Diving Into Scripture: The Pre-Tribulation Paradox

Proverbs 10:30, “The righteous will never be removed, But the wicked will not inhabit the earth.”

The Apostle Paul was very careful to explain to us that at Christ’s return those who have died in Him are resurrected first, and then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them. The obvious question that we must therefore ask is, “When does the resurrection of the dead in Christ happen?” The answer, which many refuse to acknowledge, is given to us by John in Revelation 20:4-5: The dead in Christ who rise first are caught up in the First Resurrection … after the tribulation. The logical implications of the plain and straightforward teaching of the text are therefore undeniable: If the First Resurrection is after the tribulation then there can be no resurrection before the end of the tribulation, and if there is no resurrection before the end of the tribulation then there is therefore no rapture before the end of the tribulation. It is impossible. Many teachers try to get around this dilemma by somehow imposing “phases” to the First Resurrection, an eisegetical addition which does not even exist in the text and a teaching that — when drawn out to its logical conclusion — essentially contradicts Scripture itself by implying that the rapture takes place before the First Resurrection is even completed, despite the fact that Paul explicitly writes that we who are alive and remain will by no means precede those who are asleep in Christ (1 Thess. 4:15). Obviously, many die in Christ during great tribulation. According to Scripture, the rapture of those who are alive and remain can only happen after tribulation. We will be present upon the earth right up until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, often referred to in Scripture as The Day of the Lord …

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‘Doomsday Asteroid’ Apophis To Buzz Past Earth Tonight, Larger Than Previously Thought

By Tariq Malik, Space.com – “A European space telescope has captured new images of the huge asteroid Apophis, revealing that the potentially hazardous object is actually bigger than previously thought — and you have a chance to see the space rock yourself in two free webcasts tonight.

Asteroid Apophis has long been billed as a ‘doomsday asteroid’ because of a 2004 study that predicted a 2.7 percent chance of the space rock hitting Earth when it passes within 22,364 miles of the planet in April 2029, European Space Agency officials said. Later studies proved, however, that the asteroid poses no threat to Earth during that flyby, but astronomers continue to track the object since it will make another pass near Earth in 2036.

Today, ESA officials announced that its infrared Herschel Space Observatory has discovered that Apophis is about 1,066 feet wide, nearly 20 percent larger than a previous estimate of 885 feet.

‘The 20 percent increase in diameter … translates into a 75 percent increase in our estimates of the asteroid’s volume or mass,’ study leader Thomas Müller of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Garching, Germany, said in a statement.

Tonight’s two free webcasts will stream live views of Apophis from telescopes in Italy and the Canary Islands tonight (Jan. 10). The webcasts, offered by the stargazing websites Slooh Space Telescope and Virtual Telescope Project, will show Apophis as a bright light moving across the night sky. The asteroid is too small to be seen through small backyard telescopes.

The Slooh Space Camera webcast will begin at 7 p.m. EST (0000 Jan. 10 GMT). The Virtual Telescope webcast will begin an hour later at 8 p.m. EST (0100 GMT). You can watch both live webcasts of asteroid Apophis here on SPACE.com tonight.” Read more.