INTRODUCTION: WHY I DON'T' BELIEVE IN "LEFT BEHIND"
The passing of two years has brought new issues before us. As I have pondered and prayed about new things, I have been led to reconsider other angles, arguments and viewpoints that I need to deal with in such an exhaustive article as this one. Hence, there is a need for a third edition that will bring forth certain possibilities regarding Islam.
I was ministering in Medellin, Colombia for forty days. During that time, I preached ten times at a wonderful Church there. In my last session of preaching, I was teaching on the last things, and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When I finished preaching, the Pastora of the Church there disagreed with what I had taught, and said what she believed about these things. I sat, listening intently, as she was expressing her agreement with pre-tribulation rapture teaching and the whole scenario that is set forth in the movie "Left Behind".
I resolved, after a few minutes of polite discourse with the Pastora, to set to writing my beliefs with respect to these things. I try never to argue with people about these things, and she is a precious servant of the Lord. Such an explanatory work as this needs to be short, to the point, and clear. So much of what is written today is not. Many extrapolations, and leaps of interpretation are made when people teach about the return of Christ.
PROLOGUE: IT IS NOT A TRAGEDY TO SAY WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND-SOME THINGS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE UNDERSTOOD
Daniel was a man who was told several times by angels that he was a man highly favored and highly esteemed of the Lord. More than any other man in scripture, Daniel was shown things and plainly admitted that he did not understand them. He kept crying out to God for understanding, and finally was told, "Go thy way, Daniel". Those things he sought were sealed up, until the time of the end. In short, no one was to know them until it was time for them to be known. Today, we see many who know it all. Many have their charts and their books, with everything sorted into a neat little order. Every scripture has its' place and is understood. The only problem is that there are at least nine different ways that men have interpreted all of this, and it is obvious that a minimum of eight of their methods must be wrong, and perhaps all are wrong. It is much better to echo Daniel, and say, "Lord, I do not understand." I will do so where I do not have a clear understanding of what is to come.