Mar 26
A Sucker's Bet
I'm very keen to read ever-negative email sent to Rapture Ready. Reading all the letters that disagree with the site helps me better understand why people have trouble with the end-time message. I use this information to help me refine the advice we offer to the public.
At the heart of many emails is content I identify as the "Sucker's Bet." These people view us "Doomsday Christians" as wasting our lives by endlessly waiting for a Lord who is never coming. They base their view on the idea that Jesus hasn't come in 2000 years, so this complete lack of activity should prove that He is not coming at all.
Some of these people bet they will have the satisfaction of watching me squander my life on a meaningless quest. But I'm not sure where they see the payoff. If I outlive them, there is no payoff. The only wager I see is their hope that Jesus doesn't come back and bring their carefree existence to a premature end.
What is a "Sucker's Bet"? A "Sucker's Bet" is a gamble that someone makes based on a false view of the odds. Someone believes he has a higher likelihood of winning than he actually does. I can think of two popular games of chance that perfectly illustrate this.
If you have ever been to a carnival, you may have seen the "milk bottle toss." The game may have other names, but it usually involves trying to use three or four beanbags to knock down six small metal bottles that are stacked in a pyramid. What makes this a sucker's bet is the fact that the three bottles on the bottom of the pyramid are much heavier than the ones on top. While the three lighter-weight bottles on the top row can be easily knocked over, toppling those on the bottom requires a direct hit.
Another "Sucker's Bet" is the claw vending machine you might see at a mall or at the entrance of a supermarket. The game features prizes--usually plush toys such as teddy bears--heaped inside a clear case. The player puts coins into the machine, activating a joystick that controls the claw for a short time. The catch is that the player can move the claw back, forth and sideways--but not up or down.
As popular as the machines are, they are commonly considered to be rigged. In many cases, the claw lacks the mechanical strength to extract a prize. Inside these one-hooked-bandits is a control box that controls the grip strength and "pay-out" odds. A survey by a British group found that a typical machine is set to offer only a reasonable chance every fourth try. Having played one of these games before, I've noticed my chances were comparable with what they would be if I were blindfolded.
I believe people who scoff at prophecy are making a "Sucker's Bet" because they fail to realize that prophecy is in an advanced state of fulfillment. Everything the Bible refers to as a major sign of Jesus' return began with the end-time avalanche in 1948 when Israel became a nation. The rise of China as a world power, global terrorism, integrated financial markets, and the diplomatic struggle over who should control Jerusalem are just a few more indications that the odds favor the Lord's soon return.
Ironically, the Bible prophesies that one of the signs of the end-times is people making "Sucker's Bets." The more these people mock, the more they are pushing the prophetic clock closer to doomsday.
"Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with {their} mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, 'Where is the promise of His coming? Forever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation'" (2 Pet. 3:3-4).
When I respond to people, I reply to the real issue they are secretly addressing. People normally write me because they are bothered by events that confirm Bible prophecy. I point out to them that prophetic fulfillment is the real reason they're mad at me, and I warn them by saying, "If my luck with the end-time signs doesn’t run out soon, yours will."
-- Todd
End-of-Days Scenarios Part 4
We will have a look at how the endtime stage is set for the scenarios we will explore.
America is at the top of the food chain, so far as nations of Planet Earth are concerned. She is the richest, most materially blessed nation-state ever to exist. Her achievements in almost every facet of human endeavor are without peer in the annals of the ages.
The European Union is developing rapidly into a colossus that will challenge the U.S. for the title of world champ, so far as superpowers are concerned. But Europe lacks one ingredient in order to achieve America’s superpower status, no matter how economically strong the EU becomes. That one missing element is the military might–particularly the high-tech military complex, firmly entrenched and fortified by (likely) the most horrific thermonuclear capability and the most sophisticated means to deliver total devastation to any other nation foolish enough to initiate such conflagration.
Russia is again beginning to show signs of beefing up for super power military status. It, too, however, lags far behind in high-tech matters –things that prevent it from achieving the degree of hegemony over parts of the world formerly under the dictatorial eyes of the USSR. The Russian economy continues to be in shambles, and achieving the high-tech needed is thus impeded.
China is biding its time, building a strong economic base for one purpose: to attain a level of fiscal power that can buy and/or develop the high-tech sophistication essential to superpower status. The Chinese raw manpower capabilities unquestionably present potentially the greatest threat, in terms of sheer numbers, of any military force in human history.
All other nations are bit players in the scenarios we will examine. But, combined, they present massive--even insurmountable--problems for the prophesied frightening world of the perhaps not-too-distant future.
Israel is smack in the center of all this global chemistry. That nation will be –according to the very Word of the Creator of all things—the catalyst that will galvanize earth-dwellers into rebellion against Him, thus, will bring all armies of the world to Armageddon. Here is what the One who knows the end from the beginning has to say about Israel and all other nations at the time of the end of days:
“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people
of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zech. 12: 3).
So, with the world stage set, as far as geopolitical matters are concerned, let’s begin to try to look into the future, again with the crucial caveat that this is all speculation, though well-studied and prayed-over speculation on the part of yours truly. Daniel the prophet gave the endtime wrap up in one concise prophetic passage:
“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Dan. 9:27).
Will the consummation as foretold in that passage begin to rumble upon this judgment-bound earth something like this? Business will be going along at a dynamic clip, despite occasional blips, flare-ups, and glitches. Jesus tells us that in Luke 17: 26-29. The rich will be getting richer, the poor will be going further into poverty –despite the socialist-elites promises to the contrary. Terrorism will be pervasive, and increasingly so, just as Paul the apostle foretold when he said that men and seducers would grow worse and worse, and just as Jesus prophesied when He said things would be just like in Noah’s day, a time when violence filled the whole earth (Gen. 6:11,13).
The Arab Islamic states, wanting--as they have for millennia--to erase the Jews from the earth, will be looking for ways to penetrate Israel’s protective shell, fearful of direct assault because of Israel’s lethal nuclear arsenal. The world of diplomats–the so-called international community—will, led by the American State Department— be looking for a way to placate the hostile Islamics. Israel’s territory, as always, will be the offering on the altar of Mid-East peacemaking. This, while giving Israel little or no say in the offering.
Every major Mid-East terrorist organization, with headquarters in Damascus, Syria, will beat the drums of hatred against Israel as never before. Concern that Israel will take preemptive action will trouble the Jim Bakers of the times in this scenario. Even some who call themselves evangelical Christians will join with other religious entities to point a finger at Israel as the obstinate party in the growing threat to regional, maybe even world, peace.
Well, better stop there for now. If the Rapture doesn’t occur between now and next Monday, I can promise it will occur then–in this scenario, at least…
--Terry
Attention Rapture Ready Family and Friends
A British film company will be interviewing people in the U.S. for their thoughts on Bible Prophecy, and the Rapture, as those matters involved might have an impact on the world. They’ve asked us to post their invitation to those of you who might wish to participate in the interviews. To let them know of your desire to participate, or to get more information, contact Hope Dickson Leach.
hdicksonleach@elevenfilm.com
Here’s your chance to make your thoughts known to the world in a special way. They are especially interested in talking to those of you in the New York city and the Nashville, Tennessee areas.
Below is their description of the project.
Todd and I have been involved in a number of these documentaries, and have no delusion that the film-makers come down on the side of Bible Prophecy, the Rapture, or Biblical Truth in general. None-the-less, when God opens doors to shine His Light, we think that Christians should take those opportunities.
God’s Blessings,
Terry
The following is the film company’s description of the project. Eleven Film, an independent production company based in London, is making a feature-length documentary about the relevance of Rapture theology in the U.S.and the UK. In particular, we will be exploring how pre-millennialism impacts American foreign policy.
The film also aims to demonstrate that there is some symmetry between pre-millenialism and Mahdiism as practised in Shia Islam.
The film is an authored journey hosted by filmmaker Jamie Campbell who has made films for Channel Four about various subjects including the war on terror, civil defense in the UK and the leader of the British Conservative Party.
Jamie will be in the US from 11 - 25 April, and is looking to interview people who lead their lives in preparation for the rapture. He will be in New York City, Boston, Washington D.C., Nashville, Palm Springs, Virginia Beach and San Antonio. He would very much like to attend, and film, church services, any prayer groups or rapture relevant meetings and hear from people who are preparing for the rapture in these places. Since the film's focus is the relationship between
rapture theology and world politics, he is also interested in meeting anybody involved in government at any level, and members of the military who may have joined as a result of their beliefs, or to enable the end times.
--Terry
