Recker's World
Rapture Claims - My Response
Christians insist that the rapture is eminent. They have done ever since St Paul in the 1st century AD. They ALWAYS have a list of reasons why these things are happening “RIGHT NOW LIKE NEVER BEFORE” and that the rapture is about to take place "REAL SOON". There is nothing new going on here. It’s the same old same old.
Wars and rumours of wars
There have always been wars and rumours of wars ever since bible times. When has there not been wars and rumours of wars? Anyone making prophecies like this are simply making obvious predictions. Nothing divine there. Unfortunately we humans are prone to fighting and hate. We will probably always be faced with possible wars.
Israel close to being at war? Israel have, all throughout history, been on the brink of war (if not fighting wars) at various times. Nothing new there.
The Antichrist.
They keep on popping up. When one anti-Christ turns out to be bunk, there’s always another that fits the bill.
The latest is apparently an orthodox Jew; the Yanuka Rav Shlomo Yehuda Ben David. He has been in discussions with some Jewish Rabbis who think he’s the messiah. Yep, yet another so-called messiah. Let’s see how many Jews buy this one!
Does anyone seriously believe that the world is going to worship an orthodox Jew when many people see them as bizarre and whacky? There is no reason to believe this guy is any more special than any other revered leader. So he does a few tricks? So can Penn Jillete and David Copperfield.
Consider the times in which these prophecies were made. Back then it wasn't uncommon for rulers to declare themselves gods and have all the people worshipping them. It would be reasonable for a prophet to assume that this trend would continue. But it hasn't. Maybe 100 years ago but definitely not today.
We live in a society these days where dictators are reviled. No great leader is going to be worshipped by the world. He will be hated even by atheists and anti-Christians. He would be considered WORSE THAN HITLER! For this world to accept a dictator like the bible is suggesting, there needs to be social conditioning to accept dictators but we are being conditioned to detest dictators. In the modern world everyone wants democracy and would not take orders from some tyrant in charge, let alone worship that tyrant. Contrary to what Christians may think, not everyone wants to worship someone. Even non-Christians would rebel on principle.
Earthquakes increasing in frequency and intensity
We have no way of knowing if earthquakes have increased in frequency and intensity in the last 100 years let alone the last 2000 years. Most of what we have are historical accounts. The only thing that’s changed is that now we have more accurate ways of measuring them and even the slightest tremor is recorded and that information made available to the entire world in seconds. So there is an illusion of more.
To claim there are more earthquakes and stronger ones today than ever before is dishonest and can’t possibly be shown to be true. Even if there were more now than say 10 or 20 years ago, we still can’t compare this to any other point in history as we don’t have sufficient records. There is more to history then simply the last 20 to 30 years.
Famines now and on the horizon
This is yet another non-prophecy. There have always been famines in this world, especially in the middle east where these prophecies originated. Nothing new. And yes, with global warming these may increase, particularly in certain parts of the world. However, if you come from a country where famines are common, as those who wrote the bible, and believe that famines are a punishment from God, then yes, you are going to expect famines to continue and maybe increase if people continue to rebel against God. This is nothing divine about predicting that. It's simply a presumption.
Pestilences
All throughout history there have been pestilences. There have been some horrendous ones in the distant past. (eg Influenza, Black Death, Smallpox, Malaria, Bubonic Plague). We also need to consider record keeping and the fact we most likely do not have all records of every pestilence throughout history.
Once again it’s not a prophecy. Just an educated prediction. In fact, in bible times these were seen as punishments from God, so of course if you believe people are going to make God angrier and angrier you are going to believe he’ll send more disease.
The thing is now that we understand evolution, we know that new viruses will continue to pop up and that they are not part of some divine retribution from some god.
Lawlessness
The facts are, for the majority of us, we live in a safer society now than ever before. And there is no evidence to suggest that, percentage wise, we are any more lawless than before. In fact if we look back at the last 2000 years we can see many times where the world was way more lawless and dangerous to live in. Imagine living in the Dark Ages or the Wild West.
Those who live in crime riddled countries should be aware that there are many countries out there that aren't as bad as yours. Many of us can walk around our streets without fear of being mugged, attacked or killed.
One world government and religion
Ever since I was a kid I’ve heard evangelists going on about how there is a secret organisation pulling the strings of all the world’s governments. Many claimed to have inside information. So according to them it’s been here for decades now. This is nothing new.
In reality we are not seeing a move towards a one world government. What we have seen in the last 40 years are countries becoming independent. Even countries splitting into smaller countries (eg Czechoslovakia, Sudan) In 1991 we saw the Soviet Union dissolve and multiple countries starting to govern themselves with bad blood between them (just look at Ukraine and Russia). There are countries like Australia who have been talking recently about breaking free from the Commonwealth and becoming a republic.
We are not seeing a trend towards a one-world government but a trend away from it.
There is no way we can ever have a one world government as there are multiple countries who will never be part of that. Even the United Nations haven't come close to unifying the world.
Same applies to religion. We may have some of them trying to create better relationships with each other by meeting together but there is no way we could ever have every religion merging into one. Most are diametrically opposed. It’s an absurd fantasy. There isn’t even a successful religion that combines them. The Unification Church (The Moonies) tried but have so far failed miserably.
Cashless society
Cash is still a very big part of society. It isn’t going away soon. Crypto currency is still way too volatile. It’s going to take a lot longer yet before we get to fully electronic. If ever. And there will be no need for numbers or barcodes to be imprinted on your body.
Technology of the mark of the beast
The numbering system mentioned in the bible and being used in some isolated pockets around the world is archaic and declining. Same with microchip implants (which by the way is nothing like a visible mark on the skin or forehead). It has not been adopted by the majority of the world including those countries that lead the way with identification technology. The trend is now towards cellphones, biometrics and high tech video which require no markings on the skin, requires no bodily invasion nor risk of contamination due to implants. (Everyone now carries their own microchips around in their pockets and handbags!) This is what the big multinational leading companies are focussing on. There is scarcely a need to promote an unpopular and archaic method of identification when there are much better more high-tech and HEALTHIER ways of identifying people.
I elaborate more on what's coming here:
The Mark of the Beast. It's here now!
We would require social conditioning for a numbering system like bible promotes to be accepted. But in fact, we are being conditioned to reject any form of control over our bodies. (just look at all the people who refused to take Covid vaccinations) We are being taught “my body, my rules”. No one has the right to violate us. If governments ultimately wanted to force us to be branded with markings or have electronic devices forced into our bodies, then they would be trying to condition us that our bodies are not our own and that they have the right to force us to do whatever they want.
The bible also talks about those not taking the number of the beast being beheaded. It’s ludicrous to believe that, in this day and age, beheadings would be used to execute people. It’s barbaric, it’s messy and traumatic even for those witnessing or being part of it. There are way easier and less traumatic ways to execute people now. Even the Nazis didn’t use beheadings and they were actively looking for the most efficient ways to kill people in mass. The best they could come up with were firing squads and gas chambers.
The other issue too is the world’s acceptance of capital punishment. If the government want to execute people they would be conditioning us to accept capital punishment. But the opposite has happened and we have been conditioned in society to abhor capital punishment. We have been conditioned to see it as barbaric, primitive and immoral. Nobody is going to accept the execution of people for refusing to reject Christ and take a number on their body. Not even atheists.
Scoffers
People will scoff at bible claims and Christians. Wow! Really? Of course people are going to scoff at crazy unsupported claims, especially when these claims have been going on for 2000 years. There have always been scoffers and always will be. The bigger question is has there ever been a time in human history where there has NOT been scoffers? This is not a divine prophecy, simply an educated observation.
Of course, anyone who even so much as challenges Christian claims these days is branded a scoffer by them. Perhaps a better prophecy would be, "In the final days Christians will accuse non-believers of being scoffers".
Nuclear war
The threat is no greater today than it was in the 80s where everyone was terrified that the Russians were going to launch nuclear attacks. They even started building bomb shelters back then. At least now we've had agreements between countries not to hoard nuclear weapons and every government knows that launching nuclear weapons is going to result in devastation for THEM too.
Maybe there will be a nuclear war, but the bible doesn't really match up with how it would be even in the few scriptures that Christians claim is describing a nuclear blast. But the threat of nuclear war has been around for decades now plus we’ve had world wars before including one with nuclear devastation. The rapture didn't happen back then either.
Final Thoughts
Just because there is no rapture coming does not mean you need to flag away your faith in Jesus or God. There are many Christians who are faithful Christians without believing dispensationalist claims.
We also have to consider that when there are “prophecies” that people will work towards trying to fulfil those prophecies. This may have well been the case in the New Testament and even the writers of the NT may have written their stories in an attempt to make it look like Jesus fulfilled prophecies.
I would also say that if I were the anti-Christ, I would not want to fulfil bible prophecy. Otherwise, people will believe the bible and thus reject me and worship Jesus. How dumb would that be? I would find other ways around those prophecies. Like using biometrics rather than body markings. Or maybe just don’t bring in a number system at all. Just execute Christians! Or maybe don’t even execute them. Maybe find a way to make them die without it looking like executions. Make it look like God is the one punishing them. Make Jesus look like the evil tyrant instead! Don’t be an overt dictator. The anti-Christ would know that forcing people to worship him is not going to get him genuine worshippers. Make yourself an unknown and hide behind other people and pull their strings. Be worshipped by an elite minority. What can you additionally gain by being worshipped by everyone in the world?
The Anti-Christ is clearly not going to be successful if he uses the bible prophecies as a guideline for his actions. And it won’t be just the Christians who reject him.
It's time to put away these fantasies of raptures, anti-Christs and tribulations. If God is real and Jesus really is returning one day, there’s no need for all this. Keep God a loving and caring god rather than a ruthless monster who will make people suffer for not worshipping him. Err on the side of mercy as many Christians would say.
