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  • Registered Users Posts: 5,980 ✭✭✭wolfsbane


    darno wrote: »
    i always like bible prophecy,i love checking out the daily updates on
    jack van impe so i was glad to find this site,check out this web site
    http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/?gclid=CNXmmO3NoZ4CFQdl4wodLUlCmg
    A basically Christian site. I would differ on several of their articles of faith - unlimited atonement, Pentecostalism, imminent return of Christ, for example. But a good source of Premillennial material. I'm Amillennial, but open to persuasion. :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 626 ✭✭✭chozometroid


    I've always found Van Impe to have some interesting prophecy material, but once I found out he was a pretribulationist, I stopped paying him any attention. His memory of scripture is very impressive, nonetheless.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Soul Winner


    ...but once I found out he was a pretribulationist, I stopped paying him any attention.

    I've looked at his site and the fact that he seems to think that the antichrist will come from Europe speaks volumes. Anyway why stop paying him any attention based on the fact that he seems to be pre-tribulationist? There is more scriptural support for that position than there is for the mid or post tribulation position. I can go through it with you if you like.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    I'm Amillennial, but open to persuasion.

    Hey Wolfy, you said before that if you could be convinced that the Tribulation period was indeed God's wrath being poured out on sin then you would hold to the view that Rapture must take place before the Tribulation. Do you still stand by that? If I show you a proof verse for this will you stand by it? :)


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20 darno


    i think jack van impe is the business,


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,980 ✭✭✭wolfsbane


    Hey Wolfy, you said before that if you could be convinced that the Tribulation period was indeed God's wrath being poured out on sin then you would hold to the view that Rapture must take place before the Tribulation. Do you still stand by that? If I show you a proof verse for this will you stand by it? :)
    Sure will!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Soul Winner


    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Sure will!

    OK, can we be agreed that cr*p doesn't start to hit the fan until the seals are opened in Revelation 6? Up until that point things are pretty quiet in Revelation. It is the Lamb who opens the seals, so whatever comes forth from them is the result of His opening.

    Then in verse 15-17 we have our proof text:

    "Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of "their wrath" has come, and who can stand?" Revelation 6:15-17

    What follows the seven seals are seven trumpets and seven vials, and it is angels of God who do the pouring out of the vials and who do the blowing of the trumpets.

    If the Church is the body of Christ and Christ has already received God's wrath for sin on our behalf once, and once is forever adequate because His nature is eternal, i.e. never changes, Jesus the same today and forevermore, then it logically follows that the body of Christ (the Church) will not be on this earth when the time comes for the Lamb to open the seals and pour out His wrath. Otherwise the lesson God taught Moses when he struck the rock a second time means nothing. Moses was barred entry to the promised land because he struck the rock a second time after God specifically told him to speak to the rock. Paul calls this Rock 'Christ' in the New Testament - 1 Corinthians 10:4. Put all these elements together and the pre-Tribulation position is the most logically one to take. When I see ass much scriptural support for the other positions then I will sit up and take stock.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,980 ✭✭✭wolfsbane


    Soul Winner said:
    OK, can we be agreed that cr*p doesn't start to hit the fan until the seals are opened in Revelation 6? Up until that point things are pretty quiet in Revelation. It is the Lamb who opens the seals, so whatever comes forth from them is the result of His opening.
    Agreed.
    Then in verse 15-17 we have our proof text:

    "Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of "their wrath" has come, and who can stand?" Revelation 6:15-17

    What follows the seven seals are seven trumpets and seven vials, and it is angels of God who do the pouring out of the vials and who do the blowing of the trumpets.

    If the Church is the body of Christ and Christ has already received God's wrath for sin on our behalf once, and once is forever adequate because His nature is eternal, i.e. never changes, Jesus the same today and forevermore, then it logically follows that the body of Christ (the Church) will not be on this earth when the time comes for the Lamb to open the seals and pour out His wrath.
    You confuse the Tribulation with the Wrath of God.

    Note that the saints are present for the events ushered in by seals 1-6, but on the 7th everything is stopped until they are sealed against the Wrath of the Lamb. Chapter 7 immediately precedes the opening of the 7th seal, which ushers in the wrath of the Lamb. So before that wrath the saints are listed as having come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Tribulation precedes the Wrath. The saints suffer Tribulation, but not Wrath.

    Revelation is symbolic of course, but we can match this part with the plain statements on the Last Day that are given in the gospels and epistles:
    The beginning of sorrows:
    Matthew 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
    Cp. with seals 1-4.

    The great tribulation:
    Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.
    Cp. with the 5th seal and Revelation 7:13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
    14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
    So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.


    The signs of the end, the return of Christ and the rapture:
    Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Cp. with the 6th seal.

    The wrath of the Lamb:
    1 Thessalonians 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

    2 Thessalonians 1:6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.

    2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
    Cp. the 7th seal


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 1,006 ✭✭✭Baggio


    interesting about that guy saying Anti Christ to come from Europe,,,,,hmmm why shouldnt he be right???..

    personally i think the world will be completly hoodwinked by this evil person and he probably WONT be some crazy war like muslim,,,,i'd say politics will bring him to the fore and most people will be fooled by him...


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Soul Winner


    wolfsbane wrote: »
    You confuse the Tribulation with the Wrath of God.

    My point is that the Tribulation 'The Great Tribulation' is the wrath of God. What is described in Revelation is Tribulation that comes from God, that's why this Tribulation is always distinguish between other types of tribulation. There are many kinds of tribulation in the world. The word 'tribulation' simply means 'trouble'. It comes form a word in the Greek (Tribulum) which was the rod that beat the wheat from the chaff. Jesus said to His disciples: In this world ye will have tribulation, but it is tribulation that come from the world, the flesh and the devil. The Tribulation The Great Tribulation however is tribulation that comes from God, and the book of Revelation focuses in on that Tribulation.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Note that the saints are present for the events ushered in by seals 1-6, but on the 7th everything is stopped until they are sealed against the Wrath of the Lamb.

    The 144,000 are saints but they are not the Church. The word saint (Hagios) in the Greek simple means 'committed ones', the same word translates our word for Holy. Something that is given over to the use of the deity is what makes it holy. I will try to explain below more about why the particular saints described above are not the Church which goes in the Rapture.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Chapter 7 immediately precedes the opening of the 7th seal, which ushers in the wrath of the Lamb. So before that wrath the saints are listed as having come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Tribulation precedes the Wrath. The saints suffer Tribulation, but not Wrath.

    Hhhhmm?? The Great Tribulation is not limited to the seven seals, there are also seven trumpets and seven vials which come after the seven seals. The saints under the altar are simply people who have become saints during the time of the great tribulation. And that period includes teh vials and trumpets. They are part of the Church as a whole but they are not part of the pre Raptured Church.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Revelation is symbolic of course, but we can match this part with the plain statements on the Last Day that are given in the gospels and epistles:
    The beginning of sorrows:
    Matthew 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
    Cp. with seals 1-4.

    What is described in the verse above are things which precede the main event. The beginning of sorrows can be alternately translated as pains in childbirth which as we know precede the actual birth. Likewise the events described are simply labor pains which precede the main birth event itself.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    The great tribulation:
    Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

    Again this is tribulation that comes from the world on the Church. It has nothing to do with the Tribulation that comes from God on the earth.

    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Cp. with the 5th seal and Revelation 7:13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
    14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
    So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

    Again this is not the Church. The saints, i.e. the committed ones, who come out of the great tribulation are none other than the people who, after the Rapture of the Church has taken place, come to see that what the Church has been teaching all along was in fact true and was (in their seeing) just testified to by the Rapture event itself. Think about it for a second. The Rapture is the one event that convinces many to turn to God in faith but because they did not go in the Rapture they must now live through this tribulation period and, in most cases, pay with their lives for their new faith. They are a different set of saints is my point.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    The signs of the end, the return of Christ and the rapture:
    Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Cp. with the 6th seal.

    The clouds of glory that He is coming on are none other than the Church, they are with Him when He comes. They are the same as the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us as described in the book of Hebrews.

    "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 11:39-40 and Hebrews 12:1

    You only need read where the elect are gathered from in the verse you quoted above to know that they are not just from the earth. They are gathered from one end of heaven to the other, not just from the earth. I highlighted it in red for you.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    The wrath of the Lamb:
    1 Thessalonians 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

    This coming of the Lord is when He returns to put down antichrsit and the false prophet at Armageddon. From the the unbelieving world's point of view this coming is like a thief in the night, which is why Paul tells the Thessalonians that they have no need that he should write to them about it, they already know it will be like a thief in the night, but it can't be like that to them by virtue of the fact that they already know how it will be. Only those not on guard watching their house will be surprised by a burglar, but for those watching for the signs they can see and hear and hence be ready for when he arrives.

    wolfsbane wrote: »
    2 Thessalonians 1:6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.


    I don't see how these verses supports the idea that the Church will go through the great tribulation. :confused:

    wolfsbane wrote: »
    2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Cp. the 7th seal

    As already said, the thief in the night phrase applies to those who are not watching. We are told to watch and wait for His coming (which is what we are doing) so we can know when it is even at the door. We can know when the time is near for His second coming because He told us that we can. That's why He said certain things must come to pass first and that we would be able to see them coming to pass, i.e. earthquakes, famines, wars etc.. these things have increased a hundred fold in the last hundred years, so the time for His wrath to be poured out is soon but the time is still not yet, but when it does come time for His wrath to be poured out He takes His Church home first.

    The first of the six seals to be opened releases Antichrist. The man on a white horse (imitating Christ) with a bow but no arrow. He comes in with a peace plan for the middle east region and will be worshiped by the world for his genius. Daniel 11:21-45 speaks of this very same individual. He will come in peaceably. Antichrist simply means substitute Christ or substitute deliverer. The world will think that he is a God. But Paul speaks of a force which holds this lawless one back from being revealed, and only when it is taken out of the way can this he be revealed to the world.

    "Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming." II Thessalonians 2:5-8

    This one is none other than the Church. It is not the holy spirit because the holy spirit is still working during this time of trouble. It is not the 144,000 because they are still here too. I'm telling ye when you put all the clues in scripture together they all point to a pre-tribulation rapture.

    I could give you even more evidence.

    The last feast that was fulfilled and is still being fulfilled is the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost means fifty and is the number for the harvest. The next feast after this to be fulfilled is the feast of Trumpets. It is at the last Trump when the Rapture takes place:

    "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed —in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality." I Corinthians 15:51-53

    "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." I Thessalonians 4:16-17

    John is caught up in Revelation 4 and shown things which must take place after this. There is then a parenthesis in Revelation 5 and from Revelation 6 on wards John is shown what must take place after this? After what? In chapter 1 John is told to write the things which he has seen. He does this in chapter 1. And to write the things which are. He does this in chapters 2 and 3, where the seven churches are addressed and dealt with. Then in chapter 4 John is called up hither into heaven and shown what must take place after this, i.e. the time of the churches. I believe John is but a type of the Church in chapter 4 called up to heaven. The Church is not mentioned again in Revelation until we see her adorned as a bride coming out of heaven.

    "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." Revelation 4:1

    The Come up here is the Rapture and it happens before the seals are opened.

    Nowhere else in scripture is the feast of Trumpets shown to be fulfilled. And it must be fulfilled like all the other feast before it and after it. After the feast of Trumpets there is the feast of Atonement. Atonement means affliction of soul. God will afflict this earth fulfilling this feast. The church is not subject to this affliction because Christ was afflicted for us already. Those who accept the affliction that Christ suffered are the true Church of God. Those who do not accept it will suffer it first hand from God when the time comes.

    "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1

    "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." I Thessalonians 5:9-10

    So you see, when you put all the pieces together from scripture, i.e. Moses striking the Rock twice with the rod of judgment and God baring him from entering the promised land in order to teach the lesson that Christ (which is what Paul called this Rock) is only struck once with the rod of judgment, the fulfilling of all the feasts in their time, the talking out of the way of a force which hinders Antichrist from being revealed and so on, they all point to a pre-tribulation Rapture.

    Like I said when I hear a stronger case for other positions I will take stock ;)

    I'm a pre-tribber and I am confident in the hope that I will not be around when all this crap hits the fan. I respect your position though. At least you point to scripture to back up you position.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Soul Winner


    Baggio wrote: »
    interesting about that guy saying Anti Christ to come from Europe,,,,,hmmm why shouldnt he be right???..

    Because Daniel 11 makes it clear that he will come from the area which was once occupied by the Seleucid portion of Alexander the Great's empire. The King of the North's territory in the previous verses of the same chapter. The area which we know today as Iraq/North Western Iran/Jordan/Syria. Daniel 11:21-45


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,686 ✭✭✭✭PDN


    darno wrote: »
    i think jack van impe is the business,

    I think Jack van Impe is a business.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,980 ✭✭✭wolfsbane


    Soul Winner said:
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    You confuse the Tribulation with the Wrath of God.

    My point is that the Tribulation 'The Great Tribulation' is the wrath of God. What is described in Revelation is Tribulation that comes from God, that's why this Tribulation is always distinguish between other types of tribulation. There are many kinds of tribulation in the world. The word 'tribulation' simply means 'trouble'. It comes form a word in the Greek (Tribulum) which was the rod that beat the wheat from the chaff. Jesus said to His disciples: In this world ye will have tribulation, but it is tribulation that come from the world, the flesh and the devil. The Tribulation The Great Tribulation however is tribulation that comes from God, and the book of Revelation focuses in on that Tribulation.
    So you say - but you also say that the saints could not undergo it as Christ has already borne their punishment. Yet we have a great multitude of them described as having come out of the great tribulation. You acknowledge them as part of the Church as a whole - for whom Christ died and bore the wrath that was their due - but you them claim they are not part of the pre Raptured Church. So what, if that were so? Your case is the Church cannot endure the Great Tribulation for that would be like Christ being punished twice. You can't have it both ways.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    Note that the saints are present for the events ushered in by seals 1-6, but on the 7th everything is stopped until they are sealed against the Wrath of the Lamb.

    The 144,000 are saints but they are not the Church. The word saint (Hagios) in the Greek simple means 'committed ones', the same word translates our word for Holy. Something that is given over to the use of the deity is what makes it holy. I will try to explain below more about why the particular saints described above are not the Church which goes in the Rapture.
    The word is used but it is also further defined by having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb That is the description of Christian to me.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    Chapter 7 immediately precedes the opening of the 7th seal, which ushers in the wrath of the Lamb. So before that wrath the saints are listed as having come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The Tribulation precedes the Wrath. The saints suffer Tribulation, but not Wrath.

    Hhhhmm?? The Great Tribulation is not limited to the seven seals, there are also seven trumpets and seven vials which come after the seven seals. The saints under the altar are simply people who have become saints during the time of the great tribulation. And that period includes teh vials and trumpets. They are part of the Church as a whole but they are not part of the pre Raptured Church.
    As I said earlier, you admit they are Christians, but you think because they are from a later time they can be punished by God???
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    Revelation is symbolic of course, but we can match this part with the plain statements on the Last Day that are given in the gospels and epistles:
    The beginning of sorrows:
    Matthew 24:6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
    Cp. with seals 1-4.
    What is described in the verse above are things which precede the main event. The beginning of sorrows can be alternately translated as pains in childbirth which as we know precede the actual birth. Likewise the events described are simply labor pains which precede the main birth event itself.
    Indeed so.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    The great tribulation:
    Matthew 24:9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

    Again this is tribulation that comes from the world on the Church. It has nothing to do with the Tribulation that comes from God on the earth.
    So you agree that what happens after the gospel is preached to all nations and after the church has endured tribulation is what the Bible calls 'the end'? What happens at this 'end'? V27 tells us: For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. The Second Coming.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    Cp. with the 5th seal and Revelation 7:13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?”
    14 And I said to him, “Sir, you know.”
    So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

    Again this is not the Church. The saints, i.e. the committed ones, who come out of the great tribulation are none other than the people who, after the Rapture of the Church has taken place, come to see that what the Church has been teaching all along was in fact true and was (in their seeing) just testified to by the Rapture event itself. Think about it for a second. The Rapture is the one event that convinces many to turn to God in faith but because they did not go in the Rapture they must now live through this tribulation period and, in most cases, pay with their lives for their new faith. They are a different set of saints is my point.
    You said before they were part of the Church. If the church can't go through the Tribulation, how can they?

    Where do we read in the Bible that the Rapture is the great event that persuades unbelievers to repent and believe? Seems to me this second-chance salvation is a real Rapture fiction.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    The signs of the end, the return of Christ and the rapture:
    Matthew 24:29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Cp. with the 6th seal.

    The clouds of glory that He is coming on are none other than the Church, they are with Him when He comes. They are the same as the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us as described in the book of Hebrews.

    "These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 11:39-40 and Hebrews 12:1

    You only need read where the elect are gathered from in the verse you quoted above to know that they are not just from the earth. They are gathered from one end of heaven to the other, not just from the earth. I highlighted it in red for you.
    The expression, one end of heaven refers not to the spiritual heaven, but to the temporal one. It is used in the sense of 'from the rising of the sun to its going down':
    Psalm 19:4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
    And their words to the end of the world.

    In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
    5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
    6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,
    And its circuit to the other end;

    And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

    The gathering of the Church is on from all the earth. So the clouds of glory need not be the Church from heaven. But even if it were, that does not mean all the church were in heaven before Christ comes in glory. 2 Thess.1 has Christ destroying the wicked and rescuing the Christians on that Day.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    The wrath of the Lamb:
    1 Thessalonians 5:1 But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.

    This coming of the Lord is when He returns to put down antichrsit and the false prophet at Armageddon. From the the unbelieving world's point of view this coming is like a thief in the night, which is why Paul tells the Thessalonians that they have no need that he should write to them about it, they already know it will be like a thief in the night, but it can't be like that to them by virtue of the fact that they already know how it will be. Only those not on guard watching their house will be surprised by a burglar, but for those watching for the signs they can see and hear and hence be ready for when he arrives.
    Seems to me a simple count of 7 years from the PreTrib Rapture would not be too difficult for any that are left - especially if the non-Church Church is preaching and seeing millions saved.

    But I agree - this is when Christ returns to put down Antichrist. It is also when He rescues the Church, as Paul points out in 2 Thess. 1.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    2 Thessalonians 1:6 since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, 7 and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.
    I don't see how these verses supports the idea that the Church will go through the great tribulation.
    It shows that we - 'you' - are still on earth, being persecuted, when Christ returns 'with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.' No room for a Great Tribulation after that.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by wolfsbane
    Cp. the 7th seal

    As already said, the thief in the night phrase applies to those who are not watching. We are told to watch and wait for His coming (which is what we are doing) so we can know when it is even at the door. We can know when the time is near for His second coming because He told us that we can. That's why He said certain things must come to pass first and that we would be able to see them coming to pass, i.e. earthquakes, famines, wars etc.. these things have increased a hundred fold in the last hundred years, so the time for His wrath to be poured out is soon but the time is still not yet, but when it does come time for His wrath to be poured out He takes His Church home first.
    I agree entirely. :)
    The first of the six seals to be opened releases Antichrist. The man on a white horse (imitating Christ) with a bow but no arrow. He comes in with a peace plan for the middle east region and will be worshiped by the world for his genius. Daniel 11:21-45 speaks of this very same individual. He will come in peaceably. Antichrist simply means substitute Christ or substitute deliverer. The world will think that he is a God. But Paul speaks of a force which holds this lawless one back from being revealed, and only when it is taken out of the way can this he be revealed to the world.

    "Don't you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming." II Thessalonians 2:5-8

    This one is none other than the Church. It is not the holy spirit because the holy spirit is still working during this time of trouble. It is not the 144,000 because they are still here too.
    That it is the Church is speculation, not proof. Many Pre-Tribbers assert it is the Spirit. But why not the Civil Power? Or the restraint of the Spirit, rather than His presence in the Church? Regardless, you miss the key point: the 1st seal may introduce Antichrist, but the 6th seal introduces the Wrath of the Lamb. All Antichrist has done ends there.
    I'm telling ye when you put all the clues in scripture together they all point to a pre-tribulation rapture.
    Not that I can see.
    I could give you even more evidence.

    The last feast that was fulfilled and is still being fulfilled is the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost means fifty and is the number for the harvest. The next feast after this to be fulfilled is the feast of Trumpets. It is at the last Trump when the Rapture takes place:

    "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed —in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality." I Corinthians 15:51-53

    "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." I Thessalonians 4:16-17

    John is caught up in Revelation 4 and shown things which must take place after this. There is then a parenthesis in Revelation 5 and from Revelation 6 on wards John is shown what must take place after this? After what? In chapter 1 John is told to write the things which he has seen. He does this in chapter 1. And to write the things which are. He does this in chapters 2 and 3, where the seven churches are addressed and dealt with. Then in chapter 4 John is called up hither into heaven and shown what must take place after this, i.e. the time of the churches.
    Or after the present for John - ie, he is now being shown events to come, future to him, not necessarily future to the Rapture.
    I believe John is but a type of the Church in chapter 4 called up to heaven.
    Again, speculation without proof.
    The Church is not mentioned again in Revelation until we see her adorned as a bride coming out of heaven.
    That supposes the saints mentioned in all the chapters between are not the Church. You can't prove the case by assuming it to start with.
    "After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." Revelation 4:1

    The Come up here is the Rapture and it happens before the seals are opened.
    Pure speculation.
    Nowhere else in scripture is the feast of Trumpets shown to be fulfilled. And it must be fulfilled like all the other feast before it and after it. After the feast of Trumpets there is the feast of Atonement. Atonement means affliction of soul. God will afflict this earth fulfilling this feast. The church is not subject to this affliction because Christ was afflicted for us already. Those who accept the affliction that Christ suffered are the true Church of God. Those who do not accept it will suffer it first hand from God when the time comes.
    That is the same as non-Pre-Tribbers believe. Rapture->Wrath. It is just that we believe Wrath does not include millions of people being saved. It is flaming fire on all who have not believed on Christ.
    "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Romans 8:1

    "For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him." I Thessalonians 5:9-10

    So you see, when you put all the pieces together from scripture, i.e. Moses striking the Rock twice with the rod of judgment and God baring him from entering the promised land in order to teach the lesson that Christ (which is what Paul called this Rock) is only struck once with the rod of judgment, the fulfilling of all the feasts in their time, the talking out of the way of a force which hinders Antichrist from being revealed and so on, they all point to a pre-tribulation Rapture.
    No, they all point to Rapture followed by Wrath - the Rapture of all who are saved, and Wrath on all who are not.
    Like I said when I hear a stronger case for other positions I will take stock

    I'm a pre-tribber and I am confident in the hope that I will not be around when all this crap hits the fan. I respect your position though. At least you point to scripture to back up you position.
    Thank you, and I do likewise for you. None of us know it all as we should, and our discussions should lead us forward in our knowledge of the truth.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Soul Winner


    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Soul Winner said:

    So you say - but you also say that the saints could not undergo it as Christ has already borne their punishment. Yet we have a great multitude of them described as having come out of the great tribulation. You acknowledge them as part of the Church as a whole - for whom Christ died and bore the wrath that was their due - but you them claim they are not part of the pre Raptured Church. So what, if that were so? Your case is the Church cannot endure the Great Tribulation for that would be like Christ being punished twice. You can't have it both ways.


    The word is used but it is also further defined by having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb That is the description of Christian to me.


    As I said earlier, you admit they are Christians, but you think because they are from a later time they can be punished by God???


    Indeed so.


    So you agree that what happens after the gospel is preached to all nations and after the church has endured tribulation is what the Bible calls 'the end'? What happens at this 'end'? V27 tells us: For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. The Second Coming.


    You said before they were part of the Church. If the church can't go through the Tribulation, how can they?

    Where do we read in the Bible that the Rapture is the great event that persuades unbelievers to repent and believe? Seems to me this second-chance salvation is a real Rapture fiction.


    The expression, one end of heaven refers not to the spiritual heaven, but to the temporal one. It is used in the sense of 'from the rising of the sun to its going down':
    Psalm 19:4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
    And their words to the end of the world.

    In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,
    5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    And rejoices like a strong man to run its race.
    6 Its rising is from one end of heaven,
    And its circuit to the other end;
    And there is nothing hidden from its heat.
    The gathering of the Church is on from all the earth. So the clouds of glory need not be the Church from heaven. But even if it were, that does not mean all the church were in heaven before Christ comes in glory. 2 Thess.1 has Christ destroying the wicked and rescuing the Christians on that Day.


    Seems to me a simple count of 7 years from the PreTrib Rapture would not be too difficult for any that are left - especially if the non-Church Church is preaching and seeing millions saved.

    But I agree - this is when Christ returns to put down Antichrist. It is also when He rescues the Church, as Paul points out in 2 Thess. 1.


    It shows that we - 'you' - are still on earth, being persecuted, when Christ returns 'with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.' No room for a Great Tribulation after that.


    I agree entirely. :)


    That it is the Church is speculation, not proof. Many Pre-Tribbers assert it is the Spirit. But why not the Civil Power? Or the restraint of the Spirit, rather than His presence in the Church? Regardless, you miss the key point: the 1st seal may introduce Antichrist, but the 6th seal introduces the Wrath of the Lamb. All Antichrist has done ends there.


    Not that I can see.


    Or after the present for John - ie, he is now being shown events to come, future to him, not necessarily future to the Rapture.


    Again, speculation without proof.


    That supposes the saints mentioned in all the chapters between are not the Church. You can't prove the case by assuming it to start with.


    Pure speculation.


    That is the same as non-Pre-Tribbers believe. Rapture->Wrath. It is just that we believe Wrath does not include millions of people being saved. It is flaming fire on all who have not believed on Christ.


    No, they all point to Rapture followed by Wrath - the Rapture of all who are saved, and Wrath on all who are not.


    Thank you, and I do likewise for you. None of us know it all as we should, and our discussions should lead us forward in our knowledge of the truth.

    OK I'll try to summarize without replying to each point individually.

    Numbers 23 outlines all the feast days of the Lord. They are as follows:
    1. The Sabbath
    2. Passover
    3. Unleavened Bread
    4. First Fruits
    5. Pentecost
    6. Trumpets
    7. Atonement
    8. Tabernacles
    Paul calls these feast days shadows of things to come but the substance which casts the shadow is Christ:


    "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Colossians 2:16-17

    We know Christ fulfilled 1 to 5 of these. What's left are Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. The word 'Feast' simply means 'Set times of the Lord'. There is a set-time for these feasts to be fulfilled.


    Sabbath. So how did Christ fulfill the Sabbath? He came to do what only He could do. keep the law and live the perfect life, and having lived that perfect life, lay that perfect life down. Until he did this there was one day of the week that was to be kept holy. In other words they were to rest from the works. We rest from our works when we trust in His work. What He did for us is based in His eternal nature. It never changes. It can be availed of at all times.

    "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:9-11

    We rest from our works when we act in faith and trust in the work of Christ. That is what keeping the Sabbath really means. Faithing is Sabbathing or sabbath keeping and this Feast has been fulfilled in Christ.

    Passover. Every Christian knows that Christ fulfilled the OT testament type of the Passover Lamb . In the OT the passover feast was to commemorate the deliverance from Egypt of God's people by the hand of Moses and the power of God. The last plague to fall on Egypt was death to the first born. The way to escape this death was kill a lamb and put it's blood on on the door and the lintel. When the death angel came to those houses it passed over them, hence where the feast gets its name. The placing of the blood of the lamb on the door was an act of faith in the promise that those who do so would be spared death. This was but a type of what Christ would ultimately do for the whole world. Those who accept this and lay hold of it in faith will be spared eternal death.

    Unleavened Bread. This feast started on the day after Passover and went on for a full week. When Christ was laid in His tomb, He remained there for 3 days and 3 nights fulfilling the hiding away of the 'afikomen'.

    From Yeshuahamashiach.com

    "During the Passover Seder, there is a bag called the matzatosh which contains three pieces of matzot. The middle
    piece of matzot is removed, broken, wrapped in linen, and buried. This piece of matzah is the afikomen. During this part of the
    service, the afikomen was removed from sight (this represented Yeshua being buried) and it remained hidden until later in the
    service. Yeshua is the bread that was buried because He is the Bread of Life who came down from Heaven (John [Yochanan]
    6:35). Yeshua was removed from between the two thieves who were crucified with Him (Matthew [Mattityahu] 27:38), wrapped in
    linen, and buried in the earth (Matthew 27:59-60)."

    So like Passover Christ fulfilled the feast of Unleavened Bread.


    Firstfruits. Christ also fulfilled Firstfruits.

    The Feast of Firstfruits always fell on the first day of the week within the feast of Unleavened Bread. It was a feast within a feast. If Passover started on, say, a Friday then Unleavened Bread started on the Saturday which would mean that Firstfruits would fall on the following Sunday - one day hence. If Passover started on say a Wednesday then Unleavened Bread started on the Thursday which would mean that Firstfruits would fall on the following Sunday also - 3 days hence. No matter when Passover or Unleavened bread fell, Firstfruits would always fall on the next first day of the week.

    We know from scripture that Christ rose on the first day of the week.

    "After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look." Matthew 28:1

    So if Christ was crucified on Passover and in the tomb for three days and three nights to rise on the first day in that same week, then He must have risen on the feast of Firstfruits, fulfilling that feast or set-time of the Lord.

    "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." Romans 8:29


    Pentecost. Pentecost means fifty and is the number for the harvest. Christ fulfilled this set-time also:

    "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:1-4

    It is at this point that the harvest of the Church begins. Peter preaches the first message of the Church in the proceeding verses.

    The next three feast to be fulfilled are:

    Trumpets
    Atonement
    Tabernacles

    The feast (or properly translated Set Time of the Lord) of Trumpets has yet to be fulfilled. I believe that the last trumpet refered to by Paul to the Corinthians is the fulfilling of this feast which is the Rapture of the Church. On the Feast of Trumpets there were two silver (symbolic of redemption throughout scripture) trumpets were blown all day. I believe that the first of these trumpets was fulfilled in Christ's first advent and that the second will be fulfilled when He comes to catch away His Church. This feast falls in late September which is where scripture places the birth of Christ.

    "...in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52

    "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet callof God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." 1 Thessalonians 4:16

    Atonement. After the feast of Trumpets comes the feast of Atonement. Atonement means affliction of soul. Christ has already fulfilled this feast for those who accept it the affliction that He bore on their behalf. The ones who accept the atoning work of Christ will not taste of the the wrath of God which will be poured out on the world. I take your point that my conclusion that the Rapture event will be the event which will cause people (who had previously not accepted the atoning work of Christ) to turn to Christ in the time of tribulation is speculative, but if this is how events are to work out then you can't rule it out either. If I were convinced that people who had previously being telling me this stuff which I didn't believe, who then suddenly vanish off the planet, then I'd start taken what they said seriously, especially if I bumped into other people who had similar experiences. People who turn to Christ in this time of tribulation are seen as a separate set of saints than those of the Church. That is why (in my opinion) there are told to wait until the number of their brethren is completed. The souls under the alter in Revelation 6 are the souls of the martyrs who give their lives during this time of great tribulation. If they are the church then that means that every person in the church that ever lived died a martyr, which is not true.

    "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed." Revelation 6:9-11

    This group of saints are not the Church. Not all Christians are martyrs who have been slain for the Word of God. They are but the first of those who have been killed during this time of great tribulation.

    "And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name." Revelation 15:2

    In Revelation 4:6 this sea of glass is clear i.e nobody on it yet.

    "Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal." Revelation 4:6

    Your point that Antichrist comes and goes in Revelation 6 is wrong. We get our first glimpse of him in Revelation 6 but that is not the end of it.

    He's still around in Revelation 19

    "Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army." Revelation 19:19

    The rider on the white horse being Christ who arrives on the scene in Revelation 19:11.


    Tabernacles. Zechariah 14 makes it very clear how this feast will be fulfilled.


    "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles." Zechariah 14:16-19

    This will be done every year for a thousand years. During the feast of tabernacles all the tribes were to move out of their houses into temporary structures for one week in order to remember how God delivered them form the land of Egypt. In this week they offered 203 offerings to God. God is going to make all the nations of the world keep this feast throughout the millennium after Armageddon. Those who not keep it will be cursed with a plague.

    If the seven year great tribulation is God's wrath being poured on those who reject Christ and is the fulfillment of the feast of Atonement, then Rapture, if it is the fulfillment of the feast of Trumpets, (as I believe it is) must take place before the pouring out of wrath.

    God was spot on with all the other feasts and will be spot on with all the rest. The feast of Trumpets is next. Rapture! :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 626 ✭✭✭chozometroid


    OK I'll try to summarize without replying to each point individually.
    You typed an awful lot right there without actually providing any Biblical evidence that the Feast of Trumpets is fulfilled in the Rapture.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Soul Winner


    You typed an awful lot right there without actually providing any Biblical evidence that the Feast of Trumpets is fulfilled in the Rapture.

    I think its very simple.

    The church is the body of Christ.

    Christ suffered God's wrath for sin once and once only.

    God imputed our sins to Christ, and for faith God imputes Christ's righteousness to us. He viewed Christ as though He was deserving of wrath even though He wasn't, and because of our faith in that act of sacrifice, God views us as deserving of life even though we are not.

    All who are covered by this grace are exactly that - covered. They are not appointed unto wrath. The only way that we can step out from under that covering of Christ is to stop acting in faith on the promises of God, and one of those promises is that all who trust in the name of Jesus shall be saved.

    When the time comes for God's wrath to be poured out on those who reject this work of Christ - which is the fulfillment of the feast of Atonement - God is going take His church - which is the body of Christ - home.

    On the feast of Trumpets, two silver trumpets were blown all day long. Silver is always the symbol of redemption in scripture. But even without the feast of Trumpets, the church must not be here when the time comes for God's wrath to be poured out. That is why God punished Moses so harshly for striking the Rock twice. Paul called this very Rock "Christ". He only needs to be struck once because once is good enough.

    We know that all the feasts have been fulfilled to date up to and including Pentecost (Acts 2). And we know that God's wrath has yet to be poured on this world which rejects Christ. So in between Pentecost and Atonement we have Trumpets. I fail to see what else Trumpets is suppose to represent except the catching away of the body of Christ so that it is not subject to the wrath of God a second time.

    Like I said, when I hear as a good an argument for why the Church must go through the Great Tribulation i.e. wrath of God then I will change my position.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,980 ✭✭✭wolfsbane


    Soul Winner said:
    OK I'll try to summarize without replying to each point individually.

    Numbers 23 outlines all the feast days of the Lord. They are as follows:
    The Sabbath
    Passover
    Unleavened Bread
    First Fruits
    Pentecost
    Trumpets
    Atonement
    Tabernacles
    Paul calls these feast days shadows of things to come but the substance which casts the shadow is Christ:


    "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Colossians 2:16-17

    We know Christ fulfilled 1 to 5 of these. What's left are Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. The word 'Feast' simply means 'Set times of the Lord'. There is a set-time for these feasts to be fulfilled.


    Sabbath. So how did Christ fulfill the Sabbath? He came to do what only He could do. keep the law and live the perfect life, and having lived that perfect life, lay that perfect life down. Until he did this there was one day of the week that was to be kept holy. In other words they were to rest from the works. We rest from our works when we trust in His work. What He did for us is based in His eternal nature. It never changes. It can be availed of at all times.

    "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience." Hebrews 4:9-11

    We rest from our works when we act in faith and trust in the work of Christ. That is what keeping the Sabbath really means. Faithing is Sabbathing or sabbath keeping and this Feast has been fulfilled in Christ.

    Passover. Every Christian knows that Christ fulfilled the OT testament type of the Passover Lamb . In the OT the passover feast was to commemorate the deliverance from Egypt of God's people by the hand of Moses and the power of God. The last plague to fall on Egypt was death to the first born. The way to escape this death was kill a lamb and put it's blood on on the door and the lintel. When the death angel came to those houses it passed over them, hence where the feast gets its name. The placing of the blood of the lamb on the door was an act of faith in the promise that those who do so would be spared death. This was but a type of what Christ would ultimately do for the whole world. Those who accept this and lay hold of it in faith will be spared eternal death.

    Unleavened Bread. This feast started on the day after Passover and went on for a full week. When Christ was laid in His tomb, He remained there for 3 days and 3 nights fulfilling the hiding away of the 'afikomen'.

    From Yeshuahamashiach.com

    "During the Passover Seder, there is a bag called the matzatosh which contains three pieces of matzot. The middle
    piece of matzot is removed, broken, wrapped in linen, and buried. This piece of matzah is the afikomen. During this part of the
    service, the afikomen was removed from sight (this represented Yeshua being buried) and it remained hidden until later in the
    service. Yeshua is the bread that was buried because He is the Bread of Life who came down from Heaven (John [Yochanan]
    6:35). Yeshua was removed from between the two thieves who were crucified with Him (Matthew [Mattityahu] 27:38), wrapped in
    linen, and buried in the earth (Matthew 27:59-60)."

    So like Passover Christ fulfilled the feast of Unleavened Bread.


    Firstfruits. Christ also fulfilled Firstfruits.

    The Feast of Firstfruits always fell on the first day of the week within the feast of Unleavened Bread. It was a feast within a feast. If Passover started on, say, a Friday then Unleavened Bread started on the Saturday which would mean that Firstfruits would fall on the following Sunday - one day hence. If Passover started on say a Wednesday then Unleavened Bread started on the Thursday which would mean that Firstfruits would fall on the following Sunday also - 3 days hence. No matter when Passover or Unleavened bread fell, Firstfruits would always fall on the next first day of the week.

    We know from scripture that Christ rose on the first day of the week.

    "After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look." Matthew 28:1

    So if Christ was crucified on Passover and in the tomb for three days and three nights to rise on the first day in that same week, then He must have risen on the feast of Firstfruits, fulfilling that feast or set-time of the Lord.

    "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren." Romans 8:29


    Pentecost. Pentecost means fifty and is the number for the harvest. Christ fulfilled this set-time also:

    "And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Acts 2:1-4

    It is at this point that the harvest of the Church begins. Peter preaches the first message of the Church in the proceeding verses.

    The next three feast to be fulfilled are:

    Trumpets
    Atonement
    Tabernacles
    I can't see any problem with the above.
    The feast (or properly translated Set Time of the Lord) of Trumpets has yet to be fulfilled. I believe that the last trumpet refered to by Paul to the Corinthians is the fulfilling of this feast which is the Rapture of the Church. On the Feast of Trumpets there were two silver (symbolic of redemption throughout scripture) trumpets were blown all day. I believe that the first of these trumpets was fulfilled in Christ's first advent and that the second will be fulfilled when He comes to catch away His Church. This feast falls in late September which is where scripture places the birth of Christ.

    "...in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed." 1 Corinthians 15:52

    "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet callof God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." 1 Thessalonians 4:16
    No problem with this, either.
    Atonement. After the feast of Trumpets comes the feast of Atonement. Atonement means affliction of soul. Christ has already fulfilled this feast for those who accept it the affliction that He bore on their behalf. The ones who accept the atoning work of Christ will not taste of the the wrath of God which will be poured out on the world.
    Agreed.
    I take your point that my conclusion that the Rapture event will be the event which will cause people (who had previously not accepted the atoning work of Christ) to turn to Christ in the time of tribulation is speculative, but if this is how events are to work out then you can't rule it out either. If I were convinced that people who had previously being telling me this stuff which I didn't believe, who then suddenly vanish off the planet, then I'd start taken what they said seriously, especially if I bumped into other people who had similar experiences.
    We can reject this on the basis even of your own principle: those whom Christ died for can not be the objects of His wrath. But you admit you have such people in the Tribulation period. If the Tribulation is His wrath, then you contradict yourself.
    People who turn to Christ in this time of tribulation are seen as a separate set of saints than those of the Church. That is why (in my opinion) there are told to wait until the number of their brethren is completed. The souls under the alter in Revelation 6 are the souls of the martyrs who give their lives during this time of great tribulation. If they are the church then that means that every person in the church that ever lived died a martyr, which is not true. "When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?"Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed as they had been was completed." Revelation 6:9-11

    This group of saints are not the Church. Not all Christians are martyrs who have been slain for the Word of God. They are but the first of those who have been killed during this time of great tribulation.
    No one said they are the whole Church.
    "And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name." Revelation 15:2

    In Revelation 4:6 this sea of glass is clear i.e nobody on it yet.

    "Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal." Revelation 4:6
    Even if they were on it, the sea could still be described as clear as crystal - but they are said to be beside the sea.
    Your point that Antichrist comes and goes in Revelation 6 is wrong. We get our first glimpse of him in Revelation 6 but that is not the end of it.

    He's still around in Revelation 19

    "Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army." Revelation 19:19

    The rider on the white horse being Christ who arrives on the scene in Revelation 19:11.
    You assume Revelation is chronological, but it's not. It is a series of dramas, going over the same ground but with different emphases/revelations. Otherwise how do we explain Christ's birth in revelation 12?
    Tabernacles. Zechariah 14 makes it very clear how this feast will be fulfilled.


    "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles." Zechariah 14:16-19

    This will be done every year for a thousand years. During the feast of tabernacles all the tribes were to move out of their houses into temporary structures for one week in order to remember how God delivered them form the land of Egypt. In this week they offered 203 offerings to God. God is going to make all the nations of the world keep this feast throughout the millennium after Armageddon. Those who not keep it will be cursed with a plague.

    If the seven year great tribulation is God's wrath being poured on those who reject Christ and is the fulfillment of the feast of Atonement, then Rapture, if it is the fulfillment of the feast of Trumpets, (as I believe it is) must take place before the pouring out of wrath.
    This makes one ask if Zechariah and Ezekiel are meant to be understood symbolically or literally. It literally, then we have to explain how the Aaronic priesthood can be restored while the New Covenant stands.

    The simple way to see the fulfilment of the last three feasts: Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles = Rapture, Wrath and Eternity.

    Your system also has the problem that the supposed Millennium ends with a world-wide rebellion and a further pouring out of God's wrath. Where is the feast that corresponds to that?
    God was spot on with all the other feasts and will be spot on with all the rest. The feast of Trumpets is next. Rapture!
    Amen! Just have to be prepared to face the Tribulation first. :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,534 ✭✭✭Soul Winner


    wolfsbane wrote: »
    We can reject this on the basis even of your own principle: those whom Christ died for can not be the objects of His wrath. But you admit you have such people in the Tribulation period. If the Tribulation is His wrath, then you contradict yourself.

    The coming of the wrath of God is what makes them turn to God and His Christ and therefore become part of His church, but because this happens after the Rapture of the Church they must needs endure this Tribulation and most likely give their lives for their faith because up until this point they had not accepted the atoning work of Christ. I can't see the contradiction at all.

    wolfsbane wrote: »
    You assume Revelation is chronological, but it's not. It is a series of dramas, going over the same ground but with different emphases/revelations.

    Revelation is chronological. The events that are unveiled therein proceed through a series of seals, trumpets and vials. The symbolism changes from time to time. For example the man on the white horse in revelation six who arrives on the scene as a result of the lamb opening the first seal is none other than Antichrist. Antichrist simply means substitute Christ. Satan is always the great imitator. Antichrist looks like Christ in Revelation 19 where Christ comes on a white horse. And the bow with no arrow is symbolic of his peaceful intentions which is consistent with the picture Daniel gives of him in Daniel 11:21:

    "And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries."

    Antichrist comes in looking like Christ and with a peace plan for the middle east region that everyone including the nation Israel will buy into. From Revelation 6 on wards what is revealed is God's wrath being poured out on sin culminating in the millennial kingdom being set up after Armageddon and the destruction of this so called man of peace (symbolised as a beast by this time) and his false prophet.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Otherwise how do we explain Christ's birth in revelation 12?

    Revelation 12 is not a description of Christ's birth. It is a description of the 144,000. The woman clothed with the sun and 12 stars is Israel and her man child is the 144,000. The woman represents a group of people and this group of people (12 tribes) gives birth to groups of people. If you read the last verse of chapter 12 you will notice that the serpent cannot overcome the woman (Israel as a whole) so he goes to war with her remnant the 144,000 who were sealed earlier in the book. Christ is not the remnant of Israel therefore the birth of this man child cannot be a description of the birth of Christ.

    "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 12:17

    The man child is not Christ, it is a remnant of Israel which have the testimony of Christ, which are the 144,000.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    This makes one ask if Zechariah and Ezekiel are meant to be understood symbolically or literally. It literally, then we have to explain how the Aaronic priesthood can be restored while the New Covenant stands.

    Not with you on that. The fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles has nothing to do with the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood.

    wolfsbane wrote: »
    The simple way to see the fulfillment of the last three feasts: Trumpets, Atonement, Tabernacles = Rapture, Wrath and Eternity Millennium, then Eternity

    Yes that's it :D

    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Your system also has the problem that the supposed Millennium ends with a world-wide rebellion and a further pouring out of God's wrath. Where is the feast that corresponds to that?

    It's not a world wide rebellion at all. When Satan is released from the abyss after the millennium he makes beeline for the area we call Russia (Gog and Magog) and is able to rally a remnant of them to surround Jerusalem once again, but this time God destroys them with fire from heaven. This happens after the the feast of Tabernacles has been fulfilled. It is not the fulfillment of any other set time of God. After this Satan himself is cast into the lake of fire and God creates a new Heaven and a new Earth.
    wolfsbane wrote: »
    Amen! Just have to be prepared to face the Tribulation first. :D

    We get enough tribulation from the world, the flesh and the devil already. For Christ's sake alone God is not going to suffer Christ's body to endure Tribulation from Him for a second time too, once was enough, that is the hope of the Church, to be with Him forever once we are caught away before all this crap befalls this earth.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,980 ✭✭✭wolfsbane


    Soul Winner,
    I hope to catch up on this very helpful thread later this week. Christmas overtime has limited my time.

    Thanks for your patience.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 15 qberry


    darno wrote: »
    i always like bible prophecy,i love checking out the daily updates on
    jack van impe so i was glad to find this site,check out this web site
    http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/?gclid=CNXmmO3NoZ4CFQdl4wodLUlCmg

    That web site, as well as ALL modern-day Bible prophecy web sites, is riddled with fiction.

    The prophetic scriptures say nothing about a coming world dictator called "the Antichrist". NOTHING!, NOTTA! Nor do they say anything about "a third Temple", nor any other fiction that the modern-day so-called prophecy experts are teaching.

    Who do you think Jesus was talking about when he warned about the many false prophets in the last days? huuum?


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,196 ✭✭✭BrianCalgary


    qberry wrote: »
    That web site, as well as ALL modern-day Bible prophecy web sites, is riddled with fiction.

    The prophetic scriptures say nothing about a coming world dictator called "the Antichrist". NOTHING!, NOTTA! Nor do they say anything about "a third Temple", nor any other fiction that the modern-day so-called prophecy experts are teaching.

    Who do you think Jesus was talking about when he warned about the many false prophets in the last days? huuum?

    1.1 John 2:18
    [ Warning Against Antichrists ] Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.

    2.1 John 2:22
    Who is the liar? It is the man who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a man is the antichrist—he denies the Father and the Son.

    3.1 John 4:3
    but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

    4.2 John 1:7
    Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 8,985 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    Forgive me for butting in, but to me it would appear that the quotes above from John define anyone who denies that Jesus is Christ as "antichrist" (and that would include me and billions of other people). They do not speak of a specific world dictator called "the Antichrist" - which was qberry's point.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,686 ✭✭✭✭PDN


    phutyle wrote: »
    Forgive me for butting in, but to me it would appear that the quotes above from John define anyone who denies that Jesus is Christ as "antichrist" (and that would include me and billions of other people). They do not speak of a specific world dictator called "the Antichrist" - which was qberry's point.

    I don't think it would include you and billions of others.

    John was referring to a particular heresy in the Early Church known as Docteism (based on the Greek dokeo = 'to seem'). This heresy taught that the incarnation did not take place, and that Jesus just appeared to be human.

    Christianity has always recognised that false twisting of truth is much more dangerous than a simple rejection of the truth. Indeed, it is quite possible that a version of the Docetist heresy developed into what we now know as Islam.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 96 ✭✭the iceman come


    Yoy folks would do well to look at the first Zeitgeist film,it clearly proves the origin of religeon and the man made bible to have it roots in anceint astrology, check it out and dont be scaring yourselves:)


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,985 ✭✭✭Gregor Samsa


    Very interesting PDN. But still, even if John was referring to Docteists specifically, or people who "twist the truth" in general, he doesn't appear to be referring to a specific world dictator in his definitions of "Antrichrist".


  • Registered Users Posts: 10,245 ✭✭✭✭Fanny Cradock


    Yoy folks would do well to look at the first Zeitgeist film,it clearly proves the origin of religeon and the man made bible to have it roots in anceint astrology, check it out and dont be scaring yourselves:)

    We have, it's cack! You can do a search on this forum to see the myriad threads that have discussed the film.


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,196 ✭✭✭BrianCalgary


    phutyle wrote: »
    Very interesting PDN. But still, even if John was referring to Docteists specifically, or people who "twist the truth" in general, he doesn't appear to be referring to a specific world dictator in his definitions of "Antrichrist".

    No problem butting in. Another voice can always be good.
    I think that 1 John 4:3 could refer to an anti-christ. A single entity.

    The beast in Revelation would qualify as an anti-christ as well. And with the position the beast holds and the deceit he would conjur up would therefore make him THE anti-christ.


  • Registered Users Posts: 626 ✭✭✭chozometroid


    Even if there are multiple antichrist's, there is only one son of perdition.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 96 ✭✭the iceman come


    We have, it's cack! You can do a search on this forum to see the myriad threads that have discussed the film.


    its certainly not cack, it makes alot of sense.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 13,686 ✭✭✭✭PDN


    its certainly not cack, it makes alot of sense.

    It would make sense if even 50% of its claims were true, but since they're not it is cack.

    It's been done before here. We aren't going to go over it all again.

    As my fellow mod has already suggested, if you want to discuss it then search for some of the previous threads on the subject - not this thread.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 3,080 ✭✭✭lmaopml


    Ohh I'm not crazy about that van imp fella.....or his end times prophesy tbh. I think he concentrates far too much on this kind of stuff instead of the 'real' stuff. I think when our lord told the apostles in Matthew, 'Don't be decieved', and again when Paul told the same thing to the Thessolonians in his letter, that he was warning about paying too much emphasis on the 'fantastical' and not enough on the day to day...

    ...but then, I guess that's kinda kill joy too..lol...:o..not to mention the films etc. etc. that have made a whole lot out of end times propoganda or even dare I say 'Discovery'..

    I've read that many hair brained stuff though..shees!...and how many times have we to listen about this hurrican or that storm or whatever is a 'sign' *snores* and then it doesn't happen and people lose faith because it didn't happen. I seem to remember at one stage about 600 women standing in Jeruselem wearing white dresses waiting for Jesus return because someone told them the date and time...lol....They must have missed the bit where is says that nobody knows....

    :D


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