Your Future Foretold| Responses to "The Footsteps of Messiah" | | Posted by William on Friday, May 21, 2010 at 7:55pm | This is the eleventh response to the eleven claims by "Footsteps" that there is a pre-trib rapture, which this author denies.
"Footsteps" claims that, "Since the Tribulation begins with the signing of the seven-year covenant, the very latest point at which the Rapture can occur would be at the time of the signing of the seven-year covenant."
No Scripture is given to support this specific claim, but the only Scripture that "Footsteps" could be referring to is Dan. 9:27, but his conclusion requires a reading into the verse what is not there. Almost this entire section, Dan. 9:24-27, deals with Christ's sacrifice on the cross and its meaning and results. The only other reference in these verses is to the Roman general Titus and his destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70 (Dan.9:27b). | | | | | Responses to "The Footsteps of Messiah" | | Posted by William on Friday, May 21, 2010 at 7:42pm | This is the tenth response to "Footsteps" which claims, "The Scriptures teach that the coming of the Messiah for the believer is imminent, that is, He can come at any time or moment" (Rom. 13:11,12; James 5:7-9; Rev. 22:20).
If this is so, then why does Jesus tell us to look for various signs and situations that have to occur BEFORE His return? (Matt. 24:5-28; Mark 13:6-23; Luke 21:8-26; 2 Thess. 2:1-8; Rev. seals, trumpets, bowls). Moreover, regarding imminency, let us not forget two important Scriptures, namely,
Ps. 90:4 and 2 Pet. 3:8, both of which tell us that God's time is not the same as our time. | | | | | Responses to "The Footsteps of Messiah" | | Posted by William on Friday, May 7, 2010 at 9:13pm | This is number 8 of 11 responses to "Footsteps" which claims a pre-tribulation rapture of the church (and which is found nowhere in the Bible).
Pointing to 1 Thess. 5:1-10, "Footsteps" says, "In verse 9, Paul tells the Church in Thessalonica that they have not been appointed to wrath. The antecedent to "wrath" is found in verse 2, which is 'the day of the Lord,' a term that always refers to the Tribulation."
That true believers are not appointed to wrath is a truism regardless of whether the Tribulation is part of the discussion or not, so that it is irrelevant to the point the writer is trying to make. As to "the day of the Lord" always referring to the Tribulation, I strongly disagree. That day either deals with punishment the Lord is going to bring upon Israel in the O.T. due to her continuing apostasy (such as the exile of the northern tribes to Assyria, or the exile of the southern tribes to Babylon, both occasions being "the day of the Lord" for them at that time), or it deals with the deliverance of Israel from its enemies after its oppression. In the N.T., "the day of the Lord" refers to the second coming of Christ - a day of delivery for HIs people - as it does right in this very Thessalonian Scripture used by "Footsteps." (See also Isa. 2:12-21; Isa. 13:6-13; Joel 2:30,31; Zeph. 1:14-18; 1 Thess. 5:2-4;
and 2 Pet. 3:10-12). | | | | | Responses to "The Footsteps of Messiah" | | Posted by William on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 11:45am | We continue our response to "Footsteps" claim to a pre-tribulation rapture of the church (for which not one specific verse so specifying is available in the entire Bible).
Commenting on 1 Thess. 1:9,10, the "Footsteps" people write, "The wrath of God here is future, and hence cannot refer to the general wrath of God against sin which is a present reality. The wrath that the Church is being delivered from is the wrath of the Great Tribulation."
In response, it should be noted that verses 9 and 10 from the above Scripture belong together and deal with the SALVATION of the Thessalonians, the primary meaning of the Greek work translated "deliver" being "to save." Moreover, the verb is a present active participle, so that it is something that the Lord has done AND IS DOING for us even now (Rom. 5:8-10). Just as the Lord protected the Israelites in Egypt, while simultaneously pouring out His wrath on the Egyptians, so He will do for HIs Church (1 Cor. 10:6,11; Rom. 15:4; plus see my book in the Appendix page 292). But even more importantly, philosophically speaking, consider what Jesus said, "Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell (Matt. 10:28). The point is, why do we have such a fear of persecution that we will do anything to escape it, even including creating a biblically nonexistent pre-trib rapture? (After we finish responding to "Footsteps," we will give you a brief history of the development of the pre-trib rapture concept.) | | | | | Answering "The Footsteps of the Messiah" | | Posted by William on Saturday, April 24, 2010 at 9:32am | We pick up here with number 6 of the 11 responses to "The Footsteps of Messiah" which claims there is a pre-tribulation rapture of the Church (even though they never give even one verse that specifically states that to be so).
In this example, "Footsteps" uses Luke 21:34-37. They state that, "The means of escaping is to stand before the Son of Man, a standing that must happen at a place off the earth, for there is no escape on the earth."
The Dispensationalists are strict literalists, so let's look at this Scripture that way. IF this Scripture speaks of a pre-trib rapture, then it is only PARTIAL rapturism, because only those saints who are "alert at all times" AND "are praying" (both verbs are in the present tense, so you must be constantly alert and constantly praying) will "....have the strength to escape all these things." This sounds like a form of works. WE must have the "strength" (and elertness and prayer life) "in order that" (purpose clause) (we) may "escape." Where is the Lord Jesus Christ in all of this? Is it not HE who will provide the "strength" to "escape all these things" at the time of the rapture, or at any other time? (see John 15:5). This Scripture proves nothing about the TiME of the rapture, if it even deals with the rapture, a clearly debatable point.
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