TheRapture Delusions

The RaptureDelusions

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BOOKS BY STEVE WOHLBERG

End Time Delusions (book and DVD)

Exposing Harry Potter and Witchcraft

Demons in Disguise:

The Dangers of Talking to the Dead

Hour of the Witch (DVD)

The Trouble With Twilight: Why Today’s

Vampire Craze Is Hazardous to Your Health

AVAILABLE FROM DESTINY IMAGE PUBLISHERS


The RaptureDelusions

Exposing Dangerous ErrorsAbout the End of the World

STEVE WOHLBERG


© Copyright 2010—Steve Wohlberg

All rights reserved. This book is protected by the copyright laws ofthe United States of America. This book may not be copied orreprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quota-tions or occasional page copying for personal or group study ispermitted and encouraged. Permission will be granted uponrequest. Unless otherwise identified, Scripture quotations are fromthe New King James Version of the Bible. Copyright © 1982 byThomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.Scriptures marked KJV are from the King James Version. Allemphasis within Scripture is the author’s own. Please note thatDestiny Image’s publishing style capitalizes certain pronouns inScripture that refer to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and maydiffer from some publishers’ styles. Take note that the name satanand related names are not capitalized. We choose not to acknowl-edge him, even to the point of violating grammatical rules.

DESTINY IMAGE® PUBLISHERS, INC.P.O. Box 310, Shippensburg, PA 17257-0310

“Speaking to the Purposes of God for This Generation and for theGenerations to Come.”

Previously published six chapters of End Time Delusions by Treas-ure House copyright © 2004 ISBN 0-7684-2960-9

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“For this cause God shall send them strongdelusion, that they should

believe a lie.”—2Thessalonians 2:11 KJV

Delusion (noun):1. A misleading of the mind.2. False belief; a fixed misconception.3. Something which one accepts as trueor real but which is actually false orunreal.

—Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary

A lie can travel halfway around theworld before truth puts its boots on.

—Mark Twain (1835-1910)


Table of Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter 1 Now You See Them, Now You Don’t . . . 25

Chapter 2 The Parousia and Twinkling Eyes . . . . . . 45

Chapter 3 Will God’s Church Escape Tribulation? . . 75

Chapter 4 The Seven-Year Tribulation Theory . . . . 99

Chapter 5 The 70th Week of Daniel Delusion . . . 115

Chapter 6 Hidden History Hits the Headlines . . . 141


Preface

Growing up just over the hill fromHollywood, California, I had

absolutely no interest in biblicalprophecy for the first 20 years of mylife, mainly because I had never heardof such a thing. “Rapture? What’s that?”I would have said with a mystified lookif you had asked me about it. My Jew-ish family was warm and friendly butnot spiritual. My brother Michael had

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his bar-mitzvah at age 13, but I didn’t,for it was only casually presented to meas a take-it-or-leave-it option. As far asI remember, we never read the Scrip-tures or prayed even one time.

q

Some of my youngfriends perished due topills and alcohol. It’s amiracle I’m not where

they are.

q

As a teenager surrounded by thehead-pounding music of rock and rollbands like the Rolling Stones, Aero-smith, and Deep Purple and the drugculture of the 1960s and 1970s, my life

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took a sharp turn in the wrong direction.Some of my young friends perished dueto pills and alcohol. It’s a miracle I’mnot where they are.

During the summer of 1979, whileinhabiting discothèques nightly, Iworked as an extra in the film business.One day I was providentially assignedto work on a television series calledFrom Here to Eternity on a sandy stretchof Oxnard Beach. There I met a fellowextra who “witnessed” to me aboutJesus Christ and the approaching end ofthe world. With curiosity minglingwith interest—and a nagging sense ofneed for something beyond glamorousillusions—I decided the very next dayto visit a Christian bookstore near ourhome and to scan the prophecy section.

Preface

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Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great PlanetEarth was the first Christian book I evertouched. I bought it and two of hisother books, Satan Is Alive and Well onPlanet Earth and Terminal Generation.Although my marijuana-clouded brainhardly understood what I read, Godused those books and started workinginside my mind.

A few days later, I found a Bible andbegan to read. Dimly at first, I slowlystarted comprehending the messageand grace of Jesus Christ. The turningpoint came when I read about theintense pressure Christ endured in theGarden of Gethsemane, the blood thatdripped from His forehead, the appear-ance of a heavenly angel to strengthenHim, and His unfathomable love for a

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perishing world (see Luke 22:39-44).After wrestling with a mysterious cup,Jesus made that critical decision—thechoice to save lost sinners no matterwhat it cost Him personally, even if itmeant separation from His Father.Finally I read—to use the title of MelGibson’s hard-hitting film—about ThePassion of the Christ and His sufferingon the Cross. That did it. Shortly there-after, in a dormitory room at CaliforniaState University of Northridge, Islipped to my knees and invited myMessiah into my heart. My darknessturned to light! Jesus freely forgave mysins, removed my guilt, and changedmy life! No more drugs. I was clean.

After discovering that my Messiahcame once as the Babe of Bethlehem,

Preface

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my interest was strongly piqued in thesubject of His second coming and theevents predicted to occur during Earth’slast days. I craved understanding andlonged to be ready for the return of theOne who was crucified for me, shouldit occur in my lifetime. This explains myinterest in and passion for prophecy.

q

Could religious leaderstoday be making a similarmistake by misunder-

standing the prophecies ofHis second coming?

qThat was 30 years ago. I’ve learned a

lot since I first read Hal Lindsey’s books

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while working as an extra in Hollywood.One thing that has impressed me foryears—and which was so poignantlydisplayed in Mel Gibson’s grippingfilm—is the reality that one reason whythe religious leaders in Christ’s dayrejected their Messiah was because theymisunderstood the Old Testamentprophecies predicting His arrival.Think about it. Because it happenedonce, couldn’t it happen again? Couldreligious leaders today be making a sim-ilar mistake by misunderstanding theprophecies of His second coming? Yesthey could, and yes, many are makingsuch a mistake. That’s why I wrote TheRapture Delusion, which not onlyproves that massive distortions haveentered Christianity but also clarifies

Preface

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much of what the Scriptures actuallyteach about the end of the world.

Inside these pages I have combinedyears of research, countless hours ofstudy, and only God knows how manyearnest prayers for “the Spirit of truth”to guide me into “all truth” (see John16:13). I hope the discoveries you areabout to make will thrill your heart asthey did mine when I first learned them.

Get ready for an amazing journey—controversial for sure, yet exciting andrewarding as well. When Jesus Christdoes return, may we all “be found byHim in peace, without spot and blame-less” through His perfect righteousness(2 Peter 3:14).

—Steve Wohlberg

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Introduction

It was 4:09 p.m., Eastern StandardTime, on Thursday, August 15,

2003. It started with a blip. Lights flick-ered and then went out, and in a fewhours it was dark from New York toCleveland to Detroit, even into Cana-da. The late-August front cover ofNewsweek labeled the event, “Blackoutof 2003.” Thankfully, the 50 millionNorth Americans affected took it quite

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well. Looting was minimal, and no onedied.

The Rapture Delusion is aboutanother blackout—a spiritual one—now occurring within Christianity con-cerning the true meaning of God’s “sureword of prophecy” (2 Peter 1:19 KJV).Millions of prophecy-minded Chris-tians, including me, sense we are near-ing the return of Jesus Christ. Yet whenit comes to what the majority think isgoing to happen during Earth’s last daysand what the Bible actually says willoccur, the difference is seismic.

It’s no secret that the following fiveteachings have become immenselypopular:

1. All true Christians will soon van-ish in the rapture.

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2. Seven years of apocalyptic terrorwill overtake those left behind.

3. One sinister man—the antichrist—will take over the world.

4. The antichrist will enter a rebuilttemple in Jerusalem, claiming tobe God.

5. The nations of earth will attackIsrael at Armageddon.

These five concepts are being taughton radio, on television, at prophecyconferences, in countless books andmagazines, in end-time movies, inseminaries, and on the Internet. Thisfive-point belief system is also tightlyconnected—with one event supposedlyleading to the next—just like New YorkCity’s electrical power grid is intertwined.

Introduction

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On August 15, 2003, at 4:00 P.M., ournation’s generators, electrical cables,transmission lines, and systems opera-tors were all working efficiently togeth-er. Everything was fine. Until 4:09.Then a single, high-voltage currentforced America into “the largest poweroutage in our history.”1

q

When it comes to popularprophetic theories, is it

possible a large portion ofChristianity is now in themidst of another out-age—a truth outage?

q

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When it comes to popular prophet-ic theories, is it possible a large portionof Christianity is now in the midst ofanother outage—a truth outage? TheBible clearly predicts:

For the time will come when theywill not endure sound doctrine, butaccording to their own desires,because they have itching ears, theywill heap up for themselves teach-ers; and they will turn their earsaway from the truth, and beturned aside to fables (2 Timothy4:3-4).

Has that time come?

The purpose of The Rapture Delu-sion is to closely examine the first twoteachings just listed. My larger book,

Introduction

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End Time Delusions, tackles the lastthree. As you read these eye-openingpages, you will discover irrefutable,high-voltage, New Testament proof ofanother system failure.

Please read this book prayerfully.

With God’s help, I hope to turnsome lights on.

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Endnote

1. “Blackout of 2003,” Newsweek,August 25, 2003, 21.

Introduction

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CHAPTER 1

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Now You See Them,Now You Don’t

If in the last few years you haven’tdiscarded a major opinion

or acquired a new one, checkyour pulse, you may be dead.

—Frank Gelett Burgess (1866-1951)

Although the exact word rapture isn’tin the Bible, millions of prophecy-

minded Christians have nevertheless

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been taught that soon God’s Churchwill disappear from planet Earthwithout a trace. Headlines are pre-dicted to read: “Multitudes Missing,Chaos Sweeps Globe!” “All ChildrenHave Disappeared!” “Massive TrafficSnarls Due to Evaporated Drivers!”“Planes Crash, Trains Wreck, as Pilotsand Engineers Vanish!” Perhapsyou’ve seen bumper stickers reading:“In case of Rapture, this vehicle willbe unmanned.”

In the last few years, the number-one promoter of the rapture idea hasbeen the New York Times bestsellingLeft Behind series, coauthored by TimLaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. A high-speed, 16-book sequence of novels

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about the end times, Left Behindteaches that the return of Jesus Christtakes place in two distinct phases.First, Jesus comes invisibly to removeHis Church before a seven-year tribu-lation, during which the rest ofhumanity must face the antichrist.This is the rapture. At the end of thoseseven years, Jesus will again return vis-ibly to deliver those who becameChristians during the tribulation—after being given a “second chance” tobe saved—and to pulverize the invad-ing enemies of Israel at Armageddon.This is the second coming. Thus, it’srapture first, then seven years with theantichrist, then the visible second com-ing of Jesus Christ.

Now You See Them, Now You Don’t

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q

…a rumor has circulatedthat some higher-ups ata large airline want atleast one non-Christianpilot aboard each flight—

justin case!

q

These popular concepts—rapture,seven years of horror, futureantichrist—have also been taught inmany apocalyptic Christian films, suchas A Thief in the Night, Image of theBeast, Tribulation Force, The OmegaCode, Left Behind: The Movie, andMegiddo. Because the rapture teaching

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has been promoted so heavily in oursociety, even among those outside theChurch, a rumor has circulated thatsome higher-ups at a large airline wantat least one non-Christian pilot aboardeach flight—just in case!

The real question is: Although “rap-ture” isn’t a biblical word, is the doc-trine there? If not, could it be anend-time delusion? Let’s find out.

First of all, the Bible certainly doesteach the exciting truth that JesusChrist will return for His people. OurLord Himself said, “I will come againand receive you to Myself ” (John 14:3).All Christians should believe Christ’spromise and long to meet Him on thatgreat day.


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But will He come invisibly? Will theChurch disappear? Does the Bible real-ly teach vanishing Christians? Withouta doubt, the most quoted passage usedto support the rapture concept is FirstThessalonians 4:17. Lots of Christiansknow this verse by heart, and it is citedin Left Behind: The Movie. There Paulwrote that true believers will somedaybe “caught up…in the clouds to meet theLord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:17). Butdoes “caught up” mean disappear? IsPaul describing a silent return of JesusChrist before an apocalyptic seven-yeartribulation? We don’t need to guess.The answer is in the context, and youdon’t need to have a four-year degree tograsp the truth.

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q

Will the Church disap-pear? Does the Bible reallyteach vanishing Chris-

tians?

qHave you ever driven down a high-

way without realizing how fast you weregoing, and then, when you finallylooked down at your speedometer, youthought to yourself, I’m going too fast andmust slow down? This is what we need todo with First Thessalonians 4. We mustslow down and take a full look.

Here is what Paul actually wrote:

For the Lord Himself will descendfrom Heaven with a shout, with


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the voice of an archangel, and withthe trumpet of God. And the deadin Christ will rise first. Then wewho are alive and remain shall becaught up together with them inthe clouds to meet the Lord in theair. And thus we shall always bewith the Lord (1 Thessalonians4:16-17).

q

Rapture promoters inter-pret “caught up” to meandisappear because this viewfits their tightly meshedprophetic system, yet itmust be admitted that the

text doesn’t say this.

q

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Rapture teachers interpret this eventas silent and secret, yet doesn’t it seemrather loud and visible? There is ashout, a voice, a trumpet. Have youever heard of a silent trumpet? Thetruth is, First Thessalonians 4:16 is oneof the noisiest verses in the Bible! Lookcarefully: Jesus Christ comes downfrom Heaven shouting and blowing atrumpet. The dead rise. Then truebelievers are “caught up.” Honestly, doyou see anything here about vanishingChristians prior to the tribulation?Rapture promoters interpret “caughtup” to mean disappear because this viewfits their tightly meshed prophetic sys-tem, yet it must be admitted that thetext doesn’t say this.


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Two thousand years ago, at the endof His earthly life, Jesus Christ was also“taken up,” (see Acts 1:9). This doesn’tmean He disappeared, leaving Hisclothes on earth. Instead, in full view ofHis wondering disciples, “while theywatched, He was taken up, and a cloudreceived Him out of their sight” (Acts1:9). This event was highly visible.Luke said Jesus Christ was “taken up,”and then clouds are mentioned, justlike Paul wrote about believers being“caught up…in the clouds.”

Notice carefully the full context ofthis verse:

Now when He had spoken thesethings, while they watched, He wastaken up, and a cloud receivedHim out of their sight. And while

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they looked steadfastly towardHeaven as He went up, behold,two men stood by them in whiteapparel, who also said, “Men ofGalilee, why do you stand gazingup into Heaven? This same Jesus,who was taken up from you intoHeaven, will so come in like man-ner as you have seen Him go intoHeaven” (Acts 1:9-11).

q

Everything will be highlyvisible, just like the ascen-

sion of Jesus Christ.

qHere we have holy angels—in the

form of men in white robes—explaining


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the simple truth about Jesus Christ’sreturn. They told the disciples that justas Jesus was literally and visibly “takenup” into the clouds, even so would He“come in like manner as [they had] seenHim go into Heaven.” Although theseangels never attended a seminary, there’sno doubt they had their theologystraight. They taught no secret comingor vanishing Christians. Everything willbe highly visible, just like the ascensionof Jesus Christ.

Let’s return to First Thessaloniansand take a look at the thief-in-the-nightidea:

For the Lord Himself will descendfrom Heaven with a shout, withthe voice of an archangel, and withthe trumpet of God. And the dead

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in Christ will rise first. Then wewho are alive and remain shall becaught up together with them inthe clouds to meet the Lord in theair. And thus we shall always bewith the Lord. Therefore comfortone another with these words. Butconcerning the times and the sea-sons, brethren, you have no needthat I should write to you. For youyourselves know perfectly that theday of the Lord so comes as a thiefin the night. For when they say,“Peace and safety!” then suddendestruction comes upon them, aslabor pains upon a pregnantwoman. And they shall not escape(1 Thessalonians 4:16-5:3).


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Here Paul compares the coming ofJesus Christ to the arrival of a midnightthief. Rapture promoters interpret thisto mean Jesus will come like a silentthief to snatch believers off this earthbefore seven years of chaos—then dri-verless cars will crash, pilotless planeswill collide, and babies will be foundmissing from their cribs. The Chris-tian film A Thief in the Night, which issimilar to Left Behind: The Movie, por-trays this dramatically. Yet is this reallywhat Paul is saying?

Again, let’s slow down and take acloser look at our biblical speedometers.First of all, the day when Jesus comes asa thief is clearly the very same day inwhich He descends with a shout and atrumpet blast. Second, it comes as “a

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thief in the night” only upon the unpre-pared. When it hits, “sudden destruc-tion comes upon them [the lost], aslabor pains upon a pregnant woman.And they shall not escape.”

q

…it is not a secret coming,but only a sudden one.

qDo you see what Paul is really saying?

Jesus’ coming as a “thief in the night”does not mean He will come quietly andinvisibly to steal believers out of thisworld, as is taught in rapture movies andNew York Times bestselling books.Rather, it means He will come unex-pectedly, bringing “sudden destruction”


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upon the unsaved. Thus, it is not a secretcoming, but only a sudden one. Will theunprepared get a “second chance” to besaved during a subsequent seven-yeartribulation? Paul answered this questionwhen he wrote, “They shall not escape”(1 Thess. 5:3).

Here’s a simple summary of whatFirst Thessalonians 4:16-5:3 really says:

1. Jesus Christ will literally descendfrom Heaven with a shout and atrumpet blast.

2. The dead in Christ will rise firstand true believers will be “caughtup,” just like Jesus Christ Himselfwas visibly “taken up” into thesky almost 2,000 years ago.

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3. This cataclysmic “day of theLord” will burst upon the unpre-pared like the unexpected arrivalof a midnight thief.

4. “Sudden destruction” will over-whelm the lost, “and they shallnot escape.”

When taken literally, these wordsdescribe the visible second coming ofJesus Christ, not a secret rapture.

Immediately after his solemn predic-tion of Christ’s return as a midnightthief, Paul wrote to true believers:

But you, brethren, are not in dark-ness, so that this Day should over-take you as a thief. You are all sonsof light and sons of the day. We are


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not of the night nor of darkness(1 Thessalonians 5:4-5).

Remember the Blackout of 2003? Itleft 50 million North Americans indarkness because a massive system fail-ure short-circuited our electrical powergrid. In the prophecy realm, when itcomes to popular interpretations ofFirst Thessalonians 4:16-5:3, we havejust witnessed another system failure.Honestly, the doctrine of a silent, secretreturn of Jesus Christ and vanishingChristians is just not there.

Again, Paul wrote, “You are all sons oflight and sons of the day.We are not of thenight nor of darkness” (1 Thess. 5:5).

God wants us to avoid truth outages.

He wants the lights on.

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Thank you for reading the first chapter of The Rapture Delusions!

We are confident that you found it enlightening.

The rest of the book will prove to be a blessing to you as well. Get it today by clicking the link below.

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