Beware of the False Prophets of �The Rapture.� Our title is the newspaper headline of an article that appeared in a Massachusetts daily paper for Monday, December 31, 1984. Attention is called in the article to the fact that theologians were with the President for eight hours in one of many scheduled sessions. Biblical prophecy, as presented by them, was stressed for the purpose of directing the President in his activities and decisions. In a study of the predictions of these so-called spiritual leaders, and their prophetic forecasts of coming events for guiding the President, it reminded us of the four hundred prophets who purported to give similar direction for King Jehoshaphat and Ahab. These prophets were informing these two kings of the �thus saith the Lord� in a promised victory in a coming conflict. Their directives proved to be completely false. Will the directives of these present-day self-appointed prophets, who undertake to embellish their authority with �Thus saith the Lord� followed by their evaluation of what is to transpire, also prove to be false? From our knowledge of what is being told the President, we believe it will. Furthermore, if our President follows the advice given, it will be most disastrous for our nation.
Jehoshaphat, King of Jerusalem, joins Ahab, King of Israel, who had invited him to become an ally in the war against the Syrians. Jehoshaphat agreed to do so. He then asked Ahab, King of Israel, to call the prophets together and inquire of them as to the coming success of their join undertaking. Ahab gathered four hundred prophets who proceeded to forecast victory in the name of the Lord, declaring that God would deliver the enemy into their hands. But Jehoshaphat was not satisfied and he asked Ahab if there was not another prophet, besides these four hundred, that they might inquire of him?
Ahab replied, saying there was a prophet named Micaiah, but he added that he hated him for he never prophesied good of him. Jehoshaphat insisted Micaiah be called. This prophet was brought before these kings and related a vision concerning a lying spirit in the mouth of all of Ahab�s prophets to entice him to go into battle against the Syrians. Micaiah predicted the coming defeat of Israel and the death of Ahab. Micaiah�s unfavorable prediction led to Ahab having him cast into prison. However, that which he had foretold came to pass. So also will the predictions of the prophets of the Lord pertaining to that which is to come to pass in the immediate future. However, ti will not be in accord with the erroneous conceptions of the present-day presidential advisors. They have revamped the predictions of the prophets to conform with their mental perceptions, as well as to harmonize with the futurist school of prophetic interpretation.
The above article to which we refer gives a list of the evangelists and TV ministers who have been advising the President and they are, as stated, a colorful lot and it would be difficult to exaggerate their position. Among them is Jerry Falwell and James Robinson. They have ignored the order and timing of events following the appearing of the sign of the Son of man.
The President�s all-out support given to the Israeli State indicates that these self-appointed advisors evidently succeeded in convincing him that, beyond question, the Jews are God�s chosen people. Therefore, the Zionist State must be supported at all cost. These false shepherds completely overlook the fact that Jesus took the Kingdom away from the Jews, who had murdered and stolen it from True Israel Kings, and gave it to a nation that would bring forth the fruits thereof.
Will the all-out support of the Zionist State be as disastrous for the Untied States, in the initial phases of the coming world conflict, as it was for Jehoshaphat who suffered defeat and almost lost his life following his consent to support Ahab and Israel? As the result of Jehoshaphat giving all-out support to Ahab and Israel, he and his army suffered defeat with Israel. The present administration is giving full economic support, military equipment and sharing secret technical know how with the Zionists. When the Zionist State finally suffers defeat, and total destruction, we will be destroyed along with them if we do not separate ourselves and pull away. Christ declared of those who would not have Him rule over them: �But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither (that is, back to Palestine), and slay them before me.� (Luke 19:27)
Jerry Falwell, a false shepherd without understanding, speaks falsely when he declares that it is the Jews of whom God is speaking when He said to Abraham: �I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.� (Genesis 12:3)
King Jehoshaphat, though a righteous man, certainly was not blessed when he elected to support Israel who had, under the leadership of Ahab, turned away from God. The Jews of today have also turned away from God the Son, that is, Christ. Please note what God, through His prophet, said to Jehoshaphat for his all-out support of Israel as he escaped from the field of battle and was returning to Jerusalem: �The seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shoudest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.� (2 Chronicles 19:2)
Under no circumstances, or condition, should we be giving all-out support, or any support at all, to the Zionist State as our national leaders in Washington are doing today, and have been doing for a long time. Beyond question we will finally realize, as Jehoshaphat came to realize for giving like assistance to Israel, that wrath will be upon us from the lord, Jim Bakker (Jew), Mike Evans (Jew), Billy Graham (Jew), Kenneth Copelan (Jew), Robert Schuler, Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell (A so-called Christian Zionist), John Hagee, V.W. Grant, Larry Buricett, Paul Crouch, Skip Heitzig, Hal Lindsey (Jew), Chuck Missler, Mark Eastman, David Hocking, Jack Van Impe, Binny Hinn (Jew), Frank Peretti, Chuck Smith, Toni Eareckson Tada, Tom Cloud, Ted Bachr, John McDowel and all the other evangelists and TV preachers to the contrary, notwithstanding.
The Zionist Jews reject Christ as God the Son, who is our Lord and Savior. Their hatred of Him is clearly revealed in scandalous references to our Lord in their Talmud. What of the evangelists, and so-called Judeo-Christian preachers, who are following Jehoshaphat�s example in their love and support of those who hate the Lord?
The Lord will be their judge but Christ has informed us that there will be many, please take note Christ said many, who will claim that they have done mighty works in His name but to whom He will say in the coming day of judgment: �Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you depart from me, ye that work iniquity.� (Matthew 7:23) It certainly is far from righteous to so mutilate Scripture leading into deceiving multitudes, as well as to give support to the enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ.
These Judeo-Christian evangelists and preachers, in their endeavor to direct the President, have called his attention to the coming end-time battle, designating it as the battle of Armageddon. There is no such battle. As pointed out in �Armageddon: Rendezvous With Destiny.� (Destiny Publishers, P.O. Box 177, Merrimac, MA 01860) It is the battle of the Great Day of God Almighty. Armageddon is designated as a place or set period of time in history. It was to be a time of turmoil and trouble when dictators, the three unclean spirits of Revelation 16:13, would be active. The earth would also be in a state of continued war. This became true with the beginning of World War I when peace was taken away from the earth. During the last eighty years, continuing conflict has been in progress at some location on the earth, while today in many localities the inhabitants are suffering.
Thus Armageddon is a set time in history and for eighty years following World War I. Armed strife prevails with an acceleration in the preparation for the coming Battle of the Great Day of God Almighty. The rise of dictators during this Armageddon phase of activity has contributed to the gathering of the kings of the earth and of the whole world for the coming final battle of the ages. (Revelation 16:14, 16)
Please take note of an interruption in the recorded sequence of events by an interlude breaking in on the narration to proclaim the thief-like appearing: �Behold, I come as a thief (With the shout or an archangel, and much noise. As the heavens roll back with thunder and etc.), Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.� (Revelation 16:15)
This interlude is to warn the watchmen that, as the Armageddon syndrome draws to a close, it will signal that the thief-like appearing of our Lord is imminent. It also gives notice that, as the result of the expanding worldwide terrorism, we are about to move out of Armageddon and enter the coming Day of Wrath. This fact alone proclaims His presence is about to be revealed with the shining forth, in the heavens, of the sign of the Son of man marking the end of Armageddon and the beginning of the Day of Wrath. That day is to become a reality very soon now.
Associated with the prophetic directives for the attention of the President, the above article states that the fundamentalist�s conception of the so-called rapture was also presented as a coming horrendous and startling event.
Briefly stated, as evidently discussed with the President and accepted as scripturally true, the rapture is supposed to refer to a sudden, and without warning, snatching away of all Christians the true-believing church members.
When the trumpet sounds all will disappear, caught away to meet the Lord in the air. Automobiles will thus suddenly become without the individual at the wheel if he or she is a Christian. Thus cars on the highway, driven by believers, will suddenly be out of control, and stark pandemonium will occur on that highway and every highway in the world where Christians are caught away from the driver�s wheel. Chaos will reign wherever Christians will thus suddenly disappear.
Such a conception is basically absurd and scripturally untrue. We are aware that Paul refers to the time when the trump of God shall sound and the dead in Christ will rise first, to be followed by the living caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Jerry Falwell and the Judeo-Christian fundamentalists have failed to do their homework as to the selecting and timing of those who will be chosen to thus inherit the Crown of Gl0ry and secure rulership in His Kingdom.
Ezekiel puts the lie to the �Rapture� theory, if people would only accept it: �Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly.� (Ezekiel 13:20)
Pillows: Brown-Driver-Briggs� Definition: #3704� keceth‑band, fillet, covered amulets, false phylacteries; used by false prophetesses in Israel to support their demonic fortune‑telling schemes
Fly: Strong�s Concordance: #6524� parach (paw‑rakh'); a primitive root; to break forth as a bud, i.e. bloom; generally, to spread; specifically, to fly (as extending the wings); figuratively, to flourish: KJV‑‑ X abroad, X abundantly, blossom, break forth (out), bud, flourish, make fly, grow, spread, spring (up).
There will be very few, comparatively speaking, from among the millions of Christians who will thus attain unto this high calling. The Overcomers only will heed the summons to meet the Lord in the air. Only the victorious, the firstfruits unto God and the Lamb, will ascend to stand with Him on Mount Zion. (Revelation 14:1-4)
In the messages to the seven churches in the book of Revelation, only those who attain unto the goal of an Overcomer become heirs to special blessings. When the time arrives for the elect to thus be summoned, some churches will not miss even a member and many a Judeo-Christian preacher will still be able to occupy the pulpit Sunday following the sounding of the trumpet. Among all the prophets of his time Elijah only was selected to be translated. Paul was greatly concerned lest he fall short of obtaining the Crown of Glory when he exclaimed: �I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.� (1 Corinthians 9:27)
Paul knew he had secured salvation (2 Timothy 1:12) But he also knew he had to strive to attain the goal of an Overcomer. Again, these TV Judeo-Christian preachers, and all who hold to the view of the sudden disappearance of believers, have failed completely in their understanding of what the record states. The revelation of the sign of the Son of man (Matthew 24:30) will be unexpected but will warn the world, Christians in particular, that the angels are about to proceed to gather those designated as the tares. (Matthew 23:30)
Before those that are alive are gathered, the resurrection of the dead, will have taken place. Thus Paul tells us in Thessalonians that, when the trump of God sounds, the dead will first arise after which the living will be translated. Then, together, the resurrected and translated will ascend to meet the Lord when they hear the great voice form heaving saying unto them: �Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud: and their enemies beheld them.� (Revelation 11:12)
Heaven: Brown-Diver-Briggs� Definition: #3772� ouranos‑
1) the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it
a) the universe, the world
b) the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced
c) the sidereal (starry) heavens
2) the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings
Prior to hearing the voice, summoning them to ascend into the cloud, we are informed that, as a result of the witnesses standing on their feet, all those around them will become aware of what was taking place. This will be especially so as their friends and associates will become eyewitnesses to the sudden changes in their appearance: �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 15:52)
The standing upon their feet in Revelation 11:11 refers to this sudden change or, the atomic change that will affect the human body of as the process of metamorphosis liberates the lowly worm to become a beautiful butterfly.
This completely nullifies the conception of those who hold that suddenly believers would disappear, that is, all Christian believers would thus be involved. Further contributing to a foreknowledge of what is taking place is the reference to the great fear and terror that overtakes those who witness the human metamorphosis that occurs before their very eyes. (Ferrar Fenton thus translates Revelation 11:11-12): �After three days and a half, a Spirit of Life from God entered into them (the witnesses), and they stood upon their feet (the twinkling of an eye change); then great terror fell upon those who watched them. They heard a loud voice from heaven calling to them, �Come up here!� So they ascended into the heaven into the cloud; and their enemies watched them.�
Thus the resurrection, transformation (the metamorphosis) and the ascension will all be watched by both friends and foes to the consternation of all. The resulting terror and consternation will be horrendous. To meet the dead only, who came from their graves in their new and glorious bodies, will cause the bravest of men to tremble in great fear and no critic will, for a moment, be able to remain in the presence of the glorified resurrected and translated.
Millions of Christens, and their spiritual leaders, will witness and behold all this. They will be spectators only for, having failed to be called, by God, to Salvation, they will also not qualify to have been selected for rulership in His Kingdom. Few indeed, in comparison to the countless numbers of Christians who have received the gift of life eternal, will thus receive the crown of which Peter speaks in 1 Peter 5:4: �When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.�
John is given a vision of the day to come when the glory of the Lord lightens the heaven and the Day of Wrath is about to begin: �And the kings of earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains: And said tot he mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?� (Revelation 6:15-17)
Anticipating the coming of this day when the Might, Power and glory of the Lord will be revealed and the transfiguration of the resurrected and living, the selected few, comparatively speaking, will have taken place, Jesus exclaims: �For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.� (Luke 21:35)
It will be only those who heed Jesus� admonition and comply with His directive who will not be caught unaware as in a trap, when that day dawns, as in Luke 21:36: �Watch ye to 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.� A special message is addressed those who overcome as related in Revelation 3:10: �I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.�
In conclusion the writer of the article to which we have been referring labels these evangelists and preachers false prophets. However, in light of the fact that they are definitely propagating that which is scripturally incorrect, overlooking the time that will govern transpiring developments, they are deceiving many. They are not susceptible to correction but rather are somewhat boastful in the position taken. They are shepherds which Isaiah states �cannot understand.� Isaiah 56:11) Because they will not believe the truth, has God sent them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie?