The Magnifying Glass

For the past few months, politics have been percolating in Israel as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been fighting off accusations of corruption and defending himself against attacks from left-wing opponents (reminds me of another world leader I know). Last December, in the heat of this ongoing political turmoil, Netanyahu dissolved the Knesset and called for early elections. Originally scheduled for November 2019, elections were moved up to April 9, just over a week away at the time of this writing.

When the above-mentioned political percolating kicked in last year, the Trump administration was still agonizing over when to announce its Israeli-Palestinian Deal of the Century. Trump had long been tantalizingly all concerned by dangling potential dates under everyone's noses, searching for just the right time to release The Plan—the Magic Moment that would maximize its chances of success.

Of course, with Netanyahu surrounded by a pack of snarling wolves and forced to mount an all-out effort to get himself re-elected in April, delaying the announcement of the peace plan yet again was a no-brainer for the Trump team. After all, presenting the plan while one of its main proponents was fighting for his political survival was not exactly the Magic Moment the Trump administration had in mind.

But snarling wolves or no, Benjamin Netanyahu is still popular with the people of Israel, and barring any last minute surprises it would appear he will be successful in remaining Israel's Prime Minister. At least that's what the polls are indicating at the moment.

So, here's the plan for The Plan:

Wait until Benjamin Netanyahu has been gloriously re-elected on April 9 and handed a shiny new mandate from the Israeli people. Then, while he bathes in the glory of being magnificently reaffirmed as Israel's invincible leader who enjoys unprecedented friendship with and support from the United States, announce the peace plan in the afterglow and hope key Arab leaders can successfully coerce Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to play ball by twisting his arm.

Or breaking his legs.

Now, as I'm sure many of you reading this know, the Tribulation is launched by the confirmation of a seven-year treaty with Israel:

And it is apparently one that divides the land God gave them:

And it is apparently made with their sworn enemies, and ultimately with Satan who controls them:

And the Palestinians would certainly qualify as Israel's sworn enemies. Their national charter openly and unabashedly calls for the delegitimization and destruction of Israel:

And dividing the land of Israel with her sworn enemies is precisely what the Trump administration's plan would accomplish, in one form or another (as would virtually any species of two-state solution under any president). As a result, many a prophetic eye has been focused on this plan since it was a glimmer in Trump's eye prior to his election.

Many students of Bible prophecy know that this plan could very well be the treaty spoken of by the prophet Daniel. It has all the scriptural earmarks, and seems to be coming at what would have to be considered the right prophetic time frame. There's almost no getting around that. So it's certainly no stretch to assume that the treaty of Daniel 9:27, the implementation of which launches the Tribulation, will be some form or variant of the peace deal currently being spit shined by the Trump team, if not the deal itself as is.

Oh, and the Rapture must occur before that treaty is implemented.

I almost forgot...which is a little embarrassing because that's the topic of this article: the Rapture, or at least the eager anticipation thereof by those who are obeying Christ's command to watch.

Speaking of those who are obeying Christ's command to watch...you know, I almost titled this article "Here We Go Again," and probably would have were it not for the fact that I've managed to pretty well flush that particular strain of snarkosis out of my system.

The reason the phrase "here we go again" crossed my mind is the fact that there are many people out there who are looking at Trump's impending announcement of his Israeli-Palestinian peace deal and presuming to tie the timing of the Rapture to it, as if the Church must surely be due to be snatched away on April 10, as soon as Trump makes the announcement. Or shortly thereafter. Maybe May. Or June. Do I hear July?

But they're not setting dates or anything. In other words:

It seems to have triggered another outbreak of REV12itis.

Remember that? Sure you do. Believers by the thousands were doing handsprings on their front lawn in anticipation of September 23, 2017 and the Rapture occurring on or near that date, due to what was in effect the astronomical confirmation of the great sign of Revelation 12:1–2.

Let me repeat that for clarity: The stellar-planetary alignment that occurred on September 23, 2017 wasn't literally the sign of Revelation 12:1–2, in spite of the fact that many often casually refer to it that way, yours truly included. More precisely, it was the astronomical confirmation of the sign of Revelation 12:1–2. But however you want to refer to it (and I'm not sure it matters all that much at this point), the bottom line is that legions of people went absolutely gaga over it as a date to pin the Rapture to.

Since a lot of people are starting to do it all over again in regard to the upcoming announcement of Trump's peace deal, it begs the question:

Why do so many prophetically
aware believers keep doing this?

In other words, why do so many believers who are knowledgeable about the end-time scenario continue to be so single-mindedly focused on the event of the Rapture that they look at every potentially significant thing that occurs and insist on trying to time the Rapture accordingly?

First of all, relax. I'm not out to criticize or attack anyone. I've said my peace concerning those who sensationalize Rapture dates, and I'm not going to bother doing it again. Been there, ain't goin' back—done that, ain't doin' it again. The people who do that will continue to do so no matter I say, so I may as well save my breath and ignore them and their dates—dates they tirelessly crank out page after page of calculations to come up with.

I just want to briefly consider the underlying phenomenon that I believe makes many believers do this—that makes them persist in engaging in feverish speculation about the date of the Rapture based on all manner of events, even ones of genuine prophetic significance. And it is simply this:

They're looking at the Rapture
through a magnifying glass.

Magnification 2000x

You all know what happens when you look at an object through a magnifying glass: The object you're looking at appears quite large, and all the other surrounding objects are relegated to the background where they invariably receive less attention, if any. And so it is with the Rapture for many believers.

There are many people today who are aware of the ongoing fulfillment of Bible prophecy and the congealing of the prophetic scenario who are eagerly anticipating the Rapture—and for good reason: Anyone with a lick of prophetic discernment knows we are getting excitingly close.

But one simple (and scripturally sound) fact remains:

We will never know the exact timing
of the Rapture in advance. Period.

End of conversation. Take it to the bank and buy a CD. And please, ask me if I care about what some self-appointed YouTube gurus have to say. I've discussed this before in previous articles, and have no desire to rehash it here. In spite of this fact, which can be amply supported from Scripture, many of us still have a tendency to look at the Rapture through a magnifying glass, as it were, and I guarantee you that I've been just as guilty of this as anyone. So, it's not like I'm out to carp at others who may do so. We're only human, and that includes me (on my good days).

But it's true that many of us have a tendency at times to focus so much on the event of the Rapture that it dwarfs and eclipses other important prophetic events or developments within other spheres of prophetic activity. We lose perspective. We lose that comprehensive framework into which we can fit the various pieces of the prophetic puzzle, including the Rapture. We lose sight of how the Rapture fits into the overall prophetic tapestry. All we see is RAPTURE and everything else fades into the background.

Just a reminder: The Rapture is just one part of the end-time scenario, and not even the most important part.

That honor belongs to the Second Coming of Christ to the earth to establish His Millennial Kingdom, hands down. (Just to be clear, I personally don't consider the events that follow the Millennial Kingdom as being part of what we ordinarily refer to as the "end-time scenario." But that's just me.)

Just to prove to you that I'm really not ragging on anyone for being overly focused on the Rapture, let me take you back to the Ascension:

It's 40 days after the Resurrection, and the disciples are gathered with Jesus on what many believe was the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives. (Some Bible scholars believe it is the exact same spot where Jesus will touch down at the Second Coming.)

Jesus tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the "promise of the Father," or the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the official conception of the Church. But the disciples weren't satisfied with that. Oh no. They were uncertain about what was going to happen next, and wanted to know more. They were focused on the kingdom. All they knew was Messiah equals kingdom, and they assumed the kingdom was right around the corner—it was what they had been anticipating for the entire time they had been with Jesus.

They were looking at the kingdom through a magnifying glass.

Everything that happened and everything they did was viewed through the lens of the kingdom. After the Ascension, it took years for them to begin to realize their sense of timing concerning the coming Millennial Kingdom had been skewed out of all proportion.

Only later did they begin to realize they had been so focused on the kingdom that they totally missed the fact that they were entering a brand new phase of God's program: the Church Age. Only later did they begin to realize they had effectively been viewing the kingdom through a magnifying glass. In fact...

Their magnification was set on 2000x.

So, if you have a tendency to view the Rapture through a magnifying glass, don't feel bad.

You're in mighty good company.

Just don't do it

After the REV12 Rapture mania began to wane a bit in late 2017, I did my own fair share of soul searching concerning what my attitude toward the Rapture should be, and I've made an honest effort to apply what the Holy Spirit impressed upon me from the Word.

Like most things in God's Word, it's simple. It's direct. The Holy Spirit doesn't mince words.

Our problem can be summed up in the Nike slogan "just do it."

Yeah, just do it...because all too often we just don't do it. Now, I'm not even going to pretend I'm telling anyone out there something they don't already know. But maybe it's a good time for some of us to think a little more deeply about this. There are several verses of Scripture I could mention, but I'm only going to discuss one. It says all that needs to be said.

It's the Parable of the Ten Minas (Luke 19:11–27), where a nobleman has left each of ten servants the same sum of money to invest while he is away. Upon his return he finds the servants have all done well to varying degrees in earning more money on the sum they were given, except the last guy who did nothing at all with it. The other servants are rewarded, and the last guy is punished. But note the nobleman's initial instructions:

The Greek word translated "occupy" in the above verse is a form of the word pragmateuomai, and this is the only place in Scripture where this word is used. The word pragmateuomai means "to use to good account; to manage or administer the capital or assets at your disposal in a profitable or otherwise gainful, worthwhile manner." It is based on the noun pragma (a necessary matter; that which is practical), and you've probably already guessed that this is where we get the English word "pragmatic." In other words:

"Occupy yourself with pragmatic affairs until I return."

That is, do your job. Without getting into an in-depth analysis of the entire parable, let me just say that I am of the opinion that the basic underlying principle can certainly be constructively applied to the Church. Now, I'm going to let you make your private peace with how pragmatic you think it is to engage in strained, useless speculation over the date of the Rapture every time some event of perceived significance occurs.

'Nuff said.

I'm going to bring this in for a relatively short-and-sweet landing compared to my usual offerings, and that's because I can sum up what the Lord has impressed on me in a four-word Nike-ism. In regard to frenzied speculation concerning the date of the Rapture over every event that comes along:

Just don't do it.

Put the magnifying glass away. Wait, check that—don't put it away, just focus it on things other than the event of the Rapture.

Focus your magnifying glass on living a life pleasing to the Lord. Focus it on living a life characterized by repentance and obedience to the voice of the Spirit that we hear through the Word. Focus it on purifying your life as you look forward to the blessed hope of the catching away of the Church. Focus it on dealing with whatever practical matters the Lord has given you to deal with. Focus it on waiting actively for the Lord to take us to be with Him, which He will soon enough. Focus it on not allowing yourself to be distracted by agonizingly pointless speculation over something the Bible tells us point blank we will never know in advance.

But is it wrong or irresponsible in some way for believers to think about the Rapture and look forward to it with eager anticipation? Absolutely not! In fact, we are told to do that in Scripture and promised a crown of righteousness for doing so (2 Tim. 4:8). But Scripture makes it equally clear that we are to wait actively, which means we are to focus our attention on doing our jobs.

Focus

Those who are excitedly counting on the Rapture to follow on the heels of Trump's announcement of his Deal of the Century would do well to bear a couple of things in mind:

Maybe Benjamin Netanyahu won't be re-elected on April 9. Maybe fresh allegations or some other unforeseen events will torpedo his tenure as Prime Minister of Israel, in spite of Trump's help.

Maybe Trump's deal will fall short of expectations and end up being seen as unworkable or untenable to one or more key players. Keep in mind that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has all but openly sworn to reject whatever Trump comes up with sight unseen, and maybe two broken legs administered by the likes of Prime Minister Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia won't be sufficient to dissuade him from doing exactly what he has promised to do.

Plus, it is entirely possible that this deal will fizzle like all the others because perhaps the circumstances under which Daniel 9:27 can be fulfilled won't even exist until after the Rapture takes place. Ever think of that? Many of us have been casually assuming we're going to see this deal coming like an oncoming car with its high-beams on—that God is going to totally telegraph what He's doing so that we'll all see it coming. But maybe He isn't and maybe we won't.

The point is that things may not work out quite the way many think they will. (Do they ever?) And what do we do then?

I'll tell you what we don't do. We don't focus on another Rapture date. We don't try to time the Rapture to yet another upcoming event on the agenda. We don't move the goal posts again.

We don't keep looking at the Rapture through a magnifying glass.

And by the way, when I speak of the Rapture here, I'm focusing more on the event itself—not just the idea that we will be in heaven with Jesus. I don't necessarily mean the Rapture as in "I can't wait to get to heaven," I mean the Rapture more as in "I can't wait to get the heck outta here."

Let's have a show of hands: How many of you have ever caught yourself thinking thoughts along the following lines:

"Gosh, I sure hope the Rapture happens before...
...the store where I work closes and I lose my job."
...my kids are ready to attend univer$$$ity."
...some liberal left-wing idiot gets in the White House."
...my periodontal disease gets any worse."

Ad infinitum, ad absurdum. Yeah? Well, listen up and listen good, because I have only one thing to say to you: Welcome to the club.

At the end of the day, I'm no different from most of you. I want the Rapture to happen today. I really do hope Netanyahu gets re-elected, Trump announces his peace deal, Abbas caves, the two-state solution becomes a reality, and bada bing, bada boom...we're outta here faster than you can say "Welcome to East Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine." (And if I dwell on that much longer, I'm liable to bust loose and do a few handsprings myself.)

But none of us knows if things will work out that neatly. Hey, if they do, great! I got dibs on a window seat on the first load up.

But if they don't (and they might not), and the prophetic scenario continues to unfold according to the perfect plan and sovereign will of a holy, omniscient God, that's just fine and dandy with me—and I'm as serious as a tax audit.

That's more I can do for the kingdom. That's more I can purify my life to be more pleasing to my Heavenly Father. That's more I can do to strengthen and edify other believers. That's more people I can influence with the life-changing and eternity-altering message of the gospel. That's more I can digest His Word through the illumination of the Holy Spirit. That's more I can grow in the peace and joy of knowing and abiding in Christ.

And the same goes for you...can I get an amen? Last time I checked, these were the types of things we were supposed to be doing. The point I want to leave you with is that no matter how close the Rapture may actually be, none of us knows just how much longer we have remaining—and that's exactly how the Father ordained for it to be. Why?

Because He wants us to focus our magnifying glass on Christ.

Greg Lauer — MAR '19

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 MAR '19 

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