''Take Heed That No Man Deceive You''
by Jack Kinsella
When He was asked, 'what will be
the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?' (Matt 24:3) one of the
first things Jesus said was: "take heed that no man deceive you," but
He warns us not to follow them.
He also warned the Church that in 'the world ye shall have tribulation: but be
of good cheer; I have overcome the world' (John 16:33).
That is not to say that the Church plays a role in the time generally referred
to as the Tribulation Period. There's plenty of tribulation in the world for
the Christian right now already, but Jesus is letting us know its all according
to Plan, so don't worry.
I believe the Bible makes it clear that the Tribulation Period is the
Seventieth Week of Daniel, the time of 'Jacob's Trouble'.
It is for this reason that I believe the pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine to be
correct according to the Scripture.
To follow the flow of Bible prophecy during the final hours of the Church Age,
there must first be an understanding that there IS a 'Church Age'.
There are few Christians who deny the existence of a 'Church Age' -- the Bible
is divided into Old Testament and New, after all -- most churches acknowledge
the Birth of the Church at Pentecost, and so on.
But when it comes to the Tribulation, understanding Bible prophecy and the
signs of the times, conflicting doctrines are often preached within the same
messages by the well-meaning who solemnly pronounce the conflicts as 'mysteries
of faith' -- or they ignore Bible prophecy altogether.
If there IS a Church Age, then there was something before -- and something that
comes after. That is the basic premise of Dispensationalism. Dispensational
theologians divide human history according to the way God interacted with man
at that time, into seven 'dispensations' of God's grace.
The time before the Fall was the Age of Innocence, after the Fall, but before
the Flood the Age of Conscience, and so on.
Of interest to us at this juncture are the Ages of the Law and the Age of Grace
(Church Age).
Don't get pulled down a rabbit trail, stay with me here. Forget all the clever
but somewhat cloudy arguments from those who've 'dug deeper into God's truth'
and just follow the simple map for now.
You can always go back later if you get lost. I'm not trying to deceive anyone.
Either there was an age under the Law of Moses that ended with the introduction
of the Age of Grace at Pentecost, or there was not. If your Sunday School
doesn't teach that, better take another look at your Bible.
The Bible teaches there is a purpose FOR the Church Age. The Jews first, then
also the Gentiles.
"For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery,
lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened
to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in," Paul writes in
Romans 11:25.
The blindness of Israel to the coming of the Messiah Jesus is 'in part' and
conditional -- 'until the fullness of the Gentiles is come in' to the Church.
I needn't go into exhaustive exegesis -- it is either clearly what God intended
to be understood as written, or it is not. Truth needs no propping up -- it can
stand by itself nicely, thank you.
Paul pictures the three kinds of spiritual human beings -- Jews, Gentiles, and
the Christian redeemed out of each group. There is no fourth option in
Scripture. Every human falls into one of these three categories, according to
the Scriptures.
What happens when 'the fulness of the Gentiles be come in' then?
According to Daniel, the Dispensation of the Age of the Law was limited to
seventy 'weeks' (of years) totaling 490 altogether, starting from the command
to rebuild the temple given Ezra by Artexerxes.
Daniel said the time would run concurrently until the Messiah is 'cut off'
after 69 weeks (483 years). The seventieth week resumes sometime in the future
with the introduction of antichrist.
(See Daniel's 70th Week for more information).
The 'fullness of the Gentiles' is the conclusion of the Church Age. It is hard
to see that any other way.
Misunderstanding the Dispensations allows one to end the Church age in the
middle of the tribulation with the Rapture. But then there is no sense to
Daniel's 70th Week, since it is now just three and a half years.
Set aside all the deep thinking and careful, painstaking calculations and
tortured interpretations for now and just look at the obvious, clear and logical
flow.
If there IS a point when the 'fullness of the Gentiles is come in' AND there is
a point in which the 70th Week of Daniel resumes, then there is a point BEFORE
and a POINT after. Just like beginning of the Church Age. There was a point
BEFORE Pentecost, and a point AFTER.
Since the Church Age is for the gathering of the saints, and Daniel's 70th Week
is set aside for the national redemption of Israel (the purpose specifically
given by Daniel FOR the 70th Week) and for the judgment of God against a
Christ-rejecting world (the purpose from the perspective of John) why,
logically, would the Church Age end with any less definition than it began?
Why would the Age of the Law resume while the Church is still here? What then,
is the 'fullness' of the Gentiles? Logically, I mean, following the simple
path, not the contorted one that creates so much friction and division.
Ignoring the clear pattern of dispensational truth in the Scripture in favor of
something more complicated and therefore, somehow, deeper, appeals to the human
propensity for pride. ("I know something you're too stupid to figure
out")
But does it make clear sense? Where does it lead?
Christians are exhorted to walk 'by faith and not by sight' but I've heard
pre-tribulationalism decried as 'the Great Escape' and its preachers called
false teachers who were not preparing the Church for the coming tribulation.
From this perspective, if I don't teach that we are going to go through the
Tribulation, you won't be prepared to stand. So you need survival gear, a
year's supply of dessicated food, some gold (money won't be any good) and maybe
a nice underground shelter.
THEN, you will be 'prepared' for the coming troubles, during which time you'll
walk by faith and not by sight when the antichrist is about to kill your
children in front of you unless you take the Mark. Uh-huh.
My favorite argument is that Dispensational pretribulationism is a new doctrine
first introduced by Margaret MacDonald in 1820. So how come I'm quoting the
Bible instead of her?
Regardless of when you think the Rapture happens personally, did you ever
notice how MAD people get if you don't agree with THEM?
There is no profit in preaching a pretribulation Rapture and eternal security.
I can't sell you dessicated food, gold for the coming catastrophe or even a
book on what to do if you get left behind, because if you are saved, you won't
need it and you won't get left behind. No money in that.
And if you believe me -- then neither can anybody else. (Maybe that's why they
get so mad, who knows?)
We are living in the last days. The signs of the times are all around us. The
Lord is coming soon, and when He comes, the Bible says that the dead in Christ
will rise first, then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together
with the Lord in the air. (1 Thessalonians 4)
When Jesus ascended into heaven, an angel appeared to the Apostles, (not to the
Gentiles) "Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into
heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come
in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. " (Acts 1:11)
To the Gentile world at the Second Coming; "Behold, He cometh with clouds;
and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds
of the earth shall wail because of Him." (Revelation 1:7)
Unless you have different definitions for the words "every" and
"all" then what would Christians be 'wailing about' at the Lord's 2nd
Coming? It's what we've been waiting for since His Ascension.
A pre-Trib Rapture leaves nothing to sell to see you through the Tribulation.
No motive to deceive. Like the Gospel, it's simple and direct.
First, the 'fullness of the Gentiles be come in' and the Rapture, then the
pouring out of God's Wrath on those who make war against the Jews, then the
national redemption of Israel at the Second Coming, and finally, the
destruction of antichrist and introduction of the Millennial Kingdom.
Simple. In harmony with Scripture.
The only incentive for preaching it is to tell people they need to get saved --
NOW, not later when the antichrist hands them his calling card.
"And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the
sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said
unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you."
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