Understanding The Word

History, Comfort, and Promises

The True History of the teachings of the Rapture

There is argument that John Nelson Darby coined (created) the Rapture interpretations from scripture in 1833, however….I do not follow man, I follow Christ and I refer to scripture and the Holy Spirit for everything……so that is what I will base the History of the Pretribulation Rapture on and not on Darby or someone else….

I personally never even heard this name up until around 3 years ago; to find the truth all you have to do is search the Spirit of the Bible, for the truth is always in Scripture, and I hope this can bring comfort to those who might be in doubt.

The Verses Referencing a Pre-Tribulation Rapture

 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?” John 11:25-26

The Lord is making a contrast for a future event (Rapture) between those who are believers that have passed on (died or will die in the Church Age) and those that believe and are still alive shall not pass on(die)…..For if we believe we already live in Christ and shall not see death (hell)….there is a purpose for this specific statement of believing, yet being dead and shall live….and those that live and believe shall not die….

While this verse is mainly pointed at as a Second Coming reference….I must state that at the Second coming even those that are alive to enter the Kingdom will still see a physical death and not have glorified bodies…this is why I personally do believe this verse is referencing the Rapture and not the Second Coming for only at the Rapture will those who are alive and believe will never die……

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye many be also.” John 14:2-3

If, there is no Pre-Trib. Rapture why did Jesus go to prepare a place for us?  At the Second Coming…Jesus is coming to rule on the earth for 1000 years….so where/what place is Jesus talking about?  He plainly states that where He is we will be also…so what then is the point of the mansions (rooms), as we will be with Him on earth during His reign.  Then after the 1000 years there will be a new heaven and a new earth…so we would not need these so called mansions if the Pre-Trib. Rapture is not true.

This verse clearly means that Jesus was planning to come and get believers in Him at some point to take us to be with Him and a place He prepared for us, for if He comes again to receive us….where is He receiving us to?  Again He is receiving us to be where He is (Heaven) and not receiving us only to bring us right back down to earth at His Second Coming.

“And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven , shall so come in like manner as ye have him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11

Jesus comes to get us at the Rapture in the clouds…as this is different at the second coming which has Jesus coming down to set foot on the earth.(see Understanding the Rapture Part 4)

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

There are people who believe the last trump entails the last of the trumpet judgements during the Tribulation period. For me, this is avoidance and an evasive answer because of lack of understanding; in other words it’s a quick and easy answer to match the belief of a mid-tribulation Rapture happening during the Tribulation instead of before. (How could Paul reference something He knew not of (I speak of the 7 trumpets judgements)….since the Revelation to John was many, many years later…)

The seven trumpets of the Tribulation period are not the same as the Trump of God which is plainly stated in 1 Thessalonians 4:16

“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:”

There are others who believe the last trump could mean the feasts of trumpets since there is an actual last trump sounding. Yet still….it could be that there is one trumpet sound for the dead in Christ and another one…the last one for those that are alive…..(I do not rule out either option, as we draw ever closer to the start of the Tribulation time we will know more.) The Rapture could still happen at any moment…..it’s all on the Lord’s specific timing.

“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who not letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall the Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8

Anyone….Anyone who claims the HE is someone other than the Comforter which is the Holy Spirit is clearly misinterpreting, and misrepresenting scripture…whether willfully or ignorantly is no excuse…for who else is the HE, and why must HE be taken out of the way?

God is omnipresent (everywhere) so the HE can only be the Holy Spirit that is within each saved believer for we must be gone in order for the wicked one to reveal Himself as the Antichrist…..if the saved believers were still here…the accomplishment of taking over the world would not happen because we are in the way……

If the Rapture only happens at the Second Coming….who then is the wicked that will be revealed?  For everything will already be revealed during the Tribulation period….Why would the saved believers need to be taken out of the way at the end when they are going to go into the Millennial Kingdom?

“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thessalonians 5:6

We are to be watching for the Lord to come and get us….we are not to be looking for the Antichrist, while we can always speculate who it might be…..our focus, per the Lord, should be on Him and Looking for Him…..if a Pre-Tribulational Rapture is not true…..then what are we watching for?  For once the Antichrist is on scene and signs the 7 year peace deal….we would know roughly when Jesus will be coming back to earth…so therefore it makes no sense to watch for Him during that time for we know that 7 years must pass before He comes to earth…..

He made us promises to give us hope during all the tribulations on this earth…..Promises  to look for at the time of the end to take us away from the Tribulation to come upon the whole earth….for the tribulations we go thru in life are completely different from the Tribulation period that is coming.

Promise to the Church #1

“For God hath not appointed up s to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.” 1 Thessalonians 5: 9 &10

First, I need to point out that many people will say this verse is in regards that wrath means Hell and damnation, however, this is not so….for it plainly states, ‘whether we wake or sleep’….this implies that there will be some who are awake (alive) who are not appointed to wrath (judgement).

If we, as the Church are not appointed to wrath….who is?  Why place the Body of Christ into an appointed time where the Lord did not appoint us to be in?  The people that are appointed to God’s wrath are the unbelievers in Christ at the Rapture….look around you right now…do you see the unbelievers facing wrath?  While we are starting to see the prelude of Judgments to come….we are not seeing the Wrath of God…..

Promise to the Church #2

We are promised Incorruptible new bodies…..Glorified bodies that will no longer sin….no longer die…but be the perfection that God meant for us to be…..

“For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Corinthians 15:53

No longer will we be tormented by our weaknesses and by demons….no longer will we have imperfect bodies ….those that are deaf will hear….those that are blind will see….those that have missing limbs….will have them back…those that cannot walk, will walk….we will be perfect and whole and all so beautiful as God created us and sees us to be…..

Promise to the Church #3

We are promised rewards for all the work we have done for the Lord, and crowns for our faith, love, and worship of Him:

(I will go into greater detail of crowns and rewards in another Blog)

Most of all, we are promised Comfort

“For this we say unto you by word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 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. WHEREFORE COMFORT ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18

If we are to comfort each other with these words…..why are so many  telling others there is no comfort or hope….that you will go into a great time of wrath because while Jesus loves you enough to save you from sin….He doesn’t love us enough to save us from Satan’s reign…….

Where is the comfort in looking for a Rapture after all the horrible things take place…..there is none.

There is no comfort knowing you will get your head cut off or tortured..….there is no comfort in watching your children be taken from you…maybe even tortured in front of you, all for you to give over to government control, and the Mark of the Beast……There is no comfort for those who will be starving to death and having to watch their families and pets starve as well……

If you want or believe you will be here during the Great Tribulation Judgement and the Wrath of God, how are you comforting yourself?  By claiming God will supernaturally protect you?  What makes you more special than the Jews, and what scripture are you reading? 

“But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, exhortation, and comfort.” 1 Corinthians 14:3

The only comfort you can have at this time; is the comfort of Jesus coming to take us out of this world.

Do you have faith to believe?

Why is the majority of the bride not wanting and not looking for the bridegroom?  How is it, that people who make claim that Jesus Christ is their Savior not hear what the Holy Spirit is telling many of us….but not them? How and why is it that we are not all in accordance when it comes to scriptural interpretation if we are all supposedly listening to the Holy Spirit?

Why do you think God has allowed this?

Have we come to a place in time that God is actually showing us what has happened to His Church?  Is He showing us how easy it is for some of us to fall away from some of the teachings in the bible?  Is He showing us, because maybe it does have something to do with what we will be rewarded with or not?  Is He perhaps showing us that none of us have perfect understanding of His Word….but those that disregard it may be more susceptible to deception?

How can some people not understand the literacy of the actual verses and try to apply another meaning or understanding to it that does not go with the rest of scripture? How is it so easy for people who claim to hear from God to twist the meaning of said scriptures and others actually believe them?

Scripture speaks for itself and if you follow it thru the Holy Spirit then you will have to see that throughout the Bible, we can plainly see God’s love, mercy, and forgiveness for His own…

Enoch

The very first person to be Raptured in the Bible was Enoch….

“And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Genesis 5:24

The LORD God took Enoch because he pleased God….How did he please God? 

Faith……..

“By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:45-6

(Translation is the same as ‘the twinkling of an eye’ disappearance of the saved beleivers….by our faith in Christ as our Savior are we too going to be translated/raptured…here but then gone…..)

There is so much information regarding this out on the internet….that anybody can find the answer they are looking for…..But what they want, or what they are looking for…..may not be the answer that is the truth…..

Conclusion

I wanted to finish this Rapture series with hope and comfort….all thru-out history and in our lives today, we have trials, and tribulations.  People have died and still die for their belief in Christ Jesus…however, the time that is coming is a Great Tribulation upon all the world for the purpose of revealing God as the Sovereign Almighty Creator He is.

During this time the world will be under the rule of Satan….and while Satan is the god of this world even now….God  is and always will be in control….even the controlling of what Satan can and cannot do during His reign….

Satan, just like us, knows the ending….He knows about the Rapture, else why would he and his demons be even now making excuses in religions and movements stating that a mass disappearance of people is because they are evil and needed to be taken away?  Again if this is in false religions that we know are in fact false teachings….does it not mean the opposite is in fact true?

Satan knows his end well and so too does all the demons of the world….it is why they will do their utmost to turn you away from Christ instead of to Him….because they want to take as many people to Hell with them.  Don’t be one of them….Jesus is the answer….the only answer to all things.

We all have our paths and Jesus knows each and every one down to the fiber of our being what our path entails and where our path ends…..some are meant to go in the Rapture….some are meant to find Him during the Great Tribulation and be martyred for Him, some will make it thru to the end….Only Jesus knows what our path is.

If you have Him as your Savior right now….you are blessed, blessed because He will bring you home before the horrendous time that is coming on this earth, have that comfort and peace in Him….do not doubt His love for you….if you can and do believe He loved you enough to save you from your sins….have faith and belief that He loves you enough to catch you away from the world’s grasp before it becomes Satan’s.

“To an inheritance incorruptible, and undelfiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not see, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you.” 1 Peter 1:4-10