May 21, 2011 NOT the End of the World

Originally posted May 20, 2011

I read an article Thursday morning on Fox News about Harold Camping’s prediction that the rapture will occur on May 21st . . . Saturday.  This isn’t the first time I have heard of Camping’s claims, but I wasn’t even going to address them, because I think he’s so far off the mark.  However, I could not let this article slip by, because it makes some claims that are absolutely false, and I wanted to point out those errors and shed light on the truth, because this is a topic that is so largely ignored by the church as a whole these days.  The article also makes Christians sound like absolute nuts, and I really don’t appreciate that.  Some of us do actually have brains between our ears and have actually done the research ourselves.  We know what we believe and why, based on Scripture rather than on the say-so of some loud-mouthed know-it-all.

I began this post Thursday morning, but it has taken me a couple of days to complete it.  Kids, normal duties . . . life happens, right?    I do apologize for the length.  But I wanted to make sure I did a thorough job so as to thoroughly refute Camping and redeem the dignity of Christians worldwide when his prophecies prove false tomorrow.  Please do me the honor of reading through the entire thing.  If you feel led to comment, expound on my thoughts, or offer up more Scripture references, please feel free to do so.

First off, I do not believe for a second that the rapture will occur tomorrow.  Why?  Because the Bible tells us that the beginning of the end . . . the rapture . . . will come at a time when no one expects it.  Christ himself said “35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matthew 24:35-36).  Furthermore, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3 tells us “1 Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”  If Christ himself told us that we would not know the day or the hour, and one of the greatest apostles of all time, Paul, also confirmed this fact, who on earth does Camping think he is to claim he knows something even Christ said he himself did not know?!  Isn’t that being a bit presumptuous?  A bit cocky, might I add?  For crying out loud, Camping!  Show some Christlike humility and admit that you have no clue what you are talking about!  Camping is a false prophet, plain and simple, and anyone who is following him is allowing themselves to be led astray.  I have no sympathy for those who are following this man.  They will be devastated come May 22nd when their “hope” proves falsely placed.  If they were reading their Bibles for themselves, they would know this fact and would not have been led astray.  Furthermore, Camping has made such predictions before.  He said Christ was going to return in 1994.  Obviously, it did not happen.  By Biblical definitions, the second someone “prophesies” something that does not come true, he (or she) is a false prophet.  That settles it then.  Camping is a false prophet.  Christ will not return for his church on May 21 of this year.  He may return any other day this year, next year, 100 years from now . . . but NOT this Saturday, simply because Camping says he will.

This brings me to another point before I dive into my rebuttal of the article.  People like Camping make me so angry!  It is people like Camping who give Christians a bad name!  They keep attempting to set dates, and those dates come and go with no sign of Christ, the rapture, the Tribulation . . . nothing.  And so yet another black mark is added to Christianity.  Since what we say doesn’t come true, we as a group are all nuts.  Because of a few people who take it upon themselves to put words into the mouth of Jesus and try to apply nonsense such as numerology or “Bible codes” to Scripture to come up with “hidden messages” that aren’t there, Christians have lost all credibility.  How are we to win souls to Christ if a few of our number (who prove they aren’t true Christians at all simply by undermining the Holy Spirit in this way) insist on setting dates that never come to pass?  Stop setting dates!  Christ will come when he comes!  The date is not for us to know!  This has proven a VERY effective tool of Satan to drive people away from Christianity.  Those of you reading this who are not Christians and who think I am crazy for what I am saying and what other “Christians” are saying, please keep this in mind.  Those who truly follow Christ are content to wait patiently for God to work His plan and to gather us to Himself when He decides it is time.  Anyone claiming to know “the date” is an enemy of Christ, and not truly following His teachings.
Now, moving on to the false assumptions the author of the article on Fox News makes about Christians.  The article in question can be found here: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/19/rapture-movement-predicts-end-world-saturday/.  The quote I would like to address states:

The Rapture — the belief that Christ will bring the faithful into paradise prior to a period of tribulation on earth that precedes the end of time — is a relatively new notion compared to Christianity itself, and most Christians don’t believe in it. And even believers rarely attempt to set a date for the event.

First off, the rapture is NOT a new notion.  Quite the contrary, in fact.  The rapture has been taught from the earliest days of the church.  The writings of Ephraem the Syrian prove this fact, as do passages contained within Scripture itself.  I will provide some Scripture references in a moment, but first allow me to present the most obvious proof that the rapture was not conceived when John Nelson Darby wrote about it in the 1800′s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Nelson_Darby).

Ephraem the Syrian was an elder in the church during the fourth century.  He lived from 306-373 AD, and was well known for his teachings and for the hymns that he wrote.  According to Wikipedia, he was even venerated as a saint after his death.  You can read more about his life here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephrem_the_Syrian.  Recently, a teacher in Biblical prophecy and Biblical archeology, Grant R Jeffrey, uncovered some texts apparently written by Ephraem the Syrian, or at the very least derived from his sermons, that had not yet been translated.  In trying to find a reference that talks about where these texts were found, I discovered this:

Dr. Paul Alexander, perhaps the most authoritative scholar on the writings of the early Byzantine Church, concluded that Ephraem’s text on The Antichrist taught that the Lord would supernaturally remove the saints of the Church from the earth is prior to the tribulations that is to come.” Ephraem wrote that the saints will be “taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins.” Dr. Alexander believed this text was written by some unknown writer in the sixth century but he concluded that it was derived from an original Ephraem manuscript (A.D. 373). Other scholars, including the German editor Professor Caspari who wrote a German commentary on this Latin manuscript in 1890, believed that Ephraem’s manuscript was written by the genuine Ephraem in A.D. 373. Professor Cameron Rhoades, professor of Latin at Tyndale Theological Seminary, translated Ephraem’s Latin text into English at the request of my friend Dr. Tommy Ice and myself. (http://www.joshuanet.org/articles/ephraem1.htm)

I’m still not quite clear on where the texts were located, but I will keep looking and post again once I find that.  My guess is that they were found right along with other manuscripts written by Ephraem on a shelf somewhere . . . but no one had bothered translating them until Dr. Grant Jeffrey and Dr. Thomas Ice asked Dr. Cameron Rhoades to translate the texts for them.  That’s what is implied in this excerpt from a different article:

The early Christian writer and poet, Ephraem the Syrian, (who lived from A. D. 306 to 373) was a major theologian of the early Byzantine Eastern Church. He was born near Nisbis, in the Roman province of Syria, near present day Edessa, Turkey. Ephraem displayed a profound love of the Scriptures in his writings as illustrated by several of his written comments quoted in the Works of Nathaniel Lardner, Vol. 4, 1788). “I esteem no man more happy than him, who diligently reads the Scriptures delivered to us by the Spirit of God, and thinks how he may order his conversation by the precepts of them.” To this day, his hymns and homilies are used in the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox and Middle Eastern Nestorian Church. While the sixteen-volume Post-Nicene Library includes a number of homilies and psalms by Ephraem the Syrian, the editors noted that he also wrote a large number of commentaries that have never been translated into English.  (http://www.arewelivinginthelastdays.com/com/ephraem.htm)

So, we have established who Ephraem the Syrian was and that some texts of his were recently translated.  One of the manuscripts that was translated was a sermon entitled “On the Last Times, the Antichrist, and the End of the World.”  In this manuscript, Ephraem the Syrian quite clearly states:

“For all the saints and Elect of God are gathered, prior to the tribulation that is to come, and are taken to the Lord lest they see the confusion that is to overwhelm the world because of our sins” (http://www.arewelivinginthelastdays.com/com/ephraem.htm)

Did you catch that?  The rapture was taught in the early church!  Not only rapture, but pre-tribulation rapture!  This is NOT a new concept, people!  The teaching of the rapture has been around since Ephraem the Syrian at the very least!  I would actually postulate that the rapture has been around since Isaiah’s day, which I will discuss in a moment.

Now to clarify something.  The word “rapture” is not found anywhere in Scripture.  However, the concept is definitely there.  The word “rapture” is taken from the Greek word “harpazo,” which literally means “caught up.”  The idea of the rapture is that Christ will “catch up” all true believers and hide them away in heaven until the Tribulation ends and he returns to earth to establish his kingdom and cast all evil out of his dominion.  Those who have not placed their faith in Christ will be left here to face quite literally the worst time human history has ever seen.

The idea of the rapture is best illustrated, I believe, in the light of ancient Jewish marriage customs.  The Church is referred to numerous times throughout Scripture as “the bride of Christ,” and Christ is referred to numerous times as “the bridegroom.”  In ancient Israel, a man and woman who were planning on getting married would first become betrothed or pledged to one another.  During this betrothal ceremony, the bridegroom would travel to the bride’s home where he would pay a dowry or bridal price for his future bride.  The couple would say their vows, drink wine from the “covenant cup” to seal the deal, and give gifts to one another.  The bridegroom would then leave and go back to his father’s home where he would work to prepare a place for he and his bride to live once they were married.  The bride, meanwhile, would spend her time learning how to be a wife and how to manage a household.  By all legal definitions, the bride and groom were now husband and wife.  If he died before they consummated their marriage, she was considered a widow.  If she was unfaithful to him before they consummated their marriage, she was considered an adulteress.  The bride never knew when her husband-to-be would return for her.  She was to always remain ready.  Once the groom’s father decided all was ready for his son to bring his bride home, he would tell his son to go and get his bride.  The bridegroom would then travel back to his bride’s home bringing some friends with him, quite often arriving during the evening hours.  As he entered his bride’s town, his friends would announce his arrival with a shout.  The bride would then travel back to her husband’s home along with her husband, female attendants, and all of her husband’s friends who had traveled with him.  Once in her new home, the bride and groom would enter their wedding chamber where they would remain for a full week.  Meanwhile, the wedding guests would make merry outside, feasting and partying until the bride and groom emerged together at the end of the week.  You can read more about it here: http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/jewish_marriage_customs.htm.

How does this apply to the church and Christ, you ask?  It’s quite simple, actually.  Think about it for a moment.  Christ left his heavenly home to come to earth (our home).  He entered into a covenant relationship with us when he paid the ultimate bridal price on the cross.  He gave his blood for us as a dowry!  The gifts he gives us are the Holy Spirit and eternal life.  The gift we give to him is our lives, our homes, our talents, our bodies . . . everything we have is our Lord’s to use for his glory.  The covenant cup is the cup of wine we take at communion (think about that next time you take communion, if you are a Christian!  You are drinking the cup that sealed your position as the bride of Christ!).  After Christ’s death, he rose again three days later.  He spent a little bit of time on earth, and then traveled back to his Father in heaven where he is preparing a home for us.  Meanwhile, we go about our daily duties, doing what God has called us to do and sharing the good news of his salvation with everyone we meet.  One day (soon, I hope!), he will return for us and take us to be with him while the party rages on outside.  At the end of the week (the Tribulation), we will return to earth with him and he will reveal us to the world as his bride.  However, there is a warning along with this.  You might say “I want to be part of the party!”  The party described here is one the angels will be celebrating (the party is in heaven, Christ’s home – not the bride’s home), not the one the people left on earth will be celebrating.  There will be no celebration during the Tribulation.

And now for some verses taken right out of Scripture for you to illustrate the idea of the rapture, which, believe it or not, is actually found within Scripture.  The first, and perhaps most well-known of these is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17.

13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

“Caught up” . . . “harpazo” . . . you see?  The Lord Himself (Christ) will come down from heaven, shout to us, sound a trumpet, and the dead in Christ will be resurrected.  A split second later, those of us who are still alive at that time will be “caught up” into the clouds to be with them and with Christ for eternity.  If anyone denies this even is taught in Scripture, they must not have read 1 Thessalonians recently, because it is right there.

The next passage is actually a continuation of the first passage I offered you in Matthew 24.  We will be covering Matthew 24:35-44 here.

35″Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. 37 For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.  42 Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.

These are some of the last words Christ spoke to his disciples before his betrayal and death. He was telling them when to expect the end of the age, when they would see him, Messiah, take his rightful place on David’s throne and cast all evil out of his dominion.  We see here, again, a warning not to attempt to set dates, because no one knows the day or the hour, and the Tribulation will hit the earth at a time when no one expects it.  We also see here an illustration of what I believe to be the rapture.  We see people eating and drinking and marrying . . . life carrying on as normal.  All of a sudden, companions working together find their partners gone.  Think about it for a second.  You are going about your daily routine, when all of a sudden millions of people disappear and the world is plunged into utter chaos.  That’s how it will be when the rapture does finally occur.  Christ himself taught about the rapture.

The next passage is 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.  This one is not as clear, but it’s there nonetheless.

 51Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.

“We will not all sleep,” “the dead will be raised imperishable” (resurrection of the dead), “and we (who are alive and remain) will be changed.”  Again, not quite as clear, but this passage does describe the same event.

The next verse is Revelation 3:10.

10′Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

Christ is the one speaking in this passage.  He is addressing the church, and quite clearly states that those who are true believers (read the rest of chapter 3) will escape the hour of trial that is coming upon the whole earth.  If the Tribulation will be a global event, wouldn’t it then follow that Christ would remove his own from the earth before it starts?  While Christ does not describe the rapture here, it is implied.

The rapture is also taught by implication in 2 Thessalonians 2.

 1Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. 3Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 4who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 5Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. 11For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 13But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. 16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace, 17comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Now, in this chapter, Paul is addressing a rumor that had the Thessalonians all in a dither.  Apparently, someone was going around telling them that the trials they were currently undergoing was the Tribulation, and that Christ had already raptured true believers and they had missed it. Obviously, that would mean they would remain on earth for the Tribulation, and this had them distressed and thinking they had somehow not “made the cut.”  A pre-tribulation rapture is supported, and indeed taught, in this passage of Scripture.  I know it appears at first to not support a pre-tribulation rapture, but allow me to break it down for you.
In verses 1 and 2, we read

1Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, 2that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.

I think something that is important to note when you read 2 Thessalonians 2 is that Paul is talking about two separate events in verses 1 and 2.  “Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him” does not necessarily mean Christ’s literally setting foot on the Mount of Olives during His glorious appearing (prophesied throughout Scripture as Messiah’s coming or the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the Tribulation). Christ’s second coming happens in two stages. The first stage is the rapture, when we are caught up to meet Christ in the clouds. As we already discussed, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 says

“16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.”

We see here that during the rapture, Christ will come down from heaven and call to us from the clouds. The world will not see Him at this point. But we who are caught up to be with Him will see Him as we meet Him in the air. I believe this is what Paul was talking about in 2 Thessalonians 2:1 when he mentions the “coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” Stage 2 of Christ’s second coming is when He returns WITH us (one example of this is found in Jude 1:14-15), literally sets food on the Mount of Olives, slays the wicked, and establishes His kingdom on earth.

Now let’s look at verse 2 . . . “Day of the Lord” is commonly used in Scripture in reference to the Tribulation. The day of God’s wrath, essentially. So, we see two separate events in these two verses . . . the first stage of Christ’s second coming, or the rapture (our being caught up to the clouds to be with Him), and the Day of the Lord, or the Tribulation (day of God’s wrath).

Now let’s look at 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, which says

3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,4who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

“It” in verse 3 is referring to “the Day of the Lord,” not to “our gathering together to” Christ. The Day of the Lord will not come until the apostasy comes and the man of lawlessness is revealed. Someone had told the Thessalonians that the persecutions they were experiencing at that time were the Tribulation. They were worried that the rapture had already come, they had missed it, and would now have to go through the Tribulation. Paul was trying to dispel those fears by saying in essence “this cannot possibly be the Tribulation because we have not been caught up to be with Christ yet, and the anti-Christ has not yet been revealed.”

Moving on to 2 Thessalonians 2:5-12, which says

5Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? 6And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. 7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. 8Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; 9that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 10and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.11For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,12in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

While not named outright, most Christians would agree that the “restrainer” here is the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is, in essence, God’s guiding hand.  The Spirit leads us, speaks to our consciences, helps us to discern right from wrong, empowers us to do God’s bidding, intercedes for us before God, etc.  What happens when the restrainer is taken away? If true believers are left here after the Holy Spirit is removed, would that not mean that God has essentially abandoned us? The Holy Spirit indwells the members of the church. He cannot be removed from this earth without those He indwells being removed from the earth as well. The “man of lawlessness” (the Antichrist) will not be revealed until the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth, therefore we (those who have placed their faith in Christ, have accepted him as their Savior, and have actually produced fruit proving they have truly given their lives to God) will NOT be here when the Antichrist is revealed, ushering in the Tribulation. Christ promised us in John 14:18 that “I will not leave you as orphans,” and in Matthew 28:20 that “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Furthermore, Hebrews 13:5 tells us that Christ Himself promised “I WILL NEVER DESERT YOU, NOR WILL I EVER FORSAKE YOU.” If Christ promised He would never leave us or forsake us, that he would not leave us as orphans, and that He would be with us always . . . to the very end of the age, but the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth before the anti-Christ is revealed and the “falling away” (those who call themselves Christians but are not truly saved will turn their backs on God) occurs, we must logically conclude that we will not be here when these things happen. Christ will not abandon us to taste the wrath of God as it is poured out on the earth.  To claim otherwise is to call Jesus a liar. Therefore, it is my firm belief that a literal interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2 tells us that the rapture will occur before the Antichrist is revealed and the “falling away” occurs.  And since this is my firm belief, obviously, I believe this chapter teaches about the rapture. 

Before I move on to another passage, let me dig a little deeper into the last few verses of 2 Thessalonians 2.

13But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.  14It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.  15So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.  16Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal comfort and good hope by grace,17comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word.

Words of encouragement from Paul! You will not be lost, you will not taste God’s wrath, you are loved by the Lord, you were called, you will attain glory, stand firm, hold to what you were taught, comfort and strengthen each other! Christ has given us ETERNAL COMFORT and hope by grace . . . this hope is the rapture! We (true believers) will not be here to see the horrors of the Tribulation unfold, and I believe that includes the great apostasy and the revealing of the Antichrist. It was Paul’s intent when he wrote this chapter to encourage the Thessalonians. They had not missed the rapture. They were not experiencing the Tribulation. The church will not be here when the anti-Christ is revealed, and he has not been revealed yet, therefore we are not yet in the Tribulation and the rapture has not yet occurred. You didn’t miss it! That was his intent in writing the words contained in 2 Thessalonians 2.

I mentioned that the rapture was taught in Scripture as early as Isaiah (one of the major Old Testament prophets, circa 760 BC).  I believe the rapture is alluded to in Isaiah 26:19-21.

19Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.
  20Come, my people, enter into your rooms
         And close your doors behind you;
         Hide for a little while
         Until indignation runs its course.
21For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
And the earth will reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.

The rapture is also alluded to in Zephaniah 2:2-3.  Zephaniah was one of the minor Old Testament prophets (circa 620 BC).

2Before the decree takes effect–
The day passes like the chaff–
Before the burning anger of the LORD comes upon you,
Before the day of the LORD’S anger comes upon you.
3Seek the LORD,
All you humble of the earth
Who have carried out His ordinances;
Seek righteousness, seek humility
 Perhaps you will be hidden
         In the day of the LORD’S anger.

Zephaniah 1 is all about the Day of the Lord, which is used throughout Scripture to describe the period of time toward the end of history in which God will pour out His wrath on the earth.  In other words, the Tribulation.  The very “Judgment Day” Camping says will begin on Saturday.  If you know your prophecy at all, you will understand that the Tribulation does not begin with the rapture of the church.  It begins when the Antichrist signs a treaty with Israel, thereby allowing the temple to be rebuilt and sacrifices to resume.  I would encourage you to read through all of Zephaniah, Joel, Jude, and Revelation to get a glimpse of what the Tribulation will be like.  Back to Zephaniah 2:2-3.  Here we find a promise.  This horrible time is coming on the earth.  BUT if you seek God Almighty, humble yourself, carry out his commands, and seek righteousness, you will be hidden in the day of God’s anger (the Tribulation).  This, I believe, confirms a pre-tribulation rapture.

Another  passage that I believe alludes to the rapture is found in Jude verses 20-21.

 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

One last passage I believe teaches about the rapture, as well as confirming what I spoke of earlier about the church being the bride of Christ is found in John 14:1-3.

1 Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.

Again, we see here a similarity between ancient Jewish wedding customs and the relationship between Christ and the church.  Christ returned to his Father’s home, heaven, to prepare a place for us.  And, here, we find a promise. Since he went to prepare a place for us, he will eventually come back for us and take us to be with him in heaven.  Logically, we can conclude that the rapture will happen one day.  It has to, or everything Christians have placed their faith in becomes a lie.
There may be more, but these passages I have listed are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head, and I think they more than prove that the concept of the rapture is taught in the Bible.
This all sounds incredible, I know.  But this brings me to the second false claim of the statement from Fox News that I posted above.  The author of that article states that most Christians do not believe in the rapture.  This is inherently false.  I am certain there are many out there who do not, but to say “most” do not believe in it is absolutely false.  We do not all agree on the TIMING of the rapture.  But if you were to just randomly ask a Christian you bumped into on the street whether or not they believe in the rapture, more than likely, they’d say yes.  It’ll eventually happen.  Not within our lifetime, but eventually.  That’s the answer you are most likely to get from a Christian.  Why they believe it couldn’t happen within our lifetime, and why that ambivalence goes against what Christ taught us concerning being watchful because his return is imminent is another topic for another note.  But I do think it is important to understand that while we may not agree on when the rapture is going to take place, MOST Christians would agree it will eventually happen.  Some argue it will happen before the Tribulation begins, others not until Christ physically returns to earth.  But the idea of the rapture has been around since before Christ’s death and resurrection.  The word “rapture” is not found within Scripture.  However, the concept is, and is easily found within the pages of the Bible as long as you are interpreting Scripture literally, which is the way it is meant to be interpreted.  Those who spiritualize or allegorize everything won’t see it, because they aren’t reading the Bible the way it should be read.  And when you begin spiritualizing/allegorizing things within Scripture, you find that you have to start twisting other passages to fit your preconceived notions.  Camping is a case in point.  I would like to know how he twists the obvious meaning of Christ’s words that no one would know the day or the hour to mean that he (Camping) alone would know the day and hour.  If I must expound on this idea further, I will readily do so, but how to read/interpret Scripture is not the point of this post.

With that, I want to leave you with these words, because I know there are scoffers out there, even among the Christian ranks, who are thinking “yeah right . . . this hasn’t happened yet, it isn’t going to happen.”  Did you know you are in Scripture too?  2 Peter 3:3-6 says

3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,4and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was    from the beginning of creation.” 5For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,  6through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.

One last verse for you . . . 2 Peter 3:8-10 says

 8But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

God does not WANT anyone to perish.  He gives us each free will,  meaning we make our own decisions.  We can choose to believe in Him and to accept Christ, or we can choose to reject Him and the gift of salvation He offers through Christ.  If you choose to reject Him, it’s your own fault.  God cannot allow evil to reign forever.  Christ himself said that if evil is allowed to reign forever, no flesh would remain.  There are many prophecies yet to be fulfilled, and the Biblical prophecy record is flawless.  Every single one has been fulfilled.  You doubt me?  Check out http://www.reasons.org/fulfilled-prophecy-evidence-reliability-bible.  While you are there, explore the other articles Dr. Hugh Ross and his team have compiled.  I think you will find many of your questions and doubts answered.  The prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled MUST be fulfilled at some point, because God said they would happen, and God cannot lie.  If you look at things going on in the world around us right now and compare them to the signs contained within Scripture (Matthew 24 and Luke 21 for beginners) meant to clue us in to the nearness of the end, you will find that we are more than likely rapidly approaching that time.  Even if the Tribulation and the end of the world do not happen in our lifetime, are any of us guaranteed tomorrow?  Are any of us guaranteed our next breath, for that matter?  Any one of us could die in a horrible car accident or in a terrorist attack, etc. at any moment.  The time to make your peace with God is now, because we do not know when he will take his church home to be with him, when the Tribulation will begin, when he will return to earth to slay all the wicked and toss Satan into the abyss . . . and we do not know when we will die.  If you are waiting until the “right moment,” that moment is now.  Don’t wait until it is too late, because too late will come sooner rather than later.

I hope this post serves to successfully refute Camping’s claims as well as Fox News’ claim that the rapture is a new notion and that most Christians do not believe it.  I also hope that this note will redeem Christians to an extent in the eyes of those who read it when Camping’s claims prove false tomorrow.  Not all of us are as crazy as Camping and his ilk!  And if you are not a Christian, or think you are a Christian but are unsure of your own salvation, but are reading this and doing your own research and are afraid of the possibility of missing out on the greatest party ever and having to endure quite literally hell on earth, please feel free to comment.  We’ll either find a way to dig into Scripture together to see what God has to say about salvation, or I will point you to some resources that will help you to figure it out on your own.

*Disclaimer (added 7/3/2013): The precise timing of the rapture is a HUGE point of debate among Christians.  What I have presented here is my own personal views based on my own study of Scripture.  In posting my views, it is not my intent to cause division, argument, or debate among fellow believers.  This is not a point upon which salvation depends, and I do understand that there is still a very large