Thoughts on the Rapture

I have been reading the passages about the Rapture again, and after reading the article about "The Gospel in Genesis", I was again impressed as to how important it is to look at every single word when we are studying Scripture, and even its position in the sentence. Of course we also need to look carefully at the context, who is speaking, and to whom.

I have long been taught that the Rapture will be invisible to all except those "caught up" - I even remember a song by Larry Norman in the late 60's-early 70's that tells how one is left in the field the other taken.

I went back to study these passages in Matthew 24, 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4.

I have two observations - feel free to take this or not - about the Rapture.

1) Dead people need to be resurrected! That includes those who have died "in Christ". Therefore, we must conclude that the saints who have gone on before (who 'sleep' = dead) do not have bodies yet, just their spirit and soul - their earthly bodies are destroyed in order to become a seed that can be resurrected (Paul explains this in 1 Cor 15:35-44) . They are waiting in Heaven for the Rapture.

In 1 Thess 4:14 it says Jesus will return to the Earth to collect His Bride, the Church. When He returns He comes with all those who have previously died and gone to Heaven - i.e. their spirits and souls come back with Him. In v15 it says the "dead in Christ" will go first - i.e. the spiritual beings in the air with Jesus will get their resurrected glorious bodies BEFORE we get ours. Then we will be caught up to meet them in the air in the clouds.. "then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." [NKJV]

I think that this literally means the Earth's atmosphere and clouds. This is different, I believe, from the reference to clouds in Matt 24:40-41. In this passage Jesus is addressing His words to the Jews. The reference in Matthew 24:40-41 does not, IMO, refer to the Rapture, since the people it's talking about are the Jews/Israel. Just previously, in Matthew 24, so I think it is referring to the same event, Jesus likens the time of the end to that of Noah.

[Sidebar] Checking back in Genesis 7, God placed Noah in the Ark 7 days BEFORE the rains started. Is this a possible reference to the 7 years of Tribulation predicted in Daniel (using the same symbolism used in Daniel to equate 1 day to 1 year)? I think this confirms that we (the Church) get to be "caught up" just before this 7 year Tribulation period starts.

However, (back to Matt 24) Jesus does say that his listeners (the Jews) would see the Son of Man appear (a very specific reference to the Jewish Messiah) coming on the clouds (Dan 7:13, Rev 1:7), and at that time all the nations will see Him and will mourn.

2) Back to 1 Thess 4.. "then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up". Notice there is no reference to a resurrection, only to being "caught up" - which is where we get the English word 'rapture' from.

Lets turn to 1 Cor 15. Here Paul is addressing what happens when a believer dies. He is very clear that we will get a spiritual body at the resurrection (if we have died before the Rapture), and not before. Then we get to v51. Paul emphatically states that not everyone will die a physical death, but some of us (those "who are alive and remain") will be changed - "but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" [NKJV]

I respectfully suggest that, contrary to what we all seem to have been taught (boy, am I walking a tightrope here), the sequence of events goes like this: it would seem that the Lord first gives a shout to raise the dead (c.f. John 11:43-44, Matt 27:50-53), then the trumpet sounds - which I guess we will all hear (resurrected and still alive believers), we are all changed in the twinkling of an eye (i.e. instantaneously) into our new glorious bodies, then the previously dead, now resurrected, believers are reunited with their bodies "in the air" - remember, only their spirits and souls are in the air with Jesus until this resurrection, whilst we follow later.

Notice there is no indication of a timeline: it does NOT say we will get caught up to be with those in the air immediately we have been changed - it does imply some timeline, since the dead go BEFORE those of us still alive - how much before is not defined.

Now, imagine...

Jesus returns "in the air" with the spirits and souls of millions of the believers who have already died (as promised in Acts 1:9-11). These then get their new glorious, resurrected, bodies - which are made of light - at least they will be blinding to the human eye (see account of Jesus transfiguration, with Moses and Elijah). AFTER this happens, we get our new bodies whilst we are still here on earth. The trumpet sound is to call us all to worship the Lord, and for the hosts of heaven (the angels) to go to war with the demonic forces in the atmosphere and on the earth, to make way for us who are still on the Earth to meet with the Lord in the air.

I think that when all this happens, 1) everybody on the Earth is going to see the saints of the Most High in the skies, and will see us here on Earth in our glorified (light) bodies for a period before we go up in the air. I personally think that this event will more frightening, yet less catastrophic to the world than is portrayed, for example, in the Left Behind series - where the believers instantly disappear. Maybe this time, whilst we are still here, could be a time of great miracles and witnessing to those about to be left behind, because we will truly be immortal, Spirit empowered supernatural beings at this point - that's just my sudden thought as I write this.

I believe it is this event that will cause the Jews to turn en masse to following Jesus, (see Romans 10:19, 11:11 - as they will be made jealous by having seen their Messiah and the Rapture take place) - but at this point they, along with every one else will get left behind, as we all go up to Heaven until Jesus comes back, on his horse (Rev 19:11-16) with the clouds of Heaven (see comments above). I think that these 'clouds of Heaven' are in fact the "armies of Heaven" - angels, not the believers, to do battle with the demonic forces on the earth and capture/eliminate them - make them of no effect before Jesus lands on the finally Mount of Olives.

This will also be the time when the 144,000 evangelists are anointed to preach the Gospel to all the world - thus fulfilling the original mandate God gave the Jews from the beginning, and fulfilling Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24:14.

Anyway, thank you for putting up with my ramblings if you got this far.

John