False Prophets

When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. ~ Deuteronomy 18:22

False Prophets

This is just a small list I put together to prove a point. Most of these we look at and think to ourselves how nutty these people were, but yet there are still some that believe and follow their every word even though it is proved to be not of truth. Nobody knows the time of the end but God himself. Man needs to quit trying to prove God wrong. This should make one wonder what else is being falsely taught by these people. Do not follow the false prophets. It will be a man just like this that causes the people to worship the final anitchrist.

Early Church Beliefs

THE EARLY CHURCH
And How Pretribulation Beliefs Started

Those whom the apostles personally instructed, and those taught in turn by them, were most likely to know and adhere to the original teachings.

Justin Martyr (100 to 167 A.D.) lived near the time of the apostle John (died 100 A.D.); Justin taught the resurrection and rapture of believers would occur at the beginning of the millennium (Christ’s 1000-year reign, which starts just after the Second Coming). Justin also wrote, “the man of apostasy [Antichrist] …shall venture to do unlawful deeds on earth against us the Christians“. Therefore, Christians would be on earth during the tribulation.

This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled

In order for any of these to be fulfilled as end time prophecies, Israel has to become a nation again. That happened in 1948.

Matthew 24

For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers (many different) places.

Rapture at the Second Coming

Matthew 24:29-31 Immediately 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: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Rapture Beliefs

The word rapture is not mentioned in any English bible. We get this word from the Greek word harpagesometha in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 of the Greek new testament. It is from the root word harpazo which means “caught up or carry away“. It was interpreted into Latin as the word raptus meaning “a carrying off“. In the Latin Vulgate it is rapiemur which means “to catch up or taken away“. The English word for this is rapture.

There are a few different views about the timing of the rapture. I have here the two main ones. While the belief of the timing is not directly a salvation necessity, it is still very important to understand the dangers of believing and preparing for the wrong one. I myself lean to only one of these beliefs. I tried to make this fair and from the viewpoint of the believer as to give you a chance to choose for yourself.