INTERLUDE: RAPTURE
Any discussion of the end times first comes down to a consideration of the Rapture since that is what many of us consider part of the beginning of the Tribulation period. It's the startup discussion because many of us also DON'T consider it the beginning of the Tribulation. Many of us don't even think of it as a separate event from the Second Coming.
So let's first clearly define our terms for this blog and from what we believe to be very separate Bible verses showing each event.
The Rapture means the time Christ comes as a thief in the night, taking up his church, his body as it is at that time, from the population of the Earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pQdCPlxP50
So begin with:
https://www.gotquestions.org/rapture-of-the-church.html
Question: "What is the rapture of the church?"
Answer: The word rapture does not occur in the Bible. The term comes from a Latin word meaning “a carrying off, a transport, or a snatching away.” The concept of the “carrying off” or the rapture of the church is clearly taught in Scripture.
(Note: "the word rapture comes from the 4th century Latin vulgate translation of the Greek word "harpadzo" and was picked up as the best single word to describe the event." (LaHaye and Jenkins Are We Living in The End Times?). Perhaps more descriptive is the term "caught up." )
The rapture of the church is the event in which God “snatches away” all believers from the earth in order to make way for His righteous judgment to be poured out on the earth during the tribulation period. The rapture is described primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50–54. God will resurrect all believers who have died, give them glorified bodies, and take them from the earth, along with all living believers, who will also be given glorified bodies at that time. “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” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).
1Th 4:13 But it is our desire, brothers, that you may be certain about those who are sleeping; so that you may have no need for sorrow, as others have who are without hope.
14 For if we have faith that Jesus underwent death and came back again, even so those who are sleeping will come again with him by God's power.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are still living at the coming of the Lord, will not go before those who are sleeping.
16 Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a word of authority, with the voice of the chief angel, with the sound of a horn: and the dead in Christ will come to life first;
17 Then we who are still living will be taken up together with them into the clouds to see the Lord in the air: and so will we be for ever with the Lord.
18 So then, give comfort to one another with these words.
(BBE)
In reference to those who say this is a public event let me point out this is his voice and:
Joh 10:27 My sheep give ear to my voice, and I have knowledge of them, and they come after me:
28 And I give them eternal life; they will never come to destruction, and no one will ever take them out of my hand.
(BBE)
The eternal life reference tips this as a qualifier.
1Co 15:50 Now I say this, my brothers, that it is not possible for flesh and blood to have a part in the kingdom of God; and death may not have a part in life.
51 See, I am giving you the revelation of a secret: we will not all come to the sleep of death, but we will all be changed.
52 In a second, in the shutting of an eye, at the sound of the last horn: for at that sound the dead will come again, free for ever from the power of death, and we will be changed.
53 For this body which comes to destruction will be made free from the power of death, and the man who is under the power of death will put on eternal life.
54 But when this has taken place, then that which was said in the Writings will come true, Death is overcome by life.
55 O death, where is your power? O death, where are your pains?
56 The pain of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law:
57 But praise be to God who gives us strength to overcome through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 For this cause, my dear brothers, be strong in purpose and unmoved, ever giving yourselves to the work of the Lord, because you are certain that your work is not without effect in the Lord.
(BBE)
The rapture will involve an instantaneous transformation of our bodies to fit us for eternity. “We know that when he [Christ] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). (Note. I underline that we will see him because this is a distinguishing thing from the Second Coming itself where everyone will see Him.) The rapture is to be distinguished from the second coming. At the rapture, the Lord comes “in the clouds” to meet us “in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). At the second coming, the Lord descends all the way to the earth to stand on the Mount of Olives, resulting in a great earthquake followed by a defeat of God’s enemies (Zechariah 14:3–4).
Zec 14:1 See, a day of the Lord is coming when they will make division of your goods taken by force before your eyes.
2 For I will get all the nations together to make war against Jerusalem; and the town will be overcome, and the goods taken from the houses, and the women taken by force: and half the town will go away as prisoners, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the town.
3 Then the Lord will go out and make war against those nations, as he did in the day of the fight.
4 And in that day his feet will be on the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be parted in the middle to the east and to the west, forming a very great valley; and half the mountain will be moved to the north and half of it to the south.
5 And the valley will be stopped...and you will go in flight as you went in flight from the earth-shock in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah: and the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.
6 And in that day there will be no heat or cold or ice;
7 And it will be unbroken day, such as the Lord has knowledge of, without change of day and night, and even at nightfall it will be light.
8 And on that day living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them flowing to the sea on the east and half to the sea on the west: in summer and in winter it will be so.
9 And the Lord will be King over all the earth: in that day there will be one Lord and his name one.
(BBE)
The doctrine of the rapture was not taught in the Old Testament, which is why Paul calls it a “mystery” now revealed: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
The rapture of the church is a glorious event we should all be longing for. We will finally be free from sin. We will be in God’s presence forever. There is far too much debate over the meaning and scope of the rapture. This is not God’s intent. Rather, the rapture should be a comforting doctrine full of hope; God wants us to “encourage each other with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18).
Let me point out that many also argue about the timing of the event. Will it be pre-Tribulation or in the middle of the event or even at the end of the event? One pastor even suggested it would occur before the tribulation, then again in the middle and then at the end before the Second Coming. Some suggest the Second Coming is a two stage event and some of THOSE even suggest the stages occurs concurrently.
First I list the events of the Rapture as most teacher claim them, then the verses of the Second Coming as they are usually claimed. See what distinguishes them from each other.
RAPTURE (In addition to the above passages)
Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: have faith in God and have faith in me.
2 In my Father's house are rooms enough; if it was not so, would I have said that I am going to make ready a place for you?
3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to be with me, so that you may be where I am.
(BBE)
Php 3:20 For our country is in heaven; from where the Saviour for whom we are waiting will come, even the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 By whom this poor body of ours will be changed into the image of the body of his glory, in the measure of the working by which he is able to put all things under himself.
(BBE)
2Th 2:1 Now as to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our meeting with him, it is our desire, my brothers,
2 That you may not be moved in mind or troubled by a spirit, or by a word, or by a letter as from us, with the suggestion that the day of the Lord is even now come;
(BBE)
(Implication being that some will be left behind after the Rapture and Paul wants to assure them that it hasn't happened. )
Jas 5:7 Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come.
8 Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near.
9 Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.
(BBE)
(Again, assurances that Jesus has not yet come denoting the idea He will come and some will be left behind.)
1Pe 1:7 So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:
8 To whom your love is given, though you have not seen him; and the faith which you have in him, though you do not see him now, gives you joy greater than words and full of glory:
9 For so you have the true end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10 For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation;
11 Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them.
12 And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God's servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see.
13 So make your minds ready, and keep on the watch, hoping with all your power for the grace which is to come to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
(BBE)
1Jo 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. {in him: or, in it}
28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. {ye know that every: or, know ye etc.}
3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
(KJV)
Keeping in mind you know He has not come because the Holy Spirit is still in you. Again assurances that He has not come because His Spirit is in them and it will be gone when he comes for them. Meaning there will be left those without the Spirit.
Re 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
(KJV)
A perfect passage of the statement that there will be a Tribulation for those not yet saved and a separation for those who are BEFORE that time. It relates to:
Mt 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only,
Feel free to cite this passage whenever someone says they know the time Jesus will come for us.
37 And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
38 For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
39 and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
40 Then shall two man be in the field; one is taken, and one is left:
41 two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
(ASV)
Now is a good time to also remind you that we mentioned Enoch back when we talked about the flood. Everything builds on everything that went before it.
Ge 5:21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
(ASV)
This was the first "rapture event." The "took him" is not a reference to death but to a disappearance as this translation makes clearer:
24 And Enoch went on in God's ways: and he was not seen again, for God took him.
(BBE)
But a similar disappearance is also mentioned centuries later:
2Ki 2:11 And while they went on their way, going on talking together, suddenly there were carriages and horses of fire separating them from one another and Elijah went up to heaven in a great wind.
12 And when Elisha saw it he gave a cry, My father, my father, the carriages of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no longer; and he was full of grief.
13 Then he took up Elijah's robe, which had been dropped from him, and went back till he came to the edge of Jordan.
14 And he took Elijah's robe, which had been dropped from him, and giving the water a blow with it, said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? and at his blow the waters were parted this way and that; and Elisha went over.
(BBE)
So there are definite precedents for a Rapture in Scripture.
On the Second Coming:
Da 7:9 I went on looking till the seats of kings were placed, and one like a very old man took his seat: his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool; his seat was flames of fire and its wheels burning fire.
10 A stream of fire was flowing and coming out from before him: a thousand thousands were his servants, and ten thousand times ten thousand were in their places before him: the judge was seated and the books were open.
11 Then I saw--because of the voice of the great words which the horn said--I saw till the beast was put to death, and its body was given to destruction, and the beast was given to the burning of fire.
12 As for the rest of the beasts, their authority was taken away: but they let them go on living for a measure of time.
13 I saw in visions of the night, and there was coming with the clouds of heaven one like a man, and he came to the one who was very old, and they took him near before him.
14 And to him was given authority and glory and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages were his servants: his authority is an eternal authority which will not come to an end, and his kingdom is one which will not come to destruction.
(BBE)
Mt 24:15 When, then, you see in the holy place the unclean thing which makes destruction, of which word was given by Daniel the prophet (let this be clear to the reader),
16 Then let those who are in Judaea go in flight to the mountains:
17 Let not him who is on the house-top go down to take anything out of his house:
18 And let not him who is in the field go back to get his coat.
19 But it will be hard for women who are with child and for those with babies at the breast in those days.
20 And say a prayer that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.
21 Because in those days there will be great sorrow, such as there has not been from the start of the world till now, or ever will be.
22 And if those days had not been made short there would have been no salvation for any, but because of the saints those days will be made short.
23 Then if any man says to you, See, here is the Christ, or, Here; do not put faith in him;
24 For there will come up false Christs, and false prophets, who will do great signs and wonders; so that if possible even the saints might be tricked.
25 See, I have made it clear to you before it comes about.
26 If, then, they say to you, See, he is in the waste land; go not out: See, he is in the inner rooms; put no faith in it.
27 Because as in a thunderstorm the bright light coming from the east is seen even in the west; so will be the coming of the Son of man.
28 Wherever the dead body is, there will the eagles come together.
29 But straight away, after the trouble of those days, the sun will be made dark and the moon will not give her light and the stars will come down from heaven and the powers of heaven will be moved:
30 And then the sign of the Son of man will be seen in heaven: and then all the nations of the earth will have sorrow, 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 great sound of a horn, and they will get his saints together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
(BBE)
This is a Great Appearance passage. Notice he gathers his people ALREADY in heaven and ones still on Earth.
Mt 26:64 Jesus says to him, You say so: but I say to you, From now you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
(BBE)
Mr 13:14 But when you see the unclean thing which makes destruction, in the place where it has no right to be (let this be clear to the reader), then let those who are in Judaea go quickly to the mountains:
15 And let him who is on the house-top not go down, or go in, to take anything out of his house:
16 And let not him who is in the field go back to take his coat.
17 And it will be hard for women who are with child and for her who has a baby at the breast in those days.
18 And say a prayer that it may not be in the winter.
19 For in those days there will be sorrow, such as there has not been from the time when God made the world till now, and will not ever be again.
20 And if the Lord had not made the time short, no flesh would have been kept from destruction; but because of the saints he has made the time short.
21 And then if any man says to you, See, here is Christ; or, See, there; have no faith in it:
22 Because there will be false Christs and false prophets, and they will give signs and wonders in the hope of turning even the saints from the true way.
23 But take care; see, I have made all things clear to you before the time.
24 But in those days, after that time of trouble, the sun will be made dark and the moon will not give her light,
25 And the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers which are in the heavens will be moved.
26 And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then he will send out the angels, and will get together his saints from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.
(BBE)
Second witness confirmation.
From LaHaye and Jenkins works
Second Coming Passages
Daniel 2:44-45
Daniel 7:9-14
Daniel 12:1-3
Zechariah 12:10
Zechariah 14:1-15
Matthew 13:41
Matthew 24:15-31
Matthew 26:64
Mark 13:14-27
Mark 14:62
Luke 21:25-28
Acts 1:9-11
Acts 3:19-21
I Thessalonians 3:13
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10
2 Thessalonians 2:8
I Peter 4:12-13
II Peter 3:1-14
Jude 1:14-15
Revelation 1:7
-Revelation 19:11-20:6
Revelation 22:7, 12, 20
I list those instead of printing all of them. I showed only a partial listing of their many Rapture passages because some really weren't a "proof text" unless you came at them from an established Premil perspective. In fact, the Second Coming passages they named above actually tend to prove the Rapture as i mentioned. I suspect someone compiled a list years ago and someone stopped paying attention after a while, relisting on autopilot. There are a few sites out there which will happily pop up first on Goggle to tell you we believe in a "secret" Rapture and that makes it not true. Someone a century or so back likely used the word "secret" in reference to something somewhere and the cynics on the other side who choose, CHOOSE not to believe in a division of His Coming jumped on it to say all those people disappearing would not be secret and weren't we fools for believing? And everyone would hear His voice from the heavens. Even though He said His sheep know His voice.
I mention that because I make mistakes like that when I get all head up in believing a theory of the way things are. We all want to believe how things are, that we have the definition, that we have it down pat.
Jesus knew that we are like that. Remember he never seemed to heal blindness the same way twice? He never told the same parable. He challenged every established idea and every establishment. And I understand after all those best sellers that LaHaye and Jenkins, and their Pre-Trib and Pre-Mil dispensationalism seem to be the establishment but that forgets preterist, Amil and postmil beliefs are actually the "establishment." But I also have a few beliefs that vary from Lahaye and Jenkins..
America isn't in the Bible in the End Times anywhere. And L & J make a team of US citizens the Tribulation Force beginning. The Rapture seems like it would shock the world. yet there seem to be no reverbs of it in the Bible. A massive disappearance would alert everyone who read the Bible or saw any of the Left Behind movies or read any of the books or got a tape recording from a gone friend that he "left this message on a Rapture Service designed to send it out: when he hadn't checked in after a period of time, would alert the world and call up Israel that the bad guy was the one trying to sign a treaty with them. There are answers to both those questions.
First there is the great deception:
Mt 24:23 Then if any man says to you, See, here is the Christ, or, Here; do not put faith in him;
24 For there will come up false Christs, and false prophets, who will do great signs and wonders; so that if possible even the saints might be tricked.
25 See, I have made it clear to you before it comes about.
(BBE)
Three gospels record Jesus' warning of many false teachers deceiving the people as the end of the age approaches . Jesus caution above demonstrates that most directly. Jesus issued these warnings to help believers avoid deception (John 16:1-4). The Apostle Paul offered similar warnings on numerous occasions. He warned that false teachers led by a different spirit would preach a different gospel than Jesus preached, and would mislead people to accept a false Jesus that does not match up with the Jesus of Scripture
(BBE)
A previous post covered the way some believers see themselves as God incarnate through jesus and see themselves as creating a new world through enforcing the Law. making things perfect for jeus to come back and claim it. The usual depiction of life after the Rapture show some Christians who weren't living correctly left behind to talk to others. whaty if those left behind are dominion believers who don't know of the Rapture and think they will be there to greet Christ? Instead f the usual: "The Rapture came and I', left behind!" wouldn't the thinking instead be: "I'm still here so obviously it wasn't the Rapture that occurred." Amil believers who never accepted Jesus personally but believed they were saved by being members of the church would be equally susceptible to that same thinking. And the dominion, name it claim it mistake has been going for decades, might lay claim to the lives of millions now called Christian. It they are following the wrong spirit and most of their teaching indicates they are, then the removal of the Holy Spirit might not effect them as a wake up call. the warnings in the Bible are the opposite, that the evil spirits will be unleashed to greater power when the Rapture occurs. Some might even go to extensive efforts to destroy any warning messages and any books containing such messages.
Now, say the Rapture happens during the Russian assault on Israel or just before the assault. Would the King of the North be willing to step forward and claim it was a secret weapon he used and use that to persuade any other countries from allying with Israel and from defending them? Would someone like the Antichrist step forward AFTER the attack and say it had been a secret weapon of the King of the North that he, the Antichrist, had somehow neutralized and therefore everyone would worship him for stopping the weapon before it killed everyone? And when no more disappearances came about he would surely be hailed and worshiped.
Say it happened before or during the destruction after the assault then those claims could be the same made and the result the same.
New Age believers have the idea of the harmonic conversion, that at some moment, the universe will align and the New Age will begin with the removal of those who are not "in sync" with it's designs:
"The Eight Years of the Harmonic Conversion
"First there was the Harmonic Convergence, then, 16 years later, came the Harmonic Concordance. That opened a 260-day cycle from Blue Crystal Storm (November 8, 2003) to Blue Crystal Storm (July 26, 2004), the Day of the Great Calendar Change. But even before this 260-day sacred cycle is complete, with just 48 days to go, comes the Venus Transit of 2004. Venus transits always come in pulses eight years apart, separated by either 130 or 113 years from their points of initiation (130 = 13 x 10, 113, a prime number). That means the concluding transit will be in 2012. This is the sign in the sky that the Eight Years of the Harmonic Conversion are now beginning.
"The Great Calendar Change of 2004 means that victory has already been granted to the New Time. The Law of Time has manifest on the Earth and now it is raising to a new level of consciousness human beings from all sectors of global society. In the synchronic order of the New Time, the Venus transit occurs on the 10th day of the Crystal Moon, on the day Blue Electric Monkey, Kin 211. In the Cube of the Law, the 10th day of the moon is Cube four, the position ruled by Pacal Votan. In one week it will be the 52nd anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of Pacal Votan, a discovery that augured the beginning of the time of the Mayan prophecies. The day Blue Electric Monkey, also a Galactic Activation Portal, is the first of the clear signs on the western edge of the sarcophagus lid, indicating that today, the Venus Transit, is a sign of fulfillment of prophecy."
I don't list the web site I got this from, I am not imaginative enough to dream this stuff up. It is not my own writing which is enough to say. Like the Jehovah's Witnesses, New Age Gnostics keep saying the world will change at a specific time and then it doesn't so they reevaluate their teachings and revise and keep saying it is coming soon. When people disappear they will likely claim it happened just as they said it would. So there is yet another religious ideal intervening.
It could be that it will be seen as a mystery ad everyone will shrug their shoulders and go on claiming it is all too vast to understand.
About understanding the Rapture itself, and the whole Resurrection and the timing, recall our teachings on Judges and how we showed it resembled the church age and presaged it. then we arrived at Ruth. She was an outsider brought in by her mother-in-law and she went to glean in the fields, meeting Boaz who every commentator names as the kinsman redeemer and a symbol of Jesus.
Recall that Jesus compares the Christian conversion to a harvest. Paul carries that over in his letters mentioning Christ as first fruits.
https://jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/newsletter-mar-1997/first-fruits-in-the-bible/
“Firstfruits” refers to the first portion of the harvest which is given to God. Most notably the firstfruits are:
Jesus was the first fruits and those directly after him were the wave sheaf :
http://www.hope-of-israel.org/waveshf.htm
Clearly, then, the wave sheaf -- contrary to what many have assumed and believed -- does NOT refer to the Messiah at all -- but rather is made possible BY the sacrifice of the Messiah, which precedes it in time sequence! We have the following sequence of events:
1) The sacrifice of the Messiah on Nisan 14, late afternoon;
2) The holy day of Passover -- Nisan 15 (also the weekly Sabbath);
3) The next evening, as Nisan 16 began, a sheaf (bundle) of grain is selected from the field across the Kidron valley, east of Jerusalem, and cut and bundled;
4) The next morning, Nisan 16, it is prepared and waved before the LORD and accepted of Him as "THE FIRSTFRUITS" of the harvest.
Do you begin to comprehend? Do you see? The wave sheaf offering is an offering, which is a BUNDLE OF SEPARATE BARLEY GRAINS, FROM A NUMBER OF PLANTS, AMOUNTING TO AN "OMER" -- about five pints, or two and one half quarts. This offering followed the offering of the Messiah, as our Passover lamb, who paid for our sins. It was accompanied by the burnt offering of a lamb -- the Messiah -- without blemish (Leviticus 23:12).
This Wave Sheaf Offering initiated the first of the firstfruits' harvests and was accompanied by a meal offering of grain mixed with oil and a drink offering of wine. Some Bible translations describe this offering as a sheaf being waved, however a sheaf, in its usual sense of a stalk of grain, is NOT what was waved here. In fact, the Bible does not actually refer to this ceremony as "the Wave Sheaf Offering." The Hebrew word omer, that is translated "sheaf" was actually a "measure of things dry." The very first of the firstfruits' crop offered as a "wave sheaf" offering in the Temple was, as mentioned above, about 2 1/2 quarts of barley grain that had been parched (roasted), thrashed and sieved into a fine flour. So this grain offering was very similar to other grain offerings that were waved before YEHOVAH God.
Mt 27:52 And the resting-places of the dead came open; and the bodies of a number of sleeping saints came to life;
53 And coming out of their resting-places, after he had come again from the dead, they went into the holy town and were seen by a number of people.
(BBE)
In the Book of Ruth, Boaz is in the fields.with his crew. They are working in the harvest and he sees Ruth.gleaning. Gleaning, as we've mentioned, is the harvesting of the outsides of the fields where grain was left for the poor once the main harvest had been finished. That main harvest is done under the master's eye and would be the equivalent of the Rapture. the taking of the main body of the Church. The first part of the Second Coming according to most Rapture authorities, the last stage of the harvest would be the resurrecting of the Tribulation saints.
That says a lot about what happens afterward and we will come back to touch on it, but let's dwell on this one item: the Resurrection is the time we who are saved get our Final Flesh. The time we are made over to be like Him.
(Note: Hal Lindsey's book The Rapture is much more extensive than this treatment and recommended.)
Any discussion of the end times first comes down to a consideration of the Rapture since that is what many of us consider part of the beginning of the Tribulation period. It's the startup discussion because many of us also DON'T consider it the beginning of the Tribulation. Many of us don't even think of it as a separate event from the Second Coming.
So let's first clearly define our terms for this blog and from what we believe to be very separate Bible verses showing each event.
The Rapture means the time Christ comes as a thief in the night, taking up his church, his body as it is at that time, from the population of the Earth.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pQdCPlxP50
So begin with:
https://www.gotquestions.org/rapture-of-the-church.html
Question: "What is the rapture of the church?"
Answer: The word rapture does not occur in the Bible. The term comes from a Latin word meaning “a carrying off, a transport, or a snatching away.” The concept of the “carrying off” or the rapture of the church is clearly taught in Scripture.
(Note: "the word rapture comes from the 4th century Latin vulgate translation of the Greek word "harpadzo" and was picked up as the best single word to describe the event." (LaHaye and Jenkins Are We Living in The End Times?). Perhaps more descriptive is the term "caught up." )
The rapture of the church is the event in which God “snatches away” all believers from the earth in order to make way for His righteous judgment to be poured out on the earth during the tribulation period. The rapture is described primarily in 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50–54. God will resurrect all believers who have died, give them glorified bodies, and take them from the earth, along with all living believers, who will also be given glorified bodies at that time. “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” (1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).
1Th 4:13 But it is our desire, brothers, that you may be certain about those who are sleeping; so that you may have no need for sorrow, as others have who are without hope.
14 For if we have faith that Jesus underwent death and came back again, even so those who are sleeping will come again with him by God's power.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are still living at the coming of the Lord, will not go before those who are sleeping.
16 Because the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a word of authority, with the voice of the chief angel, with the sound of a horn: and the dead in Christ will come to life first;
17 Then we who are still living will be taken up together with them into the clouds to see the Lord in the air: and so will we be for ever with the Lord.
18 So then, give comfort to one another with these words.
(BBE)
In reference to those who say this is a public event let me point out this is his voice and:
Joh 10:27 My sheep give ear to my voice, and I have knowledge of them, and they come after me:
28 And I give them eternal life; they will never come to destruction, and no one will ever take them out of my hand.
(BBE)
The eternal life reference tips this as a qualifier.
1Co 15:50 Now I say this, my brothers, that it is not possible for flesh and blood to have a part in the kingdom of God; and death may not have a part in life.
51 See, I am giving you the revelation of a secret: we will not all come to the sleep of death, but we will all be changed.
52 In a second, in the shutting of an eye, at the sound of the last horn: for at that sound the dead will come again, free for ever from the power of death, and we will be changed.
53 For this body which comes to destruction will be made free from the power of death, and the man who is under the power of death will put on eternal life.
54 But when this has taken place, then that which was said in the Writings will come true, Death is overcome by life.
55 O death, where is your power? O death, where are your pains?
56 The pain of death is sin; and the power of sin is the law:
57 But praise be to God who gives us strength to overcome through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 For this cause, my dear brothers, be strong in purpose and unmoved, ever giving yourselves to the work of the Lord, because you are certain that your work is not without effect in the Lord.
(BBE)
The rapture will involve an instantaneous transformation of our bodies to fit us for eternity. “We know that when he [Christ] appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). (Note. I underline that we will see him because this is a distinguishing thing from the Second Coming itself where everyone will see Him.) The rapture is to be distinguished from the second coming. At the rapture, the Lord comes “in the clouds” to meet us “in the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). At the second coming, the Lord descends all the way to the earth to stand on the Mount of Olives, resulting in a great earthquake followed by a defeat of God’s enemies (Zechariah 14:3–4).
Zec 14:1 See, a day of the Lord is coming when they will make division of your goods taken by force before your eyes.
2 For I will get all the nations together to make war against Jerusalem; and the town will be overcome, and the goods taken from the houses, and the women taken by force: and half the town will go away as prisoners, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the town.
3 Then the Lord will go out and make war against those nations, as he did in the day of the fight.
4 And in that day his feet will be on the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives will be parted in the middle to the east and to the west, forming a very great valley; and half the mountain will be moved to the north and half of it to the south.
5 And the valley will be stopped...and you will go in flight as you went in flight from the earth-shock in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah: and the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones with him.
6 And in that day there will be no heat or cold or ice;
7 And it will be unbroken day, such as the Lord has knowledge of, without change of day and night, and even at nightfall it will be light.
8 And on that day living waters will go out from Jerusalem; half of them flowing to the sea on the east and half to the sea on the west: in summer and in winter it will be so.
9 And the Lord will be King over all the earth: in that day there will be one Lord and his name one.
(BBE)
The doctrine of the rapture was not taught in the Old Testament, which is why Paul calls it a “mystery” now revealed: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:51–52).
The rapture of the church is a glorious event we should all be longing for. We will finally be free from sin. We will be in God’s presence forever. There is far too much debate over the meaning and scope of the rapture. This is not God’s intent. Rather, the rapture should be a comforting doctrine full of hope; God wants us to “encourage each other with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18).
Let me point out that many also argue about the timing of the event. Will it be pre-Tribulation or in the middle of the event or even at the end of the event? One pastor even suggested it would occur before the tribulation, then again in the middle and then at the end before the Second Coming. Some suggest the Second Coming is a two stage event and some of THOSE even suggest the stages occurs concurrently.
First I list the events of the Rapture as most teacher claim them, then the verses of the Second Coming as they are usually claimed. See what distinguishes them from each other.
RAPTURE (In addition to the above passages)
Joh 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: have faith in God and have faith in me.
2 In my Father's house are rooms enough; if it was not so, would I have said that I am going to make ready a place for you?
3 And if I go and make ready a place for you, I will come back again and will take you to be with me, so that you may be where I am.
(BBE)
Php 3:20 For our country is in heaven; from where the Saviour for whom we are waiting will come, even the Lord Jesus Christ:
21 By whom this poor body of ours will be changed into the image of the body of his glory, in the measure of the working by which he is able to put all things under himself.
(BBE)
2Th 2:1 Now as to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our meeting with him, it is our desire, my brothers,
2 That you may not be moved in mind or troubled by a spirit, or by a word, or by a letter as from us, with the suggestion that the day of the Lord is even now come;
(BBE)
(Implication being that some will be left behind after the Rapture and Paul wants to assure them that it hasn't happened. )
Jas 5:7 Go on waiting calmly, my brothers, till the coming of the Lord, like the farmer waiting for the good fruit of the earth till the early and late rains have come.
8 Be as calm in your waiting; let your hearts be strong: because the coming of the Lord is near.
9 Say no hard things against one another, brothers, so that you will not be judged; see, the judge is waiting at the doors.
(BBE)
(Again, assurances that Jesus has not yet come denoting the idea He will come and some will be left behind.)
1Pe 1:7 So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:
8 To whom your love is given, though you have not seen him; and the faith which you have in him, though you do not see him now, gives you joy greater than words and full of glory:
9 For so you have the true end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10 For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation;
11 Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them.
12 And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God's servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see.
13 So make your minds ready, and keep on the watch, hoping with all your power for the grace which is to come to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
(BBE)
1Jo 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. {in him: or, in it}
28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him. {ye know that every: or, know ye etc.}
3:1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
(KJV)
Keeping in mind you know He has not come because the Holy Spirit is still in you. Again assurances that He has not come because His Spirit is in them and it will be gone when he comes for them. Meaning there will be left those without the Spirit.
Re 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
(KJV)
A perfect passage of the statement that there will be a Tribulation for those not yet saved and a separation for those who are BEFORE that time. It relates to:
Mt 24:35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father only,
Feel free to cite this passage whenever someone says they know the time Jesus will come for us.
37 And as were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
38 For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark,
39 and they knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son of man.
40 Then shall two man be in the field; one is taken, and one is left:
41 two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.
42 Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh.
(ASV)
Now is a good time to also remind you that we mentioned Enoch back when we talked about the flood. Everything builds on everything that went before it.
Ge 5:21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 and Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
(ASV)
This was the first "rapture event." The "took him" is not a reference to death but to a disappearance as this translation makes clearer:
24 And Enoch went on in God's ways: and he was not seen again, for God took him.
(BBE)
But a similar disappearance is also mentioned centuries later:
2Ki 2:11 And while they went on their way, going on talking together, suddenly there were carriages and horses of fire separating them from one another and Elijah went up to heaven in a great wind.
12 And when Elisha saw it he gave a cry, My father, my father, the carriages of Israel and its horsemen! And he saw him no longer; and he was full of grief.
13 Then he took up Elijah's robe, which had been dropped from him, and went back till he came to the edge of Jordan.
14 And he took Elijah's robe, which had been dropped from him, and giving the water a blow with it, said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? and at his blow the waters were parted this way and that; and Elisha went over.
(BBE)
So there are definite precedents for a Rapture in Scripture.
On the Second Coming:
Da 7:9 I went on looking till the seats of kings were placed, and one like a very old man took his seat: his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head was like clean wool; his seat was flames of fire and its wheels burning fire.
10 A stream of fire was flowing and coming out from before him: a thousand thousands were his servants, and ten thousand times ten thousand were in their places before him: the judge was seated and the books were open.
11 Then I saw--because of the voice of the great words which the horn said--I saw till the beast was put to death, and its body was given to destruction, and the beast was given to the burning of fire.
12 As for the rest of the beasts, their authority was taken away: but they let them go on living for a measure of time.
13 I saw in visions of the night, and there was coming with the clouds of heaven one like a man, and he came to the one who was very old, and they took him near before him.
14 And to him was given authority and glory and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages were his servants: his authority is an eternal authority which will not come to an end, and his kingdom is one which will not come to destruction.
(BBE)
Mt 24:15 When, then, you see in the holy place the unclean thing which makes destruction, of which word was given by Daniel the prophet (let this be clear to the reader),
16 Then let those who are in Judaea go in flight to the mountains:
17 Let not him who is on the house-top go down to take anything out of his house:
18 And let not him who is in the field go back to get his coat.
19 But it will be hard for women who are with child and for those with babies at the breast in those days.
20 And say a prayer that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath.
21 Because in those days there will be great sorrow, such as there has not been from the start of the world till now, or ever will be.
22 And if those days had not been made short there would have been no salvation for any, but because of the saints those days will be made short.
23 Then if any man says to you, See, here is the Christ, or, Here; do not put faith in him;
24 For there will come up false Christs, and false prophets, who will do great signs and wonders; so that if possible even the saints might be tricked.
25 See, I have made it clear to you before it comes about.
26 If, then, they say to you, See, he is in the waste land; go not out: See, he is in the inner rooms; put no faith in it.
27 Because as in a thunderstorm the bright light coming from the east is seen even in the west; so will be the coming of the Son of man.
28 Wherever the dead body is, there will the eagles come together.
29 But straight away, after the trouble of those days, the sun will be made dark and the moon will not give her light and the stars will come down from heaven and the powers of heaven will be moved:
30 And then the sign of the Son of man will be seen in heaven: and then all the nations of the earth will have sorrow, 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 great sound of a horn, and they will get his saints together from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
(BBE)
This is a Great Appearance passage. Notice he gathers his people ALREADY in heaven and ones still on Earth.
Mt 26:64 Jesus says to him, You say so: but I say to you, From now you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.
(BBE)
Mr 13:14 But when you see the unclean thing which makes destruction, in the place where it has no right to be (let this be clear to the reader), then let those who are in Judaea go quickly to the mountains:
15 And let him who is on the house-top not go down, or go in, to take anything out of his house:
16 And let not him who is in the field go back to take his coat.
17 And it will be hard for women who are with child and for her who has a baby at the breast in those days.
18 And say a prayer that it may not be in the winter.
19 For in those days there will be sorrow, such as there has not been from the time when God made the world till now, and will not ever be again.
20 And if the Lord had not made the time short, no flesh would have been kept from destruction; but because of the saints he has made the time short.
21 And then if any man says to you, See, here is Christ; or, See, there; have no faith in it:
22 Because there will be false Christs and false prophets, and they will give signs and wonders in the hope of turning even the saints from the true way.
23 But take care; see, I have made all things clear to you before the time.
24 But in those days, after that time of trouble, the sun will be made dark and the moon will not give her light,
25 And the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers which are in the heavens will be moved.
26 And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
27 And then he will send out the angels, and will get together his saints from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.
(BBE)
Second witness confirmation.
From LaHaye and Jenkins works
Second Coming Passages
Daniel 2:44-45
Daniel 7:9-14
Daniel 12:1-3
Zechariah 12:10
Zechariah 14:1-15
Matthew 13:41
Matthew 24:15-31
Matthew 26:64
Mark 13:14-27
Mark 14:62
Luke 21:25-28
Acts 1:9-11
Acts 3:19-21
I Thessalonians 3:13
2 Thessalonians 1:6-10
2 Thessalonians 2:8
I Peter 4:12-13
II Peter 3:1-14
Jude 1:14-15
Revelation 1:7
-Revelation 19:11-20:6
Revelation 22:7, 12, 20
I list those instead of printing all of them. I showed only a partial listing of their many Rapture passages because some really weren't a "proof text" unless you came at them from an established Premil perspective. In fact, the Second Coming passages they named above actually tend to prove the Rapture as i mentioned. I suspect someone compiled a list years ago and someone stopped paying attention after a while, relisting on autopilot. There are a few sites out there which will happily pop up first on Goggle to tell you we believe in a "secret" Rapture and that makes it not true. Someone a century or so back likely used the word "secret" in reference to something somewhere and the cynics on the other side who choose, CHOOSE not to believe in a division of His Coming jumped on it to say all those people disappearing would not be secret and weren't we fools for believing? And everyone would hear His voice from the heavens. Even though He said His sheep know His voice.
I mention that because I make mistakes like that when I get all head up in believing a theory of the way things are. We all want to believe how things are, that we have the definition, that we have it down pat.
Jesus knew that we are like that. Remember he never seemed to heal blindness the same way twice? He never told the same parable. He challenged every established idea and every establishment. And I understand after all those best sellers that LaHaye and Jenkins, and their Pre-Trib and Pre-Mil dispensationalism seem to be the establishment but that forgets preterist, Amil and postmil beliefs are actually the "establishment." But I also have a few beliefs that vary from Lahaye and Jenkins..
America isn't in the Bible in the End Times anywhere. And L & J make a team of US citizens the Tribulation Force beginning. The Rapture seems like it would shock the world. yet there seem to be no reverbs of it in the Bible. A massive disappearance would alert everyone who read the Bible or saw any of the Left Behind movies or read any of the books or got a tape recording from a gone friend that he "left this message on a Rapture Service designed to send it out: when he hadn't checked in after a period of time, would alert the world and call up Israel that the bad guy was the one trying to sign a treaty with them. There are answers to both those questions.
First there is the great deception:
Mt 24:23 Then if any man says to you, See, here is the Christ, or, Here; do not put faith in him;
24 For there will come up false Christs, and false prophets, who will do great signs and wonders; so that if possible even the saints might be tricked.
25 See, I have made it clear to you before it comes about.
(BBE)
Three gospels record Jesus' warning of many false teachers deceiving the people as the end of the age approaches . Jesus caution above demonstrates that most directly. Jesus issued these warnings to help believers avoid deception (John 16:1-4). The Apostle Paul offered similar warnings on numerous occasions. He warned that false teachers led by a different spirit would preach a different gospel than Jesus preached, and would mislead people to accept a false Jesus that does not match up with the Jesus of Scripture
2Co 11:3 But I have a fear, that in some way, as Eve was tricked by the deceit of the snake, your minds may be turned away from their simple and holy love for Christ.
4 For if anyone comes preaching another Jesus from the one whose preachers we are, or if you have got a different spirit, or a different sort of good news from those which came to you, how well you put up with these things.(BBE)
A previous post covered the way some believers see themselves as God incarnate through jesus and see themselves as creating a new world through enforcing the Law. making things perfect for jeus to come back and claim it. The usual depiction of life after the Rapture show some Christians who weren't living correctly left behind to talk to others. whaty if those left behind are dominion believers who don't know of the Rapture and think they will be there to greet Christ? Instead f the usual: "The Rapture came and I', left behind!" wouldn't the thinking instead be: "I'm still here so obviously it wasn't the Rapture that occurred." Amil believers who never accepted Jesus personally but believed they were saved by being members of the church would be equally susceptible to that same thinking. And the dominion, name it claim it mistake has been going for decades, might lay claim to the lives of millions now called Christian. It they are following the wrong spirit and most of their teaching indicates they are, then the removal of the Holy Spirit might not effect them as a wake up call. the warnings in the Bible are the opposite, that the evil spirits will be unleashed to greater power when the Rapture occurs. Some might even go to extensive efforts to destroy any warning messages and any books containing such messages.
Now, say the Rapture happens during the Russian assault on Israel or just before the assault. Would the King of the North be willing to step forward and claim it was a secret weapon he used and use that to persuade any other countries from allying with Israel and from defending them? Would someone like the Antichrist step forward AFTER the attack and say it had been a secret weapon of the King of the North that he, the Antichrist, had somehow neutralized and therefore everyone would worship him for stopping the weapon before it killed everyone? And when no more disappearances came about he would surely be hailed and worshiped.
Say it happened before or during the destruction after the assault then those claims could be the same made and the result the same.
New Age believers have the idea of the harmonic conversion, that at some moment, the universe will align and the New Age will begin with the removal of those who are not "in sync" with it's designs:
"The Eight Years of the Harmonic Conversion
"First there was the Harmonic Convergence, then, 16 years later, came the Harmonic Concordance. That opened a 260-day cycle from Blue Crystal Storm (November 8, 2003) to Blue Crystal Storm (July 26, 2004), the Day of the Great Calendar Change. But even before this 260-day sacred cycle is complete, with just 48 days to go, comes the Venus Transit of 2004. Venus transits always come in pulses eight years apart, separated by either 130 or 113 years from their points of initiation (130 = 13 x 10, 113, a prime number). That means the concluding transit will be in 2012. This is the sign in the sky that the Eight Years of the Harmonic Conversion are now beginning.
"The Great Calendar Change of 2004 means that victory has already been granted to the New Time. The Law of Time has manifest on the Earth and now it is raising to a new level of consciousness human beings from all sectors of global society. In the synchronic order of the New Time, the Venus transit occurs on the 10th day of the Crystal Moon, on the day Blue Electric Monkey, Kin 211. In the Cube of the Law, the 10th day of the moon is Cube four, the position ruled by Pacal Votan. In one week it will be the 52nd anniversary of the discovery of the tomb of Pacal Votan, a discovery that augured the beginning of the time of the Mayan prophecies. The day Blue Electric Monkey, also a Galactic Activation Portal, is the first of the clear signs on the western edge of the sarcophagus lid, indicating that today, the Venus Transit, is a sign of fulfillment of prophecy."
I don't list the web site I got this from, I am not imaginative enough to dream this stuff up. It is not my own writing which is enough to say. Like the Jehovah's Witnesses, New Age Gnostics keep saying the world will change at a specific time and then it doesn't so they reevaluate their teachings and revise and keep saying it is coming soon. When people disappear they will likely claim it happened just as they said it would. So there is yet another religious ideal intervening.
It could be that it will be seen as a mystery ad everyone will shrug their shoulders and go on claiming it is all too vast to understand.
About understanding the Rapture itself, and the whole Resurrection and the timing, recall our teachings on Judges and how we showed it resembled the church age and presaged it. then we arrived at Ruth. She was an outsider brought in by her mother-in-law and she went to glean in the fields, meeting Boaz who every commentator names as the kinsman redeemer and a symbol of Jesus.
Recall that Jesus compares the Christian conversion to a harvest. Paul carries that over in his letters mentioning Christ as first fruits.
https://jewsforjesus.org/publications/newsletter/newsletter-mar-1997/first-fruits-in-the-bible/
“Firstfruits” refers to the first portion of the harvest which is given to God. Most notably the firstfruits are:
- the first to come in time;
- a pledge or hope of the greater harvest to follow; and
- specially dedicated to God.
(A firstfruits ceremony is described in detail in Deuteronomy 26:1-11.)
Note that the “first born,” whether human or beast, was also considered as God’s special possession and can be considered a type of first fruit. (Exodus 22:29, Exodus 34:19)
While there is no New Testament admonition binding Christians to give of “first fruits” we do know that God loves a cheerful giver. Christians are expected to give of our substance to support the work of the church and missions. We, like the Israelites, need to give.The spiritual meaningBy giving God the firstfruits, Israel acknowledged that all good things come from God and that everything belongs to God. Giving the firstfruits was also a way of expressing trust in God’s provision; just as He provided the first fruits, so He would provide the rest of the crops that were needed.
Note that the Feast of Firstfruits was instituted when the nation of Israel was still wandering, without land or crops. It was observed in faith that God would lead the people to the land He had promised.
All Christians are especially dedicated to God in the manner of first fruits. As it is written in James 1:18, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.” We need to be mindful, just as God wanted Israel to be mindful, that we and all we have belong to God.The passover connectionThree holidays are associated with the giving of firstfruits in the Old Testament. Firstfruits are mentioned in connection with the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) in Numbers 28:26; Tabernacles (Sukkot) in Exodus 23:16; and Passover in Leviticus 23:10. Since Passover (Pesach) was the first of the three holidays, the “first firstfruits” were offered in connection with that holiday. The Passover lambs were sacrificed on the 14th day of the month of Nisan, the first day of Passover was the 15th, and the Feast of First Fruits fell on the 16th of Nisan. (Bear in mind that on a Jewish calendar, a new day begins when the sun sets, not when it rises.) The portion of firstfruits at Passover was called the “omer.” It was forbidden to eat from the crop until this portion had been offered (Leviticus 23:14).Christ in His resurrection is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (I Corinthians. 15:20-23). Jesus gave His life as our Passover lamb on the 14th day of the first Hebrew month, Nisan. We believe that He rose from the dead on the 16th of Nisan, the Feast of Firstfruits. Since Jewish reckoning views part of a day as a full day, the 14th through the 16th was considered three days.
I Corinthians may even have been written shortly after Passover, to judge by references such as I Corinthians 5:7-8 and 16:8. Christ rose as the first to be resurrected, but all who trust in Him will also rise from the dead in the final “harvest.”
The prophetic meaning Israel was described as the “firstfruits of God’s harvest” (Jeremiah 2:3). Israel was to be a pledge of a greater harvest inasmuch as she would experience God’s re-demption and witness of this redemption to the nations, that they too might come to know the God of Israel.In addition to the the fact that God has promised that we, too, will be raised from the dead, in Romans 8:23 Paul says that as redeemed people we possess the “firstfruits of the Spirit.” “Paul is saying here either that the measure of the Holy Spirit that we now have is but a foretaste of the greater measure there will be in the age to come, or that the gift of the Spirit now is a foretaste of the many other blessings we will have in due course.”1Jesus was the first fruits and those directly after him were the wave sheaf :
http://www.hope-of-israel.org/waveshf.htm
Clearly, then, the wave sheaf -- contrary to what many have assumed and believed -- does NOT refer to the Messiah at all -- but rather is made possible BY the sacrifice of the Messiah, which precedes it in time sequence! We have the following sequence of events:
1) The sacrifice of the Messiah on Nisan 14, late afternoon;
2) The holy day of Passover -- Nisan 15 (also the weekly Sabbath);
3) The next evening, as Nisan 16 began, a sheaf (bundle) of grain is selected from the field across the Kidron valley, east of Jerusalem, and cut and bundled;
4) The next morning, Nisan 16, it is prepared and waved before the LORD and accepted of Him as "THE FIRSTFRUITS" of the harvest.
Do you begin to comprehend? Do you see? The wave sheaf offering is an offering, which is a BUNDLE OF SEPARATE BARLEY GRAINS, FROM A NUMBER OF PLANTS, AMOUNTING TO AN "OMER" -- about five pints, or two and one half quarts. This offering followed the offering of the Messiah, as our Passover lamb, who paid for our sins. It was accompanied by the burnt offering of a lamb -- the Messiah -- without blemish (Leviticus 23:12).
This Wave Sheaf Offering initiated the first of the firstfruits' harvests and was accompanied by a meal offering of grain mixed with oil and a drink offering of wine. Some Bible translations describe this offering as a sheaf being waved, however a sheaf, in its usual sense of a stalk of grain, is NOT what was waved here. In fact, the Bible does not actually refer to this ceremony as "the Wave Sheaf Offering." The Hebrew word omer, that is translated "sheaf" was actually a "measure of things dry." The very first of the firstfruits' crop offered as a "wave sheaf" offering in the Temple was, as mentioned above, about 2 1/2 quarts of barley grain that had been parched (roasted), thrashed and sieved into a fine flour. So this grain offering was very similar to other grain offerings that were waved before YEHOVAH God.
Mt 27:52 And the resting-places of the dead came open; and the bodies of a number of sleeping saints came to life;
53 And coming out of their resting-places, after he had come again from the dead, they went into the holy town and were seen by a number of people.
(BBE)
In the Book of Ruth, Boaz is in the fields.with his crew. They are working in the harvest and he sees Ruth.gleaning. Gleaning, as we've mentioned, is the harvesting of the outsides of the fields where grain was left for the poor once the main harvest had been finished. That main harvest is done under the master's eye and would be the equivalent of the Rapture. the taking of the main body of the Church. The first part of the Second Coming according to most Rapture authorities, the last stage of the harvest would be the resurrecting of the Tribulation saints.
That says a lot about what happens afterward and we will come back to touch on it, but let's dwell on this one item: the Resurrection is the time we who are saved get our Final Flesh. The time we are made over to be like Him.
(Note: Hal Lindsey's book The Rapture is much more extensive than this treatment and recommended.)
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