The fantasy story about a secret early rapture is gathering pace. More and more people seem to be preparing for it, or have a good hope of being raptured suddenly and in an instant. They will all be disappointed.
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Pre-rapture story on the rise
One of the most “popular” end-time variations is the claim of a (secret) rapture of Christians before the start of a 7-year tribulation period. The theory goes that believers will be saved even before the “Antichrist” comes. A result of dispensationalism and futurism and therefore completely wrong.
Actually, only a few steps were necessary to turn the biblical prophecy about the end-time events on its head. Verse 27 in Daniel 9 was simply moved into the future and the prophetic times, such as 42 months in Revelation 13, were given a literal interpretation. You already come to a concrete 7-year period of trouble.
The counterfeiters are known by name
The “craftsmen” also have a name. It was Francis Ribera, Robert Cardinal Bellarmine and Emanuel Lacunza, all Jesuits, who created a new version of the future and thus misled especially the evangelicals. However, supposed Protestants also got involved, especially spreading Lacunza’s pre-rapture story (Info).
Daniel 9:25-27 simply reworked
The (sandy) foundation for this pre-rapture fairy tale is provided by the new interpretation of Daniel 9:25-27. Verse 25 explains the starting point of a 490-year phase, the so-called 70-year week (Info). Historically, the starting point can be traced back to 457 BC. At that time, the Persian king Artaxerxes gave the order to rebuild Jerusalem. Verse 25 describes this building phase in two sections. Once 7 weeks and then another 62 weeks. So completely 69×7 days (literally years) and this is 483 years.
Verse 26 explains that in the week after 483 years, the last prophetic week, the Messiah will die. The most important verse in this context follows verse 27:
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.“
This verse 27 is the description of the last prophetic week at this time. However, the Jesuit forgers declared this to be a time in the future. They simply separated it, threw it forward in time and declared it to be a week of tribulation in which the “Antichrist” was up to mischief. If you just pull out the calculator to calculate the year of this last week, then you can see that the future variant is outrageous nonsense.
Jesus Christ easy to identify
457 BC. + 483 years (+1 year, since there is no year “zero”) = 27 AD!
In 27 AD, the beginning of the last prophetic week, Jesus Christ was baptized. He began His ministry and worked for 3.5 years (half a prophetic week) and was famously crucified. “and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease“, says verse 27. With the crucifixion of Jesus, the curtain of the Holy of Holies in the temple was torn. Thus, the entire package of sacrificial services was ended.
After the second half of the prophetic week, another 3.5 years, the apostle Stephen was stoned. That was the last straw. The gospel was taken away from the Judeans and from then on also went to the Gentiles. Saul became Paul. The “future prince” described in verse 26 was the general Titus under the Roman Emperor Vespasian. The city of Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed in 70 AD. The Jesuit apologists formulated a future Antichrist from this.
The fact that the Jesuits threw verse 27 with the actually announced Jesus Christ into the future and, with their imaginative reinterpretation, quickly turned Jesus Christ into an “Antichrist” was probably a welcome side effect for this clique.
God’s people have to go through this completely
In short: There is no secret pre-rapture. A period of trouble has been announced, but the duration is not specified, certainly not explicitly 7 years. According to Daniel 12 one can assume more like 3.5 years. More importantly, Matthew 24:21-22 alone makes it clear that the people of God must live through this time of tribulation from beginning to end.
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 14:12
Bible verses from King James Version (1611)
