“Pretribulation Rapture”
June 20, 2020
Tom Forbes, a servant of Jesus Christ
workoption@yahoo.com
KJTruth.com

All scripture quotes are from
The Authorized King James Bible

I.   OVERVIEW (Outlined)

A)     The “pretribulation rapture” belief system is an elaborately orchestrated fraud.

1.     The concept of Christians being taken up before the tribulation is a modern invention.

a)     Prior to 1830, there is no historical record of a belief that Christians would escape the tribulation; and

b)     the factual history of pretrib development is well documented (Dave MacPherson, et al.).

2.     The notion of pretribism did not come by the Spirit of God, nor did it derive from scripture.

a)     The agenda to ensnare the churches came from the mind of Satan, and human implementation of the plan followed.

b)     The dogmas and arguments surrounding pretribism were developed by professional heretics.

3.     The shifty usage of the unscriptural word, “rapture,” a blueprint in Jesuit priestcraft, was central to the success of the scam:

a)     it is impossible to forge a prototype without simultaneously providing new vocabulary to identify it; and

b)     it was necessary to have a substitute for the word, “resurrection,” in order to supplant the “first resurrection.”

i.     Pretrib wordplay usurps “resurrection” terminology for itself when convenient; but

ii.     slithers around those verses that specify when and how the true resurrection takes place.

c)     For example, proponents of pretribism typically assert that “The bible never says anything against the rapture!” – which is technically true only in the sense that the bible never says anything about “rapture” at all – yet, this argument is utterly frivolous and trivializes the diabolic scheme to destroy millions of souls.

B)     By pretending a “SECRET” event, an unlimited universe of excuses, arguments, and double-talk was made available in support of the deception – its pandering “bible experts” repeating such shockingly juvenile (and worn out) rubbish as, “The rapture couldn’t be a ‘secret’ if it was [sic] openly stated,” so it had to be “hidden in the white spaces between the words”!

C)     Pretrib theory is admitted by its proponents to be an “implied” concept that must be “inferred”; however,

1.     it is impossible that scripture implies pretribism because, if this were true, the word of God violently contradicts itself; and

2.     in order for pretribism to be inferred by anyone, he would have to be either

a)     ignorant of the great bulk of plain scripture on the subject, and simply doesn’t realize it; OR

b)     willfully blind in his handling of God’s word (2nd Cor 4:2).

D)     Pretrib arguments require personal dishonesty and extraordinary mental gymnastics:

1.     using circular logic, for example, insisting that “saints” in the “tribulation” are “just tribulation saints” who aren’t “REAL saints” because “real saints won’t be in the tribulation!” (e.g., Dan 7:21 & Rev 13:5-7);

2.     inventing bizarre “definitions” of plain words to create “proof-texts” that squarely contradict even the verses from which the proof-texts are extracted; for example, claiming that “falling away” (from “apostasia”) means “falling away from the planet” to force Paul’s prophecy of a future global apostasy (2nd Thes 2:3) to serve as an arcane acknowledgement of a (non-existent) “secret rapture” prior to the coming of the Lord;

3.     doting on pet symbolic interpretations that are plainly invalidated by doctrinally explicit verses to the contrary;

4.     crafting formulas that fly in the face of common sense, even to the point of complete absurdity; for example,

a)     pretending that “day of Christ” is hidden “code” language for “rapture” (Scofield, et al.), while at the same time

b)     asserting that “day of the Lord” is code for “the great tribulation” or “bad things happening,” etc. ad nauseam.

II.   THE HISTORY (in brief)

From the outset of rapture theorizing in 1830, its promoters struggled to form a coherent orthodoxy from the evolving speculations (a fluid set of contradicting heresies loosely agreed upon); and they failed.  Attempts to produce a more elegant product continued into the twentieth century in a succession of determined efforts to polish a pig’s ear, as pretrib acolytes labored to refine and justify a thing that (like “Darwinism”) could only survive in a climate of apostasy and rampant carnality.  Pretrib’s champions regularly battled for recognition and cash flow and (leaving aside whether there may have been any who “meant well”) there were no good guys in the saga of pretrib ascendency.  While early efforts to conceal pretrib’s origins were amazingly successful, the hammering out of a consistent belief system was not.  That goal is now abandoned by today’s professional clergy who simply plod on in their pretrib love affair, with no inclination whatsoever to consider its doctrinal contradictions and wretched history.

The first arguably “rapture-like” description of record is found in the late eighteenth century writings of Manuel de Lacunza:  his imaginative musings, though doctrinally vague, were (1) “post” (not pre-trib); (2) without any hint of secrecy, and (3) with no mention of imminency (i.e., “any moment” heresy).  Lacunza was a Jesuit priest who hid behind the pen-name, “Rabi Ben Ezra” – as the Jesuits themselves also wrote the absurd “Protocols of Zion” to tarnish the Jews and justify Rome’s seething hatred of Israel.  (This practice was adopted because Christians in Europe at the time refused to read any material known to be authored by Catholics.)  Lacunza’s work went un-noticed until 1827, when it was published by Edward Irving, a notorious heretic, who played a somewhat minor role in translating Lacunza’s writings into English (but took all the credit for himself).  This material was then devoured by Margaret Macdonald, a young but well read Scottish girl with whom Irving long remained in personal contact.

Borrowing the fantastical style used by Lacunza (and with her girlish imagination and thinly veiled pride at full throttle), Macdonald began to envision all manner of exciting new things, including the truly original notion of connecting “one shall be taken” (of Mt 24:40) with the novelty of a pretrib, partial rapture.  By 1830, Macdonald was eagerly preaching her fantasy – with the Lord coming “to the air” – as though it were a revelation given to her in a grand “vision”; but (like Lacunza) never alluding to any hint of either secrecy or imminency.  (It was apparently not yet realized that this bonanza had limited retail potential without these elements.)  Edward Irving to the rescue:  not only was Irving the first notable minister to publically recognize Macdonald as the first to teach pretrib; but in 1832 he, himself, added the essential secrecy component to the soaring invention (with the heretical notion of imminency being adopted still later).  Macdonald was ignored in Scotland due to her infamy as a partaker of the occult, yet, in England, in a classic example of strange bedfellows, the public was saturated with her pretrib concept through the unprecedented co-operation of British newspaper publishers who obligingly never revealed their source!  (This complicity was strikingly similar to the launching of Billy Graham’s over-night popularity in the U.S. by the Hearst-Luce (Knights of Malta) syndicated press, which “puffed” Graham, a covert agent of the Jesuits, to establish him as Rome’s ecumenical poster boy who would effectively erase fourteen hundred years of dark ages from the collective memory of nominal Protestants.)

As rapture development waxed increasingly deceitful in its desperate wresting of scripture – and with contemporary Christians largely decrying the bizarre interpretations and circuitous logic behind it as the work of devils – the charmed theory nonetheless spread like wild fire.  Satan’s pretrib agenda was mainstreamed by the arch-villain, John Nelson Darby (the darling of the religious establishment and news media) who published numerous “dispensational” heresies and “Israel/Church dichotomy” theories that neatly provided for all doctrinally inconvenient scripture to be ignored as “written to the Jews” (e.g., “If ye love me, keep my commandments” – Jn 14:15).  A zealously outspoken “post-trib” dispensationalist until 1834, Darby quickly “saw the light” (financially speaking) and then plagiarized the work of others, altered documents, and revised history in trying to peddle the pretrib rapture as his own creation.  (Like the “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” Darby had his own corrupt bible version published to legitimize his favorite heresies.)  Darby’s ungainly arguments were rife with internal contradictions, yet they were eagerly swept up by doctrinally feeble churches; and today, this foul fruit is embraced by numerous denominations as absolutely “fundamental to the faith!”

For the rapture deception to take hold in the U.S. the churches first had to be doctrinally and spiritually compromised – a goal greatly achieved through the (so-called) “entrepreneur,” Andrew Carnegie, a Luciferian puppet and bag-man for his fellow globalists (like today’s George Soros).  Carnegie transformed large mainstream churches by bribing their greedy, naive, and ignorant pastors with “free” offers of magnificent cathedral organs in exchange for willingly trading away the Constitutional autonomy of “the body of Christ” by “incorporating” their churches under the sovereignty of the state.  This structural entanglement spread like cancer and served as the trendy foundation of America’s expanding apostasy.  The hybrid “state churches” quickly forsook sound doctrine and the beloved King James Bible in favor of competing theories from “evolution” and “new versions” of the bible – all largely orchestrated through the intrigues of the Jesuits and their friends, most notably, occultists Westcott and Hort.  In 1954, through the diabolic genius of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s offer of “501c3” tax exempt status in exchange for their freedom of speech, these already debased religious institutions, now under the advice of lawyers (Luke 11:52), were further led to seek the leaven of “federal standing,” thereby continuing in their path of denominational hypocrisy (Mt 6:24).  Today, these dens of iniquity reject the authority of scripture entirely; denying even their own “preferred versions of the bible” in deference to Rome and the obligatory considerations of “social justice,” sexual perversion, “science falsely so called” (1st Tim 6:20), and pretrib rapture.

Thus, America’s mainline denominational churches became camouflaged corporate business enterprises, with pastors and deacons presiding as CEOs and board members over houses of religious prostitution.  Amid this debauchery, Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, a conniving reprobate with Luciferian connections – and with remarkable assistance from elitist newspaper editors of distinctly satanic secret society membership – adopted and published Darby’s plagiarized pretrib dogmas, and shamelessly injected his toxic corruptions directly into the text of the King James Bible as the so-called “Scofield Reference Bible.”  By this treachery, Scofield systematically twisted and contradicted every passage of the bible dealing with the timing and nature of the REAL “first resurrection.”  This hugely successful strategy left a spiritual paralysis across the American landscape, with Scofield’s “notes” blindly read in the churches and seminaries as though they were the gospel, itself.  Today, a drunken residue of evangelical Christianity – bewitched under an avalanche of propaganda issuing from radio, television, movies, books, false bibles, false churches, the internet, and Jesuit infiltrated seminaries – now widely claim the rapture as their “blessed hope,” and rabidly refuse to be talked out of it.  The ongoing wickedness behind this diabolical war has taken place under the treasonous watch of well-paid false pastors who personally attack anyone standing for the truth in this matter.

2nd Peter 2:1-2   “. . . there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies. . . .  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

III.   RELEVANT SCRIPTURE (in brief)

1st Corinthians 15:51-52   “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:  for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we [that is, WE who are still alive] shall be changed.”

OBSERVE that this “last trump” resurrection takes place “at the last day.”

John 6:39   “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.”

v. 40   “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life:  and I will raise him up at the last day.”

v. 44   “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

1st Corinthians 15:22-24   “But every man in his own order:  Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.”

This is not a “secret rapture” BEFORE the tribulation, but the scripturally promised “resurrection” at the last day, at the last trump, “AT” the Lord’s triumphant return to earth!

v. 24   “Then cometh the end. . . .”

The deceived pretribber complains:  “You’re trying to take away my blessed hope!”

No, you believe in a false hope, and you absolutely refuse the REAL “blessed hope” plainly described in the bible.

Titus 2:13   “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. . . .”

Consider the irony in the fact that proponents of a false hope (a secret rapture in which the Lord “DOESN’T APPEAR”) are forced to approach Titus 2:13 (the only place in scripture where the term, “blessed hope,” is found), to commandeer this term, “blessed hope,” that specifically takes place at the Lord’s “glorious appearing”!

Whereas Cyrus Scofield boldly contradicted the bible and claimed it to be mistranslated, the bible exposes him as a lying serpent (2nd Thes 2:1-4; Mt 23:33) – who methodically corrupted fundamental biblical doctrine with his devilish “rules for understanding” now regurgitated in lockstep by a cult of mindless followers still insisting that:

A)     “day of Christ” is code language for the rapture, and

B)     “day of the Lord” is code for “great tribulation” (or) “God’s wrath,” (or) “bad things happening.”

This unsupportable hogwash is the result of outrageous wresting of scripture, and would not have survived five minutes of scrutiny except that millions of carnal Christians desperately wanted this nonsense to be true.

NOTICE:  The glaring problem with Scofield’s transmutation of these two terms is that there are many more than just the two he selected – all of which refer to the same singular day of the Lord’s glorious return to this planet:

  1.     “that great and notable day of the Lord” (Acts 2:20),
  2.     “that great day of God Almighty” (Rev 16:14),
  3. +  “the day of Christ” (Philip 1:10; 2:16; 2nd Thes 2:2) (3 uses in the NT),
  4.     “the day of God” (2nd Peter 3:12),
  5.     “the day of Jesus Christ” (Philip 1:6),
  6.     “the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1st Cor 1:8),
  7.     “the day of the LORD” (Zeph 1:14; Isaiah 13:6,9; Ezek 13:5; 30:3; etc.) (used 15 times in the OT),
  8. +  “the day of the Lord” (1st Thes 5:2; 2nd Peter 3:10) (2 uses in the NT),
  9.     “the day of the LORD of hosts” (Isaiah 2:12),
10.     “the day of the Lord GOD of hosts” (Jer 46:10),
11.     “the day of the Lord Jesus” (1st Cor 5:5),
12.     “the day of the LORD’s anger” (Lam 2:22; Zeph 2:2,3) (3 uses in the OT),
13.     “the day of the LORD’s sacrifice” (Zeph 1:8),
14.     “the day of the LORD’s vengeance” (Isaiah 34:8),
15.     “the day of the LORD’s wrath” (Zeph 1:18),
16.     “the day of vengeance of our God” (Isaiah 61:2),
17.     “the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom 2:5),
18.     “the day when the Son of man is revealed” (Luke 17:30),
19.     “the great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Mal 4:5),
20.     “the great and the terrible day of the LORD” (Joel 2:31),
21.     “the great day of his wrath” [of the Lamb] (v. 16) (Rev 6:17),
22.     “the great day of the LORD” (Zeph 1:14),
23.     “the Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10).

REALITY CHECK:  We are faced with two possible conclusions:  either we have twenty three different days  OR  we have twenty three different terms describing ONE day.  It is insanity to follow Scofield in pretending that we have TWO days!

CONSIDER the following questions in regard to obvious conclusions that should be drawn from the above list.

A)     As there are more than 350 biblical names of Jesus Christ, does that prove there are 350 different “Lords”?

B)     If it’s true, as claimed by pretribbers, that “the day of Christ” is different from “the day of the Lord”; is it also true that “the day of Jesus Christ” is different from “the day of the Lord Jesus”?

C)     Does Paul’s use of “the day of Christ” indicate a different day than when he uses “the day of Jesus Christ”?

D)     Is “the day of the LORD’s vengeance” not the same day as “the day of vengeance of our God”?

E)     Is “the great day of the LORD” not the same day as “that great day of God Almighty”? (etc.).

F)     How can “day of the Lord” mean “great tribulation,” while at the same time “the Lord’s day” means “Sunday”?

G)     Why do Christians adopt the absurd claims of reprobate popes (Romish or otherwise) in perverting scripture?

ANSWER:  2nd Timothy 4:3-4   “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

EXACTLY!  That time has come, and the fallout from the deception is horrendous.

CONSIDER just one example among many devilish “notes” in the “Scofield Reference Bible,” a brazen attack on 2nd Thes, 2:2 concerning the resurrection of the saints, wherein Scofield flatly pronounces the King James Bible to be “unfortunately” mistranslated, and with savage ferocity then turns the passage upside down and butchers it beyond recognition:

        Theme.  The theme of Second Thessalonians is, unfortunately, obscured by a mistranslation in the A.V. of 2. 2, where “day of Christ is at hand” (1 Cor. 1. 8 note) should be, “day of the LORD is now present” (Isa. 2. 12, refs.).  The Thessalonian converts were “shaken in mind” and “troubled,” supposing, perhaps on the authority of a forged letter as from Paul, that the persecutions from which they were suffering were those of the “great and terrible day of the Lord,” from which they had been taught to expect deliverance by “the day of Christ, and our gathering together unto him” (2. 1).  The present letter, then, was written to instruct the Thessalonians concerning the day of Christ, “and our gathering together unto him” (1 Thes. 4. 14-17) and the relation of the “day of Christ” to the “day of the LORD.”  First Thessalonians had more in view the “day of Christ”; the present Epistle the “day of the LORD.” [emphasis added Scofield Reference Bible, 1917, Oxford University Press, Am. Branch]

The Machiavellian perversity of this paragraph should infuriate any Christian who reads it.  The King James Bible obscures NOTHING!  Scofield was a beguiling monster whose singular goal was to legitimize pretrib rapture dogmas by fabricating out of thin air an illusory instrumentality in “day of Christ” as signifying “the rapture” – which Scofield arbitrarily separated from “day of the Lord” (as representing something sinister that the saints would ostensibly confuse with persecution from their enemies!).  This imposture is blatant fraud and was perpetrated by a wholesale wresting of scripture.  By this utterly unsupported and unsupportable assertion, Scofield lays the groundwork for two false definitions of two terms – both of which in plain truth are merely two terms for the same day, thereby fabricating a false rapture promoted as occurring BEFORE the “first resurrection.”  Scofield simply separates “the day of Christ” from “the day of the Lord” (1) as though these were TWO days, not one and the same; (2) as though neither term referred to an actual “day”; and (3) as though “the Lord” and “Christ” were not simply two titles of “the Lord Jesus Christ” (a title used 27 times in the New Testament).  The success of Scofield and many others in this deception required the biblical ignorance of gullible Christians led by legions of false pastors stampeding over each other in their blind rush to serve the devil’s agenda! (1st Tim 6:10).

2nd Thessalonians 2:1-4   “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand [i.e., “at any moment”].  Let no man deceive you by any means:  for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”

OBSERVE four truths in regard to 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-13:

1)     “our gathering together unto him” takes place at “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (v. 1);

2)     these two events are tied together by Paul as occuring on “the day of Christ” (v. 2);

3)     Paul, in using this term, refers to that one and very same day as does also Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, John, Luke, Malachi, Obadiah, Peter, Solomon, and Zephaniah in the above list of 23 terms, a consistently prominent biblical theme; and

4)     Paul’s prophecy provides the exact order of events as they will occur, and begins by begging you to NOT let anyone “deceive you by any means” concerning this, which is EXACTLY what Scofield and his friends have accomplished by preempting “the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” with a non-existent secret pretrib rapture at which the Lord “doesn’t come down.”  Paul could not have warned about this deception more clearly!  The true “resurrection” and “our gathering together unto him,” will NOT take place until there is “a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed.”

1st Thessalonians 4:13-18   “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him [meaning “UP into the clouds with him”; NOT “DOWN from heaven with him”].  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.  For [1] the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, [2] with the voice of the archangel, and [3] with the trump of God:  and [4] the dead in Christ shall rise first:  then [5] we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:  and so shall we ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with these words” [not the lies of pretribism].

FRAUD WARNING:   At this point, pretribbers lift verse 14 from its resurrection context to adapt a tiny portion of Paul’s message to their rapture agenda (while ignoring the rest of the passage that makes clear this is the glorious “last trump” resurrection on the Lord’s day – NOT a sneaky, secret, pretrib event!   Incredibly, pretribbers insist this is where their “dead saints” come “down with the Lord from heaven” silently and unnoticed; where Paul specifically describes “the dead in Christ” as being RAISED, with the shouting of an “archangel” and “the trump of God.”  (Pretrib “bible experts” can literally fill an entire college blackboard with a gnarled tangle of arrows trying to explain their tortured fabrication as reality.)

A)     When 1st Thes 4:13-18 is read in its entirety, rather than cherry-picked out of context, everything is perfectly clear.

B)     There is an ORDER here that is uncomplicated and easy to understand which pretribbers simply ignore; and

C)     the comprehensive clarity of this passage is the reason Scofield was forced to to claim Paul was mistranslated.

OBSERVE the order of each specific event in its turn:

A)     “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout” (1st Thes 4:16);

1.     “the Lord himself” descends (and there are NO raptured saints with him) (v. 16);

2.     “with a shout” (He isn’t tippy-toeing in sneakily – but with a warrior’s cry – and still NO saints) (v. 16);

B)     “with the voice of the archangel” (another warrior cry – and still no saints) (v. 16);

C)     “and with the trump of God” (the official announcement of war – and still no saints) (v. 16);

D)     and THEN:  “the dead in Christ . . . rise” [NOT “descend”] (v. 16);

1.     they are NOT “coming down from heaven with the Lord” (v. 16) but rather;

2.     they “rise first” (v. 16), immediately BEFORE those who “are alive and remain” (v. 17);

3.     all these dead in Christ all rise from their “graves” in the same “hour” (John 5:28);

4.     which is all described in one place and in one verse, 1st Cor 15:52:

1st Corinthians 15:52   “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.”

John 5:28   “for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice. . . .”

NOTICE:  “all that are in the graves” (present tense) “shall hear his voice” (future tense) in the same “hour,” and therefore do NOT “go to be with the Lord” when they die – a claim that is nothing but religious fraud.

CONSIDER the pretrib strategy.  By focusing only on verse 14 in 1st Thessalonians 4, the words “bring with him” are forced to mean “bring down from heaven with him” (rather than bring from the grave with him) under the false theory that “they’re already up there with him!”; and with this trickery, the whole thrust of a six verse passage is corrupted and reduced to a doctrine that declares exactly the opposite of what the passage clearly states:

A)     “them which are asleep,” (1st Thes 4:13) is a metaphor referring to those who are “dead” (see Jn 11:11-14).

NOTE:  Those who “sleep” in the Lord are dead, and do NOT “come down from heaven at the rapture”; but are raised “up at the last day” (John 6:40) from the dead.

John 11:11-14   “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.  . . .  [The disciples did not understand this.]  Howbeit Jesus spake of his death:  but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.  Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.”

B)     “them also which sleep in Jesus” (1st Thes 4:14) is a metaphor referring to all Christians who are dead,

C)     “them which are asleep” (1st Thes 4:15) is a metaphor referring to all dead Christians who in the future are raised from the grave on the same occasion as the remnant who “are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord.”

NOTICE that whereas 2nd Thessalonians 2:1-4 makes clear the order of events coming BEFORE the resurrection, the language in 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 makes clear the order of events occurring ON the day of resurrection.  These two passages together absolutely prevent any inference of a pretrib rapture, and also make it impossible to infer any “secret” or “sneaky” or “unobserved” event otherwise.  This is “the great and dreadful day of the LORD” (Malachi 4:5).

Jeremiah 25:30-33 (v. 30)   “. . . The Lord . . . shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes. . . .”

Revelation 14:18-20   “. . . and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles. . . .”

19:15   “. . . and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”

In ONE day, “at the last day,” the Lord raises his elect from the Earth, and then vents his wrath against the wicked in a great slaughter – all on “the Lord’s day.”  (See Eph 4:26 for insight on the limiting of our wrath to 24 hours.)

IV.   THE GREAT TRIBULATION under antichrist
(the time of Satan’s unrestrained wrath against mankind)

Daniel 7:21   “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them. . . .”

Revelation 13:5-7   “. . . power was given unto [the beast] . . . to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. . . .”

A)     Here, pretribbers simply insist that these verses do NOT include themselves;

B)     and are typically quick with an arsenal of witty suggestions to explain away the identity of these “saints”:

1.     “Who knows?  It could be anybody EXCEPT the church.  [Really?]

This argument is foolish, unscriptural, and absurd.

2.     “It might be the Jews.

Corrupt affections may be showing a little here, and scripture forbids this belief:

1st Corinthians 12:13   “For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”

3.     “They could be people who aren’t special like we are.”

But that won’t work either because “God is no respecter of persons . . .” (Acts 10:34).

4.     “That verse [(Daniel 7:21)] doesn’t matter because it’s old testament”

John Darby, a professional deceiver and Jesuit tool, led the way in popularizing this twisted thinking.

5.     “[Revelation 13:5-7] . . . only refers to ‘tribulation saints.”’

It’s true, of course, that you can label these as “tribulation saints” if you like, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are still “saints” IN the tribulation! – and WHY can’t you SEE that what you say is true when you seem to understand it perfectly?

QUESTION:  What is a “tribulation saint”?

CORRECT ANSWER:  “A saint who is IN the tribulation.”

The impasse here for pretribbers is circuitously overcome (they think) through “private interpretation,” by slickly defining a “tribulation saint” as NOT including any “new testament saint” who’s now reading the new testament!

– 2nd Peter 1:20   “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.”

Mark 13:24-27   “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.  And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”

Revelation 1:7   “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him. . . .”

When pretribbers are forced to deal with Mark 13, they ignore everything in it except for the last part of verse 27, placing emphasis on “to the uttermost part of heaven” while pretending that “heaven” in this verse refers to “the third heaven” (or “kingdom of heaven”) rather than “firmament of heaven” as made clear by the term, “four winds.”

Genesis 1:14-20   “And God said, Let the . . . fowl . . . fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.”

Pretribbers universally claim that the “elect” in Mark 13:27 were “previously raised up at their death and then later come back DOWN to join the Lord at the rapture”; as opposed to being “raised” according to scripture at the “last trump” (1st Cor 15:52) “at the last day” (Jn 6:39, 40, 44, 54), “on the Lord’s day” (see Rev 1:10 for reference).

NOTE:  concerning Revelation 1:10, John was taken “in the Spirit” to the future to actually see “that great and notable day of the Lord” (Acts 2:20; Rev 16:14); a declaration by John that is NOT an off-hand reference to “Sunday,” as claimed by Rome.

Revelation 13:4-8   “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [the beast (from v. 4)], whose names are not written in the book of life. . . .”

OBSERVE that those who are in the book of life and do not worship the beast are still “upon the earth.”

THINK:  Why is the exception given here (in the second half of the sentence), if those whose names ARE written in the book of life do NOT “dwell upon the earth”?  This cannot be interpreted as Christians IN HEAVEN who are NOT taking “the mark of the beast”; because if that were true, the verse would simply state:  “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [period]” – and there wouldn’t be any exceptions!

v. 9   “If any man have an ear, let him hear.”

This was stated so that you would pay attention to verse 8 and receive the prophecy, instead of foolishly dismissing it with a great bluster of mindless prevarication!  The purpose of the prophecy is to warn you concerning the coming great evil, so that you will understand and prevail in the Lord!

Matthew 24:12   “And because iniquity shall abound [in the “great tribulation” (v. 21)], the love of many shall wax cold.”

This is the “falling away” of the foolish, as described by Paul in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3, who are even now deceived by Satan.

Matthew 24:20-22   “But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:  for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved:  but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

THINK:  Why would the Lord shorten the days of tribulation “for the elect’s sake” if they were NOT in the tribulation?

Satan has ensnared the churches with rebellious lies that are staggeringly obvious in their bitter fruit; for example:

A)     claiming that the phrase, “for the elect’s sake,” in the verse above “does NOT refer to Christians”; and that

B)     “the sabbath day” and “the commandments” are “done away with, so the tribulation doesn’t apply to us”!

Revelation 12:17   “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 14:6-12   “Here is the patience of the saints:  here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

NOTICE that a faithful and patient few [1] still “dwell on the earth” (Rev 14:6), [2] are in the tribulation (v. 9), [3] keep the commandments (v. 12), [4] keep the faith of Jesus Christ (v. 12), and [5] are called “saints” (v. 12); yet pretribbers insist these “saints” cannot be Christians BECAUSE they keep the commandments!, and therefore must be some form of delinquent Jewish converts “who came to the Lord too late to make the rapture.”  (This is the universal pretrib explanation!)

Matthew 24:29-31   “Immediately  *** after ***  the tribulation of those days . . . they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Luke 3:4-7   “. . . And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”

There is nothing secret, sneaky, or “pre” here!

V.   LIES, IGNORANCE, MISQUOTATION,
FALSE ARGUMENT, & FRAUD (the Short List)

A)     “The Lord promised to take us out of the world before anything bad happens.”  [This is the carnal pretrib fantasy.]

No, the Lord did not promise that.  This is a lie told by those who do not hold the bible in high regard.  Children believe in Santa Claus because they WANT to believe their lying parents, just as lazy adults believe the rapture propaganda of their“hireling” pastors; but the Lord is not to blame for the ignorance or deceitfulness of either.

John 17:15   “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.”

Revelation 2:10   “Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer:  behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days:  be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.”

B)     “The ‘tribulation’ is the wrath of God against his enemies.”

NO!  The tribulation is the time of Satan’s unrestrained “wrath” against all “flesh” on earth (Mt 24:22).

Revelation 12:12   “. . . for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath . . .” [as it was from the beginning].

As it was also in Job’s day, when the Lord permitted Satan to unmercifully attack Job and his family (Job 1:6 – 2:10), so Satan in the last days will be allowed to vent his fury against mankind – and he will have an extremely wicked world at his disposal to help him (2nd Tim 3:1-3) – yet the faithful (as Job) will patiently endure it, even to the death! (Rev 12:11).

John 15:18-20   “. . . because ye are not of the world . . . the world hateth you . . . If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. . . .”

You may not consider this good news, but you must accept that the Lord has told you the truth:  the last days will be as it was for Lot in Sodom – surrounded by unimaginable evil.  (See Genesis 19:1-11.)

Luke 17:28-30   “. . . as it was in the days of Lot . . . thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.”

2nd Timothy 3:1-3   “. . . in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be . . . unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. . . .”

C)     “A loving God wouldn’t allow his people to go through tribulation.”

1.     This devilish lie is a multi-pronged dagger designed to ensnare and destroy the believer by falsely implying that

a)     it would be WRONG of God to expect anyone to endure the tribulation; and that

b)     IF God DID ALLOW us to go through tribulation, then he is NOT “a loving God”; and that

c)     God is ALREADY wrong for allowing horrendous Christian persecution throughout history.

2.     When the pretribber finds himself being coerced to take Satan’s mark, he will tell himself one of two things:

a)     that it can’t be “the mark” (Rev 13:17; 14:11) because “we won’t be here for that!” – and then, thinking it a mere economic convenience, he will accept it (Rev 16:2); OR he will assume

b)     that he “missed the rapture!” and therefore the Lord has abandoned him; and

i.     in shock and resentment, he will conclude that there isn’t any choice but to “worship the beast”; and

ii.     will quickly join the global mob in worshiping Satan, exactly as warned against by God! (See Rev 14:9-11).

Revelation 13:4   “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast:  and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?”

Will this be you?

3.     Pretribbers wrest Romans 5:9 by lifting “wrath” from its context of God’s wrath to redefine it as “tribulation”; thus grotesquely transforming “we shall be saved from wrath” into “We shall be saved from tribulation!” – and whereas the Lord greatly warned of the tribulation, pretribbers jump up and down in a childish pretense of “rapture exercises.”

Revelation 12:11   “And they overcame him [“the devil”] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

4.     REALITY CHECK:  Three things need to be understood here concerning the pretrib perversion of Romans 5:9.

Romans 5:9   “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

a)     “Wrath” does NOT mean “tribulation”:  “wrath” means “wrath” – which is God’s wrath against his enemies:

Ephesians 5:5-8 (6)   “. . . because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.”

Colossians 3:5-8 (6)   “Let no man deceive you with vain words:  for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.”

b)     The “wrath” from which “we shall be saved” is God’s wrath, which is why Christians say, “We got saved.”

NOTE:  The tribulation is Satan’s unrestrained wrath:  the Lord’s wrath is reserved for “the last day.”

c)     The context for the “wrath” of Romans 5:9 is given by verses 10 and 11 (which is simply ignored by pretribbers):

Romans 5:10-11   “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life . . . by whom we have now received the atonement”

By the Lord’s work, the wrath of God is no longer upon us; yet Satan’s wrath against us is all the greater.

5.     False pastors lie to their carnal flocks that “A loving God would not let us suffer in tribulation!” – when, in truth, all out WAR is being prosecuted (Rev 12:17), and Satan knows full well that he will soon have the whole world in his grip:

1st Thessalonians 3:4   “For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.”

Romans 8:17   “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Philippians 1:29   “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ . . . to suffer for his sake. . . .”

2nd Timothy 2:12   “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him:  if we deny him, he also will deny us. . . .”

Psalm 44:22   “. . . for thy sake . . . we are counted as sheep for the slaughter.”

D)   “To be absent from the body IS to be present with the Lord.”

Wrong!  This is an utter corruption of 2nd Cor 5:8.  Satan’s thugs assert this falsehood as though it came from scripture, but it did not.  The fraud is perpetrated by leaving out the first half of the verse and mangling the remainder; specifically, leaving out the comma and substituting “is” for “and”; thus altering the verse to force a time element that is not there!  What Paul said is a perfect characterization of sound doctrine, but this perversion of it is false and satanic to its core.

2nd Corinthians 5:8   “We are . . . willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord”

Nonetheless, because the dead person is not aware of the passing of time, his resurrection from the grave, from his perspective, will seemingly occur immediately after his death, regardless of the actual time span in between as observed by those still alive:

Acts 2:29-34   “. . . let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried . . . [and] is not ascended into the heavens. . . .”  

Modern Christians simply imagine themselves to be more important than King David.

Psalm 104:29   “. . . thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.”

Psalm 146:3-4   “. . . in that very day his thoughts perish.”

No, Virginia, the “dear departed” has NOT “gone on to be with the Lord,” regardless of statements to that effect by religious deceivers at “grave side services” (Mat 8:22).  Legions of false shepherds brandish allegorical passages out of their allegorical context in trying to refute and contradict plain doctrinal statements addressing the factual nature of physical death – which (not coincidentally) results in yet another perversion that neatly accommodates the pretrib fraud.

E)     “The Lord’s coming ‘as a thief in the night’ proves he won’t be noticed when he gets here.”

NO, the bible does not by any means indicate that the Lord’s coming will be “secretive” (or that he won’t be “noticed”); but reveals that an ignorant and faithless human race – neither expecting that, nor knowing when and how, the Lord will appear – will be shocked at his coming, as when a man awakes in the middle of the night with a burglar in his bedroom.

1.     The world’s atheists are not expecting the Lord at all (as they intensely hope);

2.     pretribbers expect the Lord too soon (“before any thing bad happens”), and will quickly “fall away” in the tribulation; and

3.     corporate amillennial hypocrites (if expecting anything) imagine a polished politician from hell declaring his approval of their having resurrected and institutionalized the abominations of Sodom and Gomorrah.

4.     Most of the religious world (and many professing Christians) expect their god to return for the purpose of exterminating the Jews, and become quite irritated even now when faced with Jesus Christ as “the Lion of the tribe of Juda” (Rev 5:5).

5.     The Lord’s day will indeed come “as a thief” to the world; but the Lord will not surprise the faithful by coming sooner than they hope; rather, he will come later than pretribbers demand, who are terribly deceived in their thinking.

a)     The “thief” passages (1st Thes 5:2; 2nd Ptr 3:10; and Rev 3:3) are open indictments against today’s raging apostasy;

b)     and are directed as personal warnings to half-baked Christians who fail to see the seriousness of their infidelity.

6.     The broad thrust of scripture emphasizes the need for patience and the willingness to go the distance.

Matthew 24:13   “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (also Mark 13:13).

7.     Scripture admonishes the wise to be mentally and spiritually prepared to wait longer than the foolish think:

Read Matthew 25:1-13:  “They that were foolish . . . took no oil with them. . . .”

a)     The foolish expect the groom to come SOONER than he, in fact, will; and

b)     when the time of great evil comes, pretribbers (who may indeed be “ready for the rapture”) will certainly NOT be ready to die for the Lord’s sake (Lk 9:24 & Rev 12:11) – a future scenario which they even now reject as unthinkable!

1st Thessalonians 5:2   “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord [NOT “the day of Christ”] so cometh as a thief in the night.”

Again we see the fraud of Scofield’s con game completely exposed.

2nd Peter 3:10   “But the day of the Lord [NOT“the day of Christ”] will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.”

NOTICE:  The language of 2nd Peter 3:10 removes any possibility that the Lord’s coming will not be noticed – and it is mindlessly silly to think the Lord of glory would sneak in “secretly” to destroy the planet.

OBSERVE:  If it were true that “day of the Lord” is a mistranslation in 2nd Thessalonians 2:2 (as claimed by Scofield) – then Paul’s words are also wrong in 1st Thessalonians 5:2 and Peter’s words are wrong in 2nd Peter 3:10.

NOTE:  You will certainly judge between two things:  either the bible is “mistranslated” or Scofield was a lying snake.  (If you think you can refuse to decide this issue, you’ve already decided – and you got it wrong.)

F)     “The term, ‘falling away’ [in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3] refers to ‘falling away from the Earth’ in the rapture.”

No, this outrageous wresting of scripture attempts to reverse the intent of the passage by interpreting “falling away” to indicate evidence of “falling off the world” in “a secret rapture” (before the tribulation), and forces the passage to an absurdity!

1.     This grotesque handling of the word of God is outward evidence of

a)     the devilish source behind the whole pretrib theory, and

b)     demonstrates the personal DESPERATION of pretribbers in their desire to deceive themselves and others.

2.     Those who take part in this wresting of scripture

a)     are immune to the rationality and harmony of the bible, and

b)     are spiritually programed to ignore the great volume of the Lord’s warnings!

3.     The words, “falling away,” are derived from “apostasia” (apostasy) which is “a falling away from the truth”!

a)     An “apostate” is a person who once stood on the truth, but fell away from it later; as compared to someone who never knew the truth in the first place.  (See 2nd Ptr 3:10-17; Mat 24:12; & Luke 8:1-15 for insight.)

b)     The pretrib deception is furthered by the devilish “Once Saved Always Saved” doctrine which teaches that “It’s impossible to fall away, even if you wanted to,” thus protecting the absurd belief that “falling away” in this passage cannot mean “falling away” from Christ – when, in fact, that’s exactly what it “means”!

4.     The bible clearly reveals that one CAN “fall away” and clearly defines the words, “fall away”:

Luke 8:13   “They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.”

Hebrews 6:4-6   “For it is impossible . . . if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”

a)     This does NOT state that “it is impossible to fall away,” as claimed by Scofield; rather,

b)     that “if they shall fall away,” it is “impossible . . . to renew them again unto repentance. . . .”

c)     The thing that is “impossible” is to “renew them again” IF they “fall away.”

5.     Among those who WILL “fall away” are the pretribbers who EXPECTED to be “raptured out before the tribulation,” although they were plainly warned to the contrary!  When the rapture doesn’t take place, they will be overwhelmed by the horror, which is exactly the purpose behind the pretrib hoax:  it is a setup for a fall:

Matthew 16:25   “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it . . .” (also Mk 8:35; Lk 9:24; & 17:33).

G)     “The ‘one taken’ [“one shall be taken” of Mt 24:40] describes a Christian being raptured.”

No, this is merely the claimed assumption of Margaret Macdonald in 1830, who ignorantly disregarded that the Lord was responding to his disciples’ specific questions in verses 1-4, which the Lord plainly answered:

Matthew 24:1-4 (3)   “And . . . the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, [1] when shall these things be? and [2] what shall be the sign of thy coming, and [3] of the end of the world?”

1.     None of these questions is answered by the revelation of an “any-moment, secret, pretrib rapture.”

2.     The question, “When shall these things be?,” is answered by Matthew 24:4-36; and “what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” is answered by verses 37-44.

Matthew 24:40   “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

3.     The context for this verse is the previous three verses (37-39), “as in the days . . . before the flood”; and verse 40 answers the questions:  “what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”

See also Luke 17:34   “I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.”

The context for this verse is in the surrounding verses, Luke 17:33 & vs. 35-37.

4.     The notion of a secret rapture is nowhere in scripture; and the real issue (in Mt 24:40) is “Who is doing the taking?”!

5.     The word, “taken,” in its context (Mt 24:40) implies something much more obvious and sinister than a “rapture.”

NOTICE what the Lord said to Peter in John 21:19, when “signifying by what death he should glorify God.”

John 21:15-19 (v. 18)   “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest:  but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not” [alluding to the place of his gruesome death].

OBSERVE:  [1] Peter was taken; [2] but NOT by the Lord, and [3] he was taken away, in fact, to be martyred!

6.     It never occurs to blind pretribbers that the one “taken” (a Christian in the tribulation) is taken by a death squad to be executed because he doesn’t have Satan’s mark (“the mark of the beast”), that is plainly described in scriptue (Rev 20:4).

NOTE #1:  The context of the Matthew 24 passage cannot be simply ignored as pretribbers do routinely.  This Satanic methodology not only rejects all relevant passages perceived to be inconvenient to the pretrib theory; but consistently stoops to absurd “interpretations” of unrelated verses that must be further wrested to obscure the plain truth.

NOTE #2:  Matthew 24 and Luke 17 are the Lord’s warnings to the last generation, inextricably linked to the Lord’s coming at a time of great evil at “the end of the world,” exactly as it was when Israel was delivered from Egypt.  When we see the world becoming horribly evil, the day of resurrection is close, with Satan's unfettered reign of death even closer.

Matthew 24:9   “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you:  and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.”

John 15:20   “Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.  If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.”

H)     “The rapture has to be a secret!”

Of course it does:  the “secrecy” claim is the only thing protecting the blatant fraud against serious examination.

1.     THE REAL QUESTION that should be asked is, “WHY does it have to be a secret?”

a)     Pretribbers will NEVER answer this question (and cannot do so) for two reasons:

i.     there IS no purpose for the secrecy claim except as a pretense and a cover to explain why pretribism is NOT found in the bible; but that can’t be admitted without giving away the farm.

ii.     At the outset of pretrib conjecturing, sensible Christians questioned the new theory on the basis that “It isn’t in the bible.”  The secrecy concept was contrived in a desperate attempt to provide a response as to WHY it’s not there; but pretribbers know nothing about the history of their beliefs, and prefer not to look into it.

b)     The sneaky and “unobserved” elements are merely distractions from the implausible lunacy of the pretrib delusion otherwise – and the naked claim of secrecy still does not answer the question, “WHY must it be a secret?”

2.     It is ridiculous for bible believing Christians to accept this fantasy of a “secret” rapture.

a)     The Lord clearly did NOT try to hide the real “resurrection,” which is a major theme throughout the bible.

b)     There is no reason to be imagined for a heavenly HINTING of a SECRET rapture.

c)     The Lord obviously intends for us to understand the resurrection issue, and doctrine on the subject abounds.

3.     If the Lord really wanted us to believe in an “any-moment rapture,” then

a)     he could have simply told us about it, but he didn’t;

b)     and, to the contrary, he specifically warned us AGAINST this deception, for example:

2nd Thessalonians 2:1-4   “Let no man deceive you by any means:  for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. . . .”

4.     Claiming the element of secrecy in support of the rapture fraud only serves to

a)     substitute confident BELIEF in God’s word with emotional excitement on the part of those

b)     not content with the revealed “first resurrection” (Rev 20:4-6) on “the last day” (Jn 6:39,40,44,54).

i.     The “Lord’s day” is a preponderant and gloriously elevated theme throughout the bible,

ii.     it is clearly and repeatedly described in detail, and

iii.     preempting this day and obscuring its glory does nothing but advance the agenda of Satan.

I)     “The sabbath day is done away with!” “The commandments are done away with!” and “We don’t keep them!”

This is the chosen formula for pretribbers to justify themselves in their proud folly rather than consider their untenable position.

2nd Thessalonians 2:10-13   “And . . . because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved . . . God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. . . .”

CONSIDER THIS:  You claim that you’re NOT among the “saints” (a term used 95 times in the bible) because “the saints,” as revealed by scripture, will suffer persecution and death at the hands of wicked men (Ps 79:2; 116:15; Dan 7:21,25; Acts 9:13; 26:10; Rev 13:7; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24; 20:9; etc.).  Your “proof-text” in support of your belief is Revelation 14:12, where “the saints” are described as those who “keep the commandments of God” – a concept which you utterly reject.  Thus you are forced to take up a hated prophetic proof-text to support your own claim that YOU are not a saint in trying to support your argument for pretrib rapture, even though Revelation 14:12 makes you a little insane when you read it:

Revelation 14:12   “Here is the patience of the saints:  here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus”; and, as the Lord also said:

John 14:15   “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”  (This plain statement has been attacked in a hundred ways.)

CONSIDER the irony in the fact that pretribbers universally reject these verses under the circular logic that “We can’t be the saints there because we don’t keep the commandments!” – who imagine themselves spiritually superior to “the saints” by rebelling against the Lord, against his sabbath day, against his commandments, and against his prophetic warnings – all graciously given by the Lord for our benefit so we would have the spiritual spine to endure the world and enter into eternal life.

Bluntly speaking, you paid a hidden price when you accepted the satanic lie that “the commandments are done away with.”  That price involved being made blind to related and intertwined doctrines.  With your conscience compromised, you now reason to yourself that because you reject the Lord’s commandments (and are NOT, by biblical definition, a “saint”), you will NOT, therefore, have to suffer tribulation, and are entitled to the reward of a pretrib rapture – unlike the poor dumb “saints” that “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus,” who (under the formula of your belief system) “must go through the tribulation because they trusted in their works!”  The truly glaring issue here is the widespread belief that playing games with biblical doctrine will fool God and lead to something other than “destruction”! (2nd Ptr 3:16).

1st Timothy 4:16   “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them:  for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”

V.   ALLEGORIES (or “PICTURES”) OF THE RESURRECTION:

Professional pretribbers and their devoted followers are fanatic in using biblical allegory out of context to prove false doctrines that are unrelated to the passages from which they pluck the allegory.  (This methodology has Satan’s fingerprints all over it.)

allegory, n.;  description of one thing under the image of another . . .  a story in which people, things, and happenings have another meaning, as in a fable or parable:  allegories are used for teaching or explaining.  [Webster’s Unabridged]

Examples of biblical allegory:  Gen 4:8-10;  2nd Sam 12:1-6;  1st Chron 16:33;  Isa 55:10-12;  Ezek 29:1-6; 38:1-23;  Prov 30:28; Mt 3:8-10; Lk 16:1-9 & 19-31.  (Also examine “types” & “archetypes”:  Joseph and his brethren in Egypt; etc.)

TRUE ALLEGORIES of the real “resurrection”:

A)     The Lord with Moses at Mount Horeb  (This is the first time that the word “trumpet” is in the bible.)

Exodus 19:10-13   “. . . the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people. . . .”

There’s no “secret” about this!

“. . . when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up . . .” (and not one second sooner!).

B)     The Fall of Jericho (a plain biblical picture of the resurrection)

Joshua 5:13-15   [The Lord personally shows up with a drawn sword!]  (See Hebrews 2:9-10 for “captain.”)

Compare this with 1st Thes 4:16-17   “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout . . . and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  Then we which . . . remain shall be caught up. . . .”

Revelation 8:2   “And I saw the seven angels . . . and to them were given seven trumpets.”

Revelation 11:15   “And the seventh angel sounded. . . .”

Joshua 6:3-5   “. . . the trumpet . . . the people shall shout with a great shout . . . the people shall ascend up. . . .”

NOTICE:  The people don’t go up on just any trump, but at the last trump, which is the seventh trump!

vs. 15-16   “. . . on the seventh day . . . at the seventh time . . . with the trumpets . . . the people went up . . . .”

v. 20   “shouted . . . trumpets . . . trumpet . . . shouted with a great shout . . . the people went up. . . .”

v. 21   “And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city . . . with the edge of the sword.”

COMPARE these with Rev 11:18; Jer 25:30; Isaiah 63:1-6; and 66:10-16.  The Lord’s day is a day of deliverance for one people and a day of destruction for the other, on “that great and notable day of the Lord.”

Deuteronomy 32:41-43   “If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.  I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.  Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people:  for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people.”

Lord Jesus, open our eyes.  Amen.

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“I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes.”