May 20, 2021
Steve Sabz
Cinematic portrayal of destroyed city (Photo by ronniechua), man with pants down (Photo by ia__64)
Here we are in the middle of 2021, and instead of leaving their clothes and shoes behind, Pre-Tribbers just keep getting caught with their pants down instead. Why? Because their Dispensational Premillennial eschatology is false.
In 2016, I wrote an article titled, Doomsday-rapture hysteria, which documented the feverish expectation of Christ's imminent return among Pre-Tribulation Rapture enthusiasts as a result of the so-called "signs of the times" (e.g., Ebola virus outbreak, rise of ISIS and severe Christian persecution, Shemitah, blood moons, Star of Bethlehem, etc).
Then again, in 2020 (since the Rapture did not occur and I was still on earth), I wrote an article called Rapture Countdown, as a result of an uptick in Rapture expectations due to the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic and the quasi civil-political war in the US. As was expected, these "signs of the times" came and went without Christians being rescued from any apocalyptic-like calamities. It seems as if God is trying to teach Pre-Tribbers that he delights in bringing Christians through tribulation rather than miraculously taking them out of it.
But even peaceful times are not exempt from Pre-Tribbers giving their followers false expectations of the Rapture. According to the Global Peace Index (GPI), 2019 was "the first time the index has improved in five years." Nonetheless, Jan Markell of Olive Tree Ministries, in the latter part of 2019, began selling Rapture Kits for $30 to leave behind for those wondering what happened to the millions of Christians who vanished into thin air. It even comes with an instructional video. Coincidentally, on November 6, 2019, she posted a Facebook status update with the headline: "Foreign-Policy Experts Predict Iranian Attack On Israel Just A Matter Of Time." The linked article has since been removed. It seems that even during times of peace, Pre-Tribbers always find a way to envision doom on the horizon.
Now, with the new conflict in Israel against Hamas, dooms-day rapture prognosticators are renewing their calls for getting ready to meet the Lord in the air. Pastor John Hagee changed his sermon topic for Sunday, May 16, 2021, in light of the escalating war between Israel and Hamas. His new topic, you guessed it, The Battle for Jerusalem, where he touts the "supernatural power connected to Jerusalem" (time, 1:05:00) and the imminent Rapture.
When I tell you the rapture of the church is imminent, imminent means it can happen at any time... get ready because we're getting ready to leave this world!
John Hagee in The Battle for Jerusalem (time 1:00:25, video source, 5/16/2021)
Hagee again boasts of Israel's prophetic significance, saying, "Israel is God’s prophetic clock... Concerning Jerusalem, God moves with stopwatch precision" (time 1:19:45-1:21:50). To his credit, Hagee correctly states that Jerusalem, as God's clock, began ticking circa 444 BC, when Jews from Babylonian exile were permitted to return to re-build its walls. This was when Daniel's 70 Weeks began. But what he and all Zionists fail to realize, is that Jerusalem's prophetic significance ceased after its destruction in 70 AD. This has been proven time and time again as every prophetic event tied to modern Jerusalem and Israel has failed.
Seven years earlier on January 6, 2014, during an interview about his new book, Four Blood Moons: Something is About to Change (2013), Hagee declared in a somber tone, "...the fact of the imminent return of Jesus Christ is soon to happen. We are not long for this world. The King of glory is coming..." (time 10:55, video source).
Echoing Pastor (or Rabbi) Hagee, Amir Tsarfati, of Behold Israel, re-ignites the thermometer of Rapture fever with his bold pronouncements surrounding Israel's new war with Hamas, even validating personal visions and dreams of his followers about the impending Rapture:
Are you ready? The 70th week is around the corner. The valley has been long traveled through. We are at the very end, and from this point on, it's going upwards. Are you ready?... I believe individually he's [God] speaking to so many people around the world right now. I get thousands of emails of people receiving visions and dreams from young ones to the old ones about the very soon return of Jesus Christ.
Amir Tsarfati in Daniel's 70 Weeks (time 34:25, video source, 5/7/2021)
Five years earlier, on October 12, 2016, Amir vlogged a Prophecy Update: Russia's imminent nuclear threat! in which he reveals that he's writing a book, The Last Hour (2018), because he says, "I believe we are indeed living in the last hour" (time 0:20). In the video, Amir declares, "President Putin answers all the criterias for being Gog, the prince of Magog" (time 1:00), mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39. He further declares: "We must understand, that we are on the brinks of a nuclear war in um, in this world" (time 7:00). The Gog and Magog war, led by the Anti-Christ, is what Pre-Tribbers believe kicks off Daniel's 70th Week:
One of the main ways for us to understand that we live in the very last days, as John said, the last hour, is following the signs that Jesus gave us in Matthew 24 and Luke 21... All the things that Jesus mentioned as the signs of the end of the age... We must hold on to the promise, the blessed hope... The blessed hope of Jesus, basically, is that he will come and take us... We're going to go up to be received by him, and so he can take us where he is.
Amir Tsarfati in Prophecy Update: Russia's imminent nuclear threat! (time 14:30-16:35, video source, 10/12/2016)
In the same video, Amir continues to encourage his followers saying, "Our rapture is drawing near. This is the blessed hope... He [Jesus] says that he will save us and he will protect us from, not through [the tribulation]. We must look up and really praise the Lord that our rapture, our salvation, our redemption, our rapturo, harpazo is in the Greek, it is indeed drawing near. It's not a fantasy... You don't want to be left behind" (time 25:55-27:27).
In conclusion, the frequent talk of imminent doom and rapture among Pre-Tribbers diminishes the integrity of apocalyptic literature and makes a mockery of Christ's prophetic office. As is evidenced in this article, reading Bible prophecy into current local and world events is fallacious and renders Pre-Tribbers' Dispensational Premillennialist views irrational. But as long as they hold to their futuristic doctrine, they will always need to change their views with the changing times, rather than handling the word of God in a consistent manner. Pull your pants up Pre-Tribbers and discontinue peddling your false eschatology.
CITE:
Sabz, S. (2021, May 20). Pre-Tribbers Caught with their Pants Down. Retrieved from https://scienceandbibleresearch.com/pre-tribbers-pants-down.html
Steve Sabz
Steve Sabz is the author and founder of Science and Bible Research. He is a professional educator with a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Physiology from William Paterson University, where he also completed graduate level courses in Human Physiology and Endocrinology. Steve has been studying theology since 2015 and has successfully completed seminary level courses in Textual Criticism, Biblical Hermeneutics, Eschatology, Puritan Theology, Ancient Church History, Soteriology, Biblical Theology, Prolegomena, and Biblical Greek from Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Dallas Theological Seminary. Steve is also the author of Evolution's Complexity Problem: See How Evolution Falls Apart At Its Beginning and End Time Rewind: An Exploration In Bible Prophecy And The Fate Of The World.
