Remember Larry Norman, I wish we'd all been ready?
How about Hal Lindsey's Late Great Planet Earth?
Remember how Bob Dylan converted then didn't "seem" to last 2 minutes as a Christian? Ever consider that a man whose first Christian CD contained the song " Gotta Serve Somebody" understood some things about Christianity right away, that us non Jews are only really getting now all this time after the Jesus Movement? So much for hippies tripping out on the East India Company and a Zionist (read Sionist /Caballist )agenda?
Dr Stephen Jones on the history of the Rapture
through Annalize Mouton on Facebook
If you want to understand where this "rapture of the church" idea comes from, read this:The futurist interpretation of the book of Revelation, which is taught in many evangelical and fundamentalist circles is a recent innovation, not having been popularized until the mid-1800’s. It was popularized by “Dr.” Scofield, a man of dubious character who awarded himself his doctor’s degree without any higher education.
In the early 1900’s Scofield was backed financially by a Jewish lawyer named Samuel Untermyer, who was one of the framers of the Federal Reserve Act and was the president of the occult Lotus Club in New York. Untermyer provided Scofield with free housing for about twenty years while he wrote his notes for the Scofield Bible. His motive was undoubtedly political, laying the groundwork to convince Christians to blindly support the Jewish State, which was already being planned by certain powerful Zionist Jews. Their motives were anything but Christian.
The futurist view of Revelation changed the feast of Tabernacles into “the rapture,” introducing a foreign concept into the prophetic feast days. The feast of Trumpets signifies the resurrection of the dead at the last trumpet. The Day of Atonement signifies the great day of repentance and fasting that follows the resurrection. The feast of Tabernacles is a seven-day period in which the seven drink offerings (bowls, or vials) of wine are poured out, one each day, signifying judgment. Yet at the same time the priest in the temple poured out drink offerings of water along with the wine, signifying the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (John 7:37-39).
Futurists retain the concept that the resurrection is the first event that initiates the coming of Christ. Only a few of them connect it with the feast of Trumpets, even though this feast has been known for thousands of years in Jewish circles as “the day of the awakening blast.” Jews have connected the feast of Trumpets with the resurrection, even if Christians forgot this truth.
The Day of Atonement occurs nine days after the Feast of Trumpets. It falls on the tenth day of the seventh month (Lev. 23:27). Some futurists connect the Day of Atonement with repentance, but normally limit it to a Jewish repentance of the 144,000. Their view is that the Church will already have been “raptured” at the time of the resurrection (i.e., the feast of Trumpets). In my view, there certainly will be Jews among those who repent on that day; however, the real repentance will be done by the believers who at present do not even know that they need to repent. The message to the latter-day Church of Laodicea in Rev. 3:17, 18 reflects this ignorance of the latter-day Church’s need to repent.
The week of Tabernacles is the lawful time it takes to consecrate the priests who are called to rule with Christ. Rev. 5:10 and 20:6 makes reference to these priests. Of course, they are not th e old Levitical priests, but are of the Order of Melchisedec, with Jesus Christ being the High Priest (Heb. 7:17). Yet the prophetic pattern of consecration is set in Leviticus 8:35, where Aaron and his sons were to remain in the tabernacle a full seven days, emerging only on the eighth day (Lev. 9:1).
In the days of Aaron, we find that the glory of God manifested to the people on the eighth day after the new priests emerged from the tabernacle. The story is told in Leviticus 9. This prophesies of the eighth day of Tabernacles, called in John 7:37 “the last day, the great day of the feast.” That this was the Feast of Tabernacles is established earlier in John 7:2. The primary event of the Feast of Tabernacles comes on this last great day of the feast, when the Holy Spirit is poured out in its fullness and the bodily change takes place in the overcomers (John 7:37-39).
The futurists, not understanding the prophetic feast days, added “the rapture” to the Feast of Trumpets and the resurrection of the dead. They limited the Day of Atonement to Jews only. And the seven days of Tabernacles was interpreted to be seven years of tribulation. Verses about the eighth day of Tabernacles, teaching the unveiling of the sons of God, were interpreted as “the rapture” and connected to the feast of Trumpets (resurrection day). In so doing, they missed entirely the significance of the eighth day of Tabernacles.
The purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles is to unveil the sons of God and empower them to finish the Great Commission. Daniel says the Kingdom of God (the “stone” Kingdom of Dan. 2:35) is to grow into a great mountain range that fills the whole earth. The futurist view takes believers out of the world and puts forth the Jews as the evangelists during the “tribulation.” What is most strange is that this view says that the Holy Spirit will be removed from the earth at this time. How can the work of evangelism be done by the 144,000 without the presence of the Holy Spirit? There would be no point to their preaching.
The priests poured out a pitcher of water on each of the seven days of Tabernacles. They did not do this on the eighth day, and it was on this day that Jesus shouted, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. . . from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” John 7:39 supplies us with the interpretation. John says it prophesied of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Actually, Jesus was referring to Isaiah 12:2, 3,
2 Behold, God is my Yashua [“salvation”], I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and son, and He has become my Yashua [“salvation”]. 3 Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of Yashua [“salvation”].
Yashua is the Hebrew name for Jesus. Jesus recognized that Isaiah 12 prophesied of Him, and this is why He spoke as He did on the eighth day of Tabernacles in John 7. Coming to Him for drink, we draw water from the springs, or wells, of Yashua.
Most assume, as I did for many years, that this was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. But Jesus did not speak these words at the feast of Pentecost. They were spoken on the eighth day of Tabernacles. Pentecost was, indeed, the time that the earnest of the Spirit was given (Eph. 1:14), and so it was partially fulfilled on that day. However, the greater fulfillment can only be the Feast of Tabernacles, the time that the fullness of the Spirit is given.
The futurists see “the rapture” in Revelation 4:1, when John is told to “come up hither.” Of course, that verse says nothing about a rapture. It is a somewhat desperate attempt to find the “rapture” in the book of Revelation. One would think that if the Apostles really taught this doctrine (as it is interpreted today), it would be the most prominent event in the entire book of Revelation. But because it is not to be found, futurists must resort to applying extra meaning to Revelation 4:1.
The rest of the book is then interpreted to refer to events AFTER “the rapture.” And so by the futurist interpretation, most of this book yet remains unfulfilled. They say it will be fulfilled over a period of seven years during “the great tribulation.” They also say that “the Antichrist” will come to power during this time—even though the term, “antichrist” never once appears in the book of Revelation. They generally interpret “the beast” to mean “the Antichrist,” even though the beasts of Daniel 7 and 8 are all references to world empires, and even the “little horn” of Daniel 7:8 is never called a “beast.” – Dr Stephen Jones
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