Posted on 07/23/2019 5:26:09 AM PDT by Cronos
I grew up in church culture. Most of what I recall from those early childhood and teenage years bring memories of good things. People genuinely taught me that loving Jesus matters more than anything else in the world. The world, after all, is corrupt and the place we truly long for is far, far away – heaven. So we are to love Jesus and hate the world.
Now, this is not hatred toward the people on earth. I did not grow up in a church culture that taught that we ought to tell outsiders how much they suck, but that this “world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through.”
World and physicality = bad.
Jesus and spiritual bliss in a distant heaven = goal of the game.
This distinction came with a subset of beliefs about the destiny of God’s world. Eventually this planet would be destroyed and we Christians would “fly away” to heaven at the rapture of the church. Certain Christians understood the timing of the rapture as it corresponds to the book of Revelation differently than others, but no one ever denied the imminent return of Jesus to evacuate the church out of earth.
What I’ve come to realize is that the church of my youth probably had the rapture all wrong. You see, the Bible flows from Creation (Gen 1-2) to Renewed Creation (Rev 21-22). This is the narrative of Scripture. Nothing in the text (if read in its proper context) alludes to the actual complete destruction of the planet. This world’s worth to the Creator runs deep and because of this, the world as a whole ought to be intrinsically valuable to us.
Physical/earthly realities such as social injustice, violence, hunger, preventable sickness, and the destruction of nature are invitations to the church of Jesus to get our hands dirty and proclaim that this world matters (even in its broken state)! Christ will complete creation upon his return, uniting heaven and earth for the life of the age to come!
The famous “rapture” passage is found in 1 Thessalonians 4.15-17 and reads:
According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
This passage, when placed in the larger context of the chapter, is answering questions that Christians in Thessalonica had concerning death. What has happened to our loved ones who have died before the return of Christ to earth? What is theirs and our ultimate destiny? Paul’s answer: bodily resurrection at the return of Christ to earth! Not an escape into the sky [see appendix below!].
In this passage, Paul borrows two specific images from the Old Testament that would have been familiar to Jewish converts and Gentiles who were familiarizing themselves with the Hebrew tradition. The first of these that Paul employs in the text has to do with Moses who comes down from Mount Sinai with the Law with the great blast of the trumpet.
The second image is taken from Daniel chapter 7 where the “one like the son of man” (or “human being” or “The Human One”) and the community he represents is vindicated over the enemies of the people of God. Clouds here symbolize the power and authoritative judgement of God about the rescue of his people. This idea now seems to be applied to Christians who are facing various forms of persecution.
Finally, there is a third image in the text that comes from outside of the canonical context. This is the image of an emperor who visits a city. The people of that region would have gone out to meet him to usher him into their home in a royal procession out in the open air. This, Paul seems to apply to the church who will usher in their King into the new creation.***
Rapture, as it is popularly understood, is nowhere to be found in this “rapture” passage. Christ will return to resurrect, to purge, to heal, and to establish the eternal kingdom of God on this earth. Heaven and earth will unite like a bride and husband – for all eternity. That’s it.
The Bible teaches that when Christ comes back, it will be Good News! “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’” (Revelation 21.4). Surely we cannot erase judgment from the picture, but the hope is that those in Christ will be raised to eternal life and everything that is wrong with this world will be made right.
This world renewed is going to be our home for eternity, and we have the opportunity to reflect that future in our present. Rapture invites us to escape this world: the last thing that Jesus would have ever taught! “On earth as in heaven” is what he said, not “in heaven away from the earth!” Our world’s future is hopeful. Let’s tell that story and not the escapist narratives that many of us grew up with.
[Kurt Note: This article is an adaptation from various pieces that are part of my “rapture” category.]
—————————————————————————————————
Below is a Word Study that I did based on 1 Thessalonians 4.17. What is interesting to me is how it reinforced my belief that the “rapture” as it is popularly understood (Jesus secretly returns to extract believers from earth to heaven for eternity) is completely unwarranted. If you choose to follow the logic below, you will know why 🙂
The word underlying “air” in 1 Thessalonians 4.17 is the Greek word “ἀήρ” (Strong’s: #109).
The usage of ἀήρ in the New Testament by verse:
Acts 22:23
…εἰς τὸν ἀέρ
…dust into the air,
1Co 9:26
…ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων·
…one that beateth the air:
1Co 14:9
…γὰρ εἰς ἀέρα λαλοῦντες.
…shall speak into the air.
Eph 2:2
…ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος τοῦ πνεύματος…
…power of the air, the spirit that…
1Th 4:17
…κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα καὶ οὕτως…
…the Lord in the air: and so shall…
Rev 9:2
…καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ ἐκ τοῦ…
…sun and the air were darkened by…
Rev 16:17
…ἐπὶ τὸν ἀέρα καὶ ἐξῆλθεν…
…vial into the air; and there came…
1) the air, particularly the lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air 2)the atmospheric region[1]
After surveying the above seven occurrences, it is clear that the definition is simply the area of unseen space in our atmosphere. Below, the meaning in its various usages are explained:
ἀήρ (aēr, 109), ἀέρος, ὁ, (ἄημι, ἄω, [cf. ἄνεμος, init.]), the air (particularly the lower and denser, as distinguished from the higher and rarer ὁ αἰθήρ, cf. Hom. Il. 14, 288), the atmospheric region: Acts xxii. 23; 1 Th. iv. 17; Rev. ix. 2, xvi. 17; ὁ ἄρχων τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος in Eph. ii. 2 signifies “the ruler of the powers (spirits, see ἐξουσία 4 c. ββ.) in the air”, i. e. the devil, the prince of the demons that according to Jewish opinion fill the realm of air (cf. Mey. ad loc.; [B. D. Am. ed. s. v. Air; Stuart in Bib. Sacr. for 1843, p. 139 sq.]). Sometimes indeed, ἀήρ denotes a hazy, obscure atmosphere (Hom. Il. 17, 644; 3, 381; 5, 356, etc.; Polyb. 18, 3, 7), but is nowhere quite equiv. to σκότος,— the sense which many injudiciously assign it in Eph. 1. c. ἀέρα δέρειν (cf. verberat ictibus auras, Verg. Aen. 5, 377, of pugilists who miss their aim) i. e. to contend in vain, 1 Co. ix. 26; εἰς ἀέρα λαλεῖν (verba ventis profundere, Lucr. 4, 929 (932)) “to speak into the air” i. e. without effect, used of those who speak what is not understood by the hearers, 1 Co. xiv. 9.*[2]
Although ἀήρ is not a word that is frequent in the New Testament, it is interesting to note that there is only one other word that is translated into English as “air.” The Greek οὐρανός has a different meaning when used as “air” than ἀήρ. Rather than referring to the “lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air,” it means:
1. the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it
- a. the universe, the world
- b. the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced
- c. the sidereal or starry heavens
2. the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings[3]
It seems that the difference between these two words will prove to be significant. The word in the 1 Thessalonians text indicates the “air” of the “lower” region as opposed to the “heavens” as οὐρανός can also be translated (heavens – 24x, heavenly – 1, heaven – 218). In other words, Paul had an option to use either of the words to talk about the “air” but he chose to use the word that refers mostly to the lower atmospheric region.
In the context of 1 Thessalonians 4.17, Paul is answering questions regarding the blessed Christian hope. What happens to Christ-followers who die before the return of the Messiah? Are they gone forever? And what about those of us who are waiting for this day? What are we to look forward to? In answer to these kinds of questions Paul describes the coming of Jesus as a moment of resurrection. Because Jesus died and rose again, his followers will someday be like him. They will have bodies that are restored to the image of Christ who is the image of God.
Paul in this passage uses mixed metaphors to communicating the reality of the final resurrection. He employs imagery from the Old Testament as well as from Roman royalty. Christ will appear in such a way that it will be like Moses when he descended down from the Mountain of Sinai. He will come with the “clouds” meaning that he will come with the power / authority of heaven like the “son of Man” in Daniel 7. When this happens all followers of Jesus will be gathered around their King and will usher him into the new heavens and new earth.
Unfortunately, the present passage of Scripture has been interpreted in several different ways; mostly indicating that the return of Christ will be a rapturous moment when God will snatch believers away from this evil world to meet him in the “air” (up in heaven) for eternity. There are several problems with this approach (too numerous to look at for this word study). The current word study exposes one of the fallacies in this interpretive scheme.
Had the Apostle wanted to communicate that Christ coming downward to take us upward was the goal of the 2nd coming, he could have chosen to use a word like οὐρανός. This word, which is interpreted as “air” on some occasions (as indicated above), would have given the impression that going to meet Christ in the “air” was a upward heavenly route. However, what this word study has discovered is that the word Paul chose to use was one that indicates the lower part of the atmosphere. Paul had a grammatical choice to make, and clearly he did not want to misguide his first century audience by making them think that being “with the Lord forever” actually meant going to heaven, away from the creation project. So, in order to keep his metaphorical devices in place without giving the wrong impression, he chose to use ἀήρ to indicate that he was not talking about escaping this world; but rather being part of its redemptive process. If the alternative word had been selected, Paul would have given us the opportunity to affirm cosmological dualism.
There is no dispute of how ἀήρ is to be translated from Greek into English among the translations. In every version that was checked (ESV, KJV, NIV, and TNIV) this word is translated as “air.”
After consulting the “Easton Bible Dictionary” we find that this word study’s findings about the meaning of the word ἀήρ is consistent and verified. It states: “The atmosphere, as opposed to the higher regions of the sky (1Th_4:17; Rev_9:2; Rev_16:17).”[4] This is also confirmed by the UBS Greek Dictionary: “air; ethereal region above the earth, space.”[5]
***N. T. Wright, “Farewell to Rapture,” Biblical Review (August 2001). http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_BR_Farewell_Rapture.htm (accessed October, 2009).
[1]http://www.biblestudytools.com/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=109&version=nas
[2] http://www.greekbiblestudy.org/gnt/greekWordStudy.do?id=100095&greek=false
[3] http://www.biblestudytools.com/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=3772&version=nas
[4] See: Easton Bible Dictionary. Available Online at: http://refbible.com/a/air.htm
[5] The Greek New Testament With Greek-English Dictionary by B. Aland (Editor), K. Aland (Editor), J. Karavidopoulos (Editor), B. M. Metzger (Editor), C. M. Martini (Editor)
Maybe that's why Mormons can swallow the following without choking on it:
The BIGGEST battle EVER recorded; and not ONE even teeny bit of evidence of it can be found!!
The Book of EtherChapter 15
Millions of the Jaredites are slain in battle—Shiz and Coriantumr assemble all the people to mortal combat—The Spirit of the Lord ceases to strive with them—The Jaredite nation is utterly destroyed—Only Coriantumr remains.
1 And it came to pass when Coriantumr had recovered of his wounds, he began to remember the awords which Ether had spoken unto him.
2 He saw that there had been slain by the sword already nearly atwo millions of his people, and he began to sorrow in his heart; yea, there had been slain two millions of mighty men, and also their wives and their children.
3 He began to repent of the evil which he had done; he began to remember the words which had been spoken by the mouth of all the prophets, and he saw them that they were fulfilled thus far, every whit; and his soul amourned and refused to be bcomforted.
4 And it came to pass that he wrote an epistle unto Shiz, desiring him that he would spare the people, and he would give up the kingdom for the sake of the lives of the people.
5 And it came to pass that when Shiz had received his epistle he wrote an epistle unto Coriantumr, that if he would give himself up, that he might slay him with his own sword, that he would spare the lives of the people.
6 And it came to pass that the people repented not of their iniquity; and the people of Coriantumr were stirred up to anger against the people of Shiz; and the people of Shiz were stirred up to anger against the people of Coriantumr; wherefore, the people of Shiz did give battle unto the people of Coriantumr.
7 And when Coriantumr saw that he was about to fall he fled again before the people of Shiz.
8 And it came to pass that he came to the waters of Ripliancum, which, by interpretation, is large, or to exceed all; wherefore, when they came to these waters they pitched their tents; and Shiz also pitched his tents near unto them; and therefore on the morrow they did come to battle.
9 And it came to pass that they fought an exceedingly sore battle, in which Coriantumr was wounded again, and he fainted with the loss of blood.
10 And it came to pass that the armies of Coriantumr did press upon the armies of Shiz that they beat them, that they caused them to flee before them; and they did flee southward, and did pitch their tents in a place which was called Ogath.
11 And it came to pass that the army of Coriantumr did pitch their tents by the hill Ramah; and it was that same hill where my father Mormon did ahide up the records unto the Lord, which were sacred.
12 And it came to pass that they did gather together all the people upon all the face of the land, who had not been slain, save it was Ether.
13 And it came to pass that Ether did abehold all the doings of the people; and he beheld that the people who were for Coriantumr were gathered together to the army of Coriantumr; and the people who were for Shiz were gathered together to the army of Shiz.
14 Wherefore, they were for the space of four years gathering together the people, that they might get all who were upon the face of the land, and that they might receive all the strength which it was possible that they could receive.
15 And it came to pass that when they were all gathered together, every one to the army which he would, with their wives and their children—both men, women and children being armed with aweapons of war, having shields, and bbreastplates, and head-plates, and being clothed after the manner of war—they did march forth one against another to battle; and they fought all that day, and conquered not.
16 And it came to pass that when it was night they were weary, and retired to their camps; and after they had retired to their camps they took up a howling and a alamentation for the loss of the slain of their people; and so great were their cries, their howlings and lamentations, that they did rend the air exceedingly.
17 And it came to pass that on the morrow they did go again to battle, and great and terrible was that day; nevertheless, they conquered not, and when the night came again they did rend the air with their cries, and their howlings, and their mournings, for the loss of the slain of their people.
18 And it came to pass that Coriantumr wrote again an epistle unto Shiz, desiring that he would not come again to battle, but that he would take the kingdom, and spare the lives of the people.
19 But behold, the aSpirit of the Lord had ceased striving with them, and bSatan had full power over the chearts of the people; for they were given up unto the hardness of their hearts, and the blindness of their minds that they might be destroyed; wherefore they went again to battle.
20 And it came to pass that they fought all that day, and when the night came they slept upon their swords.
21 And on the morrow they fought even until the night came.
22 And when the night came they were adrunken with anger, even as a man who is drunken with wine; and they slept again upon their swords.
23 And on the morrow they fought again; and when the night came they had all fallen by the sword save it were fifty and two of the people of Coriantumr, and sixty and nine of the people of Shiz.
24 And it came to pass that they slept upon their swords that night, and on the morrow they fought again, and they contended in their might with their swords and with their shields, all that day.
25 And when the night came there were thirty and two of the people of Shiz, and twenty and seven of the people of Coriantumr.
26 And it came to pass that they ate and slept, and prepared for death on the morrow. And they were large and mighty men as to the strength of men.
27 And it came to pass that they fought for the space of three hours, and they fainted with the loss of blood.
28 And it came to pass that when the men of Coriantumr had received sufficient strength that they could walk, they were about to flee for their lives; but behold, Shiz arose, and also his men, and he swore in his wrath that he would slay Coriantumr or he would perish by the sword.
29 Wherefore, he did pursue them, and on the morrow he did overtake them; and they fought again with the sword. And it came to pass that when they had aall fallen by the sword, save it were Coriantumr and Shiz, behold Shiz had fainted with the loss of blood.
30 And it came to pass that when Coriantumr had leaned upon his sword, that he rested a little, he smote off the head of Shiz.
31 And it came to pass that after he had smitten off the head of Shiz, that Shiz raised up on his hands and afell; and after that he had struggled for breath, he died.
32 And it came to pass that aCoriantumr fell to the earth, and became as if he had no life.
33 And the Lord spake unto Ether, and said unto him: Go forth. And he went forth, and beheld that the words of the Lord had all been fulfilled; and he afinished his brecord; (and the chundredth part I have not written) and he hid them in a manner that the people of Limhi did find them.
34 Now the last words which are written by aEther are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am bsaved in the kingdom of God. Amen.
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/15
And yet the BOOK says...
Ether 14:22
And so swift and speedy was the war that there was none left to bury the dead, but they did march forth from the shedding of blood to the shedding of blood, leaving the bodies of both men, women, and children strewed upon the face of the land, to become a prey to the worms of the flesh.
It started off as a creole to mix the Germanic Old English with the Latin Gallo -- so English ditched the gender of nouns mostly and much of the declinations.
That renders English hopelessly imprecise and messy, but easy to pick up at the beginning
When you get into pluperfect and other terms then it can be complex - having had done that, he would have done something else. Though American simplifies it further, dropping all in favour of simple past
There was a young lady named Laura,
Who went to the wilds of Angora,
She came back on a goat
With a beautiful coat,
And notes of the fauna and flora.
Pete Garcia sums up the strange “christian” phenomenon of hating the Rapture:
“I suppose it is the height of both irony and hypocrisy that a professing Christian would hate the idea that their Savior could return sooner rather than later. Essentially, that is what those who despise the Pre-Tribulation Rapture are guilty of, turning the blessed hope (Titus 2:13) into a joke or a byword. Of course, most would never admit to such a thing.”
Continued Points:
So How Can You Know the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is 100% Correct?
1. There is not one mention of the ekklesia inside the 70th Week, either in the Old or New Testament.
2. The Church (the body of Christ-ekklesia) has already been judged at the Cross, and is now made perfect and does not need refinement in the 70th Week (Hebrews 10:10, 14, 12:2; 2 Cor. 5:17-21; Eph. 2:4-7)
3. The 70th Week of Daniel (aka…the Tribulation) is a time specifically set aside for Israel and the Christ-rejecting world (Jer. 30:7-11; Dan. 9:24-27; Zech. 13:9; Mal. 3:1-3; 1 Thess. 5:1-9; Revelation 4-19)
4. Although Christ warns the Church that they will suffer trials and tribulations in this life (John 16:33) He never warns the Church to prepare for The Tribulation (i.e., that 70th Week). However, He does warn against not looking for His coming at the Rapture (Mark 13:39; Luke 12:37-39, 21:36; Rev. 3:3, 10, 22:20)
5. The Apostles never once warn the Church to prepare for The Tribulation. If the Church were destined to go into it, they (through prompting by God the Holy Spirit) would have warned the Church to prepare
6. Paul specifically states that the Antichrist cannot be revealed until the Restrainer is removed (2 Thess. 2:7-8). He who restrains can only be the Holy Spirit, who infills and seals the Church until the day of redemption (2 Cor. 1:21-22, Eph. 1:14, 4:30)
Entire article:
https://rev310.com/2019/07/nowhere-to-hide-part-ii-dedicated-to-the-pre-tribulation-rapture-haters
Sorry guys - like it or not The Lord will take all Truly Saved Christians with Him in the clouds to be with Him forever very soon...
If you don’t like that idea, I suppose I would question your salvation. After all - why kind of Christian professes to believe in Christ, yet doesn’t want to be with Him? Seriously......
Bad theology corrupts and confuses those who refuse to read what His Holy Word says.
Maybe you believe in a works based salvation?
Maybe you wish to write books & make money off of your analysis?
Instead of focusing on the Latin word ‘rapture’ - why don’t you instead focus on what The Lord has done to rescue His People in the past - and why He will do it again.
1. Noah
2. Lot
3. Israel escaping Egypt
John 14:3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
God has never judged His people with the wicked. He’s not about to start because He doesn’t change.
Believe it or not - I’m looking for my Blessed Hope.
You are sipping too much new wine. you
the left behind rapture fantasy negates Christ's own words that "in this generation" it shall pass
you still haven't said on what basis you think the HRE fits the bill for any of your theories.
btw, that link to rap ture (not the Blondie song) on your page is hilarious.
Oh you mean the “Roman Empire unified Europe” - well nope - the Roman Empire was primarily a Mediterranean based empire - to “reunify the Roman Empire” would be to have all of the Med littoral lands unified and not including northern Germany or the Netherlands or Poland or Scandinavia
“Truly, the very view itself of the country was a melancholy thing; for those places which were before adorned with trees and pleasant gardens were now become a desolate country in every way, and its trees were all cut down. Nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judea and the most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw it as a desert, but lament and mourn sadly at so great a change... nor if anyone that had known the place before, had come on a sudden to it now, would he have known it again; but though he were standing at the city itself, yet would he have inquired for it notwithstanding”
The wars of the Jews by Josephus book 6 chapter 1
In Rev 9:15 a “third” of men are killed.
The “third” signifies that part of the population was killed - the Roman Tenth Legion, which was stationed beyond the Euphrates
btw, that link to rap ture (not the Blondie song) on your page is hilarious.
Ahh...such hatred from a purported ‘brother’.
Keep believing the lies of the enemy.
I stand on His Blessed Hope - like it or not it’s coming.
I should explain, what I meant was that I believe it in my case
I suppose I am like the publican, I have too many thorns in the
side.
I believe it is safe to say that the publican was not too Sure
and I am like that, I am 83 and have been down a lot of crooked
roads I guess I have done some good things but most of my life
has been mistakes and trouble.
With you it may not be that way so if you have a lot of assurance
that is good.
I believe God uses his people, some in minor ways and some in bigger
ways, for instance if a church needed a pastor you might do the job
but with me, no way.
Paul told Timothy to choose elders of good standing and apoint them
as deacons and bishops because they must be blameless, I have never
qualifed as a member of a real church much less being a pastor of
one.
I am not complaing just stating fact, I believe very strongly and I do
not excuse my self, Paul had a thorn in his side because he persecuted
the church of God and it stayed with him all of his life.
So like I said confidence is fine for one but maybe not so fine for another.
Preterism is pre-school belief.
What will you believe when the Jews rebuild their Temple here in the next few years?
FAIL....
Glad you think it’s funny - tells me all I need to know about about somebody who sows discord among The Lord’s Saved.
It appears to me that you are are comming up with arguments that have
nothing to do with the scriptures I pointed out.
The kingdom of God came on the day of Pentecost, the Catholics themselves
will tell you that their church represents that kingdom of God here on
earth.
Also Paul tells us that Jesus rose and became the first fruits of those
that slept, Hosea 6 and revelation 14:3and 4 tells us who these people were
Rev 20:4and 5 tells us their part in the kingdom of God.
So yes it all has to do with the holy Roman empire.
Which sorta makes my case that the destruction of second temple Israel isn't the end, but the beginning.
Yeshua foretold His would be persecuted until the very end, when upon His return, those asleep and those living would be transformed, like Himself at His Resurrection.
~ ~ ~
Where, O Death, Is Your Victory?
Now I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
The website is sowing discord among the Lord’s saved — I would suggest you throw it out - it is filled with biblical and historical errors.
The Temple spoken of in the book of the apocalypse is Jesus
John 2:21 But he spoke of the temple of his body.
Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein. For the Lord God Almighty is the temple thereof, and the Lamb.
Whether the modern-day Jews (descendents of the Pharisees and I don't mean that in a pejorative sense - we are spiritual descendents of the Christ-following Jews) rebuild the physical Temple or not, is irrelevant to Christ's plan -- the true temple that is the Lamb, God Jesus is already here
so your post would be characterised as a fail
Those were your words about bad theology — and you correctly point out that the left behind rapture is bad theology and, as you say the rapture confuses those who refuse to read what He says.
you gave references to excerpts from St. Paul's epistles that do not mention the 2000 years. then you mention Hosea's 2 days which you interpret as 2000 years. No reasoning why you say 2000 and not 20 or 200 or 20,000
Jesus rose and became the first fruits of those who slept - that's the vision that St. John of Patmos sees
hosea 6 doesn't mention 1000s of years and revelation 14:3-4 shows where John sees that God is bringing the redeemed into the true Mount Zion in spirit, of which the earthly Jerusalem was only a copy
Thsi vision reminds the reader that, though Jerusalem has become wicked, not all from Israel will be condemned. The reader is reminded that not all have bowed to the beast (the Roman empire) and recieved his image (the coinage with the image of the Imperator).
Teh vision of the 144K shows that God has not failed Israel - though Jerusalem willb e spared, God has spared a remnant.and none, absolutely none refer to the Holy Roman Empire -- I ask you question 2 to clarify - what do you understand by "the Holy Roman Empire" - which empire, from which period?
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