Will there be a “rapture” – a snatching away of the saints before, what the
Bible calls an end-time ‘tribulation’ - what His living word says is going to
befall all mankind!?
by Leonard V Johnson
Back in 2014, I came across a movie
on television entitled “Left Behind”
starring Nicholas Cage, which was
based on a novel by the same
name. It’s a movie concerning what
many claim is the biblical
“rapture.” I guess the movie was
meant to get people to think –
when they watch these types of
movies, because there has been an
innumerable amount of them,
including a 1989 movie titled
“Millennium”
with
Kris Kristofferson.
Saying to
themselves, “What if I am left
behind? I don’t want to be left
behind!” And, of course, this is the
subliminal message – isn’t it? And,
certainly, the large billboards on
the sides of our highways and
byways, which said such things as
“The Rapture – May 21, 2011,” were
in the hopes of scaring people
enough to join their organization
before May 21st, 2011! So that they
can ensure that they’re not left
behind. And, of course, even here in Florida, I have seen the bumper
stickers which read “In case of
rapture, this car will be unmanned!”
I guess if you’re sitting at a red light
and you look over at an empty car
beside you, you’ll know that the
rapture has taken place.
Now all of this assumes that
there is going to be a moment of
mass disappearance that will occur,
and it will leave a multitude of
these doomed people here on the
earth while the earth collapses, the
chaos, and utter destruction – of
course, as a result of the wrath of
God upon all of the wicked people
which will be left.
What does God’s living word say
about this time frame?
First, the very word “rapture” is
not a biblical word – it’s not found
anywhere in the Bible. The
adherence to the idea has ceased
upon a couple of Greek words, which I would like to look at today
to describe the second coming of
Jesus Christ. Looking at their use of these Greek words, they’ve
somehow concluded that the
second coming of Christ is broken
up into several stages. And, they
teach – that He is first coming for
the Church, a “secret rapture” –
skipping
by
the
earth and
snatching away the saints and
carrying them up to heaven, then
second “the great tribulation” will
befall all of those remaining on the
earth, the chaos, the hurricanes,
volcanoes, nuclear war, tsunamis,
and ultimate extermination. And
then, finally, He is coming with the
Church – and I reckon that would
be considered a ‘third’ coming of
Jesus Christ. But they don’t use
that term – they just teach that His
second coming is broken up into
two phases.
There is also a wide array of explanations for the amount of time
between those two events. Some
say that it is 3 ½ years, and some
say that the saints are going to be
up in heaven for 7 years, and some
say that the saints are going to be
up in heaven for 1000 years. And,
I’ve looked at all kinds of different
charts as the debate continues.
Three Greek Words
As I say – and that I go over in
the sermonette “Is There A ‘Secret Rapture’?” – they cease upon a couple of Greek words which they
will purport to explain this idea of
the “rapture.”
One is parousia. It’s a Greek
word that means “coming.” And, three Greek words describe three of the basic words
that describe the coming of Jesus
Christ. Another is epiphaneia,
which is used six times in the New
Testament. And it describes His
appearing, which is actually
translated as “appearing” in the New
Testament. And the last is
apokálypsis,
which you’ll
recognize from the Book of
Revelation, which means
apocalypse – or a revealing, an
unveiling – which is the very name
of the Book of Revelation. And the
very first verse says, “The
Revelation
of
Jesus Christ.”
Meaning it’s an unveiling of those
things which are going to take
place.
Now, the word parousia by itself
is not specific to just the second
coming of Jesus Christ. In other
words, it’s used in various different
places. The apostle Paul uses this
word in 2 Corinthians 7:6, meaning
“presence.” Now, there is another
passage where it does mention the
coming of Jesus Christ – and let’s
turn to 2nd Thessalonians, the 2nd
chapter – it’s very interesting that
the word parousia is used both in connection with the second coming
of Jesus Christ but also with the
coming of ‘the man of sin.’ So, there
isn’t anything “holy” or significant
about the word parousia.
Verse 8 – “And then the lawless
one [the ‘man of sin’] will be
revealed, whom the Lord will
consume with the breath of His
mouth and destroy with the
brightness of His coming.” –
talking about the coming of Jesus
Christ. That word is parousia.
But look at the next verse –
Verse
9 – “The coming
[parousia] of the lawless one is
according to the working of Satan,
with all power, signs, and lying
wonders.” – talking about the ‘man
of sin’ that God is going to destroy
at His coming.
Again, as I said earlier, the
word “rapture” is found nowhere in
God’s living word. It comes from a
Latin word, raptus, meaning a
state or experience of being carried
away by overwhelming emotion. 1
Being kidnapped – if you want to
be basic about it. This is where the
term “catching up” or “snatching
away” originates. And it’s because
many use this to explain the
following
Scripture – 1st
Thessalonians, the 4th chapter. As
does Wikipedia.
Now, if you look up anything
about the rapture, they’re going to take you to this Scripture here.
Verse 17 – where this idea of the
rapture originated. “Then we who
are alive and remain shall be
caught up together …” – and there’s
that word there, harpazó. And it
means to seize, catch up, snatch
away; to take by an open display of
force. So, the idea originated with
this word here concerning the
rapture. Now, this concept of the
rapture didn’t really take hold until
about the 17th century. It didn’t
begin to be formulated as a
doctrine until the 18th and up into
the 19th century. And in the 20th
century, the doctrine became
extremely popular within books
like The Late Great Planet Earth
and, of course, the Left Behind series. The assumption
being that there are going to be millions of people left
behind, but we good Christians are
going to be whisked away to heaven, looking down upon the earth and
watching all of these cataclysmic
events take place upon the earth.
And all of these movies, stories,
books, and novels are written from that
perspective.
In a Prophetic Order
What does the living word of God – the Holy Bible – say about
this period?
If the word “rapture” is found
nowhere in the Bible, will there
actually be a rapture of the saints?
Or will the saints be somewhere
else? I believe much of the
confusion stems from the
misunderstanding
of
points.
- The order of events that is spelled out by Jesus Christ that are going to take place at the time of this end-time trauma.
- The timing of the second coming of Jesus Christ – which many confuse and say that He is coming BEFORE the end-time trauma, what Jesus Christ calls ‘great tribulation, such has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be’ – Matthew 24:21 NKJV. And this is why they have this idea of escapism – of being away from the earth while all these chaotic and terrible things occur upon the earth.
- Where the saints are at that specific time.
But, let’s go down to verse 29 –
He says, “’ Immediately after the
tribulation of those days the sun
will be darkened and the moon will
not give its light; …’” – certainly an
indication that the atmosphere will
be thick with volcanic ash towers or
even radioactive dust and ash! “ … ‘the stars will fall from heaven, and
the powers of the heavens will be
shaken.’” - Satan and his demons
will
be
expunged from the
atmosphere of the earth.
Remember one time Jesus said, “’ I
saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven.’”? There will be a great
spiritual war, we’re told in the Book
of Revelation – Michael, the great
archangel,
and all of his
subordinate angels will directly
engage in spiritual warfare with
Satan and his demons. And
Michael and all the holy angels will
be victorious! And Satan will be
vanquished to the earth. And I
think that’s what this passage here
is talking about.
The prophet Isaiah – under the
divine inspiration of God’s Spirit –
wrote of this very time frame – “All
the host of heaven shall be
dissolved [Satan and his demons
thrown from the atmosphere], And
the heavens shall be rolled up like a
scroll …” – the earth will be covered
in a large amount of pollution from
the earthquakes, the volcanoes, the
fires. One time I watched a
time-lapse film. And it was a
camera set up in one of the hills
overlooking Los Angeles, and the
ocean breeze came in and the smog
cloud was being rolled up – and it
looked just like you were taking a
giant carpet and rolling it up as the wind blew in from the ocean it just
pushed the smog out of the area.
And then He says – Verse 30 – “’
Then the sign of the Son of Man will
appear in heaven, and then all the
tribes of the earth will mourn, and
they will see the Son of Man coming
on the clouds of heaven with power
and great glory.’” –
But I have to take a pause here.
It is so very satisfying and
humbling to me that when I read
God’s living word, understanding
the truth of God, I don’t have to sit
here wrestling with God’s word.
The other day, I had said that the
subject of the “rapture” had come
up – I was asked, “Why don’t you
believe in the rapture?” And
though I was asked while having a family & friends get-together at
the pool and the question came out
of left field – cf. 1st Peter 3:15 – I
didn’t have to struggle with the
question, because I know what God
says, or rather doesn’t say,
concerning the “rapture.” I began
to slowly explain some things about
what God’s living word actually
says, but was stopped by my wife,
“No one came here to talk about
God!” So, I had told her that I could
go over some Scriptures which
could help her out at a later time.
God’s living word fits perfectly and
always fits in place. And, when I
read and study these Scriptures here, God is saying there will be a
great time of end-time ‘tribulation’ – and immediately after that, ‘the
sign’ of Jesus Christ coming will
appear in outer space. And I
describe it this way - when the
throne of God, when New
Jerusalem, begins to return to this
earth, at some point, it will be a
little small light in the night sky.
And the next night it will be a little
brighter – like the star Sirius. And
then, it becomes more and more
obvious – and people will look up
and go, “What is that!?” Now, most
of the people of the world will think
it is – and they really will – an
invading alien force. The
United States of America,
especially since mid-1947, has
been fascinated with space aliens
and extraterrestrials. In fact, in
the Book of Revelation, John wrote – “the kings of the earth, the great
men, the rich men, the
commanders, the mighty men,
every [bond] man and every free
man, hid themselves in the caves
and in the rocks of the mountains,
[think of such places as the
Cheyenne Mountain Complex],
and said to the mountains and
rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from
the face of Him who sits on the
throne and from the wrath of the
Lamb!’” – Revelation 6:15-16. And
it’s very easy for me to understand.
In Joel, the 2nd chapter, verse
31, God says this very thing – “’ And
I will show wonders in the heavens
and in the earth: Blood and fire and
pillars of smoke. 31) The sun shall
be turned into darkness, And the
moon into blood, Before the
coming of the great and awesome
day of the LORD’” – speaking here
of the Day of the LORD which
comes afterward. The SEVEN
LAST PLAGUES
ARE
EQUIVALENT TO THE DAY OF
THE LORD.
Verse 31 – “’ And He [Jesus
Christ] will send His angels with a
great sound of a trumpet, and they
will gather together His elect from
the four winds, from one end of
heaven [the atmosphere] to the
other.’”
Verse 36 – “’ But of that day and
hour no one knows, not even the
angels of heaven, but My Father
only.’” – and as I have said, surely
by now Jesus Christ knows when
He’s coming back. Now, around the
world, there are the Nostradamuses
and those who preach blood moons
and the prognosticators and
various date setters that I have
come across! Every year we hear
these soothsayers, “Jesus is
coming!” and they’ll give you a
date! Surely they’ll be more next
year, with their Hebrew calendars,
charts, and figures!
Verse 37 – “’ But as the days of
Noah were, so also will the coming
of the Son of Man be.’” – So here
Jesus Christ reaches back to
approximately the year 2345 BC, and even before the Flood, to a man
called Noah, and gives us this
example.
Verse 38 – “’ For as in the days
before the flood, they were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage, until the day that
Noah entered the ark, 39) and did
not know until the flood came and
took them all away, so also will the
coming of the Son of Man be.’”
So, when did Noah know when
to go into the ark? Well, indeed,
God had commanded Noah, “’ The
end of all flesh has come before Me,
for the earth is filled with violence
through them; and behold, I will
destroy them with the earth. …
Come into the ark, you and all your
household, because I have seen
that you are righteous before Me in
this generation.’” – Genesis 6:13;
7:1
NKJV. Noah had been
preparing for 120 years to build this giant ark! Noah had been
preaching for 120 years, and those
who were there heard his
message – some listened, some
were curious, and others got tired
of hearing the message – and over
time, his message became rather
commonplace. And they began to ignore him and his message. But
there was a point in time, right
before the destruction of the earth
by water, that Noah knew – it’s time
to go into the ark. God told him,
“Come into the ark.” And then
seven days later, God caused “it to
rain on the earth forty days and
forty nights.”
And Jesus continued – verse 40 – “’ Then two men will be in the
field: one will be taken and the
other left.’” – When the SEVEN
LAST PLAGUES BEGIN, THE
RESURRECTION
OF THE
SAINTS
HAS
ALREADY
OCCURRED! The saints are
protected! Because they’re not
flesh and blood anymore. Their
eternal spirit beings – born
members of the Family of GOD.
The FIRST SIX of the SEVEN
TRUMPETS are a progression of
the end-time trauma – the end-time
‘tribulation.’
And
the
SEVENTH TRUMP of the seven
trumps is indeed directly related to
the concept of the resurrection of
the saints. The blowing of the
SEVENTH TRUMP! And following
that, in the Book of Revelation –
Chapters 15 & 16 – you read about
the SEVEN LAST PLAGUES.
So, here the resurrected saints
have already ascended into the
clouds to be with Jesus Christ, and
what would be considered “low earth orbit” with the future New
Jerusalem waiting to come down to
the EARTH.
Verse 42 – “’ Watch therefore,
for you do not know what hour your
Lord is coming.’”
Turn with me now, if you will, to
the Book of Acts, the 14th chapter.
And I ask – did God promise
Christians that there would not be
tribulation, as in the FIRST SIX of
the SEVEN TRUMPETS? That we
wouldn’t have any trouble? Or, is it – when
you set your heart on obeying
Almighty God, following the
example Jesus set, it becomes
rather difficult –
Verse 22 – “strengthening the
souls of the disciples, exhorting
them to continue in the faith, and
saying, ‘We must through many
tribulations enter the kingdom of
God.’” – we will need to endure and
keep the faith as God’s begotten
children as we go through the
FIRST SIX TRUMPET BLASTS –
cf. Revelation 8:7-12; 9:1-11, 13-19.
But then the SEVENTH TRUMPET
BLAST will be blown, and the dead
in Christ will rise first. Then we
who are alive and remain shall be
caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the
air. – cf. 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1
Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 10:7; Revelation 11:15. So, here the Apostle Paul is saying that it will be
through ‘many tribulations’ – and
all of us can attest to this. Once you
set your heart on obeying Almighty
God’s Law, like keeping the
seventh-day Sabbath, it becomes ever more difficult to swim
upstream against this world.
So, we just read in Matthew,
chapter 24, where Jesus spoke of –
- The end-time trauma. What Jesus calls an end-time ‘tribulation.’ – v. 21.
- Then, because of the tremendous ash and smoke in our atmosphere, the sun and the moon will be darkened, the “stars” will fall from heaven (Satan and his demons will be thrown to the earth) – v. 29.
- Then the sign of the Son of Man appearing in heaven [which in this case is outer space] – v. 30. He’s not going to be a “near miss.” This is not going to be a “secret rapture,” skipping off the atmosphere, grab the saints, and then leave in “secret.” Indeed, Jesus says, “’ For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.’” And as I wrote earlier, when the throne of God, when New Jerusalem, begins to return to this earth, at some point it will be a little small light in the night sky. And then the next night, a little closer and brighter. And as the Book of Revelation says, “every eye will see Him. … And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him” – Revelation 1:7 NKJV.
The Seven Seals (Revelation 6:1-17; 8:1-5) are roughly equivalent
to the EARLY part of what Jesus
calls an end-time ‘tribulation’
(Matthew 24:21), of which the Prophet Ezekiel refers to as
“Jacob’s trouble.” God’s holy
angels begin to sound their
trumpets, and terrible things begin
to occur! Then the SEVENTH
TRUMPET is BLOWN –
Revelation 10:7 and Revelation
11:15 – that time where the
RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS OCCURS!
Let’s go now to the Book of 1st
Corinthians, the 15th chapter – and
read one verse here. We have a free, no-obligation PDF booklet, The Two Resurrections. Be sure to read this TODAY, and it will ward off any
confusion
you
may have concerning the resurrections. The online
booklet not only covers 1st
Corinthians 15 but also covers the
“Valley of Dry Bones” – the second
resurrection from the dead.
Down in verse 51 – “Behold, I
tell you a mystery: We shall not all
sleep [shall not all die], but we shall
all be changed – 52) in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet [the SEVENTH
TRUMPET BLAST]. For the
trumpet will sound, and the dead
will be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed.”
Now, sadly, just like many
people in Jesus’ day, many people
TODAY don’t believe in the
resurrection of the dead. They tend
to believe that when one dies, they
go up to heaven, called the Third Heaven.
In the Book of 1st Thessalonians,
chapter 4, it says –
Verse 16 – “For the Lord Himself
will descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet
[the
SEVENTH
TRUMPET
BLAST] of God. And the dead in
Christ will rise first.”
So those that are dead in Christ – that have long been dead since
Adam and are still dead; still
unconscious – as King David
wrote, “For in death there is no remembrance of You …” – Psalm
6:5 NKJV. And King Solomon
wrote, “For the living know that
they will die; But the dead know
nothing, And they have no more
reward, For the memory of them is
forgotten” – Ecclesiastes 9:5
NKJV. The prophet Job says, “You
shall call, and I will answer You” –
Job 14:15 NKJV – talking about the
resurrection. Will be resurrected
unto eternal life.
Verse 17 – “Then we [the saints
of the Eternal God] who are alive
and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds
[the atmosphere] to meet the Lord
in the air. And thus we shall aways
be with the Lord.”
Then - the Wedding Supper of
the Lamb. The saints-the resurrected saints–and Jesus
Christ, and God the Father, and the
holy angels are in New Jerusalem –
the throne of GOD – in low earth
orbit. The people who have God’s
Spirit are resurrected, and they
meet Jesus Christ in the
atmosphere. And they wait for a
time, not a real long time; possibly
3½ years (cf. Daniel 9:27; Rev.
12:6) – but they wait for some more
events to take place upon the earth.
And one of those events is called
the seven last plagues.
And then begins the SEVEN
LAST PLAGUES. □
1. Webster M. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated,
rapture, 1996, pp 968.
Additional Items On this Subject:
The Lie of the Rapture by Minister Guy LaMar
Is There A "Secret Rapture"? (Sermonette) by Minister Leonard V Johnson
Are Protestants Wrong About a Pre-Tribulation "Secret Rapture"? by Leonard V Johnson
Personal From... A Coming Invasion! by Leonard V Johnson
Does God Have Your Attention!? by Leonard V Johnson
'If Thou Wilt'? by Leonard V Johnson
Revelation - A Book of the Past and the Future (Part 6) by Leonard V Johnson
August 12, 2020
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