The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest
Vol: 15 Issue: 29 – Friday, May 29, 2009
On the Testimony of Three Witnesses. . .
There are at least five distinct views within the Church concerning when (or whether) the Lord will return for His Church in an event commonly called “The Rapture.”
The proponents for each view are all sincere, believing Christians who believe their interpretation is right to the exclusion of all others.
I understand and appreciate that more than a few of the members of our fellowship hold to different understandings of the Rapture and I respect their scholarship.
However, we know that things that are different cannot be the same. No matter how kindly or charitably one tries to frame it, while all are sincere, at least four of these views are sincerely wrong.
How can this be? Is not the same Holy Spirit guiding us all? How can there possibly be so many different understandings of the same doctrine?
If there are five different views of the Rapture, does that suggest the doctrine itself is weak?
In brief, the five views of the Rapture are as follows:
1. Pre-Tribulational: The Rapture of the Church takes place before the start of the Tribulation Period, defined as two consecutive periods of 1280 days each. (Daniel 7:25, 9:2712:7 Revelation 11:2, 11:3 12:6, 12:14, 13:5)
It begins with the revelation of the antichrist as the guarantor of Israel’s security with the confirmation of a seven year peace agreement.
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