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"LEFT
BEHIND"
Daniel Botkin
"Then shall two be in the field; the
one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding
at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left"
(Mt. 24:40f).
I don't know about you, folks, but when this happens, I don't want
to be taken. I want to be left behind. Why do I say this? Because
of the words Yeshua said just prior to the above statement: "But
as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of
man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the
day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood
came and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son
of man be. Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken..."
Who got "taken" in the days of Noah, and who got
"left behind"? The wicked were taken away in the Flood
("the flood came and took them all away"), and the righteous
were left behind to inherit the earth. So it was in the days of
Noah, and so shall it be at the coming of the Son of man, Yeshua
said. That's why I want to be left behind, to inherit the earth.
Don't get me wrong. If some sort of "rapture" does happen
and all the believers go zooming off the planet to be with Jesus,
I won't argue or resist. I'll be glad to go if that's how it happens.
But I have my doubts that it will happen in the Hal-Lindsey, Chick-tract
fashion that so many Christians expect -- in spite of the current
popularity of the "Left Behind" series of pro-rapture
Christian novels (which I have not read and do not wish to read).
One reason for my skepticism about the rapture theory is its origin.
Years ago the late Bill Britton wrote about the origin of this teaching.
I present it here, with no further comment, for readers' consideration:
Perhaps you have heard of the Irvingite movement, known as
the Catholic Apostolic Church. The Encyclopedia Britannica, volume
12, 1966 issue, pages 648-649, describe Edward Irving and the controversy
over his teachings in Scotland and England in the early 1800s. He
was excommunicated by the London presbytery, and in 1833 was condemned
and deposed from the ministry of the Church of Scotland because
of his teachings concerning "the sinfulness of Christ's humanity."
He also began to teach a "rapture of the Church" after
a young Scottish lass by the name of Margaret McDonald went into
a trance and described a vision in which she said she saw the saints
leaving the earth at the return of the Lord, before the tribulation.
Her trance and vision took place in the spring of 1830, while living
in Port-glasgow, Scotland. Her "revelation" was recorded
in a book written by R.N. Norton and printed in London in 1861.
I have a copy of this portion of the book, though it is now out
of print and almost impossible to obtain. Prior to this time, the
Church, clear back to the Apostles, had always preached that the
Church would go victoriously through the tribulation. There is no
record of the "escape rapture" theory being preached before
1830. On April 30, 1831, a Mrs. J.B. Cardale, who later joined Irving's
church, had uttered a personal revelation in a home prayer meeting,
echoing Margaret McDonald's revelation of a pre-tribulation rapture.
It was from this supposed revelation that the modern doctrine and
modern phraseology respecting it arose; it came not from Scripture,
but from that which falsely pretended to be the Spirit of God. Edward
Irving accepted this teaching, and it was taught at prophetic meetings
at Powerscourt House in Ireland, attended much by Plymouth Brethren
organizer John Darby. Irving's views influenced Darby, C.H. Macintosh,
and C.I. Scofield, whose Bible notes popularized the new theory.
So it was a young Scottish girl who originated this idea, and is
so recorded on page 15 of Norton's book on the Catholic Apostolic
Church. Darby, Scofield, along with Clarence Larkin and his charts,
began to teach this new theory, and in the early 1900s it reached
a peak in popularity. (See
pg. 2 for info about a book. -DB) |
