I Kissed the Pre-Trib Rapture Goodbye: An Analysis on Every Rapture Passage in the Bible
RAPTURE#1
John 14:1-4
14 1“Let not
your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms(mansions). If it were not so, would I have told you that I go
to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be
also. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.”
Isaiah 2:3 3
and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let
us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of
Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4
He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into
plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
Isaiah 56:5 5
I will give in my house and within my
walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an
everlasting name that shall not be cut off.
Matthew 23:38 38 See,
your house is left to you desolate.
John 14:1-4 and Matthew
23:38 use the same Greek word for House (oikos), when Jesus is telling the Jews
that their House will be left desolate. Matthew 23:38 refers to the Order of
the Mosaic Covenant/Judaism/Temple of Stones. Likewise, the Father’s House is
the Order of the New Everlasting Covenant/Christianity/ Temple of Living
Stones. This has nothing to with clouds in Heaven or the Rapture. Futurists
tend to misinterpret John 14 because they do not use the Old Testament in order
to properly exegete. They immediately say it is the Rapture because that’s what
they want it to say or their Pastor tells them so without questioning.
Futurists “read it” into the passage and force their interpretation into the
text.
John 14:23 23
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father
will love him, and we will come to him and make our home(abode) with
him.
In
John 14:23, we see that Jesus and the Father will come and make their “home/abode” with them. The word abode is the same Greek word (monē) as
rooms/mansions in John 14:2!!!
This is not about believers going to Heaven, but Heaven going into believers. This
is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. John 12:26 shares similar language that
“rooms/mansions” is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer.
John 12:26 26
If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and
where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the
Father will honor him.
John 14:9-11 9
Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me,
Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the
Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else
believe on account of the works themselves.
John 17:20-23 20
“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through
their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as
you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us,
so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory
that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one
even as we are one, 23 I in them and
you in me, that they may become perfectly one,
so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved
me.
NOTE: This describes
the same unified relationship that the Father and Christ have together and how the
same relationship/indwelling will be extended to believers for the New Covenant.
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RAPTURE #2
Isaiah 26:19-21 19
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust,
awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth(shall cast out) to the dead. 20 Come, my people, enter your chambers, and shut your doors
behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until the fury has passed by.
21 For behold, the Lord is coming out from his place to punish the
inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the bloodshed
on it, and will no more cover its slain.
***NOTE: Rise doesn’t
mean rise to the sky. It means rise from the dust/spiritual death to spiritual
life (See Isaiah 60:1-3, 52:1-9, 51:17, Ephesians 5:14-quoting Isaiah 60).
***NOTE 2: There is no
mention of sky/heavens (Hebrew: Shamayim) or air (Hebrew: Ruah) anywhere in
this passage to say it is the Rapture.
***NOTE3: The phrase give birth/shall cast out doesn’t mean to cast out into
the sky!! The Hebrew word is Naphal. There are 434 translations of this word in
the Bible. The word can be translated to fall, lie down in worship, be cast
down, and fail. It is nothing related to the Rapture at all.
We should let scripture
interpret scripture or Isaiah interpret Isaiah. We should all be cautious on
how scripture is interpreted and not just randomly assign interpretations to
make scripture bend to our views. By using scripture with scripture, we are avoiding
our personal biases.
I believe Isaiah is using
imagery from Isaiah 37:36-38 (see also 2 Kings 19:35) and Exodus 12:22-23 to
explain a future judgment on Apostate (Ethnic/National) Israel during 70AD and
God’s people Spiritual Israel (Elect Jews and Gentiles) escaping judgment from
the Romans. National Israel’s remnant is the Resurrection of Spiritual Israel.
The Elect are the survivors/the First Fruits of Spiritual Israel just like
National Israel’s First Born sons didn’t die due to the application of the Passover
Blood on the door.
Isaiah 37:36-38 36
And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down
185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And
when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
37 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and
lived at Nineveh. 38 And as he was worshiping in the house of
Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the
sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned
in his place.
Exodus 12:22-23 22
Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch
the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until
the morning. 23 For the Lord will pass through to strike 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 enter your houses to strike you.
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RAPTURE#3
Isaiah 11:10-12 10
In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a SIGNAL for the
peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place
shall be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of
his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros,
from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the
sea. 12 He
will raise a SIGNAL for the nations and will
assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from
the four corners of the earth.
NOTE: The Root of Jesse
is a title for Jesus. This is about Him gathering his people universally. At
face value, it is difficult to determine if this is a Rapture passage or not.
It is only when you compare the other Isaiah passages and the Matthew 24
passage is when you see the evidence clearly.
Isaiah 27:12-13 12
In that day from the river Euphrates to the Brook of Egypt the Lord will
thresh out the grain, and you will be gleaned one by
one, O people of Israel. 13 And in that day a GREAT TRUMPET will be blown, and those who were lost in the
land of Assyria and those who were driven out to the land of Egypt
will come and worship the Lord on the holy mountain at
Jerusalem.
NOTE: The mirror
passage is in Matthew 24:31: And he will send
out his angels with a loud trumpet call,
and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other. This is NOT the Rapture because when we compare
Isaiah 11:12 and Isaiah 27:13 they are being taken to the Holy Mountain at Jerusalem/Zion,
not the sky or the Heavens. (See Galatians 4:21-31, Hebrews 12:18-29, and 1
Thessalonians 4:16-18 for further support).
Isaiah 66:18-21 18
“For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is
coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my
glory, 19 and I will set a SIGN among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to
Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands
far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare
my glory among the nations. 20 And they shall bring all your
brothers from all the nations as an offering to the Lord, on horses and in
chariots and in litters and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain
Jerusalem, says the Lord, just as the Israelites bring their
grain offering in a clean vessel to the house of the Lord. 21 And some of them also I will take for priests and for
Levites, says the Lord.
NOTE: This is NOT the Rapture when you compare
this passage with the notes above. The Sign is Destruction of The Old Covenant
Temple and proof of Jesus’ Enthronement in Heaven/Seated at the Right Hand of
the Father. Believers are gathered to the Holy Mountain spiritually (Zion).
Zion is the Spiritual Reality of the New Covenant.
Matthew 24:29-31 29
“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 heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30
Then will appear in heaven THE SIGN of the Son of Man,
and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of
Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And
he will send out his angels with a
loud trumpet call, and they
will gather his elect from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
NOTE: The Sign or the Signal is shown,
which triggers the gathering of the Church to Zion and the destruction of
Apostate of Israel in 70 AD from now until the end of the World. Noticed that
Isaiah 66:19 uses the word “survivors.”
Matthew 26:64 64
Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on YOU WILL SEE the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and
coming on the clouds of heaven.”
NOTE: The “YOU” is the
Pharisees and everyone (this Generation) who was responsible for the Death of Jesus.
This proves that this is judgment happened in near future and not far future
like futurists claim.
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***See blog of Comparison
between Exodus 19 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18***.
Exodus 19 uses the same
language and imagery to describe the Establishment of the Old Covenant, the
Order of the Law, Tabernacle (Temple), Mt. Sinai, and the Jewish Priesthood
while 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 is the mirror passage. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 is
the Establishment of the New Covenant, The Order of Grace, Spiritual Temple of Living Stones,
Mt. Zion, and the Christian Priesthood.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven
with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ
will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, 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. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
NOTE:The Greek for Air
is Aer (used 7 times in the Bible-never refers to Heaven). The Greek word for
Heaven is Ouranos (used 268 times in the Bible). You would think Paul would use
Ouranos for both since the Lord is descending from Heaven and rapturing us back
to Heaven. The Clouds have always been associated with God’s presence in the wilderness
and His Holiness during King Solomon’s Temple Ceremony.
NOTE 2: Here are the seven verses below that we see the Greek word Aer (air). It NEVER refers to Heaven, but to the sky/atmospheric region. If taken literally, we are stuck in the air in some kind of suspended animation, which sounds ridiculous. Therefore, this cannot be a Rapture verse. Also, note that Satan is the Prince of the Air, not the Prince of Heaven that would be crazy since they both use the same Greek word!!! When Christ was crucified, Satan lost ALL access to Heaven. This means that Satan is NOT the Prince of Heaven and we are NOT Raptured into Heaven if we are going to be consistent.
Acts 8:39 39
And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the
eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
NOTE: This is NOT a rapture to
Heaven, but a temporary earthly teleportation.
·
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter.
NOTE: This is NOT
a rapture to Heaven since Paul himself doesn’t even know how to describe the situation himself. We cannot
speculate. It can be just like Philip’s experience. Regardless, it was a
temporary experience and he was still back on the Earth. If anything, he might
have experienced the Spiritual Reality of Mt. Zion before 70AD.
***By comparing the
previous notes above (Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18), we can safely
compare this evidence to 1 Corinthians 15:35-58. As believers, we are saved and
experiencing the benefits of the New Covenant in a small degree until the End
of Time when they reach Full expression/Consummation. Our resurrection bodies
are gradually being glorified due to the process of sanctification until
completion. This process began in 70 AD when the Old Covenant Jewish Temple and
the Jewish religious practice were destroyed and the New Covenant came into
bloom. We still await the Final Coming of the Lord, the Physical Resurrection
of the Dead, and the Completion of our Glorified Bodies.***
I support a 70 AD
spiritual resurrection due to the following passages: Acts 23:6, Acts 24:14-15,
21; Acts 26:6-8.
Acts 23:6 6
Now when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees,
he cried out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. It is with respect to the hope and the resurrection of
the dead that I am on trial.”
Acts 24:14-15,21 14
But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I
worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and
written in the Prophets, 15 having a hope in God, which these men
themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both
the just and the unjust. 21 other than this one thing that I cried out while
standing among them: ‘It is with respect to the
resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’”
Acts 26:6-8 6
And NOW I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7
to which our twelve tribes hope to attain,
as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am
accused by Jews, O king! 8 Why is it
thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?
NOTE: Paul was on trial
due to the Resurrection. Why would he be on trial for something that was going
to occur 2000 plus years later? That doesn’t sound threatening. We see it was
something that the twelve tribes hope to obtain. The Pharisees knew that the
Resurrection of Spiritual Israel was the end of National Israel and that it was
approaching soon in 70AD. The Pharisees felt threatened by Paul and wanted to
kill him and the momentum of Christian Believers. Spiritual Israel was a sign
of the end of the Old Covenant and all its practices.
RAPTURE #5
11 But after the three and a half days
a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those
who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to
them, “Come up here!” And they went up
to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13
And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.
Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were
terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
NOTE: One of the things
we noticed is the 3.5 days and the breath of life. This borrows the imagery
from Christ’s resurrection. The breath of life is imagery borrowed from Genesis
and Ezekiel 37-The beginning of a New Creation/New Covenant/ New Life; the
slain and standing on their feet phrase supports this as a mirror passage.
After 67-70AD, Apostate Israel was destroyed and Spiritual Israel was
resurrected as God’s New Bride/Holy Nation/Chosen People. The Church has
survived persecution and death. The Gospel is now spreading nationwide now.
Ezekiel 37:9-10 9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
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RAPTURE#6
Matthew
24:24-44
24 Jesus
left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him
the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you
not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another
that will not be thrown down.” 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the
disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be,
and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And
Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in
my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you
will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this
must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in
various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then
they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be
hated by all nations for my name's sake. 10 And then many will fall away and
betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise
and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of
many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the
end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed
throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will
come. The Abomination of Desolation 15 “So when you see the abomination of
desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the
reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the
housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in
the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women
who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray
that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will
be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world
until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short,
no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be
cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There
he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise
and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even
the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the
wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do
not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far
as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the
vultures will gather. The Coming of the Son of Man 29
“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 heaven, and the
powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of
the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will
see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will
gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. The
Lesson of the Fig Tree 32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its
branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33
So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very
gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all
these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will
not pass away.36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the
angels of heaven, nor the Son,but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the
coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were
eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah
entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them
all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.40 Then two men will be in the
field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the
mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not
know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if
the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was
coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken
into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an
hour you do not expect.
Luke
17:20-37 20 Being
asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them,
“The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will
they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in
the midst of you.”And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you
will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. 23 And they will say to you, ‘Look,
there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. 24 For as the lightning
flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of
Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things
and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in
the days of the Son of Man. 27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and
being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood
came and destroyed them all. 28 Likewise, just as it was in the
days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and
building, 29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur
rained from heaven and destroyed them all— 30 so will it be on the day when the
Son of Man is revealed. 31
On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house,
not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field
not turn back. 32 Remember Lot's wife. 33 Whoever seeks to preserve
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. 34 I tell you, in that night
there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. 35 There
will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left.” 37 And they said to him, “Where,
Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
NOTE: As we can see, this is talking about being taken to judgment. Luke 17 mirrors Matthew 24 in language and in concept. They people asked where they were being taken to. They were being taken to judgment, not Heaven. Therefore, this cannot refer to the Rapture. Also, this shows that Luke 17 and Matthew 24 CANNOT BE DIVIDED IN BETWEEN. They are all 70AD or they are not inspired.
“No one book of scripture can be understood by
itself, any more than any one part of a tree or member of the body can be
understood without reference to the whole of which it is a part.
Charles Hodge
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