Azarias

What I want to know is WHY people would not realize the Rapture had happened when people suddenly dissapear. Unless there are truly that few people who will be involved in it

Also why would anyone take the mark of the beast? Unless it were some sort of trick/mysterious thing. If it is simply taking the number 666 I don't even think non-believers would be oblivious.

Banarenth

Have you not seen even one example of this blindness in action? What about that guy in Miami, who has hundreds of people convinced that tattooing 666 on your hand and killing and stealing is a way to be a Christian? Face it, people see what they want to see, and ignore what they want to ignore.

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Azarias

Even so, surely there will be those who notice, and don't repent (convince themselves otherwise), and those who notice, and do repent. That is, will those left behind have hope? I remember reading something like this but I can't think of the verse.

Banarenth

Some will refuse the mark. As to what ultimately results with those left behind, I've heard so many different versions, I'm hardly able to make a clear Biblical statement on it to be honest. There are entire doctrines written on the pre/post-tribulation debates, as well as what happens to the church, and what happens to believers, or even children during this time. It can quickly get out of hand in just the basic understanding of what Revelation talks about.

I do know one thing though, in the end, every eye shall see, every ear shall hear, and ever tongue will confess that He is LORD.

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Azarias

I know what you mean and honestly don't find it important as we really can't know. It is like the debate on the timescale and method of creation. We take it literally as that is what we read. It could be otherwise, but not worth speculating on. It's not worth my focus.

DivineFire-VX

Perry stone has some really interesting theories about the Rapture, one of them being that the Rapture event itself will have an EMP like effect on the Earth and in all the confusion people wont know who is missing right away etc.

He has lots of great ideas about this kind of thing but he doesnt just throw it out there, he almost always has Scripture for the things he is speculating. The guy really knows his Bible.

I suggest a Youtube search of 'Perry Stone, rapture etc.'

Actually i think i have some of his stuff about the Rapture in my favourites on youtube, click The Saviour Lives link below my sig.

*Edit* here is the video i was thinking of YouTube - Electromagnetic Pulse during the Rapture?

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"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."
Isaiah 40:8 / KJV

The Saviour Lives

Glomung

I know I'll stir up some hornets here, but... the "Rapture" as it is commonly envisioned is bad theology. There is not going to be any mass disappearance of Christians from the face of the Earth. The commonly quoted phrase is
"Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together", the problem is that the Aramaic word for Eagle is the same as Vulture. So, a person dies, vultures get the body. This hardly supports a notion of "millions supernaturally disappearing into thin air". As far as the mark goes, thousands have attempted to blaspheme the Holy Spirit as an attempt to show how modern and sharp they were (The Blasphemy Challenge).
Any typical modern athiest or New Ager would stand in line to get a tattoo on the forehead if it meant being allowed to shop without hassles and paperwork. It will be along the lines of "show me your papers!" that was so popular in Nazi Germany, if you have "papers" you are let go, if not, you're jailed and then sent to the camps.

DivineFire-VX

Yep, i agree with that.

But also something what disturbs me is in this phrase..

"And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads" REV:13:16

Could that be read as He causes something to happen in order that this mark of the beast system is introduced ? that is a question because i dont know. Im thinking maybe some natural disaster or terrorist warfare that has the population so afraid that they see the mark as a must have for their own safety and security? interestingly it could even tie in with the EMP theory about the Rapture as well.

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"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."
Isaiah 40:8 / KJV

The Saviour Lives

Boanerges

Many people see what they want to see and onlyunderstand things as they wish. In the end all will get what they wish for:
Act 28:26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive:
Act 28:27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.