What would it take to make you change your opinion of the end times? Would you ever change it even if you saw proof right in front of your eyes? The results of a recent poll should make you want to soberly think about that.
Currently, all of us have varied opinions of the end times based on our own interpretations of Bible prophecy. Many of us read the Bible and then we try to figure out what the prophecies mean. At this point in time, very few of us have seen any of those prophecies fulfilled before our eyes. But, a vast majority of end times prophecies have NOT been seen by anyone and are thus, unfulfilled. What that means is this, most or all of our end time opinions are based solely on interpretation and not confirmation.
This is kind of like arguing who is going to win the Super Bowl before the first game of the season has been played. You don't really know you don't know till the actual game is played. yeah the odds might be this or that, but when the game is played, then you know what the truth was. The same is true with the interpretations that we have of Bible prophecy. We can be wrong. For example, there are dozens of opinions on who the Antichrist is or which country, countries, or which international organizations or institutions make up Mystery Babylon!
During my life, I’ve changed my opinion on who Mystery Babylon is a couple of times. I’ve likewise had various thoughts on who the Antichrist might be. As I studied further and saw prophecies in different light, I’ve changed my mind based upon new information. As it pertains to the Rapture, I've changed my opinion on that twice. Here’s a kicker, did you know that there are five different Rapture positions? They are:
- No Rapture
- Pre-tribulation Rapture
- Mid-tribulation Rapture
- Pre-wrath Rapture
- Post tribulation Rapture
But here’s the problem, only one of those rapture position’s can be right! Only one person can be “The” Antichrist. There's only one mystery of Babylon! Everyone else is currently wrong.
But the day is coming when we can confirm our theories by sight as all the hundreds of end time prophecies are going to begin to be fulfilled. Jesus said when you see “these things!” And for some of us, we are going to see those things. The question is this, will you change your opinion of Prophecy based on what you see? All of us have become so accustomed to debating what will happen based on our interpretations. When these things that are prophesied actually start to happen, will we even recognize them when we see them because we were looking for someone or something totally different from what we expected?
For example, in a recent video by Bible Prophecy Teacher Nelson Walters, he discussed why he thought Prince Charles, now King Charles, won't be the Antichrist. However, to his credit, he ended that video by saying if Charles someday sits in a newly rebuilt temple of God and proclaims himself God as per second Thessalonians 2:4, then he would change his opinion. I think that being willing to change your mind about a theory you currently hold is a sign of humility. Holding on to a theory, grasping it even when you see something to the contrary, well, that is based on pride and pride goes Before Destruction. Pride is dangerous and I'm concerned because when I look at the prophetic Community today, all I see are arguments about who is right and who is wrong.
Christians are dividing themselves into tribes that war against each other. There’s the pre-tribulation tribe vs. the post-tribulation tribe and the Roman Antichrist tribe versus the Muslim Antichrist tribe. But that is not how the Bible prophecies are written! They are written as a series of signs that we are meant to see and then we can know what is true over what is all speculation. I am worried that many in the prophetic Community are so entrenched in their theories and their tribes that they forget that these are only theories, not facts. This type of pride is very dangerous because it can make someone ignore the very warning signs given in the Bible. The very things that God gave us to prepare us for the end times.
What I'd like to do here is ask all of you this:
If you saw a particular prophetic event happen that runs counter to your theory, would it make you change your mind?
Now please understand right up front that the reason why I am discussing this doesn't have anything to do with what Rapture theory is correct. It has nothing to do with proving who is right or wrong. The church is split about 50 50 on a pre-trib vs. the other Rapture theories so, no matter who is right the other half is wrong. That is what concerns me. What happens to the 50 percent that are wrong? Hopefully we realize our error before it's too late. We should all think ahead about what kind of prophesied event if we saw it would tell us that we were wrong just as I did earlier with the King Charles discussion.
For instance, if you are a pre-wrath believer, you should be prepared to meet your maker any day be that via Rapture or be that via your own demise. So, if you heard the trumpet of God and began to ascend into the air to see Jesus prior to a lot of the other events you think should happen first, you would know right off the bat that you were mistaken about rapture timing. I’m fairly certain that you would be happily mistaken, as you ascended to see your lord knowing you had lived your life in such a way that you would hear God say: “Well done good and faithful servant” because you were ready every day to meet your maker.
In the same way, if you were a post-trib Rapture believer and Jesus appeared in the clouds before a single trumpet or bowl judgment, you would know you were mistaken, again very happily mistaken. But, what if you're a pre-trib Rapture believer? What event happening might make you change your mind about Rapture timing? What would it take to make you think that you'd have to endure the tribulation? There are a plethora of possibilities!
We all have an opinion, but when we're confronted with a prophetic event that shows us our view is wrong, would we then change our mind? This is a very important question. It's more important than an academic exercise for our churches because by definition facing the Antichrist is going to require preparation! Jesus said you also be ready because “the son of man is coming at a time you don't expect” Matthew 24:44. We have to be ready for any and all contingencies because what's going to happen is something we aren't going to expect as per Jesus.
Let's take a brief moment to talk about the idea of preparation in general. Think about King David and how he prepared to fight the Giant Goliath. He didn't realize he was preparing but he was. David was a shepherd and every day he took a shepherd's slingshot out with him when he took out his sheep. I'm sure he spent hours and hours slinging stones at Targets until he was pretty good with a slingshot. I mean the shepherd is probably a pretty boring job most of the time. But then one day David encountered a lion and he killed it. Another day he encountered a bear and he killed it also.
So, on the day he fought Goliath, he didn't expect to fight a giant. He was taking bread to his brothers. But, he was ready. When he heard the giant taunting the Israelites, he knew he could take him down with God's help. David told King Saul “your servant has struck down both lions and bears and this uncircumcised philistine shall be like one of them for he has defied the armies of the Living God” 1 Samuel 17:36. Practice makes perfect. David wasn't expecting to face a giant that day or any day. I mean, it probably never entered his mind he would fight a giant, but he was ready by living his life in such a way that he was prepared to do it.
Jesus spoke a similar parable at the end of The Sermon on the Mount: “everyone then who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rains fell and the floods came the winds blew and beat on the house” sounds like a pretty big storm, maybe even a tribulation type storm, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the Rock Matthew 7:24-26. Notice another reference to practicing a lifestyle of being ready: “He who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice” and you know what happened to the foolish Builder don't you? The one who didn't practice?
This is the essence of preparing for the last days, practicing for tougher times to come, the storms of the end times are just like weather storms. They come up out of nowhere unexpected and require applying what we've already practiced. What if David faced the giant without years of slingshot practice? My suggestion is that you prepare regardless of your “Rapture Theory” opinion because that's the safest route. Just prepare, if you're correct no harm has been done. If you're wrong, hey you're already ready for it, you've practiced.