chuck missler false teacher: the pre-tribulation rapture deception! part 3

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4) 

Chuck Misslers Ten Reasons For A Pre-tribulation Rapture PARTS 1 AND 2: http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/chuck-missler-false-teacher-pre.html http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/chuck-missler-false-teacher-pre_20.html

The Rapture.. Chuck Missler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1xoON5GLSw

Reason 8: The rapture happens in the air not on the earth.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

The sound of the trumpet associated with the rapture can also be found in 1 Corinthians 15:52 and Matthew 24:29-31. Matthew 24 describes the sixth seal cosmic disturbances also depicted in Luke 21, with additional information regarding the gathering of the elect (episynágō = rapture). Once again, a pre-wrath view of the rapture (harpázō) is confirmed, as against a pre-70th week rapture. The church will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air at the last silver trumpet, following the sixth seal cosmic disturbances, before the day of God's wrath (Revelation 6:12-17).

Reason 9: The Woman is Israel, not the Church  (Revelation 12:5)

She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, (Revelation 12:5)

There is agreement among many scholars that the Woman is Israel based on Genesis 37:1-10, and that the Male Child is Jesus Christ based on Psalm 2:9 and Revelation 19:15. However, the corporate identification of the man-child as Jesus Christ and the church is a view that completely lacks exegetical substance. In fact, this view is yet another invention of arch deceiver John Nelson Darby. Darby and his supporters identified the man-child as symbolizing both Head and body—the complete Christ, and the catching up to God and to his throne as the rapture of the church. As is the case with every other pretribulationist theory, Darby's interpretation of the man-child is inferential. The word harpázō (caught up) is a snatching away, but it does not necessarily refer to the rapture of the church every time it appears in the scriptures. My view is that the context of Revelation 12:5 is the ascension of Jesus Christ in Acts 1:19 and not the rapture of the church prior to Daniel's 70th week. The Book of Acts tells us that Jesus was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight, which was the precursor for the rapture of the church, not the rapture of the church itself (see 1 Thessalonians 4:17). When the church is caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, the man-child, previously identified as Jesus Christ, is not caught up, since he descends from heaven. Revelation 12:5 clearly says that HE (male gender) is caught up. Although the church is indeed the Body of Christ, it is always referred to in the female gender as The Bride of Christ. Since it is only the Bride who is caught up in the rapture and not Jesus Christ, why would the male gender be used here? In other words, if Christ and the church are synonymous with the man-child, as Darby claimed, how can his interpretation possibly make any sense if Jesus Christ Himself is not raptured at the rapture? In my view, Darby's arguments are the machinations of an intelligent, yet fleshly, even demonically inspired mind. His claim to discover "new" truths, not even given to the apostles, demonstrates that he was puffed up with pride and arrogance. The alteration of scripture is an extremely serious matter. (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19)

Reason 10: The marriage supper of the Lamb includes the raptured before Revelation 19:11-14.

Revelation 19:11-14 describes the second advent of Christ, who enters the scene on a white horse accompanied by "the armies of heaven", who are generally agreed to either include, or entirely consist of, resurrected believers. Missler places the Marriage Supper prior to the millennial reign of Christ, during the 70th week of Daniel, but this is problematic for a number of reasons.  

The Book of Revelation is not necessarily consecutive, but I believe we can say that it is consecutive when the text indicates that events follow one another by: "After that" or "Then". According to Revelation 19:7 the marriage occurs some time after the judgement of "the great prostitute", who can be identified as the woman who sits on the scarlet beast i.e. Babylon the Great (Revelation 17:3-6). This indicates that the Great Tribulation has come to an end and that the complete number of the tribulation saints are with the Lord. Inexplicably, Missler denies the presence of the tribulation saints at the Marriage Supper, but this poses the question: Would Christ marry an incomplete Bride?  

.....for his judgements are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” (Revelation 19:2)

THEN I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage (gámos) of the Lamb has come (ēlthen),
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage (gámos) supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:6-9) 

It is clear that the marriage referred to is a future anticipatory event in verse 7, The marriage of Lamb has come (ēlthen = the aroist form of  erchomai = I come, go). The bride "has made herself ready". A bride who has made herself "ready" for the wedding, is not yet married, she looks forward to the event. Similarly verse 9 speaks of those who are invited to the marriage supper, which again indicates a future event.

Misslers flawed explanation of the Marriage Supper differs somewhat from that of his fellow false teachers in the pre-tribulation rapture camp. Thomas Ice (PTRC) supposes a distinction between the marriage (v.7) and the marriage supper (v.9) within the context of Revelation 19.

Ice: "the marriage of the Lamb to His bride (the church) and the marriage supper of the Lamb are closely related, they are separate events, just as the wedding ceremony and the wedding reception of our day are separate events..... the marriage (marriage ceremony) takes place right before the second coming."

Ice goes on to quote Arnold Fruchtenbaum:

"The wedding announcement will be made (v. 6) and the Bride will finally be made ready (v. 7). The reason the Bride will now be fully ready for the marriage ceremony is because she will have her entire bridal gown on (v. 8). . . . this also shows that the marriage ceremony takes place after the Judgement Seat of the Messiah, when the saints are rewarded for their deeds on earth (1 Cor. 3:10- 15). . . . This corresponds to the ritual cleansing of the Jewish wedding system. The ones present at the marriage ceremony are the 'few,' that is, only those in Heaven at that time."
https://www.raptureready.com/featured/ice/TheMarriageSupperoftheLamb.html

The "Day" spoken of by Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:13, is the Judgement Seat of Christ (Bema) (2 Corinthians 5:10). This Day occurs after the rapture of the church, before the second coming of Christ to the earth (Revelation 19:7-8; 2 Timothy 4:8; 1 Corinthians 4:5). In other words, the pre-wrath view has all the elect together after the rapture at the Bema Seat, followed by the marriage before Christ's return to the earth. Fruchtenbaum "develops" the Bema Seat Judgement and inserts a separate marriage ceremony, based on his understanding of the Jewish wedding system and a pre-tribulation rapture. However, there is no indication in the scriptures of an additional marriage ceremony taking place with "the few" i.e. an incomplete Bride minus the tribulation saints. Fruchtenbaum's speculations, however ingenious, are based on the so called "fourth step" of the Jewish wedding ceremony which he applies to the relationship of the Church as the Bride of Christ and a marriage ceremony in Heaven. I have not found Fruchtenbaum's "fourth step" i.e. a private marriage ceremony, in my research.

The ancient Jewish marriage took place in two stages: The two parts were divided by the reading of the ketubah (contract or prenuptial agreement), which was read aloud at the betrothal ceremony (kiddushin).  A year or so later, the marriage itself (nisuin) consisted of the sheva b'rachot (7 blessings) which were read aloud publicly and appear to have been integral to the Marriage Supper. Christians are presently referred to as"The Bride of Christ", i.e. they are betrothed to Christ (1 Corinthians 11:25; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 5:25-27 etc.) When Christ returns, Christians will participate in the second stage, the marriage itself (nisuin). Ice and Fruchtenbaum have over-engineered the Jewish wedding in order to further sub-divide the marriage of the Lamb in Revelation 19. However, there is nothing in the Jewish tradition to indicate anything other than two stages of the marriage, the kiddushin and the nisuin. Various things happened within these two stages, but only two events are clearly defined. The passage in Revelation 19 appears to be one complete future event, the Greek gámos makes no distinction between marriage, wedding and wedding-feast.

Frankly, all these convoluted speculations and comparisons with the ancient Jewish wedding are an unnecessary distraction, and in my view make the question of the rapture deliberately confusing (1 Timothy 1:4; 2 Timothy 4:4; Titus 1:14). The Jewish traditions being discussed by Ice and Fruchtenbaum are derived from the Talmud and the Kabbalah. As Dave McPherson aptly points out: " Not only are these sources occultic and anti-biblical, the Talmud is filled with lies and blasphemy about Jesus that are as irrational as they are totally evil."  

http://son-of-encouragement.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/pre-trib-rapture-staged-event.html

It says: "Jewish Wedding traditions being discussed are the rabbinic teachings found within the Talmud and Kabbalah." (Not only are these sources occultic and anti-Biblical but the Talmud is filled with lies and blasphemy about Jesus that are as irrational as they are totally evil!) - See more at: http://son-of-encouragement.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/pre-trib-rapture-staged-event.html#sthash.hU7te62c.dpuf

The pre-tribulation rapture debate is of course about much more than the timing of the rapture. The integrity of many "teachers" promoting pretribulationism and their aggressive agenda is questionable to put it mildly. Not only are they culpable in that they do not rightly divide the Word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15), their blatant distortion of the pre-tribulation rapture history makes them nothing more than con men. As I have previously written, Missler is an admitted plagiarist who keeps some very dubious company. What man of God puts his own name on another author's materials? Missler is, in my view, a false teacher and a dishonest man who cannot be trusted with the weighty task of teaching the Body of Christ! 




 Further Links:

http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/the-seven-year-pre-tribulation-rapture.html
https://community.dts.edu/mobile/transcript.aspx?course=ST106&unit=10&video=7
https://www.facebook.com/notes/lucile-gilowey/the-jewish-wedding-system-and-the-bride-of-christ-by-arnold-fruchtenbaum/215583665748
http://thectp.org/Notes/Bride/Bride_2.pdf
http://www.stmaryssaltford.org.uk/AMMI-Heaven.pdf
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10434-marriage-ceremonies
http://www.poweredbychrist.com/Pretrib_Rapture_Dishonesty.html

there are two stages in such a wedding: the "kiddushin" (betrothal) and the "nissuin" (marriage). - See more at: http://son-of-encouragement.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/pre-trib-rapture-staged-event.html#sthash.hU7te62c.dpuf

chuck missler false teacher: the pre-tribulation rapture deception! part 2

Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! (Matthew 18:7)

Chuck Misslers Ten Reasons For A Pre-tribulation Rapture PART 1: http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/chuck-missler-false-teacher-pre.html 

The Rapture.. Chuck Missler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1xoON5GLSw

Reason 4: "Look up" for the rapture. Redemption, not tribulation based on Luke 21:28. 

This is a shameful attempt to take one isolated verse completely out of context in order to justify the false pre-tribulation rapture. Luke 21:28 follows the the signs in the sun, moon and stars, also related in Revelation 6 and elsewhere. The extreme imminence of the Lords return indicated here follows the great tribulation!  The cosmic disturbances in Luke 21 depict the sixth seal events (Revelation 6:12), at which point the Day of God's Wrath is at hand. These verses actually confirm the pre-wrath view of the rapture, certainly not pre-trib!  You simply cannot get a pre-tribulation rapture from these verses! 

And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up (look up) and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”  (Luke 21:25-28)

See also Mark 13:24-26; Matthew 24:29-31; Amos 8:9; Joel 2:30-31; Ezekiel 32:7-8; Revelation 6:12-14. 

Reason 5:  Ambassadors are recalled prior to a war. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)
 
Missler pushes the Apostle Paul's "ambassador" analogy too far when he says that ambassadors are recalled prior to a war. This is a ludicrous and worldly argument for the rapture of the church to occur prior to Daniel's 70th week. It should be obvious to the reader that an ambassador for Christ is already involved in a war. Paul describes himself elsewhere as an an ambassador in chains..... (Ephesians 6:20) which is completely opposite to the privileged position of a worldly ambassador (John 16:33 also Acts 14:22). The scriptures actually give us the very opposite view to that of Missler:

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. (Matthew 24:9).  

Also it (the beast) was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. (Revelation 13:7; Daniel 7:21-25)

Reason 6: "The restrainer" is removed before the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. (2 Thessalonians 2: 6-8)

The Thessalonians had the advantage over us in that they were explicitly informed who the restrainer was by the Apostle Paul. Throughout history there have been various theories as to the identity of "the restrainer", who is referred to in both the neuter (what) and masculine (he) gender. John Nelson Darby, promoter of the pre-tribulation rapture theory, taught that the restrainer of 2 Thessalonians 2 was ".....the presence of the church and of the Holy Spirit on the earth." This connection with Darby makes me very uncomfortable considering that he was a cult leader and a heretic. Darby's view about pretribulationism and the restrainer was later popularised in the heretical Scofield Reference Bible. It was Darby who promoted the pre-tribulation rapture theory which was unknown prior to the nineteenth century. Darby hoped that pretribulationism would spread through the churches like "leaven" and indeed it has.

Even if we accept Darby's speculation that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit within the church on earth, we still cannot place the rapture at the beginning of Daniel's 70th week. Making the connection between Daniel and Paul, we find that the man of lawlessness will be revealed at the mid point of of Daniel's 70th week, at the beginning of the Great Tribulation. The restrainer is first taken out of the way and then or at that time (Greek tote), the lawless one will be revealed, implying that the two events happen almost simultaneously. At this mid point of the 70th week, the man of lawlessness will drop his facade and will no longer work covertly, he will betray Israel and set up the abomination that causes desolation (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11; Matthew 24:15).

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (5) Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time.  
(2 Thessalonians 2:1-6)

Reason 7: "In the twinkling of an eye": The rapture is not an extended activity (1 Corinthians 15:52).

I fail to understand Missler's argument that "the twinkling of an eye" necessitates a pre-tribulation rapture. The post tribulation/pre-wrath view does not negate an instantaneous rapture. Missler "forgets" to explain when "the last trumpet" is sounded!!! Matthew and Paul clearly portray the rapture being heralded by the silver trumpet (sálpigks). Matthew 24 describes the sixth seal cosmic disturbances also depicted in Luke 21, with additional information regarding the gathering of the elect (episynágō = rapture). Once again, a pre-wrath view of the rapture is confirmed as against a pre-tribulation rapture!

.....in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:52)

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)  

Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)

Missler falsely claims that the early Church Fathers taught the pre-tribulation rapture, and he even gives the names of several of the Fathers in the above video! Actually none of the church fathers taught a pre-tribulation rapture: 

  

WHY IS THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE THEORY SO DOMINANT?

Our adversary the devil works in ways that are confusing and intentionally deceptive. One thing I very strongly recommend to Missler's hearers is that on this one occasion they take his advice and check out everything he teaches against the scriptures with a fine toothcomb. The serious Bible scholar will find many disturbing "errors" in Missler's theology! The continuing dilemma for me is the dishonesty of these pre-tribulation teachers. They not only distort the scriptures, they also distort the historical facts to suit their agenda.

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1) 

TO BE CONTINUED

Further links:
http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/the-seven-year-pre-tribulation-rapture.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtKUBcfjtHE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVZkayVX-Xo
http://www.preteristarchive.com/dEmEnTiA/2001_macpherson_deceiving.html

chuck missler false teacher: the pre-tribulation rapture deception! part 1

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)

The history of the pre-tribulation rapture theory is unquestionably sordid and divisive. Initially, the theory was promoted in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby and the Plymouth Brethren. It was subsequently promoted in the US in the early 20th century due to the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible. Prior to 1830, this theory was completely unknown, and yet despite its many flaws, it has gradually gained a stranglehold on the church. Current promoters of the pre-tribulation rapture are primarily The Prophetic Witness Movement International (PWMI), The Pre-Trib Research Centre (PTRC), The Berean Call and various independent bible teachers, including Chuck Missler. Anyone doing an in depth Bible study on this subject will quickly realise that something is very wrong with the teachings of the pretribulationists. The scriptures tell us: Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them (Ephesians 5:11); and this is precisely what I intend to do with Chuck Missler's YouTube teaching: Ten Reasons For A Pre-Tribulation Rapture over the coming weeks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1xoON5GLSw 

Reason 1:  God will keep Christians from the Great Tribulation based on Revelation 3:10.

Many pretribulationists mistranslate Revelation 3:10 in an attempt to justify a rapture prior to Daniel's seventy weeks. 

Because you have KEPT my word about patient endurance, I will KEEP (tērēsō)YOU FROM  (ἐκ) the hour of trial (peirasmou) that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. (Revelation 3:10)

téreó  = keep, guard, observe, watch over.  
ἐκ = out of 
peirasmos = trial, testing, temptation.

The hour of trial in this verse appears to be the persecution of the Antichrist during the Great Tribulation. Greek téreó is to keep/guard/watch over/observe. The Philadelphian Christians kept/guarded/observed (tetērēsas) Christs word. As a result of their faithfulness Christ will keep/guard (tērēsō) them from (ἐκ) the hour of trial/temptation.

Missler defines the Greek preposition ἐκ (out of) as a word from which we get "exit", but he only gives a half truth, since ἐκ actually means to exit something from within. In context it would not make sense to say that Christ will keep/guard them if they were to "exit" (be raptured) prior to the Great Tribulation. The only other place where téreó and ἐκ are found together is John 17:6: I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you KEEP THEM FROM the evil one.
Joe Schimmel gives an excellent in depth teaching on Revelation 3:10:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGi9PBUJwAg

Missler: "There are people that believe that the rapture will occur at the end of the Great Tribulation. This puts the bridegroom in this kind of programme: Come we are going to get married, then I am going to beat the living daylights out of you, then we will go have dinner. Comfort one another with these words."

Missler thinks this profanity is a great joke, as if the persecution of believers during the Great Tribulation is an outrageous suggestion. He attributes the persecution of the church during this period directly to the Lord himself, but Jesus Christ warned: THEY (the wicked) will deliver you up to tribulation..... (Matthew 24:9)

Persecution/tribulation is directly linked to the falling away of believers: 

.....yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation (thlipseōs) or persecution (diōgmou) arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. (Matthew 13:21; Mark 4:17)  

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. (Matthew 11:6 also Matthew 5:29; James 1:12)

The scriptures repeatedly refer to a proliferation of spiritual deception and false teachers in the end times. Matthew 24 gives us an important link between false prophets, tribulation and falling away:

Then THEY (the wicked) will deliver you up to TRIBULATION (thlipsin) and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will FALL AWAY (skandalisthēsontai) and betray one another and hate one another. And many FALSE PROPHETS will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matthew 24: 9-14, see also 1 Timothy 4:1)

skandalizó =  to set a snare, entice or cause to stumble, cause to sin, cause to become indignant, shock, offend. Are those teaching a pre-tribulation rapture setting a snare that will cause shock, indignation and even hatred when their false teaching fails to materialise? Proverbs tells us that hope deferred makes the heart sick (Proverbs 13:12). Instead of strengthening believers to face the Great Tribulation, many false teachers are feeding the Body of Christ false hopes of deliverance and escapism. In actuality believers are called upon to endure through this terrible time (Matthew 24:13; Mark 13:13; Revelation 2:10). Some pretribulationists are already offended with those who point out their error, such as Paul Wilkinson of The Berean Call, who calls post-tribulationists "heretics". Some say that the timing of the rapture is not a salvation issue, but it appears to be just that for those who will fall away, if in fact they are enticed do so by those giving them a false hope of escape from the Great Tribulation.

Missler and his pre-tribulation friends would be well advised to heed the warning of Jesus Christ himself:

.....but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin (stumble), it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42)  

Reason 2:  Christians are not the object of God's wrath. (Revelation 6:16; cf 1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Missler: "The Great Tribulation has its source as the wrath of God."    
This is absolutely NOT the case!!! 

For God has not destined us for wrath (orgēn), but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ..... (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

orgé (wrath) is a completely different word and has a completely different meaning to thlipsis (tribulation).

It is correct that the church is expressly exempted from God's wrath (1 Thessalonians 5:9; Revelation 3:10). However, "the hour of trial" (peirasmou) in Revelation 3:10 is NOT referred to as God's wrath. The day of God's wrath is imminent AFTER the sixth seal is opened and AFTER the cosmic disturbances of Revelation 6:

Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the WRATH (orgēs) of the Lamb, for the great day of their WRATH (orgēs) has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:12-17).

Further confirmation that Gods wrath does not fall at the beginning of the Great Tribulation is found in Revelation 6:9-10. The martyrs call out to be avenged AFTER the fifth seal is opened, but they are told to "rest" until the number of their fellow martyrs should be complete. These are the tribulation martyrs who will be killed by the beast (Antichrist). The wrath of the beast is indicated here, not the wrath of God.

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been. (Revelation 6:9-10)

Reason 3: Christians will "escape" (not endure) the tribulation based on Luke 21:36.

But stay awake at all times, praying that YOU may have STRENGTH (katischusēte) to ESCAPE (ekphugein) all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)

katischuó = prevail against, overpower.
ekpheugó = flee out, away, escape.

Believers are exhorted to pray for strength to prevail or overcome. Why would they need to prevail if they are raptured? The rapture harpazó (snatch away) is a future passive verb; in other words the rapture does not depend upon our strength in any way (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

But the one who ENDURES to the end will be saved. (Matthew 24:13; Matthew 10:22; Luke 21:9) Matthew 24 refers to to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, but in eschatological terms, these events also prefigure the Second Advent.

How glibly Missler changes the entire meaning of the scriptures by misinterpreting single words here and there to suit his own agenda! I do not doubt that Missler et al are well aware of the weaknesses of the pre-tribulation rapture theory, and yet for reasons known only to themselves they continue to aggressively promote it right under our noses. We should also consider that Missler is a dishonest man, since he is an admitted plagiarist. He also has very dubious associations as a member of the secretive Council for National Policy (CNP) founded by Tim LaHaye. In my view, it would be utter folly to put any confidence in Missler as having pure motives as a teacher of truth.

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. (2 Peter 1:16)

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

Paul's instruction to Timothy: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15). The teachers of pre-tribulation rapture deception provably fail this test, they are NOT "approved". 

TO BE CONTINUED..... 

Further Links:

http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/the-seven-year-pre-tribulation-rapture.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_National_Policy#Meetings_and_membership 
http://hisheavenlyarmies.com/documents/Exposed-Chuck-Missler-Tim-Lahaye-etc.pdf
http://www.preteristarchive.com/dEmEnTiA/2001_macpherson_deceiving.html
http://post-trib.net/macpherson/tribpages.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVZkayVX-Xo
http://herescope.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/with-attributions.html

the seven year pre-tribulation rapture deception: chuck missler and the berean call

As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to MYTHS and endless genealogies, which promote SPECULATIONS rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. (1 Timothy 1:3-7).

THE IMMINENCY MYTH - CHUCK MISSLER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1xoON5GLSw

Chuck Missler uses the background of the ancient Jewish wedding as proof of imminency:

In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. (John 14:2-3)

Missler teaches that this passage proves imminency because the bridegroom departs for an "indeterminate time" before returning unexpectedly for his bride, the church.

This is an illegitimate illustration of imminency. The ancient Jewish wedding took place in two distinct stages, usually about a year apart. The first stage, kiddushin (sanctification or dedication), including erusin (betrothal), after which the groom would depart for about a year in order to prepare a dwelling place in his father's house to which he would later bring his bride. The second stage, nisuin (the formal marriage) when the marriage was consummated and the couple started their life together. The period of time for the bridegroom to return for the nisuin, though not exact, was predictable - it was certainly not "indeterminate" or "imminent" as Missler and others claim. The context of John 14:2-3 is more of an assurance that Christ will indeed return, and that during his absence he is making preparations for his bride. It follows that if Christ is making preparations, he will not return until they are complete. Christ's journey is spoken of elsewhere as a long absence which does not indicate imminence (Proverbs 7:19; Matthew 21:33; 25:14; Luke 19:12; 20:9). The definition of imminency is that nothing must precede it, and yet clearly Christ's preparations do precede it. "If something else must occur before Christ comes, then His coming is not imminent. The necessity of something else taking place first destroys the concept of the imminent coming of Christ." http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/imminent-coming-of-christ

THE SEVEN DAYS OF HUPPAH MYTH

The Book of Joel gives us the Hebrew word "chuppah" which, in this context, is a bridal canopy or chamber (Joel 2:16). Below are three quotations from well known pretribulationists propagating the myth of the bride's seven days of seclusion in the bridal chamber (chuppah or huppah).

The Berean Call:

"Corresponding with the Jewish bride remaining hidden in the bridal chamber for a period of seven days after arrival at the groom's father's house, the Church will remain hidden for a period of seven [years] after arrival at Christ's Father's house in heaven. While the seven-year Tribulation Period is taking place on the earth, the Church will be in heaven totally hidden from the sight of those living on the earth. Just as the Jewish groom brought his bride out of the bridal chamber at the conclusion of the seven days with her veil removed, so that all could see who his bride was, so Christ will bring His Church out of heaven in His Second Coming at the conclusion of the seven-year Tribulation Period in full view of all who are alive, so that all can see who the true church is (Col:3:4)."
https://www.thebereancall.org/content/behold-bridegroom-comes

Arnold Fruchtenbaum: 

".....(being taken away and hidden in the 'cheder', the bridal-chamber, was the consummating act of the ancient Jewish wedding. Unless the bridegroom fulfilled the required "seven days in the bridal-chamber" with his bride, the marriage covenant was not considered to be consummated or fulfilled. In prophetic application, the Lord invites His bride to 'hide in the bridal-chamber' prior to 'the Indignation' - the Great Tribulation)" http://www.arielministries.net/ariel0626.html

Chuck Missler:

"During the seven days of the wedding feast, the bride and groom remained hidden in the bridal chamber¹⁹ (Cf. Genesis 29:21-23, 27-28) for the seven days of the huppah.²⁰ Afterwards, the groom came out of hiding, bringing his bride with him, but with her veil removed so that everyone could see her."   http://www.khouse.org/articles/2003/449

Missler cites The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, pp.5, 504 as his source for the above quotation. Actually this quotation comes from a piece written by staunch pretribulationist Renald Showers who has misquoted The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia. In effect we have Showers fictional statement about the groom coming out of hiding with his bride etc. tagged onto his misquotation of the source, a ruse seemingly designed to completely mislead the readers of both Missler and Showers! Showers source: "Huppah," The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, ed. Isaac Landman (New York: Universal Jewish Encyclopedia Co., Inc.,1948), 5, 504.
http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/jewish_marriage_customs.htm
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015069223728;view=1up;seq=526 

Many pretribulationist authors re-quote Showers and Missler as authoritative evidence for "the seven days of huppa". However, the problem for the pretribulationists is that there is no evidence for the mythical seven days of isolation in the Tanakh. This necessitates their reliance upon tradition alone without biblical support, in order to validate their point. Ironically, even here they fail! Although the Talmud does give detailed information on Jewish wedding procedures, opinion seems to differ among the rabbis concerning these procedures in ancient times. In Talmudic times, the room where the marriage was consummated was huppa or chuppah. In other words the huppah was a later addition practiced during Talmudic period. The Tanakh refers to the wedding simply as the seven days of the feast (Genesis 29:27 Judges 14:12).

"Of the marriage ceremonial little is known; it is not mentioned at all in the story of Isaac, while in that of Jacob (Gen. xxix.) a marriage-feast and a nuptial week are spoken of."  http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10432-marriage

"Many medieval rabbis were uncertain about what precisely the Talmud was thinking of when it said 'the huppah.' According to many authorities the huppah was the groom's house, or, if
not, it was a room or space other than the bride's parental home." http://templeemunah.org/images/sermons/Rabbi_David_Lerner/Previous_Years/5768/09-27-07%20-%20Sukkot%205768.pdf

Dr Thomas L Constable explains some of the background concerning weddings in the ancient Near East: "Sixth, the bride and groom would consummate their marriage at the groom's home the night of the wedding ceremony. Seventh, there would be a banquet that would often last as long as seven days. This often took place at the groom's home." http://www.soniclight.com/constable/notes/pdf/matthew.pdf

Kaufmann Kohler refers to "the seven days of her" or "of the ḥuppah" as a seventeenth century practice amongst Dutch Jews. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7941-huppah 
 
My conclusion: Evidence for the seven day period of seclusion of the bride and groom in the bridal chamber appears to be taken from from later Jewish tradition and forms part of the pre-tribulation rapture propaganda. Furthermore, many pretribulationists are desperate to prove a seven year tribulation in order to prove their point, but this is another myth. The Great Tribulation referred to by Jesus Christ is a period of 3.5 years (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 12:5-6; 13:5). The seven year period is commonly referred to as "Daniel's seventieth week" (Daniel 9:27). As I have previously written, the history of the pre-tribulation rapture deception is sordid through and through and still persists to this day through men who for some unknown reason are determined to propagate this myth at the expense of truth.These men are even prepared to re-write history and twist the scriptures to fit in with their dubious agenda. http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/thomas-ice-and-paul-wilkinson-sordid.html

Chuck Missler's past is something of a shock if one isn't prepared. Missler has publicly apologised for his heavy plagiarisation of Edwin Yamauchi's ©1982 book titled Foes from the Northern Frontier: Invading Hordes from the Russian Steppes (FNF). Missler has also been accused of plagiarism of New Age writer Michael Talbot's 1992 book The Holographic Universe in his 1999 book Cosmic Codes: Messages from the Edge of Eternity.
http://calvarychapel.pbworks.com/w/page/13146663/missler-plagiarism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Missler

The video below gives an alarming exposé about Chuck Missler and the secretive Council for National Policy (CNP). The CNP was founded in 1981 by suspected Mason, Tim LaHaye, author of the best selling pre-tribulation rapture series Left Behind. CNP members have been given billions of dollars by Sun Myung Moon, self proclaimed Messiah (Lord of the Second Advent) and founder of the Unification Church (the Moonies). Membership of the CNP is a covert affair and by invitation only - a current list of members is "strictly confidential". Previous members lists include Chuck Missler, Bob Jones III, Beverly and Tim LaHaye, Sun Myung Moon, Pat Robertson, James Robison, Jerry Falwell, Paige Patterson, Ergun Caner and many more. Interestingly a numberof these people are now embracing Roman Catholicism!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_National_Policy#Meetings_and_membership
http://www.ministers-best-friend.com/Council-for-National-Policy.html

The Berean Call has recently come under fire due to Paul Wilkinson's vile attack on Joe Schimmel, Jacob Prasch and Joel Richardson. Note Wilkinson's outrageous announcement that anyone who does not believe in a pre-tribulation rapture is a heretic!
http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/left-behind-or-led-astray-paul.html
http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/berean-call-conference-2015-paul.html

They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. (Titus 1:6)

This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. (Matthew 15:3-6; Mark 7:7-13; Isaiah 29:13). 




http://www.contendingfortruth.com/wp-content/uploads/Exposed-Chuck-Missler-Tim-Lahaye-etc.pdf
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/10435-marriage-laws
seven days of feasting ancient jewish wedding
https://archive.org/stream/cu31924091768253/cu31924091768253_djvu.txt
http://www.jewishmag.com/131mag/wedding_chuppah/wedding_chuppah.htm
http://www.jewish-history.com/minhag.htm
http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Chuppah
http://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/16558/is-there-any-account-of-a-religious-marriage-ceremony-in-the-scripture

thomas ice and paul wilkinson: the sordid pre-tribulation rapture deception!

but evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13)

Thomas Ice is is Executive Director of The Pre-Trib Research Center (PTRC). He founded the PTRC in 1994 with Tim LaHaye to research, teach, and defend the pre-tribulation rapture and related Bible prophecy doctrines. http://pre-trib.org/about/dr-ice

"Dr" Thomas Ice received his PhD from Tyndale Theological Seminary which is an unaccredited private Christian seminary with its campus in Fort Worth, Texas.

"WorldNetDaily reported on March 7 that a Texas district court has ordered the Tyndale Theological Seminary to pay fines totalling $170,000 for issuing 34 theological degrees without receiving approval from the state education agency."
http://www.preteristarchive.com/dEmEnTiA/2001_macpherson_deceiving.html

The key verse the PTRC use to promote the pre-tribulation rapture deception: Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus (Titus 2:13). The PTRC works on the presupposition that "the blessed hope" IS the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. There are some very serious problems with this presupposition. The relevant word in Titus 2:13 is "appearing" epipháneia, literally an epiphany, a fitting manifestation or a conspicuous appearing. This emphasises the impact that Christ's visible appearance will have on the entire world when every eye shall see him, both the saved and the unsaved (Revelation 1:7).  In the New Testament  epipháneia occurs six times and it is always used of Christ's coming (once of His first coming, 2 Timothy 1:10). The context is the appearing of the glory further confirms this understanding since the glory will not be manifest until Christ's second coming to the earth. The blessed hope is synonymous with the parousia i.e. the second coming of Christ (Matthew 24:3, 27, 37; 1 Corinthians 15:23).

"PTRC wants to impact Pastors and individual Christians with the central role and importance that Bible prophecy, especially the any-moment possibility of the rapture, should play in the life of the church. Dr. LaHaye and PTRC stresses three practical implications that flow from the rapture teaching. The first implication of pretribulationism is that it leads to godly living in an unholy age. Next, this New Testament teaching promotes a strong emphasis upon evangelism of the lost. Finally, when believers come to understand this eternal perspective, it leads to a zeal for worldwide missions."  http://www.pre-trib.org/about
 
Exhortations to godly living in the New Testament do not hinge on a pre-tribulation rapture:

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation (apokalupsis) of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13) The meaning of apokalupsis is to lay bare. It is the the manifestation of Jesus Christ, not in a pre-tribulation rapture, but his final advent. 

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, (2 Peter 3:11) This verse links godly living to the day of the Lord, not a pre-tribulation rapture.

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light  (Romans 13:12) the approaching parousia (see also Hebrews 10:37; 1 Corinthians 3:13). 

.....for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:5; Luke 16:8; John 12:36). Christians are exhorted to walk as children of light because they belong to Christ.

See also 1 Peter 3:8-18, 2 Corinthians 7:1; 2 Peter 1:1-9 etc.

Similarly, evangelism and missions are centered on the salvation message i.e. the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the New Testament, not on a pre-tribulation rapture.

The doctrine of imminency, i.e. the teaching that the rapture could take place at any moment, is not found in the Bible, rather it is an induction.

Thomas Ice interprets the "falling away" in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as the rapture, due to his interpretation of apostasia "the departure". 1 Timothy 4:1 demonstrates very clearly that apostasia is not the rapture - apostasy  is defection, desertion, rebellion departure from a previous standing.  There are several instances where the meaning of apostasia is clear: Luke 2:37, 4:13, 8:13, 13:27; Acts 5:37, 12:10, 15:38, 19:9, 22:29; 2 Corinthians 12:8; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 2:19; Hebrews 3:12. You cannot possibly get the rapture from apostasia!

Thomas Ice would have us believe that "the 24 elders" in Revelation 4:4 are the complete raptured church in heaven prior to the tribulation. This is yet another induction. Firstly, Revelation 4:4 is a description of the throne-room of God, there is nothing to indicate that it is a future event. Revelation 15:1-6 is a future scene with those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. This seems clear enough, but additionally, Revelation 5:8 has the 24 elders each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  This verse seems to indicate that the "elders" represent the saints, not that the saints are actually present. Furthermore the redeemed of Revelation 6:9 are not with the 24 elders around the throne of God, they are under the altar. The word "elder" is not used of angels in the scriptures, but neither are "elders" referred to as the complete church - elders are simply "elders", we are given no further information about their identity.

Thomas Ice et al are very adept at mis-translating the scriptures in order to advance their pre-tribulation deception. Theologians call it "revisionism" - I call it cheating! A terrible judgement awaits anyone who dares to alter God's word (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:5-6; Revelation 22:18-19). 

THE SORDID HISTORY: JOHN NELSON DARBY OR EDWARD IRVING?

Prior to the 1830s no one had heard of the pre-tribulation rapture theory. The church looked to the second coming, the parousia, as their hope for just over 1800 years, until Darby that is. Even today, pretribulationism is a doctrine which is held exclusively by the western church, the rest of the Christian world holds to the apostolic position. It was not until Darby departed from the apostles teaching and began to inflict pretribulationalism onto congregations, both in the UK and the US, that the deception began to take hold. In his own words, Darby's wish was that it would spread through the church like "leaven". The deception was further popularized in the US in the early 20th century by the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible. Scofield's unholy life is a subject in itself; suffice to say that he was a dishonest man known for scandal, lies, fraud, adultery, forgery, drunkenness and disgrace.
http://fortheloveofhistruth.com/2013/08/28/scofield-bible-part-2-re-defining-the-darkness-of-fraud-conspiracy-and-heresy/
http://proliberty.com/observer/20090507.htm

The PTRC credits John Nelson Darby, and Darby alone, with the pre-tribulation rapture theory.

".....I believe it can be established that Darby first came to believe in both dispensational truth and pretribulationism by December 1826 or January 1827, before these other alleged sources even surfaced."
http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/when-did-j-n-darby-discover-the-rapture

The above PTRC statement is very misleading. It appears that Darby did not clearly teach the pre-tribulation rapture until after the split of the Brethren movement in 1839, twelve years after the date claimed by the PTRC. In fact, evidence suggests that Edward Irving and his followers came up with all of the crucial aspects of dispensationalism well before Darby. Irving published extensive pre-tribulation teachings in his journal "The Morning Watch" from 1829 to 1833. Furthermore, it seems inconceivable that Benjamin Wills Newton would have invited Darby to join the Plymouth Assembly had Darby held pretribulational views in 1831. It was not until 1834 that cracks began to develop in the relationship between Darby and Newton, when Darby began to shift positions and became increasingly convinced in a pre-tribulation rapture. Ordinarily these details would not be critical, but there are good reasons why the PTRC want to credit Darby as the originator of pre-tribulation theory and distance themselves from Irving. Irving was declared a heretic by the Church of Scotland in 1833 for teaching that Christ's human nature was sinful. Furthermore, Irving was a Universalist, an occultist and a false prophet (he predicted that Christ would return in 1864). Clearly Irving's pedigree is not conducive to the PTRC aims of promoting pre-tribulation rapture as a credible proposition. It has been suggested, and not without some foundation, that there has been a sordid cover up in order to credit Darby with pretribulationalism. This plot is promoted primarily through the prevarications of Thomas Ice, and more recently the PTRC's new thug, Paul Wilkinson, who is also a member of the PWMI in the UK. Wilkinson has recently conducted a vicious attack against Joe Schimmel, Jacob Prasch and Joel Richardson, through his defective critique of the DVD Left Behind of Led Astray (LBOLA) by Good Fight Ministries. His subsequent rebuttal to the round table discussion is very weak if not pathetic; he refuses to even answer certain questions saying: "They are not worthy of comment".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiNjDYsHfh4&feature=youtu.be
http://livestream.com/bereancallconference/israel2
http://www.pre-trib.org/articles/view/left-behind-or-led-astrayexposed-long-version

As General Director of The Prophetic Witness Movement International (PWMI), Colin LeNoury's knowledge of the subject is embarrassingly sparse. One would think that the General Director of the PWMI would be fully conversant with the history of the pre-tribulation rapture theory. In the DVD LBOLA, Le Noury says that Darby's pre-tribulation ideas ran concurrently with Edward Irving. This contradicts Ice and Wilkinson who say that Darby pre-dated Irving. LeNoury could not answer the question whether there was evidence that Darby's ideas about a pre-tribulation rapture had crystallized prior to 1830: "I am not sure. It is not an area I have researched deeply enough to say whether we have or not."   Le Noury has also stated in the same DVD that there is no verse in the scriptures which proves a pre-tribulation rapture.  Enough said I think!                

THE RECENT SORDID HISTORY: HAL LINDSEY AND TIM LAHAYE

During the 1970's the pre-tribulation rapture theory came back into focus and was popularised by Hal Lindsey's book The Late Great Planet Earth (1970), which has reportedly sold over 60 million copies. The film A Thief in the Night, which followed in 1972, was heavily influenced by The Late Great Planet Earth. In 1995, the pre-tribulation rapture theory was further popularised by Tim LaHaye's Left Behind series of best selling novels which sold tens of millions of copies and later developed into a multi-media franchise. Needless to say, since the 1970s, the pre-trib industry has developed into big business worth millions of pounds.

Very little is known about Hal Lindsey's co-author Carole C. Carlson. This seems very odd for someone who has co-authored several best sellers. It has been suggested by some that Carlson is a Roman Catholic nun writing under a pseudo name in order to hide her true identity. Lindsey and Carlson went on to write several sequels, including Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth and The 1980s: Countdown to Armageddon. Carlson is also co-author of Escape the Coming Night with  David Jeremiah. Why do we know so little about Carlson?  Lindsey is also equally tight lipped about his four marriages. Should we take a man seriously as a Bible prophecy expert who has been married four times and who has close associations with the apostate TBN TV station? According to several sources, the 2002 Alumni Directory of the Jesuit Gonzaga University lists two of Lindsey's daughters as attendees. In addition to this, Lindsey is a false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:20; 2 Peter 2:1):

Lindsey prophesied in The Late Great Planet Earth, that the Soviet Union would be the Empire of the Anti-Christ.
He also prophesied that Jesus would return within 40 years of the birth of the nation of Israel (citing Matthew 24 and the budding of the fig tree).
http://hallindsey.homestead.com/index.html
http://www.survivalistboards.com/showthread.php?t=137240

Despite all of the above, Thomas Ice refers to Hal Lindsey in glowing terms. 

Tim LaHaye: "No single verse specifically states Christ will come before the Tribulation."

Tim LaHaye has strong connections with Sun Myung Moon, founder of the Unification Church (the Moonies). Moon has proclaimed himself "the world’s new Messiah" and "the Lord of the Second Advent." LaHaye was the chair of Moon’s Coalition for Religious Freedom, and is reported to have received at least half a million dollars in funding from Moon’s associate Bo Hi Park. It is extraordinary to say the least that LaHaye and his wife have attended and spoken at Moon-sponsored events without raising any theological objections to Moon's claims.

Tim LaHaye to Sun Myung Moon: "Your suffering will cleanse the sins of America."

In 1981 LaHaye founded The Council for National Policy described by The New York Times as: "A little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country."  LaHaye along with others, is said to be a major figure in subverting the messianic faith. Please read the details of this very secretive organization on the links below. Additionally LaHaye's book Power of the Cross uses the unmistakable Freemasonry Knights Templar symbol, the Cross and Crown, on its cover.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_for_National_Policy
http://www.aljacobsladder.com/lord-help-me/gods-fakirs/more-moronic-con-men.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_and_Crown

The above information should be quite enough for any Christian to avoid Tim LaHay and Left Behind like the plague. However so called "prophecy expert"  "Dr" Thomas Ice
actually founded the PTRC with him!

What are we supposed to make of all this? I do not know what Thomas Ice and Paul Wilkinson are in reality, only God knows what they are. What I do question is:

• Why, without one verse of scripture to corroborate it, do intelligent "Christian" men seek to promote pre-tribulation theory so vehemently? 
• Why do the PTRC and the PWMI promote flawed ideas of disreputable men like Irving, Darby, Lindsey and LaHaye?  
• Why did Paul Wilkinson seek to make the pre-tribulation theory a divisive issue at the Berean Call Conference this year?
• Why did Paul Wilkinson seek to destroy the ministries of reputable biblical experts and teachers Joe Schimmel, Jacob Prasch and Joel Richardson? 

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isaiah 5:20)

We see so called evangelicals Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, TD Jakes etc. openly aligning themselves with Rome and Jesuit Pope Francis, but is there something just as sinister going on among "respectable" evangelical leaders who claim to be "Bereans"? I personally believe that there is.

Joe Schimmel and Jacob Prasch have stated that the timing of the rapture should not be a divisive issue. I agree that there are many genuine Christians who have been sucked into the pre-tribulation rapture deception by their pastors and/or denominations, and I am not saying that I would divide from these dear believers in Jesus Christ. My personal problem at this point in time is that I cannot maintain unity with those who in my view are deliberately perpetrating a deception which threatens to turn Christians away from their salvation. This is no small issue! I regard these men as false witnesses who are facilitating the "apostasia" (2 Thessalonians 2:3; Mark 10:19; Proverbs 12:17; 14:25). They muddy the waters and have sought to re-invent the sordid pre-tribulation rapture history with no scriptural basis to authenticate their position . I personally have no confidence in either Thomas Ice or Paul Wilkinson as true leaders of the church; I regard them as wolves in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15; 1 Timothy 3:1-13). I could no more fellowship with these men than I could with Benny Hinn!

I see nothing of the gospel on the PTRC website, all of their time and substantial efforts are focused upon this deception to the exclusion of the gospel itself.

 .....and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. (Acts 20:20)



http://www.seeking4truth.com/john_darby.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Wills_Newton
http://www.scionofzion.com/edward_irving.htmhttp://www.omegashock.com/2013/02/20/jesuit-pretrib-rapture/
http://watch.pair.com/lahaye.html
http://www.rense.com/general20/unholy.htm
http://www.contendingfortruth.com/wp-content/uploads/Exposed-Chuck-Missler-Tim-Lahaye-etc.pdf
http://libertytothecaptives.net/tim_lahaye.html

more dishonesty from howard conder revelation tv

An article in the Telegraph has revealed that the Home Office plans a new counter-extremism strategy, giving the Charity Commission new legal powers to sack trustees of charities. The leaked strategy document defines extremism as “the vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs.” 
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11877560/Extremists-to-be-purged-from-charity-boards-under-new-law.html

Those likely to be affected are hard-line mosques operating as charities, but it is feared that the strategy will be used far more widely and may well affect Christian Charities such as Revelation TV.

Christian Charities, What Christian Charities?   

There may be some genuine Christian Charities out there, but I personally do not know of any. Those I have had any interaction with, are, in my opinion, unworthy to receive British taxpayers money e.g. Victory Outreach UK, Trinity Life Church in Leicester, Compassion UK and of course the apostate Revelation Foundation. Many Christian Charities are ecumenical rather than biblical and have simply jumped onto the very lucrative charities bandwagon. Christian Aid’s Chief Executive, Loretta Minghella was paid the princely sum of £126,206 last year! In my opinion the so called "Christians" taking advantage of the British taxpayer do need a good clear out, and it may well be God's will for them to face financial sanctions.

Revelation TV's continual pretence that they are biblical is getting rather boring in light of their proven track record of promoting apostates and false teachers. By their own admission they have aired "iffy" ministries for financial gain:

Conder: "What I initially wanted to do was to give RevTV to the Revelation Foundation charity thinking this was the right and fair thing to do as the viewers are now supporting the channel to such a greater level than ever so we could take off the air many of the paid ministries which we would rather not have had on our channel but for financial reasons we had little other choice at the time."

Conder: "We are not in this for the money believe it or not, we are in this to declare the Word of God and that is without compromise.... " !!!!!
http://www.revelationtv.com/programmes/episode/the-late-show377635 

If he repeats it often enough he will even believe it himself!  How ironic that on the very same program, RTV aired plagiarist and adulterer John Hagee of blood moon fiasco fame, a false teaching which is now backfiring in his face!

It is getting very uncomfortable for Conder and The Revelation Foundation; they are now talking about disassociating from the Charity Commission altogether..... but don't worry viewers, your money is safe with Howard Conder - or is it?  Conder proposes giving RTV viewers their donated money back so that they can re-donate it outside the Charity Commission - is that legal?

COMPARE THE FOLLOWING TWO CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS:

Howard Conder's statement on The Late Show 28th September 2015:

"The shares that I am holding in trust, which I tried several years ago to hand over to the charity, but because of the Spanish Law and all the complications, its taken time; but now I don't trust the Charity Commission, so if I were to pass on these shares of this particular company..... it holds the license, the  EPG, the contract for Sky and everything else. If I hand that over to the Trustees I would be a fool right now.... I am going to stick my neck out and not do that.... I'm not going to part with those shares....."

The Statement on the old Revelation TV website: 

"… Howard and Lesley began the TV station by forming a private company and remortgaging their home to put their own money into it. They could easily have retained ownership of the Revelation TV station for themselves and reaped the benefit of it financially in the years to come. But instead they handed it all over to the registered charity Revelation Foundation and wrote off their initial investment. Money was not their reason for starting the channel and never has been…" 

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1)

berean call conference 2015: david james defective eschatology!

Like many of his contemporaries, David James incorrectly describes the tribulation as a seven year period. The "Great Tribulation", as Jesus Christ referred to it, will last 3.5 years, and not seven years (Matthew 24:21; Revelation 2:22; 7:14). The prophetic clock begins when the Antichrist "makes a covenant with the many" (Daniel 9:27), but this does not indicate start of the Great Tribulation.

It is obvious that David James has no knowledge whatsoever about the seven seals of Revelation, the pre-wrath view of the rapture, or much else for that matter. Incidentally, his advice for "discernment" is to "trust your instincts". (Jeremiah 17:5-9)!

Really Mr James, you would do better to stay at home and pray for discernment yourself! Matthew 7:5 seems appropriate. 

The Lost Art of Biblical Discernment
http://livestream.com/bereancallconference/discernment

Towards the end of the above inappropriately named Livestream broadcast at approximately 01:30, David James is asked a question: "Can you briefly explain what pre-wrath is.....?"

David James response was nothing short of staggering:

David James:  "The pre-wrath view is a modified mid-tribulational rapture view......prior to (I think it's the sixth seal or in connection with the sixth seal), at any rate, prior to the Great Tribulation, Jacob's Trouble, the church will be raptured and that the church will go through the first seal judgements including the first four horsemen judgements, and what they say is that these are the wrath of man and the wrath of Satan and we are only said to be preserved from the wrath of God which doesn't start until the mid point or prior to the wrath, which could be after the revelation of the Antichrist.  It is kind of a post/mid rapture view.....  One problem with that is throughout history God has used human agency, even angelic agency, to accomplish his purposes, but it is still no less the wrath of God, no matter if he uses human agency, and in connection with that, we see that the judgements begin when WHO breaks the seal? Jesus breaks the seal, that means it is the wrath of God no matter whether he uses human agency or not. Of course his means are nature later, early on they are the Antichrist and the armies of the world. 

When does David James think that the sixth seal is opened? 
Does David James imagine that the cataclysmic events described in Revelation 6:12-17 occur prior to the Great Tribulation?

THE PRE-WRATH VIEW IS NOT A MODIFIED MID-TRIBULATIONAL VIEW!

The pre-wrath view does not maintain that the rapture occurs prior to the Great Tribulation.

The difference between the mid and pre-wrath views:  

• The mid-tribulation view puts the rapture at the mid point of Daniel's 70th week, prior to the Great Tribulation, approximately 3.5 years into the 70th week. 
• The pre-wrath view puts the rapture after the sixth seal, not before, towards the latter half of Daniel’s 70th week, prior to the Day of the Lord (Revelation 6:12-17; Joel 2:28-32). Isaiah indicates this "day" is a literal year (Isaiah 34:8, 61:2, 63:4).

WRATH OR TRIBULATION?

The Book of Revelation describes the Day of the Lord as the apocalyptic time of God's wrath which comes upon the wicked, it is even referred to as "the day of their great wrath" (Revelation 6:17; Zephaniah 1:14-18; Isaiah 13:6-13; Joel 2:30-31; Acts 2:20). Following the opening of the sixth seal, the scriptures plainly state that the wrath of God has come (Revelation 6:12-17). If the wrath has only just arrived, it cannot have been there previously, you have to directly contradict the scriptures to come to another conclusion! The arrival of the wrath at the sixth seal is an imminent future event; the wrath is poured out during the seventh seal i.e. the trumpet and the bowl judgements. Matthew 24:29 puts the cosmic disturbances described in Revelation 6:12-14 immediately after the tribulation of those days. In other words, the events preceding the sixth seal are not the wrath of God, they are the tribulation. As is their usual practice, the pre-tribulationists have to resort to eisegesis; they read into the scriptures things which suit their own presuppositions and agendas (Revelation 22:18-19).

The Day of the Lord is indisputably linked with the rapture i.e. those "caught up" together with Jesus in the clouds.(1 Thessalonians 1:10; 5:9; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2).





DERELICTION OF DUTY

It seems to me that McMahon,Wilkinson et al have a vested interest in promoting the pre-tribulation delusion. If this is correct, they do so at the expense of the flock. It is a hireling, not a shepherd, who puts his own interests above that of the flock 1 Peter 5:2; John 10:13).

Paul Wilkinson labels as "heretics" those who reject the pre-tribulation rapture delusion. He has not acted in a gentlemanly way, but has hurled all sorts of false accusations and abuse against Joe Schimmel, Jacob Prasch and Joel Richardson. Blame shifting seems to be another problem for Wilkinson, who lays the blame for Colin Le Noury's incompetence entirely at Joe Schimmel's door - apparently because he "tricked and deceived" Le Noury (General Director PWMI) into admitting that "there is not one verse to support a pre-tribulation rapture". I wonder who Wilkinson will blame for the blunders of David James? May the Lord save his bride from dishonourable men such as these (James 3:1).

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction..... (2 Thessalonians 2:3) 

A Roundtable Discussion Answering Dr. Paul Wilkinson & The Berean Call
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiNjDYsHfh4&feature=youtu.be  

The Sordid Pre-Tribulation Rapture Deception!  
http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/thomas-ice-and-paul-wilkinson-sordid.html  

Further Links:
http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/c/a/3/ca3d37e7b859f2c1/Rapture_Debate_between_Alan_Kurschner_Prewrath_and_Thomas_Ice_Pretrib_9.25.15.mp3?c_id=9911990&expiration=1443439121&hwt=c17397d6d73b6843c2d460280a08985f
http://www.amatteroftruth.com/the-wrath-of-gos-verses-the-great-tribulation
http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/berean-call-conference-2015-paul.html
http://bewareofthewolves.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/left-behind-or-led-astray-paul.html#comments
http://livestream.com/bereancallconference/israel2
https://vimeo.com/139809424