John Tng (4 Apr 2006)
"Pentecost Rapture"

Dear Doves,

I believe there are good reasons for believing in a Pentecost rapture. But there are good reasons for believing in a Rosh Hashanah rapture, too. :) To each his own. The Lord Jesus did not state it clearly in His Word concerning this issue (as with many other issues). We have to search the scriptures diligently, make independent judgement, and in the process the students of the Word learn much.

So does it really matter if the Lord comes on Passover, or Pentecost or Rosh Hashanah or a non-feast day? For that matter, does it really matter if He comes this year, next year or ten years from now? It depends on your perspective. To each his own.

The Lord Jesus planted a HUGE clue in the Gospel written by that disciple whom He loved (John 13:23). The Gospel of John stands apart as a Gospel. No doubt many rapture clues are hidden in there for those who are willing to search and receive. Jesus spoke plainly (John 16:29) in this Gospel. This is proven by the most glaring omission in the book -- hence the most revealing -- parables! Young believers who first started reading the Bible might think parables are a literary device to help readers better understand the truth the Lord was trying to teach. In truth, parables are coded so that only those to whom the mysteries of the kingdom of God are given, are capable of understanding them (Luke 8:10). Because in John's Gospel the Lord "speakest no proverb" (John 16:29) nor riddles, it means that we should be able to glean much more from it than from the three Synoptic Gospels.

Ironically because of His plain speaking in John's Gospel we miss many a truth! It's easy to gloss over a passage or words thinking that we understand because they appear simple and easy to understand. You will discover to your surprise that Jesus hides His secrets in plain sight! Innocuous sounding words penned by John can suddenly take on great prophetic significance never before seen if one is given the key to understanding. There is one such example I shall now quote. What words do you think the Lord would use to describe His coming again for His bride? Think simple and direct and to the point. Neither veiled references nor figures of speech. Within context and no need for interpretation or exegesis. What would these words be?

Read John 14:3, "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

The word 'rapture' is not found in the scripture above. (It is not found anywhere in the Bible.) To the bride, the words in John 14:3 are as clear as sky. Could clearer words be spoken that can match the stark simplicity of this phrase, 'I will come again' as referring to the Lord's coming again? Search the scriptures and you will find one other occurrence of this phrase in the KJV Bible recorded in Gen 50:5, uttered by Joseph to Pharaoh concerning his going back to Egypt after he would bury his father Jacob in the Promised Land. We can ignore the Genesis scripture for obvious reason. No other scriptures are as clear and as direct as John 14:3 concerning His coming for the bride. What is more, it is a red-letter scripture, coming from the mouth of the Lord Himself regarding the rapture itself -- I WILL COME AGAIN!

Hidden in plain sight in John 14:3 is a HUGE clue to the timing of Jesus' coming. The phrase 'unto myself' appears in three scriptures: Ex 19:4, John 14:3 and Acts 20:24. The last scripture may be dropped for consideration since the phrase was used by Paul to refer to himself. The first two scriptures were words spoken by God (Jesus in His preincarnate form) in the Old Testament and Jesus in the New Testament. Thus the phrase 'unto myself' was used by Jesus to refer to Himself in both cases! Jesus repeated the same words He spoke to Moses on PENTECOST (when He brought Israel to Mount Sinai) to His disciples at the Last Supper when He promised to come again to bring them to the Father's house!

In Ex 19:4 we read, "Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself."

The phrase ''and brought you unto myself' of Ex 19:4 is synonymous with 'and receive you unto myself' of John 14:3! The association is uncanny. All the more so because it was the same Jesus who spoke those identical words and they appear no where else in the whole Bible!

Mount Sinai is analogous to Mount Zion (Gal 4:24-26) -- the New Jerusalem. Both the Church (Rev 19:7-8) and the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:9) are described as the bride, the Lamb's wife! With the words in John 14:3, Jesus the Bridegroom is saying to His bride HE WILL COME AGAIN on a future Pentecost to bring her to Mount Zion -- the city for the bride!

The Lord cleverly concealed the timing of His coming for the bride in plain sight, in the identical phrase that He used in Ex 19:4 and John 14:3. Once the key is found, the penny drops.

To confirm further, and to remove all doubts, the Lord provides a few more scriptures to support the context of John 14:3, not that its context is not already clear! Shorten the phrase 'I will come again' to just 'I will come' and the search throws up 13 occurrences in the New Testament. Of these only eight occurrences are red-lettered. The first scripture, Matt 8:7 is irrelevant to our consideration. Besides the one occurrence in John 14:3, the remaining six occurrences speak volumes.


All seven occurrences of the phrase I WILL COME are in the context of Jesus' coming again! Clearly they refer to the rapture -- Jesus coming as a thief (Rev 3:3). Observe that all the six scriptures that contain these seven occurrences are Johannine -- John 14:3, John 14:18, Rev 2:5, Rev 2:16, Rev 3:3 & Rev 3:20. This is hardly surprising given the enigmatic character that is John. It was rumored among the brethren in the early Church that John would not die because Jesus spoke these words to Peter concerning him before ascension, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" (John 21:23) This has even caused some to surmise that John, in his flesh and blood body, has been mingling among men the past 2,000 years waiting for the Master to return, biding his time, anxious to burst upon the apocalyptic scene as one of the two witnesses! Science fiction? The plot has already been used by a few Christian novelists to my knowledge.

As for me, I believe John 21:23 was literally fulfilled when Jesus appeared to John on the Patmos Island. Both John and the words spoken about him by Jesus, "I will that he tarry till I come", as well as their fulfillment in Rev 1, are perfect TYPEs of the rapture -- the ultimate cheating of death! All things considered, John -- that disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who leaned on Jesus' bosom, is the ideal candidate for receiving the rapture secrets. Thus, these Johannine phrases 'I WILL COME' and 'I WILL COME AGAIN' may just be the rapture clues planted by the Lord Himself!

The second reason for believing in a Pentecost rapture is John's enactment of the rapture in Rev 1. Many Bible students have thought that Rev 4:1 points to the rapture when John was told to COME UP HITHER. I believe this is sound reasoning since the only other occurrence of the same phrase in the New Testament also appears in the Book of Revelation, chapter 11 verse 12, where it is applied to the resurrection of the two witnesses! Thus the COME UP HITHER in Rev 4:1 can justifiably be applied to the resurrection/rapture of the church saints.

The context is right and the sequence proper -- Jesus COMETH WITH CLOUDS in Revelation chapter 1 verse 7. Next, in Revelation chapters two and three, the Bema judgment begins at the house of God when the seven churches will be judged by Jesus. It is beyond dispute that the clear intent of these seven letters to the seven churches is one of judgment as the Lord begins each letter with four sombre words -- I KNOW THY WORKS!

Immediately after the Bema judgment the rapture takes place in Rev 4:1. Thus the meeting in the clouds in Revelation chapter one ends in the rapture at the start of Revelation chapter four.

Now, onto John's rapture encounter with the Lord in Revelation chapter one. Let us postpone the Pentecost timing for later and tackle first the rapture context. The key evidence is another Johannine scripture -- 1 John 3:2, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him AS HE IS."

This is quintessential John. The scripture is pregnant with meaning despite its simplicity. The Christ that John saw is reminiscent of the Jesus of the Transfiguration account in the Synoptic Gospels. Only this time the account in Revelation chapter one is so much more graphic (vs 13-16). John was seeing Jesus AS HE IS in all His glory on the Patmos Island! According to 1 John 3:2, we shall be LIKE HIM, i.e. glorified, when we see him AS HE IS, i.e. glorified, when HE SHALL APPEAR!

Follow the logic this way: Jesus APPEARED to John. John saw Jesus AS HE IS. But according to 1 John 3:2, when the preceding conditions are met, John was supposed to be LIKE JESUS, i.e. glorified, raptured!

Was John glorified or raptured? Actually no. But metaphorically yes! John was enacting the rapture as noted earlier. Besides the COME UP HITHER evidence, another proof is just as potent. Two times John said in the Book of Revelation, I WAS IN THE SPIRIT (1:10, 4:2). In both instances John was acting out the rapture! What John said was absolutely unique since it is not recorded anywhere else in the Bible.

The phrase IN THE SPIRIT appears four times in the Book of Revelation. The first two times it appears in the phrase I WAS IN THE SPIRIT just mentioned. The last two times it appears in the phrase HE CARRIED ME AWAY IN THE SPIRIT (17:3, 21:10) -- both referring to John being carried away at a great speed by one of the seven angels with the last plagues. The perceptive ones will immediately recognize the rapture connection. If not, Philip's experience should put to rest any doubts about the rapture association in the phrase I WAS IN THE SPIRIT.

The Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip after he baptized the Ethiopian eunuch when he came up out of the water. Immediately the eunuch SAW HIM NO MORE! (Acts 8:39) When Enoch was RAPTURED, Scripture says HE WAS NOT FOUND (Heb 11:5)! These two examples foreshadow the twinkling-of-an-eye rapture believers will experience in the not-too-distant future.

John is the only privileged one to have witnessed Jesus in His glorified state when Jesus was still alive and after His death and resurrection. Might this hint at the dead in Christ and the believers who are alive and remain at the time of the rapture?

The Pentecost timing hinges on the day that John had his rapture encounter with the Lord. John was IN THE SPIRIT on the Lord's day (Rev 1:10), i.e. Sunday -- the first day of the week -- the same day the Spirit came as a rushing mighty wind (Acts 2:2) on Pentecost!

Isn't it intriguing, John the perfect rapture TYPE, who acted out a Pentecost rapture in more ways than one, no less on the same day of the week the first Pentecost fell, wrote exactly FIFTY chapters of holy scriptures!? Pentecost is from the Greek word, Pentekoste, which means FIFTIETH. One wonders even this small detail is calculated to support a Pentecost rapture acted out by John the perfect rapture TYPE.

To pile intrigue upon intrigue, John saw FIFTY LIGHTS (another hint at Pentecost?) when he turned around to see who was talking to him! He first saw the seven lampstands. Since the lampstands are seven-branched, there are a total of 7x7 lights on the seven lampstands. Then he saw the LIGHT OF THE WORLD (John 8:12), the Lord Jesus, whose "countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength" (Rev 1:16). Jesus is the FIFTIETH LIGHT!

It is important to appreciate that Pentecost is not a totally independent feast. It is the 50th day from the Feast of Firstfruits -- the day Christ rose from the dead. It is the culmination of the Counting of the Omer (something Christians are unfamiliar with, being Jewish in character), which first started on Firstfruits -- the first day of the Counting of the Omer.

The third reason why I believe in a Pentecost rapture is the close link between Firstfruits and Pentecost -- the close link between Christ's resurrection and the rapture of His bride. Christ is the barley firstfruits and His bride wheat firstfruits. Both are presented on Sunday -- the FIRST DAY of the week, being FIRSTfruits.

Both are WAVED before God -- Christ the barley sheaf and His bride the two wheat loaves. The two wave loaves represent the dead in Christ and the believers who are alive and remain. The wave sheaf and wave loaves are unique offerings not found in other feasts. The WAVING action signifies resurrection. This is a very strong evidence that the waving of the two wheat loaves is as yet unfulfilled and points to the resurrection/rapture of the saints on a future Pentecost.

I certainly pray that 2006 is the year of the rapture and that Pentecost is the rapture feast. However, no one can know for sure -- that's for sure. :)

John