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<h3>Recommendations</h3>
<p><a href="/recommendedreading/401-music-store-manager.html">Only Jesus</a> (great song by Big Daddy)</p>
<p><a href="http://astore.amazon.com/jwoogm-20?node=1&amp;page=2">What Did Jesus Say?</a> (2012) - 7 topics&nbsp;</p>
<p>None above affiliated with me</p> </div>
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<h1><span style="font-size: 24pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Paul Contradicts Jesus and Bible on Who Is Raptured</span></h1>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;">Question August 24, 2010</span></h3>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Also, what is your view on the rapture?&nbsp; Is that one topic that Paul preached that could be true?&nbsp; Jesus when resurrected was in flesh and bone.&nbsp; Would our resurrection be the same?&nbsp; This would counter Paul's view that the body would be glorified.&nbsp; Your thoughts on this is appreciated.&nbsp; Thanks again!</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Ed&nbsp;</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"></span></div>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;">Response August 24, 2010&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></h3>
<div><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: black; font-size: 18pt;" data-mce-mark="1"><span data-mce-mark="1">Hi Ed</span></span></div>
<div id="AOLMsgPart_2_5af7cfc5-1e4d-467c-97ee-0255be2cb9ee"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">First, let's be clear what Jesus teaches about the end-time events: 1. a tribulation and 2. the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds of glory. Jesus says:</span></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">(29) Immediately after the <strong><em>tribulation</em></strong> of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:</span></div>
<div style="padding-left: 30px;">
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><sup>30</sup>And <strong><em>then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven</em></strong>: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matt. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%2024:29-30&amp;version=KJV">24:29-30</a>, KJV.)</span></p>
</div>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The question you ask is whether in that tribulation before the Son of Man appears in heaven are Christians present or will we be raptured away prior to the tribulation. (Pre-trib.) Some believe in post-tribulation that Christians are raptured after the Son of Man appears. This is known as post-trib.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">But the truth is that these two views are influenced by Paul. The correct view is that the evil are raptured or taken away when the Son of Man appears, and Christians remain through the tribulation and thus 'inherit' the earth when the evil are removed. This can be categorized as pre-millenialism...we are waiting for Jesus to set up on earth the milennial kingdom. This was the exclusive view of the early church through the early 300s - obviously because Jesus talked this way, as we shall see. Wikipedia summarizes what I contend is the correct eschatology - because Jesus speaks this way:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><span data-mce-mark="1"> The doctrine is called premillennialism because it holds that Jesus&rsquo; physical return to earth will occur prior to the inauguration of the millennium. </span><span data-mce-mark="1">Premillennialism is largely based upon a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_literalism" title="Biblical literalism">literal</a><span data-mce-mark="1"> interpretation of </span><span class="plainlinks" data-mce-mark="1"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/bible?passage=Revelation%2020:1-6;&amp;version=ESV;" rel="nofollow" class="external text">Revelation&nbsp;20:1-6</a></span><span data-mce-mark="1"> in the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Testament" title="New Testament">New Testament</a>&nbsp;<span data-mce-mark="1">which describes Jesus&rsquo;s coming to the earth and subsequent reign at the end of an apocalyptic period of&nbsp;</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribulation" class="mw-redirect" title="Tribulation">tribulation</a><span data-mce-mark="1">. It views this future age as a time of fulfillment for the prophetic hope of God&rsquo;s people as given in the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Testament" title="Old Testament">Old Testament</a><span data-mce-mark="1">. ("<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premillennialism">Premillenialism</a>" <em>Wikipedia.</em>)</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">This view was early known as <em>chiailism</em>, but in the 19th Century was called premillenarianism. The early church was exclusively chialistic, not knowing (accepting, if you prefer) of any theory of any rapture of Christians, let alone a pre-tribulation rapture. This <em>Wikipedia </em>article continues:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><span data-mce-mark="1">Historically Christian premillennialism has also been referred as "chiliasm"...</span><span data-mce-mark="1">The </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theology" title="Theology">theological</a><span data-mce-mark="1"> term "premillennialism" did not come into general use until the mid-19th century....</span><span data-mce-mark="1">For the larger part,</span><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_eschatology" title="Christian eschatology">Christian eschatology</a><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><span data-mce-mark="1">through the 2nd and 3rd centuries was</span><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiliastic" class="mw-redirect" title="Chiliastic">chiliastic</a><span data-mce-mark="1">.</span><sup><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premillennialism#cite_note-8">[9]</a></sup><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><span data-mce-mark="1">Many</span><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Christianity" title="Early Christianity">early Christian</a><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><span data-mce-mark="1">interpreters applied the earlier Jewish apocalyptic idea of a temporary Messianic kingdom to their interpretation of chapter 20 of</span><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John_the_Apostle" class="mw-redirect" title="St. John the Apostle">John's</a><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><span data-mce-mark="1">apocalypse.</span><sup><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premillennialism#cite_note-9">[10]</a></sup><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Martyr" title="Justin Martyr">Justin Martyr</a><span data-mce-mark="1">,</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irenaeus" title="Irenaeus">Irenaeus</a><span data-mce-mark="1">, and</span><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tertullian" title="Tertullian">Tertullian</a><span data-mce-mark="1"> </span><span data-mce-mark="1">all made explicit references to the concept of a thousand year earthly kingdom at Christ&rsquo;s coming.</span><sup><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premillennialism#cite_note-10">[11]</a></sup></span></p>
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<td style="padding-left: 30px;" valign="top"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The most striking point in the eschatology of the ante-Nicene age is the prominent chiliasm, or millenarianism, that is the belief of a visible reign of Christ in glory on earth with the risen saints for a thousand years, before the general resurrection and judgement. It was indeed not the doctrine of the church embodied in any creed or form of devotion, but a widely current opinion of distinguished teachers, such as Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Methodius, and Lactantius, while Caius, Origen, Dionysius the Great, Eusebius (as afterwards Jerome and Augustin) opposed it.</span></td>
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<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><cite>&mdash;&nbsp;<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Schaff" title="Philip Schaff">Philip Schaff</a>,&nbsp;<em>History of the Christian Church</em><sup><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premillennialism#cite_note-11">[12]</a></sup></cite></span></div>
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<h2><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;"><strong>Paul's View</strong>&nbsp;</span></h2>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Paul gets the sequence backwards, and misunderstands who is raptured. Paul says&nbsp;<span data-mce-mark="1"><span data-mce-mark="1">in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, the&nbsp;<em>righteous</em> are&nbsp;<em>taken</em> first in the rapture of the church while the&nbsp;<em>wicked</em> are&nbsp;<em>left</em> behind to endure the tribulation. In </span></span><span data-mce-mark="1">1 Thessalonians 4:17,</span><span data-mce-mark="1"> Paul says the living will be</span><span data-mce-mark="1"> "<strong>caught up together with them in the clouds.</strong>"</span><span data-mce-mark="1"> This is deduced by most to be pre-trib. Thereby </span><span data-mce-mark="1">Paul's view leads to a lack of preparedness to endure suffering, counting on the easy escape.</span></span></p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;" data-mce-mark="1"><span data-mce-mark="1">The Bible's View If You Ignore Paul</span></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">There are over 50 passages of OT that speak of the evil being taken out of the earth, and that the righteous shall inherit the earth as a result. &nbsp;In Proverbs <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%2010:30&amp;version=NLT">10:30</a>, we read: "The godly will never be disturbed,&nbsp;but the wicked will be removed from the land." In Psalm<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm%2037:7-11&amp;version=NKJV"> 37: 9-11</a> we read:&nbsp;</span></p>
<div style="padding-left: 60px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">For evildoers shall be cut off;</span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> But those who wait on the LORD,&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> <strong><em> They shall inherit the earth</em></strong>.</span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> <sup>10</sup> For yet a little while and the wicked&nbsp;<em>shall be</em> no&nbsp;<em>more;</em></span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> Indeed, you will look carefully for his place,&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> But it<em> </em><em><strong>shall be</strong></em><strong><em> no </em></strong><em><strong>more</strong></em><em>.</em></span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> <sup>11</sup> But the <em><strong>meek shall inherit the earth</strong></em>,</span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Proverbs<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs%202:21-22&amp;version=NKJV"> 2:21-22</a> reads:</span></div>
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<div style="padding-left: 60px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">For the upright will dwell in the land,&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> And the <strong><em>blameless will remain</em></strong> in it;&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> <sup>22</sup> But the wicked will be cut off from the earth,&nbsp;</span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"> And the <strong><em>unfaithful will be uprooted</em></strong> from it.&nbsp;</span></div>
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<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;">Similar Message of Jesus</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><span data-mce-mark="1">There are many parallel NT texts from Jesus, speaking of </span><span data-mce-mark="1">separating the wheat and the chaff</span><span data-mce-mark="1">, where the </span><strong><em>chaff/tares are taken away first </em></strong><span data-mce-mark="1">by the angels, leaving the </span><strong><em>wheat to inherit the earth</em></strong><span data-mce-mark="1">. See Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, Matth</span><span data-mce-mark="1">ew 1</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2013:24-30&amp;version=NKJV">3:24-30</a><span data-mce-mark="1">, </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2013:37-43&amp;version=NKJV">37-43</a><span data-mce-mark="1"> (discussed below).</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">But Jesus repeatedly says true Christians who are "hated for my name sake" will experience suffering <strong><em>during the tribulation</em></strong>, and Jesus exhorts that whoever "endures" to the end of the tribulation "shall be saved." Matthew <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2024:9-13&amp;version=NKJV">24:9-13</a>. The Paul-inspired message that we will not be here is precisely opposite of what Jesus said. It undermines Jesus's view which was to strengthen us to know salvation is at risk if we fail to endure the testing.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">A time of testing is good for us, and thus Jesus does not pray to take us out of the earth, but rather to endure it: "I do <strong><em>not pray</em></strong> that You should <strong><em>take them out of the world</em></strong>, but that You should keep them from the evil one." (John <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2017:15&amp;version=NKJV">17:15</a>.) Our peace comes from dwelling in Jesus: "in Me you may have peace. <strong><em>In the world you will&nbsp;have tribulation</em></strong>; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.&rdquo; (John <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2016:33&amp;version=NKJV">16:33</a>.)&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Further, if the rapture were going to prevent experiencing of the tribulation by Christians, then Jesus makes no sense in this passage:&nbsp;</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Mark <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%2013:19-21&amp;version=NKJV">13:19-20</a> "For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. 20"And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but <strong><em>for the elect's sake</em></strong>, whom He chose, <em><strong>He shortened the days</strong></em>. (Also Matt 24:21)(NKJ)</span></p>
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<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">If in the tribulation the elect were removed from Earth, and we are raptured in heaven, then this passage from Jesus makes no sense. Jesus, instead, is warning us so we are ready and not weak, and we know that salvation is at risk if we weaken.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">Thus, when Jesus says one will be taken and another left, it is the evil who are taken, not the good. In the context, the evil being raptured is what fits Jesus's drawing a parallel to the days of Noah. So this is how that passage reads -- if we interpolate the word wicked where it belongs in Jesus' discussion of Noah's day, we see this points at the wicked being raptured away:</span></p>
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<div><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Matt <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%2024:37-40&amp;version=NKJV">24:37-40</a> "But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 "For as in the days before the flood, they [<strong><em>the wicked<span style="font-weight: normal;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-style: normal;" data-mce-mark="1">]</span></span></em></strong> were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark (Noah and family entered the ark 7 days before the flood), 39 "and [they &ndash;<em><strong> the wicked</strong></em>] did not know until the flood came and&nbsp;<strong>took them</strong> [<strong>the wicked</strong>] all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40"Then two men will be in the field: one [<strong>wicked</strong>]&nbsp;<em><strong>will be taken</strong></em> and the other left. 41 "Two women will be grinding at the mill: one [<strong>wicked</strong>] will be taken and the other left. 42 "Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming." (NKJ)&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Incidentally, the Hebrew Matthew -- the original Matthew -- as best recovered in the Shem Tob version -- has it clearly that the "stumbling-block" or "sinner" is the one taken in Matthew 24:37-40. See our <a href="/recommendedreading/222-rapture-in-hebrew-matthew.html">webpage</a> discussion.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt;">That evildoers are raptured / taken away when Christ comes is also implied in Matthew 13 in the Parable of the Dragnet:&nbsp;</span></div>
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<div><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Matt <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%2013:47-50&amp;version=NKJV">13:47-50</a> "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea ("multitudes of people" Rev 17:15) and gathered some of every kind,48 "which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but <strong>threw the bad away</strong>.49 "So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just,50 "and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."(NKJ)&nbsp;</span></div>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;" data-mce-mark="1">Again in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the evil are removed, leaving the righteous to inherit the earth:</span></p>
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<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Matt<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matt%20%2013:37-43&amp;version=NKJV"> 13:37-43</a> He answered and said to them: "He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 "The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 "The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the <em><strong>reapers are the angels</strong></em>. 40 "Therefore as the <strong><em>tares are gathered</em></strong> and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will<strong><em> gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness</em></strong>, 42"and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43"Then <strong><em>the righteous will shine forth as the sun</em></strong> in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!(NKJ)&nbsp;</span></div>
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<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">In Revelation, the saints are engaged in battle during a tribulation. "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." (Rev. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%2013:7&amp;version=KJV">13:7</a>.) But those given white robes are the ones that endured the tribulation spotlessly. "And he said to me, These are they which came <strong><em>out of great tribulation</em></strong>, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."&nbsp;(Rev. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%207:13-14&amp;version=KJV">7:14</a>.)&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">In Revelation it similarly says in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%201:7-9&amp;version=KJV">1:7</a>: "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">In Revelation, likewise there are 144,000 who are Jesus's followers when He sets foot on earth. They did not go up and come down. They were there. Then Jesus takes away evildoers on earth, leaving the 144,000 to inherit the earth. This is the precise picture in the OT of the 'rapture.'&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Thus, this proves Christians are not taken from before the tribulation but God intends them to endure it bravely. What also proves this is the raptured or taken are clearly stated in Revelation to be the evil ones:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><sup>20</sup>And the<em><strong> beast was taken</strong></em>, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both <strong><em>were cast alive into a lake of fire </em></strong>burning with brimstone.</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><sup>21</sup>And the<strong><em> remnant were slain</em></strong> with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. (Rev. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%2019:20-21&amp;version=KJV">19:20-21</a>.)</span></p>
<h3><span style="color: #0000ff; font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Is Revelation 3:10 Saying The Opposite?</span></strong></span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Many pre-tribulation rapture-of-the-church advocates cite in support Rev. <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation%203:10&amp;version=KJV">3:10</a> which states:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will<strong><em> keep thee from the hour of temptation</em></strong>, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (KJV)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">However,&nbsp;&nbsp;one of the leading proponents of pretrib, Dr. John Walvoord (former president of Dallas Theological Seminary) states in his book <em>The Rapture Question</em> at pages 70-71 that "it may be debatable to what extent this (verse, Rev. 3:10) constitutes absolute proof for pretribulationism."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The verb for "keep" is also "guard" -- <em>tereo</em>.&nbsp;It appears this verse simply means God will "guard" us from the "temptation" but it does not imply God will remove us from having to patiently endure a time of trial..</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The hour of "testing" is from PEIRASMOS. That Greek word comes from a word meaning literally "to examine or prove." The word "trial" is adequate. In&nbsp;James 1:2 and 12 James tell us "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various<strong><em> trials</em></strong> (<strong><em>peirasmois</em></strong>)."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The word rendered "patience" in Rev. 3:10 is "hpomone" and it matches the same use with "peirasmos" in James 1:2, 12.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">James 1:2 and v 12 tell us "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials (<em><strong>peirasmois</strong></em>). Blessed is the man that&nbsp;<em><strong>perseveres</strong></em> (<em><strong>hpomenei</strong></em>) under<em><strong> trial</strong></em> (<em><strong>peirasmon</strong></em>)."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">In sync, with similar vocabulary as Rev. 3:10 and James 1:2, 12, First Peter encourages preparation to endure a trial <strong><em>just before Christ returns.<span style="font-weight: normal;" data-mce-mark="1"><span style="font-style: normal;" data-mce-mark="1"> There is no assurance</span></span> </em></strong>that nothing difficult will happen as you supposedly will escape earth due to your faith alone:</span></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">'The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer...<strong>Beloved, do not be suprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing (peirasmos)</strong>, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ,&nbsp;<strong>keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you my rejoice with exultation</strong>' (1 Peter 4:7, 12, 13, emphasis added).</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">So let's turn again to Rev. 3:10 which in the KJV says "you shall be <strong><em>kept</em></strong> from" from the "hour of trial."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Here&nbsp;<em>tereo</em> can be rendered as either to 'guard' or 'keep.'&nbsp;&nbsp;In the Greek what the KJV translated as "will keep you from" is TEREO EK. The word TEREO means to "watch over protectively, guard" and with the preposition EK it carries the idea of being guarded or protected and rescued out from the midst of danger. If the idea of keeping one <strong><em>from entering</em></strong> were intended the preposition APO would have been used. So it is truly the idea of deliverance out from <strong><em>within</em></strong> the tribulation experience rather than an external deliverance from<strong><em> ever experiencing </em></strong>the tribulation.</span></p>
<h3><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;">Rev. 3:10 Promises Philadelphia Physical Protection In Danger From Evil</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The notion involved is thus not to rescue us from any temptation / trial, but to guard / rescue us from the spiritual and physical dangers which the world endures. Many commentators agree:</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><strong>Fausett-</strong> "so as to deliver thee out of, <strong><em>not to exempt from temptation</em></strong>." (Fausett, <em>Commentary</em> (1871) Vol. 2 column 1 at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=HeQsAAAAYAAJ&amp;dq=%22not%20to%20exempt%20from%20temptation%22&amp;pg=PA561#v=onepage&amp;q=%22not%20to%20exempt%20from%20temptation%22&amp;f=false">561</a>.)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><strong>Swete-</strong> "to the Philadelphia Church the promise was an assurance of safe keeping in any trial that might supervene." (Henry Barclay Sweet, <em>The Apocalypse of St. John</em> (1906) at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ay8aAAAAYAAJ&amp;dq=Philadelphia%20Church%20the%20promise%20was%20an%20assurance%20of%20safe%20keeping%20in%20any%20trial%20that%20might%20supervene&amp;pg=PA55#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">55</a>.)<strong><br /></strong></span><br /><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><strong>Trench- </strong>"The promise does<strong><em> not imply that the Philadelphia Church should be exempted from the persecutions which should come on all other portions of the Church</em></strong>; that by any special privilege they should be excused from fiery trials through which others should be called to pass. It is a better promise than this; and one which, of course, they share with all who are faithful as they are - to be kept in temptation, not to be exempted from temptation."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><strong>Robert Gundry-</strong> "to keep or protect in a sphere of danger, and that because ek means emergence out from <strong><em>within</em></strong>, the combination of the two Greek words (TEREO EK) means to protect believers in a sphere of danger (the tribulation period), with a <strong><em>final emergence out</em></strong> from within this sphere." (Robert Gundry, <em>The Church and the Tribulation</em> (1973) at <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=7imsATgW9AAC&amp;lpg=PP1&amp;dq=gundry%20church%20and%20tribulation&amp;pg=PA53#v=onepage&amp;q=out%20from%20within&amp;f=false">53</a>-59.)</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Thus ant rapture in Revelation 3:10, if truly implied, is by cutting short the tribulation, and removing the evil from the midst of Christians. Then in the process of removing the tares, God will protect the wheat who thereby inherit the earth.</span></p>
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<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;"><strong>&nbsp;The Bodily Resurrection</strong></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">As to issue of bodily resurrection, I discuss this at depth in&nbsp;<a href="/Recommended-Reading/bodies-upon-ascension.html" style="line-height: 1.3em;">http://www.jesuswordsonly.com/Recommended-Reading/bodies-upon-ascension.html</a>&nbsp;Unlike Paul, our Lord Jesus and the Bible otherwise teaches resurrection of our flesh (reconstituted and cleansed of death/sin) on the Last Day, but a rise of our spirits beforehand upon death.&nbsp;<em style="line-height: 1.3em;">id.</em></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><em>&nbsp;</em></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">At the time of the end, our bodies rise from the dead, and are joined with our spirits that previously were in heaven, so there is a coming of God's holy ones when the Son of Man comes, possibly meaning these spirits. In Jude 14-15 it says Jesus comes back with his holy ones/saints.</span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"></span></div>
<h1><span style="font-size: 18pt;"><strong><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', times; color: #0000ff;">Danger of Paul's View of Pre-tribulation Rapture</span></strong></span></h1>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"></span></div>
<div><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Jesus and Paul are 180 degrees opposite. What is the consequence of Paul's pre-tribulation rapture notion?</span></div>
<div>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">First, Jesus repeatedly said&nbsp;Christians will go through the Great Tribulation.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">In sequential order, Jesus depicts what we as Christians have to look forward to, and that we need to endure to the end including up through a point "after" the tribulation of those days, whereupon we will then see the Son of Man coming on clouds of glory:</span></p>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><a href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matthew%2024.6" target="_blank" class="lbsBibleRef" data-version="NASB" data-reference="Matthew 24.6">Matthew 24:6</a> - "...but that is&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;" data-mce-mark="1">not yet</span> the end"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><a href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matthew%2024.8" target="_blank" class="lbsBibleRef" data-version="NASB" data-reference="Matthew 24.8">Matthew 24:8</a> - "But all these things are&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;" data-mce-mark="1">merely the beginning</span>..."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><a href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matthew%2024.14" target="_blank" class="lbsBibleRef" data-version="NASB" data-reference="Matthew 24.14">Matthew 24:14</a> - "And this gospel ... shall be preached in the whole world..., and&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;" data-mce-mark="1">then</span> the end shall come"</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><a href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matthew%2024.29" target="_blank" class="lbsBibleRef" data-version="NASB" data-reference="Matthew 24.29">Matthew 24:29</a> - "But&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;" data-mce-mark="1">immediately after</span> the tribulation of those days..."</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;"><a href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matthew%2024.30" target="_blank" class="lbsBibleRef" data-version="NASB" data-reference="Matthew 24.30">Matthew 24:30</a> - "and&nbsp;<span style="text-decoration: underline;" data-mce-mark="1">then</span> the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky..."</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">This order of events clearly indicates &nbsp;believers will go through the Great Tribulation. In addition, the text indicates that the days of tribulation (persecution of Christians by non-believers) will be shortened by the Lord "for the sake of the elect" (<em>i.e</em>., Christians). Following these events, the wrath of God will be executed against the remaining non-Christians.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">The book of Revelation likewise indicates that believers will go through the Great Ttribulation. In chapter 6, Christians killed for Christ ask how long it will be before God avenges their death. The answer is that they have to wait even until more Christians are killed. Not only will Christians be persecuted, but they will be killed because they are Christians (<a href="http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/tribulation.html#Revelation 6:11">Revelation 6:11</a>). This tribulation will be followed by astronomical signs and the "sealing" of 144,000 who are ready and waiting on EARTH to greet Jesus when He sets foot on earth from heaven. Immediately after these men are "sealed", "a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues" suddenly appear in&nbsp;<a href="http://www.godandscience.org/doctrine/heaven.html">heaven</a>. These are not from a prior rapture of Christians because Christians are on earth when Christ returns -- the 144,000 remnant. In fact, when one of the elders asks who all these people are, John answers that they are those "who come out of the great tribulation." That is, they were killed in that period, and now are alive again.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">What is the consequence of the erroneous view that the rapture will spare you from the Tribulation?</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Since much of the Church believes God will deliver them prior to the Great Tribulation as Paul taught, many Christians will be surprised when they find themselves being persecuted and killed for their alleviance to Christ. Their trust in Christ will be severely tested, since they may believe that God has abandoned them and that the prophecies of the rapture are not true. Under such circumstances, most believers will fall away and deny Christ to save their lives. Jesus, in fact, made just such a prophecy:</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">"And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another.... "But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved. (<a href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matthew%2024.10" target="_blank" class="lbsBibleRef" data-version="NASB" data-reference="Matthew 24.10">Matthew 24:10</a>,<a href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matthew%2024.13" target="_blank" class="lbsBibleRef" data-version="NASB" data-reference="Matthew 24.13">13</a>)</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">If you are a follower of Yahshua, be prepared to die for Christ. Even your fellow "brothers" will deliver you to the authorities to avoid their own deaths. If you are not willing to die for the true Christ, you will deny Him when threatened with death. Be aware of what Jesus said about those who seek to save their lives:</span></p>
<blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (<em><a href="http://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Matthew%2016.25" target="_blank" class="lbsBibleRef" data-version="NASB" data-reference="Matthew 16.25">Matthew 16:25</a></em>)</span></p>
</blockquote>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">Many Christians are looking forward to the return of Christ, which will, indeed, be a glorious event. However, the time just preceding the end will not be pleasant for Christians. The watchful Christian should be prepared to join his fellow brothers under the altar of souls of those who will die "because of the testimony&nbsp;<strong>which they had maintained</strong>."</span></p>
</div>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">I hope this helped. Share your thoughts.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 18pt; font-family: 'times new roman', times;">D.</span></p> </td>
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