The Riddleblog

Rapture Stuff, Again

It is time for the annual “Rapture Index” check-up. It currently stands at 181, which remains in the “fasten your seat belts” territory. The all-time high was 189 (on October 10, 2016, and again in 2023). With all the culture war unease, political tribalism, and “wars and rumors of wars” currently in the air, I suspect the proprietor must be sympathetic to Trump, which is why the index is as low as it is. If all the typical punditry signs are showing things getting worse, but you like the guy in charge, you probably cannot bring yourself to push the index higher. That is not supposed to happen on his watch.

And I keep asking, why would you want to “fasten your seat belts” if the rapture was near? Wouldn’t that leave a nasty mark when you get snatched away?

To read the rest, follow the link below

Tucker Carlson and Ted Cruz Debate Israel

Needless to say, there is far more heat than light here. Both Cruz and Carlson claim to be Christians, but their debate reveals scant understanding of what the Bible actually says about the future of Israel.

I weigh in on the biblical teaching regarding the future of Israel in an episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast. What Does the Future Hold for Israel? A Look at Romans 9-11

This episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast (part of a larger series entitled “The Future,”) was posted about ten days before the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas upon Israel, so I make no reference to recent events. I address the October 7 attack here.

What I do in this episode of the Blessed Hope Podcast is address Paul’s understanding of the future role of Israel in redemptive history in Romans 9-11 where Paul specifically discusses the matter in great detail. I don’t think God is finished with national Israel, but I reject the dispensational teaching about what this entails and how it will work out.

This Will Drive the Bible Prophecy Pundits Wild

In 2018, when Pete Hegseth was still a reporter for FoxNews, he made several provocative comments about the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Now he is Trump’s Defense Secretary. But the internet never forgets.

According to Qatar-backed London based media site Middle East Eye,

Donald Trump's choice as the next United States defense secretary has called for the building of a third Jewish temple on the site of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Hegseth has previously touted his avowedly pro-Israel credentials, which derive in part from his fundamentalist Christian beliefs.

Speaking at an event in Jerusalem in 2018 he said there was "no reason why the miracle of re-establishing the temple on the Temple Mount isn’t possible", using the Israeli name for the raised plateau in occupied East Jerusalem where Al-Aqsa Mosque stands.

"I don't how it would happen, you don't know how it would happen, but I know that it could happen - and a step in that process is the recognition that facts and activities on the ground truly matter," he said at the event, which took place at Jerusalem's King David Hotel.

He also told attendees that Israel should take advantage of Trump being in office to do what they needed to do in the region, because there were "true believers" in Washington who would back them.

Any discussion of the future of the Jerusalem Temple and its environs is provocative to say the least. The news article spells out the reasons why this subject is so fraught with religious and political tension.

To read the rest, follow the link below

The Late Great Hal Lindsey (November 23, 1929-November 25, 2024)

Hal Lindsey has died at age 95. Here’s an obit in CT from Daniel Hummel—Hal Lindsey

Say what you will, Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth was the best-selling book in America during the 1970s. It was, I recall, the first theological book I picked out and read on my own as a young teen. That book was one of the reasons for my life-long interest in eschatology. Although now largely forgotten, Lindsey put the biblical prophecy industry on the map and opened the door for the Left Behind series and a host of other prophecy punditry.

My parody of Lindsey’s ever-changing mustache was one of the most popular posts on the old Riddleblog which I re-posted here several years ago. And There Will Be Signs on the Earth—Hal Lindsey’s Mustache

X Marks the Spot, Or So The Prophecy Pundits Say . . .

According to Jonathan Brentner at Rapture Ready, the recent solar eclipse is the harbinger of God’s coming judgment upon America. The judgment will come about for two reasons, Brentner writes. One is the moral decay in America, specifically among the politicians. This includes the pressure Biden has put on Israel to back off the pursuit of Hamas. Any nation which does not support Israel will be cursed, based upon a bad misreading of Genesis 12:3. The second reason he offers is that such events are signs of the coming seven-year tribulation.

Of course, there is great moral decline—especially of late. We all see it. Yes politicians are corrupt—when has that not been the case? Yes, there are difficult decisions facing the American president in regard to Israel and Hamas (and Iran). But what does the eclipse have to do with any of this? Well, says Brentner, it has happened before:

Brentner writes,

The first solar eclipse occurred on June 16, 1806, with the second completing the X on September 17, 1811. The intersection happened over the New Madrid fault area, which includes an area from Cairo in southern Illinois to nearby New Madrid, MO.

To read the rest, follow the link below

End Times NuttinessKim RiddlebargerApril 10, 2024The Solar Eclipse Comment

My Take on the Hamas Attack on Israel -- 10/7 2023

A number of friends, church folk, and Riddleblog readers have asked about my take on Israel’s 911 (10/7). So, here you go.

It won’t surprise you that my take on the Hamas’s vicious attack on Southern Israel is much different than Greg Laurie’s ("Fasten Your Seat Belts"). A legion of prophecy pundits and “end-times” YouTubers have popped up, many offering wild and bizarre speculation about the tragedy and its role in the end-times. This is what they do. Admittedly, I have not watched or read much of this recent prophecy speculation, but what I have seen (most of which folks have sent to me) is largely a re-hash of prophetic scenarios long-since discredited (by the embarrassing fact that they got it wrong when previously proposed) now re-packed and presented as new material, with the hope that people will forget how wrong the pundits were the last time they made such predictions.

My points for consideration:

1). As for any biblical significance to the horrors inflicted upon Israeli citizens by Hamas terrorists, this clearly falls under the category of signs given us by Jesus regarding wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6-8). Jesus did not predict specific conflicts (such as this one), only what he describes as “birth pains” of the end. What happened in Southern Israel falls into the category of “wars and rumor of wars,” with no specific fulfillment of any biblical prophecy regarding Israel. What Hamas did was very much like what Vladimir Putin did in his barbaric invasion of Ukraine. He ignored all conventional rules of war and inflicted savagery upon innocents—the elderly, women and children, and unarmed civilians. Hamas has done the same in Israel. In this we see the depths of human depravity as divine image-bearers are slaughtered merely to satisfy someone’s rage and anger. Jesus told us to expect as much until he returns.

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I Was a Recent Guest on the "Theology for the Church" Podcast with Caleb Lenard

Here’s the link (Amillennialism with Kim Riddlebarger).

Here’s the program summation: “We focus particularly on the amil hermeneutic as a compelling biblical theology of eschatology with a fun 15 minute round of rapid fire questions at the end!”

Amillennialism, eschatology, End Times NuttinessKim RiddlebargerSeptember 25, 2023Theology for the church, Caleb LenardComment

I Was a Guest on Eschatology Matters Discussing the Man of Sin in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12

To watch the interview, follow the link below

I Was a Guest on Remnant Radio Discussing the Doctrine of Antichrist

To watch the YouTube interview, follow the link below

Amillennialism, eschatology, End Times NuttinessKim RiddlebargerJune 6, 2023The AntichristComment

I Was a Guest on the Bible Theory Podcast Hosted by the Chicano Knox

We discussed signs of the end, the Rapture, problems with dispensationalism, all in light of amillennialism

You can listen to the podcast by following the link below

Trouble In the Middle East -- Time to Check the Rapture Index

With the Israeli-Palestinian conflict heating up, I thought it a good time to check the Rapture Index, something I do periodically to keep tabs on the current state of biblical prophecy punditry. The current Rapture Index level is 188, high enough to “fasten our seat belts.” The Rapture Index low in 2020 was 176—a significant decline from previous highs despite the Covid-19 pandemic. The lower number—if I had to guess—was due to the proprietors’ support of former president Trump.

As long as Trump was president, the Rapture didn’t seem quit as imminent. But Biden is now president, and the situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians is very tense, the index has returned to 188, just short of the all-time high of 189 (in October of 2016).

To read the rest, follow the link below:

End Times NuttinessKim RiddlebargerMay 24, 2021Rapture Index, Signs of the EndComment

Antichrist . . . He's Not Nice . . .

William Tapley’s “Gloom and Doom” was one of the most popular posts on the old Riddleblog. He’s the rare Roman Catholic Prophecy pundit. He’s no Billy Joel, but the tune will very likely get stuck in your head. Tapley made national news in 2011 for his video series “exposing” the hidden phallic symbols throughout the art in the Denver International Airport.

Follow the link below to watch the video

End Times Nuttiness, escahtologyKim RiddlebargerFebruary 12, 2021Third Eagle, William TapleyComment