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The Myth of the Secret Rapture
The
Beginning of Dispensationalism
Where did the teaching of the "Secret Rapture" actually
come from?
“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test
all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:19-22
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits,
whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone
out into the world” - 1 John 4:1
“Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that
antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by
which we know that it is the last hour.” - 1 John 2:18
“Then many false prophets will rise up and
deceive many!” - Matthew 24:11
The present “Secret Rapture” craze,
that has been sweeping the evangelical churches since the turn of the 20th
Century, can be traced back to a vision from Margret Macdonald.
The vision occurred in Wales, England during a period of history
in 1830’s called the ‘revival of gifts’.
In her vision, it was revealed to her that Christ’s return was
going to happen in two stages.
First to secretly take his Church out of the world and then come
back at a later time to judge the world.
However, this secret coming theory was not popularized until John
Nelson Darby became fascinated by it.
He then incorporated it as part of his doctrinal teaching called
Dispensational Theology.
C. I. Scofield would later bring the entire system of this
teaching into the main stream with his version of the Scofield Reference
Bible.
Notably the beginning of modern Pentecostalism (revival of gifts) in 1830’s Wales corresponded with
the visions of Joseph Smith in America.
He claimed to have received his visitation from the Angel Moroni,
telling him of a buried book made of golden plates which would later become the
Book of Mormon.
That of course created a new religious sect, much as the Secret
Rapture myth created a new wave of end times signs and wonders teachers that
swept from “Azusa Street” to the “Left Behind” series.
Thief in the Night – An Introduction to the End Times Craze
“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
comes as a thief in the night.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:2
Today a defiled Church waits anxiously for the return of the Lord.
To “Rapture” them out of their
tribulations and usher in the Anti-Christ.
They all hope to escape the coming Wrath of God on the earth,
because they were not appointed to wrath, but to
attain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ! - 1 Thessalonians 5:9.
Since the turn of the twentieth century, there have been many
teachers making predictions and writing books about this Secret Rapture return
of Christ, but sadly it’s all based on a series of false teachings that originated
centuries ago.
This teaching has been revised a number of times into modern
eschatology that has most of professing Christianity in great darkness.
The many teachers who richly profit from writing books, making DVD
series, and promoting seminars keep a tight lid on the historical facts behind
this theology since their playbook came directly out of Jesuit teaching,
1500-1800’s.
For your reference we will mention that in ancient times, the
early Christians viewed the return of the Lord as the final trumpet and
Judgment of mankind, as Peter clearly said in 2 Peter 3:10-13.
The New Heaven and New Earth in which righteousness dwells was
what they hoped for.
There is no mention of a temporal reign (another age) after
Christ’s return in their writings.
His return would mark the end of the age, judgment and everything
made new.
What is the 1000 Year Reign of Christ?
The 1000 years, in the Greek; ‘Chilioi, a plural of uncertain affinity, the number of perfection
which is used many times in Revelation (and references to 1000
throughout scripture always representing perfection, or completion).
It never means a literal 1000 years as man would count them.
The early Saints understood this as written because they did not
have our decimal system of numbering so the Greek words were always
illustrative of something pertaining to the subject at hand.
They understood what the Lord had told them. He would return soon
at any moment, judge the world, and bring in a new age of righteousness. Of
that Day and hour no one knew, so being ready was their main concern.
What we call Premillennialism, Mid or Post, due to dividing Dispensations into literal
years, is not relevant to disseminating their beliefs.
Since the KJV word; Dispensation, taken from “oikonomia”, simply means: “Stewardship
or administration of affairs”.
The word has nothing to do with the idea of Dispensations, meaning
separating years into segments to create an imaginary time-line for the return
of Christ.
As we have mentioned, the Secret Rapture theory was invented
centuries later, and not taught by the early Saints.
Their understanding of end times was that it had already begun
when the Lord ascended into heaven and sent them forth to preach the Gospel.
The Tribulation Period Began with Rome
First of all, try to understand that all roads lead to Rome in
when it comes to the perversion of Scripture or the predicting of the future.
By the time John received the Book of Revelation, the early Saints
had already witnessed the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 A.D and
much bitter persecution that had wiped out most of the Apostles except John.
So the things he wrote about warning the Saints were the “beginnings of sorrows” and have been going on every since. (the Church Age)
That means such things as, the tribulation, the antichrist, mark
of the beast, the wrath of God, have all been occurring over the last 2000 odd
years and will continue to the last day.
They are NOT future
events yet to be revealed but illustrations of what has been happening since
Pentecost.
To clearly understand and unravel the myths surrounding all the
end time’s fantasies you have been taught, you must embrace this as a fact or
be forever duped by the end times prophecy teachers promoting their next book.
We can trace the modern perversions of new age eschatology back to
a Jesuit monk named Francisco Ribera in the late 1500’s.
He wrote the 500 page commentary on the book of Revelation titled
“Sacrum Beati Ioannis Apostoli & Evangelistiae Apocalypsin”.
He did this to remove the Papacy from consideration as the
Anti-Christ by the growing Protestant movement at the outset of the
Reformation.
Ribera wanted to take the focus off of Rome and cast all
speculations into the future.
In his Pre-millennialism view, he divided the Tribulation into 3 ½
year segments, in which an Anti-Christ individual would show up and do the
following: Persecute and blaspheme the Saints of God, rebuild the temple in
Jerusalem, abolish the Christian religion, deny Jesus Christ, be received by
the Jews, pretend to be God, kill the two witnesses of God and conquer the
world.
Therefore, we can trace the theories of Dispensationalism directly
to Ribera, although I can’t say for certain that he coined the phrase, but he
certainly invented the concept.
Over the next few centuries his teachings somewhat faded into
obscurity during what is called the second great awakening of the reformation.
The heat was again turned on the Pope as being the Anti-Christ
spoken of by John.
So, another Jesuit named Manuel Lacunza in the early 1800’s
revived the teaching, tweaking it a bit, and made it appealing to a group of
Protestant preachers in Northern England who were fascinated by end times
prophecy.
Among these was Edward Erving who took it upon himself to
translate Lacunza’s work in 1827 and bring it up for discussion in his Prophecy
Conferences he was conducting in Wales around the time of Margret
Macdonald’s vision.
This is when Darby entered the picture and picked up where they
left off with his Dispensational Theology theories, now including the “Secret Rapture”.
All that you are being taught today concerning end times, rapture,
tribulation, building of the Temple in Jerusalem, supposed anti-Christ person,
was invented mainly for the purpose of taking the focus off Rome and the Pope
as the ‘bad guys and lumping Protestantism and Catholicism into one big
ecumenical brotherhood of new age non-sense centered around present day Israel
and the Middle East.
Modern Day Prophecy Teachers Cash in on Peoples
Ignorance
I’m fairly certain the 20th Century book writers like Hal Lindsey
and Tim LaHaye were wholly aware of the origin of these teachings but they saw
a great opportunity to cash in on the end times mania.
The average professed Christian at the time of their publications
did not have access to the source of their information and just imagined they
knew something no one else did because they were great scholars.
The net worth of Hal Lindsey is estimated at 42 million dollars
and Tim LaHaye at 20 million dollars.
Nevertheless, the present day establishment Church System is
wholly unprepared for the Lord’s return when it does occur wallowing in their
sins.
They are overwhelmed with hypocrisy making every excuse under the
sun while they wait for the Lord to come and swoop them away in the clouds to
Paradise!
Sadly, they have no idea whatsoever that they are in great
darkness and will suffer nothing but judgment and shame if the Lord were to
return as the Prophet has said:
Woe to
you who desire the day of the Lord! For what good is the day of
the Lord to you? It will be darkness, and not light. – Amos 5:18
The 1830’s Prophecy Conferences set the stage for the onslaught of
Pentecostalism and the teaching of Dispensationalism sweeping into the
mainstream by the later Scofield Reference Bible,
published in 1909, that is still revered by many so-called Scholars today.
This paved the way for 20th Century
pundits to mix these fantasies into a new series of books that combined
and updated them for another generation of simple minded fools who believed
they could be saved and swept away by the Lord in their sins.
One of which was William Eugene Blackstone who published a book, “Jesus is Coming Soon” in 1908, which became a
best seller in its time with over a million copies sold.
In 1957, a Baptist theologian from Dallas Theological Seminary
named John Walvoord, authored a book called: “The Rapture Question” which
also sold very well.
The Big Daddy of them all, as mentioned, was “The late Great Planet Earth” by Hal Lindsey in
1970 that sold over 15 million copies!
Lindsey claimed to be an expert in end times eschatology and
taught that the Secret Rapture was imminent.
Armageddon was just around the corner because the European
community (old Roman Empire) was beginning to take shape into a Ten Nation
confederation at the time.
He made a fortune selling books and conducting seminars, and TV
appearances. He passed himself off as an expert while at the same time
committing multiple acts of adultery and living like a King.
It’s likely he stole his charts and graphs from another
dispensationalists named Clarence Larkin, 1850-1924.
He was a Baptist preacher who published books and charts out
lining the time line of Christ’s return, the Tribulation, appearance of
Anti-Christ Millennial reign, and finally the great judgment.
Lindsey’s book was almost a carbon copy of Larkin’s work, but no
one knew it then.
Now in his 80’s he’s still out there making predictions and more
piles of money, deceiving the gullible masses into believing he’s a valid
teacher of the gospel.
His replacement is another saved in sin preacher named Tim LaHaye,
who popularized the “Left Behind” series from his
books into movies and TV shows.
His franchising empire far outpaced Lindsey and is still going
strong in the Church System, much the same as phonies like Ray Comfort and Kirk
Cameron promote their false gospel in Hollywood style movies and special
gimmicks to gather in the tares for the burning.
The Consequenses of Decades of False Theology
Needless to say professing Christendom has bought into this
propaganda hook, line, and sinker.
To this day, millions stake their eternal well being on the “Secret Rapture” just around the corner
coming to rescue them out of their despair and troubles.
Since the early 1900’s many have taken it upon themselves to set
dates for the Lord’s return.
It seems like every year another crack pot will make his
prediction based on some vision or voice they supposedly heard going DIRECTLY in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself who said very clearly that “Of that Day or hour knows no
man, not even the angels of Heaven but ONLY My Father” - Matthew 24:36.
However, it doesn’t deter them in the least! Just like old Joseph
Smith who received his visitation in the 1830’s and came up with the
Book of Mormon, these present day false prophets deceive many (Matthew 24:11) with
their lies and deceit.
While they run around promoting their latest revelation and raking
in the money, they preach, like all before them, the same false repeat after me
gospel of faith alone, moral depravity, substitution, and pre-forgiveness of
sins.
It is not my purpose to open a detailed discussion into
eschatology or end times theology in this introduction.
I just want to show you the facts behind the massive “Secret Rapture” craze that professed
Christians are caught up in and the players behind it.
The word “Rapture” does
not even appear in the Bible.
This is the same word Jesus used in John 10:28 when
He said of His genuine disciples that no one could unexpectedly snatch them away as long as they
were abiding in Him.
There’s no end to the false teachers out there still writing
books, putting up web sites, and coming up with more visions to draw you into
their delusions.
It remains the main cash-cow of professed Christendom, BUT you can be sure that none of them are
telling you to WATCH always so you may be
counted worthy to meet the Lord, clean and pure at His coming!
The Bible Teaches us to ALWAYS be Ready and
Prepare for His Coming
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in
which the Son of Man is coming.” - Matthew 25:13
“And Jesus, answering them, began to say: ‘Take heed that no
one deceives you, ‘Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the
house is coming, in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or
in the morning lest, coming suddenly, he find you
sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!’” - Mark 13:5, 36-37
“Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent
to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” - 2 Peter 3:14
“When He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to
be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was
believed. Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you
worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and
the work of faith with power” - 2 Thessalonians 1:10-11
“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still, he who is filthy, let
him be filthy still, he who is righteous, let him be righteous still, he who is
holy, let him be holy still.” - Revelation 22:11
There will be no magic transformation from naughty to nice.
You will stand before the Lord and give full account for the deeds
done in the body at His Judgment seat. - 2 Corinthians 5:10-11.
He is coming to give to everyone according to their work, Revelation 22:12, the filthy rags crowd
sleeping in the churches will be overtaken as by a thief in the night and then
they will stand with all the phony prophecy teachers to be judged as liars and
dogs, cast out into the utter darkness of shame forever. - Revelation 22:12-15
“But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no
need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly that
the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
“For when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction
comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not
escape.
“But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day
should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the
day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
“Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be
sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who
get drunk are drunk at night. But let us who are of the
day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the
hope of salvation.
“For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to
obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that
whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.” - 1 Thessalonians 5:1-10
Written
by Mike DeSario
Edited by
Nick Dreyer
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