The Rapture
We know what the TV Church wants you to believe - that all the Christians will be raptured prior to the Great Tribulation, and do not need to heed Yeshua's [Jesus'] words to know the times and seasons and to be prepared. Will we really be partying in heaven during the greatest harvest season the earth or heaven has ever seen? Let's see what God's Word says about it,
So, what DO the Scriptures really say?
Moments before His agony in the garden, Yeshua [Jesus] prayed for the disciples and for all others who would believe even though they had not personally seen Him. Here is what He prayed for us:
"When I was with them I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them, because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. John 17:12-16
If Yeshua would not even ask that we be removed from the world, how do we presume to ask this? Should we not do as He did, just as He did only what He saw the Father do?
So, if Yeshua prayed that we be kept here, but kept from the evil one, what should we expect?
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." Matt 16:24.
Hm-m-m-m, take up our cross? . . . doesn't sound like a party to me. Let's look further into the Word . . .
So, did Yeshua tell us when to expect to be raptured? YES! That's the good news! And here is what He said:
"And then at last, the sign of the coming of the Son of Man will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the nations of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man arrive on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send forth his angels with the sound of a mighty trumpet blast, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven." Matt 24:30-31
Here we see that there will be deep mourning among the nations, and they will see the Lord coming on the clouds of heaven. THEN, with the sound of a mighty trumpet, he sends the angels to gather His chosen ones from all over heaven and all over earth. These are the Lord's own words, and if you are going to base your belief on what a man says, I suggest you choose THIS man.
But I'm sure many of you will argue even with the Lord, so let's see what else the Scriptures say , , ,
Isn't there something about the resurrection coming prior to the Rapture? YES! Let's look at that scripture:
"And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died. I can tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not rise to meet him ahead of those who are in their graves. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. So comfort and encourage each other with these words." 1 Thess 4:13-18
We see again that this information comes directly from the Lord, so I think that's a pretty good Source, don't you? Paul goes on to tell us that when the Lord returns, with the sound of a trumpet, the Resurrection of the Holy Ones occurs FIRST, and then those of us who are left will be caught up, or raptured, to be with the Lord forever. THAT'S good news!
So we have at least established from Scripture that the Rapture follows the FIRST Resurrection. Agreed?
So, the question THEN becomes, when is the First Resurrection? That's easy - Yeshua sent an angel to John to tell him THAT - so let's look at THAT verse of Scripture.
"Then I saw thrones; those who sat on them were entrusted with judgment. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or its image nor had accepted its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came to life and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over. This is the first resurrection." Rev. 20:4-5
OUCH! The Tribulation Saints are included in the FIRST RESURRECTION? So how can the first resurrection be BEFORE the Great Tribulation, and BEFORE the Antichrist is revealed, and BEFORE the Mark of the Beast, like the TV Church says, if the Tribulation Saints are INCLUDED in THE FIRST RESURRECTION? Well, actually that's pretty easy to answer. THE FIRST RESURRECTION ISN'T BEFORE THE GREAT TRIBULATION, THE FIRST RESURRECTION IS AFTER THE GREAT TRIBULATION, WHEN YESHUA RETURNS AND ALL SEE HIM COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF GLORY. [Just like He said.] Now, was that so hard?
Na-a-a- . .
Now, does Scripture confirm itself? After all, in the mouth of TWO witnesses, let the truth be known . . . I think I read that somewhere in Scripture . . .
So, WHEN is the Rapture?
"Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cr 15:51-52
The Rapture is after the LAST TRUMP! Since there are numerous trumpet calls throughout Revelation, it’s only at the LAST TRUMP that we are caught up to God and the dead are raised. But the TV church says it's a different Last Trump, a secret Last Trump.
Really? Where in Scripture does it say THAT? Beats me. I think it's a secret. I can't find it anywhere. But I CAN find another reference to a mystery, and a SOUNDING TRUMP! And all in ONE VERSE, so you know I'm not tricking you! Let's go look at that Scripture, and see if Scripture confirms itself again . . .
"The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets." Rev 10:5-7
OOPS! We have a mystery, and a seventh angel who is SOUNDING. So, who IS the seventh angel and what is he sounding? Why, the LAST TRUMP, of course.
What? You want to see THAT in Scripture too? Oh, all right . . . I'm going to skip some verses, but I suggest YOU read the whole thing. [I already did . . .]
"And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. . . So the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound . . .The first angel sounded, . . . Then the second angel sounded, . . . Then the third angel sounded, . . . Then the fourth angel sounded . . . Then, the fifth angel sounded, . . . Then the sixth angel sounded . . . " Rev 8:2, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13
So where's the Seventh Angel? Oh, yeah . . . "Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!" Rev 11:15.
WOW! When the seventh [and last] angel SOUNDS HIS TRUMPET, a LOT of cool stuff starts happening! We have a mystery completed, that God told His prophets about, and loud voices start praising God because Yeshua has been given the keys to the KINGDOM, and He's gonna reign forever and ever and EVER! WOW! COME, LORD! Paul told us earlier what the mystery was, [we will all be changed . . .], and when His Kingdom comes, what a day THAT will be!
Now, let's keep looking. Scripture has this habit of telling us what we need to know, then telling us again, and then usually AGAIN! [Just in case we missed it the first few times].
So, when, EXACTLY, is the First Resurrection?
But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead came also through a human being. For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life, but each one in proper order: Christ the firstfruits; then, at his coming, those who belong to Christ; 1 Cor 15:20-25.
Well, there it is again, it's at His Coming. But what about that secret stuff, the story that the TV church tells, that he comes secretly and surprises us, and we should never know when to expect Him?
H-m-m-m . . . Let's just look at what the Scriptures tell us . . .
Should YOU be surprised when the Lord returns?
"But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night. When people are saying, “Peace and security,” then sudden disaster comes upon them, like labor pains upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. But you, brothers, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. 1 Thess 5:1-5
So, we see that only those who are children of darkness will be overtaken by the Lord coming like a thief in the night, and we, who are children of the light and children of the day, won't be surprised at all! After all, the Lord took great pains to tell us the signs of the times, and instructed us to KNOW and to RECOGNIZE the seasons, so that we would be prepared, and so that we would not be found sleeping when the Lord returns.
So how can the Lord return like a thief in the night, if He doesn't come secretly?
What's this 'thief in the night' stuff??
Well, you really need to ask a Messianic Jew THAT question, but I'll tell you what I know. The Lord 'returning like a thief in the night' is a Hebrew idiom. If you lived when Yeshua did, you'd know exactly what He was talking about, but we've forgotten the Jewish roots of our faith. What he was talking about was the High Priest's duty, and it went something like this.
The High Priest would officiate over everything important, like the sacrifices that were made morning and evening for Israel. But when late evening came, he got to go home. The sacrifices, which were being offered to the Lord, had to be completely consumed before the morning sacrifices could be laid on the altar. That usually took all night. So the rotating priests from the various tribes took turns at the temple, and one of them would draw the duty to stay awake all night and make sure the flame on the altar continued to burn until the sacrifice was completely consumed. If it was raining, this could be really tough duty [I wouldn't want it!]
So, anyway, as the night wore on, the poor guy could sometimes get sleepy. But if he fell asleep, and the flame went out, and the sacrifice wasn't completely consumed by morning, SOMEBODY was gonna be in trouble. So the High Priest would often come before dawn, in the darkest part of the night, to check to make sure that the flame was burning and the sacrifice was almost gone. When he came in, sometimes he would find that all was not right, and the flame had gone out. THAT was bad. When he found this, he would relight the flame on the altar and get the sacrifice going again, then he would take some of that flame, and he'd go hunt up the priest who had failed to remain awake and keep watch, and when he found him, he'd light the man's garments with that altar flame. Being linen, [and without flame retardant protection like we have] that garment would go up in flames in an instant! That priest would have to rip off his linen garments to save his skin. Worse yet, then he had to walk home . . . in his underwear . . . and EVERYONE would know what happened. He would be greatly ashamed.
So when Paul talked about the Lord's return coming as a thief in the night, none of us should be surprised, if we are doing our duty, if we are keeping watch as we should. It's only those who have fallen asleep while they are on duty, who caught off guard and put to shame. I don't want to be one of THOSE, do you? Well then, guess we'd better stay AWAKE! If you want to read more about this, visit Reverend Monte Judah's web site, Lion and Lamb Ministries, and find out what the Messianic Jews are saying about this stuff. They are the authorities anyway, so ask them, at www.lionlamb.net.
So, exactly WHERE did the pre-Trib Rapture idea come from anyway?
Are you sure you really want to know? Maybe you better ask the Holy Spirit if this is something you want to know more about. Did you check with Him? Did He tell you to go on? If He did, then continue on to the next page, to find out:
The Catholic Origin of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Theory
[That's a surprise . . . ]
