Apart from the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, does the Bible elsewhere suggest a Rapture of prepared believers only? The first passage to consider is: “‘Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”[1] Here, the Greek word for “knew” is the same one used to describe Mary’s response when she was told she would have a child and asked how that could be as she knew no man. We understand that she is saying that she had no physical relationship with any man. The Hebrew word for “know” is yada, and the Aramaic word yida is similar. We see this word in the Old Testament. “Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain.”[2] We can understand that the Lord is not looking for His people to do signs and wonders to qualify them to join Him at the wedding supper of the Lamb; He is looking for the few already in a close relationship with Him.
Another part of the New Testament to ponder upon is Luke 21:36: “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy [have strength] to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” We are instructed how to strengthen ourselves in the Lord in Jude 1:20: “building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” A great call to intimacy is found in the verse in Matthew 26:4 when Jesus wanted fellowship in the Garden of Gethsemane as He contemplated the agony ahead of Him, and found his disciples asleep: “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?” We too can fellowship closely with the Lord in prayer as He is moved with compassion at what is ahead, both for His beloved people, Israel, and for the whole world during ever-increasing levels of birth pangs and tribulation.[3] Pray for Israel as they will soon face being surrounded by the Antichrist and the 10 horns of his kingdom.[4] Pray for salvation, for pastors and labourers to be equipped to help their people grow in becoming increasingly wise virgins and to not tolerate any worldly compromise in their lives.
The book of Revelation is our manual for the latter days. See how Jesus commends and make a special promise to the faithful, persevering church in Philadelphia, “‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”[5] Contrast this to the plea issued to the unresponsive, apathetic, lukewarm church, the church of Laodicea, considered by many to generally represent the Western end-times Church. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”[6] We see here the Lord pleading with His people to open their hearts to deep intimacy. To which group of end-times believers do we wish to spiritually identify? The faithful church which will be removed from the Tribulation, or those in the lukewarm, complacent church which needs instruction on how to enter into this close walk with the Lord to avoid the brutality of the Last Days before the return of Jesus?
[1] Matthew 7:21-23. In this passage, “knew” derives from ginosko, a different Greek word to that used for “to know” in the wise and foolish virgins parable – oida. “The Parable of Ten Virgins” YouTube: Dr. Baruch Korman, loveisrael.org
[2] Genesis 4:1
[3] As discussed in my book “Exploring the End Times and Interceding for Israel”
[4] Daniel 7:24, Revelation 17:12
[5] Revelation 3:10
[6] Revelation 3:20
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.