The pre-tribulation rapture theory that the majority of Christian churches around the world promote is very clearly false. Unfortunately, its popularity has helped to maintain the belief despite knowledge being increased and truth becoming more apparent.

Our Lord said that we are not appointed to wrath. This is one of the most common points of evidence that pre-tribulation rapture preachers use when promoting the concept that the church will be taken away before the Great Tribulation. One must understand the difference between tribulation and wrath in order to fully grasp why believers in Jesus Christ will not face wrath but will face tribulation.

That is a study in itself that I will tackle in the future. For now, I would like to focus on one key point that scares me as much as anything else when it comes to the deception of a pre-tribulation rapture. I was listening to a noted Bible scholar, one who speaks at various conferences and has a popular website. He reaches tens of thousands of believers and those seeking truth every month.

He was discussing a separate topic in an interview when it shifted to his opinion of the rapture. He said that he believed in the rapture because if it wasn’t true, then most of the teaching that he had heard and the teachers he had followed would be incorrect if there was no pre-tribulation rapture. It struck me because he was knowledgeable enough to call it into question but hesitant because of his history as a Christian.

This is dangerous. We cannot allow teachings, however prevalent in the modern church, to guide us in the wrong direction if the Bible states otherwise. I am not going to use this article to try to convince you about the truth regarding the rapture. Instead, I simply want to point out things that you should know in your heart so that you may decide to search the scriptures and research the history of the rapture on your own. I’ll cover it in more detail in the future, but for now, all I want you to do is open your mind to the possibilities that many of your church leaders have been deceived and therefore you have been deceived.

• Satan’s Goal: There is nothing that the adversary can do to you if you wear the full Armor of God. His only method for stealing away as many souls as possible is to make them believe that they do not need to wear their armor. A pre-tribulation rapture theory can convince people that they are not going to face the great trials that are coming, so when they do come, their armor is absent.
• Flintstones Vitamin Preaching: A friend who tried to hire me to promote Son of God told me that the world was not ready for three-inch needle of Biblical doctrine plunged into their body to deliver the Word of God. He said we needed to ease the world into believing by giving them movies like Son of God that acted like Flintstones Vitamins to get them heading in the right direction. It was a long debate and obviously I passed on the lucrative project, but it points to the concept that many hold: if you give the people some Biblical truth that they can stomach, they’re more likely to come for more. This concept is what makes many preachers who are aware of the pre-tribulation deception to continue the preaching in hopes that they can eventually dive deeper into less popular doctrines.
• The Cool Kids Club: Privately, I was told that if you’re a Bible scholar with ambitions of speaking at conferences and selling books, that you had to promote a pre-tribulation rapture. Those who do not embrace the teaching will not be allowed into the club. As much as we’d all like to believe that the truth should always guide us, I’ve seen very intelligent and moving preachers embrace the doctrine in order to keep their club membership and continue to be invited to these conferences. Similar to Flintstones vitamins, they feel that anything they can do to get people to believe Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior is fine as long as it does not blaspheme Him. This is dangerous, of course, because when people are left unaware, they are unprepared.
• Satan’s Tool: The scariest part about the pre-tribulation rapture is that it promotes the concept that people will be given a second chance to repent and make things right in their lives. They are told that the righteous will be taken away and that they will then have seven years to find their faith and redeem their soul. I admit that when I believed in a pre-tribulation rapture, this concept had me practically wishing that I wasn’t rapture so I could be a “warrior of faith” during the tribulation itself, earning my redemption. This concept is going to leave many people confused and force them to believe other deceptions when the tribulation starts without a rapture.

But there’s one important caveat that must be added to this teaching. We cannot know what the Great Tribulation will bring in our lives and therefore we shouldn’t wait for tribulation to start before getting our spiritual house in order. If use the rapture as a sign to “do good now” is a huge danger for Christians, an equally dangerous notion is waiting for tribulation to start before we get our act together. One look at the extreme turmoil in the Middle East and the persecutions faced by Christians around the world can be enough to make some believe the tribulation has already started. Perhaps it has. Regardless of when it starts or if it’s started already, we must be firm in our belief and continue to live as if the day of judgment can meet us at any moment. God forbid you might be hit by a truck tomorrow if your soul is not saved by Grace yet.

If you understand the reasons why a pre-tribulation rapture is preached, you can research it yourself to discover the truth that the Bible teaches.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.

Most respectable Bible scholars hold one word as the backbone of their eschatological endeavors: context. When one views the context of certain Bible verses, it’s much easier to understand both the intention and the implications on our lives today.

Those who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture often quote one verse as their final chess move to prove their point. It’s Matthew 24:36 where Jesus Christ makes it very clear that nobody but God Himself knows when the Son of God is to come a second time. This concept is held as proof of a pre-tribulation rapture because if Jesus is to come during or after the tribulation, then we will be able to know the time.

When viewed in context, it can be seen how most have intentionally or inadvertently twisted the chapter to point to a pre-tribulation rapture when in fact it does the exact opposite. Let’s look at the entire chapter from the King James Version with my own notes highlights next to the important verses. Please do not skip through. Even if you’ve read through the entire chapter before, I encourage you to read the whole thing and the notes so that you can understand what is being said within the complete context of the chapter.

One thing that is often missed about this verse is that there were three questions. Jesus answers them all separately, but as with so many aspects of the Bible, He is talking about parallel events that were coming, some in less than 40 years from the time of the sermon and others that would not come to pass until the end times.

Verses 4-14 refer to the prolonged period, what some like to call the church age (though that has no scriptural backing), from the time of Christ’s resurrection through to the end times. It was a message meant for those hearing it then and it continues straight through as a warning until now.

This section, from verses 15-22, is the most potentially confusing and up for debate. On one hand, it’s pretty clear that Jesus is speaking of the abomination of desolation by Titus in 70AD when his prophecy from verse 2 came true, but then it draws to question what he meant by the great tribulation and the shortening of days that are to occur at the end times. Which is it?

A theory that we believe may be true is that to address the Jewish mindset of the audience at the time while maintaining a simultaneous message to those in the future, He was describing both events within the same passages. With this theory, there would be three abominations of desolation: 168BC by Antiochus Epiphanes, 70AD by Titus, and potentially a future one by the antichrist.

This is a subject that deserves much more commentary than I would want to put into this article so as to not get distracted from the intent of discussing the pre-tribulation rapture. Still, it’s worth noting.

It won’t be subtle. There will not need to be any convincing or evidence presented. When Jesus returns, the whole world will know. Since this did not happen after the fall of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70AD, we know that he is talking of the end times. That’s the point of verses 23-28. Now, let’s get into some of the important verses that deal with the tribulation of the end times.

This is arguably the most clear description from Jesus Himself that we are not raptured before the tribulation, ironically placed in context above one of the most popular supporting verses for a pre-tribulation rapture. Note in verse 29 that He says “Immediately after the tribulation of those days…” and then He continues into verse 30 by saying, “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven…”

It can’t be more direct. It’s this verse that compels pre-tribulation rapture proponents to discuss the “secret rapture”, stating that this refers to those who are still on the earth and that an unspoken harpázō of the believers had already taken place. This is adding to the text and generating a perception that misleads the masses in mainstream churches. The Bible doesn’t say it. Jesus didn’t say it. Nothing says it other than the 19th-century Bible “scholars” who, for whatever reason, concocted the idea to mislead the church.

There are a few different theories about verse 31-34, particular the last of them. One theory is that “This generation” refers not to His audience at the time but the people of the future end times of which He was speaking. In other words, once it all starts, the events of the end times will be fulfilled in a single generation. This makes sense.

Another theory is that the generation He’s speaking of is actually the age itself, the post-resurrection age up to His return. This, too, would make sense. Either way, it’s a powerful set of verses that tell us to be watchful for the things He is describing in order to know that the end is nigh.

There it is. This is a key verse in the doctrine of the secret pre-tribulation rapture. It’s worth noting that most modern translations omit that He included Himself in the list of those who do not know the day and hour. It’s speculated that the early translators such as those for King James did not want to dampen His divinity by asserting that He has limits. If this is the case, they were misguided.

Jesus Christ, the man before His death and resurrection, did not know the day or the hour. Jesus Christ, the resurrected God, does now know when He is returning. That’s all a discussion for another study. Here, let’s look at three different interpretations of this verse, none of which point to a secret pre-tribulation rapture.

First, there’s the obvious one. He’s describing the event from the previous verse when “Heaven and earth shall pass away.”

Second, He’s describing the great tribulation. This is the belief of pre-tribulation rapture proponents because it means that there is a distinct start date, which means that we can extrapolate through other prophecies exactly what day and hour He will return. I would be able to consider buying this theory if somewhere it said that we would clearly know the moment that it all starts, but nothing in scripture supports this. It’s so obscure that there are very learned people who believe based upon the Bible that the tribulation has already started. I don’t hold to that theory, but it demonstrates how ambiguous the descriptions in Daniel, the Gospels, and Revelation are when it comes to the end times.

The third theory is that we will not know the exact day and hour but we will recognize the season and be able to prepare accordingly.

All of these theories have legs. None of them are only applicable with a pre-tribulation rapture. The tribulation will start. Believers and non-believers alike will go through it There’s nothing we can do to change it, regardless of how hopeful we are that we’ll be pulled away before it begins.

Verses 40-42 are often used by pre-tribulation rapture proponents to talk of the harpázō. It is particularly popular in modern Christian pop culture due to the Left Behind series. This makes no sense whatsoever if you read the previous verses.

In verse 39, talking of the wicked on the earth, “the flood came, and took them all away…” Then in the verses used to promote the secret rapture, one in the field and one grinding at the mill were removed in the same fashion with Jesus saying “one shall be taken…”

How did the secret rapture proponents not see that being taken away is clearly a bad thing that Jesus likens to those wicked on the earth who were taken away by the flood? It was the verse right before. He even says, “so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” to make absolutely certain that nobody would believe these were completely separate concepts. It’s crystal clear, but it has been taken out of context and butchered by most mainstream churches, Bible “scholars”, and Hollywood.

Verse 43-51 detail the final warnings on this point. Jesus has already told them to be watchful because nobody knows when all of this will come about. Now, He is making certain that they understand one extremely important concept that the pre-tribulation rapture theory utterly denounces.

We will not be given another chance. We’re already on our second and final chance. Jesus died to give us all the grace that we never deserved but that the Father offers nonetheless. He left this world and we do not know when He is coming back, but we must be fully prepared regardless of when it happens. In the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture, there is a third chance offered. In other words, those who are not taken with the first batch have seven years to get their acts together for the next round. This is a false teaching that puts believers in jeopardy of their souls.

If you have any questions pertaining to this study, please feel free to contact me.

The Lord is coming back and we must be prepared today. That does not mean that there will be a pre-tribulation rapture. It means that as faithful servants we must act as if our service can end at any moment.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.

Every time there is a slightest indication that a Muslim is mistreated anywhere in the world, everybody is up in arms. But the wanton slaughter and genocide of Christians continues while the world yawns.

This is fully in keeping with Islamic Sharia law which makes Muslims a privileged class and all of us infidels not even worthy of living. Even our own government is susceptible to being misled down the road to perdition.

Under Islam, Jews and Christians are treated as dhimmies or second-class citizens. The options are to convert to Islam, become a dhimmi and pay the jizya tax or die. While not recognized by Islam, one could also flee from the Dar ul-Islam to the Dar ul-Harb, or House of War.

But now many non-Islamic nations are bowing down in submission to Islam as when Twitter notifies someone that they are violating the blasphemy laws of Pakistan. It should be a matter of us just saying, “So, who cares?”

Other than Islam, Americans also still have to contend with the ideology of Communism / Socialism / Progressivism. First we will look at where our attentions are directed followed by where they would more appropriately be able to do some good.

MISPLACED SYMPATHIES

Uyghurs

China’s Western province in Central Asia of Xinjiang is known to the indigenous Muslims there as East Turkestan. Uyghurs joined Al Qaeda in training camps in Afghanistan during the terror campaign of UBL. Some wound up at Guantanamo Bay, of which a half dozen were released by Obama to the former U.S. territory and now independent nation of Palau in the Western Pacific for reasons known only to his own demented mind.

In 2014, Uyghurs traveled to Kunming in southern China just above the Vietnam border and slashed victims at the airport there. Other domestic acts of terrorism have been attributed to them within China as well. There have also been concerns of international terrorism that they could commit at some point.

China is a totalitarian state which we shall discuss later in this article, but Uyghurs should not be portrayed by the leaders of world nations and by the world media as innocent victims. While China’s activities to contain this Islamic Insurgency may not meet with our own specifications, it is a legitimate concern.

Rohingya

The Rohingya Muslims of Myanmar are not indigenous, but rather migrated from the Indian subcontinent. They began the current conflict by attacking Buddhist authorities in that Southeast Asian country. Rohingya have also threatened Hindus in nearby India and are even unwelcome in the neighboring Islamic nation of Bangladesh. Some Rohingyas have become boat people and tried mostly unsuccessfully to get into Australia. Rohingyas are legitimately viewed as a security concern by Myanmar authorities.

Gaza

Both Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are terrorist organizations which act as surrogates for the Islamic Republic of Iran. The orchestrated riots at the border fence are a made-for-the-media show. If they fail to penetrate into Israel to murder Jews, then they use their own children as human shields so they can claim victimhood when the Israeli Defense Force has to fortify the border.

Palestinians are just Arabs who migrated from other nearby countries. Their claims to possess all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea are specious at best and designed to obliterate Israel at worst.

Yemen

Yemen is a failed state. 30 years ago there were two countries of North Yemen and South Yemen. They have accomplished virtually nothing since other than to become a primary source of khat as well as a terrorist training ground for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It was a base of operations for American Anwar al-Awlaki until he and his cohort were taken out by a drone. Today the Houthi of Yemen act as surrogates for Iran to fire missiles into Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan

The Islamic government of Pakistan deliberately makes life for the Christian minority in that country a hell on Earth. That’s why Asia Bibi had to flee after a drummed up charge of blasphemy. Her life may still be in danger in Canada as her tormentors have sent someone to follow her and assassinate her there. Pakistan harbored UBL there after 9/11. Today Pakistan is behind the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is really not one bit better off today than it was 18 years ago. There is no reason for American soldiers to still be shedding blood in a nation that has resisted foreign influence all the way from Mongols to Russians to Americans.

Ilhan Omar

Along with foreign countries to which Americans improperly direct their sympathies, there are three new U.S. Congresswomen who are getting entirely too much attention compared to their actual contributions to the national good, which in each case is at absolute zero.

Ilhan Omar came to Minnesota as a refugee from the failed state of Somalia. Her hostility toward American values and her animosity toward American allies endangers our national security, particularly as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Both the voters of Minnesota and the Democrat leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives are accountable. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democrat Majority Leader Steny Hoyer should be told that they are derelict in their duties for not reprimanding this new member for her bigotry.

Rashida Tlaib

The new Congresswoman from Michigan is a Palestinian advocate who favors Hamas and fails to respect Israeli sovereignty. She barely got the furniture arranged in her new office before she called for the impeachment of President Trump. To say her priorities are wrong would be a gross understatement.

AOC

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a joke still waiting for a punchline. She is basically an airhead and an empty vessel being used by Social Justice Warriors to further their own objectives with her as a figurehead. Her stupid remarks should just be ignored and she should not be given so much attention at every political utterance.

OVERLOOKED OPPORTUNITIES

China

Whenever I see all of the megabytes of data used to document the alleged plight of Muslim Uyghurs, I pause for a moment and wait to see if anything will be said about the increasing persecution of Christians in Communist China. More times than not, nothing is.

China bans one of the Ten Commandments

North Korea

For 18 years in a row, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has been #1 on the Open Doors list of countries where it is the hardest for Christians to survive. KJU has perpetuated the state religion of worship of himself as the heir of the Kim family.

Just having a Bible or uttering the name of Jesus can get a person and three generations of his or her family relentlessly murdered. It is a primary responsibility of Christians to teach their children and raise them in the faith. But many parents under Pyongyang’s bloody regime must hide their beliefs from their children lest they be betrayed.

If President Trump has another summit with Kim Jong-Un ~ and I do mean IF ~ ceasing the persecution of Christians and other religions by North Korea must absolutely be a prerequisite before proceeding to anything else.

Turkey

Turkey was once considered a dependable American ally with U.S. Air Force listening posts near the border of the former Soviet Union. But under the autocratic Islamic rule of Erdoğan, it has become a conduit for ISIS and other Muslim terrorists to transit to the battlefields of the Middle East.

Erdoğan fancies himself the next Caliph of the revived Ottoman Empire. Many of the churches to which St. Paul the Apostle ministered in Asia Minor are in present-day Turkey. Today it is becoming increasingly difficult for Christians to live according to their beliefs in Turkey.

Turkey has also sought to align with Russia and Iran as it distances itself from the United States and Israel.

Syria

Syrian Christians continue to suffer more in that country today than they did when Bashar al-Assad was in full control. America’s single-minded focus on eliminating ISIS just left a vacuum which Iran now seeks to fill. Both the Sunni Islamic enemy and the Shia Islamic enemy endanger our own country and particularly Israel via the Golan Heights.

As ISIS disperses geographically, Iran becomes the primary threat to the well-being of Christians in Syria.

Iraq

Saddam Hussein did have blood on his hands. He harbored a Palestinian terrorist who took a flight via Japan to Honolulu and planted a bomb under the seat before disembarking. A Japanese youth was killed in the explosion when Pan Am 830 landed at Honolulu International Airport on August 11, 1982.

That said, Christians within Iraq still fared better under Saddam than they have ever since. Now that ISIS has lost its territory, Iran is poised to establish a land bridge all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.

Assyrian and Chaldean Christians in Iraq have diminished greatly in numbers since 2003. Those who remain are still in mortal danger. Even Muslim Kurds in Northern Iraq and the Nineveh Plain have begun imposing the Sharia jizya tax on Christians, who are threatened from all sides.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan is still just as inhospitable to Christians today as it was in the heyday of UBL and Mullah Omar of the Taliban. Don’t look for any churches or synagogues to be built in Kabul any day soon. As the U.S. Embassy keeps touting years of friendship between our two countries, it’s all one-sided.

Afghans get full respect in the United States as do all Muslims. American can’t just walk safely down the street in Afghanistan and a Christian is a very targeted minority.

Saudi Arabia

Our alliance with Saudi Arabia against Iran is strategic. But KSA remains one of the most closed countries in the world. A Christian can’t even enter the country with a cross around his neck or a Bible in his hand. A non-Muslim is not allowed to ever visit Mecca. Not that there would be a whole lot of incentive to want to do that anyway. Christians who worship secretly within their own homes, if found out, are often raided and arrested.

Nigeria

Nigeria has approximately equal numbers of Christians and Muslims but it has a government that is currently unwilling to protect Christians from Muslim slaughter particularly in the northern part of the country. Christians are regularly murdered in their churches including on such holy occasions as Christmas and Easter. Nigeria is perhaps the world’s worst killing field of our present day. It should be receiving due attention by the United States government and in the media but it is not.

Burkina Faso

Only recently has this landlocked country in West Africa begun drawing attention for the kidnapping and killing of westerners and Christians. Years ago, you may have learned of this nation under the former name of Upper Volta. It is in a very volatile region near the Sahel of Africa. Unfortunately, things do not bode well and more atrocities are likely to occur in Burkina Faso.

Kenya

3,885 miles away from Burkina Faso is Kenya in East Africa. Kenya has long been one of the more stable nations on the continent, but it has the unfortunate problem of a border with Somalia. Attacks are becoming more frequent where Christians are told to recite the Islamic shahada and deny Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior or die. Many suffer the death of the body rather than the death of the soul.

Egypt

Northern Africa was once predominantly Christian. Alexandria in Egypt was a center of advanced learning. But 600 years after the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, the followers of Muhammad subjugated Egypt and that entire region at the tip of a sword.

Even today, Coptic Christians comprise perhaps as much as 15% of the population of Egypt. While the persecution is not as severe as it was under the Muslim Brotherhood, the current military government under el-Sisi has failed to prevent further killing of Christians by Muslims. Perpetrators are not properly prosecuted.

Pakistan

Pakistan deserves special attention and scrutiny both as a country which severely persecutes Christians and other religious minorities and as a breeding ground for worldwide terrorism. The United States does well to ally itself with India as a hedge against Pakistani aggression. Israel has likewise sought closer relations with India.

All the Islamic institutions in Pakistan are arrayed against Christians who are accorded absolutely no rights whatsoever. That is why it is so hypocritical of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar to condemn India for Hindu persecution of Muslims while ignoring persecution of Christians and other minorities in Pakistan and her native Somalia by Muslims.

Indonesia

Indonesia is often falsely seen as a moderate Muslim country. With 264 million people, it is the most populous predominantly Islamic country in the world. Christians comprise about 10% throughout the island nation. Some areas such as Aceh on Sumatra are more rigid in implementing Islamic Sharia law. But attacks also occur on Java and throughout the archipelago against Christians simply because of their faith.

Philippines

The Philippines is America’s only former colony in Asia. For our review of the relationship with the United States, see:

America’s good friends in the Philippines

It’s a very complex situation, but for our purposes here, the salient point is that in Muslim regions in the southern Philippines, it is very perilous for local Christians. The current regime of President Rodrigo Duterte, who admits to having Muslims within his own family, and who hails from Davao City on Mindanao, does not fully appreciate the ideological nature of the struggle within the Philippines between Muslims and the predominant Catholic Church.

Which is not to say that the United States government fully understands that ideological underpinning of Islamic Jihad either.

Israel

Israel under Prme Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is America’s most dependable friend and ally in the world today. Bibi is very articulate in English and often touts his government’s respect for the rights of Christians. What he does not seem to fully appreciate, however, is the role of Messianic Jews who follow Yeshua.

In the alliance which his Likud political party has had to re-establish with other smaller factions, one is with orthodox Jews who will continue to control the immigration apparatus and who will keep making it difficult for Jews who accept Yeshua as the Messiah promised by the Hebrew prophets to make aliyah to Israel and reside there as citizens.

This has been a suggestive rather than exhaustive compilation of countries where the rights of Christians and other minorities are not respected. Our current government here in the United States and all of our future administrations need to take heed and act accordingly. Think of this in the ballot booth on November 3, 2020.

IRAN, IN A CATEGORY BY ITSELF

When we hear presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard and other misinformed persons accusing President Trump and National Security Advisor John Bolton of warmongering and provoking a conflict with Iran, it displays an incredible ignorance of the threat posed by the apocalyptic regime in Tehran. Congresswoman Gabbard, who is a Major in the Hawaii National Guard, is a 38-year-old who was born after Iran had released the American diplomat hostages when Republican Ronald Reagan took over the White House from Democrat Jimmy Carter.

Iran is ancient Persia. You can read the book of Esther to see how far back the hostilities with Israel actually go.

Iran has progressed beyond mere talk and has actually used surrogates in Gaza to launch missiles into Israel and also has launched them over the Golan Heights from Syria. Therefore, when Iran threatens to attack United States forces throughout the Middle East, there is every reason to believe that they actually will do so.

The people of Iran are suffering as their resources are squandered by their government supporting worldwide terrorism. Christians continue to be arrested just for being Christians. The best case scenario would be for the Iranian people to replace the hostile government that acts in their name.

But meanwhile, America and Israel must remain on full alert. We are not going to initiate any hostilities no matter how much we are provoked to do so. But if and when Iran attacks, we must ensure that they regret it and that their capacity to inflict further damage is completely neutralized, whatever that takes for us to accomplish.

WRAPPING IT ALL UP

We have taken a glimpse at American priorities in the world. We have seen that we all too often focus on supposed victims who do not merit our involvement. We have also considered how we frequently fail to recognize those who truly need our assistance.

I adjure you to help focus this 2020 political campaign on issues that really matter. You may very well find that those which you have read about here are worthy of your consideration in that quest.

We are currently forming the American Conservative Movement. If you are interested in learning more, we will be sending out information in a few weeks.