With all the terrible events transpiring in Europe and Israel, Christians (mainly evangelicals) are in full-blown rapture mode. Dozens of YouTube channels about end-times prophecy pop up every day with all of their episodes carrying a call to salvation. These are certainly scary times; no doubt about it. We teeter closer than we ever have been to a total nuclear apocalypse and Israel faces enemies far more advanced than it ever has prior. We must remember though that all this rapture / Armageddon talk is based on a few books contained in the Jewish Bible and the Christian New Testament that are horribly misunderstood. In this post, we will look at two of the oft-cited apocalypse prophecies and what they actually meant to the original audience; something entirely different than they mean now.

Eschatology is the study of the “end of the world” as it applies to the fate of human-kind. Some of the most famous books in the Bible are eschatological in nature. In each case of eschatological books in the Bible and New-testament we must remember that the author was absolutely not writing with readers in the distant future in mind. They were written for their fellow believers in their own time during periods of great concern. They all contain symbolism and images that were readily understood by the reader as representative of the world around them. I would imagine it would be like today mentioning that a man “rolls in his Bugatti.” We know this man must certainly be rich based on being familiar with the status afforded to that brand of car and the sorts of people who often buy them. 2000 from now all the contextual nuance will certainly be lost. I shudder to think what the future readers will think that means!

A great example of this is found in Daniel 7. We know that Daniel 7 is not written about some event in the future but happenings that had already occurred in the author’s past. The author (the anonymous writer using the character of Daniel) was writing some 600 years after the events he chronicled. The is a very common occurrence in this period in history. The book describes the conquering of the Jewish people by four “beasts.” Spoiler Alert: each of the beasts were the various nations who conquered the Jews and the little horn is Antiochus Epiphaneus!

“Evangelical Christians in the 19th century came up with the idea of a “rapture”- that Jesus was soon to return to earth to take true believers out of it before the “tribulation” began.” -Dr. Bart Ehrman (Ehrmanblog.org)

The modern form of Christian Eschatology has not always been a feature of Christianity. Modern Christians often believe that their beliefs have been handed down to them largely unchanged from the time of the apostles but that is far from true. This fact impacts many aspects of all religions but Christian eschatology takes a hard hit. The belief of the rapture and the millenium etc is a relatively modern interpretation. It has popped up a few times in small areas prior throughout history but more Christians have died without it than have lived with it. It starts showing up as a popular interpretation in the 19th century and was wildly popular with American Protestants….as it still is.

It would come as a surprise to many modern Christians that the rapture is not a biblical concept. It is based on 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17

One can be forgiven for believing that this is a description of believers floating up to greet their savior but alas, tis not to be. It is basically an answer to the question posed to Paul by the church in Thessalonica about the fate of those who have already passed prior to the second coming; believed to be happening for them at any moment. Paul employs themes / images from Daniel 7 as well as the contemporary use of the concept of “air” to deliver his answer. They would be raised from the dead to welcome the messiah back to the earth…..not away from it.

Kurt Willems gives an excellent explanation of this HERE

It is very similar situation in the New Testament as in the book of Revelations. Renown Scholar Dr. Bart Ehrman in his book Armageddon; What the Bible Really Says About the End highlights many reasons that the book of Revelations should not be taken in the weighty prophetic way that many do. He notes that the book of Revelations itself was only (eventually) included in the Biblical Canon because of a misunderstanding during a theological argument about Arianism had at the time of the Council of Nicaea. Protestant hero and namesake of modern Lutherans ;Martin Luther, believed so strongly in Revelations being non-inspired that he left it completely out of the Bibles he used placing it in an appendix.

In closing, it is tempting to believe that the entirety of the Christian Bible and the religion in general were all written at / for our current age and generation and many of the current happenings may well seem to resemble what one sees recorded. It is extremely important that followers of the Christian faiths realise that the apocalyptic prophesies that motivate their beliefs have only been a part of the religion for less than the last 10 percent of its history. The closer we get in time to Jesus and the original writers of these prophecies, the more they are understood to be about the world around them during their own time. The 12 disciples certainly would not have known what the rapture was nor would the author of Revelation think that Putin is “Gog.” The end of the world may well be unfolding in front of us but is doing so at the hands of selfish idiots rather than divine prophecy. I am not sure if that is better or not.