Will the Messiah Appear in a Secret "Rapture"?

by HOIM Staff

Let us notice seven things about the future coming of the Messiah. Many people today believe that when he comes, he will secretly "spirit away" all the true Christians to heaven in a massive "rapture" attack. That is, Christians around the world will suddenly disappear, no matter where they are or what they are doing. Christian pilots will disappear from airplanes, Christian motorists will suddenly disappear from behind the steering wheel of automobiles, or even "big rigs," causing devastating auto accidents. Christian surgeons will suddenly disappear, while performing open heart surgery -- and Christian nurses, and so forth. You get the idea. Pretty bizarre!

Writes Ralph Woodrow --

"Christians who hold what is called the "dispensational" interpretation of prophecy, teach that the second coming of Christ will be in two stages: first, the RAPTURE (his coming for the saints), and then later the REVELATION (his coming with the saints). The interval between these two events, the great tribulation period, is commonly regarded as seven years. Verses like Revelation 1:7, "Behold, he cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see him," are applied to the REVELATION -- his coming in power and glory. The RAPTURE, on the other hand, is presented as a quiet, invisible, and secret coming" (Great Prophecies of the Bible, page 2).

But is this idea true?

The lessons of Pentecost prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that these modern day "Christian" stories and ideas are nothing but fables and myths! The Scriptures do not allow for any "secret rapture" of the saints at the end-time! Let's study and review the actual Biblical evidence on this matter!

Here are seven powerful proofs that the commonly held and virtually idolized "rapture theory" is totally untrue:

1) There is no mention in Acts 1 that the Messiah will come twice! Notice what the angels said to the disciples when the Messiah ascended into heaven: "This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will SO COME IN LIKE MANNER as you saw him go into heaven" (verse 11). This was not a two-stage event! When the Messiah appears on this earth, he is coming ONCE -- NOT TWICE!

2) The apostle Paul said that believers down through the ages would witness certain events first: the falling away, the man or system of sin would be revealed, and then the gathering together to meet YEHOVAH God at His coming. But if the falling away meant the rapture (as many believe) -- an exodus of believers from out of this world -- they would not be able to witness the events that followed. Why? Because they would not be here! Therefore, Paul's statement would have absolutely no bearing on the point he was making!

3) If the rapture is a separate "stage" from the supposed coming of the Messiah in power and glory, one must ask how each "stage" could possibly be the second coming? If they are separate and quite distinct events, separated by a number of years, a coming that follows the second coming would have to be a third! Unfortunately for those who believe in the rapture, the Bible never speaks of a third coming, or of "comings" (plural), and the term "two second comings" is self-contradictory.

4) Also, when YEHOVAH God appears He will then -- at that time -- have His angels gather together His elect "from the four winds" This means that the saints (the elect of Israel) are on the earth, when He comes -- they are NOT up in heaven!

5) Yeshua the Messiah said: "Occupy till I COME" (Luke 19:13). Now how could YEHOVAH's Ecclesia occupy until he comes if the Ecclesia will be raptured away seven years before his coming? The Messiah plainly said: "I will COME again, and receive you unto myself" (John 14:3). Clearly it is when the Messiah comes that he receives his followers unto himself. The receiving is not seven years before his coming! Comments Woodrow --

"In perfect harmony with these teachings of Jesus, the apostles admonished: 'Be patient then, brethren, unto the COMING of the Lord...for yet a little while, and he that shall COME will COME, and will not tarry' (James 5:7; Hebrews 10:36, 37). Again, why exhort the brethren to be patient unto the COMING of the Lord, if their real hope was a rapture before his coming?" (ibid., page 16).

6) In the New Testament book of Acts, the gospel writer Luke tells us of the ascension of the Messiah into heaven, in full view of the disciples only:

"And when he [the Messiah] had spoken all these things, WHILE THEY BEHELD, HE WAS TAKEN UP; and a CLOUD received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, SHALL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER AS YE HAVE SEEN HIM GO INTO HEAVEN" (Acts 1:9-11).

Was the Messiah secretly "raptured" out of the sight of the disciples, invisibly? NO! Not at all! He was taken up into heaven IN A CLOUD, and they SAW him ascending, as they WATCHED with their eyes gazing steadfastly on him, as he disappeared into the remote heavens! And take careful note! The two angels told them that when he returns, it will be in the VERY SAME MANNER as they SAW him go into heaven!

Clearly, then, while the Messiah will come in a somewhat clandestine, secret manner in which few will notice or see him, the WHOLE WORLD WILL SEE YEHOVAH GOD WHEN HE COMES -- AND WILL SHAKE WITH HORROR AND FEAR AT WHAT THEY SEE! More of this later!

7) Finally, the Messiah's coming will be "like a thief in the night" (Revelation16:15) -- just like he left in Acts 1. Most thieves who come at night, seek to hide their activity from prying eyes, when Yeshua the Messiah returns he will do likewise! Also, his coming will be "like a thief" in the respect that no one will know precisely when he is going to come!

The Messiah himself said, "Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also READY: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24:42-44).

Pentecost, the only Festival of YEHOVAH God which has a "movable date," is the perfect picture and type of the return of YEHOVAH God and the "second coming of the Messiah," because -- like Pentecost, in the ancient Hebrew calendar -- the return of YEHOVAH God and the future appearance of the Messiah could occur on a number of different dates, and we do not know for certain exactly when they will return!

Thus, even in this respect, Pentecost, or "Shavuot," the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of heightening expectation and anticipation, as we count down the weeks and days before it comes, is a unique symbol of the beginning of the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God!

The Wheat and the Tares

This false doctrine of the secret rapture is contradictory to the words of the Messiah in Matthew 13 when he said the wheat and tares would grow together until the “end of the world [age]” -- and then would be separated. According to this dual coming rapture theory, both groups would not grow together until the end of the age. The righteous would be separated from the wicked seven years before the Millennium. And what about the promise of the resurrection? The Messiah said, concerning the righteous of Israel, John 6:40 “…and I will raise him up at the last day.” No one denies that this means the last day of the age. Paul declares that the saints of Israel are caught up to meet YEHOVAH God at the “same time” the dead in the Messiah are raised. He says, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: 

“For the LORD [YEHOVAH God] himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we [of Israel] which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the LORD [YEHOVAH God] in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord [Messiah].”

Did you notice that in John 6:40 the Messiah called this resurrection the “last day?” But how could it be the “last day” if this gathering of the saints of Israel takes place seven years before the end of the age? And how could the “last trump” sound if it really wasn’t the very last moment of time?

"Behold, I tell 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 TRUMPET. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (I Corinthians 15:51-52).

Imagine the graves opening and the righteous rising and no one knowing that it had occurred?

What the Proponents Believe

According to those teaching the rapture theory, the coming of the Messiah will be in two separate stages. The first will be a secret rapture of the Ecclesia at the beginning of a supposed seven year tribulation period, followed by a glorious, triumphant return of the Messiah to the earth accompanied by the Ecclesia at the end of the seven year period. They believe that during this seven year period the antichrist is going to come into power, and YEHOVAH God will select and seal 144,000 literal Israelites who will take the Gospel to the whole world, converting immeasurable people to the Messiah.

They also believe the great battle of Armageddon is a literal, national war against literal Israel, which occurs near the end of the seven years and is brought to a halt by the Messiah’s return with his Ecclesia. Then literal Israel accepts the Messiah and enters with him, as his covenant people, into the 1,000 year (millennial) reign on earth known as the Kingdom Age or the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God. Accordingly, the Messiah will rule directly over the earth from the throne of David in Jerusalem, where the typical Temple services will be functioning again. Those who ultimately reject the Messiah’s rule are eventually judged and destroyed at the end of the Millennium. The new believers will then receive immortality and eternity will begin.

However, the Bible nowhere speaks of these two separate comings, and the word “rapture” is also an invention of theologians and occurs nowhere in the Bible. The deception does not stop there. Christians also debate whether we will be taken before the tribulation, or in the middle of the seven years, or at the completion of the seven year tribulation! These are called pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation and post tribulation.

Now, are you ready for the most amazing part of these views in regards to the seven year tribulation period? It was manufactured by a Jesuit Priest who was commissioned to come up with this false interpretation of Bible Prophecy! This raises many questions, such as why was this done and how could so many be drawn into this lie? I hope you will read on as we cover all aspects of this topic and reveal the Bible truth.

What the Proponents of the Secret Rapture Don't Mention!

Nowhere do we see mentioned the role of YEHOVAH God in the end-time events. We made the statement under #6 above that the WHOLE WORLD WILL SEE YEHOVAH GOD WHEN HE COMES -- AND WILL SHAKE WITH HORROR AND FEAR AT WHAT THEY SEE! Can we back this assertion up, provide Biblical evidence for the return of YEHOVAH God shortly after the Messiah's appearance? Let's see.

The Vision of the Millennial Temple:

The prophet Ezekiel, in a vision, saw the restored MILLENNIAL TEMPLE -- which is recorded in chapters 37 and 39 of his book. In this vision of the Millennial Temple, as it would be after being built at the time of the end, YEHOVAH God said to him --

"Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I WILL SET MY SANCTUARY [TEMPLE] IN THEIR MIDST forevermore. MY TABERNACLE [TEMPLE] ALSO SHALL BE WITH THEM; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when MY SANCTUARY [TEMPLE] IS IN THEIR MIDST forevermore" (Ezekiel 37:26-28).

Then, in chapter 39:

"I WILL SET MY GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS; all the nations [of the earth] shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward" (verses 21-22).

This event, which Ezekiel experienced in vision, will be fulfilled in the near future when YEHOVAH God returns to this earth and inhabits, once again, a newly built Temple! We find this SAME event recorded in Zechariah 2 -- where he says: "Sing, Jerusalem, and rejoice! For I have come to live among you, says the LORD [YEHOVAH]. AT THAT TIME [of the end] many nations [of Israel] will be converted to the LORD [YEHOVAH], and they too shall be My people; I will live among them all. Then you will know it was the LORD of Hosts [YEHOVAH] who sent me to you....Be silent, all mankind before the LORD [YEHOVAH]; FOR HE HAS COME TO EARTH FROM HEAVEN, FROM HIS HOLY HOME" (10-13).

The Golden Age to come, which Zechariah said was to follow the return of YEHOVAH God at the end of the age, describes the city of Jerusalem and surrounding areas as being at peace in an age when people can grow old in a secure environment. To those who lived in Jerusalem, in the hearing of Zechariah, that would seem like a miracle -- so great was the desolation of the place. But of the conditions that would follow the RETURN of YEHOVAH God to the Temple at the end of the age, Zechariah records:

"Thus said the LORD [YEHOVAH]: I have RETURNED TO ZION, and I will dwell in Jerusalem....Thus said the LORD [YEHOVAH] of hosts: There shall yet be old men and women in the squares of Jerusalem, each with a staff in hand because of their great age. And the squares of the city shall be crowded with boys and girls playing in the squares. Thus said the LORD [YEHOVAH] of Hosts: Though it will seem impossible to the remnant of this people IN THOSE DAYS, shall it also be impossible to Me? -- declares the LORD [YEHOVAH] of Hosts" (Zechariah 8:4-6).

Revelation 19:

Now what about the New Testament -- does the New Testament record the RETURN of YEHOVAH God to this earth and to a NEW Temple in Jerusalem? Indeed it does, and in a passage that Christians (in their confusion) have taken to refer to the return of the Messiah for more than 1,700 years!! Incredible as it may seem, Satan has blinded millions over the centuries to the TRUE identity of the Person pictured in Revelation 19 --

"Then I heard what sounded like the roar of a huge crowd, like the sound of rushing waters, like loud peals of thunder, saying, 'Halleluyah! ADONAI [YEHOVAH], GOD OF HEAVEN'S ARMIES, HAS BEGUN HIS REIGN!'....Then I saw heaven opened, and there before me was a white horse. Sitting on it was the one called FAITHFUL AND TRUE, and it is in righteousness that He passes judgment and goes to battle. His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on His head were MANY ROYAL CROWNS. And He had a name written which no one knew but Himself.

"He was wearing a robe that had been soaked in blood, and the name by which He is called is, 'THE WORD OF GOD.' The ARMIES OF HEAVEN, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, were following Him on white horses. And out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down nations -- 'He will rule them with a staff of iron.' It is He who treads the winepress from which flows the wine of the furious rage of ADONAI [YEHOVAH], GOD OF HEAVEN'S ARMIES. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: 'KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS'" (Verses 6, 11-16, Jewish New Testament).

YEHOVAH God the Father's future universal role on earth is a major theme of the Old Testament. Verse 6 above inaugurates YEHOVAH God the Father's Kingly reign on earth -- although its establishment requires several stages: first is the RETURN OF THE MESSIAH in Revelation 10, the wedding feast of the Lamb (the Messiah) in Revelation 19:7-9, climaxed by the RETURN OF YEHOVAH God (Revelation 19:11-15); then Satan must be chained (Revelation 20:1-3, 7-10), judgment must take place (Revelation 20:11-15), and only then does the Messiah actually rule over Israel as king and priest to his Father who resides in the new Third Temple in Jerusalem!

And does YEHOVAH God return by Himself? Notice I Thessalonians 4:15-17 --

"For this we affirm to you, by the Lord's [the Messiah's] Word, that we, the living, who are left over to the coming of the LORD [YEHOVAH God], will by no means precede those who fell asleep. Because the LORD [YEHOVAH God] Himself will come down from Heaven with a shout, with an Archangel's Voice, and with God's [YEHOVAH's] trumpet; and the dead in Christ will be raised first; then we, the living, who are left over, shall at the same time with them, be caught away in clouds, for a meeting of the LORD [YEHOVAH God] in the air; and so we shall be always with the Lord [Messiah]."

In order for the wedding feast of the Lamb (the Messiah) to take place, the Messiah must FIRST return to this earth -- NOT afterwards as would be the case if Revelation 19 referred to the Messiah's return!

In Titus 2:13 we are encouraged "to expect the blessed fulfillment of our CERTAIN HOPE, WHICH IS THE APPEARING OF THE SH'KHINAH OF OUR GREAT GOD AND the appearing of our Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah" (Jewish New Testament). Verses 11-16 of Revelation 19 describe this eagerly awaited (by the early Christians) "Second Coming" of YEHOVAH God -- NOT the "Second Coming" of the Messiah as millions have blindly believed!

"The One Called Faithful and True":

The phrase "Faithful and True" in verse 11 of Revelation 19 has been correctly capitalized in all the translations I have seen, and denotes the ULTIMATE in faithfulness and truth -- which, of course, is YEHOVAH the Father. In Jeremiah 10:10 we read: "But the LORD [YEHOVAH] is the true God [more correctly, "God of truth" -- Elohim emet]; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At His wrath the earth will tremble, and the nations will not be able to abide His indignation."

The "God of truth" in the above verse is not primarily the God who reveals eternal verities, but the God who can be trusted to keep His covenant. The RETURN of YEHOVAH God will be the faithful REAPPEARANCE of Him who has already appeared among men -- this time He comes to bring the covenant promises to their final and full consummation.

The "Word of God":

In verses 12-13 of Revelation 19 we read -- "His eyes were like a fiery flame, and on His head were MANY ROYAL CROWNS. And He had a name written which no one knew but Himself. He was wearing a robe that had been soaked in blood, and the name by which He is called is, 'THE WORD OF GOD.'"

The phrase "The Word of God" is thought by many to refer to Yeshua the Messiah -- and they try to link this phrase to the "logos" of John 1:1. However, there is absolutely NO justification for doing this. In fact, NOWHERE in the Bible does this phrase refer to the Messiah! In most cases in the New Testament, "the word of God" refers to the message or words revealed through the writings of the Old Testament or Torah. However, and note this, there are a few passages in the Bible that indicate a DIRECT communication from YEHOVAH took place. Notice I Kings 12:22 --

"But THE WORD OF GOD came to Shemaiah, the man of God: "Say to King Rehoboam son of Solomon of Judah, and to all the House of Judah and Benjamin and the rest of the people: Thus said the LORD [YEHOVAH]: You shall not set out to make war on your kinsmen the Israelites. Let every man return to his home, for this thing has been brought about by Me." They heeded THE WORD OF THE LORD [YEHOVAH] and turned back, in accordance with THE WORD OF THE LORD [YEHOVAH]" (The Tanakh).

Here "the word of God" is clearly identified with "the word of the LORD [YEHOVAH]," showing that "the word of God" is the SAME as "the word of the LORD" -- and is certainly indicated to be the "Shekinah" of the LORD [YEHOVAH] communicating with Shemaiah.

Similarly, in I Chronicles 17, we read:

"But that same night THE WORD OF GOD came to Nathan: 'Go and say to My servant David: Thus said the LORD [YEHOVAH]: You are not the one to build a house [Temple] for Me to dwell in" (verses 3-4).

Once again, we find here that the phrase "THE WORD OF GOD" is associated with YEHOVAH and indicates that He is communicating to Nathan the prophet by means of His holy "Shekinah." In the New Testament we read where "the word of God" came to John the Baptist --

"Annas and Caiaphas being high priests, THE WORD OF GOD came to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. And he went into all the region around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, as is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying:

'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 
"Prepare the way of the LORD [YEHOVAH], 
Make His paths straight." ' "

Here we see that John the Baptist receives a direct communication from YEHOVAH God which tells him to "prepare the way of the LORD [YEHOVAH] -- thus linking the "word of God" with the One called YEHOVAH or YHVH.

In Revelation 19:13 the phrase "The Word of God" is capitalized in the original Greek, thereby indicating the Rider of the white horse to be the physical representation of YEHOVAH God -- a component of the same "force" that directly communicated with Shemaiah, Nathan and John the Baptist.

Finally, in Revelation 1:2, "the Word of God" is clearly separated from the Messiah -- notice!

"This is the revelation which God gave to Yeshua the Messiah, so that he could show his servants what must happen very soon. He communicated it by sending his angel to his servant Yochanan [John], who bore witness to THE WORD OF GOD AND to the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah...."

The "Armies of Heaven":

The next verse, verse 14 of Revelation 19, states that "the ARMIES OF HEAVEN, clothed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him [Adonai, YEHOVAH (see verse 6)] on white horses." Throughout the New Testament the "armies of heaven" are ALWAYS associated with, and are commanded by, ADONAI -- who, according to the plain words of the apostle James is THE FATHER! "With it [the tongue] we bless ADONAI, THE FATHER; and with it we curse people, who were made in the image of God" (James 3:9 -- Jewish New Testament). Further, in Ephesians 1:3, this is echoed when Paul says -- "Praised be ADONAI, FATHER OF OUR LORD YESHUA THE MESSIAH..."

In Revelation 1:8 we find written:

"I am the 'A' and the 'Z,'" says ADONAI [YEHOVAH], God of HEAVEN'S ARMIES, the One [ADONAI] who is, who was AND WHO IS COMING."

Again, in Revelation 4:8: "Holy, holy, holy is ADONAI, GOD OF HEAVEN'S ARMIES, the One who was, who is and who IS COMING." Also, in Revelation 11:16 -- "We thank you, ADONAI [YEHOVAH], GOD OF HEAVEN'S ARMIES, the One who is and was, that you have taken your power AND HAVE BEGUN TO RULE [on earth after His coming in Revelation 19].

I don't wish to seem redundant, but the One on the white horse leading the armies of heaven to this earth is YEHOVAH THE FATHER -- NOT Yeshua the Messiah!

This is affirmed by the very fact that Revelation 19:17-18 -- verses that talk about "the supper of the great God" -- is taken straight out of Ezekiel 39:17-20 which calls the "supper" a "sacrificial meal." In other words, the events covered by Revelation 19:11-21 are the exact SAME events covered in Ezekiel 39! So who, in Ezekiel 39 and the chapters leading up to it, is the Being responsible for rescuing Israel from her enemies and laying the table for "the supper of the great God"? Notice Ezekiel 37:21-23:

"Then say to them, 'Thus says the LORD GOD [YEHOVAH]: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I [YEHOVAH God] will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I [YEHOVAH] will be their God." ' "

Then, in Ezekiel 37:26-28, YEHOVAH attests --

"Moreover I [YEHOVAH God] will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I WILL SET MY SANCTUARY IN THEIR MIDST FOREVERMORE. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I [YEHOVAH God] will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the LORD [YEHOVAH], sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."

Now, it doesn't say that the tabernacle of Yeshua the Messiah will be in Israel's midst forever -- as one might think from reading Revelation 19 and all the notations and comments found in most New Testaments available today.

"Quaking at My Presence":

Ezekiel the prophet reveals that at the conclusion of Gog's destruction, YEHOVAH God the Father will Himself be physically present on the ground, in the land: "For in My jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, on that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at My presence" (38:19-20).

YEHOVAH God says that throughout the earth, both people and animals will "quake at [His, YEHOVAH's] presence." The word used for "presence" is the Hebrew word panim. Panim is a reference to the ACTUAL FACE OR PRESENCE OF A PERSON. When YEHOVAH God says that the people of the earth will quake at His panim, He is saying that they will be terrified because of His ACTUAL presence. Concerning the word panim, The New Unger's Bible Dictionary says, "The presence (face) of Jehovah is Jehovah in his own personal presence." The New International Encyclopedia of Bible Words says, "In the OT, being in God's or another's presence is indicated by a preposition (I) prefixed to the Hebrew word panim ('face'). The thought is to be 'before the face of the person.'"

Panim is used throughout the Old Testament to refer to the actual presence of YEHOVAH God the Father. Jacob, for instance, after wrestling with the angel of YEHOVAH God, referred to seeing YEHOVAH face-to-face: "So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, 'For I have seen God face [panim] to face [panim], and yet my life has been delivered'" (Genesis 32:30).

It is also interesting to note that in place of the Hebrew panim, the Septuagint uses the Greek word prosopon. Prosopon is a word commonly used in the New Testament to refer to actual presence. Prosopon is a powerful word that implies actual face-to-face presence. An excellent example of the New Testament usage of prosopon is a scene where the righteous are actually looking upon the face of YEHOVAH God in the eternal city: "No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His [YEHOVAH's] face [prosopon], and his name will be on their foreheads" (Revelation 22:4).

Ezekiel's description of people quaking in fear of YEHOVAH's face reveals that at the conclusion of the Battle of Gog and Magog YEHOVAH God the Father will be physically present on this earth, in the land of Israel, in the City of Jerusalem.

Further evidence for the physical presence of the Father at the end of the age and at the conclusion of YEHOVAH's anger against the Beast powers is seen in Ezekiel 39:7: "And My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD [YEHOVAH], the Holy One in Israel."

This is the only time that the phrase "the Holy One in Israel" is used in the Bible. It is the Hebrew qadowsh qadowsh ba Yisra'el. A similar phrase, "the Holy One of Israel" (qadowsh qadowsh Yisra'el), is used thirty-one times in Scripture (e.g., Isaiah 12:6; 43:3; 55:5; 60:9). But here, YEHOVAH God is not merely the Holy One of Israel; He is actually present in the land and on the ground!

"KING of Kings and LORD of Lords":

Moving now to verse 16 of Revelation 19, we read -- "And on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written: 'KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.'" These titles denote the ultimate in praise that can be bestowed and, therefore, must be titles of YEHOVAH God the Father. Throughout the New Testament the Messiah indicates that the Father was far GREATER than he -- see John 14:28 for example. Also, if we examine the original Greek for "King of kings and Lord of lords" we will quickly discover that the first "King" and the first "Lord" in this title both start with upper case letters -- showing Him to be the ULTIMATE "King" of all kings and the ULTIMATE "Lord" of all lords.

Some argue that the Lamb (the Messiah), depicted in Revelation 17:14, also has these titles and must, as a result, be the Rider of the horse represented in Revelation 19. But, once again, if we closely examine the original Greek we will first of all find that the title is REVERSED from that in Revelation 19 and reads instead "lord of lords and king of kings." Then we will notice that the first "lord" and the first "king" of the title are lower case in the Greek -- showing that the Messiah was (as pictured here in Revelation 17:14) NOT the ultimate "lord of lords" or the ultimate "king of kings." He is a LOWER "lord of lords" and "king of kings," which entirely agrees with the Messiah's statement that his Father was greater than he.

The title in Revelation 19:16 expresses YEHOVAH THE FATHER'S rulership over all creation and all the kings and lords therein. It is equivalent to the phrase "King of kings of kings" which the Jewish Siddur (prayer book) applies to YEHOVAH in this song which introduces the Sabbath in many Jewish homes --

"Welcome, ministering angels, messengers from the Most High, from the King of kings of kings, the HOLY ONE, blessed be he. Come in peace....bless me with peace,...go in peace...." (Jewish New Testament Commentary, p. 840).

When we add all these proofs up, the clear and astounding TRUTH is that Revelation 19 pictures the glorious RETURN OF YEHOVAH GOD to this earth to rule, with the Messiah directly under Him, from the new Third Temple in Jerusalem; and to bring the firstfruits of YEHOVAH's people Israel with Him after resurrecting and changing them before meeting them in the air (I Thessalonians 4:15-17). May YEHOVAH God hasten that day!

The History of the Rapture Theory

Edward Irving (1792-1834):

Irving, who was a Scottish Presbyterian pastor and forerunner of the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements, had an unusual occurrence in one of his meetings in early 1830. Just before his dismissal of the meeting, a young Scottish girl named Margaret MacDonald fell into a trance. After several hours of visions and prophesying, she revealed that the Messiah's future appearance would occur in two phases, not one. The Messiah would first come invisibly to all except the righteous, then he would come a second time to execute wrath on the nations. She thus claimed to have visions that included a secret rapture of believers before the appearance of a one man antichrist who she also named.

The teaching of this "secret rapture" was promoted by Irving on the premise that he had also heard a voice from heaven commanding him to preach it. He attended prophecy conferences that began in Dublin, Ireland in the same year. Later In 1830, Irving also promoted this rapture doctrine (as per Margaret MacDonald's vision) at Powerscourt Castle -- also in Ireland.

It should be noted that some researchers suggest that Irving's view of the rapture was also influenced by the Spanish Jesuit priest, Lacunza, whose work Irving had translated in 1827 under the title, The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty -- more of this later.

Irving, it seems, held a radical position on the use of spiritual gifts, including speaking in tongues and prophesying. He believed that these gifts were for the present-day church, and many followed his teaching. However, when disturbances arose in Irving's services during the manifestations of these gifts, the Church of Scotland took action, dismissing Irving from his position as minister in 1832.

The result of Irving's dismissal was the formation of the Catholic Apostolic Church, which still exists today. The movement grew and became the beginning of modern-day pentecostalism.

John Nelson Darby (1800-1882):

Darby, an Englishman who was a minister of the Church of Ireland and later a pioneer of the Plymouth Brethren movement, had also been thinking along the lines of Irving. When Darby heard reports of Irving's activities, he traveled to Scotland to talk with Irving and others about the secret rapture theory. It was Darby who, more than anyone else, developed the scriptural arguments for the doctrine. He promoted the secret rapture after attending the same Powerscourt Bible Prophecy meeting in 1830, where he learned of Margaret McDonald’s supposed vision. Darby modified her views and then taught them under his own name. He developed and organized “futurism” into a system of prophetic teachings called “dispensationalism” with this rapture doctrine at its center.

He visited Margaret McDonald at her home in Port Glasgow, Scotland and then later visited America several times where this false rapture theology starting gaining a large acceptance in the 1850s and 1860s.

Cyrus Ingerson Scofield (1843-1921):

Darby, who was largely responsible for introducing this new teaching on a large scale, also greatly influenced Scofield, who incorporated this false doctrine into the notes of his Scofield Reference Bible -- first published by Oxford University Press in 1909. One million copies were printed by 1930, firmly establishing this Futurist theory into different denominations and Bible schools of the United States in the 20th Century.

However, historical evidence actually reveals that the theory originated much earlier. Before and during the Protestant Reformation, the Reformers embraced the true “Historical” interpretation of the Bible where the antichrist was clearly seen as a system of apostasy and persecution, rather than a single individual. The apostle John spoke of the antichrist that “shall come” but he also added that “even now are there MANY antichrists” (1 John 2:18). So we know that there was not just one but many antichrists and that the antichrist system was operating when John was writing about 2,000 years ago. The conclusion of those who studied these prophecies during the Reformation was that there was only one system that fits all the characteristics of antichrist -- which was the Papal system of the Roman Catholic Church! 

The Catholic Church and the Rapture

No wonder the Roman Catholic Church was so opposed to the Bible being available for everyone to read for themselves! To control what they called heretical doctrine, the Catholic Church called for a special meeting known as the Fifth Lateran Council, (1512-1517), which forbade anyone to publish a book without prior censorship, and also prohibited anyone from preaching on the subject of antichrist. The leaders of the Council, and the Catholic Church, also attempted to ban or burn all Bibles, "heretical" books, and also the "heretics" that owned or preached from them!

The major characteristic identifying the antichrist power was the 1,260 years of persecution of the “saints,” which was fulfilled in the Catholic Church’s persecution of Israelite Christians throughout the dark ages -- beginning in 538 A.D. After the fall of the pagan Roman empire, and extending to 1798 when the Pope was taken prisoner by Napoleon's general Berthier, and died, this period of time incorporated 1,260 years exactly. This was the deadly head wound mentioned in Revelation 13:3. In order to divert attention away from the Roman Catholic Church as the antichrist power, a new interpretation would have to be found. This was done by rejecting the true “Historical” interpretation and accepting a false “Futurist” interpretation proposed by a Spanish Jesuit doctor of theology -- Francisco Ribera.

Francisco Ribera (1537-1591):

Ribera began writing a lengthy (500 pages) commentary in 1585 on the Book of Revelation entitled, In Sacrum Beati Ioannis Apostoli, & Evangelistiae Apocalypsin Commentarij, and published it about the year 1590. He died in 1591 at the age of 54, so he was not able to expand on his work or write any other commentaries.

In his book Ribera postulated that the 1,260 day prophecy were not 1,260 years but a literal 3 1/2 years, or 1,260 actual days, and therefore none of the book of Revelation had any application to the Middle Ages or the Papacy. It applied to a future period just prior to the future appearance of the Messiah; hence it was called “Futurism” or the “Futurist” interpretation. Ribera went to the other extreme with his theory that the whole Book of Revelation related to events that were to take place JUST at the time of the Messiah's future appearance on this earth and was, therefore, still in the future. The ANTICHRIST, therefore, was to be a World-Dictator who would appear at the end of this dispensation.

Ribera's theory came out within twenty years of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, which was perpetrated by the Jesuits in 1572. In the sight of YEHOVAH God the hands of the murderous Jesuits were still deep-dyed with the innocent blood of the French Protestants when they handed off their theory to the unsuspecting Christian world.

In order to remove the Catholic Church from consideration as the Antichrist power, and with the sole design of shifting the odium away from the Pope who had held a festival and even struck a medal in commemoration of the massacre, Ribera proposed that the first few chapters of the Book of Revelation applied to ancient pagan Rome, and the rest he limited to a yet future period of 3 1/2 literal years -- immediately prior to the "second coming." During that time, the Roman Catholic Church would have fallen away from the pope into apostasy. Then, he proposed, the Antichrist, a single individual, would:

1) Persecute and blaspheme the saints of YEHOVAH.

2) Rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem.

3) Abolish the Christian religion.

4) Deny Yeshua the Messiah.

5) Be received by the Jews.

6) Pretend to be YEHOVAH.

7) Kill the two witnesses of YEHOVAH.

8) Conquer the world.

So, according to Ribera, the 1,260 days and 42 months and 3 1/2 times of prophecy were not 1,260 years, but a literal 3 1/2 years, and therefore none of the book of Revelation had any application to the Middle Ages or the papacy -- but to the future, to a period immediately prior to the future appearance of the Messiah, hence the name Futurism.

Ribera, as a member of the Jesuits, was nothing less than a murderer in YEHOVAH God's sight and, as YEHOVAH has testified: "None of the wicked shall understand;" yet thousands of so-called "ministers" and "Bible Teachers" today strongly maintain that Ribera's idea of a future personal Antichrist is the right interpretation -- and that the Reformers' view of the papacy as the Antichrist is wrong!

Manuel De Lacunza (1731-1801):

Lacunza, a Jesuit priest from Chile, also advocated futurism in his manuscript entitled “La Venida del Mesias en Gloria y Magestad” (The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty). Writing under the assumed name of Juan Josafa (Rabbi) Ben-Ezra, Lacunza hoped to obscure the fact that he was a Roman Catholic, in order to give his book better acceptance in Protestantism.

Due to their vicious principles, and their encouragement of treachery in undermining orderly and peace-loving governments, the Jesuits have been expelled from almost every civilized country in which they have set foot. Their odious record includes some one hundred expulsion orders issued by different governments. When they were expelled from Chile, Manuel Lacunza, (pronounced "Lacuntha") joined the Jesuits in 1747 at the age of 16, and settled in the north of Italy where he devoted the remainder of his life to writing his book, The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty.

Lacunza was, of course, steeped in the then current Jesuit teaching that the appearance and reign of the Antichrist was still in the future. To this theory he added his own touch that in order to make room for all the events which were claimed to happen in the future, there would have to be a period of time between the rapture of the saints and the actual supposed appearance of the Messiah in his glory. He conceived the idea that

"when the Lord returns from heaven to earth upon His coming forth from heaven, and much before His arrival at the earth, He will give His orders, and send forth His command as King and God omnipotent: 'with a shout (in the Vulgate jussu, i.e. "by the order") with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.' At this voice of the Son of God, those who shall hear it, shall forthwith arise, as saith the evangelist St. John (chapter 5:25) 'those who hear shall live'" (The Coming of Messiah in Glory and Majesty, by Juan Josafat Ben Ezra. Dublin: 1833. pps. 10-11).

This is the germ out of which sprang the entire theory that the Messiah was to come TWICE -- once for his saints, and again some time later with his saints.

Lacunza, largely in bondage to Catholic teaching, vigorously asserted that the Book of Revelation "is wholly directed to the coming of the Lord," and claimed that it DID NOT find any fulfillment in the facts of history during the Christian dispensation. This, of course, is a contention in which ALL futurists and Roman Catholics are in agreement. However Lacunza was, to some extent, an independent thinker, and he gave expression to several ideas that could not be anything but ANATHEMA to Rome!

He at least hinted strongly that the Antichrist would appear IN ROME -- and that he would usurp the place of the Head of the Catholic Church. He also clearly stated that the second beast of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation signified the priesthood, not of some false religion, but of the Church of Rome, which he regarded as the true Church. This priesthood, he claimed, was to apostatize on the appearance of the Antichrist -- just as the Jewish priesthood apostatized when they crucified the Messiah. Thus, according to Lacunza's view, owing to the supposed sanctity of their office, they would be able to seduce the vast majority of the Christian world, and would persecute the true saints of YEHOVAH God.

But, most damaging of all from the Pope's point of view, was the fact that Lacunza ventured to call into question the teaching of his own church as to the individual personal Antichrist, with all the supernatural powers for evil which he was to exercise within his few years' reign. He actually BACKED UP the main contention of the Protestants that the Antichrist of the Bible was not one man, but a mighty system or body of men animated by one spirit. Speaking of the teachings of the Catholic doctors regarding the person of the Antichrist, Lacunza refers to their ideas as "so various, so obscure, and so ill-founded," and adds:

"Who knows, but all this variety of notions may have originated in some false principle, which without design, has been looked upon, and received as true? Who knows, but all the evil may have originated, in having imagined this Antichrist as a SINGULAR and individual person, and sought to accommodate to him all the general and particular things which we find in Scripture?

"This supposition is the thing which has rendered very many of the notices we read in the Scripture, obscure and incomprehensible, to my understanding: which has made things and notions innumerable to be imagined, which, do not appear from revelation, in order to supply the place of those which do appear. This, in short, has made the Antichrist to be sought; yea, and found, and with the eyes of the imagination beheld, where no Antichrist was, and at the same time, neither to be seen, nor recognized, where he actually is" (ibid., p.92).

The childish notion that Mussolini, or Juan Carlos of Spain, or Prince Charles, or Bill Clinton -- or any other such individual -- can fulfill the Divine predictions concerning the Antichrist, was roundly condemned by Lacunza in words which modern "prophets of God" and so-called ministers might well heed:

"Seeing this beast (the first beast of Revelation 13) is by the confession of all, the Antichrist whom we look for, and seeing by this terrible and wonderful metaphor are announced so many things, so novel, so grand, and so stupendous, as about to happen in those times over all the earth, this Antichrist ought to be something infinitely different, and incomparably greater than what a single man can be. There is no doubt that in those dark times shall be seen, now one king, now another, now many at one time in various parts of the world, cruelly persecuting the small body of Christ. But neither shall this king, nor that, nor all conjoined, be anything in reality but the horns of the beast, and the arms of Antichrist.

"If we expect to see accomplished in one man all that is said of the beast, with all that is announced to us in so many parts of Scripture; it is much to be feared, that, all which is written will take place, and such an Antichrist not appearing, we shall be looking for him when he is already in the house. Likewise it is to be feared, that this idea which we have formed of Antichrist may prove the chief cause of the very great carelessness in which men shall be found, when the day of the Lord arrives" (ibid., pps. 113-114).

Luis del Alcazar (1554-1613):

Luis del Alcazar, who was born in Seville, studied at Seville, Cordova and Salamanca. He entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1568, and became a priest in 1578. He identifies the antichrist as Nero in his system of preterism.

According to preterism, all prophecy in the Bible is really history. The preterist interpretation of Scripture regards the book of Revelation as a symbolic picture of first-century conflicts only, not a description of what will occur down through the ages and in the end times. The term preterism comes from the Latin praeter, meaning “past.” Thus, preterism is the view that the biblical prophecies concerning the “end times” have already been fulfilled -- in the past. Preterism is directly opposed to futurism, which sees the end-times prophecies as having a still-future fulfillment.

Notes Wikipedia:

"Preterism was one of, if not the earliest eschatological position of early Christians, written about as early as the third century by Eusebius of Caeseria between 300 and 310 A.D. From that point on the Church writers were nearly universally partial or full preterists. As rigid historicism and end times cults have risen to prominence, the preterist position has come under attack. A prominent preterist exposition of prophecy was written by the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar during the Counter Reformation. Moses Stuart noted that Alcasar's preterist interpretation was of considerable benefit to the Roman Catholic Church during its arguments with Protestants, and preterism has been described in modern eschatological commentary as a Catholic defense against the Protestant Historicist view which identified the Roman Catholic Church as a persecuting apostasy."

Jesuit Propaganda

This historicism chart illustrates the three schools of interpretation regarding the antichrist. Ribera’s futurism puts the antichrist into a future three and one-half literal years, while both Ribera and Alcazar put the antichrist outside the Middle Ages and the reformation period identified by Protestant Historicists as the antichrist’s reign of 1,260 prophetic years. The truly amazing part of all this is that the Futurist theory dominates Protestant teaching today. That scenario is directly traceable back to the pen of the Jesuit Francisco Ribera, who manufactured this theory for the sole purpose of diverting attention from the Papacy.

In what could only be described as a stunning reversal, Protestants have over time actually become the Papacy’s greatest ally by spreading its Jesuit spawned propaganda. What irony that Protestants, who originally broke away from what they clearly recognized to be the harlot antichrist led Church of prophecy, now champion the Futurist interpretation from high profile ministries. Futurism has, without doubt, been successful beyond the wildest dreams of its Jesuit authors. The same applies to the Preterist interpretation of Luis del Alcazar, although to a much lesser degree.

For 240 years -- from 1590 to 1830 -- the idea of an individual personal Antichrist to appear sometime in the future was the recognized teaching of the Catholic Church, while the belief that the reign of the Antichrist extended all through the Dark Ages -- from the fourth century to the Reformation -- was universally held by the Protestant churches.

The intent of both Futurism and Praeterism was to be diversionary, to counter or offset the Protestant Historical interpretation, and present alternatives -- no matter how implausible they might be. That the Historical interpretation differed so greatly from that put forth by Alcazar and other Jesuits mattered little. Catholicism, the supposedly divine and infallible interpreter of scripture, was presenting two vastly different and quite incompatible interpretations of prophecy in a desperate effort to counter the claims of the Reformers.

Who is Spreading This False Rapture Theory Today?

In the 1990s, Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins took the future one-man antichrist idea of Hal Lindsey, Cyrus Scofield, John Darby, Irving, Newman, Todd, Maitland, Bellarmine, and Ribera and turned it into “The most successful Christian-fiction series ever” (Publishers Weekly).

Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet Earth, was largely theological, which limited its appeal, while Left Behind is a sequence of highly imaginative fictional novels. The television ministries of Jack Van Impe, Peter and Paul Lalonde and Pastor John Hagee have all worked together to produce LEFT BEHIND: The Movie. This project even caught the attention of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, resulting in an interview with LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins on Larry King Live. Left Behind is now teaching much of the same Jesuit Futurism promoted by Francisco Ribera -- which is hiding the real truth about the antichrist.

Through Left Behind, Futurism has taken a very strong hold, unleashing a massive tidal wave of false prophecy which is sweeping over the world. Everyone believes movies and books, right? With all the false teaching already circulating on a secret rapture and seven year tribulation period, even though these books are fictional, many have taken them as being truthful. Satan continues to clap his hands in glee over just another one of his great deceptions perpetrated on the Christian world. And as usual many Christians, and even Pastors, will not entertain the idea of this being possible as they will not consider the majority could be wrong -- and so the lie continues to spread like a disease!

If Christians don’t start waking up to the devils many deceptions, a lot of good people are going to perish. Satan’s deceptions are strong and convincing, but YEHOVAH God has given us ample information to help us discern truth from error if we will only diligently study His Word.

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Correcting the Errors of  Modern "Christianity"!

Hope of Israel Ministries P.O. Box 853 Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A. www.hope-of-israel.org

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