The Rapture Part 2

 The Rapture - Part 2

There is a story about two small country churches, on a remote road, in a most scenic place. The area was deserted most of the week but on weekends the city folk came out to the country and would zoom past these two churches which happened to be situated opposite each other. The two pastors were friends and worked together and one day they decided to stand on the road with some signs. The one had a sign saying “The end is near turn yourself around while there is some time” while the other on the other side of the road had a sign that read “You’re on the road to destruction we can show you a better way”. Eventually a car zooms by, and as the car is passing the driver winds down his window and shouts out “You religious nuts leave us alone” and continues on around the bend and out of sight. But suddenly there’s a screeching of breaks and the sound of a big splash! And the one pastors calls out to the other “Do you think the signs should read “bridge out”?

We often do ignore the warning signs and there are many warning signs that are continually being shown us by the word of God. 

Last week we discussed the verse in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.

We also said there will be no other signs other than the shout and a trumpet call and we should be ready at all times and that no one knows (or can know) when this will be.

We also said that one word that could be used instead of the Rapture was the resurrection of believers – because this was the time that all believers get new imperishable bodies. But we also said there was another term used for this moment of the rapture and that was “the coming of the Lord” and we saw that in 1 Thessalonians 4:15.

We also showed that there is another phrase that it is easy to get confused about, and that is the “Day of the Lord”. This term refers specifically to the time of wrath, or the “time of Jacob’s troubles” or the tribulation. It’s important that we understand this because it ends up causing confusion in the scripture.  Just look at these scripture that in every case confirm that the “day of the Lord” refers to the time of Tribulation.

Zephaniah 1:14-17 (NIV)

14 The great day of the Lord is near— near and coming quickly. The cry on the day of the Lord is bitter;   the Mighty Warrior shouts his battle cry.15 That day will be a day of wrath—    a day of distress and anguish, a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness

 Also we see this very clearly in Joel  1:15, Joel 2:11, Amos 5:18, Mal 4:5 and 2 Peter 3:10

I don’t want to labour this point too much but without this understanding, reading much of scripture especially Thessalonians can be confusing.

 And so now we see that the Day of the Lord (tribulation), the coming of the Lord (Rapture) and the second coming are all very different

Before we get onto anything more there is a third name by which the Rapture can be known- the Judgement. People like to debate this but quite clearly

1 Thessalonians 4: 16 we read

16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Implicit in that is the judgement of whether you are “dead in Christ” or not. So whether we like it or not a distinction is being made, a judgement is being made?

And in James we read the Judge is standing at the door at the Lord’s coming

James 5:7-9 

7 Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. 9 Don’t grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!

And so the coming of the Lord in this passage is linked to judgement. 

The judgement though of believers (whenever it takes place) is however not for sin. We know that our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west, that we are washed by Christ’s blood, that the penalty of sin has already being paid and we know there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. So the judgement is not for condemnation of believers but for reward. And this is made clear in

1 Corinthians 4:5

5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.

(Again note the coming of the Lord)

We see this also in Matthew 16:27 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

So when we read

 2Cor. 5:9 Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

This judgment is for the basis of rewards, and as Paul says, it takes into account those things we've done, whether good or bad. A Christian who lives a life of disobedience will see eternal consequences in the form of a loss of eternal reward. 

I would like to also just touch on another topic related to the Rapture and that is, it’s relation to the 7 Feasts of Israel spoken about in the book of Leviticus 23 and in other places. The 7 feasts noted in Leviticus 23 are; firstly the Feast of Passover, then one day later the Feast of Unleavened Bread , then the day after the next Sabbath, the Feast of First Fruits, 50 days later the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost, then the Feast of Trumpets, then the Day of Atonement, then lastly the Feast of Tabernacles. All in that order

What is interesting is that of the 7 feasts on the calendar, Jesus fulfils all these events. So the importance of these feasts lies in their prophetic nature and being fulfilled through Jesus Christ. The first four feasts we see fulfilled in Jesus’ first coming and the last three shortly before or at His second coming. Amazingly the first four feasts were fulfilled on the actual day of those feasts in the order of the feasts.  So without getting into too much detail let’s have a look at these feasts in the order of occurrence.

1. The Passover

This feast remembers the last plague in Egypt, when the angel of death “passed over” the children of Israel who applied the blood of the lamb to their doors. We see John the Baptist say, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) And we see that Jesus — born in a stable, visited by shepherds and led to the slaughter — is that lamb sent for us. His death allows the judgement we deserve to pass over us. And so “The Passover” was prophetic of the death of Jesus as the sacrificial lamb for the atonement of sin. We commemorate this in communion to this day.

2. The Feast of Unleavened bread 

This seven-day feast begins on the day following the start of Passover. In the haste of the Israelites to leave Egypt, there was no time to add leaven (yeast) to their bread. During this time the Jews ate nothing leavened and they remember the hardships in Egypt and how God freed and saved them from captivity and death in Egypt. In the bible leaven represents sin.  And in Romans 6:23 we read - For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus life was free of sin (leaven) and He conquered death.

The unleavened bread represents Jesus’ sinless life. Sin He defeated and rose from the grave as the risen Lord!

3. The Feast of First Fruits

The Feast of First Fruits is one of three Jewish harvest feasts to thank and honour God for all he provided. Although they didn’t know it at the time, the children of Israel were celebrating what would become a very important day.

The priests sacrificed Passover lambs on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, The first day after the Passover was the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Feast of First Fruits was then celebrated the day after the next Sabbath. The day that Jesus resurrected from the dead. In 1 Corinthians 15:20 Paul refers to Jesus as the first fruits of the dead. 

 1 Corinthians 15:20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

He represents the first of the great harvest of souls — including you and I, that will resurrect to eternal life because of the new covenant in his blood (Luke 22:20).

4. The Feast of Weeks (Pentecost)

This feast is the second of the three harvest feasts. It occurs exactly seven weeks after the “waving of the omer (sheaf)” in Feast of First Fruits, so it’s also called Pentecost which means “50 days.” Traditionally, people were expected to bring the first harvest of grain to the Lord including two leavened loaves of bread.

But God had a far larger harvest in mind, all the church I!

Matthew 9:37-38 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

And on this Day in the Feast of Weeks at Pentecost we read in Acts 

Acts 2:1-4 (NIV)...” they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the [Holy] Spirit enabled them. 

And so on that day the day the Church was born — Pentecost — and the harvest began with 3,000 souls. The message spread to both Jews and Gentiles (the two leavened loaves of bread), extending the harvest to us!

5. The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)

On this day, a trumpet or shofar was sounded to call people to repentance and prepare them for God’s great judgment. The Jews also call it the Day of Judgement because the judgement handed down by God on that day was for deciding a person’s fate for the coming year. It is also called Rosh Hashanah by the Jews and celebrated over 2 days (This year (September 25-26). It also ushers in the start of the Jewish civil New Year (The Jewish religious New Year starts on another date)

We earlier on noted how another word for the Rapture could be the Judgement, we noted the fact that at the Rapture a loud trumpet would be sounded and that at the resurrection we would have new imperishable bodies and so this blowing of the trumpet on this “day of judgement”, the start of something new on this news years day is said to be prophetic of the Rapture.  We will get back to this later

6. The Day of Atonement  (Yom Kippur)

This day was to make “atonement” or restitution for wrongs committed. It was a day of repentance to God; it was a time for the Jews make their lives right before him. The observance involved the sacrifice of animals as the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies (the once a year event where man (in the form of the High Priest) came into the presence of the most high God in the Holy of Holies). This was a most solemn yearly event.

This day (Yom Kippur) follows a period of exactly 7 days after the  two day Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah). These 10 days are collectively known by the Jews as the “Days of Awe”. 

Now we can see the parallels when we compare the Feast of the Trumpets, followed 7 days later by the Day of Atonement  with the 7 years of tribulation, followed by the second coming of the Lord.

 Just as we spoke last week about the Jewish wedding, where the groom takes his bride to his father’s house reflecting the Rapture( the coming of the groom) then 7 days later returning to the brides house showing  the second coming, so the feasts  show this same pattern.

It’s interesting that in addition Jews traditionally believe that the Messiah will come on the day of Yom Kippur? 

 Whatever patterns we may see, we should never forget that this Day of Atonement  pointed ahead to the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, which atones for the sins of the world—Jews and Gentiles alike (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 2:2). 

7. Feast of Tabernacles 

The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates God’s provision and protection for the people of Israel during their 40 years wandering in the wilderness; for the seven days of the feast, people live in temporary structures like they did in the wilderness. The Lord himself was with the Israelites in the desert, in a tented temple called the tabernacle, so the feast also celebrates his presence as he tabernacles (dwells) with us.

This feast is prophetic of the Millennial kingdom when God will dwell amongst his people

So one way of looking at the feasts is that if we have Pentecost, then the Feast of Trumpets then  7 days later the Day of Atonement followed by the Feast of Tabernacles, do we then suggest that copying this pattern  we have the rapture, followed 7 years later by the tribulation, followed by the second coming followed by the Millennial Kingdom? I leave it to you to decide!

As I said it is noteworthy that the first four were fulfilled on the actual day of those feasts. Since that has been the pattern for the first four, the next on the calendar is the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) which represents the rapture?

Just to address one final point as to whether we will face this time of Tribulation. I would like to just show you a few scriptures then you can decide!

1 Thessalonians 5:9-10

9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.

We see this further stated and reinforced in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, Rev. 6:17 

We also read in  Romans 5:99 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

We see it again very clearly in 2 Thessalonian 2. Here Paul is comforting the church that they did not miss the “coming of the Lord” (resurrection or the Rapture). Some thought because they were in the tribulation they had missed the Coming of the Lord. Paul reassures them that this is not the case because the day of the Lord (tribulation) will not result  until there is a falling away and the man of lawlessness is revealed. (This is where it is so important to understand the different terms we have been talking about). So Paul clearly says  that the Church is not appointed to experience God's wrath. 

So in Conclusion:   No one knows when the Groom is coming for the bride. It could happen today! We, just as the bride did, need to be ready- need to be holy, be pure, be faithful, not to lose heart and prepare ourselves for the wedding feast!

Cliff Extra personal Notes – not for sermon

 Revelation 4:4-6

4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits[a] of God. 6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.

In Revelation 4:5 we read of the “seven spirits of God” i.e. representing “all” of the Spirit of God, being in the Throne room- nowhere else. If the Holy Spirit is in Heaven and not on earth, then there’s no church on earth?  I.e. the church has already left the earth at this point- and this is before the seal judgements? We see all the elders there too- all in the throne room! The number 12 represents government in the bible (and the double emphasis of 24 represents all governing elders?  We note that the elders have crowns i.e. they have gone through that judgement process at the rapture and they have heavenly bodies. So the rapture has occurred?

We also see this in 2 Thess 2:4-9

2 Thessalonians 2:4-9

New King James Version

4  [The man of lawlessness] who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,

 Note this there is no restraint on the earth when the Holy Spirit (“He who now restrains”) leaves and the evil one has free reign.

My personal opinion is that leadership is lost in the rapture and God’s mercy and grace through the Holy Spirit is no longer evident on earth. Ten worldly leaders can then take over very very quickly because there are no leaders who are believers in Christ, they have been raptured. The evil one is free to do as he pleases and tribulation begins. Just as the groom as in the Jewish wedding comes back 7 days later so too will Jesus return 7 years later for the second time?