TRIUMPHANT RETURN #3
by Grant Jeffrey
The Time of Christ's Return
This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so
come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:
11)
Careful study of the Scriptures and Church history confirms
that the Bible teaches and the faithful teaching of the orthodox
Church in all generations has affirmed the hope of the return of
Christ. The churches in all major Christian traditions -
Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and Coptic - acknowledge the
scriptural teaching of the Second Advent. Consequently, virtually
all Christians acknowledge the Second Coming of Christ. However,
the controversy involves the question as to the timing and the
literal details surrounding this critically important event,
which is prophesied in numerous passages throughout the Old and
New Testament.
One of the most intriguing prophecies concerning the promise
of His coming is that the final generation that experiences the
fulfillment of the events of the "last days" will also witness an
astonishing denial of the literal truth of the return of our Lord
by scoffers who will openly deny the Bible's prophecies about the
return of Christ. Specifically, the apostle Peter warned, "There
shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own
lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from
the beginning of the creation" (2 Peter 3:3-4). In other words,
in the last days, "scoffers" would appear in the Church who will
deny the scriptural truth of a literal, future coming of Christ
on the basis that a long period of time had passed since the
original prophecies were given and the prediction remains
unfulfilled.
As mentioned in the first few chapters, we are now
witnessing an amazing proclamation by a group of scholars calling
themselves preterists. Extreme or full preterists strongly deny
the truth of the literal and future Second Coming. However,
partial preterists believe that the prophecies of Matthew 24 and
the book of Revelation were almost completely fulfilled when
Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D.70, but they suggest some kind of
a Second Coming will occur in the far distant future. Rather than
deny the truth of the hundreds of prophecies about the Second
Advent, preterists claim these specific predictions were actually
fulfilled almost two thousand years ago when the Roman legions
burned Jerusalem. For example, a major full preterist writer,
David Chilton, wrote, "The Olivet Discourse is not about the
Second Coming of Christ. It is a prophecy of the destruction of
Jerusalem in A.D.70." He also declared, "The Book of Revelation
is not about the Second Coming of Christ. It is about the
destruction of Israel and Christ's victory over His enemies in
the establishment of the New Covenant Temple."
However, it is obvious that the detailed prophecies in
Matthew 24, 2 Thessalonians and the book of Revelation about
Christ's return were not literally fulfilled by the limited
historical events that transpired during the destruction of
Jerusalem. Over 1,250,000 Jewish citizens of Jerusalem were
starved, burned, and slaughtered by the brutal legions of Rome
following the Jews' ill-considered revolt against the
overwhelming military power of imperial Rome. The only way that
the preterists can claim that the numerous prophecies about
Christ's Second Coming were fulfilled during the burning of
Jerusalem is to interpret the words contained in these numerous
predictions in a totally allegorical, metaphorical, and symbolic
manner.
This method of allegorical interpretation of the prophecies
is totally contradicted by the normal principles of scriptural
interpretation that are used by all orthodox Christian scholars,
including preterists, to interpret all other non-prophetic
scriptural passages. Curiously, the preterists interpret the
language of the Scriptures about the death and resurrection of
Christ in a totally literal and natural manner, but they abandon
this fundamental principle of biblical interpretation when they
interpret the prophecies about the Second Coming. This
inconsistency of interpretation is logically indefensible and
biased by their desire to escape the clear teaching of the
prophecies regarding the literal and future Second Coming to set
up Christ's millennial rule. (See Chapter 2 for a complete
discussion of why the literal method of interpretation is the
most accurate.)
The Scriptures declare that there will be a growing "spirit
of Antichrist" in the last days (1 John 4:3). The Bible reveals
that one of the characteristics of the spirit of Antichrist is
that it denies that Jesus Christ comes in the flesh. Obviously,
anyone who denies that Jesus Christ was incarnated into human
flesh by being supernaturally born to His mother Mary is denying
Christ's fundamental claim that He is both the Son of Man and the
Son of God. That is "the spirit of Antichrist." In answer to
this, John wrote:
Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets are
gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God:
Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and
this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard
that it should come; and even now already is it in the
world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome
them: because greater is he that is in you, than
he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore
speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. We are
of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of
God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and
the spirit of error. (s John 4::1-6)
This passage, 1 John 4:2-3, which declares, "Every spirit
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God"
also refers to His prophesied return in the last days. The New
Testament confirms that just as Jesus truly came into this world
as a physical human being, lived His life as a human, died, and
rose from the dead, He will also return to the earth physically
at the conclusion of the Battle of Armageddon. Therefore, the
denial of the literal reality of the return of Christ is a
fundamental characteristic of the spiritual opposition to God
that will manifest during the last days leading up to His return
from heaven.
It is surely significant that the New Testament contains
repeated warnings about the danger of spiritual deception in the
final days. The apostle John specifically warned about deception
in the last days regarding the nature of Jesus Christ's Second
Coming (2 John 7-8). It should not, then, be surprising that in
our generation we are witnessing an astonishing claim that denies
the literal reality of the hundreds of prophecies that affirm
that Jesus Christ will return in the flesh from heaven to defeat
the Antichrist and establish His rule on earth.
The Dating of Revelation
In Chapter 2, we briefly touched on the basic weakness of
preterism, that is, its complete dependence upon Revelation being
written before the A.D.70 destruction of Jerusalem. Naturally, if
John wrote his prophecy after the fall of the Holy City, then
their argument falls apart. Thomas Ice summed up the preterist
problem in the book "Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse:"
It must be pointed out that if Revelation was written before A.D.
70, then Chilton's view may be correct. But if the Apocalypse was
penned before A.D.70, it would not by itself rule out the
futurist and premillennial view (i.e., Revelation is still
prophetic of the future). The futurist view could still be
correct if it was written when Chilton says it was, since the
date is not determinant to the validity of its view. However, if
Revelation was written even one day after the fall of Jerusalem,
then it ceases to be a prophecy concerning the destruction of
Jerusalem.
The preterists themselves understand that their theory
cannot be true if John wrote his prophecies in the book of
Revelation at any point in time after the Romans destroyed
Jerusalem, as the well-known preterist Ken Gentry admitted. "If
it could be demonstrated that Revelation was written twenty-five
years after the fall of Jerusalem, Chilton's entire labor would
go up in smoke."
To get past the fundamental weakness in their position, the
preterists have come up with several arguments to place John's
writing of Revelation before A.D.70 when both Jerusalem and the
Temple were destroyed by Rome. Their main points are as follows.
The Preterist's Claim that the Temple was still Standing
The preterists argue that the apostle John's accurate description
of the Temple in the book of Revelation can only be explained on
the basis that the Temple was still standing when he wrote his
book. In David Chilton's Days of Vengeance, he writes, "St.
John's intimate acquaintance with the minute details of Temple
worship suggests that 'the book of Revelation and the Fourth
Gospel must have been written before the Temple services had
actually ceased.'"
A careful examination of the text of Revelation reveals only
two verses that directly refer to the actual Temple in Jerusalem.
Both of these references are found in Revelation 11, which
clearly describes John's prophetic vision of a future Temple that
will exist in the years just prior to Christ's return at the
Battle of Armageddon. These genuine references to the Temple in
Jerusalem are as follows: "And there was given me a reed like
unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the
temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But
the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it
not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall
they tread under foot forty and two months" (Revelation 11:1-2).
(No! this does not prove a literal Temple will be built in
Jerusalem, as the detailed explanation of Albert Barnes in his
"Notes on the New Testament" plainly show. I have given the true
meaning of Rev.11 in other studies on this Website .
IF the measuring of the temple is literal, then the measuring of people
must be also. Barnes shows the daft idea is silly and gives the truth. - Keith Hunt)
All other specific references in Revelation to the Temple
are either symbols or they clearly refer to the Temple in heaven.
Those who wish to examine the evidence will find a number of
verses that refer to the Temple in heaven including: Revelation
3:12; 7:15; 11:19;14:15,17;15:5-6, 8;16:1;16:17; 21:22.
Could John have accurately described the Temple in A.D.96 if
it was destroyed approximately twenty-six years earlier? I
believe so, for the following reasons.
As a righteous Jew, John would have attended the major
Temple feasts (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles) for a
significant portion of his life, roughly fifty years from his
being an adult until the Temple was destroyed. This means that
John would have attended Temple services about 150 times,
providing more than enough visits for him to accurately remember
and describe the Temple service.
The gospel of John declares that John was a friend of the
high priest, which would have afforded him additional
opportunities to visit the Temple. This again would provide ample
reason for his accurate description. In addition, as a disciple
and important Christian teacher, John taught often in the Temple
for many years following the ascension of Christ. Acts 3 through
6 show several instances of John's presence at the Temple. Unless
the preterists argue that John suffered from Alzheimer's or some
other specific memory problem, there is no reason to believe that
John could not remember the few details regarding the Jewish
Temple that are recorded in Revelation, regardless of whether the
Temple was still standing at the time of his writing the book of
Revelation.
A careful evaluation of the Temple imagery found in the
Apocalypse finds that virtually every single detail is also found
in the extensive Temple imagery found in the books of Chronicles,
Kings, Daniel, Ezekiel, Joel, and Zechariah. If the preterists
used the same argument they use to attack John to attack the
prophetic vision of Ezekiel, they would be forced to argue that
the enormous Temple of Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 4o-46) must have
been standing in Israel (and must have been visited by Ezekiel)
during the prophet's exile during the Babylonian Captivity, to
account for Ezekiel's highly detailed description and exact
measurements of the future messianic Temple. However, all serious
biblical scholars acknowledge that Ezekiel described in
astonishing precision an inspired prophecy about a future Temple
that will only come into existence at some point in the future
when the Messiah returns. John would naturally have known the
details of the Old Testament prophets' visions about the Temple.
This scriptural knowledge can easily account for the few
details regarding the Temple that are found in the book of
Revelation, if his personal memories were not sufficient.
Finally, since those who support preterism accept that the
Scriptures, including Revelation, are divinely inspired by the
Holy Spirit, there is no reason to believe that God would have
allowed John to inaccurately record details about the Temple
service, regardless of the state of the prophet's memory or
whether the Temple was still standing when John penned his
inspired book. In John's Gospel, the Lord promised that He will
inspire and "guide you into all truth." He said, "Howbeit when
he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all
truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall
hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come"
(John 16:13). Furthermore, John specifically affirms in his
Revelation that he "heard and saw these things" and then recorded
in his inspired writing what the angel had shown him in divine
vision. Therefore, the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is
sufficient to account for John's accurate description of the
Temple and his use of Temple imagery without any need for John to
visit the Temple and see it with his own eyes before recording
his divinely inspired visions. Logically, therefore, there is no
basis for denying that John could accurately record the divine
visions he received from the Holy Spirit.
Critics Claim Irenaeus' Testimony is Ambiguous
Despite the clear testimony of Irenaeus, that Revelation was
written by John "toward the end of Domitian's reign," which was
accepted universally by the early Church, David Chilton wrote:
"Although some scholars have uncritically accepted the statement
of St.Irenaeus (120-202) that the prophecy appeared 'toward the
end of Domitian's reign' (i.e., around 96), there is considerable
room for doubt about his precise meaning (he may have meant that
the Apostle John himself 'was seen' by others). The language of
St.Irenaeus is somewhat ambiguous; and, regardless of what he was
talking about, he could have been mistaken." However, no one ever
suggested that Irenaeus was "ambiguous" or "mistaken" until the
recent appearance of preterism and its need to deny his
compelling testimony that John wrote his prophecy during the
tyranny of Emperor Domitian.
While Irenaeus is the earliest historical source for the 96
date, there are numerous other historical sources from reliable
early Church fathers that provide powerful evidence regarding the
late date (as we will discuss in the next section). Indeed, no
church historians disputed Irenaeus' statement about the
Apocalypse for many centuries. In comparison, there are no
historical sources from the second or third century that claim
that John wrote the Apocalypse during the reign of Nero.
To try to make their point, the preterists quibble over
semantics. David Chilton and other preterists reject the normal
interpretation that Irenaeus' statement refers to John's
prophetic vision as recorded in the book of Revelation. Rather,
they suggest that the word that, which is part of Irenaeus'
phrase "For that was seen no very long time since, but almost in
our day, towards the end of Domitian' s reign," actually refers
to the apostle John himself, not his vision or his book. The
Greek word translated "that" is an impersonal pronoun in the
neuter gender, which is consistent with the interpretation of
"that" referring to the book of Revelation. When we consider the
nature of the Greek word "him," which is part of the phrase "it
would have been announced by him who beheld the apocalyptic
vision," we see that it is in the masculine gender. Therefore,
the neuter gender of the original Greek word translated "that"
cannot logically refer to the apostle John. In Greek grammar a
word such as "that" will almost always refer to the nearest
antecedent unless there is a clear reason not to do so based on
the context. Irenaeus' statement must therefore refer to the
Apocalypse itself, which again is consistent with a late date of
96.
Preterists' Claim Others Depend Solely upon Irenaeus
Since they have already impugned Irenaeus' credibility, the
preterists dismiss other Church fathers' testimonies as relying
solely upon Irenaeus for their facts. David Chilton wrote:
St.Irenaeus, incidentally, is the only source for this late
dating Revelation; all other "sources" are simply quoting
from him. It is thus rather disingenuous for commentators to
claim, as Swete does, that "Early Christian tradition is
almost unanimous in assigning the Apocalypse to the last
years of Domitian." Certainly, there are other early writers
whose statements indicate that St.John wrote the Revelation
much earlier, under Nero's persecution.
Refuting the A.D. 68 Date of Revelation
Despite Chilton's hopes, there is ample historical evidence
from numerous independent sources that supports the 96 date. In
addition, the historical evidence demonstrates that Irenaeus is
not the sole source. Most of the other witnesses regarding the
date of the Apocalypse do not even mention Irenaeus, let alone
quote him. The record of the early Church fathers and historians
who supported the 96 date for the writing of Revelation is
unanimous until approximately 367. There is also evidence from
the Scriptures that support the 96 dating of Revelation.
Furthermore, the following material will demonstrate that the
first clear statement, and only non-contradictory source, that
supports the date of Nero appeared in approximately A.D.550,
almost 450 years after the Apocalypse was written.
Irenaeus (160)
Irenaeus stated that John wrote the Revelation during the
final years of Emperor Domitian's tyranny. In approximately 160,
Irenaeus wrote about John's prophecies in Revelation concerning
the name and number of the Antichrist. After warning against
trying to identify the name of the Antichrist, he clearly
identified "the apocalyptic vision," Revelation, as a book that
appeared not long ago "almost in our day, towards the end of
Domitiari s reign."
We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing
positively as to the name of Antichrist; for if it were
necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in
this present time, it would have been announced by him who
beheld the apocalyptic vision. For that was seen no very
long time since, but almost in our day, towards the end of
Domitian's reign.
Irenaeus' declaration is consistent with the traditional 96
date for Revelation (the date of Domitian's death). However, his
evidence definitely contradicts the preterists' suggested date of
66-68. As an educated scholar in the Roman Empire, Irenaeus
described the appearance of the book of Revelation at the end of
the reign of Domitian. Because he was born only thirty-five years
after Domitiari's death, the well-respected Irenaeus is an
extremely reliable historical source.
We also view Irenaeus as a very credible source because he
was a student of Polycarp, who had been personally tutored by the
apostle John. There was a direct link of transmitted knowledge
from the apostle John, to his disciple Polycarp, and ultimately
to Irenaeus. Therefore Irenaeus' declaration regarding the
authorship of the Apocalypse and the 96 date is of tremendous
historical value. An article on Revelation in "The Interpreter's
Dictionary of the Bible" states: "The earlier church writers
converged on a date in the reign of Domitian (81-96); such
appears to be the united testimony of Melito of Sardis, Irenaeus,
Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Victorinus, and Eusebius--church
fathers ranging from the second to the fourth century. Jerome too
knows of this tradition."
Clement of Alexandria (190)
In approximately 190, Clement of Alexandria also confirmed
that John wrote the Apocalypse in 96. He referred to an encounter
between John and a backslidden robber, which occurred when the
apostle returned from exile on Patmos "after the death of the
tyrant." Since two Roman emperors were tyrants during the first
century of the Christian era, the word tyrant could logically
refer to either Nero or Domitian. However, in the same writing
Clement repeatedly referred to John as being a very old and
infirm man. John was less than sixty years old during the reign
of Nero. Sixty would hardly be considered old and infirm. Thus,
it is clear from Eusebius' "Ecclesiastical History" that Eusebius
understood that Clement of Alexandria taught in his "Quis Dives
Salvetur" that John was imprisoned on Patmos during the reign of
Domitian.
Hippolytus (200)
Hippolytus, the bishop of Portus (170-236), was a Greek but
is associated with the Latin Church. He was a disciple of
Irenaeus and wrote extensively about the prophecies. A remarkable
marble statue of Hippolytus sitting on a chair was discovered
near the Tiburtine Road outside Rome in 1551. On the back of the
marble chair, archeologists discovered a list of Hippolytus's
books, demonstrating the breadth of his scholarship.
Unfortunately, many of his works have not survived. Hippolytus
was an important Christian leader, and as he lived so close to
the time of the apostle John, his testimony (given in
approximately 200) supporting the Domitian date for the
Apocalypse is significant.
In 1888 Professor John Gwynn from Dublin, Ireland,
discovered five fragments of an ancient Syriac manuscript
belonging to Hippolytus. It is entitled "Capita Adversus Caium"
and rests now in the British Museum (section Cod. Mus. Brit.
Orient. 560). Later that year, Professor Gwynn wrote an article
in the Trinity College Dublin Review, entitled Hermathena,
referring to the writings of Dionysius Barsalibi, the Bishop of
Amid. Dionysius' manuscript states that Hippolytus and Irenaeus
believed that John wrote the Apocalypse during his banishment
under Emperor Domitian in 96. Professor John B. Lightfoot
(1602-1675), vice-chancellor of Cambridge University, also refers
to this manuscript in his authoritative series on ancient
Christian writings entitled "Apostolic Fathers." Professor
Lightfoot wrote: "Dionysius Barsalibi states that Hippolytus,
like Irenaeus, holds the Apocalypse to have been written by John
the Evangelist under Domitian (Gwynn; Hermathena vii. p.137)."
This previously unknown confirmation from Hippolytus provides
additional and compelling evidence in support of the A.D.96 date
for the Apocalypse.
Tertullian (200)
Tertullian (160-240) was an important Christian theologian
in the city of Carthage in North Africa. Tertullian's writings
clearly support a 96 date for the Apocalypse in his references to
the persecutions of the apostles.
But if thou art near to Italy, thou hast Rome, where we also
have an authority close at hand. What an happy Church is
that! on which the Apostles poured out all their doctrine,
with their blood: where Peter had a like Passion with the
Lord; where Paul hath for his crown the same death with
John; where the Apostle John was plunged into boiling oil,
and suffered nothing, and was afterwards banished to an
island.
Tertullian declared that Emperor Nero martyred Paul and
Peter, yet he does not mention John's banishment to Patmos during
this first imperial persecution of the sword by Nero. However,
Tertullian specifically described the later banishment of
Christians, which was the punishment meted out to the apostle
John "afterwards," when he described the persecution that
occurred during the last two years of Emperor Domitian's reign
(95-96). Tertullian described John's miraculous survival from
boiling oil during the persecution of Nero in A.D.66 when Peter
and Paul were killed. Hovever, Tertullian then mentioned
John's banishment "to an island," which occurred "afterwards."
Numerous sources confirm this banishment occurred during the
tyranny of Domitian in A.D.96. Possibly confusion developed
centuries later regarding these two separate persecutions under
Nero and Domitian, both of which were experienced by the apostle
John.
Origen (225)
Origen was one of the greatest scholars of the early Church.
He produced an incredible number of books during his long career
as a teacher, theologian, and writer in Alexandria, Egypt.
Writing in about 225, Origen confirmed the fact that John was
banished during the reign of the brutal Domitian. In writing his
commentary on the book of Matthew, Origen made the following
statement about John's banishment:
The King of the Romans, as tradition teaches, condemned
John, who bore testimony, on account of the word of truth,
to the isle of Patmos. John, moreover, teaches us things
respecting his testimony, without saying who condemned him
when he utters these things in the Apocalypse. He seems also
to have seen the Apocalypse ... in the island.
While one might wish that Origen had been more specific
regarding his identification of the "King of the Romans," it is
most probable that he referred to Emperor Domitian. Knowing that
Irenaeus had clearly identified Domitian as the one who banished
John to Patmos, and that this conclusion was widely taught in the
early Church (see Clement of Alexandria, Hippolytus, et cetera),
it is logical that Origen would have specifically named another
emperor if it were so. Origen's comment therefore tends to
confirm that Domitian is "the King of the Romans" who "condemned
John." R. H. Charles, in his commentary on the Apocalypse,
discussed the preponderance of evidence that leads to this
conclusion. "Neither in Clement nor Origen is Domitian's name
given, but it may be presumed that it was in the mind of the
writers. "
Victorinus (280)
Another Christian writer, Victorinus (240-303), bishop of
Petau, wrote an extensive "Commentary on the Apocalypse." In this
book, Victorinus, who lived during the persecution under Emperor
Diocletian, confirmed that John wrote his prophecy during the
reign of Domitian. Victorinus' ministry overlapped that of early
Church authorities such as Irenaeus, who personally knew those
who were taught by the apostle John. Victorinus commented:
When John said these things he was in the island of Patmos,
condemned to the labour of the mines by Caesar Domitian.
There, therefore, he saw the Apocalypse; and when grown old,
he thought that he should at length receive his quittance by
suffering, Domitian being killed, all his judgments were
discharged. And John being dismissed from the mines, thus
subsequently delivered the same Apocalypse which he had
received from God.
Bishop Victorinus commented on his interpretation of the
seven kings described in Revelation 17. In Victorinus' commentary
he wrote about the time of their appearance in history: "The time
must be understood in which the written Apocalypse was published,
since then reigned Caesar Domitian; but before him had been Titus
his brother, and Vespasian, Otho, Vitellius, and Galba. These are
the five who have fallen. One remains, under whom the Apocalypse
was written-Domitian, to wit."
(Victorinus was incorrect in understanding the five who had
fallen. See my study "The Beast of Daniel and Revelation" for the
detailed understanding. That study can be found on this Website -
Keith Hunt)
Eusebius (325)
The early Church historian Eusebius (265-339) quoted the
passage from Irenaeus that was referred to earlier in this
chapter. Once again, it confirms Revelation as being written
"towards the end of Domitian's reign." It is worthwhile to note
that Eusebius, who had available to him all of the records of the
early Christian Church, personally and directly testified that
John wrote his Apocalypse under the reign of Emperor Domitian. In
his historical chapter that details the cruelty of Domitian
toward Christians, Eusebius wrote:
It is said that in this [Domitian's] persecution the apostle
and evangelist John, who was still alive, was condemned to
dwell on the island of Patmos in consequence of his
testimony to the divine word. ... To such a degree, indeed,
did the teaching of our faith flourish at that time that
even those writers who were far from our religion did not
hesitate to mention in their histories the persecution and
the martyrdom which took place during it. And they, indeed,
accurately indicated the time. For they recorded that in the
fifteenth year of Domitian Flavia Domitilla, daughter of a
sister of Flavius Clement, who at that time was one of the
consuls of Rome, was exiled with many others to the island
of Pontia in consequence of testimony borne to Christ.
While he questioned John's authorship at an earlier point in
his life, Eusebius later concluded that the apostle John was the
true author of the Apocalypse. He wrote about John's book of
Revelation as follows:
But after Domitian had reigned fifteen years and Nerva
succeeded to the empire, the Roman Senate, according to the
writers that record the history of those days, voted that
Domitian's honors [decrees] should be cancelled, and that
those who had been unjustly banished should return to their
homes and have their property restored to them. It was at
this time that the apostle John returned from his banishment
in the island and took up his abode in Ephesus, according to
an ancient Christian tradition.
After Emperor Nerva had reigned a little more than a year,
he was succeeded by Emperor Trajan.
At that time the apostle and evangelist John, the one whom
Jesus loved, was still living in Asia and governing
the churches of that region, having returned after the death of
Domitian from his exile on the island. And that he was still
alive at that time may be established by the testimony of two
witnesses. They should be trustworthy who have maintained the
orthodoxy of the Church; and such indeed were Irenaeus and
Clement of Alexandria.
It is noteworthy that Eusebius is the only early Christian
historical source who directly referred to the evidence provided
by Irenaeus in his own statement.
Jerome (385)
The uniform tradition of the early Church is that the
apostle John was born near the time of Christ's birth, possibly
later, which would be consistent with him being in his sixties
during Nero's reign. For example, the writer Jerome
(c.e.345-419), one of the greatest writers in the early Church,
refers to this apostle as follows: "Yet John, one of the
disciples, who is related to have been the youngest of the
Apostles, and who was a virgin when he embraced Christianity,
remained a virgin." In the same passage in Book I, Jerome refers
to John as "a youth, I may say almost a boy" at the time of the
formation of the Church following Christ's resurrection. In this
passage Jerome refers to John as "a prophet, for he saw in the
island of Patmos, to which he had been banished by the Emperor
Domitian as a martyr for the Lord an Apocalypse containing the
boundless mysteries of the future."
The clearest historical statement is Jerome's declaration:
"We may be sure that John was then a boy because ecclesiastical
history most clearly proves that he lived to the reign of Trajan,
that is, fell asleep in the sixty-eighth year [A.D.100] after our
Lord's passion.""
In his book Lives of Illustrious Men, Jerome wrote about Johns
banishment.
In the fourteenth year then after Nero, Domitian having
raised a second persecution, he was banished to the island
of Patmos, and wrote the Apocalypse, on which Justin Martyr
and Irenaeus afterwards wrote commentaries. But Domitian
having been put to death and his acts, on account of his
excessive cruelty, having been annulled by the Senate, he
[John] returned to Ephesus under Pertinax and continuing
there until the time of the emperor Trajan, founded and
built churches throughout all Asia, and, worn out by old
age, died in the sixty-eighth year after our Lord's passion
and was buried near the same city.
Another very important reference to the date of John's
writing of the Apocalypse is found in Jerome's Works, Vol. iv.
ii. p.549 (Bened. Ed.), as recorded in Epistle 44 Pauloe et
Eustochii ad Marcellam, where Jerome specifically describes the
Apocalypse as being written "after the destruction of Jerusalem."
Sulpicius Severus (401)
Another interesting report by the Christian scholar
Sulpicius Severus, in approximately 401, declares: "John, the
Apostle and Evangelist, was banished by Domitian into the isle of
Patmos; where he had visions, and where he wrote the book of the
Revelation, which is either foolishly or wickedly rejected by
many."
Primasius (540)
During the sixth century, Primasius was the bishop of
Hadrumentum in north Africa until his death in approximately 560.
He wrote a major commentary on the Apocalypse (around 540) which
was partly based on the earlier commentary of Bishop Victorinus.
In the preface to his commentary, Primasius wrote that John
received his apocalyptic visions while he was banished and
imprisoned in the mines on the island of Patmos under Caesar
Domitian (96). Primasius wrote: "Moreover, he was unfortunately
seen to be deserving, [having been] sent on account of Christ to
the island of Patmos under Caesar Domitian, to be condemned to
the mine and incarcerated there until the end [of his sentence]."
Isodore of Seville (596)
Isodore of Seville became the archbishop of the Spanish city
Seville in approximately 600. As a prolific author, Isodore wrote
numerous theological works including an important manual of
Church doctrine as well as a twenty-volume encyclopedia. In his
Chronicle in 596, Isodore wrote a history about a number of the
apostles during the first century. He wrote about the martyrdom
of Peter under Emperor Nero and the banishment of the apostle
John under Emperor Domitian.
Peter, as before said, went to Rome in the reign of
Claudius, to oppose Simon Magus. Here the dispute with Simon
Magus, and his death, are placed in the reign of Nero, and near
the end of it; for about that time the martyrdom of the two
forementioned apostles are supposed to have happened. Of
Domitian, whose reign is computed to have from 81 to 96, he says,
"He raised a persecution against the Christians. In his time the
apostle John, having been banished into the island Patmos, wrote
the Revelation."
Venerable Bede (700)
The Venerable Bede (Baeda Bede, 673-735) was a famous Church
leader and considered the "father of English history." Despite
living in the neighborhood of Northumbria (northern England)
throughout his life, Bede became known as the most learned man in
Europe. He wrote a comprehensive Church history of the English
people. After completing his famous translation of John's Gospel,
he died. His fame continued to spread after his death and he was
finally called "Venerable Bede" in recognition of his special
spiritual qualities. Writing about John's Apocalypse, Bede stated
the following: "John wrote his epistles, and his gospel, all
about the same time; for after the death of Domitian, being
returned from his exile, he found the Church disturbed by
heretics, which had arisen in his absence, whom, in his epistles,
he often calls antichrists."
Other Historical Testimony
Another fascinating comment on the date of the Apocalypse is
found in a curious historical source. An Anglican scholar, Daniel
Whitby (1638-1726), who wrote Paraphrase and Commentary on the
New Testament, commented on the fact that the old Roman
Martyrology records that the Christian known as "Antipas" in
John's Apocalypse (2:13) suffered martyrdom under the reign of
Domitian. Obviously, if the Apocalypse of John included
information about the death of Antipas during the persecution of
Emperor Domitian (A.D.95-96), then John must have published the
book of Revelation at some point after his release from the
island of Patmos.
Contradiction With the Spiritual State of the Seven Churches
Another contradiction with the preterist theory is revealed
in the spiritual state and history of the seven churches in Asia
that John writes to in the first three chapters of Revelation. In
66, the apostle Paul was writing his second letter to Timothy at
a time prior to John's involvement with these churches. Consider
John's first letter to the church at Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7);
John declares that Ephesus has "left [their] first love," that
they have "fallen," and that they must return to "the first
works" and "repent." This spiritual condition could only occur
after the passing of a number of years following the initial
establishment of the church during Paul's missionary trips. The
description of the church's spiritual challenges is consistent
with a church that has existed for decades.
When Paul wrote to the Ephesians in the late 60s, the
spiritual life of this church bore no resemblance to the
spiritual backsliding described by John in Revelation. For
example, in John's letter he warns of the Nicolaitans, while Paul
makes no mention of them. The obvious conclusion is that John
wrote Revelation much later, as an encouragement to the Church to
stand against the terrible persecution of Domitian and the trials
that would follow and to confront the teachings destroying their
faith.
Preterist Claims in Support of A.D.68 Date
A careful examination of the historical records of the early
Church during the first few centuries following the resurrection
of Christ fails to reveal any reliable and undisputed Christian
authority that supports the preterists' view. Surely if John, the
well-known disciple and bishop of seven churches, had truly
written his Apocalypse before the destruction of Jerusalem, there
would be ample surviving testimony to this fact. In addition, one
would expect to discover several commentaries on Revelation that
would have adopted the interpretation whereby John's predictions
applied to the events concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and
the Temple. The total absence of historical references to
Jerusalem's destruction in any early Church commentaries on the
book of Revelation provides compelling evidence that this theory
was unknown to the Christians who lived closest to the life,
ministry, and death of the apostle John.
While they have failed to find historical references in the
first few centuries of the Christian era, preterists do suggest
several later historical sources they claim support their
position.
Epiphanius (367)
The first suggestion that the apostle John wrote the
Apocalypse prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70
appears in the writings of Epiphanius (315-403), the bishop of
Salamis (Cyprus) in A.D.367. Epiphanius wrote that "John
prophesied, or had the Revelation, in the Isle of Patmos, in the
reign of Claudius" [who ruled Rome from 41-54]. Since there is
no historical evidence about the persecution of Christians during
the reign of Emperor Claudius, Epiphanius' statement is an
obvious mistake with no historical credibility. In my research on
this subject, I have not found any scholars who accept that
Epiphanius was correct in assigning John's banishment to Patmos
during the reign of Emperor Claudius; there is not the slightest
evidence that any significant persecution of Christians occurred
during the reign of this Roman emperor. In light of the fact that
Epiphanius does not refer to Emperor Nero at all, nor to the
period just before the destruction of Jerusalem, his evidence
provides no credible support for the preterist position of the 68
date.
Another significant problem of inconsistency regarding
Epiphanius' writing is the fact that he referred to John
returning from the isle of Patmos "after ninety years of age."
This statement reveals an internal contradiction - John's old age
of ninety supports the 96 date. Since John was among the youngest
of Christ's disciples he could not have been ninety years old in
A.D.68. Rather than dismiss Epiphanius' obvious error and
ignoring his false statement, preterists have illogically argued
that his incorrect testimony about Emperor Claudius should still
be used to support an early A.D.68 date for the Apocalypse.
Significantly, John Lawrence von Mosheim, one of the
greatest Christian historians and evaluators of early Christian
writings, wrote that Epiphanius' manuscripts were "full of blots
and errors, through the levity and ignorance of the author."
A Sixth-Century Syriac Version of the Apocalypse (550)
Preterists also point to the Syriac version of the
Apocalypse, translated about the sixth century. It contains a
subscription or title that refers to Emperor Nero. The
subscription to the translation states: "The Revelation which was
made by God to John the Evangelist in the island of Patmos,
whither he was banished by the Emperor Nero." This is the first
and, in fact, the only clear and non-contradictory historical
evidence that supports the preterist argument. However, the
weakness of this evidence is that the Syriac version of the
Apocalypse was actually translated for the first time about the
sixth century, more than four hundred years after the banishment
of the apostle John to Patmos. The Church historian Johann David
Michaelis notes, "The Syriac version of the Apocalypse is now
known to be a part of the Philoxenian version, which was made by
Polycarp at the beginning of the sixth century." Therefore, while
this is interesting, preterists still fail to provide any
reliable evidence from the first few centuries of the Christian
Church in support of their A.D.68 date.
As noted earlier, Tertullian described the Apostle John's
participation and supernatural survival from boiling oil during
the persecution of Nero in A.D.66 when Peter and Paul were
killed. He then mentioned his banishment "to an island," which
occurred "afterwards," that numerous other historical sources
confirm occurred during the tyranny of Domitian in A.D.96. It is
possible that there was some confusion four centuries after the
life of John regarding the two different persecutions experienced
by the Apostle which may have resulted in the writer of the
Syrian translation of the Apocalypse in the sixth century
mistakenly believing that John composed the Apocalypse during the
first persecution under Nero when he survived rather than the
correct date of A.D.96 during the second wave of persecution when
he was banished by Domitian.
Arethas (762 or possibly later)
One of the important sources cited by the preterists is the
Christian writer Arethas, who they claim wrote his Commentary
about the Apocalypse around 540. While some scholars, such as
Moses Stuart and Andrew Robert Fausset, agree with the 540 date,
others such as Henry Barclay Swete suggest that Arethas lived up
to three centuries later (approximately 914).
There is some evidence that Arethas was the archbishop of
Caesarea and wrote a commentary on the Apocalypse in
approximately 800. However, Arethas wrote his commentary on the
beast of Revelation (13:2), and mentioned the Saracen capital
city of Baghdad near ancient Babylon. In light of the historical
fact that Baghdad was only built by the Saracen dynasty in 762,
it appears that Arethas must have composed his commentary on the
Apocalypse at some point in time after this late date.
Arethas claimed that the Revelation was written "before the
destruction of Jerusalem." However, Arethas contradicts this
statement in his earlier comment on Revelation 1:9. There Arethas
approvingly quotes Eusebius, referring to the Apocalypse as being
written by the apostle John at the island of Patmos under the
tyranny of Emperor Domitian, "sub Domitiano." Unfortunately for
the preterists, the evidence of Arethas is hopelessly
contradictory, and was written over seven centuries after the
Apocalypse. It does not support their argument.
Therefore, the sole non-contradictory evidence in favor of
Nero's banishment of John remains the sixth-century translation
of the Apocalypse. However clear it may be, it was written over
four centuries after John wrote his book.
Preterists Claim Domitian's Persecution of Christians Was Not
Sustained
David Chilton wrote the following in his book "Days of
Vengeance": "A good deal of the modern presumption in favor of a
Domitianic date is based on the belief that a great, sustained
period of persecution and slaughter of Christians was carried on
under his rule. This belief, cherished as it is, does not seem to
be based on any hard evidence at all."
However, this argument is quite irrelevant to the issue in
question. The issue of the 96 date for the Apocalypse does not
depend at all on a "great, sustained period of persecution and
slaughter of Christians." Chilton's argument is weak and somewhat
bizarre in that the Bible does not describe the details about
this persecution other than to refer to the fact that John was
banished to Patmos. Therefore, the ample historical evidence
about Domitian's banishment of Christians is sufficient to
support the conclusion that the apostle John was indeed
imprisoned by Domitian. The historical records reveal that Nero
killed Christians near Rome in relatively large numbers. However,
there are no early historical sources that support the preterist
assumption that widespread banishment of Christians occurred
during the limited persecution during the short reign of Nero.
Preterists Claim John Referred to Nero in Revelation 17:9-10
According to David Chilton in his book "Days of Vengeance":
Our safest course, therefore, must be to study the
Revelation itself to see what internal evidence it presents
regarding its date. As we will see throughout the
commentary, the Book of Revelation is primarily a prophecy
of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. This fact
alone places St.John's authorship somewhere before September
of A.D.70. Further, as we shall see, St.John speaks of Nero
Caesar as still on the throne - and Nero died in June 68.
This argument is circular and without serious merit. Chilton
first concludes, without compelling evidence, that Nero is
clearly mentioned in John's prophecy (because he accepts the 68
date) and then he uses his own assumption as evidence for his
premise that John must therefore have written his prophecies in
the Apocalypse during the reign of Nero.
Critics Claim God's Revelation was "sealed up" (Daniel 9:24)
To again quote from the preterist David Chilton:
More important than any of this, however, we have a priori
teaching from Scripture itself that all special revelation
ended by A.D.70. The angel Gabriel told Daniel that the
"seventy weeks" were to end with the destruction of
Jerusalem (Daniel 9:24-27); and that period would also serve
to "seal up the vision and prophecy" (Daniel 9:24). In other
words, special revelation would stop - be "sealed up" - by
the time Jerusalem was destroyed. The Canon of Holy
Scripture was entirely completed before Jerusalem fell.
However, the Word of God does not teach that "inspired
revelation was sealed" in A.D.70. The evidence of the Scriptures
reveals that the prophecies extend to the final events at the end
of this age, which will culminate in the return of Jesus Christ
at the Battle of Armageddon. The prophet Daniel wrote: "Seventy
weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to
finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting
righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to
anoint the most Holy" (Daniel 9:24).
We need to analyze this important prophecy to determine when
these vital messianic predictions will finally be fulfilled. The
six prophecies are: (1) to finish the transgression; (2) to make
an end of sins; (3) to make reconciliation for iniquity; (4) to
bring in everlasting righteousness; (5) to seal up the vision and
prophecy; and (6) to anoint the most Holy. If you were to ask any
person unfamiliar with the controversy if these six conditions
were fulfilled at any previous point in history, it is highly
unlikely that they would choose the Roman army's destruction of
Jerusalem in A.D.70 as the event that fulfilled these six
important predictions. Most people will acknowledge that sins are
still being committed and that "everlasting righteousness" would
not precisely describe the times we live in that are reported
daily in our newspapers, the Internet, and the television news.
(True as for the date A.D.70 but not true for the finished work
of Christ on the cross in 30 A.D. The reader is asked to see some
of the famous Bible Commentaries such as Albert Barnes; Adam
Clarke; Matthew Henry. They correctly understood the 70 week
prophecy of Daniel chapter 9. See on this Website the study
called "Daniel's 70 Week Prophecy" - Keith Hunt)
An Evaluation of the Preterist Position
These main arguments of the preterists are actually
astonishingly weak when we consider the absence of strong
historical or scriptural evidence for their position. Despite
their lack of conclusive evidence, the preterists assert in the
strongest terms that their position for a 68 date for the
Apocalypse is absolutely proven. However, even some of the top
preterists admit that David Chilton's arguments in favor of an
A.D.68 date for the Apocalypse are quite weak.
One of the most interesting books in defense of the doctrine
of preterism is "The Parousia" by J. Stuart Russell, first
published anonymously in 1878. This book has been republished
from 1983 through 1999. Russell's book strongly supports the full
preterist theory that all prophecy was fulfilled by A.D.70. He
suggests that the Second Coming and the rest of Revelation's
prophecies were either fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem
or they were fulfilled "spiritually." Russell honestly admitted
that his "explanation of the predictions of the New Testament,
instead of relieving the difficulty, embarrasses and perplexes us
more than ever." Russell even acknowledged the objections of
many orthodox Christians when they consider the preterist view
that all of these powerful prophecies were fulfilled spiritually,
without any observed historical events: "But how can we be
expected to believe in fulfillments which are said to have taken
place in the region of the spiritual and invisible when we have
no witnesses to depose the facts?" There is not one example in
the Bible of a prophecy that was fulfilled in an allegorical,
non-historical manner.
Answering Objections to the Literal Kingdom
Critics who reject the Millennial Kingdom often raise
objections to its literal nature because they claim several
scriptural passages support their view that the kingdom of God is
purely spiritual.
Jesus stated: "My kingdom is not of this world."
In John 18:36 Jesus declared, "My kingdom is not of this
world." Some suggest that Jesus affirmed in this passage the
non-material and purely spiritual nature of His kingdom. However,
Christ revealed that His coming kingdom is not part of this
present, sinful, spiritual "world" system. His kingdom will be
announced on earth at His glorious and triumphant return with His
saints. "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the
Father, but is of the world" (1 John 2:16). The Lord sharply
defined the difference between His future kingdom and the present
world of sinful rebellion. The gospel of John revealed Christ's
separate view of this present sinful world in contrast to the
glorious sinless kingdom of God which will be revealed at His
Second Coming. "And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am
from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world" (John
8:23).
"Behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
Some claim that Christ's words "Behold, the kingdom of God
is within you" (Luke 17:21) support their view that the kingdom
of God exists only in the souls of believers. However, this is
incorrect. Jesus was not stating that the holy kingdom of God
existed in the hearts or spirits of the wicked Pharisees who
rejected His Messianic claims. The Amplified Bible renders this
verse as, "the kingdom of God is within you and among you." Jesus
was referring to the promise of the kingdom of God as existing in
the midst of the Jewish nation at that very time because Christ
as the Messianic King represented that coming kingdom.
(Not entirely so. There are two sides to the Kingdom, the present
one within the minds and hearts of the saints, which is NOW - see
Colossians 1:13. And we have the Kingdom yet to come to earth at
the coming of Christ. There is a "spiritual" and "physical" side
to the Kingdom. So depending on HOW and for what purpose you are
using it, either one is correct. Jesus was trying in that context
to get those Pharisee beyond just looking for physical signs and
a physical Kingdom. If the heart is not right, the physical
earthly coming Kingdom you will never see, for you will not be
part of it - Keith Hunt)
"The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink."
Others point to Paul's words, "For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy
Ghost"(Romans 14:17). In other words, Paul was saying that the
Kingdom of God is not simply public observances. These inspired
words of the apostle cannot mean what the critics suggest - that
the future kingdom will not involve physical reality such as
eating and drinking. For example, Jesus declared, "Blessed is he
that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God" (Luke 14:15). In
another passage, the Lord stated, "And I appoint unto you a
kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and
drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the
twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:29-30).
"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God."
Those who believe in a purely spiritual kingdom claim
support from the passage where Paul warns that "Flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 15:50). They
suggest this passage teaches that Christ's kingdom is not a real
one. However, the Scriptures repeatedly declare that the coming
kingdom will exist on earth under the direct rule of Jesus Christ
as "King of Kings." Paul revealed that our present mortal and
corruptible bodies are not designed for the holy and eternal
kingdom of God. Jesus will supernaturally resurrect the bodies of
all believers to enable us to rule and reign with Christ forever
in His eternal kingdom. "Behold, I show 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and
this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).
The kingdom of God will be ushered in at the return of the
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. "Then shall the King say unto
them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world"
(Matthew 25:34)
The Preterist Denial of the Imminent Second Coming of Christ
Though we have discussed in depth the issue of the date when
Revelation was written, the implication of the preterist's
teaching must not be lost. The point of the preterist's claim
that the writing of Revelation occurred in the year 68 is to show
that Revelation was fulfilled in 70, when Rome destroyed
Jerusalem and the Temple. They argue that Revelation holds no
promise of the imminent return of Christ. Their additional points
are as follows.
The Preterist Argument - The Time Texts
Preterist scholars reject the teaching of a future
premillennial return of Christ and specifically point to New
Testament phrases such as "the Lord is at hand," "the coming of
the Lord draweth, nigh," et cetera. They argue that such phrases
demand that the Lord must have returned within a very short time
of the original utterance of these prophecies or the prophecies
would be false.
The problem of the proper interpretation of these time
passages has led to several unfortunate responses: (1) Some have
chosen to ignore the prophecies of the Second Advent on the
grounds that they are vague and not literal. (2) Others have
rejected these prophecies as false because Christ did not return
in the generation when these specific predictions were given. (3)
Finally, some have chosen to interpret these "time prophecy"
passages as being fulfilled in the Roman destruction of Israel
and Jerusalem. The preterists argue that these predictions
specifically demand that the prophesied events must be fulfilled
within a few years of the original prophecy.
The Time of Christ's Return
Preterists often refer to three specific texts that they
claim show that the Second Coming of Christ must have occurred in
the first century (i.e.,70).
First Time Text-Matthew-10:23
"But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another:
for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities
of Israel, till the Son of man be come" (Matthew 10:23).
They claim this passage clearly points to the coming of "the
Son of Man" in the lifetime of the disciples. However, many
scholars admit that Matthew arranged his Gospel according to
subject rather than a strict chronological sequence. The prophecy
of Matthew relates to the prophecy given by Christ on the Mount
of Olives, recorded in Matthew 24. The prophecy of Matthew
10:21-23 will be fulfilled when the Jews preach the "gospel of
the Kingdom" during the tribulation, ending with the Second
Coming. The prophecy's use of the title the "Son of Man" always
appears as a reference to the Second Coming of Christ. This
prophetic phrase, expressing Jesus' humanity, points to His
visible, personal coming. Nothing corresponding to Christ's
visible and personal coming as described in numerous prophecies
including Matthew 24 and Revelation 19 ever occurred at the
destruction of Jerusalem, according to the historical records of
Flavius Josephus, who lived at the time and wrote The Jewish War.
For example, Jesus prophesied that, "For then shall be great
tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to
this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be
shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's
sake those days shall be shortened" (Matthew 24:21-22).
The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70 was indeed horrific
with the death of an estimated 1,250,000 Jewish citizens.
However, Jesus prophesied an unprecedented global "great
tribulation" so devastating that if He delayed His return "no
flesh [would] be saved." Revelation's prophecies declare, "behold
a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell
followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth
part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with
death, and with the beasts of the earth" (Revelation 6:8). If
words have any meaning whatsoever, then we must reject the claim
of the preterists and amillennialists who declare that these
scriptural predictions and numerous others about the coming
Tribultion were fulfilled in A.D.70. Obviously, these prophecies
must be fulfilled at some point in the future.
(Of course this must be true, for horrific as the slaughter was
in 70 A.D. it cannot come close to the horrific killing during
the Second World War. Yet there is a time coming [last 42 months
of this age] that will make the killing of WW2 look like a
Sunday-afternoon picnic - Keith Hunt)
Second Time Text-Matthew 16:27-28
"For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with
his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his
works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which
shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in
his kingdom." (Matthew 16:27-28)
Many amillennialists and postmillennial preterists who state
that the kingdom of God appeared spiritually (including the
Second Coming) at the destruction of Jerusalem point to Christ's
words in both the Gospels of Matthew and Mark. These critics of
the millennial kingdom suggest that Christ's statement demands
that the Second Coming must occur during the lifetime of those
disciples who heard His prophecy and wrongly conclude that
Jerusalem's destruction is the correct fulfillment. However, the
very next verse in the passage provides the correct answer to the
question. "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John
his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the
sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there
appeared unto them Moses and Elias [Elijah] talking with him"
(Matthew 17:1-3). Only six days after His prophecy, the same
disciples, Peter, James, and John accompanied Jesus up into a
mountain and they personally saw the glory of the Lord revealed
as they witnessed, "the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
To emphasize the glory of His appearing to the disciples, God the
Father announced in "a voice out of the cloud, which said, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him"
(Matthew 17:5).
The Scriptures repeatedly refer to the glorification of the
resurrected saints at Christ's appearing. The apostle Paul taught
of the glorification of the resurrected saints as follows: "If so
be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God" (Romans
8:17-19). The transfiguration of Christ together with the
appearance of the resurrected saints, Elijah and Moses, provided
powerful confirmation to His disciples that God will resurrect
and glorify all of those who place their faith and trust in
Christ when He ushers in the kingdom of God.
Third Time Text-Matthew 24:34
"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all
these things be fulfilled" (Matthew 24:34)
Preterists such as Ken Gentry wrote about Matthew 24:34
"This statement of Christ is indisputably clear and absolutely
demanding of a first-century fulfillment of the events in the
preceding verses, including the Great Tribulation." However, the
question of the correct time indicated by Christ when He refers
to "this generation" in Matthew 24:34 is clarified when we
consider the related phrase "all these things," which appears in
this verse as well as the preceding verse, "So likewise ye, when
ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the
doors." In other words, Jesus Christ prophesied that the "last
days" generation that sees "all these things" occur will not
cease to exist as a generation until every one of the events of
the future tribulation period are literally fulfilled. Jesus is
ultimately speaking to those who will be living in the generation
that will personally witness the fulfillment of the prophetic
signs of Matthew 24.
Understanding The Time Texts
The correct solution to the problem of these "time texts" is
found in the understanding that these prophets were writing with
the specific style used in the Old Testament Jewish prophetic
form.
Israel's ancient prophets, such as Isaiah, Joel, and
Zechariah, prophesied about God's promise of ultimate national
salvation, the coming day of the Lord, and the coming of the
Messiah in prophetic language that pointed to its being close at
hand. However, both history and the New Testament reveal that a
number of these specific prophecies were fulfilled centuries
after the prediction was given. It is significant that no scholar
has ever objected to the language of these Old Testament prophets
on the basis that these predictions referred to events far in the
future, despite the fact that the prophecy used language that
described events as though they were about to be fulfilled.
Obviously God, who is eternal, views time quite differently than
we do. The Word of God specifically refers to this phenomenon in
the following passages: "For a thousand years in thy sight are
but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night"
(Psalms 90:4). "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).
For example, consider the "time text" references found in
the language of several Old Testament prophecies:
"Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a
destruction from the Almighty" (Isaiah 13:6).
"For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy
day; it shall be the time of the heathen" (Ezekiel 30:3).
"Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a
destruction from the Almighty shall it come" (Joel 1:I5).
"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy
mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the
day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand" (Joel 2:1).
"Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of
the Lord is near in the valley of decision" (Joel 3:14).
"For the day of the Lord is near upon all the heathen: as thou
hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return
upon thine own head" (Obadiah 15).
"Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord God: for the day of
the Lord is at hand: for the Lord hath prepared a sacrifice, he
hath bid his guests.... The great day of the Lord is near, it is
near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord:
the mighty man shall cry there bitterly" (Zephaniah 1:7,14).
"Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be
divided in the midst of thee" (Zechariah 14:1).
It is obvious that each of these Old Testament prophecies
contains prophetic language dealing with time ("the day of the
Lord is at hand") that is very similar to the language used by
the New Testament prophecies in reference to the nearness of
Christ's Second Coming. The language of these inspired prophets
contain phrases such as "near," and "at hand," yet these inspired
prophecies were given by God twenty-five centures ago. The
language confirms that the prophesied event is as certain in its
future fulfillment as if it had already happened.
Implications of the Preterists' Beliefs
In David Chilton's book Paradise Restored, he revealed the
implications of his rejection of this historic hope of the
Church. Speaking about God's promise of the coming Messiah, he
said:
The God of the covenant told His people that He would bless
them to the thousandth generation of their descendants
(Deuteronomy 7:9). That promise [the Second Coming] was made
(in round figures) about 3,400 years ago. If we figure the
biblical generation at about 40 years, a thousand
generations is forty thousand years. We've got 36,600 years
to go before this promise is fulfilled.
Incredibly, some preterists such as David Chilton actually
claim that Jesus Christ will not return for over 36,000 years!
Tragically, the rejection of the truth of the premillennial and
imminent return of Christ leaves those who embrace this teaching
to face a future that offers little hope of a dramatic spiritual
victory over the forces of Satan. While all Christians rejoice at
the wonderful growth of the Church in the Third World in these
last days, we also observe the tragic growth of unrestrained
evil. The world is filled with historically unprecedented evil
developments including devastating chemical, biological, and
nuclear weapons of mass destruction, the genocide of millions in
Africa, concentration camps holding millions (including many
innocent Christians) in China for "reeducation," the harvesting
of organs from Chinese prisoners, partial birth and forced
tri-semester abortions, the slavery of millions in Africa and
other nations, and the sexual abuse of millions of young children
The preterists who reject the literal teaching of the
scriptural prophecies that Christ's Second Coming is imminent and
future are left with a viewpoint that teaches that Satan will
continue his powerful and evil opposition to Christ for many
thousands of years. They claim that their view is optimistic in
that they believe that the Church will eventually, after
thousands of years, Christianize the world and then deliver the
kingdom to Christ. However, I believe this view is, in reality,
pessimistic because it inevitably accepts the continued growth of
evil in this world for thousands of years while the majority of
humans will continue to be lost to an eternity in hell. If
someone believes that Christ will not return until a thousand
years after the world is converted to Christianity, it is
difficult to see how the doctrine of the Second Coming can
seriously motivate their witnessing, their daily walk in
holiness, or their hope for His return.
Yet Jesus Christ taught His followers to watch constantly
for His return because, although He might tarry, He will
definitely return for us. Jesus warned:
For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who
left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to
every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch
ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house
cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or
in the morning: And what I say unto you I say unto all,
Watch. (Mark 13:34-35,37).
Pessimism or Optimism?
Postmillennial and amillennial critics of the premillennial
return of Christ often complain that our view is somehow
pessimistic.
The Time of Christ's Return
For example, the preterist, post-millennial writer David
Chilton claimed that those who believe in the premillennial
Second Coming (such as this author and most prophecy teachers)
are supporters of "pessimillennialism." Chilton declared that the
"pessimillennialists" are "content to remain historical
(presecond coming) losers." The truth is that both
postmillennialism and amillennialism represent a real surrender
to theological "pessimism" because they reject the hope of
Christ's imminent return in favor of their spiritually
pessimistic view that the world shall continue in sinful
rebellion for many thousands of years while they gradually
Christianize the world. These critics deny the hope of the
prophesied triumphant return of Christ to usher in the glorious
kingdom of God.
Those who long for Christ's imminent premillennial return
totally reject this false characterization that we are
pessimistic. Our optimism is based on our confidence in the
inspired Word of God and its glorious promises that Jesus will
triumph over evil when He returns as King of Kings.
Premillennialists are pessimistic about the likelihood of
this present evil world becoming truly Christian before Christ's
return because the Scriptures deny this. However, we are totally
optimistic about the Bible's prophecies that Christ will
triumphantly return suddenly in an evil generation such as ours.
Then Christ will defeat Satan and usher in the kingdom of God
with righteousness and justice forever. The message of prophecy
is not a pessimistic view of "doom and gloom" but rather a
glorious announcement that the Church's time of waiting is almost
over. The King is coming to victoriously set up His long awaited
kingdom.
As we contemplate the prophetic events that are being
fulfilled in our generation we are reminded that Jesus Christ
commanded His followers: "And when these things begin to come to
pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption
draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28). Someday soon the angels will proclaim
the glorious truth: "The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for
ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15). This is truly the greatest and
most optimistic message ever proclaimed.
...........................
Note:
There is not one book of the New Testament that has a verse
contained within itself that tells us the "date" the book was
written. This chapter by Jeffrey I fully agree with and endorse.
From the historical and analytical perspective I believe Jeffrey
is quite correct in the arguments he presents here.
Keith Hunt
Triumphant RETURN! #4Christ comes BEFORE the 1,000 yearsTHE TRIUMPHANT RETURN AND THE KINGDOM
From the book by Grant R. Jeffrey (published in 2001)
The Second Coming of Christ Will Be Premillennial
The Millennial kingdom of the coming Messiah is perhaps the
most misunderstood subject in the whole field of prophecy. The
nature of the Millennium is the issue that has divided Christian
scholars and prophecy writers into three great positions:
amillennial, postmillennial, and premillennial.
The premillennial position teaches that Christ will actually
return to establish his millennial kingdom. It is the oldest of
the three views and was taught consistantly by the leaders of the
early Church. The premillennial return of Christ is the only view
consistent with the literal interpretation of the prophecies of
the Old and New Testament.
The amillennial position suggests that the Millennium is
only symbolic and that it refers to Christ spiritually ruling the
kingdom of God from heaven. This amillennial view was popularized
by Augustine (A.D.354-430) and gradually replaced the teaching of
the premillennial return of Christ throughout the medieval Church
for over a thousand years. Amillennialists teach that Christ will
only return after the Church has Christianized the population of
earth.
The third view, the postmillennial position, is somewhat
similar to amillenialism in that it teaches that the Millennial
Kingdom will occur as a result of the conquest of the Church over
the secular world. The postmillennial view was first introduced
only two centuries ago by Daniel Whitby in 1800 and teaches that
Christ will not return until after the Church establishes the
Millennial Kingdom on earth for a thousand years. These two
theories are contradicted by numerous prophecies throughout the
Scriptures. An excellent comprehensive presentation of the three
millennial views and a very persuasive case for premillennialism
is given by Dwight Pentecost in his book "Things to Come."
The Scriptures teach that Jesus Christ, who suffered
crucifixion at His first advent, "shall come in his glory, and
all his angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his
glory" (Matthew 25:31). The New Testament contains a great number
of specific predictions about the future kingdom of God that have
not yet been fulfilled. For example, the prophecies declare that
the Second Coming of Christ will usher in an unprecedented time
of universal righteousness and true peace on earth. After this,
the prophecy of the book of Revelation will finally be fulfilled,
"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in
heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for
ever and ever" (Revelation 11:15).
If we are to understand the hundreds of specific prophecies
about the divine plan of God to establish His kingdom on earth,
we must first attempt to understand the fundamental biblical
truth regarding the Second Coming and its relation to the time of
the coming Millennium. For example, King David wrote about the
future global rule of the coming Messiah over all nations using
the words "all nations shall serve him." David declared:
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from
the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the
wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick
the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring
presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts.
Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall
serve him. (Psalms 72:8-11)
If we carefully examine God's plan for the redemption of the
earth and a lost humanity, we will see that the prophecies of the
Scriptures encompass the vast panorama from paradise lost in the
Garden of Eden to paradise restored in Revelation's astonishing
visions of the future triumph of Christ.
The word "millennium" is derived from the Latin word "mille"
for "one thousand" and the word "annum" for "year." The Greeks
used the word "chiliast," meaning "one thousand" to describe the
period of one thousand years that John described in Revelation
20. Ultimately, the word "millennium" became the common term used
to describe the period of one thousand years during which Jesus
Christ would rule the earth from His throne in Jerusalem. Charles
Ryrie described the basic principles of premillennialism: "Its
duration will be 1,000 years; its location will be on this earth;
its government will be theocratic with the personal presence of
Christ reigning as King; and it will fulfill all the
yet-unfulfilled promises about the earthly kingdom."
While virtually all Christians in the early Church, as well
as in later centuries, acknowledge that the apostle John taught
about a period of one thousand years under the rule of Christ,
there is a great deal of controversy regarding the meaning,
duration, and the point in time when this prophesied Millennium
will occur. It is interesting to note that the very popular
medieval hymn "Te Deum" included these words, acknowledging that
Jesus Christ will come to the earth in the future to establish
His rule over the nations: "We believe that Thou shalt come to be
our Judge."
The ancient prophets of Israel taught that the Messiah would
come to establish His kingdom on earth forever. The prophet
Isaiah declared:
For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name
shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The
everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of
his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the
throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to
establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform
this. (Isaiah 9:6-7)
The Scripture's promise has ultimately focused on the
prophecy about the kingdom of God on earth under the rule of the
Messiah. From the moment the Lord made His first covenant with
Abraham, He confirmed His covenant with humanity to establish a
theocratic kingdom on earth where man would ultimately enjoy the
restoration of the state of paradise, which was lost after the
rebellious sin of our first parents, Adam and Eve. Through all of
the generations from the patriarch Abraham to the time of Jesus
of Nazareth, Israel longed for the coming of their Messiah and
the establishment of His glorious rule from the throne of David
in Jerusalem.
According to the Word of God, an evil world empire will be
established under the satanic rule of Antichrist in the last
days. Then Jesus Christ will return to earth as the conquering
Messiah. He will descend from heaven with a powerful army of
resurrect saints and angels and will destroy the Antichrist and
His enemies forever (Revelation 19:11-21). The Church will not
defeat this evil world system. The role of the Church is to
preach the Gospel to everyone so that the Holy Spirit will call
out a remnant of souls who will repent and find salvation through
the forgiveness of Christ.
The prophet Daniel was given a divine interpretation of the
dream of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, regarding the
future of gentile world political rule. The Lord provided Daniel
with a detailed prophetic outline that predicted the history of
the last twenty-five hundred years of gentile world empires.
Daniel recorded that four Gentile world empires would succeed
each other in the course of human history until a final crisis
when
Jesus Christ would return to defeat the final revived Roman
Empire under the tyrannical rule of the Antichrist.
According to the prophecy, the fourth world empire, Rome,
will be revived in a unique political form of a ten-nation
superstate in the last days and will be led by the world
dictator, the Antichrist. Daniel declared that Christ will appear
from heaven and will suddenly destroy this empire. The stone in
Daniel's vision (Daniel 2:40-45) represents the Second Coming and
the millennial "kingdom of God" under Christ's rule. Jesus will
suddenly destroy the world empire of the Antichrist when He
returns to the earth to save Israel from the armies of the
Antichrist during the Battle of Armageddon. "The Lord will then
judge the nations in the Valley of Jehoshaphat [the valley where
Jehovah judges)" (Joel 3:2,12). This judgment by Christ of the
Gentiles will follow the Battle of Armageddon and the Gentile
survivors will be judged on the basis of their treatment of His
chosen people, Israel and the tribulation saints.
Interestingly, the beliefs about the literal Millennium were
held by orthodox Jewish believers centuries before and after the
life of Christ. Hundreds of years before John wrote the
Apocalypse, the Jewish sages taught that the Scriptures revealed
God's plan to set up a messianic kingdom under the rule of the
Son of David that would endure for one thousand years. This
Jewish doctrine of a future Millennium rest, under the rule of
the Messiah king, was obviously related to their acceptance of
the tradition of the "Great Week of Human History" in which the
Messiah would rule during the last Sabbath day - lasting "one
thousand years," before the end of this age. Anyone who examines
the Scriptures will be impressed with the fact that there are
many divisions of time into sevens and into "weeks" of years in
the Word of God, beginning with the week of Creation in Genesis
and concluding with the various sevenfold divisions in the
Apocalypse. God's command to Israel to honor the weekly Sabbath
day of rest is derived from the original week of Creation and
God's rest on the seventh day. Even the Feast of Pentecost is
based on a week of weeks (forty-nine days) interval between the
Feast of Firstfruits and the day of Pentecost.
The Year of jubilee was based on a cycle of forty-nine years
(seven sevens) and the fiftieth year of rest and restitution that
followed.
It is important to note that this widely held view of the
Great Week of History that was taught by some Jewish and
Christian writers does not provide any basis for any
"date-setting" regarding the time of the return of the Messiah.
Numerous calendar changes make this impossible. This view
simply points generally to our time as the generation when we
should see prophetic signs pointing toward the Second Coming and
the approaching Millennial Kingdom.
It is obvious that a sacred cycle of sevens governs the laws
and religious life of ancient Israel. That is why the inspired
writer of the book of Hebrews referred to the coming Millennium
using the term Sabbath, or rest. Speaking of the prophesied
Sabbath, the book of Hebrews declared, "There remaineth therefore
a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his
rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from
his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any
man fall after the same example of unbelief" (Hebrew 4:9-11). The
context makes it clear that this biblical reference in Hebrews is
related to the Jewish anticipation of the coming
one-thousand-year Sabbath "rest to the people of God."
(It is certainly pointing to the future "rest" of God, but it is
also pointing very clearly to the fact that the weekly Sabbath,
symbolizing that rest of God, is a holy day that is still very
much to be observed, that is the people of God are still to
observe the 7th day Sabbath - Keith Hunt)
In the book of Psalms, King David prophesied, "For a day in
thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a
doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of
wickedness" (84:10). In another passage the Psalmist refers to
this important principle that God views time differently than we
do. "For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when
it is past, and as a watch in the night" (90:4). This widely held
ancient Jewish belief in a Great Week of God's dealing with
humanity that would conclude with a Sabbath rest of one thousand
years was reinforced in the New Testament in the prophecy of the
apostle Peter. "But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8). Peter's prophecy is given in the
context of our anticipation of Christ's return.
(Peter here is NOT teaching a 7,000 year plan of salvation by God
for mankind. Peter is simply reminding you that "time" in God's
eyes should not be thought of as like "time" in human eyes. God
can "stretch-out time, or He can "condense-time," as He wills. To
God he can make one day into a thousand years, or make a thousand
years become one day. The Jews may have had a belief that God was
working a 7,000 year plan on this earth, BUT such a doctrine CAN
NOT be found in the Scriptures, only in the fancy mind-set of
humans. It is now a proven fact that man has been on this earth
for MORE than 7,000 years ... and we STILL await the coming of
the triumphant return of Christ. It WILL come, but that coming is
entirely in the control of the Father. He can decide to shorten
the days or lengthen the days for Christ to return - Keith Hunt)
The Jewish belief in the coming millennial reign of the
Messiah was espoused by many of the greatest orthodox Jewish
rabbis. These rabbis recorded their work in the Oral Law - the
Talmud, composed over a period of five hundred years (from 100
B.C. to A.D.400). The Talmud confirms that these religious Jews
looked expectantly for the Messiah to establish a period of
righteousness on earth that would last one thousand years. The
German scholar H. Graetz notes in his book "Geschichte der Juden"
that during medieval debates with Christians, the Jewish scholars
of Spain argued that Jesus could not have been the promised
Messiah because according to their traditional Jewish
interpretation of the Messianic passages in the Bible the Messiah
would not appear until the seventh millennium. In his book
"Contra Judaeos," the Christian writer Julian of Toledo,
described the rabbis' interpretation at great length. This
evidence suggests that the Jewish concept of the Messiah's
appearance in the seventh millennium must have been fairly widely
held.
(Maybe it was, but that belief does not make it a fact that God
is working on a 7,000 year plan of salvation for this earth and
for mankind - Keith Hunt)
There is an ancient Jewish millennial tradition attributed
to a famous rabbi named Elias, who lived two centuries before the
birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The Talmud records that Rabbi Elias
declared that God's great plan for man involved a great Sabbath
Week concluding with a thousand years of peace. "The world
endures six thousand years: two thousand years before the Law;
two thousand years under the Law and two thousand under the
Messiah. This period is called Yemoth ha-Mashiah."
Another ancient rabbi, Rabbi Ketina, is referred to in a
commentary upon the Talmud: "The world endures six thousand
years, and one thousand it shall be laid waste, [that is the
enemies of God shall be destroyed,) whereof it is said, (Isaiah
2:11) 'The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.'" The Jewish
tradition about Rabbi Ketina declares that he taught that "as out
of seven years every seventh is the year of remission, so out of
the seven thousand years of the world the seventh millennary
shall be the millennary of remission, that God alone may be
exalted in that day."
(What Jewish rabbis taught about 7,000 years does not make it so.
It is nice to look at the seven day week and the 7th day being
the Sabbath of rest, and come up with an idea that God is working
on a 7 thousand year plan, but that does not make it so. We are
now passed the mark of the beginning of the start of the 7th one
thousand years IF you beleive Adam was created in 4004 B.C. as
Usher figured it. No where does the Bible teach God is working on
a 7 thousand year plan for this earth - Keith Hunt)
The Early Church and the Premillennial Return of Christ
It was to Jews who shared this widely held belief that Jesus
brought His unique message about His coming kingdom. It is
inconceivable that Jesus would have departed from the orthodox
Jewish biblical teaching. He supported the Old Testament's
scriptural law as it related to the Jews on many occasions. Jesus
only broke with the religious leaders when their teachings had
strayed from God's intentions. As Matthew recorded, Jesus plainly
stated, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the
prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I
say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled"
(Matthew 5:17-18). Likewise, it is inconceivable that all of the
teachers of the early Church would have taught the premillennial
return of Christ if Jesus and the apostles had not clearly taught
this doctrine.
We have testimony from many writers in the early Church that
support the premillennial Second Coming of Christ to set up the
Kingdom of God.
Papias
Papias (60--130) was a disciple of the apostle John. He
often sat at the foot of the beloved disciple and other saints
who had personally met Jesus. Papias recorded their statements
from memory. Tragically, his five known books have been lost to
history, so we are limited to those few portions of his writings
recorded by the Church historian Eusebius. Eusebius reported in
his "Ecclesiastical History" that Papias wrote, "There will be a
millennium after the resurrection of the dead, when the personal
reign of Christ will be established on earth." Papias' statement
provides clear evidence of the very early teaching of the
premillennial doctrine in the apostolic Church within a few years
of John writing his Apocalypse in A.D.96.
Barnabas
An early Christian writer, Barnabas (not the Barnabas of the
New Testament) wrote a fascinating epistle in the early second
century (i00-120) that clearly taught the premillennial return of
the Lord. The "Epistle of Barnabas," though it was never part of
the canonical New Testament, is historically valuable as
extrabiblical evidence concerning the early Christian teachings.
Many important early Church leaders, including Origen and Jerome,
believed this document was authoritative and quoted from it.
In his epistle, Barnabas wrote about the creation account
recorded in Genesis:
And God made in six days the works of His hands; and He
finished them on the seventh day, and He rested on the
seventh day and sanctified it. Consider, my children, what
that signifies, He finished them in six days. The meaning of
it is this: that in six thousand years the Lord God will
bring all things to an end. For with Him, one day is a
thousand years; as Himself testifieth, saying, behold this
day shall be as a thousand years. Therefore children, in six
days, that is, in six thousand years, shall all things be
accomplished. And what is it that He saith, and He rested
the seventh day; He meaneth this; that when His Son shall
come, and abolish the season of the wicked one [the
Antichrist], and judge the ungodly; and shall change the sun
and the moon, and the stars, then He shall gloriously rest
in that seventh day.
This statement provides compelling proof of the widespread
acceptance of this premillennial doctrine regarding Christ's
return as taught in the early decades of the second century.
(The basic truth of the return of Christ to establish the Kingdom
of God on earth is very Scriptural. Barnabas here does not prove
from Scripture that God is working on a 7 thousand year plan. He
uses the "week" as did the Jews, from their own imagination, not
a "thus says the Lord" for the Lord has never said it. He uses
the "one day is a thousand years" from Peter, out of context of
Peter and does not quote the rest of the verse that "a thousand
years as one day" as Peter said it all (2 Peter 3:8). Peter was
not teaching a 7 thousand year plan of God for mankind. Peter was
telling us that Christ will return but we better remember that
God looks at "time" in His way, not ours, He can stretch it out
or shorten it up. Today we know for a fact, from history and from
chronology, that mankind has been on this earth for more than
6,000 years. It is still not in "time" for the Father to send
Jesus back to establish the Kingdom of God on earth - Keith Hunt)
Irenaeus
The respected early Church scholar, Irenaeus (A.D.120-202),
who supported the late authorship of Revelation, also taught
about the Second Coming and a literal Millennium. In his "Against
Heresies," he declared the truth of the one thousand years known
as the Millennium in his reference to the great week of God's
plan of redemption for humanity. "This is an account of the
things formerly created, as also it is a prophecy of what is to
come. For the day of the Lord is as a thousand years; and in six
days created things were completed; it is evident, therefore,
that they will come to an end at the sixth thousand years."
(Once more the ideas of men as to God working on "week" of 7,000
years. It is nice to have such ideas when you have a few thousand
years to go to be proved wrong. But okay the guy was teaching a
thousand year millennium of the Kingdom of God on earth - Keith
Hunt)
In another passage about the future Tribulation period,
Irenaeus wrote:
When Antichrist shall have devastated all things in this
world, he will reign for three years and six months, and sit
in the temple at Jerusalem, and then the Lord will come from
heaven in the clouds, in the glory of the Father, sending
this man to the lake of fire, but bringing in for the
righteous the times of the kingdom, the rest, the hallowed
seventh-day, and restoring to Abraham the promised
inheritance in which kingdom the Lord declared, that 'many
coming from the east and from the west should sit down with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.'"
(Irenaeus got a few things right. You will notice nothing about a
7 year treaty with the Jews, a rapture of the saints, and then a
great tribulation. He did have him sitting in the temple at
Jerusalem, which is a miss-understanding of prophecy. And he was
into this "week" and "seventh-day" millennium, which today has
proved to be wrong. But the fellow got some things right - Keith
Hunt)
This passage confirms both the doctrine of the Millennial
Kingdom and belief in the Antichrist's evil tyranny will endure
in the last three and a half years of the Great Tribulation.
(Yes, three and a half years remember, or 42 months, or 1260
days, all mentioned in the book of Revelation, which says nothing
about 7 years or 84 months - Keith Hunt)
Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr (A.D.110--165) was an important Church leader
during the second century. Justin wrote "Dialogue with Trypho,"
which recorded his extensive debate about Christian beliefs with
the pagan philosopher Trypho in Ephesus. In addition to his
statement confirming that the apostle John wrote the Apocalypse,
Justin also taught the premillennial return of Christ and the
resurrection of the righteous before the beginning of the
thousand-year kingdom that will conclude with the resurrection of
the wicked dead for final judgment at the Great White Throne.
Now we have understood that the expression used among these
words, "According to the days of the tree [of life] shall be
the days of my people; the works of their toil shall abound"
obscurely predicts a thousand years. For as Adam was told
that in the day he ate of the tree he would die, we know
that he did not complete a thousand years. We have
perceived, moreover, that the expression, "The day of the
Lord is as a thousand years," is connected with this
subject. There was a certain man with us, whose name was
John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied by a
revelation that was made to him, that those who believed in
our Christ would dwell a thousand years in Jerusalem and
that thereafter the general, and, in short, the eternal
resurrection, and judgment of all men would likewise take
place.
(Well good for Justin boy, he could read what John had written in
the book of Revelation - Keith Hunt)
In this debate, Justin also confirmed that he and other
"right-minded Christians" believed in the literal doctrine of the
thousand-year reign of Christ in the Millennium. "But I and
others, who are right-minded Christians on all points, are
assured that there will be a resurrection of the dead, and a
thousand years in Jerusalem, which will then be built, adorned,
and enlarged, [as] the prophets Ezekiel and Isaiah and others
declare."
(Well now, the prophets of old told about the Messiah ruling the
world, it was only John who was inspired to say it would be for a
1,000 years - Keith Hunt)
Tertullian
Tertullian (145-220) was a prominent Church theologian in
North Africa at the beginning of the third century. In his book
"Against Marcion," Tertullian wrote about the Millennium and the
New Earth that will follow the renewal of the earth by fire:
But we do confess that a kingdom is promised to us upon the
earth, although before heaven, only in another state of
existence; inasmuch as it will be after the resurrection for
a thousand years in the divinely-built city of Jerusalem,
'Let down from heaven,' which the apostle also calls 'our
mother from above;' and while declaring that our
citizenship, is in heaven, he predicates of it that it is
really a city in heaven. This both Ezekiel had knowledge of
and the Apostle John beheld.
This extraordinary statement from the early Church affirms
the literal reality of both the thousand-year kingdom of Christ
on earth as well as the reality of the New Jerusalem as "really a
city in heaven."
(Nice, well done Tert man, you could read the prophets also -
Keith Hunt)
Commodianus
Commodianus was a bishop in North Africa (240) who taught
about the Millennium in his book entitled "Instructions of
Commodianus." He wrote about God's final judgment on His enemies
at the end of this age: "Flames on the nations, and the Medes and
Parthians burn for a thousand years, as the hidden words of John
declare. For then after a thousand years they are delivered over
to Gehenna; and he [Satan] whose work they were, with them burnt
up."
(Well done Commy fellow, you could read also what is written in
Revelation 20 - Keith Hunt)
Lactantius
Lactantius (A.D.260-330) was a great Christian scholar who
lived just prior to the Council of Nicea (325). He personally
tutored the son of the Roman emperor Constantine after the
remarkable conversion of the emperor. Lactantius wrote about the
future Millennium in his seventh "Book of Divine Institutions":
Therefore, since all the works of God were completed in six
days, the world must continue in its present state through
six ages, that is, six thousand years. For the great day of
God is limited by a circle of a thousand years, as the
prophet shows, who says, 'In Thy sight, O Lord, a thousand
years are as one day'. . . And again, since God, having
finished His works, rested the seventh day and blessed it,
at the end of the six thousandth year all wickedness must be
abolished from the earth, and righteousness reign for a
thousand years....
(Hummmm, here we go again with part quote from Peter and/or a
"not correct" quote from Ps.90:4; also the "week" idea again,
which 6 days of a thousand years each, has now come and gone. But
okay he was teaching a thousand year Messiah millennium - Keith
Hunt)
The Council of Nicea (325)
After three centuries of savage pagan imperial persecution,
the Church was finally relieved of torment by the unusual
conversion of the Roman emperor Constantine, who became a
Christian in 312. He called all of the bishops of the Christian
Church throughout the Roman Empire to participate in an
ecumenical Church council in the city of Nicea in 325. His goal
at this meeting was to refute the heresies that had gradually
arisen and to confirm the true apostolic Christian faith as it
had been handed down through three centuries since Christ's death
and resurrection. Those who wish to understand what the whole
Church believed and taught at that critical moment when
Christianity was transformed from being a persecuted faith in
hiding to becoming the publicly supported state religion
throughout the Roman empire should find the following statement
of tremendous interest.
(Constantine becoming a "Christian" - that is far from the truth,
maybe a Roman Christian, but an apostolic [from the apostles]
Christian, that was far from what he was - Keith Hunt)
Gelasius Cyzicus, a Greek historian in the fifth century
(A.D.476), was fortunately able to gather together the
historical records of the teachings endorsed by the Council
of Nicea. Cyzicus published a history of the council that
demonstrated the Church's adherence to the doctrine of the
resurrection and the premillennial return of Christ. Despite
years of attacks on the doctrine of the Millennium and the
authority of John's Apocalypse by the new teachers of the
allegorical interpretation (supported by the Gnostics and
Origen's school at Alexandria), the orthodox bishops of the
Council of Nicea (representing the churches of the Western
and Eastern Roman Empire) strongly endorsed the book of
Revelation as canonical, including its teaching on the
coming Millennium. Cyzicus demonstrated that the pastors and
bishops throughout the Roman Empire prepared the following
Ecclesiastical Form known as the "Diatyposis." It would be
read in every church.
This statement of the genuine faith of the early church, the
"Diatyposis," was confessed by the orthodox believers as well as
ministers. It was widely taught throughout the Church, confirming
belief in the coming literal Kingdom of God in "the land of the
living." It reads as follows:
We expect a New Heaven and Earth, according to the
Scriptures, when the Appearing and Kingdom of the
great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, shall have shone
forth. Then, as Daniel says, the saints of the Most High
shall receive the Kingdom. And the earth shall be pure and
holy, a land of the living and not of the dead, which David,
foreseeing, exclaimed: 'I believe I shall see the goodness
of the Lord in the land of the living, land of the meek and
humble.' For, 'Blessed,' says Christ, 'are the meek, because
they shall inherit the earth.' And the prophet says: 'The
feet of the meek and humble shall tread it.'
(True enough the point of all this is to show many somewhat
famous names of the past, could read the Bible and did understand
it taught a rule of God (via Christ the Messiah) on the earth as
the prophets had declared, and was 1,000 years, as John was
inspired to tell us in Revelation - Keith Hunt)
Abandonment of Premillennialism After Origen and Augustine
It is very difficult to imagine how all of the early Church
teachers, many of whom were personally taught by the apostles or
by those who had sat at the feet of apostles, could be totally
mistaken about the correct interpretation of the prophecies.
Surely, if these first, second, and third-century teachers had
misunderstood the correct prophetic doctrine of the apostles,
there would be ample evidence in the writings of the Church
regarding a strong debate between those who espoused
premillennialism and those who opposed it (such as we find
written against false teachings such as Gnosticism, Docetism, and
Donatism). However, even those who deny the premillennial return
of Christ have been unable to find any historical evidence that
anyone denied this premillennial doctrine during the early
centuries of the Church Age.
The first major Christian teacher who rejected the
premillennial doctrine was the theologian Origen, as discussed in
earlier chapters. Despite the respect Church leaders had for
Origen's scholarship, the major councils of the Church - the
Council of Nicea (325) and the Council of Constantinople
(381)--rejected his allegorical interpretation of Revelation 20.
However, during the centuries following Origen, there was a
gradual and widespread institutionalization of his allegorical
method of biblical interpretation. The teaching of St.Augustine
and his important book "The City of God" (greatly influenced by
Origen and Ambrose) dominated the doctrine of the Church for the
next thousand years. The medieval Church often ignored the
literal promises of Christ's coming kingdom on earth.
Consequently, as the Church formed powerful alliances with
the kings of Europe, it lost interest in the literal prophecies
about Christ's coming Kingdom. The Church began to focus
primarily on the role of Christ as the head of the Church, and
leaders of the medieval Church set out to change humanity and to
rule the world themselves and in alliance with Christian rulers.
Because most Christians, both laymen as well as clergy, could not
read the Scriptures in their own language (for they were written
in Latin) and because the Bible was unavailable to the vast
majority of believers, it was very difficult to counteract the
unscriptural teaching that rejected the truth of the Second
Coming and the Millennium.
Significantly, the Protestant Reformation, which reached a
boiling point when Martin Luther posted his Ninety-five Theses in
1520, produced a powerful "back to the Bible" movement within
Christendom. The invention of the Gutenberg Press greatly
facilitated the distribution of printed Bibles, liberating the
Christians of Europe to discover God's Word and read His
prophecies for themselves. It produced a spiritual revolution
that is still having profound consequences throughout the world
as billions now read the Word of God. This spiritual reformation
movement was characterized by the widespread printing and
distribution of the Scriptures in the common language of the
people of Europe. For the first time in a thousand years, most of
the Christians of Europe could read the Scriptures in their own
language and determine what the Bible actually taught. It is no
coincidence that as people read the prophecies for themselves,
the doctrine of premillennialism re-emerged. Where would the idea
have come from if not from the Word of God itself? In the
centuries that followed the Reformation, millions of Christians
in many denominations throughout the nations rediscovered the
ancient prophetic teaching as it had been taught by the early
Church; Christ clearly promised that He would return to establish
His kingdom on earth for a thousand years.
The New Testament Teaches the Premillennial Return
If the Scriptures truly taught the postmillennial view that
the Millennium was to occur during the age of Grace, before the
return of Jesus Christ from heaven, one would expect to find
numerous biblical references to such an important doctrine. The
lack of scriptural texts about a Millennium appearing prior to
the Second Advent indicates that this postmillennial view was not
the teaching of the New Testament. In addition, no one ever
taught this theory until Daniel Whitby first proposed his "New
Hypothesis" in 1800.
In a similar manner, the amillennial view that rejects the
literal millennial kingdom is directly contradicted by numerous
scriptural prophecies regarding a literal Kingdom of God on
earth. Despite the attempts of many amillennialists to find
biblical support for their position, they have failed. Surely, if
Christ and His apostles believed that the Church would succeed in
converting the world's population to Christianity before His
return in glory, we would find ample evidence for this doctrine
prominently displayed in the writings of the New Testament.
However, we find nothing of the kind. There is not one
passage that clearly teaches that the world will be converted to
the Kingdom of God before the return of our Lord to this earth.
Growing Opposition to Christians Before His Return
Jesus warned His disciples about the growing religious
opposition to their proclamation of the Gospel message. Rather
than prophesy that the Church would triumphantly usher in the
coming Kingdom of God on earth, Jesus foretold the final apostasy
and growing iniquity within the Church and the waning love for
God and others that would characterize the saints. He prophesied
that "the love of many shall wax cold" and that "iniquity shall
abound" in the last days. In fact, the state of apostasy will
become so prevalent in the last days that Christ warned the
saints that they would "be hated of all men for my name's sake:
but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved"
(Mark 13:13). Christ's message indicates that the Church will be
involved in a profound spiritual crisis at the end of this age
when He will return in glory. In Christ's prophecy to His
disciples regarding the events to transpire in the final crisis
of the last days, Jesus declared, "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" (Matthew 24:14). These
passages and their proper interpretation will be dealt with
later.
The Bible does not state that there will be an extended
period of global triumph of spiritual righteousness led by the
Church before Christ's return in glory. In fact, the New
Testament repeatedly and positively affirms that Christ's return
from heaven is imminent. Furthermore, His imminent return is held
forth as an ever-present hope and earnest expectation of the
saints. It is significant that the return of Christ in glory is
constantly connected with the Scripture's affirmation of the
introduction of His kingdom on earth. The critics of the
premillennial return of Christ teach that a thousand years of
Christian domination and spiritual victory by the Church over
evil throughout the earth will precede His return. However, this
concept is clearly contradicted by Christ's own proclamation:
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say,
Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them,
as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of
light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night,
nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others;
but let us watch and be sober. (i Thessalonians 5:2-6)
Canon Ryle, one of the evangelical leaders of the Church of
England, considered the implications of the promises of the
Scriptures concerning the coming Millennium. He suggested, "I
believe, finally, that it is for the safety, happiness, and
comfort, of all true Christians to expect as little as possible
from churches, or governments, under the present dispensation, to
hold themselves ready for tremendous conversions and changes of
all things established, and to expect their good things only from
Christ's Second Advent."
Jesus Christ will Defeat Antichrist Before the Millennium
The Scriptures clearly teach that Christ will return from
heaven to defeat Satan's Antichrist. John taught in the
Apocalypse that Jesus will descend with His heavenly army of
resurrected saints to destroy the armies of the Antichrist,
casting him and the False Prophet (Now remember the anti-christ
IS the false prophet, and it is he with the "beast" man, who are
both cast into the fire - Keith Hunt) into the Lake of Fire.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white
horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. ... And I
saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies,
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the
horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and
with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him,
with which he deceived them that had received the mark of
the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both
were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
(Revelation 19:14,19-20)
Only two verses later, John continues his prophecy by
telling us about the commencement and nature of the coming
Millennium. Therefore, it is clear that Christ premillennially
comes to earth first and then establishes His millennial kingdom.
This sequence of events is so definite that those who deny the
doctrine of the premillennial return of Christ are forced to
allegorize or spiritualize the language of this prophecy to evade
its clear statement. The disciple Matthew recorded Jesus'
prophecy of His Second Coming, stipulating the sequence of
prophetic events including the premillennial return of Christ to
establish His kingdom. Here Jesus declares that His coming will
occur immediately after the Tribulation:
Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the
sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of
the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of
the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew
24:29-30)
Christ's Prophecy of the Wheat and the Tares
Jesus taught about this kingdom of God in a number of
parables. In His famous parable of the wheat and the tares,
Christ spoke of a farmer whose enemy secretly planted "tares"
(weeds, representing evil) within his fields of wheat.
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants
said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root
up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until
the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them
in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
(Matthew 13:28-30)
In this prophecy Jesus directly affirmed that the "tares,"
representing evil, will continue growing side by side with the
"wheat," representing the saints, "until the harvest," God's
final judgment of humanity. Therefore, since Christ taught that
evil will continue to flourish until the end, it is impossible
that the Millennium of one thousand years of peace, holiness, and
justice could occur before the final harvest judgment of God.
Logically, Christ's teaching of the "wheat and the tares"
indicates that His return must be premillennial. It is
significant that while we are never told to look expectantly for
the coming Millennium, the Scriptures continually command
believers to wait with anticipation for the imminent return of
Christ.
The Bible's Teaching about the Resurrection
A careful analysis of the Scripture's teaching about the
first resurrection of the saints and the second resurrection of
those who have rejected God's offer of salvation provides
overwhelming evidence that the Millennium will occur after the
first resurrection of believers, which will occur before Christ's
Second Coming with the saints at Armageddon. The apostle Paul
taught that God's plan involves a distinct order of several
resurrections that began with the rise of Christ from the tomb
two thousand years ago.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the
firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the
kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down
all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign,
till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death. (1 Corinthians 15:22-26)
After describing the resurrection of the saints ("they that
are Christ's at his coming"), Paul revealed that "then
[afterwards] cometh the end" referring to the last resurrection
(of the wicked; Revelation 20:11-15) "when he shall have
delivered up the kingdom to God."
In Paul's first epistle to the church at Thessalonica, he
taught that the resurrection of the saints would be separate from
and prior to the resurrection of the unrepentant sinners. The
apostle confirmed that "the dead in Christ shall rise first" and
immediately be followed by the resurrection of all living
believers (I Thessalonians 4:16).
Finally, in the Apocalypse, John clearly taught that the
Millennium will take place in the interval between the first
resurrection of the living and departed saints (Rapture) and the
final resurrection of the wicked dead (the Great White Throne
judgement).
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was
given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were
beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God,
and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image,
neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in
their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again
until the thousand years were finished. This is the first
resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power,
but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall
reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years
are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison.... And
I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was
found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the
dead which were in them: and they were judged every man
according to their works. And death and hell were cast into
the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Revelation
20:4-7, 11-14)
This passage clearly describes the fact that the thousand
years of Christ's millennial kingdom will occur between the first
and the second resurrection.
It is interesting to note that the phrase "the second death"
appears in four passages in the Apocalypse (Revelation 2:11,
20:6, 20:14, 21:8). This phrase also appears in the "Targum of
Jonathan Ben Uzziel," an ancient Jewish paraphrase or Aramaic
commentary of Deuteronomy 33:6: "Let Reuben live, and not die."
It reads, "Let him not die the second death by which the wicked
die in the world to come." This ancient Jewish acknowledgment of
the fact that the "second death" resurrection is different than
the resurrection of the righteous saints supports Revelation's
teaching that the two resurrections, that of the saints and that
of the wicked, occur at different times (separated by the
Millennium).
Christ's Command to Watch for His Second Coming
The New Testament is filled with commands to obediently
watch for the imminent return of the Lord. This command to watch
encourages us to study the prophecies about His return and to be
motivated by His Second Coming, to walk in holiness as well as to
witness with urgency in light of the nearness of His advent. In
His great Mount of Olives prophecy about the events that will
transpire in the last days, Jesus declared, "Watch therefore: for
ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matthew 24:42). Then
He announced, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor
the hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 25:13). Finally,
Jesus concluded the New Testament with the book of Revelation
that foretold the millennial kingdom that would follow His
triumphant return in glory to defeat Satan's Antichrist. Christ
promises a blessing on all those Christians who obediently watch
for His imminent return. "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is
he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked,
and they see his shame" (Revelation 16:15). This statement
regarding the need for constant vigilance regarding His return
appears to be an allusion to the punishment that was given to a
night guard in the Temple who fell asleep at his post. Rabbi
Elieser ben Jacob declared that his uncle was punished for
falling asleep by having the captain of the Temple guards
actually set his clothes on fire.
Christ's command to constantly "watch" for His return from
heaven contradicts the position of those who suggest that a
thousand years or more of millennial peace will intervene before
His return. The only logical and consistent interpretation of
Christ's repeated commands to watch for His return is to believe
that He will return to earth and establish His millennial kingdom
as the early Church taught during the early centuries.
Answering the Critics' Objections to Premillennialism
Many critics of the Millennium deny that the apostolic
Church believed in and looked expectantly for the imminent
premillennial return of Christ. For example, the preterist and
postmillennialist theologian David Chilton wrote in his book
"Days of Vengeance" the following astonishing and incorrect
statement:
In this objective sense, therefore, orthodox Christianity
has always been postmillennialist. That is to say,
regardless of how 'the Millennium' has been conceived
(whether in a heavenly or an earthly sense)- i.e.,
regardless of the technical exegesis of certain points in
Revelation 20--orthodox Christians have always confessed
that Jesus Christ will return after ('post') the period
designated as 'the thousand years' has ended.
David Chilton then falsely stated that the orthodox Church
never taught the premillennial return of Christ. Chilton wrote:
The historic Church has always rejected the heresy of
Millenarianism (in past centuries, this was called chiliasm,
meaning thousand-year-ism). The notion that the reign of
Christ is something wholly future, to be brought in by some
great social cataclysm, is not a Christian doctrine. It is
an unorthodox teaching, generally espoused by heretical
sects on the fringes of the Christian Church.
However, the unanimous evidence of the New Testament and of
the extensive writings of the Early Church is that the Scriptures
and the apostolic Church repeatedly taught that the premillennial
Second Coming (although it could be delayed) was always imminent.
The apostle Paul encouraged the Christians in the church at
Corinth to wait expectantly for Christ's return: "So that ye come
behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:7). In another passage Paul taught that
we should "wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come" (1
Thessalonians 1:10). This prophecy reveals that the return of
Christ at the Rapture (the word "rapture" is often used by the
fundamental prophets to mean "resurrection" of the saints - Keith
Hunt) will deliver the living Christians in the last generation
from "the wrath to come" (a reference to the wrath of God upon
unrepentant sinners during the seven-year Tribulation that will
follow the Rapture of the Church).
(WooooTooooLoooo....this is fundamentalism theology thrown in
here. The prophecies speak nothing about a 7 year Tribulation
that follows the "rapture" or resurrection of the saints. This is
all funadamental folly by the fundamental prophets. You need to
make sure you study the studies on this Website on Daniel's 70
Week Prophecy and The Rapture - Keith Hunt)
The critics suggest the Millennium is only a symbolic
picture of the triumphant and spiritually victorious Church that
will precede the Second Advent. However, this is directly
contradicted by the Bible's prophecies that the establishment of
the Millennial Kingdom will occur at the Second Coming of Christ
when He destroys the Antichrist. The New Testament contains many
prophecies by Jesus and the apostles that declare that the
cataclysmic events of the Great Tribulation will precede His
return to set up His kingdom. For example, the Gospel of Luke
records:
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in
the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts
failing them for fear, and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man
coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these
things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:25-28)
Jesus' words describe His Second Coming as occurring at a
time of massive global crisis in which there will be chaos on
earth and sea with "distress of nations" and even the heavens
being "shaken." None of these detailed prophecies were fulfilled
at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70 as preterists claim.
This prophecy also totally contradicts both the amillennial
and postmillennial positions. His prophecy is, however,
completely consistent with the premillennial return of Christ.
One of the most powerful prophetic passages in the Word of
God is quite specific about Christ's return.
But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth
of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so
fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he
shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution
of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:18-21)
Luke began by pointing out that the prophecies of Christ's
first coming were genuine, literally fulfilled, and accurate.
Then he encourages his readers to accept salvation while there is
still time before "the times of refreshing shall come from the
presence of the Lord." In addition to this definite statement
describing the sequence of events, the passage concludes with the
absolutely clear statement, "he shall send Jesus Christ ... whom
the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all
things." One could hardly ask for a more definite statement that
Jesus' second advent will usher in the long-awaited millennial
kingdom, "the times of restitution of all things" that has been
the goal of God's plan of redemption for humanity "since the
world began."
(Very true, indeed it is so - Keith Hunt)
It is important to note that our Lord commanded Christians
to pray the Lord's Prayer, composed of these words, "Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew
6:1o). The truth about the Second Coming is so fundamental to the
Church that Jesus Christ commanded His followers to acknowledge
His coming millennial kingdom every time they celebrated the
Lord's Supper at Communion. The Lord declared during the Last
Supper, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup,
ye do show the Lord's death till he come" (1 Corinthians 11:26).
The apostle Johns Apocalypse begins with the promise of the
imminent Second Coming: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every
eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen"
(Revelation 1:7).
Significantly, Christ's final prophetic message to His
Church concludes with this message:
"Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus"
(Revelation 22:20).
The critics suggest the Millennium will take place on earth
during the Church Age before the Second Coming. This is clearly
contradicted by the New Testament. The Scriptures contain
numerous passages in which Jesus Christ confirmed that He will
finally return to earth at His return to defeat Satan's
Antichrist and establish His millennial kingdom on earth. Jesus
Himself repeatedly prophesied to His disciples and followers that
He would return at some future time that was imminent but
unknowable to us.
Jesus declared, "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour
your Lord cloth come" (Matthew 24:42). The writer Luke recorded
another prophecy of Christ, "And then shall they see the Son of
man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:27).
Why would Christ prophetically announce, "Watch therefore, for ye
know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh"
(Matthew 25:13) if His plan were to gradually introduce the
kingdom of God on earth over the centuries?
Obviously, there are numerous biblical prophecies that
describe a very literal return of Christ to defeat the Antichrist
and to establish His kingdom on earth. These predictions totally
contradict the amillennialist and postmillennial doctrines that
suggest the Millennium is to be interpreted allegorically as an
indefinite period when the Church has finally prospered over the
forces of evil and established a Christian dominated world
government.
One of the critics' main objections to the biblical doctrine
of the Millennial Kingdom is their claim that the Millennium was
only taught in one short passage in Revelation, Chapter 20.
Furthermore, the critics argue that the symbolic nature of many
of the prophecies in the Apocalypse should dissuade us from
taking the prophecy about the Millennium literally. But the
apostle John was given a very detailed vision about the future
Millennium recorded in Revelation, and he was inspired to
describe the kingdom of God as lasting precisely "one thousand
years" six times in this passage. This strongly suggests that the
number of years is an accurate measurement.
And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of
the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he
laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the
Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast
him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till
the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he
must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they
sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw
the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of
Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped
the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark
upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and
reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the
dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that
hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second
death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of
Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when
the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of
his prison. (Revelation 20:1-7)
One of the clearest prophetic teachings about the Second
Coming and the setting up of His kingdom is found in the book of
Acts. Luke wrote:
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from
the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ,
which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must
receive until the times of restitution of all things, which
God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since
the world began. (Acts 3:19-21)
This prophecy clearly connects the Second Coming with "the
times of restitution" (the promised millennial kingdom of God).
The immediate connection between Christ's return and His
establishment of His Kingdom is revealed in Paul's epistle to
Timothy: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing
and his kingdom" (2 Timothy 4:1).
..................
NOTE:
I've had a little fun with some of the old fellows here and
there, seeing how they could read the Bible, and get some truth
from it.
BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS: It makes no difference what this guy or
that guy wrote or said, back when, or even today. THE WORD OF THE
LORD IS THE FINAL AUTHORITY. GOD IS VERY CLEAR ON THE TRUTH THAT
THE MESSIAH CHRIST WILL TRIUMPHANTLY RETURN TO EARTH TO ESTABLISH
THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH. JESUS WILL RULE WITH THE SAINTS FOR
ONE THOUSAND YEARS. THEN THE FATHER AND THE HOLY CITY, HEAVENLY
JERUSALEM WILL COME TO THE NEW EARTH. JESUS WILL HAND THE KINGDOM
OVER TO THE FATHER, AND ALL THAT IS WRITTEN IN REVEALTION 21 AND
22 WILL BE FULFILLED.
Keith Hunt
The Rapture-Resurrection #5The Two-Phased Return of Christ??? THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN AND THE KINGDOM
IT IS TRULY AMAZING HOW "EDUCATED" PEOPLE, SOME WITH THEIR PHD,
JUST CANNOT PUT THE SCRIPTURES TOGETHER ON THE TOPIC OF CHRIST'S
RETURN. IT SEEMS THEY SIMPLY CANNOT READ THE BIBLE AS A CHILD
WOULD READ IT. HENCE THEY HAVE COME UP WITH A TWO-PHASE RETURN,
ONE SECRET AND THE OTHER VISIBLE. SUCH A TEACHING IS NOWHERE
TAUGHT IN THE SCRIPTURES.
THIS WILL BE THE MOST INDEPTH ANSWER AND DETAILED REPLY TO
JEFFREY'S CHAPTER ON THE RAPTURE RESURRECTION.
THIS CHAPTER IS LONG, SO ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES, HERE WE GO!
Keith Hunt
The Rapture: The Resurrection Prophecy
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 meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
During the last two thousand years, the vast majority of
Christians have believed in and longed for a future resurrection.
They have clung to the promise of the Scriptures that one day
they will be resurrected from death to join Jesus and all of the
saints in His heavenly home. Christians today call this future
resurrection the Rapture. When the Rapture occurs, the bodies of
all Christians living throughout the world will suddenly be
spiritually transformed and ascend from the earth to heaven to
join the other saints who were resurrected from their graves a
moment earlier. The Bible declares that all believers shall rise
to meet Jesus Christ when He descends to the air from heaven to
meet the saints. There are a number of other prophecies that
refer to this resurrection event; they include John 11:25-26;
John 14:3;1 Corinthians 15:51-52; Philippians 3:20-21; 2
Thessalonians 2:1; and 1 John 3:2.
(No problem: the Bible indeed does teach the resurrection of the
saints at the coming of Christ - Keith Hunt)
The Rapture is the modern term used to describe the
supernatural moment when Jesus Christ will transform the bodies
of all living and departed believers into their new spiritual,
immortal bodies that will "rise to meet him in the air."
Naturally, the word "rapture" does not appear in the English
translations of the Bible, yet the concept of the resurrection-
rapture is taught in a number of passages. For the critics who
deny the truth of the Rapture by claiming the term is not
actually used in the Bible, it is important to note that the word
"trinity" does not appear in the Bible either. However, most
great theologians over the last two thousand years have declared
that the concept of "a triune God" is revealed in numerous
passages, from Genesis to Revelation.
(What man teaches has no bearing on what the Word of the Lord
teaches, the Scriptures. The "triune God" idea is the idea of
men. Growing up in a "church school" - reading the Bible for the
first half our of the school week, and attending Sunday school
all the time from age 6 to 18; reading my Bible each night before
going to sleep, I never ever thought of the Godhead as "triune" -
a three in one. Well that subject is covered in detail on this
Website in many studies - Keith Hunt)
The word rapture is derived from the Latin word "rapere,"
which means to "snatch away" suddenly or be "caught up." The
Latin word "Rapere" was first used by the early Church writer
Jerome (385) in his Latin translation of the phrase "caught up"
as it appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:17: "Then we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds."
The concept of the Rapture has been popularized in the past
decade by many books and films. The most popular of these books
has been the famous "Left Behind" series of prophetic novels
written by my friend Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Numerous
recent books and films portray the supernatural resurrection of
the saints. Millions of nonreligious people in North America have
recently become aware of the fact that many evangelical
Christians believe the Scripture's promise that Christ will
return in the air to gather his people to heaven, whether they
are living or dead. (Ah, notice Jeffrey just throw in "gather his
people to heaven." It is to me strange that somehow people just
"get to heaven" where God is NOW living. Either people go to
heaven when they die, or they spend the 1,000 year millennium
there as the Seventh Day Adventists teach, or they get to heaven
for 7 or 3 and 1/2 years at the end of this age, in some "secret"
rapture idea - Keith Hunt)
Although most non-Christians today reject the Bible's claims
about Jesus Christ as well as its teaching about heaven and hell,
they are intrigued by the Scripture's prophecies about end time
events concerning the Second Coming of Christ.
The Reason Our Bodies Will Be Resurrected
When Jesus comes for His Bride, the Church will consist of
two distinct groups - those who have previously died in the faith
and those who are still alive. We cannot enter or live forever in
an incorruptible heaven with a corruptible body, which is subject
to sin, decay, and death. Paul said it best in 1 Corinthians:
"For this corruptible [our natural body] must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality"
(1 Corinthians 15:53).
We must receive a new spiritual body to experience all that
Christ has prepared for us in heaven and the kingdom of God on
earth where we shall rule with Him. (Notice again, the accepted
fact, as all Christians seem they must have, is that somewhere,
at some time, to have to get to heaven where God now lives -
Keith Hunt).
Therefore, at the moment of His coming, He will transform
the bodies of the living saints simultaneously as He transforms
the bodies of those believers who have previously died. The
spirits of those Christians who have died in the faith are now in
heaven, the Paradise that Christ promised to the thief on the
Cross when He said, "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise"
(Luke 23:43).
(No, they are NOT in heaven! The truth about "death" is on this
Website in all of its in-depth study. In the original Greek MSS
there were no punctuation whatsoever. What Jesus said to the
thief on the cross was: "Truly I say unto you today, you shall be
with me in paradise." Jesus was telling him as they hung on the
crosses at day, as they hung there, that the thief would make it
into God's Kingdom. Again, the truth about "death" is covered in
detail with many studies on this Website - Keith Hunt)
However, those saints living today in heaven (ah, there it
is again, Jeffrey, a man with his PhD, does not understand the
truth of what happens at death - Keith Hunt) do not yet have the
resurrection body that they will receive on the day of the
Rapture. "The dead in Christ will rise first" indicates that the
spirits of the Christians in heaven (nope, they ain't in heaven -
Keith Hunt) will receive their newly resurrected bodies, which
will rise to meet their descending spirits in the air. A moment
after their spirits join their new resurrected spiritual bodies
in the air, "we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them ... in the air: and so shall we ever be with
the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17).
(Now this is quite the information he gives you, but the
Scriptures do NOT back up his statement. Anyone can say anything,
it is the Word of God that is truth (John 17:17) not the ideas of
men. Christians who have died are not walking and talking as they
live now in heaven. Christians of all ages will be resurrected
and will have glorified bodies, and those alive will be changed
in the twinkling of an eye (1 Cor.15) at the LAST trumpet sound,
and yes we shall all be caught up in the air, in the clouds to
meet Jesus as He comes from heaven, from the throne of the
universe - Keith Hunt)
Our bodies will be transformed at the Rapture into a new
supernatural resurrection body similar to the body of Jesus
Christ after He rose from the empty tomb: "Beloved, now we are
the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but
we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we
shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2).
The Sequence of Prophetic Events
The precise chronology of the events of the Second Coming
has always been a point of debate with biblical scholars. They
have presented three different scenarios regarding the timing of
the resurrection of the saints, popularly called the Rapture:
pre-Tribulation, mid-Tribulation, or post-Tribulation. Will the
Church be raptured to heaven before the Great Tribulation begins,
or will Christians living in the last generation be subjected to
God's wrath during the Tribulation together with nonbelievers?
Many prophecy scholars, including this author, believe that
the Bible teaches that the Rapture will precede the Great
Tribulation. Some teachers suggest the resurrection will not
occur until the midpoint of the seven years. Yet others believe
that, while there will be a resurrection-rapture, it may not
happen until the end of the seven-year Tribulation period at the
final return of Christ at the Battle of Armageddon.
(The truth of the Scriptures is that the rapture-resurrection
will come at the ONE and ONLY coming of Christ in visible glory,
at the END of THREE AND ONE HALF YEARS, 42 MONTHS, 1260 DAYS,
with some added days that Daniel was told [Daniel 12], and NOT
AFTER 7 years. Daniel's 70th week prophecy is not understood
correctly by these fundamental prophets, and the book of
Revelation only mentions 42 months, or 1260 days - Keith Hunt)
Some Christians have even suggested that the timing of the
Rapture is unimportant, half-jokingly proclaiming their belief in
a "pan-Tribulation" theory (that it will all somehow "pan out" in
the end). However, that is an irresponsible attitude that
dismisses the scriptural truth that the Tribulation will be a
time of historically unparalleled persecution so terrible that
Jesus Christ warned, "For then shall be great tribulation, such
as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor
ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days
shall be shortened" (Matthew 24:21-22).
(Certainly there will be a Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord,
of about 42 months, on this earth, to close out this age - Keith
Hunt)
I cannot agree that the timing of the Rapture is
unimportant. The Tribulation will be a time of unparalleled
horror for all those left behind to live through the final seven
years of this age; (here we go again with this 7 year stuff -
just is not there folks, not there at all - Keith Hunt) everyone
must either take the Antichrist's satanic "Mark of the Beast" or
suffer terrible persecution including beheading. If the Rapture
does not precede the Tribulation, then hundreds of millions of
those Christians living in the last generation of the Church Age
must experience mass martyrdom.
(Yes they will, but it will not be hundreds of millions, for the
very elect of God, living at the time of the end, will not even
be a million, no where near a million. Most so-called
"Christians" will be sucked in by the anti-christ, the false
prophet of Revelation - Keith Hunt)
Therefore, the timing of the rapture is a matter of great
concern to determine the truth of God's revelation about this
matter and this necessitates in-depth study of the relevant
scriptural passages.
There are no biblical prophecies that reveal the precise
date of the Rapture. The Lord has specifically hidden the time of
the future resurrection of the saints. Jesus told us, "But of
that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven,
but my Father only" (Matthew 24:36). By intentionally not
revealing the time of the coming resurrection, the Lord has kept
His Church waiting expectantly, in every generation for the last
two thousand years, until the final day when we shall be called
up in the air to join with all of the departed saints to return
to heaven with Christ. (Once more Jeffrey just tells you the
saints will return to heaven, the Scriptures say no such thing -
Keith Hunt). We are simply instructed "to wait for his Son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered
us from the wrath to come" (1 Thessalonians 1:10).
The Rapture and the Revelation
The Rapture of the Church should not be confused with the
Revelation of Christ's Second Coming. Although these two events
are the two most significant occurrences connected with Christ's
return in the last days, they are quite separate events involving
separate participants, as well as different times, purposes, and
locations.
(Jeffrey just tells you this, that the coming of Christ is in TWO
PHASES. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Scriptures
teach ONE VISIBLE second coming of Christ. As a child reading my
Bible for YEARS, I NEVER got the idea that Christ's return would
be in TWO separate events, at different times. It is just NOT
there. When I first came into contact with "fundamental theology"
of North America, I was 18 years old and had recently arrived in
Canada. I literally laughed at the teaching that Christ would
come in two separate events at two different times. A child
reading the Bible would never get such an idea as what these
fundamental prophets want you to believe - Keith Hunt)
The word Rapture known as "parousia" in Greek, denotes a
personal presence or appearance of Jesus Christ. The use of this
term is best exemplified in i Thessalonians 4:13-18. The Parousia
provides a message of comfort to the righteous saints (I
Thessalonians 4:18). The Rapture will be announced with the voice
of the archangel (1 Thessalonians 4:16) and will take place in
the air as all living and departed saints rise to meet Christ and
return to heaven (Matthew 25:10), (hummmm....we are off to heaven
once more, but 1 Thes.4 says no such thing, the word
heaven" is not there, read it for yourself - Keith Hunt) while
the Revelation of Christ at Armageddon will take place when He
and His saints as part of His victorious army return to earth to
defeat Antichrist at Armageddon (Revelation 19:7-9). The Rapture
will precede the Tribulation. At the time of the Rapture, Christ
will come to take His saints home. Only the saints will
experience the Rapture; non-believers will not be aware of it
until they witness the disappearance of the saints (1
Thessalonians 4:13-18).
(AGAIN, all fundamental FOLLY, all just words from Jeffrey,
making out that the Scriptures teach this doctrine, which they DO
NOT. I'll go into detail later to prove fundamental "two phase
return" is indeed fundamental folly - Keith Hunt)
The Rapture will reveal the Lord's transformation of the
mortal bodies of believers into new resurrection bodies for
eternity (1 Thessalonians 4:16), while His Revelation at the
Battle of Armageddon will reveal the glory of Jesus Christ as our
returning Messiah.
(No such two phase return of Christ is taught in the Old
Testament for sure, and only in the New Testament as the
fundamental prophets cannot put the Scriptures together correctly
- Keith Hunt)
Triumphant Return
The word revelation, known as the "apokalupsis" in Greek,
denotes an unveiling and a time of "shining forth" of Christ's
glorious return (2 Thessalonians i:7). The apocalypse reveals
a message of terror to the unrighteous (2 Thessalonians 1:7-8),
as Jesus Christ and His mighty angels will come in judgment upon
the wicked. Christ's Revelation will occur on the earth, at the
Valley of Megiddo and, later, at the Mount of Olives opposite
Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4), and will victoriously end the
Antichrist's seven-year Tribulation. (Once more, here we are with
Jeffrey telling you it is a 7 year tribulation. The book of
Revelation mentions no such time as 7 years or 84 months, it only
mentions 42 months, 1260 days, a time, times, and half a time
which also equal 42 months - Keith Hunt).
At the time of His glorious Revelation, Christ will return
from heaven with His enormous army of angels and resurrected
saints (Revelation 19:11-16). Every person still surviving on
earth at the end of the devastating Tribulation period will
witness Christ's glorious Second Coming (Revelation 1-7). The
Gospel of Matthew records Christ's prophecy: "For as the
lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west;
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.... Immediately
after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened,
and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And
then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then
shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the
Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory" (Matthew 24:27,29-30). At His revelation, Jesus Christ
will appear in glory, destroying the Antichrist and his wicked
army before they can destroy His Chosen People Israel (Matthew
13:41-43, 2 Thessalonians 2:8).
(Yes Jesus will come to destroy those who are destroying the
earth. His coming will cut short those days, or there would be no
flesh left alive on earth (Mat.24:22) - Keith Hunt)
The Lord will save the believing remnant of the Jews in
Israel who repent of their rejection of His messianic claims
during the final devastating attack on the Jewish defenders of
Jerusalem by the surviving forces of the Antichrist following the
battle of Armageddon. When Jesus descends on the Mount of Olives,
He will supernaturally destroy the remnants of the satanic forces
who still desire to destroy the Chosen People. The prophet
Zechariah declared: "And this shall be the plague wherewith the
Lord will smite all the people that have fought against
Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon
their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and
their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come
to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be
among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his
neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his
neighbour. And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem" (Zechariah
14:12-14).
Biblical Support for a Pre-Tribulation Rapture
The Scriptures clearly support a pre-Tribulation Rapture of
believers. (Oh, they do? Jeffrey telling you it is so, does not
make it so. You have to search the Scriptures and put them
together correctly to find any truth of any Bible topic - Keith
Hunt)
At the Second Coming at the Battle of Armageddon, Jesus
Christ will return from heaven to earth in glory with His
resurrected. In the book of Revelation John wrote, "And I saw
heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him
was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge
and make war.... And the armies which were in heaven followed him
upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean"
(Revelation 19:11,14).
Therefore, logically, if the Christian saints will join in
Christ's heavenly army to participate in the Battle of
Armageddon, then they must be translated to heaven and given
their immortal resurrection body at some point in time prior to
their leaving heaven with Christ to return to earth to defeat the
armies of the Antichrist.
(Wait a minute! Did you see what Jeffrey has done? He has you
believing, without proof, that the saints are already IN heaven,
so they can be in the army of Christ's at His coming. The verses
of Matthew 24:29-31 give you the truth of the matter. The
Tribulation has taken place, the heavenly signs take place, THEN
appears the sign of the Son of man in heaven. The sound of the
Trumpet is given [see also 1 Cor.15 and Rev.11:15] the angels GO
FORTH, and gather the elect TOGETHER [1 Thes.4] - the
resurrection and instant change for living saints, takes place,
they rise to the clouds in the air [1 Thes.4] and meet with
Christ in the air, in the clouds. THEN in THAT DAY [Zech.14]
Christ bringing with Him the saints, just resurrected and/or
changed, will come down to the Mount of Olives.
Do you see how SIMPLE it is to put Scripture with Scripture and
find the truth? More later! Keith Hunt)
The alternative theory developed by those who espouse the
post-Tribulation Rapture suggests that the saints will be
resurrected at the end of the Tribulation, rise in the air to
meet Christ together with the souls of the departed saints,
participate in the Bema Judgment seat and marriage supper of the
Lamb in the air, and then instantaneously reverse direction to
return to earth with Jesus Christ to participate in the Battle of
Armageddon. A careful reading of Revelation does not suggest the
above post-tribulation scenario is at all credible or in
agreement with the scriptural prophecy.
(Again, Jeffrey telling you what we have just seen with our own
eyes in the Scriptures, that it is wrong, does not make it so. Do
not fear the words of men, even those with PhDs - Keith Hunt)
Significantly, John records that the angels will withhold
their threatened judgment during the Tribulation until they first
supernaturally seal the "servants of God" to protect them from
the coming wrath of God (Revelation 7). This revelation is
consistent with the complete biblical record that shows that God
never pours His wrath upon the righteous. John reveals that
those who are supernaturally sealed for protection against the
wrath of God are 144,000 Jews (12,000 from each of the twelve
tribes of Israel). However all Christians are also "the servants
of God" as Peter affirmed, "For so is the will of God, that with
well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: As
free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness,
but as the servants of God" (I Peter 2:15-16). The question is
this: Why would God supernaturally seal the 144,000 Jews to
protect them only but leave hundreds of millions of Christians
unprotected from His coming wrath? The only logical reason for
not protecting the millions of Christians as "the servants of
God" is that these Christians will no longer require supernatural
protection. All Christians will already be raptured to heaven
before the wrath of God is poured out upon unrepentant sinners
during the Tribulation period.
(JUST THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE! Jeffrey is not understanding the
difference between the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Wrath
of God. The 144,000 Israelites and all the other saints on earth
are sealed, still living AFTER the Great Tribulation, need now to
be protected from all the horrors to be poured out on the people
of the earth, the Beast power etc. that will now happen during
the "Day of the Lord." Keith Hunt)
The Church Age, the period of time from the birth of the
Church at Pentecost in A.D.32 (actually 30 A.D. is when Jesus
died and the "church age" began - there is a study on this
Website concerning the birth of Jesus and hence His death - Keith
Hunt) until the future Rapture, is known as the Age of Grace.
During this period, the Holy Spirit reveals there is "no
difference between Jew and Greek" (Romans 10:12) because all
genuine born-again Christians, regardless of race, are
spiritually and truly one in Christ. Yet the prophecies in
Daniel, Matthew, 2 Thessalonians, and Revelation that reveal the
events that will occur during the final seven-year Tribulation
focus repeatedly on Israel, Jerusalem, the Jews, and their
separate identity from the surrounding Gentile nations. (Another
time Jeffrey tells you it is "seven years" where there is no
Scripture, especially in the NT, where they supposedly get this
two-phase coming of Christ from. They say tell a lie often enough
and people will believe it is truth - Keith Hunt)
These prophetic passages discuss the Jews, Israel fleeing
into the wilderness, the rebuilt Temple, the resumption of animal
sacrifice, the purifying of the Levites, the Antichrist's claim
to be Israel's Messiah, the False Prophet bringing fire down from
heaven in imitation of the prophet Elijah, the Law, and the
144,000 Jewish witnesses. All of these issues concern Israel, not
the Church.
(All just utter false ideas from the fundamental prophets. They
repeat this so-called prophetic outline over and over again. They
just do not understand the Scriptures nor the power of God. When
it comes to putting the Scriptures together correctly they are at
the bottom of the class, even with their PhDs - Keith Hunt)
From the day of Pentecost when the Church was first born,
the Scriptures declared that the Holy Spirit, the Comforter of
the Church, is restraining the mystery of iniquity, the
appearance of Antichrist, the man of sin. Paul wrote, "And now ye
know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For
the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now
letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And 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" (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8). The word "let" means hinder.
Paul's use of the personal pronoun "he" in this verse proves that
the restrainer of the Antichrist is a person, the Holy Spirit,
not a political-military power such as the Roman Empire, as some
scholars have suggested. Jesus Christ promised that He would give
us the Holy Spirit as our Comforter and that the Holy Spirit will
never leave the Church "comfortless." The apostle John recorded
these words of Christ, "And I will pray the Father, and he shall
give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.
. . . I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John
14:16, 18). Since God affirms that the man of sin cannot appear
until the Holy Spirit is removed from His role as restrainer of
the Antichrist, and since Christ declares that the Holy Spirit
will never leave His Church, the logical conclusion is that the
Church must be taken to heaven at some point prior to the
appearance of the Antichrist.
(Whattttt .... to jump to that conclusion from what he stated
about the Holy Spirit is one mighty big jump!! The prophecy of 2
Thes.2 is also not understood in detail by the fundamental
prophets. You will find a full in-depth study on this Website
devoted to a detailed understanding of 2 Thes.2. The Holy Spirit
being removed from restraining, so the man of sin can appear, has
NOTHING to do with the saints "going to heaven in some secret
rapture" idea. It is the mind of Jeffrey [and others like him]
who come up with this "human reasoning." The appearing of the man
of sin, the great tribulation, the day of the Lord, have nothing
per se to do with the "resurrection" or "rapture" of the saints.
The falsehood of the idea of two phases to the return of Christ
and WHEN the saints are resurrected and/or changed from mortal to
immortality, is shown CLEARLY by the Scriptures, not the fancy
theologies of ideas of men - Keith Hunt)
The Lord commands the Church to always be watchful for
Christ's coming, which could happen at any moment. (No, the
coming of christ cannot happen at any moment. Certain prophecies
HAVE TO COME, be fulfilled BEFORE Christ can return - Keith Hunt)
Jesus Christ commands us, "Therefore let us not sleep, as do
others; but let us watch and be sober" (1 Thessalonians 5:6).
This doctrine of watching expectantly for the imminent
return of Christ to resurrect His saints is logically consistent
with a pre-Tribulation Rapture. (No it is not, we are to watch
the signs of prophecy, we are to watch even living in those days
of the fulfilling of the signs of the end time. We are to watch
at all times, for not one person will ever know the very DAY that
Christ will return - Keith Hunt)
However, if the Lord intended that the Church should live
through the terrible wrath of God as hundreds of detailed
prophesied events unfold during the seven years of the
Tribulation period, (back we go again to this 7 year stuff -
which is not there - certainly not in the NT, and only there if
you do not understand Daniel 9 correctly - Keith Hunt)
it would be misleading for the Scriptures to continually motivate
Christian believers to "be ye therefore ready also: for the Son
of man cometh at an hour when ye think not" (Luke 12:40).
(Why would it be misleading? The truth is the coming of Christ,
the ONE coming of Christ, does not happen until AFTER all the
great tribulation and day of the Lord has taken place. Christians
are to watch those world events, to be aware what they are and
when they are, so they can be ready for THE DAY of Christ's
coming, that no ones knows but the Father. The truth is in
reverse to what Jeffrey says. If Jesus is going to come in a
first phase, a "secret" rapture, to take the saints to heaven,
AWAY FROM the great tribulation and day of the Lord, then there
would be NO NEED to watch anything. All you would need to do is
be a "good" Christian, watch nothing as to the signs of the
times, for it need not matter, as you will not be here anyway,
but up in heaven, when all the signs and evens of the end of the
age are unfolding. If it is true as Jeffrey and others tell you,
then why did not Jesus just simply say to His disciples when they
asked Him about the signs of His coming, "Oh, you need not bother
yourself with them, it will not matter to you, for I will come
unknown to anybody but you, and take you to heaven with me, while
all these horrible things are taking place on the earth." There
is not one single word of Christ, or any apostle, to tell us that
Christians at the end time, need not be concerned with any of the
end-time signs of the close of this age, because Jesus will come
secretly and unknown to the un-converted world, and take His
resurrect dead saints, change the living ones, and take them to
heaven, to escape the horrors of the last years of this age.
Surely somewhere, at some time, this would have been said by
someone in the NT Scriptures. But it is just NOT THERE! Keith
Hunt)
If the Rapture will not occur until the future conclusion of
the Battle of Armageddon (following the prophetic events of seven
years involving global government, a world dictator,
an ecumenical world religion, a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem,
resumption of animal sacrifice in the Temple, the Two Witnesses,
and a final global war between the East and West, et cetera), as
some critics suggest,
(Again, he goes with what the prophetic outline of the
fundamental prophets preach. Which is just about ALL wrong,
certainly wrong as to the two-phased coming of Christ, and the
first one being a "secret" rapture, unknown but to the saints -
Keith Hunt)
there would have been no need for the Lord's command to believers
to be ready and watchful for His imminent return. Even those
sinners who reject Jesus Christ during the Tribulation will be
fully aware of both the prophecies of the Second Coming and the
obvious buildup for the cataclysmic and global Battle of
Armageddon.
(Not so. Jeffrey does not catch the Satanic DECEPTION that will
cover this earth in the last years of this age. Surely you would
think, by reading the book of Revelation, that deception will be
so great, the false prophet so convincing, the absence of TRUE
Christianity in the world, that Jeffrey would see his argument is
no valid. The world will be so full of deception that they will
not even recognize that the two witnesses in Jerusalem, are
teaching and preaching the very truths of God. When those two
witnesses are killed, the world will REJOICE! So it is written!
Even after all the pouring out of the plagues etc. by God during
the Day of the Lord, it is written, they STILL WILL NOT REPENT!
See Rev.9:20,21. Why even MOST of the world will come together at
Armageddon, to FIGHT Christ on His return. Jeffrey is DREAMING
and his mind so bent on holding this false doctrine of the two-
phased coming of Christ, that he cannot see the folly of his
argument. The world will NOT COME CLOSE to seeing the prophecies
of the Bible being fulfilled before their eyes. Satan and his
demons will have deceived them so greatly, they will literally
think the returning Christ and His armies are either an attack
from outer-space, or the very anti-christ. Such will be the
deception on the world by the Satanic false prophet and the man
"beast" - Keith Hunt)
If the Rapture will not happen until the end of the
Tribulation period at the end of Armageddon, then there is a
serious contradiction with the repeated scriptural warnings that
the Rapture of the saints by Jesus Christ will come suddenly and
without any warning.
(No contradiction whatsoever. For Jesus told his disciples over
and over, that the very DAY of His return cannot be known. Hence
His disciples were to WATCH the signs of the last age events. For
those living DURING those last events, there will be need to
watch, they will want the encouragement that knowing the
prophetic events (given in detail in Revelation, Matt.24, Mark
13, and Luke 21) they can know the coming of Christ is at hand,
their time of endurance to the end, is not far from being ended,
that their prayers for the Kingdom to come, is close to being
answered. The arguments by Jeffrey are human reasoning arguments.
None of those kinds of arguments are worth anything. The ONLY
truth you want to ascertain is what does the Scriptures teach on
the coming of the Lord. Any human reasoning and argument is
worthless and useless, in comparison to the TRUTH of the WORD!
Keith Hunt)
When speaking to the Christians in the church at
Thessalonica, the apostle Paul affirmed the fundamental
importance of this imminent return of Christ as follows: "For
what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye
in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?" (1
Thessalonians 2:19).
(What Paul was here doing was giving a FACT, he was NOT saying
the coming of Christ was "imminent." The word "immanent" is not
there. The word "secret" or "any-moment" or any other such word
is NOT there. Paul was giving a FACT of Christian reality, it is
going to be a joy for him and others to see the fruits of his
ministry present at the coming of Christ - Keith Hunt)
It is significant that Paul described the resurrection of
the saints in such positive terms. Paul certainly knew the truth
concerning God's intention about the timing of the Rapture from
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul encouraged all believers
to look forward to the imminent resurrection of the saints
through his use of words such as hope, joy, comfort, and
rejoicing. (The word "immanent" is not there; it will be as
should be, a joy to see the fruits of the Gospel ministry at the
appearing of Christ, when He comes in ONE coming only [not a two-
phased coming] and the resurrection of the saints takes place -
Keith Hunt)
Paul's words of hope and joy are consistent with his
compelling teaching that the rapture of the Church will deliver
the saints from this world into the presence of Christ in heaven.
(No such teaching is found in the NT that the saints will go to
heaven with Christ in some coming of Jesus that is secret or un-
known by the world - Keith Hunt)
These terms "our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing" would
have been totally inappropriate if the apostle Paul knew he
needed to prepare the Christians living in the last days for the
coming wrath of God which they would endure for the seven years
of the Tribulation period.
(Not so, that is Jeffrey's thinking and reasoning only. The
enduring through the end time Tribulation and Day of the Lord,
has nothing to do with the hope, the joy, and the crown of being
in the presence of Jesus WHEN He returns. Paul's mind was not on
the endurance of Christians during the last years of this age
[note again Jeffrey's mention of 7 years, which is not so]. The
work of Paul and his helpers was that the very people they wanted
to visit [note in the context, Satan had prevented this
happening], their hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing, was to see
those people in the very presence of Christ at his coming. The
context had nothing to do with anything in the last years of this
age, but only with the very DAY Jesus would come back - Keith
Hunt)
The only logical conclusion is that the apostle Paul knew
and believed that the Lord would return imminently, without
warning, to take His believers home to glory before the world
will experience the Tribulation at the end of this age.
(All Jeffrey's ideas, and reasoning. Paul did not use the word
"immanent" - and it had nothing to do with "going to heaven" -
those words are not there either. Jeffrey is reading into verses
that have nothing to do with his interpretation and arguments.
How the human mind can contrive things to hold onto a doctrine
that is not in the Scriptures, but only in the darkened deceived
minds of men. Certainly, it will be a joy, a hope, a crown of
rejoicing, FOR ME, to know that YOU, from my ministry will be in
the presence of Christ at His coming. That is all these verses
are saying, no more and no less - Keith Hunt)
Jesus was the first to teach about the Rapture when He spoke
to his friend Martha after the death of her brother Lazarus.
Martha said, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not
died." Jesus responded by saying, "Thy brother shall rise again."
Martha acknowledged her belief in the resurrection of the
departed saints as taught by the Old Testament in her answer, "I
know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last
day." Jesus then declared, "I am the resurrection, and the life:
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
He closed this dialogue with this fascinating remark, "And
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest
thou this?" (John 11:21-26).
(The NT Greek actually reads: "in no wise shall die forever" - it
is not, or Jesus did not state, that people continue to live
after death, He was not teaching the immortal soul idea, but that
people would not die forever, BECAUSE, the context, there will be
a RESURRECTION - Keith Hunt)
For many years, when I read this well-known passage in the
gospel of John, I thought that Christ was simply repeating
Himself in His last sentence. However, upon closer examination
and serious reflection, I believe that this remarkable passage
contains the first teaching in the New Testament about the
Rapture of the Church. Notice that Jesus is teaching about the
destiny of two distinct groups of believers. The first group is
made up of all of those believers who will have died during the
period between the birth of the Church at Pentecost and the
Second Coming of Christ: "He that believeth in me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live." This statement of Jesus to Martha
confirmed the doctrine of the Old Testament regarding the
resurrection of the believers in the last days as taught by Job
19:25-26 and numerous other scriptural passages.
(I agree - Keith Hunt)
The second group of Christians as covered in Jesus' second
statement includes all believers who will be living at the time
of the return of Jesus Christ. This was an entirely new
revelation: "And whoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die." Jesus revealed that there will be a generation of believers
who will not have to pass through death to reach eternal life;
the generation of Christians who are living at the resurrection
will be "caught up together ... to meet the Lord in the air" as
Paul taught in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18.
(This is not actually what Jesus said, as I note above. Jesus
said, "shall in no wise die forever" because there will be
resurrection. But the NT Scriptures do indeed teach that some
will be alive when Jesus comes and will be changed in the
twinkling of an eye, and will with those resurrected, be caught
up in the air, in the clouds, to be with Christ, to meet with him
on His return, see 1 Corinthians 15 with 1 Thes.4 - Keith Hunt)
The apostle Paul reaffirms this great truth when he wrote to
the Corinthian Christians during his third missionary journey,
probably during the winter of 55.
Behold, I show 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.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal must put on immortality. So 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. (1
Corinthians 15:51-54)
(Exactly, indeed so. But notice when this takes place - at the
LAST trumpet .... AND so you can find the last trumpet, the 7th
trumpet in the book of Revelation, and if you will read
carefully, that 7TH TRUMPET sounds AFTER the Tribulation and
heavenly signs of Revelation 6; AFTER the sealing of the 144,000
and large multitude; AFTER the Day of the Wrath of God. Well you
can understand the book of Revelation. I expound it for you as
the last book of the NT Bible Story series, on this Website -
Keith Hunt)
In this passage, Paul taught about the Second Coming of the
Lord and His promise of the Rapture of the saints. There are five
new points that Paul revealed in his teaching. The first point is
that not all Christians will die - many believers will be alive
in the final generation at the moment when Christ returns to
resurrect all of the saints. (True, but remember now when the
resurrection comes - Keith Hunt). The second point is that Christ
will first resurrect the bodies of those believers who have
already died. (True - but remember now when the resurrection
takes place - Keith Hunt). The third point is that the
resurrection will be instantaneous, in one-tenth of a second, in
"the twinkling of an eye." (True - it is written in 1 Corinthians
15 - it is not the idea of men - Keith Hunt). Another is that
this Rapture will be accompanied by the blowing of "the last
trumpet." (Ah, very true, but you can find when the last trumpet
sounds in the book of Revelation, and is it AFTER the
Tribulation, heavenly signs, and day of God's wrath, of
Revelation chapters 6,7 etc. - Keith Hunt). And the final point
Paul makes is that all believers - both dead and alive - will be
changed into their new supernatural, immortal, resurrection
bodies. (And that is also written in the Scriptures - Keith
Hunt). The Lord will transform our mortal, corruptible earthly
bodies into incorruptible, immortal, heavenly bodies fit for
heaven as well as the Kingdom of God on earth. (Ah, now Jeffrey
is back to teaching we will go to heaven at the resurrection and
coming of Christ, a teaching that cannot be found in the
Scriptures - Keith Hunt)
Early Church Teaching about the Rapture
The doctrine of the pre-Tribulation Rapture has produced
conflict and debate during recent years as many Christians
attempt to determine the truth about this vital doctrine about
the resurrection of the saints in the last days. The Protestant
Reformation was predominantly based on the rejection of centuries
of accumulated man-made doctrines, church traditions, and a
return to the authority of the Word of God as found in the Bible.
The Latin phrase Sola Scriptura, meaning "Scripture Alone" became
the rallying cry of the reformers who ignored centuries of
medieval tradition and Church councils in their insistence that
spiritual truth could only be discovered in the literal teaching
of the Word of God. It is important to answer the arguments of
those who disparage the blessed hope of the Rapture with
misinformation claiming that no one ever taught or believed in
the pre-tribulation rapture at any point prior to the 1800s.
During the last century, many post-Tribulation Rapture
writers have attacked the pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine by
claiming that it cannot be valid because no Church writer or
Reformer ever taught it until about 1830.
(Well I surely have not, for it makes no difference WHO or HOW
MANY may have taught this idea; it makes no difference WHEN they
taught this idea; the idea is still false - Keith Hunt)
The argument that no one ever taught the pre-Tribulation
Rapture during the first eighteen hundred years of Church history
has been very effective, and has caused many Christians to doubt
or abandon their belief in this doctrine. However, this claim of
the post-Tribulationists is false.
Many contemporary writers claim that the pre-Tribulation
Rapture theory originated approximately 1812 to 1830. They
ascribe the theory's initial creation to Emmanuel Lacunza (known
as Ben Ezra, 1812), Edward Irving (1816), or Margaret Macdonald
(1830), and finally to John Darby (1827). For example, Dave
MacPherson stated in his 1975 book "The Incredible Cover-Up":
"Margaret Macdonald was the first person to teach a coming of
Christ that would precede the days of Antichrist... . Before 1830
Christians had always believed in a single future coming, that
the catching up of I Thessalonians 4 will take place after the
Great Tribulation of Matthew 24 at the glorious coming of the Son
of Man when He shall send His angels to gather together all of
His Elect."
(And MacPherson has it correct, according to the Scriptures -
Keith Hunt)
Another preterist, Rev.John Bray, in "The Origin of the Pre-
Tribulation Rapture Teaching" declared, "People who are teaching
the pre-tribulation rapture teaching today are teaching something
that never was taught until 1812 ... Not one of those early
church fathers taught a pre-tribulation rapture."
Post-tribulation authors should correct their previous
statements. A remarkable textual discovery conclusively proved
that an important Christian teacher, living almost fourteen
centuries before John Darby, clearly taught that the Rapture
would occur before the Tribulation. During the summer of 1994,
after more than a decade of diligent searching in libraries and
rare bookstores throughout North America and Europe, I discovered
an important manuscript that provides compelling evidence of the
teaching of the pre-Tribulation Rapture more than a thousand
years before the 1800s.
Ephraem the Syrian Taught the Pre-Tribulation Rapture in 373
Ephraem the Syrian (306-373) was a very important writer, poet,
and theologian of the early Byzantine Church. He was born near
Nisbis, in the Roman province of Syria, near present-day Edessa,
Turkey. Ephraem displayed a profound love of the Scriptures in
his writings as illustrated by several of his written comments
quoted in the Works of Nathaniel Lardner, Vol.4,1788: "I esteem
no man more happy than him, who diligently reads the Scriptures
delivered to us by the Spirit of God, and thinks how he may order
his conversation by the precepts of them."
After seventeen centuries, Ephraem's hymns and homilies are
still used today in the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox and Middle
Eastern Nestorian Church. The well-respected sixteen volume
Post-Nicene Library (which includes the most important Christian
writings after the 325 Council of Nicea) contains a number of
homilies and psalms by Ephraem. The editors noted that he also
wrote a large number of biblical commentaries that have never
before been translated into the English language
In Ephraem's "On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End
of the World" (probably written A.D. 373 by Ephraem; but
definitely written before 622), he reveals a literal method of
scriptural interpretation regarding the prophecies about the
Antichrist and the premillennial return of Christ to set up His
kingdom of God on earth. Ephraem's text contains a very clear
statement about the pre-tribulational return of Christ to take
His elect saints home to heaven before the coming Tribulation and
the horrors of the satanic persecution during the seven years
leading to Armageddon: "For all the saints and Elect of God are
gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken
to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the
world because of our sins."
(Wellllll......so what if some guy called Ephraem taught a
"secret" rapture doctrine, way way back when. As Solomon
declared, "There is nothing new under the sun." It makes no
difference to TRUTH, who taught what, or when they taught it. If
it is not according to the Word of Scripture, it is STILL WRONG,
it is still ERROR. Having an early date on some teaching does not
make it a truth of God. All it shows is that ERROR can be as old
as the hills, and that some people far back, GOT THINGS WRONG!!
Keith Hunt)
Ephraem also declared his belief in a Jewish Antichrist who
will rule the Roman Empire during the last days, a rebuilt
Temple, the Two Witnesses, and a literal Great Tribulation
lasting 1,260 days.
(Now we really see the ERRORS of this fellow. A Jewish anti-
christ - he got that one just as wrong. Roman empire of the last
days, yes, he got that one correct. A "rebuilt temple" - now, he
got that one wrong. A literal Great Tribulation for 1260 days,
hummmm... got part right. The Tribulation is not the Day of the
Lord. The last 1260 days of this age, includes BOTH the Great
Tribulation and the Day of the Lord, which will be for about 1260
days [Daniel adds more days - Daniel 12] - Keith Hunt)
He also taught that the war of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38-39)
would precede the Tribulation.
(Sure got that one WRONG! Keith Hunt)
In another text called "The Book of the Cave of Treasure,"
Ephraem taught that Daniel's seventieth week would be fulfilled
in the final seven years at the end of this age that will
conclude with Christ's return at the Battle of Armageddon.
(Ephraem should have stayed in his cave, he obviously had more
treasure there than in his writings on the truths of the
Scripture - Keith Hunt)
In 1995, after I discovered "On the Last Times, the
Antichrist, and the End of the World," I arranged for Dr.Cameron
Rhoades of Tyndale Theological Seminary to translate it. This
fascinating document states that the Lord will gather together
the Elect of the Lord "before the tribulation" and that the
saints will be "taken to the Lord" to escape "the confusion which
overwhelms the world." Ephraem's text includes his understanding
of the imminent return of Christ, the need to turn from worldly
concerns.
(The whitings of men, do not prove anything. The proof is in the
understanding and correctly searching the Scriptures, putting
them together in the right way to get the clear truth of the
matter, on what you are studying - Keith Hunt)
Most dearly beloved brothers, believe the Holy Spirit who
speaks in us. Now we have spoken before, because the end of
the world is very near, and the consummation remains. Has
not the first faith withered away in men? ...
We ought to understand thoroughly therefore, my brothers
what is imminent or overhanging. Already there have been
hunger and plagues, violent movements of nations and signs,
which have been predicted by the Lord, they have already
been fulfilled, and there is not other which remains, except
the advent of the wicked one in the completion of the Roman
kingdom. Why therefore are we occupied with worldly
business, and why is our mind held fixed on the lusts of the
world or the anxieties of the ages? Why therefore do we not
reject every care of earthly actions and prepare ourselves
for the meeting of the Lord Christ, so that He may draw us
from the confusion, which overwhelms the world? Believe you
me, dearest brothers, because the coming of the Lord is
nigh, believe you me, because the end of the world is at
hand, believe me, because it is the very last time....
(Just like many before and after him, Ephraem could not see the
signs of the times; he was not living in the last days, a long
way from them; he could not understand the book of Daniel, for
the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation was not to be understood,
but only at the time of the end, when people would run too and
fro and when knowledge would be increased. Ephraem was living not
far from the time the DARK AGES would ascend on this earth,
knowledge would be covered and put under the rug, and it would be
over a thousand years later, that knowledge would be increased
and people would run too and fro - Keith Hunt)
Because all saints and the Elect of the Lord are gathered
together before the tribulation which is to come and are
taken to the Lord, in order that they may not see at any
time the confusion which overwhelms the world because of our
sins [italics added]. And so, brothers, most dear to me, it
is the eleventh hour, and the end of this world comes to the
harvest, and angels, armed and prepared, hold sickles in
their hands, awaiting the empire of the Lord ...
(It was not the eleventh hour, FAR from it. Old Ephraem boy could
not see it. He had most of it un-side-down and in-side-out -
Keith Hunt)
When therefore the end of the world comes, there arise
diverse wars, commotions on all sides, horrible earthquakes,
perturbations of nations, tempests throughout the lands,
plagues, famine, drought throughout the thoroughfares, great
danger throughout the sea and dry land, constant
persecutions, slaughters and massacres everywhere ...
When therefore the end of the world comes, that abominable,
lying and murderous one is born from the tribe of Dan. He is
conceived from the seed of a man and from a most vile
virgin, mixed with an evil or worthless spirit.
(Now all that Jeffrey is doing here is showing you how NUTTY this
Ephraem guy was. He was obviously still very anti-Jewish,
thinking the vile false prophet of the book of revelation would
come from the Jews, and from a "virgin"! You have to be kidding!
No, I guess the fellow was not, this is what he taught! There is
ONLY ONE woman that bore a man child who was a virgin - Mary the
mother of the Messiah Jesus. No prophecy in the Word of God tells
you the anti-christ will come from a vile virgin, I guess then
who has sex with a man. This whole thing of Ephraem's writing
shows he was a false prophet, anti-Jewish, and a dreamer of WILD
dreams - Keith Hunt)
But when the time of the abomination of his desolation
begins to approach, having been made legal, he takes the
empire... Therefore, when he receives the kingdom, he orders
the temple of God to be rebuilt for himself, which is in
Jerusalem; who, after coming into it, he shall sit as God
and order that he be adored by all nations ... then all
people from everywhere shall flock together to him at the
city of Jerusalem, and the holy city shall be trampled on by
the nations for forty-two months just as the holy apostle
says in the Apocalypse, which become three and a half years,
1260) days.
(Ephraem shows the false idea of a re-built Temple in Jerusalem
goes back a long way - nothing new under the sun. You will notice
he mentions nothing of a 7 year tribulation, at least he could
read the book of Revelation, which many fundamental prophets
today, like Jeffrey, seem not to be able to do - Keith Hunt)
In these three years and a half the heaven shall suspend its
dew; because there will be no rain upon the earth ... and
there will be a great tribulation, as there has not been,
since people began to be upon the earth ... and no one is
able to sell or to buy of the grain of the fall harvest,
unless he is one who has the serpentine sign on the forehead
or the hand...
And when the three and a half years have been completed, the
time of the Antichrist, through which he will have seduced
the world, after the resurrection of the two prophets, in
the hour which the world does not know, and on the day which
the enemy or son of perdition does not know, will come the
sign of the Son of Man, and coming forward the Lord shall
appear with great power and much majesty, with the sign of
the word of salvation going before him, and also even with
all the powers of the heavens with the whole chorus of the
saints.... Then Christ shall come and the enemy shall be
thrown into confusion, and the Lord shall destroy him by the
Spirit of his mouth. And he shall be bound and shall be
plunged into the abyss of everlasting fire alive with his
father Satan; and all people, who do his wishes, shall
perish with him forever; but the righteous ones shall
inherit everlasting life with the Lord for ever and ever.
(Ephraem was able to read, he did have the book of Revelation and
he could read it, so he did get SOME THINGS correct. I mean you
have to really be from the mental hospital, if you could not get
SOME things right from the book of Revelation. We do notice no
mention here of a 7 year tribulation - Keith Hunt)
Ephraem's manuscript is unusual among ancient Church
writings about prophecy in that it presents the events of the
last days in a detailed chronological sequence. Significantly,
Ephraem began his series of future events with the Rapture of the
saints, saying it was "imminent or overhanging." He explained
that God will rapture the Church before the tribulation in these
words: "all saints and the Elect of the Lord are gathered
together before the tribulation which is to come and are taken to
the Lord, in order that they may not see at any time the
confusion which overwhelms the world because of our sins."
(Just shows that false doctrines have been around for a long long
time - Ephraem had his share of them - Keith Hunt)
Ephraem used the word "confusion" as a synonym for the
terrible persecution of the final seven-year tribulation period.
(Nowwww .... there was no quote from ephraem that the last
tribulation would be 7 years. It would seem the fundamental
prophets have elaborated on Ephraem's work - Keith Hunt)
Then he described the Great Tribulation, which will occur
during the last three and a half years of the seven-year
tribulation, under the Antichrist's tyranny, including the Mark
of the Beast. He concluded his prophetic sequence of events with
the Second Coming of Christ from heaven to earth with His saints
to defeat the Antichrist.
(Did I miss something? In what was presented to us from Ephraem's
work, I did not see where he mentioned anything about 7 years -
Keith Hunt)
Dr.Paul Alexander, one of the most authoritative scholars
studying the writings of the early Byzantine Church, concluded in
his book, "The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition," that Ephraem's
text on the Antichrist taught that the Lord would supernaturally
remove the saints of the Church from the earth "prior to the
tribulation that is to come."
(It really does not matter what Ephraem did or did not do, what
he taught or did not teach; the truth of the doctrines of the
Lord are found in the Scriptures, NOT in the writings of men -
Keith Hunt)
Dr.Alexander believed some unknown writer may have written
this text in the sixth century and added the name Ephraem to it
to honor the great teacher. Alexander concluded that it was
derived from an original Ephraem manuscript from 373. However,
one of the greatest scholars of eschatology, Wilhelm Bousett,
accepted the 373 date and Ephraem's authorship as probably
genuine. In his book, "Alexander's Gate: Gog and Magog and the
Enclosed Nations," Professor Andrew R.Anderson also supports the
early date of 373 for this important manuscript.
Other scholars, including the German editor Professor C.P.
Caspari, who wrote a German commentary on this ancient Latin
manuscript in 1890, believed that the genuine Ephraem could have
written this important manuscript in 373 but also suggested that
some unknown writer might have written this manuscript based on
Ephraem's original work at some point in the fifth or sixth
century. Regardless of whether this manuscript was written
originally by Ephraem or by some unknown writer using his
manuscripts as a source a few centuries later, most scholars
agree that this was written at some point before the year 622
when Mohammed introduced the Islamic religion. This discovery
also demonstrates that the pre-Tribulation Rapture was taught and
attributed to Ephraem the Syrian, one of the greatest and most
respected of the teachers of the ancient Greek Christian Church.
(He may have been "respected" by men, but that does not prove
anything. All kinds of men and women are respected by men, and
they have been some of the dumbest and sometimes "evil" people of
history [Adolf Hitler would have been one of them - many
thousands lived and died because they "respected" him]. So the
acclaim from men means nothing if it is not truth or acclaimed by
God. What any man has to teach better be backed up by the Word of
the Lord, and you, your responsibility is to "search the
Scriptures daily" to see that what you read and hear, IS from the
Word of the Lord - Keith Hunt)
Why a Pre-Trib Rapture?
In the great purging of evil civilizations recorded
throughout the Scriptures, God has never once poured out His
wrath upon His faithful and righteous followers. The wrath of God
has always fallen solely upon unrepentant sinners; it has never
fallen upon the righteous. This is demonstrated clearly in the
accounts of Noah's flood and the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. It would be a contradiction of God's holiness and just
character if He exposed His saints to seven years of His wrath
during the future Tribulation.
(Now first of all, the saints and 144,000 are sealed by God to
protect them from the "day of the wrath of God" on this earth. We
see that clearly in Revelation 7. Secondly, this is a crazy
statement by Jeffrey, for history bears out that MANY from the
ages past have suffered, even to death, for holding to the truth
of God, just read Hebrews 11 for starters. And when God was
punishing Israel under Elijah, no rain fro 3 years, do you think
the 7,000 that had not bowed the knee to Baal, were up in heaven,
raptured away. Or do you think those true people of God had rain
on their gardens while it was only "no rain" for the evil
unconverted ones in Israel. Then you need to read about the woman
Elijah went to who gave him of the little she had left, and the
miracle God did for her - Keith Hunt)
And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the
days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they
married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day
that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and
destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of
Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they
planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and
destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when
the Son of man is revealed. (Luke 17:26-30)
(So, is it impossible for God to PROTECT His children while they
are still on the earth? Noah and family was not taken off into
heaven in some "secret" movement. Yes, Jesus did say we need to
pray that we can escape what is coming in the last days on this
earth. He said that in Luke 21:36. But He did not come close to
saying his people would be saved by some "secret" return of His,
unknown by the world - Keith Hunt)
As recorded in the book of Genesis, God withheld His
wrathful judgment upon the wicked and rebellious population of
the world until the righteous Noah and his family entered the
ark. Significantly, the wrath of God unleashed the Flood only
after "the Lord shut him in" for protection. God supernaturally
destroyed the wicked city of Sodom, but only after Lot and his
family escaped from the city. The angel warned Lot, "Haste thee,
escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come
thither" (Genesis 19:22). This significant passage reminds us of
a fundamental principle of God's dealing with mankind - despite
the wickedness of Sodom, the angel declared that he could not
destroy the evil city and its perverse population until the
righteous Lot and his family escaped.
(So big deal, all this shows is that God is able to save, protect
His people, move them out to another part of this earth, give
them protection from the evil and destruction He may send. None
of this proves a "secret" rapture, first coming of a two-phased
return of Christ - Keith Hunt)
The wrath of God is reserved for those who reject the Lord's
offer of salvation. When Abraham asked God for mercy for the
other citizens of Sodom, he pled, "That be far from thee to do
after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and
that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from
thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (Genesis
18:25). In Paul's book of Romans, we read, "For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness"
(Romans 1:18). While believers often experience God's loving
chastening for our correction and we often endure the
consequences of our sins and the sinful decisions of others, the
Scriptures clearly reveal that the wrath of God is reserved for
unrepentant sinners.
(And so it will be. Not because of some un-Scriptural teaching of
a secret rapture of saints to heaven, but because God will
PROTECT His children indeed from the "day of the wrath of God"
[Rev.6:17] - He will seal them from what the woes that will come
on this earth during the prophetic "day of the Lord" - Keith
Hunt)
In Paul's first letter to the church at Thessalonica, he
wrote about the different character and final spiritual destiny
of the saints, "the children of light," in contrast to the
unrepentant sinners, "the children of darkness." Paul affirmed
Christ's absolute promise to His followers of supernatural
deliverance from the coming wrath of God, "For God bath not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus
Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:9). In this passage, it is very clear
that the destiny of "the children of light" (Christians) is "to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ." However, the destiny
of "the children of darkness" (those who rebelliously reject
Christ's offer of salvation) is to endure the eternal wrath of
God.
(Now, Jeffrey wants you to believe the wrath of God also includes
the Great Tribulation. But the facts of the Bible show that the
Tribulation, Heavenly signs, and the Day of the Lord, are all
DIFFERENT events. I have proved this to you many times in other
studies on "prophecy" and "end time" on this Website. It is a
fact of history that many of the very elect of God have had to
suffer persecution and torture and DEATH, for the truths of God.
It has been this way for centuries and it will be no different
during the last Great Tribulation to come on this earth. More on
it all later - Keith Hunt)
In another passage, Paul specifically declared that Christ's
Second Coming will protect His Church from "the wrath to come."
The apostle encouraged Christians "to wait for his Son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered
us from the wrath to come" (1 Thessalonians 1: 10). Note that
this verse specifically outlines the precise chronological order
of prophetic events: First, Christians are to expectantly wait
for the imminent return of His Son from heaven. (The word
"imminent" is not there - and "wrath of God" in many places could
just as well refer to the "second death" NOT anything to do with
the last 42 months of this age - Keith Hunt). Second, Jesus will
come from heaven for His Church. (True, for the saints are in the
grave or waiting for the ONE and ONLY ONE return of Christ, to be
with Him via a resurrection or instant change - Keith Hunt).
Third, Christ's coming for His followers will deliver "us from
the wrath to come." (So, indeed so, Jesus' disciples will have
the wrath of God on this earth all AROUND them, though under
protection from it, and it will be a wonderful deliverance to be
taken out of this world, glorified, and rise to meet Jesus in the
clouds and be with Him forever more - Keith Hunt).
In this one definitive verse we have the clearest possible
expression that the resurrection of the saints will precede the
Tribulation when "the wrath to come" will be unleashed from
heaven upon the unrepentant sinners who will worship Satan rather
than God.
(Ah ... ah, do you see what Jeffrey did? He puts the Tribulation
and Wrath of God as ONE. They are NOT ONE!! They are TWO events.
The one - the great tribulation - saints will face and go
through, some protected in a "place of safety - the wilderness"
as Revelation 12 tells you. And the other - the wrath of God -
protection, sealed by God's Spirit, wherever the saints are on
this earth - Revelation 7 etc. UNTIL Jesus comes to resurrect the
dead saints and to change from mortal to immortal, the saints
living at the time of His return - Keith Hunt)
Some scholars suggest that Christians must experience the
Tribulation to somehow spiritually purify them in preparation for
heaven before they will be raptured.
(There is nothing "spiritually purify" about the saints going
through the great tribulation. It is all a matter of what God has
DECIDED will be, and so it will be. Nowhere does God say the
tribulation is to purify saints that need purifying. It is simply
a matter of what the Lord has willed, and certainly one reason is
that it will all be a FINAL GREAT WITNESS to the world, that
God's people are willing IF it so be, to give up their LIVES for
obeying the truths of God - Keith Hunt)
However, this argument fails for two reasons. First, the
majority of all the followers of Christ who compose the Church
that will be present at the Rapture include hundreds of millions
of departed Christian saints who died during the last two
thousand years.
(Yes, that is so, not hundreds of millions [for few are really
the true servants of God] but ten of thousands, will be in the
resurrection at Christ's coming - Keith Hunt)
Since these Christian souls are already in heaven without
suffering the persecution of the future Tribulation, it does not
make sense that believers living in the last days would be
required to experience the persecution of the Tribulation to
spiritually prepare them for the coming resurrection.
(First, Jeffrey does not understand the truth of death. Saints
are NOT today in heaven, they are DEAD, waiting for the
RESURRECTION. This is all proved in many studies on this Website.
Second. Many saints have suffered death in past ages, not to
purify them, but to be a witness to the commandments of God and
the Testimony of Jesus Christ - Revelation 12:11,17. see also
Rev.6:11 where MANY are yet to be KILLED as other of their
brethren were - Keith Hunt)
Second, there is no need for believers in the last days to
experience the Tribulation to purify them spiritually before they
reach heaven - all believers in every generation are purified
solely by the atoning power of Christ's blood shed for us at
Calvary. Christ's atonement, by His perfect sacrifice on the
Cross, is the only thing that can justify us and fully pay the
price for our sins.
(Absolutely! The idea that saints have to be "purified" by going
through the tribulation, is also the idea of men, it is not
specifically stated that is the reason why SOME must experience
life in the Tribulation. Some are protected from this
Tribulation, but not by the means of a "secret rapture"
[Revelation 12:13-17 - Keith Hunt)
The Importance of Teaching the Pre-Tribulation Rapture
Why is it important to teach the doctrine of the
pre-Tribulation Rapture? The apostle Peter warned that many
people would challenge our Lord's promise of His Second Coming in
the last days: "Knowing this first; that there shall come in the
last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying,
Where is the promise of his coming?" (2 Peter 3:3-4).
(What's that got to do with a pre-tribulation rapture? It has
nothing to do with it. Peter is teaching that in the last days,
end-time, people would scoff at the teaching of Christ's literal
visible return to earth. Why most today scoff at the Bible
period! Keith Hunt)
What does the Bible teach us about the proper attitude of a
Christian with respect to the subject of Christ's return? In 1
Corinthians 1:7, Paul tells us, "So that ye come behind in no
gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Paul also
commands Christians to demonstrate a constant expectation of the
Rapture in Philippians 3:20: "For our conversation is in heaven;
from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ."
The great reformers of the Church encouraged believers in their
constant hope of the Second Coming. John Calvin wrote, "It ought
to be the chief concern of believers to fix their minds fully on
His Second Advent." Martin Luther, in his Sermon of Consolation,
declared that the hope of Christ's return is an absolute
necessity for a Christian:
If thou be not filled with a desire after the Coming of this
day, thou canst never pray the Lord's prayer, nor canst thou
repeat from thy heart the creed of faith. For with what
conscience canst thou say, 'I believe in the resurrection of
the body and the life everlasting,' if thou dost not in thy
heart desire the same? If thou didst believe it, thou must,
of necessity, desire it from thy heart, and long for that
day to come; which, if thou doest not desire, thou art not
yet a Christian, nor canst thou boast of thy faith.
(Why of course, anyone with any brain, reading the New Testament,
can see it is FULL of the teaching that Jesus WILL COME AGAIN, to
live and rule on this earth. As a child growing up I came to see
this truth, just from reading the New Testament. My "church" I
went to from age 6 year old, DID NOT TEACH OR BELIEVE IN THE
SECOND COMING OF CHRIST! Yet I could see it as one of the very
foundational teachings of the Lord. But NEVER did I get from the
NT that the coming of the Lord would be in TWO PHASES, one
secret, unknown to the world, and another in visible glory "ex"
number of years after the first phase. That teaching is just NOT
taught by Jesus or any apostle - Keith Hunt)
The New Testament contains numerous exhortations to hold on
to the hope of our Lord's soon return as the focus of our
spiritual life. The "blessed hope" of the Rapture should be a
cornerstone of every Christian's spiritual life, for many
reasons.
* Expecting Christ's soon return calls all believers to
constant spiritual watchfulness. "But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are
all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are
not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as
do others; but let us watch and be sober" (1 Thessalonians
5:4-6).
(I have no problem with the child of God want the soon return of
the Lord, and in so doing, praying for it, and hence living as a
true Christian, in thought, word, and action - Keith Hunt)
* This hope motivates us to witness to unbelievers in light of
His imminent coming. "I must work the works of him that sent me,
while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work" (John
9:4).
(We witness for the Lord in HOW we live, and the good deeds we do
- this should go without saying, it is a natural part of being a
child of the Father. Going around telling people about Christ and
the Kingdom .... sometimes it should not be done, as Jesus said,
do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they not only trample
the pears but turn and trample you also. Most Christians by name,
do not understand the salvation plan of God for all who have ever
lived. It is explained to you in full detail with studies on this
Website - Keith Hunt)
* It reminds us to walk daily in holiness in an immoral world
while we await His soon return. "And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John 3:3).
(Very true, but we should be so doing even if Jesus does not come
in our lifetime - Keith Hunt)
* His return comforts the saints by reminding them of their
eternal destiny with Christ. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye
believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am,
there ye maybe also" (John 14:1-3).
(So it is good to know a place is being prepared for us in the
very family of Kingdom of God, which we shall have when Jesus
returns in the ONE return of power and glory - Keith Hunt)
* God promises a crown for those who long for the Second
Coming. "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me
at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love
his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:8).
(Indeed, we can have a rulership position with Christ, to rule
this world and the nations upon it, under His kingship and
priesthood, for He will come and be King of kings and Lord of
lords - Keith Hunt)
* Finally, the approaching return of Christ encourages sinners
to repent and accept the Lord while they still have time. "Repent
ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted
out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of
the Lord; And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was
preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times
of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth
of all his holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:19-21).
(Yes, the age is here when once the winking of God is no more and
He calls everyone, everywhere to REPENTANCE! See Acts 17:30 -
Keith Hunt)
Unfortunately, some peoples' enthusiasm regarding the
Rapture has led them to unwisely propose specific dates for
Christ's return. The Scriptures specifically warn that no one but
God will know the time of His return. The Gospel of Matthew
declares, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the
hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 25:13). For example,
Harold Camping's book, 1994, claimed that Christ would return on
September 17, 1994. Millions of readers of this book and other
similar speculative writings were deeply disappointed when these
unscriptural predictions proved false.
(Yaaaa .... it's been going on for centuries - people setting
dates or years for Jesus to return. Yessss .... there nothing new
under the sun - Keith Hunt)
Christians must not abandon our hope for an imminent Rapture
of Jesus because others have foolishly been misled. We must
simply be obedient to Christ's scriptural command: "When these
things begin come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads,
for your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:28). John Wesley De La
Fletchere wrote a compelling letter to Charles Wesley in 1755
that expressed the proper attitude all Christians should adopt
concerning the Lord's return: "I know that many have been grossly
mistaken as to the year of His return, but, because they were
rash, shall we be stupid? Because they say 'Today!'; shall we
say, 'Never!' and cry 'Peace, Peace,' when we should look about
us with eyes full of expectation?"
Christians live in a dynamic spiritual tension where we walk
in daily expectation for our Lord's return while we obediently
complete the Great Commission to "Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). On the one
hand, since the Lord might return at any moment, we need to watch
expectantly for His coming.
(NO!! I can tell you quite DOGMATICALLY, that Jesus CAN NOT
return at just any moment or minute of the day. Unless the
nations of the world will REPENT, which is just about impossible
now, the day of sin and evil too far spent; ceratin prophecies
MUST come to pass BEFORE Jesus can return in triumph to rule this
earth and all nations upon it. That is the reason we have the
book of Revelation, to tell us certain events WILL come to pass
before Christ comes in power and glory - Keith Hunt)
However, the Lord also commands us to "occupy till He
comes," which reminds us to be faithful servants building
churches and orphanages, support evangelical and medical
missions, and witness to those around us until He returns.
If we are to be obedient to the command of Jesus Christ, we
must live in daily holiness and constant expectation of our
Lord's Second Coming; Christ could return at any moment. (NO just
not so! - Keith Hunt). No other generation has ever witnessed so
many prophecies fulfilled in its lifetime as we have witnessed
since the rebirth of Israel in 1948. The following chapters will
examine a number of fascinating prophecies fulfilled in our
generation that point to the nearness of the Lord's return.
"Blessed are those servants, whom the lord, when he cometh shall
find watching.... Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man
cometh at an hour ye think not" (Luke 12:37,40).
The apostle Peter warned, "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye
know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away
with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness"
(2 Peter 3:17). While we are commanded to live each day in
holiness and urgently witness as though He will return before the
dawn, (which He will not until all things be fulfilled - Keith
Hunt) we are also called to plan and work to fulfil the Great
Commission as if He will tarry for another hundred years.
(And yes that is so. We must be about our Father's business. We
do not know how long the Father will "stretch" the fulfilment of
prophecy out. He is in charge of time and events. He can lengthen
and He can shorten. We are given things to watch for, things that
must come to pass on this earth BEFORE Revelation chapters 17,
18, and 19 come to reality. Until them, while the day is light,
we must work the work of God, for the day comes, the night comes,
when none shall be able. Yet beyond that dark night we have the
sure hope of the return of out Lord and the resurrection of the
saints, and finally the age to come, the restitution of all
things, as the prophets have spoken about from the beginning -
Keith Hunt)
NOTE:
IN THE NEXT CHAPTER I WILL LEAVE OFF GOING THROUGH THIS BOOK BY
GRANT JEFFREY, AND I WILL SHOW YOU FROM THE SCRIPTURES THE ONE
TRUTH OF THE EVENTS LEADING TO THE RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS AND
THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF CHRIST. YOU WILL SEE IN PLAIN CLARITY
THAT NO "SECRET" RAPTURE WILL HAPPEN BEFORE THE GREAT
TRIBULATION, AND THAT JESUS' COMING IS ONE EVENT ONLY, WITH THE
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS AT THAT TIME, WHICH WILL BE AT THE END
OF THE LAST 42 MONTHS OF THIS AGE!
........................
To be continued
The Triumphant Return and Kingdom #6 Putting it all Together! THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF CHRIST AND THE RESURRECTION
by Keith Hunt
First, why don't you spend a few hours in seeing if you can
find the word "secret" connected with the second coming of
Christ. Then see if you can find the word "invisible" with the
coming of Christ. After that try finding the word "two-comings"
with the second coming of Christ. How about trying to find "phase
one" or "phase two" or "part one" or "part two" connected with
Christ's second coming.
Have fun, if you find any of the above let me know!
Take out your Bible, turn to Matthew 24. Now, are you ready
to do some simple Bible reading to find the truth of when the
resurrection of the saints will be? You are going to see that you
do not need a PhD, or some certificate from some fancy
Theological school. You just need to read the words, keep your
mind from clutter, and just be like a child.
They leave the Temple and Jesus' disciples have Him look at
the Temple. Jesus tells them, "You see these stones of the
Temple, the day is coming when not one will stand upon another."
"Oh Master," the disciples say, "tell us when these things
shall be and the SIGN of your coming." (verses 1-3).
Jesus is NOW going to tell them, and us, the SIGNS of when
He is going to return.
That is what Matthew 24 is all about. It is about the events
leading up to the RETURN of Jesus to this earth.
The stones of the Temple prophecy HAS NOT YET been
fulfilled! The WAILING WALL in Jerusalem TODAY was part of the
Temple. It is still standing. This prophecy was NOT fulfilled in
70 A.D. when Titus and the Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem. All
of Matthew 24 is YET to come to pass.
Verses 4-8 is:
False teachers; false ministers coming in the name of Christ,
saying that Christ is Christ, but shall deceive MANY, not the few
There will be WARS and rumours of wars.
There shall be FAMINE.
There shall be PESTILENCE AND EARTHQUAKES.
These are only the beginning of the last events leading up
to Christ's coming.
Now mark verses 9-13. Have we yet seen any words about some
invisible, secret, return of Christ to take his disciples up to
heaven? I sure haven't seen any words to that effect so far.
Verse 9-13.
"Then shall they DELIVER YOU up to be afflicted. and shall KILL
YOU: and YOU shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.
Many shall be OFFENDED and shall betray one another, and shall
hate one another. Many false prophets shall arise and shall
DECEIVE MANY! And because INIQUITY shall ABOUND, the LOVE of many
shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end shall be
saved."
Are you still being a little child. Give those verse to a
child, say about 6 or 7, and they will tell you these verses
SPEAK ABOUT JESUS' DISCIPLE (not some Jewish nation) BEING
AFFLICTED AND KILLED AND BEING HATED for being true Christians!
Yes, it is just that simple to read!
This is going to take place BEFORE Jesus returns. This is
ONE of the very last SIGNS leading up to the coming of the Lord.
But so far the Lord as NOT come IN ANY WAY AT ALL. He has not
said one word about coming invisibly and secretly to take away
His disciples from affliction and from being killed.
Verse 14. The Gospel will be preached in all the world for a
WITNESS before the end comes. Hold on to that, I will take you to
the book of Revelation later to show you WHEN and by WHOM that
Gospel witness will go out, just before Christ returns.
Verse 15. When we see the abomination of desolation, stand
in the holy place, you better understand Jesus says. Most do NOT
understand what this is. They come up with fancy ideas about a
literal Temple, the anti-christ going and stopping the sacrifices
by the Jews and profaning this physical temple some how.
Jesus gave not one wit of such an idea as this. The fundamental
prophets get all this from misapplying and misunderstanding other
prophecies of the Bible, and they do not look for an account in
the Gospels that would INTERPRET this for them. The ideas of men
can go on forever, this idea, that idea, but the Bible INTERPRETS
itself.
If you go to the account of Luke, the same prophecy of Jesus, you
will find in Luke 21:20 the INTERPRETATION of the "abomination
that makes desolate." IT IS THE ARMIES COMPASSED AROUND JERUSALEM
READY TO DESTROY IT - JERUSALEM THAT IS!
It has NOTHING to do with a physical temple in Jerusalem!
When this takes place, Jesus said those in the area had
better FLEE to the mountains. Woe to nursing mothers. Pray your
flight be not in the winter. Jesus is still talking to His
disciples ... they are to pray their flight is not in the winter.
These last verses make no sense if the disciples are going to be
"secretly" at some invisible first-phase of Christ's coming,
taken off to heaven. No, the disciples are to flee to the to the
mountains ..."Let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains"
(verse 16).
Jesus has said NOTHING about some invisible first-phase of
His coming to rapture the saints off to heaven. When I was
reading this many times as a child, I never thought of any
"secret" anything going on here. All this is very OPEN and
LITERAL AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH A COMING OF CHRIST BEFORE HE
COMES!
THEN, when all this is taking place AROUND JERUSALEM, the
time of GREAT TRIBULATION will come on this earth as NEVER BEFORE
in human history (verse 21). And Jesus said that except THOSE
days be shortened NO FLESH would be SAVED ALIVE, but for the
ELECT they will be shortened. If the elect are already up in
heaven via some invisible return of Christ to carry them off to
heaven, then SHORTENING those tribulation days WOULD NOT MATTER,
for the elect, according to the fundamental prophets ain't on
earth anyway, but safely up in heaven. Shortening or lengthening
those tribulation days would have no effect on the saints IF they
are up in heaven via a secret rapture.
Jesus does not stop there. He says, "Then if any man shall
say TO YOU (yes you the disciples, not some Jewish nation, but
YOU, the disciples of Christ), Lo, here is Christ, or there,
believe it not!" (verse 23). At that time of the great
tribulation how could anyone say such words to the disciples
("you") if the disciples are up in heaven via some secret
rapture?
There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and
shall show great signs and wonders (verse 24). Do you get the
CONTEXT? It is the Great Tribulation time. Notice what Jesus said
next, "insomuch that, IF it was possible, they shall deceive the
very ELECT!"
Now how can the VERY ELECT be deceived BY THESE FALSE CHRIST
AND FALSE PROPHETS at the Great Tribulation time, IF the very
elect are up in heaven via an invisible first-phase coming of
Christ to rapture the saints to heaven?
Are you seeing from what we have read so far, the utter
illogical teaching is the "secret rapture" of some teaching of a
two-phase second coming of Christ?
Jesus goes on to talk to His very disciples, "Behold I have
told YOU before" (verse 25). "If they shall say TO YOU, Behold,
he is in the desert; go not forth; behold he is in the secret
chamber; believe it not" (verse 26). Aaaahhhhuuuuummmm .... maybe
Jesus is in the "secret chamber" getting ready to come and
perform the "secret rapture" of the saints. I speak with tongue
in cheek.
Jesus' disciples are not be take notice of such false
prophets; FOR ... Jesus goes on to say, "For, as the lightning
comes out of the east, and shines to the west, SO SHALL ALSO THE
COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE! For where the carcase is, you find
the eagles gathered together" (verses 27,28).
The COMING of Jesus will not be a "secret" - it will not be
"invisible" - it will not be a two-phased coming, one secret and
the other visible! No such crazy doctrine of a two-phased coming
of Christ is taught in the New Testament. It is just NOT THERE!!
Christ will come like the BRIGHT LIGHTNING, IT WILL BE
VISIBLE, MIGHTY, POWERFUL, and verse 28 is talking about Jesus'
disciples being gathered together to Him, as the eagles gather
where the carcase is. This is exactly what Paul was teaching in 1
Thes.4: 13-18.
JESUS GIVES THE TIME
It is unmistakable, no need to revert to any man's ideas,
Jesus gives us the ONE, TWO, THREE of it all. We just need to
BELIEVE IT!
Verse 29-31. Mark them, note how EASY it is to understand
the coming of Christ with the resurrection of the saints.
"IMMEDIATELY AFTER the tribulation of those days, the sun shall
be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the POWERS of the heaven shall be
shaken."
Are you with me? Do you see what you have just read? Is it
not SIMPLE to understand? IT IS ***after*** the tribulation of
those days that the HEAVENLY SIGNS take place. Not before, not
during, but AFTER!! You have the Great Tribulation, THEN AFTER
the heavenly signs!!
And what do we have THEN, when or after the heavenly signs?
"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and
then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall SEE
the Son of man COMING in the CLOUDS of heaven with POWER and
GREAT GLORY!
There it is, for the FIRST TIME, in the outline Jesus gave
to His disciples on the signs of His coming. He does NOT come
BEFORE He comes. There is not one word about Him saying He would
come "secretly" and take His disciples to heaven to escape the
Great Tribulation. Not one word about some "first-phase"
invisible coming to snatch the saints off to heaven. Jesus does
NOT COME UNTIL HE COMES, it is just that simple. Yes a child
could understand it. I did understand it when I was a child. It
was a simple one, two, three.
And when happens on the THREE?
"And He shall send His angels with a GREAT SOUND of a TRUMPET,
and they shall GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other" (verse 31).
The angels are sent to gather WHEN Christ comes THE ONE AND
ONLY COMING, WITH POWER AND GLORY, TO GATHER THE ELECT, from
where, from heaven where God the Father is? No! christ is in the
CLOUDS of earth. The angels are sent by Him to gather the elect
from the four winds of the earth!
There it is. Jesus made it simple to understand. The saints
are on the earth when the Great Tribulation comes, they are to
take no notice of the false Christs that will try to deceive them
at that time. They are to remember the coming of Christ will be
OPEN AND SPECTACULAR like lightning flashing across the sky. It
is AFTER the tribulation of those days that the heavenly signs
appear, and it is at that time, the sign of the Son of man shall
appear. Jesus will return. He will send the angels to gather the
elect from all corners of the earth.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS TAKES PLACE WHEN JESUS COMES,
WHICH IS AFTER THE GREAT TRIBULATION AND AFTER THE HEAVENLY
SIGNS.
Now it is just that simple to understand the one, two,
three, of the events leading up to the coming of Jesus, the one
and ONLY ONE coming of Christ. Now you have your "coming of
Christ and resurrection of the saints" degree. You have earned
your degree in one easy sitting. Took maybe an hour at the most.
Now you understand something that some people with PhDs CAN NOT
GET THROUGH THEIR HEAD FOR LOVE OR MONEY AS THE SAYING GOES.
REVELATION CHAPTERS 6 TO 11
All of this dove-tails with Revelation 6 to 11.
THE FOUR SEALS:
Chapter 6. The rider on the white horse is FALSE CHRISTS.
The rider on the red horse is WARS.
The rider on the black horse is FAMINE.
The rider of the pale horse is PESTILENCE AND EARTHQUAKES AND
WARS AND DEATH.
THE FIFTH SEAL:
Read it, verses 9-11. Is there any confusion in your mind?
It says what it means and means what it says! There is coming on
this earth in the last days, exactly what Jesus told us in
Matthew 24. His disciples at the end time, are going to be
persecuted and some will be killed. No word here about some
"secret rapture" of the saints to heaven!
THE SIXTH SEAL:
Here again is the heavenly signs, just as Jesus had already
told us about in Matthew 24. Remember the book of Revelation is
the revelation of Jesus Christ not John (chap.1:1) which he gave
to John to write down.
What happens AFTER the killing of saints and heavenly signs?
It is the "great day of the wrath" of God and the Lamb Christ
Jesus (verse 17).
We have the sealing of 144,000 from Israel tribes or
nations. We have the sealing of the great multitude which no man
could number, "which CAME OUT OF great tribulation" (verse 14).
They came "out of it" not from it via a secret rapture to heaven.
No invisible coming of Christ, or some first-phase coming is
mentioned in the book of Revelation. These are now all sealed,
protected from the "great day of His wrath" or as the Old
Testament prophets called it, "the day of the Lord. The day of
the Lord COMES AFTER the Great Tribulation and Heavenly signs!
THE SEVENTH SEAL:
The SEVEN angels with TRUMPETS, prepare themselves to
sound(verse 6).
The fist four trumpets sound in verses 7 to 13.
The fifth and sixth trumpets sound in chapter 9. The world
is so deceived by the false prophet and "beast" man and the
Roman/Babylon Mystery religion of Europe, that even at the end of
the sixth trumpet, the world as a whole WILL NOT REPENT OF THEIR
SINS (verses 20,21).
Notice chapter 10:7. "In the days of the voice of the
SEVENTH angel (the last trumpet), when he shall begin to sound,
the MYSTERY of God should be finished, as He has declared to His
servants the prophets."
When does the SEVENTH TRUMPET SOUND? You find it in chapter
11:15-19.
And it is then the time for God to REIGN, the time to
destroy them who are destroying the earth, and the time for the
DEAD to be judged! And give REWARDS unto "thy servants the
prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name." It is
the time for the dead saints to rise in a resurrection and the
living saints ON earth to be CHANGED from mortal to immortality.
The one, two, three, of it all is again made crystal clear by
Jesus Christ. The DEAD, and the saints of all ages, are not
rewarded UNTIL the SEVENTH trumpet sounds, and that seventh
trumpet is the last trumpet to sound, and it is the time when God
comes in the form of Jesus Christ to REIGN on earth.
The RESURRECTION of the saints, the time for the saints to
be GLORIFIED and made immortal, is at the ONE and ONLY ONE coming
of the Lord, when He comes at the sound of the SEVENTH and LAST
trumpet, and that seventh and last trumpet, comes AFTER ALL the
seals and all the other six trumpets.
Matthew 24 is again, in more detail, expounded for us in the
book of Revelation. What Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24 is NOT
CONTRADICTED in the book of Revelation, but is VERIFIED in more
detail.
THE RESURRECTION OF 1 THESSALONIANS 4:13-18
Most "secret rapture" teachers will five you these verses as
part of the saints being glorified and made immortal at the
"secret" or "invisible" first-phase coming of Christ. But if you
will read it very carefully, clear your mind of stuff you may
have been fed by the fundamental prophets, what do we find?
We are not to be ignorant of the truth about those saints
who have died, which now sleep. For "if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with Him" (verse 14).
Now how will God (oh in passing note Jesus is called "God")
bring with Him these saints sleeping in death? Is it because they
are not sleeping but awake in heaven, and so will come with
Christ from heaven? Some would tell you it is so. Or is it
because Jesus has come in "secret" and taken them to heaven? Some
will tell you it is so. But no need to think of the ideas of men,
as Paul himself explains what he means by the Lord bringing them
with Him. Notice the CONNECTING WORD in the next verse, "FOR"
.... this is why he has just said what he said, "For this we say
unto you by the word of the Lord (its already in the Scriptures)
that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord
shall not precede those which are asleep.....FOR (Paul goes on to
explain further the truth that God will bring them with
him)...FOR the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the arch-angel, 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 meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the
Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words."
Now the "secret rapture" teachers MUST use these verses for
their secret rapture doctrine, for they have to say that the dead
saints and the living saints are made immortal at this time, and
go off to heaven with Christ, and then come back later to rule
the world, and their later is either 7 years or 3 and 1/2 years,
but after the great tribulation and day of the Lord.
Did you read right over the words of verse 16? Many do! Most
"secret rapturists" do! The Lord comes here to gather the saints
unto Himself, NOT IN SECRET, not in some invisible soundness way,
BUT WITH A SHOUT, WITH THE VOICE OF THE ARCH-ANGEL, AND WITH A
TRUMPET BLAST!!
Once more this passage does not support the "secret rapture"
idea at all. This passage BLOWS TO BITS the idea of some first-
phase, secret rapture coming of Christ. This passage supports
exactly what we have already seen in the book of Revelation and
in Matthew 24!!
THE LAST TRUMP OF 1 CORINTHIANS 15
Paul in verses 20-23 is giving the clear teaching that
Christ is the first to be resurrected from the dead to immortal
life. But they that are His, the saints of God, the disciples of
Christ, will be RAISED WHEN HE COMES! All must die, but all can
be made alive by Christ, but those that are Christ's will not be
made alive again UNTIL His COMING!! And we have seen what His
coming with be like, with heavenly signs, like lightning, with
angels, with power, with glory, with the SOUND OF THE TRUMPET!
To enter the Kingdom of God you must be CHANGED, no flesh
and blood person can enter the Kingdom of God (verse 50).
Paul, like as in 1 Thes.4, says not all saints will be dead
when Christ comes, those that are alive MUST BE CHANGED! It will
happen in the twinkling of an eye ... WHEN does it happen? AT THE
LAST TRUMP: "for the trumpet will sound, and the dead shall be
raised incorruptible, and we )those alive on earth) shall be
CHANGED. For the corruptible must put on incorruption, and this
mortal shall put on immortality...."(verses 52-54).
The secret rapturists tell you the saints will be raised
from the graves, those alive changed to immortality. They use
these verses, but tell you all this will happen BEFORE the Great
Tribulation, either before the 7 year tribulation or half way
through the 7 year tribulation, at the end of this age. They use
these verses, for indeed the saints would have to be immortal to
go to heaven and be part of the Kingdom of God, but they use
these verses in a two-phased return of Christ. Yet in the first-
phase the saints have to be immortal.
But WHEN does the CHANGE from mortal to immortal for the
dead and living saints TAKE PLACE?
IT'S RIGHT THERE IN THE VERSES WE HAVE JUST READ. IT IS AT
THE ***LAST TRUMPET SOUND***
Are you seeing how simple all this is? Are you putting
Scripture with Scripture? The CHANGE for the saints dead and
alive, is at the LAST TRUMP. The LAST TRUMPET is given to us in
the book of Revelation. We have just been reading it! The last
trumpet does not sound UNTIL after the seals and six trumpets of
Revelation have been opened and sounded on this earth. The LAST
trumpet, is just that, the last trumpet, and the Bible interprets
itself in telling you when the last trumpet sounds. It sounds
when the voice of the arch-angel sounds, when the last TRUMPET IS
BLASTED. And all of this does not happen UNTIL AFTER the Great
Tribulation of those days, AFTER the heavenly signs, at the then
sound of the Last Trumpet Jesus will like lightning, in open
view, with power and glory, riding upon a white horse (Revelation
19:11), at the END of the "day of the Lord's wrath" COME TO THIS
EARTH, TO THE CLOUDS. Then as this LAST trumpet SOUNDS, the
angels are sent forth to gather the elect from the four winds of
heaven. The elect dead are raised from the graves, the living
saints will be changed, all will be made immortal, incorruptible.
The angels will gather them and take them to where Jesus is
waiting to meet them in the clouds of this earth. And so indeed
the saints will be forever with the Lord.
WHERE THE LORD GOES TO
We have come to THE DAY of our Lord's return, a day that no
one knows but the Father only. The saints have come forth from
the graves, the living saints are changed, all meet Christ in the
clouds of this earth, in the air. THEN what happens? The Bible
interprets itself!
Turn to Zechariah 14 and you'll get the "rest of the story."
In the very day Christ comes in triumph, in THAT DAY, His feet
will touch the Mount of Olives. Jesus is King of the earth. All
the words of the prophets have come to pass. The Messiah has come
again, in ONE coming, not some crazy idea of a two-phased coming,
which cannot be found in the Bible, but only in the silly ideas
of men, who cannot put the Scriptures together correctly, who
cannot read the Bible as a child.
All that is written about that SPECIFIC DAY and all that is
written about the next age to come, the 1,000 year age of the
Kingdom of God on earth, WILL NOW COME TO PASS!
MARK 13; LUKE 21
You should open up these two chapter with that of Matthew
24. Note each of them. Note a few differences, such as in one
there is mention of "great distress in the land, and wrath upon
this people" showing indeed that the people living in the Holy
Land will experience death and the sword and Jerusalem will be
trodden down of the Gentiles.
There are slight variations in Matthew 24; Mark 13; and Luke
21, but the fact of all of them is that there is no talk of some
"secret rapture" of saints to escape what is coming on the earth
in the last 42 months of this age. There is clear talk in each of
these chapters of a persecution and killing of disciples of the
Lord, just as given in Revelation and the 5th seal of chapter 6.
There is no "secret rapture" in the pages of your Bible. But
there is DELIVERANCE AND PROTECTION promised for SOME of the
living saints at the time of the end.
GOD'S PROTECTION IS NOT SOME "SECRET RAPTURE"
Turn to Luke 21 and verse 36. Jesus says protection is for
some at the end of this age.
Revelation 12 gives you HOW AND WHERE!
This chapter is the outline of the people of God from the
days of Jacob to the end time Great Tribulation on this earth. As
the "woman" (the true people of God) was protected in the
WILDERNESS during the middle ages, the dark ages, so it shall be
once more in the last days. Verses 13-17.
Satan will be allowed to being great tribulation on this
earth. The woman (true people of God) will be given two great
wings that she may fly, where, to heaven? No, to the WILDERNESS
for a time, and times, and half a times, from the face of the
serpent (the Devil verse 9). The Serpent will cast forth a flood
of armies to destroy the woman in the wilderness (water can stand
for people - Rev.17:15) BUT the EARTH helped the woman, and
opened its mouth to swallow up the flood of the Dragon.
Then the Dragon (Satan v. 9) goes to MAKE WAR WITH THE
REMNANT OF THE WOMAN'S SEED, with them that KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS
OF GOD AND HAVE THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST!!
Here we are told again that SOME of the saints at the end
time, during the last 42 months of this age, WILL DIE IN THE
FIGHT WITH SATAN, JUST AS WAS TOLD TO US IN CHAPTER 6 AND THE
FIFTH SEAL!
It is a part of the factual recorded history of mankind,
that all through the ages SOME of the ELECT, some of the people
of God, must suffer death for the sake of the commandments of God
and the testimony of Jesus Christ. It has always been this way.
It will be no different during the tribulation of the last years
of this age.
God knows WHO can stand up and DIE for the faith once
delivered to the saints. He will put that test on only the people
who can and will have the strength to DIE for the true faith of
God and Christ.
THE LAST PART OF MATTHEW 24
I do not want to end this study without expounding the last
part of Matthew 24, and the "one left and one taken" verse. For
sure enough people taking this verse out of context have applied
it to their "secret rapture" teaching.
Jesus has just finished with His coming and the angels going
out to gather the elect to Himself. He now continues in verses
32-51 to address that SPECIFIC DAY of His coming, and the
attitude that should always be for His disciples.
When we see the signs He told us about, we can know His
coming is near. The generation that lives to see those signs will
not pass away, all will then be fulfilled within that generation
(verses 32-35).
But of that specific day of His return no ones knows but
only the Father (verse 35).
It will be in that time, that the world will go on its merry
way as much before. People will work, will marry, will eat, will
feats, there will be nations trading, fighting each other, all as
the book of Revelation tells us about. People will be living what
to them will be at that time, the normal way of life. They will
be so deceived by Satan and his demons, they will in the main,
have no clue they are in the last days of this age, and Jesus is
about to return (verses 37-39).
The last words of verse 39 "the coming of the Son of man be"
LEADS INTO verses 40 and 41. "Then shall two be in the field; the
one shall be taken, and the other left. Two grinding at the mill;
the one shall be taken, and the other left. Watch therefore: for
you know not what hour your Lord does come."
The CONTEXT is the VERY DAY, the literal 24 hour day, that
Jesus will return to earth. It is not the context of before or
during the Great Tribulation. It is not the context of the "day
of the Lord" but it is the context of the very literal 24 hour
day that Jesus will come back to this earth, and so indeed the
resurrection of the dead saints, and the instant changing of the
saints living on earth. It is the context of the saints being
gathered TOGETHER by the angels to be taken to meet Christ in the
clouds. It is the context of the last trumpet sound, and the
context of 1 Corinthian 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4. It is the
context of Revelation 11:15.
At the last days, the true saints of God will not be living
in the work-a-day world of the un-converted world. The saints
will have to stand up for the truths of God, they will not take
the mark of the Beast, they will not be a part of this
Roman/Babylon world. They will have either given up their lives
in death for the commandments of God and the testimony of Christ,
or they will as I showed you above, fleeing to the place of
safety in the WILDERNESS of this earth, as true saints of God did
during the middle and dark ages, to escape the persecution of
Babylon Mystery religion. The saints of God when the very day
come for Jesus to return to earth, will be out of the world, out
of society per se. They will not be driving buses, flying planes,
or any such work. They will be in various situation that could be
with un-converted people around them to some degree, and so it
will be that if that is the case, when Jesus comes, the saint
will disappear from the view of the unconverted, for the saint
will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, to be taken by the
angels to meet Christ in the clouds.
That is what Jesus is saying here in verses 32-42. It has
nothing to do with any "secret rapture."
The true disciple of the Lord must always watch his life
style and conduct. For even in the last days, when God's people
are scattered in the wilderness protection, they may loose sight
of what day or month it is, they may not have their lap-tops with
them, or radio, or TV, or cell-phones etc. They may well, some of
them, loose where they are in the time of the last 42 months. God
MAY decide to lengthen the days overall (but cut them short so
not all flesh will die - verse 22), after all He is God not us,
and He can decide what He wants to do with His plan and work. The
point is Jesus was making sure that His disciples did NOT TAKE
ANYTHING FOR GRANTED and should always be doing the work and
living the life that is good and acceptable to God in the last
days, for indeed there will be not one person on earth (not even
the two witnesses in Jerusalem) that will KNOW THE DAY of Christ
literal triumphant return to earth.
We have to be ready all the time, for in our death, we are
in the next moment of life with Jesus at His coming back to earth
to reign for 1,000 years. That is the teaching of verses 42-51.
THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL PREACH TO THE WORLD
Jesus said the Gospel would be preached to the world and
then the end would come - Matthew 24:14. Certainly the Two Witnesses
in Jerusalem during the last 42 months of this age, will do so (Rev.11).
But most miss the angel that does so in Revelation 14:6-7.
"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having
the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people; Saying with
a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His
judgment is come, and worship Him that made heaven, aand earth,
and the sea, and the fountains of waters."
Then in verses 14-20 we have the Son of man coming upon a white cloud,
the winepress of the great wrath of God, the battle of Armageddon takes
place outside the city of Jerusalem (see also Rev. chap.16:12-16).
THERE IT IS FRIENDS. NOT VERY HARD TO PUT TOGETHER WHEN YOU
ARE WILLING TO PUT IT TOGETHER AS A CHILD WOULD DO.
OH IT IS SO TRUE THOUGH AS JESUS SAID, "I THANK YOU FATHER
THAT YOU HAVE HIDDEN THESE THINGS FROM THE WISE AND THE PRUDENT,
AND HAVE REVEALED THEM UNTO BABES!"
...................
Keith Hunt (January 2009)
The Triumphant Return and Kingdom The "imminent" return of Christ?
From the book by Dr.Grant Jeffrey
The Imminent Return of Christ for His Church
"If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema,
Maranatha" (1 Corinthians 16:22).
The word Maranatha was a very popular greeting used by the
Christians of the early Church when meeting fellow believers. It
demonstrated their ever-present hope for the imminent return of
Jesus Christ to resurrect His faithful followers.
Maranatha is formed from three Aramaic words: "Mar" means
"Lord," "ana" means "our," and "tha" means "come." In Aramaic,
Maranatha literally means "our Lord, come." In English, it
translates, "The Lord comes!" The widespread use of the Maranatha
greeting demonstrates the universal expectation of the early
Church that Christ would return at some point in time to
resurrect the saints and then, to defeat the Antichrist at the
end of the Tribulation and establish His kingdom on earth.
I believe that the clear teaching of the New Testament
demonstrates that the Holy Spirit taught His Church that Christ's
return for the saints to resurrect their mortal bodies
was imminent then and will remain imminent until the moment He
returns. The widespread use of the Maranatha greeting only makes
sense if these early Christians understood the teaching of the
apostolic Church to include the imminent coming of Christ.
What Do We Mean By His Imminent Return?
The word "imminent" means simply that an event is certain to
occur at some point in the future, that it could occur the next
moment, but that its precise timing is unknown. It also conveys
the assumption that no intervening event must occur before the
event takes place. While another event could occur before the
prophesied event, there is no requirement that it does. The
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines "imminent" as
"ready to take place; esp.: hanging threateningly over one's
head." As my colleague Renald Showers noted in his book
"Maranatha Our Lord, Come!," "Other things may happen before the
imminent event, but nothing else must take place before it
happens. If something else must take place before an event can
happen, that event is not imminent."
(The word "imminent" in connection with the coming of Christ is
NOT used in the Bible. Word of men may try to make out it is, and
try to convey this to the mind of their readers, but the truth of
the matter is that though "Maranatha" is used "our Lord come"
there is no such word as "imminent" used in connection with it.
Imminent is "relative" to the subject as a situation in the "time
clock" of God the Father. Jesus clearly stated that ONLY God the
Father knows the day that Jesus will be sent back to this earth.
And further, contrary to what Jeffrey and others like him say on
the matter, CERTAIN EVENTS MUST take place BEFORE Christ can
return. If not, then there is no reason for Christ to have given
any signs of the times leading up to His coming, yet when asked
by His disciples for those signs, Jesus specifically gave a
number of them. And then later He inspired John to write the book
of Revelation, that goes into detail on those events, which will
lead up to the close of this age and the literal ONE ONLY visible
return of Christ. The only way for those events NOT to happen,
would be that the nations of the earth would REPENT, and that is
extremely unlikely given the present attitude of most people on
earth and the great deceptions of Satan - Keith Hunt)
It is therefore obvious that no one can possibly know with
certainty when an imminent event will actually occur. Therefore,
no one can count upon a certain amount of time-days, weeks,
months, or years - transpiring before the prophesied imminent
event finally occurs.
(Now that is a more sensible understanding using the word
"imminent" - Keith Hunt)
In recognition of this fact, we should always be ready for
the occurrence of an imminent event, such as the Second Coming,
to happen without warning at any moment.
(Nope, it will NOT happen just at any moment, or any minute as
fundamental prophets teach in their folly - Keith Hunt)
An excellent definition of "imminence" appears in the
writings of Arthur T. Pierson: "Imminence is the combination of
two conditions, viz.,: certainty and uncertainty. By an imminent
event we mean one which is certain to occur at some time,
uncertain at what time." An example of a current imminent event
would be the promise of a traveller to return to his family at
any time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Once Thanksgiving
occurs, his return is imminent. The traveller will return at any
moment after Thanksgiving but he promises that he will definitely
return before Christmas. No other event must occur before his
appearance in fulfilment of his promise.
(This use and example of "imminent" may have a certain connection
in the human world and mind-set, but to use this typology with
the Second Coming of Christ is another folly of the fundamental
prophets. It is just a fact of reading your New Testament, as a
child, and you will clearly see that no matter how the
fundamentals want to explain it, CERTAIN EVENTS MUST COME TO PASS
BEFORE JESUS WILL RETURN!! The fundamental prophets have to try
and convince you otherwise to get you to believe in the "secret
rapture" which they teach will come invisible and at any second -
Keith Hunt)
Christians who are obedient to Christ's command are watching
for Him to come in the air and resurrect their body. "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 meet the
Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1
Thessalonians 4:16-17).
(Notice these verses and what Jeffrey says, does not give any
notice to the literal open signs that accompany this coming of
Christ. Jesus comes with a SHOUT, with the VOICE of the
archangel, with the TRUMP of God. The resurrection takes place
indeed. It is the SAME EVENT of Matthew 24:29-31 and 1
Corinthians 15; it is the LAST TRUMPET; it is the trumpet of
Revelation 11:15-19. It is NOT some silent, invisible, secret
event at all. It is the ONE and ONLY one Second Coming of the
Lord; it is Revelation 19. It is NOT some "first-phase" of a
"two-phased" Second Coming of Christ - Keith Hunt)
If the New Testament's prophecies teach the imminent coming
of Christ to resurrect His saints at any moment,
(And the NT teaches no such thing, but teaches a sign filled
open coming, visible, glorious, lightning like coming of Christ,
preceded by other signs that give the true disciples of the Lord,
the knowledge that the end of this age is into the basic last 42
months before Jesus will come again - Keith Hunt)
then the Rapture must precede the Tribulation. If the prophecies
reveal the coming resurrection of the saints is imminent, then
logically it cannot be delayed until some point during the
prophesied events of the coming Tribulation (mid-Tribulation,
pre-wrath toward the end of the tribulation, or post-Tribulation
at Armageddon).
(Do you see what Jeffrey has done? He has led you long to
thinking that the word "imminent" is used in the NT with the
teaching of the return of the Lord. He has given you the "human"
definition of imminent and a human example and has put that
typology into your mind as belonging to the coming of Christ. He
has quoted a "resurrection" verse from 1 Thessalonians 4, left
off trying to explain the "shout" the "voice of the archangel"
and the "trump" - hoping you will read right over that part. He
has not put the Scriptures together from other parts of the NT -
hoping you will not do so either. He has led you down the garden
path into the thorns and brambles, making out to you that you are
still on the clear pathway. Ah yes, very clever, very deceitful
if you do not have your wits about you and if you are not
searching the Scriptures daily to see if these things be so -
Keith Hunt)
Scriptures Demonstrate the Imminence of His Return
The evidence presented in this chapter will demonstrate that
the New Testament Scriptures declare repeatedly that the
resurrection is an imminent event that can occur without the need
for any intervening prophetic warning events or signs. The
scriptural teaching of imminence is such a powerful argument in
favor of the pre-Tribulation timing of the resurrection that the
opponents of the pre-Tribulation resurrection vigorously deny
that the coming of Christ for His Church is imminent.
(The way that Jeffrey uses "imminent" - Yes I vigorously
disagree, for the simply fact that word "imminent" is NOT
anywhere used in the context of the Second Coming of Christ,
anywhere in the NT. In fact, try looking up the word "imminent"
in Strong's Concordance of the Bible. IT IS NOT USED AT ALL IN
THE NT! IT IS NOT THERE PERIOD! Keith Hunt)
Are there New Testament passages that clearly teach the
truth of His imminent return? There are many verses that state
that Jesus Christ might return at any moment, without any
warning. Other passages instruct Christ's followers to watch and
wait expectantly for the Lord's coming. Let us examine the
evidence from Scripture to determine the truth regarding this
vital doctrine of imminence.
(Well indeed let's see if these verses "exclude" that certain
events MUST happen before Jesus returns - Keith Hunt)
* "Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh
shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird
himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth
and serve them" (Luke 12:37).
(You bet you are to watch, but this says nothing about certain
events NOT having to take place before Jesus returns - Keith
Hunt)
* "Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an
hour when ye think not" (Luke 12:40).
(Yes, because Jesus said only the Father knows the day and hour.
So you better be ready. But this verse says nothing about certain
events NOT having to take place before Jesus returns - Keith
Hunt)
* "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be
accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to
pass, and to stand before the Son of man" (Luke 21:36).
(This specifically knocks in the head Jeffrey's reasoning. We are
to watch and pray that we can be worthy to ESCAPE things that
SHALL COME TO PASS, and THEN stand before Christ - Keith Hunt)
* "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within
ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of
our body" (Romans 8:23).
(I guess we do groan with longing to be in the resurrection. We
do pray as Jesus taught us, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is done in heaven." This verse say nothing about
certain events NOT having to come to pass before we have body
redemption - Keith Hunt)
* "So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:7).
(Of course we wait for the coming of the Lord Jesus, we have no
choice but to wait, it has not yet happened. This verses says
nothing about certain events NOT having to take place before
Christ returns - Keith Hunt)
* "Behold, I show 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).
(My oh my Jeffrey must think you are really stupid readers of the
Bible. For this verse teaches you that the resurrection or change
for those alive TAKES PLACE AT THE ***LAST TRUMP*** and the book
of Revelation tell you as plain as the nose on your face, WHEN
the last trump comes; it comes AFTER the trumpets that are not
the last trump have sounded, which come AFTER the "seals" are
opened. The LAST trump is just that the last, not the first, or
second, not without events taking place, but with specific events
happening BEFORE the next trumpet sound, which leads us back to
the LAST trumpet, which comes after all the events of the
preceding trumpets and seals have come, which then makes the
resurrection at the last trump, not the first trump or before any
trump. How many times to do I have repeat the circle? It is
amazing how PhD guys can be so think-headed at times, but maybe
they have lost being a child because they are PhD fellows - Keith
Hunt)
* "Maranatha" (i Corinthians 16:22).
(We have seen what that word means, and it means nothing about
certain events NOT having to take place before Jesus returns -
Keith Hunt)
* "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look
for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" (Philippians 3:20).
(This is getting so silly as to Jeffrey's argument. Of course
Christ is coming from heaven. That what it says, it we are to
have our conduct in this life as Jesus is in heaven - we are to
aim for perfection or maturity as Jesus taught we should be
perfect or mature as the Father is - that teaching is in the so-
called "sermon on the mount- Matthew 5-7. There is no word here
about certain events NOT having to take place before Christ
returns - Keith Hunt)
* "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at
hand" (Philippians 4:5).
(Being at hand in this verse can mean that our moderation,
balanced conduct of life should be clear to all, because we live
knowing Jesus is walking with us in this life. He is always as
close to us as the Holy Spirit dwelling in us is. Both the Father
and Christ live in us via the Holy Spirit [John 15:23]. There is
nothing in this verse saying certain events need NOT happen
before Jesus returns - Keith Hunt)
* "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye
also appear with him in glory" (Colossians 3:4).
(And that is a fact, it is as true as the words make it clear.
But there is not one word here that says certain events need NOT
happen before Jesus returns - Keith Hunt)
* "And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from
the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come"
(1 Thessalonians 1:10).
(I guess we do wait, Jesus has not yet returned. We have to wait,
there is no choice. But there is not one word here about certain
events NOT having to happen before Christ returns - Keith Hunt)
* "Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch
and be sober" (1 Thessalonians 5:6).
(If you take the time to read the CONTEXT, you will see that this
verse clearly contradicts Jeffrey's argument and "proof texting"
that is no proof at all for his argument. The context is about
the coming "day of the Lord" and when they shall say "peace,
peace" there will be no peace but sudden destruction. Looks like
to me that certain things ARE to come before Jesus will return,
and we are not to be in darkness about them. Why we have the
whole book of Revelation to tell us certain things WILL happen
before Jesus will return. The book of Revelation as Jeffrey knows
was written in the 90s A.D. Jesus is revealing to us WHAT WILL
HAPPEN before and at His return ... "which MUST shortly come to
pass." Now those are Jesus' words! Who are you going to believe,
the words of men or the words of Christ? - Keith Hunt)
* "And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and
into the patient waiting for Christ" (2 Thessalonians 3:5).
(We do have to wait, so as that is a fact, we better do it
patiently, and keep our hearts in the love of God. Not one word
here about certain events NOT having to happen before Jesus
returns - Keith Hunt)
* "That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable,
until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Timothy 6:14).
(That is a teaching for all disciples of the Lord, for all ages,
for all time, for the Lord has not yet come. Those living in the
time when He does come, had better be doing what Paul instructed.
And Jesus coming is as close to you as your death. You die, the
next second of life for you is in the resurrection. You will have
no idea of the lapse of time, be it long or short. Did Paul KNOW
certain events would have to happen before the coming of Christ?
You bet he did! See 2 Thes.2 about the "man of sin" - this MUST
come, this man of sin will be alive at the coming of Christ.
Jesus will destroy him by the brightness of His coming, or as
Revelation 19:19,20, cast into the lake of fire. There is nothing
in this verse Jeffrey gives that says certain events need NOT
happen before Jesus returns - Keith Hunt)
* "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing
of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13).
(It is a sure hope. And Jesus will return with a glorious
appearing, not some secret invisible rapture of some imagined
first-phase of His return. There is nothing in this verse to say
certain events need NOT have to happen before Christ returns -
Keith Hunt)
* "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and
unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation" (Hebrews 9:28).
(Yes, Jesus will appear the SECOND TIME, in ONE glorious OPEN
appearing, as the lightning blazes across the heaven. He will
appear [with the sound of the last trumpet] as described in
Revelation 19, riding on a white horse with His army of angels,
to resurrect the saints, instantly change the saints living on
earth, and with them, destroy in battle those who are destroying
the earth. Not one word in Heb.9:28 says certain events need NOT
happen before Jesus returns - Keith Hunt)
* "For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come,
and will not tarry" (Hebrews 10:37).
(The little while to God, can be a day as a thousands years and a
thousand years as a day. Those living in the very last years of
this age, will see this verse in a very real and dramatic way. It
is true for sure that Paul and all the apostles had no idea [not
even John in the 90s A.D.] that it would be at least 2,000 years
before Jesus would return. Not one word here says certain events
need NOT happen before Jesus returns - Keith Hunt)
* "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the
Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of
the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the
early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; establish your hearts:
for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against
another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge
standeth before the door" (James 5:7-9).
(Oh, James probably indeed thought Jesus would be returning in
the age of the first apostles. "The coming of the Lord draweth
nigh" is to God as a day is a thousand years and a thousand years
as a day. God does not look upon "time" as man does. What is
2,000 years to God? Only the fraction of the blinking of an eye.
Jesus in the book of Revelation says He stands at the door. The
very last words of Jesus in Revelation are "Surely I come
quickly!" Obviously what is quick to God, is long for mankind of
flesh and blood. Then Revelation is a LIVING book. For the people
who will see and experience the events of the book of Revelation,
they will know, surely the Lord is coming quickly. They will know
He stands before the door. There is not one word in James 5 that
says certain events need NOT happen before Jesus returns - Keith
Hunt)
* "Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the
end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the
revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:13).
(We do have a sure hope of grace, now, and when Jesus shall
appear at His revelation, that is no where taught to be two-
phased, one secret and invisible to take the saints off to
heaven, and the other phase to return with a second-phase
time in open glory.
Only ONE second coming is foretold in the Scriptures and that one
is glorious triumphant, as the lightning shining, at the last
TRUMP, when the saints will receive the grace of being made
immortal, incorruptible, when they shall meet Christ in the air,
in the clouds, and on that same day, descend with Jesus to the
mount of Olives [Zech 14]. Nothing in 1 Peter 1 says that certain
events need NOT happen before Jesus returns - Keith Hunt)
* "There shall come in the last days scoffers,... saying,
Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell
asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of
the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by
the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing
out of the water and in the water" (2 Peter 3:3-5).
(Scoffers will arise, have risen. We have millions of atheists,
we have raised a generation that have never read the Bible, and
have no desire to read it. Indeed we have hundreds of millions
today who scoff at the Bible and the teachings of the Second
Coming of Christ. But nothing in these verses say certain events
are NOT to take place before Christ comes again - Keith Hunt)
* "We, according to his purpose, look for the new heavens and
a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved,
seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be
found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless" (2 Peter
3:13-14).
(And Jesus disciples do into look for the fulfilment of
Revelation 21 and 22. We look for the age to come that will also
in many resects be a new heaven and new earth. And all who look
for this, all who want to be IN that age, ruling with Christ
Jesus, will be diligent in living in their conduct pleasing to
God, desiring to be "perfect" or "mature" like the Father, as
Jesus taught us we should be [Matt.5:48]. Nothing in these verses
say certain thing need NOT happen before Jesus comes again -
Keith Hunt)
* "And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall
appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at
his coming" (1 John 2:28).
(A person will live again, be resurrected if dying before Christ
comes, or be changed from mortal to immortal if alive when Jesus
returns. All people one day will live again [John 5:25-29]. We
being called and chosen in this life time, had better live in
attitude of mind, that when Jesus does come and we stand before
Him, we will not be ashamed, but that we shall stand before Him
as glorified beings, immortal, to receive our rewards according
to our works [Rev.22:12}. Nothing in 1 John says certain events
need NOT happen before Jesus returns - Keith Hunt)
* "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself,
even as he is pure" (1 John 3:3).
(We do indeed live purifying ourself through the working of the
Holy Spirit in us, as we wait for the coming of the Lord. Nothing
here says certain events need NOT happen before Jesus returns -
Keith Hunt)
* "Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy
of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" (Jude 21).
(And the love of God is interpreted in the books of 1,2,3, John
as keeping the commandments of God. What mercy it will be when
the saints live again in their glorified immortal form at the
LAST trump, when Jesus shall come with the voice of the
archangel, come like lightning, come in open power riding a white
horse, when the resurrection and instant change comes for the
saints of all ages, when the angels shall go forth and gather the
elect from the four winds of heaven, to take them to meet Christ
in the air, in the clouds. That will be mercy unto eternal life
indeed. Nothing in Jude says certain events need NOT happen
before the Lord comes - Keith Hunt)
* "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold
fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come
on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come
upon thee" (Revelation 3:3).
(If we fall away, if we forget all about the word and truths of
God, if we ignore it all, then if alive when Jesus comes, we
shall not know the signs of the times. Jesus' coming will be
for us as a thief, we will not see the signs leading up to His
coming, and we shall not be prepared for the hour of His return.
And secondly, if we hold not to the things heard and taught us in
God's word, the Second coming of Christ is as close to us as our
death, which also for most of us is unknown, for when we die, the
next second of life is in the presence of Christ, with no
knowledge of the time between the two events. We need always to
live in mind and heart as if death and resurrection is the next
second. Nothing in Revelation says that certain events need NOT
happen before Christ comes. In fact Revelation proves just the
opposite. It is to reveal to us that these are the things which
"MUST shortly come to pass" [Rev.1:1] before Jesus returns to
earth - Keith Hunt)
* "Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that
no man take thy crown" (Revelation 3:11).
(Yes, for in the days of the fulfilling of the prophecies of
Revelation, Jesus' coming will be quickly. 42 months, 1260 days,
plus some extra days added as Daniel was told in Daniel 12, is
"quickly" in the scheme of eternity. 42 months must be as NOTHING
to God in the ages of eternity. Nothing here to say certain
events need NOT happen before Jesus returns. The book of
Revelation proves just the opposite. It is to REVEAL to us the
EVENTS that "must shortly come to pass." Keith Hunt)
* "Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings of the prophecy of this book" (Revelation 22:7).
(Quickly to God, is obviously not as man sees the word "quickly"
for 1,900 years after the book of Revelation was written we still
await the Second Coming of Christ. When that "which
must shortly come to pass" in the book of Revelation IS A
REALITY, THEN JESUS WILL COME QUICKLY! Those alive had better be
keeping the sayings of this prophecy of this book! And for us who
die before the events of Revelation come on this earth, then
"quickly" will be "quickly" for after death is the resurrection,
and Christ's coming, with no idea of the time lapse between our
death and our living again in resurrection. Nothing here says
certain events need NOT happen before Christ returns. Just the
opposite, the book of Revelation tells us about the events "that
must shortly come to pass" before Jesus returns - Keith Hunt)
* "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to
give every man according as his work shall be" (Revelation
22:-12).
(As above, I could repeat to give emphasis, but you should by now
be getting the picture. Quickly to God can be different than
quickly to us, these words have been here for 1,900 years and
quickly has not happened as yet. But in the last 42 months
quickly will be quickly as we view time. Nothing here .... you
know what I'm going to say - Keith Hunt)
* "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come
quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).
(When Revelation, all that is written therein, comes, "must
shortly come to pass" does come to pass, then it will surely be
"quickly" even in human terms, that Jesus will return in power
and triumphant glory. Nothing here says .... you know - Keith
Hunt)
As these numerous passages attest, Christ's return for His
saints is truly imminent. (The word "imminent" is not found in
the NT - and certainly not with the interpretation Jeffrey would
like you to believe - Keith Hunt)
The Holy Spirit commands believers to look expectantly for
our Lord's return at any moment and to continue living in
holiness awaiting the glorious redemption of our body. (The
teaching of Jesus and the apostle Paul for sure, was that certain
events "must shortly come to pass" before Jesus can return and
the resurrection of the saints take place. The book of
Revelation is the detail account from Christ of those events.
They must come to pass before His coming again to earth - Keith
Hunt)
The doctrine of the pre-Tribulation rapture accepts the full
and literal implications to the promise of an any-moment
resurrection event.
(An any moment resurrection, an any second resurrection just is
not taught in the Bible, no matter how people like Jeffrey
misunderstand, twist, or simply ignore the Scriptures, the
resurrection of the saints will NOT take place UNTIL the
prophecies of the book of Revelation must come to pass - Keith
Hunt)
Dr.John Walvoord, the acknowledged dean of prophecy
teachers, wrote: "The exhortation to look for 'the glorious
appearing' of Christ to His own (Titus 2:-13) loses its
significance if the Tribulation must intervene first. Believers
in that case should look for signs."
(Titus says we as Christians should live our lives looking for
the glorious appearing of Christ. Paul knew that some events had
to happen before Jesus returned, we see that in 2 Thes.2 and the
man of sin. It is quite possible Paul expected that prophecy to
be fulfilled in his life time, and that Jesus would come again in
his life time. Remember the book of Revelation was not YET
written. Paul was only given the prophecy of the falling away and
the man of sin to take place before Jesus returned. The
expectation for all the apostles, including John at this time,
while Paul was still alive, was probably the expectation of
Christ coming again in their life time. The apostles had no clue
whatsoever that at least 2,000 years was to unfold on this earth
before Jesus would return. John in 1 John 1:18 was still no doubt
looking to the prophecy of Paul about the man of sin, and
thinking the man of sin would come in his life time, as he said
many anti-christs were already there, so it was the last time.
John I'm sure realized the "last time" was probably not going to
be in his life, when the book of Revelation was inspired for him
to write down. He was a very old man by this time. Yet I'm sure
he died never dreaming that 1,900 years would go by and the book
of Revelation would still not have been fulfilled.
As I've said, the coming of Christ is as close as your death. We
need as Paul told Titus to live in righteousness, denying
ungodliness, worldly lusts, living soberly, righteously, in this
present world, for most of us do not know the day we shall die,
and the next second after death is the resurrection will not
knowledge of the time lapse between the two events. But of course
the fundamental prophets have no idea about that truth either, as
they teach everyone has an immortal soul, and we either go to
heaven or hell at death, still continuing to live in some form.
The truth of the matter on the subject of "death" can be found in
many in-depth studies on this Website - Keith Hunt)
The Gentile and Jewish tribulation saints who become
followers of Christ after the Rapture will experience the
catastrophic events of the seven-year tribulation period
described in the book of Revelation.
(Here we go again, with words that tell you the Bible teaches
this before tribulation secret rapture - which has to be for
those who teach it a two-phased coming of Christ, one in secret
to take the saints to heaven, the other "ex" years later to come
visibly to earth. And notice Jeffrey throws in for good measure,
the 7 year tribulation period "described in the book of
Revelation." I think Jeffrey has either never read the book of
Revelation or has "double vision" in reading, so to him 42
months, 1260 days, time, times, and half a time, equals SEVEN
years. You are free to read the book of Revelation - let me know
what chapter and verse contained the 7 year tribulation - Keith
Hunt)(
These tribulation saints will observe the fulfilment
of John's prophecies as signs of the final approach of Armageddon
and Christ's coming defeat of Antichrist. However, those saints
who belong to the Bride of Christ, the present Church of Jesus
Christ, do not need to look for preliminary prophecies as
preconditions to the imminent resurrection. They will obey the
command of our Lord to watch expectantly for His return: "Be ye
therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when
ye think not" (Luke -12:40). Rather than waiting fearfully for
the enduring of the seven years of the wrath of God during the
Tribulation, Christians who belong to the Lord are commanded by
God "to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the
dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come" (1
Thessalonians 1:10).
(All Christians are to look for the expectant return of Christ,
which could possibly be in their life time. Many in passed ages
have so thought and lived. The apostles no doubt thought Jesus
would return in their life time. Some of the signs of wars,
famine, earthquakes, false prophets, anti-christs, were around
them. John said it was the "last time" in 1 John 2:18. We are
given by Jesus that no one but the Father knows the day or the
hour that Jesus will be sent back to earth. The saints will be
delivered from the "wrath of God" to come. We have seen this in
the last verse of Revelation 6 and the following chapter seven,
when the saints on earth will be "sealed" in their forehead [see
Eph.1:13] and they are the saints "which have come out of great
tribulation" [verse 14]. The saints shall also be delivered from
the wrath of God's judgment by NOT experiencing the "second
death" [end of Revelation 20]. The secret rapture with an
invisible return of Christ before the Great Tribulation is a
false doctrine, it is no where taught in the Scriptures, as I
have proved already in past studies - Keith Hunt)
Historic Teaching of the Imminent Return
A reader might reasonably ask whether any historical
evidence exists to demonstrate whether any Christian leaders who
lived before the 1800s taught that the coming of Jesus Christ to
resurrect His saints was imminent. The answer is yes. As shown in
earlier chapters, early Church leaders from Papias onward looked
for an imminent return of Christ. For example, Cyprian (200-258)
wrote enthusiastically about the imminent coming of Christ: "We
who see that terrible things have begun, and know that still more
terrible things are imminent, may regard it as the greatest
advantage to depart from it as quickly as possible." Cyprian also
declared, "Let us greet the day which assigns each of us to his
own home, which snatches us hence, and sets us free from the
snares of the world, and restores us to paradise and the
kingdom." Clement of Rome taught, "Let us every hour expect the
Kingdom of God." Reverend Albert Barnes acknowledged in his
commentary on 1 Corinthians 2:7 that there was a widespread
longing for Christ's return within the early Church. "The earnest
expectation of the Lord Jesus became one of the marks of early
Christian piety."
(Barnes was correct, it is evident the apostles thought Jesus
would return in their life time. They had not yet been given the
book of Revelation. But all that being so, Barnes did not say the
apostles believed in a two-phase coming of Christ, the first
phase being an invisible secret rapture to heaven and then some 7
year tribulation on earth. The other guys ..... well as I told
you before when Jeffrey went through his historical records of
some teaching a secret rapture, Bible truth is not found in the
writings of men, it is found in the Scriptures, and you have to
do two things: 1. Search the Scriptures daily 2. Put the
Scriptures together correctly like dove-tailing pieces of wood.
The ideas of men mean nothing as to the truth of God's word -
Keith Hunt)
Though the imminence of the Second Coming fell out of favor
in the teaching of the Church during the medieval period, it
reappeared when the Reformers encouraged people to interpret the
Scriptures for themselves. Martin Luther looked for the speedy
and imminent return of Christ in the air to take His saints home
to heaven. In his comment on the resurrection as prophesied by
Daniel 12, Luther wrote: "I ever keep it before me, and I am
satisfied that the last day must be before the door; for the
signs predicted by Christ and the Apostles Peter and Paul have
all now been fulfilled, the trees put forth, the Scriptures are
green and flourishing. That we cannot know the day matters not;
some one else may point it out; things are certainly near their
end." Luther added, "We certainly have nothing now to wait for
but the end of all things."
(Luther was MISTAKEN. Luther did not understand the book of
Revelation. Luther was as out to lunch on prophecy as he was in
calling the book of James "an epistle of STRAW."
Every Christian must live life as if the Kingdom of God will come
quickly, as fast as their DEATH will bring it, for in death the
next second is the Kingdom of God, not because of having an
immortal soul, but because they SLEEP and will have no concept
of how long time has been since they closed their eyes in death
to opening their eyes in resurrection - Keith Hunt)
The question that must appear in the mind of every
thoughtful reader is this: Since the Scriptures teach that the
Second Coming of Christ for His Church is imminent, (the word
"imminent" cannot be found in the NT - Keith Hunt) why has
the Lord delayed His return for almost two thousand years?
Fortunately, the Scriptures provide the answer. "The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).
The reason Christ has delayed His return is to allow the
Church time to fulfil the Great Commission: "Go ye therefore,
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).
(This is true. God's patience for 2,000 years is to bring more
elect into His family for that great resurrection day and the
coming of the Lord Jesus - Keith Hunt)
The growth of the Church in this last generation is witnessing up
to 85,000 new converts to Christ every day according to some
mission estimates.
(As shocking as it may sound to many, 99% of those so-called
converts to Christ, are following a false Christ, following false
ministers who come in the name of Christ, but are as Jesus said,
deceiving MANY, not the few, but the MANY - Keith Hunt)
Christ's mercy toward sinners has apparently motivated Him
to delay His return to provide an opportunity for the Church to
reach the world's population with the Gospel in these last days.
However, as the next chapter will demonstrate, after two thousand
years the prophetic signs in our generation should awaken every
Christian to His soon coming.
(We'll see the signs he gives, and I will answer. When I came to
Canada at age 18 in 1961, I found fundamental churches even then
talking about how Jesus will "come soon" - "any minute" - and the
rapture teaching. But "soon" - "quickly" - "last time" - "must
shortly come to pass" - in God's mind is obviously not the way
man thinks of these words. As the Lord said in Isaiah, "My ways are
not your ways, and my thought are not your thought, for as the
heaven is higher that the earth, so are my ways than your ways, and
my thoughts than yours thoughts." Time to God, who lives in
eternity, is not the time man lives in. We need to remember that
- Keith Hunt)
The Second Coming of Christ The Rapture of the Saints and the
Revelation of Christ
The Second Coming of Christ involves two major events
separated by at least seven years - first, the Rapture of the
resurrected saints, and second, the Revelation when Christ will
return to earth with His army of saints to set up His kingdom.
(Here we go once more. Jeffrey tells you this, he tells you the
teaching of the two-phased return of Christ. But saying it DOES
NOT MAKE IT SO!! Anyone can say anything. The truth is found in
the pages of your Bible, putting Scripture with Scripture, and
reading it as a child would. I have proven to you from the
Scriptures, dove-tailing them together for you, that this
fundamental teaching of an invisible secret rapture going to
heaven for "ex" years and a then coming of Christ in open glory,
is a FALSE DOCTRINE, that is no where taught in the Scriptures.
This teaching of an invisible first-phase coming of Christ is the
doctrine of DEMONS that Paul said would come on the earth in the
last days [1 Timothy 4:1] - Keith Hunt)
The numerous passages throughout the Bible that prophesy
about the Second Coming deal with either the Rapture or the
Resurrection. Some have suggested that the Second Coming cannot
involve two separate events occurring at two different times.
However, the First Coming of Christ involved hundreds of separate
historical events (Jesus' birth, ministry, trial, death, and His
resurrection) that took place over a period of thirty-three
years. All of these diverse events are included in His First
Coming. Therefore there is nothing illogical in considering both
the Rapture and the Revelation to be included in His Second
Coming.
(That is not the point. The point is how to put the NT Scriptures
TOGETHER to let them INTERPRET themselves. I did all of that for
you in the last study. It should be clear that the coming of
Christ is at the LAST TRUMP and the last trump is AFTER the first
trumpets, that are AFTER the seals, and so the simple truth of
Scripture with Scripture makes it abundantly plain that the
resurrection of the saints, the instant change of those living on
earth, the sound of the last trumpet, ALL happen at the SAME
TIME! A man telling you something, using human or clever
arguments on how long all the events of Christ's first coming
took, does not change the truth of NT Scripture with NT
Scriptures that give you a smooth one, two, three, structure of
events - Keith Hunt)
Unfortunately, many have misunderstood the nature of these
two key events in our future. If we wish to understand the truth
about the Second Coming, we need to examine the biblical
prophecies which describe these two critical and separate
prophetic events.
The Difference Between the Rapture and the Revelation
The Rapture and the Revelation are totally different in
purpose, character, participants, place, and timing.
The Rapture
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them which also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.
For 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. 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 meet
the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
(1 Thessalonians 4:14-17)
(I have already fully shown you the truth of these verses. This
resurrection and change for those living is not some
invisible, silent, secret coming of Christ; it is at the TRUMP of
God and more shouting and the voice of the archangel. It is the
LAST trump of Paul's resurrection chapter - 1 Corinthians 15. It
is the 7th Trumpet sound of Revelation chapter 11. It is the
coming of Christ's ONE and ONLY ONE glorious open coming, to
resurrect the saints and bring them with Him to the earth, to the
mount of Olives [Zech 14]. All in the very day that He returns,
the day only the Father knows - Keith Hunt)
The Revelation
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he
that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a
flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had
a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was
clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is
called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven
followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white
and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that
with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them
with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his
vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and
Lord of Lords. (Revelation 19:11-16)
(This is indeed the glorious coming of the Lord, the same time as
the last of the Seven trumpets, the Seventh one sounding in
Revelation 11:15. It is the Last trumpet of 1 Corinthians 15, the
Trump sound of 1 Thessalonians 4. All of which show the
resurrection of the saints at the same time, to be gathered by
the angels, after the tribulation of those days after the
heavenly signs, and be brought to meet the Lord in the clouds
[Matthew 24:29-31] and to be part of His army that shall descend
to the mount of olives IN THAT DAY [Zech.14] and to destroy those
who are destroying the earth at the battle of Armageddon
[Revelation 16] - Keith Hunt)
The differences between the Rapture and the Revelation when
Christ appears at Armageddon are enormous as the following
analysis reveals. The purpose of the Rapture is to resurrect the
bodies of all Christians, both the departed saints in heaven and
the believers living, at the time Christ comes in the air for His
Bride. He will supernaturally transform the bodies of all of the
saints into immortal, and incorruptible bodies fit for eternity.
(No, the saints are NOT in heaven, NOW, or THEN! The saints that
are dead are ASLEEP! They are in the gave. The truth about
"death" and the false teaching of the immortal soul is covered
IN-DEPTH with many studies on this Website. The resurrection of
the saints takes place at the Last Trump, which takes place at
the coming of Christ with shouting, like lightning, with open
glory. Jeffrey's theology on all this is, together with his PhD
cap on his head ... BOTTOM OF THE CLASS!! It is shockingly sloppy
and mind-blowing for an "educate" man - Keith Hunt)
The purpose of the Revelation is to defeat Satan's forces
and usher in the kingdom when Christ returns with His Bride (the
saints). The Rapture will occur when Christ descends in the air
to call all of the saints home to heaven.
(Oh this is becoming so laborious, it is pathetic. Christ
descends from heaven at the sound of the TRUMP. To raise the dead
saints and change the living saints, at the Last trumpet, which
is the 7th trumpet of Revelation, which comes after the seals and
the other 6 trumpets, which is all after the Great Tribulation
and Day of the wrath of God, when the angels go forth to gather
the elect from the four winds of earth, to guide them to where
Christ is in the air, in the clouds, and to descend to the mount
of Olives in THAT DAY [Zech. 14]. It is all so simple, when you
do away with the ideas of men, and dove-tail the Scriptures
together correctly - Keith Hunt)
The Revelation will witness Christ's return to earth at
Armageddon with His army of saints.
(Yes, because the saints will have been resurrected or instantly
changed for those living on earth, and will meet Jesus in the
clouds, at the Last Trumpet sound, when 1 Cor.15 and 1 Thes.4 and
Rev.11:15, and Matthew 24:31, will all take place at the SAME
time - Keith Hunt)
As detailed in the previous chapter the Rapture will
occur before the seven year Tribulation period, while the
Revelation clearly occurs at the conclusion of the Battle of
Armageddon which ends the Tribulation.
(As I told you before, there is not a 7 year period of anything,
it is 42 months, or 1260 days of Revelation, Daniel 12 adds a
few months or so longer. As detailed before for you, there is no
"secret rapture" before any time line of anything - Keith Hunt)
At the Rapture Christ will withdraw all Christians as His
ambassadors just before the seven year war erupts between Satan
and God.
(No Christian will disappear from this earth up to heaven at any
time, before or after any tribulation. Such an idea is just not
taught, when you dove-tail the Scriptures together correctly,
that many PhDs just seem they cannot do - Keith Hunt)
At the Revelation Jesus
Christ will return as conquering King of Kings together with
His ambassadors to rule and reign throughout the Millennium.
(This is true, but not in the way Jeffrey would like you to
believe - Keith Hunt)
The prophetic message of the Rapture is one of great comfort
and hope to the Church as the righteous saints receive their
glorious new immortal bodies.
(It is indeed a glorious hope, it is the Kingdom of God in
reality, but I think Jeffrey has another idea in mind when he
talks about the church having great comfort, for him it is
escaping what must come on the earth in the last days and being
invisibly swooped up to heaven. No such thing will happen. some
saints in the last 42 months of this age will be killed for their
faith, some saints will be taken to safety in the wilderness, not
heaven, just as Revelation 12 makes very clear - Keith Hunt)
However, the prophecies about the approaching Revelation
convey a message of terror to the unrepentant rebels who will
then face defeat and judgment by the Lord. The Scriptures
prophesy that the voice of an archangel will announce the
Rapture.
(They announce the coming of the Lord with a Trump and the
resurrection and change for the saints, loud shouting and a
trumpet sound; the same as 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 11:15.
All ONE event - Keith Hunt)
At the Revelation an army of angels will descend
triumphantly from heaven with Christ and His resurrected
saints to defeat Antichrist and establish His millennial kingdom.
(It is One revelation not a two-phased revelation, ONE coming of
Christ not some secret coming and then some glory coming - Keith
Hunt)
At the Rapture both the living and the departed saints will
be resurrected and return to heaven with Jesus Christ.
(At the last trump, the resurrection of the departed saints will
happen; at the last trump Jesus will return, and IN THAT DAY
[Zech 14] His feet will rest on the mount of Olives. He comes
with the saints for they have just be resurrected and changed and
have met Him in the clouds - Keith Hunt)
In contrast the Revelation will be a public event witnessed by
every one of the Jews and Gentiles throughout the world.
(Yes it will be OPEN and with signs and POWER, and AS LIGHTNING,
WITH THE LAST TRUMPET - ONE SINGLE EVENT ONLY - Keith Hunt)
The Revelation - The Glorious Second Coming of Christ
The Revelation of Christ at the end of the Battle of
Armageddon will transform life on earth for humanity forever. It
is important for us to understand the nature of His Second Coming
in light of the large number of scriptural passages that describe
His return.
How Will Christ Return at the Revelation?
A. Jesus' Second Coming will be literal: The return of Christ is
a literal event that will occur when Jesus physically returns in
His resurrection body from heaven to earth at the end of the
Battle of Armageddon. The angels told His disciples, "Ye men of
Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus,
which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like
manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11).
B. Everyone on earth will be aware of His triumphant return:
"Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and
they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall
wail because of him. Even so, Amen" (Revelation 1:7).
C. Christ will destroy the armies of the Antichrist: "And I saw
the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered
together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and
against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false
prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived
them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that
worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of
fire burning with brimstone" (Revelation 19:19-20).
D. Christ will descend to earth: "Then shall the Lord go forth,
and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of
battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of
Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east . . ." (Zechariah
14:3-4).
E. Jesus will return with His resurrected saints: "And Enoch
also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold,
the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints" (Jude 14).
(Indeed all this is true, for Jesus will come with His saints
because they will have been resurrected or changed if alive, at
the last trump, at the coming of the Lord, to meet Him in the
clouds and then IN THAT DAY to descend to the mount of Olives
[Zech.14] - Keith Hunt)
F. The Lord will return with His angelic army in judgment: "And
to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall
be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire
taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the
gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians i:7-8).
(Jesus will come to destroy those who are destroying the earth,
the time will be cut short for the elect, or else no flesh would
be saved alive [Matt.24:22] - Keith Hunt)
The Time Relationship Between the Rapture and the Revelation
The diagram below illustrates the time relationships between
the future events as predicted by the biblical prophets.
Hopefully, the time line below will assist the reader to
understand the sequence of events that will culminate in the
return of Christ to establish His kingdom on earth.
Second Coming Time Line Showing the Rapture and the Revelation
Rapture - Christ comes for His saints
Antichrist Signs 7-year Treaty with Israel
Antichrist Defiles Temple
7-year Tribulation Period
(All wrong - Keith Hunt)
Revelation - Christ Returns at Armageddon with His saints
Battle of Armageddon
Millennial Kingdom 1000 years
...................
NOTE:
The outline just given by Jeffrey is pretty well the standard
teaching of the fundamental church prophets.
I will LIFT UP MY VOICE LIKE A TRUMPET AND TELL YOU IT IS ALL
WRONG! - except the coming of Christ from the clouds with the
saints and angels to fight at the battle of Armageddon.
The Bible teaches no such doctrine as a LAST 7 YEAR TRIBULATION
with the anti-christ signing a 7 year treaty with the Jews. That
idea comes from complete misunderstanding of Daniel's 70th week
prophecy of Daniel 9. Here on this Website you can find the truth
about Daniel's 70 week prophecy, and it has NOTHING to do with
the last 7 years of this age. The NT book of prophecy -
Revelation - only gives 42 months, 1260 days, a time, times, and
half a time.
There will be no Temple with animals sacrifices build and
performed by the Jews. On this Website I go into detail in
various studies to show you that all prophecy can be fulfilled
without any need for a physical Temple and animal sacrifices. The
anti-christ defiles the holy city Jerusalem as Luke's explains in
his version of Christ's Olivet prophecy (Matthew 24 and Marl 13).
There is no 7 year Tribulation period. The last 42 months are
divided into the "Great Tribulation " and "The Day of the Lord"
(or the day of the wrath of God as written in Revelation 6:17).
Both total 42 months, 1260 days, and about 2 months added by the
prophecy in Daniel 12:9-13.
The Bible teaches no such idea as a "secret rapture" - an
invisible coming of Christ to take His disciples of all ages back
to heaven, where most are taught by the fundamentals they are
already in heaven but are "bodiless" (for the resurrection at the
rapture is supposed to give them their body) somehow. You talk
about crazy mixed up theology, this has got to take the cake!
There is ONLY ONE SECOND COMING taught in the Bible, not a two-
phased coming with years in-between.
JESUS CHRIST WILL COME ONCE, IN GLORY, POWER, AND TRIUMPHANT
RULERSHIP TO REIGN ON THIS EARTH FOR ONE THOUSAND YEARS.
THIS WEBSITE IS LOADED WITH STUDIES SHOWING YOU THE PROPHETIC
TRUTH OF ALL THE PROPHETIC WRITINGS OF THE BIBLE PROPHETS,
CONCERNING THE RETURN OF THE MESSIAH AND THE AGE TO COME!
Keith Hunt (February 2009)
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