Updates with new topics will come up later  -  State: December 26, 2024

Questions to the common Doctrine


Summary

The pre-tribulation doctrine raises questions that are hardly ever addressed: The same astronomical catastrophe twice? Huge end-time revival instead of apostasy? etc.


The common doctrine about the return of Christ is the pre-tribulation doctrine, according to which the church will be raptured 7 years before the return of Christ.


The pre-tribulation doctrine is presented by most Bible teachers as if it were the only correct interpretation of the Bible in which everything fits together without any contradiction.



If you are convinced of the pre-tribulation doctrine, you should be able to answer the following questions about the doctrinal statements of the pre-tribulation rapture (in green):



There are two resurrections of the righteous
(a first one at the rapture and a second one 7 years later, after the great tribulation)

> Why then does Christ speak of only ONE resurrection on the last day (John 6:39-54)?
Are there two last days?

> Why does Paul speak of only ONE resurrection at the coming of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:23)?
Why does he not write: A resurrection at the coming for the Rapture and another at the coming in power and glory?

> Why is only one resurrection - after the great tribulation - mentioned in the book of Revelation (Revelation 20:4-6)?
Why is it called the FIRST resurrection?



"Keeping from the hour of temptation" means that one does not enter into that hour

> Does the same expression in John 17:15 "keep from evil" then also mean that one has nothing more to do with the evil one (devil)?

> How then is it to be understood that our struggle is not against flesh and blood and that the devil shoots fiery darts at the saints (according to Ephesians 6:11-16)?

> Why does the Lord ask in John 17:15 for the disciples to be preserved from the evil, and at the same time He says: “I do not pray that you take them out of the world”? Why does he not ask for a rapture?



The Antichrist sits in the temple in Jerusalem in the middle of the 7 years

How is it possible that shortly after
- the sun and moon have been darkened
- stars fell from the sky
- all the mountains have been moved
- and the people hid themselves in fear in the caves
- and have acknowledged that the wrath of the Lamb has come (Revelation 6:12-17) ...

> … the Antichrist sits in the temple and makes the sacrifices stop?

> … all those who have just been hiding in the caves are now worshipping the Antichrist?

> … also the henchmen of the Antichrist, who have just admitted that the wrath of the Lamb has come?



The Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt - before the Second Coming of the Lord

> What then do the words of the Lord mean:

Matthew 23:38-39 38 Behold, your house is left to you desolate.

 39 For I say to you: You shall see Me no more until you say, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!


> Why is there no order from God to rebuild the temple nor a description of what it should look like (unlike the tabernacle, the first temple and the second temple in the past)?



The rapture can happen at any time (near expectation)

> Why did the Lord tell Peter in advance in what way he should die when he grew old (John 21:18-19)? Could Peter still have been raptured beforehand?

> Why did the Lord tell Paul in advance that He would send him far away to the nations (Acts 22:21)? Did the Lord mean that Paul might be raptured beforehand and yet not be sent to the nations?

> And why did he tell him later in Jerusalem that he had to witness in Rome as well (Acts 23:11)?

> Why was Paul able to say the following:

Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departure vicious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.


1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, being devoted to corrupting spirits and doctrines of demons,


2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:


… did Paul expect the rapture to take place on the same day?... and that there would be no hard times before the rapture?



After the Rapture, the world's greatest awakening occurs

> How is this to happen if - as it is claimed - the Holy Spirit has been taken away from the earth and there are no Christians left?

> And how is that possible under the persecution and censorship of the Antichrist?

> Why does the Lord speak of apostasy in the Olivet Discourse? And in John 9:4 about the hour when no one can work? Why does Paul speak of apostasy and delusion instead of awakening and revival in 2 Thessalonians 2?



The church is no longer on earth starting from Revelation chapter 4, because the church is no longer mentioned

> Who then do the 7 letters (epistles) of the New Testament (NT) concern - namely 2 Timothy / Titus / 1 Peter / 2 Peter / 1 John / 2 John / Jude - where the church is not mentioned either?

> And who does e.g. Romans chapters 1 to 15, Galatians 2-6, 2 Thessalonians 2-3 and James 2-5 refer to? ...Because in these chapters the church is not mentioned.



The great tribulation and the wrath of God (bowl judgments) take place simultaneously

> How can people carelessly eat, drink and marry immediately before the visible return of the Lord, as in the days of Noah (Mat 24:38), when there is no longer a drop of water but only blood to drink (Rev 16:5-6)?



The prayer of vengeance does not fit into church age (Rev 6:9-11)

> Should the martyrs who have already died and gone to heaven pray for their enemies on Earth? Do the deceased in heaven pray for the people on earth (intercession)?

> Is it not right that the martyrs - in the time of the church - are crying out in heaven asking God how long it will take before the promised judgment comes?

Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but give place to wrath; for it is written, Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord.

See also 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8.



The Fulness (the full number) of the Gentiles comes in at the Rapture (Rom 11:25)

> What about the great multitude from all nations, that no one could count (Revelation 7:9-17) which is supposedly converted after the rapture? Is there still a second full number of nations?




The same astronomical catastrophe occurs TWICE IN A ROW in the course of a few years
(Sun and moon darken, stars fall from the sky, etc.: At the 6th seal according to Rev 6:12-17 and at the end of the 7th seal, i.e. after the great tribulation according to Mat 24:29-31).

> Why do most advocates of the pre-tribulation doctrine NEVER talk about the fact that this astronomical catastrophe happens twice according to their doctrine?

> Why do they mention both catastrophes, but only separately and never together, sometimes they talk about the one of the 6th seal (Revelation 6), another time about the one at the Second Coming (Matthew 24)?




There has been a belief in a pre-tribulation rapture in church history even before Darby (1830)

> Why then can we hardly name a believer who has believed this?

> Why do people keep citing Ephraem the Syrian from early church history as proof, when his writings prove that he was never a reborn Christian?



The 24 elders in heaven represent the church

> Why then are the 24 elders distinguished from the Bride of the Lamb in Rev 19:1-8?


The church is saved and delivered from the coming wrath

> Why do those who supposedly are converted after the rapture enter into the wrath of God, while the church is saved from the coming wrath?

> Why should today's lukewarm end-time church be raptured, ... and those who (allegedly) are converted after the rapture under most severe tribulation by the Antichrist have to experience the wrath of God on top of that?



The Antichrist will only be revealed after the Rapture

> Why does Paul write that the Antichrist must be revealed BEFORE that day (2 Thessalonians 2)?



The Antichrist makes a covenant with Israel for 7 years

> Why is Daniel 9:27 cited as evidence that the Antichrist will make a covenant with Israel when the word "make" does not even appear here in the original Hebrew text?

> Why does the original Hebrew text in the Old Testament (OT) always use the same word "karath" for "making" a covenant - but in Dan 9:27 it does not say "karath" but "gabar" (= "to make strong", "to prevail", … )?



---------


Further questions will follow later.



Updates with new topics will come up later  -  State: December 26, 2024