Irvin Baxter's Rapture Heresy

 

Irvin Baxter's Rapture Heresy

 

One of the strangest statements on Mr. Baxter's website concerns the Rapture. In response to a question about the timing of the Rapture, he says, "Unfortunately, rapture timing debates between brothers in Christ often become divisive, and for this reason, Endtime has chosen to avoid the issue for now." This non-answer is truly astonishing! Here is a person with an opinion on everything in the prophetic scriptures, yet he chose to "avoid" one of the most important issues!

"What I want to do is to teach the Jews the prophecies of the Bible, so that they're not operating blindfolded," says Mr. Baxter

Bear in mind, the Jewish Scriptures were written in Hebrew, not in seventeenth century King James English. What has made Christian believers so vulnerable to Bible tampering is that almost none of them can read or understand the Hebrew Bible in its original language. Virtually no Christian child in the world is taught the Hebrew language as part of a formal Christian education. As he and countless other Christians earnestly study the Authorized Version of the Bible, there is a blinding yet prevailing assumption that what you are reading is Heaven-breathed. Tragically, virtually every Christian in the world reads the translation of men rather than the Word of God. On the other hand, every Jewish child in the world who is enrolled in a Jewish school is taught to read and write Hebrew long before he or she even heard the name of Luther.

Unbeknownst to Mr. Baxter and parishioners worldwide, the King James Version and numerous other Christian Bible translations were meticulously shaped and painstakingly retrofitted in order to produce a message that would sustain and advance Church theology and exegesis. This aggressive rewriting of biblical texts has had a devastating impact on Christians throughout the world who unhesitatingly embrace these corrupt translations. As a result, Christians earnestly wonder why the Jews, who are the bearers and protectors of the divine oracles of God, have not willingly accepted Jesus as their messiah. [1]

Mr. Baxter' approach to prophetic interpretation makes it clear why the plain sense meaning rule is so important. That rule states: "If the plain sense makes sense, don't look for any other sense, or you will end up with nonsense."

Replacement Heresy
There are many forms of Replacement Theology. We wont go into much detail here. In essence however, any teaching or movement (including the Two House/Armstrong Church of God spin-off sects) that claims to have replaced Israel as the Elect falls into this category. Some Nicene Christian denominations claim to have replaced the Jews directly (the Catholic Church, Jehovah's Witness etc) while others are more subtle, claiming that only those who "accept Jesus" according to their understandings are "true Jews" or "spiritual Israel." If you take nothing else from lessons, understand that HaShem is ONE and that Judaism has not and will never be replaced by anyone. To claim the Jews have been replaced is to call HaShem a liar because He said: "For I am Adonai, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed" -- Malachi 3:6 and "God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him -- Genesis 17:19.

Is the Rapture a Biblical Doctrine?

By John of AllFaith

To make sure we are on the same page with what the Rapture is supposed to be, please begin by watching this 2 minute video by a Rapture beliving ministry:

The Rapture doctrine means one thing and one thing only. It does not refer to people going to Heaven after they die, to people having visions or traveling in visionary states etc. The Rapture theory refers to the belief in the nearly instantaneous translocation of every single "Born Again Christian" on earth to Heaven as shown in this video. It refers to the nearly instantaneous disappearance of millions (if not billions) of human beings around the globe without a trace. It speaks of the "taking away" of every child on earth, of jets falling from the skies as Christian pilots are "taken" (arguably a good reason not to hire Christians hehe); it foretells the worst multi-car pile-ups in history as every vehicle being driven by a Christian is suddenly abandoned and careens out of control, of husbands and wives, parents and their children being separated as the Christians are "taken" in a twinkling of an eye from all over the globe.

This is what we mean by the term Rapture.

The Doctrine of the Rapture of the Church is the popular Nicean Christian belief that at some point in the future HaShem will extract all true "Christians" from the earth, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" leaving everyone else here to suffer under the reign of the coming Antichrist (Rex Mundi).

This idea gained popular support through the teachings of Dr. Clarence Larkin (Dispensational Truths), Rev. Charles Scofield (The Scofield Bible), a plethora of Second and Third Great Awakening Evangelists (see my study The Great Awakenings for more on these religious developments), and more recently from the unbiblical works of fiction by Tim Lahey known as The Left Behind Series in which the Antichrist is depicted as a Transylvanian Dracula-type Liberal do-gooder gone bad! Likewise, Family Radio of Harold Camping has used this teaching to mislead millions. We need to understand the truth of this! Is this a biblical doctrine? 

There is voluminous evidence in the Bible that the Kingdom of God will reign on this earth!

"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the House of the Eternal shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people [physical human beings will still be alive on the earth during that day!] shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Eternal, and to the House of the God of Jacob and He will teach us of His ways and we will walk in His paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the Word of the Eternal from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Eternal of Hosts has spoken it" (Micah 4:1-4).

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God [meaning, 'God-breathed'], and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16)

Major footnote: When Paul wrote his letter to Timothy there was No "New Testament". Paul is talking about the Tanach (what christians call the old testament)

The divinely-revealed Word of God is the ultimate source to which we must go to discover the real truth about the reward of the saved, about what happens at death; about the promise of "heaven," or the threat of "hell."

Wouldn't it seem logical to you that if heaven is the reward of the saved; that if hell is the reward of sinners; that if the saints are raptured away to heaven—there would at least be one scripture somewhere in the Bible plainly saying so?

Jesus was a Jew. I know, shocking to some, he would most definitely been versed in the thirteen principles of faith, one of which is the belief in the resurection of the dead.

"The Christian idea of rapture is another such idea, which has little or nothing to do with Jewish tradition, which has always believed in the notion of the resurrection of the dead.”

Belief in the eventual resurrection of the dead is so fundamental to Jewish thought that it is one of the Thirteen Principles of Faith. These 13 basic Jewish beliefs were compiled in the 12th century by the one of the greatest codifiers of Jewish law, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (also known as Maimonides or Rambam).

I believe with perfect faith that there will be a resurrection of the dead at the time when it shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever and ever.

"Thy dead shall live, my dead bodies shall arise–awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust–for Thy dew is as the dew of light, and the earth shall bring to life the shades.” Isaiah 26:19


SOURCE:
[1] http://www.outreachjudaism.org/articles/lutheran.html
[2] http://www.allfaith.com/prophecy/rapture.html
© 4.16.08 (updated 5.17.11)
Let's discuss this on his Blog!

yah, Gentiles, too, are obliged to refrain from blasphemy

yah, Gentiles, too, are obliged to refrain from blasphemy

Gentiles, too, are obliged to refrain from blasphemy since this is one of the Seven *Noachide Laws

yah [jɑː jɛə]

sentence substitute

an informal word for yes often used to indicate derision or contempt

interj

an exclamation of derision or disgust

Blaspheme: The Mishnah (Sanh. 7:5), rules that the death sentence by stoning should be applied only in the case where the blasphemer had uttered the *Tetragrammaton and two witnesses had warned him prior to the transgression. In the Talmud, however, R. Meir extends this punishment to cases where the blasphemer had used one of the *attributes, i.e., substitute names of God (Sanh. 56a). The accepted halakhah is that only the one who has uttered the Tetragrammaton be sentenced to death by stoning; the offender who pronounced the substitute names is only flogged (Maim., Yad, Avodat Kokhavim, 2:7). In the court procedure (Sanh. 5:7 and Sanh. 60a) the witnesses for the prosecution testified to the words of the blasphemer by substituting the expressions "Yose shall strike Yose" (yakkeh Yose et Yose). Toward the end of the hearing, however, after the audience had been dismissed, the senior witness was asked to repeat the exact words uttered by the blasphemer. Upon their pronouncement (i.e., of the Tetragrammaton), the judges stood up and rent their garments. The act expressed their profound mourning at hearing the name of God profaned. The custom of tearing one's clothes on hearing blasphemy is attested to in II Kings 18:37, where it is told that Eliakim and his associates tore their garments upon hearing the blasphemous words of the Assyrian warlord *Rab-Shakeh (Sanh. 60a). It is codified in Shulḥan Arukh (YD 340:37) that whoever bears a blasphemy whether with the Tetragrammaton or with attributes, in any language and from a Jew, even from the mouth of a witness, must rend his garment. The second and any successive witnesses only testified: "I have heard the same words" (Sanh. 7:5); according to the opinion of *Abba Saul, whoever utters the Tetragrammaton in public is excluded from the world to come (Av. Zar. 18a). Besides the sacrilege of God, vituperation against the king, God's anointed servant, was also considered blasphemy (cf. Ex. 22:27 and I Kings 21:10). Gentiles, too, are obliged to refrain from blasphemy since this is one of the Seven *Noachide Laws (Sanh. 56a, 60a). Maimonides also classified as blasphemy the erasure of God's name written on paper or engraved on stone, etc., which was to be punished by flogging (Yad, Yesodei ha-Torah 6:1–6). After Jewish courts were deprived of jurisdiction in those cases where capital punishment was applied, excommunication (see *ḥerem) was the usual sanction against a blasphemer (J. Mueller (ed.), Teshuvot Ge'onei Mizraḥ u-Ma'arav (1898), 27a, responsum no. 103 by Amram Gaon).

Hebrew letter VAV acts both as a consonant, W, or as a vowel, 'oo.' It can act as a part of a word or as a prefix that means 'and.' In this sense, VAV is like a connecting tissue, like a mirror where things reflect and meet. Kabbalistically, its form denotes Divine light streamlined downwards into the Creation.
Grammatically, the morphology of the Tetragrammaton, God's Name made of four letters, י-ה-ו-ה, reflects fusion of different forms of the Hebrew verb 'to be.' It is a very elusive word, because grammatically it is neither one of the forms we know. It denotes future continuous tense, meaning that it is an ever evolving Existence that brings everything into being. This name is so elusive, and thus reflects so perfectly the prohibition to utter His Name in vain, that we even don't know how it should be pronounced correctly. All the attempts in English literature to spell it as it is written, are incorrect as they defy the grammar and the phonetics of Hebrew language. Only priests in the Temple knew to pronounce this Name correctly. Therefore in Jewish tradition we do not even attempt to read this Name, lest we misspell it, but replace it instead with the name Ado-nai, which means literally My Lords. It is plural because it reflects the idea that this name does not refer to God Himself (only the Tetragrammaton Name does), but to His manifold manifestations in the worlds.

"On a frequent basis we attach a meaning of a word from the Bible based on our own language and culture to a word that is not the meaning of the Hebrew word behind the translation. From Meditation 8.30.11 "ezekials beating heart" – Matisyahu



See also 

THE NAME - the prohibition to utter His Name in vain

 http://natzrim.blogspot.com/2012/06/name-prohibition-to-utter-his-name-in.html

Torah Observance for Gentiles
NOW AVAILABLE: PART II  Some years back Rabbi Chaim Richman delivered a historical teaching in the state of Texas to an audience of Noahides (G-d fearing Gentiles). The teaching was recorded and is now being presented to the broad public for the first time. Rabbi Richman delivers a candid and groundbreaking explanation of practical Torah observance for Righteous Gentiles.
This seventy minute teaching is being presented in three parts:
Please click here for Part I.
Please click here for Part II.


source: [1] http://universaltorah.com/programming/2011/11/17/torah-observance-for-gentiles-part-i.htm

Man burned alive for blasphemy: Mob snatched him from Police Station

'Killing of blasphemy accused shocking'

July 05, 2012 - Updated 1810 PKT

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday expressed profound grief and shock over the harrowing incident of burning of a man alive in Bahawalpur district after pulling him out of a police station.

Expressing shock, the President directed the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Interior to conduct an inquiry into this unfortunate incident and submit the report to the Presidency immediately.

The President said that no one should be allowed to take law into in his own hands no matter what the crime is. The President also directed the concerned to dispense justice according to the law in this case.

The man, who was burnt alive, was reported to be mentally unstable and was accused of blasphemy.

AFP adds:

Earlier a 2,000-strong mob snatched a mentally unstable man from a police station, beat him to death and torched his body after he allegedly burned pages from a Koran, police said Thursday.

The mob ransacked the police station in a village on the outskirts of Bahawalpur after officers refused to hand him over.

Local police station chief Ghulam Mohiuddin said Ghulam Abbas, in his early 40s, was taken into custody after people said they caught him burning pages of the Muslim holy book.

"After some time, more than 2,000 people surrounded the police station and asked the police to hand over the man to them, and upon refusal they ransacked the police station and took the accused with them," Mohiuddin told AFP.

"The protesters also set fire to several motorcycles and vehicles parked in the police station and damaged the quarters of police officials.

"Later they took away Ghulam Abbas to a main crossing, beat him to death and set his body on fire."

He said the accused man was mentally unstable and "was not aware of even the location of his residence".

District police chief Ahmed Ishaq Jahangir said the mob was too much for the police to handle after some in the group incited others to take action.

"The police contingent was not sufficient there to control the situation and to save the life of the accused," Jahangir told AFP.

SOURCE:

THE NAME - the prohibition to utter His Name in vain

Hebrew letter VAV acts both as a consonant, W, or as a vowel, 'oo.' It can act as a part of a word or as a prefix that means 'and.' In this sense, VAV is like a connecting tissue, like a mirror where things reflect and meet. Kabbalistically, its form denotes Divine light streamlined downwards into the Creation.
Grammatically, the morphology of the Tetragrammaton, God's Name made of four letters, י-ה-ו-ה, reflects fusion of different forms of the Hebrew verb 'to be.' It is a very elusive word, because grammatically it is neither one of the forms we know. It denotes future continuous tense, meaning that it is an ever evolving Existence that brings everything into being. This name is so elusive, and thus reflects so perfectly the prohibition to utter His Name in vain, that we even don't know how it should be pronounced correctly. All the attempts in English literature to spell it as it is written, are incorrect as they defy the grammar and the phonetics of Hebrew language. Only priests in the Temple knew to pronounce this Name correctly. Therefore in Jewish tradition we do not even attempt to read this Name, lest we misspell it, but replace it instead with the name Ado-nai, which means literally My Lords. It is plural because it reflects the idea that this name does not refer to God Himself (only the Tetragrammaton Name does), but to His manifold manifestations in the worlds.

"On a frequent basis we attach a meaning of a word from the Bible based on our own language and culture to a word that is not the meaning of the Hebrew word behind the translation. From Meditation 8.30.11 "ezekials beating heart" – Matisyahu

Blasphemy 

Blaspheme: The Mishnah (Sanh. 7:5), rules that the death sentence by stoning should be applied only in the case where the blasphemer had uttered the *Tetragrammaton and two witnesses had warned him prior to the transgression. In the Talmud, however, R. Meir extends this punishment to cases where the blasphemer had used one of the *attributes, i.e., substitute names of God (Sanh. 56a). The accepted halakhah is that only the one who has uttered the Tetragrammaton be sentenced to death by stoning; the offender who pronounced the substitute names is only flogged (Maim., Yad, Avodat Kokhavim, 2:7). In the court procedure (Sanh. 5:7 and Sanh. 60a) the witnesses for the prosecution testified to the words of the blasphemer by substituting the expressions "Yose shall strike Yose" (yakkeh Yose et Yose). Toward the end of the hearing, however, after the audience had been dismissed, the senior witness was asked to repeat the exact words uttered by the blasphemer. Upon their pronouncement (i.e., of the Tetragrammaton), the judges stood up and rent their garments. The act expressed their profound mourning at hearing the name of God profaned. The custom of tearing one's clothes on hearing blasphemy is attested to in II Kings 18:37, where it is told that Eliakim and his associates tore their garments upon hearing the blasphemous words of the Assyrian warlord *Rab-Shakeh (Sanh. 60a). It is codified in Shulḥan Arukh (YD 340:37) that whoever bears a blasphemy whether with the Tetragrammaton or with attributes, in any language and from a Jew, even from the mouth of a witness, must rend his garment. The second and any successive witnesses only testified: "I have heard the same words" (Sanh. 7:5); according to the opinion of *Abba Saul, whoever utters the Tetragrammaton in public is excluded from the world to come (Av. Zar. 18a). Besides the sacrilege of God, vituperation against the king, God's anointed servant, was also considered blasphemy (cf. Ex. 22:27 and I Kings 21:10). Gentiles, too, are obliged to refrain from blasphemy since this is one of the Seven *Noachide Laws (Sanh. 56a, 60a). Maimonides also classified as blasphemy the erasure of God's name written on paper or engraved on stone, etc., which was to be punished by flogging (Yad, Yesodei ha-Torah 6:1–6). After Jewish courts were deprived of jurisdiction in those cases where capital punishment was applied, excommunication (see *ḥerem) was the usual sanction against a blasphemer (J. Mueller (ed.), Teshuvot Ge'onei Mizraḥ u-Ma'arav (1898), 27a, responsum no. 103 by Amram Gaon).