Bible Question:
CDBJ, I have some questions. When will the first resurrection take place (Rev 20:5-6)? Do you see the rapture and the resurrections as different events? ... If so, will people be saved during the tribulation, or will those who reign with Christ (Rev 20:4) be unsaved? Also, will people be saved during the 1,000 year reign of Christ? .... If, not why will Satan have to decieve the nations (Rev 20:4) ... since they are not Christians? I contend that those that reign with Christ are those who had "not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand" ... the second resurrection is for the other believers. The 144,000 who were sealed (Rev 7:4-8) came out of the great tribulation (vs 14). There is a play on words, since this is after the sixth seal (Rev 6). Searcher |
Bible Answer: Hi CDBJ, The word "Rapture" does not accur in the inspired Scriptures. But I know you are refering to 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where it states; Afterward we the living who are surviving will, together with them, be caught away in clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Verse 15 says, these are the faithful ones "who are left until the coming of the Lord," [they are still living at the time of Christ's coming]. They will instantly be "caught up," in the twinkling of an eye, to be with the Lord. (1 Cor. 15:51,52) The Oxford Bible Commentary says, "Here we have a futurist myth derived partly from Israelite tradition but given a new slant in the context of the belief in Christ's death and resurrection which saw him exalted to the right hand of God (Acts 2:33; Rom 8:34). The myth deals with Christ's descent (based on his preceding ascent to God) which presupposes a first-century cosmology in which heaven is located above the earth. The cry of command is probably to be taken as uttered by Jesus and as addressed to the dead that they should rise. A trumpet also appears in connection with resurrection and the end time at 1 Cor 15:52 (also see Isa 27:13; Zeph 1:14-16). While most myths relate to past events, helping a particular group to gain access to its formative, primordial past, a myth of the future such as this is rather different. It serves to stress the goal rather than the basis of a social order and thus has a presciptive rather than a proscriptive function. Paul's Thessalonian converts would have been reassured by the details of this narrative that another order of reality existed, and that the difficult events of their present and recent past were occurring within a context controlled by heavenly forces who would ultimately restore their fortunes beyond their wildest dreams. Yet although the creation of hope in a future vindication forms part of such mythopoiesis, it is not the end of the story. For a futurist myth such as this also creates an imaginary experience in the present of that which is to come, and thus reinforces the social identity of its addressees at a time when they are exposed to external threat. |