I have recently read two books that discuss the rapture from the standpoint that it won't happen. I'm not sure what the term is, but the last book called rapture proponents dispensationalists.
Oh well, I have read some of the dispensationalist books as well, and there is clearly two sides that emphasize different points, and since they are guessing about the future....
The bottom line - neither know for sure. God wants all people to come into relationship with Him- both sides agree on that. If that happens then God may change His mind about what He inspired to be written. If you contrast that with the old testament stories of the destruction of Jerusalem which happened exactly as described (prophesied) because people didn't repent and turn to Him.
So what will it be? A sudden turning and God relenting on His inspired word - substituting mercy for judgment, or will it be a stubbornness and unrepentant people that He will pour judgment out on them in an effort to get them to realize their position before Him and change their ways?
I don't know.
I would like to say something about the inspiration of God's word. Often people want to go back to the times and the thinking of the human authors that actually penned the text. A flashing red light goes off in my mind when I read something to that effect. If those people were inspired by God, they wrote what He gave them, whether they understood it or not, and God certainly could have inspired scripture that was applicable in the day it was written and thousands of years later. Certainly their situations are important in bringing them to a point of receiving inspiration, but God is the Source of the text, and He is timeless, so He knows how scripture written 2000 yeas ago will affect people born 500 years from now, and He inspired it accordingly.
Rapture and time line for tribulation period? or not? I think the discussion actually is evidence of our fallen condition and our tendency to pride. We are so proud of our smarts and we can figure things out. We question what God did say, like Eve was led to do back before the fall. We argue - not a very flattering term - and we are a divided kingdom.
One question comes to my mind in these discussions repeatedly. Did you read God's word and form these opinions based on reading and re-reading of only His word, or did your opinion come from men (either authors or people you respect as being those that should know)? See Jeremiah 23:35-38 a passage that exhorts people to discuss how they see God (or what they heard from God) on an issue. Note it is what God has revealed to you directly and not through a third party- He wants that direct relationship with us. Someone saying "God says" should be another flashing warning light- read the section before Jer 23:35.
Sadly I don't think scripture is read enough. In my mind this means reading multiple times as well, and consistently, developing the habit of regular reading and reading it through on a regular basis (all parts). Wouldn't that be the best way for us to get His words written on our hearts?
If you search for Him, He will let you find Him.
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Jim, you're right -- only God knows how the future will unfold. In the meantime, we are called to humble obedience.
And I like your thought about the inspiration of God's Word. One of my favorite quotes (which you'll definitely hear me repeat over and over again) is from Thomas a Kempis: "We ought to read the Bible with the inspiration of the same Holy Spirit who inspired its original writing," or something like that. :)
About third parties... They aren't always so bad! :) Think of it this way: whenever we read the Bible with fellow Christians in Bible Study, we are hearing from third parties (namely, our friends). So when I read a biblical commentary or a theological book, I try to imagine that author sitting beside you, mentioning those thoughts in your ear.
Hey, for that matter, am I a third party!?!? :)
Thanks, Jim, for taking the Lord, Creation, and the Scriptures so seriously!
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