Shalom, could you tell me that these 144,00 from the tribes in the book of revelation are in fact a kind of super evangelists in the time of the great tribulation spreading the gospel in Israel when the church is gone, then how can the Holy Spirit be removed?

I guess I must have had my head in the sand for many, many years or something but it never occurred to me so strongly until recently that there are some last day views that write Israel as a Nation out of Revelation.

I guess it is part of the “Church replaces Israel” view but even their views vary. I know that the New Covenant is that all who are to be saved in this day, will be part of the Church, so they include all in Israel who will believe in Christ.

I guess my question is how can they ignore the language of Revelation, the 144,000, Babylon, the 12 tribes, Mt.Zion, The Mount of Olives, etc etc. Do they spiritualize the book of Revelation? Is it seen as all of the O.T. has already taken place or fulfilled before Christ came? I can see the point of all who become saved being the Church but I just cannot see the Church as being Israel.

Thank you for a most fantastic website! A friend of mine told me about this site, and I’m so grateful. This question has been bothering me ever since my friend and I had breakfast last week. I know that Satan was given a lease over the earth for 6000 years. I asked her if we’ve been on the earth for 6000 years yet. If so, then we really are in the last days, and if so, when would the rapture take place? She seemed to indicate most likely somewhere between 2018 and 2037. No one knows the exact time, but do you think this time frame is correct?

Please give us your words of comfort and wisdom. My daughter has a best friend who seems to have given up hope and she is distraught. He has a heart condition which is complicated to explain and he is diabetic. He is not a believer and we have been praying for his salvation. My heart is so heavy and I have been encouraging my daughter to witness to him. Thank you so much and please pray for us.

I would like your opinion on the current trend regarding the “Law of Attraction” and the book/movie “The Secret” Are they considered a false religion? Are they based on Scientology? I have been greatly blessed by your wisdom and insight.

I recently read an article I found very thought provoking about whenever there was a resurrection from the dead i.e. Christ’s and a “few” old testament saints, the two witnesses in Revelation there followed a great earthquake. (The author) was suggesting that maybe there is evidence that the raising of the dead in Christ and those that remain would be in conjunction with a great earthquake.

As I have pondered that possibility, it seems feasible to me simply because of the unbelievable amount of energy that that event might cause. So my question is, if that is a possibility, do you think that the rapture of the church could coincide with God’s deliverance of Israel in the Gog Magog War of Ezekiel 38 & 39?

Thanks for the tremendous articles on a plethora of Biblical topics. Both your site and Rapture Ready are my favorite sites for eschatology.

But I do have a question: Why do most prophecy scholars put the Gog revolution before the tribulation? To me it seems to fit better at the close of the millennium where Israel certainly is living in peace and safety, but Satan is loosed for a short time to again stir up the nations.

Again I want to thank you for the wonderful site. It is regularly visited by myself and others that I have been directing to it. Recently I read an article claiming that the first beast of Rev. 13 is a kingdom and the second beast is both the anti-Christ and the False Prophet.

Over the years as I have studied these things there has been something within me that seems to say they are one and the same, too. What I’ve read regarding them being two separate individuals has always had problems washing with my own studying of God’s Word. What’s your opinion?

Why did Jacob love Joseph more than any of his other 11 sons? It says that he loved Joseph more because he was born to him of old age, but how does that make him love Joseph more?

I would like your thoughts on the office of elder in a church. Do you feel that the office of elder must be filled by a “pastor”? in a small church that can only afford to pay a single pastor, do you feel that there should be other elders appointed from the congregation, or should the pastor have sole authority for making all decisions related to the governing of the church? I can’t find anywhere in the new testament where a single elder was appointed in a church, or where church decisions were made by a single person.

My pastor has indicated several times that a board of “ruling elders” in a church is not biblical, but that elders must be those who have been called by God to be pastors. He stated that an elder is someone who is financially supported by the church so that they can devote their time to studying the Word in order to teach. Therefore, if a church isn’t large enough to support more than 1 paid position, there should be only one elder and he is responsible for making the decisions regarding the running of the local church.

I can’t find any scriptural support for this, and I don’t feel that the verses regarding the qualifications of elders, which he is using to support his position, say what he is implying. What are your thoughts on this?