FINAL WARNING: Setting the Stage for Destruction
myself, I began to rethink Pre-Trib. When the book was published in
1994, I did not include anything about the Rapture, either way, for fear
that it would alienate people and detract from the message I was
presenting.However, things are quite different now. With the juggernaut of the
“Left Behind” series consuming this country with best-selling books,
audio books, movies, videos and DVD’s with their Pre-Tribulation
Rapture theory, I felt it was necessary to weigh in with the results of
my research. Believe it or not, it’s pretty straight forward, and the
Scripture doesn’t require a theological scholar to interpret its meaning.The word ‘rapture’ is not in the Bible. It actually comes from the Latin
word ‘rapturo,’ which means ‘to seize or be carried away in one’s
spirit,’ or the transporting from one place to another, and comes from
the 1 Thessalonians 4:17 term “caught up.” The original Greek word
was ‘harpazo,’ and refers to the same thing. The notion of the Rapture,
with its Pre-Tribulation, Mid-Tribulation, Partial Tribulation, and Post-
Tribulation theories have been one of the most divisive issues in the
Church, with the Pre-Trib view being the prevailing one. If this is your
view, please do not be offended that I would kick this sacred cow until
you have read the evidence.The Rapture is a supernatural event that the Church has said will occur
in the end-times to remove them from this world when ‘trouble’ starts.“But there shall not an hair of your head perish.” (Luke 21:28)“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians
15:51-52)The following Scriptures are key–“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and
the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and
remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to