The Five Weak Spots of the Rapture
1. Selective Literal Interpretation.
A common claim by pre-tribulation rapturists (dispensationalists) is that Christianity allegedly does not take the entire Bible literally. That is why Dispensationalists claim their "version" of Christianity is the "real" or "pure" version, taking all the prophets and prophecies literally. Or does it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by moondweller
The reference to Rom. 11:5 was for giving you another example of a Jewish "remnant." It flew over your head. You've never studied the O.T. prophets have you?
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Actually I have.
There is only one pure sacrifice or offering that has ever been rendered to God--Calvary.
Dipensational theology makes no allowance for Calvary to be offered at every time and place and by every nation with incense, even though this offering is clearly required by the prophet. So the dispensationalists "spiritualize" this away because it doesn't fit with dispensationalism. It does, however, fit the Eucharist (which is a re-presentation of Calvary) perfectly and literally. Speaking of which, they also spiritualize "This is My Body" for the same reason. While they claim that Christianity is wrong because it allegedly spiritualizes the OT prophets (a mischaracterization for sure), dispensationalism does the same darn thing with much of the Gospels and the actual words of Christ. Didn't He say something about logs and splinters?
2. Jesus Rejected the Earthly Kingdom, not the Jews
Dispensationalism, the rapture system, hinges on the rejection by the Jewish people of an earthly messianic kingdom. It is only because of that rejection that the dispensationalist claims the OT prophecies are shifted to the future. Supposedly this rejection stops the "prophetic clock" (where is that even mentioned in the Bible?) and so supposedly postpones all the OT doomsday stuff until "Israel" (today's Jews) do certain things.
But who did the rejecting?
John 6:10-15 shows that the Jews were all too eager to have Jesus become an earthly king and drive out the Romans. It was JESUS, not the Jews, who rejected this idea, both in John 6 and many times over:
3. The Kingdom is Already Here, and It Is Spiritual
Both Peter and Paul recognized that the Kingdom of God came at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended.
The true nature of the Kingdom of God is and always has been spiritual, since before the world was created.
This Kingdom is eternal. It is not something yet to be established; it is already here, although its coming will be completed at the end of time (Rev. 21) However, the earthly kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which Dispensationalists claim Christ came to re-establish, were actually temporary arrangements which God acquiesced to quite begrudgingly:
4. The Book of Revelation is Not In Chronological Order
Every Christian who believes in "sola scriptura" (the Bible alone) knows that long before Adam and Eve, satan rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven with a third of the angels who had likewise betrayed their Maker.
So where is this event in the Bible? It's in the
middle of the
very last book.
The following events are described as occurring before the fall of satan in chapter 12:
1. Messages are given to various churches (Ch. 1-3)
2. The Lamb (Jesus) is shown as having been slain (Ch. 5)
3. A great multitude come out of the Tribulation (Ch. 7)
4. Six judgment trumpets and calamities occur (Ch. 8-11)
5. Jesus is born (Ch. 12)
Obviously none of this could have happened before satan fell; evil did not even exist until that fall, and the Tribulation is supposed to be one of the very last things! And how could Jesus be slain even before He is born? This is a huge problem for dispensationalism, which requires the various judgments and calamities in Revelation to occur chronologically, when they clearly do not. The only way out is to "spiritualize" the parts that don't fit; but so much for taking prophecies literally.
5. Biblical Time Periods Are Not Literal
What then of Revelation 20 and its thousand-year reign, which is supposed to be this future earthly kingdom?
Another weak link in the Rapture theology is that it requires all biblical time periods to be taken literally. Anyone who has taken Biology or Astronomy 1301 knows that the world was not created in six literal days. Anyone who has studied Palestinian geography knows there are not literally one thousand hills in Palestine, or the world, even though the psalmist uses that number (Psalm 50:10). God will be faithful for more than a thousand generations, even though that is the number promised in 1 Chronicles 16:15.
Put a fork in the pre-trib Rapture... it's done.