Sidetracked By The Planet Rahab

I have a feeling that 2008 will be a very important year prophetically. I don't know if the rapture will come this year, or even in the next 5 years, but it may. Recently I had a dream in which I was outside in a field with a group of people. Dark storm clouds filled the sky, and from one particularly dark cloud I could see that a very wide part descended to the ground and then started to rotate. Looking around, to the left of the main funnel, there appeared several more funnels, and to the right, many more funnels, stretching across the near horizon in a wide arc. I started to tell everyone that we needed to get away right now to find a safe place, but every one's first reaction was - Huh? - What? Perhaps my dream means that there will be a series of upcoming challenges or dangers, or perhaps it means something else. But whatever it means, I am anxious in my spirit that time is running short and we must be prepared to witness to family, friends and others to the glorious salvation available to all who call upon the name of the Lord. I have been trying to work on a couple of different subjects to post, but always seem to get pulled back to thinking about the times we are in, the people I know who do not have a reborn spirit, and how urgent it is for them to open their lives to the truth and light that comes from Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

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The study of Biblical prophecy concerning the rapture and the second coming of Jesus has been a pleasure of mine for the last 35 years. Even when I was in college and an atheist, majoring in Political Science, we studied Israel's six day war of 1967. The head of our Political Science department remarked in 1971 that Israel was in the news every day, but eventually other events in the world would move them out of the papers. It did not happen that way. Some months after my conversion came the Mid-East war of 1973, and every month since then has seen world events moving nations and peoples closer to that as described in the prophetic scriptures, with Israel planted firmly in the center of it all. As these things happen, and the time to the return of Jesus gets closer, the Spirt has opened up a greater understanding of the prophetic scriptures. Sometimes we may even need to set aside long cherished interpretations of certain parts as the Spirit gives us better understanding of another piece of the puzzle, bringing the whole picture into greater focus. Doing that is always difficult, because our natural tendency is to hold onto theological ideas and intepretations that take root early in our spiritual journey, especially if the source of those ideas and interpretations came from people we really admire and trust. That being said, even the earnest student of the Bible can read things into scripture and can come to conclusions that are not valid if sound principles of Biblical study are not learned, or are thrown aside to make scripture fit the theory. When verses and words are taken out of context, we head down paths that may be interesting, with theories and timelines that may have an appearance of truth, but truth will not be there. What is real and what is not may run many parallel courses, but in the end, a theory based on scripture taken out of context will prove to be a distraction, and a hindrance to the Spirit's ability to give us a clear understanding of the plan and the purpose of God.

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An example of using a scripture passage out of context to determine the timing of the return of Christ comes from a saying of Jesus in the 24th chapter of Matthew in the illustration of the fig tree. "Now learn the parable from the fig tree; when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; even so you too, when you see all these things , recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.". This is the key scripture quoted by most of those that look to calculate the timing of the rapture, the event or pre-event leading to the last 7 years before Christ returns. The interpretations follow in this manner. The fig tree represents the nation of Israel, and Israel became a nation again in 1947/48 after thousands of years. After the six day war of 1967 they aquired control over the eastern half of Jerusalem, containing the land area of the ancient Jewish temples, also acquiring the historical Jewish lands of the Gaza, West Bank, and Golan Heights (The branches putting forth their leaves). The word "generation" in the Matthew quote is seen as the length of time it will be between the fig tree beginning to bloom and the return of Jesus.

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Different examples are used to demonstrate the length of a Biblical generation, coming in anywhere from 35 to 40 to 42 to 48.33 to 70 years. Go forward in time a generation from either 1947/48 or 1967, and they arrive at the date for either the rapture, the end of the Church age, the wrath of God, or the second coming (although most people are trying to pin down the date of the pre-tribulation rapture). The 39/40 year span is popular because there are many Biblical examples of 39 or 40 being a time of testing. Mix into this the teachings of patterns and cycles for the 49/50 year Hebrew Jubilee, the 430/490 year national cycles, the 42nd and 43rd generational patterns, the 360 day prophetic year, and the timing and patterns of the major Jewish feast days, and you get some interesting stuff, including lots of different dates for events that will happen in "the last days".

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These dates and the reasoning for them get revised every year the rapture doesn't happen. The next date offered always seems to be very close, and I think this is because: everyone wants to be alive for the rapture, life for us here on earth can be tough, and anyway, wouldn't it be nice for Jesus to come tomorrow? One thing that bothers me is that this "blessed hope" can even supesede our desire to see widespread rival in our families, our cities, or our nation. I don't think revival has to come before the rapture, but sometimes I wonder if, instead of praying "Come Lord Jesus" it would not be better to pray; "Please Lord, give them a little more time".

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As a student of Biblical prophecy I believe that there are plans and patterns with everything God does. I see the emergence of the nation of Israel only 2 years before my birth, a regathering predicted by Jesus to happen "in the last days", as being huge. The reclaiming of additional lands promised to them by God, especially their gaining control of the ancient temple area (perhaps needed as a prophetic requirement for the rebuilding of a temple that will be descrated by the antichrist during the mid-point of the tribulation) is also huge. Because there are other scripture references (eg. Jeremiah 24) that confirm the relationship of the Jewish people with figs, I believe that a dual interpretation of the fig tree in Matthew is permissable. The context uses the progression of the fig tree growing fruit as a call to watch for the signs of the times, ie., one thing will surely happen after the other. Thus we can also watch Israel itself to know that we are in a special time. These are some of the things that convince me that the time for the return of Jesus, which in my theological understanding is preceded by the rapture, is near, and maybe in my lifetime. But date setters (and I also would like to know) are having the same problems as those that see a six thousand year time frame from creation to the second coming. It has been more than six thousand years from creation until now, and it has been more than 40 years from 1947/48, then 1967, until now. They now have to redefine how long a Biblical generation is, still thinking that the word "generation" in Matthew is a clue.

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The thing that must be considered in interpreting the 24th chapter of Matthew is the audience to whom Jesus is speaking, the timing of the events He is talking about, and thus the context of Jesus being "near, right at the door", and the context of the word "generation". It seems to me that Jesus is prophesying to a Jewish audience that will be alive and in or near Jerusalem during the last part of the tribulation. Thus the return of Jesus, indicated by "He is near, right at the door", is not the rapture, but the second coming, ruling out using these verses to support either the theology or the timing of the rapture (except perhaps because of its Jewish character as another argument for a pre-trib rapture). But my main concern is the way in which so many authors, preachers and teachers interpret the word "generation" In the context, the way a normal person would read it if not pre-influenced, the idea conveyed is that some of the (Jewish) people, alive at the time of the events Jesus outlines in Matthew, will make it through alive to the end of the time of tribulation, when Jesus returns. The people, or the race (both are consistent with the way the word generation can be translated) will not die out, despite the tremendous judgment and resulting death that occurs. To take the word "generation" as a code for a 40 or other year period is a manipulation of the verse, because the sense of the verse is of encouragement to the Jewish people that even in the most terrible of times, God will establish His kingdom through Jesus in the land He promised to them, and some will be left to receive that inheritance.

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Your favorite prophecy teachers will probable still talk about the length of a Jewish generation, and frankly, they are all much smarter than I am. I have learned a lot from them. Unfortunately, there are many young Christians today who are not interested in the study of Biblical prophecy. Perhaps this is because it takes time, and who has time today? Or perhaps it is because they think that their elders have focused too much on it, speaking our own private language. Maybe it all seems so overwealming and they don't know how to begin, or maybe life is complicated and they just don't want to think about the world going to pieces. I can understand all of that. If we think that believing in the rapture is a way to grab a special ticket out of here, then we are completely missing what the Spirit is always trying to show us.

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But let me present it this way. Our spiritual life should never be about what we know, but about Who we know. The closer we know Him the more we realize how holy He is, and how much we need Him, and how much the world needs Him. We see that He had a plan for our lives from our very beginning, and we begin to see that He has a plan as well for our family, friends, and even for the nations. To know Him better we read the scriptures, and as we meditate on what we read, the Holy Spirit moves in our hearts and minds, building us up, speaking to us concerning our daily lives. But He also speaks to us to go forth, to share the good news of this glorious salvation to others. Prophecy warns us that things will not always proceed as they have, but that He is faithful and true. Prophecy tells us that the clock will someday stike the hour and everything will change, but He changes not. In 1948 prophecy jumped out the pages of scripture and proclaimed to the world, loud and clear - "I am coming soon!". I believe as we get closer to that time there will arise false prophets and false teachers, and churches and individuals will be pulled in directions that are not in the plan of God. Everyone will be affected in one way or another, which is why we all need to grow in knowing how to read the scriptures that are being used to support the misdirections, and why we need to have sound foundations for our spiritual beliefs, including prophecy. And that leads us to discussing the Planet Rahab, but more about that later.