The
Rapture of Jesus’ Congregational Body
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But we do not want you
to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you
may not be grieved just like the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so, too, God will also bring those who fell asleep through
Jesus with him.
For this is what we say
to you by [the] word of [the] Lord: We, the living, who survive into the parousia of the Lord, will
certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself
will descend from heaven with a commanding call,
with a voice of [the] archangel and with a
trumpet of God, and the dead in Messiah will rise
first. Thereupon we, the living who survive, will be snatched
away in clouds together with them, to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with [the] Lord. Consequently keep comforting each
other in these words.
As for the times and
the seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you. For you yourself
know very precisely that [the] Day of the Lord is
coming exactly as a thief in the night. When they are
saying "Peace and Security", then sudden calamity will overtake them,
just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman, and they will by no means
escape. However, you, brothers, are not in
darkness so that the day would surprise you as a thief, for you are all sons of
light and sons of the day. We belong neither to the night nor to the darkness.
The well-known passage -
in Paul's First Letter to the (local) congregation at Thessalonica - concerning
the future rapture - or Snatching away, literally according
to Greek - of the entire, universal Church, Jesus' own Congregational Body, of
which he himself is Head. Those who knew themselves being
called to that Congregation, have always looked forward hopefully to that
event. Paul himself, during his active life as an apostle
of the Gentiles, greatly cherished that desire, as witnessed by the
following passages:
See! I tell you a secret: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be
changed. In an indivisible moment, in the twinkling of [an] eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised up incorruptible
and we will be changed.
For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal
must put on immortality.
But when this which is
corruptible puts on incorruption and this which is mortal puts
on immortality, then the saying will come to pass that is written: “Death
is swallowed up to victory”.
(1Cor 15:51-54)
For we know that when our
earthly house, this tent dwelling, is dissolved, we will have a building from
God, a non-handmade, eternal dwelling in the heavens. For in this [tent dwelling] we groan, eagerly desiring to put on the one for us that is from
heaven; if at least we are
dressed, we will not be found naked. For we who are in this
tent are sighing, burdened as we are. After all, we do not want
to be undressed, but to be clothed, so that the mortal can be swallowed up by
life. He who just prepared us for that [is] God who gave us the
pledge of the spirit.
(2Cor 5:1-5)
For our citizenship exists in the heavens, from which place we
also earnestly expect a saviour, Lord Jesus Messiah, who will refashion the
body of our humiliation to be conformed to his glorious body, according
to the operation of the power that he is capable to subject all things to
himself.
(Flp 3:20-21)
But when Paul wrote to
the Thessalonians about that subject - apparently in response to a message,
probably sent to him by Timothy - a number of Christians' deaths had already
occurred. And perhaps the living among them
wondered if there was any future for these beloved fellow believers! Time
for the apostle to provide, in a comforting way, some additional information
about the Christian End Times expectations. And although he goes
into the issue here in detail, he had already provided some details earlier in
this same Letter:
1:10 >> To await his Son from the heavens, whom he raised from the
dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the coming wrath.
2: 19-20 >> For who is our hope, or joy, or
crown of glory? Is it not even you, before our Lord Jesus at his parousia? Certainly, you are our glory and joy.
3:13 >> That he might strengthen
your hearts, blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the parousia of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
But here, in
4:13 to 5:5, Paul is first referring to Jesus' own resurrection that
he had preached to the Thessalonians and in which they themselves too had come
to believe. Now, when Jesus was resurrected, all who have fallen
asleep in union with him will also be resurrected.
Then Paul takes away the
fear of some who apparently thought that in the time of Jesus' presence [his
parousia] only the living would be
united with him. His reaction: By no means!
It is true that the last
generation of Christians will have the great privilege, like Enoch, not to
experience consciously the [Adamic] death. Why? Because they will be changed,
in a moment, out of the present [physical] life into a spiritual nature.
However, those who belong to that last generation will by no means precede the
dead.
On the contrary! The
dead Christians will rise first.
Then, when the dead and the
living are, as it were, in the same position, all will together be snatched away in clouds [of invisibility] to meet the
Lord in the air. This shows that the dead, in turn, also do not
precede the living.
Compare Gn 5:21-24 and 1Ko 15:51-54 .
At the Rapture, therefore, all
members of Jesus' Congregational Body will meet him, the Lord, in the air.
The Greek term εις απαντησιν, used here, is
found elsewhere in the NT three times, namely in Matthew 25:1
and 6, and in Acts
28:15-16. And there also in the meaning of meeting and
returning together.
When, for example, the brothers
from
This is precisely how, at the
Rapture, the entire Christian Congregation will meet the Lord in the air to then rejoice in
his company forever.
Never again will they be separated
from him. However, indeed they will – at the end of the 70th Yearweek for
In the issue of the
Rapture we are compelled indeed to bring back in our memory Enoch. Why?
Because about him we
read in Hebrews 11:5
Because of faith Enoch
was transferred so as not to see death, and he was found
nowhere, because God had transferred him. For before his transference he received testimony that he was pleasing
to God.
So Henoch was transferred without having to
taste death. To
which destination?
Apparently, in his
unique situation, to the moment of his resurrection, the resurrection of the
righteous, which also will be a resurrection of life (Acts 24:15 and
John
5:29).
When Enoch returns
to (permanent) life on earth, he will experience it as if there had been no
interruption in his life course.
However,
what Enoch experienced, in a sense also is a reference to
what Jesus' Congregation will experience at his parousia, at least for those
members who will remain alive until that unique event. The
last generation of Christians will suddenly be untraceable for those who remain
behind on earth.
In that respect, they
certainly share the experience of Enoch. When God took him away (M), or transferred him (LXX), he was
found nowhere. Apparently the people in Henoch's environment have
been looking for him for some time.
Without seeing death -
or 'tasting' it - the final members of Jesus' Congregational Body will
also be transferred'. In an indivisible moment. Similar
to a blink of the eye, they will be changed in nature from one moment to
the other (1Cor 15:51-52).
It can hardly be
otherwise or that event will become an important learning moment for humankind
that is left behind on earth, especially for
(For the teaching about
Why?
Until that time
But that learning moment
will include much more. Probably then that special 70th Yearweek
in the prophecy of Daniel
9:24-27 has already
had its start, and consequently the fulfilment of all parts of Jesus' End-time prophecy can
also be expected, as it has come to us in the so-called Olivet-sermon. We
find all the details of that "sermon" in chapters 24
and 25 of the Matthew Gospel, as an answer to the question of his
disciples:
Tell us, when will these things be and what is the sign of your
parousia and of the completion of the age? (Mt 24:3).
Mt 24:15 marks the special
event on the half of the 70th Yearweek, when the abomination of
desolation will appear in the (rebuilt) temple at
Compare:
• Confusion
of Tongues and the Seven Times
The transition
to Chapter 5 seems considerable, but on closer examination, it makes
sense.
When the Rapture of the
Christian, heavenly Congregation takes place, one can know with certainty that
the parousia of the Lord Jesus Messiah also had its start. Obviously,
the question then arises: When can we expect the parousia?
Paul takes up that
question in advance, first by letting us know that he does not have to
elaborate on that issue. Why not? Because
the parousia period runs parallel to the Day of the Lord and
from the Olivet sermon it could be known among Jesus' disciples that
the arrival of that Day, or the parousia, would be characterized
mainly by its unexpected nature. So wrote the apostle, as
indicated above:
As for the times and the
seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you. For you yourself know
very precisely that [the] Day of the Lord is coming exactly as a thief in the night. When they are saying
"Peace and Security", then sudden calamity will overtake them, just
as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman, and they will by no means
escape.
On the one hand, that
crucial era would be observable worldwide, but at the same time the parousia
could also be compared with:
a the days that preceded the Flood and everyone did as if nothing was
wrong; they simply continued with the familiar pursuits, and
b the nightly arrival of a thief:
For just as the lightning
comes from eastern regions and shines to western regions, so will be the parousia of the Son of Man ... For like the days of Noah, so will be the parousia
of the Son of Man. For as they were in those days -just
continue with all the usual daily activities- until Noah entered into
the ark and they did not notice until the Flood came
and all of them swept away, so will be the parousia of the Son
of Man ...
But know this: If the
master of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have stayed awake and would not let his house be
broken into. Therefore, you also show yourself
ready, for in an hour when you would not
think so, the Son of Man comes ( Mt 24:27,
37-39, 43-44).
Because that Day will
come to the world as a thief in the night, the
people of the world will not discern any indication in that direction. On
the contrary, because of general disbelief in a possible intervention by a
divine power, they will take no notice. Because they regard
every superhuman action as unreal, they act as is customary to them, despite
the stormy succession of events during the Day of the Lord or the
parousia.
For those to whom Jesus
addressed on Tuesday afternoon 11 Nisan of 33 AD - over the heads of
his former Jewish disciples - namely to their counterparts of
the End Times, the Jewish Remnant, his prophetic words contain a
serious warning. Danger is imminent.
Why? And
what kind of danger is meant?
The following: When the
vast majority of the world will not discern the parousia and the people in
general will not pay any attention at all - as was the case with the
Flood-generation - what guarantee is there that in the End times a Jewish
minority will be shaken awake? To what supernatural sign in
particular could they look forward?
Well, that heavenly sign
will indeed come. They can expect a clear indication
in this regard, because Jesus was also fully aware of this need. There
will be something very spectacular at the start of his parousia. So
he continued - after having pointed out the predominance of his presence -
according to the Greek text:
Tοτε δυο εσονται εν τω αγρω, εις παραλαμβανεται και εις αφιεται∙ δυο αληθουσαι εν τω μυλω,
μια παραλαμβανεται και μια αφιεται .
Translated >>
Then [at
the parousia] there will be two in the field, one [man] will be taken along and one [man] left behind. Two will be grinding with the mill, one [woman] will be taken along and one [woman] left behind.
The used terminology strongly
reminds us of what Jesus would say two days later, on Thursday evening,
14 Nisan, to his disciples in the upper room concerning the future
Rapture:
Do not let your heart be
troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. There are many abodes in
my Father's house - if not, I would have told you - because I am going to
prepare a place for you. And when I go and prepare a place
for you, I am coming again and will take you along to
myself, so that wherever I am you also may
be.
In both cases for take
along Jesus used the verb παραλαμβανω, as is also the case
in Matthew 24 in his End Time speech on the
See: in the House of my
Father, there are many dwellings (Automatic Google
translation).
In our above commentary
on Enoch we established earlier that the Rapture of the Church will be an
important learning moment for those who remain behind. Again
a piece of quote:
That will be an important learning moment for humankind who will remain
behind on earth, especially for
Israel as a people will have rejected Jesus as their Messiah until that
time; but
then they come to know that the Christian congregation was indeed pleasing to
God, precisely because its members lived by
faith towards Messiah Yeshua (Jesus), and on that basis walked in
righteousness with God .
But let us return to
Yeshua’s ‘Body’ that is in expectation of the Rapture. To which sign in
particular can that last generation of the 'living' look forward?
The apostle has informed
them in advance, and with them of course all others who are sensitive to the
divine intervention:
When they are saying
"Peace and Security", then
sudden calamity will overtake them, just as the pang of distress upon a
pregnant woman, and they will by no means escape.
A meaningful signal will
therefore be given, just before the Rapture. There will be
so-called peace and security!
We purposely write so-called! After
all, we can easily see that in the current world there is no real peace and
security available, nor even possible! However, people in
general will only want to be reassured by such a thought or assertion,
instead of observing it as a signal from God.
Nevertheless, a signal
of that content will be heard.
Looking at the world
situation nowadays, winter 2017-2018, we could think of an unexpected change in
the nuclear threat between the Western world and
The wise men
have become ashamed, terrified; they will be caught.
Look! They have rejected YHWH's Word, and what kind of wisdom do
they then have? ...
From the smallest to the
greatest, everyone is making unjust profits; from the prophet to even the
priest, each is acting deceitfully. And they try to heal the
breach of the daughter of my people superficially by saying, There is peace! There is peace! While there
is no peace.
(Jer 8:9-11)
Instead of peace,
unbelieving
1.) While it is true that, according to 1Thess 5:3, a sign for that
event will be given (Peace and Security) - apparently
just before the time of the Rapture - the apostle would later add a second sign
to it in 1Cor 15:51-53 >> Everything will take place at the last trumpet (again an automatic Google translation of the
study by that title).
2.) The phrase When they are saying "Peace and
Security" in
verse 3, is vague. Who
are the ones called they?
The only other group of religious people referred to in the Letter to the
Thessalonians - beyond the members of Jesus' Congregation - are the stubborn
Jews, mentioned in 1Thess 2:14-16. Concerning them
Paul wrote: For you, brothers, became imitators of the congregations of God that are
in Judea in Messiah Jesus, since you also suffered the same things by their own
tribesmen as they also did by the
Jews, who even killed the Lord, Jesus, and the prophets, and that drove us [like beasts]. They are not pleasing
God and are hostile to all people.
However, we do not exclude that with they a much wider audience can be meant:
All in the present world who are eagerly looking forward to peaceful and safe
conditions. However, given the increasing
radicalization within certain religious circles and the aggressive attitude of
many in general, there is little reason for optimism in this respect. Compare 2
Timothy 3, in which is prophetically recorded how at the dawn of the End
Times - the so-called last days - the dominant attitude to life will be among the general public.
The sudden calamity (or doom) will only be the
beginning of ominous developments that will then be initiated. Developments
that most probably also relate to the appearance of the tyrannical Antichrist,
also announced a long time ago.
In chapter 8 of Jeremiah, that
event was also foreseen by the prophet through divine inspiration. The
three important factors that shall characterize the 'arrival' of
that Pseudo-messiah are given also in this prophecy:
1.) The disaster will come from the
North
I will drive the northerner far away from you. I will disperse him to a dry and
desolate wasteland, with his face toward the eastern sea and his rear
guard toward the western sea. The foul smell from him will ascend; the stench
from him will keep ascending; for he will do great things (Joel 2:20).
2.) The tribe Dan is prophetically
always in the picture. Compare Jacob's deathbed prophecy:
Dan will judge his people as one of the
tribes of
3.) The antichristian
power is (literally) demonic.
There was hope for
peace , but nothing good; at a time of healing, but see! horror ! The sniffing of his horses was heard from Dan .The whole country was shaking at
the sound of neighing his stallions. And they come and digest
the land and that what it fills,
the city and its inhabitants. For behold, I send snakes, venomous snakes among you , that can not be defiled , and they will certainly bite you, says YHWH.
(Jer 8:15-17)
The demonic nature of the Antichrist is proven in the study The role of demons in
the End time However, also that study is by Google automatically
translated from Dutch into English.
According to Daniel 9:27,
the Pseudo-messiah will cast off his mask at the half of the 70th
Yearweek for Israel and appear as the foretold abomination of desolation;
by that horrible act considerably increasing the calamity, as is prophetically stated
in Ezekiel 8:3 >>
Then the spirit lifted me
up between the earth and the heavens, and in visions of God he brought me to
Jerusalem, to the entrance of the gate of the innermost court which is turned
to the north, where was the dwelling place of the symbol
of jealousy which provokes to jealousy.
The foretold sudden calamity will occur as unexpectedly as
usually the first woe in
a pregnant woman. Compare: Isaiah 13:6-8 and Micah
4:9-10.
With the image of the contractions of a pregnant woman, the sudden and
inevitable is presented in the Bible; often in the form of disaster or calamity
But even with the use of
that image, the apostle refers to Jesus' End-time speech according to the
chapters 24 and 25 of the Matthew Gospel.
After all, when Jesus'
disciples asked the question What
will be the sign of your presence and the completion of the age he gave them
speaking over their heads to their
counterparts of the End Times, the Jews who will then confess Jesus as their
Messiah
as a first answer that
they should above all be wary of deceivers.
For many would pretend
being the true Messiah, in the End Times resulting in the appearance of the
most dangerous of all, the demonic Antichrist. He who will manifest himself as
the Messiah for which the Jews - especially those who stubbornly keep rejecting
Jesus - have been waiting for so long.
Once that Pseudo-Messiah
has publicly made his entrance, in his wake the one calamitous event after
another may be expected: Nations and kingdoms that will stand up against each
other and wage war; widespread famine; also
large earthquake activity.
However, according to
Jesus all those events will only be a beginning of pains of distress.
Compare Matthew
24:3-8.
In short, exactly the
same series of events as John would later describe in signs in Revelation, chapter 6, especially for the End
time period when the first four seals will be opened:
And I saw when the Lamb
opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four Living Beings saying
as with a sound of thunder: Come! And I saw and look a white horse and the one [the Pseudo-messiah ] sitting upon it having a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went forth, conquering, and that he
might conquer.
And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second Living Being saying: Come! And another horse went out, fiery red. And to him sitting upon
it was given to take the peace out
of the earth, so that they will slaughter one another; and a great sword was
given him.
And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third Living Being saying: Come! And I saw, and look a black horse and the one sitting upon it having a
scale in his hand. And I heard as a voice in the midst
of the four Living Beings saying: a quart of wheat for a denarius and
three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the olive oil and
the wine.
And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth Living Being saying: Come! And I saw, and look a greenish yellow horse, and the one sitting upon it named Death. And the Hades was
following with him. And was given to them authority upon
the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with death
and by the beasts of the earth.
However, and very
interesting to take into account:
• The Christian
Congregation has then already experienced the Rapture, prior
to that entire calamity, since her members are seen around the throne of God in
heaven under the sign of the 24 Elders.
See: What is the identity of
the 24 elders in the Revelation?
and also: The last trumpet (again
both studies automatically translated by the Google option)
• According to Revelation 1:10, the world will then
find itself within the period that is called The Day of the Lord. According
to the Greek text: I [John, an exile on the
The sudden calamity that is announced in connection with the call for Peace and Security [1Thess 5] ,
could very well be associated with Acts 27, but then in antitypical sense.
Luke - one of the 276 sailors of the ship that came from the
Egyptian Alexandria, transferring the apostle Paul, together with other
prisoners, to
When that apostate system then suffers complete shipwreck and, at the
same time, the true Christian Congregation disappears from the scene of the
world through the Rapture, then a tremendous spiritual vacuum will arise. Of
course an ‘excellent’ opportunity for the Antichristian power to fill that
spiritual vacuum with his appearance. Compare Two
Thessalonians 2.
In the next and final chapter of Acts (28)
we apparently find even more clues for that approach.
Because Luke further explains how Paul -
apparently representing the raptured Congregation - is capable of performing
healings on a large scale, while at the same time being immune to demons
activity (the viper):
When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks
and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand… However he shook
off the creature into the fire, and wasn’t harmed… and [the natives] said that he was a god.
The chief man of the island, named Publius,
received us, and courteously entertained us for three days [three being the
number for resurrection].
It happened that the father of Publius lay
sick of fever and dysentery. Paul entered in to him, prayed, and laying his
hands on him, healed him. Then when this was done,
the rest also who had diseases in the island came, and were cured [maybe
a figure of the ‘sheep’ mentioned in Mt 25 those among the Gentile nations who
help the members of the Jewish remnant during the Great Tribulation]… After three months, we set sail in a ship
of Alexandria which had wintered in the island, whose sign was Sons
of Zeus [another
indication for demon activity among the sea of humankind, under the direction
of Satan. Zeus being the supreme ‘god’].
At the end of the chapter, the Jewish End
time remnant appears.
In
When they had
appointed him a day, many people came to him at his lodging. He explained to
them, testifying about the
They departed
after Paul had spoken one word [according to Isaiah’s
End times prophecies]:
The Holy Spirit
spoke rightly through Isaiah, the prophet, to our fathers, saying, go to this
people, and say, in
hearing, you will hear, but will in no way understand. In seeing, you will see,
but will in no way perceive. For this people’s heart has grown callous. Their
ears are dull of hearing. Their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see
with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would
turn again, and I would heal them.
-.-.-.-