Biblical Support for the Pre-Tribulation Rapture

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They have decent arguments.

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I haven’t seen any. I’ve made better arguments. The Church isn’t mentioned in the OT at all. So that’s a red herring. But there are also indications that the Church will be around during the Tribulation. And that the Rapture occurs with the Second Coming - or later if you want to try and fit Revelation 20 into it. And Revelation 20 really blows it out of the water.And really what makes you think that God can’t find an alternative way of protecting Christians? (One reading of the Revelation 2-3 material is that you all get martyred or apostatise)Besides, as I’ve pointed out the Olivet Discourse - in all three versions puts the Tribulation before the destruction of the Herodian Temple. Which happened 1950 years ago.

Sounds like the Pre-Trib Rapture to me. The only one that makes sense IMHO.I'm still listening to MacArthur's series on Revelation, but I also take time out to hear other teachers on the subject. If Rhodes is at You Tube I'll check him out. Missler gets a little... "mysto-wacko" at times but he's pretty good if you take some of it with a big grain of salt.

Want to come back to one of the points I started out with, that's my own thought as far as I know: the idea that the Rapture could be very close just because this current Pope is so old. If he's the Antichrist of Revelation it can't be too far away. I accept this idea because the Protestant Reformers made a good biblical case for the Pope as the Antichrist, also because of the calculation that the Roman numerals in "Vicarivs Filii Dei," meaning "In the place of the Son of God" which is as good as saying "Antichrist," which is a title of the Pope, add up to 666.Also there are what can only be regarded as signs given when this latest Pope, Francis, was elected which seem pretty telling to me: lightning hitting St. Peter's when the previous Pope resigned, a seagull sitting on the chimney where the smoke emerges to indicate whether or not a new Pope has been elected, then the fact that he was elected on 3/13/13 at 7:06 PM local time which can be written 6:66. Then there was the incident when two doves Pope Francis released from his Vatican window were instantaneously attacked by a crow and a seagull. Unusual events all, it seems to me. Not to mention that he deviates from Christian doctrine farther than any other Pope I'm aware of, and deserves to be called the "man of lawlessness" who is to be revealed at the beginning of the Tribulation.So if Francis is to be the Antichrist of Revelation, how far off can the Rapture be?The word "Antichrist" is not used there, however, so there is some question if the "prince who is to come" of Daniel 9 is the Antichrist. I think the signs I mentioned have to put Francis in the center of things myself, but there's room for questions. Also the fact that that prince has to be a Roman of the Roman Empire, and the RCC is regarded by some as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In any case Rome is the seat of the RCC, and Revelation has a passage referring to the city on seven hillls whichis always known as Rome.I haven't arrived at that part of the Revelation study yet, but I wanted to repeat my thinking about this at this point.I'm at the beginning of the Great Tribulation Proper, which starts in Revelation 8, and finding it hard to keep track of the events. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

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Want to come back to one of the points I started out with, that's my own thought as far as I know: the idea that the Rapture could be very close just because this current Pope is so old. If he's the Antichrist of Revelation it can't be too far away.

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And since there is no sign of either the Temple being rebuilt - which will take years - or the revived Roman Empire which supposedly will rule - it seems very likely that he isn’t the AntiChrist.

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I accept this idea because the Protestant Reformers made a good biblical case for the Pope as the Antichrist, also because of the calculation that the Roman numerals in "Vicarivs Filii Dei," meaning "In the place of the Son of God" which is as good as saying "Antichrist," which is a title of the Pope, add up to 666.

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Since all you will give us of the Biblical arguments is your opinion - and you are clearly incapable of recognising a good case - the second argument being an example - that really isn’t much to go on, the more so since it will apply every bit as much to the next Pope and the next.

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Also there are what can only be regarded as signs given when this latest Pope, Francis, was elected which seem pretty telling to me: lightning hitting St. Peter's when the previous Pope resigned, a seagull sitting on the chimney where the smoke emerges to indicate whether or not a new Pope has been elected, then the fact that he was elected on 3/13/13 at 7:06 PM local time which can be written 6:66.

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And these are mere superstition. The last being particularly risible since nobody would write the time as 6:66. Why write one of the hours - and only one - as 60 minutes ?

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... Unusual events all, it seems to me. Not to mention that he deviates from Christian doctrine farther than any other Pope I'm aware of, and deserves to be called the "man of lawlessness" who is to be revealed at the beginning of the Tribulation.

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Donald Trump is a far better candidate for the latter (and looking at your contributions to the political threads it seems likely that you support him because of that). Indeed Francis seems to be more Christian than many Popes, though I wouldn’t expect you to understand that.

Aha, another silly prediction that I guarantee will fail.So this pope - who is one of the most Christian in my lifetime btw - is 86, how much are you prepared to bet that there will be a rapture in the next, say 14 years? 20 years?

Pope Francis is actually 83. nott 86, but of course that is a problem, as I said. I'm just impressed with the signs that came with his election. As PaulK said, of course nobody writes 7:06 as 6:66. but there is no other time that COULD be written that way. Perhaps I'm overly impressed with such oddities, but for now they all fit together in a way that is hard for me to ignore. Time will tell of course. I could die before Francis and miss the whole thing whichever way it goes, but we'll see. I won't even be TOO disappointed if he dies, as long as he isn't dead too long, because the final Antichrist is really Satan and his possessing a dead body would seem miraculous, as if Francis had come back to life.But of course all this does have to happen within a fairly short period of time, that was my point. If he lives to be ninety and the Rapture hasn't come I could cewrtainly be dead by then.Oh I'm not going to bet you, but maybe I should since you once said you are a wealthy man. On second thought, if I win I'll be gone anyway. and your money might help you escape from some of the horrors that are coming. Of course I hope you'll become a believer instead. You'll either die and be one of the favored "multitude" of Revelation 7 who get to rule and reign with Christ in a new glorified body, in the coming Millennial Kingdom, or you'll be in that Kingdom as an ordinary human being in any case. Life will be so much easier than it is now, Eden restored, no wars, no injustices, everyone loving their neighbor, and people will live to be well over a hundred, especially the generations that will be born then. It will be ruled by Christ, however, and since you think this Pope is the most Christian you've seen, you may find that experience rather jarring. Nevertheless, overall it should be lots of fun. I'll have a glorified body whatever on earth that is, but I'll come and say hello. I'll even say hello to PaulK if he should wise up and become a believer.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

No bet then, your belief doesn't seem as real as mine does it? Time has already told. It was supposed to happen soon after Christ's death. It didn't.And for the last couple of thousand years superstitious primitives like you have been reading imaginary tea leaves predicting that it was just around the corner. Always the signs were there but when it never happened they claim they read them wrong. And it starts all over again. Exactly like you've been doing here over the years.No learning, just a wasted life.Edited by Tangle, : No reason given.

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As PaulK said, of course nobody writes 7:06 as 6:66. but there is no other time that COULD be written that way

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7:06 am could. 11:06 am would be 666 minutes which avoids the inconsistency of treating one hour differently.

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Perhaps I'm overly impressed with such oddities, but for now they all fit together in a way that is hard for me to ignore.

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Like the Europa statue which was significant because it was a woman on a beast and for no other reason. I guess it’s part of the superstitious mindset to seize on such things.

"Real?" *Shrug.* I am impressed with the signs as I described them, that's all. Time will tell.

Yeah I like symbolism. There's lots of it in the Bible. Lots of "types" in the Old Testament for instance, that point to Christ among other things. The Book of Revelation is full of symbolism. Edited by Faith, : No reason given.

Time has already told. It was supposed to happen soon after Christ's death. It didn't.And for the last couple of thousand years superstitious primitives like you have been reading imaginary tea leaves predicting that it was just around the corner. Always the signs were there but when it never happened they claim they read them wrong. And it starts all over again. Exactly like you've been doing here over the years.No learning, just a wasted life.

You’re a really big fan of finding the meaning you want, whether it’s there or not. That’s one reason why you are so often wrong - often obviously wrong.

Oh not like these. General signs, sure, wars and rumors of wars and all that, but not the kind of signs I've been describing, no. A fair consideration of them should get that across even to you.

Are we supposed to forget everything you've said that contradicts yourself? I know you do, but you can't rely on others to. Followed by 10 detailed reasons why you thought it was coming with a specific date. You wouldn't bet me then either. Yup, my faith is stronger than yours.

Do you really believe that none of the previous apocalyptic movements in Christianity - none of them - found equally unBiblical and insignificant signs ?