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James Long, Ph.D., P.E. Retired Analog and RF Consulting Engineer
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What End Time Evangelists Won't Tell You
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This page works best with images turned on. The arguments are color coded.
If you arrived here from a search engine, you will probably be interested in other similar pages.
The scenario of the end of civilization as we know it as described several places in the Bible draws a lot of curiosity. Unfortunately, it attracts low grade "experts" and fake TV preachers that tell the public what the want to hear. One example is the relative time of the events. The public is told that it could start tomorrow. The Bible in the description of the events represents Ethiopia as one of the top ten military and political powers on earth. It is not very likely that they could attain this status by 9 a.m. tomorrow morning. Another prophecy is in Genesis 15:18 where God tells Abraham that in addition to his descendants being more numerous than the stars in the sky, but God also says that they will possess all of the land from the Nile to the Euphrates. They have never done this and with the state of the world as it is with Egypt and Iraq not liking Israel, they will not do this for several hundred years. Secondly, they take a Bible passage warning the people that there will be wars and rumors of wars and they should not consider these to be a sign of the end and use it to show that wars and rumors of wars are the sign of the end. In fact, the Bible passages show people claiming how peaceful things are just before the end. A further unfulfilled prophecy is Isaiah 19:19-25 which describes everyone in Egypt and Syria converting to the God if Israel and the three countries becoming allies. How many hundreds of years will it take for this prophecy to be fulfilled considering the present stat of that region of the world?
Another phenomena is the presentation of a relatively recent theory as being the only theory held during the past 2000 years. Books written on the subject prior to 50 years ago and still available in used book stores unanimously present another theory. The new theory was invented by the leader of the Plymouth Brethren in England 150 years ago and roundly condemned by all of the church leaders of that time.
Two components of the theory that will be addressed in this page are the lack of any precursors (The only clue will be the sudden disappearance of many people.) and the people who will end up in Heaven will be taken away before they are in any danger of unpleasant treatment by others.
This page will present passages from the Bible and allow the reader to decide. All passages are from the New American Standard version which has lost popularity recently as it is written at the 12th grade reading level and the public is becoming functionally illiterate (average reading level is 8th grade which means that half of the people in the country would not have graduated from High School in the past.) Another reason for its declining popularity is that the Lockman Foundation thinks that people who can effortlessly read at the 12th grade level or higher have low paying jobs and cannot afford reasonably constructed books. Therefore, they only publish this version in a cheap binding with pages that show the print on both sides and make reading fatiguing. The more recent printings also use a font that is decorative and therefore fatiguing to read. I do not think that the Lockman Foundation is long for this world.
Some of the argument methods used here are called reduction to an absurdity. They are not intended to ridicule people, but to show that certain ideas lead to unsupportable conclusions. Since the rediscovery of certain end time theories, people who hold the pre-tribulation one have not been able to refute them from the scriptures. Instead they have made fictional movies about the end times as "proof" for their beliefs. These are in reality proof that the pre-tribulation theory is not scriptural.
The arguments are split into the following areas:
Jesus' Summary as Reported by Three Witnesses
We are going to extract Jesus' answer to the question about what the end of the world will be like. Pay special attention to the sequence of events.
| Matthew 24 | Mark 13 | Luke 21 |
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3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" | 3 And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately,
4 "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?" | 7 And they questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, when therefore will these things be? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?" |
The disciples ask about the end of the age, or world. |
6 "And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
7 "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
8 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. | 7 "And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.
8 "For nation will arise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. | 9 "And when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately."
10 Then He continued by saying to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,
11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from Heaven. |
Evidently, Jesus foresaw the end of the Pax Romana and wanted to reassure the disciples that this was not the sign of the end. Many end time "experts" claim that this 1900 year history of warfare means that tomorrow the end will start. |
15 "Therefore when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; | 14 "But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. | 20 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand. 21 "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city; |
This is the sign of the end. Some people think that this refers to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem 40 years later, but look at the next part of the passage: |
21 for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall. | 19 "For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created, until now, and never shall. | 22 because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled. |
This is going to be the beginning of the worst catastrophe in history. The destruction of Jerusalem was no where near the magnitude of the Spanish Inquisition (and by this I mean the whole range of antisemitism in Spain during that time, the confiscation of property and the deaths caused by direct murders and by the side effects of expulsions from the country.), Soviet farm collectivization program (which was used to kill off 25% - 35% of the population), or the NAZI Holocaust. The activity described her will therefore be greater than any of these three. |
22 "And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short. | 20 "And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect whom He chose, He shortened the days. | . |
Notice that the "elect" are involved in this unpleasant part of world history and they are being killed. |
29 "But 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 the sky, and the powers of the Heavens will be shaken,
30 and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, | 24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from Heaven, and the powers that are in the Heavens will be shaken. | 25 "And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the Heavens will be shaken. |
The tribulation will end and there will be a serious sound and light show that will terrify people. |
and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory. | 26 "And then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory. | 27 "And then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. |
Another spectacular thing will occur and be visible to everyone. This did not occur in 70 A. D. and therefore the preceding things are yet to come also. |
31 "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. | 27 "And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth, to the farthest end of Heaven. | 28 "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." |
Finally, the rapture takes place after much spectacular activity and suffering of the elect. This did not occur in 70 A. D. and therefore the preceding things are yet to come also. |
Reading the above sequence of events, we can see that the rapture is preceded by a whole series of spectacular activities that will not be short and unobtrusive. Also, we see that the elect go through the worst disaster in the history of the world and suffer in it. Finally many things described have not yet occurred and therefore the sequence of events is yet to come and are not past history.
Five Ancient Old Testament Prophets and two New Testament Writers Describe Some Precursors
Joel 2 | 30 "And I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 "The sun will be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes. |
Joel 3 | 14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon grow dark, And the stars lose their brightness. |
Does this give you the impression that the Day of the Lord will be preceded by spectacular astronomical activities that will be hard to ignore? |
Isaiah 13 | 9 Behold, the day of the LORD is coming.....
10 For the stars of Heaven and their constellations Will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises, And the moon will not shed its light. |
More hard to ignore activities. |
Amos 5 | 18 Alas, you who are longing for the day of the LORD, For what purpose will the day of the LORD be to you? It will be darkness and not light;
19 As when a man flees from a lion, And a bear meets him, Or goes home, leans his hand against the wall, And a snake bites him.
20 Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it? |
Would the Day of the Lord sneak up on you unnoticed? |
Zephaniah 1 | 14 Near is the great day of the LORD, Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD! In it the warrior cries out bitterly.
15 A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, |
Would you find living though this a pleasant experience? |
Ezekiel 30 | 3 "For the day is near, Even the day of the LORD is near; It will be a day of clouds, A time of doom for the nations. |
More of the same. |
Acts 2 | 19 'AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE, AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BENEATH, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.
20 'THE SUN SHALL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS, AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. |
Peter is giving a public speech and quoting one of the prophets. |
Revelation 6 | 12 And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood; |
John is looking into the future. Do you think that there could be two occurrences of these spectacular astronomical activities, or is this all the same one? |
For those of you who did not take physics. The sun radiates light using black body radiation. If the temperature of the sun declined, the brightness would decrease and the color would shift toward the red.
From the last two table entries, it seems that all of these spectacular Day of the Lord activities will occur near the end of the seven years.
Correlation of passages in Matthew and Revelation
As you read these two passages, ask yourself, "Is it possible that two such unusual sets of sequential events occur twice in history? Or are these the same event?"
| Matthew 24 | Revelation 6 |
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4 And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you.
5 "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. | 1 And I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come."
2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer. |
First, there comes a false religious/political leader that uses smooth words to gain power. |
6 "And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
7a "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, | 3 And when He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, "Come."
4 And another, a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to take peace from the earth, and that men should slay one another; and a great sword was given to him. |
Military warfare breaks out. |
7b and in various places there will be famines | 5 And when He broke the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, "Come." And I looked, and behold, a black horse; and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand.
6 And I heard as it were a voice in the center of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine." |
The warfare is so wide spread and devastating that it reduces the agricultural production world wide. |
7c and pestilences, and earthquakes. 8 "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. | 7 And when He broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come."
8 And I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. And authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth. |
The reduced nutrition weakens people's resistance to disease. Wild animals will feel the pinch and try to eat people. The fake religious/political leader will take advantage of the reduced state of the population to kill off all of his enemies etc. more easily. |
9 "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name. | 9 And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;
10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also. |
Here we have people on the earth that are killed and end up in Heaven. |
29 "But 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 the sky, and the powers of the Heavens will be shaken, | 12 And I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood;
13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. |
Here we have the astronomical activity examined in the previous table. |
30 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.
31 "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. | [chapter 7] 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?"
14 And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. |
An uncountably large number of people suddenly and instantly are transported from earth to Heaven. This is technically called "The Rapture." |
Reading through the above, how much advanced warning is given before the rapture? Do the people who are raptured go through any unpleasant times on the earth prior to the rapture?
John Describes the Unpleasant Earthly Fates of Those Who End up in Heaven
| Revelation |
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[chapter 6] 9 And when He broke the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they had maintained;
10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
11 And there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should rest for a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, should be completed also.
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Part way through the 7 years there are still people on earth that will be executed and end up in Heaven. |
[chapter 7] 9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands;
10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."
11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God,
12 saying, "Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
13 And one of the elders answered, saying to me, "These who are clothed in the white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?"
14 And I said to him, "My lord, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 "For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them.
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Even further into the 7 years a large group of people are instantly and at the same time put into Heaven. From the counting elsewhere in the Bible, several billion [U.S. nomenclature, several thousand million, European nomenclature.] would be the uncountably large number. Also notice that the people arrive at the same instant. |
[chapter 13] 5 And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies; and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in Heaven.
7 And it was 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.
10 If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
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Here are Saints on the earth during the 7 years and undergoing unpleasant experiences. |
[chapter 14] 9 And another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or upon his hand,
10 he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
11 "And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; and they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name."
12 Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Write, 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them."
14 And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head, and a sharp sickle in His hand.
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Here are more Saints in unpleasant circumstances. Note that Revelation is not totally chronological.. It describes things as seen from Heaven and then the same sequence as seen from the earth. |
Does this give you the impression that the rapture will be well into the 7 years?
Paul's Description to the Thessalonians
This is a famous passage. The people in Thessalonica Greece had heard rumors that the rapture had already occurred. To reduce the people's anxiety, Paul describes the blatant precursors that will occur before the rapture happens.
| II Thessalonians 2 |
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1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, |
This is commonly called the second coming. The original Greek has the word for a military muster where the mundane English word gathering is used. |
2 that you may 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. |
This ties in the rapture and the Day of the Lord occurring at the same time. |
3a Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, |
This is the first unmistakable precursor. |
3b and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, |
This is the second unmistakable precursor. |
4 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. |
The temple is the word for the Jewish temple in Jerusalem which was destroyed in 70 AD and therefore must be rebuilt before this can happen. |
5 Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
6 And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he may be revealed. |
There is some supernatural power restraining the Antichrist. |
7 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. |
Notice the "he" that is doing the restraining. This is an individual, probably an angel. Here is another verse that names the angel. (Daniel 12:1) "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. [The word "arise" is a literal translation. A functional translation would be "stops his activity."]
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8 And 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; |
God will destroy this evil entity as part of his second coming. |
9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, |
This entity will display signs and miracles and still be opposed to God. This should give us to think that anyone doing miracles is not automatically from God. |
So there we have yet another sequence described showing a large number of things occurring before the rapture. Other portions of prophecy place this verse 4 activity 3.5 years into the 7 years described by Daniel. This then places the rapture at least that far into the 7 years.
Rebuttal to Alternate Interpretations of These Verses
The alternate interpretations are usually a variation on the following. God did a good job of expressing Himself when He had the Bible written in all areas except this one. In the end times area He made the most unusual combination of crassly incompetent blunders that were coordinated and consistent. He failed to express Himself properly in the are of the number of churches. Instead, He always used the word "church" for each one and gave the false impression that there was one church. Similarly, He gave the false impression that there was only one group of "elect" instead of several as well as there being only one second coming when, in fact, there will be several.
Therefore, the interpreters will do God a favor and correct His incompetent blunders by separating the various scriptural verses into their appropriate church, elect, Saints, and coming that they are actually describing so that people will not come to the false conclusion that, for instance, each description of the rapture is of the same rapture.
This reminds me of the slogan in Animal Farm where all animals are equal got changed into some animals are more equal than others.
Do you think that it is more probable that God would make a set of coordinated incompetent blunders in expressing Himself, or that a small, but vocal, group of theologians are wrong in a small area of their beliefs? They claim that these new ideas are a form of Protestant Tradition like Catholic Tradition which is are ideas that supposedly were passed on by oral methods even though there is no written record of them in the past and there are written works stating the opposite.
Another broad area involves taking only a few verses and deriving a theory that contradicts other verses. This approach to presenting an argument is frequently done by journalists and academics. One example is to assume that the destruction of the Temple in 70 A. D. is what is being referred to because it was done then. The interpreter conveniently leaves out the fact that there were two questions asked by the disciples. 1) When would the temple be destroyed and 2) What would be involved in the end of civilization as we know it. the verses describing such things as the military battle involving 200 million soldiers which is going to happen a few years later or the participation of Ethiopia as a major, world class military and political force, both of which did not occur in 70 A. D. or shortly thereafter. They also leave out the appearance of Jesus in the clouds and the gathering of believers into the air, the raising of the dead to judgment and their eternal fates, the Anti-christ oppressing the saints for 3.5 years, the binding of Satan for 1000 years and many more things that are described.
One way around the descriptions of things that did not occur in 70 A. D. is to claim that Jesus frequently exaggerated things to make a point and the academic has total insight into the mind of Jesus and has found that these descriptions of things that have not yet occurred were merely exaggerations and are not to be taken literally. In rebuttal, the exaggerations of Jesus that are undisputed occur exclusively in his discussion with people who did not get his message when it was explained in literal words. The exaggeration further advanced the point he was trying to make. It never advanced a falsehood or misleading concept. Jesus frequently used common phrases used in his day. The camel and the eye of the needle was one such metaphor that was well understood by his hearers to mean very difficult, and not mean totally impossible.
One example of this exaggeration was Gagging on a gnat and swallowing a camel." It was used to point out how people make a big deal of little things and ignore more important things. A modern example is people who are so into recycling that they return the plastic bags to the store recycling barrel to save petrochemicals used to make plastic. At the same time they drive motor vehicles that get less than 10 miles per gallon and live in places that require large commutes to work. The reader, after reading this paragraph, will probably remember the catchy phrase and the example for years to come. A further test for exaggeration is whether the event is predicted by many prophets. It is highly unlikely that these prophets writing over a 2000 year interval would just happen to use the same exaggerations but in different words.
Good Books on End Times
The Hope of Christ's Second Coming by S.P. Tregelles, LL.D., 1885 reprinted by The Sovereign Grace Advent Society of England. This is one of the books condemning the new rapture theory invented by the head of the Plymouth Brethren. It is available in the U.S. from Sola Scripture telephone 1 800 844 9930. They have another web site on the Bible book of Revelation
The Church and the Last Things by Martin Lloyd-Jones, 1998, Crossways Books. Rev. Lloyd-Jones was a famous Welsh nonconformist pastor who lectured extensively in the earlier part of this century. He also wrote many books, the one on the Sermon on the Mount being his most famous. His lecture and sermon notes are now being compiled in book form.
The Sign by Robert van Kampen published by Crossway Books. This is by a theological layman who had a vocation that required the sifting of evidence.
The Pre-Wrath Rapture of the Church by Marvin Rosenthal published by Nelson. This is by an ordained pastor who was frequently questioned by the above author in his search.
Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof published by Banner of Truth. This is one of the standard works on theology. The section on "The Doctrine of the Last Things" is quite detailed.
Fit Bodies Fat Minds by Os Guinness published by Baker. This book is mainly on the dumbing down of Christian society. The pre-tribulation rapture position, the Scofield Reference Bible, and Dallas Theological Seminary come in for severe condemnation as examples of unusual dumbness.
Introducing Christian Doctrine by Millard J. Erickson published by Baker. This book is yet another systematic theology book which lists the unbiblical and illogical features of the pretribulation rapture theory. If this book interests you, do not be tempted to buy the full version of his works. It is about 4 times longer with no additional information.
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