Stubborn Pride holds many Christians to the Pre-Trib. belief

Sorry to be blunt, but this looks like stubborn Pride

Stubborn pride is hard to shake. And for many Christians today, a belief in the pre-tribulation rapture is absolutely non-negotiable. And on cue, many will shout a heartfelt

“AMEN! It is non-negotiable.”

They hold to this doctrine as if it is a core tenet of their faith in Christ. Which it certainly is not. For many, it is as though they see it as a lack of faith in the Lord to doubt the truth of the pre-tribulation rapture. It is their rhetorical “hill they choose to die on.” The scriptures do not teach this false doctrine. Yet many insist that is found all throughout the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, they are emphatic. It is there. ‘But only the faithful can see it.’ It is the same type of intellectual dishonesty that we find in the “King James only” crowd. But that is another topic, so I’ll leave that alone for now.

 

“Jesus wouldn’t beat his wife! We are His Bride.”

The above quote is one they often use while standing behind pulpits at church or speaking into microphones on YouTube.

These Christian pastors, teachers, and laymen are not going to change until the truth is laid plainly before their feet. The evidence is mounting. Their stubborn pride will shatter. But for many, the truth will be too hard to take. It will crush them. Their faith in their pastors and teachers — crushed. And here is the key question. Will their faith in Jesus shatter also?

Will they believe that Jesus is now beating them? Is Christ to be found unfaithful when his beloved bride experiences persecution? My answer is no. God forbid! The Church is going through unprecedented persecution right now. It will only increase. So, are we to believe that Jesus is unfaithful and unable to protect us? God forbid. We are to carry our cross. As our Lord suffered, so we must die to our own desires, and endure to the end.

I ask again. How will the rapture-now crowd respond? Will their faith hold? I believe many will fall away, losing their faith in the rapture and thus their untrue faith in Jesus. Ultimately, they believed in false teachers and not Jesus himself. He laid out the truth in his Olivet Discourse. There isn’t a pre-tribulation rapture in his clear teaching. Modern-day Christians got cute with the scriptures. And it could prove disastrous for the faith of millions.

The Church will experience the depth of persecution in the middle of the Tribulation. And the Church will face the fury of the Antichrist. Those are facts found in the scriptures.

 

For those with stubborn pride: Will Jesus beat up His Bride?

Joel Richardson is very gracious when dealing with these subjects. But, as I noted, I am a little more blunt than usual in this article. Please watch the video to see how Joel handles the subject well.

 

 

Blunt force trauma

I usually try to be diplomatic and gentle when writing about various errors. But not for this article I decided to forgo the niceties. I’ll go with the ‘blunt force trauma’ method this time. Of course, it won’t work for the most ardent supporters of the pre-tribulation rapture theory. And I have to blame that on stubborn pride.

 

The Stubborn Pride is strong with this one

Just below, I have posted an article from a respected Bible teacher. In it, he makes clear that he has stubbornly held to his view on the rapture. He proudly declared that his faith in the pre-tribulation rapture is not shaken. That is despite the fact that it has come under increased pressure for its obvious lack of scriptural support.

I have inserted some of my thoughts within his article.

 

 

Stubbornly holding on for 40 years

This article is found on the Harbinger Daily site. Olivier Menick is the author.

I have been a believer for 40 years, and for that entire season, I have always believed that there would be a future event in human history when Yeshua would come into the sky and snatch believers away before the terrible time of the Great Tribulation started. In fact, it is through the reading of The Late Great Planet Earth by Hal Lindsey that I first learned about the Rapture. It impressed me enough that it led me to invite Yeshua into my life as my Messiah and Savior. That was the Summer of 1983, exactly forty years ago. Back then, I knew nothing about the Bible or the end times; however, what I was learning about a just, loving, and compassionate God seemed to make a lot of sense.

Fast forward to 2023, almost two decades of published daily devotionals, six books, and two degrees later, and the Rapture of the Believers is still on my mind. Frankly, it is probably on my mind more today than it was twenty years ago – likely due to all the world events occurring at a rapid pace in front of our eyes almost every single day.

My thoughts:

Stubborn pride should not be your defense. 40 years of trusting Hal Lindsey is not a good reason to keep going. The faith journey that Mr. Menick described is similar to the one that I followed. I was an ardent supporter of Hal’s teaching. But I grew in my study habits and matured far past where Mr. Lindsey has proved willing to go. Hal has a business model based on his rapture position. If he were to change his doctrinal stance, it would inflict severe monetary damage to his business. So, I don’t expect him to change. But good Bible students should follow the example of the Bereans. They looked at the Scriptures and determined the truth based on God’s Word. Not Hal Lindsey.

PPR forever

The more I read my Bible, the stronger I feel about a premillennial, pre-tribulation Rapture (PPR). This has a lot to do with the approach to the word of God I have been taking for the last four decades. Early on, as I was told that God left me a love letter (the Bible) with a lot of instructions and direction about how to live with Him and for Him, I could never look at that book and not take its message literally. Otherwise, how many interpretations do we really end up with? This, of course, doesn’t eliminate the use of figures of speech in the Bible, but we need to take God’s counsel at face value and then, if necessary, seek a symbolic or allegorical meaning.

What happens if I have been wrong about the Rapture for the last forty years? So, I want to consider the possibility of the Rapture not happening.

One of the first things those who adhere to a premillennial, pre-tribulation Rapture (PPR) are often accused of is escapism. We are accused of trying to bail out before God’s wrath when we should go through it. I guess it would be escapism if there were a sense of selfishness in those who believe in a PPR. The opposite is often the case. Those of us who believe in a PPR have a great sense of urgency, and the imminency of the Rapture is encouraging us to share the Good News even more so. Incidentally, the Bible never speaks of believers not going through difficulties, challenges and/or turmoil prior to the Tribulation. The days we live in seem to validate the idea that persecution is coming to believers as well as to Jews, and we have not even started the Great Tribulation yet.

My thoughts:

Olivier wants us to believe he is open-minded. He could be wrong. Not really though, because that would be a lack of faith. He isn’t trying to escape the coming trouble. He is just urgently hoping to get out before it gets bad. Since we are so urgent, we continue to share this false doctrine that is contrary to what the Bible says.

He also points out, things are really bad now. See, Hal Lindsey said that would happen so it is proof. 

 

Frankly, Jesus promised, says my stubborn pride.

Frankly, instead of a no-Rapture view, a lot of people believe in a post-tribulation Rapture that will happen simultaneously with the physical return of Yeshua the Messiah to the earth at the end of the seven-year Tribulation. Basically, the Rapture and Second Coming are separated by a few brief moments, making the Rapture less of an important milestone in God’s program than it ought to be. One of the questions I have, is, “How could a Rapture happening at the end of a specific period of seven years be unknown and imminent?” How can the Rapture and the Second Coming be one and the same event when in John 14:1-3,  Yeshua promised, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 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. 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.”

My thoughts:

The author rightly points out that Jesus told us, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled.” And there are dwelling places, that he will prepare for us. Jesus will go away and then return to bring us to those dwelling places. All true, of course. But never does he say or imply that we would escape persecution. That is inserted into the text by fiction writers. Hmm…

 

If not here then where?

Additionally, when we look at Revelation 19:11-21, which is the New Testament passage about the Second Coming of Messiah, there is no mention of the Rapture whatsoever. Why would that be if both events are linked or one and the same?

Do we have solid, biblical reasons to believe that the Rapture and the Second Coming are two separate events? I think we do, and let me offer just a few:

 

• Signs that are given before the event:

Before the Rapture: None – 1 Thessalonians 1:10
Before the Second Coming: Many – Matthew 24:4-28

 

• Location for the event:

Location for the Rapture: In the air – 1 Thessalonians 4:17
Location for the Second Coming: The Mount of Olives in Jerusalem – Zechariah 14:2-4; Revelation 19:14

 

• People taken at the event:

At the Rapture: Believers (the Bride of Messiah) are taken from earth and unbelievers are left behind – 1 Thessalonians 4:17
At the Second Coming: Living believers (the Bride of Messiah) enter the Messianic Millennial Kingdom and unbelievers are judged – Matthew 13:41-42; 49-50

 

• Changes on earth at the event:

At the Rapture: No topographical change.
At the Second Coming: Many changes on planet earth – Zechariah 14:1-11

There is no doubt that both the Rapture and the Second Coming of Yeshua describe His actual physical return. At the very least, what believers should focus on is the fact that Yeshua is coming back. In other words, the story isn’t finished yet; far from it! Many will claim that there will be no Rapture as a single event, but that Yeshua will indeed return to Earth.

I hold to a premillennial, pre-tribulation Rapture view. There is always a possibility that I am wrong, although forty years of Bible study have only reinforced my position from several vantage points in the Bible.

My final thoughts on stubborn pride:

Any good student of Bible prophecy knows that all prophetic passages only provide a part of the story. No passage includes every detail of each event. That’s impossible. The Apostle Paul wrote short letters. Moses wrote longer, more detailed passages and storylines. But never are the entire details included. This is a tactic that shows very little respect for Christians and their Bible study skills. Granted, there is good reason to believe that many Christians will not look past these weak arguments.

That’s what I think. What about you? Is your stubborn pride too strong? Are you holding on to Hal Lindsey and his business model?

Or do you prefer the teaching of Jesus, Paul, John, Isaiah, Ezekiel, etc?

 

 

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The ClayWriter