God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself to us in its true colors, saying, “I am your deadly enemy, and I want to ruin you forever in hell.” Oh, no! sin comes to us, like Judas, with a kiss; and like Joab, with an outstretched hand and flattering words. The forbidden fruit seemed good and desirable to Eve; yet it cast her out of Eden.
Try as I might, I cannot find one verse that clearly teaches the rapture as it is understood by many American evangelicals. The radical separation between the people of God in the old covenant and the people of God in the new covenant is encouraged by this system of eschatology. And such teaching is foreign to the New Testament, which teaches that the Old Testament is really for new covenant believers.
