A friend asked how to “really” study scripture, and especially asked about the rapture:
I could spend hours and hours answering this question, but here is the ‘short version’:

Wow, huge question!
I thought of a million things to say, with scripture to back it up, but it would have ended up being an entire discourse…
How do I answer this simply and to the point?

First of all, the rapture.
This idea is fairly new to biblical doctrine and thought.
John Nelson Darby, a 19th-century theologian. introduced the idea of a rapture, which had never been taught or considered before his time (in other words, it was new doctrine that he came up with, or was the first to recognize it in scripture, if true).
Scofield took this idea and included it in his very popular study bibles, and this is how the rapture doctrine became widespread and widely accepted. The Left Behind book series (and movies) made the rapture a household name.

However, this doctrine is built upon just a handful of scriptures, and requires us to ignore other scriptures to keep it from crumbling.
This rapture idea can be debunked easily:
Matthew 24:29-31
The Coming of the Son of Man
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

This is a direct quote of Yeshua Messiah. He says that AFTER the tribulation of those days, He will come and His elect will then be gathered.
This one bit of scripture completely debunks the rapture idea.

We also have this, another direct quote of Messiah:
The parable of the Wheat and Tares in Matthew 13:
The Parable of the Wheat and the Tares
24 Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”

This parable tells us the ‘bad guys’ are gathered first, to be destroyed. The ‘good guys’ are then gathered to Him.
The apostles did not fully understand, so Messiah explains this parable to them later in the same chapter:

The Parable of the Tares Explained Matthew 13:36-43
36 Then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house. And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.”
37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

In His explanation, He describes how the bad seed is gathered first.
The rapture is false doctrine, and can easily be proven wrong with just a few scriptures.

By the way, where do good seed and bad seed come from?
We have to go all the way back to Genesis 3:15, just after the fall of man into sin…

So the Lord God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle,
And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your life.
¹⁵ And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.”

Not to be discouraged, though!!
The book of Revelation describes the seven churches in the early part of the book (chapters 2 and 3).
The Loveless Church [Ephesus], The Persecuted Church [Smyrna], The Compromising Church [Pergamos], The Corrupt Church [Thyatira], The Dead Church [Sardis], The Faithful Church [Philadelphia], The Lukewarm Church [Laodiceans].
Revelation 3:10 tells us this about the church of Philadelphia:
“10 Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

Of all the ‘categories’ of people, only those from the church of Philadelphia will be fully protected from tribulation.
They will not be raptured, though.
Noah was not raptured. He was warned and protected from the flood.
Daniel was not raptured from the lion’s den, he was protected from the lions.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were not raptured from the furnace, they were protected while they were thrown into the furnace.
David was not raptued from the battle with Goliath, he was protected and given the victory.

We see precedent over and over and over again in scripture where people are protected from their circumstances. They are not removed from their circumstances.

The moral of the story?
Figure out how to be team Philadelphia.
(I think I have figured this out and can help)

Secondly, where to begin studying scripture?
Typical Christian doctrine for the last 1700 or so years has taught that the Old Testament is obsolete. We are taught that we have New Testament doctrine now. There is a huge problem with this idea.
There are things in the Old Testament where God says things are forever, for all generations, perpetual, never ending.
If we are to believe mainstream doctrine, then it makes God a liar.
How can the Torah instructions (referred to as ‘the law’ by churches) be forever, for all generations, but now be done away with?

When I ask this question of church leaders, pastors, ministers, etc…
They say God is God and He can change things if He wants.
This brings up another problem>>>

Numbers 19:23
God is not a man who lies,
or a son of man who changes his mind!

Malachi 3:6
“For I am Elohim. I change not”

Even though scripture tells us that God does not change and that God does not lie and that God does not change His mind, these church experts ignore these scriptures and still believe that God has changed, and that doctrine has changed.
It is not possible.

If I convince these church leaders that God did not change, they then tend to say those “Forever” things were only for the ancient nation of Israel, and that these things do not apply to us today.

This requires either willful or unintentional neglect of scripture.
Exodus 12:49
The same Torah (the law) applies to the native as well as the outsider who dwells among you.
Leviticus 19:34
The outsider dwelling among you shall be to you as the native-born among you.
Leviticus 24:22
You are to have one standard of justice for the outsider as well as the native-born, for I am Elohim your God.”
Numbers 15:29
Whether a native-born of Bnei-Yisrael or an outsider living among them, one Torah applies to you for the one sinning unintentionally.

And there are more references…
Still, if they have an idea that the Old Testament is not applicable, we can also prove this point using New Testament scripture:

Galatians 3:28-29
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Yeshua Messiah. 29 And if you are Messiah’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

If you belong to Messiah, then you are the seed of Abraham, and heirs to the promises made to Abraham. That also means you are obligated to the instructions given to the seed of Abraham.

This stuff is not hard.
It is just a matter of reading scripture and believing what it says.

Men have been taught for 1700 plus years that they HAVE to go to a church and be told what the bible says.
This has resulted in a ‘religion industry’.
And as with all industries, self preservation comes first.
Churches are established and they purchase commercial property.
The leaders then collect money from the congregation to pay for the commercial property and its upkeep, as well as to pay their own salaries.

No where in the bible does it say to do these things.
People (collectively) surrender billions upon billions of dollars every year to church organizations. Practically ALL of that money goes to purchase property and pay ridiculous salaries of people who work in these buildings.

In times when the temple existed, the Levites were charged with administering to the temple and its activities. They were not given a land portion. As a result, the people were expected to tithe to the Levites, since they had no land inheritance of their own.
The tithes were to be grains and livestock and the “increase of their fields”.
It was never money.
Currently, there is no temple, and the Levites are scattered among the nations.

The churches teach that ‘the law’ is done away with, but they use the law out of context to milk people out of their hard earned cash.
Scripture tells us to help the widows and the orphans and the needy.
Churches collect ridiculous amounts of money, buy property, and divide most of the rest of it among themselves.
They do very little for the community (I know this, because I have served on church boards and managed the budgets. Maybe 2 or 3% of offering make it to the community).
Churches are just a big organization that rips people off, with the proceeds going to support the self preservation of the organization.
Not only that, but they teach false doctrine as well.
Maybe the people are willing to donate money if they are receiving truth, but they are not even getting that…

So here is how to begin to study scripture:
Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

That is the beginning.
When did the Word (scripture) come into existence?
John 1:1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God.

The Word has been since the beginning of the heavens and earth.
Also, our Messiah is the Word in the flesh – literally!!!

John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

He is the Word in the flesh, and He lived among us.
Check out what Hebrews 13:8 says about Him:
Yeshua Messiah is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

If Messiah is the Word become flesh, and He has never changed, is not changing, and never will change, then the Word has not changed, is not changing, and never will change.

To begin studying and learning the truth, start with the Torah. This is the first five books of the bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy).
In these five books, you will learn all truth, and the remaining scripture is built upon this unchanging truth, which Yahuah (God) has said is forever, for all generations, perpetual, never-ending. He also said to not add to nor take away from these instructions, which the church does non-stop.

The prophets all wrote about returning to what is taught in the Torah. That is also what Messiah came to teach us.
He says His teachings are not His own, but the Father’s who sent Him.

He tells everyone to study what Moses spoke (Moses wrote the five books of the Torah) in Matthew 23:1-3
Then Yeshua spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.

The term “sitting in Moses’ seat” refers to reading the Torah aloud, word for word, without any commentary. That is how it was done in His time.
The Torah would be read and taught, word for word.

Messiah tells us to listen to the Torah being read word for word and do it. He then goes on to say NOT to do what the educated religious leaders are teaching of their own accord, when not in the Moses seat (because they have made up their own doctrine and force it upon the people – read the rest of Matthew 23 to see the scathing words Messiah has for them – it is not good).

I mentioned above that I have learned what it takes to be in the church of Philadelphia, the church that will be protected from all tribulation.
Here are a few scriptures that tell us how to be Philadelphia:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment,
Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.

Man’s duty is simply to fear God and keep His commands.

Revelation 12:17 tells us who the remnant of the church is:
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Yeshua Messiah.

2 criteria are given: 
Keep the commands of God
Have faith in Messiah

Revelation 14:12 tells us who the saints are (the elect, the saved):
Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Yeshua.

Again, 2 criteria are given: 
Keep the commands of God
Have faith in Messiah

And just in case we get confused along the way, Messiah tells us this in His final words to mankind:

Revelation 22:14-15
Blessed are those who do His commandments,[g] that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But[h] outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

In verse 14, He describes those who get to be in His kingdom:
Those who keep the commandments.

In verse 15, He describes those who do not get to be in His kingdom:
Those who love and practice a lie.

What lies???
We are told by the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 16:19-20
O Lord, my strength and my fortress,
My refuge in the day of affliction,
The Gentiles shall come to You
From the ends of the earth and say,
“Surely our fathers have inherited lies,
Worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
20 Will a man make gods for himself,
Which are not gods?

He tells us that in the end days, Gentiles will realize they have been taught lies. Scripture tells us these lies are worthless.
It says that man will make up their own gods because of these lies, yet these are not gods.

Please read this teaching, where I contrast the mainstream Jesus vs. Yeshua Messiah described in scripture (clickable link):
Which Jesus Do You Love?

Men have made up their own god named Jesus, but scripture tells us he is not a god, and that the lies used to create him are worthless and unprofitable (referring back to Jeremiah 16).

Yes, I realize these are harsh and awful accusations against mainstream Christian doctrine and organizations.
But scripture says it, not me…