"Wise or Foolish?"
Wednesday, 12-12-12
As
a long-time Doves reader and sometimes participant, for
years I have enjoyed
the input from so many…
However,
there seems to be an increasing reiteration of some
commonly held mis-beliefs;
while not singling out this letter and writer
specifically, it is
representative of an area of Scripture that so many have
questioned recently…
Hi
John and Doves,
I
am sort of new here (although I read the website in
the past,
I just started reading regularly 2-3 months
ago). I was not raised with a
pre-trib belief (only post-trib and it wasn't hardly
hardly ever
discussed). It has been only recently with my
unresolved questions that I
have been willing to seriously, carefully look at the
pre-trib issue.
I
have read some scriptures that over several years have
continued to bother me (not knowing for sure what they
meant). Central to
this have been the wedding feast parables of the New
Testament, especially
Matthew 25. Both the wise and the foolish know
that the
betrothal/engagement is over, the coming of the
Bridegroom and subsequent
wedding are imminent, because they are assembled at
the bride's house to go on
the procession. Then a cry/shout is made.
Both the foolish and the
wise WAKE UP…
…
I have been praying to know for sure if there are two
raptures or departures of some kind -- asking for a
dream or vision, but I
haven't gotten the answer other than my little
thoughts and feelings here and
there of concern. Is it not prudent to be
prepared, and if you don't need
it then, someone else "left behind" will? This
could even be
another family member who you love! I personally
do not believe that
every person initially "left behind" would be foolish
(unspiritual)
some people do want to help others -- family they
love…
While
all Scripture is written for us – not all is
written to us.
The Book of Matthew is a good example of this -- and
specifically chapters 24
and 25.
Consider
Matthew 24:
·
Jewish
disciples
·
sitting
on the Mount of Olives
·
overlooking
the Temple Mount
·
Asking
questions of a Jewish Rabbi
It
doesn’t get more Jewish than this.
Furthermore:
·
Jesus
has yet to go to the Cross
·
He
hasn’t ascended yet to the Father
·
the
Holy Spirit has not yet been given
·
in
short – the Church is yet future
Reading
on in Matthew 24:
·
we
are shown the Parable of the Fig Tree (Matt. 24: 32-35)
·
and
the Illustration of the Days of Noah (Matt. 24: 36-44)
…
all in answer to the disciples question concerning the
End of the Age.
This
is not an answer to when the Rapture of the Church may
occur – they didn’t
even know what a ‘Church’ was at this point. The Apostle
Paul was
still Saul and as yet had not been given the
‘mystery’ of the
Church.
These
are ‘signs’ given for the end – the Second Coming –
plenty of signs for this.
But
the Rapture is a ‘sign-less’ event.
So,
His Jewish disciples have asked their Jewish Rabbi about
signs for His Second
Coming – and the End of the Age – and He has told them as
to what they
should be watching.
Conversely,
in Matthew 25:
·
Jesus
begins with: Then the Kingdom of Heaven
·
The
Rapture has now already occurred
·
The
Age of Grace has ended
·
We
are back to the final seven years of the Dispensation of
Law (70th
week)
·
The
Holy Spirit is functioning in the manner found in the Old
Testament
The
Church is safely in Heaven at the ‘rewards ceremony’ of
the Wedding
Feast.
The
10 virgins however, represent those Jews
(and Gentiles) who are
being saved during the Tribulation.
No
‘Church’ here either.
Note
the lack of oil (symbolic of the Holy Spirit).
Under
“The Law” people were indwelt only temporarily by
the Spirit,
and then He would depart (just ask King David).
This
is what we see here; all had been indwelt, but
some had been less than
diligent and been caught up in being ‘worldly’ again.
Matthew
is a very Jewish book (the most Jewish of the four
Gospels).
In
Matthew 24 the Church
has yet to come into existence.
In
Matthew 25 the Church
is already gone.
Israel
is Israel and the Church is the Church – do not confuse
the two. In God’s
economy He either deals with one or the other … not both
at the same
time.
I
don’t know if the confusion here is due to errant exegesis
or creeping
Replacement Theology – but the Church was only grafted in
temporarily –
a temporary replacement (see
Romans 11).
This occurred when the Jews of the first
century rejected the atonement of Christ and lost their
designation as “My
people Israel” - which is what the entire book of
Hosea is all
about.
God
is by no means through with Israel.
This
rejection ushered in the Dispensation of Grace with the
Church as God’s
primary instrument for spreading His Gospel in the earth,
Israel being temporarily
set aside.
But
soon, and I mean real soon, Israel will soon
regain her position as “My
people Israel” and when this occurs the role of the Church
is finished on
earth and we are taken out of and away from (ek)
the ‘wrath which
is to come.’
Further:
1.
We
are not now in the Tribulation
2.
The
Obamanation is not the antichrist (although certainly an
antichrist)
3.
The
Church does not go through any part of the seven years of
tribulation
It
is important to discern who is writing and to whom
…
Scripture
divides in 5 ways as to whom it is written:
·
The
entire Old Testament – written to the Jew
·
The
four Gospels – to the Jew first - and then to the Gentile
·
The
Book of Acts – to the newborn Church
·
The
epistles (letters) were written for the edification of the
Church
·
The
Book of Revelation – write the things which were,
which are,
and are to come – written to the “elect” at those
various times.
The
‘elect’ was not a permanent designation. God, at various
times,
elected and then un-elected various groups of
people. These were merely
the people chosen at a specific time for a specific task.
(This fact alone
makes Calvinism moot).
Date
Setting
Jesus
Christ Himself told us ‘no man can know the day and hour’
(Matt.
24:36).
Jesus was not saying that there is a ‘day and
hour’ - and
you simply cannot know it – rather there isn’t one.
Time
is one of the dimensions created by our Creator, and as
such, He lives outside
of time. There is no ‘time’ where He is concerned.
The
‘timing’ of these things is event driven –
specifically events concerning Israel. As previously
stated, when the Jew
regains the coveted status of “My people Israel” …
that
will be the ‘timing’ of the Rapture.
Many
try to tie the Seven Feasts of Israel to the timing of the
Rapture.
These
Seven Feasts of Israel were given to, well – Israel.
Trying
to read the Church into these festivals is like trying to
see the Church in
Matthew 24 and 25… just not there.
I
only say this things for your edification, that your joy
may be full.
I
don’t wish to hurt anyone’s walk, but it seems of late a
certain ‘Replacement’
influence has crept in (and this is heresy)
…and the resultant
confusion is starting to spread.
Prayerfully
looking for our Blessed Hope…
Steven
Palm
Harbor, FLA