Posted on 06/30/2019 7:12:34 PM PDT by grumpa
???
Let me try again.
If you believe in the Rapture then you wouldn’t worry if the pilots are Christian because you believe you’re going with them.
If you don’t believe in the Rapture you won’t worry because you don’t believe it’s going to happen.
So why would anybody worry about the pilots being Christian?
The Rapture thing would be like if your grandparents are coming over for a visit and you meet them in your driveway but then get in their car and go to their house. Doesn't make sense.
That would make it three comings.
Josephus watched siege of Jerusalem from the Roman side. He was captured earlier in the area of Galilee after which he switched allegiance to Rome and acted as an advisor first to Vespasian and then to Titus.
All Jews believe in a Messiah.
Yes. A conquering Messiah. That’s what the Jews were looking for back when Rome occupied Israel. Yeshua was the Suffering Messiah which is why Jews rejected Him.
Amazingly, I've met Jews who are entirely secular Jews and believe in Buddha.
He and Harold Camping got me to dust off my Bible.
Correct. Ezekiel very clearly describes a third temple. I believe Zechariah 6 says the messiah will build the temple himself, but I think one will be built.
“... I’ve met Jews who are entirely secular Jews and believe in Buddha. “
When you meet them again... for God’s sake, tell them to please stop calling me.
I’m not THAT Buddha. I’m the Christian Buddha.
It’s easy to tell the difference. I’m the one with a shirt. Oh yeah, and I’m alive.
Answer: A dispensation is a way of ordering things—an administration, a system, or a management. In theology, a dispensation is the divine administration of a period of time; each dispensation is a divinely appointed age. Dispensationalism is a theological system that recognizes these ages ordained by God to order the affairs of the world. Dispensationalism has two primary distinctives: 1) a consistently literal interpretation of Scripture, especially Bible prophecy, and 2) a view of the uniqueness of Israel as separate from the Church in God’s program. Classical dispensationalism identifies seven dispensations in God’s plan for humanity.
Dispensationalists hold to a literal interpretation of the Bible as the best hermeneutic. The literal interpretation gives each word the meaning it would commonly have in everyday usage. Allowances are made for symbols, figures of speech, and types, of course. It is understood that even symbols and figurative sayings have literal meanings behind them. So, for example, when the Bible speaks of “a thousand years” in Revelation 20, dispensationalists interpret it as a literal period of 1,000 years (the dispensation of the Kingdom), since there is no compelling reason to interpret it otherwise.
There are at least two reasons why literalism is the best way to view Scripture. First, philosophically, the purpose of language itself requires that we interpret words literally. Language was given by God for the purpose of being able to communicate. Words are vessels of meaning. The second reason is biblical. Every prophecy about Jesus Christ in the Old Testament was fulfilled literally. Jesus’ birth, ministry, death, and resurrection all occurred exactly as the Old Testament predicted. The prophecies were literal. There is no non-literal fulfillment of messianic prophecies in the New Testament. This argues strongly for the literal method. If a literal interpretation is not used in studying the Scriptures, there is no objective standard by which to understand the Bible. Each person would be able to interpret the Bible as he saw fit. Biblical interpretation would devolve into “what this passage says to me” instead of “the Bible says.” Sadly, this is already the case in much of what is called Bible study today.
Dispensational theology teaches that there are two distinct peoples of God: Israel and the Church. Dispensationalists believe that salvation has always been by grace through faith alone—in God in the Old Testament and specifically in God the Son in the New Testament. Dispensationalists hold that the Church has not replaced Israel in God’s program and that the Old Testament promises to Israel have not been transferred to the Church. Dispensationalism teaches that the promises God made to Israel in the Old Testament (for land, many descendants, and blessings) will be ultimately fulfilled in the 1000-year period spoken of in Revelation 20. Dispensationalists believe that, just as God is in this age focusing His attention on the Church, He will again in the future focus His attention on Israel (see Romans 9–11 and Daniel 9:24).
Dispensationalists understand the Bible to be organized into seven dispensations: Innocence (Genesis 1:1—3:7), Conscience (Genesis 3:8—8:22), Human Government (Genesis 9:1—11:32), Promise (Genesis 12:1—Exodus 19:25), Law (Exodus 20:1—Acts 2:4), Grace (Acts 2:4—Revelation 20:3), and the Millennial Kingdom (Revelation 20:4–6). Again, these dispensations are not paths to salvation, but manners in which God relates to man. Each dispensation includes a recognizable pattern of how God worked with people living in the dispensation. That pattern is 1) a responsibility, 2) a failure, 3) a judgment, and 4) grace to move on.
Dispensationalism, as a system, results in a premillennial interpretation of Christ’s second coming and usually a pretribulational interpretation of the rapture. To summarize, dispensationalism is a theological system that emphasizes the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy, recognizes a distinction between Israel and the Church, and organizes the Bible into different dispensations or administrations. https://www.gotquestions.org/dispensationalism.html
The key point is this—dispensational theology as a whole, and each of its core doctrines, should be evaluated using Scripture. It should be accepted or rejected based on whether or not it is in agreement with the Word of God.
It's not going to be a welcoming event...Jesus is coming for war...
The Rapture thing would be like if your grandparents are coming over for a visit and you meet them in your driveway but then get in their car and go to their house. Doesn't make sense.
And you've got the wrong analogy...It's not the Grandparents coming, it's the Groom, come to escort his Bride to the Wedding...
Then there will three comings if the “Rapture” is real; which begs the question: If a devout Christian does not believe in the “Rapture” and the “Rapture” is real or happens, then would they be caught up as the “Rapture” folks believe?
Except Jesus didn't say EVERYTHING would happen in the generation of the people he was speaking to. He said the generation living at the time of certain events would not pass away until all the things came to pass (see Mark 13:30). So if you are correct and Jesus was talking about the first century A.D., then you will have to explain why ALL the things foretold in Revelation of the end times have not happened yet.
“If a devout Christian does not believe in the “Rapture” and the “Rapture” is real or happens, then would they be caught up as the “Rapture” folks believe?” Yes ... see you in the clouds! (1 Thess 4:13 - 18)
“...does not believe in the “Rapture”...”
I never have and still don’t subscribe to the rapture theory. I generally avoid arguments with folks about it because a person’s position on the matter is not what determines their salvation.
But not only do I not see the rapture in the book, to me it also just does not fit God’s general M.O.
Did God need to blink all His chosen people out of Egypt to protect them from His own wrath directed toward others around them? No, otherwise Passover would today be called BeamMeUpScotty day.
Did God need to transport Daniel from the danger of the lion’s den?
Or how about the 3 amigos in Daniel’s book who were bound and tossed into a super-heated furnace by King Nebucha-knuclehead? I’m not sure how physically bad some rapture believers expect the tribulation to be but I don’t think it will be worse than hanging out in a furnace. Which was hot enough to burn up the kings men who got close enough to throw those three men of God into it. Yet the three faithful were seen walking about unharmed - and chatting it up with Jesus, no less.
In a way it can seem like an indication of weak faith that some folks want outta here before the tribulation. It’s a shame we don’t celebrate this as we should, but quite obviously Christ is our Passover. The blood of the Lamb is already on the door of believer so to speak. If God wants harm to pass us by, it will. He does not need to shuffle us around to avoid it.
The lesson to be witnessed and hopefully learned by non-believers regarding these events is NOT that God can sneak His faithful out the back door before the sheets hit the fan. It is that the harm will pass them over if they have faith and if He so chooses.
To the extent one believes a given trial / tribulation to be or include spiritual warfare, then it seems even more likely we are expected to be here as the targets of it. Why try the already-unbelieving with more deceptions and untruths? What do we carry around all this gospel armor for anyway?
I’ve heard people being shunned from their church because they didn’t believe in the Rapture.
“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” (1Th 4:16).
If the Rapture supposedly happens in secret then what's with the shouting and horn tooting? Only Christians will hear it? Will CNN and MSNBC cover it? Will Jim Acosta be reporting?
I remember reading that book in the late 70s but through the lens of the Cold War. He painted the Soviets as the bad guys and I was good with that part.
“I’ve heard people being shunned from their church because they didn’t believe in the Rapture.”
That sounds more like the less well-known prequel, The Rupture.
Seems like a bad reason to push somebody out of a church. But there are plenty of places to go. Nobody needs any church or denomination to be saved, regardless what some Catholics think. And no obligation to stay and convince others of that church one way or the other regarding the rapture theory.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.