I am sending this from an edited letter that I wrote last fall after asking the Lord to show me about the rapture verse, which I believe shows a definite lapse in time between the dead in Christ being raised, and our mortal bodies being changed to meet them in the air. Nowhere does the verse say we will go in the air immediately, only that our bodies will be changed immediately, in the twinkling of an eye.

 

    In 1 Thess. 4: 16-17, I pointed out the three colons, which seem to be setting apart these phrases for a reason.

 

    Today I wrote this down, and here is what I found, very simple. These are the phrases which are contained within the : colons : and describe the event which will happen to us:

 

    16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

     It was not until just now as I write this, after praying about thirty minutes ago for further confirmation, that the Lord showed me the whole thing set apart, which is what we are to be, set apart, those who will go in the rapture at that time. Both the dead in Christ, who will be set apart from the other dead, and the living, who are alive in Christ,  who will be set apart from the other living. This just came to now, even as I type.

 

   There are three colons in that grouping, but nowhere else in the verses, and three is a number for emphasis, remember the two or THREE witnesses, to confirm the truth of a matter? Also 3 is the number of the Trinity, who will all be acting at this event, and they are here in the first part of the verse, BEFORE the colon, outside of the set apart ones.

 

    16For the Lord (that is Jesus, the Son) himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, ( could that be the inner voice of the Holy Spirit that only we, the set apart ones, will hear?) and with the trump of God, (that is the Father, God).

 

    There are 23 words here in this first part of the verse. 23 represents death, and we, the set apart ones, will be dead to the world from that point on, but those not leaving in the rapture will experience death here in the world. So the rapture will be setting apart those who will not experience physical death, from those who will possibly die martyr's deaths as believers, or physical death as unbelievers in the horrible tribulation to come.

 

    The last part of the verses reads:

 

    and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

    which is like a final statement, an "it is finished", an AMEN, so to speak. There are 9 words in this final phrase. Nine represents the fruits of the Spirit, which we, who are raptured, have. It also represents divine completion, just as the phrase itself is saying: We are now complete with the Lord!

 

    This again, just came to me now as I am writing, and I think it bears further confirmation of the event! Much of what I just wrote came to me as I was writing it. It was not thought out before, but as if in answer to my prayer to the Lord, just earlier as I was praying. Just as the first day when I asked Him and He showed me the first part.  None of this required any mathematical calculations, it was all there, so simple that even a first grader can understand. It makes sense to me, how about you?

 

    According to a website list of punctuation rules,

 

    http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000093.htm

 

    this is what I read about the colon, which confirms what I believe the Holy Spirit showed me in what I just wrote.

 

    Semicolons and Colons

    Semicolons and colons were originally used to designate pauses shorter than a period ( like in the twinkling of an eye, perhaps?) and longer than a comma. Now they are used to show certain grammatical relationships with the colon the more emphatic of the two.

   Is that why the original three phrases the Lord showed me the first time are set apart within colons, because that part of the verses is so emphatic, so dramatic? But the section within the colon has a definite relationship with the parts that precede and follow what is set apart by the colons. There is more.

    Colons Separating Independent Clauses

    Colons may be used to separate independent clauses that are not separated by a conjunction or any other connecting word or phrase.

    Again, the whole concept of separation! Do you believe the Lord inspired the translators of the Authorised King James Version, who added the punctuation, or is that simply manmade also? I believe it is all divinely inspired, and in such a way that we are given huge clues as to the very day the verse is speaking of!

    There is a colon separating the two phrases about the dead rising and we who are alive joining them:

 

    "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first : Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

    This would indicate to me a pause, a space of time, a separate event, between the dead rising and the living joining them in the air. This would also parallel the previous time when the dead were resurrected when the earthquake opened their graves as described in Matt 27:51-53:

    "And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many."

     I believe these resurrected saints accompanied Jesus when He ascended on high, though the Bible does not say this specifically. However we are told it is appointed unto man once to die, Heb.9:27, and these had already died once. We are also told that Jesus ascended in the clouds, that he led forth the captives, in Psalms 68: 18:

    "Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell among them."

   Heb. 12:1 describes a great cloud of witnesses who could very well be these resurrected saints on high:

    "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us"