Charles Cooper builds a composite of the rapture by bringing relevant Biblical texts together. This presentation was given last October in O’Fallon Missouri at an eschatology forum.
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PHOTO of Israeli Soldier with Auschwitz Number on Arm
Original caption: 1948- Jaffa, Israel- : He used to be No. 80620 in the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp. The number is indelibly stamped in his forearm for the world to see. But now he is a free man and he has a gun to defend his freedom. He is Aaron Stern, fighter with Israel’s Haganah, who is shown on guard at Jaffa’s Manshiem Quarter. Hundreds of other ex-numbers fight in Haganah for the precious thing whose value they learned behind barbed wire.
The most recent issue of The Quarterly Journal of Military History has as its feature story a piece by Benny Morris on Israel’s 1947-1948 Civil War. It was an instructive read.
This summer I am hoping to find time to read his recent major work, 1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War (It is in hardcover as well).
There are a handful of historical reasons why after three hundred years the Church overall shifted away from premillennialism to amillennialism. Historian Richard Kyle encapsulates one of the most significant reasons:
“The rejection of apocalyptic [pre]millennialism [by later church fathers] must be seen in its proper context. Constantine had been converted to Christianity in 312, thus ending the persecution of Christians. The hope for the imminent* return of Christ remained strong as long as Christians were a persecuted minority. But when Christianity became the official religion in the Roman Empire during the fourth century, these [pre]millennial aspirations either declined or took new forms” [particularly amillennialism, which was promulgated by Augustine’s teaching] (The Last Days are Here Again Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 1998, pp. 20, 38-39)
(*By “imminent,” the early Church did not believe in what is popularly known today as the pretribulational sense of the term. That is, pretribulationists believe that Christ’s return cannot be imminent if prophesied events must occur before the rapture. The early Church held to the opposite (and Biblical) sense of the term in that the rapture was only imminent when certain events must occur first, such as the rise of Antichrist and the Great Tribulation—and that is exactly the Prewrath position.)
Click here to download a PDF for an excellent article, which unpacks other historical reasons for the emergence of Amillennialism a few centuries after Christ. It is titled, “Amillennialism: Examining its ‘Origens'” by Gary Vaterlaus. In fact, send the PDF link to your Amillennial friends! I’d liked to really see Vaterlaus’ article circulate out there. His article does not deserve to be packed away in the dusty archives.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” – 2Cor 5:10 ESV
“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. (11) For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. (12) Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw– (13) each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. (14) If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. (15) If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” – 1Cor 3:10-15 ESV
There are five areas where we can gain crowns (στέφανος, stephanos):
Enduring Trials. “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” – James 1:12
Meeting the Needs of the Flock. “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” – 1Pet 5:4
Faithful Service to the Lord. “For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?” – 1Th 2:19
Victory Over the Sinful Nature. “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” – 1Cor 9:25
Loving his Appearing. “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” – 2Tim 4:8