Like most American Christians, I grew up believing in the "rapture" - believing that at any moment, "zap!" my family and friends would disappear and I would be... left behind. It probably didn't help that at the age of about 11 or 12, my mother (unwittingly) took me to the local Presbyterian church to watch a series of movies called "A Thief in the Night," "A Distant Thunder," and "Image of the Beast." These movies warned that while they were fiction - the prophecies they were based on were not fiction and to watch and be aware so that we might avoid the scenes that were about to unfold in the film.
The movies instilled so much fear in me, that, like one of the girl's in the movie, I once thought I had been "left behind" when I got up one evening and went downstairs, only to discover the TV and lights on - but no parents sitting in their chairs. I began screaming (only to discover they were sitting on the deck enjoying the pleasant evening). Of course, everyone told me, as long as I believed, I would be fine - there would be nothing to fear. But the girl in the movie, Patty... she was a Christian, and she'd been left behind. Perhaps my faith wasn't a strong enough faith. The good Lord knew I was far from a perfect child. Surely if anyone deserved to be "left behind" to have their head cut off by "Brother Christopher" - it would be me.
Looking back on those movies now, they of course seem hokey and utterly unrealistic. But it was the late 70's and early 80's. Things didn't seem so hokey back then. And I was 12.
I know my story is hardly a unique one (and coincidentally - my mother has since regretted ever taking me to see those films, but a neighbor had told her we needed to see them, because "it was what was going to happen!"). But it's one that has led me on a journey that has ended not with fear of the rapture - but rather, with love for the lamb who was slain. The Book of Revelation no longer terrifies me as it once did. Disturbs me - yes. But then, it was designed to disturb us and shake us out of our complacency.
What it was NOT meant to do was to make people think that God was going "rapture" all the Christians out of the world and abandon it for the next 7 years while the Anti-Christ ran amok and plague after plague afflicted those who had been "left behind."
The sad part is, most people think that when they read books or watch movies like "Left Behind," they're getting a blow-by-blow re-enactment of the book of Revelation. And as long as these books explain it - why read it for themselves. Unfortunately, what few realize is that Left Behind and books like it that follow "premillennial dispensationalism" are not actually telling you the story of Revelation. They're following a "system" that has been developed by taking various parts of scripture, and plugging them into a "script" regarding how the end-times will unfold.
When I was 28 and reading one of the "Left Behind" books, (I think I got as far as book 8, "The Mark") - something just suddenly started nagging at me, telling me to go and re-read Revelation for myself. So I did. And I read it again. And again. And I still did not find what I was looking for.
I never found "the rapture." The only place in Revelation that even remotely passed for "the rapture" was in Revelation 11, where the two witnesses are killed and then raised from the dead, and like Christ, then ascend to heaven. However, that's not the way the rapture was ever explained to me. According to rapture proponents you don't have to die first before being called up to heaven. So where did this idea of the rapture come from?
To find the so-called "rapture" one must go outside Revelation, to scripture references like Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4.
"But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two will be in the field; one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken and one will be left. Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour. (Matt. 24:36-44)
For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
When plopped into the "system" that had been developed and told that they are speaking of the rapture - sure - you might buy into it. The problem? That's not what these passages are talking about if read in their full context. Or in the case of the 1 Thessalonians text, if you just read it closely there are huge flaws with their idea.
In the Matthew text, what Left Behinders do not realize is that in Jesus' day - to be "taken" or "swept away" was not a good thing. First, to be "taken" would bring up reminders of how people just 'disappeared' when the Roman army would come and take them away (similar to how people just 'disappeared' in Nazi Germany when the Gestapo came calling). They were being taken to be imprisoned or executed. Second, the people who were "swept away" and "taken" were those who were taken by the flood and being taken in judgment.
As for the 1 Thessalonians text - well one just has to actually read it in order to see the problems inherent in applying it as a proof-text for the rapture. Paul states: "The dead in Christ will rise first." The resurrection precedes the "rapture" of being caught in the air. And when put back into the context of the rest of the letter, Paul is trying to give edification to those who have been worried about those who have died prior to Christ's coming. Paul is saying, "Don't worry - the dead will rise first and get to see Jesus even before you do!" Additionally, the rapture "system" states there will be 7 years of tribulation following this rapture.
Yet, such an idea is foreign to Paul and absent from any of his writings. Instead of warning about there being a time of increased tumultuousness in the lives of believers, Paul warns that people need to be wary of being lulled into a sense of complacency, stating in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5:
Revelation also speaks to a similar audience - though in John's case, the Christians he spoke to were a diverse group of seven different communities facing a variety of problems: persecution, complacency and assimilation. If we turn our attention to those seven churches and the book of Revelation for a moment, we will see that much like Paul, John is offering up both a warning and a promise to these communities.
Most Left Behind/Dispensationalist proponents like to skip the first five chapters of Revelation, jumping straight into chapter six and the four horsemen, but the first five chapters lay down the groundwork for what Revelation is all about. It identifies for us the problems the churches were facing, and when we understand their challenges, we understand more readily how Revelation would have been understood by the people it was originally written to.
About the only part of the first five chapters that Left Behind/Dispensiationalists like to use is in chapter three, where the church in Philadelphia is being addressed and told that it will be spared the coming tribulation. In defiance of their usual "literal" reading, they choose to view the promises made to the church in Philadelphia as describing the "future" church that will be raptured, not the church that was present in John's day and facing persecution, having held fast to the word of God despite the affliction that they had come under.
Yet, apparently, no such luck for the church in Smyrna. Another faithful church that stayed true to the word of God, but they were going to come under the sway of these persecutions and would not be protected like the church in Philadelphia. Left Behinders conveniently ignore the plight of the church in Smyrna and don't apply the same futuristic promise to this congregation.
The other churches John was writing to faced problems other than persecution. They were struggling to figure out how much compromise was too much compromise in the midst of their very pagan culture. How separate and diverse did they need to keep themselves? What practices were abhorrent to God and which weren't? Many times, the answers to those questions had serious economic and social ramifications. For instance, in Thyatira, if you wanted to be a successful merchant you had to join the merchant's trade guild. Unfortunately for Christians, one of the requirements of membership within the guild was that you had to sacrifice to and worship the pagan gods of Rome. By not doing so denied Christians access to the trade guild, and thus made buying and selling wares extremely difficult unless they compromised their beliefs.
Ultimately, the idea of Christians being "raptured" so that they can escape persecution or a coming time of "tribulation" is extremely Amero-centric. All around the world, Christians are being persecuted in larger numbers than any other time in history. 500 million people around the world suffer from poverty and famine. If anything, we should be wary of the "coming wrath," given the luxury and prosperity that has been afforded to us, many times at the expense of our poorer and less fortunate neighbor. We should perhaps take heed of the warnings sent to the five other churches in the first three chapters of Revelation and discover where we are guilty. Most of us can see American Christians as being represented by the Laodicean church - we are lukewarm - we are neither hot and soothing/healing nor are we cold, vibrant and refreshing. Or like Ephesus, who has forgotten how to reach out in love to their neighbors. They may have held fast to the teachings of scripture and not allowed for heresy - but they forgot to actually put the words of scripture into action. They no longer loved as they once did. Complacency seems to have been the problem of both these churches.
The people of Pergamum were guilty of compromise and assimilation. Unlike the church in Ephesus, they put their faith into practice, but allowed for heretical teachings to stand. What little we know of the Nicolaitians from Hippolytus of Rome, the Nicolatians were known for engaging in excessive indulgences. Can't imagine that being a problem among American Christians. Ireneaus believed they also ate food sacrificed to idols and practiced polygamy.
Sardis on the other hand had the reputation for "being alive" - of being a vibrant community of Christians. Except - there was a problem. Whatever they were doing was apparently half-hearted and lacking in sincerity. Whatever good deeds they were doing seemed to be in the absence of a vibrant faith life.
All these problems and issues of complacency and compromise are issues modern day American Christians can still relate to, and are still guilty of.
In our glee and joy at the prospect of being "raptured" away, never having to suffer, never having to face what millions of Christians across the globe already face, we deny the power of the gospel and deny the power of the incarnate Christ. In fact, the rapture denies one of Christ's prayers for his followers:
While I could go on and on about all the problems inherent in this end-times "script" that Dispensationalists have laid out, that would take far more time/space than this blog would allow for.
Rather than focusing on whether or not Christians get to escape a coming God-wrought calamity, we would be better-served to instead live out our faith in such a way that like the Church in Philadelphia & Smyrna - God can find no fault with us. To love and reach out to our neighbor. To strive for peace in places of conflict. To offer healing where there is brokenness. To offer life in the midst of death.
Revelation is, and always has been, a book that has asked the question: who do you belong to? The lamb who was slain in order to set us free, or the beastly systems of the world that seek to oppress and distract from God? In both John’s day and today, the distinction between the two is not always clear. We need scripture, like Revelation, to open our eyes to the differences so we can clearly discern who it is that we truly belong to. It was never intended to be a jigsaw puzzle.
For a more in depth study of the problems of this dispensationalist system, join me Wednesday evenings at 6:15 pm at First Lutheran starting Jan. 12, 2011.
For further reading:
The Purpose of Prophecy The Imagery of Revelation The Temple of Revelation How "All Israel" Will Be Saved
Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things (Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 2001)
Barbara Rossing, The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation (New York: Basic Books, 2004)
As for the 1 Thessalonians text - well one just has to actually read it in order to see the problems inherent in applying it as a proof-text for the rapture. Paul states: "The dead in Christ will rise first." The resurrection precedes the "rapture" of being caught in the air. And when put back into the context of the rest of the letter, Paul is trying to give edification to those who have been worried about those who have died prior to Christ's coming. Paul is saying, "Don't worry - the dead will rise first and get to see Jesus even before you do!" Additionally, the rapture "system" states there will be 7 years of tribulation following this rapture.
Yet, such an idea is foreign to Paul and absent from any of his writings. Instead of warning about there being a time of increased tumultuousness in the lives of believers, Paul warns that people need to be wary of being lulled into a sense of complacency, stating in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-5:
"Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness."Paul here is speaking for people to remain alert and awake, to not fall asleep in their faith, to not be lulled into thinking that peace and security can come through any other means other than Christ. Especially given they lived in the midst of the Roman Empire, where peace and security was offered to all those under Roman rule... at a very violent price. His warning here is for Christians not to become too complacent under the comforts offered by the Roman Empire, for Christ may return at any moment.
Revelation also speaks to a similar audience - though in John's case, the Christians he spoke to were a diverse group of seven different communities facing a variety of problems: persecution, complacency and assimilation. If we turn our attention to those seven churches and the book of Revelation for a moment, we will see that much like Paul, John is offering up both a warning and a promise to these communities.
Most Left Behind/Dispensationalist proponents like to skip the first five chapters of Revelation, jumping straight into chapter six and the four horsemen, but the first five chapters lay down the groundwork for what Revelation is all about. It identifies for us the problems the churches were facing, and when we understand their challenges, we understand more readily how Revelation would have been understood by the people it was originally written to.
About the only part of the first five chapters that Left Behind/Dispensiationalists like to use is in chapter three, where the church in Philadelphia is being addressed and told that it will be spared the coming tribulation. In defiance of their usual "literal" reading, they choose to view the promises made to the church in Philadelphia as describing the "future" church that will be raptured, not the church that was present in John's day and facing persecution, having held fast to the word of God despite the affliction that they had come under.
Yet, apparently, no such luck for the church in Smyrna. Another faithful church that stayed true to the word of God, but they were going to come under the sway of these persecutions and would not be protected like the church in Philadelphia. Left Behinders conveniently ignore the plight of the church in Smyrna and don't apply the same futuristic promise to this congregation.
The other churches John was writing to faced problems other than persecution. They were struggling to figure out how much compromise was too much compromise in the midst of their very pagan culture. How separate and diverse did they need to keep themselves? What practices were abhorrent to God and which weren't? Many times, the answers to those questions had serious economic and social ramifications. For instance, in Thyatira, if you wanted to be a successful merchant you had to join the merchant's trade guild. Unfortunately for Christians, one of the requirements of membership within the guild was that you had to sacrifice to and worship the pagan gods of Rome. By not doing so denied Christians access to the trade guild, and thus made buying and selling wares extremely difficult unless they compromised their beliefs.
Ultimately, the idea of Christians being "raptured" so that they can escape persecution or a coming time of "tribulation" is extremely Amero-centric. All around the world, Christians are being persecuted in larger numbers than any other time in history. 500 million people around the world suffer from poverty and famine. If anything, we should be wary of the "coming wrath," given the luxury and prosperity that has been afforded to us, many times at the expense of our poorer and less fortunate neighbor. We should perhaps take heed of the warnings sent to the five other churches in the first three chapters of Revelation and discover where we are guilty. Most of us can see American Christians as being represented by the Laodicean church - we are lukewarm - we are neither hot and soothing/healing nor are we cold, vibrant and refreshing. Or like Ephesus, who has forgotten how to reach out in love to their neighbors. They may have held fast to the teachings of scripture and not allowed for heresy - but they forgot to actually put the words of scripture into action. They no longer loved as they once did. Complacency seems to have been the problem of both these churches.
The people of Pergamum were guilty of compromise and assimilation. Unlike the church in Ephesus, they put their faith into practice, but allowed for heretical teachings to stand. What little we know of the Nicolaitians from Hippolytus of Rome, the Nicolatians were known for engaging in excessive indulgences. Can't imagine that being a problem among American Christians. Ireneaus believed they also ate food sacrificed to idols and practiced polygamy.
Sardis on the other hand had the reputation for "being alive" - of being a vibrant community of Christians. Except - there was a problem. Whatever they were doing was apparently half-hearted and lacking in sincerity. Whatever good deeds they were doing seemed to be in the absence of a vibrant faith life.
All these problems and issues of complacency and compromise are issues modern day American Christians can still relate to, and are still guilty of.
In our glee and joy at the prospect of being "raptured" away, never having to suffer, never having to face what millions of Christians across the globe already face, we deny the power of the gospel and deny the power of the incarnate Christ. In fact, the rapture denies one of Christ's prayers for his followers:
"I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one." - John 17:15Jesus knew during this prayer for his followers what hardships and problems were to come, yet his desire was not for his followers to be plucked out of the world, but rather, to remain in it and continue to be faithful witnesses to His gospel, despite the trials and tribulations that would come upon them.
While I could go on and on about all the problems inherent in this end-times "script" that Dispensationalists have laid out, that would take far more time/space than this blog would allow for.
Rather than focusing on whether or not Christians get to escape a coming God-wrought calamity, we would be better-served to instead live out our faith in such a way that like the Church in Philadelphia & Smyrna - God can find no fault with us. To love and reach out to our neighbor. To strive for peace in places of conflict. To offer healing where there is brokenness. To offer life in the midst of death.
Revelation is, and always has been, a book that has asked the question: who do you belong to? The lamb who was slain in order to set us free, or the beastly systems of the world that seek to oppress and distract from God? In both John’s day and today, the distinction between the two is not always clear. We need scripture, like Revelation, to open our eyes to the differences so we can clearly discern who it is that we truly belong to. It was never intended to be a jigsaw puzzle.
For a more in depth study of the problems of this dispensationalist system, join me Wednesday evenings at 6:15 pm at First Lutheran starting Jan. 12, 2011.
For further reading:
The Purpose of Prophecy The Imagery of Revelation The Temple of Revelation How "All Israel" Will Be Saved
Craig R. Koester, Revelation and the End of All Things (Grand Rapids: Eerdman's, 2001)
Barbara Rossing, The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation (New York: Basic Books, 2004)
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