If your life is not in jeopardy
for what you believe, you’re probably on the wrong side!
If you don’t believe Genesis 1-11,
how can you possibly believe John 3:16?
“Indeed, all who want to live a godly
life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted.” (2Tim 3:12)
It is what you actually believe that determines how you walk out your faith,
“but avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, quarrels and fights
about the Torah; because they are worthless and futile.” (Titus 3:9)
“The one who is testifying to these things says,
‘Yes, I am coming soon!’”
Amen! Come, Lord Yeshua! (Rev. 22:20)
Please Note: Absolutely nothing on this website should be taken as anti-Church or anti-Rabbinic. I am not anti-anything or anti-anyone. I am only pro-Torah and pro-Truth (see “Philosophy”), but sometimes the Truth upsets our long-held beliefs. I know it certainly upset mine! For example, see “Why Isn’t My Theology Consistent Throughout the Website?”
Developing a
Systematic Messianic Theology:
What Torah Says About
The Future
“The purpose of careful theological formulations is not to put barriers in the way of people who are seeking salvation, but to define clearly the truths upon which genuine [Biblical] faith rests, so that people will not be misled by false doctrines.” [Bowman]
“It must be clearly and unequivocally stated that theology cannot save you. Only faith in Messiah Yeshua can save you. Theology can only give you sound doctrine.” [RLS]
Unless otherwise specified, throughout the Theology section of my website I use the term “Torah” in the wider sense of including the entire body of inspired Scripture: both the Tanakh and the Apostolic Writings. No other so-called “sacred writings” are considered inspired by God or authoritative for the Believe’s walk of faith.
[Explanations of rabbinic citations are HERE]
[Please read the introductory comments first]
| Approx. reading time: 40 minutes |
Is the Rapture for Real?
Some Scriptures Commonly Used to Support
a Pre-Mil/Pre-Trib Rapture Theory
(And Why I Think They Fail to Support That View)
The idea of a rapture is anything but self-evident in the text. It depends on a series of interpretive choices made by those who believe in it and then go back to the texts to “prove” it. (Dr. Michael Heiser, “What do You Believe About End Times?”)
|
In This Article: The Place of “the Church” in God’s Plan |
|
|
The word of
Yehovah came to me:
“Son of man, speak to your people; say to them, ‘Suppose I bring
the sword on a country, and the people of that country take one of
their men and appoint him their watchman. Now if, upon seeing the
sword coming against that country, he blows the shofar and warns
the people; then, if the sword comes and takes away someone who
heard the sound of the shofar but paid no attention to it, the
responsibility for that person‘s death will be his own — he heard
the shofar but paid no attention, so the responsibility for his
death is his own; whereas if he had paid attention, he would have
saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does
not blow the shofar, so that the people are not warned; and then
the sword comes and takes any one of them, that one is indeed
taken away in his guilt, but I will hold the watchman responsible
for his death.’The Place of “the Church” in God’s Plan
After having been a talmiddisciple of
Yeshua for over 70 years, with well over 35 years in
evangelical
Christian pastoral ministry, followed by over 20 years in Messianic Judaism, since I have started reading and studying the
Scriptures for what they actually say instead of for what I
expect or want them to
say, it is with great personal disappointment that I now find that I no longer can believe that the world-wide
organization that calls itself “the Church” holds
any special place in God’s plan. I realize that’s extremely
harsh, but in a post-Christian world I am forced to wonder if “the
Church” is anything other than the world’s largest non-biblical
cult. Please
don’t stop reading yet! I don’t say that with any animosity
whatsoever, and I think I have some good reasons that I will
explain.
When the Scriptures are interpreted from the historical, grammatical, and cultural Jewish perspective that was held by the original authors and recipients of those Scriptures, very little of what I was taught — from the time I was a toddler in Sunday School through nine years of seminary[1] — about what the Church is, where the Church came from, and where the Church is going can be clearly supported from Scripture.
I am very concerned that there are more people being eternally “lost” than “saved” through the “ministry” of the Church, due to poor teaching and even worse exegesis. Yes, I realize that there are some pastors and teachers who earnestly believe what they are teaching — I certainly did. Am I saying that it is impossible to be “saved by grace through faith, plus nothing”? No! Heaven forbid! But as Messiah’s own brother Ya'akov (whose name the Church arbitrarily changed to “James”) clearly said, “Faith without action is useless” (James 2:26).
When He was asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” not once did Yeshua ever say, “Believe that I died for your sins and you will live with Me forever.” No! In every instance He pointed the individual to the Torah and told them to obey Torah and they would inherit eternal life. (For example, see Matthew 19:16-17; Mark 10:17-21, Luke 10:25-28, Luke 18:18-22) Of course, nobody but Yeshua could ever obey Torah perfectly. But now when anyone attempts to follow the Master’s teaching in this regard, the Church accuses them of Legalism or “Galatianism” — trying to return to the “tyranny of the Law.”
Yeshua and the Apostles did not start a new religion; they only reformed the old religion! They were calling Israel to repent — to turn away from sin and the legalistic system of the Pharisees, and turn back to God and His Torah — so they could inherit the Kingdom of God. I firmly believe that if Israel had corporately heeded their call to repentance, the Kingdom of God on Earth would have been established in the first century. Yeshua and the Apostles were offering Israel an imminent onset of the Kingdom. (Jeremiah 17:21-25; Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15) Were they lying and offering Israel a false hope? God forbid!
The Jewish followers of Yeshua during the first century did not organize themselves as a recognizable organization outside of mainstream Judaism. They didn’t run through Judea “planting churches” or even creating home churches. They didn’t “convert” to “Christianity.” They continued to live as Jews, continued participating in their local synagogues, continued to walk in accordance with God’s Torah, and they “continued faithfully and with a singleness of purpose to meet daily in the Temple” (Acts 2:46). They simply identified themselves as members of a new Jewish sect known as HaDerek, “the Way.” And that was the status of Messianic Judaism until the Messianic “heretics” were “cast out of the Synagogue” (excommunicated) by Chief Rabbi Akiva during the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (fought circa 132–136 CE).
When Jerusalem fell in 70 CE, most of the existing sects of Judaism disappeared. The Temple was destroyed so there was no further function for the Sadducees (who ran the Temple); the Zealots were all killed, captured, dispersed, or absorbed into mainstream Judaism; Qumran and the other Essene communities were overrun and destroyed. This left only two major sects of Judaism: the Pharisees and the Messianics.
The Pharisees and Messianics maintained fellowship together in the Synagogue until the Bar-Kokhba Revolt. At that time Rabbi Akiva (the Chief Rabbi) declared that all who failed to recognize Shimon Bar-Kokhba as the Messiah were heretics. The followers of the true Messiah — Yeshua — could obviously not acknowledge a false messiah, and that resulted in all true Messianic Believers being put out of Synagogue fellowship.
From 135 until 324, Pharisaic Judaism and Messianic Judaism went their separate ways. Pharisaic Judaism gradually evolved into today’s Rabbinical Judaism, and Messianic Judaism absorbed an ever-increasing number of Gentile Believers, until the Jewish Believers became a relatively small minority within what was still considered a “sect” of Judaism.
Until the establishment of the Roman State Religion in 324, the synagogue remained the only existing “form” or “model” for both Messianic and non-Messianic Judaism. In 306 Emperor Constantine ascended to the Roman throne. In 311 he decreed that the Venerable Day of the Sun (i.e., Sun-day) was the day on which no work could be done and everyone must worship the Sun God. Desiring to consolidate his total control over both the civil and religious life of the Roman Empire, in about 320-324 he created the blend of Messianic Judaism and Babylonian Paganism that was to become “the Church” at the Council of Nicaea in 325.
Following the Council of Nicaea, from which all the Jewish Elders were specifically “uninvited,” all members of the new Roman Church, which de facto included all citizens of the Empire, were given the choice of renouncing all traces of their Jewish heritage or being put to death. And until the rebirth of Messianic Judaism in 1967, that remained just about the only choice for Jews who accepted Yeshua as their Messiah — convert to Gentile “Christianity” and renounce all Jewish heritage, or renounce Messiah and be permitted to remain within the Jewish community. Messianic Judaism was not born in 1967; it is the first-Century sect of Yeshua-followers that was resurrected in 1967!
Now the Church almost universally teaches that the Torah, God’s loving instruction for all His people, has been abolished and is no longer of any value, that it is a part of that “obsolete Jewish religion.” The Church totally disregards Yeshua’s clear teaching that “whoever disobeys the least of these mitzvot [the 613 commandments of Torah] and teaches others to do so will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But whoever obeys them and so teaches will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:19). If we are to take Yeshua at His word, the entire Church is “the least in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The Church has systematically removed from itself everything that reminds it that it was once an exclusively Jewish movement, having created anti-Semitism as its rule for existence (see Anti-Semitic Decrees and Anti-Semitism in the Church). They conveniently totally forget that they claim to follow the Jewish Messiah! In all but the very rare Christian congregation, any Jew who comes to faith in Messiah and affiliates with the Church is expected to put off all Jewish tradition and live as a Gentile; some congregations go so far as to require the new member to demonstrate disdain for the Torah by eating “unclean” foods! The Church in general holds anything “Jewish” in contempt. To try to retain any trace of “Jewishness” is considered “Galatianism.” And yet Yeshua said:
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. And all the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, just as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. … Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine [His fellow Jews], even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ … Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; … Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these [again, His fellow Jews], you did not do it to Me.” These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-45, NAS)
The Church has almost universally turned its back on its Hebrew origins and wandered off into significant error, even paganism. It has:
- Accepted the church councils as Divine Authority, placing the “traditions of men” as higher authority than the Scriptures.
- Abandoned the true Gospel that was preached first by Yochanan (John) the Immerser, then by Yeshua, and then by the Apostles: “Repent [i.e. return to God and His Torah], the Kingdom of God is at hand!” They have turned instead to an easy, no-responsibility, no-obligation false “gospel” that offers free “fire insurance” by saying, “If you want to go to heaven, all you have to do is believe that Jesus died for your sins.” (Some add the requirement of being baptized.)
- Changed the dates of Scriptural Holy Days and given them new meaning:
- Changed the seventh day Sabbath to Sunday, the “venerable day of the Roman sun god”
- Changed Passover to “Good Friday”
- Changed First Fruits of Barley (Resurrection Day) to “Easter,” a fertility celebration named in honor of the goddess Ishtar (aka Astarte, Asherot, Diana of the Ephesians, and many other names), even using her fertility symbols of flowers and bunnies
- Changed the birthday of Messiah from the autumn Feast of Tabernacles to the pagan winter solstice (renaming the Roman feast Saturnalia to Christmas)
- Claimed Torah (God’s loving instruction) is not valid as a standard of righteousness for Christians
- Presented Messiah Yeshua (“Jesus,” they can’t even get His name right!) to the world as effeminate, non-Jewish, and a violator of Torah[2]
- Turned the glory of Messiah over to Popes, Cardinals, and Bishops; installed Yeshua’s mother Miryam (Mary) as the “Queen of Heaven” (replacing the false goddess who has traditionally held that title under various names, including Ishtar, Astarte, Asherot, and Diana of the Ephesians)
- Given more importance to Paul’s words than Yeshua’s words[3]
- Routinely forced Jewish disciples of Yeshua into Gentile assimilation to be accepted in the Church
- Replaced biblical Israel with non-biblical concept of “Church”[4]
- Usurped Israel’s place as God’s Bride,[5] calling itself “the Bride of Christ.” If Yeshua is God, and God hates divorce (Malachi 2:16, Matthew 19:8; Mark 10:11-12), how then has He divorced Israel and married “the Church” unless He expects those who call themselves “the Church” to be, in fact, part of His Bride Israel?
- Stolen Israel’s birthright and assumed for itself — with no corresponding obligation — all of God’s promises and covenants that are eternally for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
- Made Anti-Semitism commonplace in the Church: named the Jews “Christ-killers” and relegated them to a rejected people
Moreover, even though God allowed His chosen people and His true Bride, Israel, to suffer the tribulation of the Holocaust, the apostate “Church” teaches that for some totally unknown reason He is going to whisk all the “Christians” off to the safety of “heaven” before the Antichrist begins persecuting them. I can no longer believe that to be true. Even as I write this (September 2015), the Islamic Caliphate — which I believe to be typical of the confederation that ultimately comes against Israel in the quickly approaching “End Times” — is crucifying, burning, and beheading Christians (Revelation 20:4) throughout the Middle East. Has the “Tribulation Period” already begun?
God established a specific schedule of times that all His people were to set aside to meet with Him. They are the Moadim, God’s Appointed Times:
- The Sabbath (Leviticus 23:3)
- Pesach (Passover) (Leviticus 23:5)
- Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:6-7)
- First Fruits (Leviticus 23:10-11)
- Shavuot (Weeks, also known as Pentecost) (Leviticus 23:15-16)
- Shofarim (Yom Taruah, Trumpets) (Leviticus 23:24-25)
- Yom Kippur (Atonement) (Leviticus 23:27-30)
- Sukkot (Booths/Tabernacles) (Leviticus 23:34-36)
ADONAI said to Moshe, “Tell the people of Isra'el: ‘The designated times of ADONAI which you are to proclaim as holy convocations are My designated times. Work is to be done on six days; but the seventh day is a Shabbat of complete rest, a holy convocation; you are not to do any kind of work; it is a Shabbat for ADONAI, even in your homes. These are the designated times of ADONAI, the holy convocations you are to proclaim at their designated times’” (Leviticus 23:1-4, emphasis added).
But the Church arrogantly says to the Creator and Emperor of the Universe: “We don’t care what You say. We don’t have to come to You on Your terms. We will come to You on our own terms: Christmas, Easter, Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday night are our designated times!”
God sent Israel into Babylon for 40 years and into the Diaspora for 1,878 years for her arrogance, and He struck down the sons of the first High Priest Aaron because they arrogantly approached the Altar of God in a manner other than as He had prescribed (Leviticus 10:1-2). Yet the Church believes that she will be “raptured” in spite of her arrogance and disobedience!
Watch Laurence Kirk, M.D., teach on “False Teachers and Prophets” and then give me — truthfully — one single reason why God would ever rapture this version of “the Church.”
The Apostasy and Its Cure
Rav Sha'ul (the Apostle Paul) clearly says to the Thessalonians alonians and to Timothy that there will be a time of apostasy. (my emphasis)
Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, (2Thessalonians 2:3, NAS)
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way. For the Day will not come until after the Apostasy has come and the man who separates himself from Torah has been revealed, the one destined for doom. (2Thessalonians 2:3, CJB)
But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, (1Timothy 4:1, NAS)
The Spirit expressly states that in the acharit-hayamim some people will apostatize from the faith by paying attention to deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. (1Timothy 4:1, CJB)
But Hosea says that God will heal that apostasy.
I will heal their apostasy, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from them. (Hosea 14:4, NAS)
I believe that “the Church” is that apostasy, beginning with the establishment of the Roman State Religion in 325 CE and continuing to the present. Furthermore, I believe that the resurgence of Messianic Judaism starting in 1967 is the beginning of that cure.
Origin of the Rapture in Replacement Theology
The idea of a “Rapture” is a relatively new doctrine[6] that only began to be developed by 17th-century Plymouth Brethren, and was formalized in the 1830s by John Nelson Darby. It became popularized in the United States in the early 20th century through the wide circulation of the Scofield Reference Bible.[7] First and foremost, I have come to the opinion that the entire concept of the “Rapture of the Church” is based upon a serious compounding of errors that are based in Replacement Theology, so let's briefly discuss that first.
In a nutshell, Replacement Theology (held by all dispensational theologians and nearly all Christian churches) holds that God, Who never changes (Numbers 23:19; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17):
- has set aside His eternal and unchangeable Torah (2Kings 17:37; Psalm 1:2; Psalm 119:44; Psalm 119:142; Jeremiah 31:33; Micah 4:2; Matthew 5:17-20; Romans 2:13; Romans 3:31;
- has changed the conditions by which one is declared righteous and enters into a covenant relationships with God;
- has divorced His bride Israel and taken a new bride, the Church;
- has repealed, revoked, abrogated, and dissolved all of the eternal and irrevocable covenants that He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and with their “descendants forever”;
- has transferred all of the blessings and benefits, but absolutely none of the responsibilities, of those covenants to “the Church.”
See the article “Replacement Theology” for a more extensive discussion of that subject.
Etymology
The word “rapture” never occurs in English translations of Scripture. The entire dogma[8] is based on one single Greek word in 1Thessalonians 4:17:
… then we who are left still alive will be caught up (ἁρπάζω, harpadzo) with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord.
Harpadzo means:
1. to seize,
take, or carry off by an open display of force
2. to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly
3. to snatch out or away
(not out of the way)
Harpadzo in translated in the New American Standard Bible as: carry off, caught, snatch, snatched away, snatches, snatches away, snatching, take away by force, and take by force. It indicates to be taken by surprise in a sudden event, and is used in this way in Acts 8:39, 2Corinthians 12:2-4, and Revelation 12:5.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch saw no more of him, because he continued on his way - full of joy. (Acts 8:39)
I know a man in union with the Messiah who fourteen years ago was snatched up to the third heaven; whether he was in the body or outside the body I don't know, God knows. And I know that such a man - whether in the body or apart from the body I don't know, God knows - was snatched into Gan-'Eden (the Hebrew term for Paradise, literally Garden of Eden) and heard things that cannot be put into words, things unlawful for a human being to utter. (2Corinthians 12:2-4)
She gave birth to a son, a male child, the one who will rule all the nations with a staff of iron. But her child was snatched up to God and his throne; (the Ascension) (Revelation 12:5.)
The word rapture itself comes from the Latin word rapiemur, as the Vulgate translates the Greek harpadzo.
History of the Doctrine
The earliest record of the concept of the rapture in connection with premillennialism was expressed by the 17th-century American Puritan father and son Increase and Cotton Mather. They held to the idea that believers would be caught up in the air, followed by judgments on the Earth, and then the millennium. The term rapture was used by Philip Doddridge and John Gill in their New Testament commentaries, with the idea that believers would be caught up prior to judgment on the Earth and Jesus’ second coming.
John Nelson Darby first proposed and popularized the pre-tribulation rapture in 1827. [MORE HERE] This view was accepted among many other Plymouth Brethren movements in England. Darby and other prominent Brethren were part of the Brethren Movement which impacted American Christianity, especially with movements and teachings associated with Christian eschatology and fundamentalism, primarily through their writings. Popular books also contributed to acceptance of the pre-tribulation rapture, including William Eugene Blackstone’s book Jesus is Coming published in 1878 and which sold more than 1.3 million copies, and the Scofield Reference Bible, published in 1909 and 1919 and revised in 1967 (the Scofield Reference Bible was the standard text used by the first seminary I attended).
The early church fathers, the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox churches, the Anglican Communion, and many Protestant denominations have no tradition of a pre-Tribulation return of Christ and reject the doctrine of the Rapture.
Scripture Passages Used
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. [1Thessalonians 5:9, NAS]
This verse clearly speaks of salvation from eternal punishment, not avoiding the Tribulation. It makes very little sense to try to use this verse to support a “rapture,” even though the context is in a discussion of the coming “Day of the Lord,” the time of judgment that is to come. We need to take a look at the entire context, remembering that chapter and verse divisions are not part of Scripture, but only “bookmarks” that have been added by editors to make it easier to find and/or refer to a particular passage. I am leaving the numbers in place for reference.
Sanctification and Love
1Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, 5not in lustful passion, like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6and that no man transgress and defraud his brother in the matter because the Lord is the avenger in all these things, just as we also told you before and solemnly warned you. 7For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. 8So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you. 9Now as to the love of the brethren, you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; 10for indeed you do practice it toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, to excel still more, 11and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, 12so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need.
Those Who Died in Christ
13But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep [died, see John 11:11-14, for example] in Jesus. 15For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet [shofar] of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1Thessalonians 4, NAS)
The Day of the Lord
1Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2For you yourselves know full well that the Day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. 4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; 5for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness; 6so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober. 7For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and those who get drunk get drunk at night. 8But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation. 9For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him. 11Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.
Christian Conduct
12But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, 13and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another. 14We urge you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. (1Thessalonians 5:1-14, NAS)
As nearly as I can determine from the Scriptures there will be two resurrections or “regenerations” (as in the NASB). The first resurrection, of which Messiah was Himself the “first fruits,” will apparently be of the Elect from both before and after the Lord’s own resurrection for them to take part in the Millennial Kingdom. Among those will certainly be the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to whom the promise of the Land of Israel from the Nile River to the Euphrates River was made but not yet received. David also, according to prophecy, will rule over all of that Land from his throne in Israel. To the Emissaries Yeshua said, “in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28, NAS)
Yeshua will certainly reign for a thousand years, and it certainly appears the Patriarchs and Emissaries will reign during this period.
1Next I saw an angel coming down from heaven, who had the key to the Abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the Devil and Satan [the Adversary], and chained him up for a thousand years. 3He threw him into the Abyss, locked it and sealed it over him; so that he could not deceive the nations any more until the thousand years were over. After that, he has to be set free for a little while.
4Then I saw thrones, and those seated on them received authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for testifying about Yeshua and proclaiming the Word of God, also those who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands. They came to life and ruled with the Messiah for a thousand years. 5(The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were over.) This is the first resurrection. 6Blessed and holy is anyone who has a part in the first resurrection; over him the second death has no power. On the contrary, they will be cohanim of God and of the Messiah, and they will rule with him for the thousand years (Revelation 20:1-6, emphasis added).
However, the fact that there will be a resurrection and a thousand-year reign of Messiah certainly does not support the idea of a “rapture.”
The Last Shofar (Trumpet)
Look, I will tell you a secret — not all of us will die! But we will all be changed! It will take but a moment, the blink of an eye, at the final shofar. For the shofar will sound, and the dead will be raised to live forever, and we too will be changed. (1Corinthians 15:51-52)
Rav Sha'ul says that although not everybody will die, everybody will be changed from mortality to immortality. Compare:
For this material which can decay must be clothed with imperishability, this which is mortal must be clothed with immortality. When what decays puts on imperishability and what is mortal puts on immortality, then this passage in the Tanakh will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1Corinthians 15:53-54)
He is discussing the victory over death and our final transformation into the nature of Messiah.
Dear friends, we are God's children now; and it has not yet been made clear what we will become. We do know that when He appears, we will be like Him; because we will see Him as he really is. (1John 3:2)
As far as the timing of this change is concerned, it will not be a gradual change, but it will be instantaneous, “in the blink of an eye.” And it will occur “at the final shofar.” Since the shofar was sounded to call worshipers to the Temple for worship, he may possibly mean when we die and are called to our final rest in Messiah (the final final shofar).
If, however, this transformation occurs at the sounding of the seventh and final angel’s shofar in Yochanan’s vision of the Day of ADONAI, then it will occur at the end of the Great Tribulation (the Time of Jacob’s Troubles). A transformation, not a rapture before or at the beginning of the Tribulation.
The seventh angel sounded his shofar; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and his Messiah, and He will rule forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15)
But immediately following the trouble of those times, the sun will grow dark, the moon will stop shining (Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 24:23; Ezekiel 32:7; Joel 2:10,31; Joel 3:15-16; Amos 5:20; Amos 8:9; Zephaniah 1:15; Matthew 24:29-35; Acts 2:20; Revelation 6:12-17; Revelation 8:12), the stars will fall from the sky (Isaiah 34:4; Revelation 6:13), and the powers in heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man (Matthew 24:3; Revelation 1:7) will appear in the sky, all the tribes of the Land will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven (Daniel 7:13; Matthew 16:27; Matthew 24:3,37,39) with tremendous power and glory. He will send out his angels (Matthew 13:41) with a great shofar (Exodus 19:16; Deuteronomy 30:4; Isaiah 27:13; Zechariah 9:14; 1Corinthians 15:52; 1Thessalonians 4:16; Hebrews 12:19; Revelation 8:2; Revelation 11:15); and they will gather together his chosen people (Matthew 24:22) from the four winds (Daniel 7:2; Zechariah 2:6; Revelation 7:1), from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)
Having taken all these things into consideration, I still cannot see that the Scriptures support the Church’s idea of a “Rapture.” So the single passage upon which the entire idea is based is 1Thessalonians 4:13-17:
13Now, brothers, we want you to know the truth about those who have died; otherwise, you might become sad the way other people 14do who have nothing to hope for. For since we believe that Yeshua died and rose again [ἀνέστη (anestē), was resurrected], we also believe that in the same way God, through Yeshua, will take with Him those who have died. 15When we say this, we base it on the Lord's own word: we who remain alive when the Lord comes will certainly not take precedence over those who have died. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a rousing cry, with a call from one of the ruling angels, and with God's shofar; those who died united with the Messiah will be the first to rise [ἀναστήσονται (anastēsontai), be resurrected]; 17then we who are left still alive will be caught up [ἁρπαγησόμεθα (harpagēsometha), to seize, snatch, obtain by robbery] with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord.
The word in the Greek New Testament translated as “rise” in verse 16 (first to rise) is ἀναστήσονται (anastēsontai) — to raise up, set up; rise from among the dead; arise, appear; from ana and histemi; to stand up — exactly the same word that is used to in verse 14 speaking of Yeshua’s resurrection, with a different verb tense — ἀνέστη (anestē) — and to record Yeshua’s words “rise again” in Mark 8:31; Mark 10:34; Luke 18:33; and Luke 24:46) speaking of His own resurrection and in John 11:24 when Martha says to Yeshua, “I know that he [Lazarus] will rise again [be resurrected] in the resurrection on the last day.” The same word is used in Mark 12:23 when the Pharisees were trying to trick Yeshua by asking Him “when they rise again” in the resurrection, whose wife would be the woman who had married seven men. The word has nothing whatsoever to with rising up into the air, but with being resurrected from the dead. So we can see “that those who died united with the Messiah will be the first to rise” (be resurrected) again in the resurrection.
An Ingathering
So the entire dogma of a “Rapture” is based upon one single word in 1Thessalonians 4:17 — ἁρπαγησόμεθα (harpagēsometha), to seize, snatch, obtain by robbery — translated “will be caught up.” So how do we deal with the single verse that started it all?
… then we who are left still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we will always be with the Lord. (1Thessalonians 4:17)
If all the righteous are to be in Israel during Messiah’s thousand-year reign, it may be that this verse is simply referring to an ingathering to Israel to be with Messiah.
Isaiah said: “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” (Exodus 19:4)
Between June 1949 and September 1950, Israel ran a secret operation known as Operation Magic Carpet. During that time, 380 flights were made between Yemen and Israel, rescuing more than 49,000 Jews from Arab countries where they were being oppressed. When the Jews being rescued boarded the planes that would airlift them to Israel, they were sure that the Messiah had come. They had never seen planes before, and to them, these were the ‘eagles’ prophesized about in the book of Isaiah: “They will soar on wings like eagles” (Isaiah 40:31). To the Jews of Yemen, those airplanes were God’s eagles that would carry them home. And that’s how Operation Magic Carpet became more popularly known as Operation Wings of Eagles.
Internet article “On Wings of Eagles”
holylandmoments.org/uncategorized/on-wings-of-eagles-3
accessed 09/06/15On May 24, 1991, in a record-breaking airlift of 36 planes, the Israeli Air Force smuggled more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews from Addis Ababa International Airport to Israel. It was a Herculean task in many ways, not only because C-130 Hercules planes were used in the operation, but because the job was so enormous, unprecedented, and almost incomprehensible. … Wenda and the 14,000 other Ethiopian Jews transported to Israel in May 1991 are believed to be descendants of King Solomon. Cut off from the rest of the world for centuries, they thought they were the only Jews in the world. Still, they practiced Judaism, always believing that they would someday return to Zion.
Internet article “On Eagles' Wings: Operation Solomon”
behrmanhouse.com/RL/on-eagles-wings-operation-solomon
accessed 09/06/15
These two major airlifts of Jews from the Diaspora were are considered by many to be the fulfillment of Isaiah’s “eagles’ wings” prophecy.
Similarly, it may very well be that the fulfillment of 1Thessalonians 4:17 will be a massive airlift of Messianic Believers from the Diaspora to Israel at the beginning of Messiah’s Kingdom. Whether the means of that airlift are natural or supernatural remains to be seen.
The Bottom Line
The “bottom line” of this discussion for me (you certainly don’t need to agree) is this: If there is a rapture associated with Yeshua’s return, it will be of the faithful remnant, not of an apostate Church as a whole!
I think the “rapture” teaching is a convenient scare tactic; a tool used by (mostly) evangelicals (and “feel-good” pseudo-evangelicals) to frighten people into joining “the church” and increasing their membership numbers and their income. What the “rapture” teaching essentially says is this:
Hell on earth is coming soon. God is going to pour out his wrath on the earth, and especially on those terrible Jews who killed His Son, and He's going to use the Antichrist to do it. People are going to be tricked into getting the number “666” tattooed on their body or have a microchip associated with that number implanted in their skin. Everyone who doesn’t get that tattoo or microchip is going to be beheaded, crucified, or tortured to death in the most terrible ways possible. The world is going to be destroyed by fire, flood, horrible diseases, famine, and invasion by demons who look like big locusts. You really don’t want to be there when it happens!
But we have “good news” for you. We can give you a free ticket out of all this terror. If you will just join our church, then right before all these terrible things happen, Jesus will come and “beam you up” to heaven where you can ride out this storm in comfort and safety. To join our church all you have to do say the magic words[9] in public that you believe that Jesus is the Christ and that you accept Him as your personal savior, then we will dunk you in a tub of water or sprinkle a few drops of water on your forehead. That’s all there is to it.
And here’s even better news. You don’t have to worry about living a righteous life as God commands, because Jesus took care of all that oppressive “Law” stuff for you. You can go ahead and do pretty much whatever you want and live pretty much however you want to, as long as you follow the rules of our congregation so you don’t get kicked out and have to face the wrath of God.
However, there is one catch. There’s a time limit. If you don’t join our church before the “rapture,” then you are going to go through hell on earth, and after you are tortured to death by the Antichrist, you get to spend all of eternity in hell wishing you had taken our free offer.
I reject this message because I simply cannot find sufficient information in the Scriptures to support the position.
The position presented in this article is in total opposition to what I used
to believe and teach, so a lot more study is going to need to go into this
before I am satisfied I have reached a satisfactory final explanation.
More Thoughts on February 10, 2021
Late last night I had a train of thought I haven’t “thunk” before:
- If there is a rapture, where do the raptured people go?
- At no place in all of Scripture does it ever say that the righteous go to “heaven” [see “Is Heaven For Real”], either when they die or when they are “raptured.” So where do they go?
- And do their bodies go, or just their soul/spirit?
- If “heaven” is a spiritual place, how can physical bodies go there?
- If “heaven” is a physical place, where in the created universe is it?
- And so what would be the state of existence of a raptured person?
- And why doesn’t Scripture mention it?
- And if Scripture doesn’t mention it, why would someone believe it? (Other than the obvious fact that it’s much more comfortable to think that some of the “special people” among us might avoid the Tribulation period, so we invent a dogma that gives us that comfort.)
February 20, 2021
In Matthew 24:9-13 Yeshua is teaching His disciples about the “Tribulation” that was coming.
9At that time you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and put to death, and all peoples will hate you because of Me. 10At that time many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other, 11many false prophets will appear and fool many people; 12and many people's love will grow cold because of increased distance from Torah. 13But whoever holds out till the end will be delivered.
He told His disciples how to prepare themselves to endure it. He didn’t say, “Don’t worry about it; you won’t be here.” He said that those who remain faithful through the Tribulation “will be delivered” after it’s over. And wasn’t all this essentially fulfilled in 70 CE and several years thereafter when Rome destroyed the Temple and the city of Jerusalem, slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Jews, and drove all the remaining Jews into the Diaspora?
April 10, 2023
Here it is two years since my last post on the topic and I still do not have an answer that satisfies me. But I was listening to one of Rabbi Greg Hersberg’s (Beth Yeshua International, Macon, Georgia) old messages (31 August 2013) on God’s Appointed Times. Here are his thoughts on the matter: [Watch his video]
June 28, 2023
I just found this interesting video of Dr. Michael Heiser discussing the various schools of thought on the “Rapture.” My personal concern in all of this is one’s definition of “the Church.” Anyone who is totally honest can see that ”the Church” in America is largely in apostasy as of this writing. Clearly not everyone who claims to be in “the Church” (with its current position of “inclusiveness”) has actually entered into a saving relationship with the Messiah as He is actually described in the Bible. Surely if there is actually a “Rapture” event sometime in the future it will only include those individuals who have made the Yeshua of the Bible their personal Savior and true Lord of their life, as evidenced in their walk of faith.
Here are some additional things to think about while you are deciding what you believe about “the Rapture.”
September 4, 2023
Here is Michael Rood’s very brief teaching on the subject. I do not necessarily agree with all his points, but what he has to say is quite interesting.
Here is another very well-articulated discussion of the doctrine of the Rapture.
The Rapture: The Last Days According to Jesus with R.C. Sproul
1. Master of Arts (MA) in Biblical Studies, 2 years; Master of Theology (ThM), 3 years; Doctor of Theology (ThD), 2 years; Doctor of Ministry (DMin), 2 years. I also taught seminary classes for seven years as a Professor of Systematic Theology. [RETURN]
2. The “Jesus” of the Church is a gross caricature of the historical Yeshua of Nazareth. According to the Church, “Jesus was a good Christian boy who went to church every Sunday.” [SEE HERE] The Church teaches that He abandoned the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and started a new religion. He blatantly violated Torah and taught others to do so; He “nailed the Law (Torah) to His cross.” That presents Him to the Jewish community as a false prophet who must be rejected as Messiah! [RETURN]
3. I actually had a discussion with a member of a church I was pastoring and was discussing a particular teaching in one of Kefa‘s (Peter’s) letters. That person told me that whatever Peter wrote was irrelevant because Paul, not Peter, was the “Apostle to the Gentiles” and therefore Gentile Christians should accept only Paul’s writings as authoritative. That’s Marcionism and, unfortunately much of Marcion’s teaching still permeate the Church. [RETURN]
4. This is the heretical teaching known as “Replacement Theology.” [RETURN]
5. Israel is the Bride of HaShem; HaShem is Israel’s Bridegroom. Ezek 16:8-15; Jeremiah 31:32; Ezek 16:59-60; Isa 54:5; Jeremiah 3:20; Jeremiah 2:32; Ezek 16:32-34; Hos 1:2; Hos 9:1; Jeremiah 3:6-10; Hos 3:1-3; Isa 62:4-5; Jeremiah 31:31-33; Hos 2:16. Gentiles only become part of the Bride by being grafted into Israel (Rom 11:17-22) and becoming citizens in full standing of the Commonwealth of Israel. [RETURN]
6. Rabbi Greg Hershberg of Beth Yeshua International is fond of saying, “If it’s true, it’s not new; and if it’s new, it’s not true.” I agree with him. [RETURN]
7. “John Nelson Darby,” Wikipedia, accessed September 27, 2019. The Scofield Reference Bible was the official version used by my first seminary, which taught me Dispensationalism and Replacement Theology, both of which I now absolutely reject and refute in my teaching. [RETURN]
8. Dogma: “a point of view or tenet put forth as authoritative without adequate grounds” (Merriam-Webster online dictionary, accessed 31 October 2022). [RETURN]
9. Watch this video about “the Sinner’s Prayer.” [RETURN]
|
|
|
