The Reason for the Season

Sin is no fun - why bring it up at such a joyful time as Christmas? A pitifully sad day it must have been for God when his beloved son, Jesus, became sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and confiscated the sting of death for us who receive Him. Au contraire; it actually pleased Him! (Isaiah 53:10) For it is not God's will that any of us should parish. (2 Peter 3:9) This Christmas let us fully rejoice not only in the birth of Jesus, but in God's fulfilled plan of redemption for our souls. Over 700 years before Jesus was born, Isaiah laid this very plan out for us, which God had foreordained even before the foundation of the world! (1Peter 1:20)

Isaiah Chapter 53

1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. -Jude 1:25

Tattoos: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

If you are one of the 45 million Americans with a tattoo, you may ask yourself why you should read this article written by a tattooless Christian. You may assume I'm going to fling a bunch of Bible verses at you, and you've heard it all before. The answer is — because you are most likely to get another one, and there is much more to tattoos than what meets the eye. More importantly, the one who created you in His image would like very much for you to read on whether you believe in Him or not. If you are a Muslim or a Jew, it is unlikely that you are even on this page, as tattoos are clearly against your religion. If you are a Christian, you may be searching for an answer to the question — Are we to be keeping a law intended for the Old Testament Israelites? Let’s dig in and let the flinging begin! 

And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God. After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances. Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am the LORD your God. Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 18:1-5) Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:28)

The first thing we need to keep in mind is that the God of the Old Testament is the same God we have today! Secondly, as partakers of salvation through His son, we are his children…. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; (Romans 8:17) In other words, we have been adopted into the family of the Old Testament Jews. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28) Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also (Romans 3:29) Is it too much, then, to arrive at the thought that if God made a law for the Old Testament Jews that it would be prudent for us to follow as well? 

One may argue that the Egyptians and the Canaanites were cutting themselves for the dead, a pagan ritual we no longer perform and therefore a moot point: an outdated law. Alas — this practice is indeed still around. 

These are just some practical examples of tattoos for the dead, but aren’t most tattoos dedicated to death in general?

In ancient times, it was also customary for idol-worshippers to tattoo themselves as a sign of commitment to their deity—much like an animal that is branded by its owner. Again, this is still sometimes the case today.

People who are especially passionate about their god start to look like them.

There are, however, many people sporting tattoo designs that are seemingly harmless. There are butterflies, snakes, the sun and the moon, angels and even Jesus!  With no connection to death, pagan gods or tribal rituals, how could any of these images possibly be wrong? If you look at a list of the most popular designs, many of them appear to fall into one very interesting category…the second commandment.

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, 

 or that is in the earth beneath, 
 

or that is in the water under the earth: 

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:4-6)

But we are no longer under the law!

The Apostle Paul said, Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. (Romans 3:28) There it is as plain as day — we are justified by faith in Jesus as our Saviour, and the laws no longer apply! However, he goes on to say, Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law. (Romans 3: 28&31)

Recently, I asked a young man if he had any tattoos. His response was, “No, my mom and dad would kill me!” He went on to say that he was Jewish, and it was against his religion. What was interesting was the fact that this young man looked to be in his late twenties. He wasn’t avoiding a tattoo because he would get his car taken away, he was simply honoring his father and mother. In other words, he is no longer under his parents rules, but is keeping them all the same simply because he loves them.

 If ye love me, keep my commandments. -Jesus (John 14:15)

How is it that our parents always seem to know what is best for us? All their rules, from look both ways before you cross the street - to being home before the fun starts, were for our own good.  Could our heavenly father be thinking of our well-being with His rules? Did he know something about tattoos when He made the law against them over 3,500 years ago that might hurt us still today?

 It’s all about the Blood 

And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. (Genesis 4:9&19) 

Isn’t it intriguing that Abel’s blood cried unto God from the ground. Abel was dead — was his blood still alive?  Did it speak? Nineteenth century Pastor and author Charles Spurgeon put it this way: “All blood has a voice, for God is jealous for its preservation, the blood of excellent and just men has a still more heavenly speech, but the voice of the blood of Jesus far surpasses all.” 

For a Christian, it is the very blood of Jesus that washes us from our sin. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7) For children of God - there is indeed power in the blood. 

Those who serve another god agree: “Called the "river of life", blood is identified with the soul and is the vehicle that carries the vital energy of the universe through the body. In magic, blood is revered and feared for the miraculous power it possesses and confers. Blood that is let is believed to unleash power." (Guiley, Rosemary Ellen, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft)

‘Blood that is let’ refers to the practice of ‘blood-letting’ which literally means to allow the blood to come, or pass. It is one of the oldest and most common satanic practices. Throughout history, cutting of the flesh and blood-letting were rituals performed to unleash demonic and supernatural powers. Almost 600 years after the Israelites were warned against cutting themselves, we see it again with the prophets of Baal. (a.k.a. Satan) 

And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. (1Kings 18:26-28)

The tattooing procedure involves cutting the flesh with a sharp needle or instrument in order to carve out or make designs. The procedure lets out blood. There is no way to sugarcoat the fact that one is cutting their flesh, and practicing blood-letting. Ignorance of this truth does not exempt us from it. People who smoke cigarettes without the knowledge of increased lung cancer risk still get lung cancer. As Jesus said, “Ye worship ye know not what” (John 4:22)

Now some people are going further by scarring themselves by cutting or branding their skin—a process known as scarification.

God has always wanted to keep his people from harm’s way, including disease. Blood can transmit almost any major virus/bacteria in the world. Modern physicians warn that tattoos and body-piercing carry a risk for contracting infectious diseases like hepatitis B, hepatitis C, syphilis and HIV/AIDS (International Journal of Infectious Disease, 2001) God, the author of Biblical health laws, does not change, nor do the laws of biology. The same factors that caused or prevented disease in 1,490 BC (when He proclaimed His law against getting tattoos) still operate today. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: (Leviticus 17:11)

I want to become more Spiritual

If becoming more ‘spiritual’ is your thing, I beg you to question the type of spirits you may be inviting into your life. I would strongly urge anyone thinking of cutting themselves to read this passage from Mark chapter 5: 

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. 

Interesting, isn’t it, that the unclean spirit (demon) in this man referred to Jesus as “Son of the most high God”? This not only points us to the fact that there is not a spirit out there that is higher than God, but that the spirits themselves know so. Who do you therefore want to invite into your life — Legion and his many unclean spirits, or the spirit of the most high God — The Holy Spirit?

I already have tattoos

Ah - this is where we finally get to the good part — Jesus wants you just as you are! Tatted up or not, he wants you to believe on him so so badly that he sweat drops of his saving blood in an agony for you! (Luke 22:44) Whether you have one or many tattoos and are concerned about disease or spiritual warfare, it is only through Jesus that we receive true healing and deliverance. God looks at a person’s heart. But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7) Where is your heart today? Is it toward the most high God? 

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. 

(Matthew 22:36-38)

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot,

To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fightings and fears within, without,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;

Sight, riches, healing of the mind,

Yea, all I need in Thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

Because Thy promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thy love unknown

Hath broken every barrier down;

Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, of that free love

The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,

Here for a season, then above,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

                                       -Char­lotte El­li­ott

Please remember, BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, not a Bible scholar. If something doesn't look quite right to you, dig into God's word. The one thing I promise you is that you won't get bored! 

Good Morning, God!

The Gospel Truth!

Take the gospel tract-a-day challenge!

The Apostasy of the Church: The Great Christian Identity Crisis.

"You do not need to believe in God to be a Jew" said the Rabbi. I quickly shut my mouth before he noticed it was wide open. My reaction was not such because the concept was new to me, but in response to his apathy towards it. My son and a few of his classmates were at a synagogue on assignment from their Christian school to explore other faiths and find some common ground. I was there, as I was with my daughter's school visit to an Islamic mosque, to assure they didn't miss the differences. The Rabbi went on to explain that these unbelieving Jews still observe many of the feast days, as it is part of their cultural heritage. My heart sank as my measly human brain tried to grasp how disappointed God must be. Then it dawned on me just how many Christians there are today in that very same boat. 

Not surprisingly, this very deterioration of the Christian faith has been predicted in the bible. The apostle Paul clearly states that there will be an apostasy, or an abandonment of the gospel, prior to the return of Jesus Christ. "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;" -2 Thessalonians 2:3. Who could possibly deceive a Christian into denying their Savior?  What possible lie could someone or some group feed us that we would partake in?

How about the lie that your faith is as valuable and viable as other people's faiths? How about the lie that in order to include as many people in the goodness and mercy of our creator, that we should ease up on some of the doctrines that exclude them? How about the lie that unifying our religions into one is a good idea?  

Now is not the time to be oblivious to the world around us, as this apostasy has indeed already begun. It is time to wake up and open our eyes and hearts to discern the age in which we are living. This isn't something we should just have our spouse, parent, or even church leader take care of for us, simply because they always have. The only person responsible for your soul is you! Christ tells us that in this Laodicean age of the church we are now in, He will be knocking at our door. It is our individual responsibility to not only hear the knock but to respond to it. "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." He goes on to say, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." Revelation 3:20-22 

If you are a Christian...

• It is important to know that you ARE the church - it is not a place you go, or a group of people who lead in this place you go. The different churches spoken of in scripture refer to different groups of believers throughout time. 

• It is important that you do not follow a "cause" or "leadership" without question. It didn't work for the Israelites; it won't work for us. (1 Kings 14:15-16) Back up even further - it didn't work for Adam and Eve either! Paul warns us of churches that have become careless to the truth and tells us to reject them. "A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject;" -Titus 3:10. Anyone who represents Jesus as “a god but not the God” or who claims He was merely a good teacher, simply a human, or even a super-human is a deceiver. NOTE ALSO: Anyone who leads you to unite with other religions that believe these lies about Jesus is also a deceiver. The apostle John gave us a simple formula to identify such a purgerer in 1 John 4:2-3…"Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." Question everything and everyone, and pray that your church leaders return to the authority of Scripture for every issue of faith. I love my pastor but if he ever teaches something that contradicts the bible I'll take it as a red flag. Remember, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;" - 1 Timothy 2:5. This man Jesus Christ wrote a book we should read called "The Holy Bible". 

• It is important that the perplexities of the Bible do not intimidate you from reading it! There is no excuse not to read God's word. Even if the internet and the multitudes of books that make it comprehensible disappear, the true teacher of His own word, the Holy Spirit, will NEVER leave us! "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." - John 14:26

• It is important to come to terms with the fact that you may have already been deceived, over the years, into believing a watered down or embellished gospel.  If so, get over it quickly so that you can begin to seek the truth, without ceasing. 

• Finally, of utmost importance, if you have not yet done so, you must accept God's gift of salvation. It is not enough to only believe it - one must receive it! Aloud, tell Jesus that you accept him as your Savior.

The desire to hang with the 'in' crowd does not exist in teenagers alone; we all want to fit in. Yet this emerging church, or united religion, which we must separate ourselves from, will surely appear to be the cool as well as the smart crowd. This crowd's desire to unite humanity and protect the environment it lives in will project them to be not only kind and giving, but wise and enlightened. We know from Paul what will become of us if we fall into this trap… "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools" - Romans 1:22 Fools for sure, as some will even buy into the idea that aliens are coming to bring us closer to God. Of course we can coexist with people of other faiths, but it is a very dangerous thing to think that we need to worship with them. We need to take a stand and forever proclaim that Jesus is, as Simon Peter put it when our Lord himself asked him, "The Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16) Where will we put our trust - in an intact dinghy or a grand ship full of holes?  Let us take the leap of faith now, while we still can, into the unsinkable, complete and unaltered gospel of Jesus Christ! 

Please remember, BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, not a Bible scholar. If something doesn't look quite right to you, dig into God's word. The one thing I promise you is that you won't get bored! Many thanks to my friend Renee Driscoll, who helps me keep Bible Bait Biblically correct.

 Anonymous said...

Wow! Love the artwork, Tamara. You need to print this out and give it to everyone with a COEXIST bumper sticker on their car. Or give it to all the people who believe that every religion is right and they all lead to heaven. Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6 . Jesus was either a liar, a lunatic, or was and is indeed the Son of God. If you believe in many ways to get to heaven, then you just called Jesus a liar. Kick this to Oprah!

May 25, 2013 at 6:40 AM

 

What a Little Faith Can Do (Hebrews Chapter 11)

“Increase our faith” the apostles said unto the Lord. (Luke 17:5) Isn’t that funny - even the apostles who walked daily with the son of the living God needed to revive their faith now and then. For without faith, it is impossible to please our God. He told us so through the apostle Paul… But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) Oh boy is He ever a rewarder! God decided He would make it easy for us to study these rewards and the people who earned them by making Hebrews chapter 11 the ‘SparkNotes’ of faith. Take ten minutes today to read this short chapter, and my guess is you will find yourself asking God to increase your faith as well!

An Easy Way to Glorify God

Glorify God today - it's easy! When someone asks you how you are doing, respond with, "God has blessed me more than I deserve!" If things are not going so well, you can still use the same response, or say, "Not so well, but God will get me through it - He always does!"

Jesus is the Anchor of the Soul!

God has put it on my heart to memorize more of His words, and since I am a visual learner, I make graphics like this and the last post and put them on my refrigerator. I thought maybe you would want to do the same!

Fear Thou Not!

Please pray for all the Christians being persecuted all around the world. God really is with them, He told us so...

How Can You be Sure the Bible is the Real Deal?

Once upon a time, I used to believe in the New Testament, but not the Old. The Old Testament to me was a collection of significant yet fictional stories. Incredible stories actually, like the one where just two people populate the entire world, or the one where a five hundred year old man builds a boat big enough to hold two of every animal and cruise the flooded Earth. For some reason I could wrap myself around the fact that God could create the world out of nothing, but not do with it what he wanted. 

This view changed with one trip to the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. As you walk in there is a sign that says, "Prepare to Believe". Quite full of myself I shouted out, "I'm already there, baby!" I wasn't so audible walking out the same door. In several hours I had become a true believer. 

Whether you fully regard the Bible as God's Word, are in total disbelief, or fall somewhere in-between, let's look at some FACTS…

• 150 million Bibles are printed every year. To put this into perspective, the third best selling book of all time, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien has only sold as many to date. I realize this doesn't prove the Bible's authenticity, but don't you wonder why so many people are reading it?

• Although the Bible is a collection of 66 books, written by some 40 authors, over a period of 2,000 years, it has perfect unity and consistency throughout. There is a remarkable structural and mathematical pattern throughout that could not have been by chance, or conceived by humans.

• No one has ever been able to identify a single historical mistake anywhere in the Bible.

• There have been more than 25,000 archaeological finds relating to the Bible, and not one has contradicted anything in the Scriptures. Did you know that all fossils found have been either fully ape or fully human? Evolution has more holes in it than a bone with osteoporosis, and has been disproved by the scientific community.

And last but not least..(Warning: Do not read if you do not want to believe.)

• The Bible has hundreds of detailed prophecies, of which every one of them has come true in the minutest detail. (The only ones that haven't happened yet are those that are foretelling in detail Christ's return, which looks to be right around the corner!)

A friend who obviously loves me once told me this: The Bible is the Mouth of God - just open it to hear Him speak!

The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel

Is the Bible True? by Jeffery L. Sheler

http://creationmuseum.org/

Please remember that BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, not a theologian.

Am I Saved? What does it mean to be Born Again? Who are we REALLY?

Are you a good beeber, or a bad beeber? This is what my daughter asked everyone when she was four. We never found out what a beeber actually was, because all anyone could do was to quickly and wholeheartedly respond to her question with, "A good beeber, of course!" 

We all want to be good. It's just so hard sometimes. Up until recently I would typically cut myself a break, because my belief was that deep down inside, I was only human. I thought that if I reached far enough outside of who I am, I could get ahold of a better me. My reach always came a bit short. 

Recently and thankfully, the Bible has brought to my attention how dead wrong I was about who we really are. We don't have to reach out to be more like Christ, but in. Better yet, we just have to 'be'. We became our better selves the moment we first believed. How precious did that Grace appear indeed! 

We were born into sin, as we were born in the image of Adam. (Adam and Eve were the only ones born in the image of God, but lost God's image in the fall; hence the need for a rebirth.) Unbelievers are blinded by the lies of satan who is the god of this world, (2 Corinthians 4:4) and lovers of darkness rather than light. (John 3:19) 

Once we are saved (believe with all our heart that God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, and raised Him from the dead) God indwells us with His Holy Spirit and we are born again. (John 3:3) By doing so, He opens our heart so that our eyes can see and our ears can hear the truth. (John 16:13) The truth swallows up the lies (John 1:5) and is so awesome that we want to come out into the light to see more.

As believers born again in Christ, we are God's adopted children, whom He has given the same eternal and perfect love He had for his Son Jesus. Our new identity is forever flawless! (Romans 6) No longer do we have to strive to be precious in his eyes…we already are! What we do does not make us people of God, being people of God should make us do what we do. Most unfortunately we still have our humanity with all of it's temptations and lies hanging around. Yet the truth of who we really are is ample fuel to give our human engines all the love, joy and peace we need while still here on this Earth. 

Which brings us to the best part yet…when we shed our decaying bodies at our death, and get to finally live in eternal bliss with our Lord and Savior. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

I like to think my daughter was actually a child evangelist, who would ask people if they were a good believer, or a bad believer. I know I want to be a good believer, and am very happy to have learned that it is not only within my reach, but if I truly rest in Christ, it is within me.

Please remember, BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, not a Bible scholar. If something doesn't look quite right to you, dig into God's word. The one thing I promise you is that you won't get bored! 

Many thanks to my Bible study friends who proof-read BIBLE BAIT every week.  

What is The Rapture all about?

Warning: The poster design is the only cute thing about this post. The rest is dead serious.

THE RAPTURE

"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: 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)

"In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1Corinthians 15:52)

"I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left." (Luke 17:34-36) 

The rapture is when saved Christians are "caught out" or "carried away" by Jesus Christ out of this world. We will meet Him, and all the believers that have died and went to heaven, in the air with our new and glorified bodies. In an instant, mass amounts of people from all around the world will vanish. Although there are several different perspectives of when the Rapture takes place in correlation with the tribulation, the most literal Biblical interpretation and widely accepted view is as written in this post. The one thing all Bible believers agree on, is that it will be very soon! As always, I encourage you to dig into God's word to search for your own belief. "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." (Psalms 118:8, which happens to be at the actual center of the Bible!)   

THE TRIBULATION

"And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them." (Revelation 9:6)

After the Rapture, there will be a seven-year period period in which the world, now existing without true believers in Christ, will experience hardships, disasters, famine, war, pain, and suffering, which has been predicted will wipe out more than two-thirds of all life on the earth before the second coming of Jesus takes place. It is God's last call to save his beloved Jewish people as a nation."For then shall be great tribulation," Jesus tells us, "such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." (Matthew 24:21)  God will allow people to be fooled by Satan, in the form of the Antichrist, into believing such far fetched things as an alien abduction of the Christians. The first three and a half years will appear to be quite peaceful. It is the last three and a half years, known as the Great Tribulation, that will be hell on Earth. Jesus told us that sin like that of the times of Noah and Lot will prevail, and then went on to say, "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." (Luke 17:30) Paul warns us in 2 Thessalonians 2:12 "That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 

Although the suffering will be immense and evil will abound, there is still a chance for souls to be saved, but the numbers will be few. Four accounts of the tribulation period can be found in Revelation chapters 4 through 19.

THE ANTICHRIST

“Know thy self, know thy enemy. A thousand battles, a thousand victories.” -Sun Tzu,  The Art Of War. 

It is hard to believe, but our enemy, the Antichrist, will be a welcomed vision by many. This one-world political leader will overtake peacefully, solve the problems of the world, and even form a covenant of peace with Israel, which will mark the beginning of the tribulation. (Daniel 9:27) Yet he is indeed Satan, who so covets God's power that he copies His every move. He even presents himself as an un-holy trinity, being the Dragon as the father, the Beast as the son, and the False Prophet as the unclean spirit. The False Prophet will be the one-world religious leader. The Antichrist, or Beast as the son, will preach 42 months, exactly as long as Christ preached. (Revelation 13:5)  He will have many names, but the one that you may be the most familiar with is The Son of Perdition, Judas Iscariot. (Revelation 17:8 and John 6:70 &17:12 )

Satan will be so good at mimicking Christ that people will actually think he is Christ! Jesus even warned us, "Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 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." (Matthew 24:23&24) 

Things will quickly go very wrong when the Beast demands worship, and forces people to take his mark. 

THE MARK OF THE BEAST

"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: 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." (Revelation 13:16&17) 

The mark of the beast is predicted to be a tiny computer chip, implanted just beneath the skin, that has all your digital information and banking on it. You will not be able to purchase your allotment of food and water without it. Some predict it may be an attractive tattoo that most people will have and flaunt. They will get great rewards for receiving it. It will be very hard to resist, and not just because it will be the only way to make purchases.  Researchers from the University of Chicago have found that even today people have a harder time resisting new gadgets than any other desire, including the urge to eat, sleep, shop, and have sex. This is apparent when you see how busy the Apple store is at 8:00 in the morning!

If you don't worship the beast and receive his mark, you will either be beheaded or slowly starve to death. "…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…" (Revelation 20:4) 

If you get the mark of the beast, God’s complete wrath will be poured out on you. “…If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 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…” Revelation 14:9,10

HOW TO SURVIVE THE TRIBULATION

If you are caught in the tribulation, (and I pray you are not!) you will have to decide whether you want the wrath of Satan, or the wrath of God. Satan's wrath will cause you to lose your food, or your head. God's will cause you to lose your eternity.  Therefore, surviving in the tribulation will basically consist of allowing yourself to die. Remember at this point we are talking about the survival of your soul. Surely if you have heard of all these detailed predictions of terror from your Christian friends, and come to live them, you will also have come to believe in the one who saved your Christian friends from them - God! A note of WARNING - Many Bible scholars believe that if you have heard the gospel and rejected it that your soul will not survive the trib. Here is the Bible reference: "And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12)

You must NOT take the mark of the beast!!! This is an irreversible damnation to Hell and the most horrible Lake of Fire, where for an eternity you wish you could just die, but cannot. 

You must NOT deny Jesus!!! Know that the greatest and most honored reward from our Savior is the Crown of Life. "Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (Revelation 2:10)

Reach for a Bible, preferable the Authorized, not the revised, King James Version.  Many of the new Bible versions are set up to confuse people in these end times. (See earlier post "How to Choose a Bible") While food, water and guns would be nice to have during the tribulation, the only effective survival tool will be the Word, also referred to as the Sword of God. Read in Ephesians 6:10-17 about the armor of God and put it on!  

HOW TO AVOID THE TRIBULATION

If religion doesn't 'take' with you, as one friend put it, consider this - Ask God to help you to believe. I know, asking someone you don't even think exists any question is a stretch, but just try it. You really have nothing to lose. After you ask, very closely examine your feelings. Are you being tugged at to learn more about God, whether you believe in Him or not? Have you always longed for something 'more'? I beg you not to ignore this invitation.

When you are ready, which hopefully will be soon if you want to avoid the tribulation, you must articulate your belief. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." (Romans 10:9&10)  Believe in your heart, and proclaim aloud, "Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross, and rising from the dead as full and complete payment for my sins. Then rest in the assurance of your salvation! 

The Holy Spirit will open your eyes and shed light on oh so many truths. Like many others who believe, you will not only no longer fear living in this God-forsaken world, but be more than ready to exit it. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9) The next time someone mentions the Rapture, you might just reply, "Bring It On!"

Please remember, BIBLE BAIT is written by a novice Bible study student, not a Bible scholar. If something doesn't look quite right to you, dig into God's word. The one thing I promise you is that you won't get bored! Many thanks to my Bible study friends who proofread for me every week.