Rapture as ascension or resurrection

 

Is the Rapture closer to Jesus’ ascension or resurrection?

 

Jesus’ body was in the tomb for parts of three days and two nights.  The first day was

Passover evening.  This is the fifteenth of the Hebrew month.  The resurrection occurred on the seventeenth of the month.  Ascension occurred on the 27th of the next month.

 

Jesus said, referring to the end times:

 

“I come as a thief in the night.”

 

“It will be as the days of Noah.”

 

“It will be as the days of Lot.”

 

At Jesus’ ascension He said:

 

“As you see me go, I will return in like manner.”

 

He was seen rising into the heavens in a cloud.

 

John says in Revelation:

 

“They will see the sign of the Son of Man in the Heavens.”

 

This references Jesus return to Earth.

 

Can all of these be the same event?  To me these statements seem to describe two different events.  For example, if Jesus is seen coming in the clouds, how can He come as a thief in the night?

Also, how can the unsaved be caught unawares as in the days of Noah and Lot if the sign of the Son of Man is seen coming in the heavens?  Another verse to consider says, “Every eye shall see him.”  Once again, this does not sound like a thief.

 

If we are trying to discern how these verses pertain to the Rapture we need to decide which of these descriptions is the better example.

 

To me, the notions of Noah, Lot and sudden destruction match well with the idea of a thief in the night.  While the event of Jesus’ triumphant return to earth matches the pre announcement of the sign in the heavens and returning in the clouds viewed by every eye.

So the Rapture does not seem to match the latter since we don’t expect it to be pre announced.  What are we told about the rapture?

“The dead shall rise first.”

 

“…Then, those who are alive shall be changed.”

 

The transfiguration.

 

This sounds like Jesus’ resurrection does it not?  So the rapture is a direct pattern of the resurrection of Jesus.

We do not have a biblical date for Lot’s escape from Sodom, but we know that Abraham was watching to see what would happen.  [Sidebar:  This shows that Lot’s wife was not turned to salt because she saw the destruction, but rather because her turning to look showed her heart.]

However, we do have a date for the flood of Noah.  It started on the 17th of the “second month”, which is usually presumed to mean Cheshvan.  Cheshvan is the eighth month from Nisan, the month of Passover.  So Jesus’ resurrection occurred on the same day of the month as the start of Noah’s flood.  The resurrection of Christ signaled the soon outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit within people is represented as…water!

 

I wonder of we should be looking for the 17th of a certain Hebrew month?

GM