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Maranatha -- Our Lord, Come!: A Definitive Study of the Rapture of the Church

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"MARANATHA" is indeed a definitive study on the rapture. Like an exceptional corporate attorney, Renald Showers scrutinizes pointed details of scripture that address our Lord's coming for His bride. He addresses passages and details that others have overlooked, turning over every stone along the path. Not only does he present the views of the early church fathers, but he also focuses attention on pertinent rabbinical writings.

Regardless of your personal viewpoint, you must respect his attention to detail, his scholarship, and his forthright honesty in stating his position (from the beginning he makes it clear that he holds to a pretribulational rapture). Likewise, in presenting his case, he never makes a disparaging remark about those who do not agree with him. He simply focuses on the matter at hand.

This volume cannot be brushed aside. It is the strongest statement to champion the pretribulational viewpoint.

I am a Pre-Wrather, and yet I have to recommend this book as one of the best works concerning the Doctrine of the Rapture.

As a Graduate of the Institute of Jewish Studies (IJS), a school of the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry (FOI), I personally sat under the teaching of Renald (Renie) Showers, and, therefore, I can personally testify to the author's vast knowledge concerning the Holy Scriptures and to his personal credentials for undertaking the writing of this book.

This book evolved out the Pre-Wrath schism that occured when Marvin (Marv) Rosenthal resigned from his position as the Executive Director of the Friends of Israel. I am also an acquaintance of Marv Rosenthal, and, as such, I am familiar with the details of this schism on a privileged level.

Perhaps the most excellent portion of this work is how Renie Showers relates the details of the Pre-Tribulational Rapture to the details of the Jewish Marriage ceremony. While I still remain unconvinced of his position, I have to admit that this book presents a formidable obstacle, and for that I must commend the author.

This book comes highly recommended. "Renie Showers is the man!"

Shalom - Soror Samhain

Along side his other definitive work comparing dispensationalism and covenant theology There Really Is a Difference!: A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational Theology, Dr. Showers has rendered us a great service with "Maranatha--Our Lord, Come!". His biblical and scholarly work will continue to set the standard in defending the premillennial, pre-tribulational rapture of the Church for a long time to come.

As stated in the Foreword, "With over one-third of the Bible devoted to the subject of prophecy, the essence of which is the Lord's return, we can ill afford to be uninformed or confused about a hope so basic to our lives...Indispensable to any comprehensive work on the Lord's coming is and examination of the question of Imminency--the "any moment" return of Christ."

Although "Maranatha" is a deeply rich and encompassing study of the Rapture of the Church, I only have time and space enough to mention the following quotes from Dr. Showers. These should be enough to show how important this matter is and what is at stake in our churches. It also serves as a reminder of the expectant living every believer needs each day to fulfill our Lord's Great Commission to every tribe, nation, tongue, and people.

In his chapter on Imminency, Dr. Showers states:
"The concept of the imminent coming of Christ is a significant inference for the Pretribulation Rapture of the church. To understand this concept, we must examine the meaning of the term "imminent."

The English word "imminent" comes from the Latin verb "immineo, imminere," which means to "overhang" or "project". In light of this, the English word "imminent" means "hanging over one's head, ready to befall or overtake one; close at hand in its incidence." Thus, an imminent event is one that is always hanging overhead, is constantly ready to befall or overtake a person, is always close at hand in the sense that it could happen at any moment. Other things may happen before the imminent event, but nothing else must take place before it happens. If something else must take place before an event can happen, that event is not imminent. The necessity of something else taking place first destroys the concept of Imminency."

Dr. Showers point here is very important. For example, this failing is seen clearly in the premillennial covenant (post-trib) position coming out of schools related to the EFCA that believes the Antichrist MUST be revealed first, and the Church MUST go through the Great Tribulation, BEFORE Christ can return. Since certain things MUST happen before the rapture can occur, this position does not allow for the, any moment, imminent return of Christ that is so often repeated in Scripture. Nowhere do we find that "imminent" equals "sometime soon"...and I have not been able to find anywhere in Scripture where the believer is to find his future hope an expectant living in looking for the Antichrist.

The Practical Effect of Imminency
Dr. Showers goes on to state, "The imminent coming of Christ should have an incredible practical effect on the lives of individual Christians and the church as a whole. The fact that the glorified, holy Son of God could step through the door of heaven at any moment is intended by God to be the most pressing, incessant motivation for holy living and aggressive ministry (including missions, evangelism, and Bible teaching) and the greatest cure for lethargy and apathy. It should make a difference in every Christian's values, actions, priorities, and goals...In addition, in 1 John 3:2-3 the apostle emphasized the impact that the truth of Christ's coming should have on Christians living now: "We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."

Finally, with the biblical doctrine of Imminency under siege in some denominations like the EFCA, Dr. Shower's excellent discussion in Chapter 7 is vitally important to us today. Along with that we are seeing inroads being made against the consistent use of a single normative hermeneutic by "new" systems with misleading labels such as "Progressive" and "Historic" forms of premillennialism. If you scratch below the surface you will see that both of these are little more than Covenant Theology dressed up in sheep's clothing. These views also have a weaken view on the inspiration of Scripture and use a "complementary" hermeneutic. Pastors, church leaders, and pastoral search committees can no longer afford to be complacent or uninformed and assume that being "premillennial" or even "dispensational" means normative dispensational.

The Bible in Revelation 22 closes by saying, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely...He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

Doctor Showers is one of the most leaned men you can ever sit under. I have had the pleasure of hearing him several times at Middletown Bible Church, and have found his books to be well written, well sourced, easy to follow, and a great blessing for those who wish to learn God's Word deeper.

Doctor Shower's book, MARANTHA! OUR LORD COME is surely the best defense of the Early Church believing that the Rapture was an expected event in their lifetime. While we now know that it did not happen, the teaching is clear from Scripture, and Doctor Showers proves it: The Doctrine of the Rapture is sound and expected that we should be a believer in it for each generation of believers; the immanent return of the Lord Jesus Christ to take His church away before the tribulation.

Doctor Showers books are a must for any serious Bible student.

Renald Showers is a very careful Bible expositor, and he does a great job with this study on the pretribulational rapture of the church. He has a very strong chapter on the imminency of Christ's return. He also makes it clear that the entire seven year tribulation period is a time where God's wrath is poured out on the earth, and that you cannot confine the time of wrath to the last portion of the period.

I was a bit confused by Showers' distinction between the broad day of the Lord which starts shortly after the rapture and lasts all the way through the 1000 year reign of Christ, and the short day of the Lord, which refers to the day of Christ's second coming. To me, the day of the Lord is time of divine judgment and wrath that lasts from the Rapture to the end of the tribulation period, but ceases at the start of the Millennium.

2 Thessalonians 2 is a tough passage for the pretribulational position, but I think that Showers did a good job expounding this text.

He also shows that the coming of Christ for His saints in John 14 and 1 Thessalonians 4 is different and distinct from the coming of Christ WITH His saints in Revelation 19.

He argues cogently for a two stage coming of Christ, the first stage being the rapture of the church into heaven, an event that can occur at any time, and the second stage being the coming of Christ at the end of the tribulation to set up His millennial kingdom.

This book is a bit stodgy and repetitive. Showers is not the most engaging writer in the world. But I feel that he has established a strong exegetical case for the pretribulational rapture of the church.

In depth, but he won't loose you. This book handles the future events in a systematic way. Sometimes the pointers in the book get tedious, but that means you can't just sift through this material and think you can grasp many of the facets of the last things. A worthy read.

Subtitle's right, this is a "definitive" rapture study. Far more than the typical Daniel, Revelation, Thessalonians, I Corinthians stuff here. Hundreds (thousands?) of verses are cited as Showers scrutinizes the entire Word of God for inferences supporting his view that the rapture will be before the 7-year tribulation. Detailed analysis of the various birth pangs references, the Day of the Lord (narrow and broad), use of the word tribulation, significance of the Revelation 5 scroll...and that's all preliminary to getting to Part II! I'm unaware of any scripture stones Shower's left unturned to present both the big picture and the details. By far the best of the many rapture books I've read, 'Maranatha' is for the serious student, but so well-organized that even one not so familiar with the Bible can benefit.

Dr. Showers goes into GREAT detail to explain the relationships between the ancient Jewish marriage customs and the mysteries concerning the rapture of the church. In a style that would please any "fine print" attorney, Dr. Showers solves the puzzle one piece at a time until you end up with a complete picture that leaves no room for doubt. This is an excellent book presenting an inspired view of the rapture of the church. Look up! Our Lord is coming soon!

Like all of Renald Showers books, Maranatha is very thorough and very clear in its presentation. If it has any pitfalls, it is in taking TOO much time to explain something, rather than too little. But, better to be safe and clear.

This book belongs on the bookshelf of anyone serious about eschatology, particularly if you are premillenial, in which case it is required reading along with Pentecost, Morris and others.

I found it to be very indepth, concise, with great scholarship. I thouroughly enjoyed reading it.