Why I Believe The Rapture Is Before The Great Tribulation

[alanmolstad]

Originally Posted by cheachea

Hey alanmolstad what do you think Jesus was talking about when He said, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to Escape all these things that shall come to p***, and to stand before the Son of man."-Luke 21:36

I'm asking because I genuinely want to know your interpretation of that verse. What are we Escaping from ?

when Jesus talked about his return, he also was talking about the fall of the temple.....and his answer tends to flip back and forth.

But we know for a fact that Jesus asked God the father NOT to take us out of the world! (see John 17:15 )

So the traditional understanding of the term "Rapture" given by the End time preachers is simply not going to happen.

so,,,,,as to your question cheachea
I believe that when you back-up and read the fuller context of the teachings that Jesus was saying there you will get the answer.
And that the answer is that Jesus was talking about escaping what was about to happen....and did happen at 70AD.

We come to the statement "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not p*** away..."
Now some people attempting to put a better face on this verse have tried to say that the "generation" Jesus was talking about were something other than the people right there listeing to him at the time.

I just dont think thats a correct understanding.

I think the "generation" Jesus was talking about was the people listening to him right then and there...
That being the case, it also points to the thing Jesus talks about with his words "ye may be accounted worthy to Escape "...is talking about the fall of the temple, and the scattering of the Jews across the world.

Remember, Jesus had in mind the fall of their country...and the more or less ending of what was know as the jewish faith with its temple at it's heart.

Jesus was pointing to the ending of all that his generation thought was going to last forever..

The ending of the religion as they knew it.
The ending of their country.
The ending of the Jews as a united people....


Lets remember the context...
Jesus was at the temple, his men point out the huge stones and the great size of the buildings...and how impressive they were, and how they gave the feeling of grandeur.

And into this Jesus tells them that its all going to go....nothing will remain....
It will all fall down...and be swept aside and forgotten.
And....that these same people listening to him right then and there would live to see this happen.

and they did....