The Literal Meaning of the Bible - the Rapture and the Antichrist

(1). I have read the Bible from cover to cover and I cannot find one mention of an event which describes Christians suddenly being whisked up into the air on a grand scale (millions and millions of Christians at the onetime) and into Heaven to be with the Lord forever, without dying first of course.

I can see several references to a couple of episodes whereby there have been certain select individuals who have been taken up into Heaven without dying; but, I cannot find a single reference to the scenario mentioned above of such an episode happening in one instance to literally millions and millions of Christians, all at the one time.

When the Lord returns back onto the earth, I can see several Biblical references to the dead in Christ arising first and then the Christians that are still alive after Great Tribulation being taken up into the air and then returning back onto the earth to reign with the Lord forever.

Furthermore, for anyone to say they know when such an event will occur is prosperous and is comparable to saying they know when the Lord is going to return back onto the earth; when the reality is that there no one alive, not now or not into the future, that knows the timing of "'the Day of the Lord"'.

However, I do not account for such an event as being as being a Rapture in the sense that I have mentioned above, but rather I see such an occurrence as a meeting up with the Lord, and not a Rapture.
Anyone can of course discount this analogy as long and as hard as they wish but those that choose to do so must provide scriptural evidence to support their theories, scriptural evidence that I will, and can, quite easily dispute.

(2). The Bible says there are many Antichrists and anyone who is against Christ is an Antichrist.

Yet, I find it to be quite incredulous that just as the word Rapture is never ever mentioned in the Bible how do so many people, whether rightly or wrongly, assume that the beast is the Antichrist when there is never ever any reference made to either of the two beasts of Revelation as being the Antichrist, when they are rather simply referred to as being just that -- Beasts.

Even later on in the book of Revelation we are told that Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire were the Beast and the False Prophet are: note well in that instance the word Antichrist is never ever used, so how do so many assume that either of the two beasts of Revelation, or even the Little Horn or Daniel, is an Antichrist when he is referred to as a Beast - but not of necessity an Antichrist ?

That of course is a question that I cannot answer!

There are four separate horns in Daniel Chapter 7. I know they are separate horns because they all do different things with the last horn subduing three nations just as the newly appointed EU president Herman Van Rompuy has done in relation to Greece, Spain and Portugal comparative to their financial difficulties.

However I would hesitate to call him the Antichrist or the False Prophet simply because the Bible does not brand him as such but simply labels him as being a Little Horn.

Therefore, as the word Antichrist is never mentioned comparative to the two beasts of Revelation and as we are only told he has ten horns the Little Horn of Daniel could be either one of the two beasts of Revelation?

Daniel Chapter7
Chapter 7 is a foundational chapter in understanding bible prophecy and God’s plan for the nations. In this chapter, Daniel sees a vision, which maps out the course of nations, leading to the kingdom of God.

Chronologically this chapter takes place between chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 5 is the final year of Belshazzar’s reign 539 B.C., and the transition between the Babylonian and Persian kingdoms.

Chapter seven, takes place in the first year of Belshazzar’s reign, 553 B.C. Daniel has a vision of four great beasts rising out the turbulent waters of the great sea. Daniel however, focuses on the fourth beast and its meaning.

Along with the four beasts Daniel, also sees events taking place in Heaven. He describes the “Ancient of Days”, and the “Son of man”, who will succeed the earthly kingdoms of the four beasts. Chapter 7 complements the pattern established in the second chapter. In the second chapter, Nebuchadnezzar has a dream, of an immense image with a head of gold, arms and chest of silver, thighs of bronze, legs of iron and feet made from iron and clay.

In this dream, a stone from a mountain smashes the image at its iron and clay feet. The stone becomes an enormous mountain encompassing the earth. The explanation given by Daniel is that each segment of the image represents a succeeding earthly kingdom, with the head of gold representing Nebuchadnezzar.

The stone represents the kingdom of God crushing the kingdoms of man and God’s kingdom established on the earth. More light is shed on God’s program in chapter 7. Here in seven, we see the division of kingdoms represented by 4 beasts; a lion, bear, leopard and a horrific beast with iron teeth and bronze claws.

The culmination of history ends when a son of man destroys this final kingdom pictured as the fourth beast. This fourth beast corresponds with the Iron and clay feet “Kingdom" in Daniel chapter 2.

Dan 7:1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream, [and] told the sum of the matters. Dan 7:2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. Dan 7:3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. Dan 7:4 The first [was] like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. Dan 7:5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and [it had] three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. Dan 7:6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. Dan 7:7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it [was] diverse from all the beasts that [were] before it; and it had ten horns. Dan 7:8 I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn [were] eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things. Dan 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment [was] white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne [was like] the fiery flame, [and] his wheels [as] burning fire. Dan 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. Dan 7:11 I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld [even] till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. Dan 7:12 As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, [one] like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Dan 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed. Dan 7:15 I Daniel was grieved in my spirit in the midst of [my] body, and the visions of my head troubled me. Dan 7:16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things. Dan 7:17 These great beasts, which are four, [are] four kings, [which] shall arise out of the earth. Dan 7:18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. Dan 7:19 Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth [were of] iron, and his nails [of] brass; [which] devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; Dan 7:20 And of the ten horns that [were] in his head, and [of] the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even [of] that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look [was] more stout than his fellows. Dan 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Dan 7:22 Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. Dan 7:23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. Dan 7:24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom [are] ten kings [that] shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. Dan 7:25 And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. Dan 7:26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy [it] unto the end. Dan 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom [is] an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Dan 7:28 Hitherto [is] the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me: but I kept the matter in my heart.

Our new Prime Minister Julia Gillard - Australia's shame

I live in Australia which is supposedly a Christian country and yet the current government has just sacked it's leader for allegedly being down in the polls when they were so close to an election.

The truth is that he was sacked because he chose to do his own thing and go against his political masters as they go about setting up a World Government.

In his place we now have a single female, atheist, Prime Minister who is shacked up with her boyfriend.

One may therefore rightly ask what sort of an example is that to set for the youth of the nation when the young people see their Prime Minister doing that doesn't that send out a message that if Julia is doing it why isn't it alright for me to do it?

Nonetheless, nobody seems to mind at all as all they seem to be concerned with are her policies; the worst part is it looks very much like she is going to win the election due to take place within a few weeks. Australia is not a Christian country it is a pagan country and has taken its eyes off the ball by going away from God -- and for that we will suffer the consequences.

As Australia is predominately a pagan nation Julia Gillard will not be hurt by revealing (when questioned, note) she is an atheist.

Of the 12 prime ministers preceding her, Kevin Rudd alone was overtly Christian. He wore it like a neon sign on his sleeve. Press conferences outside church on a Sunday were common. For sheer crassness, it was hard to top the efforts of Rudd in lobbying the Pope to declare Mary McKillop a saint.

It beats John Howard’s performance of visiting Bob Santamaria on his deathbed. Howard must have known that Santamaria, although the fearsome enemy of Communism, could not stand him. In the end none of this helped Rudd when the polls began to drop.

Of the PMs who came to, or remained in office, as a result of an election, neither Curtin, Chifley, Menzies, Holt, Gorton, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating or Howard was regularly seen on their knees, apart from funerals and weddings. (I include those who remained in office as a result of an election because some became PM as a result of changes in party leadership — for example, Gorton became PM on the death of Holt and subsequently won the 1969 election).

Hawke as PM was an agnostic and Whitlam a proud atheist. Whitlam earned the undying hatred of the churches when he removed the sales tax from the contraceptive pill for women. The general population thought it a great idea.

The founding fathers wisely decided that Australia should have a secular Constitution, not attached to any religion. Whitlam’s most famous reference to the Almighty came with his dismissal by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr in 1975. Then came the dramatic reading of the instrument of dissolution of the parliament on the front steps of the building by Kerr’s secretary, David Smith. The steps were crowded with onlookers and MPs and Whitlam was slightly behind Smith looking over his shoulder. When Smith finished his reading with the standard exhortation ‘God save the Queen’, Whitlam told those assembled: “Well may he say God save the Queen, for nothing will save the Governor-General.”

Last Easter, the churches and atheists had a good old stoush on whether or not there is a God. Whatever the intellectual argument, it’s clear most Australians couldn’t care less about God.

Bureau of Statistics figures show that in 2001 barely 10% named a Christian religion to which they adhered. Between 1996 and 2001 (a mere five years), the number of adherents dropped by 7%. The biggest denomination, Catholic was a mere 764,800 in 2001, amounting to a dismaying drop (for the church) of 13%. Anglican/Protestant, the next biggest denomination at 759,000, was steady. Only the Holy roller, hot gospeller, minority groups gained substantial ground.

Church attendance is currently less than 8% of the total population and those at church are mostly grey haired old ladies. The small Muslim population is, of course, devoted to their Mosque and there is a much smaller group of Buddhists. Fortunately the Almighty, unlike the unfortunate United States, does not receive calls from political leaders (even Rudd when PM) to assist them in their various missions.

George Bush was always calling on Him (or Her for the sisterhood) for assistance in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Canberra, the Lord’s Prayer is read by the speaker and senate president every day to start proceedings. This was not the practice in the first parliament after Federation and it was because of pressure from a much larger (proportionately) population of Christians that the parliament agreed to prayers.

Gillard will of course show respect to those who have religious faith, but Australians generally, apart from having no interest in religion, regard it as a private matter as they do s-xual preferences of others.

Tony Abbott, who once trained for the priesthood, is a devout Catholic, but will not attempt to make anything of Gillard’s atheism. He should make sure that every Coalition MP gets this message.