Bitterness

Bitterness is a strongman of the enemy.  Just as there are ranks of angels (like in the armed forces), there are also ranks of fallen angels and demons.  Bitterness is a high-ranking evil spirit, but it comes in so subtly and so gradually that we’re unaware that we have even strayed into the enemy’s territory.  Here’s how it all works:

Unforgiveness – It all starts with unforgiveness.  Someone hurts you.  They say or do something that hurts you.  You must understand that people were not made to hurt, betray, or be mean to each other.  It is not in our original design.  But under the influence of the demonic voices all around us, we can inadvertently say or do something that hurts another person.

You are probably not even aware of it, but there are voices speaking to us all the time.  There is the voice of God, and there is the voice of the enemy—and we don’t even realize that we are listening to the enemy and being influenced by him.  So when someone says or does something to hurt you, they are acting on what they are hearing from the enemy.

Then you respond, acting on what you are hearing from the enemy.  The enemy says, “How could she say that about me?” and you repeat it as if it was a thought born from your own mind: “How could she say that about me?”

Every time you think you might be over the hurt, the enemy reminds you of it so that you have a very hard time getting over that hurt.  Unforgiveness is a small spirit, but now that it has been welcomed into your heart, it becomes very hard to forgive.

Resentment – Then resentment joins unforgiveness.  Under resentment’s tutelage you vow never to speak to that person again, to never allow that person to hurt you again.

Retaliation – The spirit of retaliation goads you into getting some satisfaction for the hurt you’ve suffered.  Retaliation promises to feel so good, but in fact can get you into a whole lot of trouble.  Retaliation actively seeks to prevent blessing from coming into the offender’s life.  Now, ask yourself, who exists to prevent blessings from coming into people’s lives?

Anger, Wrath, & Murder – When unforgiveness is finally joined by its bigger, stronger brothers, it is very difficult to go back and forgive.  Of course, not all unforgiveness ends in physical murder, but it can often end in character assassination.  We’ve all heard of an unforgiving father say to his son: “You’re dead to me.”  In his mind, the father has murdered the son, and the relationship is as good as dead from then.

People think that negative emotions, such as anger, depression, and unforgiveness, are merely emotions.  In fact, they are not emotions at all.  They are demons that can be cast out or sent away.  I have suffered lengthy very profound bouts of depression.  I was unaware that depression was a spirit at the time, but during the worst depressions I suffered suicidal thoughts and even suicidal hallucinations that I knew were not originating from my own mind.  I wasn’t possessed, but rather, I was suffering terrible demonic oppression.

Bitterness wants to produce fruit in your life: hatred, cruelty, revenge, self-pity, hypocrisy, jealousy, competition, frustration, and confusion.  Yes, even a little thing like competition, which American culture says is healthy, is in fact a foothold for the enemy.  Think about how many times you’ve seen someone get frustrated that the game didn’t go their way, and they turn the board over, scatter the cards everywhere, or they let the game’s physical side become too violent.

Self-pity is not an emotion, it’s a spirit.  It brings thoughts of entitlement—entitlement that has been violated.  Once we become aware of the enemy’s tactics, we can guard ourselves from jumping to the enemy’s camp.  I don’t want to give the enemy even the smallest victory over myself.

Bitterness can be present in your life without you even being aware of it.  And once this process is begun, it is very difficult to reverse it.  Sometimes you will have lived under the influence of bitterness for such a long time that you might not even believe that you are bitter.

Let me show you how bitterness can enter in: the offender, under the influence of the enemy says or does something that is truly wrong, evil, and bad.  The spirit of bitterness has been standing by, and takes that moment of offence to push its way into your heart.  Were you wronged?  Absolutely.  That is how the enemy works: by pushing his way in.  There’s no waiting for an invitation.  When you’re at your most vulnerable, he pushes his way in and begins speaking poisonous thoughts to you, playing on outrage, embarrassment, humiliation, hurt pride, physical suffering, violated boundaries, etc.  You believe these thoughts to be your own, when they are not.  And thus, piece by piece bitterness builds until it has become anger.  Anger can be so strong and so swift that it is literally just a heartbeat away from murder.

Forgiveness is a decision, not an emotion.  You can decide to forgive.  And that decision takes follow-through.  There were some people in my life that I have had to forgive all over again every time they came to my mind.  And I always did so, hoping for the day when that decision to forgive would finally become an emotional fact.  But true forgiveness did not come until I went back (in my mind and memory) to the time of the offense and forgave it there.  In that final act of forgiveness, I had to consciously give up all my rights to be angry or outraged at the offense.  The next time that person came to mind, the thought that came almost reflexively into my mind was: how could she possibly have known how precious I am to God?  My only feeling toward her, even remembering what she had done to me was pity that she hadn’t known how precious I am to God.

Forgiving was made easier once I understood the enemy hiding behind the person used to hurt me.  In truth, I have also been used by the enemy to hurt other people.  When you truly can grasp the realities hidden from our eyes, it becomes so much easier to give people the mercy and grace that we hope for from them, too.

Giving in to a spirit of bitterness or forgiving as generously as God has forgiven us is a life-changing decision.  Bitterness can prevent blessings in your life.  And through bitterness, the enemy might use you to prevent blessings in the lives of others.  Worse than all that, it can bring curses, especially in the form of physical illness.  Anger, hatred, and bitterness go coursing through your veins like a caustic, like poison.  If you’re aware, you might even feel it burning in your veins.

Giving up your right to be angry at an offense can feel like dying to yourself—in fact, that’s exactly what it is.  But you won’t truly begin to live until you do die to yourself.  It’s part of God’s upside-down logic that turns the world’s logic on its head.  Why is it so hard?  Because you are making a frontal attack on your own pride.

Make a decision to begin seeing people the way God sees them—ask God to help you to see people the way He sees them.  You will find that you have more love and mercy for them, and forgiveness will flow easier and easier.  More than that, blessings will flow in your own life as never before.

So let go of your anger and bitterness!  God is good!

BBQ Becomes Ministry

There was music and dancing at the BBQ.

I was invited to a grigliata in Biella.  A grigliata is a barbecue.  This was for Pasquetta, which is Easter Monday.  I had just met Caroline, a missionary who I immediately thought could turn out to be a valuable collaborator.  Caroline is a sweet little Italian-American with a big smile and a bigger heart.

The day after Caroline arrived, I had a young missionary coming to visit from Prague.  It was exhilarating to watch Caroline in action with Debbie: now cheering her, now helping her, now questioning her false assumptions—and all done in love.  Debbie was here overnight, and after we saw her off, we made our plans to go to Biella.

When we got there, the BBQ was in full swing.  There was lots of food, music, dancing, and games, in other words: fun.  Even though I had already visited Biella a few weeks ago, the greeting I got was as warm as if I had been gone a year.

There was a young woman at the BBQ who I knew slightly: Bo.  She greeted me, then sat with Caroline, sharing her story for the next half hour or so.  I already knew a little of Bo’s story, but learned more from hearing her pour out her heart to Caroline:

I’m a gypsy from Albania.  Well, OK, my mother was a gypsy and my father was a Serb.  My father left before I was born and my mother died when I was five years old.  A nice neighbor took me in and raised me as her own.  At fifteen I was sold in a marriage contract to another gypsy.  He raped me, and I became pregnant with my daughter.  He was very cruel and controlling.  I can’t tell you all the ways that he abused me sexually.  So I ran away from him and came to Italy.

Bo told Caroline all this with no trace of emotion in her voice or on her face.  This much of the story, I had already heard.  Then Caroline asked for more details about her daughter and step-mother.  It turns out that they were in hiding in a town just across the border in France.  And the ex-husband?  He was looking for her in a larger town in France, where she had put her daughter in school back at the beginning of the school year.  Somehow, he had tracked her down there.  “He is waiting there for my daughter to go back to school after the holiday, but he doesn’t have the right to take her from the school.”

Many years ago, when I worked at a daycare center, I had seen a father under a restraining order snatch his child right from the yard, just by calling him to come to the fence and talk.  So I knew that the school’s rules didn’t mean that the daughter was safely out of reach.

But how had he tracked them down here—and why had he gone to the expense and trouble of following them?  The answer to the second question is a repeat of history: Bo had been sold in marriage, and the daughter, though still too young to marry, could still be promised in a marriage contract to be sold when she turns fifteen.  A more sinister possibility is that the daughter might be sold even now to traffickers for a life of prostitution.  Either way, losing the girl was a financial loss for the father.  Bo said that a virgin girl could be sold for as high as €10,000 for one night.  But whether traffickers or marriage, Bo wanted a better life for her daughter.

It turns out that the father had tracked Bo down simply by watching her posts on Facebook.  Her posts and pictures on social media, intended to keep family and friends informed of her whereabouts, had also kept her husband informed.  Now he was threatening to take the girl, with the help of the French police.  If she doesn’t show up at school, then she will be truant.  Being a gypsy, the girl already has a lot going against her.  Truancy could jeopardize her asylum in France and cause the girl to fall even farther behind in school.

Caroline sensed that she was holding something back because she could just as easily bring the girl into Italy, apply for asylum here, and put her into an Italian school.  Bo said that God had told her to go back to Albania and get the gypsy divorce there.  But when questioned, she broke down and admitted that it was her step-mother that was pressuring her to go back to Albania.  The step-mother was convinced that this would solve the problem and get the husband off her back.  And Bo admitted that she was considering it.  But if she did that, she would have to take her daughter back to Albania with her, and there was a possibility that the gypsy council could decide that the daughter belongs to her father.

“Why would you even consider going back?” I wanted to scream the question.  Bo shrugged, having no answer.

I realized later that probably, having been the one who had sold Bo to this man in a marriage contract, the step-mother was pushing the gypsy divorce to save face in the gypsy community back home.

Caroline, seeing that there was a lot of cultural issues and some underlying issues that Bo was still hiding, made the wise suggestion that we all just stop and pray.  So we prayed and put the whole thing into God’s hands.  As we prayed for her, Bo’s shoulders shook as weeping erupted from within her.  Then we left her.

I don’t know what Bo will do or what will happen with her.  But we have done all that we can to help her make a good decision that will keep her daughter and herself protected.  I know that if Bo will depend on God for help in making those tough decisions, He will protect her and her daughter.  However, these are Bo’s decisions to make.  In the end, we each have to decide whether to trust God or not.

But I know this much: although God will not save you from the consequences of your bad decisions, He can be trusted to guide you and protect you when you surrender your life completely to Him.  God may take you by some ways you do not want to go, but His way is always better.  God is faithful.  God is trustworthy.  And as I always say: God is good!

Revival is Coming!

Today has been an amazing, great, fabulous, fun, wonderful day in the life of this missionary.  It started about 6:30 this morning, when Giorgio, a young man from our church, arrived after an all-night prayer vigil.  He needed a place to sleep, and offering hospitality is what I do—part of what I do.

So basically, I was waking up just as he was coming in to sleep.  Good timing on his part, since the first thing I do is to enjoy some quiet time with the Lord and read the Bible over a cup of coffee.  Being Saturday, I wanted to honor the Lord’s Sabbath by not doing any work.  But I work for the Lord, so it’s kind of hard to know what’s really work and what’s OK to do on the Sabbath.  I asked the Lord to help me to honor Him today, and He gave me a one word answer: delve.  I understood this as delving deeper into His Word.

I did spend more time than usual reading the Bible, then over breakfast, I watched one of Jim Staley’s Hebrew Alphabet teachings—delving some more.  Absolutely fascinating!  I encourage you to check it out.  The language of God is like none other on earth.  It is a supernatural language, it is a multi-dimensional language, this is the language God used to create the universe by speaking it into being.

I was watching the video about the letter Hey, and about three quarters of the way through the video, my calendar popped up with an appointment I had thought was next Saturday.  I had responded that I would go, and it was something I really wanted to go to.  So I got myself into gear, dressed, left notes for Giorgio, and went across town to the meeting.

This meeting was concerning Expo on 4 Wheels, a bus that’s basically a mobile church with a coffee bar and a library.  The bus is a joint effort between local churches and missionary organizations to focus on sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ at the Expo (1 May through 31 October) here in Milan.

It turns out that there are three major ways that you can help Expo on 4 Wheels:

• Pray – The Expo will draw an estimated 21 million visitors from more than 130 different countries, many of whom have likely never heard the Gospel message. This is a unique opportunity to share the love of Jesus with millions of people.  But for this, they need prayer support.
• Participate – The bus won’t be very effective without people getting out there and reaching people with the love of Jesus. Groups of any size are invited to participate.  To sign up, contact Missione REM.
• Donate – As you can imagine, an operation like this costs a lot of money. If you want to invest in the Kingdom of God, you can do so on their website using PayPal or making a wire transfer: Donation.

So there was a lot of good information about reaching the world while there are lots of visitors here in Milan.  But when we started to pray, was when God really showed up and blew my mind.  The Holy Spirit reminded me of a vision that I had seen ten or more years ago:

I saw a lighthouse grow up out of Milan, and it gave light to the city.  It kept growing and gave light all over Italy.  It kept growing and gave light all over Europe.  And finally it grew so big that it gave light all over the world.

I understood the vision to be about revival.  But revival didn’t come, and didn’t come.  Friends said that revival would start in Sicily, in Naples, and other parts of Europe, wherever they were from.  One even told me that the big End Times Revival had already started in Sicily.  Finally I simply forgot about the vision.  Until today.

So when the prayer ended, I said that I had a vision to share, and told them about this vision, and about how I had actually seen it years ago.  A man immediately came forward and shared that he also had the same vision—and had it years ago, just like I had.  My excitement doubled with this instant confirmation.

Then we went out to look at the bus.  It is still being worked on, but it’s going to be beautiful.  There’s a very cozy and welcoming sitting area, a library area, and a coffee/snack kitchen.  I know the Lord is really going to use this bus, and all the people, churches, and organizations connected with it.  Revival is coming!

Then I came home and found a message from Suki, introducing me to an American woman (Italian-American in heritage) who is moving to Italy.  She doesn’t know exactly where or what she’ll be doing, but she knows that God has called her here.  Suki is God’s beautiful networking tool, and He has used her several times to connect people.  But it was the Holy Spirit inside of me, even more than Suki, that convinced me that I need to meet this woman.  So I’ve invited her to come for a visit.  But that’s a post for another time.

Revival is coming!  This is it: The Big End Times Revival!  If you want to be a part of it, you can follow the links above, get more information, register, get a team together and come to Milan.  You can also register on GoMissions.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss out on what God is doing.  God is good!

Will the Jews Finally Rebuild their Temple?

One of the keys to End Times Prophecy is that the Jews must have a Temple—something they haven’t had since it was destroyed in 70 AD.  That’s because during the last 2000 years since that time, the Muslims built and took total control of the Temple Mount.  If you want to start World War III, put a shovel into the ground on the Temple Mount and see what happens.

Well guess what: I don’t believe that the Temple was ever on the Temple Mount.  There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Temple was actually in the City of David, below the Temple Mount.  Back in the fourth century, long after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, people sought the location of the Temple, and finding the Western Wall, believed it to be the remains of the Temple.  And, being the highest place in the city, it seemed to make logical sense.

In fact, the only thing that doesn’t make sense just on glancing at it is the fact that the Romans would have left a wall of the Temple standing.  When they destroyed a rebellious people’s culture, they started by completely destroying their indigenous worship.  So why would the Romans have left that wall standing?

A careful reading of the scriptures reveals a few things that place the Temple elsewhere:

• As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones!  What magnificent buildings!”  “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus.  “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down,” (Mark 13:1-2, emphasis mine).

If the Western Wall is part of the Temple, then Jesus’ prophecy in Mark 13 hasn’t been fulfilled, which, as I pointed out, doesn’t fit the Roman way of dealing with rebellious people—they would have destroyed their religious building as a way of defeating both the Jews and their God.

• Historian Flavius Josephus wrote that the Temple was so completely destroyed that if he had not personally been in Jerusalem during the war and witnessed the demolition of the Temple, he wouldn’t have believed it ever existed.

The foundation wall that we call the Western Wall was most likely the remains of the Roman fortress.

Josephus also wrote that from the north side of the city of Jerusalem it was impossible to see the Temple.  The Temple Mount is visible from everywhere in Jerusalem, but the City of David and Mount Zion are to the south, and would therefore be impossible to see because the Temple Mount blocks the view of the City of David from anyone in the northern part of Jerusalem.

• Now look at 2 Chronicles 3:1:

Now Solomon began to build the temple at the house of the Lord at Jerusalem…at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

According to this verse, the temple was to be built in the City of David at the place of the threshing floor—it cannot possibly have been on the Temple mount.

• As a practical matter, because of washing rituals and large amounts of blood, the Temple had to have a plentiful and reliable source of water. The Temple Mount didn’t have any source of water until the Romans came in and built two aqueducts to it, coming from south Bethlehem.  But the City of David has always had the Gihon Spring, a natural spring, giving it a good source of water.

The Bible confirms that the Temple has a plentiful source of water in Joel 3:18 and also in Ezekiel 47:1.

• The Bible says: “David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David,” (2 Samuel 5:7, emphasis mine). Again and again the Bible says that the Temple is in Zion (Psalm 2:6, 9:11, 65:1 & 4; Isaiah 2:3, 24:23, Joel 3:17 & 21,
• 1 Kings 1:33 says: “Take your lord’s servants with you and have Solomon my son mount my own mule and take him down to Gihon,” (emphasis mine). Why would David have Solomon taken down to Gihon to be anointed king and thwart his brother’s uprising?  Only one reason: that’s where the Temple was.
• Acts 21:30-35 places the Temple below the Roman fortress:

The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions.  Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut.  While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.  He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

The commander came and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done.  Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks.  When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers.

Where could the Roman commander run down from if the Temple was on the highest place in Jerusalem?  And he takes Paul to the steps.  What steps?  The steps leading back up to the Roman fortress.

• You can see some fascinating images of an excavation in the City of David that could be the ancient Temple: Search for the Temple.

If all this is true, then there is nothing to prevent the Jews from rebuilding the Temple.  And like I said, there has to be a Temple during the Tribulation.

Of course, there doesn’t have to be a Temple before the Rapture.  The Rapture could literally come any day now, and I believe that it will be very soon.  If you aren’t ready, watching, and waiting for the Rapture, you won’t go in the Rapture.  That’s all there is to it.

If you want to go in the Rapture, the first step is to get right with God.  If you’ve never made Jesus your Lord and Savior, it’s as simple as making that decision.  Just tell Him: “I believe You died for me on the cross, and I want You to be my Savior.  Please help me to live for You and to be ready for the Rapture.  Thank You, Jesus!  Amen.”

If you want to know more about the Rapture, I’ve written a lot about it on my blog and in my books.  Don’t let anybody deceive you.  Just because a giant, worldwide Rapture has never happened before doesn’t mean that it won’t happen.  Be ready!  God is good!

Total Eclipse of the Sun

A friend took this picture of his eclipse shadow using a colander.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.  God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.  He also made the stars.  God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness.  And God saw that it was good.  And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day, (Genesis 1:14-19, emphasis mine).

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea,” (Luke 21:25, Jesus speaking, emphasis mine).

On Friday there was a total eclipse of the sun over Europe.  Here in Italy it was actually only a quarter, but the Faroe Islands (where I will be going next month) got a near total eclipse.  I wasn’t able to see it because of the clouds over Milan.  But friends in other parts of Europe saw it very well, and even took pictures (see above).

Personally, I wasn’t terribly disappointed because this was my second chance at a total eclipse of the sun.  The first time was in Atlanta in 1984.  I was working in an office building downtown and was able to get outside.  I didn’t have a viewing filter or viewing device.  But I had read about the double-shadow effect the eclipse would have on objects below.  The larger, fuzzy part of the shadow is called the umbra, and the smaller, more defined part is called the penumbra.  Sure enough, the peach tree in the vest pocket park below my office showed the double shadow effect.  It was very cool.

But this solar eclipse is more than just an interesting show in the sky.  Consider the following amazing facts about the total solar eclipse of 2015:

• There hasn’t been a solar eclipse on March 20, the day of the spring equinox, since 1662.
• This is the first time in human history (about 100,000) that a spring equinox solar eclipse has happened in the northern hemisphere.
• This is a total solar Eclipse by a Super Moon, meaning that the moon is at perigee, the closest point in its orbit of earth.
• And this is a Super Dark Moon since it is a new moon.
• This is also the first seasonal appearance of the sun in the arctic regions.
• All these facts add up to a convergence that only happens once in approximately 500,000 years.

And as if all that wasn’t amazing enough, when you take into account the Biblical significance of this event, you get some more interesting things to note:

• This solar eclipse fell on the first day of the Hebrew month of Nisan—the day of the grand opening ceremony of the Tabernacle of Moses, when the fire fell from heaven and lit the altar.
• The Torah portion being read in every synagogue this weekend is Leviticus 1-5, which records the events of that day, mentioned above.
• March 20 marks the exact center-point day on the Hebrew calendar of the Shemitah year, the sabbatical year in which the farmlands are left fallow and all outstanding debts are erased.

In an interview with Charisma Magazine, Jonathan Cahn (author of The Harbinger) says, “It’s worthy of note that all these moedeem (signs) in the heavens are marking the exact center-point of the moedeem of the Shemitah on earth.”

Mark Biltz (author of Blood Moons) said, “I see all this as a new era beginning since it is the first day of the religious year, happening at the North Pole is like midnight and a new era has begun for the nation of Israel.  Especially right after the elections and we have a total lunar eclipse coming on Passover on April 4th.”

The lunar eclipse Biltz mentions is the second Passover eclipse in a row, and the third in the Blood Moon Tetrad.  A Blood Moon Tetrad is when there is a lunar eclipse on the first day of Passover and the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles two years in a row.

The Talmud (the Jewish book of tradition) says: “When the moon is in eclipse, it is a bad omen for Israel.  If its face is as red as blood, (it is a sign that) the sword is coming to the world.”  So, a lunar eclipse is seen as a bad omen for the Jewish people and Israel.  While a solar eclipse is seen as a bad omen for the world.

Every time a Blood Moon Tetrad has occurred on Jewish feast days, a big event has happened to the nation of Israel.  Blood Moon Tetrads have only happened seven times since Jesus walked the earth.  The most recent BMT’s were in 1948, when Israel became a country again (for the first time since 70 AD), and in 1967, when Israel won control of Jerusalem in the Six-Day War—two of the most significant dates in Israeli history.  Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1492, when the Jews were expelled from Spain.

So what could be the next big event for the nation of Israel?  I believe that the Jews will be allowed to rebuild their Temple.  More on that tomorrow.  Keep looking up!  God is good!

Blessed Reassurance

Part Two

Pre-Tribulation Rapture

If viewed from an historical Jewish point of view, the evidence for the Rapture to occur before the Tribulation is overwhelming.  Also overwhelming is the venomous response that some people have to the idea of a pre-tribulation Rapture.  Between those 2 things, I almost feel intimidated about trying to present it all here in a way that will make sense.

Nevertheless, I will attempt to do so because I believe that it is very important for believers to be ready.  Those who have been following my blog know that recently I fasted for 21 days, putting the question to God: “Given that these are the End Times, what should we be doing to be prepared for what comes next?”  It was during that fast that I became aware that the Rapture is likely to be “what comes next.”

To begin with, there is a lot of misinformation on the internet about the End Times.  Every wacko theory is broadcast on the internet from Obama being the antichrist to the “mark of the beast” being to worship God on the wrong day of the week.  Because the things written about the End Times in Daniel and Revelation are so fantastic, many people take them as allegorical.  Some of those same people take Noah’s Ark, the Burning Bush, and Jonah in the Fish (see my recent post A Pipsqueak and a Fish Story) as being literal, yet they say that the future things are allegorical.  That kind of inconsistency doesn’t even make sense!  If any of the Bible is untrue, then all of it comes into doubt—especially given the usual things that have been recorded in the Bible (like fire from Heaven that burns up a soaking-wet offering).

So, future events recorded in the Bible are to be taken every bit as literally as past events.  In other words, when the Bible says that we will be “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17), that’s exactly what it means.

Some people don’t believe in the Rapture at all, simply because the word rapture isn’t in the Bible.  It’s true.  The word rapture is not in the English language Bible, but that word came from the Latin Vulgate.  In the original Greek Bible, the word is harpadzo (pronounced har-POD-zoh, and written ἁρπάζω), and means to seize, carry off by force; to seize on, claim for one’s self eagerly; to snatch out or away.  The Latin version translated harpadzo as rapiemur, from the root rapio, meaning to seize, snatch, carry away.  So although the word rapture doesn’t appear in the English translation of the Bible, the concept is clearly there, and it seems like it would be perfectly acceptable to translate Paul’s word harpadzo as rapture.

The next problem that people have with the Rapture is that they confuse it with the Second Coming of Jesus.  The Rapture and Second Coming are different events.  I can understand the confusion, but let’s look carefully at the differences between the Rapture and the Second Coming:

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am,” (John 14:2-3).

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.  For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.  According to the Lord’s Word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever, (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, (1 Corinthians 15:51-53).

Those 3 passages describe the Rapture.  The Rapture is all about the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.  The words from John: “I go and prepare a place for you, and I will come back and take you to be with me,” are what the bridegroom tells his bride in the Jewish wedding ceremony.  Here is a link to an excellent video that shows the Jewish wedding ceremony and explains the connection with the Rapture: The Rapture Revelation.  There is a connection, and it’s important because you must remember that Jesus was a Jewish man speaking to Jewish people.  So when He these Jewish men: “I go to prepare a place for you,” they understood that He was speaking to them as their Bridegroom speaking to His Bride.

Rapture deniers and others who don’t believe in a Pre-tribulation Rapture say that there won’t be a secret Rapture.  It won’t be a secret when it happens.  I heard a prophecy that when we are caught up through the devil’s territory (remember, he’s the prince of the power of the air), there will be an EMP effect.  Follow the link for that prophecy: EMP Effect at the Rapture.

The following are passages that describe the Second Coming of Jesus:

On that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.  You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel.  You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah.  Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with Him.  On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness.  It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night.  When evening comes, there will be light.  On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.  The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and His name the only name, (Zechariah 14:4-9).

Immediately after the distress of those days, “the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”  Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven.  And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other, (Matthew 24:29-31).

Where the confusion comes is with this trumpet in Matthew and the trumpet mention in both 1 Corinthians and 1 Thessalonians, above.  Here’s a link for a video that explains the difference between these 2 trumpets: The “Last Trump” Explained & Revealed.

There is also confusion with the last part of that passage in Matthew, which sounds like the Rapture.  However, it can be explained by understanding the Jewish harvest cycles.  The harvest isn’t one single event in Israel, but a series of events.  First they take a part of the field that has ripened the fastest—usually from the center of the field.  That goes to the Temple, and it is called First Fruits.  Then is the general harvest, but they leave the corners because of what is written in Leviticus 23:22: “And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, neither shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger. I am the Lord your God,” (AMP, emphasis mine).  The very same is repeated in Leviticus 19:9.  So they leave the corners until after the poor have had a chance to gather what they need.  Then they harvest the 4 corners, and that is the harvest alluded to in Matthew 24:31, the very last part of the harvest: “He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”  To see a great illustration of how the Jewish harvest cycle ties in with the Rapture and the final harvest, see Are There Really Over 7 Rapture Scenarios?

Something interesting that most people overlook is the fact that the book of Revelation is chronological.  We can know that by the frequent use of the word then in the book of Revelation—54 times in the NIV.

To sum things up, there are some vast differences between the Rapture and the Second Coming, which I’ve put below:

Rapture—Comes suddenly and without warning (Matthew 25:13)

Second Coming—Preceded by many signs, including the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem (Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4; Revelation 11:1-2)

Rapture—Believers will meet Jesus in the air (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

Second Coming—Jesus returns to the Mount of Olives to meet believers on earth (Zechariah 14:4)

Rapture—Mount of Olives remains whole (no change is noted at the Rapture because Jesus will not come all the way down to touch the earth)

Second Coming—Mount of Olives splits when Jesus touches down on it, forming a valley east of Jerusalem (Zechariah 14:4)

Rapture—Believers get glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53-54)

Second Coming—Bodies of remaining believers are unchanged (no such change is noted at the Second Coming)

Rapture—Faithful go to Heaven (Revelation 19:6-9)

Second Coming—Believers return from Heaven in glorified bodies, earthly believers (living Tribulation Saints) remain on earth (Revelation 19:14)

Rapture—The world is not yet judged (2 Thessalonians 2:6-12)

Second Coming—The world is judged and righteousness is established (Revelation 19:17-20: 15)

Rapture—The Church is saved from God’s wrath (Isaiah 26:20)

Second Coming—Remaining believers have endured the wrath (Matthew 24:22)

Rapture—Only the saved are involved (Matthew 25)

Second Coming—Everyone is involved (Matthew 24:30)

Rapture—Satan remains free (Revelation 18)

Second Coming—Satan is bound for a thousand years (Revelation 20:1-3)

Since the Rapture and Second Coming clearly are different events that do not occur at the same time, this would rule out a Post-Tribulation Rapture scenario.

Lately I’ve been waking up with the Rapture on my mind.  I believe that it will be soon.  And this morning I asked the Lord if He had a Word for me today.  I turned to Zephaniah, and here it is, with the section title:

The Day of the Lord Is Near

“Be silent before the Lord God!  For the day of the Lord is near; the Lord has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated His guests,” (Zephaniah 1:7, ESV).

Be silent before the Lord!  The Lord has consecrated His guests!  Sounds like a wedding to me!  God is good!

The Table

I was going through my computer documents and, I came across the following piece that I had written in October 2011, while I was at the 24/7 worship celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles in Poland.

A theme that kept recurring during that weeklong celebration was The Table.  About six months before I went to Poland I was in Alessandria, Italy, visiting a small church there.  My friend, Pastor Matteo, was guest-preaching that evening, and after the sermon he gave three altar calls:

1. For anyone wanting to receive God’s free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ
2. For anyone needing healing or other prayers
3. For anyone wanting more from God

At that third invitation I leaped to my feet.  Pastor Domenico and his wife prayed for me, and then he told me: “God says that He has put a big Table before you, and it is full of everything you could ever want or need.”  Then he added, “But of course, you need to share with God’s people.”  He didn’t need to add that because it is my heart to share with God’s people.

So in Poland six months later, when there were several teachings that mentioned The Table, I knew that I had to share the Word that God had given me through Pastor Domenico.  And when I did, I told the people there that I believe The Table is for all of us, not just me.  And the next day, the following is what I wrote:

Last night the French team was leading worship and I suddenly became overwhelmed and scared by the task ahead of me: five months of speaking to churches and at conferences all over the US about missions in Europe.  And I said, “God, if You don’t help me, I’m in big trouble because I don’t know what I’m doing!  I need You!  I need You!  I need You!”  And I began to cry in my desperate need for God.

I tried to calm down a bit, but then the thought came: “If Europe’s future depends on me, then Europe is in big trouble.”  Of course I know that Europe’s future does not depend on me, but such is my burden and call for Europe that I cried even harder because it wasn’t my own embarrassment and failure, but Europe and her missionaries.  So I cried and cried some more.  While the French team was singing songs of love and praise to God, I was weeping from a broken heart for Europe.  And I continued to beg God: “I need You!  I need You!  I need You!”

Finally, I calmed down, remembering the table full of everything I could ever want or need.  And I said, “Lord, the gifts are great, but I don’t want any gifts!  I want You!  I need You!”  And I began to cry a third time from my desperate need for God.

Then God spoke, and in a very tender voice He said: “My child, I am in every gift!  I am on the table!  Every gift is simply more of Me!  Why do you think I keep inviting you to take everything you need, everything you want from the table?  Because I am everything that is on the table!  Take all you want of Me!”  And I said: “Lord, I want ALL of You!”

And I saw myself dropping all the things I had been holding onto: the desire for a home, the desire for a godly husband to share my life, the desire to spend more time with my new grandchild.  These things that I had thought were so important, I just let them go.  And I said, “Now I’m ready, and I want only You, and ALL of You!”

And after that I was exhausted.  So when the team leader took the French team back to the hotel, I went with them.  And I slept and dreamed:

Fire came down from Heaven and suddenly I clearly saw the way to go, but I held back because there was someone else there and I thought that person should lead.  But that person couldn’t see the way to go, so I had to lead.

Then I woke up.  There was my answer!  God will lead me during my five month speaking tour in the US!

And now, four months after my speaking tour of the US has ended, I can say that it went very well, but not because of me.  I spent at least an hour in prayer before each speaking engagement, yielding myself, and asking the Holy Spirit to speak through me.  And from those speaking engagements, I got several more intercessors, which is a very precious gift, indeed!

God is good!