Why the Rapture isn’t Biblical… And Why it Matters

Patheos ^ | June 4, 2014 | Kurt Williams

[Cronos]

One of the most recent was the prediction that Jesus would come again in glory Saturday, May 21, 2011.

Didn’t happen — like all the Rapture fantasies they keep changing the dates when it fails.

[Cronos]

I did - and Amos chapter 9:9-15

9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.

10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.

11 In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the Lord that doeth this.

13 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.

14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.

15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God.

is about the return from Babylon -- haven't you read the "that they may possess the remnant of Edom" -- you do realize that John Hyracanus, the Jewish king then conquered and assimilated the Edomites with the Jews?

That the Edomites, then called Idumeans, were assimilated and one of their own, Herod, became King of the Jews later? And that the Edomites were destroyed as a nation after the Bar kochkba revolt and became completely subsumed into modern Jewish (and Christian) identities?

[Cronos]

And amos 9 - In Acts 15:15–17, James interprets this passage in a messianic sense.

The words of the prophets agree with this, as is written:

16 ‘After this I shall returnh and rebuild the fallen hut of David; from its ruins I shall rebuild it and raise it up again,

17 so that the rest of humanity may seek out the Lord, even all the Gentiles on whom my name is invoked. Thus says the Lord who accomplishes these things,

The fallen hut of David: the Davidic kingdom, which included what later became the divided Northern and Southern Kingdoms. All nations claimed in my name: lit., “all nations over whom my name has been pronounced.”

how can you deny the very books of the Bible in that interpretation?

God restored the peoples as promised in Amos 9 - that's what the return from Babylonian exile was about

[Cronos]

And you first said ‘\which other nation has been restored after being dispersed” - I gave you two. you can add Mangaloreans as well, but they don’t have a state today.

[Cronos]

The Church does not replace Israel - rather as Christ came to fulfill the Law, Christianity is the fulfilment of God’s promises in the OT to the chosen people.

[Just mythoughts]

What I posted was not a map of "allotments" but of the neo-Assyrian Empire at its peak To the north of Assyria was Urartu - which studiously kept its independence and it also controlled the entrance to the Caucasus. This is very, very clear that the Assyrians didn't exile the northern tribes to the Caucasus but they sent them to northern Iraq or maybe southern Iraq That's the point -- Europeans have no genes from the Israelites, but those people merged with the other Semites

You are sadly mistaken. Unless or until the DNA of Jacob is tested it is fanciful and deceptive to make claims NOT confirmed. I showed you what the Heavenly Father had Moses pen, and what that name 'the Adam' literally means... And further, that word 'ruddy' used repeatedly to describe David. All of which goes to the point to the 'key of David'. Sleep on.

[Just mythoughts]

Next, you bring up Samuel 12 "ruddy" - Ruddy can mean red -- have you seen any native Iraqis or Syrians? There are many blondes and red heads there -- The ancient Israelites would probably have looked an in-between shade much like modern day Arabs given that the Israelites were of Middle Eastern origin, with the forefather Abraham being from Ur (in Iraq) and given genetic similarities between Jews and Arabs. I would be careful with textual proofs of skin color, either way, given that much of these texts are poetic, and colors can sometimes be invoked in reference to purity or in reference to destruction / desolation; to use such texts for such a purpose, you should be very sure that it is using color in a literal way. In terms of textual evidence, the Mishnah is very explicit about describing the skin color of Jews at the time as being like “boxwood”, which is consistent with the in-between Middle Eastern complexion. Ruddy does not mean white. It means red, as in redboned or light skinned, or even mahogany.

'Ruddy' means to show 'blood in the face', as in turning 'red faced' when blushing. What do you think all this bashing of 'whites' these days stems from... some in the scheme of things know darn well what they are doing. NOW, let me emphasis that 'caucasians' are NOT a 'super race'... One only need spend a few minutes in the WORD and find out what the Heavenly Father has to say about the 'children'... The Heavenly Father got so fed up with the House of Israel, He divorced them ... and part of their punishment was they would no longer know who they are. IT IS WRITTEN.

[Cronos]

Not really -- there are lots of DNA studies on people of Jewish heritage today. And since this includes Levites, it's not exclusively Judeans

The semitic genetic make-up is quite distinct from the European

The make-up of Assyrians - i.e. northern Iraqis match closely to that of the Jews

And historically we have adequate information from 700 BC of the Zagros and Kartveli highlands that there was no movement of peoples through there

So,

1. Genetically the people of northern Iraq are related to modern Jews -- while Europeans aren't

2. Historically the Assyrian Empire never spread to the Caucasus mountains leave alone to the continent of Europe

3. archaeologically there is no movement of Semitic peoples to the north and east of Iraq

Net-net, Europeans aren't the lost tribes

[Cronos]

The Heavenly father said "ruddy" which means RED - not white nor pink - it's a sign of blood - human beings have blood, which is life. That's what it means that Adam had life

Adam (אדם) shares its root with אדמה (ʼadamà), meaning soil.

[Just mythoughts]

And btw, that Adam thing is linguistically nonsense - you have red-faced people among Syrians, Iraqis etc The word Adam does have more than one meaning. For instance, 120 in the same Concordance means “a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.):–X another, + hypocrite, + common sort, X low, man (mean, of low degree), person.” Meaning 121 of Adam taken from the same Concordance means “name of the first man, also of a place in Palestine.” The word Adam is also the root word for the color “red” and for the word “soil” or “earth”. This makes perfect sense since the Scriptures tell us that God created a human (remember not a “man” but a “human”) from the dust of the ground. - red is the colour of blood Adam was not a white European And similarly the northern Israelites would be light brown - like modern day Syrians/Iraqis

All of the 'meanings' of that word 'the Adam' fit him to a T. Might want to did a bit deeper and find out exactly how that word Adam was given too Moses.... What seems to be overlooked, is how closely the Heavenly Father monitored the bloodline to Christ. That is what the Old Testament is about HIS story, generation to generation and how many times attempts were made to destroy that line. I was raised to 'believe' the Garden Party took place in an apple orchard ... shocked, I tell you when I read for myself what was Written, and not one word about an 'apple orchard', but, instead the party took place in a 'fig' grove...

I take seriously the command : Deuteronomy 4:2 “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you”. and

Repeated again in Revelation 22:18-19 18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

It is nearly impossible to find a 'church' that keeps that commandment.

[Cronos]

Ditto for David - ruddy

All the people living in the Levant, have a similar complexion to Jews.

King David would have looked kinda like

This would be similar to many Syrians today

[Just mythoughts]

True - genetically neither Europeans nor native Americans are descendents of Israelites. The "Lost Tribes" didn't end up in Europe, they assimilated with other semitic peoples in Iraq/Syria

The only way you can declare 'genetically' anything about who is or is not of Jacob/Israel, is to have the DNA of Jacob... Deception is at a critical Mass.

[Cronos]

The way you can declare is by checking with KNOWN descendents of Jacob -- the Jews, who consist of people whose ancestors were from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin and Levi and probably a sprinkling of others.

The northern tribes were their cousin so would have the same genetic markers.

net-net, if a "people" are close genetically to Jews, they have a better chance of being a descendent of a lost tribe than people who are far genetically from Jews

Europeans are far genetically from Jews - as are sub-Saharan Africans.

So an average Bantu-speaker from the Democratic republic of Congo is about as far genetically from being a lost tribe person as a person of purely English or Scottish heritage --> to simplify that, a Scot/Englishman is as much a lost-tribe Israelite as a Congolese person

[Cronos]

Yes, ruddy - of the earth.

So this is probably how Adam may have looked

[Cronos]

It wasn't an apple - apples are from Central Asia. A Fig or pomegranate would be possible or indeed anything else

And Revelation 22:18-19 talks about "this book" namely the Book of the Revelation of St. John --> don't you realize that the Bible is made up of 73 books ending with the book of the Apocalypse?

[Cronos]

It wasn't an apple - apples are from Central Asia. A Fig or pomegranate would be possible or indeed anything else

And Revelation 22:18-19 talks about "this book" namely the Book of the Revelation of St. John --> don't you realize that the Bible is made up of 73 books ending with the book of the Apocalypse?

And Deuteronomy talks about the Law -- specifically as in Deuteronomy.

sheesh, don't add to the book of revelation and don't add to the Law

[Just mythoughts]

There is a reason, a purpose, why that word ‘ruddy’ was specifically attributed to David. Then follow by the reminder in Revelation to the ‘key of David’. The image you present does not look anything like what words were used to describe ‘young’ David.

[Just mythoughts]

You are not familiar with the ‘travels’ of Jeremiah are you?

[Just mythoughts]

The Old Testament was fixed (Ezra/Nehemiah) before Christ took His flesh journey... where in Christ declared Mark 13:23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

This was long before any jot or tittle of the New Testament, ever got placed on plant fibers, animal skins, or chiseled in stone.

Paul penned
1 Corinthians 10:11 11Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

The Old Testament is our script ... It is being repeated...

[Just mythoughts]

Psalms 40:7
7Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

Hebrews 10:7 7Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.

Too few care one wit about the ‘will of God’, they spend their lifetime making up new traditions. But hey, that is what the Lord's Day (thousand years/millennium) will be to set all those wayward souls straight.