Churches today often neglect the study and preaching of biblical prophecy because they consider it a controversial and impractical topic. At the same time, many bemoan the apathy of believers and struggle to encourage people toward holy living. Churches caught in this trap need to consider that the teaching of the Rapture, woven throughout the fabric of the New Testament, addresses these issues and can provide motivation for godliness...
Passage: Ezekiel 40-48
A common objection to the consistent literal interpretation of Bible prophecy is found in Ezekiel’s Temple vision (Ezek. 40–48). Opponents argue that if this is a literal, future Temple, then it will require a return to the sacrificial system that Christ made obsolete since the prophet speaks of "atonement" (kiper) in Ezekiel 43:13, 27; 45:15, 17, 20. This is true!
At least six passages (eight if parallel passages are included) specifically warn believers against date-setting. Yet down through church history there has been an amazing amount of date-setting. About every two years there is usually someone who makes headlines proclaiming that they know the date of the Second Coming or the Rapture...
Joel Richardson and some others have been teaching for about the last decade that the coming Anti-Christ will be a Muslim. He has written a number of books advocating this view. His latest offering is The Islamic Antichrist.[1] The bulk of his argument is based upon a comparison of Christian and Islamic eschatology from which he draws certain conclusion. Then he goes secondarily to the Bible in an effort to deal with passages that contradict his conclusion...
Benjamin Netanyahu in his book, A Place Among the Nations: Israel and the World, recognizes American William Eugene Blackstone (1841–1935) as one of the most outstanding examples of a Christian Zionist. Netanyahu notes that such Christian activity antedates the modern Zionist movement by at least half a century." (Actually, Christian Zionism dates back to the late 1500s in England.)