"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."
2nd Corinthians 4:3-7

7 Years Left?


Saturday, November 6, 2010

Someone emailed us a link to the video below and there is merit to responding to it because there are many people that are into trying to figure out when the tribulation period is going to start. While our focus should be on the Word of God and seeking truth via the Holy Spirit, it is necessary to create a contrast between teachings in order to sway the gainsayers (Titus 1:9) and contend for the faith (Jude 1:3).

Folks are now actually saying that the tribulation period, Daniel's last week, the 70th week - whatever we want to call it - is going to actually begin on November 8th, 2010. That sounds good and I actually hope that it does but what's striking is this: The narrator in the video and others say that they believe this AND they also believe that there is going to be a PRE-tribulation RAPTURE!

Now it does not take a rocket scientist to figure the math on this one...

I Believe the Tribulation Begins on 11/8/2010

+

I Believe in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

=

I Will be 'Raptured' Before (pre) 11/8/2010

I'm writing this on Saturday, November 6th, 2010. People that believe this equation supposedly now have less than 24 hours left on this planet. Time will roll on and we'll watch the 8th go by, the 9th, the 10th, 11th...etc. Now obviously, at some point those that believed this would have to humble themselves to accept the truth that they were WRONG about the starting of the tribulation being 11/8/2010. Hopefully they will then take it one very crucial step further and humbly take a look at what the Word of God says:

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Revelation 6:9-11
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Now look at Matthew 24. Read verse 9:

Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

What has happened before verse 9? Wars, racial and political strife, famines, pestilence, earthquakes - pretty much exactly what is happening right now in the world. Jesus is saying that these things are the beginning of sorrows...THEN verse 9 hits. He's not referring to the disciples that he was speaking to at that point in time. He is talking to the end time disciple. Furthermore, this is the mark of the beginning of the last week (7 years). Christian 'gentiles' will be martyred. Some could be 'Jewish' Christians at this point but it doesn't really matter too much because we are both one new man in Christ (Ephesians 2). In verse 16 Jesus' turns our attention to Judea - which is speaking of the natural Jews who will begin to have the veil removed from their eyes and turn to Him. This is happening about mid-week (3 1/2 years into the 7 years) This is what is known as Jacob's trouble where the incarnate man of sin will begin annihilation of the Jews in a last attempt to extinguish the seed of David/Jesus. The last 7 years will be bloody for Christians. How can it be any different for us now than it was for those 2000 years ago after Pentecost? Nothing adds up to a pre-tribulation escape for 'Christians' unless you have a mind that is fantasy prone...this is a fantastic lie sent by the devil to deceive multitudes. May the Lord have mercy on those that believe this error.



We should be more focused on when this thing ends and not when the end begins (i.e. focus on Jesus Christ and being transformed into his image so we will know Him and we won't be surprised at his coming). I also know that this is very interesting stuff to contemplate and to bounce off one another. This is not necessarily a bad thing...so with that, and since we're dealing with the number 7, which indicates completion - how about this as some food for thought:

The world population is set to exceed 7 billion somewhere between 2011 and 2012. Could be a good a time as any for the beginning of the end - just a thought...that's about as far as I'm going to go with that because I don't know :)

A few points about the video and a few of the referenced links:

  • The guy narrating in the video believes in a pre-tribulation rapture, so at that point take what he says with a grain of salt. Belief in a pre-tribulation rapture is a serious doctrinal flaw because it will not have you prepared to deal with the reality of what is going to happen here on Earth. Steer clear of any one that teaches it (2nd John 1:10-11). Consider the source.
  • The article he linked to states that '...the US proposed that Israel lease parts of the Jordan Valley from the Palestinians for an additional seven years' - so this is a 'lease' that is apparently already in progress because it’s requesting an additional seven years, therefore forget about the 7 year thing applying here. It doesn't make sense to say that this so called treaty is 'part of' the 'covenant with many for one week' (one week being 7 years) in Daniel 9:27 when it's not an explicitly a 7 year treaty. We need to start looking at what Daniel is really telling us with regard to this 'covenant' and more importantly who the 'he' is in the context of those verses, but that is out of the scope of this article (let's pray for the wisdom from Holy Spirit in the matter).
  • How long can you watch a guy on a stage dressed up like an old Jew or whatever he is supposed to be? Plus, he said that God broke the covenant with He made Abraham?!?Sorry Mr. Rood - that covenant is good right now – we know that because Abraham is in glory (John 8:56)! God does not break the promises he makes with those that love him (Daniel 9:4), we might break off - but He is TRUE to His Word.
  • The rabbi from the 1200's (New Testament - post Pentecost era) has an interesting 'prophesy' but so did guys like Nostradamus. Was either of them called by God? Was either of them believers in Jesus Christ of the Bible? It all sounds good but again - consider the source (Prophecy of Jubilees). It should be noted that the author of that 2010 rapture site also teaches a 'once saved always saved' lie.

Let’s not get hung up on dates. Many are saying they are having dreams where they are being told by the Lord that certain things were going to happen within a certain time-frame or even by a certain date. I've experienced it myself and witnessed it in others close to me over the last few years and guess what - they haven't panned out! This date stuff is just more information being thrown out there to try to distract us from the mission - which is to get filled with the Holy Ghost, KNOW Jesus Christ and do our Father's service. I look at my own personal experience as an opportunity to humble myself before God and say 'hey - I thought I knew something - but I didn't - but I want to hear from You My Lord, so I turn to You and not my own understanding'.

Where in scripture did any word from the Lord to his prophets/apostles/disciples involve dates or time-frames? Of course Daniel was given visions pertaining to time frames but in fact if we look at New Testament instances where someone received word from the Lord – it was pretty much just in command form (go here and do this) and done via a vision - not a dream occurring while asleep. I wonder about what Joel 2:28 means when he says that 'your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions'. Is there a difference between a dream and a vision? A dream is something we see or experience when we're sleeping but a vision is something 'seen' when not sleeping. Although, the Bible says in Acts 11:5 that Peter had a vision during the daytime and he was in a 'trance'. The word 'trance' is ekstasis - defined as a displacement of the mind, i.e. bewilderment, "ecstasy" to be amazed, amazement, astonishment, trance. Other new testament visions that we read about do not indicate that a trance-like state is involved so I would think that it is not a requirement to have a vision. I've not found any 'dreams' per se in the post-Pentecostal accounts in the New Testament. Could it be that Joel is telling us that the 'young men' are New Testament believers/prophets whereas the 'dreamers' are pointing to the Old Testament prophets - with regard to communications to humans from God? I'm pretty much tired of hearing about someone's dreams. It's not that we can't have relevant dreams or that godly people cannot offer help in understanding a dream but I think that the dreams we have are more of way for us to see things about ourselves - about our 'Old Man' - that besides our own selves only really God knows...the really deep things about a human soul that God can bring to our attention through a dream. Another positive aspect of a dream would be a channel used by God for prompting us to pray for people in our dreams that are known to us as he may use the dream to bring them to our remembrance. As far as I can tell we really don't have any guidance from the apostles regarding dreams and the meaning of them nor anything about interpreting them. That's why I am very leery of anyone you see with a ministry of interpreting people's dreams.

So aside from all this dreamy stuff, I want some pay dirt. I want a vision and the subsequent affects like what I'm reading about in this Bible. At some point we have to come to a place where SOMEONE has vision - carries out the orders contained in the vision and then we have the results/evidence seen by other eye-witnesses, which therefore provides the PROOF that this came from the Most High God. When this starts happening, this will truly be and indicator that the end is beginning. This will be a sure sign that the called out ones are moving out to bring the age to an end and reap a harvest of souls to rejoice at the coming of our Lord and King! That's when WE will know that the last 7 years has begun!