EXPOSING THE RAPTURE LIE (PART 1)

In brief and basic terms, the 'Rapture Doctrine' states that Jesus Christ will appear in the sky before the Great Tribulation, and all the "good Christians" will be floated up into the clouds to meet Jesus. The rest of the people on earth will be relegated to a literal hell-on-earth with the antichrist. Of course there is no Biblical support for such an absurdity, although the Rapturist's have perverted several Scriptures to align with their beliefs.

In the next series of bible study articles we shall take apart those Scriptures verse by verse and observe what the Word of God truly says.

The following was sourced from a short essay I stumbled upon at answers.yahoo.com. Whoever wrote this piece, not only knew what he/she was talking about, but this individual was also gifted with the talent of advising Christians about the dangers in an easy-to-read form. Incidentally, the nameless writer uses the pseudonym “Gods Friend”. (Take note: I've taken the liberty of highlighting biblical text used in this essay in yellow.)

Did you know that the rapture is a lie and that it's nowhere in the Bible?

Yes the rapture is totally made up. It was made up by a woman named Margaret McDonald in 1832. And Christians have been teaching it ever since. I am a Christian and I believe in God. And I study the Bible daily. I also study Greek and Hebrew. And I refer to my Strong's Concordance often while I study. Where the Rapture doctrine comes from is first Thessalonians chapter 4 verse 17. Which states,. "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Paul who wrote this book of Thessalonians spoke in Colloquial Greek. The word clouds Check back to the Concordance under 5971 in your Hebrew and Chaldee dictionary states, it means a people (as a congregated unit); spec. a tribe (as those of Israel); fig. a flock;- folk, men, nation, people. So you can plainly see after a little study that Paul is talking about a group of people. It's like saying a flock of geese, a herd of sheep a school of fish etc. The other word in the scripture that is mistranslated is the word air. Which should be airos, which means spirit or vapor or mist. The scripture should read like this. Then we which are alive shall be caught up together in the (Crowd of people) to meet the Lord in the (Spirit) and so shall we ever be with the Lord. There are two ways to prove what I am saying is true, First of all you must start at verse 13 of chapter 4 to get the subject matter of what Paul is talking about. And Paul says in verse 13, "But I would not have you to be ignorant Brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." Here in verse 13, them that are asleep are those that have died at this time. Paul is simply letting us know that the dead are with Christ already. Verse 14 reads "for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." (Why?) because they are already there. Verse 15 "for this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that which we are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep." In this verse 15 the word prevent should be transliterated proceed in other words, the dead shall come first with Christ, we are not going anywhere Christ is coming to us. There was a problem even in those day when this was written and people were as confused then as they are now. So Paul wrote a second letter to the Thessalonians and in chapter 2 clearly explains there to the Thessalonians as well as us today how it really is going to happen. 2'nd Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 1 says ; "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him," verse 2  "that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as by us, as that day of Christ is at hand." What Paul is talking about here is the first letter he wrote and specifically about the coming of Christ and Christ bringing the dead with him. Verse 3 "Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;" perdition means parish or death, he is talking about Satan. To continue with our study verse 4 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." If you have made it this far you should read on but I will shorten it up and tell you in as few of words as possible what Paul is saying. First of all the Rapture doctrine is inconsistent depending on which church is teaching it some churches teach it could happen any day now others teach that Christ will come just before the anti Christ comes and the list goes on. What Gods word actually says is that Christ comes at the 7'th trump 7'th seal and 7'th vile and the anti christ comes at the 6'th trump etc, a five year old child knows that 6 comes before 7, so what Paul is telling you is that the anti christ is coming first and every one on earth will know about it and many will be deceived and will worship him. Please read 5-12 of 2'nd Thessolonions chapter 2 and then everything will be clear. I used to believe the Rapture theory also but some of it did not make since so I did some research and study and a lot of prayer and all of this added to a accurate understanding of Gods word. I know this is very harsh and I apologize for the abruptness of my question, but I do not apologize for the truth of Gods word. One more thing you should know as long as you are in these flesh bodies and there is someone in the world professing to be Christ or God himself and you to come and worship him or any thing else to do with him this will be satan / the anti christ trying to deceive you. It says in Gods word, that when Christ comes which is after the anti christ that instantly in a twinkling of an eye that's a nano.

The above was sourced from:  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090113003937AAwA6lQ

Who was Margaret MacDonald?

Margaret MacDonald was born in 1815 in Port Glasgow, Scotland and died around 1840. She lived with her two older brothers, James and George, both of whom ran a shipping business. Beginning in 1826 and through 1829, a few preachers in Scotland emphasized that the world's problems could only be addressed through an outbreak of supernatural gifts from the Holy Spirit. In response, Isabella and Mary Campbell of the parish of Rosneath manifested charismatic experiences such as speaking in tongues. Around 1830, miraculous healings were reported through James Campbell, first of his sister Margaret MacDonald and then of Mary Campbell (through James' letter to Mary). Shortly thereafter James and George MacDonald manifested the speaking and interpretations of tongues, and soon others followed suit in prayer meetings. These charismatic experiences garnered major national attention. Many came to see and investigate these events. Some, such as Edward Irving and Henry Drummond, regarded these events as genuine displays from the Holy Spirit. Others, including John Darby and Benjamin Newton whom the Brethren sent on their behalf to investigate, came to the conclusion that these displays were demonic. (More info is available on the Wikipedia Page dealing with Margaret MacDonald).

In short: Margaret McDonald had a 'vision' of end-time prophecy spring into her deluded mind (in other words, a nightmare). Privately she sent hand written copies of her Scripture-riddled revelation to some leading clergymen. They repackaged it and sold it to the world. 

(See also: http://www.biblestudysite.com/history.htm)

The Rapture Theories (there is more than one variant), have taken the world’s Christian churches by storm. However, if you happen to be worshiping in a congregation that propagates this false belief, but yet you are fully content with their overall statement of faith and the manner they conduct their worship, then I would NOT recommend you abruptly leave the congregation simply because its members believe in the rapture doctrine. Do not summarily confront your pastor or preacher until you have all the facts at your disposal. The chances are pretty good that your preacher or pastor is unknowingly supporting this false doctrine, so don’t push the issue to firmly. The truth will reveal itself!

Part 2 is here