RE: Kurt S "The Rapture: Not So Fast"
I truly appreciated your article Kurt, because a little reality is so needed today. Too many people have a distorted eschatology, probably caused by the unconscious mingling of the Scriptures with the works of the millionaire novelists and fiction writers. There are a number of other examples of "Harpazo/rapture" in the Scriptures which may give us a broader picture.
There are the traditional views of the "caught up to heaven," or "catcheth away":
2Cr 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
Rev 12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and [to] his throne.
Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth [it] not, then cometh the wicked [one], and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
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And the word is also used to mean "taken by force."
Jhn 6:15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
Act 23:10 And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring [him] into the castle.
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Another great picture of a "rapture/Harpazo," without using the word, but may be compared to Noah and the Ark:
Jhn 6:19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.
Jhn 6:20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid
Jhn 6:21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.
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But in my " humble opinion," I believe the following Scriptures would match 1 Thessalonians the best:
Act 8:39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.
Act 8:40 But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.----------------------------------------
There happens to be an entire chapter in the Old Testament that has been totally ignored, which gives us a picture of the resurrection of the dead being joined with Israel, and taken to the "mountains of Israel" to be made one with Judah. And that would be Ezekiel chapter 37. Despite what the "Bible teachers" want to tell you, the " valley which was full of bones" was not fulfilled in May of 1948. (I ask of you, to please reserve your presumptions until the end. Let's simply look at what the Scriptures actually say, and you may see the "rapture" .) The people who are presently living in the modern state of Israel today, are not at this time "prophetic" Israel. These people are Judah (the descendants of Judah, Benjamin, a portion of the Levites and converts to Judah.). The Father knows the difference between Israel and Judah, and in His understanding, no one was ever lost. Depending on the time of the prophecy, Judah and Israel may be together or separated. We! have had the tendency to confuse the two. Remember that Jesus preached to Judah first, in an intact nation of Judea (not Israel) with an intact temple. But the apostles asked him, "..If he was now going to restore Israel?" (A different group of people).
Eze 37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
(These are Israel, not Judah).
Eze 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
(... those who died in Christ will rise first.).
Eze 37:16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and [for] all the house of Israel his companions:
(At the moment of the first resurrection, Judah and Israel are still separated.)
Eze 37:17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
(The restoration of Israel.).
Eze 37:18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou [meanest] by these?
Eze 37:19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which [is] in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, [even] with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
Eze 37:20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
Eze 37:21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
(Rapture/Harpazo!.).
Eze 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
(And so we shall ever be with the Lord.).
Eze 37:23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
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And what becomes of Judah, the modern day inhabitants of Jerusalem?
Zec 13:1 In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
Zec 13:6 And [one] shall say unto him, What [are] these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, [Those] with which I was wounded [in] the house of my friends.
Zec 13:8 And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be left therein.
Zec 13:9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people: and they shall say, The LORD [is] my God.
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Let me state categorically, no ones genetics are going to get anyone, anywhere. Hundreds of thousands of genetic children of Israel died in the wilderness and only Joshua and Caleb entered the promised land. There is no substitution. In the final analysis you are either "in Christ," or you are not. And in the end, Judah and Israel will be made "one stick" so you will be no longer able to tell the two apart.
The blessings were never given directly to "Israel," but to Abraham's seed.
Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Gen 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
Gen 13:15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
Gen 13:16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, [then] shall thy seed also be numbered.
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Rom 9:8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these [are] not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
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Gal 3:29 And if ye [be] Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Continue to pray for our brother Judah, and the peace of Jerusalem.
Shalom, John