THE RAPTURE

From God or Man???

By: Larry Yarber 

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1st Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Although the concept of "a rapture" may be taught in the scripture, the word itself does not appear in the entire Bible. The theory of "the rapture" is based primarily on the above passage. It is a doctrine which teaches that the church will be “raptured” to heaven prior to the great tribulation and before the second coming of our Lord. While there are several false doctrines found in this theory, we will only note a few of them in this article.

First, it is said that the rapture will transpire in silence and unnoticed. However, in the text above, which is used by these theorists to declare the rapture, the scriptures teach that the coming of the Lord will be loud and audible. Elsewhere the Bible states, " ... for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,... " (1st Corinthians 15:52). John penned, "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, ... " (Revelation 1:7). As the disciples stood and gazed upward into heaven as the Lord ascended in the clouds two men in white apparel said unto them, " ...why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven" (Acts 1:11). Thus, the Lord's return will not be secretively but both audible and visible.

Nor does the Bible speak of two separate resurrections. In his defense before Felix Paul proclaimed his hope in both God and the resurrection by declaring, "And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust" (Acts 24:15). As Paul, Jesus put the resurrection of both the just and the unjust simultaneously, "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28-29). The Bible knows of only one resurrection and only one second coming.

There is no Biblical evidence to support the idea that the church will be exempted from the trials and tribulation of this life. Paul penned, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2nd Timothy 3:12). John wrote to the church at Smyrna, "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life" (Revelation 2:10). In the parable of the sower Jesus likened the seed which fell among the stones to those who hear the word and, "... when tribulations or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended" (Matthew 13:21). Tribulation and persecution is the means God uses to test the purity of his chosen people (1st Peter 1:7 and Matthew 25:32-33).

Finally, the Bible does not speak of a second chance for salvation, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). As Esau was not given an opportunity to redeem his squandered inheritance, mankind will not get a second chance at obedience in the hereafter (Hebrews 12:16-17). The rich man was not allowed to leave the Hadean world to try again or even to warn his wayward siblings (Luke 16:19-31).

The test of a true prophet is the accuracy of his prophecy. If his prophecy doesn't transpire or come to pass, then he is a false prophet and should not be followed (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). We are left to wonder why it is that so many in the religious realm espouse a doctrine which, according to its own prophets, was  suppose to have transpired years ago and yet failed to do so?

 Tithing

By: Larry Yarber 

"And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:" (Hebrews 7:5).

Tithing is not peculiar to Israel but was practiced by many of the peoples in the Near Eastern countries (Egyptians, Syrians, Babylonians, etc. - ISBE pg 861). This fact leads this writer to speculate that some type of tithing may have been given to man by God from the beginning and continued to be practiced throughout the Patriarchal Age. Since Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, priest of the most high God, it is evident that both Abraham and Melchizedek were familiar with some form of tithing (Genesis 14:17-20 and Hebrews 7:1). By honoring God in this fashion Abraham was acknowledging that his victory over his enemies was accomplished through the power of God and not by his own hands. When God appeared unto Jacob in his dream at Bethel (" ... house of God ... " STRONG pg 25), Jacob vowed to give God a tenth of all his prosperity (Genesis 28:22). In so doing Jacob was acknowledging that his wealth was a gift from God. He too, seemed to be familiar with some system of tithing. Since both of these events transpired before the giving of the Mosaical Law it indicates to us that tithing, in one form or another, was present throughout the Patriarchal Age.

When Israel came to the Promised Land God commanded them saying, "Thou shalt surely tithe all the increase of thy seed, ... the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; ... " (Deuteronomy 14:22-23 also see Leviticus 27:30-34). This was to fulfill Jacob's (Israel's) promise to God at Bethel, " ... and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely give the tenth unto thee" (Genesis 28:22). Since, "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; ... " (Psalms 24:1), Israel was to remember that their wealth was a blessing from God and not a product of their own doings (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). Thus, they were to joyfully return a tenth of this wealth for God's service (Deuteronomy 12:11-12). In Amos' day God's blessings were being withheld from Israel because their worship (tithing v-4) was offered with the wrong motive (Amos 4:1-13). In Malachi's time God's blessings were again being withheld but for a different reason. Israel was no longer tithing as they had been commanded (Malachi 3:8-10). We can see how God's blessings, Israel's wealth, and tithing were closely associated.

Scholars debate over the sums collected and the distribution of the tithe. Some believe that as much as thirty percent may have been tithed while others believe the tithe itself was all that was collected and then divided in various ways for its many different purposes (Deuteronomy 26:12 and Numbers 18:26). Personally, I tend to lean toward the later view. Regardless, we can conclude that a portion of the tithe was to be eaten in the prescribed place (Deuteronomy 12:17-18), a portion was to be given to the Levite (Numbers 18:21), of this - a tenth of the tithe was to be given to the priests or the house of God (Numbers 18:26 and Nehemiah 10:35-39), and a portion was to be given to the stranger, fatherless widow, etc. (Deuteronomy 26:12-13). While we may not agree on all the intricacies of tithing we know for certain that Israel was to return unto God at least a tenth of all that He had given them and to distribute it in the various ways mentioned above.

Next week we will look at the New Testament passages on tithing and see how they apply or do not apply to us today.