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April 9, 2016 - Jim Bakker Show
28:31
Michael Snyder: 'The Case for a Post-Tribulation Rapture'
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Today's Special Guest 00:02:26
Hello, everybody, and welcome to today's episode of Revelation in the News.
Today, we have a very special guest that for the most of his life believed in the pre-tribulation rapture.
That as Christians, we'll be out of here for that seven-year tribulation period where all hell is breaking loose in the world.
And it's because he read books by the most famous preacher of experts in the world.
He watched their television shows and he purchased their conference DVDs like many of you and I probably have.
Yet, there were always passages in the Bible that troubled him.
The same ones that probably trouble you.
Yet he did what many of us do, and he naturally assumed that the experts knew more than we do, and that we should simply just accept them for what they were saying.
And he says that that was his big mistake.
I want to introduce you today, our special guest of Revelation in the News, Michael Snyder.
Michael, it's great to have you here with us at Revelation the News.
Thank you, Zach.
I'm so thrilled to be on Revelation in the News.
I've watched you do this show for quite some time, and I thought, wouldn't it be great to sit down with Zach sometime and do the show, Revelation of the News?
So I'm really excited to be here.
And I can tell you that it really is an honor for me to have you here on the show today.
You know, many of you know Michael Snyder's name, maybe from the author of the famous Economic Collapse blog or the end of the American Dream blog, and also host of the new TV show, The Watch.
But Michael, we brought you here on Revelation of the News today because I want to talk to you about your new book, The Rapture Verdict.
And I'm telling you right now that this book has been shaking me like none other.
I'm a reader.
I love to read and I love to study.
I read lots of books.
And I would honestly say in the past five years, the three most important books that I have read is The Harbinger by Rabbi Jonathan Kahn, The Islamic Antichrist by Joel Richardson, and now, and I kid you not, no fluff, The Rapture Verdict by you, by you, Michael Snyder.
It needs to be in every person's home.
You wrote this book that details why it's been changing my own views because I didn't believe this.
Why Write Controversially? 00:05:06
I believe something different.
But you believe we're going to be going through the full seven-year tribulation that we're not going to magically escape even as Christians.
This is controversial.
Yes.
I'm sure you're receiving a lot of flack for it.
You're going to receive a lot more flack for it.
What in the world made you want to write a book like this?
Yeah, why would anyone want to write a book like this, Zach?
Because it's going to make me a target.
People are going to be upset with me.
In fact, members of my own family who are very strongly pre-trib are not thrilled that I've written.
But, you know, there's a couple things.
One thing, Zach, is that for a very long time, you know, if someone came to me and they asked and they said, hey, Michael, you know, is there a book, is there a DVD that you could, you know, give to me that you could recommend that really just explains what the Bible really has to say about the rapture?
Because there's lots of rapture books out there, Zach.
There's dozens and dozens of them.
There's movies, there's DVDs, but almost all of them are from the pre-trib perspective.
And so what I have always been looking for and what people, you know, have been looking for is a book or DVD, some kind of resource that just really explains why Jesus is coming back after the tribulation.
And all this time, I knew of a few, a couple resources that made a few good points, but I never knew one that I could say, yeah, this really nails it.
It hits it out of the park.
And so I was frustrated.
I was like, why isn't there someone who's come out with a clear explanation of what the Bible really actually has to say?
And so that's been on my heart.
In fact, you know, when I was early in writing this book, I talked to you and Sasha about that, this because it was on my heart.
But then, but that wasn't alone enough to write the book.
But then God really put it very strongly on my heart that the things he's been teaching me and downloading into me for decades, literally, because I've been immersed in the world of Bible prophecy all my life, that now was the time to write this book, get this information out there, and I needed to do that.
And, you know, the funny thing is, is that the very first time I was ever on the Jim Baker show, the very first, you know, I came here to Morningside for the very first time.
I wasn't actually even supposed to be on the show.
You're supposed to be a seminar speaker, right?
Yeah, I was just here for a seminar.
And at the last minute, they brought me up onto the stage to, and John Shorey was the guest.
But if you remember that day, I was there as the economic guy to talk about economics.
And at the very last moment, okay, I'm up there and taping begins, and not the edited version, but the unedited version.
Jim Baker opens the show and he turns to me to ask the very first question.
And the very first question he ever asked me was about the rapture.
Wow.
And he didn't know me.
He didn't know me from the man in the moon.
But he directed that question to me.
And I believe now, looking back, that that was prophetic.
I believe it.
Because as much as I love to talk about economics and all these other things, and we'll talk about them some more on future shows, I'm sure.
I think much more importantly, even why he brought me here was to talk about this even more than economics.
You know, today's show might very well be the most important program that you've ever tuned into.
We're going to be discussing why is it a post-tribulation rapture theory?
How everything you knew about the tribulation may just be wrong.
You know, I can be a little stubborn.
You know, I'm not a fickle person.
Once I believe something, it's there until somebody really demonstrates a case otherwise.
And I believe your skills as a previous lawyer on K Street in Washington have really helped you write this book because it wasn't opinion.
It wasn't just simply, you know, impression, so to speak.
It was things that were in the Word of God.
There were so many passages that I never could quite understand.
And you cleared up for me and it's shaken me.
And I tell you, I'm not scared.
We shouldn't be scared about going through the tribulation because if we're ever scared or fearful, just a clear indication that our eyes are not focused on Jesus.
But we're going to be talking about in this program why it's a post-tribulation rapture view.
But to set the stage, I don't think we can even get into the discussion until we realize what the word paracea means and how it is important to be able to figure out when Jesus comes back.
Yeah, Zach, I had been doing research for this book, and I had, you know, I thought I was just about done.
I thought I had a pretty good book.
Yeah.
But apparently God felt otherwise because I'm there one night and all of a sudden, it wasn't an audible voice, but I got an extremely strong impression that I needed to go back and look at 1 Corinthians 15.
Final Trumpet Rapture 00:15:25
And I thought, 1 Corinthians 15 is already in my book.
I looked at it until I was blue in the face.
I was like, what in the world, God?
But sometimes, you know, we think we know it all, and then God can come along and humble us.
And this was one of those moments.
And so I picked up and I went to 1 Corinthians 15 and I said, okay, God, what do you want to show me?
And so, you know, I looked at the famous passage there at the end of 1 Corinthians 15 about how we're going to be caught up, how we're going to be raptured.
And, you know, it starts in verse 51.
Listen, I tell you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible will put on incorruption, and this mortal will put on immortality.
So I immediately went there thinking, well, that's what God wanted to show me.
And I already talked about the last trumpet in my book and, you know, how we see the series of trumpets and how that's related to the seventh trumpet in the book of Revelation.
And so I looked at that, but no, that's not what God wanted to show me.
So I thought, well, what else would He want to show me?
So I started looking through the rest of the chapter because the rest of the chapter, of course, is all about the resurrection.
It's all about the rapture because the rapture and the resurrection are the same thing.
In fact, the word rapture is not in the Bible.
That's right, yeah.
But most people understand what it is.
It's the resurrection of believers.
When believers that are dead are raised to life, those who are still alive are caught up in the air.
People commonly refer to that as the rapture.
So I use that term as well.
But so I started looking through the rest of this chapter and I came to the middle of the chapter and let's start in verse 20.
But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
For since death came by man, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order, Christ, the firstfruits, afterwards, those who are Christ at his coming.
Now that word coming there is the Greek word paracea.
There it is.
Zach.
And what the scripture is saying is that the resurrection of believers, the rapture, happens at the paracea.
Now this Greek word paracea, it's translated their coming, and it's most commonly translated that way in your Bible.
It's also sometimes translated as presence.
It can also be translated as arrival, or in the ancient Greek world, sometimes they translated this word as official visit.
In other words, for example, when the Pope visited the United States last year, in the ancient Greek world, they would have used this term paracea for it because basically the flavor of it is someone very, very important is coming, and they're doing so in an official capacity.
And so this scripture right here in 1 Corinthians says that the resurrection of believers is at the paracea.
The rapture is at the official visit of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So I thought, wow, I'd never seen that before.
That's quite interesting.
So, because it's basically telling us exactly when the rapture is going to be.
So, I thought, could there be other scriptures where this is being used?
So, I thought immediately I started doing a search.
And I thought, well, where else does it tell us about the paracea in the scriptures?
So, the next place that I looked at was 1 Thessalonians 4, because I saw it was a 1 Thessalonians 4.
That got my attention because that's about the most famous rapture passage in the entire Bible.
And so, let's take a look at 1 Thessalonians 4, starting in verse 14.
For if we believe that Jesus died and arose again, so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus.
For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming paracea of the Lord will not precede those who are asleep, for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so we shall be forever with the Lord.
So once again, just like in 1 Corinthians 15, it tells us the rapture is at the paracea.
Now here in 1 Thessalonians, it tells us the raptures at the paracea.
So we're seeing a pattern develop.
I was seeing a pattern develop.
I was like, this is very interesting because this is how God works.
There's patterns and there's cycles.
And so I thought.
So let that stay in your mind.
Everywhere you see paracea, you think rapture.
Paraceaez at in the New Testament, that is where you and I are out of here.
Yeah, and so I thought this is amazing because you know, a lot of times in English, sometimes things are a little vague or the translations, you lose something.
But often, if you look in the original language, it becomes exceedingly clear.
And so, you know, we know these passages, so there's a connection with the Paris and the rapture, but there's now other passages which I discover which gives us more specific details about the timing of this.
So let's look in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, because in this chapter, the word paraceae is actually used twice.
The first, starting in verse 1, 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, starting in verse 1.
Now, brothers, concerning the coming paracea of our Lord Jesus Christ and concerning our gathering together unto him, when does that happen?
The rapture.
So once again, we see the connection.
The paracea and the rapture discussed once again in conjunction with one another.
And then he continues, We ask you not to let your mind be quickly shaken or be troubled, neither in spirit nor by word nor by letter, coming as though from us, as if the day of Christ is already here.
Now, verse 3, it was such an important warning for the Apostle Paul's time, also such a key warning for our time.
In verse 3, do not let anyone deceive you in any way.
And unfortunately, in my perspective, we've been deceived today.
So let me read that again.
Verse 3: Do not let anyone deceive you in any way.
For that day will not come unless a falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of destruction who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself as God.
See, that is one of the many scriptures that had always puzzled me.
Is it that Christ would turn that the paracea, so to speak, where Christ returns and we are out of here?
That won't happen until the fallen away.
He just read that.
This is scripture.
Until the fallen away, and also until the antichrist himself is revealed.
That would mean that you and I, as Christians, as the saints, before Christ comes back and we're out of here, we're actually going to see the antichrist.
You can't deny this stuff.
It's written.
This is God's word.
Yeah, it's right in the word of God.
And they're saying there has to be certain things that happen first before the rapture happens.
There has to be the falling away.
There has to be the revealing of the Antichrist.
The Jewish temple has to be rebuilt because the Antichrist is going to go in there and proclaim himself to be God.
And it's referring to the abomination of desolation.
We're going to look at it in Matthew 24 in just a little bit.
But before we get there, let's finish up here in 2 Thessalonians 2 because the word paracea is used again.
If we skip down to verse 8, Zach, this is what it says.
It says, Then the lawless one will be revealed, the Antichrist, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his presence.
Now, that word presence there is also the Greek word paracea.
And so what's saying there is that the Lord is going to come back.
There's going to be a final confrontation with the Antichrist.
And the Lord is going to win that confrontation.
This final confrontation with the Antichrist takes place at the Paraceae.
Now, if you know the book of Revelation, does the final confrontation between Jesus and the Antichrist come before the tribulation?
No, of course not.
Does it happen in the middle of the tribulation?
No, no way.
The final confrontation between Jesus and the Antichrist is at the end of the tribulation.
And this passage here says it comes at the Paris, the Paraceaeus at the end of the tribulation, after the tribulation, immediately after the tribulation.
So we've laid all that groundwork because we want to look at Matthew 24 and how all this ties in, because it ties in perfectly.
That's right.
And so you've got to understand that everything he just said is one chapter of his book.
There's 37 chapters in his book.
And quite frankly, we're not going to have enough time today to go through every chapter.
But that one point before we get to Matthew 24, talking about 1 Corinthians 15, when at the last trump, the Lord is going to come back.
We'll be changed in the twinkling of an eye and all of that.
Everybody across the board, the pre-tribulation, the mid-tribulation, the post-tribulation people, we all believe that that verse in 1 Corinthians 15 is talking about the rapture.
That's whenever Christ comes back.
It says that we're raptured, the last trumpet, the dead are raised.
Now, what's so crazy?
It just seems like it's so, it's almost too simple.
So we have 1 Corinthians 15, we're caught up, we're raptured at the last trumpet, the dead are raised, okay?
So all you got to do, people, is to go to Revelation chapter 11, you find the final trump, the final trumpet, and then just read beneath those verses, and you're going to see within those verses, that is when the dead are raised.
That is whenever the servants are rewarded.
But when does that take place?
According to 1 Corinthians 15, at the final trumpet, Christ is going to come back and rescue us, so to speak.
And it gives a clear description of that in Revelation 11.
And it was always confusing to me, Michael, because I believe before your book that the rapture took place at Revelation 11 and the final trumpet, and it was somewhere we're going to be raptured somewhere in the middle of the tribulation.
You said that we're going to go through all seven years of the tribulation, but I also believe that we're raptured out at the seventh trumpet.
I thought to myself, how in the world can that be?
That's right in the middle of all the judgments.
For the basic Bible study here, you know, you have three categories of judgments in the book of Revelation: the seven seals, the seven trumpets, and the seven bulls.
So what you're saying is that from the very first seal to the very last trumpet, not counting the later bulls, but from the very first seal to the very last trumpet, that actually is seven years.
And that the full extent of God's wrath, so to speak, the bull judgments, are after the seven years.
And it's just a very quick time period where you can't understand it unless you understand the Jewish feast days, which we talk about here.
And that would actually take place, those 10 days with the bulls during the actual days of Ov.
But I was always troubled as well whenever I read Matthew 24, where it said that after the tribulation of those days, of what days?
And what is Matthew 24?
This is Jesus.
After the tribulation of those days is whenever I'm going to come and take my people home.
And can you explain that?
This is the big chunk.
This is the part where you need to pay attention of why this is a post-tribulation rapture.
Yeah, let's turn to Matthew chapter 24, and we're going to kind of fit in some of these pieces we've been talking about.
Because basically, Matthew 24, Jesus is giving an outline of the last days.
And in fact, if you look just at the beginning of the chapter of Matthew 24, the disciples of Jesus come to him on the Mount of Olives and they ask him, and they ask him about the paracea.
It's absolutely incredible.
If you look at Matthew chapter 24, verse 3, it says, as he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign of your coming?
That's, again, the Greek word paracea and of the end of the age.
So the disciples want to know when is the paraceaea going to be?
Wow.
And so Jesus then he goes in, he starts describing the signs that are coming, the wars and the rumors of wars.
He describes the earthquakes.
He describes the famines, all the things that are going to happen.
And then I want to pick up in verse 15, where Jesus said, So when you see the abomination of desolation, now this is referring to what we just looked at in 2 Thessalonians 2.
The Antichrist goes into the temple and defiles it.
And we know from Daniel chapter 9, this is the midpoint of the seven-year tribulation period.
There's only three and a half years left once this takes place.
And Jesus says, he says, so when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the holy place, let the reader understand.
Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Now, is Jesus saying, okay, the midpoint of the tribulation, the Antichrist goes in.
You know, is he saying, okay, just hold on a minute because I'm coming to get you because it's the middle of the tribulation?
No.
What Jesus is saying at that point, he's saying, those in Judea flee to the mountains.
And then he said, let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house.
Let him who is in the field not return to take his clothes.
Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse in those days.
Pray that your escape will not be in the winter or on the Sabbath.
So is Jesus talking to believers or unbelievers there?
When he says pray, he's talking to believers, instructing them to pray.
For then will be great tribulation.
The Greek word there is phlepsis.
Keep that in mind as we move forward.
Such as not happened since the beginning of the world until now, nor shall ever be.
So this abomination of desolation sets off a three and a half year period, war against the saints.
I've got a whole chapter about that in my book.
This three and a half years, the second half of the tribulation.
And Jesus is saying that this is going to be an absolutely horrible time.
But then skipping down to verse 29, Jesus says this, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the same Greek word phlepsis for tribulation we just saw.
Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened.
The moon shall not give its light.
The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens.
And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn.
They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And he'll send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet.
There's that trumpet again.
And they shall gather his elect from the four winds from one end of the heavens to the other.
But right before Jesus describes the rapture there, which comes, we see the trumpet again.
In verse 27, right before that, we see the Greek word paracea again, where it says, For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will the coming paracea of the Son of Man.
So that whole section I just described to you about Jesus is saying the rapture comes immediately after the tribulation of those days.
Noah And The Coming Storm 00:06:05
Well, Jesus just described, he just used the same Greek word in the original language, paracea, that we saw in all those other scriptures.
1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Corinthians 15.
Well, in Matthew 24, Jesus says, the paracea is right here at the rapture, immediately after the tribulation of those days.
But then that's not all.
Actually, the word paracea is used a couple more times in this passage.
And so let's skip down and let's start reading in verse 36 because Jesus isn't done with this section.
In verse 36, concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my father only.
As were the days of Noah, so will the paracea of the Son of Man.
For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah entered the ark and did not know until the flood came and took them all away.
So will the coming paracea of the Son of Man.
Two will be in the field.
One will be taken and the other left.
Two women will be grinding at the mill.
One will be taken and the other left.
And so we see here, kind of we've all seen the rapture movies where two people are there, one's taken, the other is left.
The raptures.
And so right here, Jesus once again connects the paracea, that word is used two times right there, with the rapture, where one person's taken, one person's left.
So we see the Lord Jesus Christ himself connects the paracea and the rapture here in Matthew 24.
He says, it's immediately after the tribulation of those days.
And that's why I entitled my book, The Rapture Verdict, because there's no debate.
The scriptures are very clear.
And Jesus told us himself, the rapture comes immediately after the tribulation, all the pieces put together.
And like you said, Zach, we're only able to cover a few pieces today, only a few nuggets from the book, but I've got 37 chapters in the book, the most comprehensive look at this that I've seen anywhere.
But I put it all together in this book, and people can get it from the Jim Baker ministry.
Yes, you can go to www.jimbakershow.com and order this new book, The Rapture Verdict.
Like you said, we covered about two and a half chapters of these 37 chapters, and it's been shaking me.
I mean, it really has.
This book has been shaking me.
It's been shaking what I believe these last few years.
And I believe that we can learn something from, we can't be so dogmatic.
We have to be open to new ideas.
And I think we can really learn something from types and parallels throughout the scripture.
I think we can learn something from Noah's life.
And we can learn something from Joseph's life.
You see, I also, before I get there, in the book of Daniel, it talks about how knowledge will be increased.
I don't think that's just talking about technology.
I believe it's the knowledge of the word of God.
I believe that new things about the knowledge of the Lord is going to be unlocked in the end times.
And I believe this is one of those things that is more new to many of your ears.
And he sets a case like I've never heard before.
But if you think about Noah and if you think about Joseph, the Lord told them what was coming beforehand and they prepared to go through the storm.
God did not rapture Noah out of the storm, okay?
And God did not rapture Joseph out of the storm.
They prepared and by them preparing, their preparations made it so that they were being able to sustain themselves through the storm.
I want to encourage you today to go and order the rapture verdict by Michael Snyder.
We have about two minutes left, Michael.
Is there any closing thoughts that you want to give to the people today?
Yeah, there's one more thought I wanted to share because, you know, in past days, people said, well, I believe this, you believe that, and it'll all work out in the end.
But my contention is that what we believe about the last days really matters.
And there's a whole bunch of reasons why.
One reason I want to share is because the billions of souls are at stake.
And as the world is shaken, as things go crazy in this world, people are going to be looking for answers.
And if people come in the evangelical world is screaming, Jesus is coming any minute, Jesus is coming any minute, and they keep screaming that, and then Jesus doesn't show up.
Well, you know, all the people that are searching for answers are going to say, well, we don't know what's going on, but we know for sure you evangelical Christians don't have the answer because you said Jesus was coming to pull you guys out of here.
That didn't happen.
And this was prophesied in 2 Peter.
Let me just read the scripture real first.
2 Peter chapter 3, starting in verse 3, know this first, that there shall come scoffers in the last days, that's for our day, who walk after their own lust and saying, where is the promise of his coming?
And that's what these scoffers are going to be saying.
They're going to be saying, where is this Jesus?
Where is this rapture that was promised?
It's not going to be there.
And so they're going to turn away because they're going to think we don't have any answers.
But if we can get this message out there and show them Jesus doesn't come back till the very end, they're not going to mock us because we're saying, hey, Jesus doesn't come back till this is all over.
So this is so important because our witness is at stake.
People are going to be looking for answers and we need to be there to tell them the truth.
If we tell them something that doesn't happen, the pre-tribulation rapture doesn't show up, we're going to compromise our witness.
The millions of souls are at stake and we want to bring in the end time harvest.
So we need to get this truth out there so we're telling people accurately what the word of God actually says.
So people will come to us and say, hey, you do know what's going on.
You do have answers.
Amen.
Amen.
Thank you, Michael Snyder, for being with me on the program today.
I hope you can come back to Revelation in the News.
And remember, get that book, The Rapture Verdict, www.jimbakershow.com.
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