Love Israel

Guest (Male): Shalom, blessings, and welcome, brothers and sisters, to this new podcast. Before anything else, of course, as always, a very warm welcome to you, Baruch. It's great to see you and thank you for joining me for this important podcast.

Dr. Baruch Korman: Thank you, Christian. As always, it's also very good to see you, and we appreciate all the work that you're doing for Love Israel. It's a blessing.

Guest (Male): Thank you. Well, we praise the Lord for that. Baruch, there's a theme that's been coming up on questions that have been arising recently, and it's a little bit concerning because we're talking about people that are saved, that have accepted the gospel, that are born-again believers, that fear the Lord, so they're ticking all the right boxes.

But a lot of them have been asking: what happens if the rapture comes tomorrow? Am I ready for it? Which is a little bit concerning because we need to address this from a biblical perspective and give people that confidence but direct them from a biblical perspective. So if you're ready, Baruch, let's kick it off.

So by way of introduction, while scripture is very clear that nobody knows the day or the hour of the rapture, many people wonder if they are ready when it comes. One thing is 100% certain: it will come. We know that. God's word is true and it's definitely coming.

Now, being ready for the rapture is much simpler than what you think. However, we must first state that the rapture is only and only for believers and disciples in Jesus Christ. Your opening comments, Baruch.

Dr. Baruch Korman: Well, I totally agree. There was a false teaching that an individual gave. His name is Andrew Wommack. He said something that is totally false. He was looking at a biblical verse, and the word there is simply the word for living, being alive.

He mistranslated. He said only those who have a vibrant faith, only those who are living obediently will take part in the rapture. This is not true. I agree with what you just said: being ready for the rapture is much simpler than you may think.

If you have received the gospel, if you have received salvation through grace by faith, you are ready for the rapture. Now, does that mean that we're all living as we should? No. But there's an opportunity to grow more seriously in regard to our faith and obedience and walking and having a testimony that's pleasing to God.

Guest (Male): Great, and I'm glad you made that shout-out again, Baruch. We mentioned Andrew Wommack's false teachings a couple of videos ago. Sadly, some people were defending him, but we always go back: it's not about attacking the individual; it's the doctrine, what they're sharing, the message that is false because it's contrary to scripture. So always we direct people back to the word of God.

Let's continue. Let's look at some key scriptures, of course. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. There are others, but we'll focus on this one. And it declares: "For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep."

"For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of a trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."

I believe that the actual original word here is that Harpazo, Baruch. You can correct us, which actually means a quick and a violent snatching away. But over to you for your comments, Baruch.

Dr. Baruch Korman: You're absolutely right. That is the word that appears in this section of scripture. And I think we need to make a distinction between something that we see in another portion of scripture, and that is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:7.

There, it's oftentimes mistranslated where it talks about then they will be removed. It doesn't say removed. If we look at the Greek very carefully, it says: "And then from the midst they are made to be taken." And this word taken simply is a—well, I'll say it this way: if you're walking and you're coming to meet someone and a person then just steps aside.

That's what that word literally means there: to be made to step aside. So the restrainer is not the church. There's no evidence for that. In fact, the word restrainer in verse 6 is in the neuter. In verse 7, it's in the masculine. And we know the word for church is a feminine; it's the word Ecclesia, and it's feminine.

So the church is not the restrainer. And again, it does not talk about being taken away or removed. It's simply in the language being made to step aside. So a very different term, and that's why the restrainer can never be seen as the church.

Guest (Male): Great point. How to be ready for those that are asking, that are a little bit uncertain: it's very simple. Repent, be born again. We read that in Acts 3:19: "Repent therefore and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out." John 3:3 of course says: "Unless one is born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God."

I'll go over to the next slide and then I'll hand over to you, Baruch, for your comments. Very important: a real confession of faith. We're not talking about an emotional experience at some event or some church. Romans 10:8-10 tells us: "But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim).

"Because if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." Your comments, Baruch.

Dr. Baruch Korman: Well, I just want to point out one thing where it says: "For with the heart one believes and is justified." In the Greek language, the same word for being made righteous can be also translated to be justified. So what we find here is that through faith in that gospel message, when we accept Messiah, Jesus, as Lord, we are made to be righteous before God.

That should give us confidence that because we become, as Paul says, the righteousness of God, we will be taken in that rapture. So we don't need to be worrying, we don't need to be concerned, we don't need to have anxiety. If you receive the gospel, just like you have pointed out here in Romans 10:8-10, you will be part of that rapture.

Because it's not based upon what we have done, but it's based upon what Messiah has done for us: dying on that cross, being crucified, dead, buried, but being made to be risen on the third day, and who raised him from the dead? God the Father. So this is a testimony that God has received as perfect, as all-sufficient, the work that Messiah did in redeeming us.

It says in Hebrews 9:12, we were not redeemed with the blood of goats and calves, but rather with the blood of the Son of God, which purchases for us eternal redemption. So all of that gives us assurance and confidence and a true hope that will not disappoint.

Guest (Male): Correct. And we should probably add, Baruch, because I'm sure you've experienced this—we've certainly seen it; we've come across it—that when people talk about that they're believers now, that they're Christians or disciples, whatever terminology they want to use, when you ask them: what was your salvation experience? What happened?

We've got to be very, very careful because a lot of people are just led by emotions. They don't look at what the scriptures tell us. And a lot of them will say: well, I went to this Pentecostal evangelical church, the pastor was screaming in tongues and he just laid hands on us and that was it. That is not the biblical criteria for salvation. Just your comments along those lines, Baruch.

Dr. Baruch Korman: Well, what we see here is salvation is through faith, believing in the grace of God. That is what God has provided for us to be eternally saved, and that is the blood of Messiah which redeems us. And as I pointed out, that redemption is not temporary, but it's an eternal redemption.

And that, as I said, gives us confidence and assurance that we don't need to doubt, that we don't need to fear, that we don't need to have anxiety, but trust in this free gift that God has provided through the blood of His only begotten Son.

Guest (Male): Amen. Well said, Baruch. A little warning, very, very quick warning. 2 Corinthians 6:2 says: "For he says, 'In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.' Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

Another thing that we look at, Baruch, whenever we're sharing the gospel, sometimes people will say: yeah, no, I'm not ready for that yet. Maybe I'm too young; I'll do that when I'm old. They don't want to leave the world. They don't want to leave the desires of the world, the sin that comes with it, and they're always putting it off.

I think you would agree with me: that is a very, very dangerous view to have. None of us are guaranteed a tomorrow, and that's why now is the day of salvation. But your comments, Baruch.

Dr. Baruch Korman: Well said, Christian. You're totally right. Now's the time that we need to do serious business with the Lord: confess our sins, believe in Him, the provision that He's made for us through His blood, through that death upon the cross. Receive this by faith, and you will be saved.

There's nothing uncertain. As it says here: "For now is a favorable time, now is the day of salvation." And I think that word "now," when we look at it perhaps in the Hebrew language, there's two words for now. One doesn't appear in the Bible; it's "achshav." The other one is "atah," and it's "now," but the biblical word that appears there is "now" with a strong sense of urgency.

I think this is what I would want to share with people: get that matter taken care of now. It is an urgent issue. Receive that gospel so everything is settled.

Guest (Male): Amen. Well said, Baruch. So brothers and sisters, I think this is a very short video but I think a very timely one, a very important one. We just said none of us are guaranteed a tomorrow. We don't know; only the Lord knows that. But I think we're just going to wrap up, Baruch, with your closing comments on this very important topic. So I'll just hand over to you, Baruch.

Dr. Baruch Korman: Well, the scripture says that we have our blessed hope. And notice that it says "our." Who's he referring to? Believers, those who have received the gospel. And it's a blessed hope, meaning that if we're part of that event known as the rapture, we will have great blessings not just for a season, but for all eternity.

And then the third word is "hope." And hope is connected to the promises of God. What should we hope in? The promises of God. And God has all of eternity. He is faithful; He cannot lie. God will fulfill all of these promises.

So again, when we talk about the rapture or, as Paul mentions, our blessed hope, it's all good news. It's all about being taken out of this world. That is a very good thing. And being deposited in the kingdom of God where there'll be no more sickness, no more death, no more sorrow, no more tears, no more screaming.

All of these former things that define the world are going to pass away. And what are we going to receive in the kingdom of God? God's blessings and His promises. So we should be excited for the rapture. And as the point of this podcast, we should be ready for the rapture.

And the best way to be ready is by receiving that gospel message: putting your faith and your trust in what Messiah has done when He was crucified. He was crucified on Passover. That is the day of redemption because we receive through the blood of Christ that eternal redemption. So, good news, and the rapture is just that: good news of our blessed hope.

Guest (Male): Amen. Thank you, Baruch. Brothers and sisters, we pray this has been a blessing to you. If you're new to the channel, we ask you to please consider subscribing and supporting the Love Israel ministry.

Thank you, Baruch, for your time. Very, very good short message but a very important one. So from Baruch in Israel, from myself here in Sydney, Australia, we pray that it's been a blessing to you and we hope to see you for our next podcast. Blessings.