The Rapture Occurring at the same time as the First Resurrection of the Dead!!! (Part 3). Shalom Brothers and Sisters, we have covered part 1 and 2 with how the Rapture is exposed from the Old and New Testament. But, do you think the Rapture will coincide with the first resurrection? Let us see!!! The Rapture Coincides with the First Resurrection!!! In 1 Corinthians 15:20-23 (Paul) says; “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the first-fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.” Again in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 (Paul) says; “According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” And we read in Revelation 20:4-6; “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” These first two Scriptures refer to the resurrection of the church of God/Yahweh at the Rapture, because they mention those who are Christs in 1 Corinthians 15:23, the dead in Christ in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and they are both addressed to churches. However, the last Scripture in Revelation 20:4-6 places this resurrection after the Tribulation, because the people who are involved in it have overcome the mark of the beast, and were killed for their witness of Jesus/Yeshua. A literal interpretation of the first resurrection would be a single event, when all the righteous dead are raised together, on the last day of this Pre-Millennial Age. It is the first in order of the two mass resurrections that remain. It is first in quality also, because it is called a better resurrection in Hebrews 11:35, but if God/Yahweh had only meant better in quality in Revelation 20:5, He could have said so without causing such confusion: for God is not the author of confusion, in 1 Corinthians 14:33. This literal interpretation causes the case for Pre-Tribulation Rapture to fall flat on its face, because Pre-Tribulation Rapture includes a part resurrection of the righteous dead seven years earlier, and that would then have to be the first resurrection… To get round this, Pre-Tribulationist’s usually forsake a literal interpretation of the first resurrection, and count it as two or more events taking place over a period of about seven years. Let them speak for themselves: Pre-Tribulationist’s believe that the term first resurrection indicates that those raised are the FIRST IN KIND, and that such a distinction is far more important than the time factor involved. They believe that the first resurrection speaks, not necessarily of an event, but rather of AN ORDER OF RESURRECTION. It may occur in several stages...” Also, There are many stages in the first resurrection, for it is first in quality rather than in time. Their first resurrection therefore starts with the Rapture; it may have several stages (throughout the seven years of the tribulation period presumably), and ends on the last day of this Pre-Millennial Age. There are several objections to this: (1) The scripture clearly contradicts it: In 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 reads; Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. The word all in 1 Corinthians 15:51 obviously refers to both the dead and living in Christ/Yeshua, and how long does it take to resurrect and change them? Does a moment, or the twinkling of an eye, sound like a seven-year period of time? If not the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory is false… Does at the last trump sound like a seven-year period of time? If not then the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory is false… The phrase at the last trump is dative case in the Greek, which indicates a point in time, again showing that the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory contradicts Scriptures... (2) I do not know of anywhere in the Scripture where the word resurrection is interpreted in this way, where in its singular form it can represent several resurrections spread over a period of years. Pre-Tribulationist’s have therefore based their argument on an interpretation which has no Scriptural precedent, and without which it fails. The Word of God/Yahweh does not say that the resurrection has more than one stage, so they have added to God/Yahweh’s Word here. Their teaching is based therefore on what God/Yahweh’s Word does not say, rather than on what it does say… Surely this is wrong!!! If it did have several stages, then it should have been translated in the plural, the first resurrections, because it would literally refer to several resurrections, but it wasnt… (3) The word this in Revelation 20:5 refers back to people who had come through the Tribulation. They had overcome the mark of the beast, been beheaded for their witness of Jesus/Yeshua, and they lived and reigned with Christ/Yeshua for a thousand years… Notice, lived with him a thousand years, but if they had come up in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture they would have lived with him a thousand and seven years, wouldnt they? Again, the Pre-Tribulation Rapture teaching contradicts Scripture… (4) The interpretation first in kind, or first in quality rather than first in order is extreme. The word for first occurs 165 times in the New Testament in its masculine, feminine, and neuter forms, and is translated first (136), chief (9), etc., but best only once in Luke 15:22. The understanding first in quality is not an impossible meaning for protos, but it is most unlikely, especially as first in order is so obvious when there are two resurrections in view. Here again, only very flimsy evidence, and falls down without it support the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory... The First Resurrection of the Dead Occurs After the Tribulation!!! In Job 14:11-12 (Job) says; “As the water of a lake dries up or a riverbed becomes parched and dry, so he lies down and does not rise; till the heavens are no more, people will not awake or be roused from their sleep.” We read in Daniel 12:1-3; “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.” Matthew 24:29-31 (Jesus) tells us; ““Immediately after the distress of those days” “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’” “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”” In Mark 13:24-27 (Jesus) says; ““But in those days, following that distress,” “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’” “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.”” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 (Paul) tells; “According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” And in Revelation 20:4-6 we read; “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” Job said that the dead would not rise until, the heavens be no more, in Job 14:12, which indicates a time after the Tribulation, and on the day of the Lord: in 2 Peter 3:7-12 it reads; But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved for fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men… But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons aught you to be in all holy conversation and godliness. Looking for and hasting to the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? In order to get round this, Pre-Tribulationist’s must again add to God/Yahweh’s Word, and say that Job didnt mean all of the dead. Again, their objection is based on what God/Yahweh’s Word does not say, rather than what it says, and this is not right!!! Daniel indicated that the dead would rise after, a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation in Daniel 12:1. Surely this is referring to the Great Tribulation, and shows that the resurrection of the dead, and thus the Rapture, occurs after the Great Tribulation… This is confirmed by two gospel writers in Matthew 24:29-31; Immediately after the tribulation of those days ... they shall see the Son of man coming ... his angels ... shall gather his elect... And in Mark 14:24-27; But in those days, after that tribulation ... shall they see the Son of man coming ... his angels ... shall gather his elect... Both of these Scriptures show the same order, Tribulation first, then Jesus/Yeshua Coming, and His elect being gathered, which is both the Rapture and the first resurrection… No gospel writer alters this order, showing that the Rapture comes after the Tribulation!!! At the same time as the devil is bound, and cast into a bottomless pit for a thousand years in Revelation 20:1-3, the apostle John saw; the souls of those who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years, from Revelation 20:4. These are obviously people who were killed during the Tribulation, and had obtained the victory over the beast, but when did they resurrect? This is the first resurrection written in Revelation 20:5, proving that the first resurrection cannot occur before the Tribulation, otherwise theirs would have been the second resurrection. Thus it proves that the Rapture cannot take place before the Tribulation, because the first resurrection and the Rapture occur at the same time… Much rather this is the resurrection, which occurs at the last day, at Jesus/Yeshua’s Second Coming, which will be after the Tribulation as other sections show!!! The First Resurrection Occurs on the Last Day of this Pre-Millennial Age!!! In Daniel 12:13 it reads; “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.” John 6:39-40 (Jesus) says; “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” Again in John 6:44 (Jesus) says; “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:54 (Jesus) tells us here; “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” And in John 11:24; “Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”” Paul made it clear that the resurrection of the dead in Christ/Yeshua, which is known as the first resurrection, in Revelation 20:5-6, takes place at the same time as the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. These other Scriptures indicate that this will happen at the last day… (Please read John 6:39-40; 6:44; 6:54; 11:24), which refers to the last day of this present age after which the Millennium will commence. Every one of these phrases, at the last day, include the Greek words the esxath hmera, which are in the dative case; the case for indicating a point in time when an event occurs: The noun indicates the time when the action of the main verb is accomplished. The routinely denotes a point of time, answering the question, When? A corresponding temporal use is the locative of point of time: This means at a point of time. Therefore, the expression at the last day, literally means, at some point in time during the last day… By way of example, when Jesus/Yeshua was raised on the third day (in Matthew 17:23; 20:19; Mark 10:34), it was at some particular point in time on that day. When His body, the church of God/Yahweh, is raised at the end of the age, it will not take 7 years to come up. It will not be resurrected, a bit here, and a bit there, in several stages… It will all resurrect at a point in time on the last day of this present age, as the Scriptures show: In 1 Corinthians 15:52; 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. This is obviously not some long drawn out period of time, but, as the case indicates, an event which happens at a point in time. Martha confirmed that the resurrection and the last day refer to the same time in John 11:24, when every one who sees the son, and believes in him, in John 6:40, will be raised up. The term every one includes dead Jewish and Gentile Believers, those who will be killed during the Tribulation (read please Daniel 11:32-35; Revelation 2:10; 6:9-11; 7:13-14; 20:4), and the Old Testament saints. So the Gentiles will not be Raptured before the Jews, nor will the church of God/Yahweh be Raptured before the Tribulation, but all Believers will be Raptured together on the last day of this present age. If we interpret the last day literally, as a single day, then the Pre-Tribulation Rapture theory is destroyed, because it is obvious that many Scriptures show a resurrection after the Tribulation. Pre-Tribulationist’s try to get round this by refusing to interpret the word day literally. We have already seen that they attempt to spread the first resurrection over a seven year period, so the last day, which is really synonymous with the day of the Rapture, and is called the day of Christ (in Philippians 1:10; 2:16; 2 Thessalonians 2:2), they again interpret to be a period of time: the Day of Christ speaks of the period the Church spends in heaven with Christ between rapture and revelation. The problem with this interpretation is that nowhere in Scripture is a day given to mean a seven-year period of time. It can mean 12 hours from John 11:9, or a literal day of 24 hours, or even a year in prophecy, in Ezekiel 4:6. In some sense it could be as a thousand years as seen in 2 Peter 3:8, and in some places it is not a literal day in Jeremiah 31:32, but here, far from the principle of literal interpretation, which they defend so vehemently, they now invent a new meaning for the word day, for which there is no Scriptural precedent. Their case completely fails without these unscriptural interpretations… As a Post-Tribulationist’s, I have no problem in seeing the day of Christ as a literal day, the last one of this present age!!! Again, when they interpret the phrase the day of the LORD, they try to make this spread over a long period also, it is written; the Day of the Lord, in both Testaments, does not concern the Church but is the time of Gods wrath and judgment upon the world. It is not a twenty-four hour day, or one single event, but a period of time which starts after the rapture of the Church and incorporates the entirety of the Tribulation period. Again, they have gone far away from a literal interpretation, and now they have contradicted the Scripture in Isaiah 2:12, 17; For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low: And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day. If the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day, then it cannot refer to a period of time when the Antichrist will be upon the earth, demanding and receiving worship from all that dwell upon the earth in Revelation 13:8. Nor can it refer to a time when the Antichrist, opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God, from 2 Thessalonians 2:4. This is exaltation of man, not a time when every one who is proud and lifted up shall be brought low in Isaiah 2:12. They will all be brought low on the last literal day of this present age when Jesus/Yeshua returns to the Mount of Olives, in Zechariah 14:4. Then the Beast and the False Prophet will be taken and cast into the lake of fire, as written in Revelation 19:20, and his armies will be destroyed by fire, in Zechariah 14:12. The day of the Lord, in the context of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ/Yeshua, refers to the last day of this present age, when these things will come to pass, and the church of God/Yahweh will be Raptured: as read from 1 Corinthians 5:5; that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. So Brothers and Sisters in the message today we have come to understand that there is: The Rapture Occurring at the same time as the First Resurrection of the Dead!!! Be Blessed in the name and shed blood of Christ Jesus/Yeshua, and will you be part of the first resurrection…Hallelujah, Amen!!! PastorJeff Walker
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 09:37:52 +0000
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