50 Reasons For a Pretribulational Rapture By Dr. John F. Walvoord

  • Christian Chat is a moderated online Christian community allowing Christians around the world to fellowship with each other in real time chat via webcam, voice, and text, with the Christian Chat app. You can also start or participate in a Bible-based discussion here in the Christian Chat Forums, where members can also share with each other their own videos, pictures, or favorite Christian music.

    If you are a Christian and need encouragement and fellowship, we're here for you! If you are not a Christian but interested in knowing more about Jesus our Lord, you're also welcome! Want to know what the Bible says, and how you can apply it to your life? Join us!

    To make new Christian friends now around the world, click here to join Christian Chat.

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
9,835
4,321
113
mywebsite.us
Revelation 6:13-14 (NKJV)
13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
This verse - taken literally - will get you to thinking about the true nature of 'stars'. :D (y)
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
9,835
4,321
113
mywebsite.us
Care to elaborate a little more about what you mean by "herd gathering" and how, in your estimation, it means we're in the first portion of the tribulation?
I am quite sure that he is referring to people being taken to concentration/prison camps.
 

GaryA

Truth, Honesty, Love, Courage
Aug 10, 2019
9,835
4,321
113
mywebsite.us
Well, we agree on ONE thing ^ , at least! :D ... I *do* agree with you on this ^ point. = )
(y)

[...however, I must say, that I disagree with your viewpoint that the "42 mos" equals "1260 years" ;) ... especially because the text states "42 mos" and states "1260 days"]
If it actually says [1260] 'days' - it is 1260 days.

If it says [1260-day equivalent] in months, time/times, etc. - it is 1260 years.

And, yes - that means Revelation 11:2 is referring to 1260 years while Revelation 11:3 is referring to 1260 days.
 
Oct 23, 2020
971
164
43
If you are so inclined, take a look at the pages in the 'Study' section of my website - you may find them interesting...

(Of course, everyone is welcome to check them out.)
Thanks Gary. Yes, I agree in general with what you are saying.
Some of prophecy is quite complex, some is simple. Some is very complex - to me.

Generally people stumble in the more complex areas, and then make a dog's dinner
out of the really straightforward things, in an effort to fit things into a strange schema that they have devised.
I guess it keeps the Theology Colleges in business, but I am not
sure it is what we were put on earth for.
 
Jun 9, 2021
1,871
425
83
I assume this means you will be first in line to worship the image of the beast and receive the mark? Government will demand these things!

Rev 13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev 13:12 And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
Rev 13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev 13:14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
Rev 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev 13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

God also gives us Peter's example when the Religious leaders demanded Peter to stop preaching Christ and Peter said He obeys God, not man.

How is getting a Covid shot disobeying God by obeying the Government?
 
Oct 23, 2020
971
164
43
I generally agree with what you are saying here - except - all of this occurs after the Great Tribulation (as Jesus defined/described it in Matthew 24) ends.
It's one of those things that is complex, but not unfathomable. Once you understand it,
(which may mean allowing yourself to understand it, and often means having to rethink
all the carefully crafted oft disputed schemas you held so dear), then the mist can start to clear.
I am not sure that the Theology colleges are entirely faultless in this matter.

Daniel 12 And at that time [TIME OF THE LORD] shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time:

From the time there was a nation to the same time, when there was a nation.

I.E. From the time when Judea (and Jerusalem) existed as a nation,
to the time when Judea (and Jerusalem) exist as a nation.
That is to say for the best part of 2000 years.
 
Mar 4, 2020
8,614
3,691
113
Have you read Revelation, realizing that most of it is LITERAL ? ? ?

Revelation 6:12 (NKJV)
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood.
Revelation 6:13-14 (NKJV)

13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
Revelation 6:13-14 (NKJV)

13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind.
14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
What you just quoted from the 6th Seal closely matches what Jesus said would happen after the tribulation:

Matthew 24:29
29Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

A deeper study reveals that Jesus was also quoting Isaiah here:

Isaiah 13:9-13
9Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

Isaiah 34:4
4All the stars of heaven will be dissolved.
The skies will be rolled up like a scroll,
and all their stars will fall
like withered leaves from the vine,
like foliage from the fig tree.

And Joel:

Joel 2:10
10Before them the earth quakes;
the heavens tremble.
The sun and moon grow dark,

All elements that are present between Matthew 24 and Revelation 6 are in Isaiah. This isn't an accident as the New Testament writers would have been very familiar with this sort of apocalyptic language: stars, sun, moon, heavens trembling and rolling up like a scroll, an earthquake, and even reference to the fig tree.
 
Jan 31, 2021
8,658
1,064
113
FreeGrace2 said:
The time of the "twinkling of the eye" and our "being changed" per 1 Cor 15:52 isn't given. So it could be just before the believer's feet leave ground. Or it may be when they meet Jesus in the air (clouds).
I think the change has to happen when they are on the Earth because likely there is no oxygen where they will be raptured to not to mention the very cold temperatures.
What is clear from all the passages, living believers will meet the Lord "in the AIR" and "clouds". So there will be air. But that isn't the issue at all.

When Jesus gathers up the living believers, He isn't limited by earth's gravitation, temperature or oxygen levels. The change is clearly in the air.
 
Jan 31, 2021
8,658
1,064
113
FreeGrace2 said:
Please explain what Paul meant in 2 Thess 2:1-3.

1 Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters,
2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.
3 Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction.

Thanks.

Because the entire thrust of a pretrib rapture is the trip to heaven after being resurrected or raptured.
Well, that was quite clear! But I'm always sad when professing believers have such a poor attitude towards Scripture that refutes them.

It isn't baloney. Those 3 verses are the TRUTH and they REFUTE your doctrine completely.

Numerous verses of saints in heaven.
Sure are. There have been about 6,000 years of saints who have DIED. Where else do you think they would be? Or are you one of those who hold to the weird doctrine of soul sleep?

Saints in heaven does not even closely support any pretrib rapture. It does support the physical deaths of believers since Adam.

If you only want to focus on the Bride of Christ, well, there's 2,00 years of deaths of them as well.
 
Jul 23, 2018
12,199
2,775
113
Your questions are all about salvation. has nothing to do with escape.

Did the apostles and the disciples escape when they face persecution?
Lol
Salvation means saved FROM.

Leaving something behind

Escape from.

Saved...TO.

DID LOT AND BABY JESUS ESCAPE?

COWARDS?
 

soberxp

Senior Member
May 3, 2018
2,511
482
83
Lol
Salvation means saved FROM.

Leaving something behind

Escape from.

Saved...TO.

DID LOT AND BABY JESUS ESCAPE?

COWARDS?
You are stealing concept.
COWARDS is cowards.
so be it.
but Jesus is not, he dead for all, also the apostles and the disciples dead for all.
 

TMS

Senior Member
Mar 21, 2015
3,946
1,269
113
Australia
You said not to ignore scripture, and soul sleep is wrong.
Ecc 9:
4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
6 Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
1Th 4:
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
 

TMS

Senior Member
Mar 21, 2015
3,946
1,269
113
Australia
Why did the Jews miss the first coming of Jesus?
Will History repeat itself?

History is there if you are willing to search for answers.
Futurism is an invention of Jesuits and pretribulation rapture was invented to make it work.
If you search up where and why Futurism come from you'll realise it is not from God.
Or you can close your eyes and ignore history.
 

TMS

Senior Member
Mar 21, 2015
3,946
1,269
113
Australia
If God can cause the last plague to not effect those that obeyed Him in Egypt. He can cause the last plagues to not hurt His faithful. We can go through the trouble with Jesus, we don't need to be taken away.
 
Jul 23, 2018
12,199
2,775
113
If God can cause the last plague to not effect those that obeyed Him in Egypt. He can cause the last plagues to not hurt His faithful. We can go through the trouble with Jesus, we don't need to be taken away.
He took them away before


He is the " taking away God"

To say he can not or wont is disenfranchisement.

Taking off the table ,components God already wants on the table.

Declared from heaven. By Jesus.

The 2 escape verses.

Eternally cannonized in the WORD OF GOD.

oh yeah
 
Jul 23, 2018
12,199
2,775
113
Cracks me up how Paul was simply asked, when our loved ones die, will we ever see them again(?), and when he answered about being Caught Up, it has turned into the biggest false Doctrine ever taught to the followers of Almighty God. It's literally mind boggling how gullible some truthfully are.
Agree totally

That postrib rapture doctrine as well as no rapture doctrine have no biblical basis.

No verses.

Pretrib rapture is solid bible and easily defended as i am sure you have seen in this thread
 
Jul 23, 2018
12,199
2,775
113
If God can cause the last plague to not effect those that obeyed Him in Egypt. He can cause the last plagues to not hurt His faithful. We can go through the trouble with Jesus, we don't need to be taken away.
Sure he can do anything.

The bible teaches us he can do both.

The great trib. According to the bible, is not only jacobs trouble, and aimed at the covenant jew, but marks the end of the church age.
A church going through the trib is impossible as the ac kills all refusing the mark.