WHAT IS THE RAPTURE?
There are at least four major references to the rapture. It is like four eye witnesses to the same accident. The common themes from the accounts are:
1. The trump of God sounds
2. The resurrection of the dead in Christ to incorruptible glorified bodies.
3. The quickening of the “alive” in Christ to incorruptible glorified bodies.
4. All glorified saints rise to a gathering in the clouds where Jesus meets them.
Items in the quotes below, related to these four concepts are highlighted.
Matthew 24 KJV
24:15 When ye therefore shall
see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet,
stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him
understand:) 24:16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
24:17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 24:18 Neither let him which is
in the field return back to take his clothes. 24:19 And woe unto them that are
with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 24:20 But pray ye that
your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath
day: 24:21 For then shall be great
tribulation, such as was not since the
START OF TRIBULATION
beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be. 24:22 And except those
days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s
sake those days shall be shortened. 24:23 Then if any
man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs,
and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and
wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
24:25 Behold, I have told you before. 24:26 Wherefore
if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold,
he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. 24:27 For as
the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth
even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 24:28
For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. 24:29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars
shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
24:30 And then shall appear the sign of
the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes
of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. 24:31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. RAPTURE 24:32 Now learn a
parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth
forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 24:33 So likewise ye, when ye shall
see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till
all these ??REINCARNATED????????????????? things be
fulfilled. 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away. 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no
man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. 24:37 But as the days of Noe
were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 24:38 For as
in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark, 24:39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them
all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 24:40 Then shall two
be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.
RAPTURE
24:41 Two women shall be grinding at the
mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 24:42 Watch
therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. 24:43 But know this,
that if the goodman of the house had known in what
watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered
his house to be broken up. 24:44 Therefore
be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all
the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 25:32
And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one
from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from
the goats:
How does the rapture fit in with the kingdom of god/golden age?
Rev 20:6
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
ACCORDING TO EDGAR CAYCE – HE IS AMONG THIS GROUP. HE IS REINCARNATED IN NEBRASKA AND TRAVELS TO NEW YORK AT AGE 8 IN ~2100AD WHERE THEY ARE STILL REBUILDING FROM THE WAR OR EARTHQUAKE.
NOTE: THIS RESURRECTION IS DEPICTED BY CAYCE AS BEING REBORN AND COGNIZANT OF PREVIOUS LIVES.
Edgar Cayce stated in one reading (294-185) he would be asked to serve in Christ’s government around (2158) 2100 A.D.
In Rev. and others scriptures, “the first Resurrection” is to raise the prophets from the dead to serve as “Priests and Kings” in the world government of Christ. This is the purpose Cayce claims he was born to in ~2100 A.D. Resurrection and Reincarnation both imply a separate soul that exists outside the body.
Cayce once had a prophetic dream involving an event in his future incarnation on Earth. It gives us an interesting look into the future:
“I had been born again in 2100 A.D. in Nebraska. The sea apparently covered all of the western part of the country, as the city where I lived was on the coast. The family name was a strange one. At an early age as a child I declared myself to be Edgar Cayce who had lived 200 years before. Scientists, men with long beards, little hair, and thick glasses, were called in to observe me. They decided to visit the places where I said I had been born, lived, and worked in Kentucky, Alabama, New York, Michigan, and Virginia.
"Taking me with them the group of scientists visited these places in a long, cigar-shaped metal flying ship which moved at a high speed.
"Water covered part of Alabama. Norfolk, Virginia, had become an immense seaport. New York had been destroyed either by war or an immense earthquake and was being rebuilt. Industries were scattered over the countryside. Most of the houses were built of glass. Many records of my work as Edgar Cayce were discovered and collected.
"The group returned to Nebraska, taking the records with them to study... These changes in the Earth will come to pass, for the time and times and half times are at an end, and there begins those periods for the readjustments...”
Cayce himself stated that the future is not fixed and that human free will makes virtually everything possible.
The implications of Cayce being 8 years old when he is being examined for service indicates that reincarnation and resurrection are synonymous. In this example, Cayce could remember his past lives and pick up where he left off. The 3.5 years indicated in the text above occur just before Christ’s assumption of power.
Revelation 11:15-18 (HCSB)—
15 The seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He will reign forever and ever! 18 The nations were angry, but Your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to Your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear Your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18;
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are 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 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.
1 Corinthians 15:50-58;
50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
Rev10:7 - But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
52 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.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.
1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 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.
3 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 may be also.
4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.
===============================================================================================================
2
Thessalonians chapter 2 –
THE ANTICHRIST AND DESTRUCTION OF EVIL
King James Version
1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work.
=========================================================================================================================
TIMELINES
Revelation
Woman at the well
1.
Natural disasters (SEVERITY COULD DEPEND ON OUR ATTITUDE)
4.6.1. There occurs a great
earthquake where "the sun becomes black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
like blood"
4.6.2. The stars of heaven fall to the earth and the sky
recedes like a scroll being rolled up (6:13-14).STARS FROM HEAVEN FALL
4.6.3.
Every mountain and island is moved out of place (6:14). GREAT EARTHQUAKE POLE SHIFT?
4.6.4.
The people of earth retreat to caves in the mountains (6:15).
4.6.5. The survivors call upon the mountains and the rocks to
fall on them, so as to hide them from the "wrath of the Lamb" (6:16).
2. Wars/rumors of wars (SEVERITY COULD DEPEND ON OUR ATTITUDE)
ALL THE EVENTS TO THIS POINT CAN VARY SIGNIFICANTLY IN SEVERITY AND TIMING. THE REST START WITH “A COVENANT” AND ENDS 7 YEARS LATER.
3. Antichrist rise
DEFEATED AT SEA BY US
US AIRLIFTS JERUSALEM TO JORDAN
NY CITY NUKED
4.
Rapture – THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS
Rev10:7 - But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel,
when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
5. Significant Earth changes and Antichrist fall (SEVERITY COULD DEPEND ON OUR ATTITUDE) including CME
5.7.12. The temple of the tabernacle, in heaven, is opened. (15:1-5)
5.7.13. Seven angels are given a golden bowl, from the Four Living Creatures, that contains the wrath of God. (15:6-8)
6. Seven bowls are poured onto Earth: Seven natural disasters and preparation for man to fight aliens are made. Wrath of God
6.1. First Bowl: A "foul and loathsome sore" afflicts the followers of the beast. (16:1-2)
6.2. Second Bowl: The sea turns to blood and everything within it dies. (16:3)
6.3. Third Bowl: All fresh water turns to blood. (16:4-7)
6.4. Fourth Bowl: The sun scorches the Earth with intense heat. (16:8-9)SUN SCORCHES EARTH cme?
6.5. Fifth Bowl: There is total darkness and great pain in the Beast's kingdom. (16:10-11)
6.6. Sixth Bowl: Preparations are made for the final battle at Armageddon between the forces of good and evil. (16:12-16)
6.7. Seventh Bowl: A great earthquake: "every island fled away and the mountains were not found." (16:17-21)GREAT EARTHQUAKE
6. The Kingdom of God TO BE RULED BY CHRIST