Prophetic warnings from God about End Times

Chec
k out this website I Have been following these messages for a while now.. End-Times-Prophecy.com.Two visionaries mainly are said to receive messages of warning from God .One is Swedish the other from the U.S.A

 

http://www.end-times-prophecy.com

 

This site mentions the so-called, 'Rapture'. This is very much indeed against Catholic Teaching.

I very much caution against this site.

Also the notion that we are entering the, 'End Times' and the so called 'Rapture' are Protestant rather than Catholic prophetic themes.It has as much scriptural basis as the existence of Pixies.

Origins of the Rapture

The Rapture seems to have been invented by a British religious figure named John Nelson Darby (1800-1882). He was ordained in the Church of Ireland and worked there to convert Catholics away from their folly. He was extremely pessimistic about what he saw as the state of the world and the state of the Church. He eventually left it, joining a dissident group called the Plymouth Brethren of which he soon became a prominent leader.

About 1830, he began teaching that Jesus’ coming at the end of time would be preceded by a “rapture of the saints.” Some members of his own Brethren community objected that this was not biblically founded, but Darby dismissed any criticism. It had, he claimed, been revealed to him by God.

He would eventually distance himself from this group and travel extensively in the 1860s and 1870s in Europe, the United States, and Canada, where his views were very influential. (Especially important is their appearance in the Scofield Reference Bible, which was printed first in 1909. The 1967 edition is still in print and is very popular in many Protestant fundamentalist circles.)

Despite Darby’s denials, scholars have suggested several possible influences on his Rapture views. In 1830, in Port Glasgow, Scotland, a 15-year-old girl, Margaret MacDonald, a follower of a charismatic Scottish preacher, Edward Irving, attended a healing service at which she saw a vision of a two-stage return of Christ. Darby adopted and expanded her vision.

Another suggestion traces the influence to a Jesuit priest, Manuel Lacunza (1731-1801), who was born in Chile but came to Italy in 1767 where he would spend the rest of his life. Posing as a converted Jew (under the pseudonym Juan Josafat Ben Ezra), he wrote, in Spanish, a large apocalyptic work entitled The Coming of the Messiah in Glory and Majesty. The book appeared first in 1811, 10 years after his death. In 1827, it was translated into English by none other than Edward Irving, an acquaintance of and possible influence on Darby. Given Darby’s hatred of Catholics, this possible influence adds an ironic touch!

The ‘Rapture text’ in Scripture

Those who propose the Rapture maintain that it is found in Scripture. From its first appearance, as we have seen, others have questioned this. What are we to think?

Written by Paul from Corinth, about 50 or 51 A.D., less than 20 years after the death of Christ, 1 Thessalonians is commonly considered the oldest book of the New Testament. It is clear that these earliest Christians were eagerly expecting Jesus’ return in glory at the end of the world. As time went on and this was delayed, two pastoral problems emerged that Paul addresses in these lines.

The first is the question of when. Paul tells them that they “know very well” that we do not know the time of the end; it will come like a thief in the night. This becomes a truism throughout the New Testament, appearing in the Synoptic Gospels (Mt 24:42,44; Mark 13:21-23, 32-33; Luke 12:39-40; 17:20-24; 21:34-35); Acts of the Apostles (1:6-7); the Letters (our passage and 2 Peter 3:9-10); and even in the Book of Revelation, not once but twice (Rv 3:3; 16:15)! Needless to say, this clear teaching has been consistently ignored by many up to the present day.

The second question seems more urgent. Since Christ’s coming was delayed, some of the community had died. Those who were left became worried: Would the dead lose out in some way at Christ’s return? Would they be at any disadvantage?

In describing Jesus’ return, Paul combines imagery drawn from two sources. From biblical apocalyptic (e.g., Daniel 7:13), he gets the coming on the clouds of heaven with the angelic trumpets. From his Greco-Roman experience, he gets the imagery of an arrival of a king on a state visit (in Greek, parousia); a joyful multitude goes out to meet him on the road and accompany him back to the city.

The dead will rise first and then we, the living, will be “snatched” up to join them in the air. Many pagan epitaphs of the time spoke of the living “being snatched” away by death. Here Paul speaks of our “being snatched” up to join the Lord and to welcome him at his return.

In the ancient world, the “air” was a scary place filled with unseen beings, many of them hostile. Together with Christ, there will be nothing to fear. Paul means this as a message of comfort and consolation for the Thessalonians. Christians do grieve the loss of their loved ones, but they should not do so “as others do who have no hope.”

The passage is about Jesus’ return in glory at the end of the world. The New Testament knows of only one such return. There is no “first” second coming!

Further, the passage says absolutely nothing about being “separated from” sinners; the whole thrust is exactly the opposite. It is about “being together with” the dead. There is no suggestion that once we meet Jesus “in the air” that he then turns around and goes back, taking us with him, to return later.

The conclusion is clear: There is no basis whatsoever in this passage for a doctrine of the Rapture. To see such a doctrine here is a complete distortion of the biblical text. If we were to examine other biblical texts often cited in support of this doctrine (e.g., Mt 24:40-41; Luke 17:34-35; Rv 3:10), the results would be the same.

Church teaching on the Rapture

A s Roman Catholics, we might ask, “Has the Church censured anything regarding the Rapture doctrine?” The answer would have to be no and yes.

No, to my knowledge, there has never been an explicit statement relative to the Rapture. But as we have seen, the Rapture forms part of a particular millennial expectation based on a particular use of biblical texts. Yes, the Church has explicitly rejected both this kind of speculation and this way of interpreting the Scriptures.

The Council of Ephesus (431) denounced it as “a deviation and a fable.” It was denounced again in 1516 at the Fifth Lateran Council. In 1824, the work of Manuel Lacunza (noted above) was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. In 1941 and 1944, responding to questions from the Archbishop of Santiago, Chile, the Congregation of the Holy Office (now the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) again rejected this kind of millennial speculation with explicit reference to the work of Lacunza. As recently as April 22, 1998, with the turn of the millennium approaching, Pope John Paul II warned again against this way of thinking.

In interpreting biblical texts, the Church has stressed that it is essential that we take account of their literary genres since truth is expressed differently in different types of writing (Vatican II: Dei Verbum #12; Catechism of the Catholic Church #110).

In its 1993 document, The Interpretation of the Bible in the Church, the Pontifical Biblical Commission both reaffirmed this (Section I-A) and rejected as inadequate the so-called “fundamentalist” interpretation at play in the Rapture doctrine and scenario (Section I-F).

As John Paul II expressed it on April 22, 1998, “We know that the apocalyptic images of the eschatological discourse about the end of all things should be interpreted in light of their intense symbolism.” It is not language that should be taken literally.

Problems with the Rapture

We might conclude by asking, “What view of the world is encouraged, even legitimized by the Rapture/Left Behind ideology?” It can be fairly described as an extremely pessimistic, “outsider mentality.” It feels “left out” of the world and of society, so it eagerly anticipates leaving all of that behind. In fact, God shares their disgust, and the signs are clear: God is coming soon to put an end to it. The world itself is doomed to destruction, so there is obviously no point in caring for it or protecting it now.

Everyone left behind on the earth at the time of the Rapture will be subject to the sufferings of the Tribulation. The violence envisaged and described (as in the “Left Behind” novels) is almost pornographic in detail.

The spirit of vengeance is much in evidence as those “left behind” are subjected to extreme anguish. The hope that the earth and most of its inhabitants will soon be destroyed is a cause of happiness and rejoicing among those who are eager to be separated from sinners and “raptured” out of the world because then they will be with the Lord.

To this we might juxtapose another, very different, world view. The world of God’s creation is basically good (Gn 1). Though it is marred and broken by sin and death, it is still created in, through and for Jesus Christ (Col 1:15-20). The world shares in the redemption of God and even now is groaning, awaiting the fullness of redemption (Rom 8:19-23) which will be manifested as a (re)new(ed) heavens and (re)new(ed) earth (Rv 21:1-5).

God sent the Son into this world out of love to show us the way to life. Jesus did not separate himself from sinners but, on the contrary, they seem to have been his preferred company. If we want to be with the Lord, we should be together with sinners.

In all the Gospels, he is criticized by the self-righteous, “He eats with publicans and sinners” (e.g., Luke 5:29-32), but, as he assures us, there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just (Luke 15:7,10). The day of the Lord’s second coming is delayed, in fact, precisely because “ [the Lord] is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9-10). Jesus’ harshest words are reserved for those who think they are secure and look down on others (e.g., the Pharisee and the publican, Luke 18:9-14).

Even though we may long for the day of the Lord’s return in glory, the time of that return is unknown. Not even Jesus knows; only the Father knows (Mark 13:32). We are warned against false prophets who say that the end is near (Mt 24:23-26), but Jesus assures us, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).

Until that time, we are to be about the Lord’s work, “Blessed are those servants whom the master will find at work when he arrives” (Mt 24:46). If we look too eagerly for Jesus’ return on the clouds of heaven, we may pass him by too often on the street (Mt 25:31-46). It would seem that what gets left behind most in the “Left Behind” mentality is the whole Bible.

What’s a Catholic to believe?

We began with several questions: What is the Catholic teaching on the Rapture? There is none; there is no traditional Christian teaching on the Rapture. It is a late, and rather suspect, arrival on the scene.

Will Catholics be raptured? No, of course not, but then neither will be anyone else. But we are left behind with one final—and most important—question. It is not about the future, the question, Will I be taken up by the Rapture? Rather, it’s more about a present question: Will I be taken in by it?

Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M., Ph.D., is a professor of Old Testament, Semitic languages and biblical spirituality at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, California.

 

I have looked and looked, and I cannot find the post, but a week or so ago I posted some of my own thoughts on the "rapture" concerning another site that was mentioned by Angelabelfast. Anyway, I think that the warning is being confused with the rapture. I think that all this talk about the rapture coming now, about the "first-second coming" of Jesus where there is no biblical proof of this coming, is actually the Warning coming. I think some may be getting inklings of the warning to come soon, and are mistaking it for being a rapture, because they are ignorant of knowledge of the warning. I think that after the warning, the whole rapture idea will be dropped. Jesus is coming to warn us, to separate us, the converted will flock to him, and some left will turn away. Many will die of shock at the warning, others will be in dispair. Jesus will appear in the sky as a vision, but not actually come down here. The "rapture", to me is a selfish wish of those who think they deserve to be taken away from all the tribulations. I do think that it is possible many of those who have died already and will die soon of disasters may be victims because they cannot handle the warning or the tribulations to come, or perhaps for some reason God has chosen to spare them the suffering of it. Only God knows why he is "taking" those whom he is taking in the disasters now. Also, I think the one passage in the bible, where it says, "one will be taken and the other left" refers to this also, to the deaths and conversions at the time of the warning, or to death during the tribulation, but not at all to a rapture. To be taken means to die, I think. These people now and later are not being raptured, yet they have been taken before the warning and greater tribulations have occurred. Are they then, the lucky ones? We would not say so. To be truly chosen, I think, is to be left, not taken. To be chosen means we will not be harmed, we will be protected in some way. Many do say perhaps we will have a mark of some kind, so the others can recognize us. I wonder if it is not so much a mark, but a badge. Perhaps a crucifix around our necks, or a rosary in our hands, or a medal or scapular or something specific that Jesus tells us to wear to be recognized, as he has done so many times in the past with the relics we wear now. OR some people could suddenly get a cross on their foreheads like Fr. Sudak! :shock:

God needs us to remain here to continue to convert the dispairing, he needs us here to be his river of love, he needs us here to continue to care for the earth. We are still supposed to have 1000 years of peace on earth after the tribulations are over, with Jesus at the helm, before the real end of the world occurs, so the whole world will not be destroyed yet, so the rapture cannot happen yet. The only "rapture" will be at the true end, when the dead and the living are all taken up to be with God, and "the end" occurs. I pray for the privilage of staying for as long as this body can, I ask for the strength to survive the warning and whatever comes after. I do not want to be "taken" now, because I know that means I will die and then I will not be able to help the living here like I want to do for God. Though I am eager for heaven, I am more eager to prepare for it here, and help others, and enjoy the good things that remain of His earthly creation, for as long as I can.

 

You have clearly thought about these matters very deeply Connie. I think what you say is true, I have a great thirst myself to die for the Faith, this the Crown , the Glory rather than to flown away to some safe place.

 

You know Padraig, I just try to make it ALL work together in some way. I always have done that. I don't really like it when Catholics get on their soapbox any more than I like it when the Protestants do. I think we will all be in for some surpises from what is revealed in the warning. Nobody will be totally-right. That's why I guess I do read through all the new "warning" sites people find, and try to glean from them any truth at all. With so much talk of the rapture, I had to investigate it also. I have watched several specials on TV where it is explained by those who believe in it and those who don't. I have seen priests talk about it. Out of all that I have come to the conclusions I have above. See, I think many are being called by God to wake up to what is coming, that it is not all false or evil, just misunderstood. Those who believe in the rapture will de disappointed, but they WILL be ready for something, so when the warning happens they too will be able to process what happened and help others through it, I think. I hope, anyway. I don't know if everyone will turn to Catholicism as some people believe, perhaps it is a bit forward of us to think that way too, I don't know for sure, but I do hope that we will all see our common roots and our common future more clearly and work together to acheive it. Scientists, scholors, theologians, rapture promotors, visionaries, evangelists, bishops, and Popes...all the people who are genuine, truthful, and just trying to find their way. Perhaps for the first time, we will all agree on some things and will all be able to work toward peace together. That is my hope anyway.

 

I usually do not read prophesies that discuss the rapture. There may be some truth in them, but with the amount of prophecies out there, I have to draw the line somewhere on where I invest my time, so that is just a parameter I use. I think the rapture is just wishful thinking, as we will all suffer. I believe the blessed mother said I think at Akita in Japan that the good will suffer along with the bad. This makes sense to me, since I believe that the suffering we will face during the chastisements will hopefully go towards our time in purgatory, kind of like a trade-off...of course, this may be wishful thinking on my part I guess the rapture makes sense if you do not believe in purgatory, that the good are just removed from suffering to be with God straight away, with no suffering in purgatory. I view the chastisements as purgatory on earth...it will be very painful, lots of suffering and darkness...a purge, but I also think the veil will be very, very thin and we will be getting guidance from our guardian angels and others we have formed a prayful relationship with.

I've always presumed I would live through some of the chastisements so I can help my family. I've always envisioned myself somehow ending up in a concentration camp because of my faith. I wasn't sure how that could be in the states, but after Padraig posting his icons, I believe it will happen here. Although I had that dream with the rats where I appeared to be in Ireland, so who knows :lol: Speaking of rats, when I was leaving adoration last night and started to walk down the steps of the church, a big old rat was making his way alongside the last step It's nothing symbolic of course, as the church is in Boston, which of course is the home to many rats. I had often wondered as I sat in the nearly empty church during adoration if there were rats in there. Guess I got my answer last night :lol: I'm going to be jumping at every little noise from now on while I'm in there...it was a BIG one!!

 

I think the suffering will make us all great saints if we stand frm PS...if we stand firm..but to do that we have to really lie in God's arms.

But I don't think bad prophesy, Connie can ever bear good fruit, Connie. Bad prophesy is like bad meat , it only gets worse. Something is either true or false, I don't think there are any in betweens, though I acknowledge even true prophets can let go a howler...or maybe two. :wink:

I think a lot of fundamentalist Protestant prophesy and bad Catholic prophesy wraps thinks up and wraps them in a pink ribbon too much.

Our Lady on the other hand says, if you don't do this and this this may happen , its much more fluid and flowing.

I don't like things nailed down too much.

The rapture is as nailed down as it gets.

 

You hit the nail right on the head, Potatosack, in your discussion of purgatory and how it fits in. I agree with you completely on that. I also believe (or hope) that the suffering we endure here, and also the good works we do here, will help us get to heaven sooner, which is why we should not waste our precious time here. Also, to say that the Rapture works if you don't believe in purgatory, that makes perfect sense too. It can't work for those of us who believe we will go through some purification in purgatory after death. For us, the only ones who were worthy of being raptured were Mary, Elijia, and Jesus of course, and even they died first (well, I'm not sure what happened to Elijia...).

I pray fervently to live through some of the chastisements, to carry out the calling Mary has given to me. I am not so sure I will, though there was a time, only a few years ago, that I thought I would live forever. I now know I have some medical issues that mean I could fall over at any time, so I pray now for at least a semi-long life. I remember being certain I would live to be 120...now I pray for Him to just let me stay here a little longer, I pray for healing so I can stay and help out my family or others around me, I tell Him I am strong enough and please don't take me sooner. I am glad my kids are grown, and now I am being blessed with grandchildren so early...a blessing in that I just don't know if I will live to be 60, or 80, or neither one. Of course none of us know this, but when you've already had a close call, your mortality is suddenly real.

Anyway, sometimes I do want to believe there are some gray areas, Padraig, you called me right on that. I myself will be in for many surprises, that being one, most assuredly. I didn't mean to say though that there is good in all the stuff circulating out there, perhaps I did say that, but I just meant I try to find good where sometimes others don't. God may have to straighten me out on some of that, I suppose, because though you are trying to tell me now, I probably won't completely listen, the headstrong stubborn person that I am .

Padraig, what a cool picture, once again!

 

I watched a little of that film about the rapture, Connie ans must admit I loved it, though I don't believe in it.

One way I think they changed things in the film, to make it more palatable was that those who were, 'Left behind' aafter the Raputure could still, 'Get themselves saved' by turning to Jesus even after everyone else got to Heaven. This is a new idea, but I suppose it would be a hard world were everyone in it was due for hell. :shock: But it shows a kind of 'bolt on theology' that patches up the rough crachs...the idea that the whole entire world was going to hell on a rocket so to speak.

Very harsh

 

I like the movie too. Actually, for those who are left, that is widely accepted as a theory for afterward, not just in this movie. Not everyone left will be damned. Without believing in purgatory, their reparations must be made on earth, and so it is possible for them to yet be saved, but it will be very difficult. Doesn't it sound amazingly like what Mary and Jesus are saying about after the warning? That it will be very hard to convert afterward (but not impossible) if you wait to say yes until after the warning. If you are ready before, if you begin your conversion before, you will be "chosen" (not taken up, of course), but given graces and consolation to help the world to get through the tribulations and purifications coming next.
Rapture == Warning.

 

This is so timely: TONIGHT on The Journey Home on EWTN, they had a Baptist minister convert on. AFTER becoming Catholic, he wrote a book about the Rapture from a "why not" perspective! He and Marcus spent almost the whole second half of the program talking about the belief in, and reasons why we shuold not believe in the rapture, quoting stripture and everything! It was a very interesting Journey Home episode, but also providential to our discussion here. God does this all the time, doesn't he? Gets us thinking about something and then gives us insights through others.

http://www.ewtn.com/tv/live/journeyhome.asp
Here is what I watched tonight. Watch it now because it will go away soon with the next episode. The entire hour is really good. They start talking about the Rapture at about 18 minutes into the show.

I know some people are uncomfortable learning about things we should not believe in, but if we are to evengalize the Catholic faith to others, knowledge is power. The more you know about their arguements, the better you can persuade them to look at it another way. I personally have been led into discussions with people who believe these things. Older cradle-Catholics like my mom would just tell them they were crazy and walk away. She having, as these guys discuss in this episode, the rock-solid recognition of what is right, but not necessarily the understanding of why it is right, at least not enough to defend or to argue it against what they know is wrong. My mom thought my Grandma was wrong to invite in the Jahova's Witness boys when they knocked on her door. My mom was afraid of them. I remember her telling us to be quiet and not answer the door when they knocked! Dialog with them, to her, was something to avoid. My grandma, however, was an evengelist. She wanted to set them straight. She'd read the bible cover to cover several times and was prepared to defend the Catholic belief and preach it to those boys. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall. :lol: I do seem to have a vague recollection of perhaps being there one time when she sat them down, but I was too young to remember any of the discussion. Perhaps she planted seeds of conversion in some of those boys. Certainly they left her with new knowledge and questions! LOL

 

Confession time- I read the entire series as well as watched the movie. I love a good story. The books are better of course. I too felt a bit guilty for reading them. I have to be on guard so as to not pick up any errant beliefs. Thanks for sharing that you enjoyed the movie.
I really wish someone would write and make movies about this stuff from the Catholic perspective, but I'm not sure that's an appropriate desire (?) LOL Maybe I should go into writing? (I'd probably get it all wrong though)

I agree with you Connie- it's important to understand what others believe before you witness to them. Also, by getting to know others of different faiths, you can understand how God loves each and everyone of them. I doubt any of us regular folk truly understand our faith, so we are all at risk in some way or another of straying. Keeping that in mind, I have gotten to know many wonderfully beautiful Mormans, JW's, protestants, persons of other perspectives such as Homosexuals, and appreciate them as God's children. (I really only have trouble when I run into Catholic Haters- which sadly happens regularly now. ) I'm not much of a preacher, so couldn't do what your Grandmother did with the JW boys, but I do believe that having the friendships will allow me to witness to them more fully later after the warning. I'm waiting for my opening.

Kath

 

Kathleen,
The guy being interviewed on The Journey Home that I watched...that is exactly what he did! That is why they were talking about it He wrote a book called Rapture, as a Catholic! Here is a link to the two books he has written:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=david+b.+currie&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Adavid+b.+currie&ajr=0

Besides Rapture, he also wrote a book called Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic

I bet both of them are great reads...

Yes, in your line of work is is really important to undertand the beliefs of others. I know that sometimes you struggle with this in your job. You are a strong Catholic and a special person to be able to do that on a daily basis.

Looks like his Rapture book is pricy. Maybe I'll get the Kindle version and read it on my computer. I think it would be interesting.

 

Oh- very cool! I will check it out. thanks for the lead.
Let me know if it is a good one. Looks factual though? I must admit I'm seeking the fictional futuristic stories. My secret sin is reading a good fiction to "get away". I have such a hard time finding good Christian fiction. I probably should focus on prayer anyways. LOL
Pray, pray, pray, Kath

 

Oh yeah Kathleen, fiction, well that's different...the sci-fi side of you. Why we went to see Transformers! Yeah, if they put out a good fictional movie about this stuff, I'm there. I never read the Left Behind books, though I picked them up a few times and considered reading them. I think though, at the time I was in the middle of another book series, probably on Vampires or something, so I didn't buy them. Plus I thought the Rapture was so silly that I think I put them back down for that reason. Didn't think I'd get into it enough. Vampires, as we know of course, are much more serious stuff! LOL :lol:

I am more into truth these days so I think maybe his book will be good. I'll let you know.

 

for the record, I did watch 2 of the Left Behind movies. I pretty much ignored the rapture scene but was curious about people's behaviors and reactions to chaos and I believe (If I remember right, it's been a long time) a one world type of government was put in place with the anti-christ leading. I figured the way they responded would give some insight into how people will behave when society breaks down with the secrets.

 

You are right, and I think that is why contraversial movies intrigue me. To see the "What ifs" and how people are depicted as reacting to it. Movies drive a lot of what we do I think, so seeing the chaos that happens in a movie may either feed that behavior, or perhaps may help us to learn and cause us to behave ...better? Maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part. Anyway, it is something useful taken from a movie that otherwise is not correct to our beliefs. Not a bad thing, I don't think.

 

There is a new message from the Apostolate of the Green Scapular.
http://www.greenscapular.org/Adobe/MESSAGES/2011_Messages.pdf

many warning are now being given everywhere. Whether we accept these messages or not we know things are getting serious.

Mary

 

I will start to stock up a little with tins when I get home.

As far as water is concerned..I heard a tip one time that if you drop a taste of bleach into water it purifies it..I don't know if this true.