GBzone's statement above exemplifies the frustration and confusion inherent with the heresy that is “rapture theory.” This is why it is imperative that we compare scripture with scripture -- avoiding all unscriptural terms e. g. "rapture."
I-d-e-n-t-i-t-y.
Due to the religious conditioning which has come to dominate most of the denominations and Christian fellowships over the last century, most believers see themselves as members of the so-called “church,” as opposed to the unique title Paul used to describe the saved in the following passage:
“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision [being an Israelite] availeth anything, nor uncircumcision [being a Gentile], but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6:16).
To phrase this in the simplest language possible, the Apostle Paul is saying being Jewish is worth nothing, and being Gentile is worth nothing, because whatever you were before, in Christ you are now “a new creature,” and this new body of believers is called “the Israel of God.”
To put it bluntly, the Christians are the only saved Israel seen in the New Testament.
The transition concludes when Christ-rejecting physical Israel, joins with the Christ-rejecting physical Gentiles, to attack the single Spiritual entity that was born again as Spiritual Israel.
“But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren. And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them they were ware of it, and fled….” (Acts 14:2,
5,
6).
The reconfiguration of Israel was complete, for what could be called Spiritual Israel, or Born Again Israel, comprised of former Jews and former Gentiles, was being attacked by physical Jews and physical Gentiles, who had joined together to oppose the Gospel.
At this point, it’s useful to remember that the New Testament cogently tells us that there is no difference between physical Jews or physical Gentiles in Christ:
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17).
This means that if any man is not in Christ, he is what he was – an unsaved Jew or an unsaved Gentile. We note that the two components of Anti-Israel, comprised of Christ-rejecting Jews and unregenerate Gentiles, form one body – those who are not saved. On the opposite side of the spectrum, we see the two components of “the Israel of God,” comprised of former Jews and former Gentiles who now form “a new creature” -- those who are saved.
Because most Christians have been taught they have become members of the so-called “church” (a word that simply means an assembly), the Roman Catholic concept of the “church” replacing Israel came about. The Rapture Cult, realizing the Old Testament promises to Israel must be fulfilled in Israel, then came up with the idea of rotating salvation (the “church” is saved, gets raptured, and then Israel gets redeemed), but both systems are fatally flawed.
No matter how you slice it, the only saved entity in Scripture is Israel, and the Apostle Paul clearly articulated the body of Christian believers is one body, comprised of former Jews and former Gentiles, who have been born again as a new creation – The Israel Of God.
Continuing, the $64,000 question that we must correctly answer is, “What is my identity in Christ?”
Based on the prophetic texts found in
Obadiah, the LORD reproaches the identity seen in the Old Testament as
Edom. This is the mysterious name which stands in the way of those who were escaping the wrath of God, by moving through the "crossway" – and it was the wicked Spiritual entity identified as
Edom, which sought to stop those seeking salvation at Calvary:
"Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape…" (Obadiah 1:14).
Edom is a physical identity under the Old Covenant, and a Spiritual identity under the New Covenant.
Unfortunately, vast numbers of believers have been taught the "other Gospel" of the end times – a system that reverses the true identities found in Bible prophecy -- to the detriment of the
millions who have fallen under the
strong delusion. At this late date in the prophetic calendar, it is tragic that so many Christians are experiencing a prophetic reiteration of the prophecy directed to the Judaeans by the Apostle Paul, in which he also anticipated the state of the believers in Christ at the end of the age:
"For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge…
my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because thou hast rejected knowledge" (Romans 10:2, Hosea 4:6).
Obviously, both verses cited above turn on the issue of
identity – i.e. just who is in view that is to be turned away,
because they have rejected knowledge. It is self evident that both verses are addressed to "Israel," yet it is inconsistent to apply the appellation of "my people" to physical Israelites under the New Covenant.
Few stop to realize that very same prophet
Hosea, who hosted the LORD's Spiritual rejection of "his people" because they rejected his knowledge, also said that God would draw to himself those who were
not his people:
"…and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people,
Thou art my people: and they shall say, Thou art my God" (Hosea 2:23).
Since Hosea is an Old Testament era prophet, and the LORD said through him that he would call those who were "not my people," it is exceedingly clear the "not my people" could not have been referencing the physical children of Israel. In fact, the
Apostle Paul, back in the New Testament, quotes this very verse as he tells the Roman Christians that they
have now become God's people:
"Even
us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles…As he saith also in [H]osee,
I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved" (Romans 9:25).
Most believers fail to see the Spiritual depth of terms such as "my people," or even the "chosen," or the "elect" of God; and this is largely because of a wholesale orientation to one primary, albeit false, worldview. But what if that view is indeed in error, and vast numbers of seemingly devout believers have inadvertently embraced the "other Jesus?" (Galatians 1:8)
For example, to the disciples, Jesus very unambiguously stated that
they were now the
chosen people:
"Ye have not chosen me,
but I have chosen you, and ordained you" (John 15:16).
Even the
Apostle Peter, clearly writing to the Christians, confirms that we are the "chosen" people:
"But ye are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people…" (1 Peter 2:9).
The
Apostle Paul, in writing to the Romans, clearly distinguishes between the physical Jews, and the believers in Christ, whom he refers to as the "elect" of God:
"Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the
election hath obtained it…." (Romans 11:7).
This is only the tip of the textual iceberg, in that there are dozens of verses, plainly applied to the Christians, in which the LORD refers to us as "my people" – and yet whenever we see such a phrase, we irrationally assign that sacred role to the physical family of Jacob.
Even worse, when God says he will call his people out of a group who were previously known as
not my people, he also prophetically addresses those who
were his people,
but are now no more his people:
"I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel: but I will utterly take them away….for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God" (Hosea 1:6,
10).
In spite of starkly unpleasant statements like the above, we've all been taught to cite verses supporting the supposed inability of God to change course concerning Israel, even as we routinely ignore verses which speak of such things. For instance, at the provocation in the wilderness, God says that Israel will know his breach of covenant:
"After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and
ye shall know my breach of promise" (Numbers 14:34).
God clearly tells us the covenant with the family of Israel was not broken by him, for they are the ones who broke the covenant:
"…I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;
which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord" (Jeremiah 31:32).
Through the prophets
Ezekiel and Amos, God even says there is an
end to his patience with Israel's backsliding; but he will give them one final opportunity to be redeemed:
"Alas, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel: An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. An end is come, the end is come…." (Ezekiel 7:2,
6).
"The end is come upon my people of Israel:
I will not again pass by them any more" (Amos 8:2).
Ultimately,
JESUS CHRIST himself pointedly tells the Jews their standing has been revoked, as God has determined to call those who were not his people, into the ranks of the chosen:
"Therefore I say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matthew 21:43).
The truth is a hard saying, but it is still the truth. When God promised to "remember" Israel, thus fulfilling his promise that Israel's "seed" would be multiplied "as the stars of heaven" (Genesis 26:4), through those same prophets he said he would accomplish this by transforming Israel into a spiritual house:
"I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel…I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jeremiah 31:31,
33).
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up
a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ" (I Peter 2:5).
The truth is staring us right in the face, but most cannot see it, because blindness has happened to the last generation of Spiritual Israelites:
"…
blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in…This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind. Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the
blindness of their heart" (Romans 11:25, Ephesians 4:17,
18).
This Spiritual blindness affects both Gentiles and Jews, who are not in Christ; but the Gentiles and the Jews who have joined into one Spiritual body in Christ, are the true
Remnant of Israel, and they are that which the Apostle Paul calls the Israel of God:
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon
the Israel of God" (Galatians 6:16).
Thus, the Christians are the Spiritual Jews, which relegates the physical Jews to the role of Spiritual Gentiles – who are identified in
Obadiah as associated with the identity therein labeled as
Edom:
"Neither shouldest thou have stood in the
crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape…" (Obadiah 1:14).
I-d-e-n-t-i-t-y.
I realized the common denominator in every one of the rapidly expanding tiers of Post-Tribulationism (e. g. pre-wrath), is the fundamental error that they still see Israel as the chosen people based on flesh and blood:
“Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God: neither doth corruption inherit incorruption” (I Corinthians 15:5).
This means that there is another entire strata of deception positioned within the ranks of those who are willing to break with the false tradition of Pre-Trib. In essence, most of the Post-Tribulationists have simply pushed their “Rapture” of the “Church” deeper and deeper into the tribulation – not realizing the primary error of the Rapture Cult actually has very little to do with timing – and everything to do with the believer’s true identity.
An enormous problem is a rudimentary misunderstanding of the Gospel itself. Jesus Christ repeatedly stated he came to save Israel – even as other verses state God loved the entire world enough to send his Son to redeem all who will respond to his call:
“I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel…the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (John 4:14).
When we say that “Israel” rejected Christ, but those who did respond became members of the so called “Church” (a word associated with a generic group of people), we make Christ’s efforts to save Israel either a failure, or at the very least, an unfulfilled promise. The truth is, as Zecharias the father of John the Baptist proclaimed, Christ redeemed Israel in every way he promised:
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people” (Luke 1:68).
As Jesus prayed the Father, looking throughout eternity, he flatly stated he had completed the work he was given, and had lost none of those the Father gave him:
“That the saying might be fulfilled, which he spake, Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none” (John 18:9).
There is no “Church” apart from Israel, and there never was. There is no “Israel” apart from Christ, and there never was.
After the cross, there is no physical Jew, and there is no physical Gentile – as EVERYTHING is delineated on a Spiritual plane. There are now Spiritual Jews (the same thing as a Spiritual Israelite), and there are Spiritual Gentiles – thus, all who are truly in Christ, who stand completely in him, with no reliance upon relationships based on flesh and blood, are the “All Israel” which is saved (Romans 11:26).
Those who claim the Jews are chosen in their flesh (whether they see themselves as members of the “Church,” or whether they profess themselves to be “Jews”) manifest the Spirit of Antichrist, for the Scriptures repeatedly show that God prophesied He was going to translate Israel into a Spiritual house (I Peter 2:5).
So called “Hebrew Roots” believers universally claim the Jews are chosen regardless of their belief (or lack thereof) in Christ – an abomination of the first magnitude. Every Rapturist (regardless of Pre-Trib or Post-Trib orientation) separates Israel from the fictional “Church” – so they are all preaching another Gospel.
When Jesus told the Disciples” I have chosen you” (John 15:19), he defined being “chosen” as one who is Spiritually regenerated in him – regardless of their physical lineage. Thus, the Post-Tribulationists are teaching the same apostasy as the Pre-Tribulationists when they profess Israel is still chosen on a physical basis – but God is not mocked, for he has revealed the truth to those he has chosen:
“But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the LORD, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth” (II Thessalonians 2:3).
Ironically, the same Spiritural Stronghold which has been repeatedly detected in the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Cult also exists in the Post-Tribulationists who fail to hear the voice of the LORD in this matter – and it is directly related to the Strong Delusion which everyone has heard so much about.
“But ye brethren are not in darkness…Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness…For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God” (I Thessalonians 5:4,
5; Galatians 6:16).