I got a funny message from a friend of mine late last night...And I'm paraphrasing it here:
"Hey man, are you ready for the rapture?"
He meant it as a joke, because he's not the most bible savvy dude on the planet and he'll be the first to admit it lol However September 23rd was a big deal within some circles of Christianity. And honestly, I never even knew it was a thing, so I haven't dug into it.....
....Because anytime I hear the word 'secret and rapture' attached to a date...I roll my eyes.
Here's a super brief bible study on why both the 'secret' nature of the 'rapture' is pretty much...False doctrine.
Let's take a look...
First off, this entire doctrine comes from all those Tim LaHaye books 'Left Behind' and even more so from the Scofield study bibles. Right there, the bible has a major issue with...Being left behind, because this extremely popular doctrine never stops and asks, who are the people that are actually left behind?
Let's let the bible explain itself, and see where Christ mentions where this doctrine gets it's roots from...
Taken from Matthew 24:40 and 41 the popular left behind theory comes directly from these words. Seems pretty straight forward right? Problem is, with all bible doctrines that fail, they never take the verses into context....Let's go up a verse or two and get the proper context...
Ahhhhh a clue!
So Christ says when He returns, the world will be like....The days of Noah. (Or Noe in the KJV here)
Pay close attention to verse 39....
Context!
The people 'taken away' aren't in the ark. So if we believe Christ at His word, the ones that are taken away aren't the saved.....Because the ones that were 'left behind' were Noah and his family.
Or but wait, there's more....
The 'secret rapture' doctrine is anything but a secret.
Let's see what it will be like when Christ returns...
1 Thessalonians 4:16,17
Here's the rapture in scripture and what it will be like....A shout. Trump of God. Dead in Christ will rise.
Hardly a secret......Want a second witness to prove what the second coming will be like?
Let's hear what Christ Himself says...
Going back to Matthew 24, verse 27.....It's going to have a WHOLE lot of lightning....From east to west. Once again....Hardly a secret.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, let me tell you this......The devil is not sleeping. He knows how to deceive people and anytime we hear the secret rapture, we know through the bible....It's a false doctrine. I wonder what else popular Christianity has been misleading people with in these end times....
Scary to think.
Thankfully, we have the sure Word!!!