The End of the World, the Rapture, the Second coming of Christ explained.

 The Adventists, Jehovas Witnesses and so many other cults and so called prophets have through the years claimed to know the day of the return of Christ. But as most of us know, it did not happen. Funny enough, the Adventists have later, after their failed 1844 return claim, found out that Jesus did in fact return, but not visible to all. He started some kind of judgment process from that time, still going on obviously. 

Also Jehovas witnesses have similar claims, but at a later date: 1914.

Watch Tower Society publications teach that Jesus Christ returned invisibly and began to rule in heaven as king in October 1914

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschatology_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses#:~:text=It%20proclaimed%20Christ's%20invisible%20return,day%20of%20wrath%22%20in%201914.)

Now there is yet another claim, stating that the rapture will happen on October 31, 2020. If I am suddenly gone on November first, you know what happened. 
But I truly doubt that anybody is given the exact day, as Jesus said that nobody, not the angels, nor he himself, know the day and the hour of his return to earth.

Let me explain some of the ideas behind all this commotion.

Why are people of religious convictions, and especially those who are inspired by the New Testament, so eager about this thing: THE END OF THE WORLD, and the RAPTURE?

Many christians have invested most of their time and energy, digging into all kinds of prophecies, trying to discover more details about the last days, and the return of Jesus.

Sadly, some of them become so obsessed with this, that they seem to forget the last commandment of Christ: Go you out into all the world, preach this gospel to all ethnic groups, baptize them in the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit, teaching them to observe all the commandments of Jesus.

Instead, they bury themselves into large amounts of ideas and details, while their neighbours never get to know the simple truth about how to get saved through belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

They may even be so obsessed about the return of christ, that they do not realize that they themselves need to be prepared for something much more sure and imminent (probably) than the rapture and the second coming: They are about to die, any time, any day. Are we ready for THAT time and day?

ESCATOLOGY: the doctrines concerning the last days and the return of Christ

If you believe in Jesus, as he is presented in the New Testament, he left his disciples by flying up into the clouds, while they were watching him disappear in the air. Then some angels told them that this same Jesus will return some day, and set his feet on the Mount of Olives. 

According to multiple sources withing the Bible, from both the Old Testament and the New, yes very much directly from Jesus himself also, it is a clearly stated doctrine, that he, the Messiah, will return to earth some day.

Then he will judge the people on the earth, and establish a Millenial Kingdom that will rule all Nations from Jerusalem. He will divide the people into 2 groups: the sheep to the right, and the goats to the left. He will bless the sheep, who were of a good nature, doing good towards poor, sick and suffering fellow humans. And he will curse those on the left, the goats, and blast them for never helping anybody who were suffering. He will then send them off into hell fire.

He will at his coming in the clouds be seen by all people on the earth. And riding a white horse, with a sword going forth from his mouth, he will make war against the armies of the antichrist, and throw the beast and the false prophet alive into the flames of hell. 

Then he will bind the devil himself in chains, and throw him into a deep abyss, where he will be kept as a prisoner for a thousand years. Thus, the earth will become a great place of peace and prosperity, and the martyrs of christ will reign as kings over the earth, each one of them given specific areas to rule over.

 This is a fundamental teaching of most christians through history, and is found in the great confessions of faith that they utter every sunday service.

THE RAPTURE: pre trib, mid trib or post trib?

There is a more obscure scenario, that is not so much discussed and preached within the traditional churches: The Rapture! 

Oh yes, Jesus talked about it all right! He said that on that day, the angels will gather the true believers from all directions of the heavens, and bring them to him and meet him in the heaven. 

There is however a controvery among christians nowadays wether this heaven means the physical atmosphere that we can all observe, or if it means that they are going to be taken to paradise for an extended time, maybe 7 or 3,5 years, while God will punish the earth, and leave it into the hands of the devil and the beast. The traditional understanding is that they will meet Jesus in the physical atmosphere, join him there with his angelic armies, and then attack the earth and free it from satans rule of terror. That is why they all needed to have a physical body, of course also the dead, as they now will dominate the physical world.

The later doctrine, originating from some visions and dreams back in the 18 hundreds, mainly published and preached by a certain Darby; 

John Nelson Darby was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism and Futurism. 

Born: 18 November 1800, City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

Died: 29 April 1882, Bournemouth, United Kingdom

Nationality: British  

Wikipedia

but also of a charismatic lady, named Margaret MacDonald:

Margaret MacDonald was born in 1815 in Port Glasgow, Scotland and died around 1840. She lived with her two older brothers, James and George, both of whom ran a shipping business. Beginning in 1826 and through 1829, a few preachers in Scotland emphasized that the world's problems could only be addressed through an outbreak of supernatural gifts from the Holy Spirit...

Read more about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_MacDonald_(visionary)

The following tale is well know to most bible readers:

There will be 2 people sleeping in a bed. 1 will be taken away, while the other remains, not found worthy. 2 women will work side by side crushing some grains into flour. 1 of them will be taken away, the other remains, not found worthy. etc. 

You can read about it in Matthew chapter 24 and in other passages in the Gospels.

Now Paul, the Apostle, revealed more details about this event. He said that at the last trumpet, God will in a twinkle of an eye raise all those who died as real born again christians, so they will have a new glorious physical body, like Jesus himself got it after his resurrection on the third day.

Then those true believers who are still alive, will have their bodies transformed into glorious bodies. After this, they will all be lifted up and away from the earth, to meet Jesus in the skies.

Let us first read from 1. Chorintians chapter 15, from verse 51:

51

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52In 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.

53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Let us then read from 1. Thess.chapter 4:

13But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

15For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

16For 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:

17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

18Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Jesus spoke about a great tribulation that will hit the earth, the greatest trial in all history of humans (obviously since the great Flood). And while christians during most of church history have understood that all people, including themselves, will go through this terrible trial, the newer doctrine originating from Darby, claims that the true christians will be raptured off from this earth BEFORE the tribulation starts. 

When asked who are those martyrs described in the book of Revelation (the last book in the bible, a MUST READ!), the answer is that those are people who took to the faith AFTER they saw the rapture. Also, people claim that those believers are newly converted JEWS. 

They say that God would never allow his precious Bride, the Church, to suffer the trials in the great tribulation. Also, some claim, that the antichrist can not really take world dominion while the holy spirit is present in true believers here, so therefore they are blocking satan with their presence. But they will be taken away in the rapture, and then the way is open for satan to really take over this place.

Both pre trib and post trib groups point to 2. Thessalonians chapter 2 to defend their views.

I will strongly recommend you to read the whole chapter for your self, repeatedly, but from the King James version of the bible. One very important thing here is the expression: the day of the Lord, versus the day of Christ.

In the textus receptus greek manuscripts, it reads "the day of christ", while in some other manuscripts is reads "the day of the Lord" in stead.

Some pre trib teachers base a lot of their doctrines on the late, and falsified, modern greek texts, in stead of trusting on the historically best greek manuscripts.

The NIV bible says, in verse 2: 

2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.

Here is the full chapter, straight out of the KJV:

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

4Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

5Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

6And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

7For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

8And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

13But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:

14Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

15Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

16Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,

17Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

It is quite evident that Paul is not speaking for both pre trib and post trib views here.

He warns against deception, and then points out very clearly what must happen BEFORE THE DAY OF CHRIST.

But if you read the NIV and similar versions that do NOT respect and follow TR, you may find a way to explain it all in a very different way, by emphasizing on the Day of the Lord.

This shows how important it is to have a correct greek underlying text, because even if you are a Greek scholar, and read the Bible directly form Greek, you must KNOW what is trustworthy and NOT. You must know that most modern professors and theological litterature is based on unbelief, on the shifting sands of liberal theology.

There are basically 2 understandings about this rapture happening as a separate rapture from that described by Jesus in the gospels. Some teach a PRE TRIB RAPTURE, while others claim the first rapture will happen in the middle of the 7 years reign of the antichrist, 3,5 years into his reign. They say that in those first 3,5 years he will fool the world into believeing that he is truly a man of peace, yes, even christ himself. But once the true believers are gone in the rapture, he will truly start to reveal himself as the son of the devil.

Now, the traditional thinking about the whole thing, is that all christians will be living through this tribulation, and so many of them will be executed because of their faith and testimony of Jesus. Than, when Jesus return, there will the the one and only rapture. This is the Day of Christ, and when they are safe in the clouds, with physcal bodies, so they are ready to resettle on a physical world, the Day of the LORD will commence. We do not know exactly how long this day will be, but this is the time when God will be able to flood the earth with His wrath, as his chosen ones are already safe (just like Noa and his family: Once they and the animals were safe inside the Ark, God flooded the Earth).

The Bible tells us that Jesus will return to this earth, destroy the armies of the antichrist with flames of wrath, etc. And obviously there will still be people living on this earth. That is: People who were NOT born again, who were not raptured.

Those who were raptured, were the true believers, and according to the gospel of  Christ, they will not be judged at this occasion. Fact is that they have already been saved through faith in Jesus, by grace. They will not be judged based on their good deeds, only by grace, by faith.

Then after the 1000 years of Messianic world wide reign, God will make the final judgment, after this earth has passed away. Then there will be a new heaven, a new earth. A new Jerusalem, described in many places in the Bible, but most clearly in the Book of Revelation.

Historical events pointing to the End: Charismatic outpouring, Israel, 7 thousand years week etc

The preaching of the sudden coming of the Lord, with the Rapture, has been used by many evangelists to scare people into repentance: Are you ready when it suddenly happens? Or will you remain on earth to be tormented by the devils reign of terror?

CHARISMA

The rise of spiritual gifts among christians, such as speaking in toungues, prophesying, miracles etc, have been on the rise since the 1800's, and it really took off from around 1900, with the birth of the pentecostal movement on Asuza street in LA.

Yes, the Bible says that in the last days, this thing will happen. But it actually happened first in Jerusalem, 2000 years ago, and it has continued throughout church history. 

But obviously not very common thing in spiritual dead churches. 

However, the Pope took action, and opened up his false church by embracing the so called Charismatic movement, where catholics pray in tounges while worshipping Mother Mary.

This if of course so crazy, and it is preparing for the New Age Church of the Antichrist, surely.

It does not mean, however, that the Pentecostal movement was NOT of God. I strongly believe it was, just like so many other revivals of the faith through different men of God, like the Methodists. 

Nowadays, all those churches have become museums, where they worship the ashes of the fire of God that once fell. 

But due to compromise and political ambitions rather than followin the head of the true church, namely Jesus Christ himself, they have effectively quenched the purity of the fire of the Spirit of God.

ISRAEL

The establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948 sparked a lot of ideas about the rapture and the second coming, as the biblical prophecies claims that the scattered peoples of the 12 tribes of Israel will come back to their ancestral home, promise to Abraham and his seed.

Many said that since Jesus talked about the fig tree and it have new leafs, he meant that when this rise of the nation of Israel, was a fullfillment of prophecies, and that this generation would not perish until all those things had come to pass.

So the understanding of many christians was that the generation that saw the establishment of the political nation called Israel, would not perish until they would see the return of the Messiah. And since one generation by many bible scholars is 40 years, they thus made the prediction that Christ would return in 1988.

What seems odd to me, is that they believe the political nation of Israel is a fullfillment of those biblical prophecies. Even though the whole concept of Zionism has its roots in devil worshippers and occult secret societies. The so called Balfour declaration of  November 2,1917, was a promise made on behalf of the British government, to help the zionists achieve their dream of a revived holy land. This letter was addressed to Baron von Rotschild, one of the true evil rulers of this world. They made this promise, if the so called Jews in New York were able to convince the USA to help Britain conquer Germany.

The Ashkenazi Jews, who are not real Semites, are behind this political force, and they call it ISRAEL to deceive the world. Read about Kazaria, and understand that God is NOT favoring, nor bringing into His kingdom, unrepenting, hard-hearted so called Jews, who mock Jesus Christ. True, some of them will repent in the last days, according to the book of Revelation. Some of those false Jews will repent. 

But as of now, they are NOT the people of God. I repeat: They are NOT the people of God. Most of them are not even from the blood line of Abraham!

7000 years week

Others claim that God operated with days of 1000 years duration. And since the humans and the present world has its history 6000 years back in time, and since the full week is 7 days, it means that after 6000 years christ will return, and then set up his final day of 1000 years: The Millenium reign. One book I read by the late dr. Lester Sumrall, with the title I PREDICT THE YEAR 2000 AD. where he stated this train of thoughts, which seemed at the time to be accurate.

All these things have led to speculations and predictions that have made millions of christians disappointed, and probably countless have lost their faith in the bible, or at least in the churches they used to belong to.

I do believe that we live in the last days, and Jesus said that "this Gospel must be preached as a testimony to all nations (ethnical groups), and THEN will the End come!"

Matthew 24:14

“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

But please do not believe in those who claim such and such day and date. It is only bringing more ammunition on the tounges of the mockers and non believers, laughing at the crazy stupid christians.

Be ready, not only for His rapture and His second coming, but be ready for when the angel comes for your soul! It can happen any day, any night. Are you born again? Do you have a right standing with God?

In Jesus name, read the Bible for your self, and be truly blessed.

by John Kjetil Lode, October 16, 2020, Digos city, Mindanao, Philippines.