For years, I have been sold to the doctrine of pre-tribulation rapture where all who trusted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will be raptured away to heaven just before the seven-year Great Tribulation is prophesied to occur towards the end of this church age. How wrong I was! What the Scripture really teaches is not any rapture but a place of safety on earth for the true church of Jesus Christ during the period of the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord - a total of three-and-a-half years or 1,260 days. The rapture doctrine was birthed as a result of the Council of Trent in 1545 based on the theory of futurism conceived by a Jesuit priest named Francisco Ribera to counter Catholic doctrines and traditions. An Anglican preacher named John Nelson Darby later refined it and the doctrines of dispensationalism and rapturism were conceived. It was never taught by Christ or any of His appointed Apostles and certainly not mentioned anywhere in the Bible! It is purely a product of human ideas and invention.
Since God is not the Author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33), the rapture doctrine cannot hold any ground as it leads to mass confusion and hayhem with innocent lives lost when Christians would be raptured away from planet earth with classrooms, airplanes in flight, moving vehicles and many others left unattended and in jeopardy! What the Bible teaches is that there is a designated place of safety on earth (not in heaven) for all true believers for a period of three-and-a half years (Rev 12:14; Psalms 91) - shielded from all the cataclysmic events unleashed upon planet earth. That is why Christ warned His elect to watch and pray always so as to be counted worthy to escape all these things (Luke 21:36) - there is a personal responsibility involved right up to the very end. Sadly, few would take His word seriously!
Christ says that no one has ascended to heaven except Himself who came down from heaven (John 3:13) and He also told His audience that 'Where I go (heaven) you cannot come' - John 8:21, 13:33. The rewards of all true saints are the kingdom of God which will come on planet earth ( Daniel 7:27; Matt 5:5; Rev 2:26; Rev 11:15). Many preachers have misunderstood the words of Christ in John 14:1-3 to mean the saved will have 'mansions in heaven' awaiting them upon physical death. The correct translation for this should be 'rooms' to indicate different positions of authority of temple priests. In like manner, Christ will dispense to the true saints different positions of authority as rewards, depending on their faith and obedience, when He returns to earth. Christ's teachings on the parable of the pounds found in Luke 19: 11-27 is a clear reference to this truth about rewards in the kingdom of God.
The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 put it succintly, 'That flesh and bood cannot inherit the kingdom of God... We shall not all sleep (physical death), but we shall all be changed...At the last trumpet...the dead will be raised incorruptible...and this mortal has put on immortality...Death is swallow up in victory.' If all the dead in Christ have gone to heaven, all these verses make no sense! Besides, there is no indication of a rapture in any variation whatsoever. This proves that the dead in Christ are 'sleeping in the grave' awaiting the sounding of the last trumpet (Rev 11:15) to be resurrected to immortality - to be born again as a spirit being (1 John 3:9) as compared to our physical birth as a human being. The dead in Christ will meet Him in the air (clouds) and return to earth when Christ will then descend on the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4-5) to begin His rule on the kingdom of God with the headquarters in Jerusalem.
The Bible clearly states that Christ will come back to earth and every eye will see Him (Rev 1:7) - not the saints going to heaven to be with Him! Christ will then begin His rule on earth (kingdom of God) together with His saints for the next one thousand years (Millennial Age) - Rev 20:4. That is an undisputable fact despite what theologians and preachers may teach and preach. Those who hold contrarian views are sincerely wrong and deceived! For those who are called and obey His word, they will be counted worthy to escape all these global calamities just before Christ Return which God has promised to protect them (Luke 21:36) that are prophesied to come upon the whole earth like a snare (Luke 21:34-35).
To the era of the Church in Philadelphia, Christ promised all His true disciples (those who believe and obey His word) that He will keep them from the hour of temptation - meaning the Tribulation (Rev 3:10). He also promised to come to reward those who are faithful and exercise good stewardship on all that were entrusted them (3:11). To the true New Testament church ('woman'), God will provide a physical place of safety for three-and-a-half year, or 1,260 days (Rev 12:6) to shelter them from the global calamities. Daniel 12:11-12 indicates a period of 1,290 and 1,335 days, a countdown to the Return of Christ. From 1,335 days to 1,290 days, a period of 45 days is for the true church to finish its work of warning the nations and make preparation to flee to Judea, and the period of 30 days from 1,290 to 1,260 days (period of God's protection) is for the journey from the gathering place to the place of safety.
Simple faith by 'just believing in Jesus alone' may fall short of God's standard and expectations from those who will be protected during the coming Great Tribulation. They have been misled to believe that Christ will take care of everything once they believe in Him, and disregard personal responsibility. The truth is that one has to have the right belief coupled with obedience to be counted 'worthy to escape all these things'. Those who have ears let them hear!
Since God is not the Author of confusion (1 Cor 14:33), the rapture doctrine cannot hold any ground as it leads to mass confusion and hayhem with innocent lives lost when Christians would be raptured away from planet earth with classrooms, airplanes in flight, moving vehicles and many others left unattended and in jeopardy! What the Bible teaches is that there is a designated place of safety on earth (not in heaven) for all true believers for a period of three-and-a half years (Rev 12:14; Psalms 91) - shielded from all the cataclysmic events unleashed upon planet earth. That is why Christ warned His elect to watch and pray always so as to be counted worthy to escape all these things (Luke 21:36) - there is a personal responsibility involved right up to the very end. Sadly, few would take His word seriously!
Christ says that no one has ascended to heaven except Himself who came down from heaven (John 3:13) and He also told His audience that 'Where I go (heaven) you cannot come' - John 8:21, 13:33. The rewards of all true saints are the kingdom of God which will come on planet earth ( Daniel 7:27; Matt 5:5; Rev 2:26; Rev 11:15). Many preachers have misunderstood the words of Christ in John 14:1-3 to mean the saved will have 'mansions in heaven' awaiting them upon physical death. The correct translation for this should be 'rooms' to indicate different positions of authority of temple priests. In like manner, Christ will dispense to the true saints different positions of authority as rewards, depending on their faith and obedience, when He returns to earth. Christ's teachings on the parable of the pounds found in Luke 19: 11-27 is a clear reference to this truth about rewards in the kingdom of God.
The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:50-54 put it succintly, 'That flesh and bood cannot inherit the kingdom of God... We shall not all sleep (physical death), but we shall all be changed...At the last trumpet...the dead will be raised incorruptible...and this mortal has put on immortality...Death is swallow up in victory.' If all the dead in Christ have gone to heaven, all these verses make no sense! Besides, there is no indication of a rapture in any variation whatsoever. This proves that the dead in Christ are 'sleeping in the grave' awaiting the sounding of the last trumpet (Rev 11:15) to be resurrected to immortality - to be born again as a spirit being (1 John 3:9) as compared to our physical birth as a human being. The dead in Christ will meet Him in the air (clouds) and return to earth when Christ will then descend on the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4-5) to begin His rule on the kingdom of God with the headquarters in Jerusalem.
The Bible clearly states that Christ will come back to earth and every eye will see Him (Rev 1:7) - not the saints going to heaven to be with Him! Christ will then begin His rule on earth (kingdom of God) together with His saints for the next one thousand years (Millennial Age) - Rev 20:4. That is an undisputable fact despite what theologians and preachers may teach and preach. Those who hold contrarian views are sincerely wrong and deceived! For those who are called and obey His word, they will be counted worthy to escape all these global calamities just before Christ Return which God has promised to protect them (Luke 21:36) that are prophesied to come upon the whole earth like a snare (Luke 21:34-35).
To the era of the Church in Philadelphia, Christ promised all His true disciples (those who believe and obey His word) that He will keep them from the hour of temptation - meaning the Tribulation (Rev 3:10). He also promised to come to reward those who are faithful and exercise good stewardship on all that were entrusted them (3:11). To the true New Testament church ('woman'), God will provide a physical place of safety for three-and-a-half year, or 1,260 days (Rev 12:6) to shelter them from the global calamities. Daniel 12:11-12 indicates a period of 1,290 and 1,335 days, a countdown to the Return of Christ. From 1,335 days to 1,290 days, a period of 45 days is for the true church to finish its work of warning the nations and make preparation to flee to Judea, and the period of 30 days from 1,290 to 1,260 days (period of God's protection) is for the journey from the gathering place to the place of safety.
Simple faith by 'just believing in Jesus alone' may fall short of God's standard and expectations from those who will be protected during the coming Great Tribulation. They have been misled to believe that Christ will take care of everything once they believe in Him, and disregard personal responsibility. The truth is that one has to have the right belief coupled with obedience to be counted 'worthy to escape all these things'. Those who have ears let them hear!
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