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NASB | 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain [on the earth] will simultaneously be caught up (raptured) together with them [the resurrected ones] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord! [John 14:3; 1 Cor 15:52; 2 Cor 5:8; Phil 1:23; Col 3:4] |
Subject: Is the rapture biblically supported? |
Bible Note: Hi Kalos, The Bible speaks in many places of the Second Coming of Christ, as He appears in great glory, saving Israel, judging the nations, and establishing His kingdom upon the earth. The Bible also describes as Jesus comes in the sky, resurrecting the “dead in Christ”, then “catching up” the living believers, to be transformed, and given eternal bodies. The appearing in glory is spoken of using epiphenea, shining forth. This appearing will be precisely 2520 days after the “confirming of a covenant” (Daniel 9:27), or 3 1/2 years after the abomination that causes desolation. Because of the many times Jesus tells us that the time of His coming will be unknown, unless He returns before He is revealed in glory, these scriptures would become untrue as soon as the tribulation began, and all the more so following the abomination of desolation. Therefore, Jesus must return unannounced, but not be revealed until the end of the tribulation. It is logically impossible that we can both not know the day of His coming if His coming has been announced to the very day. It has to be two events. This is further borne out by the uses of parousia, or advent, when describing His unannounced return, and epiphaneia, or shining forth, when describing His revealing in glory. A full examination of the way these two words are used in discussing His return shows the different aspects of His coming. As Abraham said to the LORD, “Will you judge the righteous with the wicked?” The LORD responded that if there were 10 righteous He would spare Sodom. As the angels said to Lot, when there were not even 10 righteous to be found, “We cannot destroy the city until you are gone”. This and many other scriptures tell us that God does not judge the righteous with the sinner’s judgment, so therefore the righteous (with Christ’s righteousness) must be removed before judgment comes. Jesus will come as a thief, when we are not expecting Him, and this is separate from His shining forth at the end of the tribulation. Again, I ask you to review the timeline I submitted in 2 earlier posts, that show the Revelation requires that the judgments from God begin early, if not at the very beginning, of the tribulation. In Rev 15 the angels are “Clothed in pure and white linen, golden sashes around their chests.” We know that “angel” actually means “messenger”, which are not necessarily non-human. Many believe that in the letters to the churches in Rev. 2-3, the “angel of the church of…” was the pastor. One of the angels which had the 7 last plagues which spoke to John said to him “: I am thy fellowservant (sundoulos), and of thy brethren (adelphon) that have the testimony (martyrian) of Jesus” and later “for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book”. Is this angel who is talking to John his fellow human? That is what it seems to be saying. If the white linen is said to be the righteous acts of the saints in Rev 19, who decides that it means something else in a different place? Once we begin choosing the meanings of the symbols and descriptions to match our beliefs, where does it end? We do not need this passage as a proof text for pre-trib rapture. Whether the saints return with Christ or not, Jesus told us to watch for the Bridegroom, be ready to open the door for the Master when He returns, and I am watching for the Bridegroom. Immediately after the opening of the sixth seal John reports the sealing of “the servants of God”, which numbered 144,000, and all are Jews. He does not say that 144,000 of God’s servants are numbered, he says the servants of God are numbered, and that there are 144,000 of them, and identifies them as all Jews. If there is no rapture of the church before this time, where are we, who are also God’s servants (douloi)? Remember, according to the timeline given within this book of prophecy, this has to be at or very near the beginning of the tribulation. There are so many more relevant passages, I will try to provide more over the coming days, as my time permits. The Spirit and the Bride say “Come”! Even so, come Lord Jesus! Love in Christ, Mark |