A Salvation Issue
I have received comments that “this is not a salvation issue” but I have to disagree. Let me clarify because there are Christians that claim this is a salvation issue on the basis that “if you don’t believe in the rapture you’ll be left behind,” this is absolutely absurd. But my take on why this is a salvation issue is specifically for the generation that has to endure the tribulation. No, you do not have to understand every detail or line of scripture regarding Messiah’s second coming, but if you are a part of the tribulation generation and hold to this rapture theology, you’re going to be easily deceived.
I wholeheartedly believe these will be the ones who fall away. They will 1) assume the antichrist is the real Messiah because they were taught they’d only see the true one, or 2) lose hope and faith not understanding why they were Left Behind. Yes, that is a movie reference because it seems as if the church bases their doctrine on a 2008 Kirk Cameron movie. It’s a romantic notion to be taken away, it feels good and hopeful! But, it's a false hope. I have actually heard my old Baptist church preacher use this movie as an illustration for a sermon!
Open Your Bibles
Let’s get into the scriptures, there is a lot to go over so take your time. I will also have external resources linked throughout so be sure to check those out for further study. This is such a large topic that connects to so many other concepts, I do not want to isolate this as a stand alone topic but will do my best to keep it concise and understandable. If you have not yet read Part 1, click here.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
•Messiah’s coming and our gathering to Him
1 Corinthians 15:52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Matthew 24:30-32 And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Ezekiel 36:24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.
Zephaniah 3:20 At that time I will bring you in, Even at the time when I gather you together; Indeed, I will give you renown and praise Among all the peoples of the earth, When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,” Says the LORD.
Deuteronomy 30:4 If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back.
The gathering back to the land- the Promise Land itself- was always New Jerusalem. The Israelites settling in a geographical location that Yahuah gave them was only a shadow of the eternal Zion that was to come. See this blog post for more. Gathering back to the land has not happened yet because it always pointed to the resurrection and descension of Zion. (Rev. 21:2)
•Do not be deceived, the falling away and the lawless one comes FIRST.
Matthew 24:11 Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons
2 Peter 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.
Just because Jesus is being preached does not mean it is the biblical version of Jesus. It is the literal spirit of the antichrist that is at work swaying believers to put their faith in this false doctrine we are discussing. To deny His words and warnings, is to deny Him.
•The lawless one will exalt himself to be God.
Revelation 13:4-7 They worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?” There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him. And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.
Daniel 7:25 He will speak out against the Most High and wear down the saints of the Highest One, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law; and they will be given into his hand [authority] for a time, times, and half a time.
Matthew 24:15-22 Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. . . For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
Each of these has: 1) some sort of time marker, 2) recognizes that the saints/ elect are present, 3) the lawless one has authority (exalted as god), 4) there is tribulation and confusion happening. Not a single verse indicates believers are removed before the lawless one appears- he is literally given the power to try the saints. This is a recurring theme throughout biblical history- Yahuah uses the nations and heathen kings to judge Israel. (2 Kings 17:18-23) And at the same time, He promises to repay all that the nations inflict on Israel. (Joel 3:1-2)
•He who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
2 Thess. 2:9 the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness
Revelation 13:2 And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
Revelation 9:11 They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.
Apollyon is Nimrod of Genesis 11, the king of Babel who is also known as Baal- the sun god who was given power to exalt himself with the tower of Babel and continued being worshiped throughout history even to this day. This is who is named by John in Rev. 9, the one who is given power by the dragon to arise as the antichrist. For more on Apollyon, see this video.
Who is the restrainer?
The restrainer is not named, yet, this entire false-doctrine is based on a theory that the restrainer is the Holy Spirit. What I have personally heard is that “the restrainer is the Holy Spirit protecting the saints from the antichrist and when the church is raptured the Holy Spirit is removed so the antichrist can appear.” There is absolutely zero scriptural evidence to support this theory. The Holy Spirit isn’t some magical forcefield, it is the power of God comforting and teaching His people to remain faithful. However, we do have scriptural evidence to support an angel being the restrainer. It is Michael and his angels in Rev. 12:7 that fought with the dragon; an angel that is given the key to the bottomless pit in Rev. 9:1; an angel with keys and chains in Rev. 20:1-3 that bind dragon/ Satan; it is angels all throughout Revelation who initiate each judgment by the command of the Almighty.
[The book of Enoch gives extensive details on the jobs of angels and their positions in the heavenly army to hold back the forces of darkness as well as keep the Nephilim bound in the bottomless pit until the appointed day that they will be released to execute judgment on the earth. This is what we see happening in Revelation that can’t be understood without Enoch.] 1 Enoch Contextual Study Guide
False Hope & Falling Away
We cannot continue to allow one undefined verse (2 Thes. 2:7) to erase all of the scripture that has laid out the order of end time events. The Messiah gives us warning after warning to not be deceived. Directly after the detailed timeline of His second coming, He gives the parable of the faithful and wicked servants. To me, it sounds an awful lot like how those who are waiting for a rapture will fall away; loss of faith when they are not taken away before tribulation begins which will lead to giving up and bowing to the beast.
Matthew 24:48-51 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is not coming for a long time,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eat and drink with drunkards; the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The wicked servant beating his fellow servant is those who turn against fellow believers- many will betray one another and hate one another (Matt. 24:10). This brings things back around to the point that this topic is indeed a salvation issue. Teaching a false doctrine is life and death for the end time generation. We do not know who the end times generation will be- my personal opinion is that we are in the early birth pangs and quite possibly, my grandchildren (I'm 30) will be the tribulation generation. Take heed! We must learn and teach truth, discipling one another to learn the word- not doctrines of man. He is coming back and the hope of His return is what will help us endure till the end. (Matt. 24:13)
Revelation 12:10-11 Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.