THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH

THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH

Image courtesy Pat Marvenko Smith via Flickr Creative Commons.

   From my youth I have known about the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for The Faithful.  I have been told that the generation born when Israel was reborn will not pass away before the rapture of the Church.  But are you aware that not all church leaders believe this?  Are you aware that those who do believe there will be a rapture don't all agree on when it will take place regarding the tribulation?  The following is how I understand it:

   This is the parable of the fig tree found in Luke 21: 32) Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:  33) So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near even at the doors.  34) Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.  35) Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

   There are four trees mentioned in the Book of Judges (in the parable of Jotham).  The fig tree is a symbol of Israel in Scripture.  The olive tree speaks of Israel in covenant relationship with God.  Abraham is the root and the branches are his descendants after the flesh and after the Spirit.  (The Gentiles are the wild branches grafted into the olive tree.   Jesus is the vine and we are the branches - reference John 15:5.)   Then there is the bramble tree, which is Israel away from God; instead of a blessing to the world as God intended Israel to be, She was a curse.

   The Jews had been scattered throughout the world for more than 2000 years when Theodore Hertzl accomplished his goal of strengthening the Jewish national sentiment and national consciousness in 1897 at the first Zionist Congress, which he arranged (the first budding of the fig tree).  Then, by 1917 came The Balfour Declaration, which stated that the British were in agreement of establishing The Jew in the area called "Palestine".   In Genesis 6, God told Noah that "My Spirit shall not always strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless, his days shall be 120 years."  So, when we add 120 years to 1897, we come up with 2017.

   Now, let us again look at verse 34 again:  "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."  In Psalm 90:10, we learn that a generation is 70 years; 80 at the most.  So, this generation, which is alive when Israel is re-established in The Promised Land (1948), shall not pass away before Jesus comes back for His Bride.

  In Matthew 24, Jesus states:  36) But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.  37) But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be."

   When we dissect this statement, we understand that God gave the people warnings, also, as to when He would destroy that wicked generation of Noah's day:  1) Noah's grandfather was Methuselah.  The meaning of the name "Methuselah" means "when he dies, it will be sent".  He died the year OF the flood, but before it began.

   2) Noah spent 120 years building the ark.  He built it in public where all could see. ((Here is that 120 years again.)  Everyone could see when it was near completion and when he was boarding the animals.  Noah told all who would listen to him what he was doing and why.  They were too busy on their smart phones and their watching videos to pay much attention.  They laughed at him.  They didn't invest the time to study and listen to what God had to say.  They had all the opportunity to repent and turn from their wicked ways.  But alas, they were destroyed by God via the flood.  They may not have known the day or the hour when God would shut the door of the ark, but they could certainly see the time was at hand.

   3) Also, let us see in Matthew 24,verse 39 that the Son of man is the event being looked for here, not the Son of The Living God.  This refers to the rapture, not the setting up of the New Jerusalem.  Verse 41 confirms this as "Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left." 

  Looking in 1 Corinthians 15, beginning with verse 51:  Listen, I tell you a mystery:  We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed--52) in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.  For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.  53) For the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true:  "Death has been swallowed up in victory.
55) Where, O death, is your victory?
   Where, O death, is your sting?
56) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  57) But thanks be to God!  He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  58) Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.  Let nothing move you.  Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

   Finally, in 1Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse 13, we read:  "But we would not have you ignorant, brethren, concerning them that fall asleep (die); that ye sorrow not even as the rest, who have no hope.  14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.  15) For this we say unto you by The Word of The Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of The Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep.  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 that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet The Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with The Lord.  18) Wherefore comfort one another with these words."....

   So, I can spread the word that I am preparing for the rapture.  I can ask my insurance agent about the pay out of my life insurance when I "disappear".  Yes, I carry life insurance, because I am "not guaranteed tomorrow".  I can tell the tax clerk that I will not be protesting my taxes next year because I am looking to be raptured.  I can talk to everybody I see about the rapture.  Whether it is today or tomorrow, who cares?  It is so close!  There is an urgency about this message!  I am busy about my Father's business!

   What about you?  Have you accepted the life saving gift of salvation or do you even believe in God?  Click on the following link for the "Pathway to Salvation": https://omaswisdom.blogspot.com/p/path-to-salvation.html

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