was different than I expected.  What I would like to see in the Christian community, especially in the watching community, is far less rushing to judgment and more actual Bible study, research, and reliance on one another to learn what God is trying to communicate.

The first thing I noticed with Whisenant's list is that many of the 88 reasons were not even specifically tied to the year 1988.  For example, Reason 1 was that Jesus saying "no one knows the day or hour" did not necessarily prevent someone from identifying the year, month, or even week of the rapture or second coming.  At least here I think Whisenant makes a good point.  People have an emotional reaction against predictions because they feel like they're bound to fail or they feel like Jesus was trying to say you can never figure it out.  What does the text itself actually say?  It says "no one knows the day or hour."  Saying that no one knows the week, month, or year is adding to the text.

Continuing on through his book...

Reasons 2-6 are the same story - general evidence that the rapture could be near and we might be able to figure it out, but nothing specifically about 1988.

Reason 7 was the first actual evidence Whisenant presents for a rapture in 1988: the final generation will be 40 years long, he says, because of the 40-year desert wandering and the 40 years between Jesus' supposed crucifixion in 30 AD and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.  The rebirth of Israel was in 1948, which was the budding of the fig tree and 1948 + 40 = 1988.  We'll call this Actual Reason 1.  I think his logic here has very obvious holes in it.  For starters, there is near-unanimous scholarly consensus that Jesus died in 31 AD or later.  His whole theory falls apart if Jesus died in any year but 30 AD.  Also, the only time the length of a generation is explicitly defined is in Psalm 90:10 - 70 to 80 years.

Reason 8 is more of the same.  Whisenant quotes a single Jewish rabbi who said that 40 years after Israel's rebirth would be a significant year because 40 is a common biblical number.  We'll call this Actual Reason 1b.

Reasons 9-11 are not specific to 1988 either, but at one point Whisenant argues that the Tribulation day counts given in Daniel and Revelation fit perfectly between the Day of Atonement in 1988 and the Day of Atonement in 1995.  First of all, the assumption is made that the Tribulation would begin and end on Yom Kippur.  That's a faulty assumption at best.  Second, the assumption is made that the years 1988 to 1995 are the only years this would happen.  I've seen Tribulation day counts fit in many other seven year ranges (including of course 2017 to 2024).  It certainly doesn't happen every time, but it isn't that uncommon.  This isn't sufficient evidence on its own.

Reasons 12 and 13: there was a worldwide peace movement in 1986 and 1987.  Thus 1 Thessalonians 5:3 would have to be fulfilled in 1988.  Here we have Actual Reason 2.  The problem is that there have been worldwide peace movements for decades.  Even larger ones occurred in the 1960s.  Also, the 1980s peace movement wasn't specifically known for chanting the exact phrase "peace and security" and it had little to nothing to do with Israel.

Reason 14 is a prime example of where Whisenant seems to be most misled.  Many of his reasons are similar to this one where they don't have anything to do with 1988.  They just describe some facet of biblical prophecy or some parable or the importance of this or that Scripture.  This reason, for example, is simply a description of Jewish wedding customs and the Parable of the Ten Virgins.

Reason 15: 1995 was supposedly the end of a sabbatical cycle, as well as a Jubilee cycle.  He might have been right about it being the end of a sabbatical cycle if 1967 was also the end of a similar cycle, but that's not unique to those years.  2002, 2009, and 2016 were also the end of sabbatical cycles.  Also, there is no indisputable way to identify the exact date of Creation (at least as of now) in order to make 1995 the 6,000th year since Creation.  Using the Masoretic text, Creation occurred anytime between 4004 BC and the 3960s.  The Jewish calendar shows Creation occurring several hundred years later.  I personally lean towards a Creation date in the 3980s or 3970s BC, but I could be wrong.  Actual Reason 3.

Reasons 16-18 are just reasons why the second coming could not happen in 1988 and therefore the rapture could.  Strangely, we see an example here where Whisenant just bundles reasons together.  He labels this section as Reasons 16, 17, and 18, but only one reason is given: 1988 does not line up with the end of a Jubilee cycle.  Well the same is true for every 48 out of 49 years.

Reasons 19 and 20 are that the Israelites were promised a curse seven times worse if they disobeyed God.  I don't want to go into the fine details, but too many assumptions to list are made in this reason.  In short, if you take 490 years x 7 and add it to when the Israelites supposedly entered the Promised Land (1436 BC), you get 1995 AD.  For starters, there is little to no agreement on the exact year of Israel's entrance into the Promised Land, but the 1400s is generally regarded as the time.  Second, I've seen many people try to use the promise of a curse seven times worse in some pretty extraordinary ways, suffice to say there is little agreement on how this should be applied.  Some calculations put the terminal point at 1948 when Israel was reborn.  Actual Reason 4.

Reasons 21-23 were completely arbitrary.  The Bible likens the Tribulation to birth pains, so Whisenant takes the length of a gestation period (280 days), multiplies it by 7, converts it to years and adds it to when he thinks Jesus' ministry started and voila - 1988.  This reason simply doesn't belong in any list, but I'll give Whisenant credit for specifically talking about 1988.  Actual Reason 5.

Reasons 24-29 are all basically the same thing: taking the number of days Ezekiel was told to lie on his side (which represented years), subtracting the years Israel was in captivity, multiplying by 7 (for a punishment seven times worse that was promised if Israel didn't repent), and arbitrarily adding the result to different periods of time at the beginning and end of Israel's captivity, results in 1988 (according to Whisenant).  There is definitely something significant about the year count suggested in Ezekiel 4, but Whisenant does not present a scholarly case and makes a lot of faulty assumptions.  This will be Actual Reason 6.  If you want to see a bit more scholarly calculation, check out Chuck Missler's take on this, which puts the terminal point (indicating Israel's restoration) in either 1948 or 1967.

Reason 30: Whisenant just repeats Actual Reason 5 again.

Reasons 31 and 32 are just a repeat of Actual Reason 6.

Reasons 33 and 34: Whisenant arbitrarily adds 490 and 540 sabbatical cycles to when he thinks the Abrahamic covenant and Abraham's death occurred (respectively) and gets 1988.  Actual Reason 7.  Problem is, no one knows the exact year for either event and there is not a single Scripture that says adding those particular year counts to those two events will achieve anything.

Reason 35 is basically the same as Actual Reason 6, but it has even less biblical basis (at least in my opinion).  More unknowable assumptions are made.

Reason 36 was difficult for me to decipher.  I couldn't understand the gist of what Whisenant's point was - it seemed to just be a rehash of a few of the reasons already given about sabbath and Jubilee cycles and most of his dates are built on faulty assumptions.

Reason 37: a rabbi said that the Hebrew year for 1988 (5749) meant "Shemitah".  This was probably a very good case of subjective judgment on the rabbi's part and no clear reason is given why having the numerological equivalent of "Sabbath year" meant the rapture had to happen in 1988, since Sabbath years happen every seven years, but there we have Actual Reason 7.

Reason 38: the same rabbi said Hebrew year 5756 (1995) meant that "customs would change", which in Whisenant's mind meant the second coming would occur.  Actual Reason 8.

Reason 39: a Christian archaeologist spoke at a conference in early 1988 and said he might have found where the Ark of the Covenant was stored.  Yep - that's the only reason given here.  Actual Reason 9.

Reason 40 is actually no reason it all.  It's just an explanation of why the Temple could be built quickly once the Tribulation starts.

Reason 41 is also not a reason.  Whisenant just speculates when the Temple will be built after the rapture occurs.

Reason 42: there was a solar eclipse on the Feast of Trumpets in 1988.  Actual Reason 10.  The problem is that the Bible says the sun will be darkened and the moon turned to blood before the Day of the LORD.  Not on the Day of the LORD, but before.  Plus, this was only a typical annular solar eclipse and could only be seen over the Indian Ocean.

Reason 43: Mars was apparently the closest it had ever been to earth on the Day of Atonement in 1988.  Interesting, but the Bible never mentions this particular astronomical event, so there was no real reason to look for it.  Actual Reason 11.

Reason 44 was basically another rehashing of the Ezekiel day/year count reasons he had already given, but he starts taking his year counts and Jubilees and arbitrarily adding them to the dates of other significant events in the Bible that were unrelated to the Ezekiel and Jubilee prophecies.

Reason 45: Whisenant believed Jesus' ministry started in 28 AD and 40 Jubilees later would be 1988.  40 represents a period of testing.  Actual Reason 12.  This one actually makes sense and might be close to the truth.  The problem is, there is a lot of disagreement regarding what year Jesus' ministry began.  28 AD is a good guesstimate.  I personally think the evidence favors 29 AD.  In any case, we are never told 40 jubilees later the rapture would occur.  It's still subjective.  There is also disagreement surrounding how to count Jubilees over a long period of time.  Should they be counted in 50s or 49s?  Should we use 365.25 or 360 day years?

Reason 46 was the suggestion that 50 Jubilees transpired between when Noah was told to build the Ark until Jesus' ministry began.  Many problematic questions arise: how could Whisenant know the exact year Noah was told to build the Ark?  Why does it matter that 50 Jubilees transpired between that time?  How does this relate to 1988?

Reason 47 was that 70 Jubilees supposedly transpired between the Abrahamic covenant and 1988, less 430 years of Israelite captivity.  This reason runs into the same problems as Reasons 45 and 46: how could Whisenant know the exact year the Abrahamic covenant was given?  Was his starting point correct (1872 BC)?  How should the Jubilees be counted?  More subjectivity.

Reason 48: Whisenant repeats Reason 46.

Reason 49: a rabbi said the Messiah would come at the end of a sabbatical cycle.  That would make 2002, 2009, 2016, or about a hundred other dates equally applicable.

Reason 50 has no reason.  Whisenant just says that the Tribulation martyrs will be resurrected and raptured in 1995.

Reason 51: if 35 AD was a Jubilee then 1995 would be 40 Jubilees later.  Dozens of Whisenant's reasons rely on the assumption that 28 AD was a Jubilee, so it's strange he suddenly switches here.  It's also strange he uses a year of no specific significance as his starting point, but here is Actual Reason 13.

Reason 52 was about arbitrary year counts leading up to 35 AD and doesn't have anything to do with 1988.  I think Whisenant is starting to go down a rabbit trail.

Reason 53 is a rehash of Reason 52 and other reasons.  Arbitrary numbers and faulty starting points.

Reasons 54 and 55 are more subjective date counts using a subjective source, the Chronological Bible - and is basically a rehash of previous reasons.  If any dates in his source are off, basically the entirety of Whisenant's book falls to pieces.

Reason 56: a psychic said a leader was born in the Middle East in 1962.  Yes, you read that correctly, a psychic.  Actual Reason 14.

Reason 57: no reason for 1988 is given, but Whisenant changes on us and now says Jesus' ministry began in 26 AD.  Hmm.

Reason 58: Whisenant repeats Reason 56.  The psychic said.

Reason 59: the New Age Movement thinks their hero will appear in 1992 or thereabouts.  No source is given.  1992 would be kind of, roughly, maybe, possibly around the Abomination of Desolation, give or take six months.  Actual Reason 15.

Reasons 60 and 61 are that communism was born in 1917 and 70 years later brings you to 1987/88.  Interesting that Whisenant strangely applies Psalm 90:10 to this situation.  Why would a biblical generation have anything to do with the birth of communism?  Jesus said the fig tree generation would not pass away (Israeli Jews), not the Mother Russia generation.  Actual Reason 16.

Reason 62: an unidentified source in Washington says the Soviets are going to nuke the U.S. sometime between 1987 and 1993.  Actual Reason 17.

Reason 63 is basically some subjective gematria leading Whisenant to believe Psalms 88, 91, and 94 correspond to 1988, 1991, and 1994.  The smoking gun?  In Hebrew, the number 88 means "pit".  Or so says Whisenant.

Reason 64 was that the U.S. had become the world's largest debtor nation.  While this was current news, I can't in good conscience consider this an actual reason.  It doesn't have anything to do with Israel or the rapture or Bible prophecy.

Reason 65: Whisenant thought World War III would begin in October 1988.  No reasons are given.

Reason 66: Israel is important in prophecy.  Indeed, it is.

Reason 67: the United States is like a Gentile Israel.

Reason 68 is a repeat of Actual Reason 1.

Reason 69 is a repeat of Reason 67.

Reason 70: from when the British conquered Jerusalem in 1917 to 1987 is 70 years.  Add in a 280 day gestation period and you get 1988.  Voila.  Actual Reason 18.

Reason 71: Whisenant repeats Reasons 9-11.

Reason 72 is an exact repeat of Actual Reason 18, but with a chart.

Reason 73: if the Babylonian captivity ended in 532 BC and you add 2520 years you get 1987/88, but no reason is given why you would do that or why Whisenant's various assumptions were used.  And should we use 365.25 or 360 day years?

Reason 74 is a repeat of Actual Reason 12.

Reason 75: Psalms 81-87 are joyful, but Psalms 88-94 are gloomy.  Actual Reason 19.

Reason 76 is a partial repeat of Actual Reason 3 plus an explanation of the six days = six thousand years theory.  I agree with him about the 6,000 + 1,000 years plan.

Reason 77: knowledge will increase in the last days and we see knowledge increasing.

Reason 78: there have been an unprecedented number of wars, famines, and earthquakes in the 20th century.  He mentioned 40 wars happening all at once - more that at any point before.  If only Whisenant could see our day!  We now have nearly 60 simultaneous armed conflicts and have witnessed major, world-altering earthquakes in the Indian Ocean, Haiti, Japan, China, Iran, Nepal, and Chile.  The first three killed a quarter million, 150,000, and 18,000 respectively.  It was also announced a few months ago that East Africa and Yemen are experiencing the world's worst famine since World War II.

Reason 79: earthquakes have been increasing.  Definitely!

Reason 80: more famines than ever before.  Yep!  And even worse in 2017.

Reason 81: false christs and false prophets appearing left and right.  Well, there are ten-fold more here in 2017 and the Tribulation hasn't even started yet.

Reason 82: Benny Hinn said several hundred million people had AIDS.

Reason 83: Abortion is off the charts.  And so much worse in 2017!

Reason 84 is a repeat of Reasons 9-11.

Reason 85: astronomers discovered a void in the constellation of Orion.  Whisenant thinks Christians might be taken to that area after the rapture.

Reasons 86-88: the Bible teaches a pre-trib rapture.  Whisenant and I agree!

So there you have it.  88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988 - or more precisely 19 Reasons Why Someone Thought The Rapture Would Happen In 1988.  You have to remember that people sold cars and homes over this.  People left their jobs.  We need to study diligently and be ready when we see the signs converging (as I think we see this year), but we also need to be wise and prudent and occupy until He comes.

In summary, the infamous Edgar Whisenant book and pamphlet that pegged the date of the rapture on September 1988, actually contained only 19 unique reasons for a 1988 rapture:

1. A biblical generation is 40 years in length because the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years and 40 years transpired between Jesus' death in 30 AD and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD.  See any problems with this?  Here's three: first, the assumption that the length of Israel's wandering defines a generation; second, the assumption that Jesus died in 30 AD; and third, the disregard of the only explicit definition of a generation given in the Bible: Psalm 90:10.

2. There was a peace movement in 1986 and 1987.

3. 1995 was the possible end of a sabbatical cycle.

4. If Ezekiel 4 pertains to the end times and you take 490 years x 7 and add it to a possible entrance into the Promised Land of 1436 BC, you get 1995 AD.  What happened to excluding the Babylonian captivity?  How could he know 1436 BC was the starting point?  Should this be calculated using 365.25 or 360 day years?  Many assumptions were made.

5. If you take the length of a gestation (280 days), multiply it by 7, and add it to a supposed start date for Jesus' ministry of 28 AD you get 1988.

6. Arbitrarily adding some solar year calculations from Ezekiel 4 to assumed dates for the beginning and end of Israel's captivity, results in 1988 - sort of.

7. A rabbi said that the meaning of Hebrew year 5749 (1988) was "Shemitah".

8. That same rabbi said that the meaning of Hebrew year 5756 (1995) was that "customs would change".

9. Ron Wyatt spoke a conference in 1988 and said he might have found the Ark of the Covenant.

10. There was an annular solar eclipse only visible over the Indian Ocean on the Feast of Trumpets in 1988.

11. Mars was at its closest approach to earth on the Day of Atonement in 1988.

12. The completion of 40 solar Julian/Gregorian Jubilees after Jesus' ministry supposedly started in 28 AD landed on 1988.

13. If 35 AD was a Jubilee year than 40 solar Jubilees later would be 1995.  Why does Whisenant suddenly switch when the Jubilees start since at least a third of his book is based on a 28 AD starting point?  Also, why does he pick an arbitrary year like 35 AD to start counting?  Many questions.

14. A psychic said an important world leader was born in the Middle East in 1962.

15. Some folks in the New Age Movement thought their hero would appear in 1992 or thereabouts.

16. If you add the Psalm 90:10 definition of a generation to 1917 when communism was born you get 1988.

17. An unidentified person said the Soviets were planning to nuke the U.S. between 1987 and 1993.

18. If you add Psalm 90:10's "70 years" to when the British captured Jerusalem in 1917 you get 1987.  Throw in a 280 gestation period for good measure and you get 1988.

19. Psalms 81-87 are joyful, but Psalms 88-94 are gloomy.

So let me get this straight: you've got Not Really 88 Reasons in 1988, the supposed computer glitch apocalypse on Y2K, Mayan Calendar mania in 2012, and Shemitah shenanigans in 2015, and those things somehow compare with what we're watching transpire in 2017?  I must be missing something here.

In commemoration of Whisenant's 19 reasons, here are my [drum roll please]...

19 Reasons Why The Rapture Could Be In 2017

1. There's a huge stinking sign in the sky right on, or one day after the Feast of Trumpets (see here, here, and here).  This sign is complicated and has lots of moving parts, yet fits together perfectly to fulfill a literal word-for-word reading of Revelation 12:1-2.

2. Three separate studies clearly demonstrate that this sign, at least to this level of precision, has never occurred before and will never occur again.

3. This sign appears to be directly connected to the rapture event (Revelation 12:5).

4. The Bible says the sun will be darkened and the moon turned to blood before the Day of the LORD.  There was a total solar eclipse during a supermoon exactly on the first day of the biblical calendar (Nisan 1) in 2015.  Then several months later there was a total lunar eclipse during a supermoon on the Feast of Tabernacles.  They were significant, historically unusual, in the proper biblical order, and preceding the Day of the LORD.

5. If #4 doesn't satisfy you, there will be a very rare total solar eclipse that traverses the entire United States just 33 days before the Revelation 12 Sign.  The United States is the world's most powerful, influential, and prominent Gentile nation on earth.  It's also the Gentile "melting pot" of ethnicities and cultures and host to the Gentile world body - the United Nations.  What better way to signify to the Gentiles that their revelry is coming to an abrupt end.  That leaves four or five weeks for a surprise blood moon to show up.

6. Then in 2024, seven years later (i.e. the length of the Tribulation), there is another total solar eclipse traversing the entire United States from the opposite direction.

7. The only explicit biblical definition of a generic "generation" is Psalm 90:10, which defines it as 70 or 80 years.  When Jesus delivered The Parable of the Fig Tree and discussed the various signs of the end of the age He very clearly said this generation would not pass away until all of it would be fulfilled.  That would seemingly include His physical return - not only the rapture.  There is a general consensus among futurists and dispensationalists that the rebirth of Israel in 1948 constituted the budding of the fig tree (the fig tree being the symbol of the nation of Israel).  If that is indeed the case, then everything Jesus prophesied would need to be completed by 2028 at the very latest.  With Israel now in its 70th solar year since rebirth and having completed exactly 70 biblical/prophetic years on May 12, 2017, a Tribulation running from 2017 to 2024 would constitute 70 to 77 years since the fig tree budded - perfectly within the range and satisfying the generational requirement.

8. Jesus likened His return to the days of Noah.  In Genesis 6:3 God set final probationary period on mankind of 120 years.  At the end of that time the Flood came and destroyed them all.  The modern prophetic scenario began in 1897 with the founding of the Zionist movement and a universal Jewish declaration of desire for a return to their God-given land.  Exactly 120 years later is 2017.

9. The Revelation 12 Sign portrays the birth of a male child - a son of promise.  We believe this son of promise is probably the Church.  The first son of promise was Isaac who was born to Abraham when he was 100 years old.  Jerusalem fell to the British in 1917 and the British promised the Jews a future homeland.  Exactly 100 years later is 2017.

10. While Israel was reborn in 1948, the mandate for its statehood came from the United Nations in November 1947.  Exactly 70 years later is 2017.  The Jews were in captivity for 70 years and as stated before, 70 years is the length of a biblically-defined generation.

11. There were many Scriptures that prophesied the restoration of Jerusalem, which occurred in June 1967 when Israel recaptured their ancient capital.  The 50th year in the Bible is called a Jubilee - it is a year in which the land is restored to its rightful owners and 1967 appeared to be just such a year.  A Jubilee is also a year in which the captives go free.  However, a lot of Israel's land is still missing and the Body of Christ is still in bondage to mortality on the earth.  Exactly 50 years after 1967 brings you to 2017 when Christians may escape captivity and return to their rightful home.  It may also be the year that Israel begins the painful and arduous process of reclaiming the rest of its land.

12. In 1977 the modern peace process began, followed shortly by the Camp David Accords and the subsequent "Two-State Solution".  Exactly 40 years later brings you to 2017.  "40" represents a time of trial and testing in the Bible.  The Israelites remained in the wilderness for 40 years because of their disobedience.  Jesus was tested for 40 days in the wilderness.  For the past 40 years the Jews have had to endure nearly complete international and political isolation, intifada after intifada, bombings, knife attacks, and countless threats of annihilation from Iran and other Muslim countries.  They've had multiple wars in Lebanon and Gaza and military campaigns in Syria and Iraq.

13. In 1987 The Temple Institute was founded in Jerusalem with the express purpose of rebuilding the Temple and restoring the Temple service.  They have since identified actual Levitical priests, rebuilt every necessary artifact, cut the Temple's cornerstone, built the main altar, and even built a priestly school in Jerusalem for training the priests.  All they need is the go ahead and the Temple will get built.  Exactly 30 years later lands on 2017.  Priests had to be at least 30 years of age to serve in the Temple according to Numbers 4 and Jesus was about 30 years old when He began His own priestly service (Luke 3:23).

14. The number 7 is the biblical number for completion and perfection and is used all throughout the final book.  7 stars, 7 angels, 7 lampstands, 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 vials, 7 hills, 7 kings, and a 7-headed dragon.  Like 1897, 1917, 1947, 1967, 1977, and 1987, 2017 also ends in a 7.  It also just happens to be Hebrew year 5777.  And that's just where the craziness begins.  The Daily Crow and others have uncovered literally hundreds of extremely improbable alignments of the number 7 with 2017 - so much so that coincidence simply can't account for it anymore.  You can read about some of those here and here.

15. The prophetic setting described in the Bible that will occur at the end of the age is in place this year - seemingly every detail.

16. The prophecies all leading up to the rapture of the Church and the beginning of the Tribulation seem to have all been fulfilled - even the minute details like the first crops of priests having finished training in 2017 and the reconstitution of the Jewish Sanhedrin.

17. An oracle in stone mentioned in Isaiah 19:19 points to the possible appearing of Christ in 2017.

18. Popular culture is unwittingly screaming God's sovereignty and pointing to major prophetic fulfillment in 2017 (see here, here, here, here, here, and here).

19. The general expectation of the Church is supposed to be imminency, which means that as far as I'm concerned on this principle alone we need to expect and prepare ourselves for going home in 2017.  If it doesn't pan out, well ok, we were mistaken somewhere along the line despite dozens and dozens of signs and we'll just move forward from there, but the Lord's appearing is indeed imminent.

Note: This list is not nearly exhaustive, I just picked some of the points that stand out to me the most.  What stands out to you?  Are there other signs I'm not considering here?

MARANATHA!

[WhatNot]

There’s too many Christians who want to be “raptured” from their responsibilities.

[SkyDancer]

The One Way movement said it would happen in the mid-1970’s and all the hysteria that went with it.

[SkyDancer]

Oh and so you are “Raptured” and meet someone who was martyred during Nero’s time and they ask you “How were you martyred?” And your response would be “Well I was in Wal-Mart the other day and trying to get out of the parking lot was horrendous, must have been the EBT replenishment day.

[proxy_user]

Here you go:

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***88 reasons Why The Rapture Will Be in 1988 ***

I’ve got that booklet and it is a hoot to read. I also have several other end days failed prophecies. Also a hoot to read.

Too many people spend too much time trying to prove the first chapters of Genesis.
Too many people are trying to figure out the end times of Revelation.

They miss all the good important stuff in between.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

Jesus doesn’t know when He’s coming back. Don’t think this guy does, either.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Now HERE is a man prepared for William Miller's end of the world prophecy in 1843-1844.

[taxcontrol]

I am of the opinion that all the prophesy in the bible must be fulfilled first. And while the prophesy of the burden of Damascus is coming close, it is not yet fulfilled.

[Drumbo]

No. Nothing about Trump or the AC. Nothing about Nibiru (Planet X) being Wormwood or Nemesis the alleged Brown Dwarf Binary Twin to our Sun.

I read Dr. Whisenant’s book (more like a self-published pamphlet) some 4 decades ago because he was a NASA scientist and I was a lot younger and still grasping for answers. I wouldn’t bother rereading those 88 or so paragraphs of highly redundant overpriced nonsense. In those days I was also reading Edgar Cayce, Joachim of Fiore, Sun Myung Moon, Hal Lindsey, Herbert W. Armstrong, commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, Aleister Crowley and about anything else I could get my hands on. That I spent so much of my time reading outright charlatans and misguided fools is what educated me enough to recognize them now that I’m slightly wiser. If I’ve learned anything in my years on this rock, it’s that God’s plan is none of my business - other than playing my role, hitting my marks and praying His will be done.

[Terry Mross]

The rapture could happen before I could get through reading this.

[SaxxonWoods]

That doesn’t look good, he can’t get to the crackers when the door is closed.

[11Bush]

that God’s plan is none of my business

The best insight on this thread. Congratulations.

[SaxxonWoods]

People sure are in a hurry about this Rapture thing.

At an average life expectancy of 42 years, it’s only been 48 typical lifetimes beginning to end since Christ walked the earth.

That would equate to about 85 generations. I have known 5 generations and could know 6 in a couple of years. Then I will have been around for 1/17 of all the generations since Christ lived.

[huldah1776]

2 Thessalonians 2New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Man of Lawlessness

2 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

[xp38]

Yakety Sax

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQf2TiwBFHo

[huldah1776]

Average life span includes childhood deaths of which most occur before the age of 5. If you make it past that, the avg life span is much higher. Just saying.

[firebrand]

“in such an hour as ye think not”

So it won’t be obvious or predicted.

[Peter ODonnell]

The passage that you have quoted raises the most difficult question for any would-be prophecy analyst to explain.

What “lawlessness” was already in place when this passage was written (presumably before the end of the first century A.D.) and who was then restraining it, and continues to restrain it until some modern or post-modern time when he no longer restrains it?

This would seem to disqualify almost every modern political or religious creed, if it applies to the earth. If it pertains to the heavenly places, then we are left in the dark about how to interpret the passage. We are in position to judge what lawlessness might be restrained in some other place than the earth.

I may be wrong about this interpretation; the “now” may refer to a time ahead of the writing of the prophecy as the prophet is shown some future time. Then it could mean something like Putin is the man of sin but restrained until Medvedev is taken out of the way (this is just an example, not what I would think is the most obvious verification).

In any case, for a literal fulfilment, a man of sin needs to enter some holy place (a temple) and declare himself to be God. There was some interest in Obama as this figure in part beause he acted that way, but only in a vaguely similar way, there was (to the best of my knowledge) no event where Obama actually entered a temple and declared himself to be God.

Even Hitler or Stalin never quite did something like that. But other historical figures have. And the world did not end when they did so.

This introduces what I call the principle of prophetic selection — just because conditions for fulfilment exist in the world does not mean God will activate the end time events at that moment. He then has to review the situation and choose whether or not to act. So even by studying the signs we can never be sure.

[SaxxonWoods]

Yes, I was being very conservative in my estimate.

[Bob434]

noone is saying it does- there’s no reason you can’t be about the father’s business and look for His coming as well- we are capable of multitasking- just keep an eye out for the middle east wanting to lure Israel into a ‘peace deal’- that’s one of the big signs- the temple is another big one- IF we see those things, then we might wanna sit up and take note-

We are also coming up on the end of a ‘generation’ that the word speaks of- it certainly can’t hurt to keep an eye on current events during this time- IF we’re wron-g- then oh well, no harm done- IF we’re right, then We’ll be resting with God- it’s a no lose situation- it’s not like people who watch are so locked into watching that we can’t function outside of the watching or anything