Is there going to be a rapture????

[Sean]

Originally Posted by shazeep

i would agree that in the 'seen,' this might prove to be true; but i wonder if we aren't using the wrong definition for 'israel' in this context, which may very well turn out to be israel's spiritual descendants, that is to say 'living stones,' and not the nation itself. While i surely can't prove this, i reiterate that many believers now doubt that the extant 'nation' of israel has anything to do with the 'fig tree budding' of Scripture.

i was raised in that belief, but have come to doubt it quite strongly myself.

I understand completely your feelings, but I personally must try to look at these passages in their original context as seen through the writers themselves. In my opinion, the safest place to be in eschatology is to minimize any outside symbolisms or applications as much as possible. Sometimes they are necessary, but if you open that door, it is up to random endless reinterpretations with man as the final interpreter.

The way I teach prophecy, I use very little explanation and present the passages in their original intent. My style is to just help guide the student to see the passage clearly for themselves,with their own bible, without me "indoctrinating" them with my personal ideas.


Remember this...there is only ONE interpretation to a passage, but MANY applications. The trap we can easily fall into is to make one of the applications into the actual interpretation.(thats how false doctrine gets started in the beginning stages)