Harold Camping's ministry and
followers reportedly spent up to $100 million to warn the world that the
rapture would come on the 21st. Today, it's the 23rd, and Camping
and his followers are still here. I feel bad for them, as I also once
tried to predict the rapture, way back in September 11th, 1999, and I spammed
usenet to preach it! So, I know a bit of their disappointment.
I still believe that the rapture will happen at the end of the world, at
the beginning of the day of the Lord, before the 7 year tribulaion.
Here's what the Bible says about false prophets:
Deut 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing
follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not
spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be
afraid of him.
Ezek. 14:9 And if the prophet
be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that
prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from
the midst of my people Israel.
It's a good thing that we false prophets can have forgiveness through Jesus!
Some Christians fear that the
recent false prophecy of the rapture ruins the Bible's and God's
credibility. No, it helps it! How? Because false prophets
are a actually sign of the end times, and they will probably increase just
like earthquakes, wars, and famines!
Mark 13:21 And then if any man
shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:
Mark 13:22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew
signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
Also, I do believe that
someday, prophets will accurately predict the Lord's return.
Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD
will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.
Mark 13:23 But take ye heed:
behold, I have foretold you all things.
Mark 4:22 For there is nothing
hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but
that it should come abroad.
Dan 12:9 And he said, Go thy
way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
Dan 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked
shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise
shall understand.
But it won't be by
gematria. But rather, truth is established by 2-3 witnesses.
Deuteronomy 19:15 One witness
shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin
that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three
witnesses, shall the matter be established.
Matthew 18:16 But if he will
not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two
or three witnesses every word may be established.
Thus, no prophecy will hang on
a vague interpretation of one verse somewhere, but truth will be established
by 2-3 scriptures, and many Christian denominations all embracing the truth
that will be revealed.
We should never say, "we
will never know when the Lord will return", because not knowing is a
punishment for not watching and a punishment for being an evil servant of the
Lord.
Revelation 3:3 "Remember
therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If
therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou
shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."
Luke 12:39 "And this
know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would
come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken
through."
Mat 24:48 But and if that evil
servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
Mat 24:49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink
with the drunken;
Mat 24:50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not
for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
Mat 24:51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the
hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
If not knowing the time of the
Lord's return is a specific punishment that applies to those who "shall
not watch", or the "evil servants", then it seems this
punishment could not apply to God's good servants who are watching.
Even the foolish virgins of
Matthew 25:1-13 who will not be saved, will know the general time to prepare
and get ready for the Lord's return.
Matthew 25
1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins,
which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.
2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with
them:
4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom
cometh; go ye out to meet him.
7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for
our lamps are gone out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough
for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves.
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that
were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open
to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you
not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour
wherein the Son of man cometh.
If, therefore, the unsaved
foolish virgins can know the time of the Lord's return, why wouldn't God's
wise prophets know?
Thus, I believe one day, God's
prophets will know the time of the Lord's return.
In fact, there are several
things that have to happen first, in my opinion, before the pre-tribulation
rapture.
Specifically, I believe the
world will highly value silver and gold, and that the wealth of the world, in
silver and gold, will be concentrated to Israel, as the Bible specifically
says! How hard is it to believe something written with such
specificity, plainness and redundancy?
Zechariah 14:14 Judah too will
fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be
collected — great quantities of gold and silver and clothing.
Ezekiel 38:13 Sheba and Dedan
and the merchants of Tarshish and all her villages[e] will say to you, “Have
you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off
silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much
plunder?”’
If silver and gold are
considered the wealth of the nations, then it appears to me that the world
will highly value silver and gold, and be using them as money, at the time of
the end.
It appears to me that the
invasion of Israel from the north mentioned in Ezekiel 38 will be exactly the
right pretext for the Antichrist to come on the scene and blame silver and
gold for the world's problems, and usher in his anti-gold solution of the 666
mark of the beast for tracking all economic transactions.
The antichrist also is
described as the "8th beast" in Revelation 17-18. His world
government implies that there will be another world government that comes
before it, the "7th beast". That, to me, implies a world
government will exist prior to the rapture.
Both a world government, and
the use of gold and silver as money, implies another important thing:
World peace, which is also a feature of Ezekiel 38, specifically, that Israel
is living at peace. Three times, Israel is mentioned as living in peace
and safety.
Ezekiel 38:8 After many days
you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has
recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the
mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out
from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.
Ezekiel 38:10 “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day thoughts
will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. 11 You will say,
“I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and
unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and
bars.
Ezekiel 38:14 “Therefore, son
of man, prophesy and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In
that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take
notice of it?
Israel has never been at peace
since the modern nation was founded. Military service is mandatory for
all people of young age.
Paul, when writing about the
rapture, in 1 Thessalonians chapters 4-5, mentions this peace and safety that
is followed by the sudden destruction, and connects this with the rapture and
the return of the Lord. There is only one time in the entire Hebrew
Scriptures that describes a time when the people are experiencing and saying
peace and safety, which is followed by sudden destruction, and it's Ezekiel
38. This passage also alludes to the fact that the timing of these
events will be known to the followers of God.
1 Thessalonians 5
1 But of the times and
the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2 For yourselves know
perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3 For when they shall
say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail
upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4 But ye, brethren, are
not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the
children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor
of darkness.
6 Therefore let us not
sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep
sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of
the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an
helmet, the hope of salvation.
9 For God hath not
appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us,
that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
11 Wherefore comfort
yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
The time for the rapture was just not ready today.
Today, Israel is not living in
peace and safety, as it will.
Today, the world does not
highly value silver and gold. But it will.
Get ready. Buy silver and
gold.
This will also help Christians
to prepare for the Great Commission, to spend the money to take the gospel to
the nations.
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