Imminence Part 2

Q. I find it illogical reasoning. Pre-tribulation believers say that the word Church is not mentioned after Revelations chapter 3, which means the Church won’t be on earth (raptured out). Jesus was giving messages to the churches, so naturally, the word church was no longer mentioned subsequently. But what about the words “the saints” and “God’s people”?

Pre-tribulation supporters say the rapture is secret. How could it be secret when suddenly millions or billions of people disappear and accidents everywhere (driverless cars), missing family members, and children orphaned?

They say Rev. 3:10 means to take out of (raptured), but the original text means to protect. If Rev. 3:10 means raptured out, then no need for verses 11 and 12 as they won’t be on earth!

The problem may arise from a mindset that prioritizes ease and comfort. When someone with that mentality reads a verse such as:

1 Thes 1:10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come,

the interpretation would focus on being delivered from trouble altogether.

However, historically, that had not been God’s way. For example, He kept Noah’s family safe through the Flood. He did not whisk them away before the Flood came. When God delivered the Israelites out of Egypt, He delivered them through the Red Sea. God did not “rapture” them to safety. Throughout Israel’s history, He kept the nation as He promised the patriarchs but allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sins so that they would learn to follow Him. The same is true throughout church history. Why would He change His method to favor the last generation of Christians when most people’s love has grown cold (Mt 24:12)? So they won’t face trouble and learn? Hardly!

To justify their assertion, pre-tribulation proponents use circumstantial “evidence.” For instance,

• Rev 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

They claimed that “keep you from the hour of testing” means “keep you from the time of trouble,” i.e., take or rapture you away to avoid that period altogether. You pointed out that the New Living Translation is:

• NLT Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world.

But what is God’s method of protection? Remember the Ten Plagues?

• Ex 9:6 So the Lord did this thing on the next day, and all the livestock of Egypt died; but of the livestock of the sons of Israel, not one died.
• Ex 9:26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, there was no hail.
• Ex 10:23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings.
• Ex 12:23 For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you.

God’s way has always been to protect through the time of testing, not avoiding it. So, the argument based on the wording “hour” or “time” is not supported by actual examples.

What about the absence of the word “church” after Rev 3? Does that mean the Church has been raptured and is no longer on earth? Some even suggest that Rev 4:1’s “come up here” refers to the rapture:

• Rev 4:1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

This misinterprets Scripture as the phrase applies strictly to John, not the Church.

The above is an example of an “argument from silence,” a weak form of evidence. Borrowing from forensic investigations, direct physical, written, or verbal evidence is needed to “prove” a case. Circumstantial evidence can support an argument but is insufficient to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Your observations of “the saints” and “God’s people” are direct evidence in referencing the Church. But of course, pre-tribulation supporters claim that these apply only to the Jews or Christians saved after the rapture. If the mind is closed, you can find all kinds of excuses to justify yourself, which is sad!

Imminence

Q. People who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture claim that the Bible says the rapture will happen at any time, and we won’t know when. So, this is possible only if the rapture is pre-tribulation. If the rapture is post-tribulation, we would know it is after the 7-year tribulation. What is your view?

A. First, let us start with what the Bible says about rapture, imminent, and imminence, not what people say. While the concept of rapture or translation of Christians to meet the Lord is well-known, the word “rapture” itself does not appear in most English translations in use today. [It appeared once in DBY (Darby Translation, Songs 2:3) and four times in BBE (Bible in Basic English, Ps 28:7, 45:15, 51:8, and Prov 5:19). However, in these cases it is used in the sense of being rapturous, ecstatic, or extreme excitement. This is NOT “a seizing by violence; a hurrying along; rapidity with violence,” which is Webster’s definition and what most Christians understand rapture to mean.]

The adjective “imminent” appeared once in the NASB (New American Standard Bible), AMP (Amplified Bible), and LSB (Legacy Standard Bible) – 2 Pet 1:14, and three times in the NET (New English Translation) – Ps 27:3, Prov 10:14, and Hos 9:7. The noun “imminence” does not appear in contemporary English versions at all. The Greek word for imminent in 2 Pet 1:14 is transliterated tachinos, which means “swift, quick” of events soon to come or impending. Tachinos appeared twice in the Greek NT:

• 2 Pet 1:14 knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
• 2 Pet 2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

In 2 Pet 1:14, Peter was talking about his impending death, while in 2 Pet 2:1, he was referring to punishment that will quickly fall upon the false prophets and teachers. In neither case was he referring to the rapture of the Church.

So, what do pre-tribulation proponents base their claim that “the rapture is imminent” on? They based it on deductions from their interpretation of certain verses, not on direct biblical statements.

Second, let’s review the two primary passages that describe the rapture:

• 1 Thes 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then 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.
• 1 Co 15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Note the following:

• The rapture – the resurrection of the dead in Christ followed by those alive being caught up together to meet the Lord – will happen when the Lord descends from heaven. It will be a public event with loud sounds, not a secret rapture. Even pre-tribulation supporters agree that the Lord’s return will be after the tribulation and not before it.
• It will take place in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet of God. That is, it will happen very quickly. The text did not say at any moment or imminent, as pre-tribulation proponents claimed.

Then where does the idea of imminence come from? Let me quote a few verses cited by the pre-tribulation school to support their argument:

• Mt 24:36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
• Mt 24: 42, 44 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. For this reason, you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
• Mt 25:13 13 Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
• See also the parallel passage Mk 13:32-37

Their reasoning is since no one knows, not even the Son, the only conclusion is that it could happen at any moment or at any time. If something else needed to happen before the rapture, for example, the great tribulation, then that would be a sign, and we would know. On the surface, that sounds reasonable. But is that the only solution?

When the day or the hour of an event is not known, at any moment is one possible solution. Another possibility is that it is in the future, for which timing is indefinite, with or without signs. For example, when a child is born, the day or the hour of his (or her) death is unknown. Under normal circumstances, the current life expectancy for Canada in 2024 is 83 years. If he (she) has a fatal disease (with signs) or an accident (without signs), the life span would be cut short. The death may be imminent, but not necessarily. The timing of the death is unknown but need not be imminent. Similarly, the rapture’s timing is unknown but need not be imminent. This is simply logic.

Third, any Bible passage’s interpretation must be consistent with the context. What does the context of the quoted passages say?

• The immediate context of Mt 24:36 is the parable of the Fig Tree (Mt 24:32-41), which follows Christ’s glorious return in v 29-30, “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.” It refers to Christ’s Second Coming after the tribulation, not a pre-tribulation rapture.
• Mt 24:42’s context follows the parable of the Fig Tree, with the Lord warning His disciples to be ready for His coming. The subject has not changed. It is still after the tribulation.
• Mt 25:13’s context is the parable of the Ten Virgins (Mt 25:1-13). In Mt 25, the Lord taught two parables, the Ten Virgins followed by the parable of the Talents (Mt 25:14-30), before describing the Final Judgment (Mt 25:31-46). The entire chapter teaches about Judgment after the tribulation. It is not talking about a pre-tribulation rapture.

You can search other verses cited by pre-tribulation proponents to see whether they support their premise. But my bottom line is: how can we legitimately apply Bible passages describing post-tribulation events to justify a pre-tribulation and imminent rapture? We can’t! Period.

Fourth, one well-known author explained “imminence” as follows:

• Other things may happen before the imminent event, but nothing else must take place before it happens. If something else must take place before an event can happen, then that event is not imminent. In other words, the necessity of something else taking place first destroys the concept of imminency.

Unfortunately, his definition is what destroys their understanding of imminency.

Let me cite two examples in which the biblical characters involved did not expect an imminent rapture would derail what they thought would happen:

• Jn 21:18-19 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!” The Lord was prophesying how Peter would die. Remember, according to pre-tribulation supporters, He did not know the day and hour of the rapture. Did He assume an imminent rapture, which could occur before Peter’s death, to nullify His prophecy? I don’t think so.
• What about Paul? Was he an advocate of an imminent rapture by which God would deliver him out of his trials and tribulations? No. When he bid farewell to the Ephesian elders, he said in Acts 20:22-23, 25 And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. Paul did not know what would happen to him except that imprisonment and persecution awaited him in Jerusalem. He will not see the elders from Ephesus again. He also knew he would testify in Rome because the Lord told him. Acts 23:11 But on the night immediately following, the Lord stood at his side and said, “Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.”  This must occur before the rapture because the Lord said so, which destroys imminency according to the pre-tribulation school’s definition.

I can continue to provide a rebuttal for other points raised, but this is a short article, and I have written enough to show you my train of thought. If there are issues you want me to address, please specify them, and I would be glad to discuss them when I have time.

Multiple Raptures? (Part 4 of 4)

4. The Rapture is secret and instant (1 Co 15:50-54); the Second Coming is seen by all (Mt 24:29-30, Rev 1:7). I won’t repeat 1 Co 15:51-52 nor Mt 24:29-30, but the other verses are:

• 1 Co 15:50, 53-54 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. … For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
• Rev 1:7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

The Rapture is certainly instant – in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (1 Co 15:52), but how can it be in secret when it is preceded by a shout and the trumpet of God (1 Thes 4:16)? The transformation from perishable to imperishable, mortal to immortal is not in secret either, but public. Every eye will see the Lord coming, but they will see the sign of the Son of Man too – the resurrection and rapture! Hence this assertion is simply not valid.

5. The Rapture is imminent, likely to happen at any moment (1 Co 15: 50-54, 1 Thes 4:13-18, Titus 2:13); the Second Coming will not happen until certain events take place (Mt 24:15-30, 2 Thes 2:4, Rev 6-18).

• 1 Co 15:50-54, 1 Thes 4:13-17, Mt 24:29-30 see above.
• 1 Thes 4:18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
• Titus 2:13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
• Mt 24:15-28 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders to mislead, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you in advance. So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
• 2 Thes 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
• Rev 6-18 Please refer to the Bible.

For sure, certain events must precede Christ’s return, including:

• The abomination of desolation (Antichrist) standing in the holy place (the temple of God), displaying himself as God;
• Great tribulation;
• False Christs and false prophets;
• Deception to mislead the elect (believers), plus others.

But these signs do not nullify the Lord’s plain statement:

• Mt 24:24, 42 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Therefore, be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
• Mt 25:13 Be on the alert, then, for you do not know the day nor the hour.
• Mk 13:32-33 But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed, keep on the alert, for you do not know when the appointed time will come.
• Mk 13:35 Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—

The whole point is to “be on the alert,” even though we do not know the exact day and hour. Take heed.

And since the Rapture and the Second Coming are concurrent, being ready for the Lord’s return is being prepared for the Rapture. How else are we to look for “the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” when there are no signs as the separate incidents schools suggested?

Now, let me return to your original question, “Is the Second Coming a single event or a series of events, and can we have multi-raptures?” My answer is the Second Coming is a single event, and we do not need multiple raptures. Let me borrow from Dan 9:24. The purpose of the Second Coming is:

• to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy place.

The Rapture brings all of God’s children home. Christ’s Return brings justice to punish all evil. Both purposes are accomplished in a single event at the consummation of the age. I believe the various schools are arguing over superficial differences. Feel free to disagree and show me what I overlooked. Blessings!

Multiple Raptures? (Part 3 of 4)

The asserted differences consist of:

1. In the Rapture, believers meet the Lord in the air (1 Thes 4:17); in the Second Coming, Christ comes to the earth with His saints (Rev 19:14).

The Greek verb for “meet” is apantēsis, used when VIPs made a formal visit, and a welcoming party went out to meet and escort him back to their city or house. This word occurs three times in the NT, the other two being:

1. Mt 25:6 But at midnight, there was a shout, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.
2. Acts 28:15 And the brethren, when they heard about us, came from there as far as the Market of Appius and Three Inns to meet us. And when Paul saw them, he thanked God, and took courage.

In Mt 25, the wise virgins were ready and returned to the wedding feast with the bridegroom. In Acts 28, the brethren came from neighboring towns to accompany Paul to Rome. So, my interpretation of 1 Thes 4:17 is those believers went to meet the Lord in the air, then returned with Him to earth. It was one single event, not two separate incidents.

2. The Rapture is before the Tribulation (1 Thes 5:9; Rev 3:10); the Second Coming is after (Rev 17-18).

First, what do the passages say?

• 1 Thes 5:9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
• Rev 3:10 Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.
• Rev 17-18 Please refer to the Bible.

Pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and pre-wrath supporters claim that “not destined us for wrath” and “keep you from the hour of testing” imply that believers will be removed or raptured before the tribulation or wrath. That is one possible assumption. Another interpretation is that God will keep believers safe even as they go through tribulations all around them, as when the Lord made a distinction between Israel and Egypt during the ten plagues (Ex 8:22, 9:4, 26, 10:23, 12:13). The latter is God’s pattern, not the former. Throughout biblical and church history, God protected and delivered His people, not by removing them from the scene, but as they underwent trials.

• The Rapture is God delivering believers from the earth (1 Thes 4:13-17, 5:9); the Second Coming is God taking away unbelievers to judgment (Mt 13:41-42, 24:40-41, Rev 19:20-21). I will cite only those Rapture verses not already quoted above. The Second Coming passages are listed in full.

• 1 Thes 4:13-15 But 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. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For 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.
• Mt 13:41-42 The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
• Mt 24:40-41 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
• Rev 19:20-21 And the beast was seized and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

The Second Coming verses indicate God judging unbelievers, the Antichrist, and the false prophet, but do they prove that it is separate from the Rapture? My answer is NO. The difference in focus is easily explained by the respective context. In 1 Thes 4, Paul was comforting the Thessalonian Christians who thought the dead in Christ had missed the resurrection and were grieving over them. So, his emphasis was on explaining the sequence of the Rapture, not the details of Christ’s return. In Mt 13, 24, and Rev 19, Matthew and John were describing the end times and final judgment, so the focus was on the Lord judging the unbelievers.

What I find surprising, however, is that supporters of the separate incidents missed “the sign of the Son of Man.” As I have demonstrated, this can be none other than resurrection. In other words, the resurrection and rapture of Christians take place when Christ returns to judge the world, and the two are simply two sides of the same event!

(To be continued)

Multiple Raptures? (Part 2 of 4)

The classic texts for the Rapture are:

• 1 Thes 4:16-17 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then 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.
• 1 Co 15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

Note the following:

• The Lord will come with a shout and trumpet call, i.e., it will NOT be secret;
• The dead in Christ will be raised imperishable and rise first (resurrection);
• The alive in Christ will be changed, from perishable to imperishable, mortal to immortal, and be caught up (raptured) together with them to meet the Lord in the air;
• This will happen in the twinkling of an eye, i.e., instantaneous.

The primary texts for the Return of Christ are:

• Mt 24:29-31 “But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. (Also Mk 13:24-27; Lk 21:25-27)
• Rev 19:11-16 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness, He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems, and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Again, note the following:

• Christ’s return will be after the tribulation;
• There will be cosmic cataclysms;
• The sign of the Son of Man will appear, which we will examine next;
• Heavenly armies will follow Him;
• He will send His angels with a great trumpet to gather His elect i.e., Christians;
• He will strike down the nations with the wrath of God.

Before we compare the Rapture to the Return, let’s see what this sign of the Son of Man is. The scribes and Pharisees repeatedly asked the Lord for a sign. His answer was:

• Matthew 12:39-40 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
• Jonah 1:7 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.
• Matthew 16:4 An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
• Luke 11:29-30 As the crowds were increasing, He began to say, “This generation is a wicked generation; it seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

Some people thought the sign of the Son of Man was the cross. But the Lord Himself said unequivocally that His sign is the sign of Jonah, which is being raised from the dead after three days and three nights, i.e., resurrection. With this understanding, let us evaluate the claims of the separate incidents schools.

(To be continued)

Multiple Raptures? (Part 1 of 4)

Q. I identify the two prophets in Rev 11:3, 10 with Moses and Elijah as a result of their powers (Rev 11:6). Not only had their souls (or souls and bodies if the stolen dead body of Moses mentioned in Jude 1:9 was taken away by God for this purpose) already come down in the Transfiguration, but will come again in the end times in body and soul as the event in Rev 11 appears to happen on earth (because there will be death in Rev 11:9 and call from heaven to go up there later in Rev 11:12).

Some say Christ had already demonstrated His multiple ascensions and descents. He had descended to the visible sky of the earth to call Paul to service (Acts 9:3-5). If this is not a strong enough argument on descent from heaven as it was only a vision, then His own words that the women should not touch Him after His resurrection until He had ascended to meet the Father (Jn 20:17), but later His letting them hold on to His feet (Mt 28:9) should hint that He had ascended to meet the Father and descended again to appear on earth.

So my question is whether the so-called Second Coming is a single event or a series of events, and whether, based on the above study on Moses, Elijah, and Lord Jesus Christ, we can have multi-raptures, i.e. pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, and post-tribulation raptures can be all-embracing, i.e. they co-exist and are not at odds. And the dead believers may be raptured before the 7-year tribulation, descended in the middle of the tribulation, then raptured again, descended again at the end of the tribulation, to be raptured again?

1. First, let us define our terms. Let me quote from Wikipedia:

The “Rapture” is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Christians who are still alive, together will rise “in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thes 4:16b-17a)

Based on this generally accepted definition, the Rapture relates to all Christians, dead or alive, being caught up to meet the Lord. The examples you cited concerning Moses, Elijah, and the Lord Himself are all individuals ascending to heaven or descending to earth, not all Christians (the Church). So, technically, scholars would not classify them as raptures.

Second, before determining whether there are multiple raptures, we need to discern a broader subject of whether the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ are separate incidents or one and the same event. The common schools or views of the Rapture can be divided into two broad categories:

1. Those who treat them as separate incidents, with a “secret” rapture sometime before Christ’s public Second Coming. These include the:
   • Pre-tribulation view, with the Rapture taking place at the beginning of a seven-year Great Tribulation;
   • Mid-tribulation view, with the Rapture happening at the mid-point or three-and-a-half years into the Great Tribulation and
   • Pre-wrath views, with the Rapture before the seven bowls of God’s wrath judgments.

All three views have Christ’s Second Coming as a separate event at the end of the Great Tribulation, defined differently in each school.

2. Post-tribulation view that sees the Rapture and the Second Coming as one and the same event happening simultaneously.

Which category is correct? Proponents of the separate incidents views focus on their supposed differences. Let’s review the evidence.

(To be continued)

Do We Recognize Each Other in Heaven?

Q. I attended a funeral service for an 86-year-old lady who is a Christian. During the service, their children said they wished to meet their mom in Heaven soon. This raised a question in my mind. The question is: do we recognize each other in Heaven? For example, will that lady recognize her children in Heaven when they meet again?

There is no direct statement in the Bible to that effect, but lots of indirect evidence points to the conclusion that we will recognize each other in Heaven. For us to recognize each other, we must retain our identity and have the memory to recall it as the same person. Let us take a look at some cases in the Bible:

• Saul and the medium at Endor (1 Sam 28:3-19). Saul asked the medium to conjure up Samuel. When the woman brought up a divine being, Saul knew it was Samuel (v 14) and asked him what he should do (v 15).

• David and his infant son (2 Sam 12:13-23). The Lord struck David and Bathsheba’s son with illness (v 15) because of his adultery and murder of Uriah, and the child died. Initially, David fasted and wept to plead with God. But after the child’s death, David worshipped and stopped fasting because he knew he could not bring the child back, but he will go to him (v 23). The Lord has taken away David’s sin (v 13), so he knew he would not be banished to hell. He expected to see and recognize his son in Heaven.

• Jesus’ Transfiguration (Mt 17:1-8, Mk 9:2-8, Lk 9:28-36). Jesustook Peter, James, and John up a high mountain and was transfigured before them. Moses and Elijah appeared and talked with Jesus (Mt 17:3). Moses lived at least 1391-1271 BC, some historians suggesting even earlier. Elijah was born about 900 BC and taken up to Heaven. There was no way that the disciples could have seen them, yet Peter recognized who they were without Jesus introducing them. We may recognize people intuitively in Heaven.

• The rich man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31). In Hades, the rich man lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus (v 23) with him. All the individuals retained their identities and communicated with each other. Abraham reminded the rich man of his former life; he even remembered his five brothers. Since there is recognition in Hades, and Heaven is incomparably better, there is recognition in Heaven.

• Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances (Jn 20:19-29). Jesus appeared to His disciples for the first time on Easter Sunday (v 19) without Thomas, then again eight days later with Thomas (v 26). Both times they recognized Him.

• Paul’s consolation to the Thessalonians (1 Thes 4:13-18). Paul comforted the Thessalonians that when the Lord returns there will be a resurrection of those who have fallen asleep (died) in Christ (v 15). This will be followed by the rapture of those alive in Christ (v 17), to be always with the Lord. These would not be words of comfort for those who have lost loved ones if we will not recognize each other in Heaven.

There are other passages, but these give us sufficient evidence to believe that we will know each other in Heaven.

Judgment Seat of Christ

Q. Will Christians be judged in the great white throne judgment for their deeds?

A. Christians will be judged for their deeds, but not before the great white throne. The Bible is clear about the judgment of Christians:

• Rom 14:10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
• 2 Co 5:10 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.
• Rev 2:23 And I will kill her children with pestilence, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts, and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

Paul was addressing the church in Rome and Corinth, and the Lord was talking to the church in Thyatira. In all these cases, they were speaking to Christians, not all people in general.

But notice Paul said we will all stand before the judgment seat of God/Christ, NOT the great white throne (Rev 20:11). Those who stand before the throne are the ones who will be raised in the second resurrection after the millennium and Satan’s revote (Rev 20:7-8). These do not have their names written in the book of life and shall be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:15). They are non-Christians.

We have looked at “Who” will stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Let’s examine the “What, How, When, Where, and Why”. First, what will be judged before Christ’s judgment seat, and how? Although the term “judgment seat of God/Christ” does not appear in 1 Co 3, many scholars believe it to be Paul’s description of this judgment:

• 1 Co 3:10-15 ¹⁰ According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. ¹² Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. ¹⁴ If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. ¹⁵ If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

Note the following:

• What’s being judged is the quality, not quantity, of each man’s work, how he builds on the foundation of Jesus Christ, or how he has invested his life serving God and man.
• How? By fire, which could be literal or figurative of judgment (e.g., Heb 10:27; 2 Pet 3:7), or both.
• The work is divided into two categories based on the materials used: (1) that which will remain; and (2) that which will burn up. In other words, what’s important is whether it will endure under trial by fire.
• For the former, the worker will receive a reward. For the latter, the worker will suffer loss (of the reward), though he is still saved.

Second, when and where will this happen? There is no direct statement in either of the two direct passages. Some people believe it to be immediately after a person’s death:

• Heb 9:27 And just as it is destined for people to die once, and after this comes judgment.

Others deduce that it must be after the rapture because the dead in Christ won’t be raised until then. It must also be before the Millennium, as the martyrs will reign with Christ during that period.

• 1 Thes 4:15-17 For we say this 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. ¹⁶ For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 
• Rev 20:4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads and on their hands; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

Third, why? Didn’t Christ pay the penalty for our sins already? He most certainly did:

• 1 Pet 3:18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all time, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.

However, the purpose of the judgment seat is not punishment for sins, but recompense for deeds in the body (2 Co 5:10). The question of whether a believer is saved is settled already:

• Rom 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation at all for those who are in Christ Jesus.

But Jesus Himself promised in:

• Mt 16:27For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every person according to his deeds.

This issue will be settled during the judgment seat of Christ. The fearful part is not a loss of salvation, but seeing one’s life work burn up because it is worthless and losing his/her reward:

• Rev 3:11 I am coming quickly; hold firmly to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

Make sure that does not happen to you:

• 1 Co 9:27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Five Foolish Virgins (2 of 2)

(Continued from yesterday)

The second premise is that since the foolish virgins have oil, which in Scripture represents the Holy Spirit, they must be Christians. As evidence, supporters of this view cite:

• Mt 25:3 AMP For when the foolish took their lamps, they did not take any [extra] oil with them,
• Mt 25:8 The foolish said to the prudent, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’

It is true that oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit:

• Lk 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed,
• Acts 10:38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

and that without the Holy Spirit an individual cannot be a Christian:

• Rom 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

but the key is “do the foolish virgins have any oil”?

Notice that the word “extra” in Mt 25:3 AMP is in brackets, which means it is NOT in the Greek text, but supplied by the translators. Most literal word-for-word translations have:

• NASB For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
• ESV For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,
• NKJV Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,

Then how can their lamps be going out if they weren’t burning, which implied they had oil? To understand this, we need to know what type of lamps they were. The word “lamp” translates the Greek word “lampas”, which primarily means a torch, and appears 9 times in the NT:

• Of the lamps in the parable – Mt 25:1, 3, 4, 7, 8;
• When Judas betrays Jesus – Jn 18:3;
• In the upper room where Paul preached – Acts 20:8;
• In Rev 4:5, 8:10.

They were not small “Aladdin” style clay oil lamps, but clubs wrapped at the top with linen which were dipped in oil and then lit. When the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps (Mt 25:4), it wasn’t to add more oil when the oil in the supposed clay lamps burned out, it was to dip the torches in so the linen can be soaked in oil and lit. The foolish virgins who took their lamps but no oil with them (v 3) can still light them because of oil residue from the last use, but they go out immediately because there is no oil, period. Otherwise why would all five lamps go out at the same time? And, if they never had oil or the Holy Spirit to begin with, they were never saved.

Now if the foolish virgins were never saved in the first place, everything fits. My interpretation is therefore that the foolish virgins are in the company of the wise virgins, looked like them, participated in the same activities, but are not genuine believers. They are like the seeds that fell on the rocky places and immediately sprang up (lamps lit) but withered away (lamps going out) because they had no root (oil) (Mt 13:5-6). Or they are like tares sown among the wheat. They looked like wheat until the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident (Mt 13:5-6) by their lack of fruit. You will know them by their fruits (Mt 7:16, 20).

Having unlocked this key, let’s go back to your original questions. Will the foolish virgins be raptured? No, the rapture is for Christians only. Do they have to wait until they know Christ? Yes, because they are not believers. But I want to address the issue of partial rapture as well – I believe it is not biblical. There are two key passages on the rapture:

• 1 Thes 4:17-18 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then 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.
• 1 Co 15:51-52 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

You can observe that:

• The order of the rapture is the dead in Christ first, then those (Christians) who are alive when He returns;
• We will all be changed (from perishable to imperishable, from mortal to immortal);
• There is no distinction into grades of Christians, diligent vs. lazy, because it does not depend on works, but grace. If you are in Christ, whether already dead or still alive, you will be raised and raptured.

Partial rapture divides the one Body of Christ into parts that will be raptured and parts that won’t. That’s not scriptural. May I suggest you always base your doctrine on the text. Don’t start with your pet doctrine and try to find support in Scripture. That’s eisegesis, not exegesis. Hope this helps.

Rapture Revisited

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Pictures show:
* Separation of sheep and goats
* Separation criteria

Q. If the rapture occurred at the end of the tribulation, all the saints would be resurrected and transformed into glorified bodies and will enter the Millennium. Why then is judgment needed? After Christ returns the nations are judged, only the “sheep” enter the millennium. That means some of the sheep who know Christ and were not killed in the tribulation period, which leads to the rapture must happen during or pre-tribulation.

A. You seemed to have assumed that the “sheep” are tribulation saints who were not martyred during the Great Tribulation, and that they are the ones who will enter the millennium. But that’s not what the text said:

* Mt 25:32 (NASB) “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

The word “nations” in Greek is ethnos, from which we get ethnic groups, and appears in the NT 164 times, translated in the KJV as “Gentiles” 93 times, “nation” 64 times, “heathen” 5 times, and “people” twice. In the Septuagint, the Greek OT, it refers to foreign nations not worshipping the true God, or pagans. It is in the neuter gender in the Greek. The word “them” in v 32 is, however, masculine. This means that all the all the Gentile nations will be gathered before the Lord Jesus Christ, but He will judge them individually, not as groups. The nations are not the same as Christians. Then who are the “sheep”? I believe the clues are in several OT prophecies:

* Joel 2:11-13 The LORD thunders at the head of his army; his forces are beyond number, and mighty are those who obey his command. The day of the LORD is great; it is dreadful. Who can endure it? “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
* Zech 12:10, 12-14 “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. The land will mourn, each clan by itself, with their wives by themselves: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives, the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives, and all the rest of the clans and their wives.

The Day of the Lord refers to judgment day upon Christ’s return. Yet in Joel 2:12, after the Day of the Lord started, the LORD offers His people to return to the LORD their God. In Zech 12:10 the house of David will look on the Lord whom they have pierced and mourn. So there will be Jews who will recognize Christ after He returns. This is belief by sight, not by faith, and therefore not saving faith. They will not be raptured as they have not trusted in Him before His return, and are not yet saved.

But along with the Jewish remnant who will recognize Christ when they look on Him, there will be Gentiles in the same situation:

* Joel 2:32 And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said, among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
* Zech 14:16 Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

The sheep are Gentiles who have shown mercy to the least of the King’s brothers (Mt 25:40), but who have not believed until they encounter Him after His return. They will be judged, not for entry into heaven, which criteria should be “believe in the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:31, Rom 10:9), but entry into the millennium kingdom (Mt 25:34), which criteria is what they did to His brothers. They will be given the opportunity to enter the millennium to learn about the Lord and be saved. This is not the same as getting a second chance after death, as they are survivors and still have opportunity to believe. I think this is a better explanation taking all available evidence into account.