Hello John and Doves,
Recently I've written to Doves
about the Rapture - I pondered 'would the Believers be seen
going up into 'the clouds' by the Left Behind'? Would
this event be witnessed? I referred to Jesus'
ascension - the onlookers watched Him ascend up into the
clouds.
Also, I made the point that we
aren't 'caught away' in the' blink of an eye' - we are
changed in the blink of an eye. From mortal to
immortal. So it seems we don't just 'disappear suddenly'. ??
Also, there were people in the
Bible who were resurrected from the dead and seen later -
Jesus for one; and resurrected saints were seen in Jerusalem
(Matthew 27:52, 53 ("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 bet that they were "caught up' at
some point later). And the Two Witnesses of The
Revelation - their rising from the dead is witnessed and
their ascension is witnessed..."And after three and a half
days ...they stood upon their feet." Rev 11:11
"And they went up to heaven in a cloud as their enemies
watched them." Rev 11:12
So witnessing the resurrection
from the dead and the 'catching away' into a cloud is not
new in the Bible. And it shouldn't be new to us either
- because we've read about these events over and over
involving many different people. One day, will these events
- the resurrection of the dead and the "catching away" into
a cloud - be witnessed in our life time? I certainly
believe so!
In the July edition of the
Prophecy Watcher magazine, there is an article by Jeff Van
Hatten titled: "Parallels of Prophetic
Significance". www.prophecywatchers.com
For this article, PW put out a bit
of a disclaimer: "This article will challenge some
traditional viewpoints, but we must be able to always
challenge our own presuppositions and continue to examine
whether our beliefs are rooted in the Scripture
alone." But, based on what I wrote above, I don't
think this will be so far out of many people's 'comfort
zone' as PW may think.
The big part of the article that
interested me was about the 'resurrection of the dead' and
the 'catching away' as being two separate events.
In 1 Thessalonian 4:16, 17:
we are told that "the dead in Christ will rise first".
Then, "Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet
the Lord.... So it's a two-step process. Two
separate events.
We have the resurrection of the
dead and we have the catching up of the recently resurrected
dead and the living - up into the clouds.
In this article, Jeff wrote about
the signs pointing to His return: "...Israel back in
the land, many coming in His name, famines, pestilences,
wars and rumors of wars, signs in the heavens and great
earthquakes in various places, just to name a few
signs. But these warnings came with a caveat:
"but the end will not follow immediately," and "don't be
deceived." All of these signs point to our
"redemption."
Jeff believes that the
Resurrection of the dead and the Rapture do not occur at
the exact same time. He believes that "The
rising of the dead first will be THE final sign that the
rapture is near, even if one ignores the many
signs Yeshua Himself commanded us to look for as
confirmation that our redemption (resurrection to living if
dead/change from mortal to immortal if still living) draws
near. So the Rapture won't be a 'signless'
event.
The Greek word used for 'first' is
proton - which means, "first in time or place in any
succession of things or persons." "If you are
looking for a sign that points to the rapture, this is
it. If you are looking for the Biblical timing of
the Resurrection and the Rapture, this is it. Only
after meeting with the still living will both then ascend
together to be with Yeshua."
Jeff looked at the definitions of
the words used to describe "a rising from the dead."
There are several Greek words for "raise, rise, arise,
resurrect" like "egeiro", "anistem" and "anastasis".
He also gives other examples. He used the Thayer's
Greek Definitions for his study. "The pattern
that we find in the text indicates that the resurrected
person then appears in public; they do not instantly
disappear."
Egeiro: to arouse from the
sleep of death, to recall the dead to life, to cause to
appear, and bring before the public. This word is used
by Paul to describe Yeshua's resurrection. 1
Corinthians 15
Anistemi: to rise up from the
dead and cause to appear to enter into conversation or
dispute with anyone. "This comes from the word
histemi: to rise up in the presence or midst of
others. Luke 24:46, John 20:9, Acts 16:3 use this word
for Yeshua's resurrection.
Anastasis: a resurrection
from death. And Paul uses it in 1 Thessalonians
4:16 (the dead in Christ "will rise" (anastesontai)
Jeff gives numerous examples of
verses in the New Testament using these words.
Then he wrote about the various "witnessed"
resurrection events in the Bible: the
daughter of Jairus; the only son of a widow from Nain,
Lazarus, Dorcas/Tabitha; Eutychus; Yeshua, the Two Witnesses
of The Revelation. (New Testament)
Also, he wrote about "witnessed"
rapture events in the Bible: Elijah's
ascension; Yeshua's ascension; the Two Witnesses ascension.
Jeff goes on to write that,
"Clearly, the statement "the rapture is an
instantaneous event that happens at the same time as the
resurrection of the dead ...we simply disappear" is not at
all accurate according to the parallels, patterns,
pictures, types and word definitions.'
"Yeshua clearly states that as far
as dates and times or seasons are concerned, in other words,
the Moedim, "the Father has fixed by His own
authority." the moedim are set appointments.
"Yeshua told us to watch for signs
as confirmation that our redemption (resurrection to living
again, if dead, or change from mortal to immortal, if
still-living) was drawing near. This succinctly
negates the "sign-less rapture" teaching; the rising
of the dead is the final sign pointing to the nearness of
the rapture."
"There are over a dozen Biblical
accounts of a witnessed resurrection, and three Biblical
accounts of a witnessed bodily rapture....Instant
disappearance rapture is NOT a fact: a witnessed
resurrection and rapture IS."
Back in Jesus' day, resurrections
from the dead were looked upon as "a good thing" - a
miracle. Something that caused the parents, family,
friends to rejoice. And praise God. Many
believed in Jesus when they saw the dead arise.
"Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what
He had done, believed in Him." John 11:45 Like
what happened with Lazarus. The people weren't
frightened by this - they were amazed - a true miracle from
God!
Today, when we think of rising from
the dead, most people probably think of zombies, vampires,
the 'undead', etc. And there is the very popular "The
Walking Dead" series and many, many zombie movies and other
series like "Z Nation". Zombie movies are still being
made - they are quite popular.
The zombies are seen as bad things,
evil - something to be feared and killed, if possible. They
are usually infected with 'something'. Is this
the perception of 'resurrection of the dead' that
satan wants humans to have? When the resurrection
happens before the rapture, is that what people will be
told, it's zombies? Be afraid of them. They are
the undead. This would explain Hollywood's
'fascination' with zombie movies. And why this topic
is forever being reproduced in movies. Everyone knows
about the zombies.
But what about an 'infection' that
causes the dead bodies to rise up? And some cultures
like in the U.S. embalm the dead bodies and 'they look like
they are sleeping'...what if those people rise from the
dead? What will family/friends who knew them
think? What will the main stream media say? They
might already have a script ready to go! Many people
will not turn to God, especially if the media is directing
them to the federal government, the military, the CDC or Dr.
Fauci for an explanation and help.
Nothing happens by
coincidence.
I think it would be absolutely
amazing to actually see the Saints resurrected before the
Rapture! Just imagine the surprise of those visiting a
graveyard when some of the graves burst open. In 1
Thessalonians 4:16 the dead in Christ rise first - how long
will these people be 'up and about' before the 'catching
away'? Minutes, hours, days? "After that,
we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with
them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." Will
there be any kind of 'reunion' with these Saints and their
families/friends before they go to be with the Lord?
Are we 'caught up together' with family, friends? Are
these events pretty close together?
Jeff's dividing up these two events
has exposed the 'narratives' for both - the resurrection of
the dead and the 'catching away' of the newly resurrected
and living. The resurrection of the dead has a primary
role in the Christian belief. Christians believe that
Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And one day,
there will be resurrection events.
Will living Believers see the
resurrection of the Believing dead before the 'catching
away"? I actually hope so. That would really be
something to actually see a Biblical resurrection! A
major cornerstone of our Faith!
So I'd guess that the whole zombie genre was
planned a long time ago to "direct the narrative" on the
resurrection of the Saints before the rapture.
Just like the alien/UFO 'environment' was created to
explain away the Rapture. Satan then has an
explanation for both events! How handy!
(There
is much more in the article than what I presented here.)
Pray
for the peace of Jerusalem!
Maranatha!
Chance