Posted on 07/23/2019 5:26:09 AM PDT by Cronos
I grew up in church culture. Most of what I recall from those early childhood and teenage years bring memories of good things. People genuinely taught me that loving Jesus matters more than anything else in the world. The world, after all, is corrupt and the place we truly long for is far, far away – heaven. So we are to love Jesus and hate the world.
Now, this is not hatred toward the people on earth. I did not grow up in a church culture that taught that we ought to tell outsiders how much they suck, but that this “world is not my home, I’m just a passin’ through.”
World and physicality = bad.
Jesus and spiritual bliss in a distant heaven = goal of the game.
This distinction came with a subset of beliefs about the destiny of God’s world. Eventually this planet would be destroyed and we Christians would “fly away” to heaven at the rapture of the church. Certain Christians understood the timing of the rapture as it corresponds to the book of Revelation differently than others, but no one ever denied the imminent return of Jesus to evacuate the church out of earth.
What I’ve come to realize is that the church of my youth probably had the rapture all wrong. You see, the Bible flows from Creation (Gen 1-2) to Renewed Creation (Rev 21-22). This is the narrative of Scripture. Nothing in the text (if read in its proper context) alludes to the actual complete destruction of the planet. This world’s worth to the Creator runs deep and because of this, the world as a whole ought to be intrinsically valuable to us.
Physical/earthly realities such as social injustice, violence, hunger, preventable sickness, and the destruction of nature are invitations to the church of Jesus to get our hands dirty and proclaim that this world matters (even in its broken state)! Christ will complete creation upon his return, uniting heaven and earth for the life of the age to come!
The famous “rapture” passage is found in 1 Thessalonians 4.15-17 and reads:
According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
This passage, when placed in the larger context of the chapter, is answering questions that Christians in Thessalonica had concerning death. What has happened to our loved ones who have died before the return of Christ to earth? What is theirs and our ultimate destiny? Paul’s answer: bodily resurrection at the return of Christ to earth! Not an escape into the sky [see appendix below!].
In this passage, Paul borrows two specific images from the Old Testament that would have been familiar to Jewish converts and Gentiles who were familiarizing themselves with the Hebrew tradition. The first of these that Paul employs in the text has to do with Moses who comes down from Mount Sinai with the Law with the great blast of the trumpet.
The second image is taken from Daniel chapter 7 where the “one like the son of man” (or “human being” or “The Human One”) and the community he represents is vindicated over the enemies of the people of God. Clouds here symbolize the power and authoritative judgement of God about the rescue of his people. This idea now seems to be applied to Christians who are facing various forms of persecution.
Finally, there is a third image in the text that comes from outside of the canonical context. This is the image of an emperor who visits a city. The people of that region would have gone out to meet him to usher him into their home in a royal procession out in the open air. This, Paul seems to apply to the church who will usher in their King into the new creation.***
Rapture, as it is popularly understood, is nowhere to be found in this “rapture” passage. Christ will return to resurrect, to purge, to heal, and to establish the eternal kingdom of God on this earth. Heaven and earth will unite like a bride and husband – for all eternity. That’s it.
The Bible teaches that when Christ comes back, it will be Good News! “‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’” (Revelation 21.4). Surely we cannot erase judgment from the picture, but the hope is that those in Christ will be raised to eternal life and everything that is wrong with this world will be made right.
This world renewed is going to be our home for eternity, and we have the opportunity to reflect that future in our present. Rapture invites us to escape this world: the last thing that Jesus would have ever taught! “On earth as in heaven” is what he said, not “in heaven away from the earth!” Our world’s future is hopeful. Let’s tell that story and not the escapist narratives that many of us grew up with.
[Kurt Note: This article is an adaptation from various pieces that are part of my “rapture” category.]
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Below is a Word Study that I did based on 1 Thessalonians 4.17. What is interesting to me is how it reinforced my belief that the “rapture” as it is popularly understood (Jesus secretly returns to extract believers from earth to heaven for eternity) is completely unwarranted. If you choose to follow the logic below, you will know why 🙂
The word underlying “air” in 1 Thessalonians 4.17 is the Greek word “ἀήρ” (Strong’s: #109).
The usage of ἀήρ in the New Testament by verse:
Acts 22:23
…εἰς τὸν ἀέρ
…dust into the air,
1Co 9:26
…ὡς οὐκ ἀέρα δέρων·
…one that beateth the air:
1Co 14:9
…γὰρ εἰς ἀέρα λαλοῦντες.
…shall speak into the air.
Eph 2:2
…ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος τοῦ πνεύματος…
…power of the air, the spirit that…
1Th 4:17
…κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα καὶ οὕτως…
…the Lord in the air: and so shall…
Rev 9:2
…καὶ ὁ ἀὴρ ἐκ τοῦ…
…sun and the air were darkened by…
Rev 16:17
…ἐπὶ τὸν ἀέρα καὶ ἐξῆλθεν…
…vial into the air; and there came…
1) the air, particularly the lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air 2)the atmospheric region[1]
After surveying the above seven occurrences, it is clear that the definition is simply the area of unseen space in our atmosphere. Below, the meaning in its various usages are explained:
ἀήρ (aēr, 109), ἀέρος, ὁ, (ἄημι, ἄω, [cf. ἄνεμος, init.]), the air (particularly the lower and denser, as distinguished from the higher and rarer ὁ αἰθήρ, cf. Hom. Il. 14, 288), the atmospheric region: Acts xxii. 23; 1 Th. iv. 17; Rev. ix. 2, xvi. 17; ὁ ἄρχων τῆς ἐξουσίας τοῦ ἀέρος in Eph. ii. 2 signifies “the ruler of the powers (spirits, see ἐξουσία 4 c. ββ.) in the air”, i. e. the devil, the prince of the demons that according to Jewish opinion fill the realm of air (cf. Mey. ad loc.; [B. D. Am. ed. s. v. Air; Stuart in Bib. Sacr. for 1843, p. 139 sq.]). Sometimes indeed, ἀήρ denotes a hazy, obscure atmosphere (Hom. Il. 17, 644; 3, 381; 5, 356, etc.; Polyb. 18, 3, 7), but is nowhere quite equiv. to σκότος,— the sense which many injudiciously assign it in Eph. 1. c. ἀέρα δέρειν (cf. verberat ictibus auras, Verg. Aen. 5, 377, of pugilists who miss their aim) i. e. to contend in vain, 1 Co. ix. 26; εἰς ἀέρα λαλεῖν (verba ventis profundere, Lucr. 4, 929 (932)) “to speak into the air” i. e. without effect, used of those who speak what is not understood by the hearers, 1 Co. xiv. 9.*[2]
Although ἀήρ is not a word that is frequent in the New Testament, it is interesting to note that there is only one other word that is translated into English as “air.” The Greek οὐρανός has a different meaning when used as “air” than ἀήρ. Rather than referring to the “lower and denser air as distinguished from the higher and rarer air,” it means:
1. the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it
- a. the universe, the world
- b. the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced
- c. the sidereal or starry heavens
2. the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings[3]
It seems that the difference between these two words will prove to be significant. The word in the 1 Thessalonians text indicates the “air” of the “lower” region as opposed to the “heavens” as οὐρανός can also be translated (heavens – 24x, heavenly – 1, heaven – 218). In other words, Paul had an option to use either of the words to talk about the “air” but he chose to use the word that refers mostly to the lower atmospheric region.
In the context of 1 Thessalonians 4.17, Paul is answering questions regarding the blessed Christian hope. What happens to Christ-followers who die before the return of the Messiah? Are they gone forever? And what about those of us who are waiting for this day? What are we to look forward to? In answer to these kinds of questions Paul describes the coming of Jesus as a moment of resurrection. Because Jesus died and rose again, his followers will someday be like him. They will have bodies that are restored to the image of Christ who is the image of God.
Paul in this passage uses mixed metaphors to communicating the reality of the final resurrection. He employs imagery from the Old Testament as well as from Roman royalty. Christ will appear in such a way that it will be like Moses when he descended down from the Mountain of Sinai. He will come with the “clouds” meaning that he will come with the power / authority of heaven like the “son of Man” in Daniel 7. When this happens all followers of Jesus will be gathered around their King and will usher him into the new heavens and new earth.
Unfortunately, the present passage of Scripture has been interpreted in several different ways; mostly indicating that the return of Christ will be a rapturous moment when God will snatch believers away from this evil world to meet him in the “air” (up in heaven) for eternity. There are several problems with this approach (too numerous to look at for this word study). The current word study exposes one of the fallacies in this interpretive scheme.
Had the Apostle wanted to communicate that Christ coming downward to take us upward was the goal of the 2nd coming, he could have chosen to use a word like οὐρανός. This word, which is interpreted as “air” on some occasions (as indicated above), would have given the impression that going to meet Christ in the “air” was a upward heavenly route. However, what this word study has discovered is that the word Paul chose to use was one that indicates the lower part of the atmosphere. Paul had a grammatical choice to make, and clearly he did not want to misguide his first century audience by making them think that being “with the Lord forever” actually meant going to heaven, away from the creation project. So, in order to keep his metaphorical devices in place without giving the wrong impression, he chose to use ἀήρ to indicate that he was not talking about escaping this world; but rather being part of its redemptive process. If the alternative word had been selected, Paul would have given us the opportunity to affirm cosmological dualism.
There is no dispute of how ἀήρ is to be translated from Greek into English among the translations. In every version that was checked (ESV, KJV, NIV, and TNIV) this word is translated as “air.”
After consulting the “Easton Bible Dictionary” we find that this word study’s findings about the meaning of the word ἀήρ is consistent and verified. It states: “The atmosphere, as opposed to the higher regions of the sky (1Th_4:17; Rev_9:2; Rev_16:17).”[4] This is also confirmed by the UBS Greek Dictionary: “air; ethereal region above the earth, space.”[5]
***N. T. Wright, “Farewell to Rapture,” Biblical Review (August 2001). http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_BR_Farewell_Rapture.htm (accessed October, 2009).
[1]http://www.biblestudytools.com/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=109&version=nas
[2] http://www.greekbiblestudy.org/gnt/greekWordStudy.do?id=100095&greek=false
[3] http://www.biblestudytools.com/Lexicons/Greek/grk.cgi?number=3772&version=nas
[4] See: Easton Bible Dictionary. Available Online at: http://refbible.com/a/air.htm
[5] The Greek New Testament With Greek-English Dictionary by B. Aland (Editor), K. Aland (Editor), J. Karavidopoulos (Editor), B. M. Metzger (Editor), C. M. Martini (Editor)
Jesus left the temple and was going away, when His disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them, 'You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left her one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down"
This prophecy that follows was for the people of the first century in Jerusalem.The sun, moon and stars were important for measuring days, months and years. To say that they would fall from the sky and be darkened was the way of saying "Your time has come to an ended. The time is up"
you can see the same image in the book of Isaiah 34:4 And all the host of the heavens shall pine away, and the heavens shall be folded together as a book: and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth from the vine, and from the fig tree
Refer to the writings of Josephus
Truly, the very view itself of the country was a melancholy thing; for those places which were before adorned with trees and pleasant gardens were now become a desolate country in every way, and its trees were all cut down. Nor could any foreigner that had formerly seen Judea and the most beautiful suburbs of the city, and now saw it as a desert, but lament and mourn sadly at so great a change... nor if anyone that had known the place before, had come on a sudden to it now, would he have known it again; but though he were standing at the city itself, yet would he have inquired for it notwithstanding
The wars of the Jews by Josephus book 6 chapter 1
In Rev 9:15 a "third" of men are killed.
The "third" signifies that part of the population was killed - the Roman Tenth Legion, which was stationed beyond the Euphrates
Adding to my post 180, the first pastor I mentioned about how there is no rapture, we were reading in Revelation 9 (After the opening of the seals and the fire and blood and a third of the earth was burned up, a “star” falls to earth, a third of the sun and moon destroyed, the Abyss was opened up and locusts that were like scorpions appeared.
One of the verses he used as evidence that there will not be a rapture was:
Rev. 9:4-5 “They [the locusts] were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months.”
Correct - we will not have a “prosperity gospel” type of life. Jesus clearly says ‘you follow me, expect the world to hate you, expect suffering’
Actually the Tribe of Judah’s land completely surrounded the tribe of Simeon’s land. And there were Levites at the temple, so probably 4 tribes survived.
As to the House of Israel taken away - the Assyrians moved them to northern Iraq, so probably the Iraqis and Iranians are their descendents!
With the passing away of the Old Jerusalem in the destruction of 69 AD, the temple, Levitical priesthood was swept away - a "new creation" is inaugurated with the vision of the "New Jerusalem".
The other Jewish sects pre-2nd temple destruction were Sadducees and Essenes (who were so closely tied to the temple that with its destruction they too were destroyed) and others
The book of the Apocalypse begins with a writing to the complete church - the 7 number is very significant, you see it repeated throughout the book of the apocalypse, signifying completeness.
Right until the destruction of the 2nd temple, the Christ-movement is seen by outsiders and by themselves as a sect of Judaism.
only post the destruction of the temple is it clearly a separate religion.
Far better to use the word “the apocalypse” rather than rapere or rapiemur
Quite correct - as Christians we are to expect suffering in the name of Christ.
Look at the tribulations of Christians in the Middle East -- this tells us that our time to go to Christ might be at any time
here is what it says, for your edification
1.The word of the Lord, that came to Osee the son of Beeri, in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias kings of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joas king of Israel.And also read Isaiah 1:21 21 How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers.
2 The beginning of the Lord's speaking by Osse: and the Lord said to Osee: Go, take thee a wife of fornications, and have of her children of fornications: for the land by fornication shall depart from the Lord.
Revelation 17:1 is clearly just as the rest of the book of the Apocalypse talking of the city of Jerusalem.
Firstly note that the harlot is separate from the beast -- so it can't be that Rome was both the harlot and the beast. This is also evident in the words off the High priests at Christ's trial John 19:15 "We have no king but Caesar"
This is also very very clear about Rev 17:1 which references Jeremiah 51:13 which says that Babylon sits by many waters. This is how John is linking Jerusalem as the new Babylon.
The Holy city has blasphemed and become like a harlot, a harlot arrayed in purple and scarlet - this echos Jeremiah 4:30 But when thou art spoiled what wilt thou do? though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, and paintest thy eyes with stibic stone, thou shalt dress thyself out in vain: thy lovers have despised thee, they will seek thy life.
Revelations 17:16 then says "And the beast will hate the harlot; they will make her desolate nad naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire"
This is clearly a separation of the beast and the harlot and how the harlot-city of Jerusalem will be burnt up and devoured by the beast - the Empire.
This is so, so clear about the Roman Empire burning down Jerusalem as at the 10th "King" Vespasian did,p>Remember that Jerusalem had dominion i.e. spiritual dominionThe fall of the harlot-city happened in 69 AD in the same generation that had killed the Christ - Christ crucified in 30 AD and within 40 years (one generation) Jerusalem destroyed.
the city of Jerusalem was utterly destroyed as you read in Josephus accounts - accounts of that time.
Teh number 1000 as used in the book of the Apocalypse of St John signifies a very long period, not a literal 1000 years
The imagery - Revelation is allegorical - or do you expect that John actually saw Jesus wih a two-bladed sword out of His mouth? Or was that the significance of the power of His words?
The article is written by a pastor. Perhaps you ought to address him?
The entire "left behind" is dangerous fiction and the fiction that "the tribulation will be in the future" ignores the tribulations like the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the Eastern front horrors, etc. etc.
As I had mentioned, our church did a series on Revelation - 6 to 8 weeks I suppose. Sermons and Bible studies. Our family was (and still is) going through some trials, so it was a very timely series for me. Trials that I truly believe are being prodded on by Satan.
It was amazing that in spite of all of the tragedy and horrors that Revelation speaks of, the main thing that I took away from it is that God is on His Throne and is Sovereign. And that He IS in control, that He loves those that are His, and that Evil will be defeated and justice served.
It is impossible to have a special 144,000 “spirit” filled people when the church, which draws it strength from the Holy Spirit, is removed. It is also not consistent with the working of God that He would signal out 144,000 special people to go through a horrible tribulation.
Also a clincher for me is the idea that God made physical promises to the nation Israel and spiritual promises to Abraham. This completely contradicts Galatians 3 which tells us all the promises made to Abraham were spiritual promises.
Eschatology is a very difficult subject. Numerous Bibles that I have are dispensation Bibles meaning their notes refer to their dispensation model. Their notes and references are tainted. However, there are other views. One view is that Revelation was written in symbolic language as an encouragement to believers. It talks about events that we are going through NOW-not in the future-from various perspectives (e.g. government, people, institutions, etc.). Frankly, I had to reread Revelation to see if these things might be. It makes sense to read it this way. It is a circular book looking at the present tribulation we are in now experiencing from different perspectives. It is not linear. If you take this view it matches with the writing style of 1 John which is also circular. It also matches Daniel and Ezekiel which talk about government institutions as well.
I would just encourage a bit more study.
The idea being that human nature and God's nature doesn't change, so things will continue in a similar manner.
I've also had it explained that the prophesies and visions, while seeing future events, the timeline of the events is more difficult to discern. Like looking at something on a TV screen in two dimension, but the 3D aspect of it (the third dimension being time) not being known.
I believe that the Book of Revelation was to be a comfort for the Christians at the time of it's writing as they were being persecuted by Rome, and is also a comfort to Christians today and in the future.
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