Letters to the Editor

RAPTURE VIEWPOINT

I wrote to Barry Smith some years ago remarking Noah &
family were all in the Ark before the "rain" started. Jesus
refers to this "as the days of Noah." Again He said He would come
as a thief in the night – a thief takes valuables. Two
women grinding corn, one taken, the other left. I would add that
these pictures don’t signify a world in tribulation mode.
In fact, just like today, an unsuspecting world. Further, it is
the removal of we valuables, that is the restrainer "being taken
out" which will trigger the Tribulation. As a semi-retired
farmer, the two witnesses that have the power to prevent rain in
the first 3½ years describes the appalling famine that
will result in the first half of the Tribulation.

PS Doesn’t your view denigrate the work of the Cross?
(abridged)

Trevor Brown
TE KAUWHATA NZ

With regard to denigrating the Cross, we are at a loss to
see how you come to make that statement. If you are simply saying
we are wrong regarding a post-Tribulation rapture then please
consider this. You quote the days of Noah, as a type of Jesus 2nd
advent. The Bible says God shut Noah in. God was INSIDE the Ark.
Noah up to then was a preacher of righteousness. As soon as the
door closed, there was no more salvation, only judgement.
That’s why post Tribulation rapture is the only
possibility, because the moment Jesus comes, salvation ceases and
judgement begins. Yet the Bible teaches there are Tribulation
saints, therefore they must be saved BEFORE Jesus comes, and any
different approach to the Bible pattern, to use your terminology,
surely must denigrate the infallibility of the Bible. With
respect to the two women grinding corn not signifying Tribulation
mode, I beg to differ. The mention of women in the Bible is
usually symbolic of the Church, such as Ruth(church) and
Boaz(Jesus) eg. This picture of two women grinding corn
(spiritual food) represents the true church and the apostate
one-world Church. One rises to glory – the other is left to
face judgement. Editor

REVELATION 12

Greetings in the lovely Name of Jesus! I enjoyed Allan
Rasmussen’s article on the Rapture (Aug 2006) – he
has a good grasp of his subject and has some very interesting
insights. Speaking of the woman clothed with the sun in
Revelation Chapter 12 he states, "However in brief form, we note
there are 3 companies here. The woman, the Manchild and the
Remnant of her seed. A full research into types, shadows and
symbols shows that the woman is not Israel, but is the
church!"

Unfortunately Allan gives absolutely no evidence for his
statement which has serious flaws. First, if the woman represents
the church, then the church must have given birth to Jesus. The
exact opposite is true – Jesus gave birth to the church!
Second, one of the first rules of sound Bible exegesis is to
allow the Bible to interpret the Bible, to allow the truth to
interpret the truth. The question we have to ask ourselves is
this. Does the Bible speak elsewhere of Revelation 12:1 about a
woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on
her head a garland of 12 stars? Answer, yes! Question, where? In
Genesis 37:9-10, speaking of one of Joseph’s dreams. Jacob
is represented as the sun, Joseph’s mother, Rebekah, the
moon, and Joseph’s 11 brothers as the 11 stars –
Joseph being the 12th star.. Israel is the product of Jacob,
Rebekah and his 12 sons, so the Bible reveals the woman as being
Israel.

Rod Boggia
LINCOLN, UK

Thank you for the kind comments and your thoughts on the
Woman in Revelation 12. I made a bad mistake – I said
something in passing which I gave no supporting evidence for. I
should have known better. Some time in the future we will
definitely tackle Revelation 12, the toughest chapter in the
Bible to interpret. Before we make any assumptions, regardless of
how good they appear, proper Bible exegesis must be done. Here
are some things for you to chew on in the meantime. (1) If the
woman is Israel, when did she flee to the wilderness for
3½ years? (2) If the woman is Israel, who is the Remnant
of her Seed? (3) The woman is protected from the face of the
serpent for 3½ years – when did this happen to
Israel? (4) If the woman is Israel, when was it clothed with the
Sun, Moon and Stars - at Christ’s birth the Glory of God
was totally absent over the Jews…. You state if the women
represents the Church, then the Church gave birth to Jesus. You
are putting words in our mouth. You assume the Manchild is Jesus,
and He definitely is not. I haven’t the space to explain
this except to ask you another question – How could the
Manchild be snatched up to heaven at birth if he was Jesus?
Clearly impossible! Scripture is absolute truth. Like a jigsaw
puzzle, you cannot force the pieces, and unless they ALL fit
perfectly, we have missed it. Editor

HEAVEN IS SO REAL

In the Omega Times you advertise a book "Heaven is so Real" by
Choo Thomas. Could you please remove this book from your
magazine. I think it is occultic and satanic – it does have
a forward by Dr David Yonngi Cho, which is suspect to start with.
(abridged)

Glenn M Shaw
AUCKLAND, NZ

(Editors Note – The short comments above were from a
9 page letter.) Could we suggest you go to the readers Forum
online and place some of your other comments there for
subscribers to read and perhaps respond to. Omega Times certainly
would not promote occultic and satanic literature. However, we
think that the only perfect book ever written was the Bible, and
if perfection and 100% accuracy is the criteria, ALL our shopping
page should be withdrawn, including the entire Barry Smith
collection. While we would never stop "vetting" the products we
offer I have learnt to glean insight wherever it is found and
"spit out the pips" when it comes to the rest. Having said that,
we have withdrawn this book.