Vol.4 No.5

Q. My friend told me that he expects to be secretly raptured away one day-that suddenly, possibly while in the middle of some project, he will disappear. Does the Bible foretell of this event?

A. Your friend apparently holds to the widespread belief that Jesus will come to the earth twice to redeem the saved. The people who follow this teaching believe that He will come secretly the first time, and then again seven years later. The Bible, however, does not substantiate this belief. Let's see what the Book says about Christ's Second Coming:

First, Revelation 1:7 says: "Behold he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him." If this is the case, then how could Christ’s return possibly be secret? Furthermore, the Bible describes the Second Coming of Christ as a grand and marvelous event. Jesus Himself said it will be "as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west" (Matthew 24:27). And 1 Thessalonians 4:16 describes the event as being so loud that it will actually awaken the dead.

Some hold to the idea that Jesus' coming would be secret because Peter says in 2 Peter 3:10 that Jesus would come as a "thief in the night." But Peter meant that it would be an unexpected, not a secret occurrence (see Matthew 24: 42-44).

What about the seven-year period that rapturists, refer to? In order to justify their position, rapturists have lifted the last week of the 70week prophecy out of Daniel 9:2427 and placed it at the end of the world. There is no scriptural basis for doing this, however (see Last Generation, Vol. 3, No. 3 for further study).

The rapturist philosophy also teaches that those who are not raptured the first time will have a second chance to be saved. But that's not what the Bible says: "'And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be" (Revelation 22:12). If we had a second chance, most of us would not make an effort to be ready the first time. It behooves us to be ready, moment by moment, for we know neither the day nor the hour of Jesus' soon return! I want to be ready, I hope you do too!

Vol.9 No.1

Q. I believe in the secret rapture but keep finding Bible texts that describe very dramatic things happening when Jesus comes. Are these events associated with His third coming, seven years after the secret rapture?

A. A large number of Christians have been taught the doctrine of the secret rapture. According to this concept, Christ’s return will be in two separate events. First, He will come secretly to take the saved to heaven, and then, seven years later, He will come in an open demonstration of power and glory. In between the two events, the Antichrist is to take control of the world and the great tribulation is to take place.

But the truth is that the Bible nowhere speaks of two comings of Jesus separated by these events.

As we study the Bible this is what is associated with His second coming: the visible coming of Christ with power and glory, the resurrection of the righteous, the catching up of the saints to meet Jesus in the air, and the end of the world as we know it now. (See 2 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; 2 Peter 3:10.)

The way the Bible describes the return of Jesus for the saved removes any possibility that it will be secret. According to the Bible, this event will be visible and audible:

“. . .he shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds.” (Matthew 24:31); “. . .every eye shall see Him” (Revelation 1:7). “For as the lightening cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matthew 24:27).

Rapturists base their beliefs on texts which liken the Lord’s coming to a “thief in the night.” Here is one of those texts in II Peter 3:10: “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.” It is clear from this text that the “thief” part has nothing to do with secrecy because the heavens will pass away with a great noise! If “coming as a thief” is the secret rapture which takes place seven years before the end of the world, how can the heavens and earth pass away as Peter describes it? The heavens and earth could not pass away seven years before the world ends. That is the end!

In your question you alluded to the seven- year tribulation. Since so much rapturist theology revolves around this seven-year period, one would assume that the Bible must speak frequently of such a time period. But this is not so.

The rapturists take a seven-year period from Daniel 9:24-27 completely out of its Messianic context and place it at the end of time. From Xerxes command to rebuild Jerusalem, seventy prophetic weeks (490 years) were assigned as probation for the Jewish nation. Christ appeared as Messiah after sixty-nine prophetic weeks (483 years) in a.d. 27. Halfway through this seventieth week, Christ was crucified. The 490 years ended in a.d. 34 when the highest Jewish court publicly stoned Stephen, a prominent Christian evangelist. This act signified their unwavering rejection of Jesus as Messiah.

It is vitally important to stand firm on the Word of God alone and reject any ideas that are not in harmony with it. As we have seen earlier, the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus will return in power and majesty to take His redeemed home to heaven.

By the way, the Bible does talk about the third coming of Christ to this earth. Read Revelation 21 and 22. After one thousand years in heaven with the saved, Christ brings the New Jerusalem to earth, resurrects the wicked to give them their reward, and then allows Satan to attempt the destruction of the city. When he fails, he and all his followers, millions of human beings who have lived throughout history, are then completely destroyed by fire. Then the righteous inherit a new heaven and a new earth...

Vol.10 No.3

Q. Some Christians believe that Jesus will secretly snatch His saints to heaven seven years before the end of the world. Where can I find this teaching in the Bible?

A. The secret rapture theory quotes the words of Jesus in Matthew 24:40, 41, “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.” However, these verses do not relate the immediate fate of the two categories of people, or the exact timing of the event described.

A little further, another parable referring to the end of the world (Matthew 24:45–51) distinguishes two categories of people, represented by the faithful and the unfaithful servant. Both servants face the same deadline: the unexpected coming of the lord of the house. Both servants receive their reward at the same time: the faithful servant is made ruler over the lord’s possessions, while the evil servant is “cut asunder” and experiences “weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The Bible talks about only one coming of the Lord, literal and visible. (See Matthew 24:27, 31;  1 Corinthians 15:52; Revelation 1:7.) In the same context of Matthew 24, we read that “all the tribes of the earth mourn [the wicked], and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (verse 30). Immediately following, we read that “he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds” (verse 31). How could the angels gather the faithful from the earth, if they were already in heaven?

Two parables of Jesus are especially relevant. In the parable of the wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24–30, 37–40), the good and the bad plants are left to grow together until the reapers are sent to gather the harvest. Jesus Himself interprets the parable for us: “The harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” They are commanded to “gather out of his kingdom . . . them which do iniquity.” In the parable of the net (Matthew 13:47–50), the angels “sever the wicked from among the just and shall . . . cast them into the furnace of fire.” There is a selection and a separation happening. If the wicked were the only ones left on earth, how could they be gathered out or severed?

The Bible does talk about a rapture, not a secret one, but the visible, joyful reunion of the saints with the Lord in the air at His coming in the clouds of glory (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17).

Vol.11 No.5

Q. Is the fulfillment of Daniel’s 70th week prophecy still in the future? Does it represent a coming 7-year tribulation?

A. The following ten points provide logical and convincing evidence that the “one week” of Daniel 9:27 has already been fulfilled and does not apply to any future 7-year period of tribulation.1

1. The entire prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27 covers a period of “seventy weeks.” This period applies to one complete, sequential block of time. It began during the Medo-Persian period and ended during the time of the Messiah.


2. Logic requires that the 70th week follow immediately after the 69th week. If it does not, then it cannot properly be called the 70th week.


3. It is illogical to insert a 2,000-year gap between the 69th and the 70th week. No hint of this gap is found in the prophecy itself. There is no gap between the first 7 weeks and the following 62 weeks. Why insert one between the 69th and the 70th week?


4. Daniel 9:27 says nothing about a 7-year period of tribulation or about the Antichrist.


5. The focus of this prophecy is the Messiah, not the Antichrist. Modern interpreters have applied “the people of the prince” who would come to “destroy the city and the sanctuary” (verse 26) to the Antichrist. Yet, the text does not say this. Respected and much quoted Bible commentators applied this sentence to the Romans who, under the command of Titus, did “destroy the city and the sanctuary” in A.D. 70.2


6. “He shall confirm the covenant.” Jesus Christ came “to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.” Romans 15:8. Nowhere in the Bible is Antichrist ever said to make or confirm a covenant with anyone. The word “covenant” applies to the Messiah, but never to the Antichrist.


7. “He shall confirm the covenant with many.” Jesus said, “For this is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many …” Matthew 26:28. Jesus used the same words, because He knew that He was fulfilling Daniel 9:27!


8. “In the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” The 70th week was from A.D. 27 to 34. Christ died in A.D. 31, “in the midst [middle] of the week,” after 3 1/2 years of ministry. At the moment of His death, “the veil of the temple was rent [torn] in twain from the top to the bottom.” Matthew 27:51. This divine act signified the end of animal sacrifices. The Great Sacrifice had been offered!


9. “For the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate.” Jesus plainly applied this prophecy to the time when His followers were to flee from Jerusalem before the destruction of the second temple in A.D. 70. Matthew 24:15, 16. Jesus told His disciples, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies [Roman armies led by Titus], then know that the desolation thereof is nigh [near].” Luke 21:20, emphasis added. Those disciples did “see” those very events. Christ’s last words to the Pharisees from inside the second temple were, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Matthew 23:38. Thus Daniel’s prophecy about Jerusalem becoming “desolate” was exactly fulfilled in A.D. 70! Jesus understood this perfectly.


10. Gabriel said that the 70-week prophecy specifically applied to the Jewish people. Daniel 9:24. From A.D. 27 to A.D. 34, the disciples went only “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 10:6. At the end of the 70 weeks, in the year A.D. 34, Stephen was stoned by the Jewish Sanhedrin. Acts, chapter 7. Then the gospel began to go to the Gentiles. In Acts, chapter 9, Saul was converted and became Paul, “the apostle of the Gentiles.” Romans 11:13. Then in Acts, chapter 10, God gave Peter a vision revealing that it was now time to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Acts 10:1-28.
    

The evidence is overwhelming! The events of the 70th week have already been fulfilled. The following eight words found in Daniel 9:27, “confirm … covenant … many … midst … sacrifice … cease … abominations … desolate,” all find perfect fulfillment in Jesus Christ and in early Christian history.

One reason why the Jewish nation failed to receive the Messiah was because its leaders and scholars misinterpreted the 70-week prophecy. They failed to see Jesus Christ as the Messiah who died in the midst of the 70th week. Amazingly, sincere Christian scholars are now misinterpreting the very same prophecy.

The entire “7-year tribulation” theory is a grand illusion. It may go down in history as the biggest evangelical misinterpretation of the 20th century!

References
1. Wohlberg, Steve, Exploding the Israel Deception, “The ‘70th Week of Daniel’ Delusion,” Amazing Discoveries, pp. 44-48. Material adapted and used by permission. For further study, visit his website at www.israelinprophecy.com or order the book from 1-800-795-7171.
2. Commentaries. “Notes on Daniel 9:26” by Matthew Henry (p. 1095); Adam Clarke (p. 603); and Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown (p. 641).