Research Paper - End Times Prophesy
Research Paper - End Times Prophesy
“Harold Camping, the Radio evangelist who predicted the apocalypse would begin Saturday, May 21, 2011, said today, [May 23, 2011] his understanding of God’s plan was just a little off” (Schabner). Camping believed that if he put the correct numbers into a mathematical equation that he would be able to predict the exact day and time of the rapture. However in reality, The Bible tells us that we are unable to predict this moment, that the only thing we can do in regard to the rapture is “watch” (ESV, Matt. 24:13). The Bible says that the rapture will come like a “thief in the night” and that men and women who have chosen to follow Christ should not be surprised by the event (Paul 's Epistle). They are told to expect the impending rapture; however, they are also told to understand that the exact time and date of this event will never be known to them. The only way to track the coming event is to watch for prophesies to be fulfilled. These prophesies have already begun to be fulfilled throughout the past centuries. The coming rapture is a time where all believers of Christ, “from the day of Pentecost to the day” of Christ’s return will be taken from this earth to reside with Christ. It is at this time that we will shed off our physical bodies to embrace new, “incorruptible heavenly bodies” (LaHaye and Jenkins 97). 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 states that the rapture will begin with the cry of an archangel as the Lord comes down to the earth. After the Lord once again walks the earth, the dead who were in Christ will rise from their graves and following them those walking the earth, alive, will together ascend into the clouds where they will meet the Lord in the skies (Blue Letter Bible). This rapture is “coming soon” as Jesus says in Revelations 22:20. Seeing that Jesus does not abide by the laws of time, His definition of “soon” is very different from ours. The only way to track His second coming, the rapture, is to
“Harold Camping, the Radio evangelist who predicted the apocalypse would begin Saturday, May 21, 2011, said today, [May 23, 2011] his understanding of God’s plan was just a little off” (Schabner). Camping believed that if he put the correct numbers into a mathematical equation that he would be able to predict the exact day and time of the rapture. However in reality, The Bible tells us that we are unable to predict this moment, that the only thing we can do in regard to the rapture is “watch” (ESV, Matt. 24:13). The Bible says that the rapture will come like a “thief in the night” and that men and women who have chosen to follow Christ should not be surprised by the event (Paul 's Epistle). They are told to expect the impending rapture; however, they are also told to understand that the exact time and date of this event will never be known to them. The only way to track the coming event is to watch for prophesies to be fulfilled. These prophesies have already begun to be fulfilled throughout the past centuries. The coming rapture is a time where all believers of Christ, “from the day of Pentecost to the day” of Christ’s return will be taken from this earth to reside with Christ. It is at this time that we will shed off our physical bodies to embrace new, “incorruptible heavenly bodies” (LaHaye and Jenkins 97). 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 states that the rapture will begin with the cry of an archangel as the Lord comes down to the earth. After the Lord once again walks the earth, the dead who were in Christ will rise from their graves and following them those walking the earth, alive, will together ascend into the clouds where they will meet the Lord in the skies (Blue Letter Bible). This rapture is “coming soon” as Jesus says in Revelations 22:20. Seeing that Jesus does not abide by the laws of time, His definition of “soon” is very different from ours. The only way to track His second coming, the rapture, is to
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