I understand and appreciate that many of us differ on our understanding of the rapture. I posted this as a discussion question on my facebook page and received some great comments showing that this matter is important to many of us.
Before I share my thoughts I’d like to mention a few quick things.
1. My use of the phrase “Twisted Scripture” is not meant to imply that anyone is purposefully twisting scripture to make it say what they want. Typically, if a passage of scripture has become twisted it’s because of our well-intentioned misinterpretation of that passage. The phrase is not malicious.
2. I attempt to hold everything outside of what C.S. Lewis refers to as “Mere Christianity” with an open hand. This allows me to remain open to the possibility that I am wrong and allows God to continue to pour revelation in. The point is that no matter what my understanding of the rapture is today, I’m open to it being different tomorrow. I don’t need to be right about this.
One of the most difficult things to discern in scripture is when the author is being literal and when the author is being figurative. This problem comes when trying to learn any foreign language let alone Greek or Hebrew. So one way to help is by looking for clues throughout the biblical narrative.
It is my understanding that the modern doctrine of the rapture (first appearing in the early 19th century) comes from misunderstanding several passages. I’ll list a few of those passages and give my thoughts as to why they seem weak in support of the rapture. I will be brief but this post will be a bit longer than my usual. Thanks for sticking with me!
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a loud cry of summons, with the shout of an archangel, and with the blast of the trumpet of God. And those who have departed this life in Christ will rise first 17 Then we, the living ones who remain [on the earth], shall simultaneously be caught up along with [the resurrected dead] in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so always (through the eternity of the eternities) we shall be with the Lord!
We will certainly be with the Lord for all eternity but Paul uses figurative language here that the Jewish audience would have understood. The trumpet is used to announce the coming of the King. We find this throughout scripture. It announces the Lord’s presence coming to earth and, in turn, redemption for those who love Him and judgment for those who don’t.
The image of Jesus coming on the clouds is imagery used also in Psalms 18. Taken literally it doesn’t seem to make sense. In the example of Psalms 18, is the Lord standing on the clouds or are they a canopy around Him? Is He riding a cherub or the wings of the wind? This imagery is meant as a figurative representation of God coming in glory and power to redeem and judge.
The phrase “caught up” means to be seized or claimed or even snatched. We are caught up or claimed as His own! From what I understand the word simply cannot mean, “fly away”.
The Jews would have understood that the “air” Paul says we will meet the Lord in, refers to a domain of authority. We see this also when Paul tells us that Satan is the Prince of the power of the air in Ephesians 2.
Luke 17:34-37 Amplified
34 I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other will be left.35 There will be two women grinding together; one will be taken and the other will be left.36 [f]Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other will be left.37 Then they asked Him, Where, Lord? He said to them, Wherever the dead body is, there will the vultures or eagles be gathered together.
This thread is also recorded in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. In 66 AD Rome decided to deal with the Jewish insurrectionists that were popping up all over the place. They did this by raiding homes and gathering people for crucifixion. It didn’t matter if they were guilty or not. There are records of thousands being crucified in order to make a point…to flex a muscle. In this tragedy the words of Jesus were fulfilled. Soldiers would come and snatch people from the fields and out of their homes.
Furthermore, when the disciples asked Jesus where the one taken were going in verse 17, Jesus tells them that where the vultures were gathered they would find the bodies. The ones taken don’t seem to be the lucky ones. After the mass crucifixions the Romans would pour the bodies into mass graves and the only way for the Jews to find their loved ones for proper burial was to follow the vultures.
It’s my understanding that the entire context of these passages refers to the eventual destruction of the Jewish faith as they knew it in 70 AD. In this passage we find figurative imagery of Jesus coming in the clouds and other hyperbolic language used throughout scripture signifying coming judgment.
John 14:2-3
2 In My Father’s house there are many dwelling places (homes). If it were not so, I would have told you; for I am going away to prepare a place for you.3 And when (if) I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.
Jesus also referred to the temple as His Father’s house (Matthew 21, John 2). He also referred to the temple as being Himself (John 2). For me it’s more reasonable to interpret the house of God in a broader term rather than a specific location. There seems to be sufficient evidence to suggest that Jesus was referring to Himself when he mentioned His Father’s house. We are the dwelling places (John 15). He goes to prepare a place for us through His death and resurrection. Through the cross we will be with Him for all eternity.
1 Cor. 15:52
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the [sound of the] last trumpet call. For a trumpet will sound, and the dead [in Christ] will be raised imperishable (free and immune from decay), and we shall be changed (transformed).
We know that when Jesus returns we will see Him as He is and we will be like Him, adorned in jewels and radiant, much more so than we can be here in the present (1 John 3, Rev. 21). I think this passage confirms that fact. It’s tough to pick out anything about a rapture event from this passage.
Thanks for sticking with me through this and giving me a chance to share my thoughts. I appreciate your feedback, comments and responses. For a more in depth look at some of these things please check out Greg Boyd's message here. It’s worth your time even if you don’t agree. It’s an easy listen.
Blessings,
Jesse and Kara Birkey
http://www.facebook.com/jesse.birkey
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Jesse and Kara Birkey are committed lovers of Jesus who seek to show others the extraordinary life of Jesus is available for everyone. They have authored two books, been featured in films and seek to serve the Lord in whatever ways they can. Follow their blog here.
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Life Resurrected, Extraordinary Miracles through Ordinary People has been endorsed by Sid Roth and Mark Virkler and is a collection of inspiring stories making it clear that the extraordinary life of Jesus is available to all who love Him. It’s also the testimony of Jesse’s life, the road he travelled bringing him into the arms of Jesus. Get the paperback here. Get the Kindle Version Here. View the trailer here.
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Rapture - what else?
by Anonymous
[Hi, CWG. Found what's below while I was webbing away. Enjoy.]
The Pretrib Rapture Jackpot!
by Bruce Rockwell
Attention, writers. You can make millions by promoting the pretrib rapture!
As you know, pretrib began in Scotland in 1830. Early developers including Edward Irving and John Darby admitted it was then a totally new view that had never been part of any theology or organized church.
They also admitted that it had suddenly sprung from only OT and NT "types" and "symbols" and not from any clear Bible statement! (Part of their "cut and paste" included stretching forward "gather" (Matt. 24:31) on their "charts" and turning it into a pretrib coming!)
As late as 1957, pretrib expert John Walvoord admitted in "The Rapture Question" (p. 148) that "pretribulationism" is NOT "an explicit teaching of Scripture"!
Since the early 1900s pretrib has been sold by novelists like Sydney Watson (in 1913) and by Salem Kirban whose "Left Behind"-type novel "666" came out in 1970 - the same year Hal Lindsey's "The Late Great Planet Earth" started breaking sales records.
The very first pretrib rapture novel titled "Left Behind" came from the joint pens of Peter and Patti Lalonde in mid-1995 before Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins somehow came up with the very same title: "Left Behind"!
The pretrib rapture view, which admittedly is only an "inference" and not "explicit," rests basically on verses in John 14, I Thess. 4, and I Cor. 15, none of which have either a "taken/left" separation or exciting, nail-biting scenarios that can "sell" pretrib.
You have to go to Revelation's action-packed chapters instead. When you do, you discover they can be tied to end time details found basically in the Olivet Discourse.
As you know, pretribs believe in two stages; Stage 1 is the pretrib rapture which supposedly occurs several years before Stage 2 which is the posttrib second coming to earth.
Since the three "rapture" chapters listed above don't have any clear rapture-type separation between the "righteous" and the "wicked," your best launching pad if you want to be a bestselling author is "the one shall be taken, and the other left" phrase in Matt. 24:40, 41 and Luke 17:34-36.
Trouble is, Dr. Walvoord and many other pretrib leaders declare that the "one taken" refers to the "wicked" taken in judgment while the "righteous" are left! But since average pew-sitters don't seem to know this, you can easily convince them that the "one taken" is a sort of code for an any-moment pretrib rapture!
And the pew-sitters don't know that Walvoord etc. also teach that the same phrase is part of "non-imminent" Stage 2 which is posttrib (and not pretrib) and is on "Jewish" (and not "Church") ground!
In order to preserve Stage 1 (the long-stretched-forward pretrib rapture), pretrib merchandisers in recent decades have been stretching forward various aspects found in Stage 2 and quietly applying them to Stage 1. Aspects include "the day of the Lord," "God's wrath," "the taken/left phrase," "the unknown day and hour," and Christ's coming "as a thief" (which in the Bible is always tied to Armageddon and other posttrib events).
(For more on the above, Google "The Correct Answer to Who's Taken" etc. on Joe Ortiz's blog of Apr. 12, 2010. Sure, there's disagreement on who's "taken" first, but pretrib pew-sitters forget or don't know that THE TAKEN/LEFT PHRASE IS FOUND IN ONLY A POSTTRIB SETTING IN THE BIBLE!!)
Yes, I've told you how you can turn yourself into a bestselling, wealthy author.
But unfortunately you have some competition because LaHaye and Jenkins have long been aware of the above facts. And for years they've been milking their 19th century cash cow (which hasn't dried up yet) to shatter all-time sales records and make millions of pretrib dollars that are destined to be left behind!
For more on LaHaye etc. Google "The 'Left Behind' Rupture," "LaHaye's Temperament," "Jerry Jenkins Apologizes for Being Seen Gambling in Casinos," "Pretrib Rapture Diehards," "Thomas Ice (Bloopers)," "Pretrib Rapture Pride," "Walvoord Melts Ice," "Famous Rapture Watchers," "Margaret Macdonald's Rapture Chart," "Pretrib Rapture's Missing Lines," "Roots of Warlike Christian Zionism," "Evangelicals Use Occult Deception," "Pretrib Rapture Secrecy," "Letter from Mrs. Billy Graham," "Pretrib Rapture: A Staged Event," "Pretrib Rapture Stealth," "Pretrib Hypocrisy," and "Pretrib Rapture Dishonesty." (Most of these are by the author of "The Rapture Plot," the most accurate and documented book on pretrib rapture history, obtainable by calling 800.643.4645.) BTW, for a unique Obama-inspired article, Google "The Background Obama Can't Cover Up."
In closing let me say that Jeremiah 17:11 warns that "he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool."
And you can bet on this!
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