“Within the Zionist lobby, everything is extremely rational and carefully calculated—up to the moment when the final act arrives: the coming of the Messiah. That is the promissory note on which everything is built. It is issued against a future event. If that future does not arrive, everything collapses. Christian Zionism is even worse: everything in it rests on pure hallucination (the Rapture, and so on), which cannot come to pass, no matter how much one might wish it.” — Alexander Dugin

I’m going to unload here. I’ve been carrying this for a long, long time and it’s time to shuck it completely.

I subscribe to Alexander Dugin and have a lot of respect for his insights, but I’m not quite sure how to take this. He calls (the Rapture, and so on) pure hallucination, therefore, it cannot happen and, while I agree that he is spot on about the religious belief, nevertheless, I’m not ready to put God in a box. God can do whatever He wants and, if God wants the Rapture to come to pass, it will, no matter the protest from Dugin. Granted, however, he might have just used poor wording and grammar to make his point and, if so, I’ll withdraw my protest.

Not that it matters greatly to me because I don’t think it’s going to happen the way that so many are hoping for.

1. What happens to the Zionist movement if the expected messiah, Moschiach, does not show up on schedule?
2. What happens to the Christian Zionist Rapturist Dispensational Evangelical movement if…ditto?

I was born into and grew up in a conservative Baptist family and became well-steeped in the pre-millennial theory that Jesus was coming back soon, real soon (it’s always real soon), to take the true believers out of here (Rapture) and punish the evildoers with a rod of iron for 1000 years. As I recall, we were pre-tribulation Rapturists, but I knew (still know) many people who held to the mid-trib and post-trib opinions. I read Hal Lindsey’s blockbuster book, “The Late Great Planet Earth” at least twice and, by the time I was in my mid-teens, pretty sure that I had it all figured out. I’m not ashamed to admit that for a little while, I considered the possibility that Richard “Tricky Dick” Nixon might be the Anti-Christ and there were a few times when I found myself alone, wondering if the Rapture had occurred without me.

My parents encouraged us (siblings, myself) to think and question, so I did, and eventually in my late teens, became acquainted with the writings of dominion theology authors (Gary North, et al), absorbing the material like a dry sponge soaks up water. It didn’t take much “education” before I made the decision to leave the pre-millennial world behind and embraced post-millennialism whole-heartedly and with vigor. That was close on to fifty years ago and I have not looked back once, never regretted the change of direction, nor entertained any ideas about returning to the “fold” in the hopes of leaving Earth without dying.

One of the main tenets of pre-millennialism (pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib) is that the nation known as Israel must be present in the End Times (that period at the end of the world in which Jesus comes back physically). It is believed that world affairs will be orchestrated so that there will be an immense, ferocious battle between the nations in Israel, with the blood of the slaughtered humans rising as high as the bits in the mouths of the horses. How this would play out in an age of digital warfare where drones and missiles have become the dominant weapon is beyond me, but no matter. Armageddon MUST play out so that Jesus can return to prevent the total annihilation of His “Chosen People” and, by extension, save the Gentile believers as well. Once the battle is over and the Anti-Christ has been defeated, there will be an extended period of peace, 1000 years, after which all Hell and Mayhem will break loose once again, forcing Jesus to conquer Satan once and for all, condemning him and his hordes of demons to the Lake of Fire forever and ever, Amen!

This is a pretty simplistic explanation, but millions and millions of people actually believe this or some variant of it. I have no problem at all with calling it out, as Alexander Dugin did above, as a fantasy, a hallucination of the mind, a false religion. If this hurts your feelings and you want to respond in a Christian manner, well, I allow comments. Click on the button at the top of the page. Heck, if you want to unload on me in a non-Christian fit of rage, go ahead. I can take it.

There are any number of reasons why I reject the pre-millennial Rapture theory, but the main one is that it is a belief of hopelessness. I have heard this expressed untold numbers of times. Evil is getting worse and worse, the Bible guarantees that it will, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it until Jesus comes back to rescue His church from the mess which it is mired in.

“…I will build My church, AND the gates of Hades shall NOT prevail against it.” (emphasis added)

Apparently, the implication of the words in Matthew 16:18 have not been thought out to their logical end, because Jesus does not say that the gates of Hades will be broken down by Him, but by His Church.

This mindset, Rapture escapism, then, is used to excuse personal inaction on any given issue, abortion, for instance. If this issue (or any other) is ever raised in an attempt to galvanize Bible-believing Christians into some kind of action to put a stop to it, they will raise the argument that I just mentioned. Evil is getting worse, the news proclaims it, and this just confirms it, which means all we can do is pray and hope that Jesus shows up soon. Real soon. Does the term “circular argument” resonate with you? Did it ever occur to you to change your “news” source?

Pre-millennial Rapturism is a failed, deficient theology and it will be made evident when the State of Israel, which is the bedrock foundation of Christian Zionism, is beaten and destroyed, disappearing into the dustbin of history, joining other cruel, vicious, murderous empires like Genghis Khan and the Mongols, Pol Pot, Chairman Mao, the Soviet Union, and, of course, the Roman Empire. Which brings me back to the question I raised earlier: When the expected return of the messiah (Jesus Christ, or the Jewish version, Moschiach) does not materialize, what are these people going to do, other than to watch their long-held, die-hard belief system crumble into dust.

Which, as far as I’m concerned, cannot happen soon enough.

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Gary North had a saying. “You can’t beat something with nothing.” Since the Rapture theory is “something”, what that means is that, in order to beat it, I’ve got to have a superior philosophy, a better argument, otherwise, I have failed. I’m going to have to explain why I am so confident in my own beliefs and why I have an unbending faith in the future, in time and on Earth, without the physical return of Jesus Christ.

Let me just give you a taste, something to chew on.

“Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” — Jesus Christ (John 16:7)

The Helper (Holy Spirit) would not come as long as Jesus was here, but has been present since He went away. What does it say about the power of the Spirit, Who is God, to overcome evil if Jesus has to come back to do the job Himself? If this is what you believe, then you are basically saying that the Spirit of God is not up to the task and must have help to finish the work.

Think about it.

I’ll be back.