Once more with feeling - the rapture.

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One of the most highly debated topics in Christianity is the timing of the rapture. Before, in the middle or after?
But no matter when you think it will be, there is no denying it will happen.

1Thes 4:16; For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.
1Thes 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.

The term “rapture” is derived from the Latin word “rapturo,” which translates the Greek word “harpazo,” meaning “to snatch” or “to seize.” This concept is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which describes believers being “caught up” to meet the Lord in the air12. The idea is that Christians will be taken up from the earth to be with Jesus, often associated with the end times.

This is the only verse in the Bible with this word. However there are other verses with similar wording.

Matt 24:30; "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
Matt 24:31; "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Mark 13:26; "Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.
Mark 13:27; "And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

Whether Matt 24:31 and Mark 13:27; are the same event and timing as 1Thes 4:17; continues to be debated to this day.
But no matter when these things happen... they will happen at some point. Some people believe these are two separate events, other's believe
it is the same event. Another example of someone being "raptured" would be Jesus.

Acts 1:9; And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
Acts 1:10; And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
Acts 1:11; They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

Matt and Mark mention angels gathering up people, but 1Thes 4 and Acts 1 do not mention any angels.
Interestingly enough, Lazarus was taken by angels when he died.
Luke 16:22; "Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.
1Thes 4:16 and Matt 24:31 both mention a trumpet sounding, is this the same trumpet, or two different trumpets sounding at different times?

The Greek word for “gather together” in Matthew 24:31 and Mark 13:27; is ἐπισυνάξουσιν (episynaxousin). This verb comes from the root ἐπισυνάγω (episynagó), which means “to gather together” or "to assemble".

... to be continued.

 

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Is there a difference between the rapture and the resurrection. Obviously the definition of the words are different, but what I mean is, are they the same event?

Rev 20:4; Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
Rev 20:5; The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection.

Here is the problem, if the church saints were already raptured before this time, then they weren't "resurrected" at that time.
Why? Because now that the tribulation is over, and the millennial reign is beginning, "this is the first resurrection".
Meaning no mass resurrection of the church saints could have happened before this time.

Another timing question comes from...

2Thes 2:1; Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2Thes 2:2; that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
2Thes 2:3; Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
2Thes 2:4; who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Once again we see the term "gathering together to Him". But this passage says... Let no one deceive you".
It will not happen unless the apostasy comes first ( this could be happening right now ).
Also, it will not happen until "the man of lawlessness is revealed" The beast has to take his place in the temple (which isn't built yet )
Before Jesus comes back and gathers the saint together with Him.

.. to be continued.

 

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If the timing of the events on Rev 20 and 2Thes 2 above are correct ( I assume they are ). Then Matt 24 makes a lot more sense.

Matt 24:29; "But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
Matt 24:30; "And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power and great glory.
Matt 24:31; "And He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Jesus doesn't send His angels to gather up the elect until "after the tribulation". This seems to agree with Rev 20:4-5 and 2Thes 2:1-4;
Mark says the same thing.

Mark 13:24; "But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,
Mark 13:25; AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken.
Mark 13:26; "Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.
Mark 13:27; "And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

Note that in all of these verses only the "elect" are gathered up.

... to be continued.

 

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Matt 24:36; "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
Matt 24:37; "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
Matt 24:38; "For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
Matt 24:39; and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Matt 24:40; "Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will be left.
Matt 24:41; "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
Matt 24:42; "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
Matt 24:43; "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
Matt 24:44; "For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
Matt 24:45; "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?
Matt 24:46; "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.
Matt 24:47; "Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
Matt 24:48; ''But if that evil slave says in his heart, 'My master is not coming for a long time,'
Matt 24:49; and begins to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;
Matt 24:50; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,
Matt 24:51; and will cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Jesus said 2,000 years ago, that He didn't know when this would happen. Does He know now? I don't know.
But He knew the signs of the events happening just before this time. My guess is, He sees those things now.

We all know the "left behind" verses about there being two people, one is taken, and the other is left.
There are about a dozen other verses in the New Testament that say things like "be ready", "be alert", "be sober", basically
be watching out for when Jesus returns. One particularly noticeable passage of warning is in Matt 24:48-51; above.

There will be Christians who think Jesus isn't coming for a long time. So they will think they can get away with going
back to being evil for a while. Jesus says those people will be assigned a place with the hypocrites, in an unpleasant place.

A common argument is, people will know when the tribulation starts, and then all you have to do is add seven years and
then you'll know when Jesus is coming back. But what if, we are already in the tribulation, what if it started 3, 6 or 12 months ago.
How do you know when Jesus is coming back?

 

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Luke 17:24; "For just like the lightning, when it flashes out of one part of the sky, shines to the other part of the sky, so will the Son of Man be in His day.

1Cor 15:51; Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
1Cor 15:52; in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Another timing problem for some here. The saints don't get "changed" until the "last" trumpet. If there is another trumpet event before this,
they won't be "changed" yet.

Rev 1:7; BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.