The Fallacy of the Secret Rapture

Sadly it seems that most Christians today who preach about end time prophecies believe that prior to the end the church era true believers will be secretly raptured and flown home to heaven to escape the coming of tribulation.

This event will supposedly commence in the midst of the 70th week of Daniel 9:25-27. During this time 144,000 Jews will be converted and will rebuild a temple at Jerusalem where animal sacrifices will resume. Then these Jews will get on with the business of preaching the gospel to all the world. Of course, let's keep in mind, that the preaching of the Gospel has been going out to the entire world for centuries now.

Rapurists believe that the beast power, the mysterious antichrist figure, will then appear and make a "peace treaty" with these 144,000 Jews. After 3½ years of keeping a covenant with the Jews, the beast will break the covenant and commence 3½ years of persecution on the Jews and their converts. Finally there will be a third coming of Jesus to end it all and Jesus will rescue His people.

This is all a wildly fantastic scenario. The fact that it is pure fiction, found only in the pages of the "Left Behind" books and the fiction section of your local bookstore, and not anywhere in the pages of scripture should cause anyone even remotely interested in the truth to question this scenario.

It can be demonstrated quite clearly and distinctly from recent world history that this school of prophetic interpretation, coined "futurism," was developed by a Spanish Jesuit by the name of Manuel De Lacunza as a counter measure to the Protestant Reformation which had identified the Papacy as the Antichrist. It was later made popular by the Brethren Movement and Cyrus Scofield and the Scofield Bible. In the last 50-60 years it has become the prevailing view of many, if not most Evangelical churches. This teaching has many serious differences with the prevailing historical prophetic teaching and understanding of the Reformation and in particular Seventh-day Adventist doctrine. Some of the major flaws of this dispensational secret rapture scenario are:

1. There is second chance to believe in Jesus after His second coming if somehow one misses out on the secret rapture. This has got to be the most dangerous aspect of this doctrine.

2. The Antichrist appears after the church age era and this occurs after the church is raptured. Yet clearly scripture teaches us that even in the apostles day, as 1 John tells us, there were many antichrists in the church.

3. These end time prophecies call for the re-establishment of the State of Israel and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple. Clearly this is an extremely myopic and somewhat convoluted interpretation of scripture because so many of these prophecies are taken from prophecies that have already been fulfilled regarding Judas return from captivity in Babylon.

4. This scenario of the secret rapture 1) absolves a Christian from the necessity of preaching the word of God to modern day Jews, which, for most Christians would be practically impossible because they do not know their scriptures better than even a nominal Jew, and 2) it neglects the obvious symbolic connection between Israel, Christ's fulfillment of prophecies regarding Israel and the fact that Jesus Christ is in fact the physical embodiment of Israel.

And yet the commission to preach the three angels messages of Revelation 14:6-12 make it abundantly clear that "the everlasting gospel" is to be preached to them "that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" and that all should "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." The Three Angels messages easily dispel the notion that the word of God will be preached after the church has flown away.

And it must be stressed that this admonition is something that is to be done now, not later, in anticipation and in preparation for the fall of Babylon and before the coming of the mark of the beast.

"And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive [his] mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:" - Revelation 14:8-9

Therefore it makes the ministry of the Seventh-day Adventist and the historic interpretation to the entire world, including modern day Jews living in that secular, nation/state of corporate ISRAEL clearly different, and vital to that of most every other church in the world. In this preaching, it has to be noted and responded to the "secret rapture" view by pointing out the following:

1. After the second coming of Jesus Christ there is no opportunity to accept Him as Lord and Savior. Outside of His second advent which will be glorious, noisy, powerful, and final there is just no second chance. It is this belief the secret rapture proponent is teaching a "fairy tale" and this can cause many to fail to follow Christ now and possibly be lost eternally. It's a harbinger of a "I'll wait and see" attitude. According to the Three Angels messages of Revelation 14:6-12 the gospel and its preaching to the entire world, which directly challenges men and women to accept Christ now, is central to this issue.

2. The Antichrist is now operating in the church and has been for many centuries. The first epistle of John makes this abundantly clear. In John's day there were antichrist's in the church. The Beast power is Papal Rome, according to a historical interpretation of Daniel and Revelation, who along with other temporal political powers and her harlot daughters is set to arise and work at the end time just as she has through the centuries.

3. At this time there is no genuine significance to the Jews as a nation fulfilling Bible prophecy. In fact, it has already been accomplished by the person of Jesus Christ. We all belong to Israel, "fellow citizen's with the saints," as a result of Jesus' sacrifice. The New Testament teaches that the Christian church is true Israel. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:28

The final end time battle will be fought all over the world, wherever God's people are to be found and it will center around the commandments of God and His authority as opposed to the mark of the beast system and that authority. The battle lines are clearly drawn: "Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." - Revelation 14:12. Whether the Jews rebuild a temple in Jerusalem is of no significance as the true temple of God is to be found in heaven where Jesus Christ our righteousness now dwells.

Lastly, it should be noted that this prophetic message does make those with the historic interpretation of scripture much, much different from practically every other church denomination today. It is very interesting to also note that in recent years there has been a moving away from the teachings of futurism by many prominent scholars. The movement has been more towards the historic interpretation held by the early reformers position which can only be the work of God.

It is an undeniable fact that God has commissioned all Christians in Revelation 14:6-12 to preach some great truths namely, the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His soon return and the glory of His commandments and His faith to both Christians and non-Christians alike to prepare all them "that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people" to meet Jesus when He returns.

There can be no more dangerous interpretation of scripture than the notion of a "rebuilt temple" and a "secret rapture."