Reply #5: I am under the impression that a lot of the prophecy was

[Kat45]

near-term in nature when it was written. That it speaks to the situation at the time and prophecied what would happen soon.

From my reading of the Bible (and admittedly I don't remember everything I've read), it seems like the idea of the rapture was drawn from a verse or two of the Bible. Much like a lot of the other fundie beliefs: take a verse or two that they like--out of context--magnify it, embellish on it, and turn it into something completely different.