The 7 lies of Left Behind

1. Jesus does not appear in the Left Behind account of the rapture.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
16 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:
17 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.

Revelation 1:7
7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.


2. In Left Behind, the dead do not rise.1 Thessalonians 4:16

16 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:


3. In Left Behind, those who are alive and remaining do not meet the Lord in the air.1 Thessalonians 4:17

17 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.


4. In Left Behind, there is no trumpet sound.1 Thessalonians 4:16

16 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:

Matthew 24:31:
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.


5. In Left Behind, no wrath happens on the day of the rapture.Luke 17:26-30:
26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

6. In Left Behind, there are no signs in the sun, moon, stars or the earth when the rapture happens.1 Thessalonians 5:2
2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

Acts 2:20
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:

Matthew 24:29-31
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

7. In Left Behind, the rapture happens before the anti-christ is revealed.2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

The Abomination of Desolation

This is just a theory I have on what exactly the abomination of desolation is going to be. I'm not dogmatic about most of what's contained in this post. This is just a theory. I would not be surprised if I was wrong about this particular theory.
Here's all the bible says about the abomination of desolation:

Matthew 24:15
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Daniel 9:27
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Luke 21:20
20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

Revelation 13:14-15
14 And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

Daniel says that the abomination of desolation happens in the midst of the week, which most people assume is the 3.5 year mark. I also believe that the verses in Revelation 13:14-15 and 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 are referring to the same event. At the abomination of desolation, I believe that the anti-christ will declare himself to be God and sit in the temple to show that he is God like 2 Thessalonians 2:4 says. He will also set up an image like Revelation 13:14-15 says and force people to worship it or be killed. Worshiping the image will be how people will receive the mark of the beast.

So here's my theory as to what the abomination of desolation will be. Let's pretend like the Ark of the Covenant is found. Imagine if after the anti-christ was killed and came back to life, that he sprinkled some of his blood from his deadly wound on the Ark of the Covenant. You might ask what the symbolic purpose of that is.

Here's what's so bad about that. Hebrews 9 gives a good overview of the Old and New testaments:
Hebrews 9:18-24
18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
20 Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
21 Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

So basically, God's original commandment to Moses was to sprinkle blood on the holy objects in the tabernacle which was a picture of what Jesus would do on the cross by shedding his blood for the remission of the sins of the whole world. Notice what verse 24 says though. I believe it is saying that Jesus literally went to heaven and sprinkled his blood on the holy places in heaven. You might doubt that, but notice that when God told Moses how to build the Ark of the Covenant, he told him to pattern it after the one God would show him:

Exodus 25:9,40
9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

In Revelation 14, the bible mentions a temple in heaven:

15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

I believe that the holy items are in heaven and God commanded Moses to make replicas on earth.

Getting back to the theory, imagine if the anti-christ sprinkled his blood on the Ark of the Covenant. That's something only Jesus is worthy to do. That would be extremely abominable and it would be clear to all Christians that it is the abomination of desolation.

One obvious problem with this theory is that the Ark of the Covenant is currently lost.  This theory relies on the idea that it would be found by the time this happens.  There are people that believe the story by Ron Wyatt about finding the Ark of the Covenant in the 80's.  Here's his story of finding the Ark which is still in a cave http://www.wyattmuseum.com/arkofthecovenant.htm.  I don't know if it's true or not.  If I had to bet, I would say it is a true story.  He also found Noah's ark and the Red Sea crossing site and I believe God blessed his research.

Ron claims that Jewish religious leaders know the location of the Ark and will bring it out at the appropriate time after the temple is rebuilt.  If this is true, my theory could make sense.

List of people that teach you can have the Mark of the Beast and still be saved

Romans 16:17 says to mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to biblical doctrines.  The doctrine of damnation for anyone who takes the Mark of the Beast is a very clear doctrine.  I will keep a list of people that teach that someone can still be saved if they have the mark of the beast.  This is a very serious doctrine that will send millions of people to hell.

Romans 16:17
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Revelation 14:9-11
9 And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand,
10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.

Here's the list so far.  Let me know if you know of anyone else that teaches this and I will add them to the list.

John MacArthur (example)
Tim Lahaye (example)
Jerry Jenkins (example)

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb

I've heard it taught by pre-trib teachers that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb takes place right after the "pre-trib rapture" and before the tribulation.  This has to be one of the most deceitful teachings I can imagine.  The scripture about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb is very clear on it's timing.

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb is mentioned in Revelation 19.  Revelation 19 starts off by saying "After these things."  If you read Revelation 1-18, you'll realize that all the seals, trumpets and vials have been opened by this point.  So it's clear that the supper does not take place till after the tribulation and after God's wrath.
1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God:

Then Reveltion 19:7 says that the supper "is come" which is present tense.

7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

Then verse 11 says that Jesus comes back on a white horse.  This is when he comes to rule the earth for 1,000 years:

11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.

So the marriage supper takes place after God's wrath, but before he comes back on a white horse.

Is there really anything else to say about this?  I challenge anyone to show me one verse that even hints that the marriage supper of the lamb takes place before the tribulation.  False teacher just teach this and have no accountability because people aren't reading their bible!

What I'm watching for

Several times the bible says to "watch" or to be "looking" in reference to his coming.  Some people believe that the command to "watch" proves an imminent return, but notice that he says to "watch" in the same chapters that he says it's "after the tribulation":

Matthew 24:
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

...
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

I believe "watch" means to watch for the signs of his coming.  If you're pre-trib, how do you watch?  Do you go outside and look up?

Here are the signs I'm looking for.

1. Wars and rumors of wars, famines, pestilences
Jesus mentioned this in Matthew 24:6-7 which is exactly what is described in Revelation 6.  The 2nd seal is war, the 3rd seal is hyperinflation and famine, the 4th seal is death from hunger and disease.

2. Mass persecution and killing of Christians
In Revelation 6:9-10 is describes the mass killing of Christians:
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

In Mark 13, Jesus described what this will be like:

9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
10 And the gospel must first be published among all nations.
11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.
12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.
13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

3. A mark for buying and selling that is in your right hand or forehead:
I believe that this could be some sort of implantable microchip.  Credit cards are already starting to include an RFID chip inside and you can pay just by hovering the card over the card reader.  That could easily be put in your hand.  They could promote it by showing how convenient it is and how much more secure it is than a card.

Revelation 13:16-18 plainly says that no man will be able to buy or sell without a mark in their right hand or forehead.

16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

4. A rebuilt Jewish temple

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, Paul gives us a warning that Jesus is not coming until the "man of sin" is revealed.  He also says that he will claim to be God and will sit in the temple of God.  I take that to mean that the Jewish temple from the Old Testament will be rebuilt.

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

5. A one world government
In Revelation 17 and angel gives John a recap of some of the events that happened.  In verses 11-13 he describes how the world came to be governed by the anti-christ.
11 And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12 And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
It sounds like in the future the world gets divided up into 10 sections that are ruled by 10 "kings", then those 10 kings give their power to the anti-christ because they are of the same mind.

6. The abomination of desolation:
This is the big event of the tribulation.  Some people will probably deny that the tribulation is happening when it begins, but when the abomination of desolation happens, no one will be able to deny that it's the tribulation.
Jesus said in Matthew 24:15-18 that when you see the abomination of desolation, flee into the mountains:
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.

Daniel mentioned the abomination of desolation 3 times, but didn't really describe what it was, but the book of Revelation does give some insight as to what it looks like:

Revelation 13:15:
15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed

It's hard to imagine what kind of image would cause those that won't worship it to be killed, but I'm sure it will make sense when it happens.

7.  The anti-christ
The bible gives a lot of detail about the anti-christ in the book of Daniel.  I'll write a separate post about it at some point, but in general, he is a man that will be the head of the one world government and the one world religion.  He will be worshiped by most of the world, but Matthew 24 says that Christians will not be deceived.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Times of the Gentiles

I sometimes hear people say that we're living in the "Times of the Gentiles" which will end with a pre-trib rapture, then God will turn his attention to the Jews again. That term "times of the Gentiles" appears in the bible several times. If you look at those verses though, they do not support a pre-trib rapture.
Here are the main verses on the topic:

Luke 21:20-24
20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter there into.
22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Revelation 11:2
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

Daniel 8:13-14
13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
14 And he said unto me, Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

Right now, the Israel controls Jerusalem. Around the 3.5 year mark of the tribulation, Jerusalem will be attacked (Luke 21:20). The anti-christ will then set up the abomination of desolation and recover from a deadly head wound. At that point, the bible says that Jerusalem will be "trodden down until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." (Luke 21:24)

There's no way that the "times of the Gentiles" could end with a pre-trib rapture. The "times of the Gentiles" lasts 42 months (Revelation 11:20) which is referring to the 2nd half of Daniel's 70th week.  I believe the 2,300 days that's mentioned in Daniel 8:14 is talking about the amount of time till the sanctuary will be cleansed, not the total amount of time that Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles.

I also want to mention this passage in Romans 11:
25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

I believe that the term "fulness of the Gentiles" is the same thing as "times of the Gentiles".  This passage was confusing for me for a long time but I'll write what about what I think it means.

Revelation 11:13 says:
13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

If you read the whole chapter, you'll see that it's referring to the city of Jerusalem.  I believe that the "remnant" that are mentioned in Revelation 11 could be Jews that will turn from their false religion and believe on Jesus at the end of Daniel's 70th week.  Then Jesus comes back to rule for 1,000 years and turns away all ungodliness from Jerusalem.  I think that is what's being referred to in Romans 11:25-26.

God's name for the rapture

A lot of bible believing Christians, including me, use the word "rapture" to describe the event mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.  The word "rapture" is not found in the English bible, but the idea is.  Here's what God calls the rapture.

"The first resurrection"

Here is a passage from Revelation 20 about "the first resurrection":

4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

This is actually another proof of a post-trib rapture because those that were beheaded for not worshiping the anti-christ are part of the first resurrection.  How could they be part of the first resurrection if the rapture already happened before the tribulation?

Another name for the day of the rapture is "The Day of the Lord".  The bible mentions the day of the Lord many times throughout the bible.  I will say however that there appear to be multiple days of the Lord.  Every time it's mentioned though, it's talking about a day where God judges a group of people.

Isaiah 13:6 says:

Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.

This was a prophecy of the coming fall of Babylon which happened around 536 BC.  This prophecy took place about 100 years before that.

When Paul describes the rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4, he goes on to call it "the day of the Lord" in 1 Thessalonians 5:

2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

There will also be one last day of the Lord which will happen when heaven and earth pass away.  2 Peter 3:10 says:

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

The reason that the day of the rapture is called "the day of the Lord" is because God begins to pour out his wrath on that day.

The rapture happens when the 6th seal is opened. When the men of the earth see Jesus coming in the clouds, here's what they say:

Revelation 6:16-17:

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Jesus talked about how the rapture would happen on the same day as his wrath.  See this passage from Luke 17:

26 And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.
27 They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.
28 Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;
29 But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.
30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.

The only reason I use the word "rapture" rather than "the first resurrection" is because rapture is more commonly used among modern day Christians.