"And they that understand among the people shall instruct many..."
Daniel 11:33a (KJV)
"So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading."
Nehemiah 8:8 (KJV)
"Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures."
Luke 24:45 (KJV)
"...yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:"
Isaiah 30:20b (KJV)
"Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."
Amos 3:7 (KJV)
"But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of truth..."
Daniel 10:21a (KJV)
We are living at a time when mankind seems to sense that the end of all things is very near. Just about everyone has a theory as to how the world is threatened and when that end might come. The media and the Internet are full of doomsday speculations concerning the New Age "Mayan Calendar" and the year 2012. Some scientists predict that Global Warming could wipe out life on Planet Earth within a certain number of years. At the same time, politicians work to halt the proliferation of life-destroying nuclear weapons before it is "too late." High profile news reports of economic downturns, crime, wars, tsunamis, earthquakes, and disease outbreaks cause people to question whether God is bringing judgment on the world.
These ideas cause people to fear greatly. Some realize that God knows how and when the end of the world will come, so they wonder if He tells us. Rather than turning to the Bible as the source of all truth for these answers, they turn to the churches and religious leaders. They may be told that the end will not come until Antichrist rises as a political leader who will make them take the "mark of the beast." Many are told that God will rapture His people before a 7 year Great Tribulation after which Christ will set up a 1000 year reign from an earthly throne in Jerusalem. Others are told that Christ will come to rapture believers the same day he destroys the world. While just about every church has a different idea as to what the Bible teaches concerning the end, they all seem to agree on one thing; no man can know the day or the hour of Christ's return because the scriptures say that He is coming as a thief in the night. But are they correct? Can We Know?
This web site serves as an introduction and portal to four faithful ministries which are teaching that WE CAN KNOW from the Bible alone that the date of the rapture of believers will take place on May 21, 2011 and that God will destroy this world on October 21, 2011. Please take your time and browse through the teachings of Harold Camping, President of Family Radio. Visit EBible Fellowship, Bible Ministries International, and The-Latter-Rain to read and listen to many faithful teachers give scriptural insight on the doctrines that God is teaching His people. Learn about the Biblical Timeline of History, the correct method of Bible interpretation, the End of the Church Age and God's command to believers that they must depart out of the churches. Study the proofs that God has so graciously given in His Word showing us that these dates are 100% accurate and beyond dispute. Above all, please READ THE BIBLE and prayerfully ask God to open your spiritual eyes to these truths. May it please Him to have mercy on each of our souls.
- Family Radio
- EBible Fellowship
- Bible Ministries
- The Latter Rain
A non-denominational, non-commercial, non-profit, listener-supported, worldwide Christian ministry featuring the Bible-based teaching of Harold Camping, 24-hour live streaming radio broadcasting, archived audio and video Bible studies, audio Bible Reading Fellowship, and FREE online literature. Who or what is Family Radio?
Features "hundreds of hours of teaching on the Bible which you can listen to online or freely download. You can also join us each Sunday for our worship service live simulcast over the internet and the evening Fellowship Hour is a time when you can ask questions relating to the Bible. We also distribute free Bibles, free MP3 CD's and free tracts."
| Discerning False Prophets by Chris McCann |
Discerning False Prophets by Chris McCann |
| It Is The Glory Of God To Conceal His Word by Chris McCann |
It Is The Glory Of God To Conceal His Word by Chris McCann |
| Who Can Know the Day and Hour by John McOwen |
Who Can Know the Day and Hour by John McOwen |
| How to Study the Bible by John McOwen |
How to Study the Bible by John McOwen |
| Praying, Crying, and Watching by Guy Berry |
Praying, Crying, and Watching by Guy Berry |
Features the Bible-based studies of Gunther Von Harringa, Sr. in audio and video format, along with resources for general children's Bible studies as well as studies for helping to teach children about the May 21, 2011 Rapture.
STS01 Thief In The Night from Bible Ministries International on Vimeo.
| 166 The Rock and The River |
166 The Rock and The River Treasures From The Bible (Children's Studies) |
Features Biblical studies and explanations in an easy-to-read and easy-to-navigate website, browsing by topic, along with two free books available online or in print.
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Progressive Revelation |
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The King James Bible |
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The Importance of Careful Bible Study |
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Bible Study Guidelines |
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Studying Numbers |
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The Unprepared Servant |
Isn't the day coming as a thief in the night?
Almost anyone who grew up in the church, myself included, remembers being told over and over that Christ's coming will be like a thief in the night. In other words, no one can know when His coming will occur. One place we read about this is in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-6 so let's examine this passage verse-by-verse, beginning with verses 2 and 3:
Teachers have always used these verses as proof that people will be caught off-guard by Christ's coming. It is true that these verses are teaching that, but verses 4 and 5 instruct us that there is more to the story:
Here we discover that there are some people who will not be caught off-guard by Christ's second coming. We have all been taught time and time again that Christ's coming will be like a thief in the night, but here we have a clear statement (at least, it's clear to us now) that it will not come as thief for the children of the light.
The light of the world is Christ (John 8:12). Therefore, the children of light are the believers. They are the ones God is addressing here. Verse 6 then reminds us to watch:
So we learn that those who will not be caught off-guard are those who are not "sleeping"; that is, those who are watching. This does not mean those who are watching will simply know that Christ's coming must be getting close. According to the 2008 World Almanac, about one-third of the world's population calls itself Christian1. A recent study indicates that 85% of professing Christians believe the end of the world is near 2. So there are about 2 billion people who think we are living in the end times. This large percentage of the world's population is not the group of people God is referring to when He says the end will not come as a thief in the night for the children of the light. In fact, in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 God is specifically addressing just the churches, just those who claim to be His people, and there He says that if they don't watch then He will come as a thief in the night to them:
"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."
Revelation 3:3 (KJV)
We find another statement in Mark reminding us to watch and not sleep:
"Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."
Mark 13:35-37 (KJV)
We will see that those who are "sleeping" are not those out in the world who want nothing to do with God, but they are those in the Christian community who continue to hold the belief that we can't know when the end will occur. God defines "sleeping" as not having spiritual eyes opened to understand the truth:
"What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day."
Romans 11:7-8 (KJV)
When we study 2 Thessalonians 2 (see Study on The Antichrist) we realize that as a result of the churches' desire to cling to their doctrines without continually re-examining them, God sends them strong delusion to keep them in their lies:
"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie"
2 Thessalonians 2:10-11 (KJV)
We find another passage in Isaiah that reminds us that sometimes spiritual blindness ("sleeping") is a result of God's judgment:
"For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed"
Isaiah 29:10-11 (KJV)
We are being taught here that we can know enough about the timing of the end that it will not come unexpectedly if we are watching. How do we watch? Do we go stand on a hilltop and look at the sky? No, of course not. We aren't going to find any information in the sky about when to expect Christ's return so that it does not come as a thief in the night. We watch by studying God's Word very carefully. That is the only way we can obtain any information about what to expect and when.
The Bible teaches that if we don't watch, then yes, it is true that the Rapture will come as a thief in the night:
"Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee."
Revelation 3:3 (KJV)
In other words, Christ will come as a thief in the night unless we are watching. This is how we know that watching means to study the Bible and learn the timing of the end.
The Bible does actually teach that we are to be studying time:
"Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment."
Ecclesiastes 8:5 (KJV)
God Reveals The Timing Of Judgment
God revealed in advance the exact day when judgment would come upon the world in Noah's day:
"For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth."
Genesis 7:4 (KJV)
God revealed in advance the exact day when Nineveh would be destroyed through judgment:
"And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown."
Jonah 3:4 (KJV)
God gave advance notice of exactly when Sodom and Gomorrah would be destroyed so that Lot's family was able to escape just before destruction came:
"And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city."
Genesis 19:15 (KJV)
God gave advance notice of exactly what day He would bring each plague upon Egypt:
"And the Lord appointed a set time, saying, To morrow the Lord shall do this thing in the land."
Exodus 9:5 (KJV)
"Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now."
Exodus 9:18 (KJV)
"Else, if thou refuse to let my people go, behold, to morrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast"
Exodus 10:4 (KJV)
We can know something about how God will behave in the future by looking at how He has behaved in the past (Hebrews 13:8). Since He has given advance notice of the precise timing for judgment in the past we should not be surprised that He is revealing the timing of the end today.
1 http://www.religioustolerance.org/worldrel.htm
2 http://christiannews.christianet.com/1201403987.htm
Copyright © 2007-2009 The-Latter-Rain.com. Excerpt reprinted with permission.
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