• Home
    • Contact Me
  • Statement of Faith
  • Prayer
  • This Is Me…
  • 30 Random Things About Me…

Gone Fishin'

~ …“Come after me, and I will make you fishers for men!”

Gone Fishin'

Tag Archives: rapture

Aliens or FALLEN ANGELS

02 Wednesday Oct 2019

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

abyss, alien abductions, alien invasion, Azazel, Book of Enoch, Book of Jubilees, Book of Zohar, demon spirits, Divine Judgments, fallen angels, fallen ones, fifth trumpet, giants in the earth, Hebraic legends, horses and riders, Isheth Zenunim, Lilit, Lilith, Lilitu, locusts, Luciferians, malevolent or evil aliens, Nephilim, pit of gloom, pit of Hell, pit of the deep, powerful delusion, rapture, Satanists, sci-fi movies, Serpent Lilith, Serpents, sixth trumpet, sons of Belial, UFOs, Watchers, wrath

…Satan…uses all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs, spurious wonders, and every form of evil deception in order to deceive those who are perishing because they rejected the love of the truth that would lead them to being saved. Because of this, God sends them a powerful delusion that leads them to believe what is false. So then all who found their pleasure in unrighteousness and did not believe the truth will be judged. – 2 Thessalonians 2:9b-12, TPT

THE POWERFUL DELUSION

Many followers of Christ believe that the powerful or strong delusion apostle Paul writes about in 2 Thessalonians 2:11 is the ungodly belief that the sudden disappearances of countless saints will not be because their disappearances were the fulfillment of the prophesied Rapture of the Bride (Body of Christ) but rather the saints’ disappearances will be because they were abducted by aliens. That’s right! An unbelievable number of left behinders will find it easier to buy into the lie that the followers of Christ were beamed up into UFOs than it is for them to believe these saints were truly caught up to meet the Lord in the air (1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Additionally, this alien abduction belief has been a powerful/strong delusion for centuries. Indeed, many who believe there are aliens “out there” are considered to be members of a UFO religion – “any religion in which the existence of extraterrestrial (ET) entities operating unidentified flying objects (UFOs) is an element of [people’s] belief.” Moreover, several “adherents believe that the arrival or rediscovery of alien civilizations, technologies and spirituality will enable humans to overcome current ecological, spiritual and social problems. Issues such as hatred, war, bigotry, poverty and so on are said to be resolvable through the use of superior alien technology and spiritual abilities. Such belief systems are also described as millenarian in their outlook.”

A powerful delusion, indeed! Moreover, it appears that God will strengthen the left behinders’ ungodly beliefs and trust in aliens and alien abductions. The Holy Bible indisputably describes horrific fifth and sixth trumpet events in Revelation that obviously happen during the Tribulation Period. Please keep in mind that the Book of Revelation is definitely not written in chronological order.

To some biblical end-times prophecy interpreters, there are two separate invasions. These same biblical end-times prophecy interpreters say that the first invasion involves the LOCUSTS that come out of the pit of Hell, and these same biblical end-times prophecy interpreters say the second invasion involves the HORSES and their RIDERS that appear near the Euphrates River.

Undeniably, it is in Revelation chapter 9 that John describes God’s Divine Judgments that look somewhat like scenes from science fictions’ alien invasion movies. The Divine Judgments that are associated with the fifth and sixth trumpets are explained as follows: 1. an opening that exposes a long vertical passage that sinks into the earth and leads to the bottomless pit (abyss or pit of Hell) out of which comes smoke and LOCUSTS (vv. 1-10); 2. a release of demonic invaders against the earth and its inhabitants who are to the East of the Euphrates River (vv. 13-19). In the sited verses, John gives a detailed – and frightening – description of these demonic invaders.

Unlike said biblical end-times prophecy interpreters, I don’t believe that the LOCUSTS and the HORSES and their RIDERS are two separate armies that face each other. I believe there is only one demonic invasion and that it is in two phases. I also believe the demonic forces of LOCUSTS and the HORSES and their RIDERS are the bulk of the third of angels that fell with Satan. Satan, thus, is another name for the leader of the LOCUSTS, whom John calls, in Hebrew, Abaddon, which means “destruction”; and who is, in Greek, called Apollyon, which means “destroyer-king” (Revelation 9:11). The reference to the bottomless pit is futuristic in nature, because in Revelation 20:1 John tells us that Satan will be chained in the bottomless pit. This chaining happens after the Tribulation Period but before Christ begins His millennial reign. After 1,000 years of Christ Jesus’ peaceful reign, Satan is released for a short time (Revelation 20:7), and then he is thrown in the Lake of Fire where the Beast or Antichrist and his False Prophet were thrown at the end of the Tribulation Period (Revelation 20:10).

That said, looking again at the HORSES and their RIDERS that John describes, it is evident to me that they symbolize an incalculable portion of the FALLEN ANGELS Satan had assigned to the revived Islamic/Ottoman Empire’s region located to the East of Israel. Moreover, biblically speaking, the Euphrates River – which always has been connected to Babylon – is the farthest eastern physical and spiritual boundary of the land God promised to Israel. Therefore, the four released FALLEN ANGELS that were previously chained in the Euphrates River, no doubt, will divide this his huge demonic army into four parts, and each one of these four released FALLEN ANGELS will lead its portion of demons as they kill a third of humanity, from the four corners of the world, via breathing out three plagues/weapons (fire, smoke, sulfur).

At one time, Satan (Abaddon or Apollyon) also ruled over these four FALLEN ANGELS, whose evildoings aren’t related to the FALLEN ANGELS who slept with the daughters of Adam; yet, their deeds were evil enough that these four FALLEN ANGELS were BOUND until it was time to release them during the Tribulation Period. However, it is important to also note here that by the time the sixth trumpet blows, the Antichrist will have become Satan incarnate. Perhaps this is the reason why God releases the four FALLEN ANGELS. They help the satanic Antichrist destroy as many lives as he can so that Christ Jesus cannot claim them.

Now, according to John, the demonic LOCUSTS have “…the appearance of horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what seemed like golden crowns. And their faces were like human faces. 8 Their hair was long, like women’s hair, and their teeth like lion’s teeth. 9 They wore breastplates that seemed like iron, and their wings made a sound like the noise of horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stingers like scorpions, with power to injure people for five months.” –  Revelation 9:7-10, TPT (fifth trumpet)

Additionally, John describes the demonic HORSES and their RIDERS that come from the East as “…twice ten thousand times ten thousand…horses with riders wearing breastplates of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur. The horses had lions’ heads breathing out fire and smoke and sulfur. 18 They killed a third of humanity by these three plagues—the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. 19 For the lethal power of the horses was in their mouths and their tails, and their tails had snakes’ heads that inflict injuries.” – Revelation 9:16-19, TPT (sixth trumpet)

As I said earlier, in Revelation chapter 9, John is describing God’s Tribulation Wrath or Divine Judgments. Clearly, John’s LOCUSTS and the HORSES and their RIDERS’ descriptions come close to the descriptions of some of the aliens that are in many sci-fi alien invasion movies. However, God’s Divine Judgments are not carried out by aliens. In Revelation chapter 9, His Wrath is carried out by FALLEN ANGELS!

THE FALLEN ANGELS

The FALLEN ANGELS are those angels who followed Lucifer in the Great Rebellion in Heaven. Not only did their consciousness fall to lower levels of awareness but also Archangel Michael and his legions of good angels cast these rebellious angels down to earth.

The FALLEN ANGELS are known by many names. Most of those names are as follows: the fallen ones, Luciferians, Watchers, Nephilim, giants in the earth, Satanists, Serpents, sons of Belial, etc. In the Book of Enoch chapters 6–10, the Book of Jubilees chapter 5, and the Dead Sea Scrolls (The Book of Giants), the FALLEN ANGELS left their heavenly estate to have sexual relations with the daughters of Adam.

In Noah’s day, God put the evilest of FALLEN ANGELS who created offspring with the daughters of Adam in chains and BOUND them in Tartarus (the deepest pit of gloom), where they had to wait for their final judgment. In the Holy Bible, specifically 2 Peter 2:4, the Greek term Tartarusis used to describe this deepest pit of gloom. Tartarus is a Hellenistic mythical term for the subterranean underworld, the lowest pit of Hell.   

Now, in Hebraic legends/traditions, the evilest demon or evil spirit to whom, in the ancient rite of Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), a scapegoat was sent bearing the sins of the Hebrews, was called Azazel (see Leviticus 16:8-10). The Book of Leviticus also reveals that Azazel is the legendary seed of the Serpent, which is why Azazel’s role in the Yom Kippur ceremony identifies him as the Messiah’s rival. 

In the Holy Bible, God cursed the Serpent so that its seed would bruise the heel of Eve’s promised seed (Messiah). In the end-times, Eve’s seed, in turn, would crush the head of the Serpent’s child and destroy His seed who, according to Kabbalistic literature, is also Lilith’s child, Azazel.  In Hebraic traditions, Azazel is presented as the one that plays the foil in the Yom Kippur ceremony – the second goat (the scapegoat).   

Also according to Kabbalistic literature, in particular, The Zohar, Lilith is an evil, immoral, demonic figure working with Satan – often described as Satan’s wife. Lilith also is described as the first female who existed before Eve (see Genesis 1:27; initially, male and female were created at the same time). Now, Lilith was supposedly Adam’s first wife who had a fallen out with Adam and subsequently, after she allegedly spoke the secret name of God, she vanished from the Garden of Eden. After that, Kabbalists say God then created Eve.

What most Holy Bible readers either miss or have never heard of is that Azazel was no ordinary Nephilim.  Once again, Azazel was the offspring of Lilith who mated with Semjaza, the leader of the Watchers (FALLEN ANGELS). Therefore, Azazel was less human than all the other Nephilim, and the most powerful. He was even more powerful than his father, Semjaza. 

The prophet Isaiah expounds further upon the Genesis prophecy about Eve’s seed crushing the head of the Serpent’s child and destroying His seed. Isaiah 34:14 conveys that in the end time, the slaying of the Serpent’s seed on Yom Kippur would result in the spirit of Lilith being cast into the desert or wilderness of Edom. In other words, it is God’s curse upon the Serpent and its seed (Lilith’s son, Azazel) that becomes the basis of the symbolisms in the Yom Kippur ceremony in Leviticus 16 – a ceremony that actually foretells God’s final judgment of mankind.

Moreover, it is possible that the evil spirit Lilith is connected to Revelation’s Great Whore of Babylon. In the Book of Zohar, there is a  “woman of whoredom,” who is called Isheth Zenunim (1:5a, 1:5b). Isheth Zenuim also is known as the evil demon called Lilith who also is known in Hebraic legends as the “screech owl,” and who is described in Isaiah 34:14 as living “in the wilderness.” This well-favored harlot known as Lilith or Lilitu, in Kabbalists’ legends, is the one who returned to Eden disguised as the Serpent who tempted Eve with the Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Her whorish relationship to the nations – as the one who sells nations through her whoredoms and families through her witchcraft – is found in Nahum 3:1-4. This evil spirit that is being described as a woman in the wilderness (desert) who is drunk from the blood of those who fell prey to her lies and sorceries (those who were slain) is very similar to the female end-time spirit John describes in Revelation 18:1-6. Selah . . . pause and calmly think about that.

FIRST BOOK OF ENOCH

1 And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto 2 them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men 3 and beget us children.’ And Semjaza, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not 4 indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations 5 not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then sware they all together and bound themselves 6 by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon, and they called it Mount Hermon, because they had sworn 7 and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And these are the names of their leaders: Samjazaz, their leader, Araklba, Rameel, Kokablel, Tamlel, Ramlel, Danel, Ezeqeel, Baraqijal, 8 Asael, Armaros, Batarel, Ananel, Zaqiel, Samsapeel, Satarel, Turel, Jomjael, Sariel. These are their chiefs of tens. – 1 Enoch 6

…And they have gone to the daughters of men upon the earth, and have slept with the 9 women, and have defiled themselves, and revealed to them all kinds of sins. And the women have 10 borne giants, and the whole earth has thereby been filled with blood and unrighteousness. And now, behold, the souls of those who have died are crying and making their suit to the gates of heaven, and their lamentations have ascended: and cannot cease because of the lawless deeds which are 11 wrought on the earth. And Thou knowest all things before they come to pass, and Thou seest these things and Thou dost suffer them, and Thou dost not say to us what we are to do to them in regard to these.’ – 1 Enoch 9:8b-11

1 Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, 2 and said to him: ‘Go to Noah and tell him in my name “Hide thyself!” and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come 3 upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it. And now instruct him that he may escape 4 and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.’ And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening 5 in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may 6,7 not see light. And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire. And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the 8 Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons. And the whole earth has been corrupted 9 through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.’ … – 1 Enoch 10:1-9a

BIBLE VERSES ABOUT FALLEN ANGELS AND THEIR OFFSPRING

4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.  – Genesis 6:4, NASB

8 Then Aharon is to cast lots for the two goats, one lot for Adonai and the other for ‘Az’azel. 9 Aharon is to present the goat whose lot fell to Adonai and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat whose lot fell to ‘Az’azel is to be presented alive to Adonai to be used for making atonement over it by sending it away into the desert for ‘Az’azel. – Leviticus 16:8-10, CJB

8 And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for Jehovah, and the other lot for Azazel.

9 And Aaron shall present the goat upon which the lot fell for Jehovah, and offer it [as] a sin-offering.

10 And the goat upon which the lot fell for Azazel shall be set alive before Jehovah, to make atonement with it, to send it away as Azazel into the wilderness. – Leviticus 16:8-10, DARBY

 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for Azazel. 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel. – Leviticus 16:8-10, ESV

The creatures of the desert will encounter jackals
And the hairy goat will call to its kind;
Indeed, Lilith (night demon) will settle there
And find herself a place of rest. – Isaiah 34:14, AMP

Wildcats and hyenas will meet there;
and billy-goats call to each other;
Lilit [the night monster] will lurk there
and find herself a place to rest.  – Isaiah 34:14, CJB

14 And there shall the beasts of the desert meet with the jackals, and the wild goat shall cry to his fellow; the lilith also shall settle there, and find for herself a place of rest. – Isaiah 34:14, DARBY

4 Now, don’t forget, God had no pity for the angels when they sinned but threw them into the lowest, darkest dungeon of gloom and locked them in chains, where they are firmly held until the judgment of torment. – 2 Peter 2:4, TPT

6 In the same way, there were heavenly messengers in rebellion who went outside their rightful domain of authority and abandoned their appointed realms. God bound them in everlasting chains and is keeping them in the dark abyss of the netherworld until the judgment of the great day.

7 In a similar way, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and nearby towns gave themselves to sexual immorality and the unnatural desire of different flesh. Now they all serve as examples of those who experience the punishment of eternal fire. – Jude vv. 6-7, TPT

Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that fell from heaven to earth, and he was handed the key to the shaft leading down to the pit of the deep. 2 He opened the shaft of the bottomless pit and a blanket of smoke began to rise out of it, like the smoke of a giant furnace. The sun and the atmosphere were darkened with the smoke rising from the shaft.

3 And out of smoke appeared locusts swarming onto the earth, and they were given authority like that of scorpions to inflict pain. 4 They were told not to harm the grass, or any green growth or any tree, but only to afflict those who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 The locusts were given authority to torment them for five months, but not to kill them. Their painful torment is like the scorpion’s sting, 6 and during that time people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die but death will elude them.

7 The locusts had the appearance of horses equipped for battle. On their heads were what seemed like golden crowns. And their faces were like human faces. 8 Their hair was long, like women’s hair, and their teeth like lion’s teeth. 9 They wore breastplates that seemed like iron, and their wings made a sound like the noise of horses and chariots rushing into battle. 10 They had tails and stingers like scorpions, with power to injure people for five months. 11 The angel of the bottomless pit was king over them, and his name in Hebrew is Destruction and in Greek Destroyer. – Revelation 9:1-11, TPT

13 Then the sixth angel sounded his trumpet, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar before God, 14 responding to the sixth angel, who blew his trumpet, “Set free the four angels who are confined at the great river Euphrates.”

15 So the four angels were released, who had been prepared for the right hour, day, month, and year, to kill a third of humanity.

16 I heard the number of soldiers on horseback—it was twice ten thousand times ten thousand. 17 And in my vision I saw the horses with riders wearing breastplates of fire and of sapphire[m] and of sulfur. The horses had lions’ heads breathing out fire and smoke and sulfur. 18 They killed a third of humanity by these three plagues—the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came from their mouths. 19 For the lethal power of the horses was in their mouths and their tails, and their tails had snakes’ heads that inflict injuries.

20 Those not killed by these plagues did not repent of their deeds so that they would stop worshiping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—blind and mute idols that have to be carried around. 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceriesor their thefts or their immorality. – Revelation 9:12-21, TPT

The Dragon Defeated

7 Then a terrible war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the great dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back. 8 But the dragon did not have the power to win and they could not regain their place in heaven. 9 So the great dragon was thrown down once and for all. He was the serpent, the ancient snake called the devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole earth. He was cast down into the earth and his angels along with him. – Revelation 12:7-9, TPT

Binding Satan

Then I saw a mighty angel descending from the heavenly realm, holding a heavy chain and a key—the key of the deep. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent known as the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 The mighty angel threw him into the pit, locked it, and sealed it so that he could no longer deceive the nations until the thousand years were over. (After that he must be loosed for a brief time.) – Revelation 20:1-3, TPT

CONCLUSION

From all the above-listed Book of Enoch and Holy Bible verses, it should be clear that God’s powerful delusion will be something that supports so many people’s current beliefs in aliens and alien abductions. Apparently, God will strengthen their ungodly beliefs with His alien-like Divine Judgments (His Wrath) – the LOCUSTS and the HORSES and their RIDERS – that He pours out on the earth during the Tribulation Period. A word to the wise should be sufficient.

THE PASSION TRANSLATION (TPT) Notes:

“Revelation 9:1  [the pit of the deep] Or “the well of the abyss.” This is the same Greek word found throughout the Septuagint for “the deep.” …Jesus is the one who holds the keys of death and Hades (Rev. 1:18), for he unlocked both and walked out triumphantly in resurrection power. Many things are opened in Revelation (heaven, doors, books) with the purpose of releasing a new understanding or revelation. There is a deep place in the human heart, like a pit, that Jesus opens so that we can see what has been there inside us.

Revelation 9:3  Locusts emerged from the smoke. The smoke of the abyss is a picture of deception. The lies of the enemy are a “smoke screen.” The locusts are a picture of the words, actions, and lies of the religious system that dominates and intimidates others (Nah. 3:17). It causes others to feel inferior, like “grasshoppers” (or “locusts”)….

Revelation 9:4 The forehead is a metaphor for our thoughts, our minds. We must have the seal of sonship on our thoughts, the seal of God as our Father, or we will be tormented in our minds over our true identity in Christ.

Revelation 9:5  The Greek word used for “torment” (basanizo) is derived from the word touchstone, or “to examine and test” (the purity of gold and silver). Our thoughts must be examined and made pure in the truth of our sonship and identity before God, which gives us power over the “locusts” that sting like scorpions (demonic power).

Revelation 9:6   As believers, we don’t seek to die, for we have already been crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20). This is difficult to interpret literally. How strange it would be if those with mangled bodies still lived after trying to kill themselves. This is a picture of believers who try to put themselves to death, not recognizing that God has done so already through our co-crucifixion with Christ. Many today still suffer the sting of a scorpion (erroneous concepts of God and tormenting thoughts of self-hatred) until they see the glory of Christ’s empty tomb and the resurrection life that is available to us.

Revelation 9:7   These are not literal horses wearing literal crowns. The words like, as, and appearing as are found nine times in the Greek text in vv. 7-8. They come appearing as battle horses to intimidate with counterfeit crowns, looking like they are on a mission from God, but they are not genuine. They have what appears to be human faces, pointing to the fact that they are false teachers and false apostles with their fake crowns of gold. With hair like that of women and teeth like those of a lion, they will seduce and tear apart those who come into their religious bondage.

Revelation 9:10  See Isa. 9:14-15. The tail is a symbol of false teaching, the lies of the enemy.

Revelation 9:10   The life span of a locust in the region of Israel is about five months. And there are five months from the last day of Passover to the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles. Noah’s ark floated upon the floodwaters for five months.

Revelation 9:11  Or “Abaddon,” which means “destruction.”

Revelation 9:11  Or “Apollyon,” which means “destroyer.” The Aramaic has “in Hebrew, ‘Servant,’ and in Aramaic, ‘Prince.’” The devil holds no keys, for Christ has destroyed the works of the devil and holds the keys of every realm, including death and hell. Christ is the “angel” referred to in this passage. . . .

Revelation 9:14  “The great river Euphrates” is referred to over and over in Scripture as the boundary of Israel’s inheritance (Gen. 15:18; Josh. 1:4; 1 Kings 4:21). It becomes a symbol for us of the boundary of our spiritual inheritance, that which separates our “promised land” and religious “Babylon.” Many believers are “bound” at the boundary and living in less than what they are called to, but they will be loosed in the last days to enter their full inheritance (Eph. 1:10-11).

Revelation 9:16   [twice ten thousand times ten thousand] Or “two myriads of myriads,” a symbolic number, an incalculable number of enormous proportions. The Aramaic and some Greek manuscripts have “twice ten thousand” or “twenty thousand.” It is clear by reading vv. 14-16 that the four messengers become the myriad of horsemen. They are the overcoming ones who are ready to wage war for the Lamb. The locust army and the army of horsemen are two armies facing each other and both are prepared for battle. See Joel 1:4; 2:1-3, 11.

Revelation 9:17 [sapphire] Or “hyacinth.”

Revelation 9:17  The Greek word for “sulfur,” theiōdēs, comes from the word theios, which means “divine in character” or “godlike.” The verb form of this word is theioo and means “to hallow,” “to make divine,” or “to dedicate to a god.”

Revelation 9:18  That is, their burning words carried great power and authority. 

Revelation 9:20  [have to be carried around] Or “cannot walk about.”

Revelation 9:21  The Greek word pharmakeia implies drug usage.”

– the above notes are from The Passion Translation®. Copyright © 2017 by BroadStreet Publishing® Group, LLC.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Fearing End-Times Signs vs. Fearing the State of Your Spirit, Soul, and Body

10 Sunday Sep 2017

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Body, Bride of Christ, cooperative, empowered, end-times signs, faithful, form of godliness, glorified bodies, God lovers, Holy Spirit-Filled, in denial, justified, obedient, powerless, preoccupied, rapture, raptured, reborn, resting on laurels, reverence, saintly overcomers, salvation, Sanctification Process, sanctified, saved, soul, Spirit, submissive, victorious, work out your salvation

...Preoccupied With End-Times Signs

 

 

 

So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ]. ~ Philippians 2:12, AMP

But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them. ~ 2 Timothy 3:1-5, AMP

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day [when I judge them], ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name, and done many miracles in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them publicly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me [you are banished from My presence], you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].’ ~ Matthew 7:21-23, AMP

 

 

Too many professed believers in Christ are resting on their laurels—are living like they are satisfied with their past achievement (salvation), so much so that they refuse to consider additional effort from them is necessary. They have assumed that their salvation automatically made them the Bride of Christ—made them saintly Overcomers. As a result, they either overlooked the Scripture that commands them to work out their own salvation, or they read and studied said Scripture but concluded it does not pertain to them.

Maybe when we who claim to be believers in Christ finally get it right—finally understand that Christ isn’t coming back for any “church,” but rather He is coming back for His genuine Bride—we’ll begin to cooperate with His Holy Spirit and allow Him to transform us into Christ’s victorious Bride—into the saintly OVERCOMERS who have been faithfully and obediently defeating their flesh, defeating this world’s corrupt systems, and defeating the lying devil. Only then will we start using, and keep using, what time we have left on this planet to prepare for Christ’s coming instead of wasting our time being preoccupied with end-times signs.

There are numerous videos in which believers list all the things that are happening in this world that correspond with prophetic end-time signs. The truth is that the signs in those videos are pure HYPE (fear used to excite us and motivate us into being ready for Christ’s return—used as nothing more than some preachers’ forms of emotional blackmail). Because the people who are unnerved by the presented signs will more than likely spend too much time studying and interpreting the Scriptures that have end-time signs in them, they will overlook the Scriptures that tell them how to get right with God. As a result, they will end up doing all the wrong things they THINK are the right things that will get their spirit, soul, and body SANCTIFIED, but the things they will be doing only will obtain them “forms of godliness.”

There is a big difference between fearing the end-time signs and then taking action, and fearing the state of our soul, spirit, and body to the degree that we start choosing to do what we should have been doing to get the proper results God always wanted us to obtain. This truth is why those of us who know the signs of the end times and can recognize the ones that are happening right before our eyes already will have determined that we don’t want Christ to come back and say to us—I know you not; depart from me you workers of lawlessness (you folks who act wickedly by disregarding My Commands; see Matthew 7:21-23). Instead of staying busy seeking more and more information about end-times signs that only temporarily frighten us into wanting to live holy and righteous lives, we will stay busy preparing for Christ’s return. That is to say, we will focus on the main thing, which is happily surrendering our whole soul, spirit, and body to Christ so that His Spirit can make us Christlike.

When we are thinking, speaking, and doing the things Christ thought, spoke, and did, we will be living Christlike. The more Christlike we become the more we will know that we are His true Bride—His Overcomers—the saints He is coming back to rapture before the Tribulation Period begins. Selah . . . Shalom . . . . .

BTW: Just because we are saved believers our salvation doesn’t mean we are living like reborn, saved, justified, filled with the Holy Spirit, and being sanctified in spirit, soul and body (becoming fully Christlike) believers who will be glorified in our bodies when we are raptured. We must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, which means we must continually work to bring our sanctification to fruition by faithfully choosing to cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s Sanctification Process, AND we must revere Father God by continually showing Him that we love Him too much to offend Him by disobeying His Commands (see Philippians 2:12). Selah . . . Shalom . . . . .

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Wheat Believers Were Carnal Christians Who Looked Like Tares

04 Saturday Jul 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

Barley Christians, Bride of Christ, broken, carnal believers, crushing, first resurrection, firstfruits resurrection, glorified bodies, grain harvests, Holy Spirit wind, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of God economy, Leaven, left behinders, loaf of Barley, loaves of Wheat, Lord's barn, mansions in God's House, mature, multiplied measure miracle, perfection, rapture, resurrection of overcomers, ripen, sanctified spirits and souls, separating chaff, sheaf wave offering, spiritual harvests, spiritual maturity, tares, threshing, types of believers, Wheat Believers

Barley, Wheat and Tares

…the servants of the householder came and said unto him, ‘Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath come the tares?’ He said unto them, ‘An enemy hath done this.’ The servants said unto him, ‘Wilt thou then have us go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.” ~ Matthew 13:27-30, KJ21

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.  I have fed you with milk and not with meat; for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able, for ye are yet carnal. For if there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men? ~ 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, KJ21

The Word of God teaches believers—in Christ’s day and in this century—about how important Barley is to the Kingdom of God’s economy (God’s sovereign plan for mankind). Several Scriptures imply that Barley is the perfect representation of the first resurrection’s firstfruits (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:23), which would include the raptured Bride of Christ—both the resurrected dead in Christ and the alive saints at His coming. Furthermore, since Christ arose from the grave on the Firstfruits feast day—the same day that the Jewish Temple priest waved a sheaf of Barley before God for His acceptance—this Divine Truth is why Barley also represents the resurrected Christ who is the firstfruits of those who have died (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:20).

Now during biblical days, what was matchless about Barley was that it ripened in the spring before any other grains, and it did so without help from the Latter Rains. Barley also was a hardier grain than Wheat, because Barley was able to endure its harshest conditions—poor soil, less water, intemperate weather, and so forth—much better than Wheat. Perhaps the above facts are why Barley grew everywhere and in large amounts, or why Barley also was a healthy grain that resisted diseases. In fact, because of its early maturation, Barley wasn’t prone to pests and infestations like Wheat was.  No doubt it was because of all the ancient health benefits in Barley that made Barley the grain that symbolizes perfection—the perfect firstfruits offering, the perfect sacrifice, and the perfect Bride of Christ.

Harvested a month earlier than Wheat, mature Barley—the seeds of which were planted in Israel the same time as Wheat’s—easily was separated from the chaff and the refuse. Surprisingly, mature Barley’s winnowing involved no crushing or threshing, even though it grew wildly and in abundant amounts. Barley only needed the wind, which effortlessly separated the chaff (husk, hull) from the grain.

Something else to note about both Barley and Wheat is that they also are used in the Word of God to symbolize types of believers. For this reason, it should be expected that what is true about Barley will be true about Barley Christians. Likewise, what is true about Wheat will be true about Wheat Believers.

For example, broken and multiplied by the Lord’s hands, the Barley bread—what He feeds the 5,000 and later His disciples at His Last Supper—represents how saved and born-again believers first must be broken so that the Kingdom of God work they will do can be multiplied. Christ is their example, for His body would be broken for many.

This last truth is why, on the day the Lord feeds the 5,000, He demonstrates the multiplied measure of Barley principle/miracle to His disciples and the multitudes, by causing each loaf of Barley bread in the His hands to be multiplied 1 to 1000 men. This multiplied measure of Barley principle/miracle first is seen in the Old Testament, as Barley is multiplied 2 to 1 over Wheat (cf. 2 Kings 7:1), with Barley costing the same amount as Wheat. Then again in the New Testament, the measure of Barley is multiplied 3 to 1 over Wheat (cf. Revelation 6:6), with Barley and Wheat once again costing the same amount. People certainly will get more bang for their buck from Barley, but not so much from Wheat.

There can be no doubt that the multiplied measures of Barley over Wheat suggest that in the Kingdom of God it is, and always has been, more Barley Christians than Wheat Christians who are spreading the Gospel of Christ, and rightly so. More later on this point. Then too, in the times of famine and scarcity, which often are the results of war—as in the case of the siege of Samaria during the prophet Elisha’s day and in the case of the seal judgments that happen during the Tribulation Period—God designed it so that the poor, who would only be able to afford Barley, would remain healthier than the wealthy who would buy Wheat. Why? Well, it is because Barley is considered to have a near-perfect balance among its nutrients.

Now concerning Christ’s broken Barley loaves symbolizing believers’ brokenness, with genuine Christians their brokenness is the removal of all self-righteousness, jealousy, envy, strife, impatience, and so forth. This brokenness is achieved through the filling of the Holy Spirit’s ongoing sanctification process—the process of sanctifying (perfecting) them so that they effectively can feed the Gospel of Christ to the world’s unsaved multitudes. Once the Holy Spirit fills believers, He then is allowed to begin His progressive sanctification, which transforms believers into the image of Christ—changes their personalities and mindsets, more and more each day, until they become Christlike. Put differently, Barley Christians only need to be exposed to the Wind of the Holy Spirit in order for them to respond by walking right, talking right, speaking right, and thinking right. They truly are the sons and daughters of God who want to be pure (holy) and righteous.

Another example of how what is true about the Barley grain is true about the Barley Christians is in the way the Barley grain ripens before the Wheat grain matures. This early maturation of Barley represents saved and born-again Barley Christians’ spiritual maturity. There can be no doubt that Barley’s early maturation agricultural truth means that the corresponding spiritual truth happens the same way—Barley Christians and Wheat Believers who are saved (sown into the Kingdom of God) at the same time also will mature at different speeds. In particular, the Barley Christians will mature quicker than the Wheat Believers.

What is irrefutable is that the firstfruits Barley grain harvest in the Scriptures is symbolized as the first resurrection’s overcomers—the saints (i.e., Barley Christians) who are resurrected and raptured (winnowed or thrown up in the air against the wind)—translated; caught up; snatched off of this Earth—at the time of the Rapture of the Bride, but before the alive in Christ firstfruits are raptured. Put differently, there is no doubt that the raptured Bride of Christ is represented as the Barley sheaf wave offering that is lifted up and then waved before God for Him to accept it as a firstfruits offering.

In contrast, the Wheat Believers are symbolized as the Tribulation Period’s left-behinders—the rest of the believers. Unlike the mature Barley Christians who are raptured before the start of the Tribulation Period (the Wrath of God), the left-behind Wheat Believers who ripen during the Tribulation Period are in the Tribulation Period to experience the kind of separation or crushing/threshing that will cause these believers to be separated from their much harder husk (chaff, hull)—the world systems and doctrinal errors they trusted more than they trusted the Lord and/or Father God, when they were on the other side of the Tribulation Period.

All of the above was said so that the following can be said about why the Wheat Believers gathered at the end of the Age of Grace are NOT the Barley Christians and therefore not the Bride of Christ. In order to be the Bride of Christ (Barley Christians) or a Loaf of Barley that is to be broken for many, believers in Christ cannot have lost their first love, cannot be listening to and/or following the teachings of Balaam (idolatry and immorality), cannot be listening to and/or following the Nicolaitans and the Jezebel prophetess (more idolatry and immorality), cannot have passion that is dead, cannot have incomplete works, cannot be lukewarm, cannot be proud, cannot be ignorant of the Word of God, and cannot be spiritually blind.  For sure, the believers who have lost their first love, and etc., are the Wheat (Wheat Believers) that must go through the Tribulation Period.

Once again, the Wheat gathered at the end of the Age of Grace actually will be carnal Christians who finally reached their spiritual maturity during the Tribulation Period. God made this point clear when He mandated that the firstfruits of the Israelites’ Wheat Harvest, from which the two loaves of Wheat were made and then waved on the Day of Pentecost, should contain LEAVEN (cf. Leviticus 23:17). Now that is so interesting, especially since God makes it clear in many biblical passages that leaven represents a type of carnality and sin. This Divine Truth only can mean that the Wheat Believers who go through the Tribulation Period had to do so because of the carnality and sin that were still in their lives.

In contrast, the Barley bread was made without leaven, and this fact is another reason why Barley—NOT Wheat—symbolizes perfection—the holiness and righteousness of a pure spiritual life. Moreover, the difference between unleavened Barley Christians and leavened Wheat Believers should make it understandable that the Wheat gathered at the end of the Age of Grace will NOT be the Bride of Christ. Indeed, Jesus Christ definitely is letting His Bride know in the parable of the Wheat and Tares that the surviving Wheat Believers at the end of the Tribulation Period were never His true believers who—on this side of the Tribulation Period—humbly were growing in Grace through faith in the hope, love, wisdom, understanding and knowledge of God’s Will for their lives. That is why it is the surviving Tribulation Wheat Believers—NOT the Barley Christians—who have to be separated from the Tares and then stored in the Lord’s barn.

Certainly a barn or storehouse is a far cry from the Bridal Chamber the Bridegroom (Jesus Christ) has prepared for His Bride (Barley Christians) in His Father’s House. That’s why the barn image also lets the true Bride of Christ (Barley Christians) know that the Tribulation Period’s Wheat Believers are not the Lord’s firstfruits overcomers, because these Wheat Believers are not gathered into Heaven but rather into the Lord’s barn. That is to say, these alive Wheat Believers no longer have one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God. They are now fully in the Kingdom of God, but that doesn’t mean they also have received their glorified bodies. The only thing that being put in the Lord’s barn means is that the Wheat Believers are completely safe and out of the reach of God’s enemies—Satan and his imps!

Now here begins the main point of this blog entry, which for many will be an uncomfortable truth. Be that as it may. Also in the Wheat and Tares parable, Jesus Christ is making it clear that the reason why His spiritual servants are not able to tell the difference between the Wheat Believers and the Tares (unbelievers) is because Wheat Believers are the leavened carnal believers. In other words, it is the carnality in the Wheat Believers that makes them look too much like unsaved worldly people (unbelievers)—makes them look too much like the Tares! This last point is why, until the agricultural Wheat bows—becomes mature—it is almost agriculturally impossible to tell the difference between the Wheat and the Tares. Likewise, until the weight of the spiritual Wheat Believers’ fruit causes them to bow humbly before their Lord, it will be nearly impossible for other spiritual believers to tell the difference between the leavened carnal Wheat Believers and the Tares (unbelievers).

No doubt this last fact is why leavened carnal Wheat Believers are in the Tribulation Period. It is obvious that God is giving them time to mature and finally get separated from the chaff—to have what is godly in them completely separated from what is ungodly.

There also can be no doubt that carnal babes in Christ—on  this side of the Tribulation Period—will become the sold out for Christ Wheat Believers who were once on milk. As the apostle Paul declares, carnal believers cannot be fed the meat of the Word of God. If they can’t eat meat, then their milk diet will be the reason why they do not grow up fast enough—spiritually speaking.

Carnal believers’ slow spiritual growth keeps them from being prepared and ready (sanctified, Christlike), when Christ comes for His Bride, who is without spot, wrinkle or blemish. Therefore, the Bride of Christ is His ripened and harvested Barley Christians.

It is very unfortunate that the hard truth for some Christians to swallow is that Jesus Christ will leave behind—close the door/portal/gateway to Heaven—on the carnal babes in Christ who are not spiritually mature. Why? Well, the obvious truth is that they are carnal believers instead of spiritual believers! As such, there was no way the Holy Spirit could finish the work God began in them—no way He could give them their completely sanctified spirits, souls and bodies so that they could receive their glorified bodies!

That’s right! Today’s carnal believers are not becoming Christlike because they are not being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, who cannot initially fill them (baptize them in Him) so that the sanctification process can begin. If these believers in Christ do not cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that He can give them His filling—His Baptism that is corroborated, first and foremost, by the speaking in tongues—then these carnal believers (Wheat Believers) will continue to look the Tares until these carnal believers either physically die—on this side of the Tribulation Period—or until they become completely faithful and obedient to Christ during the Tribulation Period. However, by then, they either will be martyred (beheaded for their love of Christ and God, and for their holy and righteous living) or they will survive the Tribulation Period and become the holy and righteous individuals who—like Noah and his family—repopulate the Earth.

In contrast, neither the Barley grain nor the Barley Christians resemble Tares. This truth no doubt is why Barley Christians represent genuine Christians. Moreover, Barley Christians are filled with the Holy Spirit, as well as empowered and endowed by Him. As a result, these believers will be producing the fruit of the Spirit and living righteous and holy lives that will make them standout instead of making them bear a resemblance to the Tares. This truth is why ONLY the carnal babes in Christ will be the Wheat that is growing right alongside of the Tares—both on this side of the Tribulation Period and during the Tribulation Period—at least until they become sold out for Christ followers.

The bottom line is this: In the Word of God, there are two grain harvests that belong to the Lord—the firstfruits harvest and the subsequent harvest (the Barley harvest and then the Wheat harvest), with the latter being larger than the former. Now that should be no surprise, since the Word of God reminds true Christians that only a few of people—a remnant—of all of the world’s people will find the narrow path that leads to the Kingdom of God gate,  enter through the gate to the Kingdom of God, and continue walking on that path. This Divine Truth is why the Word of God also promises there will be two spiritual harvests—the harvest of Barley Christians and the harvest of Wheat Believers. 

Just like the agricultural Barley harvest comes first with the agricultural Wheat harvest following, the Barley Christians or Bride of Christ’s pre-Tribulation spiritual harvest will come first, and it will be followed by the Tribulation Period’s finally sold out for Christ surviving Wheat Believers’ end of the Age of Grace spiritual harvest. Clearly, the Barley Christians and the Wheat Believers are not the same people, and that is why both of these groups of believers cannot be the righteous, pure (holy), and unblemished believers who, after being sanctified, are given glorified bodies and then admitted into Heaven as the Lord’s Bride.    

Lastly, the reasons why Barley is important to the Kingdom of God are what follows. The first reason is because Barley’s multiplication principle/miracle represents how swiftly The Way—in the first century—and today’s real Christianity spreads. Put differently, Barley signifies just how often God has added another follower of Christ to the Lord’s ekklesia—the emphasis should be on GOD being the One adding genuine followers of Christ to His ekklesia and NOT on men and women adding new converts to their “church” rolls. Secondly, since Barley grows everywhere, tolerates the harshest conditions, and endures inclement temperatures, it should be obvious by now that ONLY Barley represents all of the persecuted Christians from the first century until the Rapture of the Bride of Christ, and all of the centuries of Christian missionaries—whether apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers. In short, Barley is important to the Kingdom of God, because Barley symbolizes the Age of Grace’s pre-Tribulation raptured perfected Bride of Christ.

A word to the wise should be sufficient. Amen.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Two Biblical Proofs Favoring Pre-Tribulation Rapture

04 Thursday Sep 2014

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Study

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Abraham, biblical pattern, Blood of Christ, Body of Christ, Bride of Christ, brothers and sisters in Christ, correct, crucial, end-times, escape, essentials, eternal life, fair, God's wrath, Household of Faith, judge, Judgments, just, justified, Noah, radical, rapture, rescued, righteous, sanctified, saved, theological perspective, wicked

Proof Positive

Avraham approached and said, ‘Will you actually sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in the city; will you actually sweep the place away, and not forgive it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are there? Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! Far be it from you! Shouldn’t the judge of all the earth do what is just?’ ~ Genesis 18:23-25, CJB

For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, CJB

In necessary things unity; in uncertain things freedom; in everything compassion. ~ Unknown Author; most often misattributed to Augustine

God help us all who call ourselves Christians, for even in a time such as this we still remain unable to become ONE. We primarily are divided by doctrines, issues, and practices. As a result, we who profess to be Your holy and righteous sons and daughters, joint-heirs with Your only begotten Son (Jesus the Christ), frequently end up treating each other like notorious enemies instead of like venerable brothers and sisters in Your Household of Faith.

There continues to be too much arguing among followers of Christ Jesus over doctrines, issues, and practices that neither are crucial to the Gospel of Christ nor to how anyone obtains eternal life (how someone is saved). Christians’ most commonly debated doctrines, issues, and practices include, but are not limited to: the Rapture, the Millennium, the Earth’s Age, Life on Other Planets, Food and Drink, Female Pastors, Observing the Sabbath vs. Worshipping on Sunday, Speaking in Tongues, Performing Miracles, and various legalistic Do’s and Don’ts (like going to the movies, dancing, smoking, drinking, playing cards, wearing makeup, and so forth).

How horrible our arguing with and our mistreatment of Body of Christ members must look to the unsaved world. No wonder the masses of lost souls in today’s world are not coming to Christ Jesus. Why would any of them want to be a part of this current 21st century body of believers who vehemently disagree with each other? These quarrelsome believers not only refuse to tolerate but also choose not to be civil to their brothers or sisters in Christ Jesus who think differently about things that usually have nothing to do with a person’s salvation nor with the Gospel of Christ!

If we agree on the essentials, yet disagree on the non-essentials, then let us learn how to agree to disagree without becoming/being disagreeable (unloving, compassionless, coldhearted, intolerable, argumentative, hostile, inhospitable, bad-tempered, grouchy, snarky, sarcastic, stubborn, nasty, offensive, unpleasant, unfriendly, rude, legalistic, insulting, disrespectful, and the list goes on). Let us learn how to remain loving, caring, and kind to each other. After all, one of the most crucial lessons Christ Jesus taught is this one: “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other” (John 13:35, MSG).

Having said that, let me say this: Because I know that the Rapture is one of the most commonly debated doctrines, I would like to share, strictly from a general theological perspective, two biblical proofs favoring a pre-Tribulation Rapture. Not only do I find these proofs to be two of the best but also I agree with them, as do so many theologians, countless other followers of Christ, and even copious churchgoers. For this reason, I am certain that numerous individuals who will read this blog entry probably already know these proofs, and I equally am certain that various other individuals who will read this blog entry neither had read nor had heard of these proofs before now. My hope then is that the end result of having read this article will be that those readers who didn’t believe will have come to believe what so many present-day followers of Christ already accept to be true about the Bride of Christ’s pre-Tribulation Rapture.

Biblical Proof Number One—from the Old Testament:

Anyone who believes that there is a radical and ESSENTIAL difference between the righteous and the wicked should agree that God knows the difference, and  he or she should agree that God is the One who makes the distinction between those who are “righteous” and those who are “wicked.” Additionally, anyone who believes that there is a radical and ESSENTIAL difference between the righteous and the wicked also should agree that righteousness and wickedness are exact opposite spiritual (heavenly vs. hellish) characteristics, which is why God never wanted His righteous children and the world’s wicked persons to mix.

Furthermore, since God knew there would be a nonstop righteous vs. wicked battle taking place on this Earth, that is why He had some undeniable proof of His timeless pattern of Judgment placed in His Word. Biblical proof number one, therefore, is that God does not judge His truly righteous believers with the world’s very wicked unbelievers. This biblical pattern is most noticeable in the Scriptures describing the time of Noah, and it continues to become more evident throughout the rest of the Old Testament. God’s pattern of Judgment also is found in the New Testament, especially in end-times verses. That’s why there really can be no denying that God clearly is represented throughout the Holy Bible as a righteous Judge who pronounces Judgment that always is correct and fair.

For example, in the Old Testament, Abraham, who is one of Noah’s after-the-Flood descendants, knew quite well that God never would judge the righteous with the wicked, and that is why Abraham doesn’t shy away from reminding God of His existing Judgment pattern. Abraham says to God:

…Will you actually sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Maybe there are fifty righteous people in the city; will you actually sweep the place away, and not forgive it for the sake of the fifty righteous who are there? Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! Far be it from you! Shouldn’t the judge of all the earth do what is just? ~ Genesis 18:23-25, CJB

The point here is that it had been established before Noah’s day that God is a just and righteous Judge who only punishes (pours out His Wrath only upon those whom He has judged as) the wicked, and then only AFTER He has removed (separated) the righteous from mingling with the wicked. Righteous Noah, his sons, and his sons’ wives were saved from God’s 40 days and 40 nights of the falling rain Flood Judgment, while God poured out His promised diluvial Wrath upon all of the Earth’s wicked inhabitants, as well as upon the Earth itself!

As already mentioned, this pattern of God’s Judgment runs all through the Testaments. Of course, there always is an exception, and the exception that must be noted here is that, although there are many New Testament verses that chiefly emphasize God’s Judgment, there is NO mention of God’s Judgment in the New Testament passages considered as Rapture passages. This observation leads to the second biblical proof.

Biblical Proof Number Two—from the New Testament:

Since there is no mention of God’s Judgment in the New Testament’s Rapture verses, then it is decidedly possible that the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happens at a separate time from when God judges and then punishes the Earth and the left-behind wicked, many who are followers of the Antichrist, with His fiery Wrath. The apostle John writes:

Then I saw another sign in heaven, a great and wonderful one — seven angels with the seven plagues that are the final ones; because with them, God’s fury is finished. ~ Revelation 15:1, CJB

Apostle John most assuredly is describing the last Judgments—the last of God’s judiciary righteous Judgments issued against the left-behind ungodly (His Wrath or Fury). The apostle also is describing God’s righteous Punishment for committed crimes His enemies are guilty of (His Wrath or Fury). Without doubt, these seven plagues (seven bowl judgments) are the last of all of God’s promised righteous end-times Punishment (His Wrath or Fury).

All the same, it must be noted here that apostle Paul says when Christ Jesus died on the Cross, His atoning sacrifice not only had made the gift of eternal life (Salvation) available, but also He had saved (rescued, delivered) believers from God’s end-times Judgments and Punishment (outpouring of Wrath). In other words, so that God’s righteous would not experience any of His end-times Wrath, Christ Jesus’ sacrificial dying absorbed it ALL. Thus, biblical proof number two is Christ Jesus already took the Wrath of God in place of God’s Household of Faith believers—bore the FULL brunt of God’s Wrath for the Body of Christ, also known as the Bride of Christ (both saved Christian Jews and Gentiles). Apostle Paul writes:

…you turned to God from idols, to serve the true God, the one who is alive, and to wait for his Son Yeshua, whom he raised from the dead, to appear from heaven and rescue us from the impending fury of God’s judgment. ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:9b-10, CJB

~ and ~

For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, CJB

The point here is that it already had been established before Christ Jesus’ day that God still is a just and righteous Judge who only punishes (pours out His Wrath only upon those whom He has judged as) the wicked, and then only AFTER He has removed (separated) the righteous from mingling with the wicked. Therefore, it stands to reason that the Lord’s righteous Bride first will be saved (rescued, delivered) from any part of God’s seven years of the end-times Tribulation Judgments, after which God then will pour out all of His promised fiery Wrath upon all of the Earth’s left-behind inhabitants!

The bottom line is this: As it was in Noah and Abraham’s days, so will it be in these current last days. God will NOT have His spiritually renewed, saved, and reconciled back to Himself sons and daughters endure any of His prophesied end-times Judgments and Punishment that are reserved for His and Israel’s enemies. There is absolutely no way that God could explain or defend why He would let those individuals, whom the beaten and crucified Christ Jesus’ Blood has justified as righteous, and whom the mighty workings of the Holy Spirit completely has sanctified as holy (sinless), go through any of the seven years of the end-times Tribulation. That is why the Bride of Christ will NOT be in the Tribulation Period!

Once again, the two biblical proofs favoring a pre-Tribulation Rapture for the Bride of Christ are that God never would judge His righteous when He judges the wicked, and Christ Jesus already has emptied God’s full cup of Wrath so that born again, saved, justified, and fully sanctified followers of Christ would never have to experience any Wrath of God. AMEN!

For a detailed explanation about God’s Wrath, please read my blog entry Lost In Translation.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Ekklesia Says It All: Christ Will Call His Bride Out of This World!

24 Monday Mar 2014

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

apantesis, Apokalupsis, assembly, Bride, Bridegroom, called-out group, congregation, dignitary, ekklesia, Epiphaneia, escort, gathering, huapantesis, institutional, koinonia or fellowship, parousia, qahal, rapture, relational, Septuagint or LXX, ten virgins, U-Turn

My Ekklesia

The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord,
Searching all the innermost parts of his being.
~ Proverbs 20:27, NASB

Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. ~ Psalm 12:1, NASB

The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart;
And devout men are taken away, while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from evil,
He enters into peace;
They rest in their beds,
Each one who walked in his upright way. ~
Isaiah 57:1-2, NASB

But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man. ~ Luke 21:36, NASB

It is interesting how God chose to use the Greek word ekklesia, as the word that best describes Jesus Christ’s called-out group—His ONE Body of Believers or the Bride of Christ. Etymologically speaking, ekklesia is formed from a compound, a combination of two Greek words: ek (from out of) and kaleo (to call aloud or to call forth).

Furthermore, based on ekklesia’s traditional usage, it is obvious to many scholars that ekklesia at one time was the most inclusive word in existence. Many of these same scholars believe that this inclusivity is how its etymological meaning is connected to the biblical understanding of a first century A.D. ekklesia being a called-out group of believers (Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor, men and women, slaves and free persons, and so forth).

Now it should be noted here that other scholars have maintained that ekklesia originally only meant an “assembly” and NOT a gathered “spiritual” group that used to be part of a larger group. However, based on the Koine Greek language used to translate the Hebrew word qahal as ekklesia, which is found in one of the oldest and surviving Greek translations of the Septuagint (the Old Testament or LXX manuscripts), it cannot be denied that Christ Jesus’ meaning of ekklesia has remained the same as it is used in the Septuagint.

Furthermore, it widely is accepted that the Septuagint’s translation of the Torah (the Law; the first five books of the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament) was completed around the middle of the third century B.C., while the rest of the Old Testament books found in the Septuagint widely are accepted to have been translated in the second century B.C. So then, by the time the first four books of the Koine Greek New Testament were written, it is no coincidence that the first person named in the four Gospels who uses ekklesia is Christ Jesus. When He uses ekklesia, He no doubt is prophesying about a future “spiritual” Body of Believers whom Father God will “call out” from a larger group of people who will be living in spiritual darkness—a larger group of people, which will include both the unbelieving pagan “Gentiles” and the unbelieving “religious” Jews.

Historically and biblically speaking, from the very first time ekklesia is used in the New Testament (see Matthew 16:18), ekklesia does NOT mean “church,” as it universally is translated today. Ekklesia, according to how Christ Jesus uses this word, literally means “called out of,” which, without doubt, begs the questions: 1. Who is being called out? 2. Out of what have they been called? That’s why no matter how anyone tries to spin it, the word “church” only defines a “place,” predominantly a “physical building,” and NEVER a people; whereas, whenever ekklesia is used in the Scriptures to describe a congregation, convocation, or an assembly, it always refers to PEOPLE—refers to the ones who actually have been called out and/or set apart, and NOT the places where they meet/gather.

Now granted, Christian people are the ones who actually congregated in the first century A.D. Jewish Temple before its destruction, in Synagogues, homes, and much later in “church” buildings, and so forth. Nevertheless, from the inception of Jesus Christ’s ekklesia, physical buildings NEVER were considered His called-out ones. Thus, ONLY ekklesia refers to the PEOPLE who are the Lord’s called-out group of believers! In other words, Christ Jesus NEVER calls His Bride His “CHURCH.”

Why is the Bride of Christ (Body of Believers) never going to be the same thing as “The CHURCH”? Well, according to the most credible archeological findings, it is because it is primarily evident that from the time that all of the ancient Greek city-states (in truth, villages) began holding their own ekklesia, something or someone was responsible for calling forth/summoning each Greek city-states’ citizens. That someone or something was the sound that came from a herald’s blown trumpet, which called forth/summoned the different groups of Greek citizens to their own ekklesia (a word in the ancient Greek cultural that always seemed to depict the basic idea of an “assembly”). Additionally, the most reliable archeological findings show that each known different ancient Greek ekklesia was held in a local community meeting place where the assembly (ekklesia) of Greek citizens discussed their own city-state’s various political concerns.

Furthermore, in ancient Greek city-states, each ekklesia was both its specific group of citizens AND the controlling power that governed its own city-state. In other words, city-states like Athens, Sparta, Corinth, Thebes, Argos, and so forth, were all part of ancient Greece (or the larger all-inclusive group that spoke the same language, believed in the same gods, worshipped the same way, and considered themselves to be Greeks), even though as city-states their own ekklesia not only had the power to enact laws and rule its own citizens, but also each ekklesia had the power to raise and train its own army, negotiate its own citizenship, establish its own religion, and collect its own taxes. In other words, most of the ancient Greek city-states were in essence individual kingdoms, with their own governmental assemblies, and their own kings.

Based on the available information about the etymological meaning of the ancient Greek culture’s ekklesia, it should be easy to see how, by the first century A.D., ekklesia very well could have meant a sanctified (set apart) spiritual Body of Believers in Christ Jesus who was “called out” or summoned by God to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, because the larger group of unbelieving people they once were part of still were living in spiritual darkness. Likewise, it should be easy to see how, by the first century A.D., ekklesia also could have meant something very similar to a Greek koinonia—group of Christians or followers of Christ who was united in purpose: fellowship. According to the Word of God, these early believers gathered together for the agreed upon purposes of sharing communion (fellowshipping), giving encouragement, and receiving preparation (cf. Acts 2:42), all of which were necessary pastimes that helped each participant achieve the God-commanded tasks of evangelizing and discipling his or her world, as he or she knew it then.

Put differently, these first century A.D. believers understood that they had been “called out” by God and for God (for His Divine purposes). In the latter sense, they all knew that, by gathering together with other like-minded born-again AND Holy Spirit- filled believers, who would meet (usually in community homes) for the sought after encouragement, fellowship, and training, they (these first century A.D. believers) would receive everything they needed to be able to represent accurately and faithfully the Kingdom of Heaven and Father God’s Perfect Will in all of life, while simultaneously affecting a change in their surrounding communities.

To reiterate, it is interesting that God chose the word ekklesia to define who the Lord’s Bride always has been, and continues to be. Once again, contrary to popular opinions, there is no way that anybody could make the English word “church” mean the same thing as the Greek word ekklesia. Again, the original first century apostolic meaning of ekklesia meant both a group of believers “called out” by God to receive Salvation (Kingdom of Heaven membership requirement, which is fulfilled after a born-again status is received) AND that of an “assembly” (a koinonia—a fellowship kind of meeting).

It wasn’t until the early 1600s that the King James Bible translators decided to transform the meaning of ekklesia so that it would reflect what “church” actually denotes today. At that time, the true historical and biblical meaning of ekklesia changed drastically from a basic “assembly” and/or “congregation” of people TO the “place of meeting,” as well as “a thing,” like a physical building. These “church” meanings definitely are the ones that the translators of the 1611 King James Bible intended for ekklesia, but as already stated these meanings are NOT the true definitions for ekklesia, when it is used to describe Jesus Christ’s Body of Believers.

Today, it widely is accepted that the literal meaning of ekklesia is a “called-out group”—an inclusive group of people “called out” from the world by God and for God. However, it should be noted here that after the first-ever members of this “called-out group,” which in this case represents God’s Household of Faith children, separated from that already mentioned bigger group, this is when God’s “called-out group” initially became a totally different group (i.e., Christians or Christ followers, and etc.). The point here is that, spiritually speaking, there really ONLY has been ONE true ekklesia. That is to say, from the Old Testament days, Father God has had His faithfully righteous Jewish people. From the New Testament days, Jesus Christ has had His faithfully righteous Body of Believers, which includes Jews and Gentiles. This Divine Truth often is missed. Too many people today, believers included, often fail to see that there really is ONLY ONE called-out group (more on this point later)!

What way too many believers also haven’t understood is that God purposely chose the ONLY word that could possibly give the most credence to the Word of God’s supernatural Rapture doctrine. More than any of mankind’s countless speculations or theories, ekklesia is God’s all-inclusive word that best describes what the Rapture is, and the “season” in which it will happen, just NOT the day or the hour!

Without doubt, it is the Word of God, which verifies that Christ Jesus will be coming for His Bride right after a rousing midnight cry, an angelic voice, and the sound of the Last Trumpet. Now anyone who is well acquainted with the traditional Jewish Wedding ceremonies will understand that this Last Trumpet call happens when the bridegroom, who first left His betrothed so that He could prepare a bridal chamber for the both of them in his father’s house, returns for his bride. Therefore, this LAST TRUMPET sound, which the apostle Paul writes about, is NOT the one that will happen at the physical bodily appearance of the Lord or His Second Advent, which is when He returns, bringing His saints with Him, at the end of the Tribulation Period. This LAST TRUMPET sound of Paul’s is the same TRUMPET sound that would have been blown right before the herald’s shout, which is mentioned in Christ Jesus’ Parable of the Ten Virgins. The wedding herald (probably a groomsman) could be the one who carries and blows the shofar, for he certainly is the one who shouts: The bridegroom is coming.

The Lord no doubt knew that His disciples knew that the bridegroom in the 10 Virgins Parable is coming back to abduct his bride in secret—to return on a day and at an hour NOBODY could have foreknown, thus, in secret—to snatch Her or “steal Her away” for the purpose of taking Her into the Bridal Chamber He built for Her inside His Father’s House, where they could consummate their marriage. In other words, the procession Jesus Christ alludes to in the 10 Virgins Parable is a procession from and back to Father God’s House, as prophesied and practiced in the ancient Jewish Wedding customs. This means that the Lord knew that His disciples also knew that the alluded to procession was NOT back to the father of the bride’s house for the wedding reception! The Lord knew His disciples knew that the Bridegroom (also King) coming for His Bride is a prophesied event, even though the Lord’s focus is more on preparedness (cf. Psalm 98:6; Joel 2:15-16; John 3:29; additionally, please read the Old Testament, as the Jewish wedding customs are in many verses in many chapters of several books)!

This preparedness (being ready ahead of time, because no one knows exactly when the “catching away” will happen) also is the apostle Paul’s focus, which is why his coming and going language in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 is the reason why his use of the Greek word apantesis ISN’T in the technical sense. The same also is true of Jesus Christ’s use of apantesis in His 10 Virgins parable. Therefore, apostle Paul, like the Lord, also is relying on people’s knowledge of how and why the Bridegroom is coming back. That certainly must be why ALL of the movements—the Lord (Bridegroom) descending, the dead in Christ’s bodies resurrecting and then ascending, the alive in Christ ascending after the dead in Christ, and the instantaneous glorifications—obviously depict the abduction of the Bride of Christ, which is why Paul’s coming and going language is NOT the “technical” understanding of what the Greek word apantesis means—neither how Paul intends for it to mean in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, nor how Jesus Christ uses it in Matthew 25:6. (More on the use of apantesis later.)

Right now, it is important to mention that, based on the understanding of how the ancient Greek city-states summoned their individual ekklesia, informed people should understand that the same way those earliest assemblies were convoked, which was by a herald’s trumpet sound, also is going to be the same method God Himself has chosen to summon Jesus Christ’s Bride. In other words, there is one meaning of the Lord’s Bride being “called out” of the world, which as previously mentioned was because God “called Her out” of darkness into the Kingdom of Heaven’s marvelous Light, for the purpose of building His Kingdom on Earth, as it is in Heaven (see 1 Peter 2:9-10). However, the Lord’s Bride also is going to be “called out” of, taken out from, or summoned out of various places (dwellings, rooms, sites, localities, and so forth, that are all over this world) so that the Bridegroom can gather (assemble) His Bride (Body) together in the clouds, after His Bride MEETS Him in the air. Once again, this in-the-air meeting includes both the gathering of the resurrected dead in Christ and the gathering of the raptured alive in Christ!

So then by changing or rather by insisting that in this day and age the ancient fundamental meaning and the modern day literal meaning of ekklesia BOTH just mean “church,” countless believers in Christ have missed the importance of the true meaning of the Greek word ekklesia—the meaning Christ Jesus first uses in the New Testament—which supports the New Testament’s Rapture doctrine. Thus, there can be no doubt that God Himself has inspired the apostle Paul, a Jew and a Greek, to teach via his letter to the ekklesia in Thessalonica (Thessaloniki) that the Lord’s Bride (the children in God’s Household of Faith) is representative of His firstfruits who, in the end times, will be “called out of” or taken out from, or summoned out of numerous places in many geographical areas so that they can be gathered together for an in-the-air meeting, and so that they then can continue to ascend into Heaven.

Perhaps the above truths are why it is important to note here that God is not always clear as crystal about EVERYTHING that is presented in His Word. Perhaps His repeated lack of transparency, especially with the biblical subjects that have varied interpretations, is why people have a hard time discerning the appropriate meanings for certain Hebrew and Greeks words, especially the Holy Bible’s original Hebrew and Greek words that consistently have proven to be difficult to communicate (translate) into the English language. Possibly this difficulty also is because, over time, the more present etymological meanings for these original Hebrew and Greek words have changed from their earliest meanings, which seems to be the case with ekklesia.  Sometimes this change is a good thing, and sometimes it isn’t.

Still, it would be wonderful if readers would consider what this blogger believes is the primary reason why so many professed Christians have so many dissimilar interpretations for the same Scriptures. There is no doubt that the main reason there are diverse interpretations for the same Scriptures is, to a certain degree, because of believers’ understanding of what some crucial original Hebrew and/or Greek words in those differently interpreted Scriptures actually mean in English. Therefore, this blogger believes that the chief reason why these varied interpretations happen, and are continuing to happen, is because God Himself obviously has included several words from the original languages of the Holy Bible which, on the surface, seem to be interchangeable when the truth is that these words have distinctly different denotations and/or connotations. This reason is specifically true, when similar yet significantly dissimilar words appear to describe the same kinds of events or groups of people (or absolutely are understood to be describing the same kinds of events or groups of people).

The point here is that perhaps God’s lack of clarity is intentional. Maybe His ambiguity is nothing more than His Way of showing His love for multiple possible meanings—a love He graciously shares with His Children. Then too, maybe His opacity is God’s Way of making sure that His Children in His Household of Faith always give their complete trust to (put their whole Faith in) Him by relying totally on His Holy Spirit to reveal, teach, and empower them INSTEAD of putting their trust in bible/prophecy scholars’ academic prowess or in the extraordinary number of hours these scholars claim they have spent in research and study! There’s no doubt that God knew human beings, especially those living in these last days and end times, would “think” that they wouldn’t need to depend on the Holy Spirit’s supernatural assistance, because they are “smart” enough to figure the truth out on their own—so intelligent that they only need to trust in their own “superior” research and analytical efforts!

Evidently God inspired the men who penned the Holy Bible’s verses to use the poles-apart words that are found in the Word of God’s original Hebrew and Greek languages. Once again, these poles-apart words, on the surface, often appear to have the same meanings. God no doubt had His inspired writers to create this very problem, primarily for the purpose of distracting or misleading the ones God didn’t want to know the truth! For example, God definitely would want to keep Satan and his demonic forces ignorant about and unaware of the real truth about these differently understood and diversely interpreted biblical events, people, descriptions, prophesies, and so forth.

Maybe this last truth is why, for example, every once and a while, there are some Greek words that have been problematic, where translating/communicating God’s Divine Truths accurately into English are concerned. These obvious prize pearls (God’s Divine Truths) have been hidden from sight under those Greek words that, again, initially appear to mean the same thing but, when people dig a little bit deeper, these words turn out to mean completely something else. The following is proof positive that Greek words have very different meanings, yet they are translated as the same English words: AGAPE, EROS, STORGE, and/or PHILIA, which often are translated as “love”; THUMOS and ORGE, which often are translated as “wrath”; EKLEKTOS and EKLEGOMAI, which often are translated as “elect,” “choice,” “selected,” and/or “chosen”; PAROUSIA, EPIPHANEIA, and/or APOKALUPSIS, which often are translated as “coming,” “presence,” and/or “arrival”; and HARPAZO, ANALAMBANO, and/or EPAIRO, which often are translated as “taken up,” “snatched up,” and/or “caught up.”

Having said that, it is important to note here that sometimes Greek nouns are translated as English verbs. Case in point, where the alive believers’ “in-the-air meeting” is concerned (their Rapture, which is a noun), most English translators of various English versions of the Holy Bible translate as the verb “to meet” the Greek noun apantesis. Now the Greek verb, which means “to go to meet,”  “to meet,” “to meet with,” “met,” and “to come face to face,” is apantao. The point here is that both Jesus Christ and apostle Paul use the Greek noun in Matthew 25:6 and in 1 Thessalonians 4:17—not the Greek verb. 

In neither case (either Matthew 25:1, 6 or 1 Thessalonians 4:17) does the English verb “to meet” truly capture the real meaning of the Greek word apantesis, as both apostle Paul and Christ Jesus are using it. Once again, neither Christ Jesus nor Paul is conveying the original Greek “technical” meaning of apantesis, which refers to the whole undertaking of sending a welcoming party, as a show of honor and respect, out of its city to greet/meet a visiting dignitary (king, governor, magistrate, or some other important person), and then that group of representatives immediately escorts this dignitary back into their city—the very city he was coming to visit.

Now, seeing how God has a knack for presenting things turned upside down, it’s no wonder that instead of apantesis carrying the ancient/traditional meaning, the apostle Paul literally has turned the technical sense upside down. He has done so by using apantesis in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 in such a way as to say that the Lord Himself not only has reversed the direction from horizontal to vertical, but also He is the One who has made the U-Turn (has changed His descending direction).  

Furthermore, this turned upside down reality suggests that, instead of the noble Lord being met by a lowly greeting party, it is Jesus Christ who is doing the greeting! He is greeting His ambassadors (the Lord’s followers who have been in the world but not OF the world). In other words, just like Jesus Christ became the servant, when He washed His disciples’ feet at His Last Supper, at the time of the Rapture, the Lord will have become the escort (protector and guide) for His Bride who has been elevated to the status of a VIP. She, thus, only has been visiting (pilgriming; archaic verb) on the Earth, until Christ Jesus, as prophesied, comes DOWN from Heaven to the clouds, waits on the clouds “for a meeting” with Her, and then turns right around and escorts Her back with Him into Heaven, where He eventually will show Her the love, respect, and honor She has earned (cf. John 17:13-19; 2 Corinthians 5:20; Ephesians 5:27).

Now Pre-Tribulation Rapture naysayers would have people to believe that there is no way Christ Jesus is going to make a U-Turn and take His raptured Bride back into Heaven, since the “technical” gist of apantesis is that the welcoming party (in this case, the Bride of Christ) escorts the king, lord, governor, magistrate, and so on (in this case, Jesus Christ), back to the city out of which the welcoming party has come (in this case, possibly Jerusalem). However, this interpretation of how the apostle Paul is using apantesis STILL would mean that someone or somebodies would have to make the U-Turn! Therefore, these Pre-Tribulation Rapture skeptics, who obviously just want to turn the apostle Paul’s Rapture images into a picture of Christ Jesus’ physical, bodily Second Coming, by saying that there only is one time He will return to Earth and that will be at His glorious appearance, when every eye will see Him, have just failed to understand that Jesus Christ wouldn’t be descending from Heaven to the clouds and then to the Earth to be a “visitor” anywhere on Earth, and especially NOT in Jerusalem!

Where the Bride of Christ is concerned, first of all, She is NOT going up to meet the Lord from any one particular city. Secondly, She never is depicted as escorting Her Groom (the Lord) back to any place on Earth, but rather She is described as participating in His Second Coming, when His feet touch down on the Mount of Olives, by being with Him YET following Him (cf. Revelation 19:14). His Bride is never depicted as accompanying Him, for the purposes of honoring, respecting, protecting, and guiding Him, which is what an escort did, and still does. Thirdly, as previously mentioned, He is not coming back to Earth as a “visitor.” At His Second Coming, when His feet actually touch down on the Mount of Olives, He is coming back as the Lord (Owner) of the entire Earth, as the Savior (Redeemer) of the entire world, and as King (Conqueror and Ruler) over the entire world. Therefore, at the time of the Rapture of His Bride, it makes more sense that the Someone who is making the U-Turn is Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, who also is returning to Heaven for His Coronation.

There are other reasons why the above Pre-Tribulation Rapture cynics’ interpretation of apostle Paul’s use of apantesis is faulty, and why this faulty interpretation in NO way supports the notion so many Rapture cynics about there being no such thing as a Rapture. First of all, Scriptures support the idea that it is the Lord who is coming as the Bridegroom for His Bride and that after He meets Her in the air He then immediately TAKES Her back into Heaven, where He has spent all these years preparing a place for Her (cf. Matthew 25:1, 6; John 3:29; John 14:2-3; Ephesians 5:25, 32; Revelation 19:7). Secondly, ancient Jewish Wedding customs teach an important message about the bridegroom being the one who builds the bridal chamber (living quarters) in his father’s house, and NOT in the father of the bride’s house! Thus, there is no way that the 5 wise Virgins are going out to meet the Bridegroom ONLY to escort Him back to the father of the Bride’s house. Thirdly, according to ancient Jewish Wedding customs, the bridegroom FIRST takes his bride back to his father’s house to consummate their marriage, which consists of spending seven days behind the closed “bridal chamber” door. Fourthly, Scriptures support the idea that it is the father of the bridegroom who hosts the wedding supper/wedding feast, and NOT the parents of is the bride (see Matthew 22:1-14). In other words, it is Father God who hosts the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and He is in Heaven!

Thus, based on all of the above reasons, it is obvious that the apostle Paul has proven that it is Christ Jesus who makes the U-Turn. Apostle Paul does this by turning the traditional horizontal images of a visiting dignitary approaching a delegation that has come out of its city to escort him back through the earthly city’s entrance INTO the non-traditional vertical image of the Lord descending to greet His deserving of honor and glory genuine Bride. After She meets with Him face-to-face, He then turns and begins to ascend with His Bride until together they reach Heaven (cf. Ephesians 5:26-27; Revelation 19:7-9).  

Now, if true believers’ Rapture naysayers claim that there is not going to be a raptured Bride, at least not before the Tribulation Period begins, but teach instead that the Lord’s Bride only will serve as a welcoming party for His Second Coming on Earth, then again their “coming” of Jesus the Christ (as the visitor) still is NOT His Second Coming. As previously stated, at Christ Jesus’ Second Coming, the Word of God makes it clear that the crowned Jesus Christ will return as the Lord (Owner) of the entire Earth, as the Savior (Redeemer) of the entire world, and as King (Conqueror and Ruler) over the entire world.

The bottom line then is that Jesus the Christ, at His Second “Coming,” when His feet really touch down on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, will be “coming” back to Earth as the triumphant Lion of Judah, who defeats God’s enemies and then establishes His own millennial Kingship! Therefore, as previously stated, Jesus Christ is NEVER coming again to Earth as a visitor or pilgrim!!!! That is why when His ekklesia (Community of believers not of this world; thus, an allegorical visitor or pilgrim) meets Her Bridegroom (the Lord) in the air, it is going to be the Bridegroom (Christ Jesus) who will reverse His direction—He will go back up into Heaven instead of continuing downward onto Earth!

For all of these mentioned reasons, it should be clear by now that by changing ekklesia to “church,” the authorized King James Bible translators have affected too many believers’ whole approach to understanding the meaning of the Body of Christ/Bride of Christ, because the original intent of ekklesia always has been and continues to be relational, while the original intent of “church” always has been and continues to be institutional. Put differently, the early Christians who gathered together in their ekklesia did so for the purpose of sharing, fellowshipping, edifying, encouraging, discipling, equipping, and getting to know each other as a WHOLE family so that each member truly could become ONE. The sad truth then is that the English word “church” totally destroys this relational intent. Furthermore, by changing ekklesia to “church” the authorized King James Bible translators also have guaranteed that innumerable people will miss the main reason why Jesus Christ’s Bride is His truly “called-out group” (His genuine ekklesia).

Now, in the New Testament, there is only ONE ekklesia of the mentioned seven ekklesiae (the called-out groups or assemblies of believers) in the Book of Revelation who receives the taken out or raptured promise. This truth means the Pre-Tribulation Rapture involves the ONLY ekklesia that Scriptures say is HIDDEN in Heaven’s Bridal Chambers (cf. Revelation 3:10; see also Isaiah 26:20-21 and Zephaniah 2:3). Therefore, this ONE of the seven mentioned ekklesiae—the ONLY ekklesia what is hidden in Heaven’s Bridal Chambers—ONLY can be the Bride of Christ, and this Bride is the redeemed ONE Jesus Christ is describing as the pearl of great price (cf. Matthew 13:45-46, see also 1 Corinthians 6:20).

It is important to note here that if the idea of a group of people being “called out” is grounded in (if there is clear evidence found in) the Old Testament, then that would mean that the idea of New Testament believers being a called-out group is a sound biblical doctrine. Likewise, if the idea of a Rapture is grounded in (if there is clear evidence found in) the Old Testament, then that would mean that the idea of New Testament believers being raptured is indeed a sound biblical doctrine, as well.

For the record, in the King James Version of the Old Testament, there are three Hebrew words translated as “congregation” (as in the basic concept of an assembly). These words are as follows: 1. Moed (an appointed time, place, and meeting/assembly/congregation; found 223 times, of which it is used 150 times as “congregation”); 2. Edah (an assembly, company, band, herd, people, multitude, swarm, and/or congregation; found 149 times, of which it is used 124 times as “congregation”); and 3. Qahal (an assembly, convocation, company, multitude, congregation; found 123 times, of which it is used 86 times as “congregation”). 

An interesting nugget is that in the Septuagint or LXX manuscripts, the Greek word ekklesia is used in several verses of the Old Testament, mostly in the translation of the Hebrew word Qahal. The point here is that the Septuagint manuscripts’ translators were using the same Greek language to translate the Hebrew Old Testament that is found in the early Greek New Testament manuscripts.  In essence, from Genesis to Revelation, God has given the same “called-out group” name to His faithfully righteous children—ekklesia! As previously mentioned, from the beginning to the end of mankind Father God apparently has intended that EVERYONE who is His faithfully righteous son and daughter would be His ONLY true “called-out group” or ekklesia. The fact that ekklesia is used throughout the New Testament and in the LXX manuscripts for the Hebrew word qahal verifies the previous statement. Bottom line: There is ONLY ONE true ekklesia, especially since both Jews and Gentiles ONLY have one Redeemer, and because God ONLY provides one single plan of Redemption!

Keeping these last points in mind, it should be noted here that unlike the Old Testament, which has three Hebrew words that mostly are translated in the King James Version as “congregation,” in the King James Version of the New Testament there only is one Greek word that denotes the basic concept of an assembly or a “congregation,” and this word is ekklesia. In the New Testament, ekklesia is used 115 times. Of these 115 times ekklesia is used, 112 times it is translated into English as “church,” and 3 times it is translated as “assembly.”

Furthermore, this New Testament Greek word, ekklesia, has at least four important meanings, one of which is the same meaning used in the Old Testament to describe Israel’s appointed meetings/assemblies/congregations. These four meanings for the New Testament word ekklesia are as follows: 1. An assembly or gathering of people (as in Israel, the people as a whole, who were gathered in the wilderness [cf. Acts 7:38]; or a regular group of gathered citizens [cf. Acts 19:39]; or a group of believers gathered for religious worship [cf. Hebrews 2:12]); 2. An assembly or gathering of professed Christians in local dwellings in various earthly regions/cities (cf. Acts 8:1, 3; Acts 11:22, 26), and in the plural sense as ekklesiae or groups of professed Christians in numerous local gatherings primarily found throughout Turkey/Asia Minor or at several locations in a particular city (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:19; Galatians 1:2); 3. All professing Christians, wherever these Christians might be found; this meaning clearly is a reference to Christendom, as in a global Body of Believers located anywhere (in any city, village, and etc.) and united as ONE (cf. Acts 12:1; Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 15:9; Galatians 1:13; Revelation 2:1-3:22); and 4. The Body of Christ, which has been Holy Spirit baptized into ONE united called-out group to whom Father God via Christ Jesus has bestowed as human gifts to the entire Body of Christ, and these human gifts are to function as apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:13-28; see also Ephesians 4:11-12).

Certainly, it would be hard for anyone to deny that in the Old Testament Israel was the “called-out group” who was summoned to meet God at His appointed times and in His appointed places. Moreover, what is interesting is that with each of the three Old Testament Hebrew words that most commonly are translated as the English words “congregation” and “assembly” (Moed, Edah and Qahal), there is no denying that in every situation the One “calling” or summoning His chosen Jewish people is Father God.  Since Father God via Jesus Christ is the One who also is “calling” or summoning the New Testament’s born again, saved, and being sanctified believers (Jews and Gentiles), there should be no surprise that the Greek word ekklesia is the New Testament word frequently used to mean a gathered together “congregation” or “assembly” that is meeting with God.

Right here, it must be stressed that NEITHER the Old Testament’s “called-out” Israelites NOR the New Testament’s  “called-out” first-century followers of Christ were summoned just to fill seats on the Sabbath Saturday or on Sunday. In other words, neither group of people was “called out” just to assemble together, according to the modern congregational idea, which simply means to gather in a building for the sole purpose of participating in “church” programs and ministry opportunities.

On the contrary, both the “called-out” Israelites and the “called-out” first-century followers of Christ were summoned to meet with God so that they could get prepared to engage their world, as they knew it, and then govern it. After all, in the ancient Greek culture, an ekklesia was the ruling body that governed its polis or city-state. Now since Christ Jesus is the One who first uses the Greek word ekklesia, there can be no denying that He definitely understood this common political term and, thus, it can be no denying that what He knew about an ancient Greek ekklesia is the reason why He uses ekklesia to describe His disciples and their future impact, which was to represent the Kingdom of Heaven and Father God’s Perfect Will on Earth in such a way that they would end up turning the old world’s order upside down (cf. Acts 17:6). 

This turning of the world upside down no doubt is the main reason why the Israelites weren’t given a direct route to take to the Promised Land. Evidently God knew they were not prepared to war against the “giants” who lived in the Promised Land. After all, only two ostensibly grasshopper-sized spies agreed with God that they could defeat the “giants” in the Promised Land! So, all of the Israelites wandered in the wilderness until all of the older generation that came out of Egypt had died! Put differently, God first had to get rid of all of the naysayers before He could prepare His faithful children to enter the Promised Land and eventually battle the “giants” in it!

In comparison, this turning of the world upside down no doubt is the chief reason why the first-century disciples had to be born again, saved, and filled with the Holy Spirit. This process was their necessary preparation (equipping) that would enable them to transform their local communities, wherever each ekklesia had been established. In other words, God first had to baptize Christ’s disciples with His Holy Spirit so that they would become prepared faithful children who first would go throughout the Promised Land and silence their “giants”—the naysayers—by leading other Jewish people to Christ for salvation, as well as eventually battle the “giants”—naysayers—throughout the world, as they knew it then.

So then the point here is that there is a world of difference between Jesus Christ’s idea of building His ekklesia and “church” leaders’ congregational idea of building an edifice in which people assemble together. It is dumbfounding to think about the many believers today who fail to comprehend the difference between an ekklesia AND a “church”!

Now, there is something else that cannot be denied, and that is that in the Old Testament there are examples of Raptures/Translations of godly righteous people, specifically Enoch and Elijah. Yes, a faithful and righteous Noah and his family remained on Earth, but they were safe in the Ark, while the Flood was happening. In other words, they never were in any danger! However, in the end times, the only ones who will not be in any danger of persecution or death are the 144,000 Jewish men (the elect or chosen faithfully righteous ones). They are NEVER hurt or harmed during the Tribulation Period, because ONLY they have the seal of God!

The point here is that, just like it cannot be denied that God is the One who “called out” or summoned Israel, His elect or chosen people, to meet with Him, it also cannot be denied that God is the One who “called out” or raptured/translated Enoch before the Flood started, and Elijah before Israel’s Babylonian captivity started. Therefore, if God “snatched” out of this world His faithfully righteous people, long before the first major global catastrophe AND before the captivity of His beloved Israel, then His Son, Jesus Christ, also will do something similar. 

Jesus Christ says that He only does what He has seen His Father do (cf. John 5:19). For this last reason, as previously mentioned, it cannot be denied that in the New Testament the Body of Christ or Bride of Christ is the Lord’s “called-out group,” who has been called out of darkness into the Light, for the purpose of building Father God’s Kingdom on Earth, as it is in Heaven (see 1 Peter 2:9-10). Likewise, it cannot be denied that the Body of Christ or Bride of Christ is the Lord’s “called-out group,” who will be called out of, taken out from, or summoned out of various places (dwellings, rooms, sites, localities, and so forth, that are all over this world) so that as the Bridegroom He could gather (assemble) His Bride (Body) together in the clouds, after His Bride MEETS Him in the air (see 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).

Right here is where the difference between the Rapture, which happens at the Lord’s in-the-air “coming” or Parousia, and the Lord’s Second Advent, which happens at the Lord’s feet-touching-the-Mount of Olives “coming” or Parousia, Apokalupsis, and Epiphaneia. Parousia, which means a “coming,” a “presence,” and an “arrival,” when used in context with the Rapture of the Bride of Christ also always means His personal “presence” at, or His personal “coming” to a specific place, at a specific time, for a specific meeting or gathering (cf. Matthew 24:3, 27, 37; 1 Corinthians 15:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:15; and 2 Thessalonians 2:1). Thus, it is clear that the Parousia, which is used in context with the Rapture of the Body of Christ, precedes any end-times Parousia (Second Coming, as in His globally visible physical bodily return), which happens together with an Epiphaneia (epiphany) and an Apokalupsis (apocalypse).

The Parousia, thus, that is used in context with the Rapture suggests that Jesus Christ already is present. Indeed, He is present now within born-again believers’ spirits, which is what the apostle Paul means when he states that every physically dead believer’s spirit automatically is home with the Lord (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:8)!

For the above-stated reasons, when Apokalupsis is used in context with Jesus Christ’s Second Advent, Apokalupsis literally means an uncovering, unveiling, or revealing of the manifestation (Epiphaneia) of His presence (Parousia), which is His Glory and His Holiness—a shining forth that everyone on Earth will see. In a general sense, Apokalupsis also refers to the Lord’s Second Advent, when He comes back to Earth to physically fight in the Battle of Armageddon (the Apocalypse) and then afterward establish His millennial Kingdom (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:7; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; 1 Peter 1:7, 13 and 1 Peter 4:13).

That so many people, believers included, constantly confuse the Rapture Parousia with the Parousia, Epiphaneia, and Apokalupsis that are used in context with the Lord’s Second Advent only points to this obvious likelihood, which already has been mentioned, and that is: God evidently is using three words that have distinctly different denotations and connotations. He no doubt uses these three often misunderstood Greek words, specifically for the purpose of keeping the unbelieving world, the careless unprepared and unwatchful professed believers in Jesus Christ plus Satan and his demonic forces, ignorant about and unaware of the exact time when God’s ultimate plan of Salvation (His promised rescue of His righteous children; His “snatching away” of the resurrected dead and alive Bride of Christ) would be fulfilled. Thus, while at the Rapture Parousia the Lord will come down from Heaven, His feet will remain in the clouds in the air. It is while He is in the air that the loud shout or cry of command, the sound of the archangel’s voice, and the sound of God’s trumpet are made (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16), BUT none of this “noise” is for the benefit of the unsaved world. In fact, though these loud sounds will be booming, so much so that they awake the dead in Christ and arouse the alive in Christ, these sounds will NOT be heard by the unbelieving, unsaved, wicked world, because these no doubt spiritual sounds will be inaudible to their natural ears!

Case in point, in the Parable of the Ten Virgins, ONLY the Ten Virgins heard the Bridegroom’s midnight cry. There is no mention of their parents nor other wedding party members hearing this cry.  Moreover, even though all of the 10 Virgins could hear and are awakened by the Bridegroom’s midnight cry (cf. Matthew 25:6-7), the deeper and, thus, harder truth here is that ONLY 5 of these 10 Virgins actually took Oil (symbolic of the Holy Spirit) in their vessels (symbolic of their individual born-again spirits that are being sanctified)! It is evident that the clear understanding here is that the 5 foolish Virgins had NO supernatural OIL (the filling or Baptism of the Holy Spirit, who is the anointing or Oil of the Word—the Spirit of Divine Truth, Holiness, and Wisdom). This missing Oil points to the inability of the Holy Spirit to perform all of His mighty Workings inside these foolish yet born-again believers’ spirits/hearts (cf. Acts 1:8; 1 Corinthians 2:6-15).

Now since parable is a word that means to “lay one thing down by another,” it is important to note here that Jesus Christ impressively is sharpening His hearers’ fundamental understanding about life in God’s eternal Kingdom by presenting a useful illustration of a heavenly Truth that is operational in the Kingdom of Heaven, which He then compares to a very familiar and well-comprehended earthly principle, or earthly narrative, or earthly fact that is operational either in nature or in humanity. Basically, His parables are true to life figurative narratives that are designed to convey, through analogy, some specific spiritual truths relative to Kingdom of Heaven living.

In other words, in the 10 Virgins Parable, Jesus Christ is comparing the Kingdom of Heaven’s spiritual preparedness of the 5 wise Virgins with the worldly spiritual unpreparedness of the foolish 5 Virgins. The Kingdom truth is that ALL 10 Virgins are saved, because the term “virgin” signifies the defining characteristics of the 10 Virgins—they ALL are pure or holy, justified or righteous, and consecrated or devoted. In other words, the word “virgins,” according to the way Christ Jesus uses it in His parable, which is in an allegorical sense, does NOT mean bridesmaids. They are not the Bride’s helpers, or cousins, or other family members, or friends. They are believers—followers of Christ(Jews and Gentiles). However, even though all 10 Virgins are believers in Christ Jesus, ONLY 5 of these 10 Virgins are truly wise AND prepared Virgins! Now, why would the Lord make this distinction, if it wasn’t an important distinction to make?

The Divine Truth, thus, only can be that the 5 wise Virgins were wise because they not only understood that at the moment they were saved, they immediately were given the gift of the Holy Spirit who came to live inside of them, bringing with Him an initial Supply of Oil, but also these 5 Virgins were wise because they understood that they had to totally surrender to their Lord and to His Gospel message concerning the Holy Spirit’s Baptism (additional empowering and endowing; a subsequent gift—a Baptism in the Holy Spirit). There is no other explanation for why, after all  of the 10 Virgins had heard the Bridegroom’s cry, had gotten up, and had trimmed their Lamps of profession (Faith), that ONLY 5 are the wise Virgins who took enough Oil to refill their reservoirs (individual born-again spirit).

This Oil in these Virgins’ reservoirs, thus, implies they not only were indwelt by the Holy Spirit but also filled with Him. That is to say, the initial gift of the Holy Spirit, who lives inside them, came with some Oil. This Divine Truth is very clear, because in the Lord’s parable it is obvious that all 10 Virgins ran out of their Oil about the same time—around midnight. Therefore, the Oil the 5 wise virgins had in additional flasks they kept with them points to a supernatural refilling of the Holy Spirit, who, after His first filling, refills, and refills, and refills, and refills, etc., His Oil in those believers who not only have poured out (or used up) their initial portion of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring but also who will seek Him for His subsequent Oil (power) refillings.

The Lord, thus, is making a very crucial point with the extra oil symbolism. This point is that the 5 wise Virgins’ extra Oil was not to be found within their individual inner spirit beings. Their extra Oil of Light was provided, as needed, by an external Source—by a supernatural Source that was outside their spirit and beyond the ability of the 5 Wise Virgins to produce, which is why this extra Oil was separate from the Oil they had within the lamp of their own spirits. In other words, the Holy Spirit’s supernatural filling is why, at the moment the 5 wise Virgins heard the Bridegroom’s midnight cry, they had enough Oil to pour into their lamps’ reservoir from which they then were able to draw that Oil up through their inserted Wicks (symbolic of that supernatural Connectivity that causes the inward Light of Christ to brightly shine outwardly). Together, the Source (Holy Spirit) and the Connectivity (the Lord, who is the Wick that draws the Oil) ensured that the 5 wise Virgins’ lamps of professed Faith would be able to burn a clean and bright flame not only so that these 5 wise Virgins could be lights in a dying sin-sick world, but also so that they would have enough of their Lord’s Light shining on the pathway that leads to that open Door (the Bridegroom; Christ Jesus; the Way).

Perhaps the following example better explains what Christ Jesus is saying: On the ships of old, it was the lamp trimmers’ responsibility to repeatedly trim the lamps’ wicks (extinguish the lamps’ flames, cut off the wicks’ used burnt parts so as to leave the clean unused wicks that, after the lamp trimmers had refilled their lamps’ reservoirs, they then could relight). The end results always were steady, clean, and bright flames.

Where Jesus Christ’s Parable of the Ten Virgins is concerned, the spiritual implication He is making about each Virgin’s lamp ALSO is that each lamp symbolizes the triune nature of each believer in Christ Jesus. That is to say, just like each one of the 10 Virgins has a physical body, soul, and a spirit, every one of their lamps also has three parts: 1. an open bowl (symbolic of the lamp’s body), which had a pinched end that formed another smaller opening or groove through which a cotton or flax wick could be inserted; 2. the bowl’s inner reservoir (or the lamp’s inner spirit), down into which olive oil (symbolic of the Holy Spirit) was poured and over which a lid often is placed; and 3. an inserted wick (symbolic of the lamp’s soul).

Furthermore, the spiritual implication here is that the 10 Virgins clearly represent 10 believers in Christ Jesus to whom Father God has given His Lamp Trimmer who is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the One Who is responsible for making sure that their wicks (souls) repeatedly have been trimmed (Whose Mighty Workings include, but are not limited to, making sure that the used burnt portion of their souls, which no doubt had been affected by the cares of this natural world, have been cut off, and making sure that their low or emptied reservoirs have been refilled) so that these believers could have their lamps of faith relit by the Word of God (cf. Psalm 119:105; Matthew 5:14-16; John 8:12).  

Once again, Jesus Christ’s parable is about Who the ultimate Source of the Oil is that is within believers’ born-again spirits/hearts and Where that Source originates, which is from Heaven. As previously stated, the extra supernatural Oil the 5 wise Virgins had with them didn’t come from any human source. This Oil neither was already stored up within the hearts/spirits of the 5 wise Virgins, nor were the flasks they had to have been carrying attached to their actual lamps.  

For sure, the parable’s significant spiritual message of the Oil that emptied out of the 10 Virgins’ hearts or spirits versus the extra Oil that was in the 5 Virgins’ flasks, which would be poured into the 5 wise Virgins’ lamps, is that Father God is both the ONLY Source and ONLY Supplier of believers’ light, for in Him there is no darkness at all (cf. 1 John 1:5; see also James 1:17). Certainly, in this sin-darkened world, Father God is the ONLY Source and the ONLY Supplier of heavenly or godly spiritual Light, and His Light primarily manifests itself through His Word, as well as through His Holy Spirit Who uses God’s Word to reveal the spiritual knowledge of and spiritual understanding about Father God that help believers see the Way Father God has prepared for them.

This Divine Truth is why Jesus Christ, with His spiritual reference to an olive oil lamp and its wick, is teaching a valuable heavenly or spiritual truth; that being, because “darkness” exists, His followers must constantly remain prepared so that they ALWAYS not only will be able to know in which direction they are going but also will be able to SEE the Way that is ahead of them. No doubt, this Divine Truth is why the Lord depicts in the Parable of the Ten Virgins that it ONLY is after the 10 Virgins’ burnt wick parts are cut off (trimmed), that a noticeable difference between the Virgins could be understood.

What becomes evident is that ONLY the 5 wise Virgins were prepared or had enough Oil (a supernatural refilling of Father God’s Holy Spirit) that would fill up their reservoirs (born-again spirits), and it is this Oil (God’s Power Source) that would enable their wicks to be relit in time for them (the 5 wise Virgins) to respond to the herald’s shout: The bridegroom is coming. Now clearly, in the apostle Paul’s Rapture verse, he is filling in the blanks by providing information that is missing from the Lord’s Parable of the Ten Virgins, in which He only mentions a “midnight cry.” From the apostle Paul’s imagery, the picture becomes clearer, as believers can begin to understand that the herald’s shout would have been followed by the voice of an angel, which would have been followed by the trumpet of God, all of which would be calling the 5 wise Virgins (Bride of Christ) out of this world; cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16). It then is, after the Lord and His Bride gather together for an in-the-air meeting, when the Lord makes His U-Turn and begins to ascend into Heaven with His Bride. Then the Door to Heaven closes (cf. Matthew 25:10-11). This spiritual understanding is why, the parable’s shut door symbolizes that the opportunity to miss the time of testing (the Tribulation Period; the worst ever DARKNESS), which God repeatedly says in His Word is coming upon this Earth, has passed.  

Yes, this blogger is saying that even Christ Jesus is depicting the Bridegroom as coming to get His five wise Virgins AND immediately returning back to His heavenly Home for the wedding celebration, as per custom (cf. Matthew 25:10). People who know the order in which each part of an ancient Jewish Wedding transpires would know that unlike how most English translations word Matthew 25:10, the WYC, GNV, KJV, AV, DRA, NLV, NKJV, JUB, and CEB English versions’ wording is more on point. In these English versions, the 5 wise Virgins entered in with the Bridegroom to the wedding or the marriage, which means here that because being betrothed meant they already were married without the benefits of intercourse, then these 5 wise Virgins were entering their bridal chamber with their Bridegroom to consummation their marriage. Contrary to popular opinions, the 5 wise Virgins were NOT entering with the Bridegroom to their wedding feast! That’s right! The Jewish wedding or marriage is different from the wedding feast.

Now, with most modern day earthly weddings, in which the engaged couples waited until the completion of their marriage ceremony before having sex, the marriage consummation usually takes place AFTER the wedding celebration or reception. After the wedding ceremony, where vows are exchanged, the married couple usually would take photos and then go to eat and drink with their guests. After their wedding reception, the married couple typically would then go into their honeymoon suite, where they would consummate their marriage.

In contrast, according to ancient Jewish Wedding customs, the wedding celebration or reception (the Wedding Feast; Marriage Supper) does not precede the consummation of the wedding or the marriage. In other words, according to Jewish Wedding customs, after the bridegroom returns from where he built the living quarters (bridal chamber), which he built in his father’s house,  the bridegroom would “steal away” his bride and take her to the bridal chamber in his father’s house. There, behind closed doors, for seven days they would consummate their marriage. After being hidden behind closed doors for seven days, the bride and the bridegroom would come out and then join their family and friends at the wedding feast, which in the Jewish Wedding customs represents The Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

Because of the well-known Jewish wedding customs, there is no doubt that Jesus Christ uses the Parable of the Ten Virgins to teach in part about His Bride being abducted and taken to Her Wedding Chamber and about the Wedding Supper of the Lamb, because there can be no doubt that He knew His figurative narratives (parables) all had multiple layers—numerous meanings—which ONLY the very wise would realize. Thus, since the Lord’s parable of the 10 Virgins is a figurative narrative that most people will take literally, one of the spiritual implications of this parable is clearly that only the Holy Spirit-filled Virgins will be the spiritually wise believers who will realize the deeper spiritual allegory and symbolism in this parable, as these figurative languages relate to the Bridegroom (Christ Jesus) who comes to get His Bride (the Lord’s ekklesia; His “called-out group”), who has been “called out” of the world for a meeting with the Bridegroom. Moreover, only the Holy Spirit-filled Virgins will understand that it is after the Lord’s ekklesia gathers together in the air with Him that He then immediately escorts His Bride (ekklesia) back to His Father’s House to be secluded in safety far away from the promised seven-year Tribulation on earth.

Furthermore, the Parable of the Ten Virgins’ allegorical Door that shuts is Jesus Christ, who is the Way to Heaven. In fact, Jesus Christ is the ONLY One who is called both the Way and the Door. The Door that shuts, additionally, is the door to the “marriage”—the Door to the Bridal Chamber where the Bridegroom and His Bride’s marriage finally is consummated. That Door, once shut, actually will open for no one, until seven days are up, at which time the Bridegroom comes out to let His Best Man know that the marriage is official. The Door that opens in the Lord’s parable is figurative language, which also describes a kind of judgment that the Lord has issued, which basically is that He did not know the 5 foolish Virgins; thus, the image of the 5 foolish Virgins not being able to enter into the Bridal Chamber is nothing more than the continuation of the 5 wise and 5 foolish Virgins spiritual comparison the Lord has been making!

It is so sad that many believers in Christ maintain that this parable cannot be about any Pre-Tribulation Rapture, because there are judgment and punishment in it. In other words, to these believers, judgment and punishment would mean these 10 Virgins represent the “Church” going through the Tribulation Period. However, those who maintain this nonsense have forgotten, or never knew, that none of the believers, whether wise of foolish, will be judged for their sins, neither at the time the true Bride is raptured, nor during the Tribulation Period, and not at the end of the Tribulation Period. In other words, the 5 foolish Virgins who are left behind are not left behind because of their sins. They are left behind because of their unpreparedness (just like the Israelites had to stay in the wilderness for 40 years, and why many of them had to die in their wilderness; again, it primarily was because they were NOT prepared to enter into the Promised Land). Additionally, the 5 foolish Virgins are left behind, because they were slothful servants who did NOT use EVERYTHING God has provided for their Salvation and spiritual growth. In essence, they buried their talent, which is symbolic of the spiritual riches God has made available to them (cf. Matthew 25:24-25, 29-30).

There also are those individuals who maintain that the 5 foolish Virgins actually bought Oil, and therefore, should have been allowed to enter the wedding chamber, but the Word of God does not say that. How could they buy this Oil, when this Oil (Baptism in the Holy Spirit) is an additional spiritual gift from God freely given to each individual believer who seeks this exceptional baptism? As also discussed in this article, this Oil ultimately comes from Father God who is the ONLY Source and ONLY Supplier, and He freely gives the refillings by way of His Holy Spirit.

In other words, this Oil of the Holy Spirit neither could be sold nor transferred. That is why the 5 wise Virgins COULDN’T give the 5 foolish Virgins any of their reserved Oil, because if they could that would mean the 5 wise Virgins, at any time, also could siphon off a portion of the Holy Spirit inside of them and gift that portion to someone else.

Surely the Word of God clearly says that: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow” (James 1:17, NASB). Therefore, this Divine Truth is why it virtually was impossible for the 5 wise Virgins to give even the smallest portion of their God-given spiritual gift (Oil of the Holy Spirit) to the 5 foolish Virgins who, from the beginning of their Salvation, didn’t see the necessity of having by way of seeking their own EXTRA portion of Oil, which comes from the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.

The bottom line then is this: The 5 wise Virgins are wise, because they understood that ONLY the Holy Spirit is sold out for Christ Jesus believers’ true and faithful outside Supply and eternal outside Source of the Oil of anointing for Salvation AND empowerment. The Hanukkah story best demonstrates this same Divine Truth, which again is that the abundant external Supply of Light is within  the eternal and almighty Father God. Thus, in the 10 Virgins’ case, it is God alone who is the One who fills the lamps of born-again believers’ inner human spirits via His Holy Spirit, and His provision is without end!!!! However, all believers will need to seek and ask Him for their refills.

Not only through Paul but also through Peter, whose Day of Pentecost sermon begins with a reference to a prophesied promise of God (the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or the Baptism in the Holy Spirit), God promises to give His children EVERYTHING that comes with Salvation. This EVERYTHING includes the Holy Spirit’s subsequent Baptism. Peter also makes it clear that this promised Baptism is available to ALL of God’s Virgins (the pure or holy, justified or righteous, and consecrated or devoted believers in Christ Jesus; cf. Acts 2:14-18, 39).

The apostle Peter’s declaration that the Holy Spirit’s subsequent Baptism IS available to all believers (Jews and Gentiles; male and female, and so forth) is why, in His Parable of the Ten Virgins, the Lord, who earlier makes it known to Peter that He would use Peter to build His spiritual ekklesia (cf. Matthew 16:18), makes it clear that all of these Virgins, as a group of “called-out believers,” had been awakened so that they could go out for a meeting with their Bridegroom. Again, the spiritual implication here is that the Bridegroom’s Father already had provided His Holy Spirit (Oil of Salvation) AND the Baptism in the Holy Spirit (a never-ending Supply of His Oil or spiritual empowerment) to all of these Virgins way ahead of time, and by doing so had ensured all Virgins that His Oil of Salvation (Eternal Light) and His Oil of Empowerment (dunamis . . .  supernatural, miraculous power) were available to the Lord’s entire Body of Believers.

However, as illustrated in the parable, it is only the 5 wise Virgins who actually are the Lord’s truly empowered Bride. This Divine Truth is evident, because when the midnight hour starts (that time right before the prophesied time of global deep darkness falls) it is ONLY the 5 wise Virgins who demonstrate that they are the Lord’s truly empowered Bride. They are the only ones who are able to answer the “call,” which actually is a summons to come out of this world for a meeting with their Bridegroom or Lord, who, according to what Paul writes, is in the air and waiting for them in the clouds.

The above truth is why, according to Jesus Christ’s teaching in the Parable of the Ten Virgins, which is about being spiritually alert AND spiritually prepared for the Lord’s “come up hither” call, it should be clear to true believers in Christ that they must be just like the 5 wise Virgins in the Lord’s parable. His ekklesia must take the time to prepare for His “coming” way ahead of time, because the Lord’s imagery in His 10 Virgins parable absolutely paints this vivid picture: It is ONLY the 5 wise Virgins who make the necessary spiritual preparation ahead of an anticipated time of profound darkness—ahead of the promised time of trial and testing (The Tribulation Period).  As a result, they get the chance to go into the Bridal Chamber, the Door shuts, and, according to many other Scriptures, the Bride rests safe and secure during the seven-year Tribulation Period.

Once again, knowing that their own lamp would fail them somewhere down the line, these 5 wise Virgins made it their priority to obtain a supernatural Supply of Oil that is outside of themselves. In essence, their extra flasks of Oil were, to them, their necessary ‘midnight-cry oil.’

The hard to swallow truth here is that ONLY those wise truly born again, saved, righteous believers in Christ Jesus who, with the aid of the Holy Spirit’s refilling, are walking with God by Faith and not by sight. As a result, they will hear AND be prepared for the “call” (summons; command) to come out of this world. Put differently, the 5 wise and prepared Virgins definitely symbolize the alive professed last-days Christians (ekklesia) who, according to apostle Paul, will be caught up to be with Christ Jesus in the clouds, after the resurrected dead in Christ Jesus believers ascend and receive their glorified bodies into which is put their born-again spirits that have been with Christ Jesus since their physical deaths. Yes, this truth is hard to swallow; nevertheless, it is still true—ONLY the resurrected dead in Christ and the raptured alive in Christ will see their promised Bridegroom (will be in His physical “presence”) before the Tribulation Period begins. They will be the ones in glorified bodies who, while in the air, are gathered around their Bridegroom—they will be the saints the apostle Paul says will be honored in Heaven as a glorious Bride (ekklesia) that has NO blemishes or spots (cf. Ephesians 5:27-32).

Now, concerning the establishment of a sound Rapture doctrine first in the Old Testament, and then in the New Testament, there is no doubt that the prophet Micah is prophesying that there will be a Rapture of an ekklesia (the firstfruits’ Rapture of the holy and righteous Bride of Christ), because only that kind of huge event would be the most logical reason for why the Judah that Micah is prophesying about (evidently the left-behind Jews) will be bemoaning, exclaiming “Woe is me.” There can be no doubt their lamenting is because of a major event that has taken place, which has startled these Jews. It must be a most important occasion, because whatever this incident is it obviously has awakened the spiritually asleep Jews and finally has stirred their jealousy of believing Gentiles to the point that this Judah Micah speaks of, which is around during the Tribulation Period, is desiring Jesus Christ (these left-behind Jews are ready to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior)!

The prophet Micah writes:

Woe is me! For I am
Like the fruit pickers, like the grape gatherers.
There is not a cluster of grapes to eat,
Or a first-ripe fig which I crave.
The godly person has perished from the land,
And there is no upright person among men.
All of them lie in wait for bloodshed;
Each of them hunts the other with a net. ~ Micah 7:1-2, NASB

Micah obviously is describing the prophesied Firstfruits’ harvest of last-days souls, when the born again, saved, justified, and sanctified Bride of Christ “vanishes,” which is a better translation of the word “perished,” off of this Earth. Thus, in verse 2, Micah is not saying that “good” people have “died.” The English word translated in this verse as “perished” is from the Hebrew word ‘abad, which in English also is translated as “vanished.” For sure, Micah is prophesying that in the last days godly people will “disappear” off of the Earth (will be raptured), just like what happened to Enoch and Elijah, who were translated (raptured).

Then too, it would seem that a major prophet, the prophet Isaiah, who lived at the same time as Micah, also prophesies about this future last-days Rapture. Isaiah writes:

The righteous man perishes, and no man takes it to heart;
And devout men are taken away, while no one understands.
For the righteous man is taken away from evil,
He enters into peace;
They rest in their beds,
Each one who walked in his upright way
.~ Isaiah 57:1-2, NASB

These verses often are used to explain why babies, young children, and righteous adults have died at a relatively early age. While this understanding might be applicable, based on the context (Isaiah 56 and 57 are one complete message), it is clear that the prophet Isaiah has had a vision of the future last days and end times, when God’s Salvation and Righteousness in the form of Christ Jesus is about to be revealed. Put differently, the prophet Isaiah has had a vision of the times prior to and during the Tribulation Period, when there would be a snatching away of the truly saved by Grace righteous and faithful people.

Thus, Isaiah obviously is speaking about the resurrection of the dead (the righteous in Christ Jesus who perish), the Rapture or removal of the Bride of Christ (the faithfully prepared righteous who are taken away; who disappeared), and the hidden away Bride who peacefully is resting on Her beds in Heaven’s bridal chambers, which is every upright (made righteous by Jesus Christ) believer’s blessed hope—EVERYTHING that eternal Salvation provides. Indeed, eternal Salvation also includes the Lord keeping His promise to rescue His Bride from the time of testing that is to come upon this Earth (cf.  Luke 21:36; Revelation 3:10). 

According to Isaiah’s prophesies, the faithfully righteous believers in Jesus Christ will be removed/taken off of the Earth. Only the corrupt officials and the corrupt global nations will be what is left behind. Put differently, Isaiah is prophesying that the individuals who are left behind after the Rapture of the Bride of Christ will be mostly Israel’s (the nation of Israel as a whole) wicked religious and political leaders—shepherds and watchmen—and the wicked nations of the world, who attack Israel’s defenseless flock like dogs (cf. Isaiah 56:9-12)!

The rest of the left behinders are chiefly those “…sons of a sorceress, offspring of and offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute” who have been conned not only by Israel and many other nations’ corrupt officials/leaders but also these left behinders have been hoodwinked by the ever-present global Babylonian systems, which largely are religious, political, and economic in nature (cf. Isaiah 57:3-8), and as such these left behinders not only will NOT notice (will not take it to heart; will not think seriously about) the disappearance of the most faithful of righteous people (those who died in Christ and eventually will be resurrected) nor the raptured (the alive in Christ believers who just disappeared). In other words, the masses of these left behinders will not notice that the genuine believers who have been “called out” of this world have been gone for some time!

In Isaiah 57:1, the word that is rendered in English as ‘swept away,’ or in other translations as ‘taken away,’ is the Hebrew word ‘acaph, which mostly means the faithfully righteous were gathered together or were removed from the evil (calamities, wars, pestilences, earthquakes, and etc.) that will be happening on this Earth during the Tribulation Period. In context, the prophet Isaiah no doubt is alluding to said “evil” as being those same calamities, wars, pestilences, earthquakes, and etc., which Jesus Christ predicts in His Olivet Discourse would come to pass during the Tribulation Period, and specifically more intensely during Daniel’s 70th Week, as judgment of and punishment for the “evil” behaviors of the unbelieving masses, as well as for those who have rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. For these reasons, it should be obvious that Isaiah 57:2 also is a picture-perfect description of the promised FirstFruits harvest of last-days souls, of which Jesus Christ was the first—the FIRSTfruit of the faithfully righteous sinless people to be resurrected from the dead and then taken up to Heaven. Therefore, Isaiah 57:1-2 verses really have more to do with the Pre-Tribulation Rapture than anything else!

This last statement is true, because the prophet Isaiah earlier prophesies in Isaiah 26:20 that at some future time the Lord’s Bride will be hidden in the rooms He has prepared for Her (see Jesus Christ’s promise to His disciples; John 14:2-3). These chambers or rooms are the appropriate nuptial hiding places, where the Bride of Christ will dress Herself in Her white linen robe and will wait there to be presented without spot or blemish to Her Groom. These Pre-Tribulation Rapture and Hiding in Bridal Chambers images are definitely what Isaiah is revealing, because he also prophesies in Isaiah 26:21 that there also is a future time that will be the time of God’s Wrath. Therefore, it should be clear that the Rapture and Hiding in Bridal Chambers will be before the time of God’s final judgments and punishments (before the Tribulation Period begins; before God pours out His final Wrath).

During this coming Tribulation Period, especially Daniel’s 70th Week, the prophet Isaiah makes it clear that the Lord’s Bride will enjoy peace, while She is resting on Her “beds” in the “rooms” He has prepared for Her. For sure, this time of resting is the promise the Lord makes to the Philadelphian ekklesia. He promises to keep these believers from the hour of testing (the Tribulation Period), and Isaiah lets believers everywhere know that the Lord will keep His promise.

Even King David seems to be prophesying about the last days’ righteous ekklesia being raptured (prophesying about the disappearance or vanishing of the righteous and faithful Bride of Christ). The central theme of Psalm 12 is that God Himself promises to rescue (to make safe) His godly people—to protect them, by keeping them away from the world’s most treacherous (evil, dangerous, and unrighteous) people. If Father God does that for His chosen Jewish people, then Father God also will do that for the Lord’s Bride, because Father God is immutable! David writes:

Help, Lord, for the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men
.

…

‘Now I will arise,’ says the Lord; ‘I will set him in the safety for which he longs.’ ~ Psalm 12:1, 5b; NASB

King David also writes: “…I have not seen the righteous forsaken/Or his descendants begging bread” ~ Psalm 37:25, NASB. Clearly, the Word of God makes it obvious that during the Tribulation Period there will be numerous people who will be literally begging for bread!

The final bottom line here is that in the Old Testament there is plenty of evidence that supports a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of Christ Jesus’ Bride, and in the Old Testament there also is plenty of evidence that supports an ekklesia that is not in any way like a “church.” Again, no matter how anyone tries to spin it, the word “church” only defines a “place,” mainly a physical building, and NEVER a people; whereas, the chief way ekklesia is used in the Scriptures is as a congregation, convocation, or an assembly of PEOPLE—the ones who have been “called out” and/or set apart. Now, even though a group of people might go to a “church” building to worship, God never “calls out” any “church” building! In other words, NO “church” building is ever “called out” of darkness into God’s marvelous Light. Some of the people in each “church” building, however, could qualify as God’s “called-out group.”

In summary, if in these last days the alive believers in Christ Jesus are going to be alert AND prepared for God’s promised last-trumpet summons, which will “call” them to come up hither (rapture them), then it is vital that every one of today’s believers in Christ Jesus takes part in the process of recapturing the first-century followers of Christ’s cultural commission of going into the world, as they knew it, to both evangelize their world and disciple all its NATIONS. For the Word of God is crystal clear about this display of a global influence being exactly what God intends for every one of His Household of Faith children to achieve.

Furthermore, let there be no doubt about it. The only way that God intends for His sons and daughters to globally influence today’s world is by “churchgoers” as a whole understanding that they must accept God’s original meaning of ekklesia, which from its inception primarily means a “called-out group”—His sons and daughters who not only are supposed to engage this world but also are supposed to govern it while they are still on this Earth. This truth is why when the Lord returns back to this Earth with His host of saints, at the end of the Great Tribulation, the Scriptures make it very clear that these raptured and now returning back to Earth with Christ saints are the ONLY saints who will rule (govern this Earth once again), but this time right along with their Lord and King!

A word to the wise Virgins should be sufficient! Shalom . . . .

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Pre-Wrath Is Misnomer

28 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

144000 Sealed Jewish Evangelists, 7 years of Tribulation, Armageddon, Christ's elect, Daniel's 70th Week, deliver, God's wrath, harpazo, judgment, millennial reign, misnomer, persecution, Pre-Tribulationism, Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory, punishment, rapture, rescue, Sadducees, save, Time of Jacob's Trouble, unparalleled

Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory

These are the words the Lord spoke to Israel and Judah. Yes, this is what the Lord says:

We have heard a cry of terror,
of dread—there is no peace.
Ask and see
whether a male can give birth.
Why then do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor
and every face turned pale?
How awful that day will be!
There will be none like it!
It will be a time of trouble for Jacob,
but he will be delivered out of it. ~ Jeremiah 30:4-7, HCSB

 

As for you, My servant Jacob,
do not be afraid—
       this is the Lord’s declaration—
and do not be dismayed, Israel,
for without fail I will save you from far away,
your descendants, from the land of their captivity!
Jacob will return and have calm and quiet
with no one to frighten him.
For I will be with you—
       this is the Lord’s declaration—
to save you!
I will bring destruction on all the nations
where I have scattered you;
however, I will not bring destruction on you.
I will discipline you justly,
and I will by no means leave you unpunished. ~ Jeremiah 30:10-11, HCSB

 

Seventy weeks are decreed
about your people and your holy city—
to bring the rebellion to an end,
to put a stop to sin,
to wipe away iniquity,
to bring in everlasting righteousness,
to seal up vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy place. ~ Daniel 9:24, HCSB

He will make a firm covenant
with many for one week,
but in the middle of the week
he will put a stop to sacrifice and offering.
And the abomination of desolation
will be on a wing of the temple
until the decreed destruction
is poured out on the desolator. ~ Daniel 9:27, HCSB

 

 

Many believers today are preaching and teaching the Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory. There are many problems with this theory, starting with the fact that Pre-Wrath is a misnomer, especially since ONLY Pre-Tribulationism is 100% pre-wrath!

Be that as it may, another widely used misnomer is Tribulation, as in the prophesied 7-year period:  the 3½ years of Tribulation and the 3½ years of Great Tribulation.  In the Old Testament, it is Daniel’s 70th Week that is described as the entire 7 years of Tribulation. This Week is the decreed time God has established for bringing Israel’s obstinate rebellion against Him to an end, and the decreed time for completing His final discipline and judgment upon Israel (His elect; His chosen Jewish people), as well as the decreed time for making His final judgment upon this world’s unbelieving inhabitants. Furthermore, Daniel’s 70 Weeks are described as the time when God cleanses the entire Earth (the time when He puts an end to ALL transgression, seals up and makes an end of ALL sins, makes reconciliation for iniquity, and brings in everlasting righteousness, seals up vision and prophecy, and anoints the most holy place; see Daniel 9:24). These abovementioned prophecies are scheduled to be completed before Jesus Christ’s Millennial Kingdom on Earth begins!

On the other hand, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble is the Old Testament’s description of the last 3½ years of Daniel’s 70th Week, which most end time biblical prophecy scholars also call the Great Tribulation. God says that though this time will be filled with birth pangs that increase in intensity and frequency, becoming more relentless than they’ve ever been at any other time, He will deliver/save Jacob. Here Jacob symbolizes God’s elect or chosen Jewish people, and they are the ones God promises He will NOT let perish during the terrible Time of Jacob’s Trouble, even though He will judge and punish them (see Jeremiah 30:4-24). The reason why the Jewish people as a whole must be judged and punished is because they still need to give their hearts to God, by accepting His Salvation program—Jesus the Christ, who is their Lord and Savior! Ultimately, the nation of Israel, like Jacob, will receive a new name—Hephzibah (my delight is in Her) and the land Beulah (married)! According to Isaiah 62:4, this name change also is the purpose of the decreed Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

Now there are many Christians who believe that ONLY right “…now is the day of salvation” (see 2 Corinthians 6:2). That is to say, these believers maintain that if unbelievers haven’t accepted Jesus Christ BEFORE Daniel’s 70th Week begins that NONE of them will receive salvation during this prophesied unparalleled seven-year Tribulation. They also believe that it is a lie of the devil to preach and teach that the people in the Tribulation Period will still have another chance to get saved.

While “NOW” always has been the time for the lost souls living on this Earth to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, “NOW” also is the time for all believers to allow the Holy Spirit to sanctify them completely. However, just like the majority of lost souls are not accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, too many saved believers are not allowing the Holy Spirit to do His sanctifying work in them. No doubt believers’ refusal to surrender totally to the Holy Spirit’s mighty sanctification process, and their refusal to surrender totally to His leading, prompting, teaching, and so forth, are why God does say in His Word that countless people will be saved during the seven-year Tribulation.

For sure, many unbelieving left behinders will be saved (receive salvation) before the Day of Judgment (before Jesus Christ’s Second Coming, when His feet actually touch the Mount of Olives, which is by the time the Book of Life and the Book of Death have been sealed). Moreover, many unprepared (not holy enough to be raptured or taken) believers in Christ also will be sifted like wheat during Daniel’s 70th Week, especially during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (cf. Jeremiah 51:33; Amos 9:9; Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17; Luke 22:31).

The sifting like wheat analogy refers to unprepared believers needing to experience some violent trampling or threshing, some forceful winnowing or throwing into the air to allow the wind to blow away unwanted parts, and some upside-down strong sieving or shaking, before their true “grit”—staying power, like steadfast faithfulness, holiness, obedience, and so forth—can be verified. Perhaps this end time wheat sifting is why, when John the Baptist describes the coming of Jesus the Christ, he does so by painting the image of the Lord separating genuine believers from fakes, via threshing, winnowing, and sieving. John the Baptist also describes the Lord as the prophesied One who will gather His shifted like wheat true believers into the Kingdom of God on Earth, in the same manner that grain is gathered into a barn. The Lord also will gather the fake believers and the ones who totally rejected Christ Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but then He will throw them into the Lake of Fire where they will burn in an unquenchable fire (see Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17).

There can be no doubt that this end-time sifting by the Lord certainly will cause not only countless numbers of lost souls to repent and be saved but also will cause numerous left-behind unprepared believers to get back onto the right path—the path that leads to an eternity with God. Therefore, it should be clear that, although numerous people will be saved and others sifted, during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, which primarily involves God’s chosen left-behind Jewish people, their salvation and sifting will be achieved only because they went through the worse Hell on Earth. Many of these left-behinders not only will suffer persecution, starvation, thirst, earthquakes, and so forth, but also plenty of them will experience a beheading! Even then, there still will be other left-behinders who will continue in sin, including cursing God up until the time of Christ Jesus’ bodily return!

Now, for the record, the gathering of His elect “…from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other…” (Matthew 24:31) is not a reference to the Rapture of the Bride of Christ. When Jesus Christ speaks of the gathering of the His elect in His Olivet Discourse, He is referring to His angels gathering together all of the nations of the world, from the four corners of the Earth, AFTER the Great Tribulation has ended.  In other words, this is the gathering of the Tribulation survivors—the metaphorical wheat/tares and sheep/goats.

That the saved sheep/wheat will be allowed to enter into the Millennium, which is the time when Jesus Christ rules as King of this Earth for 1,000 years, is undisputable evidence that proves people (metaphorically, the sheep/goats and wheat/tares) in the Time of Jacob’s Trouble not only will be separated from one another but also will repent and get saved during the Tribulation Period. As mentioned in this blogger’s several other blog postings, the only people who will be able to re-populate this Earth during Jesus Christ’s Millennial Reign are those “saved” survivors from the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, because the Bride of Christ (both the dead and the alive in Christ at the time when they meet Him in the air); the alive and pure 144,000 Jewish evangelists, who have the seal of God; and the martyred saints ALL will have received their glorified bodies.

Now, Jesus Christ teaches the Sadducees that neither those resurrected nor those raptured humans who are in Heaven will be marrying and giving in marriage in Heaven. Matthew writes:

The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, ‘Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.’ But Jesus answered them, ‘You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.’ And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching. ~ Matthew 22:23-33, ESV

Likewise, the apostle Paul teaches in the Scriptures that those who enter Heaven are primarily the resurrected dead and raptured alive Bride of Christ members, who have received glorified bodies (bodies like what the angels have). Thus, since marriage is the only way people on Earth will be able to procreate, those people who re-populate this planet during Jesus Christ’s Millennial Reign will be the surviving saints from the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, who indeed are “saved” but still in their natural bodies!

Concerning the gathering of the Bride of Christ, whom the apostle Paul speaks about, this gathering is not the same gathering of the already mentioned end-time saints—the Tribulation’s surviving sheep/wheat. This gathering apostle Paul speaks about is the Rapture of the Bride of Christ—the taking or snatching out of harm’s way (catching up; harpazo). Now the only way this harpazo makes sense is if it happens before the 7-year Tribulation begins, because the apostle Paul repeatedly makes in clear, in at least four Scriptures, that the Bride of Christ is NOT going to experience God’s Wrath (neither during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble or Great Tribulation nor during the first half of the Tribulation Period). The apostle Paul writes the following about the holy, righteous, faithful, obedient, totally sanctified, and absolutely saved Bride of Christ:

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ~ Romans 5:9, ESV


Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ~ Ephesians 5:6, ESV

 

and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. ~ 1 Thessalonians 1:10, ESV

 

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9, ESV

 

The problem then with far too many believers’ thinking, where the Rapture of the Bride of Christ is concerned, is that far too many of believers have not understood the difference between God’s Plan of Salvation (deliverance, rescue, preservation, safety) for the Bride of Christ who is both the resurrected dead in Christ and the raptured alive in Christ, and His Plan of Salvation for Israel who is the Jewish Time of Jacob’s Trouble saints, the saved Jewish people living in the Promised Land or Israel, at that time. In other words, these saved Jewish people will be the individuals who, as mentioned earlier, are experiencing the prophesied Time of Jacob’s Trouble—the decreed time for bringing Israel’s obstinate rebellion against God to an end, and the decreed time for completing His final discipline and judgment upon Israel (His elect; His chosen Jewish people), as well as the decreed time for making His final judgment upon this world’s unbelieving inhabitants.

Since numerous people don’t seem to know the difference between God’s Plan of Salvation for the Bride of Christ and God’s Plan of Salvation for Israel, it also is important to note here that there is a major difference between God’s Wrath and mankind’s persecution, including the Antichrist’s tribulation or persecution. Wrath is God’s RIGHTEOUS judgment and RIGHTEOUS punishment, which He will pour out on the rebellious UNRIGHTEOUS unbelieving people of this world. Tribulation is the unrighteous persecution of believers by unrighteous unbelievers!

There is no denying, then, that Jesus Christ prophesies that in this world there is going to be much persecution, but based on the above definitions of Wrath and tribulation, it should be obvious that what man does to people will in no way measure up to the Wrath of God, which will be poured out on a sin-sick world. This last point is why ALL of the persecution Christians have suffered from the 1st century A.D., and forward, will not compare to the suffering that happens in the 7 years of Tribulation. This future suffering will be unparalleled, so much so that if Daniel’s 70th Week isn’t sped up, NO ONE will survive it (see Matthew 24:22)!

For sure, as prophesied, during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble (a.k.a., the Great Tribulation), God’s Wrath will increase in frequency and intensity, beginning with the Lamb of God’s Seal judgments (the wrath of the Lamb; see Revelation 6:16), and continuing throughout the entire Time of Jacob’s Trouble until the last bowl judgment is poured out. Thus, based on all of the above provided information about Daniel’s 70th Week, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, wheat sifting, and so forth, the Pre-Wrath Rapture Theory indisputably suggests that, even if the righteous and sanctified Bride of Christ goes through just the first half of Daniel’s 70th Week, She still would suffer some of God’s Wrath, despite the fact that the Word of God declares the Lord’s righteous and sanctified Bride has NOT been appointed to suffer ANY of God’s Wrath (orge, in the Greek language), because She has been DELIVERED or SAVED from the Wrath to come by Christ Jesus’ finished work on the Cross!

Still, believers in Christ Jesus should not be deceived! Not everyone who professes to be a Christian will be exempted from God’s Wrath. Indeed, many professed Christians who sin willfully and/or who neglect to live the Christian lives they should will suffer some, if not all, of God’s Wrath during Daniel’s 70th Week (the 7 years of Tribulation).  A word to the wise should be sufficient!

Shalom . . . .

For more detailed information on Daniel’s 70th Week, the Tribulation Period, the Time of Jacob’s Trouble, the Rapture (gathering of the Bride of Christ),  and etc., please read these blog entries: Are We Close to the Battle of Armageddon?; Making the Case That the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Is Biblical; Christ’s Elect Is His 144,000 Jewish Evangelists PLUS . . .; The Last Trump: When Our Bodies Are Glorified; and Misunderstandings about ‘Thief in the Night.’

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Making the Case That the Pre-Tribulation Rapture Is Biblical

25 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bride of Christ, catching up, God's Fury, God's wrath, harm's way, harpazo, mid-Trib, persecution, post-Trib, pre-Trib, rapture, Seal and Trumpet judgments, snatching out, The Flood, Time of Jacob's Trouble

The Rapture

‘In time, throughout that land,’ says Adonai, ‘two-thirds of those in it will be destroyed — they will die, but one-third will remain. That third part I will bring through the fire; I will refine them as silver is refined, I will test them as gold is tested. They will call on my name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is my people’ and they will say, ‘Adonai is my God.’ ~ Zechariah 13:8-9, CJB

For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, CJB

Because you did obey my message about persevering, I will keep you from the time of trial coming upon the whole world to put the people living on earth to the test. I am coming soon; hold on to what you have, so that no one will take away your crown. ~ Revelation 3:10-11, CJB 

It boggles the mind how so many people who say they are born again, saved, and being sanctified believers in Christ Jesus also could say that the alive Bride of Christ members will be in the Tribulation Period. It is hard to understand how they could believe that God doesn’t say in His Word that the Lord’s Bride will ESCAPE the Tribulation Period.

These non-pre-Trib Rapture believers argue that if the early Christians suffered persecution, and if Christians today in various places on this Earth also are suffering persecution, just because they are Christians, then that proves that God will NOT remove the Bride of Christ off this Earth so that these believers won’t have to experience the Tribulation Period. Then too, even though the Scriptures are very clear that the genuine Bride of Christ ALREADY has been purified solely by the complete work Christ Jesus did on the Cross, there are so many non-pre-Trib Rapture believers who still think that the Tribulation Period is for purifying Jesus Christ’s Bride—they still believe that His Bride has to endure the Antichrist’s wrath and the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl judgments before She can become holy and righteous enough to enter Heaven. Say what?

If any of the above claim concerning the Bride of Christ being purified in the Tribulation Period were true, then that would mean that Christ Jesus died for NOTHING, especially if believers’ own shed blood, as a result of their persecution, could purify them and make them holy and righteous enough to enter Heaven! For sure, the Scriptures are very clear. Only the blood of Christ Jesus can purify/cleanse sinners and present them before God as justified, holy, and righteous men and women.  

Furthermore, many non-pre-Trib Rapture believers think that pre-Trib Rapture individuals are escapists who are just trying to avoid persecution and/or any kind of trouble. This appeal to the flesh or the desire to feel comforted, thus, supposedly is the reason why the pre-Trib Rapture lie originally started. Nonsense, because even if pre-Trib believers don’t want to go through the Tribulation Period, globally many of them still are experiencing plenty of persecution or tribulation (great trouble or substantial suffering), and some of them more frequently and profoundly than others.

Now, one of the reasons why non-pre-Trib believers’ arguments are fallacious is that most of the people who either are making one, or two, or all of the above claims are American Christians, the majority of which, to date, have not and are not suffering any physical persecution. Secondly, Christ Jesus prophesies that there would be much persecution in this world, especially in the last days and end times, which is why this world’s current rising tide of persecution eventually will affect ALL believers worldwide, to some extent. Thirdly, what Christ Jesus also prophesies is that the persecution mankind and demonic forces commit on this Earth IN NO WAY will measure up to God’s Wrath or Fury, which He will pour out on this entire Earth. In other words, the Lord is saying that ALL of the persecution Christians have suffered from the first century A.D., and forward, down to this present century, will not compare to the suffering that happens during the seven year Tribulation Period—during Jacob’s Trouble. That suffering will be unprecedented, so much so that the Lord says:

Indeed, if the length of this time had not been limited, no one would survive; but for the sake of those who have been chosen, its length will be limited. ~ Matthew 24:22, CJB

For this last reason, believers must keep in mind that during the Tribulation Period (Jacob’s Trouble), two-thirds of the Jewish people living in Israel will perish (cf. Zechariah 13:8-9), leaving only that Jewish remnant the Antichrist/Dragon follows to the mountains/hills to kill (cf. Matthew 24:15-16; Revelation 12:17). Additionally, believers also should keep in mind that the Scriptures declare that, between the 4th Seal judgment and the 6th Trumpet judgment, over one-half of the world’s total population will have died during the Tribulation Period (see Revelation 6:8 [1/4 dies] and Revelation 9:13-18 [1/3 dies]). These two amounts of human deaths equal 58.33% of the world’s total population, and the Bowl judgments haven’t even begun yet!

If so many people (the Bride of Christ members, disbelievers, and unbelievers) will be dying throughout the Tribulation Period, then how is Christ Jesus keeping His promise to deliver/save/keep His true Bride from God’s Wrath (cf. 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; Revelation 3:10-11), if they aren’t Raptured until mid-Trib or, even worse, post-Trib? Isn’t it Christ Jesus Himself who sends the angelic messenger to the “church” in Philadelphia of Asia Minor (the Asian part of Turkey) to let the believers in that “church” know that because they have patiently and steadily been faithful and obedient disciples, He (Christ Jesus) would save them from the future mandatory testing that would expose the kinds of persons the people dwelling on the Earth really are? Thus, it should be clear that these Tribulation Earth dwellers the Lord speaks about are not His true Christians—they are not members of the Bride of Christ—but rather they are individuals who have rebelled (sinned) against God and refused to accept the Divine Truth in His Word.

Most important, EXCEPT for the holy and righteous Christ Jesus, upon whom God poured out ALL of His Wrath against sin, where in the Scriptures can it be found that God ever poured out even just an ounce of His Wrath on His righteous people? Again, even if the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happens at mid-Trib, that would mean that the righteous would experience some of God’s Wrath, both from the Antichrist’s persecution and from God’s Seal and Trumpet judgments!

Right here, it is necessary to note the difference between tribulation and wrath. Tribulation is the unrighteous persecution of believers by unbelievers. Put differently, tribulation is persecution directed at believers. In contrast, wrath is the righteous punishment of God poured out on those who reject Him.  In other words, the Wrath of God is His judgment directed at the unrighteous!

By the way, one of the methods Father God uses during the Tribulation Period, when He is pouring out His Fury upon His chosen unbelieving Jewish people and the disbelieving and unbelieving Gentiles, is the Antichrist’s persecution. Although the individuals who become first-time Christians, and those who become truer Christians, during the Tribulation Period, to some degree, will all experience the Antichrist’s persecution, his persecution chiefly will be only part of God’s Wrath, which is meant for Israel and everyone else who rejected God’s preferred Salvation Plan—rejected Jesus the Christ. In a nutshell, the Antichrist and his persecution will be an instrument of God’s Wrath! Furthermore, using the Antichrist to judge and punish Israel is not the first time, in Israel’s long history, that God has decided to use the enemies of Israel to examine and correct His chosen Jewish people!

Back to the mid-Trib Rapture beliefs, wouldn’t those believers who are snatched off the Earth at mid-Trib also be ESCAPING—aren’t they avoiding the most horrific parts of God’s Wrath, since the Word of God describes His Wrath as increasing in intensity and frequency throughout the Tribulation Period, and since the Bowl judgments, which begin during the second half of the Tribulation Period, are the worst of God’s Wrath? So how would believers in a mid-Trib Rapture of the Bride of Christ not be escapists, as well?

Then too, if only those alive believers at the end of the Tribulation Period are snatched off the Earth at post-Trib, right before or at the Lord’s bodily return (His Second Coming), then when do the dead in Christ Jesus get caught up? The apostle Paul clearly says that the Rapture of the Bride of Christ consists of the dead in Christ Jesus, who would rise first, and then those believers who are alive in Christ Jesus would be caught up (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). Additionally, since the angels also don’t resurrect the dead in Christ Jesus before gathering the people from all of the Earth for judgment, at least the Word of God doesn’t say that the angels resurrect the dead in Christ Jesus at this time, how could the Rapture of the Bride of Christ happen at post-Trib, if the dead in Christ aren’t even mentioned in any of the so-called post-Trib Rapture Scriptures?

Lastly, why would Christ Jesus Rapture His Bride at post-Trib and then immediately bring them back to the Earth so that they could be gathered again from the four corners of the Earth, once the Great Tribulation has ended? Aren’t His saints (the Bride who is wearing white linen—see Revelation 19:6-8, 11-16; Zechariah 14:5b)—returning from Heaven with Him? So why would His Bride, the armies of heaven clothed in white linen, need to be gathered again for judgment? Doesn’t the Bride of Christ stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ Jesus, which is in Heaven? Also, why would the Bride of Christ need to be separated from the goats and tares? Would not the Bride already be separated from them, by virtue of the Rapture?

The Bride of Christ, thus, is not coming back with the Lord, during His bodily return or Second Coming, which also is believed to be The Day of Judgment (see Zechariah 14:1-5) , just to be gathered, separated, and judged all over again. Obviously the post-Trib Rapture belief is the reason why there is no way that the end of the Tribulation Period gathering, which by the way is done by the angels and NOT by Christ Jesus, refers to the gathering of anyone who is NOT a Tribulation survivor, as the Tribulation’s survivors ONLY are those individuals who were never Raptured (the surviving Tribulation sheep and goats/wheat and tares).  

In contrast, the gathering of the saints (the Rapture of the Bride of Christ), or the snatching out of harm’s way (the catching up of the Bride of Christ), which Christ Jesus does Himself, means that this harpazo must happen before the seven year Tribulation Period ever begins, since the Tribulation Period absolutely classifies as the worst kind of “harm’s way”! Once again, it is the apostle Paul who declares not only to the Thessalonians but also to the Romans and Ephesians that the Bride of Christ (every genuinely born again, saved, being sanctified, prepared, faithful, and obedient believer) IS NOT going to experience God’s Wrath (Jacob’s Trouble; the Tribulation Period; see Romans 5:9; Ephesians 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:10;  1 Thessalonians 5:9).

Honestly, if the purpose of “the hour of trial/temptation” (see Revelation 3:10) is to expose the kinds of persons the people dwelling on the Earth are, what would God be exposing about the true Bride of Christ, whose spirit or heart already has been born again from above and already has received its new nature, and whose whole spirit, soul, and body are being transformed into the image of Christ? The Bride of Christ already is in the Household of Faith. Each believer already is a child of God. In other words, the Bride of Christ has been made righteous by Grace through Faith in the work Christ Jesus finished while on the Cross. So, again, what is there to expose about Christ Jesus’ Bride? Absolutely nothing!!!

The problem then with far too many believers’ thinking, where the Rapture is concerned, is that they have not understood the difference between God’s Plan of Salvation (deliverance, preservation, safety) for the Bride of Christ—the Raptured saints—and His Plan of Salvation for Israel—the Tribulation saints, which primarily will be the saved Jewish people living in the Promised Land or Israel, at that time. In other words, these saved Jewish people will be the individuals who are experiencing the prophesied Jacob’s Trouble (the Tribulation Period). However, these Tribulation saints also will include the left-behind Jews and Gentiles out of every nation on the Earth. Furthermore, these surviving saved left behinders will be the “elect” people who become purified, sifted like wheat Tribulation believers. More important, they also will be the people who either never accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, prior to the beginning of the Tribulation Period, or, because of their disbelief, disobedience, unfaithfulness, and/or carelessness, they didn’t prepare themselves for the Lord’s Rapture of His alive Bride (cf. Matthew 25:1-13).

The bottom line is that instead of believers in Christ Jesus being divided about when the Rapture of the Bride of Christ will take place, they should spend more time preparing themselves and looking for Christ Jesus’ appearance in the clouds (the Rapture), while leading as many unbelieving Jewish people and unbelieving and/or disbelieving Gentiles to the Lord, as they possibly can. Furthermore, all believers in Christ Jesus should understand that the prophesied Tribulation Period is not going to be anything anyone can plan to survive. In fact, the only way the people in Noah’s day could have prepared for the Flood was to accept what Noah was preaching: It’s going to rain; the rain will flood the Earth, so repent and walk with God!

For sure, just like God, via His Wrath, which manifested as the Flood, destroyed ALL the wicked, unfaithful, disobedient, unbelieving individuals living on the Earth, but spared the righteous, obedient, and faithful Noah and his family, God, via His Wrath, which will manifest as the Tribulation Period, will destroy the wicked, unfaithful, disobedient, unbelieving individuals who are living on the Earth, but  will spare the holy, righteous, obedient, and faithful Bride of Christ! There can be doubt that God is NOT going to destroy, via His Wrath, His sons and daughters—not after He has given them the gift of Salvation! This Divine Truth is why it just boggles the mind that any believer could think God would do something like that!

Finally, the spiritual stakes are extremely high! That’s why it is important that everyone who is born again, saved, and being sanctified, who also loves God and the Lord, should do his or her best to share the Gospel with the world’s lost souls NOW, and why each believer in Christ should live a bonafide Christlike life, for the entire world to see so that hopefully countless lost souls will long for Salvation and long to achieve the same kind of Christlike lifestyle.

Please view the below videos on the Rapture, Tribulation and the Great Debate. In these two videos, Andre Hendricks makes the case that the Pre-Tribulation Rapture is indeed not only biblical but also the only possible time the Bride of Christ will be removed from the Earth. Be blessed!

The Rapture, Tribulation and the Great Debate, Part 1

The Rapture, Tribulation and the Great Debate, Part 2

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

Teshuvah 2012: The Season of Spiritual Preparation

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Spiritual

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

alert, aware, confessing sins, Moshe (Moses), Mount Sinai, prepared, rapture, repentance, Season of Teshuvah, spiritual preparation, Tablets, Ten Commandments

Adonai said to Moshe, ‘Write these words down, because they are the terms of the covenant I have made with you and with Isra’el.’ Moshe was there with Adonai forty days and forty nights, during which time he neither ate food nor drank water. [Adonai] wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Words. When Moshe came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, he didn’t realize that the skin of his face was sending out rays of light as a result of his talking with [Adonai]. ~ Exodus 34:27-29, CJB

 

Teshuvah is the 40-day season of turning back to God (the season of true repentance). For the nation of Israel, Teshuvah pertains to the days Jewish people spend spiritually preparing for their High Holy Days of the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) and the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). In other words, during the season of Teshuvah, the entire nation of Israel is repenting and confessing sins. Therefore, the Jewish 6th month of Elul represents the time of national sin and the forgiveness the Jewish nation, as a whole, obtains by means of Teshuvah.

Teshuvah’s 40 days actually include the 30th of Av, the entire month of Elul, plus the 10 High Holy Days of Tishri that end on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). This 2012 season of Teshuvah is as follows:  

Elul 1 – The official beginning of the Season of Teshuvah
– Sunset August 19th, 2012

Tishri 1 – The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah)
– Sunset September 17th, 2012

Tishri 10 – The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur; Teshuvah Day 40)
– Sunset September 26th, 2012  

Now, according to ancient Jewish tradition, the month of Elul also represents the time following the Israelites’ idolatrous incident with the Golden Calf. Thus, the 40 days of Teshuvah are the days Moses spent on Mount Sinai, preparing the second set of tablets on which were God’s Ten Commandments. Apparently, Moses ascended Mount Sinai on Elul 1 and descended Mount Sinai 40 days later, on the 10th of Tishri, which was the end of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), when Jewish people’s repentance would be complete.

Why is Teshuvah important to 21st century believers who are born again, saved, and indwelt and infilled with the Holy Spirit? Here’s why.  

While Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets) is referred to as Yom Teruah (the Day of the Awakening Blast), and while the theme associated with Rosh Hashanah is “to awake,” the great reawakening (warning) that will precede the Lord’s return for His Bride happens daily during the entire 6th month of Elul—the official beginning of the special season of Teshuvah. Once again, Teshuvah is the 40-day period consisting of the 30-day process of personal examination and repentance that prepares God’s people for the 10 days of Tishri (the Days of Awe) that begin on Rosh Hashanah (Feast of Trumpets) and end on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). However, as the 5 unprepared, negligent, and unaware (foolish) Virgins demonstrate (see Matthew 25:1-13), the sad truth is that even with all of the prophetic warnings and with all of the recurring seasons of Teshuvah there still will be too many believers who will not have any Oil in their lamps (will not be FULL of the Holy Spirit) and, therefore, they neither will be watchful, nor prepared, nor aware of the imminent Rapture.  

For the above reasons, this Teshuvah 2012, let us be aware, watchful, and prepared to go up and meet our Lord in the air. In other words, let us be ever-ready to respond faithfully and obediently to our Lord’s Voice (His midnight cry), the archangel’s call, and the last blast from God’s Shofar (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16). Amen.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Controversial MYSTERY: The Rapture

28 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Bride of Christ, carried off, caught up, controversial, Divine Truth's hidden understanding, harpagēsometha, harpazo, mystery, raeptius, rapiemur, rapio, rapture, rapturo, raptus, snatched up, sudden physical withdrawal, taken up, to drag off, to seize

Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. (1 Corinthians 15:51-52, KJV; cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)

The term “mystery” in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 (KJV) refers to a biblically hidden understanding about a Divine Truth that God purposely does NOT make unambiguous to people who are ungodly (unbelievers [Truth doubters, skeptics], or disbelievers [Truth pickers, choosers]). Nor does He reveal this hidden understanding to the people who are unsaved (nonbelievers [Truth rejecters]).

Furthermore, the clear-cut understanding about the particular “mystery” referred to in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 also was not revealed during the Old Testament times. Instead, in God’s own time, the Holy Spirit has made known the hidden nuances associated with this “mystery,” but only to the New Testament’s genuinely full of the Holy Spirit believers in Christ—the real Bride of Christ.

Now, while the Scriptures say that humans are appointed a time to die a physical death, and then they must undergo judgment (cf. Hebrews 9:27; Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 3:20), the “mystery” apostle Paul writes about, which is the same “mystery” the Holy Spirit reveals, is that not every person who believes in Jesus the Christ will experience a physical death, before His Second Coming—before Jesus the Christ’s bodily return!!! As apostle Paul confirms in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, when Jesus the Christ returns to “snatch up” His CHURCH, the dead in Christ will rise first—their old bodies will be resurrected as glorified ones—and then their changed bodies will unite with their eternal spirits and souls. Furthermore, their glorified bodies will not be subject to diseases, sin, or death. After that, according to the apostle Paul, the living Christians will be “caught up” in the air where they will receive their glorified bodies as well, but the difference is that their perfected bodies will come as a result of their “translation” (their “Rapture”) rather than by way of a resurrection. However, just like the dead in Christ, living believers’ glorified bodies also will not be subject to diseases, sin, or death.

Because living Christians are going to be “caught up” or “snatched up” instead of resurrected, the apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 and 1 Thessalonians 4:17, obviously is describing the “Rapture,” even though the actual word, “Rapture,” is not in the modern English translations of the Holy Bible. True believers, especially those individuals who are being led and taught by the Holy Spirit, know that the apostle is speaking about the “Rapture,” because the Scriptures are clear about these Bride of Christ believers being “carried off” of this planet.

Additionally, physical evidence that supports what the Holy Spirit has taught and led these believers to accept as Divine Truth about the “Rapture” comes from Jerome’s version of the Latin Vulgate Bible (completed between 382-405 A.D.), which became the commonly used translation of the Holy Bible among Latin-speaking Western Christians, because they used the Latin Vulgate Bible for 1,000 years prior to the Reformation Period. In essence, by and large, there is no other Holy Bible translation that has been used longer than the Latin Vulgate Bible!

So then, in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 of the Latin Vulgate Bible, which is an early translation of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament, Jerome translates the Koine Greek word harpagēsometha, which is the passive voice and future tense of harpazō, into the Latin word, rapiemur, from which comes the English word “Rapture.” Moreover, from the Latin Vulgate Bible, the commonly used Latin words rapiemur, rapturo, raeptius,and raptus are all forms of the Latin word rapio, and the root word rapio means “to seize, to drag off, to carry off, or to snatch away.”

What cannot be disputed is the fact that in the modern English versionsof the Holy Bible, the New Testament Greek word, harpazō, which literally means a sudden and physical withdrawal, often is translated as “caught up,” “taken up,” or “snatched up”; thus, the next prophetic event, which is the “Rapture,” is in the Holy Bible. It is just that most of the translators who work on English versions of the New Testament use phrases like “snatched up” when they refer to this prophetic event.

Snatched up, indeed! Whatever words people want to use when they refer to the “Rapture,” true believers can rest assured that the “Rapture” sure enough is going to be the Greatest Snatch ever, because it will save God’s true believers from the hellish Tribulation Period! 

Can I get some down-home hallelujahs?  Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! AMEN.

 

For additional information, please read my blog posts: The Bridegroom Is Coming: God’s Ultimate Marriage Story; Who IS Rapture Ready?; Countdown to the Rapture; and Ready or Not, It’s Rapture Season

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...

The Bridegroom Is Coming: God’s Ultimate Marriage Story

25 Wednesday Feb 2009

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Bible Prophecy

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Bride, Bridegroom, CHUCRH, Gentiles, grafted, great mystery, holiness, hypocritcal righteousness, Israel, Jews, Kingdom of God, Kingdom of Heaven, millennial reign, Oil of the Holy Spirit, Olive Tree, parable, rapture, righteousness, ten virgins

William Blake's Ten Virgins Painting (Based on The Parable of the Ten Virgins)

Contrary to popular opinion, the Ten Virgins’ parable is not about Israel being grafted back onto the Olive Tree just in time to rule with Christ during His millennial reign. Spiritually speaking, since the Kingdom of Heaven/Kingdom of God is inside every born again and saved believer in Christ, the Ten Virgins’ parable, thus, is about all believers (Jews and Gentiles) who live and die on Earth during the CHURCH Age (cf. Matthew 25:1-13).

Moreover, in this parable, Christ is teaching that not everyone who professes Christ as Lord will be counted in His true CHURCH number, because not every believer will have both an inner and outer appearance of righteousness, as confirmed by His description of the five wise and the five foolish Virgins¹. The five foolish Virgins, though professed Christians, are more like the quasi-religious Pharisees who only had an external show of righteousness, and because of that Christ publicly rebukes them for their hypocritical righteousness and calls them whitewashed tombs (cf. Matthew 5:20-7:1-5; Matthew 23:2-28). On the other hand, the five wise Virgins are fully prepared and alert believers because they take the Oil of the Holy Spirit with them as they enter into the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. The Oil of the Holy Spirit is what makes it possible for trimmed yet burning lamps to be continuously refilled, and the Oil of the Holy Spirit is what makes it possible for believers to be prepared and watchful, as they await the rapture of the CHURCH.

For these reasons, it is important to understand that the Ten Virgins’ parable does not  deal with Israel (Jewish people having the “spiritual” scales to fall off of their eyes).  Indeed, the Ten Virgins’ parable focuses instead on the marriage between Christ and the CHURCH, which is that great mystery the Apostle Paul describes in Ephesians Chapter 5. Christ, thus, uses the Ten Virgins’ parable to teach all believers about the parallels between the traditional Jewish marriage custom and the Kingdom of Heaven’s spiritual Truths about the ultimate Bridegroom’s proposal submitted to the perfect Bride. Furthermore, in the Ten Virgins’ parable, Christ uses the Hebrews’ understanding of a marriage contract, the cup of wine, the bride price, the bridegroom’s midnight return, the shout, the bridal procession, the bridal chamber, and the wedding feast to reveal God’s spiritual Truths about the Rapture of Christ’s true CHURCH and what happens to His true CHURCH immediately thereafter.

For sure, the parable about the Ten Virgin’s is intended to teach ALL believers about the suddenness and unexpectedness of their Lord’s Second Coming—a second coming that happens in stages, with the final stage being Christ’s visible bodily return, when He comes back to Earth with His saints and allows His feet to touchdown on the Mount of Olives! Thus, the parable of the Ten Virgins is the true CHURCH’s wake-up call; this parable is intended to convince Christ’s true CHURCH about the necessity for each member to be prepared for that unknown moment when the Bridegroom returns for His Bride—returns in the air to rapture His dead in Christ and alive in Christ CHURCH members who are spiritually pure, righteous, and perfect in His sight!

The symbolisms in the Ten Virgins’ parable are: (1) Christ, who is the Bridegroom (cf. Ephesians 5:25-28a, 31-33); (2) the Ten Virgins, who are the CHURCH Age Christian believers (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:2); without a doubt, the five Wise Virgins represent the watchful, prepared genuine believers (Bride of Christ) who are raptured—the alive believers who are caught up to meet Christ in the air; the five Foolish Virgins represent the alive careless, negligent, unprepared believers who are left behind to experience the Tribulation Period along with the ungodly unbelievers living in the world after the Rapture; (3) the Holy Spirit of God, who is the Oil in the five Wise Virgins’ lamps—the spiritual Oil that sanctifies believers with real righteousness, as well as the spiritual Oil that will glorify them; (4) the Shout, which signifies the prophesied thunderous sound that alerts the watchful, prepared Virgins (Bride) about their betrothed’s (Bridegroom’s) promised return—in this case, the time of the Rapture; moreover, this Shout consists of Christ’s (the Bridegroom’s) command “to come,” the archangel’s call, and the trumpet sound of Almighty God (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:16); (5) the Shut Door, which symbolizes what Christ means when He says “I know you not” (cf. Matthew 25:12b, KJV), and the Shut Door also highlights the fact that Christ has not been fooled by some believers’ external appearance of righteousness; lastly, the Shut Door symbolizes the end of the CHURCH Age—that there will be no more chances for the alive unprepared Christians or the alive ungodly unbelievers to enter into the physical heavenly Kingdom of God with Christ before the Tribulation Period starts; and (6) the Marriage Feast, which is the promised Marriage Supper of the Lamb or the wedding reception that the Bridegroom (Christ) has prepared for His Bride.

Since Jesus is God, as well as a Jewish man, He most assuredly is aware of the old marriage custom practiced by Jewish couples living in Israel, or in other places throughout the world. That’s why Jesus has no problem effectively using the parable of the Ten Virgins to illustrate how a Jewish man’s proposal to his beloved bride-to-be is, indeed, the most unforgettable marriage story of all time.

By telling the parable of the Ten Virgins, Christ is proving that He knows that from the first moment that a Jewish male decides who he wants for a wife (the female he either chooses or the one his parents have chosen for him to marry, as in an arranged marriage), there are three established steps to the Jewish marriage process that the Jewish male must follow. Step one: After deciding who he wants to marry, the Jewish male then leaves his father’s house and goes to his intended bride’s house, taking with him a contract of marriage, a cup of wine, and the “bride price” (money). When he arrives at his intended’s home, the first order of business involves the contract negotiations. If the guy and the girl are too young to accept their adult roles, the contract is negotiated between their parents. Whether the marriage is arranged or the young lady is chosen by the young man himself, and whether the intended bride’s parents negotiate the terms of the marriage contract with the young man’s father or the young man negotiates the terms of the marriage contract directly with his intended, the two parties—the prospective Jewish couple—will know each other’s responsibilities, for these responsibilities will be spelled out in the marriage contract.

Not only are the terms of the marriage contract very clear, but also, if accepted, this marriage contract becomes a legal agreement (covenant) binding both parties. They legally are betrothed (married), even though they are forbidden to have any sexual contact during their betrothal period. In fact, since they are considered officially married, if the marriage contract is broken, the couple is considered divorced (cf. Matthew 1:18-19). Moreover, if the husband dies during the betrothal period, the wife is considered a widow—even though the marriage had not been physically consummated.

Furthermore, during Step One, before the negotiated and presented marriage contract could be enforced, the husband-to-be must give the marriage contract to his intended, must put the cup of wine in front of his intended (which symbolizes his act of proposal), and must place before her the mohar, the cash gift or the bride price. She not only must read the marriage contract but also she must count her money. Once she does all that, the husband-to-be would toast the bride with a cup of wine, giving her a short period of time (about 10 seconds) to decide if she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. To accept the proposal, the bride-to-be would pick up the cup of wine and drink from it, or she could push the cup of wine away, which would mean she has rejected the proposal. If she drinks the wine, she not only is accepting but also is sealing the covenant—agreeing to remain true to her husband throughout the betrothal period while she waits for him to return for her and take her home with him. Moreover, if her answer is “yes,” then the bridegroom tells her, “I go to prepare a place for you” (cf. John 14:2a), but before the bridegroom leaves for his father’s house his bride covers her face with a veil.

This veiling custom signifies that this woman is unavailable (that she has separated herself from the pool of available young ladies)—that she is consecrated, set apart, and bought with a price. Moreover, the wearing of a veil after accepting a marriage contract, lets others know that this woman is “taken.” For these reasons, in everything, this wife now must submit to her husband.

In the traditional Jewish marriage, no engagement ring is exchanged; however, the tie between the betrothed Jewish couple is a much stronger one than the tie between Gentile fiancés and fiancées. Furthermore, this betrothal period gives the two parties a chance to grow or mature in their relationship—to get to know one another better—before they consummate their vows. For sure, this betrothal period gives the couple time to mature emotionally, affectionately, and faithfully.

Step Two:  During the betrothal period, while the husband and wife are getting to know one another better, and maturing emotionally, affectionately, and faithfully, the bridegroom is preparing a proper room (bridal chamber) in his father’s house, where he and his bride will consummate their marriage vows. The bridegroom’s father is the ONLY one who can sign off on the completion of this bridal chamber. This custom prevents the young man from rushing through his building responsibilities—keeps him from building a lean-to or some poorly constructed structure that would not be an adequate place to bring his wife. For this reason, neither the bridegroom nor the bride would know the day or the time of the wedding ceremony, which is why in Matthew 25:13 Christ tells ALL of His believes to “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh”; only God, Christ’s Father, knows when the Bridegroom (Christ) will return for His Bride (the true CHURCH).

Be that as it may, after the bridegroom’s father agrees that the bridal chamber is finished and that it is properly built, the bridegroom, accompanied by his companions/friends/groomsmen, returns to his bride’s house and escorts her to the bridal chamber that he has prepared for the both of them. It is while they are in this bridal chamber that they will exchange gifts—the bridegroom’s additional gifts for his bride and her dowry (offering) to him, which she laid up for him while she waited for His return. During the betrothal period, the bride also will keep her literal lamp filled with oil so that she will be ready for her bridegroom, in case he comes at night.

Traditionally, the bridegroom does return during the night, and his night arrival is the reason why he loudly calls out to his bride (or sounds a trumpet). To give his bride time to make herself presentable for receiving him (time to put on her veil and get her lamp), the bridegroom courteously alerts his bride to the fact that he is drawing close to her parents’ home. After he arrives and unveils his bride, the two of them leave for the place the bridegroom has prepared in his father’s house. Once there, they say their vows, then enter their bridal chamber, where, as aforesaid, they exchange their gifts and consummate their marriage.

Step Three: Seven days later, after their marriage has been consummated, the husband and wife come out of their bridal chamber for the Marriage Supper (Wedding Feast). The friend (best man) hears the husband’s voice, as the couple approaches the banquet room, and then the friend (best man) announces the union between the bride and the groom to the Wedding Feast’s invited guests. Only the husband’s special friend gets to stand beside him as one of the honored guests at the Wedding Feast. For this reason, the husband’s grateful friend rejoices in knowing that the bride and groom finally have become one (cf. John 3:29).

As Christ draws the parallels between the traditional Jewish marriage custom and the Kingdom of Heaven’s spiritual Truths about the ultimate Bridegroom’s proposal submitted to the perfect Bride, Christ presents modern-day believers with a beautiful portrait of the mysterious union between Christ (Bridegroom) and His CHURCH (Bride). We, thus, come to understand that through the parable of the Ten Virgins Christ is teaching us about His own return for us—teaching us about our Jewish Bridegroom (Christ) who loved us so much that He enacted the same marriage custom for us that God’s chosen Jewish people traditionally followed.

The mysterious union between Christ (Bridegroom) and His CHURCH (Bride) that Apostle Paul writes about in Ephesians 5:25-28a, 31-33 begins when we are born again and saved by Grace through our confessed faith in and acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the Christ. As New Testament believers, we now have entered into a legal marriage contract with Christ, who left His Father’s House in Heaven to come to us (His Bride-to-be) as our Jewish Bridegroom. Along with bringing us His marriage contract—the New Testament, which spells out for us our responsibilities as His Bride and His responsibilities as our Bridegroom—Christ also brings His gifts of the cup of wine (Christ’s shed blood) and His bride price (Christ’s atoning sacrifice–His death on the Cross).

After we accept Christ’s gifts, He lets us know that He is going (ascending) to His Father’s house (Heaven) where He will be preparing a place for us (cf. John 14:2-4). He also lets us know that He is coming back for us once our bridal chamber is completed. While He is in His Father’s house, we, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, must endeavor to live consecrated and sanctified lives for Him—we must wear our individual “spiritual” veils that let the world know that we have been bought by a price and, thus, belong to Christ.

Then too, during our betrothal period (the Church Age), while we live and walk in the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:25; Romans 8:9a, 11) and allow the Word of God to be a lamp for our feet and a light for our path (cf. Psalm 119:105), we also are busy for the Lord. We are making sure that we lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven (cf. Matthew 6:20-21); during the CHURCH Age, we obediently and righteously do the kinds of works for Christ that are of gold, silver and precious gemstone quality (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15). These righteous works become our dowry to our Bridegroom (Christ)—our righteous works that earn us the gifts/rewards Christ has promised us: (1) our crown of glory (cf. Proverbs 4:9; 1 Peter 5:4, KJV); (2) our crown of rejoicing (cf. 1 Thessalonians 2:19, KJV); (3) our crown of righteousness (cf. 2 Timothy 4:8, KJV); (4) our crown of life (cf. James 1:12; Revelation 2:10, KJV); and (5) our robes of white linen (cf. Revelation 19:8, KJV). During this Second Step of the Body of Christ’s (the CHURCH’s) marriage process, we also are keeping our vessels filled with the Oil of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, fills us, and helps us to develop our necessary daily and intimate fellowship, and righteous and holy relationship, with God so that our spiritual life can mature morally, spiritually, emotionally, and faithfully, and so that we can be a watchful and ready (prepared) Bride—the One the Bridegroom will recognize and find acceptable when He comes back for Her.

As the Bridegroom is coming down from Heaven, He alerts us with a loud shout, the archangel’s call, and God’s blast from His trumpet. Next, Christ catches us up into the air where we meet Him in the clouds; this event is better known as the Rapture (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). After we enter the heavenly realm of the Kingdom of God, we will say our marriage vows. Then, we immediately will stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ where we will be judged according to the “quality” of the works we did on Earth under the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15). Our Bridegroom then will take us to the place He has prepared for us (our heavenly bridal chamber). Next, we will exchange gifts—our dowry of laid up treasures—for the rewards we will receive from our well-pleased Bridegroom (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:1-5, 9-10; Revelation 22:12).

After consummating the marriage, becoming one with Christ, which is a seven-day ceremony biblically and symbolically represented as the seven years of the Tribulation, we will celebrate our marriage at the Lamb’s Marriage Supper, which will not happen until the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign—when Christ sets up His physical Kingdom of God on Earth. Now, what should be noted is that Father God is the One who invites the special guests of honor to our Marriage Feast, but who we can expect to see there as honored guests are the Old Testament saints who died before Christ and the Tribulation saints who died during the Tribulation Period. Other guests will be the ones who not only survived the Tribulation Period but also the ones who made the last-minute decision to receive God’s gifts of Salvation and Eternal Life during the Tribulation Period (cf. Matthew 22:8-10; Luke 14:21b-23; Revelation 19:6-9).

It is sad to say, but in spite of the outpourings of the Holy Spirit, there still will be hard-hearted individuals who will not accept Christ as their personal Savior. Consequently, Christ’s Rapture and bodily Second Coming, the latter of which will trigger the end of our present world as we know it, will shock numerous men and women who are not in the least bit prepared for Him, just like the masses of people during the flood in Noah’s generation were shocked when the rains finally came. The flood caught the majority of Noah’s unprepared generation by surprise. Moreover, as only a handful of humans got to enter the ark to be saved from the flood, (exactly eight people … cf. 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5, KJV), likewise, in the end times, it also appears that only a remnant of individuals will be caught up to meet Christ in the air (see the mini-parables of the two field individuals, whose gender is not specified, and the two women grinding at the mill … Matthew 24:40-41, KJV).

In these aforesaid Matthew Chapter 24 mini-parables and in the Ten Virgins’ parable of Matthew Chapter 25, as each of these parables serves as a picture of believers, Christ is making it crystal clear that after the dead in Christ arise ONLY the living true CHURCH members will be allowed to enter into the bridal chamber with Him and be saved from the Tribulation—saved from ALL of God and the Antichrist’s wrath that will come upon this Earth. Christ describes how ONLY one of the two field workers, one of the two women grinding at the mill, and five of the ten Virgins will be representatives of His True CHURCH members. As such, they will be the ones who are saved from the Tribulation Period. The fate that will await those who are not raptured will be that they become the left-behind individuals who will experience the prophesied second destruction of the world.

What’s more, the Ten Virgins’ parable makes a salient point that needs to be mentioned here, and that salient point is that the Bridegroom will Shut the Door (will close off any access to Himself), which underscores the aforementioned statement about the careless, negligent, unprepared believers being left behind. Without a doubt, Christ not only is the five wise Virgins’ Bridegroom but also He is the five foolish Virgins’ Bridegroom. Now, since Christ is the ONLY Door through whom ALL believers must enter into the Kingdom of God (cf. John 10:7, 9), then the Word of God is clear: the Door will close on ONLY those believers who are foolish (careless and unprepared). Christ Shuts the Door, because He has judged those standing on the Earth side of the Door to be unworthy to enter into the physical heavenly Kingdom of God.

Most of us will agree that having any door shut in our faces is probably one of the most embarrassing feelings we ever could experience in this life. In the case of the foolish Virgins, the experience of having the Bridegroom Shut the Door to the Kingdom of Heaven in their faces is more than an embarrassment, because the closed Door is a harsh reality check that comes in the form of a twofold rejection: verbal and observable. Christ, the Bridegroom, not only tells them that He doesn’t know them but also He shows them that He doesn’t know them by keeping the Door closed—by intentionally ignoring their knocking and pleading.

What a horrible reality check we (modern-day believers) will have if we end up being careless, negligent, and unprepared believers to whom our Bridegroom says “I know you not”! How devastated we will be to realize that we not only are EMPTY of the Oil of the Holy Spirit—empty of the power and authority that keeps us in covenant agreement with our Bridegroom, and keeps us willing and able to fulfill our own marital responsibilities—but also we will be devastated when we realize that we are homeless, uncovered, and on our own, for the Holy Spirit can no longer live in left-behind believers who do not have the seal of God in their foreheads (cf. Revelation 7:2-4). In this awful state, we will come to realize too late that we are the very personification of Christ’s foolish five Virgins who find themselves on the outside of the Door that leads to the physical Kingdom of Heaven, pleading with Christ to let them in, only to realize that He will not.

The bottom line is this: If we do not have any Oil in our vessels when the Bridegroom comes in the air to Rapture His glorified CHURCH, He will Shut the Door on us. Thus, without the anointing that illuminates Divine TRUTH, we will not have any Light emanating from us that could move Christ to open the Door for us. How is it, then, that we who find ourselves left behind could ever run out of the Holy Spirit’s Oil?

Well, Christ makes it clear in the Ten Virgins’ parable that these ten Virgins are believers; however, He also makes it clear that only five of them are baptized with the Holy Spirit, as the other five are trying to live a holy and righteous life off of fumes! These foolish five are careless, unprepared (non-productive), inattentive and impure churchgoers because they believe in Christ yet they have “no oil for their lamps” (Matthew 25:3b, NLT); therefore, they are spiritually anemic, lacking the full power and full authority of the Holy Spirit who would have sustained their lamps’ light. They are without the anointed Oil that makes it possible for them to achieve the spiritual maturity that would have kept them enlightened, watchful and prepared while they waited for their Bridegroom’s return. The parable’s moral, then, is this: If we are foolish, carnal, non-productive, inattentive, impure Christians, we will be left behind! On the other hand, if we are wise, spiritually mature and productive, purified, watching and waiting Christians, we will be raptured.

Time is of the essence. We must take advantage of every opportunity we are given to become more like Christ, for we cannot afford to miss out on being the Bride who is to participate in the ultimate marriage, everlasting honeymoon, and glorious wedding feast of all time. We also cannot afford to miss out on our Jewish Bridegroom’s gift—the gift of living with Christ in the presence of God forever. For these reasons, we swiftly must become the CHURCH Christ is coming back for, realizing that He is not returning for members of brick and mortar churches, but rather we must realize that our Bridegroom is coming back for what we have within our individual vessels. Therefore, what we must have on the inside of us is the infilling (baptism) of the Holy Spirit’s power that works in us (cf. Ephesians 3:19b-20) and causes us to develop a righteous and holy conduct—one that demonstrates that we are walking worthy of our vocation (cf. Ephesians 4:1-6).

Additionally, we must be filled with the Oil of the Holy Spirit, because only His anointed Oil will cause us to be fruitful, purified, and wise servants who are pure in heart (cf. Matthew 5:8), as well as humble, holy, righteous, loving, forgiving, peaceable, merciful, and thankful believers. Finally, we must be filled with the Oil of the Holy Spirit, because only His anointed Oil will keep us faithful in our resolve to remain true to Christ—will keep us loyal to the commitments outlined in His marriage contract (the New Testament). The Holy Spirit’s anointed Oil also will reveal to us God’s Divine Truth, which makes us aware of this fact: since carnal Christians just have an outward form of religiosity without any inward spiritual reality, they ONLY serve Christ with their lips. Therefore, we must seek continuous fillings of the Holy Spirit’s anointed Oil so that our married faces will never become unveiled, for this unveiling would indicate that we have fallen into spiritual adultery, and our spiritual adultery will cause the Bridegroom to Shut the Door and leave us behind!


¹The English word “virgins,” as used in the King James Version of the Parable of the Ten Virgins, has been translated from the Greek word “parqevnoß,” which is transliterated as “parthenos.” Thus, in the context of the aforesaid parable, “parthenos” or “virgins” means a marriageable maiden who never has had sexual intercourse with a man.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Print & PDF (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen

Sanctified Child

KEEN Blogging Days

May 2022
M T W T F S S
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
3031  
« Apr    

KEEN (Weekly) Top Posts

  • HARPAZO (Rapture, Take, Snatch, Force, Pull, Pluck, Catch, Catch Up, Catch Away) Scriptures
  • The Fruit of the Ruach (Spirit) Is His Work – Not Ours
  • The Truth About the Sinner’s Prayer
  • Is Your Conscience Under the Full Influence of Your Soul’s Enlightener and Your Spirit’s Sanctifier?
  • It Is Very Meaningful, When God Speaks A Name Twice
  • Proverbial Wisdom from Three Wise Monkeys
  • Three Main Harvests Of Souls
  • Ekklesia Says It All: Christ Will Call His Bride Out of This World!
  • The Bride of Christ’s Inner, Upper, and Outer Garments
  • The Sound of Silence…Crickets

KEEN Topics

Awards Bible Prophecy Bible Study Devotional Faith and Wisdom Heartbreak Heavenly Insights Literary Fiction National Tragedy Poetry Praises and Thanks Published Book Reblogged Review Spiritual Tribute Uncategorized

Published Book Author

Perfect Peace, published 2-19-2015; collection of my Haiku poetry

Published Book Author

Keeping It Real..., published 10-20-2015; collection of my devotions

My Newest Book

My Spirit's Musings, published 1-9-2017; collection of mostly Free Verse poems

My Mini-Memoir

My mini-memoir deals with love, loss, and forgiveness. Published July 26, 2018.

My Third Collection of Poetry

Moody Woman - published January 12, 2020

An inspirational, emotional, and spiritual literary fiction debut novel . . . published January 29, 2022 . . .

My Spirit’s Musings Press Release

Captivating New Xulon Verses Remind Believers Why Only a Christlike Life Reflects God’s Image - Reverend Keen of Deeper Walk Ministries Lyrically Addresses Christlikeness

Very Inspiring Blogger Award

Ambassador for Christ Blogger Award

Deeper Walk Ministries Logo

Serving Others Ministry

KEEN Created Graphic

Fruit of the Spirit

KEEN Created Graphic

Lone Voices Suffer

KEEN Created Graphic

AKA Haiku

KEEN Created Graphic

KEEN Social Media

  • View preachingwoman’s profile on Facebook
  • View sanctifiedchild’s profile on Twitter

KEEN Twitter Followers

My Tweets

KEEN Posts Liked

  • Spring Festival 2022~ week 8 on Words Like Honey
  • Sunday Soul Search on Words Like Honey
  • She Ruled the Roost on Words Like Honey
  • Spring Festival 2022~ week 7 on Words Like Honey
  • Sunday Soul Search on Words Like Honey
  • A Faith-Based Novel on Gone Fishin'
  • Wordless Wednesday on Words Like Honey

KEEN Community of Friends/Visitors

KEEN Blogging History

  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • June 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009

KEEN Visits

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Gone Fishin'
    • Join 1,729 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Gone Fishin'
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: